Toast

Spaghetti for a Summer Day

There's some rule-breaking involved, but I think you might approve . I'm not certain how I know this, but I'm almost sure that it is a firm rule of traditional Italian cookery that cheese and fish do not belong together. It is not even the thing to grate a little parm over your linguini with clam sauce. In this case, though, it's all for the best- I promise. What we have here is a more summery version of pasta with tomato sauce and "meatballs", wherein the meatballs are made from fresh tuna. And there is a little bit of parm in there. Unlike the sturdy, traditional winter version of spaghetti and meatballs, which it closely resembles, it is suitable for making, and eating, when it is 90F. I speak from experience; it's been damn hot.

I think this is a tasty combination- nice and unusual, not strange or off-putting. I've messed around with the underlying ideas to the point that I believe I have may have actually made something novel. Which I haven't done all that often, ever. Probably someone has already made it elsewhere- there's not all that much new under the sun food-wise and pasta sauce is a big area for fooling around. But I think it is pretty good, and that's the important thing, no? It's got that make-ahead feature, too- you can reheat the sauce when you are boiling the pasta. And even the leftovers were nice.

The "meatballs" would be good in a plainer homemade tomato sauce too. As you can see, the resemblance is-well I can hardly call it uncanny, since they are both spheres in a red sauce- but, well, close.You should probably tell any guests that it's tuna, so they won't be weirded out, expecting a meat taste, when the mouth says, "fish."

Here's how you make it:

Spaghetti with Tuna Meatballs in Fennel-scented Tomato Sauce with Chard and Raisins

First, you make the "Meatballs". You need:

1/2 lb fresh tuna
an egg
3/4 cup panko or homemade dried breadcrumbs
1/4 cup freshly grated parm
salt, pepper
chopped fresh fennel fronds, parsley and mint, about 2 Tbsps all together
pinch fennel pollen (optional, but very good)

Put everything in a food processor and pulse until very finely chopped, but not pasty. Make into as many meatballs as you like, and place them on a parchentlined tray or pan. This will make enough to serve three. If you are two, you can make 2/3 of the mixture into meat balls, and one into a patty, to saute or bake, and have on a bun. This is an extra-nice lunch for a cook making dinner for two. Chill in fridge until sauce is ready, at least an hour, to be sure they are firm.

Then you make the sauce:

olive oil
3/4 cup chopped fennel bulb
a chopped garlic scape (they were in my farmbox) or a large clove of garlic, chopped
1/2 to 3/4 cup onion, leek, shallot, or combo thereof
salt
pepper
1/2 tsp fennel seed
pinch fennel pollen (optional)
28 oz or so of chopped canned tomatoes (I like Muir Glen fire-roasted organic tomatoes, which I buy by the case these days)
1/2 dry red or white wine
few leaves fresh oregano if available
handful of raisins
1 Tbsp sugar

1/2 bunch spinach, black kale, or swiss chard, cut into ribbons
juice of a lemon

Cook the fennel, garlic and oniony items until soft, in a bit of olive oil. Add everything else, except the chard, lemon and meatballs, bring to a boil, turn to simmer, and cook about an hour, until the sauce begins to darken. add the chard, and stir until it wilts. Add the meatballs gently, and poach until done through, about ten minutes, sirring in the lemon juice after about 5 minutes. Adjust seasoning, and serve with plenty of spaghetti. You can cook the spaghetti while you finish the sauce, or cool the sauce, refrigerate it, and gently reheat it.

I haven't tried freezing it yet, but I'm going to soon. when you serve it, you can set the meatballs on a plate, or on the outside of individual pasta bowls, toss the sauce with the cooked spaghetti to coat, and then put the spaghetti in the middle of the plates, nudging the "meatballs" on top. It looks pretty sprinkled with fresh fennel fronds. IMHO. Once I added some capers, and that was nice, too.

A Little Lesson Relearned

Well, here was a wonderful idea, which, in the execution, was not so slick. I thought about doing it over, so you could see what it is supposed to look like- but hey, you could read the book for that, no? Next time, it will look much better, and taste the same. In the meantime, it is an illustration of a principle I try to stick to, and abandoned here to ill effect. It wasn't fatal, but I wished I hadn't done it.

And this is the (sadly disregarded) motto: The first time I make something I've never made or eaten before, I should follow the recipe as written.That way I will know what it is meant to taste and look like in the original, and can vary it later with some idea of what I'm doing. I thought I was being clever, as one does. This is a tasty and handy idea for a make ahead buffet thing, and would have looked lovely too, had I done what I was supposed to.

It is a savory kugelhopf, made into a pile of really nice sandwiches, and it can look exactly like a bundt cake for serving, if, instead of slicing up the whole thing willy nilly, you cut a tidy thin slice right off the top and one off the bottom, to keep it all together when you reassemble it.

As you can see, I didn't do that; hence the leaning tower effect. Also, I should have tried for more, and thinner, horizontal slices. It was all very tasty anyway, and we pretty much ate it up for father's day brunch, along with some scones, strawberries and cherries.

I am going to give you the recipe for the "kugelhopf au lard". You bake it, slice it horizontally, spread it with delicious, thinnish sandwich fillings, stack it (but for the top and bottom slices) and then cut through vertically, to make individual sandwiches. When you put it back together, top and bottom on again to maintain order, you can wrap it up snugly, and refrigerate it for 24 hours. This make-ahead factor is very good for parties. The traditional filling for this bacon and onion egg bread is thin slices of proscuitto and an herby creamy cheese. Very tasty, and goes down well with coffee and/or tea.

Here's what you need:

A Kugelhopf pan, or similarly styled bundt pan, well buttered or sprayed with a neutral cooking oil. Be sure to cover all nooks and crannies.

3 1/3 cups AP flour
2 tsps instant type yeast
1 tsp sea salt
10 Tbsps nice unsalted butter, softened
3 eggs
scant cup of milk
1/4 lb bacon, cooked crisp and finely chopped
either 1 small onion, chopped and cooked until soft in the bacon fat, or 2 Tbsps freeze-dried onion bits- the nice toasted ones from Penzey's, or the like
12 walnut halves

This is what you do:

Place a walnut half in each of the runnels at the bottom of the pan, top down. Chop any leftover nuts, and mic with the onion and bacon. Set aside. In the bowl of your electric mixer combine flour, yeast and salt. With the paddle going slowly, add the butter, bit by bit. Add the eggs, one at a time. when well combined, add enough of the milk to form a soft dough. If it gets too soft, you can add a bit of extra flour. When the dough starts to come away from the sides, switch to the dough hook. Knead with the hook for 10 minutes. Cover, and let it rise until about doubled...this should take about 1 1/2 hours.

Lift the dough out of the bowl, and push your thumbs through the middle of the mass, as you set the dough into the prepared pan, with the hole over the center tube. Using the side of your hand, make a channel in the center of the dough all around. Push the bacon onion combo into the little tunnel, distributing it evenly around. Now, pinch the edges of the dough firmly together, covering the mixture, and sealing it inside. Let it rise for another hour, while preheating your oven to 400F

Bake for 40-45 minutes, until golden and hollow sounding if tapped. Set a rack over the top, upending the kugelhopf. Cool it thoroughly on the rack.

As is, this is a really nice companion for cheese and/or soup. To make the party dish properly, slice a thin horizontal slice, walnuts intact from the top, and set it aside. Slice the rest thinly, and horizontally, into an even number of slices. Make big round sandwiches, two rounds each. spread the insides with soft herby goat cheese and thinly sliced proscuitto, or the filling of your choice. Stack them to reform the kugelhopf, without the top, and cut through the lot, top to bottom, making a stack of wedge shaped sandwiches all round. Set on your serving dish, set the reserved top on it, and wrap it tightly. chill in the fridge for at least an hour, or up to 24.

This recipe is adapted from A Taste of Alsace by Sue Style. I am endlessly attracted to the cuisine of Alsace, and am amazed at how few cookbooks are available on the topic. I have a small ,old pamphlet, which was intended for tourists, and one other cookbook. That's about it. Anyone have any suggestions for other sources?

Hooray, my banner suddenly reappeared.

Update, a Winner, and News for Gardening Pittsburghers

A report from the bad blogger: So where is the roundup? Why haven't you heard from me? Where's my banner?
The shortest, truest answer is sloth, on the part of the undersigned.

In more detail: There was insufficient response on the Terrinereama front to warrant much of a roundup. I think I picked a topic which may have appeared fussier and more complicated than it actually is, putting people off. In any event, I do have a winner of the cookbook. She is Solange, of Just Baking. Her terrine can be found here, and her book will be on the way in short order.

You haven't heard from me because I'm having a lazy patch. I expect to have a new post up within the week, as I'm making something I hope will be fun. I love writing this blog, and have never viewed it as a chore. I don't intend to start treating it like work...so if I don't feel like writing it..I don't. There are an awful lot of old posts available if you feel like browsing the categories...unlike my banner, they have not mysteriously disappeared.

Typepad assures me that they are working on the mysterious disappearing banner issue. I really hope that they can restore it..I don't have it backed up anywhere, because I m a fool. I patched it together with inadequate software, no experience, and some good luck, on my old (late) computer. I was very attached to it, despite its inadequacies.

Good News: If you live in the Pittsburgh area, and have a garden that's not all planted up yet, the Urban Farm in Wilkinsburg still has a good selection of naturally grown seedlings available. This is a great boon, because it's getting really hard to find what you want at this late date. They have heirloom varieties and seem very interesting indeed- I hope to go visit them soon. You can find out more about them and proprietor Mindy Schwartz through their website.

See you soon.

Every once in a while, I suffer a setback in my ongoing battle with myself to keep from posting pictures of my cats in this inappropriate forum. It's a slippery slope, as I am totally non-objective on the issue of how delightful and fascinating they are. Once I get going, there's a major danger of overkill. This would be Archie, who is unimpressed with the excuses cited above.

Technical Problems

Having some Typepad technical problems. Wha? No banner? Hope to be figured out soon.

Plum Crazy

It is an absolutely beautiful spring morning, cool in a soft way, with promises of some warmth later. Everything is looking green, and a week from Wednesday the CSA farmbox starts up. So, despite a nasty cold, I'm getting my annual rush from the new growth . This is one area where I remain a total infant. I'm still gobsmacked and thrilled everytime a seed I plant sprouts, or a dormant plant goes green again.

This year, my office lemon tree seems to be working on three baby lemons. You may or may not know that this scraggy runt of a herbaceous house-pet has produced one full sized, delicious Meyer lemon every nine months or so for the last several years, without, apparently, growing a single inch. There are always numerous fabulously fragrant blossoms at the start of the cycle, and 8-10 teeny lemons follow. Then, all but one disappear overnight, and the last lemon clinging on is The One. This is the longest I've ever gone with more than one hanging on. So we'll see.

I do miss having a garden, and have not adapted well to this change in some 8 years of apartment life. In addition to the Working Lemon, for quite some time I grew lots of herb and tomato plants, as well as flowers, on the steps of my little porch. Then, the year before last, some workmen came, unannounced, to do stuff to our porches. They moved my plants while I was at work, with reckless abandon, and broke and killed most of them. I was stricken, and didn't grow much last year- I didn't want to deal with that sort of disappointment again. But I did eventually plant several herbs in containers, and to my major surprise, most of the perennials among them came back this spring, turning green again in their little pots.

I was particularly astonished to find the tarragon looking bright and bushy, since it gets very cold here in the winter, and tarragon is supposedly only hardy in the ground to 20F. And containers, of course, freeze (and unfreeze) quickly, being surrounded by air. Actually the only herb that didn't make it was the rosemary. The sage, thyme, lavender and mint are all back, and I'm really tickled.

So, I've been seduced by these happenings into further outlandish container efforts. You will think me mad, but I bought myself a bare root dwarf (?) self-fertile, greengage plum tree, and a really giant fiberglass pot (Costco-$20, not even ugly), and there is now a plum tree on the porch. Or, I hope there will be. Right now, there's a leafless stick in a pot. If you have ever ordered dormant nursery stock, you know how daunting it looks on arrival. Basically, it's not that easy to tell the top from the bottom. I was a bit surprised that this one is as tall as I am, in its pot. I'm almost positive that the roots are in their proper place on the bottom, in the dirt.

I am crazy for plums of all sorts,. The gages are the hardest kind to find around here, and one of my favorites. So I have an insane hope that in a few years, I might be able to pick one or two from my not so little porch tree. In other plant news, turns out that sorrel goes rather well with fuschia, coleus and sweet potato vine in a decorative planter.

I'm spending this beautiful memorial day weekend with a truly miserable chest cold, wallowing in self pity, wrapped in afghans and drinking hot liquids. There hasn't been a lot of cooking, but I did manage a mid-sized pot of beef broth and boiled veges. I can't actually taste much of anything, but for some reason this is pretty much what I want to eat, so good on that. It is neither interesting nor attractive, thus I will spare you, and me, a photo. Of course, the same could be said about the soon-to-be plum tree pictured above, but there you go.

Food 2.0

Recently, I received several "Advanced Reader's" copies of food books, which is a delightful side benefit of writing a blog, a not-for-profit enterprise- in my case, anyhow. It makes me feel puffed up and important, giant geek that I am. But even better, I get to see lots of interesting new stuff and add to the strain on the inadequate shelf space in my apartment. Life is good.

When invited to preview, I tell publishers' representatives that while I promise to read their book, I cannot promise to review it. I don't review books often, and may well find I have nothing much to say about a new cookbook. If a book is wonderful, or fun, or incredibly awful, I will talk about it, or just let you know it's out there-in case you didn't. Know, that is.

It is a good thing that I am not a reviewer of food books by trade. While I read cookbooks like novels, and have bought far too many of them myself, I am wordless after a preview of most. If you see a book featured here, there is probably a fair amount of enthusiastic babbling or, well, the opposite. I do favor the former, and generally only go after a bad book if I believe the author both influential and egregiously lazy. This is an unusual case, though, because I think something good is in danger of going under.

Warning: In a few minutes I am going to be ungracious.

Food 2.0 presents food by Charlie Ayers, the original, and former long-time head chef guy at Google. Google, in its role as employer, is famous for the wonderful food served to its high tech workers, so good that it keeps them hanging around working, instead of, say, going home.

The book is published by DK publishing, heretofore associated in my mind with cleverly designed, modern travel books, loaded with attractive and helpful illustrations. Food 2.0 is, however, excessively and ineffectually tarted up design-wise. As a result, one might well fail to notice the really excellent recipes, which are delicious, healthy, and mostly very simple to prepare. This guy is clearly a terrific cook- one of those people with a major flair for combining flavor and texture in sometimes new, but not bizarre ways- original, but not weird. His recipes do not require odd ingredients, and can all be made, without excessive fuss, at home.

Ayers has a distinct, neat personality and some very good ideas to impart, but they are not organized in an accessible way for a person who is used to, say, reading books. Perhaps this is an attempt to convey some sort of techie, info-in-bytes kind of feeling, but it is distracting and unattractive, and also, it doesn't work. This is a book, for crying out loud- you can't click on a word for more information. And what is more, there is no index. Even a food magazine, if decent, has an index.

The type-faces and cover photo (of what looks like an dull, ordinary burger-though it is not)- just plain, well, suck. I have no problem with the all-black-and-white interior concept as an idea-it could have been good. But these are boring photos; they are badly composed, as is the type and layout. They make the book look junky, and this guy is not junky- his food is great. It's really too bad. [note: Farmgirl Susan has pointed out (she got an advance copy too) that the final edition will have full color photos. There's a note on the back to that effect, which I didn't notice. I hope that will improve the look of the thing, and maybe that there are some design changes in the offing, too. Couldn't hurt.]

I hope there will be sufficient mass media reviewer interest in the quality of the food, so that it doesn't get lost in the shuffle. This is emphatically not a book I would have picked off the rack to have a look at. I may be a bit of a nut about type design, layout, and the book as a physical object, but I think it is not eccentric to call this one plain ol' ugly.

I am a little surprised at how much I apparently care about this sort of thing. I mean, for example, I am very fond of a number of cookbooks of the spiral-bound, standard production variety, and am not at all offended by their design. They are what they are, and likeable for it. But this one- it's pretentious, in its own casual way, and the design detracts from the text. End of cranky rant.

Anyhow, I'm glad to have the book for the interesting ideas and recipes, and here is one I made for a simple stir fry. I used my last frozen duck breast on this , but chicken breast is specified, and of course, would be good, too. This recipe serves one.

1 tsp veg oil
1 cup mixed vegs (diced onion, green beans or sliced sugar snap peas, and carrots in small pieces)
1/2 tsp finely chopped lemongrass
duck breast or chicken breast , cut in thin strips
1 cup raw peeled shrimp
1/2 tsp minced garlic
3 tbsps dark soy sauce
2 tsps rice vinegar
1 tsp light brown or palm sugar
1/2 tsp. asian style dark sesame oil
freshly ground black pepper
2 handsful shredded lettuce

In a wok, heat the oil and stir fry the veg for a couple of minutes. Add the lemongrass and duck, and stir fry until the duck has lost almost all pinkness. Add the shrimp, and fry until pink. Add everything else- except the lettuce, cook for a minute or two, and pour over lettuce. Eat this right away! If you want a heartier meal, add a cup of cooked rice noodles along with the soy and flavorings.

I love the lemongrass flavor. I had some cute yellow carrots- so I used both the yellow and orange for prettiness. This is an especially good casual stir fry, though I'm not sure why it works so well. Clever fellow.

Terrinerama: Reminder and a Recipe

So I'm giving this virtual party, and I hope some of you will come. There's a door prize- a copy of a nice new book about Terrines, which will be awarded, in random,picked-out-of-the-proverbial-hat fashion (for who am I to judge?), to someone who submits his or her terrine recipe and photo by the deadline: June first. You can do this by sending me a permalink to your post, or if you do not have a blog, you can email me your photo and recipe. These should go to lindystoast at gmail dot com.

Shortly thereafter, I will do a roundup of the submissions, and post it, with links. Terrines submitted after the deadline will be included in the roundup, which I will continue to update. It's just that if you are late, you will miss the drawing. I will announce and email the winner, who can send me the address for mailing. It is a very cool book. It was the inspiration for the following recipe, which I think makes a good, adaptable template for a tasty vegetarian, starter kind of terrine.

There seems to be some thought that this is a topic for pros, and that terrines and pates are inherently fussy and difficult. Not so. A meatloaf is a pate or terrine, and so is chopped liver. I was going to save my own terrine, and its easy recipe for the roundup, but I'm going to post it now, so you can see just how untricky this can be. If you want to make something elaborate, please do, of course, but this is not meant to be esoteric! I'm hoping to collect a real mix of ideas for making in my own new little porcelain terrine.

I think this one makes a good first course, because it is tasty, but not too filling, and can be made ahead, early the same day, or even the day before, and kept in the fridge. It could even make a very acceptable healthy/diet sort of thing, if you make it with milk, rather than cream. That is how the one in the photo was made, and it did not taste like imitation food, as lowfat recipes so often do. It is very general recipe, adaptable to your container size, and the vegetables you may have around. Go for nice color and flavor combinations, of course.

Here is how you make it:

Line a terrine or loaf pan with plastic wrap, allowing it to hand over the long sides. Butter the short sides. Preheat oven to 350F. Steam or simmer your veg until firm tender. I used asparagus, scallions, zucchini, peas and carrots. Cut the larger vegetables into matchsticks, not too small. Beat together 4 eggs and 1 1/4 cups of milk or cream (or proportional amounts to fit your container), salt, pepper and some fresh tarragon leaves if you have them, with a grating of fresh nutmeg.

Pour a bit in the bottom of the lined container to make a thin base layer. Add a layer of veg, then some more egg mixture, etc., until you have come nearly to the top. It will all get jumbled, don't worry, just have the matchsticks of each separate veg face the same way. Wrap the cling film over the top. If your vessel of choice has a lid, put it on. Set in a roasting pan, or the like, in your oven, and pour boiling water into the larger pan, until it is halfway up the sides of the smaller. Mine took 40 minutes in my little white terrine. The tip of a knife inserted in the middle should come clean when it's done.

Cool, and carefully unfold the plastic wrap covering the top. Use the plastic wrap to remove the terrine from the baking pan. As you can see, it slices very nicely with a sharp knife.

Your turn.

One Frozen Duck Part III : Hot and Sour

If I were doing soup from a duck stock in November, it would probably include root veg, barley or wild rice, and maybe cabbage. Or some white beans. Which combos I do love. In my view, soup, hot and cold, is an all season treat.

But with summer just around the corner, I thought I'd go easy on those vegetables I associate with winter storage. This week a friend at work brought me asparagus from her garden, and now I can't wait for the CSA deliveries, which start in June.

Of course, lentils can make for hearty winter fare, too. Somehow, though, when combined with vaguely Indian flavors, to me they conjure warm weather, rather than cold. A friend of mine (you know who you are) once said, long ago, that lentil soup "tastes like dirt." She was not entirely wrong on that. It does sort of taste of the soil.... in a good way....really. And it grows on you. I am very fond of it.

I made this simple soup from the duck stock in the fridge. A rich homemade stock- preferably turkey or duck- does wonders for lentil soup, or any legumes, really. It's a bit gelatinous and feels fortifying without being heavy. Which is why a cool aspic can be so heavenly when it's very hot out.

I found part of a box of pretty puy lentils- just enough, and a bit of arugula that was approaching its last legs. So, here you have it- it's not authentically anything, but it is nice. If I'd taken the time to toast some individual spices, instead of the curry powder, it might have been better. Maybe you will do that.

1 1/2 quarts rich stock
3/4 cup puy lentils
2 tbsps canola oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tbsps grated fresh ginger
3 tsps madras curry powder, recently purchased and non musty
2 cups arugula, or as much as you have if it's not that much-spinach works, too
pinch aleppo pepper
handful chopped scallions
a sliced lime
handful chopped cilantro

In a large-ish heavy pot, cook the onion slowly until it is soft and just beginning to color.Add the ginger and garlic, stir for a minute. Then add the curry powder and aleppo pepper, and stir until everything is colored. Pour the stock over all, and stir it up. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook until the lentils are soft. Remove from heat, and stir in the arugula until it is wilted. Salt and pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls.

A squirt of lime juice and some cilantro and scallions in each bowl tie it in with my drink of choice- limeade. Homemade limeade with spicy legumes is a natural combo. Very good for lunch at work and other times where you might want to eschew the beer (another friendly drink), in light of the need to say, do stuff after, instead of napping.

I love limeade, and freeze the homemade concentrate in ice cube trays sometimes. It's kind of an extravagant use of limes, but...

To make limeade you will need to first make a concentrated lime syrup. In a small heavy pan, bring a cup of water to the boil, add a cup of sugar, and continue to cook, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Cool. Meanwhile, squeeze and strain about 8 medium limes into a lipped container, like one of those extra large pyrex thingies. When the syrup is cooled, mix it into the lime juice. This is your concentrate. You can freeze it, in cubes or otherwise, store it covered in the fridge, or make some limeade right now.

The proportions are 1 to 3, concentrate to water. It tastes of summer, and is excellent with spicy food, and also pretty amazing with sugar cookies. A mint sprig floating atop a tall frosty glass would not be amiss.

You probably already know that the photo at the table is the Marx Bros. in "Duck Soup". Sometimes things happen when you don't take the limeade option. Though I don't think these guys needed any fuel to engage in their antics.

Mothers' Day Digression: Ouef en Gelee (FD #2 1/2)

I admit that this little detour is on the loony side. I was all set to tell you about my duck soup, and the fancy duck breast thing I made, which turned out very well, and was particularly nice with red cabbage. And I will. And then I will get off this duck hobby-horse, I promise.

The thing is, I was side-tracked while leafing through my recently acquired copy of Roald Dahl's Cookbook. In it, there is a picture of, and recipe for a mind-boggling variation on ouefs en gelee., that simple (?) and elegant French classic which I had never, in any form, made myself. You see a big earthenware bowl of brothy-brown flecked aspic scattered with tarragon leaves. Suspended serenely within, well spaced and seemingly not bumped or lumped to one side or the other, are ten (!) perfectly peeled, gently soft-boiled eggs!

Next to the bowl, on the rustic looking table, is a generous platter of buttered toast. I found this set up madly inviting. Could anything be simultaneously simpler and more complicated? One is advised to practice before serving it to guests. I should say so! If you have not tried it yourself, I can tell you that the successful peeling of one soft-boiled egg is no mean feat, and getting it suspended nicely in an appropriate amount of proper aspic is only slightly less crazed. Hence, the far less impressive picture you see before you.

This dish can be made with softly poached eggs, too- and that is easier. Though I am a lover of poached eggs, I promise that the soft-boiled version is noticeably better in this situation- should you find yourself in this situation, which you most likely will not, as you are probably not bonkers. I must admit, the poached egg, done singly, looks fancier and is easier to unmold. Still....

I think that the 10 egg bowl version would be a totally charming Mothers' Day brunch or supper offering. At least for the sort of mother who, like myself, would be wowed by the presentation. it would be so fine, scooping out an egg and some aspic onto my plate- with a big spoon, and nibbling away, with some of that very nice buttered toast. And some strong hot tea. I think I'd have to practice for a year or two to pull that one off, without wasting a few dozen eggs, at least.

Here's where the duck comes in. (If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you might want to review the most recent few of this series of posts. Or not.) If you make a confit, and chill it, surrounded by the (strained) fat in which it was prepared, there will be, on the bottom of your crock, or in my case, plastic container*, a nice layer of jellied duck juice, a/k/a delicious, natural aspic. If you used a traditional stoneware vessel of some sort, the aspic is not much use- you can't get it out until you've used up your confit , when you scoop the fat out to reheat and strain it. By then, being brothy, it is not so fresh, and maybe even dubious safety-wise.

But, a plastic container is flexible. So you can wiggle the sides, and upend the block of confit-containing fat, and peel of that lovely aspic. If the confit is by this action exposed, you can stick the fat block back in the container, microwave it a little,adjust the confit so it's all encased in the fat, and re-chill for storage. And then you've got some beautiful aspic, enough to do one egg, you see, without resort to gelatin, even. Though I've unmolded this one, it looks a tad goofy. It's kind of too tall, and not so symmetrical. After I did the unmolding, I concluded that it was silly; I should have just made it in a pretty container, and served it still inside, to scoop out with a little spoon. **

Which I will do in the future. It was lovely; the egg (boiled a scant 4 minutes) still soft and runny, but not weirdly liquid, was so nice with the intensely flavored aspic, and I did have buttered toast and tea, too, and it was about as good as I'd imagined.

This is what I did: First, I made the 4 minute egg, chilled it under very cold water to stop it cooking, and peeled it very, very carefully. I made two eggs, and it was a good thing I did, because I ruined the first one peeling it. Then, I spooned a little of the chilled aspic into a small container, big enough to hold the egg, covered. I set the egg on top, then melted the rest of the aspic to liquid in the microwave. I let it cool and poured it over the egg to cover it. There were some fresh tarragon leaves added as I poured- just a few. Then I chilled it, and there you are.

I do understand that if you aren't making a confit, you are not going to go out and get a duck in order to prepare a single egg in aspic. But you can, of course, make an aspic the usual way, with broth and gelatin. You can even make 10 eggs, suspended in a big bowl. If you do, I hope you will tell me about it, email me a photo, and gloat.

If you are looking for a recipe for making aspic from stock and powdered gelatin, you can find quite a few googling around. Here is one that looks credible.

*Clearly, if you are using a plastic container for this, you want one which is heat resistant, microwave safe, and has a really good seal.

**The pretty little spoon in the picture, which says "Muriel" on it, was the proverbial silver spoon with which my mother-in-law was more or less born. In her mouth. As they say. She left me a number of pretty things of this ilk, so it would seem that she liked me. This was not always clear to me during her actual life.

A Spin or Two on a Seasonal Favorite

If you do not live in California or some such all-season growing area, chances are you are still waiting for your local produce to show up. One of the very earliest local goodies to appear around here is spinach. Like that salt-of-the-earth old salt , Popeye, I just loves my spinach.* And the tender baby leaves are so delicious uncooked, that a spinach salad is the first thing that comes to mind when it arrives. I have an old favorite, but I decided to try a couple of new things this year.

One is a spinach and pear salad using the rest of my duck confit. (I haven't forgotten about the duck breasts and the duck soup I promised. Consider this post a semi-related interlude.) The other is an idea I got from reading Karin Welzel's article in the Tribune Review**, about Cafe Zao, a local restaurant I have yet to visit-despite the fact that it is located only a couple of blocks from my workplace, and next door to the Public Theater. As you might guess, this has been mostly a cost issue.

After reading about the place, I've concluded that I need to save up for dinner at Cafe Zao. In the interim, though, I thought would try Chef Toni Pais' recipe for Cold Spinach Soup and Shellfish Salad, which you can find with Karin's article. I was so very not disappointed. Wow. As she points out, the soup can also be used, hot or cold, as a sauce for fish or poultry. Surprisingly, large quantities of pine nuts are involved, and the effect is brilliant. It's so intense, and fresh tasting- really amazing stuff. The seafood salad is also pretty special, and I found that it was well worth looking for the ponzu- a citrus-y vinegar.
It did take me some time to find it- the Lotus Market here is enormous- and not all the sauces have English labels. The ponzu didn't have one, but there was an ingredients list on the back, and it said "Ponzu" on top.

I made the soup according to instructions, but my seafood salad was a shrimp-only affair. Also, I did not do the fancy business with the PVC pipe rings, but put the shrimp salad in a little dish centered in the soup bowl instead. Another serving option might be an ice-cream scoop of the salad in the center of your dish, and the cold soup poured carefully around it. That's how I plate up rice with an estoufee or gumbo, and it works pretty well.

Here is the recipe for the spinach salad. I used toasted walnuts, as well as substituting the confit for the bacon. It was yummy.

I have an attraction to dark green vegetables that is so intense that I suspect it is based in some nutritional deficiency. I made a special bus trip to Whole Foods for dinosaur kale on a snowy day this winter, only to discover they were out of it. I nearly cried. Surely this is not normal? I can tell you that the produce guy looked at me with something between pity and fear when I, uh, ...expressed my dismay.

BTW, if you use the google search function in the left hand column, and search the blog for "spinach", there are few other nice things you might want to try.

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*I was surprised to discover, reading up on the original Popeye comics, that in the days before animation, our man Popeye did not have a spinach habit at all. He was just, well, cranky and violent and not-so-brilliant- in the nicest possible way, of course. He had a generous heart and was always, naturally, devoted to the lovely Ms. Oyl. I highly recommend these early cartoons, they are fascinatin', as he might put it. If he, say, had a blog. Or could read and write. Or was, you know, real. But, as always, I digress.

**I don't subscribe to, the Tribune Review, one of our two local papers. Thus, I was unaware of its really nice food section, which, fortunately for me, can be read on the internet. I met Karin Welzel when she emailed me to talk about peas, and I've been catching up on past articles ever since.