Chile honey

I just finished reading The Warmth of Other Suns, a historical narrative about the Great Migration.  The book is well written but very dense.  This story provides substantial insight into the urban condition, particularly in the post industrial city.  In both the north and south, blacks were consistently given scraps, yet continue to be resilient.

Food seemed to be a consistently refreshing tradition throughout the book - yams, collards, oxtails, cat fish (food for the soul) - and I've been thinking about down home cooking ever since.

There's a strong black community just off the Main Line...they've been there for ages...and lo and behold there's a soul food joint nestled in town.  Anyone who knows me knows that I'm wary of "soul food".  No matter how much people rant and rave, the sides are never good and in general the food is just sub par. 

We tracked down SoulFed in the rear of the Legion Post in a part of town whose character resembles more of a dense rural settlement than a residential suburb.  The owner was friendly and like me takes pride in his food, he asked me to call and let him know how we liked it.  We loved it.  The greens were bursting with flavor albeit a little salty; the macaroni and cheese was a delicious pleasant surprise; the chicken and fish were coated and seasoned just right; and I think I detected a hint of almond extract in the 7up cake. 

I know just where to go the next time I get a craving for soul food...I can't wait to try the yams and potato salad!

Frozen fish

I bought a bag of frozen wild caught whiting filets a couple of weeks ago as a back up item.  I ended up making zigni Thursday and my son loved it, eating the majority of the fish from the pot. 

Today, at 445, I had the brilliant idea to make pancit (inspired by a coworker who made pancit with singapore noodles and vietnamese curry sauce).  The only problem was that the fish was frozen and my daughter is at fencing until 530.  I dashed to the market, bought a bag of cole slaw and broccoli slaw; went home put the fish in water, and cut up 2 onions and 2 heads of garlic; then picked her up from fencing at 535.

I know that I took a huge risk purchasing cut and washed vegetables, but desperate times call for desperate measures.  I stir-fried everything, added a half bag of frozen peas and dinner was on the table by 615.  I was clearly running on adrenaline because now I feel exhausted and am already thinking about what's for dinner tomorrow. 

Desperation

They say that you shouldn't stifle your cravings. Well I've been wanting brownies for the longest. And tonight I just couldn't take it anymore. The only problem is that I didn't have any.

At that moment I wish I hadn't read the ingredients when the single serving warm delights were on sale.

Then I remembered the microwave chocolate cake my Afrikaan acquaintance made when I was in the UAE. This was 3 years ago and meant I would have to pull out my travel journal. I was looking for instant gratification so I used my cell phone to google microwave chocolate cake and came across a 5 minute recipe for a mug cake. 

I had everything I needed except the 1 egg, fortunately my mother in law lives up the street so the problem was solved.

I mixed up the ingredients and ate the warm cake right out of the mug. It took the edge off but I'm glad it wasn't good enough to become addicted. With a little tweaking, who knows.

Before & After

I am exhausted...I guess the rock climbing at the Camporee wasn't the best idea.  It was quite a busy weekend, but the girls had a blast...AND the menu was not traditional processed camp food.  The Service Unit manager is participating in Weight Watchers so she carefully selected the meals.  There was a salad bar at lunch and dinner (romaine, tomatoes, cucumbers, black olives, chick peas) and last night's dinner was quite tasty - chicken breasts, roasted red skin potatoes, and string beans.  I think the seasoning might've contained a bit of MSG but that certainly didn't stop me from eating a second helping. 

Today I realized that my trip was sandwiched by cooking.  Thursday night I recreated the Mother's Day meal that I never had a chance to eat.  I bought a piece of grass fed top round sirloin, a pound of 26/30 wild shrimp, and a pound of lump crab meat.  When we sat down to eat, I realized I had prepared way too much food for a family of four...but that's the American way...excess.

It was nice to not have to think about meal planning this weekend.  But that infamous questioned loomed into my head as soon as I was leaving camp - what's for dinner?  I knew I did not want to cook anything, nor did I want takeout or to go out.  I also knew that the cupboard was essentially bare. 

As luck would have it, we were in the Garden State.  Although NJ has been steadily converting fertile farmland into residential housing, we stumbled upon Johnson's Corner Farm.  It kind of reminded me of Linvilla Orchards, but better.  When I stepped inside the market, I was taken back to King's Farm Market on Edisto Island.  All of us were taken in by the store, it was as if we were instantly connected to the source of food. 

Fresh picked strawberries, cakes, pies, cucumber salad, beet salad, all kinds of homemade ready-to-cook southwest fare, key lime pie (they had very good samples -with a graham cracker crust), a variety of quiches, and chicken pot pie.  I bought a pot pie and a head of cabbage.  I didn't want want to leave and I'm thinking I'll return (it's actually not that far from Rohrer campus). 

As soon as I arrived home, I preheated the oven, sliced onions, peppers and the cabbage, prepared the food, and took a nap. 

Old school

My sister called me Wednesday because she and my cousin were reminiscing about our old school mother's day dinners when we would cook steak, lobster, asparagus, and baked potatoes for our moms.  We're talking at least 20 years ago and I certainly miss those times so I thought, why not.

We determined a menu and she sent out the texts.  I estimated everyone's contribution and nominated myself to purchase the food at Whole Foods, all we needed was a venue. 

My house.

I was kind of surprised but apparently I have some sort of reputation which is why my cousin didn't want to host it because she was concerned that she didn't have the proper utensils or pots to prepare the food.  She's quite sarcastic.

When I picked up my cousin's contribution, she said she knew I wouldn't be interested in the lobster tails on sale at Pathmark because it wasn't clear what ocean they came from.  Then she went on to ask if I had iodized salt at home or only salt from a particular sea.  She was on a roll as she asked who was the fisherman and what kind of pole did he use to catch the salmon.  And she couldn't contain herself as she asked me the name of the farmer's wife that butchered the cows.  She asked these questions in jest, but we should certainly be aware of the origin of our food.

Last night I went to Whole Foods on South Street and the butcher cut 16 eye round steaks, I bought 5 pounds of local asparagus, grabbed a bag of russet potatoes, and a bag of sweet potatoes.  Then I went to Callowhill and bought 8 ears of corn, a piece of Alaska wild caught salmon, 5 pounds of 16/20 wild caught fresh US shrimp, a pound of lump crab meat, and a strawberry & whipped cream cake.  I seasoned the meat; peeled, deviened (with the help of my daughter), and seasoned the shrimp; and made up the crab cakes.

This morning my cousin called to ask me if granulated sugar was ok (her mom was going to make iced tea)and if it was ok to bring steak sauce.  She was cracking herself up.

When they arrived this afternoon, I put her on vegetable duty and she talked trash the entire time about a range of things from compost to aluminum foil.  My aunt asked if she should scrub the lemons and oranges she was going to squeeze into the tea - I think she genuinely believed (based on sensational information) that I had a bunch of rules and regulations in the kitchen. 

The potatoes and corn were convection roasting; the tea was finished; so I started the steaks and then the shrimp.  It seemed as if there was a house full of hungry people desperately waiting for food.  I felt like I was on Kitchen Nightmares as I was trying to get the food cooked, on platters, and on the table for 27 people.

Thankfully everyone enjoyed the food and commented on how it had a different taste - particularly, the salmon and shrimp.  I seized that moment to give a mini-lecture on aquaculture, which morphed into an overview of the factory food system.  No one seemed to mind that I had altered the original menu. 

I served dessert - of course my grandmother made a Hummingbird Cake, the strawberry cake, and Haagen Dazs ice cream (pistachio & coconut pineapple). 

Things slowed down a bit, the mad dash was over, the kids were playing outside...we were chitchatting, laughing, singing...like old times.  It was great.

Corned beef

My mom never cooked corned beef and cabbage, probably because we rarely ate red meat when I was growing up, but she would make a roast beef annually.  I was pleasantly surprised when my friend's mom made corned beef and cabbage one night while I was staying in Yonkers.  It was a hearty one pot meal.  Then my grandmother made it and invited us over for dinner - my son loved it. 

My husband picked up a corned beef eye roast the other day so I decided to give it a shot.  Rather than simmer for 3 hours, I went the pressure cooker route and almost panicked when I opened the package of corned beef and there was no seasoning packet.  I've heard that this seasoning packet was the end all be all. 

I looked online and the only description I could find was pickling seasonings...so I had no choice but to improvise. I inserted galic into slits on the beef, added onions, ginger, and celery to the pot then I used a bit of the mulling spice my friend brought me from WVA, corriander seeds, Everyday Seasoning, and 21 Seasoning Salute.  I cooked that under pressure for an hour, then added potatoes, and wedges of cabbage.  I cooked for another 5 minutes or so and we devoured it.