geek

Serendipity

The Best Dog In The World

It’s a typical Spring day here in Wisconsin. Rainy, windy, and about 50 °F . The trees and shrubs are on the verge of bursting, their buds so ready to unfold that I can almost see them vibrate with anticipation. I love Spring for days like this. My flower beds are filling up nicely with the beautiful variegated leaves of the Pulmonaria, the Lady’s Mantle that forms soft cups to catch the morning dew, and the enormous ornamental rhubarb with its prehistoric looking leaves. Of course the weeds are growing like…well, weeds. But I have every intention to get out there and pull their little weedy roots right outta there…as soon as it stops raining.

At work we have a lovely enclosed courtyard and last week I noticed that the crocuses were in bloom, this week it was the daffodils. The tulips, which have sent out their luscious green leaves, will be next. I can’t wait. All this blooming activity made me think about bees. This morning I started my internet day at the Science Friday website; I heard a portion of the program yesterday about synthetic biology and I wanted to learn more. While there I found a great video about bees and where they poop. The funny thing is, as I watched the video on my laptop the Lucinda Williams song Honey Bee was playing …serendipity! I love, love, love moments like that and that song totally kicks ass!

I’d like to say that I’ve been cooking up a storm this week but that’s just not the truth. I’ve been busy elsewhere. However, one day I really wanted to eat rice but I wanted to bake it in the oven so I Googled “oven baked rice” and the great Google gave me Arroz Forno, a melange of chorizo, chicken, onion, chickpeas, rice, potatoes, saffron, and paprika. A typical Spanish comfort food that could easily be whipped up in 30 minutes and eaten from a bowl while curled up on the couch watching The Daily Show…and again with the serendipity since I had all the ingredients on hand and I’m totally in love with Spanish food. Anyways, it was fabulous! Especially the sweetly satisfying potatoes…their texture and flavor are the perfect counterpoint in this dish. I think chicken thighs would be better but then again I always think that.

arroz forno

Arroz Forno
printer-friendly recipe

8 ounces chorizo
1 small yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 ½ cups medium grain rice (like nishiki or la bomba)
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 russet potatoes, peeled
4 chicken boneless, skinless chicken breasts
6 strands saffron
4 cups hot water
Extra virgin olive oil
paprika

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Measure out 4 cups of hot tap water and add the six strands of saffon to it. Set it aside.

Using a meat mallet, pound the chicken breasts so that they are an even thickness. Rub with olive oil and set aside.

Slice the potatoes into 3/4” rounds. Rub with olive oil and set aside.

Saute the chorizo, onions and garlic in olive oil in a large oven-proof skillet. Add the chickpeas and rice. Pour in the water and stir to distribute everything equally. Place the chicken breasts on top and then place the potato rounds on top. Drizzle some olive oil over the top, sprinkle with paprika and place it in the oven.

Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and serve.

April 25, 2009 | Filed Under baking, food, geek fast food, quick and easy, recipe, rice and other grains | 4 Comments 

Butter the radish, pour the wine

Farmers' Market purchases

Madison’s Westside Community Market opened yesterday and it was an absolute success. I got there at 9:00 and Diana from DreamFarms was already out of eggs but she did have a tasty wedge of feta. At the information booth Vivien was dispensing hellos and news about the apple trees along with the delicious complimentary coffee that the market offers. Everywhere I looked farmers and shoppers were chatting and renewing friendships.

lunch

JenEhr Farm offered a bountiful spread of greens including a blend of mustard greens, bundles of a type of mustard green I’d not seen before, bunches of sorrel, and a lovely, light green leaf with a mild bok choy flavor. I bought some of each, including several bunches of French breakfast radishes.

french breakfast radish with butter and salt

A crusty, deeply flavorful whole wheat batard from Madison Sourdough Company brought it all together on a plate for a seasonal and local lunch. The sausage from Sunnyhill Acres, the feta from Dreamfarm, the radishes and greens from JenEhr a dab of butter here and there, some sea salt, and a glass of crisp white from France…well it was almost local but it was simple, full of flavor and probably one of the most satisfying meals ever. Like a big sigh…spring is here…it seems as though it’s safe to come out of my hole.

perfection

April 19, 2009 | Filed Under Local, Westside Community Market, bread, farmers market, food, quick and easy, soup, salad, sandwich | 9 Comments 

He ain’t pretty…but he’s my cake

ugly cake...but so tasty

In our family we start our birthday celebrations with the delightful Dexter in December and we run through them, one a month, with the exception of February, until we reach the end with the awesome Alex in April. Dexter always want’s a pecan pie and it never, ever is as good as the one I baked at thanksgiving. Dave too get’s pie…this year it was a blueberry galette, all tangy with blue fruit and crisp with buttery, sugary pastry.

My birthday in March is usually when the cake craving starts. This year Dexter suggested an ice cream cake from Culver’s. It was our hope that it would be similar to a Baskin-Robbins ice cream cake in that it would include actual sheetcake sandwiching layers of ice cream and frosted with ice cream. But alas…it was a cruel hoax and was merely a block of ice cream drizzled with toppings. Totally not what I wanted. The next attempt at acquiring a cake was from Whole Foods were I purchased a lovely chocolate raspberry cake. It was a good cake but the frosting was overpowering; stiff and overly sweet with not enough chocolate flavor. This past week we celebrated Alex’s birthday and he too wanted pie, apple is his favorite. But I made a scheduling mistake and ended up not making the dough a day ahead of time like I should have, plus I measured wrong and used too much butter. It was a good pie but the crust was too buttery and it wouldn’t crisp up. That brings us to Sunday morning.

My cake craving had yet to be satisfied and I’d been daydreaming about a cake I used to make when I was a child; a chocolate cake known as the crazy cake. It involved cocoa, vinegar and baking soda and that’s about all I remembered…but who needs a memory when there’s google? I turned up several different versions and finally found one to settle on. Most recipes for this cake are similar…flour, cocoa, baking soda, sugar, vinegar, vegetable oil, vanilla, and water and always feature the instruction to mix the cake in the baking pan. This cake was popular during the WWII rationing because it requires no milk, butter, or eggs. Beyond that it’s a dead easy cake to make and it’s light, moist, tender and packed with chocolate flavor.

ugly cake...but so tasty

I’m sure there are some cake baking, cooling, and frosting skills that I could acquire if I were willing to put the time in. But I’m not. That’s why every single cake I make is ugly but delicious and this cake is no exception. The frosting is simple too and it’s the perfect topper for an old fashioned cake like this.

Old Fashion Chocolate Cake
Printer-friendly recipe

3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons white vinegar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 cups cold water

Preheat oven to 350° F. Makes 2 round cake layers

Sift together the flour, baking soda, cocoa, salt, and sugar. Make 3 holes in the flour mixture and add the vegetable oil to one, the vinegar to another, and the vanilla to the last. Pour the water over the top and stir the ingredients together until most of the lumps disappear. Note: I could never get all the lumps out).

Fill two round cake pans and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the top is springy and a tester inserted in the center comes out dry. Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack, then frost and serve.

Easy Peasy Chocolate Frosting

4 oz. unsweetened chocolate
4 oz. butter, softened
Powder sugar
Milk (about 1/3 cup)

Melt the chocolate in the microwave. Add it to a mixing bowl along with the softened butter and whipp it with the whisk attachment. gradually add in sifted powder sugar until it stiffens up and starts to clump. Then add in just enough milk until you have a fluffy, light, spreadable consistency.

April 14, 2009 | Filed Under baking, cakes and tortes, chocolate, food, recipe | 11 Comments 

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