i8tonite

Category: Food

…at Shelley’s: Bean and Swiss Chard Soup

Shelley is, without a doubt, one of my best friends. She’s always there for me. Recently, she took care of Holly, my beautiful pitbull. “Big Girl”, as I call her lovingly, is best friends with Carlos, Shelley’s 85 pound Golden Retriever (aka “Big Boy). While I drove my mother back to the Inland Empire after her birthday and Mother’s Day extravaganzas here in Los Angeles, Shelley watched Holly. The two canines romp and growl, growl and romp in her backyard, while she works and watches their rough-housing. Shelley also loves to cook. What more can you ask of a friend? A dog-sitting service and a food goddess in one person. Wow!

Shelley loves to make beans but not just any beans, she sources the for freshest suppliers and looks for inventive ways to prepare the lovely legumes. We’ve had many conversations about our favorite and it really is Rancho Gordo by Steve Sando. Tastier than just buying regular beans at the market. Rancho Gordo brand is the best and you can truly taste the difference between chain store and his.

Shelley was kind enough to say to me after dropping off, Holly, “Do you want to stay for dinner when you pick her up? I made a pot of beans.” I’m like alright. Two hours to my mother’s place and then the drive back. Who wants to cook after all that driving? IHOP starts looking good by then. She took care of Holly, I can stay and eat too.

Bean & Swiss Chard Soup with Orzo

And she made a delicious bean soup. On this night, I was the sous chef to Shelly’s cooking. I peeled and smashed the garlic. Turned the rosemary and anchovies into a paste. Washed dishes. Shelley sauteed up the chard, browned the garlic and stirred in the paste. The dogs played happily and were under our feet.

Lulu, one of my other besties, came over in a chic new bob and joined us impromptu. She’s starting an urban gardening class in her backyard which is a pretty stellar idea. Lu is a pretty amazing gardner. In her Los Angeles urban backyard, she grows corn, melons, a variety of squash and lettuces. She picks raspberries, blackberries and blueberries for her morning breakfast. We’ve had fresh teardrop heirloom tomatoes and used the homegrown herbs to add addtional flavor to our dishes. Lemons, limes and grapefruit also start brightening up her trees around this time. When I lived with her, we had regular baby artichokes for grilling. A little homemade infused garlic oil for dipping….yum and directly from the farmer….Lulu.

There we sat, two dogs, two great women and me eating a flavorful soup of beans, vegetables and orzo. Talking and laughing. This is when life is great.

*Note: This is just one recipe…Shelley’s and its from my memory. There are a lot of recipes out there on this soup that includes bacon, pancetta, different beans. Whatever. Be adventurous.

YOU WILL NEED:
1 lb dried white beans such as Great Northern, cannellini, or navy (2 cups), picked over and rinsed (Make the beans or use canned if it’s the weekday. Hey, we lead busy lives.)
2 anchovy fillets or anchovy paste
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 fennel bulb, chopped
1 onion, chopped
4 cups chicken stock or low-sodium chicken broth (or vegetable broth if you want to keep it vegetarian)(Homemade stock is best, but let’s not quibble, not everyone is going to want to make their own or have the time. If you don’t make your own, buy organic stock and skip anything that requires a can-opener)
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, minced
1/2 lb Swiss chard (or Red or Rainbow, Kale and Spinach would do well too), stems discarded and leaves halved lengthwise, then thinly sliced crosswise

MAKE THIS EASY:
1. De-stem the chard and cut up the leaves.
2. Saute up the Chard (or spinach or kale or dark green leafy vegetable) until limp.
3. Set aside.
4. Take your pot, something to hold the liquid and place olive oil. Heat up the oil.
5. Peel, smash and place garlic in olive oil until brown. We are infusing the olive oil with the garlic. Remove the cloves.
5. Make a paste with chopped rosemary leaves and anchovy fillets. Add to infused garlic olive oil.
6. Stir until dissolved.
7. Add beans, chard and stock.
8. Get it to boiling and add orzo or small pasta.
9. Simmer until pasta is cooked.

LET’S FINISH THIS PUPPY:
Ladle into bowls and top with grated Parmesan cheese. Serve with a crusty bread. Voila!

May 16, 2013
Farmers Market Haul and Mother’s Day Frittata

Farmers Market Haul for May 12, 2013.

You know its the beginning of summer with berries, stone fruit and tomatoes at almost every stall in the market. I went to my favorites ABC Rhubarb, Windsor Farms, McGrath, Drakes’ Family Farm for goat cheese, and St. Mortiz Bakery for a crusty French baguette that was a perfect size. I also purchased some asparagus and always a variety of lettuces, lemons, and onions. Lemons are, for me, completely necessary for a marinade, a dressing and just to drizzle on grilled or roasted chicken.

MOTHER’S DAY

“You know what it is, honey, food is love.” – Streisand as Joyce, GUILT TRIP

Last night, my mother and I watched GUILT TRIP with Striesand and Seth Rogen. Interesting. Cute. Not hilarious but some poignant moments especially if you had just spent 5 hours in the car with your mother like I did. I was picking her up from her home two hours away and driving back to Los Angeles, where I live. It wasn’t 8 days, like in the movie, but sometimes 5 hours can seem like infinity especially in stop-n-go traffic. (When I was 7, my mother and I took a road trip across country on Interstate 10. We drove through the Southern states, Arizona, Texas, Georgia….Certainly, one of the greatest memories of my life.)

So the film and it’s theme resonated with me as I went about my weekly Farmers Market shopping excursion. Cooking is about giving back, food is love, etc. My mother wasn’t the most prodigious of homecooks as I was growing up. She was a single, working mother. Hard enough. But, she loves reading my food posts and is an ardent fan of mine. (Surprise.) And I wanted to do something special.

We both aren’t into noisy crowds and she’s not really able to get around as swiftly so I thought the easiest thing to do was to make something at home. Besides, she loves tomatoes and they were everywhere so I wanted to buy some for her. (She loves tomato sandwiches. Mayo, tomato, on white bread.) We could only do that if I cooked. I originally thought of an omelet with Cheddar, Tomato and Asparagus but that would mean two pans. (One for her, one for me.) With a frittata, which as we know, I’m fond of making, it’s one pan clean-up. Ultimately, that’s what she got for Mother’s Day, a frittata but I wound up making a Drake’s Family Farm Goat Cheese & Red and Green Pepper Frittata. Served with a Bloomfield Spinach Salad tossed in a Balsamic Vinagrette with fresh Albion Strawberries.

Made with Drakes’ Family Goat Cheese

The Big Beef Tomato needs it’s own stage and not lost in egg. Besides, my mother worked hard all her life and deserves the first taste of summer lushness simply. So on her birthday tomorrow, as she turns 77, it will be sliced, with a little mayo on a crusty baguette.

Happy Mother’s Day!

May 12, 2013
Farmers Market Haul (May 5, 2013)

Beautiful lettuces and assorted items.
It was strange Spring “Cinco de Mayo”. The southern California Santa Ana winds were blowing making it a little blustery and there was a strange grayness to the day, probably caused by the wildfires near Camarillo. There was a bit of humidity but you still needed a jacket.

Still, it’s Sunday and the Hollywood Farmers Market, so it’s become my favorite day of the week because of it. There is nothing like getting to know the farmers, and in turn, they know you. For me, it gives me a beautiful sense of community, one that I don’t get in a corporate grocery store. Going directly to the source and learning, as I did today, that peaches start early and are small. As the season goes on into summer, they are larger and more of a variety to choose from. (At the market, Reiger Farms had the first peaches and nectarines of the season).

Additionally, today’s purchases included Bloomfield spinach (again, from Windsor Farms), stunning rose-like green and red lead lettuces, radicchio, peaches and nectarines for salads, lemons and onions (always).

I also bought a delicious raw milk cheddar from Spring Hill Farms in Petaluma. It’s not exactly local but better than the Trader Joe’s stuff. It has a slight tanginess, offsetting the rich lushness of the milk.

Let’s see what I comes out the food this week.

May 5, 2013
Chicken Soup

Homemade Chicken Soup with Store Bought Dumplings, Savoy Cabbage, Carrots and Swiss Chard

Whatever I’m doing, I’m in that moment and I’m doing it. The rest of the world’s lost. If I’m cooking some food or making soup, I want it to be lovely. If not, what’s the point of doing it? – Sade Adu

When I’m sick, as I have been for the past several days with the flu. I turn the world off. My head is pounding. My body is aching with chills and fever. And the only thing that I want to eat…nothing else….is Chicken Soup. It makes me feel better instantly as I can smell it wafting through the house with rosemary, onions, thyme, garlic, celery and chicken.

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I can't do the canned stuff. Not anymore. It makes me puffy from the salt as a preservative not as a brightener/ enhancer.

I prefer making my own. Even with a fever of 100. I was shaking violently as I cover the chicken with water. Cutting up the vegetables. Slowly. After, throwing everything into the pot to simmer, I go back to bed. There is something nourishing and lovely with aromas perfuming the house so that I when I wake up I feel better instantly. I can't wait to have it coat my sore throat and warm me up.

Plus, I have leftover stock for later for when I'm not sick.

May 3, 2013