New Kitchen

If you can avoid it (which we really couldn't), I wouldn't recommend trying to arrange the sale of your home, the purchase of another, visiting relatives homes out-of-town (twice), and having your brother in from L.A. all at the same time. Actually, the part about having Dave here has just made things more fun, but things have been pretty crazy. What I'm trying to say is, sorry about not posting lately. I'll be better next year (like after we close January 8th.)

Did I ever show you my old microwave? The one that had the handle that broke off, and fell in two large chunks into the pasta sauce I was cooking at the time?



The one I repaired with super glue, rubber bands, and garbage bag ties? No? Well, that might be because you were coming over for dinner, and I didn't want you to cancel when you saw this thing.



(Yes, we had to have that repaired before selling the place.) I have looked forward to getting a new house and a new, gigantic kitchen for longer than I can tell you.

Well, that time has finally arrived. As of January, I will take possession of my Kitchen of the Future, which is not gigantic, but it sure is new!



It has much more usable counterspace (and granite tops, yay!) than my current kitchen, and those new appliances... I can't wait. The stove is electric, which I do not prefer, but I can try to adapt. If I can't, I may have to go back to gas. I will no doubt burn countless dishes before I get used to it, but I am going to try. I had seen bigger kitchens in the homes we looked at, but this place overall was such a great fit for us that I think it is worth it (and hey, it is bigger than the alley kitchen I have now.) I plan on putting a built-in cabinet space, or just a large buffet at the head of the dining area for extra dish storage. I'm really looking forward to the new-ness of it all!

Enjoy Your Lunch with Grendel

I am so sorry about my infrequent posting of late... I have been cooking all week, however, just to keep myself sane in between the house-hunting. We put an offer on a house, which we have retracted based on the results of the home inspection. That's one that we paid for with real money, and one inspection by a lovely architect named Marco that we met through my friend Maira. We paid Marco with a bolognese pasta dinner I made him. And fudge.

I have a few photos of that for later, but for now I have something that you must read. My brother is the funniest person on earth, and when you read this account of his lunch with his boss (have a strong stomach), you'll see that I'm in no way biased.

Mmmm... Umami!

I found this article from the Wall Street Journal to be intensely illuminating, and I just had to share it. (Please do not get the impression that I am a regular WSJ reader; I am nowhere near that deep.) At first I clicked on the title and read it just out of curiosity: a new taste discovered? Neat.

But now I realize that this article is all about me. Some of you out there are sweetness junkies and carb-lovers. My husband is a good example: we have joked for years about the loving way that he hovers over any pastry, bread, rice, potato, sugary snack or, *gasp*, any combination of the aforementioned (like a cinnamon roll, or a sugared pastry.) I have always said that I like salt as much as he likes sugar, but that isn't exactly right. I do often find dishes to be too salty. But now I know what it is that I really crave: umami!

The article describes "umami" as the deep, meaty, satisfying and complex flavor that is present in a variety of foods: Worcestershire sauce, mushrooms, parmesan cheese, anchovies, and on and on. Just as table sugar is "just sweet," MSG is "just umami." Some parts of the article are a bit scary, like the goings-on of a certain food lab that is using "an artificial taste bud" (bringing sci-fi images of a large, disembodied organ to mind -- if I touched it, would it taste me?) to test artificial means of manufacturing umami, and a PR push to get the public to accept MSG as a "more natural product." But there are natural ways of bringing out the umami flavor that is already present in foods: by roasting, grilling, drying, and sautéing. To me, this gives a name to something that I have figured out in experimenting with vegetarian foods. Using certain ingredients, combined with certain techniques (mushrooms, parmesan, roasted veggies, grilled tofu and eggplant, sun-dried tomatoes, etc.) make a dish much more satisfying than those without. I'm not a vegetarian, but I think the knowledge makes my vegetarian dishes better. Personally, I think it is umami that separates the vegetarian entrées from the side dishes.

It also explains why I've always needed parmesan in my chicken soup! What I need now is a t-shirt that tells the world what I really am: "Umami Freak."

P.S. I first read this article on a tiny screen in small text -- I apologize, but I misspelled umami the first time around. My thanks to those who commented and shouted this at me in ALL CAPS. Oops.

Smoked Cheese and Broccoli Pizza

Things have been pretty stressful around here lately... We have been house-hunting, and trying to figure out how to balance what we want in a house (Chris wants a basement, and I want either a nice kitchen, or a house cheap enough to renovate the kitchen) with the area that we want to live in (we like a walk to either downtown Arlington Heights, Mt. Prospect, or Des Plaines). As I write this, we are in a price negotiation over a house. I have decided to post in an attempt to distract myself from the worrying!

When my time is limited, I tend to rely on Trader Joe's or other places that I can get simple, prepped food to put together (Market Day helps, too). Chris requested "broccoli pizza" one night, and I thought that sounded good, too. I dunno where he came up with that, but I was happy to provide something so simple.

I steamed a bag of pre-cut broccoli florets, and shredded some smoked jack cheese over some plain shredded mozzarella. I layered them over tomato sauce and extra minced garlic over a pre-made wheat pizza crust (Tabula Rasa is the Joe's brand.) While layering the pizza, I caught Chris making an appetizer out of the cheese and broccoli.



He was putting a small pile of smoked cheese atop a steamed broccoli floret and eating them one at a time. I tried it, and he was really onto something, there!



I knew that the pizza would turn out well because our snack had been so good. That rich taste that broccoli has, and the smoked cheese went really well together.

Pasta Regina Margherita

A lot of you are probably familiar with the basic pizza margherita, named after Queen Margherita of Italy. The colors of the neopolitan pizza are in honor of the Italian flag: the green of the basil, the white of the mozzarella, and the red of the tomato sauce. This cold pasta salad is my version of those same basic colors and flavors, and unlike a whole pizza, you can toss it in the air and catch it in your mouth, even if you're not a Border Collie.



one box of whole-wheat farfalle, or whatever pasta you like
a couple handfuls of the basil and scallions, chopped small
2 cloves garlic, minced fine
1 small bag of sun-dried tomatoes, cubed
1 drained container of ovoline, the pearl-shaped fresh mozzarella
1 large handful of pignoli, or pine nuts, toasted and tossed in a skillet first

Cook the pasta, rinse it and drain it. Combine all the other ingredients, then dress it: combine 1 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar, the juice of one lemon, at least a tablespoon of salt, some pepper to taste, and about a tablespoon of sugar. Whisk that in a Pyrex or shake it in a container. Toss the pasta in it, and taste it. Add salt or pepper, or red pepper flakes, as I like to do. You can chill this a little, or serve it at room temperature, which I think is better.



I brought this to a housewarming party some time ago, and I think everyone liked it. The sun-dried tomatoes and the pignolis keep it from being bland (and the red pepper, if you add it.) It was pretty cost-effective, and you could have fed an army with the amount it made.