2012 Food Challenge, Part 1

I'm struggling to find my way through the haze of mommy-brain and get back into the kitchen. I miss creating. I also miss reading and learning new things. Graduate school was an intellectual challenge, and Kenya was challenging in many ways- socially, calorically, and physically. Now I'm back in the U.S. with nothing on my plate besides raising a tiny, quirky, adorable baby who hates sleeping and who is just starting to eye our dinner plates with curiosity, and (dare I hope) enthusiasm.

I need to get back in the kitchen, both literally and metaphorically.

I've got a list of food-related goals for 2012. Well, three lists, actually. I'm sharing the first list today in the hopes that putting it out there will further inspire my sleep-deprived self to be challenged both in and out of the kitchen.

2012 Food Challenge, Part 1:  Read twelve food-related books. 

I am a voracious reader. I love reading. On one of our first international trips together, Nathan was astounded by the pile of books I planned to bring and read (I think I brought 8 or 9 books for a three-week trip.) I assured him that I'd finish them, and I did, and I even foraged around the hostel's bookshelves for more. However, something about having a new baby means that I have less time for reading. That's not to say that I have NO time for reading; I don't make particularly great use of his nap times.

So, I've come up with a list of books that I'd love to dive into this year. My goal is to read all twelve (and substitutions are totally allowed- I've only picked 11 books so far, and the list is subject to change) and review them. They're a mixture of cookbooks, food memoirs, and food-related fiction and non-fiction. I also plan to cook at least one dish inspired by each book and blog about that.

Here are the books:

1. Super Natural Cooking, Heidi Swanson
2. The Greens Cookbook, Deborah Madison
3. The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels, Ree Drummond
4. The Art of Simple Food, Alice Waters
5. Baking Cakes in Kigali, Gaile Parkin
6. The Flavor Bible, Page and Dornenburg
7. Eating Animals, Jonathan Safran Foer
8. Smitten Kitchen cookbook, Deb Perelman
9. The Gastronomy of Marriage, Michelle Maisto
10. Trail of Crumbs, Kim Sunee
11. The Sweet Life in Paris, David Lebovitz
12. (unknown- any suggestions?)

I'll be back later this week with Parts Two and Three of my 2012 Food Challenge. Let me know if you've read any great food-related books lately!

Hollandaise Sauce

Yesterday, we celebrated my mom and her husband's birthdays by having them over for brunch. Brunch is my favorite meal, I think. It's so special that it takes the place of two meals! I'm also usually at my best midday- by the evening I'm pretty tired (Luke keeps us on our toes). I wanted to come up with something special, yet not too time-consuming. My mom is a fan of french food, and Eric likes english muffins and we all love salmon. Salmon eggs benedict it is!

I've never made a hollandaise sauce, and I probably should have practiced in advance. I used Mark Bittman's recipe, and while I adore his writing style and find his recipes easy to follow, I think I failed somewhere along the way. It tasted great (I added extra lemon to complement the salmon) but it was slightly curdled. I think I kept it over the heat too long? The recipe calls for three egg yolks and nearly a stick of butter, so it's definitely a fancy treat rather than an every-day sauce, but I'd try it again, since the execution of the entire meal is relatively simple.

I topped a perfectly-poached egg (I finally figured out how to poach the damn things without them looking like dying jellyfish) with the (slightly lumpy) sauce, and perched it on smoked salmon atop a toasted english muffin. I sauteed cherry tomatoes with rosemary and scattered them around, and served it with a side of sauteed chard. 

I adore leafy greens- I usually cook them the same way, regardless of type: chard, kale, mustard greens, sukuma wiki- by sauteeing them in a fat (olive oil or butter) with minced garlic, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and a tiny drizzle of honey. The honey is key, I think. It balances the bitterness of the green and mellows out the lemon, and really rounds out the dish. 

I think the meal was a hit despite the sauce. Next time, I'll make the hollandaise sauce in an enamel pot and keep the heat as low as possible. Any other tips? 

Making a comeback!

It's been a while. Oddly enough, I've been kind of busy. Who knew a baby would take up so much time? He's a pretty cute distraction from the blog, though.

Our food adventuring ground to a halt before and after Luke arrived, and I've just regained the energy to play around in the kitchen again. I've got itchy feet, but since we won't be travelling anywhere soon, I'm planning to continue exploring the world of food from my kitchen and neighborhood.

This blog started in January 2009, when I was an antsy, vaguely unmotivated grad student. I got the idea to set a cooking challenge for myself, selected 20-odd dishes to learn how to make, and muddled my way through fun dishes such as tamales, mole, dolmades, and potstickers. It was fun, and overall (I think) a success- I learned a lot of new techniques and more importantly- I gained a lot of confidence in the kitchen. I was enthusiastic about food before, but I think learning how to make seemingly complicated dishes has heightened my appreciation of various cuisines.

Then, we moved. To rural Kenya. It was a challenge to cook fancy and familiar foods there, but I enjoyed having something to do while Nathan worked and I job-searched. Then I got pregnant and my enjoyment of food disintegrated into a sad, dismal heap. It took a while to regain my tastebuds and a stable stomach, but in the mean time, I enjoyed blogging about horrible train rides, Kenyan weddings, and hyenas.

But now! I'm back! I'm hungry, I'm slightly less sleep-deprived, and I have a baby who is about to start eating solid foods! Not only that, but I'm living in a house with a gloriously huge kitchen complete with a 6-burner gas stove. Six burners! Imagine!

Needless to say, I'm inspired, and I'm looking forward to lots more food explorations in 2012. I've been concocting a plan for the next year's worth of culinary adventures and I'm excited to learn more kitchen-y tricks this next year.

Did you notice a difference in the blog? It's pretty, yes?! I gave Nathan free reign over the design of the blog and he cooked up this beautiful design. I love it, and the new look makes me look forward to more blogging. (Unfortunately my photo quality probably won't get better anytime soon, since my best and most convenient camera is my iPhone.)

I'll be back soon to share my personal food challenge for 2012- I'm looking forward to exploring food from a range of experiences: from my stovetop to restaurant visits, from the farm to my kitchen, and exploring new (to me) cultures, food-related books, and some ethical food dilemmas as well!