Me And Mario

A couple weeks ago, trapped in some distant hotel room on a snowy day I happened to catch a couple minutes of ABC's The Chew on what I assume was a particularly Italian day. Mario Batali was making a version of aglio olio spaghetti. A simple preparation with olive oil and garlic -- an easy dinner dish James always likes. Batali's version had not just chili pepper flakes but chopped, jarred hot peppers. James has been liking a little heat in his dinner lately so I carefully tucked that recipe away thinking I could improve on the classic and make James' dinner even better. Well either Mario or I got carried away. For the first time ever James declared me a bit heavy handed with the spice -- he politely kept eating between coughs. I'd like to blame Batali but for now I'll stick with tried and true just a while longer.

Greek Style Soup

I love homemade soup. It's a great place to hide leftovers or a collection of remnants in the freezer and still feels comforting and somehow special. I reached into our too small freezer and pulled out the bag of chicken parts (I save backs and necks and wings to make stock) and duck bones from a long ago sinner and started them in the stockpot with 12 cups of water, 2 stalks of celery, 2 halved onions, 2 carrots, 1 clove garlic, 2 bay leaves, and a sprinkling of peppercorns. I brought to stock pot up to a boil and let everything simmer for about 90 minutes.
This Greek style lemon and chicken soup, avgolemono, is traditionally clear broth thickened with lemon juice and egg yolks. I saved some of the meat from the stock to mix into the soup. After straining the stock I brought the soup to a simmer and added in a few cups of leftover rice (and the reserved chicken meat). Avgolemono is generally made with orzo pasta but rice is sometimes substituted and we had rice on hand. In a separate bowl I whisked 3 eggs until frothy and then mixed in the juice of two lemons. I slowly mixed in a couple ladles of hot broth to temper the eggs and then added the now warm egg mixture back into the stockpot. After 10 minutes on low -- you don't want to boil the soup after the eggs are added so they don't curdle -- we had tangy, lemony, homemade soup.

A Crunchy Side Dish

I never think about celery. I use it in soups or stuffings or sauces but I never considered celery as the star of a dish. That was until today when we needed a salad and the vegetable drawers were pretty bare.  After a quick internet search I settled on a variation of a recipe from Saveur Magazine -- crunchy slices of my new hero vegetable tossed in a quick vinaigrette (1TB sherry vinegar, 1 tsp Dijon mustard, 1/4 cup olive oil, S&P). A salad with no lettuce. Such a little thing and I feel so daring. Market driven, casual, rustic, fresh, crunchy . . . I feel positively French.

Early St Patrick's Day Dinner

It' not so pretty a picture, but it is one of James' favorite dinners: glazed corned beef and buttered potatoes. I always start the same way. First I cook the corned beef brisket and it's spices in the crockpot (on low) -- usually overnight, with 2 halved onions, 2 stalks celery, 2 bay leaves, 10 peppercorns and 10 whole cloves. That slow moist cooking makes the meat irresistibly tender. For the finishing touch since it's publication I have been using a glaze recipe from the Silver Palette Cookbook. 1 cup dark orange marmalade, 4 TB of dark brown sugar, 4 TB of dijon mustard mixed together and poured on top of the cooked meat. The beef with the glaze cooks for 30 minutes at 400º (sometimes I go to 450º to make sure James gets crisp bits of sugary glaze). Over the years I've used other jams, usually whatever homemade variety I happen to have handy -- always with stellar results. The best part of this dinner? Corned beef hash for breakfast. A reason for leftovers.

Another New Camellia

There are many things I love about our relatively new rural location. The open vista, the rolling hills, the cattle for neighbors . . . but not our maddeningly slow rural internet. It's been days since I could muster enough bandwidth to get online and post a few dithering comments.
With a little bit of upload I thought I'd introduce you to a new plant -- to me, to my garden, and probably to a lot of flower lovers out there: the white mermaid camellia. A camellia japonica with a weeping habit and delicate white blossoms opening to show bright yellow stamens, the mermaid -- although lovely covered in it's fried egg blooms -- is known more for it's unusual leaves fused together at the tips to resemble -- hence the name -- a mermaid's or fish's tail. I'm anxious to find a special spot for this beauty so visitors to our future beautiful garden can stroll by and marvel at the unusual leaves.

The Fig Cafe

On the main drag through the slip of a town that is Glen Ellen, CA stands The Fig Cafe -- a casual spot from the people who brought us the beloved Girl and The Fig in Sonoma. Much like it's parent the cafe offers a menu full of local and artisan cheese, house made charcuterie, wood fired pizzas and various wine country specialties with plenty of dishes offering a taste of their namesake fruit. Though I'm sure during grape harvest and the "crush" the Fig must be packed to the rafters with eager tourists, today it was an easy going place to brunch and sip sparkling fig aperitifs.

Ladies In The Yard

Two of our girls taking a minute to enjoy the afternoon together. Connie, on the left, is a Cuckoo Maran. She's "retired" now but when she laid her eggs were a lovely dark brown. Among chicken and egg enthusiasts contests for the darkest and most beautiful Maran egg (they can be a dark chocolate brown) are a highlight of fairs and bird shows. On the right is one of our Buff Orpingtons, a heavy breed known for  their calm and friendly personalities. They are so alike it's hard to name each one. James calls them "the Honeydrops."