Hi all! Wow, what a fall. I've been, quite simply, exhausted. Now that my finals are over I have a little more room to breathe, thankfully.

Over the weekend I got to a little of the holiday prep I've been dreaming of... in this case, I made some lovely jars of pecans to give as gifts. This was the first time I made these-- I cobbled together some recipes I found online with my own ideas, and they came out great. Be careful, they are kind of addictive.

Candied and Spiced Pecans

Ingredients

4 cups raw pecans
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 t salt
1 t ground cumin
1 1/2 t ground aleppo pepper
1 t cinnamon
1 t ground nutmeg
ground chipotle pepper, to taste (I used about 1/4 t in deference to those who don't like spicy, like Otis's grandmother)

Preparation

1. Mix the nuts, maple syrup, and brown sugar together in a large cast iron pan over medium high heat on the stove. Stir constantly as the sugars melt and cover the nuts.

2. After about two minutes, add the spices, stirring constantly.

3. Continue stirring over medium high heat for about 6 minutes.

4. Spread onto prepared sheets of wax or parchment paper and let cool completely before placing in bags or jars.

Otis and I bid a fond farewell to our fiscal year 2009 pig on Sunday, with a delicious sendoff of pork roast barbecued on the grill with a Cuban-style mojo, yellow rice and black beans, tostones, and the richest chocolate pudding in the world for dessert. It really was simply phenomenal. Joe and Jon came over for dinner, and contributed a really large amount of wine and their winning personalities, as always.

It was really a wonderful meal. The recipe for the pork came from Cook's Illustrated... the pork was brined overnight and then rubbed, and then cooked on the grill for about 6 hours. I made the tostones, which are super easy, just google any recipe. The most important thing is to make sure the plantains are not ripe... they should taste much more starchy than sweet. Sprinkle with a fair amount of salt; I like to add some hot pepper powder (I used the aleppo pepper we have in the pantry).

This upcoming weekend we're picking up our fiscal year 2010 pig from Alder Brook Farm up in Athens. Last year we got 1/8 of a cow and 1/2 of a pig, and discovered that we appreciated the pork so much more than the beef that we're just getting the 1/2 pig. This round will include all sorts of the funny bits so Otis and do his curing and smoking thing... for example he is planning some guanciale with the jowls.

Now that we're moving into the later fall (even though it doesn't feel like it-- we're expecting record high temps today, in the mid 60s!), Sunday will probably be our last grilling day. But we have lots of roasting and braising indoors to look forward to... including all of the delicious traditional holiday meals. I love those heritage turkeys, and homemade stuffing, and my mother-in-law's delicious cranberry-horseradish sauce. Mmmm.

But for now, I am just going to appreciate the unseasonably warm weather and the anticipation of a freezer newly filled with pork.

Wow, it's hard to get back on this horse (or whatever the saying is)... I've been thinking a lot about what to say here.

When I was growing up, family meals and food were an important part of our lives. I don't remember a time when I didn't hang out in the kitchen with my parents and help them prepare dinner. There was always some miraculous alchemy in cooking that appealed to my artistic side, I think... and then something about writing down a recipe to preserve it was sort of scientific.

My mom had among her things decades worth of recipes clipped out from magazines and newspapers, some of which I don't remember her or my dad ever making, and some which one of them made over and over. She also had a copy of the first recipe I ever wrote down, when I was about 7-- it is for Lo Mein. My dad was really into cooking Chinese food when I was growing up, and I must have been inspired by that.

I was always a bit of a picky eater as a kid... never really liked fruit, didn't start to eat fish or seafood until I was 11 or 12 (I think it was a result of my revulsion with canned tuna, which I still maintain to this day-- Otis only eats it when I am out of the house, which is sweet of him), hated fat on meat. Instead of making special meals for me my parents would just push me off into the kitchen to cook for myself, which I think was a great model.

We ate a lot of hippie and vegetarian food when I was growing up, which was great (although my dad cooked more meat than we would probably have eaten if my mom was exclusively in charge of cooking). My mom went through lots of different experimental phases, including macrobiotic, make-your-own-yogurt, only whole grains, and much more. But regardless she was always fundamentally into the idea that food is more than simply something you eat... it's inherently important, and transformative.

My mom loved to bake bread from the Tassajara Bread Book, and I would stand on a stool and help her knead on the counter. And of course I helped her make her famous quiche (included here), which I made a week or so before she died... I brought her a piece while she was staying in hospice. She didn't have much of an appetite but she wolfed down the whole slice and then told me it had too much garlic in it.

Anyway, this is coming out as a whole bunch of babbling, but my point has been, thanks, Mom, for refusing to bring me up on crap fast food and boxed meals. Learning to cook as a kid, and appreciating what really good food is, was an amazing gift.

(Also thanks Dad. Especially for bringing your love for Asian flavors to the conversation.)

Hello all. I apologize for my long absence. Over the past month or so my mom, who has been living with cancer for almost five years, got much sicker, and died last week.

My mom was a phenomenal woman, whose passion for life provided a great model for me as both a child and an adult.

I had mixed feelings about posting this, but I decided I wanted to share with you all why I haven't been writing recently. Hopefully I will be able to get back into it soon. I'm going to try to share some of the experiences I had growing up and learning to cook with my parents, both of whom provided me with a real passion for food and cooking.

I will miss her.

So make a tasty salad...

So, summer has arrived in Maine, much belatedly. I personally don't hold with those who complain that it is 90 degrees, but I won't submit too much criticism. One thing I do agree with is that eating hot food in hot weather is sometimes not so fun.

So, somewhat inspired by this piece in the illustrious Portland Press Herald, I made a pretty tasty light one-meal salad. My main miscalculation was cooking the chicken at the same time I was preparing the dressing and other ingredients. Ideally that should be done while you're in the other room so the heat off the oven doesn't make you feel like you're going to keel over.

Cilantro Lime-Dressed Chicken Salad with Other Stuff

Good title eh?

Ingredients

1 1/4 lb boneless chicken breast
Chipotle powder
Powdered cumin
Oil (light olive or veg, or whatever you have is fine)
S & P

1 bunch cilantro (washed well)
juice of 2 limes
Chipotle powder
Powdered cumin
1/4 cup mayo
1/2 cup sour cream
S & P to taste

Corn kernels off 3-4 ears of corn, blanched for 1 minute, drained and rinsed with cold water
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 poblano chile, diced fine (remove the seeds)
5 radishes, sliced into half-rounds (or really whatever size you prefer)
Greens from 4-5 scallions, chopped fine
[I threw in about 3/4 cup cooked white rice, but only because I had some leftover from Thai takeout earlier in the week. Rice or no rice is fine.]

Greens (I used mesclun mix)
Grated cheddar cheese
Blue corn chips
Lime wedges

Steps

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Place chicken in pan. rub seasoning and oil on it.
3. Bake for about 30 minutes or until cooked through.
4. Remove from oven; cool and cut into 1/2 size chunks.

5. Place the cilantro in your blender or food processor and chop fine.
6. Add the other ingredients and whirl around until mixed.

7. Place the third group of ingredients, plus the chicken, in a large bowl. Add the dressing and mix well.
8. Chill for 10 minutes.

9. Place chicken salad over bed of greens.
10. Garnish with a pinch of grated cheddar and lime wedge.
11. Surround with corn chips.
12. Eat.

Hey all, it's actually been a whole MONTH since I have posted here, which makes me feel a wee bit guilty. The truth is, I have been working so hard on my various jobs, classes, and projects, that's I've barely had time to keep my head above water.

Today I am taking the MPRE-- the Multistate Professional Responsibility Test--if you don't know, you probably won't care what it is!-- and then my "to-do" list will be happily much shorter. (Only revising law review paper, finishing clerkship applications, preparing for legal writing, and of course work. Whew!)

Sometimes when I am super busy it's hard to get meals made. But I did whip up this quickie sauce for pasta the other day that you might enjoy. The prep takes about 5 minutes, and because the flavors are so big, it really only needs to cook for about an hour. You could probably even do half an hour. It's a kind of puttanesca but I use fish sauce instead of anchovies.

Quick "Puttanesca" Sauce

Ingredients

Olive oil
1 small/med onion, chopped fine
2 cloves garlic, minced fine
1 cup black olives (I used kalamata), rough chopped
2/3 cup capers, drained and rough chopped
Salt & pepper
Red pepper flakes, to taste
1 large can crushed tomatoes
1 small can chopped tomatoes (for both I like Muir Glen organic brand)
Splash balsamic vinegar
Splash fish sauce (I swear!)

Make it!

1. Heat a splash of olive oil in a pan, and add the onion and garlic. Saute until clear and just starting to turn brown.

2. Throw in the olives, capers, salt, and pepper. Saute for about 30 seconds.

3. Add the tomatoes and red pepper flakes.

4. Add the balsamic and fish sauce.

5. Cook on low heat, stirring and tasting occasionally and adjusting seasoning and flavoring as necessary, for about an hour.

There's been a lot of buzz around about our new restaurant, El Rayo. Rave reviews, excitement! Thrills!

Well, I can't say I concur, unfortunately. Don't get me wrong-- it was fine. I liked the space, it's nice that they have margaritas, and I ate some little fried potato things that were fairly tasty. But honestly, I thought it was a bit overpriced, and you get a lot better of a meal at Loco Pollo on Washington Ave.

At El Rayo, a single fish taco was $3.95, and it was not particularly generous in the amount of fish provided. I'm also pretty sure the tortilla was not handmade. The hot sauces were pretty tasty, though.

At Loco Pollo, they now serve three tacos for $7, and they're chock full of filling and flavor. The handmade tortillas are authentic and soft.

I'll probably go back to El Rayo occasionally, since it's close to my house and decent. But if I want a more filling, tasty, and authentic meal I'll go to Loco Pollo. (And hope the pozole is on the menu. Boy, is that good.)

But really what I'll dream about is the beef tacos from the groceria/taqueria across from my apartment when I lived in Wicker Park (Chicago) years ago. Nothing but a tortilla, grilled beef, cilantro, and onion. Hit it with a little lime squeeze and a dash of hot sauce. $1. (I'm not joking when I say I still dream about those tacos, ten years later. They were simply perfect.)

Loco Pollo: 52 Washington Ave, 899-4422
El Rayo: 101 York St., 780-TACO

Thanks to all of you who wrote in with suggestions for our anniversary dinner! I'm looking forward to trying some of the places where I've never been, and revisiting some where it's been way too long!

We did end up going to Miyake, basically because we just love it so much. It's really the most amazing place. Every time we visit, we try something that's a revelation.

This time it was sardines...marinated and then dried, so that they looked like stained glass and had a rich, full, but not fishy flavor, and then sprinkled with sesame seeds.

My next favorite dish was the simple and sublime Maine Hamayaki-- Maine lobster, Maine scallops, and Maine crab served on a bed of rice and topped with some sort of mayonnaisy-truffle-oil-yum sauce and then broiled.

We also had my two regular favorites: black cod, simply broiled, and the tai ceviche roll, full of light and citrusy flavors.

That's not all...we certainly didn't hold back in our ordering-- by the end of the meal we were utterly sated and happy. (Although we did go to Local for a glass of wine and a slice of cake. An anniversary isn't an anniversary without dessert!).

It was truly a wonderful meal and a special way to spend our 6th wedding anniversary. The space at Miyake is not fancy, but it is welcoming and friendly and relaxed, which was what we felt we needed after a fairly stressful spring semester at school for me and a busy work season so far this summer for Otis.

So, it's Otis and my wedding anniversary this weekend, and we're having a difficult time deciding where to go for dinner. So, my loyal readers... where should we go?

Inspired by this recipe from Gourmet, we made chipotle cheeseburgers for dinner on Sunday. I forgot to take photos, and then again Otis ate his two (yes, two) in about two seconds flat. I guess I could have done something timelapse... that would be cool.

Anyway, I modified the recipe (slightly). They were very delicious.

Ingredients

4 chipotles in adobo
2 T parsley
3 cloves garlic
3 shallots
1 lb ground pork
1/2 T salt
4 slices Hoffman's Super Sharp (get at the deli counter)
onion rolls
1/4 cup mayonnaise
juice of 1 lime

Preparation

1. Chop the chipotles, parsley, garlic, and shallots finely (I used my mini-food processor)
2. Mix with pork and salt in a large bowl. Let sit for an hour or so in the fridge.
3. Form into 4 patties.
4. Grill until cooked through; add cheese and melt on top.
5. Mix the mayo and the lime juice.
6. Toast the rolls.
7. Spread the mayo on the rolls and top bit cheeseburgers.