something must be done

When it comes to blueberries, I can never really have enough. Last summer, we picked fresh blueberries then froze them in the hopes that we could ration our supply with a nibble here and there throughout the winter. How foolish of us. The last frozen berry disappeared from our cramped freezer months ago. I blame it on Saturday morning blueberry coconut pancakes, but maybe the berry hoarding blueberry coffeecake was the real culprit. Either way, we need to invest in a deep freezer and to find more berries, soon.

Lucky for us, our farm share found a pint or two of sweet juicy berries to include with our share this week. Just enough to hold us over the next two weeks until picking season begins. In a feverish moment, I imagine maple sweetened blueberries tucked into a wedge of soft cornbread, and once again, our supply dwindles. I succumb to gluttony and pour them over wet cornbread batter only minutes after the fruits and vegetables from our farm share have been packed into the refrigerator. Jammy berries sink into a corn, maple, and molasses crumb with each bite. This time, gluttony was worth the price. If only I can hold out until next week...




Blueberry Cornbread

(printable recipe)

Yield 8 slices

1 cup gluten free cornmeal
3/4 cup Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour (Bob's Red Mill)
1/2 cup tapioca starch
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup organic virgin coconut oil plus 1 teaspoon for skillet
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
Ener-G Egg Replacer for 2 eggs (mix 3 teaspoons Ener-G with 4 tablespoons warm water)
1 cup rice milk
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1/8 cup unsulphured molasses
3 tablespoons light brown sugar (divided)
1 1/2 cups blueberries (=1 pint)

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, tapioca starch, xanthan gum, baking soda, baking powder, and sea salt; set aside.

Mix the egg replacer and warm water together. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together until smooth 1/4 cup of the coconut oil, applesauce, egg replacer, rice milk, maple syrup, molasses, and 2 tablespoons of the brown sugar.

Stir the dry mixture into the wet; mix just enough to thoroughly combine.

Melt 1 teaspoon coconut oil in a 10-inch iron skillet over medium-high heat. Spread the batter into the skillet. Add the blueberries and gently press them into the batter with the back of a spatula. Sprinkle remaining 1 tablespoon brown sugar on top. Remove skillet from heat.

Bake for 35-45 minutes, until the center is firm to the touch and a toothpick comes out clean. Let rest in the skillet 15-20 minutes before slicing. Serve warm or at room temperature.

(This gluten-free/vegan recipe was inspired by the Skillet Cornbread Recipe with Green Chiles and Cinnamon found on Karina's Kitchen).

traces of echo

Close your eyes. Open palms like a book. Traces of a note or two fill the air.

Almond. Ground apricot kernels. Lemon.

Take a bite. What do you taste?

The subtle sweet and sour air you inhale when you step inside an Italian pastry shop.

Another taste.

Nutty citrus cream sunken into a soft, tender crust with a surprising cookie crunch.

Now open your eyes.

rowboat radishes

In the early days of summer, crisp mild radishes taste like a lazy day rowboat on a glassy lake. Serve them atop torn baguette pieces with a ginger butter compound and time stalls.




In one bite, a loon gives a shrill call then dives into quiet liquid. The lake ripples. A book in one hand, an oar in another, the flavors move slow, circles in water. Sweet ginger spice. Toasty sesame cream. Cold radish slivers dusted with salt crystals. Sun moves orange pink across the sky. It slips behind a line of green maples as the boat meets the sandy shore. Radish rounds on buttery baguette. The loon floats a small, quiet dusk.




Radish Ginger Butter Sandwiches
adapted from Bon Appetit (April 2008)

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon fresh ginger root, finely chopped
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds (finely ground)
2 1/2 tablespoons raw honey
1/4 teaspoon dark sesame oil
2 small pinches coarse sea salt
16 1/4-inch-thick baguette slices
10 radishes, thinly sliced


Soak radishes in cold water. Toast sesame seeds in a skillet over medium heat for 5-7 minutes, until golden brown and toasty smelling. Grind sesame seeds in a small coffee grinder, food processor, or dry container of a Vita-Mix.

Mix butter, chopped ginger root, ground sesame seeds, raw honey, sesame oil, and 1 pinch of sea salt in a small bowl. Smear each bread slice with ginger butter and cover with a thin veil of overlapping radishes. Sprinkle with 2nd pinch of sea salt.

dear kodak

Dear Kodak,

I clutch a slide tray filled with family memories. I am both sad and nostalgic after reading the news of Kodachrome's sudden retirement. Post-card slides of sand and sun, seagulls and peanut butter, tumbleweeds and dessert storms, and s'mores and campfires. This film holds a history of one long brilliant sunny day.

We spent Sunday evenings gathered in front of the slide projector making rabbit ears grow large over Grandpa standing on the dock with his prize-winning fish. We ate popcorn and laid out on the living room floor in silky sleeping bags. We celebrated birthdays and weddings in seamless stretches of time. The following week, we returned again. Our endless sunny day.

While I will deeply miss Kodachrome, we must push on.

Yours truly,

Nikki

artists spotlight

Arts and lemons is starting a new monthly feature on contemporary artists, called the artists spotlight. The first spotlight compares the work of two artists: Yinka Shonibare and Ann Hamilton.

Earlier this week, I read a NYT's article about Yinka Shonibare's new art exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum. Shonibare, a British-Nigerian conceptual artist, questions stereotypes and assumptions in poetic form through multiple media, including, drawing, film, large-scale installation, painting, photography, and sculpture.



Ann Hamilton, one of my favorite artists, expresses in her piece Myein (Greek root word for mystery) layers perceptions and thoughts. Encased in the white walls of this installation is a poem by Charles Reznikoff about human suffering. Her recorded voice whispers words about slavery and healing that were extracted from Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural address.

watermelon summer

A bowling ball size watermelon sits on the dining room table. Evergreen skin, taffy pink flesh, and coffee bean seeds, this fruit bleeds when cut. It is both a large centerpiece and an homage to summer.




A watermelon summer. During the last week of preschool, I sat on the steps of La Petite Academy spitting seeds with six of my classmates. It was my first official competition. I remember thinking that spitting seeds was not something I was particularly good at nor was it a prize-worthy event.




Then a strange turn of events happened, I spit the winning seed. I took home my prize, a dancing doll music box. Her cotton arms moved in a mechanical dance each time she was wound at the base. She wore a floor-length floral gown with pink and orange flowers with pink strapped heels. Her silky brown hair was styled in a 1960s bouffant. Each night before bed, I watched her dance on my headboard before falling asleep. It was my one and only watermelon summer. Until today.




Watermelon Agua Fresca

(printable recipe)

slightly adapted from Chez Panisse Fruits by Alice Waters

Yield 2 quarts

1 large watermelon
2 limes (juiced)
1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon cane sugar
2 cups of cold water

Cut and seed watermelon. Push watermelon flesh through a juicer. Add fresh lime juice and cane sugar. Mix well. Serve and garnish with lime.

pleats in rain

On a lazy Sunday, I want nothing more than to eat dim sum lying atop a blanket in a field of wildflowers. A few savory and sweet dumplings tucked into a picnic basket along with a large thermos of green tea, makes for me, a day to write about. Since I cannot stop the rain from falling or sponge dry the nearby soggy fields, having a dim sum picnic on the screened in porch is a very close second.




Look at these photographs of wildflower fields and soon enough warm air begins to circles against skin, flowers comb pink and yellow over green grasses, and ginger root lingers long after Napa cabbage, carrots, tofu, and caramelized onions are subdued. A few sips of green tea follow. Then a bite of sweet chocolate coconut dumplings. Coconut milk softens a pudding of made of chocolate and tiny red beans as they melt sweetly away. Tea again with another bite. Daisies fold beneath a blanket spread with dim sum. Sunday, in the rain.




Jen from use real butter chose Chinese dumplings/potstickers (aka gyoza in Japanese) for June's Daring Cooks' Challenge. I highly recommend reading Jen's dumpling post for detailed instructions and photographs on how to make both dumpling dough and filling by hand.

I created a savory and sweet dumpling, both with hand rolled whole-wheat and egg less wrappers. Since I did not measure, I will approximate as close as I can for the following recipes.


Whole-Wheat Dumpling Wrappers

(printable recipe)

adapted from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman

2 cups whole-wheat flour
a few pinches sea salt
3/4 to 1 cup of cold water

Add flour and salt in a mixer with the dough hook or in a food processor. Add a little water at a time, until a ball of dough forms, while the machine is running. Knead the dough by hand for a few minutes on a lightly floured surface, the dough should no longer be sticky.

Shape the dough into a ball, lightly flour, and cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap and let rest for 20 to 30 minutes.

Knead the ball for a minute or two, then cut into four pieces. Roll each quarter into a 1-inch log, then cut into 1-inch pieces and roll each one from the center to form a 4-inch circle. Add more flour, if necessary. Roll, fill, seal, and pleat.




Tofu Vegetable Dumplings

1 box (12.3 ounces) Mori-Nu Silken Tofu, extra-firm (crumbled)
1 large sweet onion (slice into half-moons – I used Vidalia onions)
1 cup Napa cabbage (finely chopped)
1 large carrot (shredded)
3 medium garlic cloves (sliced thin)
1 (1-inch) ginger root nub (peeled and shredded)
a few drizzles of mirin (sweet rice wine)
a few drizzles of soy sauce (to taste)
several pinches of sea salt (to taste)
cracked pepper (to taste)
1 teaspoon coconut oil
whole-wheat dumpling wrappers

Heat coconut oil in a large skillet over medium heat, add onions plus a pinch or two of salt and cook until caramelized. Add cabbage, carrots, garlic, ginger root, and tofu and saute until vegetables are tender. Season with a few drizzles of mirin, soy sauce, salt, and pepper. Place a few teaspoons of the filling in the center of the wonton wrapper, fold in half, and seal with a dot of water, and pleat dough on one side.

Place dumplings in a steamer basket on a leaf of cabbage and cook for 10 minutes or so. Serve with a side of soy sauce.




Chocolate Coconut Dumplings

2 cups of cooked adzuki beans (pureed)
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Lake Champlain)
1 cup coconut milk
1/3 cup shredded coconut (unsweetened)
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
3 tablespoons brown rice syrup
2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds (finely ground)
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon kuzu root starch (mixed with 2 teaspoons of cold water)
a few drizzles of mirin (to taste)
a large pinch of sea salt

Heat in a large sauce pan over medium heat, add cooked beans, cocoa powder, coconut milk, shredded coconut, maple and rice syrup, ground sesame seeds, vanilla, and salt. Add a few drizzles of mirin, to taste. Mix kuzu root starch with cold water, then add to bean mixture. Stir constantly until a thick pudding forms. Place a few teaspoons of the filling in the center of the whole-wheat wonton wrapper, fold in half, and seal with a dot of water, and pleat dough on one side.

Place dumplings in a steamer basket on a leaf of cabbage and cook for 10 minutes or so. Serve with a dusting of cocoa powder and a drizzle of maple syrup.

a worthy rebellion

On a Thursday morning, when rain pools a nest in the windowsill and the sun wraps itself in cloud white and refuses to shine, it's time to bake. A soft melt-in-your mouth cookie. One that hints at chocolate, caramel, and nuts with the first bite, and when the cookie settles on tongue, a bit of sun shines through. It is light and chewy with a bit of fruit for texture and sweetness. Such a cookie cannot be subdued by such a monochromatic day.

Teff Sun Cookies are masked by in a series of flavorful undercurrents. Teff flour gives this cookie a slight chocolate flavor. Maple syrup and sunflower seeds taste more like caramel and nuts than health food staples. Coconut oil softens it and lends a buttery crumb. These cookies are also gluten and dairy free and a bit rebellious.

Gluten-free baking can be fussy. It demands a strict measurement. Dry ingredients are sifted together and set aside; fats are often melted (coconut oil or butter) and blended with other wet ingredients; wet ingredients are added to the dry.

With this recipe, I broke the rules a bit. I first measured the flour, salt, and cinnamon, whisked them together, and set them aside. I used my kitchen aid with the paddle attachment to 'cream' the coconut oil (in solid form), maple syrup, rice milk, applesauce, vanilla, and finely ground sunflower seeds, a step called for in most gluten flour drop cookie recipes. Once the dough was fully mixed, I then mixed in the dry ingredients then followed by the chopped raisins.

It was a worthy rebellion. Taste for yourself.





Teff Sun Cookies
adapted from Bob's Red Mill Recipes and Whole Life Nutrition

Yield 24 cookies

1 1/2 cups Bob's Red Mill Teff Flour
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
3 tablespoons rice milk
2 tablespoons applesauce
1/2 cup coconut oil (left in solid form)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup raw sunflower seeds, finely ground (equals 1 1/4 cups ground)
1/3 cup raisins, chopped


Preheat oven to 350 F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper, set aside.

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, and salt, set aside.

Grind sunflower seeds in a coffee grinder, food processor, or the dry container the Vita-Mix.

In a mixer with the paddle attachment (or in a food processor), combine syrup, rice milk, applesauce, coconut oil, vanilla, and ground sunflower seeds, mix or blend well. Add dry ingredients to the wet in the mixer or in the food processor, mix or blend well. Add the chopped raisins.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place on cookie sheet and flatten gently with fork tines.

Bake 12-15 minutes. Cool on a wire wrack.

Soup, with a secret

When you find fresh spinach, cilantro, and broccoli jammed into the refrigerator's vegetable drawer, it's time to make soup. A simple green soup with notes of spring, creamy broccoli soup with a glob of pesto will wow your taste buds.

The secret to this soup is the spinach cilantro pesto. Swirl it into each bite and as you do you dream about all the foods that it can be smeared on and stirred into. You may even stare out the window unaware that your dining companion continues a conversation as you spoon up a taste of pesto, without the soup.

"Mmm...,' you mutter as you put the spoon down. Then you notice an improbable feat. An empty bowl rests in front of your companion who, by the way, does not like or eat broccoli under any circumstances. Only in this case, he did.

Just don't forget the secret weapon, ever.




Creamy Broccoli Pesto Soup
adapted from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman

Yield 8 servings

4 tablespoons olive oil
2 large onions
2 pounds broccoli (florets separated, stems peeled and chopped)
2 medium potatoes
4 cloves garlic (chopped)
7 cups vegetable stock
½ cup sour cream or yogurt (whole or low fat)
½ cup cream
salt and pepper (to taste)

Heat oil in a large stock pot over medium heat. Add the onions, broccoli, garlic, potatoes, salt and pepper. Cook until onion is soft and translucent (I like my onions and broccoli a bit caramelized, so cook to your taste). Add the stock and cook until the broccoli and potatoes are very tender, 20 minutes or so.

Use a stick blender to purée the soup in the pot (or let soup cool, then purée in small batches in the blender until the soup is smooth).

Stir in the cream, sour cream or yogurt and adjust the seasoning. Serve with one tablespoon of pesto floating in the bowl.


Spinach Cilantro Pesto

½ cup olive oil
½ cup walnuts
3 medium cloves garlic
2 cups packed fresh spinach leaves (large stems removed)
½ cup packed fresh cilantro leaves
3 tablespoons cashew nuts
juice of 1 lemon
salt and pepper (to taste)

Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until creamy smooth.