Woody's Excellent Adventure

Saturday - Having exhausted my own list of doctors, this morning I headed over to my kids' doctor.  The veterinarians at Hunter's Creek Animal Hospital have cared for every single one of my furry kids, the only exception being Ira the First.  (We shall not take this moment to extol the virtues of rats as pets nor compare them to their crazed cousins, the hamsters).

After I wrote that, I realized I had piqued my curiosity and made a list of all of my pets who have been treated at Hunter's Creek Animal Hospital. Whoa. Ten cats, six  dogs, all needing regular care, medication, boarding - I must have put somebody's kid through college.        

Dora the First (Little Dora)
Ira the First (El Exigente, the Demanding One)
Minerva Athene (Minerva the Claw)

Pixel Piacentino (Lord Pixel, Schrodinger's Cat)

Zebadiah John Carter (Zebbie)

Princess Polly Ponderosa Penelope Peachfuzz (Polly the Paw)

Ira Cesar Arana Castaneda Morris the Second

Emeril Lagasse (Em the Street Cat)

Dejah Thoris (Deety)
Dora the Second (Dora Maureen, Dodi Li)

Romeo Lee (Puppy - yes, he thinks his name is Puppy)

Anakin Skywalker (Darth Kitten, Lord Vader)

Athene Minerva (Teena)

Tuffy Elvis

Woodrow Wilson Smith (Woody)

Indiana Jones

Chelsea Rose

I never had pets as a kid; my first cat, Ira Cesar Arana Castenada Morris the First (El Exigente, The Demanding One) came to live with me in 1976. I can only imagine I've been trying to make up for lost time.

The vets at HCA are the best.  My favorites are Dr. Jim Vega, who took such exquisite care of Ira through diabetes, seizures, and cancer, and Dr. Valerie Marino.  It was Dr. Marino we were visiting this morning to try to find out why Woody was acting so weird.  Hiding in the corner of the kitchen, behind Anakin's litter box; sleeping in the dustpan,  drinking extra water, losing weight, refusing treats, that sort of thing.  Concerning because he will be 12 in November, a dog of mature years teetering on the edge of old age.  Sort of like me.    

But he was fine this morning, proud to be walking on Tuffy's blue leash, lifting his leg at the fire hydrant in front of our house and showing the world who is in charge, riding in the front seat by himself and not having to share with a sibling or two.  He showed his vulnerable side inside the vet's office, but just enough to garner sympathy and extra hugs, and then he decided which door we should exit through (the door that had "EXIT" written on it, of course. This boy can read).  As if that wasn't exciting enough, we went shopping! in a new! Petsmart! and helped me pick out a few things while receiving admiring glances from canine as well as human females.   That pretty dachshund wanted to make his acquaintance, it was very obvious. Finally, we headed home, sharing a few nacho-flavored Bugle snacks in the car, and he bounded up the front steps, eager to brag (just a little) to his brothers and sister.

It was an excellent adventure for Woody, and now he is passed out next to me on the couch.  Rob and I both think that what he needed was a whole lot of personal attention.  Yes, we will fine-tune the pH of his urine, and feed him a little soft food, and wait for the results of the zillion blood tests. He has a little heart murmur, and his old teeth are failing him, but he is in pretty darn good shape. Excellent shape.

I came across a recipe for devilled avocado eggs which looks really good - sort of like guacamole in an egg white shell - but I have no avocado en la casa, no cilantro, and no energy to go out to pick some up.  Publix is closed tomorrow for the Easter holiday, as it should be.  So either I wait for Monday to snag an avocado, or do something else.  I'm leaning towards Something Else, but first I have to check on just how much cooked food is already inhabiting my refrigerators.

I may wait for Monday before I devil any eggs, but I am planning on making matzo brei for tomorrow's breakfast.

The Magic won tonight, beating Milwaukee.  That's two in a row, two on the road.  Go Magic!

Mah Nishtanah - Why Is This Night Different From All Other Nights?

Good Friday, Day 23 - This year, Easter and Pesach (Passover) fall out at the same time; today is Good Friday and also the first night of Passover.  I love when that happens.  I also love that I snagged the last two boxes of egg matzo in Osceola County.  I haven't opened them yet; that first taste of Pesach matzo is special and should be saved for the start of the holiday.

This holiday weekend I am going to do my best to not think about all the medical tests and procedures of the last few weeks.  Yesterday I went for the mammogram, ultrasound, and dexascan.  I'm not worried about the dexascan, but the others - well, as you know, the lab folks generally won't discuss what they see, but one can learn a bit from body language, verbal cues, and reading upside down.  There is definitely something - several somethings - on the right side, but that was no surprise.     Both lab techs seemed concerned at what they saw.  At the very least, I see a needle biopsy in my immediate future.   I also got a phone call to come in and discuss the results of my BRCA test with my doctor.  And I already had an appointment to discuss my hormonal blood test results.  If I am lucky, she will have the official results from the ta-ta testing by then.  I am going to try real hard not to dwell on any of this until I get to talk to her.  There is nothing I can do about it between now and then, and if there is something I need to take care of, it will be after we return from the cruise. Same goes for the gastrenterology stuff.  My appointment with that doctor isn't until May 11, which I'm guessing is a good sign because his office picked the date and made the appointment for me.

The CPS is quiet right now; no pain, no brain fog.  A peaceful interlude.

Our seder at Jay and Laura's house was so very, very nice.  The stuffing I brought was well-received. Jay prepared the charoses, and Laura handled everything else, including fluffy knaidlach (matzo balls).  Delicious.  For me, however, the best part of the meal is the Hillel sandwich - charoses and horseradish on a bit of matzo.  I think that should be a little sandwich offered at an English High Tea.  Now there's an idea. We all took turns reading from the Haggadah, which relates the story of Passover and the Hebrews' escape from Egyptian slavery. I had four glasses (sips) of wine, and still managed to wield an electric knife in the Carving of the Pesach Turkey.  Life is good when you have friends with whom to share the holidays.

No cooking for me today.  I gave Woody a bath, using Dawn dishwashing liquid to help with the fleas.  Yes, Dawn.  It's safe, and it works.  I tried it on Chelsea the other night.  Both doggies are clean, flea-free (for now, anyway) and their fur is soft and silky.  Dawn - who knew?

Anyway, I have a new project to obsess over - a front yard vegetable garden!  Herbs and tomatoes and peppers and zucchini.  And herbs.  Lots of herbs.  I'm very excited about it.  Maybe strawberries. Yes, very excited. Totally clueless, but excited.

Anakin watches the world from the kitchen window

To my Jewish and Christian family and friends, I wish you all a happy, healthy, and peaceful holiday.

Even Kids With Chicken Pox - Passover Potato Cauliflower Farfel Stuffing

Thursday, Day 22 - If you've ever seen the movie "Demolition Man", you will understand when I state that the very worst of all ear worms come from childhood commercials.  The irony, by the way, is that all those kids with chicken pox who liked Armour hot dogs are now living in fear of coming down with shingles.  I know I am, and I only ate Hebrew National hot dogs as a kid.

One of the cuter commercials periodically invades my brain, if for no other reason that it has to do with chocolate.  Nestle's does not, in my opinion, make the very best chocolate, but circa 1955 they did make the cutest commercials.

Which brings us to Farfel.

No, the other farfel.  Matzo farfel.  Which is matzo that has been broken into uniform sized bits.  Nothing to do with Nestle's or chocolate or canine hand puppets with snapping jaws.  It was matzo farfel that I needed to prepare a proper turkey stuffing for Passover seder, and it was matzo farfel that I could not find in Publix.  With that a fairly major problem, I planned on substituting a cauliflower potato mash-based  stuffing, incorporating the only Passover matzo product I had in the house, which was matzo meal.

Or so I thought.  Turns out that I did have a nice, new, hermetically sealed container of matzo farfel tucked in a safe spot on a different pantry shelf.  So I decided to incorporate both ideas, which resulted in a pretty tasty dish. Along with the potatoes, cauliflower, and matzo farfel, this stuffing includes sautéed onions, celery, garlic, turkey sausage, oven-roasted mushrooms, and a whole lot of seasoning.  The only thing I would change is to reduce the amount of potato and cauliflower to 1 pound each.

1 1/2 pounds petite red potatoes, halved or quartered
1 1/2 pounds cauliflower florets
1/2 stick butter
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 tablespoon ground black pepper

Boil the potatoes and cauliflower together for about 20 minutes until tender.  Mash together with the butter, salt, and pepper.  Set aside.

1 pound bulk turkey sausage
2 large onions, chopped
3 large stalks celery, chopped
6 cloves garlic
reserved mushroom stems
2 tablespoons roasted garlic olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
handful of fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
Spices: Emeril's Essence, kosher salt, black pepper, granulated garlic, ground ginger, dried thyme, dried rosemary, rubbed sage - to taste
1 pound matzo farfel (about 6 cups)
2 cups water
1/2 stick butter

In a large deep skillet heat the olive oil, then add the sausage.  Break it up as you cook it, then add the onions, celery, garlic, mushrooms and 2 tablespoons butter.  Cook everything together until sausage is no longer pink and the onions are tender.  Stir in the spices and the fresh parsley.  Add the water and 1/2 stick butter;  once the butter is melted, add the farfel.  Stir well until the farfel is moistened.

1 pound whole button mushrooms, stems trimmed level with cap.  Reserve stems
3 tablespoons roasted garlic olive oil
kosher salt
ground mixed peppercorns

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Add the mushroom caps to a baking dish with the oil, salt, and pepper, stir well.  Turn the caps stem-side down and bake for 30-35 minutes.  Turn over and bake 5 minutes longer.  When the mushrooms are cool enough to handle, cut into quarters.

4 extra large eggs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a very large mixing bowl, combine all the above mixtures.  Taste and re-season generously.  Then add the eggs and mix well by hand.  Turn the stuffing into an aluminum baking dish.  Drizzle the top with a little garlic olive oil. Bake until heated through and crispy on top, one to 1 1/4 hours.  Sprinkle with paprika and parsley flakes, and serve to a deeply appreciative audience.

Flying High Now - The Original Split Pea Soup

Wednesday, Day 21 - Stick a fork in me, the Do Over is Done. Many thanks to my son, who got me there, and back, and there again, and back ... finally to have my first cup of decent coffee in three days, accompanied by one of those cute chocolate mini-scones, I had picked up at Whole Foods for that express purpose.

Of course after the anesthesia, I wasn't as steady on my feet as I had hoped, and I was more than happy to take my coffee and my Yorkies and head upstairs for a while.  With my feet back up on the bed, I wasn't doing much better than yesterday, and I guess Chelsea must have known that, because she decided to walk across the iPad keyboard and turn on the music.

Smart little girl.  The "Theme from Rocky" always lifts my spirits.  I'm not sure how she learned that little trick; I think it must have been Anakin who showed her the way (that's not a Peter Frampton reference, by the way.)  But it worked, as I am giving serious thought to heading over to Publix to pick up this and that, and then taking on some of the cooking I had to put off.

Bad idea.  Which did not stop me from food shopping, but I should have stayed home.  My digestive system is still complaining about the three-day assault, and I should have shown it a bit more respect. Not only that, but having driven to Publix, I was more than a bit frustrated that they had nary a Passover shelf to be found.  Oh, they had boxes of matzo in the regular Jewish section, but not one was for Passover use.  No matzo farfel, no matzo meal, no cake meal nor potato starch.  Not even a container of overly-sweet coconut macaroons.  How am I supposed to make farfel stuffing without farfel?

We'll talk about that tomorrow.  Today is the day I am making my split pea soup, based on the split pea soup recipe I submitted to the Sisterhood of Congregation Shalom Aleichem cookbook in the mid-nineties.  Today I have made a few small changes - I am using smoked meat (neck bones) instead of a milder ham bone, and so I added an extra quart of water and some sugar.  As I sit here now, I hope I did not misjudge the amount of neck bone I added to the soup.  I also threw in 2 cloves of garlic with the caramelizing onions, and some black pepper along with the salt and basil.

I gave in to my paranoia and removed one of the neck bones while the soup still had another hour to cook.

Oh hell, I just lost two full paragraphs ... I know it had something to do with chopped herring ... no, I am not making that up.  I was planning a luncheon, and I had a theme, and a menu and I'd even designed an invitation.  It was witty culinary repartee and now it's lost.  Nuts.

Well, at least I didn't lose the recipe, which I got from my grandmother-who-raised-me many years ago.  That woman had a way with onions, and I can't deny ...

The Original Split Pea Soup

1 pound split green peas, rinsed under cool water (don't skip this)
2 large grated carrots (yes grated, not sliced, diced, chopped or minced.  Oh, and grate them yourself)
3 stalks chopped celery
3 onions, chopped
3 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 pounds beef, ham, or pork bones, optional
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dried sweet basil
black pepper, to taste
2 quarts water
3-4 kosher frankfurters, sliced

Melt the butter in a large deep pot on medium high.  Add 2 of the chopped onions, and sauté until golden brown.  This should take awhile to get the right degree of caramelization, and lower the heat as needed to avoid burning the onions.  Add the water, and then all the remaining ingredients except the frankfurters.  Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer, partially covered, for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.  Remove the meat bones from the soup, remove the meat from the bones and return it to the soup.  Add the sliced frankfurters and simmer another 10 minutes, uncovered.  Stir well to break up the peas.

Do Over

Tuesday, Day 20 - Sometimes I am my own worst enemy.  This was one of those times.

As a result of my lack of due diligence, tomorrow is a colonoscopy do over. Don't ask; you wouldn't want the details.

So as I spend another day in purdah, away from my kitchen (because if I cook, I taste), I am enjoying quality time with Chelsea.  My little sweetheart has discovered the joy of sleeping with her head on my pillow, and who am I to discourage her?  While she alternates snoring and wheezing, both completely normal for her, I am looking at Sephardic Passover recipes.  I wish I knew definitively if  my one-eighth Dutch heritage is also Sephardic, but I haven't even tried to delve into that level of genealogical research. Being seven-eighths pure shtetl Ashkenazi has always dominated my personal history, culture, and culinary roots.  Except for falafel, but everybody eats falafel.  Our family name - Nathan, or Natan - could be Sephardic.  History tells us that following the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions, many of those Jews (including crypto-Jews) headed to the Netherlands.  My mother-who-died-much-too-young had the maiden name of Nathan, and we know the Nathans were Dutch.  I think of myself as a speculative Sephardi, and that lets me work with rice, peas and beans during Passover.

For Pesach, I plan to make a farfel stuffing to accompany the turkey that our hostess is preparing for Seder and Friday night.  No rice, peas or beans, mind you; one woman's speculation is another woman's kitniyot. But there shall be matzo farfel instead of bread, and lot and lots of fried onions and celery.

Having made serious inroads on the clear and convincing chicken soup, I have already turned my thoughts to split pea soup.  After 3 days of prep for the damn colonoscopy, all I can do is dream of food.  Truly, I cannot wait until this is over.

One thing I will never dream about again is Jell-o.  I always liked Jell-o, but haven't eaten it since my gastric bypass 12 years ago.  Apparently I've lost my taste for it, and now all I can think of is a Color War song from Camp Anawana, circa 1960-1962:

The punch is so mellow,
it tastes like melted Jell-o
and the next day we all look grim.
And the clinic line is growing,
because we all are going,
and Doc Goldstein just gives us Coricidan.

But wait!

Monday, Day 19 - I am looking forward to my colonoscopy tomorrow morning.  No, I really am.  Truly, definitely, and most sincerely. I can't wait. 

In the grand scheme of things, a colonoscopy is practically humorous.  Practically?  Hysterically!  I am laughing so hard I can't drink my Clear and Convincing Chicken Soup.  No matter, this is already my fourth cup.  Not only is it really good, but it is also the only thing I can eat, at least until my green Jell-o is completely jelled.

I wish I could sleep.  I did not sleep more than two hours last night and I am, to quote someone who had to listen to me bitch and moan today, "fretful and grumpy."  I don't expect to get a lot of sleep tonight either.  How can I put this delicately?  Sleeping pills, even something as mild as melatonin, do not play well with laxatives.  And there you have it.

Good grief, I have been totally distracted by Trey Gowdy's newest hair-do.  How can you take him seriously?   He wants to have a "conversation" with Hillary Clinton.  Good luck with that, Trey.

Seven people shot during spring break in Panama City Beach?  MY Panama City Beach?  Location of one of the best restaurants in Florida?  I haven't been to PCB in several years, and we never went during spring break.  Oh, I do miss it!  And that restaurant, "Firefly" ... ah well, that's another time, another place, another blog post.  Another spaceship ...

Clear and Convincing Chicken Soup

Sunday - Sleep late ... yes, indeed, it's Sunday!  Relaxing at home with my best boys while slow-cooking chicken and soup for my two-day colonoscopy diet. Listening to the news, as former military commanders and diplomats decry the pending agreement with Iran.  It's actually a treaty, but the President says it's not a treaty, so he does not have to get Congress' approval.  This is what we call being "disingenuous" which describes the entire Obama presidency.  Watching Cooking Channel and drooling over ... well, just about everything, except for those jalapeño bagels from West Virginia.  Doing more research on cruises to Alaska.

The clear chicken soup came out perfectly - rich, very chicken-y, with an undertone of dill and the slightest touch of lemon.  These are flavors I look for in a Jewish chicken soup, and if I didn't have to stick with a liquid diet tomorrow, I'd be whipping up a batch of knaidlach, also known as matzo balls.  Very appropriate for this pre-Pesach week.  One thing I did do was to chop up the cooked chicken breasts (except for a very small piece I ate with my rutabaga potato puree for dinner tonight), and I made chicken salad.  No celery, no onion, no apple, nothing but Hellman's mayonnaise.

Since 6:30 this evening, I have been working on finishing a 10 oz. bottle of magnesium citrate.  It does not taste as bad as I remember it tasting the last time I had it, which was the night before my gastric bypass surgery.  Still, it is causing an unpleasant heartburn and, try as I might, it is taking me two hours to get the whole thing down.  Woody and Anakin are keeping me company during the whole ordeal, with Woody letting out groans of sympathy for his "Memmy."

The soup recipe may sound a little strange, but it works, so just follow my lead.  Don't put the dill or lemon in ahead of time. The recipe was inspired by one I found on Food Network, but I made some major changes, as you will see.  I used my 3 1/2 quart crockpot and there was more than enough room.

Clear and Convincing Chicken Soup

2 - 32 oz. boxes unsalted chicken stock
2 medium carrots, cut in half lengthwise
2 medium parsnips, cut in half lengthwise
2 stalks of celery (no leaves), cut in half crosswise
4 green onions, cut in half crosswise
1 - 2 x 1/2 inch piece of rind from Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon yellow curry powder (don't leave it out, although it is virtually undetectable)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
3 boneless and skinless chicken breasts
1/4 inch slice of lemon
5 or 6 stalks of fresh Italian parsley
2 nice full stalks of fresh dill

In the crockpot, put all of the chicken stock, the carrots, parsnips, celery, green onions, Parmesan rind, curry powder, kosher salt and white pepper.  Cover the crock and cook on High for 1 hour.  Add the chicken breasts and cook for 2 more hours.  Don't freak if a deep golden film has risen to the surface; I am guessing it had something to do with the Parmesan rind, which still had a bit of cheese attached to it.  Now add the parsley, dill, and lemon and cook for one more hour.  Shut off the heat and use a large metal spoon to remove the parsley, dill, and any of the golden cheese stuff that might be clinging to it.  Remove the lemon slice and the Parmesan rind, and discard with the parsley and dill.

With a slotted spoon, carefully remove the vegetables and the chicken.  Strain the soup through double paper towels set into a wire strainer.  Serve the soup on its own, or with the vegetables and chicken added back, or with the aforementioned knaidlach.  The vegetables are also good on their own; cooked this way, they are not soggy and retain their individual flavor.

So Qrazy About Quinoa - Warm Quinoa Salad with Shrimp and Asparagus

Saturday - So before we get to the good stuff - I have a new recipe I just tried, involving quinoa, rock shrimp, and fresh asparagus - I need to take a look at the bad.

I am not the only person dealing with chronic pain and illness.  This brings me no comfort; on the contrary, it upsets me and angers me.  Whoever coined the phrase "God don't make no junk" should be soundly kicked in the head by a fourth degree black belt.  If the Lord doesn't make "junk", then why did He invent the concept of planned obsolescence?  You get old, you start to fall apart - why?

Whatever the reasons, God has come up with a veritable multitude of diseases, disorders, and syndromes with which to plague the human race. Two that were brought to my attention this week are peripheral artery disease and basal arthritis.  Two people who I care for very much each have one of these diseases.  Both hurt like hell and will likely result in nasty surgery and protracted recovery.  This is, to my way of thinking, intolerable.  These are good people.  Pain should not be an option for good people.  God, are You listening?

Anyway, we had dinner with friends tonight, at Prato in Winter Park.  Oh boy, was that good!  Poppyseed pappardelle with a duck bolognese.  Say that five times fast.  One of our friends had baked ricotta gnudi, which I would love to try - someday.

Good thing I had a great meal, because tomorrow begins the two day preparation for my colonoscopy.  Soft foods (there go my evening chips). Steamed fish or chicken (feh).  And it goes downhill from there - around 6:30 in the evening I have to drink a whole bottle of magnesium citrate. But wait!  It gets even worse on Monday!  Imagine a 64 ounce bottle of Gatorade, which I would never drink under normal circumstances, mixed with an entire 238 gram bottle of Miralax.  Imagine having to drink 8 ounces of this witch's brew, plus another 8 ounces of water.  Now imagine repeating this bizarre ritual every 15 minutes, seven more times!  Plus two double doses of Dulcolax tablets, but that's chump change compared to the water torture.  And doctors wonder why some people (like me) go out of their way to avoid this procedure.

I can't do it, I simply cannot do it.  No really, I can't physically ingest that much liquid, especially during a speed-drinking event.  Even after all these years, my pouch (what remains of my stomach after the gastric bypass surgery) is really really REALLY small.  I am already having problems with the opening from pouch to intestine - so where is all this liquid going to go? Oh hell, I'll deal with that tomorrow, and I promise to spare you the details.

I found this recipe in the Whole Foods Market Cookbook, and while I wasn't sure about the finished product, Rob had it for lunch after it had a chance to chill in the fridge, and he liked it quite a bit, although he said the texture of the quinoa was a bit mushy.  I'm pretty sure that was my fault, as I splashed in a bit more wine at the end, thinking the mixture was dry. Clearly I was wrong. Speaking of wrong, the recipe called for "unreconstituted" sun-dried tomatoes.  I had oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes in the fridge and thought it would be sufficient to pat them dry, but I think they may have contributed a little too much liquid, and next time I will definitely try the dry-pack version.  I also changed the timing for adding the asparagus and the peas, as I think the asparagus needed a little more, and the peas a little less time.

Warm Quinoa Salad with Shrimp and Asparagus

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 medium red onion, finely diced
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, unreconstituted, julienned
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup white wine
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
kosher salt to taste
1/2 cup quinoa

1/2 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined (I was lucky enough to find rock shrimp)
1/2 pound asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/4 cup frozen green peas (next time I'm going to go to 1/2 cup)

1/2 cup roasted cashew pieces
6 green onions, white and light green parts, minced
1/4 cup chopped parsley
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Heat the olive oil over medium heat.  Sauté the onion and garlic for 3 minutes.  Add the sun-dried tomatoes and simmer for 1 minute.  Add the water, wine, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt and pepper, and bring to a boil. Add the quinoa, reduce the heat to low, cover the pan and simmer for about 20 minutes, until the quinoa is almost tender to the bite.

Add the shrimp and asparagus to the saucepan on top of the quinoa, cover and simmer for 6 more minutes.   Take the pan off the heat, stir in the peas, and top the dish with the cashews, onions, and parsley.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Serve warm, or chilled.

I got to taste it both ways and I much preferred it chilled overnight. Delicious, even with (or maybe because of) the oil-packed tomatoes.  If you want to serve it chilled, wait until just before serving to sprinkle on the nuts, and also add more chopped parsley.

Say Has Anybody Seen My Organic Rutabagas? - Rutabaga Potato Puree

Say, does anybody remember Tony Orlando and Dawn?  Have a happy ear worm!

Say has anybody seen my sweet Gypsy Rose
Here's her picture when she was my sweet Mary Jo
Now she's got rings on her fingers and bells on her toes
Say has anybody seen my sweet Gypsy Rose

Oh, I got wind my Jo's been dancin' here in New Orleans
In this smoke-filled honky-tonk they call the Land of Dreams
Whoa, here she comes a-struttin' in her birthday clothes
Say has anybody seen my sweet Gypsy Rose

Friday, Day 18 - While my back still aches a bit, it is a better day.  A good day for rutabagas.  Please note that I have yet to look at the news.  I'm in a good mood.  I have made up my mind on the relative merits of Reese's peanut butter cups versus Lindt's peanut butter-filled truffles (Reese's won).  I came downstairs to a clean sink and humming dishwasher, thanks to my awesome son.  Chelsea and I shared a secret cookie.  My cousin Maura has already completed an awesome amount of research for our cruise to Alaska.  Rob and I have dinner plans tomorrow evening with our friends Marc and Kerri, and we've got a Passover Seder invite from Jay and Laura.  I got to talk with my cousin Steve-from-Brooklyn and had a really good conversation.  Only 29 days until our post- tax season cruise to the Caribbean.  Soon we'll be walkin' on Sunshine!

I love rutabagas, unlike the rest of my household.  They have a wonderful cabbage-y, peppery, almost buttery taste (the rutabagas, not the other members of my household).  After much experimentation, I find that they taste best on their own and not slipped surreptitiously into a beef stew (yes I have).  Their own flavor is delicate enough that it gets lost in a stew or highly flavored sauce.  I loved these when my mother-in-law would make them, just cubed and boiled and buttered.  I like them mashed on their own or mashed with potatoes.  I have two delicious rutabaga recipes I've been preparing for many years, both of them of the mashed variety.  Since yesterday's recipe for the Sephardic Sofrito was extraordinarily long (but worth it) I am opting to share the easy one with you.

If you do your vegetable shopping in a regular supermarket, you probably think of rutabagas (if you give them any thought at all) as big, honking edible soccer balls dipped in wax, wearing a purple ski hat.  They are hell to peel, and after several decades of rutabaga resistance, I found a method that is the most effective and least painful.  It involves a cutting board and a very sharp chef's knife (I use a 7 inch santoku, not just for rutabaga but for everything, except bread and tomatoes). Cut across both ends so that the rutabaga will sit flat on the board, then start cutting downwards with the knife held close and almost flat against the surface. Remember to rinse off any wax that may be clinging desperately to the surface, before cutting the rutabaga for cooking.

Right about now, I am missing Doctor Who.  Does anyone know when the new series (BBC-speak for "season") will be starting?

Back to rutabagas - imagine peeling these with a regular old vegetable peeler, like you would use for a carrot or a Russet potato or an apple. Would you?  Could you?

Yep.  You can, and you should, and I did.  These are rather small, organic rutabagas, unwaxed, root end mostly intact.  I picked them up at Whole Foods, and damn glad I did.  As you can see, all you need to do to peel them is to whip out your favorite vegetable peeler, cut off the flat top and the tip of the root with a sharp knife, and peel like a potato.

Rutabaga Potato Puree

3/4 pound rutabaga, peeled and cubed
3/4 pound buttercream or similar new potato, cubed
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons butter, cut into cubes, room temperature
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Put the rutabaga and potato in a medium saucepan, add just enough water to cover.  Put the lid on the pan and bring the contents to boil over high heat.  As soon as it boils, lower the heat to medium-high and cook covered for about 20 minutes until the rutabagas and potatoes are fork tender. Drain well and return to the warm pan; add the butter.

You can mash by hand or in a food processor (do not overprocess) but this time I opted to try a stick blender, which worked perfectly.  Stir in the Parmesan cheese, and season to taste with the salt and pepper.

Oh, so Frito! Nofrito Sofrito - Sorta Sephardic Meat Stew

Oh, so Frito!

Thursday, Day 17 - I spoke too soon.  This morning has been dreadful, an unpleasant throwback to pain and mental fuzziness.  Crap, I hate this.

The news is so bad I want to cry.  The Middle East is imploding.  A plane goes down in the French Alps killing 150 people and it appears the co-pilot crashed it deliberately.  The President gave away five very dangerous terrorists in exchange for a deserter.

Sofrito

I'm trying to peel garlic cloves and I am starting to shake.  My vision is foggy, and that is with the stronger eyeglasses. I am finally starting to prepare this beef stew, and anything I ever knew about mise en place has flown right out the window.  My kitchen looks like the Spice Agent ran through and tossed a bomb in his wake.  I set a dishtowel on fire.

Yehezkel Mizrahi, the Spice Agent

I took a perfectly straightforward recipe for a Sephardic meat stew and turned it into a complicated affair worthy of Mario Batali.  That's one of the reasons my kitchen looks like somebody's Ground Zero.  But as I am typing this, the sofrito is in the oven on the last leg of its cooking journey. I'm not even sure it's a sofrito anymore.  But it smells good, whatever it is.

I found the recipe on a blog called "The MuffinTin Post", and I got hooked by the spices.  As I read through the post,  I noticed the author referred back to the original recipe  and its author, Janna Gur.  The main difference between the recipes was that the MuffinTin did not fry the potatoes.  Fry the potatoes before adding them to a stew?  Ooh, yes!  Let me find that original recipe, please!

Ah, but this morning I couldn't see right, much less fry right.  Which is how I decided to oven roast - the potato wedges, the rainbow carrots, and some mushrooms.  Never mind that neither recipe included carrots or mushrooms.  Mine does, along with a chopped red onion.  So, no sofrito, technically speaking.  But I have now had the opportunity to taste the finished product and it tastes good.  Really good.  Awesome freaking delicious.

Nofrito Sofrito - Sorta Sephardic Meat Stew

4 tablespoons roasted garlic extra virgin olive oil, more as needed
2 1/4 pounds beef stew meat
1 medium red onion, rough chop
2 tablespoons sofrito spice blend - recipe below
1 cup water
10 whole cloves garlic
20 frozen white pearl onions
Oven Roasted Potatoes - recipe below
Honey Roasted Baby Rainbow Carrots - recipe below
Oven Roasted Button Mushrooms - recipe below

So, this is kind of a sofrito, which is a dish that Sephardic cooks prepare any time of the week, and sometimes for Shabbat, as it will hold for a number of hours like hamin, which is the Sephardic version of our Ashkenazic cholent.  It is kind of a stew, but not a stew like I usually make. There is no copious amount of fairly thin gravy, although there is an amazing sauce sufficient to keep the meat moist.  The root vegetables are layered on top of the sofrito, instead of being stirred into the gravy along with the beef chunks.  The textures are different.  The spices are wildly different and wonderfully exotic, and they pair well with the touch of sweetness from the honey roasted carrots.

Sofrito Spice Blend
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon turmeric
1/2 tablespoon curry
1/2 tablespoon white pepper
1/2 tablespoon allspice
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 tablespoon black pepper

Combine the spices and stir well to blend.

Oven Roasted Potatoes
8 buttercream potatoes, cut into 4 wedges
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 tablespoon Sofrito Spice Blend
granulated garlic
dried thyme

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Put the potatoes into an aluminum baking dish, and pour the canola oil over them.  Stir so that they are well coated with oil.  Add the spices.  Turn the potatoes so they are all skin side down. Place in the oven and roast for about 60 minutes.

Honey Roasted Baby Rainbow Carrots - source
1 pound baby rainbow carrots
1 tablespoon orange blossom honey
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
freshly ground mixed peppercorns
dried thyme

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Combine all the ingredients in an aluminum baking dish.  Spread the carrots out evenly in one layer.  Roast for 25 to 30 minutes, turning halfway through.  Drizzle on a bit more honey after turning.  Carrots should be soft and sweet.

Oven Roasted Button Mushrooms - source
8 oz. white button mushrooms
1 tablespoon roasted garlic extra virgin olive oil, or more as needed
kosher salt
freshly ground mixed peppercorns

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Cut off the stems flush with the cap of the mushrooms, discard the stems.  Put all of the ingredients into an aluminum baking dish and mix together.  Add more oil if needed.  The mushrooms should be lightly and completely covered with the oil.  Turn the mushrooms stem side down and roast for 30 minutes.  Turn over and roast another 5 to 10 minutes.

Now, the sofrito:

Heat the olive oil in a large, ovenproof skillet.  Brown the beef cubes on all sides in two batches; remove to a baking dish and set aside.  Add the chopped red onions and cook them until they start to soften.  Add more oil if needed.  Add 2 tablespoons of the spice blend and stir well, cooking another minute.  Pour in the water, and stir, and start bringing the liquid up to heat.   Add the garlic and the pearl onions.  Return the beef to the skillet along with all cooking juices.  Bring the liquid up to a boil, then lower heat and cover.  Simmer for an hour.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.  Stir the sofrito to baste the beef.  Add the mushrooms to the sofrito. Layer on the potatoes.  Baste them with the the cooking liquid.  Layer the carrots on top of the potatoes.   Cover the skillet and place in the oven.  Cook for 2 hours.  Once or twice during the cooking, baste the potatoes with the cooking liquid.  When done, the beef should be very tender and the potatoes should be soft, but still hold their shape.

You will have leftover spice blend.  I am saving mine for another sofrito, or for chicken, or just to make oven roasted potatoes.

Nofrito Sofrito

Sound and fury, signifying nothing

Macbeth:
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

Macbeth Act 5, scene 5, 19–28

Wednesday, Day 16 - Ahhh, my peeps miss me - I have emails to respond to.  I miss them so very much, but I can't go back.  Not yet.  I find the thought overwhelming.  I want to go back, but I am very concerned about losing whatever improvement I've managed to garner.  Reportedly, the judicial transition is still not going well, and that is a very big issue, for me and for my peeps.  As hard as we all work, for all that we sacrifice, we deserve better.  This is not the only contributing factor to my extreme stress and resulting meltdown (think of Dorothy throwing that bucket of water) but it is a big one.  Before I even think of taking this on again, I need to deal with my multitude of unresolved medical issues.  I need to find out what my leave status really is, and if it is realistic, given the sneaky nature of the CPS.  I need to look within myself and decide if I can face down the major source of the stress and come out of it with my license to practice law still intact.                  

So when we last met, I was considering how to best utilize a 4 pound package of beautiful stew meat.   First I researched Belgian stews, feeling close to my Dutch roots. The timing was good, as Cory had just arrived home with a 12-pack of Stella Artois.  I am enamored with a recipe for Hachee, Dutch Beef and Onion Stew, but I have a wandering eye which led me to a recipe called Sofrito, a Sephardic Meat Stew.  The flavor profile created by the many spices in the Sofrito is unique and won my vote, if not my heart.  So maybe tomorrow.  Today I did food shopping and it was fine. Spent a good amount of time in Whole Foods, really just to pick up my smoked whitefish salad, but I can never resist a peek at everything else. That's where I found these impossibly cute baby rainbow carrots, which will find their way into a saucepan or a crockpot. Definitely tomorrow.

Schrödinger's Cat Doesn't Live Here Any More Or Maybe He Does

Tuesday, Day 15 - So after several week's wait, today is the day I have a pipe shoved down my throat.  I am, through my insurance carrier, paying for this privilege.  Now at the Outpatient Surgery Center, I am waiting again - or still.  I can't wait until I have to wait for the colonoscopy.

This is the easier procedure; I was able to eat and drink up until midnight, and did not have to engage in any cleansing rituals.  Still, I wish I could have had a cup of coffee.  One single, caffeine-laden cup of coffee.  I really missed my cup of coffee this morning.  No caffeine = crankiness.  Food is not an issue.  Coffee is always an issue.  Must. Have. Coffee.

Well, I waited but I was warned, and the wait fell well within the warning.  The staff was excellent, the procedure without incident.  No reaction to the anesthesia, which is kept very light.  I also received a written report of the results, which I deeply appreciated.  Very professional, and the colonoscopy is already set for March 31.  There's a 2-day cleansing ritual for that one; I can't wait.  Looking forward to it like root canal.

First thing I did when I got home was make myself a cup of coffee.  Then I read the endoscopy report and did some research to help me understand the findings.  There were three biopsies taken - one appeared to be S.O.P. (standard operating procedure); the second one seemed to be A.O.C. (abundance of caution - yes, I just made that up); and the third one was indicative of a genuine concern for something potentially serious.  So now it is my gastroesophageal junction as well as my right ta-ta enjoying the same existence as Schrödinger's cat.  I will know more - and understand it all better - after the colonoscopy.  That's when I will meet with the doctor.  

My PCP sent me a message letting me know that the CT brain scan came back fine.  Good to know.

                                   

So I've got the colonoscopy on March 31 and the mammogram and breast ultrasound on April 2.  Multiple follow up appointments in my immediate future.  No real answers as to how to manage the CPS. No idea as to when or if I can return to work.  I've got to get all of these medical issues resolved first, at least to the point of knowing if I will require any kind of treatment.  I am feeling lucky, but not wanting to give myself a kinehora (Yiddish for "evil eye"), that's all I'm going to say right now.

I'm tired of dwelling on health issues so I'm going to dwell on food instead.  What shall I do with 4 pounds of lovely stew meat, eh?  I found a recipe with an interesting collection of spices.  But that's another blog post.