quinoa: a perfect food? (dunno, but pretty perfect tasting)

today for lunch i tried a new quinoa recipe (recipe below), which turned out to taste pretty great. kevin even brought some in for his trainer (who's constantly trying to get kevin to give up his beloved french fries - somewhat successful - and eat more skinless chicken breasts - don't ask) who enjoyed it enough to call and thank me, which i thought was really nice of him. (unlike some people, who shall remain nameless, but know exactly who they are. ahem)

so what IS quinoa, you ask? and just as importantly, how the heck are you supposed to pronounce it?

first, how to pronounce it: there are, apparently, two ways. you can pronounce it as "keen-wah," but according to wikipedia, you can also pronounce it as "kee-no-uh".

second, what the heck is it? quinoa is basically a seed that when cooked has a texture that's sort of like couscous (only lighter and fluffier, imo). the bottom line is that i love it because it tastes great (very mild, so fluffy. yummy!). the side benefit is, as wikipedia explains, quinoa contains a balanced set of essential amino acids, is a good source of fiber, phosphorus, magnesium, and iron, and is high in protein. all great things, but like i said, i eat it because it tastes good. (i'm not one to eat something just for the sake of it being good for you. as an example, i don't care how great brussels sprouts are for you. to me, they taste pretty horrible, although my friend jen claims it's b/c most people overcook them. whatever it is, they're like the cabbage's little evil brother. yuck.)

if you haven't already had quinoa before, give it a try! trust me, i'd never tell you to eat something just because its only redeeming quality was that it was good for you. ;)


Curried Yogurt Quinoa Salad with Chicken
1/2 cup plain, whole-milk yogurt (I like saint benoît)
1/4 cup low-fat coconut milk
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
2 1/2 tsps curry powder
1 tsp finely grated peeled fresh ginger
2 tsp packed brown sugar
1 tsp salt (plus more, to taste)
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp good-quality extra virgin olive oil (I've been using Stonehouse lately)

1 1/3 cups quinoa
8-10 oz cooked chicken, cut into 1/2" dice
1 large ripe mango, cut into 1/2" chunks
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/4" dice
1 fresh jalapeño chili, (seeded, if you can't take the heat [then get out of the kitchen!]) and minced
1/3 cup finely chopped fresh mint
2 oz salted roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped

Whisk together first 8 ingredients in a large bowl or quart-sized pyrex measuring cup. Whisk in oil in a slow stream until combined.

Rinse quinoa several times, rubbing grains and letting them settle before pouring off water. In a large saucepan, cook quinoa in boiling salted water for 10 minutes. Drain in a sieve (use one that fits into saucepan you cooked the quinoa in) and rinse with cold running water. Boil 1-2" of water in saucepan you just used; when boiling, set sieve over saucepan (make sure sieve doesn't touch water), cover with a clean kitchen towel and lid, and steam until fluffy and dry, about 10 minutes.

Combine quinoa with curried yogurt sauce and rest of ingredients in a large bowl. Serve warm or at room temperature. Serves 4.

i am officially a michael pollan groupie!

yesterday i read an article about how mexico is now the 2nd most obese country in the world. (the US is #1...don't you just love how americans are so competitive? always gotta be #1 in everything we can be!) in another 10 years, if this "growth" (such an unfortunate word to use here) continues, mexico will surpass the US in holding this most dubious distinction.

this author writes about how in 1989, fewer than 10% of mexicans were obese, but with the growing popularity of cheap soft drinks (in some areas it's easier to get a glass of soda than it is to get a glass of clean drinking water) and fast food, studies show now about 66% of men and 71% of women are now obese. mexicans are eating more fat and processed foods, and fewer whole grains and vegetables. diabetes is now the leading cause of death in mexico. 25% of Mexican children ages 5 to 11 are too heavy, which is a 40% increase since 2000.

pretty scary stuff. at any rate, this "epidemic" in mexico mirrors pretty much exactly the trends michael pollan details in both Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food, when native cultures move away from eating their traditional diets and adopt the western diet.

so guess what i did? i forwarded the article to michael pollan. and then guess what? he wrote back!!!!!

"Thanks-- amazing story. M"

ok, so, yeah, he wrote back only 3 words...and who knows who "M" actually is. (maybe it was an aunt maude, who he's put in charge of answering all his fan mail?), but i was thrilled to hear back, nevetheless. yes, i've now crossed over into new territory. some people write fan letters to justin timberlake or jessica alba. i write fan letters to someone who looks like larry david. (hey, i'm sure he has a GREAT personality. michael pollan, that is. *not* larry david.)

while you mull that over (listen, the dude wrote the book that changed my life, ok? what do you want from me?), below is the link to the article. it's definitely, uh, FOOD for thought. (get it?! :) and if you haven't read it, give a think about reading Omnivore's Dilemma. it's pretty powerful. (and, no, i don't work on any sort of commission. :P)

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/31267.html

pretty poppies

for the last 4 weeks in a row (um, yes, 4 weeks in a row is a big deal at the house of froon), when i've gone to the sf farmers' market on saturdays, i've bought fresh organic flowers.

first week, it was tulips. gorgeous and enormous!

second and third weeks, it was ranunculus (ranunculi?). i love them; they remind me of english roses, only brighter and more colorful.

this past weekend, it was poppies. i have to say, they're beautiful. i was lucky enough to buy 3 bunches that were more or less completely closed up. if you get there before 9, you're golden. (you can all pick yourselves off the floor. YES, i was up before 9 am on a saturday. *sheesh*).

they've been opening up over the last few days, and i just love them. i managed to take a picture of them tonight, which i've posted below. (the camera battery is dying, and we have *no clue* where the charger is.)

the photo really doesn't do them justice. they're beautiful!

how to recycle bread, tasty style

have you ever found yourself with way too much bread that has also unfortunately gone stale? well, i do, and often. to try to maximize our bread usage, depending on the type of bread, i turn stale loaves into fresh breadcrumbs or, even better, make bread pudding.

bread crumbs are easy enough to make. just cut the bread into smallish cubes and pulse in a food processor until they turn into crumbs.

but, if you want to really up the ante on your bread recycling, try your hand at a bread pudding (recipe below). you'll see that the recipe is very simple, easily modifiable, and always yummy. and you'll have the added benefit of being able to feel smug about finding a clever and tasty way to use up your stale bread, without your diners ever knowing. (ever wonder why some bakeries have bread pudding? well, now you know.)


Basic Bread Pudding
8-10 oz stale bread, cut into 1-inch cubes (such as brioche, croissant, pain de mie, challah)
5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 1/4 cups half & half
1/2 cup sugar
3 medium eggs
3 medium egg yolks
2 tbsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp packed dark brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 8" square baking dish. Place bread in large bowl and drizzle 4 tbsps melted butter over bread and toss to coat. If you like, add 1/2 cup chocolate chips and/or fruit (dried or fresh), etc., and toss to combine.

Whisk half & half, the 1/2 cup of sugar, eggs, egg yolks, and vanilla extract in large bowl. Pour this custard over bread cubes and let stand about 30 minutes, occasionally stirring to help bread soak up as much custard as possible. Pour bread mixture into baking dish. Drizzle remaining melted butter over pudding and sprinkle top with brown sugar. Bake until puffed and brown, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Serve warm with rum sauce (recipe follows). Serves 6.


Rum Sauce
4 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon (you can leave this out if you just want to make a caramel-rum sauce)
dash of salt
1/4 cup dark rum
1 tbsp vanilla extract

Melt butter in small heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add dark brown sugar, ground cinnamon, and salt, and whisk until sugar is dissolved and mixture is bubbling and smooth, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Whisk in rum and vanilla extract. Serve warm.

catch and don't release: fish & farm measures up!

tonight, we went to fish & farm for dinner. i had read about this restaurant on daily candy when it first opened, and have been meaning to try it out for months. now that i've been making all this effort to "eat more responsibly," i was very much looking forward to dinner here because the restaurant says all of its "meats and seafood are sustainable farmed or harvested. [they] serve naturally fed, anti-biotic, hormone, and steroid free meats only....all produce is organic and from within 100 miles of this restaurant. all meats and fish are as local as we can get and still put food on your plates!"

i asked our waiter where the restaurant sources its meats, and he told me golden gate meat company. well, i really, really hope if the restaurant uses them, it make sure the meats come from ggmc's local suppliers. i was looking on the website, and *maybe* only 20% of its suppliers are actually "local" and/or even sustainable farms. but who knows, maybe i'm just being overly suspicious. (this is where kevin nods emphatically and rolls his eyes at me.)

aside from all that, dinner was really good. definitely between a 3-4 out of 5. for a starting cocktail, i had their "fish & farm julep," which was EXCELLENT (made with Buffalo Trace bourbon. i *love* bourbon, as you either already know all too well from our holiday party 2 years ago or will come to realize as you get to know me.). kevin enjoyed a glass of their riesling. as an aside, all their wines are from winemakers who practice sustainable, organic, and/or bio-dynamic methods. fish & farm will also let you have a glass from any of its bottles, as long as you're willing to pay for 1/3 of the bottle. i don't know about you, but i think that's pretty cool.

for our first course, i ordered the farm-fresh poached egg with asparagus tips and a brown-butter bearnaise sauce while kevin had the special, which was "purple asparagus 3 ways." asparagus is in season right now and amazingly sweet, so we knew we couldn't go wrong. i loved mine: the bearnaise tasted brightly lemon-y, the egg was perfectly poached, and the baguette toasts were thin and nicely crisp. kevin enjoyed the purple asparagus, which he'd never had before - i had a taste: yum!

for my entree, i had the fish and chips (although it would have made more sense to call it chips and fish - there was a GIANT MOUNTAIN of french fries, and 3 smallish pieces of fish). it came with house-made tartar sauce and locally produced sherry malt vinegar. it was pretty excellent; the beer batter is made with trumer pils and was fried to crispy perfection, as were the fries. imo, the dish could have used at least one more piece of fish, as they were pretty small, and a lot fewer fries, but that's really my only, er, beef with it. i would definitely order it again.

for kevin's main course, he ordered the house-made gnocchi. unfortunately, he can't remember what it came with except that it had "some green things" in it (i remember it was topped with meyer lemon zest), so i can't tell you much beyond this other than he really liked it and ate it all. (this is why i also can't tell you much about his asparagus appetizer, either. he can't remember what the "3 ways" were, and i can only remember 2: asparagus and potato salad and asparagus spears.... meanwhile, ask him to give you the play by play of his round of golf the same day and he'll easily oblige you and remember EVERY SINGLE shot he made. ;) i snuck a taste of the gnocchi; it was pretty good.

as for dessert, we shared a chocolate pot de creme (topped with caramel and homemade marshmallow) and a glass of milk, engler style. it was pretty good as pot de cremes go, although not the best i've had (unfortunately, the restaurant that made it is no longer around. *sniffles*). i left stuffed to the gills (get it, GILLS? you know...because i had the FISH and chips? get it? hahaha. never mind.). when we got home, i changed into my pyjamas and lay like a beached whale in bed on top of the covers until i felt a little less full. high praise, indeed!

so, in summary, i would definitely go back. the prices were reasonable ($110 for two, including drinks and tip), the food was fresh and delicious, and the service was totally fine. the restaurant's space and the decor were a little off - overly dim, narrow room - but not really deal breakers; i'm not super picky about decor unless the joint is charging an arm and a leg.

btw, the one thing i would note is i thought i overheard one of the restaurant's owners telling the people at the table next to us that the chefs are leaving the restaurant in a couple months (but are training the staff before they go). if this is in fact true, i'll be curious to see what happens to the food once this happens, given that this place is about local food and the menu will have to constantly change to reflect what's in season. we'll see. but try this place out before this happens, so you can at least experience the food the way it's supposed to be (and hopefully stays).

mary had a little lamb

on fridays, i get the luxury of having a little extra time to make dinner. it's been relatively warm out these days, so kevin and i thought it would be a nice change of pace to grill something up. one of our favorite grilled dishes is lamb chops.

i like to serve it with some homemade lavender sea salt on the side for dipping. if any of you think this sounds strange, trust me: lavender and lamb paired together is, in a word, *amazing*. asparagus has just started to come into season (so sweet!) and i had some handy, so along with some couscous, we had ourselves a menu.

one of the nice things about this particular dinner is that kevin and i make it together as a team. he's extremely and uncannily talented when it comes to the BBQ (everything he grills always comes out perfectly). i myself have very little experience in this area except when it comes to ribs and pulled pork (a blog post for sometime this summer), so i stay out of it and let kevin work his magic.

i got the lamb chops from marin sun farms. they were excellent: tender, flavorful, and not at all gamey. we didn't seem to need to change the way we grilled these, even though they're pasture raised. seriously, guys...i'm really starting to think it's a myth that you have to adjust your recipes / cooking for grass-fed meats. they definitely *TASTE* different (i.e., better: there's a lot more flavor), but i haven't yet messed anything up by sticking to my recipes and methods. key takeaway: why don't you give pastured meats a try? they taste much better than even "free-range" meats [yes, really, i'm not just being delusional], and you don't have to change the way you cook.

this meal only takes about 45 minutes from prep to table, but has a "wow" factor associated with it. probably because it's so freaking tasty. seriously, the lavender salt makes this dish memorable. recipe below. try serving this for a dinner party; your guests will be impressed. enjoy!


Grilled Lamb Chops with Roasted Asparagus and Rosemary Couscous

Lamb Chops
12 frenched lamb chops, each about 1" thick, well trimmed
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

Lavender Salt
1 tsp dried lavender (I like the organic lavender from Lavender Farm)
2 tbsp fleur de sel

Roasted Asparagus
2 lbs asparagus, ends trimmed
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

Rosemary Couscous
3/4 cup quick-cooking couscous
1 cup chicken stock
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 tsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 450 deg. Preheat grill to medium heat. Crush lavender (to crush, just rub between your fingers) and then mix with sea salt; set aside. Sprinkle salt and pepper over lamb chops, drizzle and then rub olive oil into meat; let stand for half an hour.

Place asparagus in single layer on baking sheet. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper, then generously drizzle with olive oil. Toss to coat well and rearrange into single layer. When there's 5 minutes left on tenderizing the lamb, place asparagus in oven. They should take about 8-15 minutes total (depends on thickness); test for tenderness with fork.

Begin grilling lamb chops right after you put asparagus into oven. They should take about 10 minutes total (turning once) for medium.

Place chicken stock, olive oil, and rosemary into small saucepan and bring to boil. Stir in couscous, cover, and remove from heat. Let stand for 5 minutes, discard rosemary, then fluff couscous with fork. Salt to taste, if necessary. Keep covered until ready to serve.

Evenly divide lamb chops, roasted asparagus, and couscous among 4 plates. Serve the lavender salt on the side. Serves 4.

20 minute abs...i mean pasta

today got away from me, so i ended up "accidentally" going to the gym in the evening (6:30) instead of around lunch like i usually prefer ("prefer" is SO the wrong word to use here, b/c i hate going to the gym. "force-myself-to-go-lest-i-turn-into-a-sphere" would be closer to the truth). at first, i thought this would mean no home-cooked dinner, but i realized i had enough stuff on hand to throw together a quick but thoroughly tasty pasta dish.

after fighting with the treadmill (i have yet to win against that f'n thing), i arrived home to find kevin sprawled out on the living-room couch wondering where i was, but mostly wondering what i was going to make for dinner. (yeah, seriously, folks: wtf?!?) it was a quarter of eight at this point, so rather than get into an, er, discussion over this, i got started on dinner. yes, i had come directly home without showering at the gym. yes, so this meant i was still sweaty. yes, this also meant that i was, as a matter of fact, cooking dinner in my (sweaty) gym clothes. but don't worry, yes, i washed my hands first.

tonight i purposely stretched out the preparation so that i could squeeze in a shower while the pasta was boiling (11 minutes), but if you don't need to buy yourself time (or you just don't believe in showering at all after going to the gym), you can easily make this dinner in 20 minutes, prep to table.

oh, and remember that pesto i made a few weeks ago? well, it was still in great shape, so i ended up using it in this recipe. hooray, i used up the basil with no waste!!! (although i suppose i won't know for SURE that it was "in great shape" until about 24 hours from now. i'll report back tomorrow. p, so, like...if you don't hear from me, could you have patrick check on us ;) the pesto totally made the dish. if you don't have any homemade on hand, i suppose you could use the packaged stuff. [insert haughty *sniff* here.] (and no, i'm not unaware of the irony, ok?)


Penne Pasta with Fresh Tomato, Pesto, and Feta Cheese
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 vine-ripened tomatoes, diced
2 tbsp pesto
scant 1/4 cup good-quality extra virgin olive oil (I've been using Stonehouse, these days)
salt and pepper to taste

1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

2 1/2 cups dried penne

2-3 oz crumbled feta (I love Spring Hill's cow's milk feta for this; it holds up well vs. hot pasta)

Preheat oven to 375 deg. Set a large pot of salted water to boil. Butterfly the chicken breast so that it's the same thickness throughout. Sprinkle salt and pepper, and rub olive oil on both sides of chicken. Place in a baking dish and bake in oven for about 15 minutes, or until breast is done, turning once. Check the pasta's cooking directions. The kind I use takes about 11 minutes, so, I wait until the chicken's been in the oven for about 5 minutes, and then I add the penne to the boiling water.

While you wait for the pasta and chicken, prepare garlic and tomatoes, then combine with pesto and olive oil in a large bowl; mix well (taste and add salt and pepper, if necessary). When chicken is done, remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes, then cut into bite-sized pieces. Drain pasta when done. Add penne and chicken to bowl with tomato-pesto mixture. Stir to combine well.

Divide evenly into 4 pasta dishes. Sprinkle feta cheese over tops. Serves 4. Foccaccia bread on the side goes well with this dish, the better to mop up the leftover sauce afterwards. YUMMY!