Thyme For Cooking, the Blog

Change: Good or Bad? A return to my hippie youth...

I was slogging through the orchard yesterday; weeds up to my knees.  (It's been too wet to mow.)  I was dressed in my usual manner: ratty, old sweater, gray gym shorts, baggy, white athletic socks hanging around my ankles, my feet stuck into green, all-rubber clogs and sans make-up.  As I walked I was flicking tiny spiders and other assorted bugs off of a handful of just-picked grapes and popping them into my mouth.  My routine was simple: flick, toss into mouth, chew a second, then see how far I could spit the seeds.    The thought occurred to me....I think I may have changed! 

10 years ago would have seen me walking into my office in an expensive but appropriately conservative suit, silk blouse, hose and dark leather pumps on my feet carrying a matching leather briefcase.  What little leisure time I had would have been spent either on the lake or on the golf course; both venues requiring proper dress - or, at least, clean, pressed, non-ratty clothing.  I never even left the bedroom without my face properly made-up, all lotions and potions duly applied.  The food that I ate would have been purchased at a quality supermarket (the one I shopped at had a gift shop carrying, among other things, Baccarat crystal), carefully washed and refrigerated.  I faithfully adhered to 'use-by' dates.  Now I use my nose, a use-by date is usually only an estimate of 10 - 15 days remaining.  And I didn't spit.

What made me relax, about life, food and everything?  I think the biggest factor was just living in Europe.  The people take life more, well, naturally.  At first I was appalled when I saw men pissing by the side of the road.  Then I realized no one else was appalled.  They just accepted and looked away.  On our mountain walks everyone (but me) regularly excused themselves behind a likely looking bush for a minute or two.  Slowly, the suit-wearing persona slid off revealing the hippie of my youth underneath.  And I have to say: It's easier taking life easier!  Less seriously is best!   

I am now hearing all about the E.Coli/Spinach scare.  Of course, it's serious and, of course, it's scary.  But, come on, 1 death and 100 people sick out of 295 million?  Do you think it's, just maybe, a bit over-played?  Does anyone know what goes on in the rest of the world?

People are getting upset because they can't take their anti-bacterial wipes on airplanes to swab down the seats.  I wonder, if I had not gotten away from it all, could that have been me?

Bacteria are everywhere and necessary to our very existence.  If we kill all the good ones who/what is  going to help us fight off the bad ones?  I have rarely been sick since embracing a more natural approach to life - a few times in the first few years is all.  I accept the fact that my chickens...and my eggs, still have feathers attached.  My food comes from the ground and is often dirty, with real dirt, and my meat comes from a butcher wearing a big white, bloody apron...he's a butcher!      

The grapes I was eating probably had been visited by all manner of insects and birds doing all sorts of things on them.  It never occurred to me to take them up to the house to wash them before eating.  It never occurred to me in my hippie-youth either.  And I can spit farther now!  Think of all the fun you miss by having seedless grapes.  That's another thing,  our grapes, oranges, watermelons....they all have seeds.  They are meant to, you know.... 

Yup, I've changed...

Menu for the Week

Not really a post - just a spot for you to comment on the menu in the side bar...
This is for the week of September 29  This week's menu features Lentil and Walnut Salad with Prosciutto, Sauteed Sole with Capers, Cream of Mushroom Soup with Sherry and Game Hens (Little Chickens) with Fresh Herbs.

Hunter Gatherers - Living off the Land

I grew up in the rural Midwestern U.S.  I have never lived in a house that had sidewalk in front of it.  Apparently, however, I am a city girl at heart.  I'm not comfortable enough with my own limited knowledge to forage for food.  I prefer the grocers produce to the bounty offered by nature.  I'm confident (foolishly) that what I pay for won't kill me.  So I have great admiration for people who know plant lore. 

When we lived in Andorra we went up into the mountains every week with the 'Monday Walkers' (as opposed to the Tuesday Walkers - these Brits...always coming up with creative names....).  I invited our Spanish teacher on one of our outings; a German lady who had married a local and lived in Andorra for years.  When we met at the starting point she had no food or water with her.  The rest of us had full backpacks, she had nothing.  I thought perhaps she had misunderstood how long we would be gone.  When I asked her about it she just said that there was plenty of food and water in the mountains. She proceeded to munch on greens, berries, mushrooms, etc. for the entire walk.  When we passed a stream, she'd check it out, then, usually, lean over and drink.  I was in awe!  I mean, I've been known to pick a wild apple on occasion, but this....

Our friend from Spain, who was here last week for the vendange, is not quite in her league but close.  He took the dogs for a walk one afternoon and came back with a sack-full of chestnuts for me.  Then he found the tiniest plums I have ever seen (I assumed that they were poisonous berries).  They were the size of blueberries.  He picked all the ones he could find - said they make excellent liqueurs.   Next he showed me how to mat down the weeds so I could find the walnuts when they fell from the trees in the woods.  Finally we had a lesson in mushroom gathering.

The timing in all this nature lore was perfect.  My garden, that had been over-producing and over-flowing with all things edible, quit last Friday.  It didn't slow down, it just died overnight!  I'm both saddened and relieved.  I am slave to this tiny plot of land no more.  The tomato plants turned brown and the tomatoes got all blotchy.  The courgette leaves turned white with mildew; the squash leaves turned yellow.  In one fell swoop it went from nature's food source to nature's compost pile.
The kitchen counters and gardening tables were finally clear of excess fruit and veg waiting for me to do something to them.  The only thing left were the pumpkins.  I'll give them another week on the vine, just because.  I don't have time this week to deal with them. After all - I have nuts to gather, chestnuts to husk, herbs to dry and, if I can find anymore of those little plums, liqueurs to make.  And I didn't want to leave my poor garden with nothing in it. 

And the sky is blue, the sun warm....a bike ride is on order today...         

Potatoes a la 'Two Fat Ladies'

There is often a question asked of celebrity chefs "What 3 people would you like to have to dinner?"  If I could conjure 2 people to come and take over my kitchen it would be the 'Two Fat Ladies'.  Jennifer and Clarissa had an utter disregard for technique and sterile cleanliness; a complete devotion to all things fresh and local; and totally ignored such bothersome things as calories and carbs.  They roared into a strange kitchen, scoured the local shops and produced fantastic rich and satisfying meals, thoroughly enjoying themselves in the process.  'This is how cooking should be' I would tell myself.  Then go into my own small kitchen (no aga, no giant wooden trestle table to work at, no walk-in fireplace to roast beasts) and carefully chop and measure - there is not as great a margin for error when only cooking for two (as opposed to 20).  I managed to retain a few recipes from all the shows and adapted them for two.   With my herb garden looking better than it has all year it was time to prepare one of my favorites....and no heavy cream or lard in this one:
Potatoes a la Two Fat Ladies
2 - 3 medium potatoes
2 tbs chopped fresh parsley
2 tbs chopped fresh basil
2 tbs chopped fresh rosemary
2 tbs chopped fresh thyme
2 tbs chopped fresh chives
5 cloves garlic
sea salt
pepper
2 - 3 tbs olive oil
1/4 cup chicken stock
With a sharp knife thinly slice the potatoes.  Finely chop the garlic and the herbs.  In a glass baking dish just large enough to hold ingredients make a layer of potatoes, sprinkle with herbs, a bit of garlic, some salt, pepper and drizzle with a little oil. Repeat 4 more times. Pour the stock over all, cover with foil and bake at 400F (200C) for 30 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking another 30 minutes. Top potatoes should start to brown and get crisp. Remove from oven and serve.
As long as the oven was on I decided to bake some Acorn Squash as well.   Rather than the traditional 'cut in half and fill with something sweet' method I opted for something simpler:
Baked Acorn Squash 
1 acorn squash
1 tbs chopped fresh rosemary
1 tbs olive oil
salt and pepper to finish
Cut squash in half and scoop out seeds.  Then cut in 1" (2.5cm) slices the short way.  Mix rosemary and olive oil.  Toss squash slices in oil.  Arrange on a baking sheet and cover loosely with foil.  Bake at 400F (200C) for 30 minutes.  Uncover and bake another 10 - 15 minutes, until fork tender.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve. 
There, not an ounce of lard in either....some bacon fat might have been tasty though....

La Vendange, Part 2: The Red....and who scrubs the stink bugs?

As I was picking the grapes, in the lovely autumn sunshine, I was thinking about all of the scrubbing, washing and sterilizing we did to get ready.  I thought about all the books on wine-making I had read (and had read to me), all emphasizing that "everything must be scrupulously clean".  And I wondered "Who scrubs the stink bugs?  And the daddy long-legs? And the ladybugs?"  These are just among the few non-grape things that make up the "je ne sais quoi" of the vintage.  Not to mention all the shit stuff that is on the actual grape.  Even at the absolute top "we pick every individual berry carefully by hand" vineyard they don't wash the grapes - that's where the yeast is.  The majority of vineyards do what we do:  put the grapes through the crusher, picking out the obvious leaves, stems, sticks and other stuff, hope the bugs that can fly away do so, and let it sit a bit before the actual pressing.  (Warning: icky info ahead)  The stems and leaves get strained out before it gets put into the fermentation barrel; bug body parts will come out at the racking, after the fermenting is finished. 
Our old-fashioned process is as follows:  After the berries are crushed they go into the press (1st photo) which is a concrete basin with a drain-pipe in one corner for draining the juice.  The cave is under the press.  Mon mari hooks a hose up to the pipe and the juice goes from the press directly into the fermentation barrel.  After crushing we let the grapes sit overnight.  (you can see the first problem with the 'scrupulously clean' theory - no way to cover the grapes!)  Next we take a clean, aluminum shovel and mound the grapes up under the crusher.  To even out the pressure, boards are lain across the grapes and stacked up to the crusher mechanism.  You can see they are dyed purple from years of use.  Next, using a hand crank, we lower the weight and press the grapes.  My job is to crouch in the corner (lower left) and, using my hands and a strainer, keep the juice moving and the berries out as it flows into the barrel.  There is a strainer cap over the barrel as well to catch the big pieces, but everything moves so fast a lot gets missed.  It will ferment in that barrel until December or January, then get racked off into another barrel, the dregs left behind.  We'll taste it in March and hope it's good drinkable.  The last photo is our ever-faithful wine dogs, my Emma (left) and her brother, Wellington, who has come, with his human, to help.  As I am tapping on my keyboard the boys are out washing, scrubbing, and cleaning all the equipment to be stored for another year.  As to the stink bugs.....

Menu for the Week

Not really a post - just a spot for you to comment on the menu in the side bar...
This is for the week of September 22  This week's menu features Goat Cheese en Croute, Shrimp Creola, Wild Mushroom Omelet and Pork and Red Pepper Risotto.

La Vendange, Part 1: the White

La Vendange has started!  We don't really have that many vines; It just seems like it.  We have app. 360 rose wine vines, 200 red wine vines and 100 white wine vines.  Each year, starting in January they have to be trimmed, tied, thinned, trimmed, sprayed, sprayed and sprayed (Bourdeaux Mixture) and, finally picked.  The picking part is the one that every one enthuses about; the end product; warm September days in the sun picking luscious, juicy grapes.   No one ever waxes poetical about standing in the freezing muck in February, trimming....I digress.
It's time for the fun part.  Still, there is a lot of work preparatory to the picking. The picking buckets have to be washed.  The big, food-grade plastice bins have to be sterilized.  The small press and the large press have to be scrubbed and sterilized, all the pressing boards hosed down, the secateurs located, then the whole lot left to dry in the sun.  Then, we get to pick.  Yesterday we picked the white.  It's not much work, sort of a trial run to get us in the mood for the big job.  We use the small press for the white wine.  There aren't enough grapes for the big one.  We don't have a mechanical crusher so the white grapes are put into the big plastic bins and 'crushed' with a big wooden mallet.  (We borrow our neighbors crusher for the big crop - it's rather old, He's 93 and the crusher was made by his granfather.) We don't let the white grapes sit, but press them right away.  We have a small press that will do all of our white grapes in 3 batches.  We have a very poor crop this year.  The first year we got around 50 litres (65 bottles).  This year we only expect about 25 litres.  Did I mention that we have no clue as to how to tend grapes?
After the juice is pressed out we have this lovely compact 'cake' that makes a great addition to the compost pile - gets everything fermenting nicely...although the smell and the bees will keep one away from it for weeks...
We put it into a 25 litre glass jug for the initial fermentation, then we'll rack it off and put it into a  new oak barrel (a little one) for about 6 months.  The first year's white we threw out; last year's was drinkable, we have hope for this year.
This is Sedi, the grape eating dog.  She wouldn't touch a piece of fruit if you handed it to her, but, take her to the vineyard when we're picking and she very happily runs along the vines eating as many of the low hanging grapes as she can grab. 
Today: the red and rose....Tonight, the long hot bath ....Off to work....

Tomato Glut: What to do When the Compost Pile is Full

I've made salad, sauce, soup, salsa and juice.  I've pureed, mash, strained and peeled.  I've frozen, canned and thrown away.  And every time I go down to the potager there are more.  There are now more green ones than all the ripe ones put together.  In an effort to reproduce before winter they are ripening at lightening speed.  I picked 20 on Friday, 28 on Saturday and on Sunday, well....I didn't go.  God only knows what I'll find today.  Before you ask why I planted too many - I planted the same as I do every year.  This year was just, well, BIG! 
Fortunately Lisa, over at Champaign Taste was roasting tomatoes.  So, less work: no peeling, puréeing, mashing or straining; I grabbed that thought like a life raft.  Besides, it's been cool and we don't want to turn the furnace on yet so having the oven on all day is a good idea..... 
The first thing I made (after the roasting) was Tomato, Cannellini and Pasta soup using the roasted tomatoes instead of fresh....Wonderful.  I used a whole pan of roasted regular tomatoes and made a big batch of soup.  We have a friend coming for the vendange so I need extra food on hand.  Next day I roasted another pan (8 1/2" x 13" glass baking dish - full of chopped tomatoes - see 1st photo).  Since I didn't know what time he would be arriving I wanted to be able to throw a quick meal together.  This is about as quick as I can do - assuming, of course, that the 5 hours of roasting is done ahead:

Pasta with Herbs, Tuna and Oven-Roasted Tomatoes
Fill a baking dish with quartered (or 'eighthed') regular tomatoes.  Bake at 300F (150C) for 4 - 6 hours.  I ended up with about 1 litre (bit more than a quart)
3 cans tuna (5 oz cans)
3 tbs snipped fresh basil
3 tbs snipped fresh chives
2 cups dried penne pasta
Cook pasta.  Drain tuna and break up.  Snip herbs.  Gently reheat tomatoes if not hot.  Combine all and serve.  Easy, huh?
That took care of the red and yellow, 'regular' tomatoes.  I still had the Romas.  Fortunately my oven can do more than one thing at time.  Those I just cut in half, dipped in olive oil and herbs and let the oven do the rest.  (For more complete instructions check Champaign Taste)  They were in the oven with the others but, while the regular tomatoes ended up roasted but somewhat juicy and with a very thick sauce, these ended up looking like, well, roasted tomatoes.  They're wonderful as is or chopped and put into sauce.   A few went into the Veal with Wild Mushroom Sauce in place of the fresh...as well as on the plate for the veg.  As to the rest: I have one bowl in the fridge that everyone knows about; that is disappearing fast although no one admits to eating any.  I have another bowl that's hidden in the back....plus, there is always the potager and the possibility certainty of making more.  Now that the dreaded courgette zucchini have stopped I can go back to the garden in safety....

The Herb Garden: Preserving the Food; Avoiding the Bugs

Important lesson:  always wash the basil before using....and look at the underside of the leaves.  I don't know who/what laid this cluster of eggs but I, while I realize that it probably would not have added significant protein or flavor to my tomatoes, I am just as glad that I noticed it before it was on the end of my fork.  I have always been on the 'fraidy' side when it comes to the denizens of the garden: spiders still terrify me; centipedes send me screaming and those giant stag beetles  have to be the scariest/ugliest thing I have ever seen!  They could be in a Spielberg movie!  Thank god they don't move fast.
I am, slowly, learning to appreciate the beauty of some of these creatures.  This Praying Mantis that was on my winter savory, for example; and, in Andorra we had the prettiest bright green spiders - outside.  Last year I found a walking stick in my herb garden that was easily 8" (20cm) long! 
Back to the herbs:  After 2 weeks of rain and cool followed by 1 week of hot my herb garden is looking as good as it did last spring.  I had cut it all back severely during the August heat and it has grown back, lusher than ever.  Time to start cutting and preserving again.  I used to dry my herbs for cooking (now I just dry them for scent) but, after buying my big vegetable freezer, I switched to freezing.   It preserves the fresher, summer flavors that I like, it's less work and, for the small amount of dried herbs I still want it's easier to buy them.  I still dry sage and laurel (bay) leaves, but I only pick the nice, big ones and dry them on a tray.  I also freeze sage leaves; it is the only herb that freezes well naked: just lay them out flat until frozen, stack them up and put them in a freezer bag.  They retain their shape and color.  Most other herbs will turn black if not covered in a liquid of some sort.
The rest of my herbs: basil, thyme, parsley, chives, garlic chives, lemon thyme, tarragon, oregano, marjoram and summer savory I freeze by snipping or chopping, putting in ice cube trays and covering with a bit of chicken stock.  Spearmint and peppermint I cover in plain water so I can use them in teas.  In all cases, just pop them out and put in labeled freezer bags.  I also do basil in olive oil: put lots of fresh basil in the blender, pour in as much olive oil as needed to puree and put into the trays for freezing.  This is a good base for pesto - add the cheese and nuts before using (it freezes better without them).  I also use it for flavoring: tomato sauces; drop a few cubes into the Basmati when cooking; ...whatever.  Because my big freezer is frost-free (which tends to dry things out over time) I put half of the herbs in regular freezer bags for immediate use and  'double-bag' the other half for better preservation - and the second half of winter.
Because I was such a good, industrious girl I got to go on another beautiful bike ride.  This was on the coast, near La Tranche sur Mer, and part of the trail was an actual bike path through the woods (instead of the usual 'side of a busy highway').  Made me feel like I was back in Minnesota/Wisconsin...except for the occasional glimpse of the Atlantic, that is!

Menu for the Week

Not really a post - just a spot for you to comment on the menu in the side bar...
This is for the week of September 15  This week's menu features Salmon with Mustard Cream, Stuffed Tomatoes, Grilled Veal Chops with Wild Mushroom Sauce and Pizza Vesuvius con Atun.