>Yuba Ride

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The above photos are actually re-posts from this past summer/fall (and yes, that is corn growing in my front yard…for the newcomer to this blog you can see more about my front yard corn here). I was inspired to re-post them after coming across the below video. It’s an interview with Benjamin, the founder of the Mundo Yuba. It’s interesting in that I always (somewhat righteously, I suppose) think of how bicycles impact my life, but the sustainability of them, and more specifically the sustainability and mobility it brings to struggling peoples, is often forgotten (by me). 10% of your purchase from Yuba goes directly to supplying these cargo bikes to Africa. The bicycle is, without doubt, the most efficient mode of transport ever built. Click here, here, and especially here, to see testimonies and pictures. Click here to see a a brief but interesting story on the expense of owning a car today; it is from (of all places) the Wall street journal. And don’t forget to watch the brief interview below.

Mid-Winter and Lebanese Pizza



One of the things I enjoy about living in the northeast is our distinct seasons. Winter, for example, can be difficult for me at times, but it can also be a season of awe and beauty. I was in the backyard today splitting a few logs for the evening’s heat when I glanced at my grapevine. It caught me off guard…I was looking at the barren vine coming out of the snow and remembering planting it a few years ago. This past summer there were far more grapes on it than I could possibly consume, but to look at it now it looked as if it would never grow a single leaf, let alone a bushel of grapes. Then I remembered this quote about Brother Lawrence:

“The first time I saw Brother Lawrence was on the 3rd of August, 1666. He told me that God had done him a singular favor in his conversion at the age of eighteen. During that winter, upon seeing a tree stripped of its leaves and considering that, within a little time, the leaves would be renewed and, after that, the flowers and fruit appear; Brother Lawrence received a high view of the providence and power of God which has never since been effaced from his soul.”

Brother Lawrence, ironically (I suppose) was a cook in a monastery. You can read, download, and print his entire book here.

Here’s a picture of what the now-barren vine looked like last summer; it will even be more full and robust this summer…something to look forward to.

On a different note: For dinner I had a Lebanese Pizza. It’s a standard dough topped with za’atar seasoning, labna, olive oil, and onions. The za’atar and labna give it a sort of tart-and-salty flavor…it is (was) truly delicious. You can use the same method for the dough as this one (or the actual dough, if you want to make it a little more interesting). For a recipe for homemade yogurt and how to make labna (and other fermented foods), click here.


>Mid-Winter and Lebanese Pizza

>

One of the things I enjoy about living in the northeast is our distinct seasons. Winter, for example, can be difficult for me at times, but it can also be a season of awe and beauty. I was in the backyard today splitting a few logs for the evening’s heat when I glanced at my grapevine. It caught me off guard…I was looking at the barren vine coming out of the snow and remembering planting it a few years ago. This past summer there were far more grapes on it than I could possibly consume, but to look at it now it looked as if it would never grow a single leaf, let alone a bushel of grapes. Then I remembered this quote about Brother Lawrence:

“The first time I saw Brother Lawrence was on the 3rd of August, 1666. He told me that God had done him a singular favor in his conversion at the age of eighteen. During that winter, upon seeing a tree stripped of its leaves and considering that, within a little time, the leaves would be renewed and, after that, the flowers and fruit appear; Brother Lawrence received a high view of the providence and power of God which has never since been effaced from his soul.”

Brother Lawrence, ironically (I suppose) was a cook in a monastery. You can read, download, and print his entire book here.

Here’s a picture of what the now-barren vine looked like last summer; it will even be more full and robust this summer…something to look forward to.

On a different note: For dinner I had a Lebanese Pizza. It’s a standard dough topped with za’atar seasoning, labna, olive oil, and onions. The za’atar and labna give it a sort of tart-and-salty flavor…it is (was) truly delicious. You can use the same method for the dough as this one (or the actual dough, if you want to make it a little more interesting). For a recipe for homemade yogurt and how to make labna (and other fermented foods), click here.


Julia’s Omelet and My Big Decedent Frittata

I spent much of mid-day today in a reflective mood…after dropping my son off at his mother’s house I had the morning and afternoon to myself, before a family dinner engagement. I managed to take a nap, meditate, go for a good steam and swim, and read half of this book.

As usual after a good swim I find myself hungry. I had come across this video of Julia Child making an omelet recently, and being Christmas I felt like having something a little special…but also something simple. I scoured my fridge and I came up with some gravlox, onions, broccoli, eggs, and feta. So I made a frittata, and ate it with toasted whole grain Monk’s Bread (yes, I do purchase bread now and again).

I don’t really care for many of the so called “celebrity chefs,” but I can watch clips of Julia Child…especially the old ones like this one. To some she may seem a joke, but she was classically trained, and it shows in her technique. It’s an interesting little clip and very French…to care so much about something as simple as an omelet to devote an entire episode to it…

At any rate, this is how I made my decedent lunch:

Preheat your oven to 400F. Gather the ingredients; par-boil the broccoli, then slice it along with the onion and salmon.

Mix everything together except the onion.

Heat an oven-proof skillet over high heat with a few tablespoons olive oil; when the oil is hot add the onion and saute them until they begin to brown.

Add the other ingredients and put the pan in the oven.

Cook the frittata for about 5 minutes, then carefully flip it over and cook another minute or two. Remove it from the oven and allow it to rest for a minute or two (while you prepare your toast).


After eating the entire thing it’s best to lay on your couch and take a nap (like I did).
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>Julia’s Omelet and My Big Decedent Frittata

>I spent much of mid-day today in a reflective mood…after dropping my son off at his mother’s house I had the morning and afternoon to myself, before a family dinner engagement. I managed to take a nap, meditate, go for a good steam and swim, and read half of this book.

As usual after a good swim I find myself hungry. I had come across this video of Julia Child making an omelet recently, and being Christmas I felt like having something a little special…but also something simple. I scoured my fridge and I came up with some gravlox, onions, broccoli, eggs, and feta. So I made a frittata, and ate it with toasted whole grain Monk’s Bread (yes, I do purchase bread now and again).

I don’t really care for many of the so called “celebrity chefs,” but I can watch clips of Julia Child…especially the old ones like this one. To some she may seem a joke, but she was classically trained, and it shows in her technique. It’s an interesting little clip and very French…to care so much about something as simple as an omelet to devote an entire episode to it…

At any rate, this is how I made my decedent lunch:

Preheat your oven to 400F. Gather the ingredients; par-boil the broccoli, then slice it along with the onion and salmon.

Mix everything together except the onion.

Heat an oven-proof skillet over high heat with a few tablespoons olive oil; when the oil is hot add the onion and saute them until they begin to brown.

Add the other ingredients and put the pan in the oven.

Cook the frittata for about 5 minutes, then carefully flip it over and cook another minute or two. Remove it from the oven and allow it to rest for a minute or two (while you prepare your toast).


After eating the entire thing it’s best to lay on your couch and take a nap (like I did).
.

Winter and Spicy Stew

Well, Buffalo’s climate is once again living up to its reputation. We got pelted with something like a foot of snow today (judging by the news, so did much of the rest of the northeast). I was out driving in it today (yes, I do use a vehicle now and again) and at points it was near whiteout conditions…traffic would come to a halt because the farthest you could see was maybe ten feet in front of you.

Here’s a shot of my backyard, note the Chinese trike buried in snow…I won’t be riding that any time soon (to read more about the trike click here).

By this point you’d think I’d learn to use the firewood in the backyard before the snow really hit, leaving wood on the front porch for times like this. Anyhow, I had to retrieve firewood from the backyard and had to shovel not only a path to the wood, but also shovel out a small clearing so I could split a few logs.


I was craving something hearty and spicy for dinner, so I scoured my refrigerator and freezer. In addition to leftover frozen turkey and turkey stock I had plenty of vegetables to work with. I also had some kim chi, some not-quite-ready citron confit (preserved lemons), and a can of white beans.

I used a basic stewing/braising method; it’s simple and can be done with most foods. This is how I made mine: Start by dicing the vegetables (note my two pugs in the background waiting for scraps to fall).


I sauteed the harder vegetebales first in a little olive oil, then added garlic, a little curry, a couple chilies, cumin, allspice, cracked black pepper, and alittle sea salt.

Then I added the turkey stock, a couple preserved lemon wedges, a good scoop of kim chi, and the rest of the diced vegetables and potatoes. After simmering it for a few minutes I added the drained and rinsed white beans.

After simmering it for about twenty minutes longer, I ladled it into a bowl that I warmed over a flame (the rear of my house is cold this time of year). Not bad, I thought as I ate it…for being made out of leftovers and a few other ingredients I had on hand. It was perfect food for a cold winters evening such as this.

>Winter and Spicy Stew

>Well, Buffalo’s climate is once again living up to its reputation. We got pelted with something like a foot of snow today (judging by the news, so did much of the rest of the northeast). I was out driving in it today (yes, I do use a vehicle now and again) and at points it was near whiteout conditions…traffic would come to a halt because the farthest you could see was maybe ten feet in front of you.

Here’s a shot of my backyard, note the Chinese trike buried in snow…I won’t be riding that any time soon (to read more about the trike click here).

By this point you’d think I’d learn to use the firewood in the backyard before the snow really hit, leaving wood on the front porch for times like this. Anyhow, I had to retrieve firewood from the backyard and had to shovel not only a path to the wood, but also shovel out a small clearing so I could split a few logs.


I was craving something hearty and spicy for dinner, so I scoured my refrigerator and freezer. In addition to leftover frozen turkey and turkey stock I had plenty of vegetables to work with. I also had some kim chi, some not-quite-ready citron confit (preserved lemons), and a can of white beans.

I used a basic stewing/braising method; it’s simple and can be done with most foods. This is how I made mine: Start by dicing the vegetables (note my two pugs in the background waiting for scraps to fall).


I sauteed the harder vegetebales first in a little olive oil, then added garlic, a little curry, a couple chilies, cumin, allspice, cracked black pepper, and alittle sea salt.

Then I added the turkey stock, a couple preserved lemon wedges, a good scoop of kim chi, and the rest of the diced vegetables and potatoes. After simmering it for a few minutes I added the drained and rinsed white beans.

After simmering it for about twenty minutes longer, I ladled it into a bowl that I warmed over a flame (the rear of my house is cold this time of year). Not bad, I thought as I ate it…for being made out of leftovers and a few other ingredients I had on hand. It was perfect food for a cold winters evening such as this.

Backyard Bouillabaisse

I recently came across these photos on my old laptop and thought I’d post them. They’re at least a few years old pictures of when my son and I made bouillabaisse in our backyard. We basically dug a hole in the ground and started a fire. Then we put a pot on it and cooked a bunch of seafood. It was delicious…it reminds me of summer.

Snowy Ride

I knew full well what I was getting myself into when I rode my bike to work this morning…the newscasters have been telling of this storm for a couple days…schools were closed this morning before it even hit. When I left at 7:00am it was overcast with just a few flakes in the air. How bad could it get, I thought? I’ve ridden in snow before, I also thought. Well, it hit about 9:00am, just as predicted, and it let up about 5:00pm, just as predicted. By the time I left work there were about 10 inches of snow on the ground and because of the wind it looked as if it were snowing horizontally. The ride was a little treacherous, but I rode slow and put a lot of my weight on the front tire, which I’ve found is a good way to control steering in icy conditions. Most of the way home I was actually going as fast as the cars (probably about 10 mph), and only once did I almost fall (when I hit a small pile of snow protruding out of a driveway). I rode mostly in the middle of the street because the sides were not plowed, so when traffic would speed up I’d have to pull off to the side to allow them to pass. Side streets were, and still are, an un-plowed mess…I had to push the bike down my street. There was one point (about halfway home) when the snow was whipping in my eyes and I felt I had lost control of the bike when I thought that this was a really stupid thing to do, but at the same time I felt truly exhilarated…and it is just one more bit of proof that it is possible to navigate the streets and use a bicycle as your primary mode of transport even in the winter…even in Buffalo, NY. I was a teenager during the blizzard of ’77 and have loved these storms ever since (now I’m showing my age). Anyhow, here’s a few photos of my bike and the riding conditions. The first one is of the bike stuck in the snow, where I put it when I first arrived home so I could shovle the stairs to carry it up. Take note that the bike’s kickstand is not down…the bike just sort of stood there in the snow. The second photo is of the handlebars (my dashboard); the snow and ice buildup was about the same on the handlebars as it was on my gloves and helmet. The last is a photo of a handpainted Chi Rho that I painted on my top crossbar when I first got this bike. It’s what I see when I look down (as I have to do when riding in a snow storm); it guides me and keeps me centered.

>Snowy Ride

>I knew full well what I was getting myself into when I rode my bike to work this morning…the newscasters have been telling of this storm for a couple days…schools were closed this morning before it even hit. When I left at 7:00am it was overcast with just a few flakes in the air. How bad could it get, I thought? I’ve ridden in snow before, I also thought. Well, it hit about 9:00am, just as predicted, and it let up about 5:00pm, just as predicted. By the time I left work there were about 10 inches of snow on the ground and because of the wind it looked as if it were snowing horizontally. The ride was a little treacherous, but I rode slow and put a lot of my weight on the front tire, which I’ve found is a good way to control steering in icy conditions. Most of the way home I was actually going as fast as the cars (probably about 10 mph), and only once did I almost fall (when I hit a small pile of snow protruding out of a driveway). I rode mostly in the middle of the street because the sides were not plowed, so when traffic would speed up I’d have to pull off to the side to allow them to pass. Side streets were, and still are, an un-plowed mess…I had to push the bike down my street. There was one point (about halfway home) when the snow was whipping in my eyes and I felt I had lost control of the bike when I thought that this was a really stupid thing to do, but at the same time I felt truly exhilarated…and it is just one more bit of proof that it is possible to navigate the streets and use a bicycle as your primary mode of transport even in the winter…even in Buffalo, NY. I was a teenager during the blizzard of ’77 and have loved these storms ever since (now I’m showing my age). Anyhow, here’s a few photos of my bike and the riding conditions. The first one is of the bike stuck in the snow, where I put it when I first arrived home so I could shovle the stairs to carry it up. Take note that the bike’s kickstand is not down…the bike just sort of stood there in the snow. The second photo is of the handlebars (my dashboard); the snow and ice buildup was about the same on the handlebars as it was on my gloves and helmet. The last is a photo of a handpainted Chi Rho that I painted on my top crossbar when I first got this bike. It’s what I see when I look down (as I have to do when riding in a snow storm); it guides me and keeps me centered.

Winter

I love the snow, I really do…I’m a born and bred Buffalonian. But I find as I get older I really miss the summer. Maybe it’s the sunlight…or more specifically the lack of it this time of year. When it starts to get dark at 4:30 in the afternoon it can bring me down sometimes. At any rate, I was shoveling the sidewalk today and caught sight of a few herbs poking through the snow. They’re beautiful, I think. And their stubbornness to succumb to the cold is inspiring.

>Winter

>I love the snow, I really do…I’m a born and bred Buffalonian. But I find as I get older I really miss the summer. Maybe it’s the sunlight…or more specifically the lack of it this time of year. When it starts to get dark at 4:30 in the afternoon it can bring me down sometimes. At any rate, I was shoveling the sidewalk today and caught sight of a few herbs poking through the snow. They’re beautiful, I think. And their stubbornness to succumb to the cold is inspiring.

Little Gordon Nightmare

It saddens me, it really does, when I see this stuff. I recently came across an article about these videos in a well known food magazine. When I googled them I couldn’t believe it…I still can’t. There are tons of them, and apparently they’re pretty popular. They’re videos of a child that is dubbed Little Gordon, and he acts just like Gordon Ramsay. It’s frightening. He’s wearing a little chef’s coat and has his hair done just like the adult Gordon…and he curses (bleeps) and treats people like they’re pieces of dirt, just like the adult Gordon. I have a couple questions; many, actually, but I’ll only pose a few. Are those his real parents? And if so, are they willing to sacrifice their son’s youth for money and (pseudo) fame? If they are not his real parents where the hell are they? And how do you get a young kid to act like this? This is sad for the chef’s profession, but mostly this is sad for our society. If you’re interested in how I feel about Gordon Ramsay’s TV show you can see it in an earlier post here. I realize that I shouldn’t even post these videos on my blog because it promotes this nonsense, but I am just so floored by them I can’t help it. The thing, I think, that saddens me the most about these videos is this kid himself, and the loss of his youth…at his age shouldn’t he be out climbing a tree or something. Instead he’s acting like a bitter forty year old on the verge of a heart attack.

>Little Gordon Nightmare

>It saddens me, it really does, when I see this stuff. I recently came across an article about these videos in a well known food magazine. When I googled them I couldn’t believe it…I still can’t. There are tons of them, and apparently they’re pretty popular. They’re videos of a child that is dubbed Little Gordon, and he acts just like Gordon Ramsay. It’s frightening. He’s wearing a little chef’s coat and has his hair done just like the adult Gordon…and he curses (bleeps) and treats people like they’re pieces of dirt, just like the adult Gordon. I have a couple questions; many, actually, but I’ll only pose a few. Are those his real parents? And if so, are they willing to sacrifice their son’s youth for money and (pseudo) fame? If they are not his real parents where the hell are they? And how do you get a young kid to act like this? This is sad for the chef’s profession, but mostly this is sad for our society. If you’re interested in how I feel about Gordon Ramsay’s TV show you can see it in an earlier post here. I realize that I shouldn’t even post these videos on my blog because it promotes this nonsense, but I am just so floored by them I can’t help it. The thing, I think, that saddens me the most about these videos is this kid himself, and the loss of his youth…at his age shouldn’t he be out climbing a tree or something. Instead he’s acting like a bitter forty year old on the verge of a heart attack.

Weekly Thoughts


St. Nicholas
This past week was St. Nicholas night. I still celebrate it with my son each year (who is now way past the age of believing in Santa). It’s a tradition that was passed down to me from my mother, who learned it from her mother, and so on. As a child I only knew it as an evening when my stocking would get filled with a few small items which celebrated the beginning of the Christmas season. My grandmother, and then my mother, would often put an orange in the stocking along with small toys and candies. She said that the orange represented wealth, because when she was a little girl having an orange this far north was a sign that you had money. I still put an orange in my son’s stocking every year (though I’m the one who usually eats it). St. Nicholas was a real Saint. You can learn more about him by clicking here.

First Snow
The other night I was watching TV and happened to glance out the window and saw it snowing. I wasn’t aware that it was supposed to snow (at least not that heavy). It was cold and the flakes were big and fluffy. I was taken by surprise. It was too beautiful for words, almost. So I had to take a couple photos.

I rode one of my bikes to work the next day, it was awesome, and I mean that in the literal definition of the word.

Citron Confit
I inherited a few meyer lemons from work the other day. I knew that I had more than I would use so I salted them and put them on a shelf to ferment next to my current batch of kim chi. Salted and preserved lemons are a classic ingredient to Morrocan cuisine; the French refer to them as citron confit, which sounds a little more romantic (but it still means the same thing). At any rate, they’re simple to make: salt them, add water and/orlemon juice and whatever seasonings you like, and allow them to ferment. Once fermented the diced or slivered rind adds an excellent flavor to soups, stews, or a traditional tagine.

>Weekly Thoughts

>
St. Nicholas
This past week was St. Nicholas night. I still celebrate it with my son each year (who is now way past the age of believing in Santa). It’s a tradition that was passed down to me from my mother, who learned it from her mother, and so on. As a child I only knew it as an evening when my stocking would get filled with a few small items which celebrated the beginning of the Christmas season. My grandmother, and then my mother, would often put an orange in the stocking along with small toys and candies. She said that the orange represented wealth, because when she was a little girl having an orange this far north was a sign that you had money. I still put an orange in my son’s stocking every year (though I’m the one who usually eats it). St. Nicholas was a real Saint. You can learn more about him by clicking here.

First Snow
The other night I was watching TV and happened to glance out the window and saw it snowing. I wasn’t aware that it was supposed to snow (at least not that heavy). It was cold and the flakes were big and fluffy. I was taken by surprise. It was too beautiful for words, almost. So I had to take a couple photos.

I rode one of my bikes to work the next day, it was awesome, and I mean that in the literal definition of the word.

Citron Confit
I inherited a few meyer lemons from work the other day. I knew that I had more than I would use so I salted them and put them on a shelf to ferment next to my current batch of kim chi. Salted and preserved lemons are a classic ingredient to Morrocan cuisine; the French refer to them as citron confit, which sounds a little more romantic (but it still means the same thing). At any rate, they’re simple to make: salt them, add water and/orlemon juice and whatever seasonings you like, and allow them to ferment. Once fermented the diced or slivered rind adds an excellent flavor to soups, stews, or a traditional tagine.

Autumnal Food and My First Snowy Ride on the Mundo

Bread For Thanksgiving Dinner

I am truly blessed in that I have three lovely sisters who give me the day off on Thanksgiving. The only things that I am required to do are bring freshly baked bread and carve the bird. I know that my younger sister likes roast red pepper bread, so I usually bring that. But this year I changed it a little by making two doughs and combining them: one was the red pepper, the other was Parmesan. The outcome is visually stunning; the flavors aren’t bad either. Here’s the recipe in pictures:

I started by making two separate straight doughs, utilizing the sponge method (basic bread dough recipe), the difference is that I added pureed roast red peppers to one (you’ll have to adjust the recipe because of the moisture content of the peppers) and Parmesan cheese to the other (click on any of the photos for a larger view).

After they had risen, I cut each dough into 5 pieces, ten pieces in all.

After gently flattening each piece, I placed a piece of Parmesan dough on top of each piece of red pepper dough and gently rolled it into a loaf.


Then I put them in loaf pans, and placed a clean garbage bag across them to rise.

After they rose, I brushed them with an egg wash, sprinkled them with poppy seeds and baked them in a preheated 400F oven.

The finished bread:


Turkey Stock and Mashed Potato Bread

Each year after thanksgiving I always offer to take the turkey carcass(es) of my sisters hands. Sometimes they won’t give them up because they have plans for them themselves, and other times–like this year–they are glad that I am interested in taking it/them. Anyhow, we had two turkeys this year and my apartment-sized refrigerator is not nearly big enough to hold them, so I left them wrapped in plastic in the back of my pickup parked on the street all night. The temperature was hovering around freezing, but I have to admit that I was surprised to see them in the morning.


Here they are unwrapped…sort of gruesome looking, sort of like returning to the scene of a crime…almost enough to make a person go vegetarian. But with the resulting broth all these nasty thoughts were forgotten.

Anyhow, homemade broth is as simple as this: put the carcass(es) in a pot with any meat trimmings, scraps, juices, a few vegetables, and just enough cold water to cover it. Bring it to a boil, then lower it to a simmer. Simmer the broth for 2-6 hours, skimming any scum as necessary.


While it simmered I whipped up a batch of potato bread using leftover mashed potatoes. I used a straight dough method with the exception that I added an egg to the dough for a little richness and lightness in its rise. The rear of my house is cold so I rose the bread next to the simmering stock pot.


After it rose once, I shaped it into a loaf, put it in a loaf pan and let it rise again. Then baked it in a 400F oven.

After the stock had simmered for about 6 hours I strained it twice, first through a colander, then through a small fine mesh strainer; a china cap, or as the French refer to it, a chinoise

Freezer ready:

Pear Butter with Red Wine

Last week I was able to take home a couple dozen locally grown pears. They were already past their prime when I received them, that’s how I was able to take them home, but I still thought I would eat them before they were too far gone. Well, of course I didn’t. Instead of throwing them out I decided to make pear butter, which of course is a variation of apple butter. It is so easy to make. Basically you just cut up the fruit (with or without skins), add a little liquid (I added red wine instead of water), and if you want it a little sweeter, you can add a little sugar (which I did). You cook the fruit and puree it (at this point it will resemble apple sauce). Then return it to the heat to evaporate most of its moisture. The flavors will intensify and its color will darken considerably. The consistency will become spreadable (especially when it is chilled); it will have the consistency of butter, hence its name.


First Snow/Ice Ride on the Mundo Yuba

We got a couple inches of snow today, which by Buffalo standards is next to nothing. But because it was above freezing during the day when it snowed (slushed) and went below freezing this evening, what was on the street turned to ice. The Mundo is built like a tank, and probably weighs as much as one also. %The thing just plowed through. I used to make the comparison of the Mundo to a Hummer or other big SUV, but now I’m wondering if it shouldn’t be more compared to a bike version of one of the old Volvo wagons…it plows through anything, weighs a ton, makes you feel safe, and has a big cushy feel to it’s ride. At one point I wanted to test the brake on ice, to see how it would handle. I hit the rear brake and the bike fishtailed to one side a little, but the thing is so big and heavy I still felt safe…it were as if I was happening in slow motion. Anyhow, it looks like it will be a good “Buffalo bike,” meaning it should be stable enough for all weather conditions. It may not be fast, but it gets you where you want to go and you can carry a lot of stuff with you.