Apologies and Autumn Lovin'

Well, let me start off by apologizing for not posting in over a month.  It really is a travesty.  I could lay blame on my brother who took our only camera to college with him, and I could blame the fact that I got hired by Gravity Hill to cook and work the farm market, and I could blame my full-time job for being an awful time-sucker, and I could lay blame on the fact that I haven't been cooking as much as I would like to...but really, all the blame falls on one person - me.  It's not that I haven't been cooking.  I have, it's just that I've been lazy.  There, I said it.  I've been insanely busy, there's no denying that, but I could have made the time to sit down for ten minutes and update.  But I didn't.  And I'm sorry for that.  Not just because I feel like I've been shirking my blogger responsibilities, but also for my own sanity and well-being - I have missed writing terribly, and its one of the small pleasures in my life that help to keep me sane, a fact that I didn't realize until very recently.  Which is why I'm back, and I promise, I won't be going anywhere anytime soon.

I love autumn.  Strike that.  I'm obsessed with autumn.  Every year I look forward to sweaters, boots, cider, chilly air, chai, mums, warm colors, Halloween, apples, candles, jumping in leaves...I could keep going, but I think you get the idea.  However, this year, besides stealing my dad's sweaters and practically living in my new Doc Marten boots, I've added some new fall favorites to my ever-growing list:

Squash - spaghetti, butternut, acorn, pumpkin, I love them all.  Can't get enough actually: spaghetti squash topped with the last of the summer's heirloom tomatoes; butternut squash curry with apples, chickpeas and cauliflower; squash and cod stew with homemade sweet potato rosemary flatbread; vegan butternut squash and beet ravioli with a mushroom cream sauce.  There's something so warming about squash...maybe it's just the color, those golden, glowing oranges and yellows.  Not to mention that they can be used in both sweet and savory dishes.  I mean, how many vegetables do you know that taste just as good tossed in honey and cinnamon as they do roasted with rosemary and sage?  Squash is where it's at, my friends.  And take this fall to try new varieties and use them in ways you never had before.  If you haven't tried spaghetti squash, do it. Easy to prepare and holds endless possibilities.

Baby Ginger - yes, baby ginger.  I never knew such a thing existed until we started selling it at the farm last weekend.  The fresh ginger with the rough brown skin that you find at the grocery store is the mature root of the ginger plant.  Baby ginger is the young root, before the skin becomes hard.  This root is delicate and pink and the end of beautiful bamboo-like stalks.  You don't have to peel baby ginger before you use it, and while the taste is still spicy and potent, its a little softer and less offensive than mature ginger can sometimes be.  I'm hooked and will be stocking the freezer with tons of baby ginger to hold me through the winter.

Autumn Oatmeal - I know this isn't a entirely new favorite of mine, but come on, autumn is the perfect oatmeal weather.  There's nothing like a big bowl of warm cozy oatmeal to ease the pain of having to pull yourself out from under your covers on a chilly autumn morning.  My top oatmeal for the past few weeks have been pumpkin with golden raisins, spicy curry topped with an egg and a drizzle of honey, and berry rhubarb.  I've also been playing with sweet potatoes and chai spiced oatmeals, but they both need a little more work.  Oh, and don't worry, recipes are on the way.

Cardamom - if you know me, you know that I'm not afraid of spices.  I love experimenting with different flavors and combinations of herbs and spices.  A few weeks ago, Karen (resident baker at Gravity Hill) made a cardamom zucchini bread with currants, and I immediately fell in love with the deep aromatic quality of the spice.  I had used it before in baking, but never as the main spice.  I usually opt for cinnamon as the focus and then fill in with other spices to deepen and round out the flavor.  However, now I find myself toning down the cinnamon and upping my cardamom usage.  In baking, oatmeal, curry, basically wherever I can use it, I do.  

...the best part about the fall so far?  This is just the beginning.  There is so much more to come - I haven't even been pumpkin or apple picking yet.  So Happy Autumn!  Welcome Back!  And get ready for an obnoxious amount of making-up-for-lost-time postings.

Graduation Rant and the Start of the Backyard-Dining Season

As of today, there are only twelve days until my graduation.  That's less than two weeks...where did the last twenty go?!  I know that I've technically been graduated since January and I already have my diploma (even though it's sitting in the envelope unopened in my room), but there's something about the ceremony that is going to make the whole done-with-college thing much more real.

And with graduation rapidly approaching, I realize that I'm not the least bit prepared - mentally or physically.  Just a few things to do: plan a trip up to school to purchase my cap and gown, find out when/where/how to pick up my tickets, pick up my tickets, buy a cute graduation outfit, buy new shoes to go with cute graduation outfit...actually as I write this, I'm thinking about more and more things that I need to do which is 1) stressing me out, and 2) probably boring you, so I'm going to stop to spare us both.

Alright, I lied, one more thing - I've decided that I'm going to cut out coffee, alcohol, and sweets from my diet, and I'm going to make sure that at dinner I eat small portions and don't go back for seconds.  At least until graduation.  Thing is, I think that I eat really healthy, but I don't feel as good as I want to, or think I should.  So, I decided that I'm going to try out this new way of eating and see how it goes.  If it works, than I'll extend it past my May 12th deadline.  However, graduation day I am popping a bottle of bubbly.  No question.  If there isn't a better excuse for champagne than graduation, than I don't know what is.

Graduation rant over.  

This morning I slept in far too late, but I'm blaming it on the fact that it was rainy and grey out, and tricked my brain into thinking it was still night-time.  Soon after waking up, stumbling out into the living room, and laying semi-awake on the couch for a bit, my mom (who had taken the day off) asked if I wanted to run some errands and pick up ingredients for dinner.  It looked terribly chilly out, so a put on my coziest sweater, big wool socks.  The sun just started to sneak through the clouds when my mom and I headed out.  The sun mixing with the wet ground and pavement made the air thick and humid - I immediately regretted the sweater and wool socks.

When we got to the grocery store, it was another five degrees warmer and the ground almost completely dry.  Not only did this change our menu thoughts, but we decided that this might be the perfect night to start the backyard-dining season.  Nothing says summer like sitting in the yard eating dinner while the sun slowly sets over the river, then leaving the table un-cleared and moving over to the fire pit to take in the warmth and relax after a long day and nice meal.

Tonight, we decided on fish tacos with a mango-strawberry salsa, and ginger brandy roasted plantains.  Fish tacos are a summer staple in the Confoy house, but I decided to spice things up with the salsa - introduce some new flavors and, of course, mix the sweet and savory.  I like using talapia because its light and has a sort of tropical feel (it could just be the name), though any other white fish would work fine.  Two small filets were just enough for the four of us.  I marinated them in a little olive oil, garlic, paprika, salt and pepper, before grilling them on the George Foreman.  

I'm not a fan of hard taco shells - I've gotten hurt one too many times with a jagged piece of taco shell.  I opt for a soft corn tortilla or small taco wrap.  We served mashed avocado, halved grape tomatoes, and chopped cilantro on the side, so that everyone could personalize their own taco.

The plantains were my mother's idea.   I've never cooked them before, but my mom had used them once instead of potatoes to make french fries, and they were delicious.  Quick note about plantains: if you want a starchier potato-like plantain, use the green ones; if you want a sweet banana-like plantain, use the brown-black ones.  For our dinner, we chose to go on the darker side, but didn't get one that was completely black - I wanted a nice balance between the sweet and savory in the plantain itself.  And with the addition of the ginger brandy, a little honey, and salt, they maintained their balanced integrity.  

Dinner was fresh, bright, balanced, and the perfect meal to christen the backyard-dining season.

 

Mango-Strawberry Salsa

1 ripe mango, chopped (on the verge of minced)

1 cup strawberries, chopped (again, almost minced)

½ small red onion, minced

2 serrano chilies, de-seeded (or leave them in for more heat)

1 lime, juice and zest

+ Place all ingredients in a large bowl.  Mix well until everything is combined.  Serve immediately, or cover and place in fridge allowing the juices to release and flavors to meld.

Ginger Brandy Roasted Plantains

2 black plantains, split long-ways

¼ cup ginger brandy

¼ cup water

2 tbs honey

1 tsp fresh grated ginger

½ tsp salt

+ Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

+ Place plantains, cut side up, in a baking dish.  Cover with brandy and water.  Drizzle honey and grate the ginger over the plantains, making sure each is coated.

+ Cover and bake for 15 minutes.  Then, flip the plantains over, and bake for another 15 minutes.

+ Broil the plantains to finish for about 5 minutes, or until the tops begin to brown.

Mom's Magic Elixir

Yesterday, this head cold knocked me on my ass.  I spent most of the day curled up on the couch in a robe and veil of self-pity watching an endless stream of Lifetime movies (my terrible dirty pleasure).  I sipped O.J. and leftover Feel Good Soup, but nothing seemed to get me out of the sick-funk I was in. 

When my mom got home from work, I won't lie, I played the I'm-sick-and-incapable-of-doing-anything-on-my-own card.  She disappeared into the kitchen and concocted what I can only describe as Magic Elixir.  After one piping hot mug of this ginger and lemon miracle, I immediately felt better.  The biting ginger and sour lemon cleared my head and warmed my entire body.  I had two cups last night and then woke up before my mom left for work so she could show me how she made it - and its a lot easier than I thought.

I think I'm on my 5th cup of the day,  and my funk has dissolved as has most of my cold.  It's even making this dark grey day seem bright and fresh.  Magic, I tell you.

Now, I'm not a tea drinker - I never quite understood the appeal of drinking mildly flavored hot water.  However, this isn't tea, it's better.  It tastes bright and fresh, almost like warm lemonade, even though that sounds like that would be gross, I promise you its not.  

This recipe makes three mugs worth of elixir.  It's great because you make up a batch, then just reheat when you want another cup.

Mom's Magic Elixir

3 cups water

1 1-inch piece of fresh ginger, grated

½ lemon

3 tbs honey

+ In a medium pot, combine water, grated ginger, and zest ¼ of the lemon.  Put one tbs of honey into the bottom of each mug. 

+ Bring mixture to a slow boil, then juice the lemon into the mixture.

+ Take off heat and pour into mugs (you could strain the liquid, but I like a little bit of pulp in mine).  Stir so that the honey melts into the elixir.  Serve piping hot.