MANGIARE ~ ESSEN ~ EATING

Tomorrow I leave for Europe - Munich, Castelrotto and Merano, Italy and then to the Lake Geneva area. Food, wine and friends, here I come! Don't hold it against me if I don't come back home. In that spirit, I thought I'd write about my favorite dishes I hope to encounter, with a focus on late spring, seasonal ingredients. 

Asparagus will be at its peak, both white and green. Although the tender spears and delicate taste of the white is lovely, I prefer the earthy, grassy flavor of green asparagus. Paired with freshly-made gnocchi, my mouth waters in anticipation. In this country, people seek out the skinny, pencil-thin spears, wrongly assuming they'll be more tender. The truth is, so long as the asparagus is fresh, thicker spears have more intense flavor and are just as tender as the thin ones. As usual, break the stem at its weakest point, and the woody part will be left behind. You can save those pieces to use in making a stock for a future asparagus soup, discarding them when you strain the broth. 

Not strictly seasonal, but a personal must for me, is haxen. Spit-roasted pork shank. Just look at that crispy skin! Heaven! My favorite place to eat this is in the Bavarian countryside, at a little restaurant in Kirchbichl. It is perfect. They serve it with either knödel and kraut (a bread dumpling and sauerkraut) or with a platter of various salads. We always order the salad. It makes us feel a tiny bit less hedonistic for eating such a load of meat! Of course, one should wash it all down with beer, but I don't like beer, so I have it with a heavy red wine, to cut the fat. 

A beautiful lemon-herb risotto tastes bright and fresh in spring. When I make it this time, in my friend's enviable kitchen, I'm going to add some shredded zucchini. A bit of extra color and a nice texture, I think. I'll post the recipe when I return. 

Lest you think I've forgotten dessert, I'll tell you about a sweet ending I love, from the South Tyrol ~ germknödel. Okay, it doesn't translate well into English, if said phonetically. It's pronounced with a hard 'g' and hard 'k' - say 'gayrm-knay-del'. This is a sweet, yeasty dumpling, filled with plum preserves or stewed plums. Over the dumpling is poured a vanilla sauce with poppy seeds and browned, melted butter. Some people eat it as a main course. It is HEAVY and filling. It's often to be found at high mountain-top restaurants where, after a long hike, you feel as if you could eat a horse. And, horse is indeed served in Europe. But that's another story. 

There are other dishes I look forward to, like fresh fava bean and pecorino salad, fruit with zabaglione and grilled lake trout from Lac Leman. So off I go, to food, wine and friends. Enjoy your late spring days ~

CRAWFISH BOIL

My friend, Tiffany, is a Louisiana girl and every year for her birthday, she has a crawfish boil. Well, living in the rainy northwest wasn't going to stop her, so she ordered 150 lbs. of live Louisiana crawfish and got a party going!

Even with sleet falling, we had a fun and SPICY time. I don't know how many I peeled and ate, but my hands still smell like crawfish!

The races were fun - don't blink! Only one crawfish made it to the outside circle and was a two-time winner. Alas, it was not mine. Enjoy the silliness - I just wish you could smell that delicious steam!

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~A SPRING GIFT~

Birds have been a theme for me, lately. I saw my first loons and eastern cardinals this week, when I was in Maine. 

Today, as I was walking toward the coop to put the chickens to bed, I found this beautiful, green egg on the path. I picked it up, looked overhead, noting there were no trees from which it could have fallen. It was just out in the open. I mentally took a roll 

call of all the birds in the garden at this time of year, then consulted my bird references. The only one that fits is an egg from a Stellar's jay. Perhaps it's the first laying year for a female jay and she was taken by surprise? I know our newest chickens are always appalled when they lay their first egg and we can find the eggs almost anywhere until they "get it". 

Whatever the scientific reasons for why this egg was where I found it, I take it as an offering from nature. To remind me of the renewal, growth and vitality of springtime.  

COOKING WITH FERNET BRANCA - Book Review

How do I describe a book whose plot is irrelevant, with a main character who is a completely unreliable narrator? The first thing to say is that it is impeccably written and FUNNY. I can't remember the last time I laughed so much while reading. 
Gerald has a wicked sense of petty revenge which he carries out against his annoying, female neighbor, Marta. Both are renting houses in Italy, separate abodes but too near by about 50 meters. Language barriers, misunderstandings and a morbid fascination combine hilariously in this curious relationship. 

The two of them trade volleys in this battle by cooking vicious recipes for each other. Gerald's are carefully planned, nasty concoctions meant to stun. Garlic and Fernet Branca ice cream, anyone? Marta's are "Voynovian" delicacies no less hideous. The descriptions of both food and people are original and clever. And did I mention funny?

I rarely say this, but, in the right hands, this could be one hell of a great movie. This book is a delight for any reader, writer or cook. If you happen to be all three, well...you must read this book!

HAMA HAMA !

Ten points if you know to what I'm referring. Okay, I guess the photo gives it away. Hama Hama oysters, from Hood Canal here in Washington state. Aren't they gorgeous? Their shells, beautifully iridescent, the ruffled edges of their bodies, lying seductively in their liquor. God, I love oysters ... LOVE them. This makes me an ostreaphile. Since words are almost as wonderful as food to me, this new word makes me happy. 

"Because an oyster, like a lover, first captures you by bewitching your mind." -Rowan Jacobsen

After the oyster fest at my friend's house 2 weeks ago, I've experienced a reinvigorated oyster-tracking sense. And, with a trip to Maine in the offing, I'm sharpening my palate in preparation for some Glidden Points, Damariscotta and Pemaquids. Oysters are fun food - to say and to eat. Then, there's always the sensual, taboo angle of eating something alive. So full of briny life. As the author of A Geography of Oysters, Rowan Jacobsen, says...eating one is "like a little chi bomb. Perhaps that surge we feel is a temporary explosion of life force, and those desires we feel a quite natural wish to share the wealth." Maybe that explains the aphrodisiac angle. Although, do we really need a reason to feel amorous when eating oysters? I don't! I highly recommend Jacobsen's book. Inspired writing and descriptions even a non-oyster lover could appreciate. 

So, back to the Hama Hamas. "Hamma Hamma" means "stinky stinky" in the Skokomish Indian dialect. But this refers to the Hamma Hamma River, which reeks of decaying salmon each fall during spawning season, not to the oysters. This river pours from the Olympic National Forest into the Hood Canal. This is a pristine, unpolluted environment and the oysters love it. It's a rough patch to grow up in, and their shells show it. Tough, thick, covered in barnacles and the odd stone stuck on by seaweed, they speak of strength. And inside ... pure crunchy ocean in your mouth. As I chewed mine, I tasted cucumber with the peel on, citrus and salt, herby brine. I think those afraid to try a raw oyster think it will be slimy and fishy. Wrong. Silky seawater you can chew - that's how I describe oysters. And the myriad nuances of their flavors, based on what type and where they lived make each one unique. No one forgets their first raw oyster, just as no one forgets their first kiss or first lover. 

So, from oyster heaven, I'm signing off to go shuck and ... never mind. 

PICTURE PERFECT - CONSERVE

Jars of summer honey,

in a window at Pike Place Market - Seattle.

HOME-CURED SALT COD

Making your own salt cod is so easy - and brings you a fresher, more succulent piece of fish, with a deeper taste than many commercial types. Unfortunately, here in America, most of those I've purchased taste a lot like the wooden box in which they're packed. And at a premium price! I got a good deal on fresh, wild, true cod today, so I came home and started some salt cod.
Salting the fish reduces the water content, retards bacterial growth and results in more flavor and body. From the Vikings to the Basques, Spanish and Italians, preserved cod has been a staple of the larder. Cod prepared this way will keep for many months refrigerated, wrapped well to protect it. Once dehydrated and salted, it must be reconstituted in several changes of cold water over about 24 hours before use in recipes.
Whether you use it for brandade, fritters, stewed baccala or eat it straight in a salad, you'll find that salting your own makes for the best-tasting dishes.
Give it a try and have fun!



Ingredients:
2 lbs. fresh, skinless cod fillets
1 cup kosher salt, for dredging
Cheesecloth




Directions:
Dredge the fish generously in the salt, pressing the salt firmly into the flesh, so the entire surface and crevices are coated in salt. Wrap the fillets in cheesecloth and place on a rack in a non-reactive pan. Refrigerate the fish, uncovered, for 24 hours. Remove cod from cheesecloth and rinse in cold water to remove salt. Pat dry and re-wrap in clean cheesecloth. Refrigerate, on a rack, uncovered for 4-7 days. Thinner fillets can go 4 days, inch thick pieces should go for 7 days. Pour off any juices that accumulate under rack. As fish cures, it will become more opaque and stiff. Once to this point, the cod is ready to use. If not using immediately, remove cheesecloth and wrap fish in butcher paper and then in a freezer bag and keep refrigerated for up to 2 months. When ready to use the cod, soak it in cold water for 18 to 24 hours, changing the water three times. Pat dry and proceed with chosen recipe.