50 Women Game-Changers in Food – #41 – Elizabeth Andoh – Udon Soup with Vegetables and Tofu

March 30, 2012December 22, 2013 / More Time at the Table / 9 Comments

I’m always on the lookout for beautiful, delicious food that is also healthy. To say nothing of the delight in making a meal that didn’t empty the wallet at the check-out. Enter this sweet and toothsome goodie, “Udon Soup with Vegetables and Tofu,” that’s just as far away from your capital T-typical noodle soup as it can get without falling off the edge of the comparison. Add vegetables, lovingly cut PREE-cisely teensy of course, a nice slew of tofu, and you’re eating a recipe from Elizabeth Andoh, who is number forty-one on Gourmet Live’s list of 50 Women Game-Changers.

Living in Japan for for decades, Elizabeth Andoh attended Yanagihara Kinsaryu School of Traditional Japanese Cuisine (Tokyo), wrote several Japanese cookbooks (scroll down for list), and for years served as Gourmet magazine’s Japanese food writer. She also teaches cooking classes in Tokyo if you’re ever out that way. Most recently, Andoh published Kibo: (“Brimming with Hope) Recipes and Stories
from Japan’s Tohoku…

This cookbook is a heartfelt and fascinating tribute to the food, traditions, and courage of the people of Japan’s Tohoku region before and after the devastation of the earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011. It features traditional recipes such as Miso-Seared Scallops, Pinched-Noodle Soup with Pork, Salmon-Stuffed Kelp Rolls, and basics like rice, stocks, and sauces, along with sake pairings and essays on Japan in recovery from journalists and food writers.

courtesy amazon

If you’d like to give the Udon Soup a whirl, it’s yum, but I’ll give a few heads’ ups:

1. Read the recipe all the way through so you have a sense of the order in which the steps take place. For instance, you’ll need 30-60 minutes to soak shiitakés for the broth before you really begin.
2. Plan on going to the Asian market or substituting some ingredients.
3. While it looks quick, and doesn’t really take long, the chopping of the ingredients
is all to matchstick-size or shredded in the case of the mushrooms. Plan your time accordingly.
4. If you taste the soup before adding the greens and grated ginger, you’ll think it needs seasoning. The fresh ginger, however, is the kicker here. Warm and giving, it folds the whole bowl together with its pungent heat.
5. My soup had little broth and I added a bit of vegetable broth toward the end of the cooking.

Here’s how:

udon soup with vegetables and tofu

courtesy New Asian Cuisine and Andoh’s book KANSHA: Celebrating Japan’s Vegan and Vegetarian Tradition

serves 4
.
3 or 4 large dried shiitaké mushrooms
3 cups water I thought there was too little broth; you could increase the water here.
11/2 ounces daikon tops, kale, or other leafy greens, loosely tied in a bundle with kitchen twine
3 sheets thin fried tōfu (page 282)
4 ounces fresh mushrooms, preferably maitaké (page 272), trimmed and hand shredded into 1/2-inch lengths
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon saké Had no saké. Used white wine.
1 slender carrot, about 2 ounces, scraped and cut into matchsticks
2 ounces daikon, scraped and cut into matchsticks
1 tablespoon mirin
1 tablespoon light-colored soy sauce
2 sheets hoshi yuba, softened (page 261) and coarsely shredded, or 1/4 cup finely broken hoshi yuba (1/4-inch bits) I could not find this and didn’t add it.
11/2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons cold water
Cooked udon noodles, for serving hot (page 55) Easy to find, but you could sub whole wheat linguine.
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

Extract a stock from the dried shiitaké mushrooms: Break off the stems and set them aside for making stock on another occasion. Here you are using only the dried shii¬také caps to make a stock (and to cook later with the other vegetables). Soak the caps in the water in a bowl for at least 30 minutes and preferably for 1 hour or more. Remove the caps from the water and rinse them to remove any gritty material, then squeeze gently. Pour the soaking water through a fine-mesh strainer (or disposable coffee filter) into a clean bowl to remove unwanted bits that may have settled at the bottom of the bowl. Set the stock aside. Slice the dried shiitake caps into very narrow strips.

Bring a small saucepan filled with water to a boil. Blanch the bundle of leafy greens for 30 seconds, or until they wilt and turn a vivid green. With long chopsticks or tongs pull them from the pot and set aside. Blanch the tōfu slices in the same pot for 1 minute, or until oil swirls on the water’s surface. Drain, cut each slice lengthwise in half, and then cut each half crosswise into short, narrow strips. Blot away excess oil from the strips. When the greens are cool enough to handle, squeeze out excess moisture, chop coarsely, and set aside.

Heat a wok or a large, heavy skillet over high heat. Toss in the tōfu and allow the pieces to sear for a moment until lightly browned at the edges. Add the fresh mushrooms, then the slivers of softened dried shiitaké and stir-fry for about 1 minute, or until any excess liquid has evaporated and the mushrooms are aromatic. Sprinkle with the sugar and continue to stir-fry for 30 seconds longer. Add the saké and stir-fry until the pan is dry.

Add the stock (it will sizzle and sputter a bit, so be careful) and lower the heat to maintain a steady but not-too-vigorous simmer. Skim away the first large cloud of froth that appears with a fine-mesh skimmer. More froth will appear (this is normal when using shiitaké mushroom stock) as you continue to simmer. Cook for 5 or 6 minutes, then skim away the froth again.

Add the carrot and daikon, season the soup with the mirin and light-colored soy sauce, and continue to sim¬mer for 2 or 3 minutes, or until the vegetables are firm but tender and the flavors are melded.
Add the yuba and stir to distribute, and then add the soy sauce. In a small bowl, stir together the cornstarch and cold water. Add the mixture to the pan, raise the heat to high, and stir until thickened and glossy. The final soup will have the consistency of a thin sauce.

Divide the noodles among 4 warmed bowls, then divide the soup evenly among the bowls. Top each serving with some of the chopped greens and a small mound of ginger. Serve immediately.

Read Amy Sherman’s 2010 interview on Epicurious with Elizabeth Andoh

Check out the list of lovely cookbooks available from Elizabeth Andoh

Want to read more Elizabeth Andoh recipes? Check out the great blogs below:

Val – More Than Burnt Toast, Taryn – Have Kitchen Will Feed, Susan – The Spice Garden
Heather – girlichef, Miranda – Mangoes and Chutney, Amrita – Beetles Kitchen Escapades
Mary – One Perfect Bite, Sue – The View from Great Island, Barbara – Movable Feasts
Linda A – There and Back Again, Nancy – Picadillo, Mireya – My Healthy Eating Habits
Veronica – My Catholic Kitchen, Annie – Most Lovely Things, Jeanette – Healthy Living
Claudia – Journey of an Italian Cook, Alyce – More Time at the Table
Kathy – Bakeaway with Me, Martha – Simple Nourished Living, Jill – Saucy Cooks
~~~

If you liked Udon Soup with Vegetables and Tofu, you might like:

Green Onion Pancakes

Sing a new song, make a new soup!
Alyce

Greek Goddess Salmon Salad

March 26, 2012December 22, 2013 / More Time at the Table / 2 Comments

We’ve gone from summer (80 degrees F) to spring (70 degrees F) and back to late winter/early spring (41 degrees F) and it’s feeling odd. I don’t know what to put on. I don’t know whether to open the storm windows, close them, or install the window air conditioners. Living in a 1915 house precludes most central air systems, though I’m sometimes tempted. Last week would be one of them. The lilac leaves are all budded out, the azalea bush flowers are full, the jonquils, grape hyacinths, snow drops and crocus are in bloom (all together) and the tulips are on their way. 6 weeks ahead of schedule. The average temperature for March in St. Paul is 37 degrees. Not sixty-something. Not 80.

Forsythia–north end of our Wheeler block

Not only was the weather way out of whack, but my computer fritzed. The network, too. For days I had no internet access (we think due to hijacking from out-of-country hackers), and am perhaps only temporarily connected now. If you are looking for my Elena Arzak for the 50 Women Game-Changers group post from last Friday, it’s gone. If I have time to resurrect it, I will; so far, it’s not happening. Hopefully, this Friday, I’ll be on track with Elizabeth Andoh. What’s hard to take is how computer-dependent I am (we are.)

We’ve been drinking our coffee and reading the paper on the porch, which usually isn’t accessible for another month at least. Music? Just turn on phone! Had friends over twice last week for drinks or dinner and were just happy to be there so early in the year.

Meantime, there was a night with a sweet salmon salad I’d share with you. While we love salmon and it’s great food, we try not to eat tremendous amounts of it. It’s good for you, but you have to watch the calories and the mercury content. To say nothing of the expense of wild salmon. So we eat it in moderation. We split a portion or we each have some in salad and we’re happy. I sometimes just make an old-fashioned salmon salad (just like tuna salad) and have it for lunch with whole-wheat crackers and sliced tomatoes.

I usually cook salmon* in one of three ways: 1. Baked in foil. 2. Grilled stove-top or on outdoor grill. 3. Poached. There’s the rare time I poach it in a tomato sauce (I do that with white fish more often) or something like that, but those are the three typical methods. This salmon was grilled stove-top, so I opened the windows (a must), turned on the exhaust fan, and lit a kitchen candle. While the fish grilled, I got together a bit of green salad, sauteed a few diced vegetables, sliced a tiny piece of Irish cheddar leftover from St. Pat’s Day, and pulled the Greek Goddess out of the frig. I used Melissa Clark’s Greek Goddess dip recipe (scroll down). If you’ve never made this dip (it’s great in summer with fresh herbs in your garden), do it soon. You’ll be so glad you did. Here’s how:

Greek Goddess Salmon Salad serves 2

6-7oz salmon filet, cut in half
6 cups salad greens
1/4 cup each diced asparagus, sweet red bell pepper, sweet yellow bell pepper,
sliced scallions or chopped purple onion
2 oz sliced white cheddar
1/3 cup Greek Goddess dip/dressing (see below)–Can use purchased pesto in place of dip, if desired.
4T olive oil, divided
1/2 lemon

Heat grill pan or cast iron skillet over high heat. Drizzle salmon with oil and dust generously with salt and pepper. Place salmon on grill and let sit without moving for 5 minutes. Turn and grill another three minutes. Remove to a plate, cover with foil, and let rest for 2-3 minutes. Will be a bit rare and continue to cook as it rests.
Meantime, heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat with a bit olive oil. Add asparagus, red and yellow peppers and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add green onions to the asparagus mixture and cook another minute. Remove from heat and cool briefly.
Divide salad greens between the two plates and top with cooked vegetables, cheese, and salmon. Top salmon with Greek Goddess dip/dressing. (See below.) Squeeze lemon over all and dust with salt and pepper. Drizzle with remaining olive oil.

Melissa Clark’s Greek Goddess Dip (Click on Melissa’s name for more of her great recipes.)

1/2 cup packed fresh dill
1/2 cup packed fresh mint
1/2 cup packed fresh parsley
1/3 cup packed fresh basil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 scallions, white and green parts, sliced
1 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Pinch kosher salt, more to taste
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1/4 cup mayonnaise, optional
Raw chopped vegetables or pita chips, for serving.

1. Place dill, mint, parsley, basil, garlic, scallions, lemon juice and salt in a food processor and process until finely chopped.
2. With motor running, drizzle in the olive oil until incorporated. Add feta and process until smooth; pulse in yogurt. Taste dip and add more salt, if desired. If you like a creamier, richer dip, add mayonnaise and pulse to combine.
3. Serve dip immediately with vegetables or pita chips or cover and store in refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Yield: 4 to 6 servings.
I skip the mayo, add a bit more salt, white pepper, and drip in some Tabasco.

*Feeling like saving some bucks and eating salmon? Read my Dinner Place Blog this week:

Tasty and Inexpensive. Let’s not use the word “cheap.”

two-dog kitchen and around the ‘hood

Also seen at the feeder: male/female goldfinches, red (house) finch, and downy woodpeckers…

Pussy willow in bloom in vase in living room.

Jonquils in Pilgrim Lutheran’s garden.

Pilgrim Lutheran blue “snowdrops,” better known as scilla.

Leftover Take-Out Rice Salad on Dinner Place, my “other” food blog.

Love Tucker and Gab!

Sing a new song,
Alyce

50 Women Game-Changers- #37- Ina Garten-Roasted Shrimp with Feta

March 16, 2012December 22, 2013 / More Time at the Table / 11 Comments

how easy is that?

Ina’s Roasted Shrimp with Feta from her 2010 book, How Easy is That? served with salad.

If I’m home in the afternoon, no one has to ask where I’ve disappeared to around 3. I’m watching Ina, of course. I’ll admit that portions of the Food Network are not for me; I switch them off or tune them out. But if Ina’s on (or Tyler Florence), I’m probably watching. It says a lot. I’m not a tv person, with the exception of early morning political shows (love “Morning Joe”), a few minutes of TODAY, and the occasional film on the old-movie channel. I have better fish to fry, literally. Or I’m at the piano. Or I’m walking Gabby and Tucker. Loving Dave.

courtesy Clarkson-Potter

But Ina and I go way back–sorta. In fact, we could have been friends. Well! Back in the seventies, my bus stop was right in front of the building where she worked in Washington, D.C. (I didn’t know that then.) I cooked; she cooked. I gave dinner parties; she did, too. Right around the corner from one another almost. Until she moved to New York to open the Barefoot Contessa, a specialty food store, in 1978. Between then and now, she ran that store and catered for twenty years, wrote seven books and countless magazine columns, and made more segments of The Barefoot Contessa on Foot Network than I know what to with. There’s also a product line, Barefoot Contessa Pantry, available in specialty stores where you can buy everything from coffee to cupcake mixes. In fact, I noticed our local Macy’s carries Ina’s products. I freely admit I have never bought any of these boxes goods. Hey! I make Ina’s stuff from scratch. But if you try them, let me know; I’d love a review.

Ina, you’ve got to stop, but why not an app for my ipad?!

Somehow we missed meeting and cooking together. Sigh. Later I moved all over the country until I stopped in one place where a new friend talked me into borrowing The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook from the library. That was it. Now I have my own copy and six more of Ina’s books plus an index.

Trying to decide which recipe to blog for Ina, who is number 39 in the 50 Women Game-Changers in Food, was like trying to decide whether to go to Italy or France for two months next summer. How could I decide? I’ve made tons of them. Some of them are very, very much favorites–including a lemon pound cake I just made last week for the Friends of the St. Paul Library board:

One of the perfectly perfect things about Ina’s recipes is that you can do all kinds of things with them. I added homemade strawberry ice cream and a blueberry drizzle to this cake and here’s how it looked:

Ina’s a great starting point.

After much dithering and mithering, I did the only sane thing: I made something of Ina’s I hadn’t yet made. A great excuse to try a new recipe, which turned out to be Roasted Shrimp with Feta. I have always made a summer pasta that is this fast: spaghetti topped with lots of chopped fresh tomatoes, cooked shrimp, chopped feta and a good, heavy dose of dried oregano and black pepper. But Ina’s recipe is great in the winter…. Run, don’t walk to the store to make this. It’s beautiful, tasty–tasty, easy, not too expensive, cuts in half easily, and is healthy. (Is this a Friday in Lent?) Including chopping ingredients, it probably takes about 45 minutes to make–much of which is taken up with cooking stove-top or in the oven. I served it with a simple green salad and we needed nothing more except a bit of Chardonnay. Fancy enough for company, I made it for just Dave and me and we ate on the front porch for the first time this winter. (Like the rest of the country, St. Paul is experiencing May in March–no complaints.) I’m not going to print the recipe as Food Network is clear about “all rights reserved,” but the link is just below. The recipe is in Ina’s Newest book, How Easy is That? (2010/Clarkson-Potter) so you can buy it if you like!

Ina’s Roasted Shrimp with Feta Recipe... click here.

Cook’s Note: I changed almost nothing in the recipe, though I did add a pinch of crushed red pepper–a bit of heat enhances the lemony shrimp. Get the best feta you can find; you’ll be glad you did. Use peeled shrimp.

You don’t need more than this.

Thanks, Ina Garten and that doesn’t begin to say it. Blessings on your life and work. Keep on! (And about that app…)

Ina’s Biography from Food Network

Read the Epicurious interview with Ina.

Barefoot Contessa Website

Watch Ina on youtube.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Want to read other bloggers who are following the 50 Women Game-Changers in Food story? There are a lot of good blogs out there; read on!

Val – More Than Burnt Toast, Taryn – Have Kitchen Will Feed, Susan – The Spice Garden, Heather – girlichef, Miranda – Mangoes and Chutney, Jeanette – Healthy Living Mary – One Perfect Bite, Kathleen – Bake Away with Me, Sue – The View from Great Island Barbara – Movable Feasts , Linda A – There and Back Again, Nancy – Picadillo Mireya – My Healthy Eating Habits, Veronica – My Catholic Kitchen Annie – Most Lovely Things, Claudia – Journey of an Italian Cook, Alyce – More Time at the Table, Amrita – Beetles Kitchen Escapades

If you liked this, you might like:

Potato Soup and Irish Soda Bread for St. Patrick’s Day

My Breakfast Reuben in a Cup for St. Patrick’s Day on my Dinner Place (Cooking for One) Blog.

Sing a new song and join me on my daily Lenten blog,
Alyce

Breakfast Reuben in a Cup for St. Patrick’s Day

March 15, 2012December 22, 2013 / More Time at the Table / 1 Comment

In the cup or out, it’s great. This year, I posted my St. Pat’s meal on my blog, “Dinner Place: Cooking for One.” Please follow the link to make this scrumptious baby feast!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Love,
Alyce

50 Women Game-Changers in Food -#38 – Darina Allen – Brown Soda Bread

March 9, 2012December 22, 2013 / More Time at the Table / 13 Comments

That’s it. I’m leaving home. I always wondered where I’d get my cooking credentials (other than living in my kitchen) and now I know. I’m going to the Ballymaloe Cookery School in Shanagarry, County Cork, Ireland. I’ll see you later. It’s time I earned my toque… or at least an apron that says, ” Ballymaloe.”

Ireland: Cliffs of Moher (copyright Alyce Morgan, 2003)

Ok, I’m not. But I’d like to. Meantime, just in time for St. Patty’s Day, I’m baking some bread from the Cookery School’s founder and Ireland’s best chef-teacher, Darina Allen, number 38 in Gourmet Live’s list of 50 Women Game-Changers in Food:

(Courtesy Koster Photography)

When Americans make or think about Irish Soda Bread, which they only do in March of every year, they think about the American take on the bread (think chop suey), which I adore and make as often as anyone:

Here’s my own American version. Please have a little bread with your butter.

But if you go to Ireland and stop in a hotel or restaurant for breakfast (or other meal), you find that the soda bread is whole wheat. Dense, thick, sturdy, filling. Perfect smothered with lots of beautiful Irish butter and jam or, even better, dipped in a deep, dark mug of tea. And, should you not think about it, this bread is a chunky, dunky sideshow for stew or soup, as well as tasty sandwich bread. Get ready to dirty your hands and bake up!

darina allen’s brown soda bread

400g (14oz) wholemeal flour (about 3 cups)
75g (3oz) plain white flour, (Darina specifies unbleached if you can get it) (about 3/4 cup)
1 tsp salt, (Darina specifies dairy salt, which is finer, but I used regular old table salt.)
1 level tsp bicarbonate of soda, sieved (baking soda)
1 egg
1 tbsp sunflower oil (I used canola oil)
1 teaspoon honey ( or treacle or soft brown sugar)
425ml (¾ pint) buttermilk (or add 2 tbsp of lemon juice to 600 ml (1 pint) milk)

Method

Grease a loaf tin (I used 9x5x3) with vegetable oil. Preheat the oven to 200°c (gas mark 6). (about 400 degrees Fahrenheit)
Put the flours, salt and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl and mix well. Make a well in the centre ready for the wet ingredients.
Whisk the egg and add it to the oil, honey (or treacle or sugar), and the buttermilk (or lemon juice/milk mixture).
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and using your clean hands mix well. The dough should be very sticky, Darina describes it as ‘soft and slightly sloppy’, if it’s not add more buttermilk. Pour into the loaf tin and bake for about 1 hour.
To test take it out of its tin and tap the bottom, if it’s cooked it will sound hollow.
Allow to cool before eating if you can manage it.

Recipe courtesy The Ordinary Cook
My cook’s notes are in red.

Use the other side of your measuring cups for this one; you need 425 ml of buttermilk.

I weighed both flours for accuracy.

Full “well”

Smooth it out as best you can in a greased pan.

Very healthy wholewheat bread, but quite yummy with a little butter and jam.

the skinny on darina
I don’t know how she does it….

Owner of Ballymaloe Cookery School in Shanagarry, Co Cork, Ireland, teacher, food writer, newspaper columnist, cookbook author and television presenter. School is situated on an organically run farm.
Graduate in Hotel Management, Dublin Institute of Technology.
Member of Taste Council of Irish Food Board, Chair of Artisan Food Forum of Food Safety Authority of Ireland, Food Safety Consultative Council of Ireland, Trustee of Irish Organic Centre, Patron of Irish Seedsavers.
Cooking Teacher of the Year Award from IACP 2005, Recipient of Honorary Degree from University of Ulster 2003, Winner of Veuve Clicquot Business Woman of the Year 2001, Waterford Wedgwood Hospitality Award 2000, Langhe Ceretto Prize 1996, Laois Person of the Year 1993…and more.
courtesy Ballymaloe Cookery School; County Cork, Ireland.

Want to read other bloggers who are following the 50 Women Game-Changers in Food story? There are a lot of good blogs out there; read on!

if you liked this, you might like:

Potato Soup and Irish Soda Bread for St. Patrick’s Day

Sing a new song and join me on my daily Lenten blog,
Alyce

Ask me about Dessert

March 7, 2012December 22, 2013 / More Time at the Table / Leave a comment

Lemon-Syrup Pound Cake with Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream and Blueberry Drizzle

What’s the fun of catering dessert? What’s not the fun of catering dessert? But I DO LOVE TO HAVE A REASON to make dessert. And I adore having a reason to try something I love or have never done before; dessert for two is so different than dessert for a group. We simply don’t need a whole pie (well, Dave would argue with that.) We don’t want a whole cake or two quarts of ice cream, which is what my new ice cream maker makes. But if I’m asked to bring dessert or have a catering job, I get to do the whole shebang. (Scroll down for Lemon-Syrup Pound Cake with Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream and Blueberry Drizzle.)

Seasonal crostatas — free-form pie

Creme Brulee avec Torch.

Added art is free.

Chocolate-Hazelnut Torte

Elvis Presley’s Favorite Cake–Pound Cake I serve with Peaches and Fresh Ginger Ice Cream come summer.

Lemon Tart for a Birthday?

Individual Pear-Orange Crostatas. They’re flavored with lemon or orange and have a streusel topping with or without almonds.

Coffee Cup Pies

Pagliacci’s New York Cheesecake


Any kind of whole pie

I start with numbers. How many people? When? Where? What’s the menu?

The menu was tenderloin and fennel gratin with a carrot salad starter. One that I blogged, in fact. I thought that left me scotfree to make whatever I wanted. The meal wasn’t so heavy that I needed to do a baby shot of custard and squeensy-tweentsy cookies. It wasn’t so light that I needed to make tiramisu. I offered several options:


Bread Pudding!


Jam Tart?

Basket of Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies!!!

or….

–Chocolate pots de creme and ginger cookies

–Lemon poundcake and strawberry ice cream

–Fig-Brandy Vanilla Pudding with Skinny Fluted Shortbread

–Apple-Sour Cream-Walnut Pie w or w/out homemade vanilla ice cream

–Apple Tart w or without cinnamon ice cream

–Espresso pots de creme and milk chocolate chip-pecan cookies

–God’s Own Brownies or God’s Own Brownie Sundaes

–Chocolate-Dipped Salty Shortbread and Coffee Gelato

–Whole Lemon Tart

–Jam Tart

You can ask for pot pie, too, if you need dinner. Here: Turkey Roasted Vegetable

about the lemon-syrup pound cake, strawberry ice cream and blueberry drizzle:

The choice this time was Lemon pound cake and strawberry ice cream. After 2 seconds thought, I added a blueberry drizzle–for color and a flavor pop. Instead of reinventing any wheels, I took two or three recipes and decided on my method. I like SILVER PALATE’S Lemon Pound Cake, but it was made in a bundt pan and I really wanted loaf pound cake as my group was small and a second loaf could go in the freezer. I checked out Ina Garten’s Lemon Cake from her The Barefoot Contessa PARTIES book and ended up with a mixture of the two recipes aided by Marion Cunningham’s from Fanny Farmer Baking Book, which is my easy go-to for most things. In fact, I end up with both the bundt cake and loaf cakes because I mis-read Ina’s instructions, which were a bit confusing. The ingredient list doesn’t let you know that you’ll be using that 3/4 cup lemon juice in two parts. Ditto sugar. So when I dumped all the sugar in the Kitchen Aid, the extra bundt cake was born. And while it’s obvious from the ingredient list there’s a glaze, it’s not so obvious there’s a syrup, too. I just re-write the recipe to suit me. No problem; the choir likes to eat, as does Word Team. Tonight, I’ll bring the big bundt cake and a couple of pots of coffee.

How many cakes are you baking? As many as it takes to get it right.

Lemon Syrup Poundcake (new name): all done. Now I just have to make strawberry ice cream.
Ah gee. And…a Blueberry Drizzle. Could life be any more fun?

Pound Cake with Syrup and Glaze

Adding the last of the berries to the ice cream maker. I use David Lebovitz ice cream recipes almost all the time, but this one is in the book that came with the Cuisinart 2qt ice cream maker. The strawberries are marinated with lemon; half are mashed for freezing with the cream and sugar, and half are added during the last five minutes.

Blueberry Drizzle (instructions below)

Lemon-Syrup Pound Cake with Strawberry Ice Cream (Homemade) and Blueberry Drizzle

Blueberry Drizzle: Place one pint fresh blueberries (cleaned and picked over) in a medium saucepan with 1/4 cup each water and granulated sugar. If you like, you can add a large piece of lemon peel or a cinnamon stick, but for this recipe, the blueberries are best left to their own devices. Bring to a boil over medium heat and reduce heat to low, simmering and stirring the berries about 15 minutes. When they’re softened, breaking apart, and a bit thicker, remove from heat and mash with a potato masher. Strain the mixture over a small bowl. Reserve the crushed berries for your peanut butter toast and use the strained liquid for your “drizzle,” which is also good on pancakes or English muffins.

Two-Dog Kitchen and Around the ‘Hood
Yesterday it was 60 and gorgeous. Today it’s rainy and freezy and so gray.
I have no new pics of the dogs, but they are filthy. Friday: groomer.

New art in my kitchen. Did I already show you this?


Cold Chickadees

This is melted…and we now have Minnesota Mush.


Here’s a Salmon Salad I made the other day for supper. It might make the blog.

Sing a new song, read my Lenten Blog,
Alyce

Women Game-Changers #37-Severine von Tscharner Fleming- Moroccan Carrot Salad

March 2, 2012December 22, 2013 / More Time at the Table / 6 Comments

‘Farming is an attractive path for people who are getting out of school and feeling like there’s kind of a toxic consumerism and not feeling too excited about working for the Man, especially seeing as he’s been spoiling our politics and a lot of our ecology,’’ she said. (Severine von Tscharner Fleming via NYT)

#36 on Gourmet’s list of 50 Women Game-Changers in Food is Severine von Tscharner Fleming– farmer, activist, and filmmaker…

based in the Hudson Valley, NY. Over the past two years she has produced+ directed a documentary film about the young farmers who are reclaiming, restoring, retrofitting and respecting this country of ours. That film, titled “The Greenhorns” grew into a small nonprofit organization that currently produces events, media and new media for and about the young farming community. Greenhorns mission is to “recruit, promote and support” the growing tribe of new agrarians. To that end, Greenhorns runs a weekly radio show on Heritage Radio Network, a popular blog, a wiki-based resource guide for beginning farmers, a GIS-based mapping project, and dozens of mixers+ educational events for young farmers all around the country. Greenhorns actively works to provide venues for networking, collaboration and communication within their large, and growing! network. Severine attended Pomona College and University of California at Berkeley where she graduated with a B.S. in Conservation/AgroEcology. She co- founded the Pomona Organic Farm and founded UC Berkeley’s Society for Agriculture and Food Ecology and is a proud co-founder of the National Young Farmers Coalition. (courtesy The Greenhorns)

I was interested in this carrot salad because it sounded:

attractive
inexpensive
delicious
simple
healthy
bright
like it might hold a few days in the frig
unlike my mother’s carrot salad!

And it was all of those things. Even though I had misplaced my Cuisinart grating disc in the move to St. Paul (I know; I’ll get another one) and had to grate the carrots by hand, it was a simple chore and done easily. Carrots grated by hand contain a lot less liquid than carrots grated by Cuisinart anyway, so it was probably the method of choice. While spring definitely hasn’t sprung around here, I kept thinking what a quick and delicious side this would be for grilled food come better weather. Since nearly everyone likes carrots, including children, it’s probably a good idea for a BBQ or potluck dish. The recipe indicates a one-hour marinating time. I tasted it right after it was made and after the hour at room temp. The flavors definitely were damped by the hour wait (cumin particularly); you might want to add a little extra of the spices if you’re going to wait or eat this over a couple of days. Did I mention this little ditty was scrumptious? I just couldn’t believe that was all there was to it. But that was it. Just lovely fresh food.

Wednesday’s yard photograph–Not thinking garden quite yet.

Moroccan Carrot Salad
From Winter Harvest Cookbook, a vegan and gluten-free recipe. Serves 6.

1 pound carrots (about 6 medium), scrubbed
2 shallots, chopped fine
2-3 T. sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cumin
Pepper
Dash cayenne
3 T lemon juice
1/2 c finely minced parsley

Grate or julienne carrots. Add shallots and toss. Combine sugar, salt, and cumin and toss with carrots. Season with pepper and cayenne. Add lemon juice and toss again. Marinate for 1 hour. Sprinkle with parsley and serve at room temperature.

~~~~~~~

Want more info or to get involved in this movement? Click here.
Want to request a screening of the movie? Click here.
Read the blog. Click here.

If you like this, you might also like my curried cauliflower

~~~

Want to read other bloggers who are following the 50 Women Game-Changers in Food story? There’s a lot of good food out there; read on!