Friends & Food

In the heat of the summer I've rediscovered cooking. And the reason is, I've made a friend in the building who loves food as much as I do. In a way we've created our own little co-op - she has a car and takes me grocery shopping and I cook. And it's not a one-way street as she does her share of cooking too.

We've developed a lovely cameraderie where she'll come down to my apartment and we'll spend an hour or two pouring over my cookbooks and magazines looking for new recipes to try. Or I'll get a text message saying, "shall I bring some of this down for you to try?" After a long day of work and an hour-long commute, there's nothing more welcoming than a smile and a spontaneous meal with a friend.

One ritual we've developed is making a weekly batch of the Olive Oil Granola I mentioned in a previous post. It is absolutely delicious and we can't get enough of it. Although, since we're both trying to learn the lesson of quality over quantity, we limit ourselves and try to share the bounty with other friends.

Not all our attempts are as successful as the granola but ultimately it's about our friendship and it's only enhanced by food.

More blog envy

I just discovered La Tartine Gourmande - another beautiful blog with gorgeous photos.

What I'm cooking this weekend

I love reading cookbooks and cooking magazines. Given my way I'd have a whole library in my home dedicated to cookbooks and a big comfy chair where I could spend hours reading. The Internet has also expanded my horizons. Just the mere thought of a dish, maybe a few ingredients and I can set off on a search and pull back any number of possibilities.

And what's absolutely the best is having foodie friends who share recipes. Just such a friend recently shared a recipe with a comment that simply stated, "This is the best granola we've ever had..." He was talking about a recipe that appeared on NYTimes.com for Olive Oil Granola with Dried Apricots and Pistachios. The comment from my friend was enough to make me want to try it out but the title of the recipe was intriguing too. After reading the accompanying article, I was hooked. Of course I substituted a few of the ingredients - I had to put my own personal stamp on it. Instead of apricots and pistachios I used dried cranberries and sliced almonds. A couple of my friends had difficulty finding coconut chips and resorted to breaking open fresh coconuts and using the food processor to break down the meat (being lazy I would have left it out). I was able to find unsweetened, organic coconut chips in the baking aisle of my local Whole Foods. I also discovered that I didn't have ground cardamom and ended up breaking open cardamom pods (I have them on hand for Indian dishes) and grinding up the little seeds in my mortar and pestle. As a result I think this batch has a more intense cardamom flavor but I love it. It's a great recipe and I have to agree with my friend, this is the best granola I've ever had.

The other recipe I made was Tangy Frozen Greek Yogurt (this recipe courtesy of the Internet). Now I'm not one to buy many appliances that have limited use, especially given my limited storage options. Somehow I was convinced to purchase an ice cream maker and now I feel compelled to use it. Thus far I've only made lemon sorbet so I felt the need to expand my repertoire. Again, I did some substitutions and I'm not sure they were the correct decisions. Instead of full-fat yogurt I used fat-free. I also didn't have corn syrup on hand so I used honey - yogurt and honey seemed like a classic combination. And finally I ended up using lime instead of lemon juice because that's all I had in the fruit bin. I just finished making the batch in the machine and now it's firming up in the freezer. The texture seems fine but the honey is definitely overwhelming - I like it but it's just a little too much. The next time I make it I will use half honey/half corn syrup and probably keep the lime because it goes well with the honey.

Well, it's Saturday morning and I still have a weekend open to try more things. The possibilities include watermelon sorbet, zucchini whoopie pies, ratatouille, or maybe some kind of summer vegetable gratin. As Jacques would say, "Happy Cooking!"

Blog Envy

Cannelle et Vanille is a beautiful blog. The photos are gorgeous and amazing. There are wonderful stories and anecdotes to match. Enjoy.

The thrill continued...

This weekend saw the completion of another fabulously delicious Moveable Feast. The theme, in honor of our President, was Obamoveable Feast and featured dishes from many of the places that have played a significant role in Obama's life. The dishes included:

• Champagne Margaritas from one of his favorite Chicago restaurants, Topolobampo
• Ahi Poke (Hawaii)
• Nasi Goreng (Indonesia)
• Deep-dish Pizza (Chicago)
• Victory Garden Salad - featuring many of the herbs and vegetables that will be grown in the new White House garden, including spinach, snow peas, basil, parsley, and many other delicious veggies. Topped with goat cheese crostini.
• Soy Braised Short Ribs (Hawaii - mentioned in an earlier post)
• Mahogany Wings (because he likes wings, or so we heard)
• Rice Krispy Treats (made with Fluff from Somerville)
• Pineapple Upside Down Cake (Hawaii)

Oh it was all so delicious! This group has never failed me. The food coma lasted fully into the next day.

Even though I'm not hosting for another few months, I'm stressing about the theme. I really don't know what I'm going to do this time around...

Tweet This

It's funny what you can find online these days - especially with everyone talking about social media this, social media that, blah, blah, blah. Today I discovered Zippy's on Twitter and Facebook. And while my friends are paring things down, simplifying and de-friending some not-so-close friends, I find myself expanding my network just to see what's out there. Following and friending Zippy's is really just another form of torture for me. I get to see the daily specials of foods I can't eat. Oh well...

Presidential Noshing

Recently the Associated Press published a story on some of President Obama's favorite eateries on Oahu. Thanks M for sending it to me. So you know I couldn't resist adding my own comments to his selections.

• Indigo - have heard of it but never been there. (As a side note I found the AP's comment, "locals like Kelsey Grammer," to be funny and clearly not written by someone from Hawaii. By Hawaii standards, Kelsey Grammer may be a resident but he wouldn't be considered a local.)
• Alan Wong's - there are many talented chefs who excel at Hawaii Regional Cuisine. I enjoy Alan Wong's but I believe that 3660 on the Rise is one of the best. I enjoyed this article about the President's most recent visit to his restaurant.
• Rainbow Drive-In - a classic and one of my favorites. My favorite after-the-beach snack is a bbq burger, side of mac salad, and slush float.
• Zippy's - chili, mahi bun, fried saimin, ox tail stew, Zip Pac. Ya, we go there a lot.
• Island Snow Shave Ice - never been because my favorite place to go is Waiola Shave Ice
• Chowder House - yup, used to go here all the time
• Sakura Restaurant - never been but they did menion spam musubi
• Kua Aina Sandwich - mmmmmm burgers
• Baskin-Robbins - found it funny that this made it to the list
• Koko Marina Paradise and Kokonuts Shave Ice - see Island Snow Shave Ice
• Mariposa - I like this restaurant. The popovers and lilikoi butter, sooo good (I know, not your typical island food but still...)

There are so many great places to eat. I've listed some of my favorites and will continue to add more.

As another little side note, our next Moveable Feast theme is foods associated with significant places from President Obama's life. I plan to try Alan Wong's Soy Braised Short Ribs. I'm not sure if I'll make the full recipe (with the kim chee fried rice and ko choo jang sauce) - it may be a bit much. Oh but it sounds so good right now!