MOODY FOOD

There are two perennial conditions I can set my watch by. One; my pre-holiday angst. And two; its accompanying bi-polar tendencies.  One minute wild-eyed and railing at the injustice of a doomed to-do list, I can be transported by a carol or a snowflake or a child’s smile (but mostly by a strong, black coffee). And voila.  Like holiday magic, I’m brimming with love, joy and goodwill for all humankind.

The only thing that never changes- never, never, never- is my need for food. Good food and lots of it. Nothing like the anticipation of a great meal to carry a momentarily crazed woman to another dimension.

So I love this recipe during the mad rush of the season. It’s all those things we appreciate (quick, healthy and delightfully delicious). But most importantly, it’s a mood changer.

SAUTEED SHRIMP: IT’S ZESTY  FOR THE TESTY 

This is my adaptation of a recipe by Canadian Chef Michael Smith.

½ cup olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined

Juice of 1 lemon

Zest of 1 lemon

½ cup chili sauce

2 ripe tomatoes, diced

¼ cup horseradish

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 bunch fresh parsley, minced

4 scallions, sliced

In a large, heavy frying pan, heat oil over low heat and cook garlic until just to starting to release aroma and before it starts to brown. Add shrimp, increase heat to medium and until they begin to turn pink. Add remaining ingredients up to parsley and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and stir in parsley and scallions.

Serve over rice pasta if you would like. But really, it can stand alone.

Pumpkin Stuffed with Goodness

I've been sooo looking forward to making this divinely decadent pumpkin from the incomparable Dorie! Although mine looks absolutley nothing like hers, it was pretty darn good anyway. Will have to make again with tweeking. The point is, just hollow out a 3-4 pound pumpkin, stuff it with bread, cheese, garlic and cream. Then bake for a couple of hours at 350 degrees. I know a certain someone, who though refuses vegetables on principle, would most eagerly and joyously devour the inside!

Steak Salad with Potatoes, Leeks and Bok Choy


There are times when I am wildly in-love with life, with food, and yes- with myself. Last night was one such time. Being a semi-committed vegetarian, my constant challenge is the care and feeding of the four carnivore males in my life (or as I like to call them, the carni-fours). They are a fast living, high energy, sports loving bunch; as represented by their food consumption. So I’m sure you can imagine the protests if I were to make say…. a salad.  For main course? For dinner!?A ...salad?! Oh the unspeakable atrocity! And yet…. If the "salad" involves some sort of animal product and if said salad were actually served warm. And if I don't actually refer to it as a "salad", well then, that's another story, isn’t it?
You see, it's all semantics.

(Bonus! If you wipe up the pan before you eat, the only dish to wash after dinner is the serving bowl!)

STEAK SALAD WITH POTATOES, LEEKS AND BOK CHOY

1 large strip loin beef steak, about 2" thick
Steak spice
Seasoned salt
Dried oregano
Dried chile peppers
1 pound small potatoes
Olive oil
Pepper and salt
1 large leek, thinly sliced (you really have to soak these well, and scrub between each stalk)
6 baby bok choy, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ lemon
Small bunch of dill, minced
¼ cup pickled peppers, chopped
¼ prepared antipasto
1/3 cup Creamy Dijon-Tomato Vinaigrette (recipe to follow)

Ok, so a couple of hours before starting dinner liberally season the steak with steak spice, seasoned salt, oregano and chile peppers. Let it hang out on the counter.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Scrub the potatoes and cut them into halves or quarters, depending on the size. The thing is you don’t want people to have to cut up huge pieces of potato in their “salad”.
Place the potatoes on a parchment paper lined baking sheet, toss with olive oil and pepper and salt. Roast for about 40-50 minutes, or until a bit brown on the outside, soft on the inside. (I roast them on the top rack for first 25 minutes, and the bottom rack for the remainder of the time.)

Preheat a heavy oven-proof fry pan to medium-high. Add a little clarified butter if you have it, or maybe a bit of oil.
When the pan is good and screeching hot, sear the steak. About 2 minutes per side. Then transfer the steak, right in the pan, onto the center oven rack. Roast it for about 8 minutes, or until still reddish in the middle. It will cook more as it rests.
When the steak done, remove it from the pan and cover loosely with foil on a cutting board.

Meanshtvile, using the same pan that the steak was cooked in, heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil. Sauté the leeks until are soft, and then add the garlic and bok choy. Sauté another couple of minutes. Now add about ¼ cup of water and bring to a simmer. Add the lemon and cook for 4 minutes or until bok choy is soft.

Transfer the potatoes to a large serving bowl and toss with the dill, pickled peppers, antipasto and vinaigrette. Slice the steak on a diagonal, very thinly. Now add the steak and bok choy mixture to the potato mixture. Top with a little extra dill for presentation, and serve.



Creamy Dijon-Tomato Vinaigrette

¼ cup white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons sour cream
2 tablespoons ketchup (Surprise! That’s the tomato portion!)
1 garlic clove, crushed
¾ cup olive oil
Dash of salt and pepper

Whisk together everything up to the olive oil. Then drizzle the oil in slowly, whisking away madly all the while. This is even better after it sits a couple of days.

AN “APPLE A DAY” TOO MANY? BEET IT!!

Scenario: Return from vacation.  Fridge; devoid of food. House; full of guests. Status; hungry.  Expected produce delivery; no-show.  Condition; critical.

Resourceful Solution: Backyard; prolific fruit tree. Husband: a quick apple picker. Pantry: leftover pickled beets. Talented (albeit unconventional) food photographer; niece Madi.

Result: Household; satiated and satisfied (although not very photogenic).

BALSAMIC AND PICKLED BEET SALAD

Here’s a salad that goes gorgeously with fall roasts; beef, pork, or chicken.

Salad:

2 cups baby pickled beets, halved

2 cups apple slices

2 cups sorrel (if you can nab some from your neighbour’s garden)

1/3 cup crumbled goat cheese

1/2 cup toasted pecans, coarsely chopped

. Season lightly with pepper and salt. Then toss the joyously coloured conglomeration together with the dressing(below). Use just enough to coat. Top with extra pecans and goat cheese if desired.

Balsamic Dressing:

½ cup balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

2 garlic cloves, minced

Salt and pepper

1 cup olive oil (I happened to have Walnut Oil on hand, so substituted ½ of that. Oh my goodness)

Mix vinegar, mustard, garlic and salt and pepper. Slowly incorporate olive oil, whisking all the while.

                                            

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Shrimp Bisque

SOUPY SEND-OFF

Parents of college children realize that summer, supposedly a carefree time of familial togetherness, has transformed into one long goodbye. We are preparing the chickies to fly the coop and parents to inhabit it alone. One popular parental coping technique is denial. This method works well until reality (that buttinsky), sticks its nose in and blows. At this vulnerable time parents must be careful to guard against unpredictable bouts of weepiness, due to the high annoyance potential. To mitigate the angst, you could adopt a “why suffer alone?” school of thought, perhaps by inviting everyone you know over to dinner. Thus, you have an opportunity to showcase your triumphant victory over self-pity while grieving and celebrating simultaneously. A handy skill.

SHRIMP BISQUE

A large bowl of this can take the sting out of any situation. Let go, and bask in the bisque.

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

Large onion, minced

4 cloves garlic, mince

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

3 cups marinara sauce  (Marinara could not be easier. All I do is throw about 4 sliced cloves in a sauce pan with some olive oil. Gently heat for about 1 minute (be very careful not to burn it). Then toss in a 28 ounce can of good quality tomatoes (San Marzano are great), maybe some basil (or thyme or oregano) if you have it, salt and pepper. Crush the tomatoes with a spoon, bring to a boil. Then simmer for 10-15 minutes.)

12 ounces low-sodium chicken broth

1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 teaspoon Tabasco

¼ cup light cream

½ cup heavy cream

½ cup chopped parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil with the butter over medium high heat. Add onions and sauté until golden. Season with a little salt and pepper. Toss in garlic and red pepper flakes for 30 seconds. Add marinara and chicken broth, bring to boil. Reduce to a low simmer for about 30 minutes. Add shrimp just until they turn pink, about 2 minutes. Now add remaining ingredients and heat through. Await your applause.

(If I serve this as a prelude to a meal, I allow only a small cupful for each person as it’s very filling. However, I always get conned, by the usual suspects; into serving another helping.)

Change of Heart

From the minute I wrote the last line in my previous post, I knew I would be reneging. I won't be posting the African recipes at this time. Given the horrific situation in Somalia(and getting worse), I haven't got the heart to write about food from this area. I don't know what the moral aspects are, I just know I can't do it.
The good news is, our Canadian government is matching, dollar for dollar, any donations we send to Somalia. Once again, I'm moved to emotion by being so inexplicably blessed to be from this country. As Warren Buffet says, it is simply by "winning the ovarian lottery".

FEAR OF GIVING DANGEROUSLY

THE FEAR OF GIVING DANGEROUSLY

The angst began on a gentle summer eve, my birthday dinner. A fun-filled, lavish affair with worldly pleasures aplenty. Since that night, however, I have been plagued by one concern: my life of excess and its global impact. More specifically, can I continue to live a rich and hedonistic lifestyle, and still feel good about myself?

Here’s how it happened. In the midst of the merry making, my cousin casually snatched the bottle of wine my husband I were sharing. She proceeded to drain the last bit into her glass. As she still had wine left in her own bottle, I assumed she’d gotten confused, so I informed her, “Sarah, that’s our bottle.” To which she replied, “Oh, I see. You don’t like to share.” 

Now, the fact that it was my birthday notwithstanding, this little comment stung. It has thrown me into utter crisis, rendering me unable to enjoy even the most basic of material pleasures. It obviously touched on some inner turmoil of which, until that night, I had been blissfully unaware. How do I know how much I’m allowed? 

So I did the only thing a rational, mentally healthy person would do. I made a detailed list proving my selflessness. The list contained charities to which I donate, international foster children I support, gifts I’ve purchased, everything I do for my husband-my kids- their friends- my dog, people I’ve fed, hospital visits I’ve made, world crisis’ I’ve reached out to in my own limited way. And the ultimate “do-gooder” clincher; door to door canvassing. 

Sacrifice upon sacrifice. 

  I proudly presented the list to my therapist. She was not impressed. 

Throw out the list she said. We don’t place value on ourselves by listing our charitable contributions. So, throw out the list I did. I would need to tackle the dilemma in a different way.

This is easier said than done, for I have the added complication of menopause, supposedly a time to shake off the shackles of martyrdom. I am washing estrogen, the caretaker hormone, down the drain at a startling rate, and with it my need to sacrifice. How to reconcile a life of generousity with my menopausal goal of defining boundaries, exerting my needs? What about time alone, finding pleasure in daily existence? Will all this have to go? Will every waking moment be spent visiting widows and invalids? Will my own life become completely inconsequential? Where will “I” start and “they”, all these needy people, end? 

And what about my cousin’s need for yet more wine. Will this too become my responsibility? 

I then came up with a brilliant solution, a win- win. I decided I would perform a good deed per day. This way I get all that giving stuff over with and can go on in my self-interested way; guilt free. I consulted some wise and wonderful women in my life about this plan. They said it sounded like a good idea and could be fun. I explained that it may be a good idea but the point was it wasn’t supposed to be fun. It was supposed to hurt, to be a painful sacrifice or else it doesn’t count. 

Catherine replied, “Oh, the hair shirt.” 

Yeah, I thought. That sounds right. 

So, am I giving to give or just to punish myself in some “hair-shirt sort- of way”? My friend Sue wants me to research this further. This is a woman who can accomplish more in one hour than I can in a well planned month. I thought she knew everything. Turns out this is a subject that stumps her. 

“When are you being generous and when are you just being a doormat?” she asked.

Beats me.

“Keep writing,” she told me, “and when you figure it out, let me know.” 

Hmm.

Shirley, (the kind of woman who waves her optimism like a golden wand with blazing sun atop), summarized. “You give when it feels good.”

“That’s the only time?”  I asked, aghast.

“Yep.” She said.

I’m now finding that generousity sort of erupts spontaneously, organically. I don’t know if I’m always a generous person but I am given to acts of generousity; fits if you will. 

Enter, again, my therapist. If you can give without resentment, she says, fine. No one wants your resentment. 

AND... it’s okay to give to myself. In fact, she says, it’s imperative. Because only then can I truly give to others.

  What a relief. It’s the first time I’ve relaxed since my birthday. I think today’s good deed may involve a little gift to myself. A bottle of wine perhaps? 

AFRICAN BOOK CLUB DINNER

As a result of all this pathetic rumination, the African Dinner book club was born. It seemed a perfect combo of my love of friends, love of cooking and an urgent midlife desire to contribute a little something. Here, we have a night of African food, in solidarity with the women we were hoping to help.  I had a display set out describing the plight of women in Chad and Darfur. And in what unexpectedly turned out to be a brilliant maneuver, I had my two adorable little nieces in charge of taking the donations. What I didn’t foresee was that my nieces allowed no one to enter the party until they had handed over a sizable donation. Any attempt to forestall the giving was met with tears and contempt by my young humanitarians. Anyway, I can only hope the women of Chad and Darfur benefited by my nieces’ enthusiasm and adorability. 

I am now completely in love with African food, though admittedly my knowledge is limited to North Africa. After many hours researching the net, here is the menu I adapted. (stayed tuned...recipes in next post!!)