50 Miles to Coffee

No matter how you measure it, Texas is big. We spent 11 days tasting, smelling, exploring and getting dusty in the Lone Star State and we never left the little jut that makes up West Texas.

I loved it. And I want to go back. 

As Rock Hudson declared to Elizabeth Taylor in the 1956 hit Giant, when you’re plunked down in the middle of wide-open Presidio County,  it’s “fifty miles to coffee” and even farther to any other familiar treats you might be looking for like fresh produce to cook up at camp—or cell coverage. So we made our own coffee when we needed to. And guacamole too.

And the beauty of West Texas is overwhelming—filled with plants that haven’t seen a drop of rain since August and still manage to eke out a shock of green or a desperate bloom, and people who disoriented us with their kindness.

I’ve been having a debate with my coconspirator in this recent Texas adventure about the impact of such a getaway: Does really escaping—the emails, meetings, piles of laundry, and drizzle—and basking in the heat, the open space and the quiet actually rejuvenate you to engage with everything that’s waiting back at home? Or does that taste of fantasy darken your reality upon return with a cloud of knowing what else is out there?

Regardless, I wouldn’t trade the luxury of a getaway for anything, and I’m already plotting my next one.

Sorry, Homework.

I remember singing a sweet sayonara when I left grad school. Though I had learned loads, and was endlessly grateful for the opportunity, there was still an inner voice that said somethig like, “F%#k you, homework. Never again.”

But now I am eating my inner words, and would like to issue a formal apology, “Sorry, homework, you’re not all that bad.”

Over the past two months, I have been reveling in the experience of having an assignment—lots of assignments. Somehow, they seem to be keeping me creative. There are a lot of things that take priority in my life, and these things are not bad. For example: work, seeing my friends and family, exercise, grocery shopping. And I have a pretty manageable list (no kids, no elderly parents to care for, one job). But these tasks often edge out making time for creative projects, and those projects are a very core part of what keeps me, me. So, I have been enjoying assignments that force me to prioritize being creative.

I was in a quilting slump. I had started a quilt with awesome visions in my head, but it wasn’t materializing how I had envisioned it, and I stopped. For a long time. But then my friends decided to have a party: Bad Art—It’s Trashy. Guest “artists” were invited to create a piece of bad, trashy art to be displayed at an opening. Yes! That was the assignment I needed to make friends with my sewing machine and get exited again about creating.

And I’m not the only one. The popularity of programs like Project Food Blog from FoodBuzz and Mrs. Wheelbarrow’s Charcutepalooza, and 100 Push Ups is a sign that lots of people are clamoring for an assignment to help them accomplish their goals.

So behold, my food assignment to myself for 2011: make a new preserved item each month. And by new, I mean new to me. So, build a new pantry skill twelve times this year. I started out easy. In January, I made preserved lemons: pack lemons in salt, wait. I’m still waiting. For February, I am just under the wire. I am headed out now to pick up two freshly butchered pork jowls from Sea Breeze Farms, with which I will make guanciale.

Wish me luck. And I'll wish you assignments that keep you creative.

Magic Muffins

With all the talk these days about wheat allergies, gluten intolerance and celiac disease, it was nice to read a story about how muffins improved a little girl’s life. Nice because it bolstered my up-on-muffins weekend, adding to the already-good feeling of having brought some pretty serious corn muffins to a chili potluck this weekend.

And nicer, I’d say, because Jermome Groopman’s The Peanut Puzzle, published in last week's New Yorker, is one of a handful of articles I have read in the last few months that cover investigations about what we might be doing as a culture to impact childhood allergies. All seem to point to a solution that includes fewer diet restrictions and a simpler way of keeping kids healthy.

In The Peanut Puzzle, Groopman explores the growing incidence of food allergies, and doctors’ changing wisdom on what causes allergies and how to prevent them. Scientists are questioning whether the guidelines to delay children’s exposure to common allergens (dairy, peanuts, shellfish, etc.) actually reduce incidents of allergies. Some studies indicate that perhaps the opposite is more effective—that exposing children at a young age to peanuts and dairy may help ward off related allergies. And in the case of the girl and the muffins—a seven year old with a severe dairy allergy—slow introduction of baked goods with dairy helped reduce her reaction to cheese and enabled her to enjoy pizza.

While my corn muffins with coriander, Poblanos and white cheddar didn’t cure anyone of any ailments, they were rich, moist, and flavorful, and tasted great with a big bowl of beefy chili. Give them a try, and I’ll keep reading as we aim to solve the peanut puzzle and get a handle on allergies.

Coriander Corn Muffins

Based on Gourmet's Corn Bread with Fennel Seeds, Dried Cranberries, and Golden Raisins
1 medium Poblano pepper

1 T coriander seeds
1/3 cup flour
2/3 cup medium grind yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1½ cups sharp white cheddar, grated
1½ cups frozen corn

• Char the pepper over a flame, cool it in a closed paper bag, and rub off the charred skin. Remove the stem, seeds and ribs, and dice.
• Toast the coriander in a dry pan over medium heat until aromatic. Grind the seeds in a mortar and pestle.
• Mix the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, salt and coriander in a bowl. Mix the butter, eggs and buttermilk in a separate bowl. Combine the wet and dry ingredients. Stir in the Poblanos, cheese and corn.
• Spoon the batter into medium muffin tins lined with parchment paper or muffin cups. Bake at 375° for 20 – 25 minutes.

The Company I Keep

My companion predicted that the evening would be about food shame, but I walked away from Michael Pollan’s talk feeling quite the opposite. Pollan’s premise that restoring community, culture, and the wholeness of foods to eating can correlate with better health and a healthier agricultural system is energizing. The fact that whole foods taste better, and that enjoying them with other people can be better for both the individual and the community motivates me to live in a healthy way—an opposite feeling than, say, a diet. It’s the connection that comes with good food that gets me excited about sourcing, cooking and sharing meals. And it turns out that that connection can serve a larger good as well.

I (like many others) have been a Pollan fan for years, and attending his talk was certainly an act of the converted heading out to be preached to. I am a very new fan, however, of Brene Brown, and I saw her TED talk shortly after I went to see Pollan. Based on her research, she talks about the power of vulnerability as a key ingredient to living a whole-hearted life with a “strong sense of love and belonging.” That connection, as she describes it, is what gives purpose to all our lives—it’s why we’re here.
This, I thought, is why I love food. And it’s not really food that I love, but that strong sense of connection that comes from sharing a part of myself with people I love, and connecting around something that has meaning for all of us. That’s what "In Pleasant Company" is about for me.

I closed out this week of food-and-connection talk with a Sunday afternoon of crafting with my friends, a big pot of chili to share as we prepared for the coming week, and an immense feeling of gratefulness.
The combination of gamey buffalo and flavorful pork was a nice change from the traditional beef. It was good chili, for sure, but it was better in pleasant company.

Buffalo Chili
¼ cup canola oil
2 yellow onions, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 # ground buffalo
½ # ground pork
14 oz canned, diced tomatoes
6 oz canned tomato paste
½ # dried pinto beans, cooked until almost tender
6-8 cups water
4 large, dried Ancho chilies, rinsed and stems removed
1 T cumin seeds
2 t coriander seeds
1/4 t red pepper flakes
Kosher salt

• Heat the oil in a large heavy pot. Add the onions and the garlic. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions are translucent but not caramelized.


• Add the buffalo and pork, break apart the meat with a wooden spoon, and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the meat is cooked through, about 10 minutes.


• Add the diced tomatoes, tomato paste and water, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Chili should cook for a total of about an hour, adding the following ingredients as you go.


• In a separate, dry, sauté pan, heat the chilies until they become fragrant, turning occasionally, 3-4 minutes. Remove them from the pan, put them in a heatproof bowl, and cover them with boiling water. Let them sit for about 15 minutes until the chilies are tender, then puree them with an immersion blender (or in a traditional blender) to make a smooth chili paste. Add to the pot.


• Heat the sauté pan again and add the cumin and coriander. Heat until fragrant, about 5 minutes, tossing frequently to avoid burning. Transfer the toasted spices to a mortar and pestle, and grind until fine. Add to the pot.


• After the chili has been cooking for a total of about 45 minutes, add the cooked beans. Cook for about 15 minutes more until the beans are soft and the flavors have mixed. Add salt to taste, about 1 tablespoon.

Mazama Snacks

I think if we had stopped snowshoeing for more than the four minutes necessary to catch our breaths and plan our route, the very flesh on our faces might have frozen.
That’s how I feel, anyway. It was cold in Mazama and my northwest-moderate sensibilities were caught off guard by the low of negative six degrees Fahrenheit.

Photo by Daniel Schmeichler

It was so cold that a picnic lunch while snowshoeing didn’t seem like a good idea, and we had to plan our meals accordingly. So each morning of our snowy mountain getaway we’d wake up, eat a hearty breakfast, and head out into the frozen fluff with only a few snacks to eat while walking. And when we made it back to the warm cabin around 3:00, we were seriously ready for lunch. No time to wait.

Enter snack lunch. It was perfect. Salami, cheese, pickles, clementines, last night’s squab and lamb chops, a friend’s leftover chicken livers, crackers, rolls from the general store, chocolate, biscotti. All eaten standing up in the kitchen with matted hat hair, that satisfied vacation glow, and a beer.

We did take the time to cook one thing though: truffle popcorn. I like to make popcorn with olive oil for the flavor, and that sprinkle of truffle salt turns a simple snack into something a little special.
I wish I could pack this lunch and bring it to work, but I don’t have enough Tupperware. And the beer might become an issue. So I guess I'll save it for special afternoons with friends.

Clementine Countdown: 1!

Merry Christmas, everyone! Here's to laughing with the ones you love, new adventures, and enjoying the little things—like clementines. 

Sheesh, that was a lot of clementines. And I can honestly say that I am not tired of them. I had to buy a second, five pound bag to keep up with the countdown, and those will be gone by the end of the weekend.

I am, however, tired of blogging about them. Here’s an idea, just eat them. They’re yummy!
Thanks to all my friends and readers who came up with great ways to enjoy them. I will leave you with a few of my favorites:

• On vanilla ice cream, drizzled with caramel sauce and sprinkled with pecan bits
• In a champagne cocktail
• In a stir-fry with pork
• Tossed on top of some mixed greens with caramelized walnuts and a raspberry vinaigrette
• And this one deserves to be quoted directly. Brilliant, Annie. “What about a clementine cocktail? Last spring I went through a little phase of making cocktails inspired by salads and it was so much fun to just totally make up my own recipes. You could make a syrup with the clem’s juice and add pepper, cardamom and cinnamon sticks. I’d be tempted to soak some pomegranate seeds in vanilla sugar and a hint of balsamic vinegar. You could add the juice they produce to the syrup and garnish the final drink with those gorgeous jewel red seeds. Toasted pine nuts and some sort of herb (flowering rosemary?) could be nice as a garnish…Oh, and for the alcohol. I always only ever have whiskey in my liquor cabinet thanks to a little birdie that turned me on to Knob Creek when I was still a wee pup.”

Clementine Countdown: 2

Enjoy clementines with the best friends in the world. The kind who make you birthday brunch, even when your birthday is on Christmas Eve. And serve clementines with pan de jamón.