Adapting

It wasn't me who soaked dad!!!I have a whole new routine now.  Instead of coming home from work, pouring a glass of wine, and preparing an involved, gourmet meal, my day now revolves around the boy's schedule which understandably leaves very little time to cook.  It's amazing how exhausting our days can be, even though our big adventures are usually our walk around our neighborhood or maybe meeting a girlfriend for lunch.  We all look forward to bath time.   The boys love the water and the chance to soak mom and dad.  The other night I was dangling Alex's toes in the lovely warm water, when dad asked me a question.  I turned, still holding the super soaker, I mean Alex.  He took aim and sprayed the wall, the roll of toilet paper, and dad.  It was very, very funny. 

As part of my new routine, after the boys go to bed (hence the reason why I like bathtime) I get to cook our dinner.  It usually still involves a glass of wine and a gourmet meal, but with a lot less effort.

We have been eating  a lot of grilled fish this summer. Grilled Halibut with Meyer Lemons, Rosemary, and ThymeThe most important trick to grilling fish is to oil the grate before you cook.  That way the fish doesn't stick to the grate.  Secondly, don't overcook the fish!  This sounds simple, but it is very, very easy to do.  My advice is to take a glass of wine outside by the grill and just watch the fish.  Pretend that the piece of fish is a pancake--when the top of the piece of fish starts to turn opaque around the edges, flip it.  Cook on the second side for 3-4 minutes until the second side is marked with clear grill marks.  The overall cooking time depends on the thickness of the fish and the temperature of the grill.  My favorite fish to grill are snapper (it's thin, so it will cook quickly), salmon (I marinated a couple of salmon steaks in Toigo orchards bourbon apple bbq sauce.  It was yummy), and halibut.

And now I'm off to go bathe the kids!

Mary, Mary Quite Contrary How Does Your Garden Grow?

My herb gardenGrowing up, we had a huge garden.  I use to love to "help" my dad weed the garden (i.e. sometimes pull weeds, more often dig up plants).  I still have fond memories of eating a tomato, still warm from the sun, like an apple or picking corn and immediately cooking and eating it without any butter on it because it was so sweet.  Even though I get lots of fresh produce from the farm markets it is nearly impossible to duplicate these flavors. 

Unfortunately, I'm not able to have quite as ambitious a garden now.  I still plant some tomatoes, but mostly I plant herbs.  Herb gardens are wonderful.  They are relatively low maintenance, they add tons of flavor, smell great, save money (who ever uses an entire bunch of name that herb if you buy it in the grocery store), space efficient, and--as long as you bring the planters inside--you can grow them year round.  Thankfully, my belly hasn't gotten in the way of the bbq....yet

I'm currently growing thyme, oregano, rosemary, basil, sage, lavender, cilantro, mint, and lemon verbena.  I managed to kill my parsley (to my green thumb's credit, however, a bug decided to lay eggs on the plant, so technically it wasn't me who killed the parsley) and basil (that was my fault).  Luckily, for $2.50 I could replace the basil.

I use fresh herbs in almost everything I cook.  Lemon verbena has--you guessed it-- a lemon flavor.  It's great with poultry or in salad dressing.  Last night, we had grilled lamb chops that I marinated with rosemary and mint (click here for the recipe).  It was an easy meal and very flavorful thanks to the fresh herbs.

Eating for Three

As some of you may or may not know, I've been eating for three over the past eight months...we're expecting twin boys in another month or so.  While this may have been a great excuse to try lots of new recipes, pregnancy has actually made it quite hard to cook.  Imagine cooking, while sea sick, with a forty pound bag of dog food strapped to your chest.  It's not that fun.  trust me.

I've been making simple meals, lots of take out, and sometimes even my husband pitches in.  I'm not complaining, he really does try, but I think he perfected his cooking during college when gourmet was sticking an entire box of pasta in a pot, not stirring it, and then consuming the "pasta log" with a knife and fork.  Unfortunately, he hasn't made much progress... the other night we had an argument on how to make ravioli--he insisted that you didn't have to use much water or stir the pot and that there was no need to heat up the sauce since it would warm up once it mixed with the hot ravioli.  don't try this at home!!!!!

Now that summer is here, I can't resist the kitchen.  Unfortunately, it's difficult to stand for long periods of time, so I have resorted to sitting down to prep the meals.  it works though!  It's early in the season, but I have been able to get delicious tomatoes in the farm market.  Summer GazpachoGazpacho, paired with crositini and crabs, is a delicious and easy summer meal.  I usual serve it with Maryland lump crab meat or smoked fish (trout or salmon are delicious) to add protein.  I also made delicious crab cakes--the key is getting high quality lump crab meat (you really can't beat maryland crab).  Although you need some spice and bread crumbs for flavor and texture, use restraint or else you will overpower the crab.

Here's to being barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen....

A Perfect Day for Chicken Soup

Homemade Chicken SoupIt's a pretty miserable day in Washington.  Maybe it's the cold and wet and cold weather, or maybe I'm just trying to procrastinate changing my closets from summer to winter clothes, but I gave into a craving and decided to make chicken soup.  My grandmother was a terrible cook except for her chicken soup.  I still use her recipe with a few additions.  Here are some keys to good chicken soup:

• Don't add too much water--since chickens vary in size, only add enough water to cover the chicken.  The vegetables you add to the soup give off a lot of water (and flavor)
• Parsnips are crucial--parsnips look like a white carrot, but they are much, much sweeter.  They add a lot of flavor to the broth.
• Make the soup the day before you want to eat it--ok, I cheated today and had some for lunch, but it does taste better the next day once all of the flavors come together.  It also allows you to skim the fat off the top of the soup once it solidifies in the refrigerator.
• The soup is done when the lima beans are cooked-- seriously.  
• Always add flanken when you make the soup--flanken are beef short ribs cut from the center of the rib.  If you can't find flanken, use beef short ribs.  They add a lot of flavor to the soup.
• Don't be afraid to use salt--You don't want the soup to be salty, but salt adds a ton of flavor.
• Chicken Soup always makes you feel better!

Luck

I'm definitely a lucky person.  I have a great family, great friends, and a great life in general. Good things seem to just happen to me.  That is until I get on my bicycle.  It all started several years ago, when the most reliable bike shop in New Mexico improperly installed the rear derailleur on my bike.  There I was practicing clipping in and out of my new pedals when all of a sudden the bolt fell out of the derailleur and the derailleur lodged itself into the back wheel of my bike, leaving me and my bike in a tangled heap on the ground.  Since then there have been multiple crashes, one including a Mac truck (I won't go into details) and a particularly spectacular crash today while I was biking with my husband, enjoying the beautiful day and the WO&D trail.  Since the incident with the truck, I prefer bike trails to the open road.  My mistake.  We were under a bridge biking along a pastoral little stream when a biker shoots around a blind turn IN MY LANE heading straight for me.  There was nothing I could do except yell several profanities and brace for the head on impact.  It wasn't pretty.

MoussakaSo what does any of this have to do with food?  Absolutely nothing except for the fact I really need to cook dinner tonight to decompress.  I purchased some beautiful eggplant at the farmer's market this morning, so I think I am going to make moussaka with roasted garlic pasta.  I love moussaka.  It is a lot of work--not difficult, but just involves many steps.  The results, however, are worth it.  Instead of frying the eggplant, I bake it in the oven.  It's less greasy and the results are just as good.  For my filling, a use a combination of lamb, tomatoes, red wine, cinnamon, mint, nutmeg, cloves, garlic and onions.  It is savory and delicious.  I bought some nice looking mushrooms in the market, so I think I will throw those into the filling as well.  As is traditional, I place a layer the eggplant on the bottom of the pan.  I then add all of the filling followed by another layer of eggplant and then bechemel sauce on top.  You cook the moussaka until it is golden and bubbly.

It's already 5:30!  Unless we want a midnight snack, I better go cook!