May 2011 – The Kitchen Illiterate

Split Pea Puree

Comfort food takes a new turn with split pea puree. Read all about it on my new blog, The Lone Gastronome.

Several months ago, as I probably too often do, I bookmarked a recipe. Most of the time these bookmarked recipes slip quickly from my thoughts, only to reappear when I occasionally actually look at my recipe page in Delicious. But this recipe stayed with me: It was (surprise!) a recipe from Smitten Kitchen, for a bacon, onion, and cream pizza. Shortly after taking note of Deb’s recipe, I had dinner at Brasserie Four in Walla Walla, where I noticed a very similar dish on the menu, called a Tarte Flambee. I ate it, it was spectacular, and I became a little obsessed.
Continue reading Tarte Flambee

Mushroom, Chicken, and Spring Pea Penne

Sometimes, when I’m walking home from work in the evening, or sitting on BART heading into San Francisco, or wandering through the Rockridge Market Hall drooling over fresh pasta, I’m overcome by joy that I get to live here, that this is, really and truly, my new home. Two weekends ago Mr. X and I took a trip into the city to the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, and I couldn’t stop grinning, despite the crowds and noise and madness. I felt like I was in my own personal version of heaven, surrounded by piles of glorious spring onions and purple carrots and flawless mushrooms of all kinds. I could spend hours wandering through that place, but luckily for Mr. X, I was content to cut the shopping short and sit down to enjoy a glass of cava once I found my new culinary magical ingredient: Umami paste.
Continue reading Mushroom, Chicken, and Spring Pea Penne

First Meal

I don’t have any proper pictures of this meal, but I want to share it anyway. There was nothing special in the cooking. There is no recipe here. But there is something awfully special in the meal itself: This was our first meal in our new home.

We moved in two weekends ago, after I spent a month living with my aunt and uncle and Mr. X spent a month back in Boston, packing and cleaning and saying good bye to the city where he lived for 13 years. It was a pretty joyous weekend, even with all the unpacking and cleaning, not to mention moving around those heavy boxes of books (oh, so many books). We were both fairly giddy, to be here, to be in our apartment, to be together.

But we were awfully tired after all the unpacking. So we went to Trader Joe’s and bought some marinated steak and some tortillas, an avocado and some salad greens. We had intended to fire up our new grill before we discovered that it’s out of propane, but this gave us an excuse to try out the convection feature of our oven (yes, I have a convection oven! Oh the joy!). We heated a cast iron skillet in the oven, and cooked the thinly sliced steak quickly, searing it and flipping it with just a few minutes on each side. We heated tortillas in the microwave, too hungry to warm them individually on the gas burner (yes, I have a gas stove again! Oh the joy!). We sliced cucumbers and avocado, and made a simple vinaigrette, and dinner was served.

There isn’t anything special about this meal in and of itself, and with no recipe to share, I wondered if I should write anything at all. But it was a wonderful meal, and testament to the fact that when you’re happy, even the most pre-prepared, labor-free food can be something memorable.