Improvisation

I did something radical last night: I went to the store (Eli's Manhattan) to get ingredients for dinner.  And I had no idea what I was making.  I'm a list-maker and a recipe-follower; I don't generally just show up for the party without some sort of plan.

The key to spontaneous food shopping is to mentally catalog what you already have available at home and, if you can't remember for sure, hopefully you can call someone at home and have them check.  Adam regularly fields calls from me, asking if we have such and such ingredient in the fridge.  For instance, in this case, I knew I had pizza dough from Fresh Direct that I had put in the fridge to thaw just that morning.

So with pizza crust in mind, I went into Eli's.  As I perused, I thought about shrimp - what about a shrimp pizza?  Which then jogged my memory about a shrimp pizza I had at Ramblin Jacks in Olympia, Washington way back in 2000 when we lived there.  In my memory, it had shrimp, Brie, and apples on it; it looks like they're still serving something similar, sans shrimp.

Okay, so shrimp and Brie on the pizza.  Now what?  I was then reminded of shrimp skewers that Amy made when we were visiting them: bread cubes and shrimp tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper, and fennel seeds.  Shrimp and fennel seeds is a sublime combination.  But what about a vegetable?  Maybe baby spinach?  Sure, why not?  So I threw that in my cart too.

I generally like to have two separate pizzas - for variation - when I make them.  I also had two crusts.  Eli's had some gorgeous figs (from California, of course) so I grabbed those.  Blue cheese sounded too rich so I grabbed some ricotta - I thought they would be a good combination.  And I had ham in the fridge at home - maybe I could add that.

And I went home to put it together.

I shared all the above information just to illustrate my thought process.  It's all about thinking about tastes you've enjoyed before, putting them together, interpreting them differently.  And not being afraid to try something.  You might fail, but so what?  I still had cheddar cheese and a loaf of bread at home - if I made inedible pizza, we could always have grilled cheese.

Here's how it turned out:

The fig pizza wasn't great, I have to be honest.  Figs and ricotta?  Great.  But it needed something...  I initially thought about walnuts, but I don't think that was it.  It needed brightening.  Maybe lemon zest.  Maybe red pepper flakes.  The blue cheese might have been the way to go.

The shrimp pizza was absolutely fantastic, though.  Brie and shrimp is a wonderful combination, and the fennel seed added some pep.  You could even add some actual roasted fennel.  I do think that, doing this again, I would add lemon zest to this as well.  I believe it was Mark Bittman who said, "I never regretted adding lemon zest to anything."  I subscribe wholeheartedly to that way of thinking.

I'm not going to regularly experiment like this - I still enjoy the list-making, menu-planning, and premeditation.  But this was fun; I like pulling from my previous memories and experiences of great meals.  Not to mention that, when you improvise like this, you begin to gain more and more successes.  And your confidence in the kitchen grows.

Eat, drink, and step outside your comfort zone.

Gwyneth

I feel weird admitting this but I have ambivalent feelings about Gwyneth Paltrow. I saw her in Sliding Doors first, then Shakespeare in Love (with a small detour at Moonlight and Valentino - LOVED the scene where she's playing air drums!)...and decided that if I were to look like anyone else but me, I'd want to look like her. And there's a little of the WWGD feeling in me: What Would Gwyneth Do? She's impeccably groomed, well-spoken, engaging, glamorous, fashionable...so how would I react to a situation if I were as seemingly pulled-together and self-possessed as Gwyn?

Then I saw Spain...On the Road Again with Gwyneth, Mario Batali, Mark Bittman, and Claudia Bassols and only adored her more. I mean, BFFs with Michael Stipe?! Those big sunglasses and pashminas?! Yes, please.

Then GOOP happened. And I got pissed off. Why? Because I have real issues with celebrities who try to claim "I'm just an ordinary person." That attempt to make us believe that they're just like us little people. Um, no, you're not. I could go on a rampage here, but I'm certain I don't need to - you know what I'm getting at. Long rant short: no, you're not like me. And until you're in my shoes, stop proclaiming to be. I totally felt like Gwyneth went there.

So I cook recipes from Spain...A Culinary Road Trip with ambivalence these days. Like tonight. I was desperate for something to cook tonight and ultimately turned to Spain. And I found it: Pan Con Tomate and Catalan-Style Spinach. With a side of jamon Serrano? Yes, please. This is what happened:

It was heaven. Exactly what I asked for. Simple and easy to make, but the flavors were gorgeous and refreshing. Unbeknownst to me when I planned the meal, it also straddled the changing seasons perfectly: it was comforting and warm, but still seasonal and fresh.

You'll notice that I changed up the Pan Con Tomate recipe a bit. I had plum tomatoes on hand. I split one in half and rubbed it all over the bread, like the recipe said. All kinds of pulpy juiciness all over that charred bread. But I still had two tomatoes left over. So I chopped them up and tossed them with salt, pepper, and lemon zest. Spread them over the bread. Finished with flaky salt and lots of pepper.

Also, I didn't have the dried currants that were called for in the spinach recipe so I used dried cranberries to great effect. Definitely feel free to substitute.

So, dammit, GP still wins. The score? Gwyneth: 4, Laura: 0 (reference the migas, as well as the empanadas and tortilla espanola). She and Mario make a killer cookbook and travel memoir - perhaps I should forgive her GOOP and just channel her fabulousness.

Eat, drink, and be okay with who you are...even if it's not Gwyneth.

Let's hit the links!

• Georgeanne Brennan, who I fell in love with after reading Pig in Provence , has some great suggestions for using leftover bread. I've already used a couple of her ideas to great success. I love that she mentions breadcrumbs tossed with pasta: carbs on carbs is one of life's great but simple pleasures. Don't think about it - just do it.
  
• The Washington Post had an article about the growing number of recreational cooking schools. I also recently read about one in NYC. This is actually something I was thinking I'd like to do post-culinary school. But not if everyone else is doing it...
  


• Mark Bittman writes about having dinner with Patricia Wells. Which is only a dream of mine. One day - mark my words - I'm going to attend one of her cooking classes in Provence.
  


• I've mentioned my local cheese shop, Cheese of the World, before: Zagat said it was the best place for cheese in Queens. Well, apparently their supplier didn't let them in on the 300% tariff on Roquefort news. My husband mentioned the tariff and our favorite guy (nicknamed by us "Handsome Guy") had no idea what we were talking about. Handsome Guy gave Adam a bar of chocolate (Cafe-Tasse!) as a thank you and was calling his supplier as Adam walked out the door. Read this at Murray's Cheese too. Now there's word that the tariff has been delayed a month while the U.S. and France negotiate.
  


• I'm currently reading The Foie Gras Wars: How a 5,000 Year Old Delicacy Inspired the World's Fiercest Food Fight by Mark Caro. Thus far, it's a fascinating read. Caro takes a journalistic approach, much like Michael Pollan and Jennifer 8. Lee. For an interesting argument, read this review.
  


• Want to take better food photos? For the Love of Food has some terrific suggestions and hints, and not all of them require expensive equipment.
  


• I was rather surprised to see Alice Waters smiling at me from my NY Times Sunday Business section this past weekend. Civil Eats posted an interesting personal reflection, inspired by the article (note: it's decidedly pro-Alice...and it's a shame that I feel I need to state that as a disclaimer. Sigh).
  


• Lest we get too precious and foodie-like, I'll post this link. Thanks to Adam for sending this to me - he inspired my stomach bile to rise while sitting at my work computer this morning.
  

And in a complete departure, I'll link to something children's literature-related. Collecting Children's Books discusses a science book from the 1940s, and I think you'll want to take a look at the illustrator. Reading this post was an exceptional way to start my morning.

Stand up in the cafeteria and stab them with your plastic forks!*

It's been a difficult couple of days for me in the blogosphere.

First, through Bitten, I found this article by Tom Lee, which takes Alice Waters to task for elitism relating to her proposal for school lunch programs. Let's start with Bittman's comment: "...we forget that most people in the United States neither know nor care about such things, and that a large percentage of those are not, in general, eating well." I get what he's saying: we foodies can get a bit "precious" about our food. But I also have real problems with the thinking that, just because people don't know or care, we shouldn't try to raise awareness, fight for the integrity of school lunches, and share our passion with any who will listen. When it becomes elitist is when someone - let's take Bittman as an example - sits in their fancy kitchen, waxes poetic about organic school lunches, but doesn't actually do any real work to make it so. By definition, I am an elitist. Alice Waters is not. She has done the real work.

I get what Tom Lee is saying and I did agree with him that Waters is shooting for the moon and we might want to think more practically. BUT I don't think she's "dicking around" by using terms like "organic" and "locally produced". Not only that, but I resent his saying so. She's done most than the rest of us with the Edible Schoolyard, proving that it's viable and it can make a difference. And I have real problems with a system that has made "organic" and "locally produced" so difficult to procure: why should these be the hallmarks of the elite and pretentious? They shouldn't be. Alice Waters is right. I could really go off on this for ages, but I fear that I have already proved that I can't be terribly articulate about these sorts of things. But do read the article and think for yourself about it. Because I think we can all agree this isn't going away anytime soon.

The other article I read was from this week's NYT Dining section: "What's Eating Our Kids? Fears About 'Bad' Foods" by Abby Ellin. It just rubbed me wrong. Or maybe I'm only having one of those weeks... I guess I should have expected some backlash. But it just seems to me that the article is focusing on such an extreme example and holding it up as truth to all us foodies: Beware! Your kids could end up like this! Even the graphic accompanying the article is ridiculously sinister and foreboding. The article is focusing on the sensationalistic, the extreme and the alarmist. I'm disappointed.

Along these same notes, I have had some interesting discussions with Adam lately about drug addicts, religious fanatics, and foodies...and how they're all related. I made some flippant comment about religious zealots being a bit like drug addicts. Adam disagreed, pointing out that, if you were to ask a drug addict, they would probably agree that the whole world should not be addicted to drugs. The difficulty with the fanatical religious folks is that they think everyone should be addicted. Well, there's also a bit of this in the foodie too...and I have to admit there are certainly parallels. I've talked here, here, and here about the "conversion experience" and I totally want everyone else to have one. I don't understand why more people don't care and I desperately want to make them care: if only they could see, they would understand. I want people to see that the life of a foodie is the right one. Definitely parallels, I can't deny it.

I have some book reviews coming up so stay tuned. I promise they'll be frothy and fun...no more of this heavy dwelling. A little less coffee...more Champagne, please!


* Pleeeeeeeease forgive my blog post title. It's a quote from Pump Up the Volume. I couldn't resist.

A Tour of the Week's Foodie Articles

I've been doing some touring of the major newspapers today, reading the food and wine sections. Here are some gems:

In Paris, a Critic Criticized by Elaine Sciolino (NYT)

Wow. I had the BEST time reading this article. Chefs and restaurant critics…they suit each other so well, as it’s all ego…and then more ego on top of that. Mr. Simon is certainly correct in trying to take chefs down a notch, but he has also clearly been put on a pedestal (perhaps he put himself on that pedestal). Anyway, it’s all subjective, isn’t it? How many times have I sat at a table with my husband, my family, my friends…and we have all had different impressions of a meal. Or of a restaurant’s ambiance. Food, and the experience of it, is such a deeply personal, sensual, and entangled thing that I – quite frankly –find the role of the critic superfluous: the experience that a single food critic has in a restaurant cannot possibly relate to the experience I would have, even if he and I were in the same restaurant on the same day at the same moment. Indeed, even if we were at the same table. So then what is the role of the critic other than to listen to themselves criticize?

Fresh Start for the New Year? Let's Begin in the Kitchen by Mark Bittman (NYT)

Mark Bittman (or “Bitty” as Mario Batali calls him in Spain…On the Road Again) lists pantry must-haves for the New Year. I love what he says about lemons: “I never put lemon on something and regret it.” Ditto. Also ditto on the dried parsley and basil – this isn’t a matter of opinion, people…get rid of them. He also recommends banning canned beans and going for fresh instead. I’d like to take issue with this: I’m a working mom, and it’s a challenge to get even canned beans on the table…let alone something that needs to soak overnight! But he might sell me on this – if I could exhibit a little foresight, I could do it over the weekend and freeze them in serving sizes. I’m open to trying it; I just have to get in touch with my Inner Planner. And I absolutely agree with him on the tomato paste – buy it in a tube versus the can. Also, he’s right on the prosciutto or bacon – having either or both of these on hand has saved me on many, many weeknights.

She Brings Enthusiasm to the Table by Lisa Zwirn (Boston Globe)

This is an interesting piece for all you working parents out there. Unfortunately, I found the article a little too slapdash: “See, working moms and dads? It’s easy and simple to have family dinners every night!” I get a little rankled by broad generalizations like that. Minus the 1-2 “adult dinners” that Adam and I have each week, we do eat dinner as a family every night. But I won’t try to tell you it’s easy, and I don’t think others should. It’s a challenge and it takes lots and lots of planning, practice, and fine-tuning. It doesn’t just come naturally. I felt like this article made it sound as if it did…but I suppose that helps sell books. You don't sell books by telling someone how difficult something is.

Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, Magical by David McIntyre (Washington Post)

I loved this article on Cotes du Rhone wines because Adam and I have been growing particularly fond of them, but we do experience some sticker shock from time to time. This article has some really good tips for buying these French wines. I don’t know about you but I’d rather have the “simple-sounding ‘country wine’” any day over a mass-produced, natural-flavors-added, overblown, corporate wine. (Note: all the wines mentioned in this article are $15 and under…my kind of prices!)

At S.F. Shop, Cooks Find Pages from the Past by Tara Duggan (SF Chronicle)

Shamefully, I have not been to Kitchen Arts and Letters here in NYC. In fact, chances are quite good I’ll go to Omnivore Books before I end up at Kitchen Arts and Letters, given that I visit family on the West Coast and have friends who live in the Bay Area. Just ask me how badly I want that MFK Fisher first edition…there aren’t enough words to express it, really. Speaking of which, to digress a bit, I’ve started reading The Art of Eating by MFK Fisher (a Christmas gift from my brother and his wife)…and I’m thinking I might stop. I don’t know if there’s anything that can make a wannabe writer feel more inadequate than reading MFK Fisher.

Eat, drink, and rejoice in all the great food articles that appear daily!

It's Football Time: Let's Get It On

Here it is: I love football. I joined three fantasy leagues this year, two of which I have been a part of for 7 years. So today, First Football Sunday, is a big deal in our house.

The Husband and I were laughing this morning about how our “football food” has changed over the years. Five years ago, it was “Mark’s Dip,” named after the friend who introduced it to us: an entire block of Velveeta, an 8 oz. block of cream cheese, and a can of chili. Toss into Crockpot and cover until melty and saucy. Open bag of pretzels and bag of tortilla chips. Binge. While I don’t foresee myself making this concoction again in the future, I have to admit that it was some mighty fine eats.

A couple years ago, it was an adapted version of Rachael Ray's nachos: assorted organic tortilla chips, homemade cheese sauce, sautéed beef, black beans, sour cream, salsa, onions, and a ridiculous amount of cilantro. Depending on my mood, I would cut corners from Rachael’s recipe – store-bought cheese sauce and/or store-bought salsa. There was still bingeing involved…but it felt more healthful, you know?

This year…well, we feel like we definitely upped the ante. The dips? Tomato jam from Mark Bittman (also diviiiiiine on grilled skirt steak), Clotilde’s artichoke-goat cheese spread*, and Cooking Light’s roasted red pepper and cannellini bean dip. The dippables? Stacy’s Pita Chips, raw peppers, carrots, and baguette slices. Adam indulged with his Raison d’Extra Dogfish brew, and I sipped the rest of the Viognier I had with dinner last night. At 2 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon. While the Kiddo was at the park with a friend.

Good times, good times. It’s my favorite time of year: Football! Game on!

Eat, drink, and love American traditions!

* I couldn't find the recipe on Chocolate & Zucchini (I got the recipe from her cookbook).  Can anyone confirm if I can type the recipe here...or is that violating copyright?  Especially since I didn't "adapt" it - I make it exactly as Clotilde says.

Note on the photo: yep, I remembered to snap it post-munching.  Ah, well.  You can't be on top of that sort of thing all the time.

Gwyneth Paltrow and Mario Batali: an unlikely pair

Thanks to Food Maven, I found out about this upcoming PBS documentary series: "Spain...On the Road Again". Gwyneth Paltrow*, Mario Batali, Mark Bittman, and "Spanish star" Claudia Bassols road-trip around Spain, eating and day-spaing their way around the country. I'm already in love with this series and it doesn't even start until this fall (it vaguely reminds me of my beloved "Long Way Round"**). Damn. Oh, how I love to live vicariously through others' adventures abroad. In the meantime, for your viewing pleasure:



* I can't explain it, but I completely love Gwyneth.

** I love Gwyneth, but I love Ewan more.