Food=Love

Kitchen and Life Adventures

Most weekends Gene and I will hang around the house basically doing nothing. Often I will wake first and start serenading my husband with “Sleepy Bear” songs until he begins to stir. If I cannot rouse him with my charming melodies, I will resort to the fail safe method for waking a beast—I ask political questions. Something as innocuous as, “Honey? Do you think Palin has a shot in 2012?” will begin a twenty minute rant, which by the time Gene takes a breath, has rendered him completely awake. And so begins Sunday morning.

One of my three favorite meals is breakfast, and my favorite items to cook for breakfast are French Toast or Pancakes (with some sort of salty meat product). These are my specialties, and I admit the secret to success is large amounts of cooking oil. I know, I know—the image of a pool of blended oil on a skillet is utterly distasteful. And yet the end result is phenomenal: French toast is marbled with a beautiful caramel and cream color and pancakes have a crispy edge with a moist, cakey middle. This gorgeousness is particularly dependent on a generous amount of oil crackling over medium-high heat.

The second most important key to creating incredible French Toast is thick cut bread; I like to use leftover Challah from Shabbos dinner on Friday. Similarly, the most important ingredient for pancakes is preparing a batter with the proper consistency. I use the Kroger brand Buttermilk mix, experimenting with varying amounts of water until the mixture is the same thickness of goopy shampoo.

Every once in awhile I will do Blueberry Pancakes as a special treat. The technique is something I picked up from my Aunt Denise many years ago. It happened to be Spring Break and a few of us Mercurio women were bunking at Grama’s place in St. Petersburg, Florida. I was told to use slightly overripe blueberries, and to drop berries quickly into the batter once it’s poured and begins to bubble. I remember thinking that her Blueberry Pancakes were the best I ever had and that I would always adhere to her rules.

So, whole chickens were on sale at the grocery store and I thought, “Why not me?”  I decided to marinate this little guy overnight in the juice of two lemons, tons of garlic, and olive oil and stuff it later with various stale bread I had lying around.   While I shopped for other necessary items like celery and onion for the stuffing, I had a conversation with my mother.  She instructed me to bake the bird for about 1 hour and 45 minutes at 350 degrees (covered in foil for 2/3 of the time) and saute the stuffing vegetables before baking.

Since I never follow a recipe, I was a little concerned about the finished product, but the end result was particularly good.  I’m my own toughest critic, and I am not exaggerating when I say that this roasted chicken with stuffing was nirvana on a plate.

This salad makes you look like a master in the kitchen but is amazingly easy. My version is spinach leaves topped with gorgonzola, pear slices, candied walnuts, and honey balsamic vinaigrette. When Gene and I first moved in together, I prepared this salad for dinner with my future mother-in-law (along with citrus shrimp and wild rice). Just before I took my first nervous bite of the dish, Phyllis tells me that she does NOT like gorgonzola.  Somehow she ate the entire thing…

Grilled cheese is one of those foods that brings comfort and always tastes best when prepared by someone else.  The ideal situation is: two people hanging out at home on a rainy or snowy day, eating grilled cheese and tomato soup–cuddling in front of some great 80′s movie like Breakfast Club or The Goonies.

The grilled cheese pictured above includes a sandwich of hand-sliced Italian bread, a shmear of pesto sauce, sliced tomatoes, and Emmentaler cheese.  The tomato soup is an organic tomato and red pepper box soup that I like to doctor with crushed red pepper flakes and a sprinkling of shredded parmesan cheese.  Kroger’s offers really good and cheap artisan bread every day in the bakery section.  But for the pesto, cheese, tomatoes and tomato soup–Trader Joe’s is the best bet for price (If you are not afraid to spend some cash–check out the cheese selection at Krause’s in Findlay Market).

There is really no perfect way to make grilled cheese, and that’s why I never get sick of making it.  Sometimes I’ll use a white cheddar and sliced green apple; another time I’ll pair caramelized onion with sliced turkey and gouda–the possibilities are as infinite as stars in the sky…  And don’t forget to alternate the bread to complement the ingredients: sourdough gives a tart edge to  colby jack and avocado; soft dark rye mellows out a sharp cheddar with sliced pear.  Clearly, I’m a big fan of blending savory with sweet or tart with creamy:  it creates a nice balance for the palate. There’s actually a restaurant devoted to an all-grilled cheese menu.

Comfort foods do not have to be shunned for being boring–they are trusted for good reason.  It’s my philosophy that, along with embracing these favorites, it is great to update and add sparkle to them.  I glaze my meatloaf with a sweet tomato-chipotle sauce that makes this classic dish dance in your mouth; my mashed potatoes get added horseradish, or parmesan or buttermilk (or all three) for depth of flavor; my slow-cooked marinara sauce gets added texture from wild mushrooms and a tangy punch from a splash of sweet and spicy sangiovese.

Just because you have a recipe in front of you, doesn’t mean you can’t throw a little of yourself into the dish. Unless you’re baking, and then it’s a whole new ballgame…