a sampling of some fresh picked wine berries, huckleberries and wild blackberries – a gift from my friend jack on my birthday last month

it’s not that i’m not cooking. because i am. there are gatherings of friends and just plain hungriness resulting in well, dinner. i even sometimes whip out the nikon and snap a few lame shots but these days not so much. and i’m not sure what’s come over me. but just the thought of posting on ceF was beginning to feel like ‘work’ and god only knows we wouldn’t want that to happen to a nice woman like me… after all, my lack of ambition is my greatest luxury. (i stole that line from my friend emily and have been using it ad nauseum but only because it is SO TRUE.)

but we’ve been to chicago and then i went to cleveland. dallas is this week and seattle comes next. i’m doing the 4 day cooking gig again come the first of october and then i’m off to nyc…  and all i want is to go back to italy. is that asking so much? IS IT? but honestly, i’m not complaining. it’s a charmed life. the past week or so has pretty much revolved around trips to the park in much appreciated cooler than normal temps, so after a 9 week hiatus i’m back on the bike and fighting the fat (albeit somewhat of a losing battle).

but mostly – if i could just say, i’m so deeply grateful for this amazing life that i get to live that i could cry. for those of you that read the sunday ny times magazine section yesterday, we are the fortunate ones…

ok – back to food…

presenting… a summer dinner. grilled corn with flaky maldon salt and a squeeze of lime. grilled tomatoes with thyme and a farro salad with a slightly overcooked poached egg on top. i’ve got just a vague recollection of what was in the farro salad but i’m thinking it was pequillo peppers and goat cheese – and something else but remembering is difficult…

best beans ever. rancho gordo cannellini’s with grape tomatoes, basil, thyme, lemon zest and juice, some potlikker, finely minced anchovy, a very good olive oil, salt and pepper. i think that was it but i’ve no idea because i can’t recall a damn thing.

lamb meatballs with a cherry sauce over whole wheat couscous finished with mint leaves. a lot of ingredients went into that sauce until it was nicely balanced and pretty damn impressive tasting. but i’m not sure exactly what i did – because of my memory…

all cary ever really wants for his birthday are two (2) angel food cakes with his grandmother’s ’7 minute boiled icing’. the icing becomes slightly hard on the outside and then yields to a slightly marshmallow like goo on the inside. ruhlman’s angel food cake from his bestseller ‘ratio‘, takes this cake to where it needs to go – from spongy and boring to totally delicious. in my opinion it’s all in the weighing of the flour and then using both lemon juice and vanilla. for your viewing pleasure i give you 4 pictures as they were all so awful i just couldn’t choose… this is the whitest cake in america and despite the absence of any fats and the overabundance of sugar, somehow it just works.

my icing technique is legendary. obviously.

moving on…

i phone pics before i bought the 3Gs. but this is the wonderful donnie madia pictured at his flagship restaurant blackbird. for my money, he and eduard seitan are the best restaurateurs in chicago with blackbird, avec, the publican and the newest addition, a tacqueria opening very soon. donnie’s attention to every detail is second to none with a modern sensibility that slays me, as i am highly susceptible to such things. with executive chef and partner paul kahan at the helm of the kitchen, it continues to be a recipe for greatness. we were in chicago for only 4 nights and ate at avec, then publican and then blackbird – finishing up with an anniversary dinner at tru, a gift from my mother. and for a whopping $425 that included only one glass of wine, it paled in comparison by such a long shot that i can’t even begin to explain the differences in the food except to say that in the end, blackbird kicked tru’s ass – big time. tru is supremely elegant and the room is lovely. it’s quiet and serious and the servers are ON IT. but dinner at blackbird was once again phenomenal. oh AND best negroni ever – hands down.

so, a few things… and please again – forgive the poor photo quality.

salad of endives with crispy potatoes, basil, dijon, pancetta and poached egg = sheer perfection. not kidding. this salad was incredible in every way.

chilled cuttlefish noodles with green garlic, red onion jam, trout caviar, nasturtiums and buttermilk = amazingness. i loved it.

wood-grilled california sturgeon with english peas, braised peanuts, crispy bacon and bourbon caramel = seriously impressive.

cary had the organic pork belly and crispy sweet shrimp with chinese broccoli, preserved green tomato and black pepper. he started with the pistachio gazpacho with ahi, watermelon confit, sea beans and cocoa. both were smashing.

this was my idea. sorry.

desserts were wonderful. donnie brought us three and each one was greatness. ricotta fritters with compari, rhubarb and pine nut ice cream, pistachio panna cotta with a raspberry consommé and brown butter ice cream and a torn black sesame cake with pineapple that looked a little something like this that was  – out. of. this. world…

avec, a bit more down to earth, is my favorite restaurant in all the land. and at the publican, albeit a bit on the loud side, we had an abundance of seriously excellent food. beer, oysters, fish and pork. just splendid.

chicago is such an extraordinary food town… thank you donnie.

south west of chicago. mies van der rohe’s masterpiece – the farnsworth house. i wept in its presence. it is genius if not impractical.

no tinkering with picassa was going to help this photo taken through the door of my oven. it was shredded zucchini and yellow squash with minced garlic, chiles and ricotta. i stole the idea from city house restaurant here in nashville. their’s was far better and i’m going to work on this because it was frustrating that i couldn’t replicate it. i need to call chef tandy wilson and ask for help. plus my chiles were so strong that they almost hurt. so, fail, although not in an epic way…

the project – buy 20 lbs of balaton cherries from earthy.com and use 10 to make some cherry bourbon hooch. i’ll get back to you in 6 weeks on how it turns out and if you’re on the short list, it’s what’s for christmas, so no surprises here. the other 10 lbs. became a salted cherry vanilla bean balsamic compote.

oh, and jack’s arm after blackberry picking. the things friends do for friends…

dear readers, i’m past the point of caring who chooses to defend this statement – but overall, the mexican food in nashville is Not. Good. it is the subject of many a local conversation and frankly, i am OVER the topic and am currently inconvincible of anything otherwise. for the most part, i’ve just given up. unless of course i decide to go it on my own – which i did – but not really. because hey, i have new foodie friends. and they not only love to cook, but they’re extraordinarily agreeable and easy to get on with which totally helps this fledgling relationship because the older i get the more ADD i become which can often make hanging out with me a bit of a chore.

so brad is the ‘true cook’ of the couple, but that joanna… she is very well versed in the art of the knife. and any woman that can happily slice and dice while making interesting conversation in my kitchen?  total keeper. there are those that cook in solitude, and i do this most often. no tv, no music. the time goes by quickly and i am more than content. but if you were to offer to help? i’d put a knife into your hands before you could ask ‘what’s for dinner?’ i love to "direct" in the kitchen. and when i win the lottery i’m not hiring a personal chef, i’m hiring a personal sous chef.

we decided to do a saturday night dinner thing, and i had fish tacos on my mind because i just happened to be in the room when martha’s show was on and emeril had just signed his life away, jumping onboard the ‘martha-god’ mothership. so the BAM-man was nervously smiling and kissing martha’s golden ass – while subserviantly making a poblano and avocado salsa to put over his halibut tacos with a grilled corn salad on the side… and well, despite the whole media love-fest freak show happening before my eyes – i was carefully paying attention. because i love me some fish tacos. truly, deeply and with feeling.

grilled fish tacos with roasted chile and avocado salsa
very adapted from emeril via martha (because i can)

2 poblano peppers
1/2 haas avocado
2 T olive oil
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
juice of 1 lime
1/2 t salt
1 t cayenne powder – or to taste
1 halibut fillet (about 1 lb)
white pepper and salt
olive oil for your cooking surface of choice
8 corn tortillas
chopped onion
cilantro and avocado as toppings

blacken the skin of the peppers directly on your stove top or grill personally, i use a butane torch which works surprisingly well cool, remove skin and the seeds (i let them sweat in a covered bowl and use a tea towel to rub off the skin) add to blender peppers, avocado, oil, water, onion, cilantro, lime juice, salt and cayenne blend till smooth season the fish and grill however works best for you heat the tortillas then you put it all together and you turn yourself around cause that’s what it’s all about…

grilled corn salad
adapted from emeril via martha

we opted to omit the tomatoes and if i had it to do over i would leave them out again as i think they would detract from the dish.

4 ears of corn, in their husks
2 jalapeno chiles
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 T very finely chopped garlic
1/4 cup cilantro, roughly chopped
2 T mint, roughly chopped
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

submerge the corn under water while in their husks and soak for an hour, then grill the corn over a low to medium heat for about 25 minutes until the husks are blackened. do the same with the jalepenos for about 6 minutes or so. remove husks and silk from corn, remove kernels from cob and place in a large bowl. stem, seed, and finely chop the jalapenos and add to bowl with corn along with the onion, garlic, cilantro, mint, lime juice, olive oil, and salt. stir to combine and serve

brad suggested a side of beans to round it all out and after days of (i am so very sure) relentless hand wringing and agonizing over how he might seriously impress me with a killer dish – he decided upon a red mole which i then strongly insisted be paired with not just any bean, but with my vaquero ‘rancho gordo’ beans and brad happily obliged – not that he had much of a choice after my 10 minute non-stop dissertation on the many and varied attributes of those beautiful heirloom beans of which i have become so fond. i soaked, cooked and lightly salted the beans and brad arrived with a bowl of the mole from rick bayless’s book, ‘mexican kitchen‘ – and quite honestly the dish was phenomenol if not the best thing we ate all night. today, when i glanced at the recipe in the book i saw precisely why that was – as well as why i instinctively winced. it’s a total major production – if not reminiscent of my all too recent and never to be repeated mole making experience. joanna remarked how the mole would be even better the next day and i told her it was too bad that she would never know, and then refused to let them bring any of the leftover beans home – because i am like that. i’ll tell you about the exploding dessert when i am able, recovered and ready to talk about it.

which is like so not now…

if the title of this dish doesn’t make you stop and look, then there is something terribly wrong with you.  or you are a vegetarian.  or you have a corn allergy.  or you are from mars.  but here and all at once you’ll be delighted to find: cream, corn, french fried onions, bacon, butter and cheese.  hey – it’s holiday food.  live a little.  or kill yourself slowly.  in this instance they’re one and the same.

timing being everything i came across this recipe while hunting for some new ideas for the big T day.  this one was from bon appétit’s ’03 november issue and the restaurant widow was vouching for it bigtime.  so i decided it was ‘in‘ and put the ingredients on my shopping list and bookmarked the epicurious page.

somehow this dish took friggin forever to make.  and you know why?  because i decided that after years of ‘durkee french fried onions’, i was going to make my own even though some of the epicurious comments said to go for the canned.  what were those folks thinking?  i mean, i, like many of you grew up on “durkee’s atop the green beans in the condensed mushroom soup” scenario - which i will never ever eat again no matter what.  i could be a contestant on ‘fear factor‘ and i am not touching that glop.  i know it all too well - and i wouldn’t go there nor expect you to.  not even for the sake of gaining an extra 30 ‘onion slicing/dredging/frying’ minutes of my life back…  not, dear readers, after all we have meant to each other over these past 6 or so months.  it’s scratcharooni or bust.  you can count on me.

i made both the top and bottom the day before and stored them separately.  i followed the recipe exactly – except for the 5 or so changes i made.  so i guess that’s not really exactly.  anyway, here’s my version.

creamed corn gratin with fried onion rings and bacon
(adapted from bon appétit’s nov. 03 recipe)

1 1/2 cups fresh breadcrumbs made from crustless french bread
7 thick bacon slices, chopped
1/3 cup all purpose flour – or more if you need it
1 large red onion, thinly sliced into rounds
1/2 cup (or more) vegetable oil
10 green onions, chopped
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
1 large onion, chopped
8 cups frozen corn kernels (about 2 pounds 6 ounces)
2 cups 2% milk
1 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup quick-cooking grits
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 1/2 cups (packed) coarsely grated monterey jack cheese (about 6 ounces)

preheat oven to 350°f. spread breadcrumbs on rimmed baking sheet. bake until lightly toasted, about 10 minutes.

sauté bacon in large skillet over medium heat until crisp. using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towels. transfer 2 tablespoons bacon drippings to heavy large pot; reserve for creamed corn. discard remaining drippings.

place flour in medium bowl. sprinkle with salt and pepper. separate red onion slices into rings and toss in flour to coat lightly. heat 1/2 cup oil in same large skillet over medium-high heat. working in batches, add onion rings to skillet and cook until golden brown, adding more oil as needed, about 2 minutes per side. transfer onion rings to paper towels. mix breadcrumbs, bacon, onion rings, and half of green onions in clean medium bowl. sprinkle topping with salt and pepper.

butter 13x9x2-inch baking dish. add butter to pot with reserved bacon drippings; melt over medium-high heat. add chopped onion; sauté until light golden and beginning to soften, about 6 minutes. add frozen corn; sauté 5 minutes. add milk and cream; bring to boil. gradually stir in grits and cayenne pepper. reduce heat and simmer until mixture thickens slightly, about 3 minutes. remove from heat. stir in cheese and remaining green onions. season with salt and pepper. transfer creamed corn to prepared dish. (topping and corn can be made 1 day ahead. cover separately and chill.)

preheat oven to 350°f. bake gratin uncovered 25 minutes. sprinkle topping over; bake until topping is slightly crisp and creamed corn thickens and is heated through, about 20 minutes longer.

i wish i’d taken a prettier shot but it’s just not that kind of dish.  no need pretending we’ve got the makings of food porn here. 

it’s just all the right stuff in a pan.