Spring Radish Spread

Radishes, radishes, radishes. I've been enjoying them the French way lately, sprinkled with sea salt on a sweet-buttered baguette. Today I'm going to try this recipe that I picked up at the local farmers' market.

Grammar note: I spell farmers' market with an apostrophe at the end, but the below is how the referenced cookbook and this particular market seem to spell it. Any copy editors care to weigh in?

Spring Radish Spread

from The Farmer's Market Cookbook 

(via Indian Line Farm at the Great Barrington Farmers Market)

1 8-ounce package of cream cheese, softened

1 - 2 tablespoons prepared horseradish, drained

4 cleaned radish leaves

1 teaspoon dill

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 - 2 bunches red radishes

crackers, tortilla chips, or French bread

Mix all ingredients except crackers in medium bowl or food processor to desired consistency. Cover and refigerate 1/2 hour. Serve with crackers, chips, or crusty French bread. Makes 2 - 3 cups.

P.S. We don't have a food processor, so I'm going to shred the radishes.

Frida Kahlo's Meatballs

For his birthday dinner last month, Dave requested that I make Frida's meatballs from Frida's Fiestas: Recipes and Reminiscences of Life with Frida Kahlo by Guadalupe Rivera and Marie-Pierre Colle. It's a lovely book in the tradition of Monet's Table. Does anybody remember that book? Somebody gave it to us as a wedding present in 1991 and I've been obsessed with yellow and blue kitchens ever since. Our kitchen in New England is pale straw and sky blue and the one in Mexico has a lemon yellow polished-cement floor and a cobalt tile pattern of sort-of daises on the countertops.

Anyway, we discovered the Frida cookbook in 1997 while living in Pátzcuaro, where going to the butcher to buy the pork and beef for these meatballs was a knee-buckling thrill. Shopping for meat at Guido's isn't so exciting, except for when I find myself in line with this guy. 

When I tweeted that I was making this dish, many people requested the recipe. I apologize for taking so long to post it. Here you go:

Meatballs in Chipotle Sauce

(8 servings)

1 lb. ground pork

1 lb. ground beef

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

2 garlic cloves, chopped

3 eggs

1/4 cup bread crumbs

Salt and pepper

Chipotle Sauce

6 chipotle chiles, pickled or in marinade

6 medium tomatoes, roasted and peeled

1 cup chicken broth

2 garlic cloves

3 cumin seeds

1 tablespoon drived oregano

2 tablespoons lard (the butcher at Guido's looked at me like I had lost my mind when I asked if she had any)

Salt and pepper

Combine the pork, beef, ground cumin, garlic, eggs, bread crumbs, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well. Shape the mixture into medium-sized meatballs. Cook the meatballs in the Chipotle Sauce for about 25 minutes. 

To make the Chipotle Sauce, puree the chiles, tomatoes, broth, garlic, cumin seeds, and oregano. Strain. Sauté the puree in hot lard (or oil, as the case may be) and season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil.

¡Buen provecho!

Berkshire Living "Rest of the Story" Free Event About Healthy Eating

Well, don't I feel special...as it happens, the March Berkshire Living community event is also an off-shoot of an article I wrote. The press release follows below. This event is free and the two panel members are both super smart and lively. Hope to see you there!

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Kripalu executive chef Deb Howard and Dr. Nina Molin, founder of Ananda Health Center for Integrative Medicine, will discuss strategies for health and wellness through healthy cooking and eating in "Eat Right," part of Berkshire Living's award-winning Rest of the Story series of free public forums, on Sunday, March 22, at 11 a.m., at the Triplex Cinema in Great Barrington.

An outgrowth of the story "Kitchen Aid," by writer Gina Hyams -- who will also participate in the event – in the March-April special Food and Dining issue of Berkshire Living, the event, moderated by editor-in-chief Seth Rogovoy, will focus on nutrition, ingredients, food selection, and healthy preparation methods, and include a question and answer session.

Each month, Berkshire Living, a regional lifestyle and culture magazine, and the Triplex join forces to present "The Rest of the Story," free public forums based on an article running in the concurrent issue of the magazine. The series was awarded a Gold Medal for Community Service by the National City and Regional Magazine Association.

For more information, call Berkshire Living at 413-528-3600.

Interview with Anne Bramley

Anne Bramley is a food scholar, university lecturer, writer, cook, and host of the internationally acclaimed podcast, Eat Feed. She was born in a Midwestern blizzard and has thrived on all the best things cold weather provides, from her grandmother's "snow ice cream" to deep-winter snowshoeing. She has also traveled the world, living in England, Germany, and United States and learning from each new food culture she encounters.

Eat Feed Autumn Winter: 30 Ways to Celebrate when the Mercury Drops is her first cookbook. Epicurious.com just named it one of the Best Cookbooks of 2008. She lives with her husband, daughter, two cats, and two dogs in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where they eagerly await the next snow day.

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Gina: Your book is filled with lots of wonderful historical recipes. On election night, I had a good time reading your accounts of Lincoln's Inaugural Chicken Salad, Washington's Favorite Corn Cakes, and Jefferson's Peanut Sundaes. Where did you track down these gems? Also, what did you end up serving at your own election night get-together?

Anne: As an academic, I've always got my head in some archive or other and tend to collect bits and bobs of culinary history since you never know when you'll want them. And as a former Chicagoan (and Hyde Park resident) my election night was inspired by some of our favorite foods from the city and neighborhood.

Gina: In your acknowledgments, you mention that novelist Katharine Weber gave you an early boost. How did you meet her and how did she help you?

I met Katharine through Readerville. She is always there with ready and willing advice about the writing life -- agents, pitching, publicity, and more -- and she's always generous in lending an ear as well as a hand to a new writer. Plus she has sent me some of my best podcast topics and guests.

Gina: I'm charged with bringing cranberries to Thanksgiving dinner at my mother-in-law's house this year. I know you love the topic of cranberries. Please tell me how should I cook them and share with my readers why you think they're so interesting.

Anne: Every way and in everything! I love that they are really one of the few remaining foods that have a season that you can't industrialize your way around. At least as far as I've seen, they aren't shipped in from the southern hemisphere as with things like raspberries. Instead, I long for the October harvest each year and then try to do as much as possible before they're all gone from the shelves in January or February.

When I have the ability to cook just cranberries and not have something else in the oven, I love to do low temp, slow cook with a bit of spirit at the end. I don't really have a recipe and tweak it every time, but do something like a pound of cranberries with 1/2 to 1 cup of brown sugar for 1 to 2 hours at 200 to 225 degrees. Add a splash of alcohol in the final 15 minutes -- brandy if you're going for a Jeffersonian French inspiration, rum for something a bit more middle-brow colonial. The key thing about the low temp for a long time is that the berries don't pop and go mushy like in a stovetop sauce. Instead they just gently warm and soften. Mmmm. (Also, I know it's a big range on the sugar, but people have wildly different sweetness desires when it comes to cranberries and I prefer mine a bit tart, vaguely reminiscent of the kind of tart sauces that historically accompanied meat like verjuice in the Renaissance or a 19th-century gooseberry or rhubarb sauce.)

Gina: What is your favorite winter cocktail?

Anne: When I'm looking for some vitamins with my vice, it's a Bloody Mary made with Scandinavian aquavit (like the Bloody Sigrid in the book). But oftentimes I just want something really warm, creamy, sweet and possibly nutty, so I wrap myself around whatever boozy milk punch is on offer.

Gina: What's next on your proverbial plate?

Anne: Getting a position in the new administration as the local seasonal food czar. If that doesn't work out, endless meals with great cold weather foods and a little bit more time with my husband and toddling daughter and our menagerie of 4 animals who are often lounging in front of the warmth of the oven waiting to see what experiment pops out next.

Lemon Water, Lotusland, Hello

Hello, Imaginary Friends --

As I type this entry, a wildfire rages in Santa Barbara and my thoughts are with Lotusland, an extraordinary garden that seems to be in the fire's path. I took Dave there for his birthday years ago. It would be sad to lose this historic treasure. If it survives and you haven't visited, I suggest you book a trip there pronto.

I spent the week at an organic juice purification retreat at Kripalu doing research for an article. I'd never fasted before and it was...challenging. I found that the detoxification process made me queasy (a symptom that, according to the instructor, meant my gallbladder was purging). My sense of smell became so acute, I couldn't stomach the potassium-rich root vegetable broth or the enzyme-laden green juice spiked with spirulina. Even the ginger tea didn't sit well. I mostly stuck to lemon water, Emergen-C, and millet. After four days, I emerged radiant, five pounds slimmer, and a little loopy, craving yams and chicken soup.

While the experience was interesting, I can't imagine wanting to repeat it...except for the lemon water part, which I've vowed to keep drinking every day. I'm quite convinced that it, salsa music, and walking Goose in the woods, are key to my mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health.

I hope you all are well. Thanks for stopping by.

Love,
Gina

UPDATE - November 17, 2008
Good news posted on the Lotusland website:

"We are relieved to let you know that Lotusland has survived the devastating Tea fire. We would like to express our most sincere gratitude to the brave firefighters, police, sheriff, and all departments involved in the heroic effort to save lives and property. For further information please check www.montecitofire.com."

Favorite Brisket Recipes?

Beef poster by Steven Norman

I have a certain fear of cooking meat, but the Dutch oven gives me hope of not screwing it up. This morning at breakfast I announced my intention to try my hand at brisket. Dave said, "Isn't that the name of one of Sarah Palin's children?"

I'd be most grateful for any brisket tips.

Squash Mania at Taft Farm

The Economic Collapse Calls for Soup

Note: Not my tableware.

I'm going to break in the Dutch oven today with Irish beef stew. This recipe and photo come via Elise at Simply Recipes Food and Cooking Blog. I'm going to substitute leftover Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale for the Guinness.

Irish Beef Stew Recipe

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 1/4 pounds stew beef, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 6 large garlic cloves, minced
• 6 cups beef stock or canned beef broth
• I cup of Guinness beer
• 1 cup of fine red wine
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
• 3 pounds russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 7 cups)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cups 1/2-inch pieces peeled carrots
• Salt and Pepper
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Method

1 Heat olive oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add beef and sauté until brown on all sides, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté 1 minute. Add beef stock, Guinness, red wine, tomato paste, sugar, thyme, Worcestershire sauce and bay leaves. Stir to combine. Bring mixture to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, then cover and simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

2 While the meat and stock is simmering, melt butter in another large pot over medium heat. Add potatoes, onion and carrots. Sauté vegetables until golden, about 20 minutes. Set aside until the beef stew in step one has simmered for one hour.

3 Add vegetables to beef stew. Simmer uncovered until vegetables and beef are very tender, about 40 minutes. Discard bay leaves. Tilt pan and spoon off fat. Transfer stew to serving bowl. Sprinkle with parsley and serve. (Can be prepared up to 2 days ahead. Salt and pepper to taste. Cool slightly. Refrigerate uncovered until cold, then cover and refrigerate. Bring to simmer before serving.)

Serves 4 to 6.

Your Favorite Dutch Oven Recipes?

Dutch oven and Goose on the porch.

Last night during dinner with my mother-in-law in Connecticut, I mentioned my plan to be all about soup this winter. Dave and Annalena rolled their eyes. Babs asked if I have a Dutch oven. I replied that I have a large pot, like for pasta. She said I need a Dutch oven and that she had an extra one she could give me. So now I have this beautiful blue Dutch oven. What should I cook with it?

Expat Shopping List

A week from today, I'm flying to San Miguel de Allende to visit my mom who lives there. She's asked me to bring down crunchy peanut butter and steel cut oats. It's funny what one misses living in a foreign country.

When we lived in Mexico and friends asked what they could bring us, I always requested Peet's coffee or California wine. Ten years later, good coffee and wine are available in San Miguel, but crunchy peanut butter and steel cut oats remain elusive or they're imported and crazy expensive at gourmet foods shops ("gourmet" should be in quotes, as these stores stock things like US$12 boxes of Hamburger Helper for desperate homesick expatriates).

I'm also going to pack some Berkshire Bark and horseradish mustard, both of which will be appreciated taste treats from el norte.

P.S. Those of you considering fleeing the country if Obama doesn't win might want to check out Expat: Women's True Tales of Life Abroad. (I contributed the opening essay.)

Horseradish Apple Slaw

I've been craving coleslaw with a horseradish kick lately, nostalgic for Fog City Diner's spicy version and lamenting that I sold my copy of the Fog City Diner Cookbook when we moved to Mexico 11 years ago, as the recipe doesn't seem to be online.

The following recipe from a Real Simple e-newsletter appeared in my in-box today. It looks good, though I'll use Greek yogurt instead of sour cream.

Horseradish Apple Slaw

1/4 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
2 teaspoons cider vinegar
1/2 head napa or green cabbage, shredded (4 cups)
2 crisp apples (such as Braeburn or Granny Smith), cut into matchstick-size strips
1 bunch scallions (white and light green parts), thinly sliced

In a large bowl, whisk together the sour cream, horseradish, vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add the cabbage, apples, and scallions and toss.

Guido's Celebrity Sighting

I heard about some ungracious backstage behavior when he performed here earlier this summer and thus gather he may not really be the nicest person...yet my heart skipped a beat this afternoon when I saw D.H. in line for the butcher at Guido's. I was tempted to sidle up to him and strike up a conversation about turducken, but contained myself, as this is the Berkshires where we let our celebrities buy their grass-fed beef in peace.

Best Applesauce Ever

Paige lent me her food mill to make applesauce with our bounty of Macintosh apples. It couldn't be easier to make or more delicious. Core and half a bunch of apples, cook them down for a couple of hours with a little water and a few cinnamon sticks, mill the mush, and add a little sugar. Voila.

What Sort of Apples Are These?

We have a massive, two-story tall apple tree that's now loaded with motley, but edible sweet-tart fruit. Do any of you know what sort of apples they are? What might I do with them other than make a 1000 pies?

Summer People-Free Great Barrington Farmers' Market

Husk cherries from the Great Barrington Farmers' Market
and Truro beach treasures

The market was heirloom tomato heaven this morning. We townies were smug and smiling about having the place to ourselves again.

Interview with Nani Power

Photo by Marion Ettlinger

Nani Power grew up in a small town in Virginia. She studied fine arts/painting in her youth, at Bennington College, and later at Nadia Boulanger’s Ecole des Beaux-Artes Americaines in Fontainebleau, France. In her late thirties, she took a writing class at Georgetown University with Liam Callanan and went on to publish Crawling at Night (Grove/Atlantic Monthly, 2001), a New York Times Notable Book of The Year and a finalist for The Los Angeles Times Book Award, as well as the British Orange Award. It has been translated into seven languages and is in film production.

Her first novel was inspired by a brief stint working as a chef at a Japanese restaurant. She felt haunted by the cultural difficulties an old chef encountered. She explains, “Although he had been educated so well in the art of sushi, because of his faulty English he was treated like an old fool and I could see the pain in his eyes.” From this emerged a powerful tale of urban alienation and love set in a Manhattan cityscape. She adds, “I was deeply affected by the respectful Japanese attitude towards food as a cultural icon. The intense dedication and perfection amazed me. And the chefs were mindful of my respect, teaching me as much as I wanted to learn.”

Her second novel, The Good Remains (Grove/Atlantic Monthly, 2002), was also a New York Times Notable Book of The Year, and a finalist for The Virginia Library Award. “In this book,” she explains, “I strove to paint an entirely different landscape than Crawling at Night. While Crawling at Night was about urban alienation, The Good Remains was about the connectedness of a small town. I also wished to pay tribute to Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.”

The Sea of Tears, her third novel, was published in January 2005 by Counterpoint Press. “I felt a need to explore the only still ‘forbidden’ territory in writing—exploring the realm of true sentiment and feeling, without being hackneyed. A certain cynicism has been lauded in our culture as intellectualism, and I reject that concept. I also wanted to humanize characters from the Middle East, who I felt were being pigeonholed and overlooked culturally in the post 9/11 era.”

Her newest book is a travel/food memoir titled Feed the Hungry. It was published this summer by Simon and Schuster.

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Gina: What inspired you to write a memoir after three novels?

Nani: I started thinking about family recipes and what they meant to me, which led me to remembering lots of things surrounding those recipes. And I’ve been really interested in all my writing in how food creates and fosters memory. That even a bad recipe can be as loved as something good, because it’s churned in nostalgia and love. I had a friend who loved burned food because his mother couldn’t cook. I kind of like the taste of an unmelted slice of butter on cold toast because my grandmother made it that way. Makes you wonder whether we actually "fall" in love or create love around reality.

I also love reading books with recipes because somehow you become involved in the world of the book even more. And then, lastly, I found myself looking at my family’s methods of coping and wanting to understand it more closely. I don't know if I understood more, but I saw my family more three dimensionally, and therefore with more compassion.

Gina: What is a Yellow Bird cocktail?

Nani: Well, it’s this luscious tropical yellow salve my family gulped down by the gallons when we would go to the Bahamas. It has lots of fruit juices, Galliano, and banana liqueur and as kids we loved to suck down the last bit left in my parent’s glasses. Plus, it always had a maraschino cherry in it, which, I’ve learned as a parent, produces some kind of ineffable food euphoria in kids.

Gina: Please share with my blog readers some of your thoughts about rice.

Nani: It’s amazing the many coats that lil’ ol’ grain can wear. I discovered it's really important in sushi culture, maybe more so than even the fish, if that is possible. Sushi chefs initially suss out the quality of a sushi bar by the rice and the omelette (tamago) preparation. Perfect rice tossed with the right combo of vinegar, salt, and sugar really complements the right slice of toro, a mushy version degrades it. Then, later on, I discovered Persian cuisine and found a new style of rice—basmati rice melded with so many flavors—saffron, rosewater, barberries (think tiny cranberries), sour cherries...a typical Persian feast would include at least four different rice pilafs. I think rice has a soothing quality as well. Both of the above cultures eat a thin rice porridge when they are sick, and feed it to their children as their first food.

Gina: We met at the Sewanee Writers' Conference nine years ago. It's incredible to me how many people from that summer went on to publish books. In what ways did participating in that conference impact your life?

Nani: Basically, it kicked my ass energetically. I had kind of just started writing, had about 30 pages of a novel on my computer. When I saw the level of ambition there, I realized I had to get serious if I was going to do this. I kind of lost the amateur spirit and kicked into high gear. Everyone there seemed so driven and accomplished (including you, I remember that). Plus, I felt so at home. I loved that everyone there loved writing as much as I did.

I also learned that I really love air conditioning.

Gina: What are you writing now?

Nani: I’m working on a novel and also a book about Indian vegetarian cooking that I’ve learned from various Indian women in my neighborhood.

My Daughter's Earliest Memory is of Virgin of Guadalupe-shaped Jello

Annalena and I went back-to-school shopping at the Holyoke Mall. High school these days is all about skinny jeans. We popped into Borders where I picked up the September issue of Saveur that has a wonderful cover story about watermelon traditions from around the world.

It got me thinking, again, about Jello (which I know is technically spelled Jell-O, but I can't bring myself to be that corporate here) and I told her that I want to write a story about Mexican Jello.

She said that she remembers Mexican Jello from nursery school in Pátzcuaro when she was two years old. Everyday at lunch they'd eat gelatina shaped liked the Virgin of Guadalupe. She remembers guessing each day what color it would be.

The video below doesn't show any Virgin of Guadalupe Jello, but it does illustrate a bit of the wonder that is Mexican gelatina artistica.

North Plain Farm Pig Roast

The Stanton Brothers' annual end-of-summer local food extravaganza will take place on Saturday, September 6, 4pm to 8pm at their North Plain Farm (205 North Plain Road in Great Barrington). Last year I drove past while the party was underway and it looked like a really good time. I hope to attend the festivities this year. On the menu: heritage breed roast pig, pasture-raised roast chicken, grass-fed veal calf (described on the invitation as "Yum!!"), Taft Farm sweet corn (which I can attest firsthand to being delicious), vegetables galore from Farm Girl Farm (where I haven't been, but my friend Hope subscribes to their CSA and I've told her to tell them that I'd buy a Farm Girl Farm t-shirt in a heartbeat if they had one and I'm sure I'm not the only person who would), local cheeses, local beer, local hard cider.

$30 adults until August 31 ($35 thereafter) and kids 16 and under pay their age. It's BYOP (Bring Your Own Plate) 'cause they're saving the planet. Be there. For information and tickets, call Sean Stanton at 413-528-2092.

Current Reading: Submersion Journalism, Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper, and I Feel Earthquakes More Often Than They Happen, plus Dinner

A smart, psychic publicist at The New Press sent me a review copy of Submersion Journalism: Reporting in the Radical First Person from Harper's Magazine edited by Bill Wasik as she thought I might want to blog about it. She was right; investigative reporters are my heroes. I can't wait to read it.

But first I need to finish Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China by Fuchsia Dunlop and I Feel Earthquakes More Often Than They Happen: Coming to California in the Age of Schwarzenegger by Amy Wilentz.

And before that, I need to make dinner. There were squash blossoms at the farmers' market, so I'm thinking squash blossom quesadillas (minus the epazote and made with cheddar rather than queso blanco, but still: yum).

Nani Power's Feed the Hungry: A Memoir with Recipes

Nani will be visiting this blog soon for an interview. In the meantime, I have an extra copy of her new memoir to give to anyone who'd like it. The first person who posts a comment or sends me an e-mail requesting it, gets it.

Nani on cooking and writing: "These impulses, cooking and writing come from the basic seed of love. We have been moved, touched, by the sensual experience of a great meal, a moving book. We would like somehow to harness this power and give it to others…stories start to tumble out as quickly as the memories of food, because they are all intertwined, food and memory, love and taste, all piecemeal of this lovely sensual world we live in…"

You can read more excerpts and see family photos on her father's blog.