Planting Seeds on that Rocky Road to Adventure

I'm still thinking about the road to adventure... it's a road, not a destination... it's a rocky road... not like the ice cream... come on, join me in the Association game! (love it)

Quite a rocky road indeed... Photo source

And on this rocky road, there are disappointments-- no getting around it-- hence the support system (mine embodied by the teacup symbol) and also the need for a system or structure to mitigate the ups and downs.

Another quote that recently piqued my interest as it made the rounds of my twitter-verse actually made me mad when I first read it (totally because of my mindset/ attitude at the time), and it also gets at the need for such a structure:

"Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant." -Robert Louis Stevenson

What made me angry was that I was feeling particularly used up at that moment, without any more seeds to plant (seeds being creative energy/ motivation in this metaphor), and wishing awfully for some trees to start dropping some fruit my way. 

Someone else mentioned in response (love the twitter-verse for that) that you don't want to dip into your seed corn (seed corn here meaning your inner reserves, what you count on for next year's 'food supply' of work) when planting, to which I gave a hearty "Hear, hear!" If you did, there would be nothing left, which means it's unsustainable.

Photo Source

So what qualify as seeds for planting? How do you set up such a system, so that you can weather the ups and downs of life? Try these activities, one of which usually gives me a jump-start back into happy productivity:


Planning / Strategizing: this means establishing and mapping out goals, then backtracking (a la Barbara Sher) the necessary steps to come up with...


Baby steps! These are the little seeds of progress toward the goal you've established: writing an article each week, calling the blog-hosting company for details, asking for a reference, etc. After a lot of these, you've earned...


Breaks from the plodding pace of baby steps that replenish your creative core: attending a writing conference, having a dinner out with friends, and meditating are all fine examples of activities that will, for different types of people, refuel their energy (search for Myers-Briggs introvert vs. extrovert descriptions if you're curious about this). After a bout of this, you'll be ready to return to...


All that background noise. This includes those unpleasant tasks that never seem to make it to the top of your to-do list: decluttering, going to the bank to start that retirement account, asking for help, maybe it's cleaning your bathroom. It's different for everyone, but it's a sure thing that there is some thing hanging over your head like a personal raincloud. Do it. You'll feel better.


And if none of those work, maybe you just need to turn your brain off.

Ramping up the Delight

For all you locavores out there, this post is a bit embarrassing...

For me, that is.

Yes, those are ramps up there. Ramps, as in the trend-du-moment harbinger of spring ending and summer beginning. Since we had an awfully long, drawn-out spring (who's complaining? not me), and a peek-a-boo summer, things may have been a little mixed up. And they were. But it's still a bit late to talk about ramps.

But that's ok, I'm not giving a recipe. I'm actually highlighting a delightful observation I made at the time of cutting up the expensive, farmer's-market, little darlings:

I matched my food!

As I looked down and the penny dropped, I felt happily content to be so in tune with the season that I had on a purple top and green shorts- ha!
The ramps went into a lazy-man-scramble with some early tomatoes, and were paired with those all-stars of the sustainability world: anchovies. More specifically, marinated white anchovies, a specialty which the Spanish call boquerones, and the Greeks call gavros. I first met their ilk at Estadio, and later bought these at Vace, an Italian deli-and-pizza stronghold in the Cleveland Park neighborhood.

It was a simple, filling, and nutritious meal. Eggs and anchovies = good proteins and fats; tomatoes, ramps, and herbs = 2 fruit and vegetable servings for the day. And that's pretty much how I do my food accounting. It's not overly complex.

Moments when you match what you're chopping... now THAT's ENTERTAINMENT!

I'd love to hear how you all entertain yourselves with your own passions. These types of stories sustain us as we follow our dreams. So do be a peach and tell us a story, eh?

I am currently trawling for students for my next cooking class, possibly next week. The armchair travel theme is Southern Italy (oh, aren't you dying to see where I went? Soon!), and the menu will be different from the last one- modified to include Pizza, as only southern Italians can make it. (And those who have learned from southern Italians, of course!) Send me a message if you or someone you know may be interested!

**Sincere thanks to all who have like the new Taste Life Twice Facebook page! I'm delighted to have another way to connect with people, and look forward to enjoying the recipes, stories, and opportunities to be shared.

Land of Pioneer Courage / Molecular Gastronomy

Omaha, Nebraska

Why Omaha? Because anywhere can delight your senses, my dear readers. It's all up to you. Well, mostly.

Omaha had a lot to offer a business traveler with only a couple evenings to spare. I did my research in advance, choosing two places that would represent different slices of the dining scene (so I thought): The Grey Plume and Boiler Room.

The Grey Plume was first, and a taxi ride out of downtown in a swish new redeveloped neighborhood called Midtown Crossing.

It started with a surprise: an amuse-bouche consisting of apple-huckleberry mousse, coffee panna cotta, rye crumble, and pickled apple slice, sprinkled with coffee powder (not iocane powder, although...)
I didn't know I'd found the seat of molecular gastronomy in Omaha! But here it was, and compliments of the chef.
It was interesting, but when I asked about the coffee powder, I learned that it was basically tapioca starch that had been infused with coffee aroma- that doesn't seem so frou-frou, now, does it?

The next dish (this one I ordered) was duck fat fries with fried egg and aioli. Yes, loads of fat in this one, but I shared. I did!
The waitress recommended upgrading to the goose egg, but this place was already expensive enough without add-ons, so I declined the up-sell. It was deliciously salty, runny, umami and all as it was.

My 'main' was pork 3 ways, served with nettles: a piece of leg, slow-roasted on a puree of spaghetti squash; a piece of loin on a spaghetti squash 'coin;' and pork belly 2 ways: a meaty, pinkish cut, and the more traditional glazed classic pork belly, served with baby fennel.
Hot mama. I loved the slow-roasted leg and the classic fatty pork belly. I didn't love the chewy loin or other type of pork belly.

The next night I organized an excursion to Boiler Room, located downtown near the Old Market center.

***Here's a good tip when dining out in somewhere where you need to watch your budget but everything looks scrumptious: try two appetizers instead of an entree. This gets you more variety, hedges your bets if you end up not liking something, still fills you up, and for about the same amount of money.
Here I tried the octopus galette and the tagliatelle with goat sugo- these are things I will likely not see again, so they were calling out my name...

 

The goat sugo was very good, the tagliatelle vaguely disappointing (too al dente for my dente), but the octopus galette was my favorite. Basically a seafood pancake at any Korean restaurant, this was stood out because it used octopus, and marvelous flavors as accompaniments: pesto, hazelnuts, and 'claytonia' (which I was informed is 'like a lilypad', also known as miner's lettuce). Very tasty.

I also enjoyed the decor of the place: very 2000s-loft-converted-warehouse, but with the special touch of matching, facing staircases. The waitors were forever scampering down one and up another, their upper bodies not seen to be moving, which amused me very much for some reason. Perhaps it made me think of the octopus moving along...

  

--While in town, we also had lunch in Old Market, at a place called Twisted Fork: a bar-restaurant with its own cheeky and less pretentious fusion creations. I actually didn't get to eat much here, but I did grab a few of their fried pickles, and they were quite good. 

I'd say it's a tie between these and the fried pickles at Upstream around the corner. And I always appreciate clever menu phrasing, which Twisted Fork had in abundance (e.g. "Things You Don't Rope," including chicken and salmon dishes). God bless those cowboys with a sense of humor.

 And give thanks for that pioneer courage (a phrase from the monument above) too--

a swell place, Omaha.

Have you been to Omaha? Are you from another place with Pioneer Courage? Let us know in the comment section, so we can come visit!

The 411 on the TLT Cooking School

I'm happy to hear of the interest in the armchair-travel style cooking courses (and thankful to all the friends spreading the word! :-), so I thought I would provide a few more details about what the night will include.

Pub Short Ribs, an American view

• Three-course (minimum) meal consisting of traditional researched regional food, adapted from authentic recipes
• Quality organic, seasonal, and local produce and other ingredients, as much as possible

Ah, the simple joys of hosting!

• Being hosted in my home, an apartment in the Logan Circle neighborhood
• Explanation of cooking techniques involved in the preparation of the meal
• Tidbits of historical and cultural interest about the food, the region, and the culture

Another theme to look forward to...

I'm really looking forward to diving into the next research project, which will involve a certain boot-shaped mass of land... I will say no more!
...except to say that having just returned from a week in Napoli and Sicily, they will be influential resources!



If you're interested and live in the DC area, please feel free to drop me a line at margaret [at] taste-life-twice [dot] com and I'll be happy to accommodate you!

If you're interested but living outside the DC Metro area, tell those you know about the idea!

Also, I take suggestions, and would love to chat about food and/or travel, so don't hold back in the comments.
Ciao for now~!

TLT Cooking School Now Open for Business!

Yes, you read that right.

As part of my Creative Endeavor Year of 2012, I am pursuing my passions for teaching, guiding, cooking and travel... by offering cooking courses!

 

I have been ever so excited about this since January, but managed to keep mum as I planned, prepared, and conducted two trial runs, one with friends, one with friends-of-friends whom I didn't know (I hosted strangers!).

Both trial runs went very well, and my lovely guinea pigs gave me great feedback for how to tweak this or that aspect, which I have incorporated into my menu and planning process. I am SO READY.

The theme, and the way I incorporated the passion for travel into this activity, was Scotland. Ah yes, you do remember, I was a little obsessed with it last year? Well, it didn't go away. Apparently I'm marked for life.
And it's not just Scotland. While I had a marvelous time pouring over books of Scottish cultural history and traditional receipt-books, I am just as excited to do the same for other locales I have visited and have some connection with, such as Turkey, Ireland, France, and let's not forget... Italy! (coming soon)
But for now, it's Scotland. The menu reflected traditional peasant cuisine, with some shortcuts for practicality and taste.

Menu:

Hors d'oeuvre: Oatcakes with Cheese, Preserves, & Honey 

Vegetable Accompaniments: 'Neeps and Tatties,' Fresh Green Salad

Main Course: Herring Sauteed in Oatmeal 

Dessert: Millionaire's Shortbread

The shortcuts, you will observe, involve the toppings for the oatcakes, and the millionaire's shortbread (a bit of an anachronism when considered in context with the other dishes, but I didn't hear anyone complaining).
I was aiming for good, peasant food that used some different ingredients and techniques than the ones we are used to here in the U.S.
I searched out local, seasonal, organic ingredients, and got most of the way there on most of the dishes (let me know when the eastern U.S. gets back in the sugar business, though). All in all, it's been a thrilling and rewarding experience to be able to pass on some knowledge learned about a place I love and a cuisine I am very much interested in. Win-Win, all the way.


And so, I am putting out the good vibes to all you who may stop to read here from time to time. Do you know people who live in D.C. that are interested in cooking and travel? Do you live in D.C? Are you looking for something to do on a weeknight other than go out to eat or get Thai take-out?



I would love to host you and your friends, or you and your soon-to-be friends, for an evening of cooking, baking, learning, and of course... EATING! Because let's not forget the primacy of the eating experience, and that it is what brings us together so often, in so many ways. Mangia!

And to finish, the gallery of pictures of Millionaire's Shortbread, the rich man's Twix Bar (shortbread, caramel, and chocolate)... how can you NOT want to gobble it all up??
If you're interested, email me at Margaret's email or twitterpate me at @tastelifetwice where I like to pass on others' great content on food, life, and travel as well.


See you here (subscribe by feed / email) & there (Twitter)!

NOMNOMNOMNOM

Glazed Oxtail Meets Amazing Brown Rice Bowl

As with the beans, so with the oxtail...

Who makes anything with oxtail these days? Wizened Italian grandmothers, that's who. Am I aspiring to be a wizened Italian grandmother?
No.

But again, there's that yearning to live 'close to the ground,' if you know what I mean. If you can't be in harmony with nature due to your society's dependence on oil, then at least you can understand better how to be grateful for what you have. Enter the oxtail, sturdy, hearty, hard-to-get-at-unless-you-take-the-time protein.

Simply Recipes (such a great site, btw) put up this recipe for Glazed Oxtails a few weeks ago, coincidentally right after I had taken the leap at the farmers market to purchase some oxtail joints. Ding! That would be the universe calling.

It took a while, edging around other plans, but I finally made it this week, staying amazingly faithful to Elise's recipe (for me), which included very helpful pictures at all steps along the way.

One of the ways I did depart from her recipe was volume: being a one-person household, I didn't want to either buy or store the 4 pounds of meat, so I bought one vacuum-packed bundle, coming in at 1.3 lbs. I halved most of the other ingredients, which was fine (except then the boiling-off took forever...).

However, after a time, it too was done. But ya can't just eat meat.

Then this eye candy from Vanessa Barrington showed up in my Twitter feed, and I had my idea: Glazed Oxtail meets Amazing Brown Rice Bowl. Done!

I went the easy way for the rice bowl part, already feeling virtuous from the multi-step, multi-hour process that the oxtail required. Brown rice from Trader Joe's went into the micro, spring onions (from the farmers market- it IS spring!) got chopped into the pan with a dollop each of lemonaise and tahini. I added a swish of olive oil to coat, then half of the rice until warmed through, then half of the oxtail (which I had prewarmed to deliquify the gelatin).

In went the rest of the rice (for 3 cups total). I topped a serving for my dinner with the greens of the two spring onions and a splinkling of dashi for crunch and salt.

If you're interested in the proportions, that was ~.75 lbs oxtail to begin, and  3 cups brown rice (for 2 servings, one dinner and one work lunch!). As you can see, it made for a dish that was suffused with good beef flavor and stock without being dominated by the protein itself. Just what I was aiming for at this point in my eating life.

Now if only I can do that for some of the other aims in my working life...

Arctic Char in Sustainable Lemon Cream Sauce

Lemony, flaky goodness...

The cherry blossoms were beautiful, and finishing the 10 Mile Race was a sweet topping-off of all the work that went into training to become a runner. I think I'll hang up my spurs for a while though, so that I can give my full attention to other pursuits...

One of these other pursuits, as you may have deduced, is cooking sustainable and delicious food, for myself and others. Right on the heels of running that race, I was already brimming with ideas about supper clubs and cooking classes- I'm sorry, is that my multipotentiality showing? Good!

One of the things I tried out on myself was a recipe from Elise at Simply Recipes: Arctic Char with Lemon Cream Sauce. Elise adapted it for salmon, but the original recipe from the Country Cooking of Ireland used Arctic Char, a sustainable alternative to most of the over-fished or inefficiently-caught salmon out there (not that there isn't good salmon-- it's out there, too!).

The recipe is fairly simple: lemon juice, chicken stock, and heavy cream combining and reducing to form a warm and piquant accompaniment to the crispy-skinned, flaky-fleshed arctic char. YUM. I loved how the defrosted fillets had such glistening colors on the skin side- don't be afraid to say it: fish scales can be beautiful!

As Elise notes, it's best to 1) fry the skin-side-down first, to crisp it up and 2) turn on the fan above your stove, since frying fish tends to leave a lingering, odiferous signature.

Skin-side down first

There are an awful lot of details involved in judging whether a fish species is being overfished or caught in a way that doesn't harm other species, so I leave it to Seafood Watch, a widely-trusted program of the famous Monterey Bay Aquarium, which I visited on a field trip as a kid in California. They study, research, and verify claims of sustainability to protect the health of the ocean's seafood species.

Now, I have come across some conflicting reports from supposedly trustworthy sources- Whole Foods for example, listing their fish as a yellow (not great) when SFW lists them as red (avoid). Any ideas about how to determine who's right? This might be a question for Twitter... (yes, I've joined Twitter. It's kind of exciting!)

Ready for its close-up

Where are you on sustainable seafood? Is it not an issue where you are? Are you confused about who is a good authority? Or are you waiting on a few, good fishmongers to show up in your neighborhood? (Me, too!) Let us know in the comments if you've found some good sources of info which you can share!

Oh, and by the way, the cream for this was organic, and the lemons were sustainably farmed, if you can call the trees in my parents' backyard a 'farm.' SO glad I'm still the occasional recipient of their care packages!