Fresh Turmeric Carrot Soup

My first thought for the past six months when starting to write a blog post is inevitably some sort of apology for not having written a post in so long. But as a reader, you’re probably here for the creative recipes and juicy pictures, not apologies. So from now on, I promise to give you nothing less than cooking from my heart to yours, without the accompanying explanations of work and family obligations that encompass life as an adult. Fair enough?

This recipe is just about as simple as it gets. A fine example of cooking where the flavor of the end product is a direct result of the freshness of ingredients; buttery orange carrots and bright turmeric are sweated with garlic and onions, then simmered in broth until tender and pureed until silky smooth. The sweet and mild carrots are only enhanced, rather than overpowered, by the earthy, spicy fresh turmeric. Don’t be alarmed by the generous amount of turmeric either, it yields a perfectly seasoned soup that is delicious hot or chilled.

Coconut Kale Berry Smoothie

Don’t be turned off by the somewhat…dull color of this smoothie. It may not be bright orange or red like the smoothies at the mall, but what it lacks in color it makes up in creamy flavor and superior nutrition.

It’s just what the doctor ordered. Literally; I got my tonsils taken out last week and while I can finally choke down real food, smoothies like this are what have sustained me for the last 11 days (along with a certain best friend who created a color coded medication timesheet and woke me up every four hours to ensure I was getting what I needed). What I thought would be a totally quick and easy little procedure turned out to be a painfully slow and tortuous recovery. I won’t go into the gory details, but I can guarantee you it wasn’t pretty. Kinda like this smoothie.

Spaghetti Squash Fritters with Scallion Cilantro Sauce

I love the holiday season. The lights, the decorations, the music, especially that tangible feeling of excitement in the air (even if it’s just for a few days off work); lazy days with family and friends spent eating homemade croissants and mango mimosas, dark Norwegian goat cheese and fluffy kringla, St. Germaine cocktails and tender braised short-ribs (you enjoyed all those things too, right?). And now this leisurely slow week in between, where New Year’s Eve festivities are being planned and resolutions devised.

As if slivers of leftover chocolate tart and my grandma’s walnut fudge aren’t pleasure enough, I’ve been enjoying thumbing through At Home with Madhur Jaffrey: Simple, Delectable Dishes from India, Pakistan,Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, a gift from my brother. The book is perfect for anyone looking to get to know Indian home-cooking from one of the topics' most well-respected authorities.  

Especially intriguing are her vegetable preparations. From Kashmiri-style collard greens and sweet and sour butternut squash, to Sri Lankan White Zucchini Curry to the dozen dal (bean, legume and lentil dishes). I haven’t had a chance to make any of the mouthwatering recipes from the book yet, but the other day I did make some lightly spiced, spaghetti squash fritters that I think Ms. Jaffrey would approve of.

Butternut Squash Gingerbread

Good thing The Salivating Seattleite isn’t my fiancé, because I totally forgot it was my 1^st blogiversary! I know, that’s pretty bad. There are no excuses, just that I’ve been busy enjoying life. I started this blog one year ago because quite honestly, I wasn’t enjoying much of anything. My mom had just passed away; I was searching for a job after college graduation and adjusting to life back in my hometown, Seattle. I had high hopes that posting my own recipes and pictures on this site would distract me enough to rekindle my love of writing and food and get me through an awfully hard chapter of my life.

One year later and life isn’t perfect, but it feels much more fulfilling these days. I somehow managed to snag a handsome and intelligent man, a sweet step-son, and my dream job as a Culinologist/food scientist/nutritionist (culinology: the blending of food science, culinary arts and food technology) aka I get paid to play with food!

Pomegranate Glazed Pork Chops

They say this season is all about hope. Hope for snow. Hope for Santa to be generous. Hope for world peace. I want all those things, especially snow; last year we tied a sled to the back of Ameen’s truck and took turns swinging each other around in a huge icy parking lot. Nothing like being flung off a plastic sled onto icy asphalt to make you feel like a kid again! But today I got what I hope for just about every dreary winter Seattle day: sunshine.

It was a gorgeously crisp fall (it’s still fall, right?) day. I had planned on making a big batch of stew for the week and curling up with a good book, and although it was cold, it just wasn’t one of those days. It was a fine grillin’ day.

Rye Waffles with Chokecherry Syrup

Like rainy days and Christmas songs, rye bread is one of those things that you either like or you don’t. I definitely fall into the first camp, although in a couple weeks I might start complaining about those first two. I like rye; heck, I can’t think many breakfasts more enjoyable than a dark, toasty pumpernickel bagel spread with cream cheese and lox (and that’s saying a lot, because breakfast is my favorite meal!). But I haven’t gotten to know rye as well as I know say, whole wheat flour or cornmeal.

Beyond traditional caraway-flecked rye bread, I haven’t done much experimenting with whole rye berries, rolled rye (like oatmeal), or rye flour. And from what I’ve read, it sounds like I should. A good source of fiber and minerals, rye has been shown to promote weight loss and satiety, in addition to preventing and fighting diseases like cancer, diabetes and heart disease. Healthy benefits aside, there’s something intriguing about the flavor of rye; subtly sweet and toasty, earthy even.

After making an awesome rye version of Jim Lahey’s no-knead bread for Thanksgiving, I was inspired to continue experimenting with rye at my favorite meal.Rye waffles. Sound weird? Hear me out: the dark, slightly sweet and complex flavor of a good pumpernickel bread but in waffle format. You could go savory with a topping of chive scrambled eggs and crème fraîche or sweet with kirsch flambéed cherries and whipped cream. Rye doesn’t sound so boring now, does it?

Lentil Stew with Pomegranate

Nothing says autumn like the sound of sniffly noses, hacking coughs and snot-shooting sneezes. Well, they do! So do roasted apples and pumpkin lattes, chanterelle mushrooms and Brussels sprout stalks. But when you feel as crappy as I have the last week (see aforementioned sounds), when you are so sick that you cannot brave the hail and the thunder and sideways rain to get to the store to ‘ooh and ahh’ at the season’s latest offerings, you make soup.

Which is exactly what I proceeded to do yesterday. Opening the produce drawer in my refrigerator didn’t elicit any immediate inspiration….an old cabbage quarter, someone’s forgotten lunch, some picked over pomegranates from a photo shoot at work….so I started rummaging through the cupboards…brown lentils... pomegranate molasses! I was onto something: lentil and vegetable stew with pomegranates.

Tomato, Potato and Turnip Gratin

I am on vacation!! My middle/high school best friend decided to tie the knot with her beau on her grandparent’s lovely property in the New Hampshire woods. As I write this post, I am gazing out the window from a little cottage on a lake in the picturesque countryside. The calm waters lapping at the golden sand beg for a toe to be dipped while the green, gold, brown and red foliage flirting with the breeze proudly announce fall’s arrival to New England.

The scenery isn’t the only thing proclaiming the new season, the food says it too. Beef and Guinness stew; mussels in white wine with crusty bread; seared scallops with apple cider vinegar, spinach and prosciutto; homemade fudge; molasses spice cookies and pumpkin ice cream sandwiches. Then there’s been the almost constant flow of coffee, tea, red wine, pumpkin ale and Oktoberfest. Vacation indeed.

Before I skipped town last week, I threw this simple gratin together for a Sunday night dinner of lemon brined roast chicken.

Flax Crepes with Honeyed Thyme Figs and Creme

Goodbye Seattle summer. You weren’t here very long, but I enjoyed every second of your stay. It was so much easier to get out of bed in the morning with your golden rays shining in through my white curtains. My golden shoulders and the freckles on my nose will remind me of you and the time we shared on the deck reading books and drinking ice tea.

And although you are now gone and the familiar grey skies have returned to cast a darker light on the Emerald City, I was pleased to discover you left a few little treasures behind to ease the transition into fall. Like the juiciest watermelon I’ve had all year and the bumpy purple heirloom tomatoes on the counter; those two will happily be enjoyed with a sprinkle of coarse salt.

And the figs. The sweet, tender figs. With crunchy seeds and soft flesh, dark purple skin and blushing insides, they are truly a gift. Roasted with fresh thyme, salt and pepper, honey and balsamic, the figs melt into their own luxurious sauce. Flax-speckled crepes make the perfect pedestal for the sweet tart harmony of late summer fruit, along with a dollop of a rich, tangy crème of yogurt and sour cream brightened with lemon zest.

Banana Frozen Yogurt

Last weekend I cleaned out my childhood closet and found all sorts of treasures: my favorite picture books, my middle school diary (which documents my several self-imposed hand written font changes), hand-braided lanyards from summer camp, my $300 ruby red, halter top prom dress (which still fits!), and many more cherished possessions. Among them, I found that my mother had stashed a very dusty ice cream maker.

When I was maybe 9 or 10, my parents got me a hand-cranked ice cream maker for my birthday. Can you imagine my delight? Ice cream, homemade, whenever I wanted?! We made a few recipes from the little booklet it came with, but then my dad started suggesting other things to put in there. Frozen sea foam green pistachio pudding and chocolate pudding, frozen yogurt with fruit. Churning a quart of creamy, frozen whatever made for an entertaining activity and impressive dessert for my friends and me.

Blueberry Granola Tart

My mom loved blueberries. She loved all fruit and vegetables (besides cooked carrots and sweet potatoes, which she refused to eat), but she treated blueberries like gold; something to be savored and slowly enjoyed. In the summer we got them by the flat and ate them fresh, usually plain in big bowls as a snack. She would reminisce about flaky Russian blueberry pies that I’m pretty sure my grandma didn’t make and beg me to make them, and sometimes I would attempt to recreate them. We even went blueberry picking a couple times, which by the way I highly recommend because it is the least sticky, prickly berry picking of all.

During the other months of the year when fresh blueberries were nowhere to be found, she would maintain a stash of frozen blueberries in the freezer. Each night she would pour some into a cup, maybe topped with a little yogurt and crunchy bran cereal, but more often than not just plain. She’d be as happy as a clam as she popped them one by one into her mouth while she watched some TV before bedtime.  Her entire mouth, including lips, tongue and teeth would become colored a dark blue purple stain but to her it was worth it.

Grilled Corn with Basil Chili Garlic Butter

I don’t know what the smell of winter is. Maybe pot roast or cinnamon kissed apples, although more likely coffee for us Seattleites. But I have figured out what summer’s scent is. For me, the season’s most cherished smell is most definitely fresh basil. Actually, now that I think about it, summer has a lot of great smells; from fresh cut grass to sunscreen, warm lake water  and fresh baked berries (which I’m pretty sure ranks in a close second place in my book) or even the smell of earth in the air after a hard summer rain. Nothing can compare though to the smell of sun-kissed garden basil with its hints of dirt and water. That smell means that summer is finally here.

Summer is shy to come and quick to leave up in these parts, with a total of just seven or eight weeks of solid sun, blue skies, and pleasant days in the 70’s and 80’s. That means for the other 45 weeks of the year, there is no basil. Sure, you can get basil. It comes in a thin plastic box and while it is perfectly fine to use, it just doesn’t have that je ne sais quoi. And it certainly doesn’t smell like summer.

I know that I am not alone in my love of fresh basil; its bright green, sweet, anise-y flavor compliments many types of umami-rich dishes from pesto and marinara sauce to spicy curries and pho.

Tonight the basil made its way into a creamy compound butter that was smeared along the bumpy sides of charred, sweet summer corn. Butter has a magical way as a flavor carrier and in this application it tamed the fiery chili garlic and pungent fish sauces into a well-rounded, savory, green basil-punctuated accessory for the smoky corn. I do believe this is one of the most delicious ways to celebrate one of the best scents of summer.

Cinnamon-Scented Quinoa with Herbs, Heirloom Tomatoes, Chickpeas and Lemon Tahini Vinaigrette

There really is nothing quite like the feeling of doing something yourself. Whether it’s making dinner for people you love or hemming your own pants so they don’t get grimy when you trudge through fish guts (some days my job is more “hands-on” than others) to changing your oil or setting up the internet; painting a room in your house or writing a blog post; it’s those seemingly small accomplishments that yield surprisingly rewarding self satisfaction.

Take for example, growing your own herbs. It seems like it would be easy, but it actually takes some thought and care. You need to water them, weed them, and harvest them regularly and correctly to ensure they are growing to their full potential.

After several years of failed attempts to grow basil (in Seattle, which has some of the mildest and forgiving summers anywhere), I finally figured it out this year. Previously, I had taken a few leaves here and a few leaves there which resulted in tall, gangly, ugly and eventually dead basil plants. So this year, I watered and tended to my plant like a new mother nurturing her baby. I did a little research and found out that you should clip whole sections (only the top halve or third of the stem at a time) instead of taking singular leaves and hoping the plant won’t notice. I also clipped off the flower buds and made sure the stems weren’t crowding each other.

And lo and behold, I seem to have found my inner green thumb.

Summer so far

Summer. This salivating Seattleite’s favorite time of year. I know, for months I’ve been going on and on about  juicy summer tomatoes and ripe peaches but I’ve barely posted anything. No, I haven’t forgotten about the blog or stopped cooking; I recently started a new job as a culinologist/nutritionist consultant which has kept me very, very busy to say the least.

Joey stays busy too!

And while this summer hasn’t been as carefree or relaxing as summers past, there’s still been plenty to be salivating about. There have been plum cakes and lemon muffins, smoked salmon and shrimp ceviche, grilled pizza and pesto quinoa salads. There have been dozens of juicy peaches, pounds of ruby strawberries, and at least 5 huge watermelons. I’ve gotten to see good friends and family (although not for as long as I would have liked!) and gone on a few day beautiful day trips to the San Juan Islands.

There have been birthday parties and birthday cakes. Like this..

German Chocolate Cake with Pink Italian Meringue

And this…

Devil's Food Cake with Marshmallow Icing

And this…

Coconut Chiffon Cake with Lime Bavarian Cream filling, Coconut Meringue, Lime Curd and Toasted Coconut Shavings

I'll be posting cake recipes and more soon, promise. For now, I'm gonna soak up the last few weeks of summer while I still can. I hope your summer (wherever you are) has been as celebratory as mine.

Salted Watermelon with Rainier Cherries and Goat Cheese

Around mid July is the time of year when you wake up in Seattle to familiar grey skies and moist air (and being the responsible person that you are, you dress for the day accordingly) only to emerge from work eight hours later to gorgeous azure skies, sunshine that can barely contain itself and a sweet little breeze that puts a pep in your step and a smile on your face. That cardigan is no longer needed and those socks suddenly seem quite restrictive. So you roll down your car windows and slick on the chapstick. You gingerly take your sunglasses out of the case, wipe them off (they’re dusty from 10 months of glove box storage) and slide them onto your face.

When you finally get home and open the fridge, a smile curls up in the corners of your mouth when you remember all the goodies you have stashed in there. No not the chocolate ice cream in the back of the freezer, I’m talking about the gems in the produce drawers. Sweet and almost sticky black plums, perfumed peaches and plump blueberries. Giant fava beans and silk-covered corn. But you dig a little more until you find what you have been waiting to savor all year. Rainier cherries.

Dungeness Crab with Rainier Cherries and Mango Salad

I’m not sure I should tell you what I did this weekend because you’ll be so jealous. But I think I will anyways : D

After work on Friday we loaded up the truck, hit the road and didn’t look back. We were headed for Camano Island, a sweet little spot just an hour and a half north of Seattle, nestled between the mainland and Whidbey Island. When we got there we wasted no time and got down to business: we took a beach stroll and dropped the crab pots, then proceeded to enjoy Fat Tires and watch the sun set. We lazed around in the sun playing board games and eating ripe mangoes, chips and salsa, homemade pesto pasta salad, dribbly watermelon, and marionberry pie. We went on the boat to try inter-tubing, water skiing and knee-boarding. We stayed up late talking. And we ate crab.

Grilled Mahi Mahi and Garlic Spears

I can't believe how quickly June came and went! I feel guilty about not posting recently, but I'm still trying to figure out that whole "being and adult and managing work/life balance" thing. In the meantime...

ITS SUMMER IN SEATTLE!

 I think most Seattleites will agree with me when I say this season is absolutely, hands down the reason why people love the Pacific Northwest. The sun shines but it never really gets too hot, and if a little heat wave does hit it will surely be a distant memory after one drizzly July day. People start to get a little color on their usually pale faces and it must be the much needed boost of vitamin D, but I swear everyone acts nicer too.

The gardens are bushy and full, and the grass is still green (many eco-conscious Seattleites forgo lawn watering during the summer months hence the au natural dead brown shades of grass in August). The basil and mint are flourishing, as are the farmer's markets and produce stands. Watermelon, peaches, Rainier cherries, blueberries, corn and tomatoes are HERE! No long braises or roasts or complex spice blends are needed to bring out the pure essence of good summer produce. However, a sprinkle of sugar or salt, a grind of fresh black pepper, a slight char from the grill, a light vinaigretter or a freckling with fresh herbs are indeed welcome.