A perfectly new food obsession.

Just when I think that I'm uninspired, revelation hits. This morning I got this email from GOP:

Rebecca, Just forget getting anything done today, because today is the day that I introduce you to Dum dum DUM: www.ranchogordo.com I just ordered the deluxe gift box, for myself (I wanted the book.)

Enjoy, love gina

I spent a while in reckless obsession over these amazing bean varietals, painstakingly reading each description and even went to my Saveur back issues, as the website reminded me that Steve Sando's (the founder) beans made the Saveur 100 in January 2008.

His quote in Saveur pretty much sums it up, I think: "Beans shouldn't need to be cooked with a ham hock to taste good." While I had my own beans, lovingly selected from my food co-op (but I couldn't tell you where they were actually sourced, unlike the beauties on the Rancho Gordo site...), soaked and saturated with bacon in wait in the icebox, this revelation of beanery piqued my interest to no end.

Next, I moved on to Steve's blog, also completely wonderful. I knew that I had to make something in the Rick Bayless vein for dinner tonight- he is after all our Midwest answer to the lucky Napa Valley, indeed all of California's, Mexican cuisine... not to mention my own personal favorite.

I have to say that I didn't follow the instructions perfectly for this Tostaditas de Salmon Ahumado (or Smoked Salmon - Black Bean Tostaditas) from the Mexico One Plate at a Time cookbook. This morning, after a batch of grape jam (but more on that later) I made some roasted tomatillo salsa, also Rick's recipe, but altered for my ease. I also decided to add an avocado too (and a healthy 2 T. of cilantro), which is a trick I remember I loved in a Bon Appetit recipe - found in the Flavors of Mexico issue they put out several years ago. I'm not sorry I did. I forgot how delicious it is! To make it, just blend in a ripe avocado to Rick's Recipe, or my tweaked recipe.

Next, I used the cranberry beans waiting in the fridge instead of black. I pureed them, and then heated them in a cast iron pan. Since I had cooked them with onion and bacon, I didn't really need to season them too much more. I did have to add cumin and chile powder, since I love that.

The next part I did pretty much the same: 5 oz. of smoked salmon, which I found at the Outpost and it was really delicious, 1/4 c. of chopped tomato, a minced jalapeno, 2 T. chopped cilantro and some salt and black pepper. Just mix together, and pretty much any other topping you would pair with this would be terrific in my opinion.

I never can resist adding cumin to beans...

Since I had homemade yogurt, and finally perfected my consistency by adding dried milk to the mixture, I used this in place of the crema. Even my picky Husband ate some - that Always surprises me.

Perfection! Inspiration, new obsessions and man, I am going to have to click over and order heirloom beans, since I can think of nothing else now. It doesn't hurt either that the Rancho Gordo design is one of the best ever. I'm absolutely certain that I can endorse this product even before trying it - is that crazy or what? How can you not love a guy for selling beans with this heading: "Also back in stock is Yellow Indian Woman, after a long, irritating absence."? I can see where the bulk of my protein will be coming from this winter...

well, I thought it was good...

Tonight, I was really in the mood for some fall-ish food. I haven't been cooking too much the past few days. Since the Food Slam Friday, in fact. Yesterday, here in Wisconsin, the entire state was on its collective edge of the seat for the most anticipated of Green Bay Packer games...everyone except me (and some others to be sure). I could envision the huddled masses keeping warm by the glows of television sets, some also by their burning effigies of Brett Favre, and others by wiping up their warm tears while still clad in Brett Favre attire. All it did for me was give me a 4th day in a row without cooking a proper supper. I think I ate standing up at the kitchen counter and continuing to work on grapes, but that is a story for another day, since I am about 1/2 done.

Most of today was rainy, windy and overcast in general, and I could think of no better way to use up some fennel I bought at the farm market a week ago already than to make braised chicken with fennel. I kind of been plotting it, since I soaked some cranberry beans (the same dried ones I had leftover from Jamie Oliver's Humble Home Cooked Beans...) and cooked them up a la Rick Bayless (with bacon) late last week.

Braised food with bacon? Sounds very fall-ish to me. I got this recipe from the newspaper several years ago, and really love it. I may have conveniently blocked it out of my memory that my Husband was not as enamored...

No matter, all of the leftovers are gratefully Mine!

Braised Chicken with Fennel:

adapted from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (circa 2005)

6-8 servings

• olive oil
• salt
• pepper
• 3 lbs cut up chicken (or I used tonight 3 chicken breasts, sans skin) really whatever you prefer
• 1 onion, frenched (cut into thin wedges)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 fennel bulb, quartered and thinly sliced
• 1 bell pepper (original calls for yellow, but I used green since I have a lot from the garden lately)
• 28 oz can diced, fire roasted tomatoes (I used 1/2 a jar of home canned, and then added a few T. of tomato paste to thicken it towards the end)
• 1/2 c. dry white wine (or, my favorite, vermouth, since I never have white wine...)
• rosemary, fresh if you have it - 1 or 2 sprigs
• 1 15 oz. can cannellini beans (or 9 oz. or so of home cooked beans, any variety you like)
• parsley to garnish, if desired

In a dutch oven, or similar heavy lidded pot, brown chicken (dusted in salt and pepper) in 2 T. olive oil, about 2 minutes per side, and remove to plate. Then add onion, garlic, fennel and pepper and cook 3 minutes until softened, stirring constantly.

Add vermouth and deglaze pan, then add tomatoes, rosemary and browned chicken. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer 20-25 minutes (longer if you use bone-in cuts of chicken), turning the chicken once.

Uncover, mix in beans, and cook uncovered 5 minutes or so until sauce thickens and juices run clear. I added my tomato paste here, since home canned tomatoes are a bit jucier than store bought, I think.

I like to serve this with mashed potatoes, since then you can sop up all of the sauce. As you can see, my portion of chicken was burried beneath a mound of veg. I think that the sauce is good enough on its own to be made meat free if you desire. I think I just love fennel.

See, this was my plate:

And this was the plate across the table from mine...

I guess, it may be a recipe that in the future, I scale down and make for winter lunches. Maybe I'll even try freezing some since I have so much leftover tonight. It is also possible I could make it into a soup of some kind. Most likely, I'm going to get some more potatoes at the farm market on Thursday and eat the rest for lunch. If I'm lucky, it will feed me right up until the weekend.

food slam

That's me, with the flimsy fork...

I was pretty psyched to attend the Food Slam benefit for local radio 91.7 WMSE last night. I like tasting events, since you usually get small portions, and can meander around trying what appeals to you. Unfortunately, however, I never am able to eat as much as I'd like. Fullness always seems to arrive way too early.

I tried to take pictures, but didn't get too many good ones due to lighting and roaming... Happily, I was able to get my favorite eats of the night on film: this amazing northern Prussian dish from

O'Keefe's House of Hamburg.

This spot is fortuitously close to home for me, and I will definitely be going there to dine soon. I always thought it was just a bar, and had no earthly idea of the kind of food they were serving up. If only for this amazing cabbage in red wine seen above, I am certainly going to go and see what else is on their menu. The dumplings in a sherry-cream sauce were top notch as well.

I could have been satisfied with just a small plastic plate from them, but there were many other terrific local restaurants in participation as well. And what Milwaukee dining experience would be complete without some kind of sausage?

Usinger's was dishing out, of course, with bacon studded sour kraut on pretzel rolls.

The Rishi Tea people were serving 3 varieties of iced tea, my favorite being the

Iron Goddess of Mercy:

Photo by Rishi Tea

I never tried it before, even though I've seen it around. I'll be picking some up on my next shopping trip. I'm now greatly inspired to cold-brew some teas of my own...

A pleasant bonus was walking down the alley back to the car after the event, since the purveyor of Asian art and design, Artasia, was lit from within. These dolls appeared to be at play in the window, though my camera wasn't doing the shadowing justice.

When I pressed the camera to the glass above my head and took this shot, I was surprised how the room looked perfectly bright and as if the creatures suddenly had stopped what they were doing and froze perfectly still to pose.

My two companions may have thought I was a bit crazy, but then again, it was a little chilly. On second look, I really like the doll front and center on the floor - almost appearing to be a full size human. Maybe she was, it was a pretty strange sight.

I can be sure the Food Slam will be on my docket for next fall as well, and meanwhile I'll have a few new places to frequent. Thanks to WMSE for 3 hour blocks of great music to soundtrack my mornings, and for organizing a fun fundraiser.

Honey Pie (or Cake): you're making me crazy...

I know I'm obsessed with Mostly Foodstuffs, but I can now attest with reasonable certainty that these are all going to be fail-safe recipes, should I be lucky enough to try all of them. Yesterday, I was sadly without cake. A week ago, I tried the Chocolate-Zucchini Bundt from the site, and fortunately, my Mom came to visit the same day. My little brother loves this kind of thing, so I sent the lion's share home with her. I have to say, it only improved with age. I ate the last slice 6 days out, and I thought it was more delicious than the first day I made it.

A day without cake later, I decided I had to try her recently posted Honey Cake. Whereas the Chocolate Zucchini cake was somewhat healthy (or could at least be construed as healthier since it had the zucchini in it) the Honey Cake boasts three kinds of sweetener: honey, sugar and brown sugar. Sugar fiends rejoice! I'll gladly join them today, since it is chilly and fall-ish and the thought of a spice laden cake in the oven really appealed to me, no matter what the sugar content.

Since I was unsure about the ability to give some away, and I do realize that I really can not polish off a whole bundt cake alone, I cut the recipe in half and filled 6 1-cup mini bundts. I decided to keep four out, and the other 2 are popped into the freezer for future cake-free emergencies.

As the honey smell began to rise from the oven, I indulged in ordering some honey-related songs from iTunes: Honey, Honey by Feist and Camera Obscura's Honey in the Sun. Then I put them on a loop and did the dishes.

As you can see, I thought I may have a problem with the monstrous rising power - well over the tops of the mini bundts. Thanks to the most ingenious cooking spray with flour, I was easily able to lift them out. After slight cooling, I used a kitchen shears to trim away the excess (and who are we kidding, popped most of them into my mouth). I was so excited at the relative success and certainly the moistness of the amazing Honey Cake.

I think that mini bundt pans are designed to showcase cakes with a closer crumb, but I really thought these were beautiful. In the sunlight that decided to break across my dining room table, I really thought the cathedral domes of the bundt below looked decidedly honeylike.

If the markets are still laden with zucchini, you have frozen all you wish, and are tired of zucchini bread (I made this one from SpicyBrains, and it was good - and so lean, I didn't feel guilty at all) please try this Chocolate Zucchini Cake from Mostly Foodstuffs. I'd imagine it would freeze well, but I would suggest being popular with your friends and neighbors and sharing it around. A bundt is really marvelous for that.

Need I say more?

Free Grapes = Grape Jelly

I love accidentally making something, which is the start of the Grape Jelly story.

On Sunday, I acquired 4 lbs. or so of miscellaneous grapes from Sasa. When I checked my sources for Grape options (in this order: Mom, FoodinJars, Sure-Jell box insert) I found that outside of wine and juice, people don't really do much else with grapes except to make jelly. I really prefer jam to jelly, since I like the consistency better, but after reading the directions over the phone with my Mom, I decided to first make the grape juice needed to make the jelly.

It turned out to be the correct option for me, since my Mom called a couple of days later with her own labor intensive story of how she used some of her Concord grapes to make jam. She actually slipped the skins off of 5 lbs. of fruit, then boiled them separately, removed the seeds and then chopped the pulp to include in the jam. She said, and I quote, "Unless this is the most delicious jam we've ever had, I will never do that again." She was glad I stuck to the jelly.

Since I didn't pick the grapes, I wasn't really sure what types they were. I know some were definitely some Concord, and then there were these beautiful and sweet blue ones that looked exactly like giant blueberries - they had many seeds, so were perfect for jelly. I was going to toss out the green ones, thinking that they weren't ripe, but I think they were since when I tasted them they were also very sweet.

I needed 5 1/2 cups of juice to make the full batch of jelly. After steaming the grapes and filtering through a muslin bag (not following the typical jelly protocol and squeezing the bag with all of my might to extract every last drop) I had exactly 5 1/4 cups. I was so happy, since I could easily add 1/4 c. of water to make up the difference.

My hot water bath (pictured below) was given to me by my Mom. It is fast becoming one of my favorite things.

I really do enjoy hot water bath canning, but must admit to never really being fully prepared. Oh, I try to have everything ready ahead of time, but usually something is forgotten. For this episode, I misplaced my only ladle. I have a old plastic ladle from when I first bought kitchen things before going to college. It was part of a set of things including a slotted spoon, a pasta fork and a spatula all of which I still use. It was made by TaylorMade, I think, in a town close to my parent's farm...that I'm pretty sure no longer exists. For whatever reason, I think I'll panic if I ever lose this stuff. It is so comfortable to use the things that we've grown up using, I guess.

I searched my usual places to stash such implements, including the ones I would never put it. I had to settle on using a glass cup measure, which made things a bit messier than they needed to be. I tried to put it out of my mind that I could not locate that ladle to concentrate on the more pressing matter at hand...

I got 7 cups of finished jelly out of my donated grapes, one of course will go to the donators. (A note about my choice in language here, since we lost one of our great linguists, William Safire, this week. I know that the word donators is not officially a word, and donors would be the logical choice. Somehow, the word donor conjures up the extraction of these grapes from otherwise unwholesome means. I'm sticking to donators.)

And wouldn't you know that immediately after cleaning up, I found my silly ladle exactly where it should have been. If I didn't have that disease that prevents me from finding what I need when I need it.

As my peanut butter and jelly boy-o will attest, it really turned out well. Above is the little bit of leftover that I love to get. It seems like a bonus, especially because the last thing you really want to do after canning the jam (or jelly) is open it up two seconds later. When I set about to photographing it, I couldn't believe how similar in color it is to beets and especially the beet pasta I made earlier this month.

It seems unreal to me that the weather is turning so quickly into fall. It's been windy, overcast and threatens of rain. Trees are turning here and there, and there are mere weeks left of the markets that I so heavily relied on for most of the summer. For lunch today, I pulled a frozen block of pea soup that I made last spring out of the freezer to heat up. As I ate it, I was thinking how amazing the change in our seasons - and the appetites for different things it brings with it. Welcome to the soup and slow cooked weather, and I'll enjoy it right up until cookie madness making weather.