A Stack of Dishes

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Potato Red Beet Gratin

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Oh my dear readers, how I have missed you. It has been an unusual Summer with traveling and preparing my apartment to be sold. The end of the days leave me in a heap, hardly wanting to cook, let alone shoot.
But now the grind is easing up and I am getting my verve back at the stove. The drier, cooler temps also help tremendously.
And so, the first creation out of the kitchen comes this gratin. I am a bit proud of myself as this is of my own making. A bit of inspiration from here and there and thus we have it. Beautiful isn’t it? and remarkably delicious as well. I can’t wait now to have a dinner party, I think this would make a remarkable talking point.
I made this in a smallish ramekin/souffle dish. 4″ in diameter to be exact. I am cooking for one these days as my fiancee is away at our home in Louisiana and remain behind in NYC until the apartment sells. So no need for anything larger. Half for today, half for tomorrow.
Potato Red Beet Gratin with Goat Cheese
 
2 medium red beets, peeled
2 medium potatoes, peeled
1 clove garlic, rough chopped
2oz goat cheese, chevre
fresh thyme leaves
3/4 c milk
S & P to taste
 
Oven at 35o˚
 
 
First I prepared the dish by greasing it up with some oil.
 
On a mandeline I first sliced the potatoes into very thin slices. I layered half of them along the bottom of the dish interspersing thyme, s & p
 
Then on the same setting I sliced up the raw beets and layered them on top of the potatoes, trying to keep an even layer and not allowing them to pile too much in the center.
 
Finishing off the dish with the rest of the potatoes, thyme and seasoning.
 
In the blender I placed the cheese, milk and garlic and gave it a healthy whiz. 
 
Carefully, allowing the liquid to seep around the slices, I poured the milk mixture to the rim.
 
Into the oven it went with a light cover of foil to start out with.
 
After about 40 mins I removed the foil and baked for another 20 mins or so until the top was  browned and the juices had been absorbed into the potatoes and a fork pierced through the center confirmed doneness.
 
After removing it from the oven I let it sit for about 20 mins, then turned it out onto a dish by flipping it over.
 
 
 

Power to the Power Bar

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I am proud to say that I’ve been pretty good about going to the gym lately. It’s about time I dropped the 10 pounds I gained sampling my way through Thailand (NO regrets!) 

It is my usual practice to snack on a Balance Bar post workout. Sort of a treat but in a healthy way. I am also a fan of post work out refueling, it definitely helps my physical recovery and my mental attitude. So a snack that has quality carbs, protein, tastes good and can be dropped into my gym bag wins. 

I have my favorites and I don’t mind schlepping to Trader Joe’s to stock up, but the last time my little pile cost me some coin for, well, such a little pile. 

I certainly have all the stuff to make my own, and so, there you have it- the kernal, the spark, the moment of genesis. I love it when my kitchen becomes laboratory. 

I like crunch and I don’t like too sweet and I prefer a jolt of protein for good measure, so that was the challenge. 

I went hunting around online for some ideas and didn’t really like anything I saw, but I liked some concepts and discovered what I didn’t like. Not too cakey, not too nutty or granola-y either. 

I settled upon a sortof kindof rice crispy treat thing. I have a bag of chia seeds in the fridge and this seemed like a perfect vehicle. I also had some dried goji berries from my trip to Thailand and a jolt of chocolate is my idea of healthy antioxidants. 

The entire batch cost me approx $5, much less than the 16 bars would have cost me. I am pleased with the combination but have some more ideas for the next time. Gotta sneak in some more protein and more fiber. The nutritional breakdown is pretty good though, so no complaints really. (see attached to printable recipe). 

I wrapped them in wax paper and stored them in plastic bags. Easy to grab either coming or going to the gym. 

 
Rice Crispy Power Bar
(printable) 

3/4 c agave syrup
3/4 c fresh ground peanut butter
1 T gelatin softened in 3 T of water
3 C rice crispies
1/4 t salt
2T Chia Seeds
1/2 C Dried Goji Berries
1/2 C chopped semi sweet chocolate
In saucepan combine agave syrup and peanut butter. Warm over medium heat, stirring smooth, until bubbly. Remove from heat and add gelatin. Stir thoroughly until completely incorporated. Stir in salt.
In separate larger bowl combine the rice crispies, chia seeds, goji berries and stir to combine. 
Pour peanut butter mixture over dry ingredients and stir to incorporate. When cooled a little bit add chocolate and quickly and gently combine.
In baking pan sprayed with cooking spray, dump mixture in and pat evenly with hands. Allow to cool completely.
Remove from pan and cut into 16 equal pieces.

Food as Love, and Doilies

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rice pudding, doily
A cup of creamy rice pudding.
Over the past several months I have been gearing up to begin a food and photography blog for myself. My love of food and image would have a place to spill out to, to encircle others, to give love and share love.I had many names that I came up with, all appealing to the different aspects of my personality and attitudes toward food {the healthy, the honoring of traditions, the “hey, let’s not get too serious and just enjoy”…} but I found myself circling back to one thought. What is the most profound thing about food? What

is it that just makes me feel so compelled the need to send it out, to share?And the same two answers just kept coming back to me.

I was in NYC during September 11th. I was working at a photo shoot in a penthouse space on the Westside of Manhattan. I had seen the gaping, smoldering hole of the first attack and my first thought was, “we will never be the same”. Even without knowing that it was an attack I had felt it’s magnitude. As the morning wore on someone had turned on a radio. From it bleated the mind bending updates on the scene from downtown and the news that there was an attack in DC and another plane down in PA. The voices on the radio were strained and adrenaline spiked and it made me think of WWII and people huddled around radios for the latest. We all walked around dazed and in shock.

That shock continued through the week and I was right, we were not going to be the same.

Some dear friends of mine invited me that Friday to their Shabbat table. I am not Jewish, but to be amongst friends was the solace that I needed. Their apartment is in Greenwich Village is on the top floor of a beautiful old building which had a balcony that through French doors we could see the glow from the lights and smoke of ground zero. This was our backdrop and it was staggering.
Later as we gathered around the table, holding hands, and the prayers were sung and the candles lit, that I realized that the warm reflection that was created by loving faces gathered around a table was what life was all about and where our best moments often happen-Around A Table, Shared. That joining together created a warm and safe place and kept out that smoldering glow outside the window, it was bigger and more powerful than anything someone else could do to you, and it was precious and invaluable.
And that leads me to my Auntie Jo, or Fofi as she is known in the family.
Joesphine was my Mother’s elder sister, and by far the most amazing woman I have ever known. She had an incredible grace and beauty in the way she handled everything. She was a remarkable smart woman, the sort of woman who had she been born in my day would have been a force in the workplace. Instead she was a force within the family. She was the quintessential homemaker, a gracious hostess, and fierce cook and insistent upon using doilies.
Sadly we lost her this week to a long struggle with cancer, which cruelly landed in her colin, making it unable to eat for the last months of her life. I tell you this because for us around her it was more than frustrating. Fofi and taught us all to equate food with love and giving love, and here, the dearest person in the world to us could not receive our love, we could not nurture her back to health, we could not give her pleasure or solace.
Josephine always had an amazing ability to make everyone feel special. Jo comes from the Spanish side of my family, which is was always a warm and glowing sharp contrast to my chillier Irish side. She spoke a fluent Spanish and I have a memory of being with her once at a restaurant. She was always curious and always wanted to learn more, especially about food. I recall her speaking to a busboy in Spanish and making him blush with shyness. On the way out she touched him on the arm and said one more thing to him and then cupped his cheek. He smiled and nodded brightly to her, and I could see on his face how she had blown away that shyness and he gravitated toward her. She was like that.
But let me also be clear, she was a strong and often stubborn woman. She had her standards, she didn’t put up with whining or feeling sorry for yourself and then there were those doilies.
At her funeral I recanted a story about her. It’s one of those snapshot moments that were really of no real significance but just encapsulated her. It was Thanksgiving at her house and a few of us were in the kitchen putting together the dessert table. We are a family of great cooks and chefs and there are always just as many desserts served as there were dishes for dinner- needless to say we take our food and sweets seriously. There was always some of the same things year after year and Jo always, ALWAYS had a bowl of freshly whipped cream.
Now imagine a kitchen full of fantastic cooks all hustling to get coffee service and desserts out onto the table. My Mother grabbed the whipped cream bowl and saucer and headed out the door. Jo stopped her- “May! where’s the doily?!” to which my mother answered, “oh come on Jo…” To that Jo whisked across the kitchen and with pinky finger out gently but sternly made it clear that a doily was to go under the plate and just so, as she peeled the paper doilies apart and carefully arranged them under the bowl. That was Jo- in the midst of chaos, there would be beauty.
Later, at the post burial luncheon, photo books were passed around of her. And sure enough, one picture was of a holiday dessert table, and right in front was that bowl of whipped cream- and nestled underneath was a doily.
In honor of Josephine I begin this journey of creating my own voice and song of food. I owe Fofi much, oh so much…. and especially my love and curiosity of food and cooking and sharing tables. My greatest wish is you share this table with me as well as those gathered around yours.