chicken parade

We've got some lovely lovely little chickens living in our front yard, but one of 'em kept pecking at the hens, gripping their wing in his beak until the little ladies cried in fear - or pain. So, little man had to die. I made a short video about the march to death. The killing mechanism was carefully chosen, have a look at my awkward commemoration of the experience:

Chicken Parade 

After the chicken soul dissolved into the great clouds above (that's what happens), we dabbled in fried chicken. Our first foray was f-ing delicious. Extra ordinarily delicious.

Fried Chicken

Ingredients:

1. the essential chicken pieces: wings, drumsticks, thighs, breast 
2.  1/4 C butter (or fake butter)
3. 1 C flour
4. 2 C crushed potato chips
5. Pinch of paprika

Steps to fryin some chicken:

1. Preheat oven to 425
2. Cut yer chicken up
3. Mix flour, crushed potato chips, and paprika in an old plastic grocery bag
4. Roll each piece of chicken in melted butter
5. Drop the butter soaked piece of chicken body in a bag full of crushed potato chips, flour, and paprika
6. Bake in an oven dish until crispy brown on outside and thoroughly cooked on the inside.

This is my first recipe with potato chips. ever. We tried non-potato chip chicken, it just wasn't as good.  Alternative chicken recipes are welcome - we are just two kids from Spokane tryin to make fried chicken.

cabbage cabbage cabbage

I know so little about coleslaw, truly I do. I enjoy it from a distance. It looks dang good on a sandwich, people I revere hold a place for it at every potluck, and it is surely deserving of its enduring presence on America's menu - "do you want coleslaw with your potatoes?" Yes, you do. Nonetheless, I have never attempted to prepare coleslaw in my own home. So, here it is, mayo-free and delicious, a damn good coleslaw recipe from, cough cough, Whole Foods.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup white wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon sugar, (optional)
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/8 teaspoon dry mustard
• 4 cups finely shredded green and red cabbage
• 2 cups shredded carrots
• 1 cup thinly sliced green onions
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Ground black pepper, to taste

What to do:

In a large bowl, whisk together vinegar, sugar, garlic, cumin, oregano and mustard just until sugar is dissolved. Add cabbage, carrots, green onions, salt and pepper and toss gently to combine. Cover and chill for at least 4 hours before serving.

Go Packers Go.

It's possible that I wrote this post just to share this photo with you. It's possible.

Lettuce All Up in Your Grill

Well, while we're talkin' salads, if you're grillin' something up as the summer gets underway, why not throw your salad on there too?  I made this one last week in honor of our nation's independence or whatever, and I must say I think Lady Liberty was mighty proud.

This recipe comes from the NY Times of May 20, 2012 (whence I stole this photo) and is worth it.  If the steak is looking pretty good too, that recipe is also included said issue.

Grilled Caesar Salad

For the dressing:
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
4 anchovy fillets, rinsed and minced
3 egg yolks
2 tsp Dijon mustard
3/4 cup olive oil
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
Kosher salt & freshly ground pepper to taste

For the vinaigrette:
1 Tbsp lime zest
1 lime, juiced (approx. 2 Tbsp)
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
Kosher salt & freshly ground pepper to taste

For the salad:
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 heads romaine lettuce, tops and bottoms trimmed neatly, the heads cut lengthwise into quarters
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. Make the Caesar dressing.  Put the minced garlic into a medium bowl, and add the minced anchovies.  Using a whisk, mix and mash these ingredients together until they form a paste.  Add the egg yolks and the mustard, and begin to whisk them with the paste.  Add a small stream of olive oil while continuing to whisk.  Add more olive oil, whisking all the while, until the dressing begins to emulsify.  Add the Worcestershire sauce sauce, and continue to whisk until the dressing achieves a mayonnaiselike consistency.  Add the red wine vinegar, whisk to combine, then season to taste with salt and pepper.  Set aside.

2.  Make the vinaigrette.  Combine the lime zest, lime juice, balsamic vinegar and oil in another small bowl, and whisk to combine.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Set aside.

3.  Make the salad.  Drizzle the olive oil over the quartered heads of lettuce.  Lightly grillthese over a low fire for 15 to 20 seconds on each side, until they have a light goldenness, and remove to a platter.  Using a pastry bruch or a small spoon, paint the Caesar dressing over the lettuce, making sure to get dressing between the leaves.  Return lettuces to edges of grill, sprinkle with Parmesan and cover for 30 seconds to allow the cheese to soften and toast.  Remove lettuce to a platter, and drizzle with lime vinaigrette.  Serves 4.

Wilbur

Woh woh woh - so much time has passed my precious friends. It's Junuary in the Methow Valley: the chickens have grown to the size of nurf footballs, the wind constantly tears our bags of recycling across the fields, and the river is screaming past our house to the Columbia.  June is a hell of a month, she just never seems to compromise.

On another note, the spring greens are filling up our fridge and we have quite the crush on this little strawberry vinaigrette. It's f-ing delicious on salads and grains and it tastes like a sun-shine day.

1C strawberries
4 tsp rice vinegar
4 tsp lemon juice
1 T sugar (I skip the sugar and add more honey)
1 1/2 tsp honey
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp each: garlic powder, onion powder, dried basil, dried parsley, pepper
1/4 C olive oil

1. Puree strawberries
2. Add other ingredients except oil, blend
3. Add oil gradually on lowspeed.

The best honey in the valley is sold by the proprietors of "it's like biting into a cloud."  Their seven year-old grandson provided the name. It's damn good honey.

And to brighten up your day, have a look at this little 10' tall pig, duck, and carriage monument parked in Wilbur, Washington. Population 866.

We are making an 8 x 10 print. Should we order a copy for anyone else? Anyone?  

Slow-cooked Broccoli Soup

 

Slow-cooked
Broccoli
Soup









"To every season, change, change, change," Bob Dylan tells us. But if your parents were like my parents, they preferred the Birds version. 

The seasons have twice-changed since this photo was taken and this meal consumed. Mr. Broccoli--standing mature and proud before you--withstood the early snow of October and November. He was the last veggie we reaped from our little garden in Rochester, New York and it is fitting to think of him again, now two seasons on, as we inch toward planting season.

The recipe, adapted from Alice Waters, requires a word of caution and a small leap of faith. One hour seems like a long time to cook broccoli. One hour seems as though it is a mistake. You'd think one hour of cooking broccoli will take it past the point of bright, verdant, and tasty and wrench your effort into some gley, nasty place. Trust dear reader, somehow, and we're not sure how ourselves, it goes gray and then bounces back to green.

Once the bounce back occurs the broccoli can be used in at least two ways, both delicious. The first way is as an alternative to pesto with pasta. In the second, the broccoli is blended to make a smooth soup, begging for some grated cheese, toast points charred beneath the broiler, or grilled cheese from a cast iron skillet better yet.

---

  On low heat:

  + Glug(s) of olive oil

  + 6 cloves garlic, minced

  + ½ tsp to 2 tsp red pepper flakes

 
  To pot add:

+ 1 head broccoli, cut into small florets and stem, peeled and sliced thinly

+ 1 cup water

Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer (slow it down now).

 
Cook for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Add more water if it gets too dry. After an hour it will be mushy, eat as is as a sauce for pasta or rice.

 



OR puree with more water to make a soup.

 





Add the juice of half a lemon and some grated hard cheese if you so desire. Taste for salt and pepper. We had our soup with grilled cheddar cheese sandwiches, highly recommended.

---

We opted this night for the soup. It tastes best as a prelude to a few rounds of backgammon played on a board made by Mr. Nick Allgood. Although we made the soup in an attempt to extend fall into winter, I think it will work just as well as we all call in the spring over winter's contrary din. 

Today is cold and soaked through. Rain meets woodsmoke for an undifferentiated sky. It is a day that makes me pine for those I love in western Washington. Good Sunday and much love. Muah.
m/h/r & m/m/d 

oreooooos

hey hey friends!

I came across a  recipe for scrumptioussss homemade oreos a few weeks back and it certainly seems blog-worthy. Truly, these are f-ing delicious.  Just an FYI, the creamy white center of these naughty little cookies is straight up butter. Every time I took a nibble, NJ Allgood threw me a look that could pierce a lesser man's soul: twas the steely glare of indignation. I believe he is tiring of enduring the consequences of my lactose-hating gut. I ate with my eyes closed. And they were delicious. F-ing delicious.

I genuinely believe the bible size portion of amish butter took these cookies to a whole 'nother level of goodness.

Recipe from smitten kitchen:

Makes 25 to 30 sandwich cookies
For the chocolate wafers:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 to 1 1/2 cups sugar [see recipe note]
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1 large egg
For the filling:
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Set two racks in the middle of the oven. Preheat to 375°F.
2. In a food processor, or bowl of an electric mixer, thoroughly mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar. While pulsing, or on low speed, add the butter, and then the egg. Continue processing or mixing until dough comes together in a mass.
3. Take rounded teaspoons of batter and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet approximately two inches apart. With moistened hands, slightly flatten the dough. Bake for 9 minutes, rotating once for even baking. Set baking sheets on a rack to cool.
4. To make the cream, place butter and shortening in a mixing bowl, and at low speed, gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla. Turn the mixer on high and beat for 2 to 3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy.
5. To assemble the cookies, in a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch, round tip, pipe teaspoon-size blobs of cream into the center of one cookie. Place another cookie, equal in size to the first, on top of the cream. Lightly press, to work the filling evenly to the outsides of the cookie. Continue this process until all the cookies have been sandwiched with cream. Dunk generously in a large glass of milk.

Also of interest, today was the methow valley hot air balloon festival. Sort of a silly crowd, those ballooners.

And to end the post: Planet Druidia is in sight. All rise in the presence of Dark Helmet.

Dog tossin

Friends, friends, friends!

I haven't posted to the 509 cookin blog for a few weeks but, me oh my, have you all been on the mind.

A few weeks back, while attempting the winter trek to Winthropland USA, our good friends' subaru met its auto-maker (Mr. Otto).  Only twenty miles from our snowed in-house, head gaskets were blown and a subaru's dreams were destroyed. With the loss of their car and 3 feet of accumulated snow, our friends became more than friends in our little Winthrop house: they became roomates. Night after night we played cards,  battled over banana grams, drank whiskey, and shoveled snow.  On one of these joy-filled evenings we brought my favorite spicy peanut dipping sauce to the table, it seems like a good one for the world wide web - I do love it so.

PEANUT DIPPING SAUCE:

1 C peanut butter (I often use much less than 1 C)
1 C hot water
1/4 C chopped cilantro
3 T sugar (I use honey or agave)
3 T soy
2 t apple cider vinegar
2 cloves chopped garlic
pinch cayenne (I use much more than a pinch)

1.  Whisk  PB with hot water
2. Stir in other ingredients
3. Season with salt

Easy!

Also, during one of their many afternoons of snowshoeing, our friends discovered an extraordinary new snow game. I am oh so excited to share it with you. So, here it is, the international debut of dog tossing.

Requisite Animal Photo

This here's The Scrumpy Chicken. Technically, his name is Antimony. (I co-adopted him with an engineer and if that doesn't explain everything, how much time have you spent around engineers?) I suppose his photo is relevant here because he is a little nuts. Looking extremely confused and chasing things that don't exist are among his favorite pastimes.

Anyway. On to the real food. I made a double batch of these guys in DC over Christmas to hand out to friends and I could barely get them out of the house because my family kept chowing down on them. They have that sweet-salty-spicy thing that makes you want to just keep putting more in your mouth:

Chipotle-Rosemary Roasted Nuts

Vegetable oil
3 cups whole roasted unsalted cashews (14 ounces)
2 cups whole walnut halves (7 ounces)
2 cups whole pecan halves (7 ounces)
1/2 cup whole almonds (3 ounces)
1⁄3 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
2 teaspoons ground chipotle powder
4 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary leaves, divided
Kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Brush a sheet pan generously with vegetable oil, or for much more convenient cleanup, line it with a sheet of parchment paper. Combine the nuts, 2 tablespoons of oil, the maple syrup, brown sugar, orange juice, and chipotle powder on the sheet pan. I actually stuck to the recipe here for once, but I think any mix of nuts that you prefer/have on have of equivalent volume would be fine. Toss to coat the nuts evenly. Add 2 tablespoons of the rosemary and 2 teaspoons of salt and toss again.

Spread the nuts in one layer (for me this took two baking sheets). Roast the nuts for 25 minutes, stirring twice with a large metal spatula, until the nuts are glazed and golden brown. Keep a close eye - they go from perfect to burnt really fast around this point. When they're done, they will still be very sticky - the coating will harden as it cools. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with 2 more teaspoons of salt and the remaining 2 tablespoons of rosemary.

Toss well and set aside at room temperature, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking as they cool (this is very important, or you will have giant blocks of nuts). Taste for seasoning. Serve warm or cool completely and store in airtight containers at room temperature. Recipe from the internet, which apparently adapted it from Ina Garten. Happy munching.

Butter as a Means to Shamayim

Elana, I dedicate this, my first post on the 509 foodie blog, to you. I ask you to a conjure memory from our often painful, often smile-worthy teenage years and recall waking up on a Sunday morning at the Rayner Ranch to the smell of frying bacon and Dutch babies. No, the latter item does not refer to offspring of people from the Netherlands. Gross. Or maybe good, I don't have experience with it. Dutch babies refer to a light popover pancake whose batter puffs up into a golden mountain range with a delicate, crusty edge that rises above the cake pan.

While we usually had Papa Pete to thank for the awkwardness of cooking bacon for a Jewish girl, we had Mamma Linda, otherwise known as "Marge", to thank for those thin pancakes called Dutch babies, those vessels for melted butter, fresh squeezed lemon juice and powdered sugar, those little pieces of heaven.

Judging by previous posts, pictures of animals are a requisite for this blog. So I introduce everyone to my fat cat, Sundance. We often call him "Fatty," with the most endearing of intentions, of course. Rob and I believe Sundance has discovered the fast-track to the third, if not fourth layer of heaven, judging by the level of joy and enlightenment he exudes. We believe Sundance's trick is in the butter. The cat loves to eat, and he is damn good at it. He also likes sleeping, dangerously warm places, and eating while in dangerously warm places.

So maybe my cat photo and recipe have something in common: heaven.

--

Dutch Babies

2 TB butter

2 large eggs (room temperature preferably)

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup milk

1 pinch salt

Lemon wedges

Powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a 9 inch cake pan with butter (Linda typically used Crisco), and don't be shy about it. Place greased pan in the over for a minute until the grease melts.

2. Beat eggs slightly in a bowl with wire whisk. Beat in flour, milk and salt until just mixed (beat gingerly or theses babies lose their puff). Pour a ladle-full of batter into the warmed pan and return to the oven for 15-20 minutes or until sufficiently puffy and golden brown.

3. Serve hot off the press so as to enjoy optimal puffiness. The classic Rayner topping tradition includes fresh squeezed lemon juice and powdered sugar.

--

By the way, Elana, you said this is an exclusive invite-only blog, yes? Why has Beyonce not posted yet? I want to know what she eats to get that fabulous ass. I bet there is butter involved.

Soup and Bonus

Happy winter!!!

Well, we're finally seeing some snow here in the Emerald City and as a tribute, I've decided to make something from another part of the world that falls to pieces when they are coated with but an inch of "the white stuff".

We weasled this recipe out of Walter, the insane Italian who ran the shishi restaurant I worked at after college. He was truly a piece of work. He would rush through the restaurant, gesticulating wildly and ordering people to bring "VIP" glasses and dishes when anyone "VIP" came in. He would say to these "VIP"s things like (go for your most stereotypical Italian accents here), "Oh, you are my brother! We have fresh figs for you my brother! And special fish - no no! For this you do not have parmesan cheese, it is fish!! Kate! We need 14 new place settings for these people, they are the best people! Hurry!"

Needless to say, I did not last long in that environment. Fortunately, my father, though not quite a "VIP", enjoyed a certain level of respect from Walter, so we snagged this recipe and haven't stopped making it since. He may have been nuts, but he made really excellent food.

Warning: the copy of this recipe I have was written by my mother, so the measurements are, shall we say, rough. That's ok. It's a rustic soup, enjoyed by rustic people, so just guesstimate your little hearts out.

Tuscan Bean Soup

2 small cottage cheese containers dried cannellini beans (aka white kidney beans)

2 HEADS garlic*

1 1/2 onions

1 teacup (?) olive oil

Bunch of sage

Bunch of rosemary

Soak beans overnight. In the morning, discard the water. Add garlic, one whole onion, sage, and beans to fresh water. Cover with olive oil. Cook 4 hours on medium heat until soft. Take out onion and sage (should still be whole-ish...These can actually be blended to make a nice spread, rather than just chucking them.)

Mash beans by hand or in blender. Return to broth. Sautee some more onion with rosemary in oil. Add to the soup.

When serving, add a drizzle of truffle oil. Or not.

* BONUS: two whole heads of garlic are a pain in the ass. Luckily, I found out about this. It really works!!! Proof:

Before..... ...After

Amazing!

Enjoy.

The Best Part of the Meal

It has been long overdue and you all are about to experience my first attempt at BLOGGING. AHHH!!!! Good, I can already check off "using all caps for one word" and "continuous exclamation points" from the "must do on a blog" list. Well, I haven't created an incredible meal for this post. Instead, this is a tribute to our good friend - the wine bottle. Actually, I am going to write about the by-product of the wine bottle.

Being a bit of a recycling nerd, I have been keeping bottle caps and wine corks for a few blue moons. Well, I came across a good use for those corks that doesn't require a large inventory and very minimal supplies.

A Hot Pan Mat

Supplies:

1 - Wine corks (wood cork or artificial)

2 - Picture frame (size dependent upon the amount of available corks)

3 - Several 2 inch screws and electric screw driver

4 - Hot glue gun and glue sticks or super glue

Instructions:

1 - Find a picture frame that you don't want to use for pictures anymore.

2 - Line the sides of the frame with corks so you know how many corks to screw together.

3 - Fill the inside of the picture frame with as many corks as you can smoosh together. Yes, I can also check "use the word smoosh" off of the list.

4 - Screw together the corks, leaving the head of the screws on the visible sides of the hot mat.

5 - Using your glue gun or super glue, attach the corks connected with screws to the top perimeter of the picture frame.

6 - Grab a cooking pan and place it on the stove top with the heat on high.

7 - Once the pan is super hot, place it on your new hot pad so you an enjoy your newest creation.

One last thing that I have to add to this blog post.....