I woke up Sunday morning feeling a pain in my arms, a
tension in my elbows. Immediately I remembered the exercises I did with weights
the day before. I sighed with disbelief. They only weighed 8 lbs. My purse
weighs more than that and I lug that thing everywhere. I hoped the injury was
from moving my arm the wrong way, and not because I’m getting older or for
being out of shape. I begrudgingly took the day off from my exercise
routine, but not from my kitchen exercises.
I was meeting my friend in the late afternoon, so I had to
begin the day’s cooking right after my morning coffee. I started with the pizza
dough because it needs it's time to rest. Most people think of homemade pizza dough
as being too complicated to master, but there aren't many ingredients that go
into it. Most of the mastering comes with knowing the physics for yielding dough.
Just how much is a “pinch?”
One trick I learned from watching Giada DeLaurentis on Food
Network is to use a whisk to combine the dry ingredients in a recipe. It’s a
lot easier than having to sift it.
Once you add the activated yeast (done by adding it to the
warm water) and mix it up until just combined, you’re ready to start to
manipulate the dough. Make sure your hands are nice and floury (that
definitely does not look like a word, but Mr. Spell Check gave me the nod).
When I place it in the oiled bowl and turn it around to coat
all sides, the smell of the dough starts to waft in the air. It takes me back
to the summers of my childhood. My great aunt was famous for making her
flippers (dough in sugar for all you non-menangas-ites). She would spin it
around in an oiled bowl, put saran wrap on top, and wrap the bowl up with a
couple of heavy towels. She took great care in making sure this lovely
dough was warm and cared for, just as she did for every person she encountered.
My Aunt Isabel was a kind woman and she showed her love in everything she did. She was one of the most giving people I’ve ever known. And this dough,
this smell will always remind me of her.
With the dough slowly rising I got to work on the dressing
for the pear salad that would go with the pizza. I normally just buy a bottle
of dressing at the store, but my new cookbook has all these interesting
recipes. So I thought I would give it a try. I made the balsamic vinaigrette,
one of my favorite dressings, as it pairs very nicely with the Italian theme I had
planned for the dinner menu.
The dressing ingredients needed some time to steep and let the
flavors come together so I took out my salad spinner. This is another handy
kitchen tool. I used to waste so many paper towels trying to dry off the
lettuce leaves.
Now they just go for a spin…
I decided to add some fresh parsley to the salad so it would
brighten up the hardy lettuce leaves and sweet pear taste. I chose a very
simple salad to go with the pizza so it would be refreshing and light on our
stomachs. I prepped the cucumber the way my sister taught me. You take a little
fork and run it along the cucumber skin. When you cut it up, it has these cute little
edges. It looks pretty and decadent this way. She showed me when I held my first dinner party in my first grown-up apartment in Ashland.
By the time I packed up all the ingredients to go, I
realized I forgot to make the pizza sauce. My kitchen became a frenzy of
tomatoes and garlic swirling about. I cranked the heat up and stirred
frantically. Sauce spit out of the pan like it was taunting me by saying, “What?
Does physics cease to exist on this stove? Suddenly sauce appears in five
minutes?”
Obviously by this point the steam from the kitchen was
making me delirious! Good thing it was time to pack up my food and head to my
friend’s house. I’d leave the steam with the cats. Maybe they would think of it
as their own personal sauna.
My friend brought me to the Asian market soon after I got to
her house. We figured it would be best to go before we enjoyed cocktail hour. I
was amazed at how much larger the vegetables and fruits are than the ones grown
here. The size of Asian Okra is the length of my arm! Comparatively okra over here
is the size of your finger, which I happened to buy this week to try it out. I
love finding odd vegetables not in my normal repertoire and playing around with
it. I can’t imagine trying to wield Okra, the size of my "over exercised" right
arm, into a dish!
That was not the only odd thing I found at this market. Most
items on the shelves had either a seafood flavoring or a seafood component,
including shrimp flavored chips. I know what you’re thinking. “Ooo shrimp has a
good flavor.” Well that flavor does not belong on a chip. I also found some Korean
Doritoes and Korean chips that boasted to be “Mexican” flavored. I was
intrigued to see if these Doritoes tasted the same as the ones I grew up eating. I also love Mexican food, so I had to try them both.
The Doritoes tasted lighter in cheese flavor than the American
ones and the “Mexican” kind tasted like a salty chip that had a hint of
sweetness. I did not detect any of my beloved Mexican flavors. Let’s face it, there are no healthy chips. Ingredients made in grease and fake cheese is not
a healthy food choice. Every once in a while, when there are festivities, it’s
okay to indulge in a little junk food. Trust me though, my stomach
made me regret it later on!
On to the festivities…we started with gin and tonics.
Then put together our pizza. My friend had enoki mushrooms
she wanted to put on her side of the pizza and she put a little on my side to
try. I kept the Italian theme going and added basil leaves when the pizza came out
of the oven. Basil is an herb, whether dried or fresh, that should not be
cooked with a dish. It should always be added at the end of the cooking
process. The reasoning behind this is a “chemistry” lesson I missed so I
can’t explain the reasoning, I can only warn you about when to add it.
Later in the night we settled on her couch for an oldie but
goodie movie, Hot Fuzz. If you haven’t seen it, I recommend it. It has action,
comedy, and a little Bromance. By the time I got home it was 2am and I was too
tired to spend another couple hours trying to blog. So I collapsed into my bed. It was already officially Monday, but I would greet the morning much later
after my beauty rest.
A few hours later, rested and definitely more beautiful, I woke up with the same pain in my arm, but with a smile on
my face. It was Monday and I was relaxing in bed. I wasn’t chained to my desk
at work. I made a big cup of coffee and relaxed on my couch for a few hours. It
was one of those mornings where the air slowly blew in a chill and the warm
coffee warmed me up. Have I said how much I loved the fall?
I had plans to go to my mum’s house for our usual Sunday
group. It’s been a few weeks since Katie left and her car has just been sitting
there in the parking lot. I knew I was only running over to my mums for a short
visit and had no other plans. So I grabbed Katie’s keys and put them in the
ignition. The engine sprang to life, the fan belt whistled in delight, and Van
Morrison’s voice sang out. Katie had left one of his cds in the cd player.
I opened up the windows to let in the afternoon air and put the car in reverse.
A little pressure on the gas pedal and I was off.
Ironically the song that was
queued up on the cd was about Van Morrison missing someone. I thought how
appropriate it was for that moment. I could feel Katie’s presence next to me, her
curly hair bouncing in the breeze, her hands and arms dancing to Van Morrison’s harmony, and the lilt of her voice as she attempted to sing the song. This was
all in my head of course. There was no one sitting next to me, except my 8 lb purse.
When I got to my mum's house she was prepping her potato salad.
My mum does not like to cook. She does not find the same pleasure in it as I do,
but she makes a few classic dishes that are beloved in our family. Her potato
salad is one of them. If Katie knew she was making it today, she would jump on
a plane just to eat this dish. Since it was only me stopping by for a few
hours, my mum realized she had boiled way too many potatoes. So she sent me
home with a couple containers. One batch of potatoes I would add my vegan mayonnaise to it for a
little potato salad lunch and the other for my veggie pot pie dinner.
I missed walking yesterday so I knew I would walk today. My
mum and I walked 1.78 miles around her neighborhood, chatted and reminisced. I
love the rush I get from walking. Even though my arms are still screaming at me for
over doing it on the weights, the rest of my body is happy I’m walking again.
When I got home I begrudgingly did a load of laundry. I
always wait until the very last moment when I no longer have the option to
procrastinate again. Then I got going on my Veggie Pot Pies, the finale in a
weekend long food fest, the end stretch in a kitchen marathon.
I warmed up the
veggie stock, set it aside and started on the roux to thicken the sauce. I
learned that if the stock is the same temperature as the roux (fancy word for flour/margarine mixture) then when you add it to the pan it will not be lumpy. I cut up some fresh thyme and parsley to add a savory flavor to the sauce. I steamed carrots, rinsed organic, frozen peas in warm water, and I kept my mum’s potatoes near the stove so it would get to room temperature. I saved some pizza dough from yesterday for the topping. I rolled it out
on a floured cutting board and cut it into four squares. I placed all the
vegetable pot pie components in ramekins and brushed the tops with soymilk so
it would get a lovely brown color. The result was a delicious and comforting
way to end the weekend. I will never buy a frozen pot pie again, not after
eating this recipe. I’ve spoiled myself for life!
 |
| Before |
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| After...ooo look the goodness spilled out |
Off to enjoy the lovely fall, night air. I made mint tea and
I’ve got the Mamma Mia movie queued up. I hope the cats enjoy my "off key"
attempts at Abba’s classic songs. Good night!
Sarah Jenkins
"The best band....of ALL time."
When can we have pot pies?!
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