CityMama™

Meal Planning Monday for 8/31/09 [Now Caveman approved!]

J. has been on a paleo diet for a few weeks now. It's where you eat mostly meat and veggies but there are other things to it that I don't completely understand (like I guess cavemen could drink vodka). All I know is that he is avoiding sugar and carbs and that means that our meals lately have been leaning heavily towards protein and veggies. Which is actually not so different from how we usually eat.  We are a veggie-loving family so making more of them is not a problem. So far.

Here's what we have on deck for the coming week.

• Monday—Veggie and tofu stir-fry (over udon noodles for us), leftover Kabocha squash which was cooked with shoyu, garlic, and a little sugar.
• Tuesday—Curried Zucchini Soup (from my worn and weathered copy of the Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook, RIP Sheila Lukins), Lebanese flatbread, and homemade labneh (yogurt cheese—this with garlic and chives).
• Wednesday—I'm going out so I'm probably just make a frittata for the family and call it a day
• Thursday—J. won't be here so pasta with fresh tomato and basil sauce; lemony-garlicky Caesar salad
• Friday—headed our of town for Labor Day weekend!

What are the cavemen eating at your house this week?

Health care is a human right

For those who may be new to CityMama, yes, I do get political on my blog. Why? Because just like my love of cooking, my strong feelings about certain issues is part of me. When I believe in a cause, I am pretty dogged about getting people to understand my point of view. I mostly try to contain the political blogging to MOMocrats, a political blog I co-founded, but I do point people over there to read.

Can't we all agree—regardless of political or religious beliefs— that the current system is broken and that everyone in this country deserves equal access to health care?

I wrote about what you can do to make sure single payer healthcare (HR676) passes over on MOMocrats.  Hopefully you think it's the kind of post you can forward to your family and friends.

Roasted pork loin with yellow kiwi, white peach, and tomato pico de gallo

It's our 15th wedding anniversary today, and I made this for dinner:

Bunny's dinner plate

Not for us (we went out to the restaurant where we had our wedding reception), but for my sister who volunteered to babysit for us tonight. Sisters who babysit deserve nice food, don't you think?

Pollo al Mattone (Chicken under a brick)

Pollo al Mattone is one of my mom's favorite dishes.  She used to always get it at Vivande on Fillmore Street in San Francisco usually after stopping into Fillamento, a great, great housewares store that isn't around anymore. Their bricked chickens were always flavorful and juicy with crispy-crispy skin, (just like the bird you see above!).  When I saw it on the cover of the September 2009 issue of Bon Appetit (recipe on page 84), I knew I'd be making it.

You start by marinating the chicken overnight (or all afternoon like I did) then roast it the next day.  The key is spatchcocking it first (removing the backbone so you can butterfly it).  I did it backwards because I was on the phone while cutting up my chicken and removed the breastbone instead.  One cut in and I quickly realized what I had done. Fom there, there was no going back.  "Never apologize!" says Julia, right? (Note to self: no cooking while on conference call.)

Hi, I'm backwards, but I'm still going to taste delish.

Continuing on, you grill or roast the chicken in a hot oven under a foil-wrapped brick (or in my case, cast iron skillet upon chicken cooked in another cast iron skillet), flip, then continue roasting until the juices run clear.

Gettin' smushy.

Pollo al Mattone is easy and fun to make.  The girls got a kick out of seeing the flattened chicken and it tasted, well, just amazing. I roast chickens often, at least a couple of times a month, and from now on, they'll be done al mattone. Check out the recipe in this month's Bon Appetit for more details.

Note: I'm reviewing a new camera, the Nikon Coolpix P90, and used it to take these photos.

Meal Planning Monday for 8/24/09

Back to school!  Back to school! To prove to dad that I'm not a fool...

Yes, it's that time of year for us.  Both girls start school this week, Bunny is off to second grade, though after this summer it seems like she should be starting college or broadcasting school or something, and Wallie begins (sniff!) Kindergarten!

I know!

We've been talking about school with Wallie all summer.  The good thing is that because she has Bunny's teacher, she knows the drill.  She knows that we'll start the morning reading together, then we'll say good bye, then she'll get to eat her snack, then I'll see her at lunch time. (Our district doesn't have a full-day kindergarten, dammit!)

For her first day of school snack Wallie has requested a peanut butter sandwich and a peach. Kinda bummed that I slept through the farmer's market this morning so tomorrow I'll be on the hunt for first-day-of-school-worthy peaches at a local produce stand.

I didn't do any cooking while I was in Hawaii except for making oatmeal and a David Eyre pancake.  We ate out most every meal, lunch and dinner, and it was—not gonna lie—all delicious.  It's time to get back to some real cooking, though.  We had a family dinner around the dining room table tonight and the girls were in heaven. They kept squealing, "FAM-A-LEE DINN-EEERRRR!" in between bites of food.

I feel a strong urge to get us stocked up and back to basics this. I've been away so much this summer that I'm tired of reading about cooking good things. I'm inspired to dive right in with some cooking projects when the kids are out of the house at school. This week I'll be making bread,  a quart of homemade yogurt, a pint of salad dressing, several jars of homemade quick pickles, and a batch of freezer cookie dough.

I've now read through the cooking mags that came while I was gone and this is what I've got going on this week:

• Monday: Swedish yellow pea and vegetable soup flavored with nitrite-free salt pork, crudité and breadsticks with fiery roasted red pepper dip
• Tuesday: Spatchcocked chicken under a brick (or cast-iron skillet in my case) finished with lemon, rosemary and chili flakes; roasted potatoes, a summery green salad
• Wednesday: Tacos with shredded leftover chicken topped with chopped cilantro and sweet onion; homemade jalapeño pickles, icy-cold gazpacho
• Thursday: Happy 15th Anniversary J! (not sure yet about this night, something special for sure)
• Friday Family Night: We may order take out and watch a movie or we might walk downtown and see what kind of trouble we can get into.
• Saturday: Date night
• Sunday Throw it on the grill night!  We'll see what looks good at the farmer's market and go from there.

What have you been cooking? What will you be making this week.  Tell me all about it because I've missed this!

My mom's legendary pasta with roast pork and kimchi

It's garnished with toasted seaweed, carrot flowers, green onions, and red chili threads.

It is so damn good and no one knows how to make it except for her.

I'm finally home from Hawaii and am going grocery shopping in a few minutes. I can't wait to get back into the swing of cooking for my family! This week's meal plan soon to come!

Honolulu Summer 2009: Part V, Teaching them how to eat poi

 

Beef stew, kahlua pig, lomi salmon, haupia, and poi at Ono's Hawaiian Food in Honolulu. Not shown: chicken luau, lau lau, and salt pork with watercress.

Bunny, you have to add sugar like the locals do. Stirstirstir, then taste. You don't eat it plain. You dip your kahlua pig, raw Maui onions, lau lau, and lomi salmon into it. Lomi salmon and poi. That's the best. You have to dip, then you will see how sublime poi can be. 

Haoles, they don't like poi. You can't learn to love poi at a tourist luau.They call it wallpaper paste. But that's because they don't know. It needs sugar. Just enough to bring out the natural sweetness.

Bunny, don't worry if you don't like poi today. Since Hawaii is part of you, in time you will learn to love it like I do. And Ono's ain't going anywhere.

Honolulu Summer 2009: Part IV, Recipes from my Hawaiian childhood [David Eyre Pancake]

 

I love to cook, that's no secret, but what I love most about it is cooking dishes for my girls that I used to eat as a kid. I made one of those dishes this morning: a Dutch baby pancake.

My mom used to cook these for breakfast all the time when we were kids and I don't know why I haven't done it before.  They are stupidly easy--much easier than making and flipping pancakes since it cooks itself.

The recipe I used is the same recipe my mom used, and it's named for David Eyre, an "island gourmet." He apparently served it to Craig Claiborne who, in turn, printed the recipe, and the rest was history. If you make Dutch babies, chances are, you are making a  "David Eyre Pancake."

You can google David Eyre Pancake and come up with lots of different variations, but this is how I made it.

• 1/2 cup sifted flour

• 1/2 cup milk

• 2 eggs

• 1/2 tsp nutmeg

• 3 tablespoons of butter (I originally used four as my recipe called for but I would reduce the amount next time)

• 3-4 tbsps of powdered sugar (sifted first or sprinkled through a sieve)

• juice of half a lemon

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In mixing bowl combine flour, eggs, milk, and nutmeg. Whisk together until well-blended. Melt the butter in a large oven-proof saute pan (11-12 inches) or equivalent baking dish. Pour batter into pan, put in oven, and bake for 18-20 minutes until puffed and golden brown. Sprinkle with sugar and lemon juice, return to oven for a minute (watch so it doesn't burn), then remove. Serve garnished with fresh fruit if desired. I used local chopped mango.

It was gone in about 2 minutes.Bunny got a huge kick out of eating something her Mamma used to eat as a kid and asked when I would be making it again. My answer? Whenever she wants.

The girls loved watching this cook. It's kinda spectacular!:

 

 

How the women of Ford, an assembly plant, and a guy named Larry changed my life

 

A month ago, Bad Kitty and I went on a roadtrip (a roadtrip that we pitched to Ford, BlogHer was not affiliated in any way, and we were not paid, We just wanted to drive some badass cars and fulfill a dream.) We drove two incredible Ford vehicles: a 2010 Mustang GT and a 2010 Taurus SHO. We were treated like VIPs at Ford World Headquarters where we learned about Ford's sustainability efforts and about their social justice initiatives, things you don't hear much about in the mainstream media. I'm not sure why. Maybe they are afraid of being accused of greenwashing. Maybe, with the current economic situation they have bigger fish to fry. Maybe, in the grand sales-driven scheme of things, it's not a priority.

I understand.

I have been skeptical.

I have said, outloud, often, and to many people, that I "don't like" American cars, even though I have personally owned two Fords. 

I have written about how I didn't think the auto industry should get a dime of bailout money.

Then a man named Larry Moskwa changed my life.

Meet Larry:

 

Honolulu Summer 2009: Part III What it's all about

 

They spent their time together flying.

Holding hands.

Laughing so hard they couldn't talk.

Surrounded by love.

The cousins are gone now. It's just us, and we miss them so much it kinda hurts.