here's to george. he didn't die. (a nearly vegetarian gluten free thanksgiving with a swiss fella and an australian couple)

grandpa

fall is always about family. starting in september, we have family birthdays all the way to november. and then there's thanksgiving.

home sweet home

it might not sound too terribly unlike anyone else's family. after all, thanksgiving is a time of reflection and celebration. but in my family, it's also a time to be thankful that george didn't die.

george was a teacher who came over on the mayflower. tracing the menfolk, my line goes thusly: George, George, William, George, Benjamin, Ebenezer, Stephen, Justus, Melville, Earle, John. john was my mom's dad.

when i was little, i thought it was the Coolest Thing Ever. as i got older, and learned about genocide (and other fun atrocities), i realised just how distorted the story was. it's not like the pilgrims showed up and everyone got together with the natives and they held hands and were BFFs. That's the vision we're taught in kindergarten. at least that's how my generation was taught. pre-Howard Zinn. (to be fair, my parents were always honest with me; we were not strangers to Indian Grinding Rock State Historic Park, and my mother introduced me to Ishi at a fairly young age). from a very early age, indeed as far back as i can remember, ive been a part of this history. history is real. history gave me life.

my, arent we hot stuff? 

and this is why i love thanksgiving.

well, that and it's a chance to make glorious food. after all, the origins of thanksgiving stem from a 3 day fête of merrymaking and feasting.

no matter where in the world i'm living, i make sure i have a thanksgiving.

in my family, just like in most USAian families, there are certain staples that are Just Necessary. we are a green bean casserole free household, but we always have dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry, and pumpkin pie. oh, and turkey.

thanksgiving in China, 2008 

i have very fond memories of my chinese thanksgivings wherein i made stuffing and mashed potatoes to share with my students. one year the chef from the teacher's cafeteria wanted to make us a turkey and pie. i have no idea where he found a turkey, and they had to split it in half for it to fit in the oven, but he was quite pleased with himself. the pie wasnt half bad either. a student translated our family recipe and he took some creative license with it.


but all the USAians appreciated the pie. a can of cranberry was shipped to china and we shared a special moment with just us and the red glop.

this year, the mister and i shared thanksgiving with two aussies. nicola made the pumpkin pie and mashed potatoes (and a roast chicken for them), and i took on the rest.



we nearly had a cranberry crisis. apparently, and much to the surprise of the shopkeeps who were not understanding why people with a crazed look in their eye kept surfacing and asking for the berry, the cranberries were sold out and the latest shipment had not arrived. but cranberries were eventually found, quite at the last moment, and there was much rejoicing. and kisses. lots of thank you kisses were given. to the mister. not the berries.

this year i used alton brown's recipe as my muse. i altered it thusly:
1/2ish cup freshly squeezed orange juice
3/4ish cup honey
4ish cups cranberries

i also made a roasted mushroom stock for our gravy and for the dressing.


 this year the dressing was altered once again. i do keep the basic frame of the treasured family recipe, but i am a trouble-maker. because nicola is a celiac, and i dont make it a habit to poison my friends, i decided to use half GF bread, and half cornbread. i made the cornbread much differently than my usual because i wanted it to be more corny.

1 1/2 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup GF all purpose flour
2 teaspoons GF baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 cups milk
1 tablespoon honey
2 tbsp olive oil

then, because i cant just change one thing, i steamed and peeled chestnuts, browned some butter with fresh sage, and added celery.


then i stuffed it into onion shells.

that's what im talkin about right there.

i roasted some butternut squash and made an apple compote with dried cranberries and fennel to glop on top.



dried cranberries
1 apple
1 fennel bulb
1 cup apple juice
splash of Calvados
throw all ingredients into a pot and cook until it seems right.



i then prepped the salmon dish.

i made a glaze with balsamic vinegar and rosemary honey, and dredged some carrots and fennel in that. i cut a pocket into the salmon and stuffed it full of sauteed leeks and garlic, and some chopped pear.

by that time, my sweet potaters were cooked through, so i smashed 'em, threw in some pecan chunks, and squeezed in some orange juice and zest.  once we got to nicola's house, we covered the potatoes with greek yogurt and goat cheese.  we also had a cranberry cocktail (gin cosmo!).  and bananananana cake.

almost ready! missing the sweet potatos (still in oven!) and chicken 

and then! things were shoved in the oven, potatoes were mashed with garlic and sour cream, gravy was made with cornstarch, and we laughed a lot.

we had wine.  we ate. we had more wine.  we ate.  we had some wine.  we ate.

and then.
aaaaaaand then.
aaaaaaaaaaaand theeeeeen.

there was pie.

nicola did a gorgeous job.

plus we got to take some home. pie for breakfast? damn right. the mister says this is a tradition he can embrace. he also asked if we could have pumpkin pie for breakfast every day.

salad, sammies, and something tasty for dinner

the bounty this week from christian's parent's garden was frisée lettuce and chard!

i love salad. this one, in particular, was delightful.
i used:
a nectarine
2 carrots
a bunch of frisée lettuce
some dried cranberry
2 boiled eggs

and for the dressing, i combined mustard, vinegar, honey, and olive oil.



these days, it's like switzerland remembered there wasn't much of a summer, so it better get down to business and provide one.  it has been quite warm! lausanne is on a huge hill (the elevation ranges from 372 m at the lake to 929.4 m at the top of the hill), with lots of small hills, so walking around town these days makes one hot and sweaty and ready for something cool an crunchy.

this salad beautifully combined the sweet of the fruit with the bite of the lettuce. plus it was pretty.  i love the colours.

the plan was to sprinkle some pistachio nut on top, but truth be told, i forgot.  until i was halfway through.  and by then, i was not going to run into the kitchen and shell a handfull of nuts to crush to enjoy.

while we were in the airport in madrid, the unthinkable happened--i ate something.... tasty!! can you believe it?! i still cant.   it was a lovely tuney fish sandwich with raisins in it.  and that got me thinking.  know what goes with raisins? apple.  know what goes with apple? curry.  and my lunch was born.

ive always been a bit of a monotonous tuney fish maker.  mustard, dill, fish, yogurt (or occasionally mayo).  my routine changed a little after living in china because adam always made tuney melts, so that became a standard for me.   but still, it was pretty routine.  not saying it's not delicious, but still.  so when i bit into the sandwich in spain and there were raisins, i was surprised and delighted.  this sandwich, inspired by that sandwich, did not disappoint.

the bread here is awesome, but the "toast" isnt. "toast" is sandwich bread. it doesnt matter how many times i've protested that "toast" isnt toast until it's toasted to no avail. if you want a big sandwich, you have to buy the american "XL" toast. it's white processed junk. i am happy to know there are whole grain sandwich breads here. because yuk.


i am a sucker for something crunchy with this kind of sandwich so i munched on some dijon potato chips the mister bought and, i think, forgot about.

after mixing the shredded apple, raisins, drained fish, yogurt, and curry, i let it all hang out before i assembled the sandwich. i wanted the flavours to get a chance to know each other.

i'm glad i did.

i'm also glad i had some swiss chard!! or, as it's called here, chard.  since we had some big healthy leaves, i decided to stuff and bake them.


i used:

5 mushrooms
2 cloves garlic
lovage
goat cheese
1/4 cup uncooked red quinoa
lemon slices


i cooked and fluffed some red chard (i used a mushroom stock instead of water), chopped the mushrooms and garlic and chard stems, minced a handful of lovage, and combined that all with fresh goat cheese.

a lemon was sliced and the bottom layer of my roasting pan lined with the fruit.  these slices serced as a way to keep the rolls from hanging out on the bottom.  lemon stilts.

i chopped off the chard stems earlier, when i was preparing the mixture, and cut the leaves into a lily pad shape.  basically, i cut a v out of the bottom, removing the stem.

to make the rolls, i lay out the leaf and crossed one side over the other, to get rid of the V , plunked down some of the mixture towards the top, and rolled it, folding the sides in.


each roll was balanced on the lemons.  once the pan was full, i added enough mushroom stock to cover the lemons, but not saturate the rolls.

these were incredibly filling.  i was so stuffed after one, i wrapped my other one in plastic wrap and ate it for lunch later in the week.



i had a tomato that needed to be used and some room in th pan, so i gutted and filled the tomato with some leftover quinoa.

the mister made himself a seared steak to have with the chard

next up: the mojo experiments have begun!!

Bon Appétit

faire son miel de quelque chose: zucchini

this week, we got some gorgeous squash from both christian's parents and his great-uncle. this is all well and good, and we appreciate it greatly, but the timing of this motherload is not ideal as we leave for vacation tomorrow. we managed to whittle away at some of the squash already, but as of this morning, we still had two mammoth sized zucchini to wrestle with. what to do? make soup! and then? make bread! and more bread!

i roasted one ginormous zucchini, a large fennel, shallots, and onion with just a little olive oil and some fresh thyme from the balcony.

meanwhile, i grated one monster zucchini and put it in a colander, with a bowl underneath, to drain. i salted the shredded bits and let the salt help all the liquid escape. after some time, i pressed the zucchini to make sure i got the water out. that water became the base for my soup.

next, i made bread. the oven was already warmed from the vegetable roasting, but i lowered it to 350°/175°

my ingredients include:
2 cups flour (i used half whole grain, half all-purpose)
1/2 teaspoon each baking powder and baking soda
pinch of salt (pistachios have salt and the squash was salted earlier)
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 cup shredded zucchini
100 g of pistachios, divided by 3, and whatever rosemary was hanging out, chopped
2 tsp lemon juice
zest of one lemon

i whisked the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. in another bowl, i beat the eggs and added the sugar and oil. once blended, i dropped in the yogurt, lemon zest, and juice and stirred again. i added the wet to the dry and mixed until just combined. i pulsed the nuts in the food processor to break them up a bit, and then added a small pile of chopped rosemary. i folded in the zucchini and pistachio and rosemary mixture, and ta-da! batter. deeeeeelicious batter. i poured the batter in a prepped bread pan and baked it for nearly an hour.  the house smells amazing! one zucchini gifted us three loaves of bread.
we're going to munch on one loaf and take the rest with us on the aeroplane, give one loaf to christian's sister who is minding our flat, and (hopefully) freeze the last.

the soup i served with a blob of goat cheese and yogurt, mixed with chives, fennel fronds, and thyme.

and tomorrow, we leave at the crack of dawn... (photos  later. i really must to bed!)

In which our Hero decides to listen to folks

i love to cook. and bake. luckily, my partner loves to eat. we work well together. i cannot say how many times i harass him with the age old question, "hey there, hot stuff, what do you want for dinner?" the answer is usually a look of exasperation, a blank stare, or a mindless uttering of "something good."  in other words, yes please.

 i've been sharing my food creations with friends and family for quite a time, and for quite a time friends and family have urged me to write about my chefs-d'oeuvre. and why not? i look back at old photographs of the tasty treats ive made and i dont always remember what i did. so here i am.

im sitting on our balcony at present and the birds are singing like mad.  it's 9:20 in the evening and i still have enough light to write and enjoy the view of the alps in front of me.

i just ate dessert.

cherry and rhubarb crisp

tonight is a rare night when the mister isn't home in which i go ahead and make a dessert. but basically, ive been eating on my own since sunday, so why the hell not. he's really busy this week. his mom gave us some goodies from the garden (you will notice some themes) and i have had a wonderful time making things.  like what i just demolished.

i removed the pits from the cherries and chopped the rhubarb into moons.  i mixed that with some candied ginger chunks (not a whole lot--maybe two pieces?) and some almonds.  i threw the makings into an oven-proof dish.  then i combined some wheat flour, some grains (not just oats--quick oats dont really exist here), some coveted brown sugar (not so much, just a little), and butter.  i mashed that up a bit and topped the fruit.  then i put it in the oven (at 200° C) for half-hour-ish? i lost track of time as i was listening to the birds and talking with my dear laura in california.  the mister came home with nice cream the other day--something i dont think i've bought in the 2 years since ive lived here--so i went ahead and helped myself.  deeeeelish.

dinner this evening was a lovely chard pesto. i chopped some tomaters to put on top for kicks.  and for colour.  i like to cook with colour.

chard pesto: chard, garlic, basil, cashews, olive oil

which reminds me of last night's dinner, pineapple surprise.  the surprise is there's no pineapple. 

SURPRISE! 

pineapple surprise is an original recipe, though it changes with the tide, and whatever we happen to have floating around.  i usually make pineapple surprise with cilantro but we didnt have any and the markets were already closed.  i just used some chard.  the standard ingredients that dont change include bell pepper, black beans, onion, and mango.  it's also normally served with corniebread, though brown rice is not a bad choice.  you might have noticed that i wrote  corniebread, not cornbread.  this is not a typo.  corniebread is not your typical cornbread.  no, no, it's bright and colourful.  just like me.  ive been making my cornbread this way since 1995.  it just tastes better.  and i love cornbread.

2 eggs

1/3 cup oil

1 1/2 cup milk

3 tbsp melted butter

2/3 cup sugar 

1 1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup cornmeal

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp bkg powder

mix wet ingredients in one small bowl.  mix dry ingredients in another bowl.  slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.  pour into prepared baking vessel of choice.   

corniebread requires this slight variation: 

after the ingredients are poured into the baking pan, put a few drops of food colouring into the mixture and swirl around with an egg beater, fork, or instrument of choice.  

commence baking.   35 minutes at 350°/175° ...or until a toothpick declares itself clean.  

the recipe for pineapple surprise is as follows: 

sauté onion.  add bell peppers.  add lime juice (squeeze limes and lemons with the cut side up.  it lets the juice run down but not seeds).  add mango.  add beans.  stir stir stir.  eat.  

i like simple food.  just because something is simple does not make it bad.  pineapple surprise is a quick and healthy dinner.

another rather quick dish was what i had for lunch yesterday.  i have no name for this recipe as of yet... but let's just call it yumm-o!

i often make a huge batch of quinoa to keep around for salads. sometimes i make it with coconut milk because i am wild and crazy. i had some hanging out in the fridge, and some strawberries that needed to go. also some asparagus that was looking a little sad (i think it was the last of the season...nooooooooooo!).  there was also chard and rhubarb from my mother-in-law.   i sautéed a shallot, added the asparagus, added the rhubarb, gave those a whirl, and added the chard just at the end so it would be bright and green and full of nutrients.  then i plunked all that on top of the quinoa, added a few strawberries, and that's that.  the rhubarb was quite tasty--it added a lovely zing to the dish.  almost lemony! 

simple and tasty.

also simple and tasty was the pizza i made on sunday.  now, usually i make my own dough.  but i must confess.  this time i used a ready-made that fell into my grocery baskey last week.  oops.  well, i did what any savvy lass would do: i ate it.

i had some goat cheese, some mozzarella (the pizza dough had friends in the baskey), some asparagus, two nectarines (gonk) on their last legs, fresh basil, and one can of tomato paste.  ask my mom about me and tomato paste sometime.

i made a quick sauce with the tomato paste and herbs (dried basil and oregano), layered on slices of moo-zarella, and lovingly arranged the rest of the goods.

after i baked the pie, i added the fresh basil and devoured it.  well, half of it.  the mister was lucky enough to enjoy some when he got back sunday evening.

the last dish i would like to share was also thematically simple.

quinoa, chard, lime, goat cheese

i zested a lime into a bowl, juiced half the lime, and added in some goat cheese.  then i let that hang out.  meanwhile, i made a fresh batch of quinoa (i did not use the coconut milk batch but just regular ol' water).  when the quinoa was halfway done, i threw some chard into the pot.  i let it simmer, then turned off the heat and kept the lid on for a minute to let it steam.  then i emptied the bowl in with the chard and quinoa and juiced the other half the of the lime.

i ate it with an avocado.

you can eat anything with an avocado.

anything.

anything. 

bon appétit <3