Category Archives: Recipes

Slim Paley Daily #2

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L1150100

A Crusty Avocado Tart

in the gardens of “Maisons Des Reves” Dar Ahlam, Ouarzazete, Morocco

It’s Tart Tuesday!

(see what I did there?)

This was one of the most delicious dishes we ate inhaled during our entire holiday in Morocco.

The combination of melty, yet slightly grainy short crust pastry, creamy fresh avocado filling and crunchy baby lettuce & pomegranate seeds was positively dreamy.

So, Yay! Who’s your Mama?? I got the recipe and I’m sharing it with youse guys.

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L1150099It took literally every ounce of will power (and the fact that I wasn’t alone) to not ask for a second tart.

L1150096Serve with some freshly toasted french bread, chilled white wine

(do not look at that Coke-it’s a mirage-we were in the desert)

and you’ll feel like you are …

L1150103HERE

ZZzzzzzzz….

Until tomorrow.

~

All photos Slim Paley, recipe filched from “Maison Des Reves”*

*Proper props will be proffered in an upcoming post. Promise.

You Say Shiitake…

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Multifarious varieties of fungi at our local Farmer’s market

Walking around my garden after the rain we had, I wasn’t at all surprised to see the multitude of mushrooms that had popped up virtually overnight. Would that blog posts sprout as quickly as fungi I’d be one prolific blogger. I always look at them and wonder who has the nerve to eat these fleshy morsels plucked straight from the earth, not really knowing if they’re poisonous or not? Pas moi. I’d rather trust the perfect stranger at the Farmer’s market to tell me they’re safe!

Vermont Wildcrafters

Recently I  read a book called “The Wild Trees” by Richard Preston which is essentially about the Sequoia sempervirens in the Pacific Northwest and the crazy daring botanists and amateur naturalists that climb them, but it was also here that I first learned of the giant Armillaria ostoyae in the Blue Mountains of Oregon. For those easily squeamish, this is a tad, well, eewwwy, but this humongous fungi, mercifully growing mostly beneath the ground, encompasses nearly 4 square miles (that’s 1,665 football fields People!) Discovered in 1998 it knocked the 200 ton Blue whale off its pedestal (or should I say out of the water :) ) as the record holder for The World’s Largest Known Organism. Based on it’s current growth rate, it is estimated to be somewhere between 2,400-8,650 years old. FYI, I know some humans that fudge their ages that much. This would also place the giant fungi as one of the oldest living organisms on the planet.

Think about that the next time you are filling your bag with cute little button mushrooms at Von’s (which, another FYI, you should never eat those button mushrooms raw-bad, bad for you)

365267677_ctvoolHu_cAnd to think a Giant Fungus could be growing just beneath this idyllic woodland picnic scene…

But alas, once again I digress…let’s return to my favourite subject

Food!

Butter Roasted mushrooms super simple recipe HERE

Or perhaps you prefer your mushroom flavour on the sweet side?Chanterelle macaroons from Pierre Herme

tvs9173ab_lMartha has this delicious sounding recipe for a “Mushroom Martini”  HERE

Purists (and Martha) would likely kill me for saying this, but these gallon sized buckets of freeze dried(?) assorted mushrooms from Costco are surprisingly good, especially in a pinch for soups & sauces.

Caveat; If my counsel means anything to you-do not, I repeat DO NOT stick your nose inside and take a big smell.

There. I saved you.

One of my favourite ways to prepare mushrooms is to simply flash fry some of the fancier, frilly ones in a 50/50 combo of butter & olive oil until they get crispy, drain on paper towel then serve still hot; sprinkled with coarse sea salt and a generous squirt of fresh lemon juice. Like decadent, earthy potato chips-yum!

Do you think it’s easy working fashion into a post about mushrooms?!

ring via Boticca.com

Givenchy bag

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I’ve had this image and recipe in my files for years thinking I would someday attempt it. I think it was also from Martha. It’s really the pastry that scares me, but this year might be the year. Rest assured I so will be sharing the photos if I ever make this.

DSC04189Link for Morel mushroom Christmas ornaments below

Magic Mushrooms

I once had mushrooms growing in the trunk of my car when I lived in Vancouver. Not on purpose. It’s an embarrassing story involving a long wet winter and some disastrously forgotten paperwork…that never got ‘filed’. Ah…blessed youth…

Mushroomy tiles

Mushroomy rug

Mushroomy coasters from Barney’s (I have these in violet-so pretty!)

I think Hermes

Toadstools in my friend’s garden in Greece

700_brass-stools

Brass stools via Remodelista.com

I’d love a couple of these in my garden

There’s really something quite magical and pure about mushrooms, don’t you think?

(excluding 4 mile ones and the ones that grew in my car)

elegant

Mushroom Christmas ornaments via MadAboutMushrooms

~

Uncredited photos via Tumblr or Pinterest

The Day After

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The kitchen bathed in glorious Fall light.

Did you have an enjoyable Thanksgiving Feast? I hope so! We certainly did. As you can see, the “dry run” flowers I bought over a week ago from the Farmer’s market lasted beautifully. Gerber daisies might not be the chicest bloom on the block but they’re like the good, steady husband of the flower kingdom-long lasting, reliable and always there when you need them. No flaky boyfriend type flowers to be found in mid November anyway-unless of course one is willing to pay dearly-but what else is new with flaky boyfriends??

We cooked a massive ham, scalloped potatoes, steamed brussel sprouts and candied bacon sautéed in lashings of butter, and my husband & younger son made a banana cream pie from scratch. In between the 700 games of football on yesterday. It was awfully sweet, in more ways than one. They made a crust my husband described as thicker than a deck of cards, but seriously, how bad can graham crackers, sugar and butter taste?!

We also had gorgeous heirloom tomatoes from the market that needed to be eaten quickly so I thought this delicious, Hawaiian inspired tomato, fresh pineapple & garlic chip salad would be nice with the ham.

Recipe from Food & Wine magazine HERE

Tomatoes the size of steaks. yum.

I concocted a glaze for the ham by heating Hediard’s Red Currant  fine jelly until it melted, then adding freshly (and this is a must) squeezed orange juice and Cointreau to taste.

OMG. I can’t begin to tell you how good this is, especially for being so ridiculously simple. I’m sure Martha would sieve those bits of orange out before serving, but whatever. This would be divine with Cornish game hens & duck as well.

If you cannot find “Hediard’s” red currant jelly, I’m sure Wilkin & Sons would be good too.

~

After dinner and dessert, there was a rousing game of “Scrabble” in which my father took umbrage at me using the letters “H” & “O” to spell “Ho” (to make two words for 15pts)

Dude, it’s a word;

 Merriam-Websters Dictionary; Ho (used as a call to attract attention, sometimes specially used after a word denoting a destination): Westward ho! Land ho!
2.
(used as an exclamation of surprise or delight.)
or, according to;

A word Santa Clause says three times when he sees your wife, mother and sister together in the same room.

Ahhnnd we laughed…well, I did. Dad was not so amused.

So another Thanksgiving has come and gone and we all know what that means…

Are you partaking of “Black Friday”??   I can’t imagine anything I’d rather do less, but I will definitely be supporting “Small Shop Saturday” again this year. If we don’t all do the same,  I fear every main street in every city and town across America will soon look exactly the same. It’s starting to get that way already. More importantly, small, local shops are owned and run by our friends and neighbours- let’s do everything we can in this tough economic climate to help them stay open.

Christmas gift ideas coming soon.

You don’t actually expect to see them more than a month out do you?!

PS.   Please check out my piece in the December issue of “C” Magazine this month :)

Ho Ho Ho!

~

A Rainy Saturday Before Thanksgiving

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Happy Weekend to you!

 It’s been pouring rain here the last couple of days and feeling utterly Autumnal. As I look out my window through the rain I can barely see the tops of the trees shrouded in deep fog. Santa Barbara is doing a great impression of the Pacific Northwest right now I must say.  Although Fall is not my favourite time (sorry but I’m a Summer Gal and get a tad sad cranky when we turn the clocks back) Autumn might be my favourite season in terms of appreciating the coziness of my home. Built well over a hundred years ago, it harkens back to a time when fireplaces were included in many more rooms than we would ever dream of indulging in now. Especially for Southern California.

So I’ve been enjoying the outdoorsy, I might even say ‘East Coast’ scent of burning wood inside and out. The giant oak we lost last year in the huge rain storm is giving us one more gift.

I’m all about Fall leaves at the moment, but more on that in an upcoming post.

I’ve already completed a dry run on my Thanksgiving table because I got excited about using deep garnet coloured depression glass plates instead of my usual green and amber theme. Roses didn’t seem appropriate, and though there were bountiful fruits and veggies at the Farmer’s Market this week, flowers are getting scarce. I chose long lasting gerbers in warm colours with a burgundy base and, yes, again with the leaves.

Fresh walnuts from the market, leaves & the last of our apples for the season

As much as I adore doing all the decorating and the table by myself, I’m not that revved up about cooking the entire turkey throw down on Thursday, only to have a repeat performance a scant few weeks hence-so… I asked for suggestions and inspiration over on my FB page and I’m happy to share a few of them here;

-Turkey for Thanksgiving and Prime rib for Christmas (though I’d flip this around as I have a larger group for Christmas than Thanksgiving)

-Chinese food on Christmas Day

-a pot luck dinner with an Indian Feast Theme for either holiday (love this idea)

-Turkey chilli on Thanksgiving which is so easy to make ahead and only improves with age (within reason of course)

-Go vegetarian. In fact, to quote; Go vegetarian every day.   Hmmmmm.

-Apparently Gelson’s does a delicious  full bells & whistles take-out Thanksgiving dinner. Who knew?

-Cornish game hens, red currant glaze, wild rice & mushrooms

-The secret is in the planning

-The secret is in the sharing- Make a timeline; each prep task is written out on a separate card marked with a start time & posted in order on the fridge. Everyone can grab a card and jump in to help. Frankly I can imagine this working much better in some households than others. Just saying.

-The secret is in the drinking. Serve enough fun libations and no one cares about the food.

and finally, this ingenious suggestion

-Go to someone else’s house!

-

Do you have any suggestions or inspiration you’d like to share??

After all, it is Thanksgiving :)

~

Scorch & Soda

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We turn the clocks back tonight (boo hoo!)

You know what that means my friends.

That’s right

It’s Officially Heartier Cocktail Season.

Not since a caramel fell into a bowl of salt have we seen a flavor sensation dominate like the “smoky” cocktail.  I’ve been experimenting here & there while slowly compiling this post over the summer but it wasn’t until I had my very first GIN martini the other night (I know, right? wonders never cease) accompanied by big fat smoked olives that I became a full fledged “Smoker”

OK, I know this photo would have been so much nicer if the glass wasn’t 1/2 empty and I hadn’t taken a big bite of the olive, but I just wasn’t anticipating how damn good it was going to be! (Hendricks gin btw) and you’re probably saying; can this possibly be the same Slim who loves roasted marshmallow martinis? I agree-it’s sheer madness.

Even I didn’t know I was this ambi-drinkerous.

So, at least for the month of November, I’m all about the “the fumes”

I’ve been wracking my brains trying to think of a way to capture smoke within an ice cube. I tried typing “Smoke in ice cubes ” into Google and got nothing but photos of the rapper “Ice Cube” smoking cigars, plus some rather inventive ways of smoking meth.

Do you think I’m going to get meth spam now??  I’m worried :(

Try putting a few of  these in your pipe;

A couple of tasty smokers at Rick Bayles’ “The Frontera Grill” Chicago

Los Angeles: The molecular-minded Bar Centro at the Bazaar by José Andrés.The Drink: Smoke on the Water ($18). What’s in It: Blackberries, atomized Islay Scotch, liquid nitrogen, and a flaming orange peel.

Miami: The new Yardbird Southern Table & Bar. The Drink: Smoked Pear ($8).
What’s in It: Woodford Reserve bourbon, pear liqueur, lemon juice, maple bitters, and smoked-pear purée. 1600 Lenox Ave.; 305/538-5220.

Boston: Clio, home to the city’s most extensive cocktail list. The Drink: The Hunter ($13).
What’s in It : Sage-infused white rum, Willet single-barrel rye, and apple cider, plus a cloud of burned oak and cinnamon. Smoked ice (smoked over liqueur-soaked wood chips) are used in the “Frank-)” cocktail, also at Clio

(info via Nicki Goldstein/Travel & Leisure magazine)

In Yountville, CA, Bottega serves up a smoky trifecta with smoked tequila, smoked jalapeños, rimmed with smoked salt.

“The Smoker’s Delight” at PX in Alexandria, Virginia uses strained water that has been steeped in 3 kinds of tobacco. ( Oh, sorry, but that sounds gross! )

Smoke Signals

Here I’ve found a recipe to “smoke” your own ice at home-but be careful kids!

Line heavy large pot with heavy-duty foil. Sprinkle wood chips over bottom of pot; cover. Turn exhaust fan on high. Heat pot over high heat until smoke begins to form inside pot. Fill 9 x 4 1/2 x 3-inch metal loaf pan with ice. Place in pot; cover tightly. Smoke ice until just melted, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Cool slightly. Cover loaf pan tightly with plastic wrap; freeze until firm, at least 6 hours. Using ice pick, cut ice block crosswise into 4 large smoked ice chunks. Wrap tightly in plastic and keep frozen.

Bring 1 cup water and sugar to boil in medium saucepan over high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Add pecans; reduce heat to medium and simmer until syrup tastes like pecans, about 12 minutes. Strain; discard pecans. Cover and chill pecan syrup until cold, about 2 hours.

Place 5 tablespoons whiskey, 3 tablespoons Sherry, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and 3 tablespoons pecan syrup in cocktail shaker. Fill with plain ice cubes; cover and shake until cold. Divide mixture between 2 old-fashioned glasses. Repeat with remaining 5 tablespoons whiskey, 3 tablespoons Sherry, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 3 tablespoons pecan syrup, and ice. Place 1 smoked ice chunk in each glass and serve.

(via Epicureous)

Mezcal and tobacco-infused syrup flavours the “Oaxacan Fizz” at FATHER’S OFFICE in LA (LOVE that name!)

“Smoke on The Water” at Bar Centro in The Bazaar, LA, literally smokes with a blast of liquid nitrogen and Islay Scotch.

Wouldn’t this make a good Christmas present?

Smoked salt via TheSpiceLab.com

For those smoked olives, you may

1) Marinate your olives for several hours in smoked olive oil

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2) make your own smoked oil by gently heating and infusing olive oil with hickory smoke powder and fresh or dried herbs of your choice, then marinate olives.

3) Thoroughly soak a cedar plank (important), wrap olives in a tinfoil package, making several slits in the top and sides,  place on wet plank, cover and grill (smoking times will vary depending on temperature) You can find several recipes for smoking olives online.

4) or just buy them already smoked.

Lastly, if you’re not already totally smoked out,

An interesting article on smoked cocktails HERE

Thank you for smoking and don’t forget those clocks tonight!!

~

(First photo Artist Liza Ryan (2012) any uncredited photos via Tumblr or Google)