Good Mexican Food in NC - Found!

After a long search, I finally found some decent Mexican food here in Raleigh. It has taken almost two years, and where did I find it? My own recipe binder! What is even funnier is that I am almost certain I printed the recipe out when I was still living in Austin, but did not make it until a week or so ago. Sopa Seca is a meal I will definitely be making again. When I made it, I told Aaron it was kind of like Mexican lasagna, but that is not an accurate parallel. It is closer to chicken noodle casserole, but has a richer flavor profile and is not soupy and creamy like some casseroles can be.

There were a few firsts for me with this meal. I had never tried to look for fideos, which I did not find and thus used angel hair pasta nests, which worked just fine for me. I bought my first can of chipotles in adobo sauce and fell madly in love as soon as I opened the can. Smelled like spicy barbecue sauce and ended up providing the absolute perfect amount of heat and smoke. And, since smoked turkey was not readily available, I baked some chicken and used that without any adverse results, as far as I could tell.

This was a great TGIF meal that provided leftovers I munched on all through the weekend. I like it when leftovers taste just as great as the freshly made dish. Since the fideos are cooked in a pan dry, there are these great crunchy pieces and the noodles as a whole do not get overcooked and saturated with liquid. This is one of the best meals I have ever made and I cannot wait until I can have friends over to share it with them. The recipe may say four servings, but those would be four huge servings, so I would bump the serving count to around six portions with a great side salad and dessert. I did not know that I meal I had never had before could remind me so much of home, but this one did.

Faces of America

Once again, PBS is showing one of my favorite "special programs." I have talked here before about the series Henry Louis Gates, Jr. hosts entitled "African American Lives" wherein he explores various famous African Americans' genealogy to trace their history. He also uses their DNA to see what areas they hail from (Western Europe, East Africa, Indochina, etc). Well, this year he is looking more broadly at Americans of many ethnicities in Faces of America. Featured "celebrities" include Mario Batali, Stephen Colbert, Yo-Yo Ma, and Kristi Yamaguchi. It starts tomorrow, Feb. 10 from 8-9 pm, and runs every Wednesday through March 3. I am super excited to see these people learn of their heritage and hear some surprising stories of their past. I have not given my PBS station here much of a chance, but perhaps this program will encourage me to look to them for something to watch rather than some of the more mindless entertainment I may seek out on my television.

GANC: East of Eden

East of Eden is perhaps the most difficult book I have had to write about, and my favorite thus far. Written by John Steinbeck, it is the book he considered one of his most personal. I think the dedication says it best, and yet mysteriously...

Dear Pat,

You came upon me carving some kind of little figure out of wood and you said, "Why don't you make something for me."

I asked you what you wanted, and you said, "A box."

"What for?"

"To put things in."

"What things?"

"Whatever you have," you said.

Well, here's your box. Nearly everything I have is in it, and it is not full. Pain and excitement are in it, and feeling good or bad and evil thoughts and good thoughts - the pleasure of design and some despair and the indescribable joy of creation.

And on top of these are all the gratitude and love I have for you.

And still the box is not full.

The book meanders through the lives of the Hamilton and Trask families as they move west to California and find their successes and failures there. The Trask family eventually becomes the main focus of the story, in particular Adam and his twin sons, Aron and Caleb (Cal). In a key chapter in the book, Adam, his servant Lee, and neighbor Samuel Hamilton sit around and try to decide on names for Adam's boys. (Adam's wife is no longer in the picture after shooting him and running away to become a prostitute. She is a psychopath and, well, just read the book.) They get to discussing the first brothers, Cain and Abel, and Lee, a Chinese servant, says that he has been studying this story and has found something illuminating. Timshel. It is the Hebrew word used in Genesis 4:7 where the Lord, speaking to Cain, says, "If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him." Timshel is used in that last phrase for shalt, "and thou shalt rule over him." Timshel means "thou mayest." What does it all mean? It means that a person is neither marked for a happy life nor condemned to one of misery, but that each person has the ability to choice how their life will be. Timshel plays itself out in the lives of Adam's two children, Aron and Cal.

Aron is the angel-face boy whom everyone adores, but wants life to occur only has he has dreamed it in his head - beautiful and perfect. Cal, on the other hand, is secretive, never letting people get close to him. He sees himself as the less-loved child and continually attempts to earn the love of his father and friends. However, he also harbors resentment against Aron and does what he can, with varying success, to collapse the walls of the world Aron has built up.

If you have not figured it out by now, this is a difficult book to give a quick summation to. In part because there is no apex of action; no culminating moment the whole book as led to, at least not in the way most books culminate. It is the story of a new land, a new town, new families. A coming of age for a family, a state, and a country. It is about the relationships between fathers and sons, brothers, mothers and sons. And it is beautiful.

This one is definitely on my list as a great American novel. The stories in it are universal and true for America. I am not sure how the book has impacted American society. Apparently, as I just learned while checking it out on Amazon, that it was an Oprah's Book Club pick, so there is that. I cannot say that it is a story echoed in other novels or movies, because East of Eden itself is a story retold from the Bible. A modern-day Cain and Abel. So maybe all stories since 1952 that reimagine Cain and Abel should also say they reimagined Aron and Cal. In any case, this book is a masterpiece and one Steinbeck had a right to be proud of. I look forward to reading more of his books to see how they measure up.

Great American Novel Challenge Booklist:

July 2009: Absalom, Absalom! - William Faulkner, publ. 1936

August 2009: Lonesome Dove - Larry McMurtry, publ. 1985

September 2009: Moby Dick - Herman Melville, publ. 1851

October 2009: For Whom the Bell Tolls - Ernest Hemingway, publ. 1940

November 2009: Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston, publ.1937

December 2009: The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath, publ. 1963

January 2010: Rabbit, Run - John Updike, publ. 1960

Books in Waiting

As I sit here at my desk, there are several temptations a few feet to my left. Books. They stare at me from their multi-colored spines, urging me to pause each time I pass, wooing me with the knowledge and stories held within their covers. However, my GANC book this month has taken up most of my reading space, and I have endeavored to read two other books on the side for personal and professional gain. So, no room on the night stand for these books, these books in waiting. Below, a selected few of these 14 books (and counting)...

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, by Seth Grahame-Smith - I got this book from Aaron's mom for Christmas, and then Aaron got a copy from me for Christmas. Clearly this is an unread but well-loved book. My devotion for Pride and Prejudice (P&P) is deep and true. One of the best books I have ever read and will continue reading until I am too blind to read, in which case I will get it on CD or MP3, or whatever listening medium we have 50 years from now. I am saving P&P&Z for when I need a good pick-me-up and a laugh, but I fear temptation may win out over my pragmatic goal.

Guns, Germs and Steel, by Jared Diamond - I have looked at this book and begun reading it almost every time I have gone into a bookstore for the past 6 or so years. And finally, this Christmas, I got it (thanks to mom and dad - thanks!). The main thrust of the book is exploring how and why one civilization thrived while another died out. It mixes my love of history with science, which is less known to me but I am eager to learn about.

King Leopold's Ghost, by Adam Hochschild - This was a book I was supposed to read in my African History 2 class but did not finish. Looks like I got, oh, about 48 pages in of about 300. The class was hard for me because I had not taken African History 1 and the flow of African history is dissimilar from European history. It was not countries at war, but tribes with ever changing boundaries, and then Europe came in and started creating their own boundaries. Very confusing. However, I do want to read this book and give it the opportunity I could not my junior year of college.

The Terror, by David Andress - For about a year now, I have wanted to read more about the French Revolution. It is a time in history I am woefully not knowledgeable of. In my high school world history class, we ended right around the French Revolution and, in college, all of my history classes were either American or British (save my African class). I loved A Tale of Two Cities so I thought it high time I read the history of it all. I had a couple books on my list that looked decent, but over Christmas in Texas, I found myself at a Half Price and could not say no to this book. I have no idea how good or bad it is and hope that if it is not great, it is not so bad that it deters me from further reading.

To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee - No, I am not spoiling a GANC novel here; I have already read this book. However, that was in junior high, so it is about time to revisit Scout and friends. And, I just happened to have a gift card to Barnes & Noble, which just happened to carry the 40th anniversary edition. So, I bought and now it sits on my "classic literature" shelf waiting to be as well-loved and well-read as its companions.

There you are, a few of the books waiting to be read on my shelf currently. All the rest are histories or non-fiction, including two I have already "read" but loved enough to purchase. What books-in-waiting are on your shelf?

Christmas Birthday Dinner

Timing is everything, or so the saying goes. In the case of this particular dinner, I would say a double oven is everything. Aaron and I would have eaten much earlier had I two ovens instead of one. And if I had shopped for all the dinner food before the evening of - that would have helped too. However, let it be known this is the best dinner I have ever made and eaten after 10 pm.

On a previous grocery trip, Aaron and I were buying some chicken breasts. From a few chicken rows down, Aaron spied them. Two little Cornish hens waiting to be cooked. Aaron, having never had Cornish hen and hot off our Thanksgiving chicken victory, asked if we could buy them for a future meal. That future meal turned out to be our Christmas/Aaron's birthday gift exchange. One of us found this recipe for Roasted Cornish Game Hen with Panzanaella Dressing and Sauteed Broccolini and thought that was a decent celebratory meal. After a lot of bread cutting, herb chopping, single oven ballet and recooked chicken due to medium rareness (good in steak, not in chicken), here is what we ended up with some time after 10 pm...

It was just as good as it looks in the picture, maybe even better. The dressing was my least favorite, in part because I do not own a bowl large enough to toss the bread, tomatoes and herbs without flinging them across the kitchen. So, some bread had no seasoning, other pieces where heavy laden with rosemary. It was a powerful taste that I feel could have been dialed back a few notches, but something I would be willing to try again in a smaller batch.

The chicken, after being cooked through, was quite tasty and succulent. My garlic paste did not pan out as intended due to some tough cloves that refused to be transformed into paste form, so that could use some tweaking next go round. There was just enough rosemary in the chickens' cavities to lend a nice aromatic note to the meat without overpowering it. Definitely something to revisit and play with in the future.

And the broccolini. I had forgotten how tasty sauteed broccoli was and now I think I may have to make a batch a week for munching. The finely sliced garlic sends the broccolini over the edge into "eat me daily" deliciousness.

Eat Your Veggies!

One of the presents I received for Christmas was Rachael Ray's Book of 10 cookbook (thanks, Aaron's mom!). Aaron had taken the liberty of flagging a few of the recipes he thought he would like to have me make for him before his mom wrapped it for me. After I opened it and he explained why there were hot pink post-it flags throughout the book, I gave my obligatory sigh and looked to see what recipes he chose. And some of them actually looked pretty good. So, we made one of them after returning to NC. (I almost said Texas. Aw.... miss you, Texas!)

Creamy Polenta with Veggie Ragu is the flagged dish that caught my eye first. And, after having eaten it, my stomach agrees with my eyes. Good stuff. The veggie ragu was hearty and filling, and easy to substitute veggies at will. But the polenta, oh my goodness. Best polenta I have ever made or eaten. And while credit is due to the recipe, kudos to de la Estancia organic polenta for making creamy, just enough grit polenta. Yum!! The whole recipe makes a lot of food, enough for at least 6 big (big!) servings, and 8-10 reasonable portions. It satisfied my winter need for hot food without it being soup, meat, or something overtly creamy, cheesy and fattening.

Creamy Polenta with Veggie Ragu

from Rachael Ray's Book of 10, page 128-129

1 large head of cauliflower, about 2 lbs, cut into bite-sized florets

3 Tbsp EVOO, plus some for drizzling

Salt and black pepper

6 cups vegetable stock

2 cups milk

1 large fennel bulb, cored and thinly sliced

1 large onion, thinly sliced

4 large garlic cloves, chopped

2 red bell peppers, seeded and sliced

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1/2 cup golden raisins, 1 overflowing handful

2 cups quick-cooking polenta

1 head escarole, washed and coarsely chopped (I used spinach)

2 Tbsp butter

1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, 2 generous handfuls, chopped

Preheat oven to 450F.

Arrange the cauliflower on a rimmed baking sheet, drizzle it generously with EVOO, then season it with salt and pepper, tossing it around to make sure all of it is coated. Roast the cauliflower for 15 minutes, or until it's lightly browned and tender but still has a bit of a bite.

While the cauliflower is roasting combine 4 cups of the vegetable stock and the milk in a sauce pot. Add salt and pepper and bring it up to a simmer, then turn the heat down until you are ready to add the polenta.

Place a large skillet over medium-high head with 3 Tbsp of EVOO. Add the fennel, onions, garlic, bell pepper, and red pepper flakes and season them with a little salt and black pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes, or until the veggies are approaching being tender. Add the remaining 2 cups of vegetable stock and bring it up to a simmer, then continue to cook for 4 or 5 minutes.

Add the roasted cauliflower and the raisins to veggie mix, toss them to combine and continue to cook them for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the liquids have reduced by half.

Once you have added the cauliflower to the skillet, finish the polenta. Using a whisk, add the polenta to the simmering stock and milk mixture; cook, stirring constantly, for about 5 minutes. Be careful; the closest you'll probably come to having hot lava in your kitchen is a pot of bubbling polenta (she is not kidding). Once the polenta is cooked, add the chopped escarole to the skillet with the cauliflower and cook it until the escarole wilts, a couple of minutes.

Add the butter and cheese to the polenta, and stir them to melt in. If the polenta thickens too much, add a little more stock or milk to loosen it up.

Add the parsley to the skillet with the cauliflower and combine. To serve, place a helping of the polenta in the bottom of 6 shallow serving dishes and top it with some of the veggie ragu. Serve it along with a little more cheese to pass at the table.

Confessions of a Dessert Lover

Hi, my name is Allison, and I love desserts. Brownies, cookies, pies, cakes, candy, cobblers, crisps, even ice cream that gives me stomach aches - all are welcomed at my dessert table. I can generally keep my longing under control, but there are those evenings when the day has been long and I need some sweet, sweet comfort. The internet comes to my rescue with coffee mug cake or brownies, no bake cookies and Wendy's 99 cent Frosties. Something had to be done to satisfy my longing and yet not eat what feels like a cup of pure sugar at night.

Enter my salvation -Stonyfield Farms' organic Chocolate Underground fat free yogurt. Yes, you are reading that all correctly - organic...chocolate...fat free. You are probably now thinking that it must contain wheat chaff and taste like carob or something. Wrong! It is smooth, rich, creamy and tastes like melted frozen yogurt. The tang of the yogurt cuts through the rich chocolate marvelously. My ghetto Walmart does not sell this particular yogurt, so I have begun making treks to Harris Teeter to keep myself supplied. I even dared to let Aaron have a whirl with it and it has won him over handily. It is all the indulgent benefits of a dessert without being 1000 calories. A guiltless decadence, if you will.