Piccolo Amore

Have you ever thought about how certain words provoke particular associations? Probably not if you speak only one language. But for a bi—or multi—lingual individual this could be a daily practice.

I first started thinking about this a little while ago while interpreting one of the conversations from English to Russian and back. The lady said “Я поела огурец”//”I ate cucumber” and as soon as I heard the word “огурец”, which is Russian for “cucumber” I had an image in my head of a crisp, cool and watery—this is how I remembered cucumbers from the childhood—green vegetable, associations that are so strong I could almost feel the cucumber on my teeth!

Word “cucumber”, meaning of which is quite clear to me, still does not awake such associations as its Russian translation.

Now the word "pickle" brings yet another association, quite different too.

I know the song isn't about pickles but about love. I love pickles, always have. And this year, I braved to make my own.

The process turned out easier than I though. And the outcome was out of this world! And by “this world” I mean this side of the globe—I have never eaten such pickles here. But I was indulging in store bought varieties, so it’s no surprise.

Another way we experience associations is trough our taste buds. Once I took a bite of these home made pickles, I was transported in time back to the street markets of my hometown where old ladies were selling semi-sours from the large buckets.

Pickles Lacto-fermenting

You will need:

A 5 gallon paint bucket with lid (new, never used for paint, buy it in the paint supply aisle of your home improvement store)
A large pot 8 or 12 quart
10 pounds medium pickles (4˝ to 6˝ long), washed
6 quarts of water
1 cup minus 2 T spoons pickling or kosher salt
About a dozen fresh grape leaves—they keep the crunch
1 bunch of dill weeds, washed
1 head of garlic, peeled
1 T spoon coriander seeds
1 T spoon dill seeds
1 T spoon black peppercorns
5-6 dry chili peppers (optional)

*Keep cucumbers in cold water overnight for freshness*

• In the bucket, layer washed grape leaves on the bottom to cover. Put in washed pickles, dill, garlic and spices.
• In the pot, bring water and salt to boil. Slowly pour boiling water over the pickles into the bucket.
• Close the bucket and keep it in a dry cool place. In 5 days you can open and skim the pickles as well as sample some semi-sours.

And that’s it for Piccolo amore!

The Cook's Soul

I love proverbs and saying from different cultures and in different languages. In Russia, we have yet another saying "Вкладывать душу" that literally translates to "put {one’s} soul in {something one does}”.

An imaginative little child that I was, when I first heard this phrase I tried to imagine how a person would put a piece of his soul in his project. It would look like a little cloud, emanating from the chest area, gently descending on a man's work, growing and smoothly enveloping the new creation, illuminating it from within.

As I matured, this saying became my guide. No matter what I do, I believe that a little particle of my soul always passes on to my work. On a bad day, when I complain about my daily rut, I remember that hologram I once had in my imagination when I was a child and instantly my perspective turns around. Because when you put your soul into something, you illuminate your creation as well as the process itself. I believe that you give or rather share life with your endeavors.

I also believe that soul is a flow of energy and everything has its own energy. When we touch the surface, we pass our own liveliness, creating a ripple effect. If we touch with kindness the ripples are smooth and soothing. We have an effect on everything we touch.

Now think about how we affect the food. When we cook, we pass our energy to the dish. That’s why it is even more important to pour your soul into your cooking. The food with soul is alive and potent whereas the commercially prepared food is weak and dead for most of the part. No wonder when we eat commercially prepared food, a.k.a. processed foods we often feel tired and sluggish.

When we cook, we get to share our soul, our heart and love with our dear ones. Machine has none of the above-mentioned qualities, at least since the last time I checked!

My dad’s cooking is a perfect example. He doesn’t cook often but when he does, he gives in wholeheartedly. Ever since I was little I enjoyed watching him cook: with love and kindness, he would carefully prepare the ingredients on a chopping board, making sure that each piece is equal to another. Then he would attentively combine everything over the element, creating a delicious dinner. It looked like he was in meditative state of mind. We always liked his cooking better than my moms, however, when confronted we were hesitant to admit it! He still cooks, alas even less often then before, but approaching his task with the same significance as ever.

One of my favorite dishes my dad cooks is a ragout of nightshades. We didn’t have a name for it until one day my husband told me that in Arabic cuisine they have a similar dish and its name is … The Cook’s Soul. Isn’t it poetic?

This time of the year, the nightshades are making appearance in the local gardens and farm markets. The nightshades are tomatoes, eggplants, peppers and potatoes. The latter one’s fruits aren’t eatable, of course—but it’s a story for another blog post …

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The Cook's Soul

Serves 6

½ pound eggplants (2 medium)

½ pound tomatoes (3-4 medium)

½ pound bell peppers (2 large)

1 jalapeño pepper

2 medium carrots

1 medium onion

3 cloves of garlic

2 T spoon tomato paste

2 T spoon olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Prepare the eggplants: peel the skin if desired and dice the eggplants. I peel it with a julienne peeler (I think it’s the name of this gadget) so it is easier to cut through the skin. Put the diced eggplants in the colander and pour 1 teaspoon of coarse salt over to let the bitter juice run off.

2. Prepare the tomatoes: score a cross on the top of each tomato (the opposite pole from where the tomato is connected to the vine) and pour an entire teapot of boiling water over the tomatoes. Let cool and peel the skin starting at the incision. Put whole peeled tomatoes aside.

3. Prepare the peppers: cut the top off, remove seeds and membrane and then cut the pepper in 8 and then slice across. Slice it with the inner side up so knife goes through the pepper’s flesh effortlessly. Otherwise, the skin will be in a way. Repeat the same with jalapeño pepper, with caution, if using.

4. Chop onion and carrots and crush the garlic.

5. In a large skillet heat oil and add onion, carrot, garlic and peppers. Reduce heat to medium, cover and let it all sweat for 10 minutes. Remove the cover; add salt and freshly ground black pepper.

6. Add diced eggplants. Mix it all together, cover and let it sweat for another 10 minutes.

7. Meanwhile dice tomatoes, preserving the juice. Use a serrated knife but if you don't have one, you can use a stake knife to easily cut through tomatoes. When eggplant is almost all translucent, add diced tomatoes and tomato paste. Mix it, cover and let cook for another 10 minutes until all comes together and eggplants are completely cooked—they will not have any white left inside.

8. Serve with bread, rice, or another nightshade representative—boiled potatoes.

Here’s a piece of my soul in the Cook’s Soul!

School your children, but learn from them

In Russian, there's a saying "Старики, как дети", in English: "Old people are like children". This means that the old people behave like children. But if you think about it and consider different understanding, it could mean that for us, adults, old people are as valuable as children. We have to take care of them both, we have to protect them both, but most importantly, in my understanding, they both can teach us life lessons…

It is clear how one can learn from an elderly person, whose stories are brimmed with life experiences and valuable lessons. But, with all due respect to the elders, today I want to talk about children and what they can teach us while we're so busy schooling them.

Las weekend, we had a sleep over and there was seven children in my house for two joyful days. I couldn’t help myself but devote my entire Sunday to my amusing little guests. And I have to admit, I had the best time in so long!

They reminded me how it is to be a child; how to be imaginative; how to be innovative; how to give into the moment wholeheartedly.

Have you ever noticed how children look at the world around us? Everything is new, everything is exciting, and everything brings joy. Why do we stop viewing the world through the looking glass of our inner child?

You might say that as we grow older we become more responsible. And I do agree. But look at the root of this word: response. How can you response to or for something that you don’t even pay full attention to, something you do in autopilot mode?

The kids look at things they encounter in life with their full attention. A genuine interest is what becomes a little propeller for their little ever-inquiring minds.

Why do we stop inquiring? Is it because we think we have acquired?

As we mature, we loose these valuable skills, disregarding them as “childish” and “immature”. But our inner children never give up, waiting patiently for another chance to come forth, to remind us of simple joys and how easy it is to be happy.

The children can show us that there is so little needed to be happy. They don’t really care about having many toys or things they just want company. The rest is easily falls into place when they turn their imagination on! I barely dare myself to give anyone a parenting advise, but I must say, stop overwhelming your kids with acquisition so they can go on inquiring! Give them something they can do/make, or better yet create, not just have in possession. Give them an experience! It applies to us, adults, too.

This past Sunday, we filled our day with just joy and laughter. One of the girls came up with idea of DIY water slide. We cut up a wide strip of heavy duty plastic (I used a pool cover bubble plastic) and laid it on a sloped part of our backyard. We have arranged two garden hoses, one at the beginning and the other one in the middle, to create a fun water slide, as good as any store-bought one! I think it was a genial idea! (My body thought otherwise, waking up all beaten up next morning, but who cares?!)

When we got hungry, another guest of mine proposed we make pizza for lunch. As I was making excuses to why I can’t make pizza right now (don’t have yeast, can’t go to store with all of them, etc.) she said that we could use pita bread. And so we did.

I set up a pizza making station and we started to create our own culinary “masterpieces”. I chopped any veggie I found in my fridge or garden, shredded some mozzarella cheese and got the tomato sauce.

Kids layered the ingredients on top of the pita bread, finishing with some garlic powder and ground black pepper. We grilled the pizzas on the gas grill for 15-20 minutes or until the cheese was melted. Then, impatiently waited for it to cool down, enough to be able to chomp on it… it was good!

Find time in your life to let your inner child out of it’s “naughty corner” of our daily rut and you will gain a new, fresh, and happy perspective on life!

{Raspy Berry} WordlessWednesday

Blog must go on!

I have been aloof from the blog, from the Internet altogether. While floating in a pool of hot summer days, fresh local vegetables, long lazy days I sometimes submerge into depths of my own thinking.

I was thinking about my blog. Why did I start blogging? What was my initial idea? What was the ‘hook’?

Popping like soap bubbles, these questions can easily qualify as rhetorical in my own mind, but not this time. Am I losing purpose?

I let myself get even deeper in the thinking process…

A while back I had this message inside my head, sealed in an enveloped, addressed and stamped. Every time I tried to send this letter it would return to the sender’s address or it would be tossed in a junk as an unsolicited mail. I had to find an alternative to the direct mail from one brain to another.

And the message that I want to ‘transmit’ is: do it yourself.

At first, I was going to blog about things around the house that can be made at home in lieu of being purchased in a store. But somehow I got stuck in the kitchen, cooking dinners.

It was inevitable. This is the place where I spend most of my free—and not so free—time. The kitchen is my office, my art studio, and my retreat.

But again, food wasn’t the primary subject I had in mind. I don’t mind writing about food and recipes. I do mind, however, to be called a foodie. In my understanding, foodies are the people, who cook food, eat food, talk food, breathe food—they live food. I’m not one of them. I’m not judging, I wouldn’t dare, it is just not me.

Think of it this way: foodies and their recipes are the Haute Couture of cooking; my recipes—an everyday wearable collection.

So, my recipes are usually call for the same ingredients, and the ingredient list doesn’t include exotic products. My recipes call for simple, local, seasonal, preferably organic, familiar ingredients. Yes, that is exactly the word: familiar. I’m all for trying new things, but I will not build a recipe collection for everyday cooking with something that has to be hauled across the universe to make it to my table.

Allow me to say couple of words on organic food. On one hand I agree wholeheartedly that it is better for you. On the other, I understand that an average family may struggle to afford organic produce since the prices are still polluted with a high markup. That is why I don’t say in my recipes what’s organic what’s not. It’s up to you to decide.

It is great if you can afford but when you can’t, substitute with locally grown produce. A local non-organic apple is more affordable and perhaps even ‘greener’ than an organic one from Argentina. (Unless you live in Argentina, that is)

A word on Vegetarianism: I personally prefer to eat fruits and vegetables any day, but I do occasionally eat and cook with red meats and poultry, which I get from familiar trusted sources.

I stand firmly for eating local and seasonal. I understand this cuts the variety of foods we eat in half, but I believe that the same set of vitamins in Acai berries is found in locally grown blueberries. Acai is for people of Brazil, we are happy with blueberries and other berries that grow naturally in our area.

Eat Local. Eat seasonal. Grow and cook your own food. And Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Repurpose!

Simple.

But I can’t tell people what to do, I can only do what I believe is right and hope others will get inspired…

I will continue tossing local and seasonal ingredients into wholesome recipes on my blog and add a new theme—repurposing that food packaging and other kitchen ‘waste’ in every day life. (I already have couple of post on this subject)

Show must go on? Blog must go on!

Grilled Summer Vegetable Salad

It's July, finally! And it comes with all sorts of fun around here: my garden started to yield first vegetables from the patch, raspberries and blueberries a plenty, crafts in open air, sun, summer rain, and star speckled skies during a backyard campout. A lot to occupy yourself, so why bother with cooking? Especially when there are a lot of fresh produce on the market. Farmers and gardeners with a gentle help of mother nature have invested a lot of labour into each vegetable you by this month from the market. Why work any further?

Yes, I am proposing a vegetable-eating month. And, when possible, raw eating. It might sound hard, but with few knife techniques and a bit of grill heat (plus a great deal of will power), we can indulge in fresh and vitamin packed dishes.

I'll start with grilled vegetable salad. This one is my all time favorite. You can use any seasonal vegetables you have available. Mix and match- mix the vegetables and match the grilling time. Dress the final dish with a drizzle of olive oil and some salt and pepper to taste and viola!

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Grilled Vegetable Salad

Serves 4 if main dish, 6 if as a side dish

2 medium zucchini, cut in half longwise

1 red bell pepper, seeded and sectioned

1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and sectioned

1 large onion, cut in half longwise

2 T spoons vegetable oil

1 dried red chili pepper, crushed

Salt+Pepper to taste

Preheat grill to medium heat

Grill the vegetables, 5 minutes each side

Let cool slightly, enough for you to be able to cut them

Cut grilled vegetables into chunks, arrange in a serving bowl

Drizzle with oil and season

Of course if vegetables alone is not enough for you, you can toss in some pasta, rice or even grilled meat or chicken, cut into strips. I will try to eat meatless this month. We'll see how it goes…

Chaos Vs. Order and Iced Coffee

I have been away, a way-way too long. I have been working on several projects at a time and contemplating on Chaos vs. Order dilemma and my vision have narrowed and focused on a certain point in space and time.

And this point became many, too many to keep in order. Sort of like a Monet painting: many chaotic brushstrokes, dots of different color freely dancing in an unorganized pattern.

Atoms, erratically bouncing inside the molecule of everyday life. And I am trying to focus on all of them at the same time, realizing this is a futile pastime.

I need to see the big picture. Like everything else in the material world we live, chaos has its limits. All you have to do is draw a line around, give it a shape, an outline. This outline will be the order that encompasses chaos. To see these shapes, I need to take a few steps back and focus on the big picture.

Now, from a distance, I can see the whole impressionistic painting that is being composed, brushstroke after brushstroke on the canvas of my life. I see the shapes, I see the order. An Order made out of Chaos. And it is as beautiful as it is impressive.

Chaos is part Order. Order is part Chaos.

Creativity is one of the manifestations of Chaos drawn into forms of Order. To be creative is to let your chaotic thoughts and ideas be incarnated in the organized shapes and forms. I have to remember to simply give my thoughts and ideas an outlet or outline to dwell outside my mind.

I'll continue on the path of creativity, no matter how chaotic it might become at times, giving it different shapes and forms.

There are several ways to stay creative and each individual has his own little tricks to stay connected to this force. I will not get into details, for my ways of staying creative are various and change often. One of them, however, quite carnal, I want to mention today: a good ole cup of coffee!

Although heat has relieved in our neck of the woods for the last couple of days, during summer I can't say no to an icy variation of a broadly welcomed beverage. But I find popular joints don't quench my thirst for a quality iced coffee. All they do is dry out my pockets. Thus, I make my own variation.

My father likes to 'upgrade' his cup of coffee with a splash of hard liquor. This inspired me to add vanilla extract to my glass. And my husband's family likes to drink cardamom spiced coffee and I also have grown a taste for it. I added another spice—cinnamon—and a teaspoon of heavy cream and in the end I had a fresh, simple home made and cheap but fancy beverage to get my creative juices circulating.

The purist in me wanted to roast and grind my own beans. This time I've took a shortcut and used already ground coffee. And it's OK!

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Upgraded Iced Coffee

for each 6 oz water:

1 heaping T spoon ground coffee

1 t spoon ground cinnamon

1 t spoon sugar {optional}

3 cardamom pods, crushed

1 t spoon vanilla extract

crushed/cubed ice

Milk, cream to taste {optional}

Brew the ground coffee in a coffee machine with crushed cardamon, cinnamon and sugar right inside the coffee machine.

While coffee is brewing, fill a 16 oz tall glass half way with ice, crushed or cubed.

Pour vanilla extract and milk/cream over ice.

Now when the coffee is done, pour it over the ice.

Give it a swirl and drink up.

Chaos has become Order once again: the coffee grinds, once disorderly and disembodied, orchestrated into one smooth beverage!

Grilled Lasagna

Sounds crazy, doesn't it? But sure enough it is doable! But why grill? Because it is faster, than baking in the oven and the noodles have those attractive grill marks, which add a nice little crispy bite to the dish. I like to keep it simple—spinach, cheese, and tomatoes.

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Grilled Spinach Lasagna

Serves 8

1 pack lasagna noodles, about 24 pieces, cooked al-dente (not too soft), rinsed with cold water

1 32-oz container ricotta cheese

2 cups leaf spinach, washed, dried and chopped

1 large egg, beaten

pinch of sea salt

1 t spoon freshly ground black pepper

1 28-oz can whole peeled roma tomatoes in sauce

few basil sprigs for garnishing

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

For grilling you will need:

Metal cookie sheet

Metal grilling tongs

Lasagna dish

• Cook lasagna noodles, strain, rinse with cold water and arrange flat on the counter
• In a bowl, mix together the ricotta cheese, egg, spinach, salt and pepper
• Make the rolls: smear 2 T spoons of cheese mixture 3/4 of the way down the noodle, roll towards the empty end. Repeat, arrange them on a metal cookie sheet

• Chop the canned tomatoes, pour them with the sauce into a lasagna dish, cover with some torn basil leaves

• Preheat grill to 350°F. Grill lasagna rolls for 10 minutes on one side, flip with the metal tongs and cook for another 1o minutes, always with the grill cover on

• Arrange hot off the grill rolls into the lasagna dish with tomatoes, cover with mozzarella and some whole basil leaves, put it on a metal baking sheet, place the sheet on a grill, turn off gas, cover and let lasagna stand there for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, arrange the table

• Sere with extra basil leaves and enjoy!

I've Gotta Grilling!

Last year as we were remodeling our kitchen I was left without a stove, an oven and even without a sink. It would not be a big deal if we were fond of takeouts, but we're not. I had to improvise on a grill to create dinners. And for the sink, I had to use a garden hose suspended over the plastic container. Honestly, I loved my impromptu outdoor kitchen. It felt so primal!

I want to repeat it this year. Not the sink part, but as the temperatures rise, I have a feeling for grilling. The whole month! Last year, I have tried few dinner dished that are normally prepared on a stove top or in an oven. This time not only I will try to re-create them, add new ones, but also blog about my experiences! So stay tuned this month for dinner makeovers on a grill!

First one is my family's go to meal, herb roasted chicken. I roast chicken in the oven with onions and potatoes—the vegetable choice of my kids—and sometimes add green vegetables such as asparagus. Now, I'm grilling this roast!

As we all know, grilling starts not with firing up a grill but with proper preparation. And by preparation I mean the process of marinading. So, I took a whole chicken, quarter it and marinaded it with fresh herbs {sage, rosemary, oregano and thyme}, garlic and onion rings. Now, I could of used the whole chicken and roasted it on a rotisserie attachment, but a) I didn't have this attachment; b) the chicken, coming from local farm, was 5 1/5 lb. I had 8 hungry people to feed!

I am not going to post a formal recipe, just a description of what I did. I couldn't even find a proper name, but it's totally irrelevant! :)

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Grilled Chicken With Grilled Potatoes, Onions and Asparagus

Chicken:

One medium to large {5 1/5 lb} whole chicken on a bone, skinned and cut into 4

For marinade:

Extra virgin olive oil—1/3 to 1/2 cup

Fresh herbs of your choice—1 bunch

Garlic—5-6 cloves

Black pepper corns—about a teaspoonful

Coarse sea salt—1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons

1 lb yellow onions, peeled, cut in 4 pieces across

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Potatoes:

2 lb yukon gold medium size potatoes, washed and cut across in halves

2 T spoon of olive oil for grilling

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You will need:

A wire basket

Metal skewers, enough to fit all the potatoes

Metal (grilling) tongs

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• Mash herbs, pepper and salt with a mortar and pistil until all crushed. Add e/v olive oil and cover the chicken and onions. Let marinade for at least one hour.

• You might also want to add one bunch of asparagus, although it's optional and need not to be marinated.
• Preheat grill to 350°F (Grill)
• Arrange chicken, cover and cook for 20 minutes, keeping the temperature at 350°F.

• Arrange potatoes on the skewers and onions and asparagus in the wire basket.

• Flip the bird, add potatoes on the skewers to the grill, cover and cook for another 30 minutes keeping the temperature same, at 350°F.

• Check if chicken is done: it should run clear when poked, or if you have an instant read thermometer, it should read 165°F when inserted into the thickest part of the chicken. If bird is not ready, cover and cook for another 10 minutes. If it is, take it off the grill and arrange in a baking/serving dish and let it rest and re-collect all the juices under a sheet of aluminum foil.

• Put the wire basket with onions and asparagus on the grill where the bird once was and flip the potatoes. Cover and cook for another 10-15 minutes until potatoes are fully cooked. Don't overcook potatoes, they will fall apart and may even fall into the grill.

• Once potatoes are cooked, remove the chicken from the serving dish (temporary) and arrange the vegetables on the bottom. If desired, season the vegetables with a dash of sea salt and toss.

• Put the bird back, now on the bed of grilled potatoes, onions and asparagus. Cover with foil and let it all rest for 5 minutes until serving.

• Cut the chicken and serve with the side of grilled vegetables and some fresh green leaf salad.

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I have to admit, if I was reading all this, I would probably think this is an elaborate idea. I have to assure you, however, it is very easy to prep and to grill this dish. In time it takes you to finish reading this post, your dinner could be on the table! Unless, you're a speed reader :)

Enjoy cooking and eating al-fresco!

{It's the little things…} WordlessWednesday

…that work!