Each Little World

Whole roasted cauliflower

Who wouldv'e thought that there was a way to make cauliflower glamorous enough for company? This has to be just about the prettiest presentation of this vergetable I've ever come across — and that includes the one I recently made using the Gramercy Tavern's cookbook.

For this version, you trim off the leaves and slice the stem off so the cauliflower sits flat. Then it spends some time simmering in a savory liquid before being drained and roasted in the oven. I saved my poaching liquid, froze it and used it again to cook another cauliflower this way a few weeks after the first one. 

Mine is not quite as dark as the one pictured on Food 52's site but that's a small quibble. I also did not make the cheesy sauce from the recipe to pour over it. Instead I made this gremoleta — though Mark did request that I add grated Parmesan to the topping next time. I think that's all the cheese this dish needs. It was yummy just as it was.

I ate almost half of the head of cauliflower myself at dinner and finished the few leftovers the next day with a quick reheat in a saute pan on the stove top. I think you'll need a larger cauliflower or two small ones if you want to feed six people. Believe me they will be fighting over this dish!

Alon Shaya's Whole Roasted Cauliflower, adapted from Food 52

Serves 4 to 6

2 1/2 cups dry white wine

1/3 cup olive oil plus more for serving 

2 tablespoons kosher salt

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon sugar

1 bay leaf

1 head of cauliflower, stem trimmed and leaves removed

Heat oven to 475° F. Bring wine, oil, salt, lemon juice, butter, red pepper flakes, sugar, bay leaf, and 8 cups water to a boil in a large pot.

Carefully lower the cauliflower into the liquid, reduce heat, and simmer, turning occasionally, until a knife easily inserts into center, 15 to 20 minutes. Cover with pot lid if cauliflower is not totally submerged in broth. 

Using a big mesh spoon/strainer, transfer cauliflower to a rimmed baking sheet, frying pan or roasting pan, draining well.

Roast, rotating pan halfway through, until brown all over, 30 to 40 minutes. (This really depends on the size of the cauliflower as you don't want it mushy).

Transfer cauliflower to a serving plate. Drizzle with oil; sprinkle with sea salt and gremoleta if using.  

NOTE: This would be a good vergetarian main dish but we served it as a side with pork chops, lentil and white bean salad and smashed cucumber pickles. While I liked the broth used to cook the cauliflower, I think you could leave out the wine or reduce it without losing much flavoer.

Gramercy Tavern Cookbook

I'm not sure where or how I first heard about The Gramercy Tavern (below). One of those NYC places that you dream about but can never get in should you actually find yourself in the city. Lucky for me that they finally decided to share their secrets via The Gramercy Tavern Cookbook. I had my name on the hold list at the public library for months waiting for my chance to borrow it. Though it's a big, glossy coffee table tome, I'm here to report it was well worth the wait.

DATENITENYC PHOTO

That's because there are some great recipes in the book and they work. But most importantly, the book details the history of the restaurant and the staff from the top chef to the folks who do the flowers and wash the veggies. The recipes range from quick pickles to dishes that are complex enough I may only try them once. And over and over I read staffers talking about the difference between restaurant cooking and home cooking. Essentially they said they don't cook like this every night at home, but I figure fancy recipes can always be simplified or saved for special occasions.

Before I had to return the book to the library I made Baked Clams (pictured here), Vegetable Broth (which I froze in baggies in one cup measures as well as in ice cube trays), and Roasted Cauliflower with Quinoa, Prunes and Peanuts.

Since a number of recipes called for veggie broth and I had all the ingredients on hand, that was a quick easy recipe to try. The clams were not hard to prepare though the recipe required lots of chopping and mulitple steps. But they were fabulous! So I will probably make them again as a treat.

You can see from the photo below that I was working on a big project at the other end of the table. With such a nice meal as the clams, I wanted the setting to be on a par with the recipe. But I got lazy, pulled the plastic cloth over my workpile and we ate in semi-splendor. 

This picture of the Roasted Cauliflower with Quinoa, Prunes and Peanuts (below) comes right from the cookbook. It is a stunning presentation. From now on I plan to cut my head of cauliflower into "steaks" which I will brown and then roast in the over, as in this recipe. I wanted to try this particular recipe because of the the quinoa, a dish we never eat. After reading this column in the NYTimes, we decided we needed to try new foods as well as foods we think we don't like and quinoa seemed like a good place to start.  

Again, this was a dish that had lots of steps for the quinoa part. (I used red quinoa so it would be dark like the photo). To begin you make an onion puree, which is just one of the ingredients that gets mixed into the quinoa. And, frankly, we did not fall in love with the quinoa. But Smitten Kitchen has a different Gramercy Tavern recipe for roasted cauliflower steaks with almonds, capers and raisins. Much easier sounding and more to my taste so we'll try that soon.

I am also looking forward to trying some of Gramercy's interesting pickle combos (carrots with ginger and fennel seed, or turnips with saffron and coriander) and I made a note of their recipe for spaetzle which sounded more flavorful than mine. But if the temperature really hits 60 degrees F. (15.55 C.) this weekend, the spaetzle recipe will get shelved until next winter. 

Cluck. The Chicken Store.

The mere name of this new little shopping emporium (see above and below) makes me start humming that song from The Music Man: "Pick-a-little, Talk-a-little, cheep, cheep, cheep." Somehow I never pictured myself falling in love with a business that caters to chickens and their fanciers, and yet there I was: out in Paoli admiring chicken coops. 

And though Cluck caters to chickens, they're only one part of the vision of owner Susan Troller. I am admitting right here that I am a friend of Troller's as well as her former editor, and I know from personal experience that whatever she turns her hand to, it will be well worth my attention. Cluck is no exception.

Cluck is the latest tenant in a hundred-year-old building that has housed everything from a blacksmith to a gas station. The original curved ceiling trusses still bear the painted warning "no credit." You can tell from this view of the shop's interior that Cluck is about more than chickens. While Troller is a lover of many kinds of animals and a "chicken wrangler" with a laying flock of six on her family's farm in New Glarus, Cluck is a much needed new home for all of us would-be domestic divas. Pull up a chair, sit down and peruse Troller's nicely "curated" displays, as the shelter mags like to say. 

The front half of the store is a gallery-cum-gift shop with chicken and country-themed art, old and new. Merchandise ranges from witty tea towels, stuffed pillows, mugs and sets of dessert plates, to vintage ice cream molds and a gorgeous cabbage-shaped soup tureen.  

There are books for kids, practical tomes for those who want to raise chickens (or bees!) and a tantalizing array of titles for the rest of us. I snapped up one on natural home decor and also a delcious cookbook of fall and winter dishes. Both titles are from a UK publisher and a nice change from what I find at B&N these days.  

 "Cluck," Troller's own book published by Wisconsin's Itchy Cat Press, is also for sale as is the new 2013 Wisconsin Local Foods Journal/Calendar.

And for those of us who still can't figure out why chickens are the fastest growing hobby in America, Troller has some adorable peeps in the shop. While they are not for sale, she'll help anyone who's serious abut chickens get started with advice, information, chicken feed and more. Live chickens are one of the few things Troller doesn't stock!

The chickens above are known as Lavender Orpingtons, and while they are beautiful, I fell for this rubber chicken coin purse. There are also full-size versions which are equally tempting. The big ones would also work to carry knitting or whatever project you might be schlepping around. 

Cluck's decor includes this feed sack from Troller's grandfather, Irvin Johnson.

There are chicken coops for sale that are as pretty as they are well made. Cluck will be hosting a meet the coop builders event on Sat. Sept. 29th.

Among the assorted artworks were a series of nicely-framed black and white illustrated covers from a British poultry publication called "The Feathered World." They'd be perfect for adding a spot of color to a kitchen or a touch of history to a library or den.

And perhaps my favorite find at Cluck, this pile of fluff from the British toy company, Jellycat. A young friend of Troller's recommended "Matilda Hen," with the pronouncement that "children love this toy." Matilda and her friends will charm more than children. 

Cluck is open every day but Monday. For times, events and blog posts visit Cluck's website. 

Summer soup

Our long hot summer has tested cooks who are hungry but don't want to heat up the kitchen. I found this recipe for a refreshing green (cucumber) Gazpacho in The Summertime Anytime Cookbook by Dana Slatkin. It was quick and easy and held up well in the fridge for a few days. Slatkin's book is a great resource for lots of other delicious summer suppers.

Dana Slatkin's Cucumber Gazpacho

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

• 3 cups plain yogurt, preferably Greek-style or whole milk
• 5 medium English cucumbers, peeled, seeded, and roughly chopped
• 1/2 bunch celery (about 4 long stalks), roughly chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded, cored, roughly chopped
• 3 green onions, white and green parts, roughly chopped
• 1/2 bunch fresh cilantro, leaves and stems
• 1/2 bunch fresh dill, leaves only, plus a few sprigs for garnish
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Sugar
• Garnish: 2 medium pink radishes, grated

Procedure:

In a blender, puree yogurt, cucumbers, celery, bell peppers, green onions, cilantro and dill in batches until smooth. Season with salt, pepper and sugar to taste. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days.

Serve soup in chilled bowls or salted glasses with dill sprigs and grated radish for garnish.

As you can see from the top picture, I served the soup in bowls garnished with snipped chives. But I think it would be excellent served the way Slatkins does — in glasses with salted rims just like a margarita. And what a summery way to start a meal!

Bottom photo and recipe reprinted from the Orange County Register.

A taste of Nepal (and elsewhere)

Mark arrived home from the grocery store late Friday morning just in time to beat the snow storm. He then spent the afternoon cooking spicy Nepalese dishes which he proceeded to serve in courses spread out over a couple of hours. He cooked, we ate, we read by the fire and then he cooked some more.

Strange as it may seem, Madison has a wealth of fabulous Nepalese restaurants. We've been going to the grandmother of them all, Himal Chuli, for more than twenty years. We finally decided we needed to learn how to cook some of our favorite dishes at home, which is how Mark wound up buying Taste of Nepal by Jyoti Pathak.

We began our meal with Taareko Alu or Spicy Sauteed Potatoes from that cookbook. Mark had made these before and this time decided to cut them like chunky French fries and to serve them as an hors d'oeuvre with a glass of Guinness Black Lager. They are fabulous and would work well as a starch with any number of grilled or roasted meats.

This was followed by bowls of Dal a la Himal Chuli. There is nothing more comforting, more warming, more sustaining than Himal's Dal. We'd tried to replicate it at home without much success. I decided to look on-line to see if the restaurant had ever published the recipe; no such luck. But local blogger Jessie Bluejay experimented until she came up with her own recipe to recreate Himal Chuli's Dal at home.

We tried it and thought it was a match. This time Mark served us leftover Dal that we had frozen when we made it after discovering Bluejay's recipe not long ago. De-frosted, and heated up, it still held up quite well both in texture and flavor. Mark served the Dal with Capital Brewery's Winter Skal. We emptied our bowls before I thought to have Mark snap a photo.

(Note that Bluejay's recipe has a couple of visual glitches in it; they appear to be related to accent marks and do not affect the recipe itself or ingredient amounts).

The Dal was followed by Tsak Sha Momos or Tibetan Beef Dumplings, a recipe that appeared in the New York Times not long ago. Momos are a staple at Himal Chuli and these were close enough to their version to satisfy us. Mark served them with Potosi Brewery's Cave Ale and a No Cook Tomato Chutney from the Taste of Nepal cookbook, similar to the way they are presented at Himal. The Tibetan Hot Sauce in the NYTimes sounded too hot for the subtle flavor of Momos. 

He was going to also make a stir-fried Ramechhap-style cabbage (from Taste of Nepal), but we ate so many potatoes that we decided to forego that dish.

Huma Siddiqui is a native of Pakistan who has lived in Wisconsin for quite a number of years. She's well-known locally for her televised cooking show, spice blends, and her evocative book, "Jasmine in her Hair." Part-memoir, part-cookbook, this little volume focuses on "culture and cuisine from Pakistan." It is a touching family saga filled with fabulous recipes.

Here you can find more versions of Dal, as well as a recipe for Saag Aloo (spinach with potatoes), one of Mark's favorite dishes from Himal Chuli; though they add black-eyed peas. And Huma also has a recipe for Samosas: pastry stuffed with spiced potatoes. Huma deep-fries hers while they are baked at Himal Chuli. Either way, another great dish winter or summer.

Here's a little video of Huma cooking. Having worked as her assistant during some of the cooking classes she taught at Orange Tree Imports, I want to point out that — though you can't tell from this video — Huma is always wearing heels and never wears an apron. You will also notice that she never seems rushed or tense when she cooks. Being in a kitchen with Huma is an almost meditative experience. If you live in Dane County, consider taking one of her classes or sitting in on the TV tapings. At the very least you will want to add her lovely book to your cooking library.

 

Editor's note: Just caught up with last week's edition of Isthmus where I read that Himal Chuli was the first Nepali restaurant in the country when it opened in Madison in 1986.

Shopping in Spring Green

Last Saturday we went to the 18th Annual Fall Art Tour that snakes through the open studios of artists in Southwestern Wisconsin. It was a gorgeous day; I'm sure exactly what the organizers hope for each year. In addition to looking at (and buying) art, we made a point of stopping at the new independent bookseller in Spring Green: Arcadia Books. It's located on the ground floor of a beautifully restored 1872 post office building. And it has everything you want in a good bookstore: a wide array of subjects and titles, pleasant staff, framed New Yorker posters about books and reading, high ceilings and uneven old wood floors, food, coffee, and wine and beer. I could practically live there! 

While the food is geared to carryout customers, there were two soups and fabulous mini quiches (Caprese and Lorraine the day we were there). You can also pick an entree from the cooler, they heat it up for you and everything is served warm and toasty. I had curried carrot soup with the Caprese quiche and Mark had chicken fried rice. Everything was delicious. Also on the menu are sandwiches, wraps, salads, and desserts. Then we grabbed lattes to drink while we browsed.

I found the new Jane Hirshfield poetry book, "Come, Thief," which I had read about in the New York Times but did not have much hope of finding in Madison. Mark got a book on philosophy and another on science. As someone with lots of books on cooking, gardening and interior design I thought the selections in those categories were excellen; they included titles both familiar and new. Even though the garden and design sections were not large, they should appeal to a varied audience.  

Former Cap Times reporter Joe Schoenmann will be reading from his new book, "Vegas Rag Doll" — a true life account of the spouse of a Vegas hitman — at 7 p.m. this Friday, Oct. 21. Too bad I can't make it as I could trade stories about the wife of a NJ mobster that I once knew.

The store is named for owner James Bohnen’s favorite play, “Arcadia,” by Tom Stoppard, and I noticed a copy prominently on display. Bohnen recently stepped down as founding artistic director of Chicago's Remy Bumppo Theatre Company. This past summer, he directed Shakespeare's "The Tempest" for nearby American Players Theatre. You can find out more about Arcadia Books, including ordering books, at their aptly named web site: read in utopia. 

We ran into a friend on the Art Tour who told us about Convivio, otherwise we might have missed it — even though it is visible from Arcadia Books. While they had some lovely art for the Tour weekend, it was their wonderful array of kitchen and tabletop items that make it worth driving from Madison to visit this shop. Dishes, linens, glassware, baskets, jewelry, wines, and elegant comestibles fill the space. As they note on their web site: "From rowdy conversation with friends to relaxed family interludes, the best times in life happen around your table." You know it's true; that's the allure of this kind of business!

Madison has lost a host of similar stores in the last few years — Fleurishes, Spirals, Gatherings to name a few favorites. Convivio has that same sense of personal style and attitude that characterizes the best shops. I have lots of reasons to return: French and Scandinavian linens, colorful pressed glassware, giftwrap with large scale patterns, stunning woven ribbon by the yard. Add two terrific newer destinations to stalwarts like the Jura Silverman Gallery, Nina's Department and Variety Store, nearby Global View and Taliesin, and it's clear that a quick return to Spring Green is a must! 

Arcadia Books: 102 E. Jefferson St. 608-588-7638

Convivio: 122 N. Lexington St. 608-588-2351

Remembering Mom on her birthday

When Dorothy Kantorczyk Jackson died in 2006 in Erie, Pa., she was memorialized in an obituary that my sister, who lives in Erie, clipped and mailed to me. The obit said that Dorothy could best be remembered by the "laughter of loved ones" around her table after a "hearty dinner of Continental Steak, Twice-Baked Potatoes and French Fried Cauliflower."

It concluded by noting that "the measure of a woman is not what she did, but what she leaves behind." In Dorothy's case, what she left behind was the recipe for her Continental Steak — included at the end of the obit. Her children wanted to share her recipe "the way a magician shares the secrets to his tricks when he dies," according to a follow-up story.

 

 

My mother (far left) with her parents and brother Raymond in 1922.

 

My mother, Florence Brazill, who died later that same year at age 87, would have completely understood the Jackson children's motivation. For the women of their era, it was always about the table. They were the personification of the worthy women extolled in the Book of Proverbs: "Like merchant ships, she secures her provisions from afar. She rises while it is still night, and distributes food to her household."

The women of their generation might have worked outside the home — my mom had a B.S. in social work, had jobs in the insurance, medical and retail fields and got her real estate license when she was almost 60 — but they never focused on their careers the way their daughters did.

The home was the center of their world. As my sisters and I noted in our mother's obit in 2006, "Long before Martha Stewart, she taught herself to wallpaper and to make slipcovers . . . always set a beautiful table and her talents in the kitchen were legendary."

 

My mother on her First Communion in the late 1920s.

 

Unlike Dorothy Jackson's children, my sisters and I would be hard-pressed to pick a definitive recipe for our mother. Perhaps her cheesecake — easy to make, good for a crowd. It was the dish she brought to church functions, and that was mentioned by friends who kept in touch after she and my father left their longtime hometown of Buffalo, NY for Erie, PA in the 1990s. My sisters and I are all good cooks, but none of us measures up to our mother.

  

My parents at the time of their engagement in the mid-1940s. 

 

 

As we noted in her obit, "Florence baked from scratch: bread, pies, coffeecake, eclairs and traditional German Fastnachts Kuechla for Shrove Tuesday. She canned every kind of fruit and vegetable, made mincemeat, jams, jellies and watermelon rind pickles."

 

We grew up eating "thin pancakes" for supper on meatless Fridays not realizing until years later that they were French crepes. We took it for granted that everyone's mother stood at the stove — deftly controlling two frying pans — while we all sat at the table clamoring for more. I still make her crepes (topped with raspberry jam and powdered sugar — we never gussied them up with fillings) when I want a quick, comforting meal.

 

 

And I searched far and wide in the pre-Internet era to find a secondhand copy of the World War II edition of "The Woman's Home Companion Cookbook," virtually the only cookbook I ever saw my mother use. Usually she relied on recipes written out on index cards or yellowed newspaper clippings jumbled together in a three-ring binder. I followed suit and began my own clip file of recipes when I was still in high school.

 

My mother with three of her four daughters in the 1950s.

 

 

The photos that our mother used to mail to us in her cards and letters were not of her or our dad but of his peonies and poppies in the garden. Or an array of fresh produce piled on her old green kitchen scale just before the produce went under her knife. Or, perhaps, a shot of her father's "smoking chair" transformed after she signed up for an upholstery class.

 

 

Florence could knit, embroider and sew anything from a pair of lined Bermuda shorts to Halloween costumes and party dresses. In an era before clothing labels loomed large, it was her home sewing talent that gave the Brazill sisters their wardrobe edge. The dress she made for my high school graduation had an inset of antique lace that had belonged to her mother. That dress was both simple and sophisticated, a labor of love that's been a treasured memory all these years.

 

 

Our mother expressed her love for her family most often through her hands. And that's how we continue to remember her, through our hands — every time we sew on a button or crimp a pie crust.

 

 

Enjoying the sidewalk cafe with granddaughter Sarah, at daughter Pat's wedding in NYC in 1998.

 

 

This essay appeared under my byline in a slightly different version on Oct. 21, 2006 in The Capital Times newspaper in Madison, WI. Today is the 92nd anniversary of my mother's birth. 

The books are back!

We're down to the "punch list" in our remodeling project. That's the list of all the little bits and pieces that need to be dealt with by the contractor before a job is finished. We're close enough to being done that we've started on the fun jobs: planning where to put our favorite artworks and decorative objects, and unpacking the 34 boxes of books we moved out of the old library and re-shelving them in their new setting.

We knew we'd have enough room for all those books but I suggested we discard the equivalent of two shelves worth of titles — about ten percent — as we unpacked. That would give us space to buy more books and it would allow us to combine volumes on a given subject that were previously scattered around the house. What a pleasure to discover old friends and also to admit that we've moved beyond some titles, subjects, obsessions. But looking at the rows of cookbooks, books on textiles, costume, interior design — it's clear some subjects will always be favored.

This weekend we hope to move the couch and the big Chinese armoire that holds the TV and other electronic media back into the room. Let the fun begin! 

I put down a throw to keep cardboard boxes of books from getting the new carpet dirty. The carpet is un-dyed wool in a tweedy-gray made of all the natural colors of fleece. Wonderful on bare feet. The new shelves are 44 inches high and made of cherry. 

Watermelon gets sophisticated

I have a terrible sweet tooth — except when it comes to melons. I can't eat cantaloupe or watermelon without adding salt, pepper, proscuitto, lime juice, something to cut the sweetness. You name it, I've tried it. I finally found the ultimate solution to my sweetness dilemma in Martha Stewart's book, "Healthy Quick Cook," where she douses watermelon with Campari. The bitterness of the famed Italian aperitif is the perfect complement to the sweet fruit.

 

Of course Martha — being Martha — serves her watermelon cut into squares and stacked into a sophisticated cube on a plate with the Campari on the side for dipping. We made it easy on ourselves and tossed our cubes into dessert dishes, poured the Campari over them and added an herbal garnish. It has to be one of the easiest summer desserts imaginable and is always a hit with guests. I just have to remind myself that I probably shouldn't be adding Campari when I'm eating watermelon for breakfast.

Cookbooks: What to keep on the kitchen counter

We're moving into the next phase of our interior remodeling project: the one where we have to move everything out of the library/media room that's being updated. It's not easy finding extra space where we can squeeze in a 7-foot-long couch or antique armoire. But it's the walls of books that present the biggest dilemma; not so much storing them as anticipating which ones we'll want at hand during the next few months.

The cookbooks are actually the sticking point. Over the last few years I've honed my collection to the essentials: the ones that I actually turn to again and again, along with a few sentimental favorites or out of print treasures. Even so, the current tally easily tops 150 books. That's way too many to fit on the kitchen counter or my bedside table during the construction process. 

Thus I decided to only keep out the books I've pulled off the shelf and used in the last few months, and the ones that I may need if we're still without bookshelves as summer turns to fall. We probably won't be throwing any fancy dinner parties during this process which helped me whittle the list down. Then again, it's summer when entertaining can move to the deck — which means I'll also want access to my four favorite tabletop/china books and two hand-written entertaining notebooks. 

Herewith is my must-have list, twice as a long as I thought it would be until I actually stood in front of the cramped shelves and had to pick and pack. 

1. Kitchen of Light: The New Scandinavian Cooking by Andreas Viestad (Wisconsin has a large Norwegian population so this book is a must with its family stories and fabulous food. Plus I interviewed the darling Andreas when he was in town years ago. )
2. Martha Stewart's Healthy Quick Cook
3. The Essential Root Vegetable Cookbook by Sally and Martin Stone (all those recipes for market produce)
4. Wisconsin Herb Cookbook by Suzanne Breckenridge and Marjorie Snyder (a summer staple)
5. The Vegetarian Epicure by Anna Thomas (her first and still the best)
6. Delia Smith's Summer Collection
7. A Well-Seasoned Appetite by Molly O'Neill (all of Molly's books are classics)
8. Pure Desserts by Alice Medrich (Alice & Kate are more for dreaming than making)
9. The Sweet Life by Kate Zucherman
10. The Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics by Ina Garten (when in doubt, turn to Ina)
11. The Barefoot Contessa: Family Style by Ina Garten
12. The Minimalist Cooks at Home by Mark Bittman
13. A Twist of the Wrist by Nancy Silverton (creative dishes from cans, jars, and the deli)

After I took this stack of titles and re-located them from their soon-to-be-demolished bookcase, I realized I had better throw in How to Peel a Peach and Joy of Cooking in case I needed some basic info. I was feeling quite proud of my limited stack when Mark announced that he had not yet added his favorite cookbook titles and hoped I'd left enough room for him — the downside of two cooks in the family!

What's on your can't-live-without cookbook list?