Julia, how could you?!?!

A day after posting my ideas for a porch garden, I read an article in the New York Times that dropped an atom bomb on my little foodie world. Julia Child hated cilantro and arugula. Quoting the article, she "would pick it out if I saw it and throw it on the floor." You can read the full NY Times article here.

The article discusses how many people have a rudimentary disgust for cilantro's flavor - Mrs. Child included unfortunately. Yes, I know, Julia was the master of French cooking, which doesn't typically involve cilantro or arugula. And yes, as Joan said to me, "Honey, everybody has to dislike something, right?" As rational as those facts may be, I don't know if I can just let it be. Next time I mince cilantro for some pico de gallo or eat a summery arugula salad, I'll think "Julia wouldn't have liked this." Or the next time I watch an episode of The French Chef, I know two of my favorites, arugula and cilantro, won't be in the ingredient list.

WWJD - What Would Julia Do, just won't have the same weight as before.

Porch Garden

Since moving to our current apartment, Joan and I have wanted to have a small container garden out on our porch. Having moved in last June, we got a late start on any vegetables for last summer so we didn't have much for plant life except for a small basket of flowers that Joan's mom gave us. This year we wanted to have a full-fledged potted garden that would bear an abundance of fruits, vegetables, and herbs. However, doing some research, I found that not many garden plants would do well on our very shaded porch. Essentially, I learned anything that you raise for roots or fruits for the most part needs full sun. Well crud. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I mean crops like tomatoes and peppers need to ripen in the sun. Still, crud.

After doing some research, I found that leafy greens and herbs are our target crops. With that said we came up with a handful of herbs and vegetables to raise.

- Cilantro
- Basil
- Rosemary
- Dill
- Green Onion
- Arugula

The list is a bit herb heavy of course and to be honest, I'm kind of back and forth on the dill. Also, we're taking a bit of a chance on the green onion, but we're thinking it might be okay as it has a small root and you eat some of the green bit anyway. When it comes to leafy greens, arugula is my hands down favorite. With it's peppery bite, it brings way more flavor than any other greens to a salad or to a sandwich. However, we might add spinach to the list as that's a nice hearty green to use as well and in my opinion mixes quite well with arugula.

Now we just have to go to Home Depot or to a nursery and get some pots and potting soil. Also, I'm fearful of the neighborhood squirrels and what they might do to our small garden, so we might have to get a raised plant stand or some other deterrent. The squirrels either come down from the roof or leap across a good ten foot gap from a nearby tree. From time to time they would dig in the small basket of flowers last summer and I definitely don't want them to digging in our small garden - our eventual food supply - this summer.

As far as the plants themselves, we'll be checking out the first outdoor market of the season for the Dane County Farmers' Market on the square this weekend. Typically there are a few greenhouses that sell young seedlings for planting. One booth in particular has probably a dozen different types of basil alone. If we end up not having good luck at the market, there are a few good nurseries just beyond the outskirts of Madison.

All in all, I have good hopes for a little garden. Of course, it's my first official garden so we shall see.

Limoncello Recipe

Ok, so I'm a little behind on this recipe request - so much so that there's only a half bottle of limoncello left - but better late than never right?

The recipe is from the Food Network website and is courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis, so it's a pretty trustworthy source. The recipe is as follows:

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10 lemons

1 (750-ml) bottle vodka

3 1/2 cups water

2 1/2 cups sugar

Using a vegetable peeler, remove the peel from the lemons in long strips (reserve the lemons for another use). Using a small sharp knife, trim away the white pith from the lemon peels; discard the pith. Place the lemon peels in a 2-quart pitcher. Pour the vodka over the peels and cover with plastic wrap. Steep the lemon peels in the vodka for 4 days at room temperature.

Stir the water and sugar in a large saucepan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Cool completely. Pour the sugar syrup over the vodka mixture. Cover and let stand at room temperature overnight. Strain the limoncello through a mesh strainer. Discard the peels. Transfer the limoncello to bottles. Seal the bottles and refrigerate until cold, at least 4 hours and up to 1 month.

~~~

Also, if you prefer, here is the direct link: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/limoncello-recipe/index.html

That is it for now. Hopefully in the next few days I'll have a post or two about our recent restaurant adventures, which will include our anniversary trip to Tutto Pasta tomorrow night.

If Danny DeVito can do it....

The first time I ever heard of limoncello was from Danny DeVito's now famous visit to The View still hungover from the night before when he and George Clooney got drunk all from limoncello. Shortly after that, I was in Italy on a J-term trip and had my first taste of the dreamy elixir. Even though it wasn't chilled, it still tasted delightful. I always think it tastes how a alcoholic liquefied version of Lemon Head candy would be.

For Joan's birthday, a group of us went to Bluephies, a local restaurant that also calls themselves a "vodkatorium." As I was scanning their list of flavored vodkas and various vodka cocktails, I noticed "homemade limoncello" as an ingredient on one of their signature drinks. Surprisingly, it wasn't listed as an option by itself. When I asked the waitress she said I could have just it, but surprisingly she said no one had ever asked before. She seemed just as surprised as I was with all of it.

Once having their homemade limoncello, I decided I need to make some of my own. I thought if Danny DeVito can now have his own brand of it and Bluephies can make their own, that I could make my own too. I found a recipe by Giada De Laurentiis on Food Network's website and went to work.

Now, let me just say that if you want to make limoncello you need a reason to actually use lemons as you only need the lemon peel. Joan and I decided to make homemade lemonade, which really is probably the best usage. I also found that you need great patience to make limoncello as it does take time to steep. I found some recipes that said you needed to steep the lemon peels and vodka for eight months. Giada's recipe was for a total of five days. That alone made it an easy decision to go with her recipe. The process was quite easy. Peel 10 lemons (making sure not to get any of the white pith), put the peels in a jar, pour in a 750 ml bottle of vodka, and let it sit for four days. After four days, pour in a simply sugar syrup solution and let it sit overnight. The next day you strain the solution and put into bottles and chill. Joan and I found some nice flippy-stopper topped bottles at World Market that work very well. A couple people have asked to try it, but its so good I want to selfishly keep it for myself. Having just written that sentence, I realized Joan hasn't really had any more than just a taste and I'm almost done with the first of two bottles.

Mmm...all this talk about limoncello makes me think that it makes a good drink on a Sunday evening...

Summer Simple

Altthough I just finished Julia Child's My Life in France and am currentyly scanning through her French Chef Cookbook, there's something nice about simple summer meals. Last night we had a silverware-less meal - hamburgers, corn on the cob, and watermelon. The burgers we made with ground sirloin instead of ground chuck (which did seem to make it worth the extra dollar or so) and topped them with sharp cheddar cheese and sliced jalapenos. We neglected to buy any hamburger buns at the grocery store then night before so we baked some ciabatta rolls in the oven - albeit herb and garlic ciabatta rolls - but everything tasted just fine. The sweet corn came out perfect, even though neither one of us had actually made it ourselves before. I could have sworn that growing up it took much longer to boil the ears than just a few minutes. I wished the ears were a little further along but once I slathered on some butter (ok, so I did need a knife), and sprinkled on some salt and pepper, I couldn't tell the difference. The watermelon was the perfect ending, super juicy and barely any seeds.

Tonight, I again kept it simple. While Joan made a little homemade pita bread pizza in the the toaster oven, I decided to make a plate of salad caprese. I always wonder when I'm making it - "Does this really count as a salad?" I mean it's so simple. I guess a Caesar salad really isn't anything spectacular either...maybe it's the amount of roughage? Anyway, I sliced up a tomato, some fresh mozzarella, and just did the simple plate presentation. Just lay down the slices of tomato, top with the mozzarella, then leaves of basil, sprinkle with olive oil, and then finish with a few grinds of pepper. Mmm, I might go back into the kitchen in a bit and have more.

This Week's Episode

Tonight I made one of my favorite comfort foods. Well at least it's one of my favorites...and it's nutritious...and it's easy. I never ever had it growing up so I feel odd calling it a comfort food of mine. Anyway, it's so easy to make, I wonder why I don't make it more often. Just cook up a pot of rice (tonight I used brown rice), saute some peppers and onions, open a can of beans (I prefer black beans), and throw everything together and heat. I've found that adding some or all of the "bean juice" from the can seems to add flavor and improve the consistency of the finished dish. It's so simple and so filling that I eat off of it for days. I'll dip into the leftovers for burritos on Thursday night when I use the beans and rice with some chicken and put it inside corn tortillas.

For tomorrow night, I'm trying out a recipe for breaded fish filets that I found in Runner's World. They suggest using sole, halibut, or flounder, but since I have some catfish in the fridge I'll use it. My girlfriend is afraid the catfish will be too fishy tasting for her but I think I can make it work - especially since it will be breaded with Italian breadcrumbs and seasoned with Old Bay. If the fish doesn't turn out, I'll still have the rice pilaf and mixed vegetables to fall back on.

Well that's really about it. My chai reached the bottom of the cup so I'll take that as a sign to stop writing for now.

Oh Deer

The successful planning and execution of my first homemade soup now behind me, I decided to soldier on with more home cooking this week. I have some venison loins from my parents that always sit in my freezer just waiting to have some grand meal planned around them. My plan? Venison loin cutlets, baked red potatoes, and cooked spinach, finished off with a mushroom cream sauce/gravy to top the venison and potatoes. I will say though, that if I had my way I would exchange the spinach for my family's watercress salad. That would make the the meal perfect.

I'm thinking the meal shouldn't be that hard either. Simply cut 1/2 inch thick slices off the full venison loin and sear them. Add milk and dried mushrooms to the stuck on meat remnants in the pan and you have a simple mushroom cream sauce. Plate up the meat, baked potatoes (from the oven), and spinach (from the stove). Drizzle the sauce over the potatoes and venison and you have one fine dish.

I must admit that I've even gone one step farther and planned ahead for the leftover venison. Fajitas anyone? Although I'm disappointed that I couldn't find any reasonably priced queso fresco at the supermarket, the sharp cheddar cheese, peppers, onions, salsa, and corn tortillas should do just fine. After all it is technically just a meal from leftovers, and plus, I can't out do myself every night.