I've been making lists my whole life, what's one more?

I've been building/discombobulating a lot of stuff lately. It's been really interesting to see how things work and to understand what makes things run (or not run:). It got me thinking...if someone were to take apart my kitchen, what would they find at the heart of it? Besides a healthy dose of intuition and a sprinkle of narcissism here and there, they would find a bevy of staples that have become like an old friend to me (not the ones in my red swingline, but, yeah, those are special too:). So, I've started a list here of things I always have to have, or think I have to have. without further ado:

FRESH VEG

potatoes (come on. only like the most versatile veg on earth.)

carrots (mirepoix component, good for roasting, soups, stir fries, snacks)

celery (mirepoix component, good snack, leaves are great for flavor boosts)

onions (I put onions in everything. Just know that right now.)

garlic (see onions. above:)

cilantro (like to have on hand for making chutney, flavoring mex/asian dishes

flat leaf parsley (it's mostly for pretty, come on, I take pictures of dinner...)

ginger root (actually use this in a lot of stuff, more than you would think)

some sort of pepper (usually poblanos/pasillas, sometimes bells, sometimes jalps)

DAIRY

milk

parmesan

butter (salted and un)

a range of cheeses (try to have a few ranging from soft to firm, in case emergency cheese plate assemblage is needed, it's for guests and stuff. and seriously, sometimes you just want to eat some good cheese.)

eggs? (why are eggs always in dairy? weird. always buy cage free organic, unless my mom brings them to me.)

sour cream

plain yogurt ( Really like greek stuff, but is wicked expensive, usually get dannon)

fruit yogurts ( I like wallaby, and brown cow brands the best.)

heavy cream (was reluctant to put this in there, but I do usually have it.)

DRY/CANNED GOODS

canned whole tomatoes (I like the "clearly organic" brand at super saver)

canned tuna in olive oil

canned broth/stock (chicken, beef, veggie)

Tomato sauce

tomato paste

various pasta (like to have a thin spaghetti, and penne or something shorter)

rice( jasmine, basmati, sushi, and arborio)

quick couscous

dried chiles (ancho, new mexico)

ap flour

wheat flour

sugar/dark brown sugar

baking powder/soda

vanilla

dark chocolate

cocoa powder

olive oil (of course!)

roasted walnut oil (for dressings)

veg oil/canola oil

sesame oil

balsamic, red wine, rice, apple cider, and distilled white vinegars

fish sauce

soy sauce

oyster sauce

dried beans (pinto, baby lima, lentils, split peas, black turtle, and navy)

pam (or other pan spray)

MEAT/FROZEN STUFF

Bacon

some good sausages (andouille, chorizo, brats)

at least one whole chicken

peas (don't be a hater, frozen peas are top notch for risotto and stews)

at least one good, big, roasting meat for entertaining (lamb, beef, pork shoulder, etc)

shell-on shrimp (talk about a quick, easy dinner.)

ice cream (wifeshow would be disappointed if I forgot, yeah, I know we're out:)

MISC

perrier (2 bottles a week)

crackers

pickles/olives

potato chips (I try to buy a bag of kettle chips once in a while, not too often though)

corn chips/salsa

tortillas

tostada shells

red curry paste

so, yeah, seems like a lot, but there are ENDLESS possibilities here. It is really nice to have this stuff on hand, because it all keeps really well (with the exception of the cilantro) and you'll be able to throw together a good, healthy meal really easily. I won't even go into my spice cupboard, that's another post entirely...not even joking.

oh, almost forgot, food. first pic is roasted sausages with scallions and cherry tomatoes on grilled ww baguette. (used staples). 2nd pic is a braised chicken (whole chicken, potatoes, carrot, celery, onion, beer, spices) (all staples). 3rd pic is creamy potatoes and peas (potates, peas, onion, milk, butter, bacon, parsley.) you get the idea. Outfitting your pantry with stuff like this makes your life so much easier, and will make you such a better cook.

I probably left out a ton of stuff, but my kitchen is up stairs and I'm in the basement.

Let me know what you guys have to have in your kitchens. I'm interested to see what things are lurking in your cupboards...

DISH is reading: "The shining", Stephen King. I try to read a scary book every halloween season. I have to admit, I'm kind of scared...

DISH recommends:

St. Andre cheese. Thanks to Mia, I have a new weakness. If I ever get locked in that cracker prison, I hope I have this on hand. Those salty bars of wheat won't have a chance. ( got it at super t. Expensive? some would say, but cheaper than selling your soul away, which is what you might have to do to quit eating it.)

The end of one season, the start of another...

I can't believe that the farmer's market is finally over. A collective sigh of relief can be heard all through the bakery as things (at least on friday nights), hopefully slow down just a touch. I have sooooo many things that I want to accomplish before next may, so I've had to prioritize. Here are a few:

Start Kitchen Remodel: It literally kills me to know that I have a brand new super sweet convection oven just camping out down in my basement. I pretend it's not there. However, I don't really want to start remodeling in the dead of winter so this whole subject is kind of up in the air. We have our cabinets picked out (sort of), Wifeshow has been drawing out the kitch in her sparetime, we are just waiting it out until our cabs go on sale again...

Resume production of dishbook: Yeah, Yeah...you guys try and write a book. it's super hard (right Marth!). Not only do you have to have original ideas, you have to have the time, and more importantly, the motivation, which I've been lacking greatly here in the last few months. Although, I've been thinking of enlisting a certain crafty lady, if only I can steal her away from her awesome sewing machine and borrow some of her fairy dust to sprinkle on my computer... (seriously, mia, think it over, I don't know when you would have the time but...:)

Acquire some new furniture: It's time to get some new stuff. you know that old couch that was your first piece of furniture that you moved from apartment to apartment? yeah, that's where we are.

Try and take some sort of vacation: oh man do we need this one. Two people, each working around fifty hours a week. different schedules. you get the idea. We see each other for about 3 hours per day during the week. hopefully we can get away for at least 3-5 days. don't have anywhere in mind though, mames has to go to alaska later on, maybe I'll meet her there...

ok foodstuffs: if you have never roasted a piece of meat all day long, put it on your list of things to do this next weekend. The first pic there is an all day roasted pork shoulder. It was around seven pounds and it cooked from 9am until about 6 pm. The trick here is to start the roast off at a really high heat (450-500F) for about 20-30 minutes, and then knock it down to 250 for the remainder of the time. you can season the beast however you like. I just did some herbs (scarbourough fair style) and salt and pepper. You score the skin on top and give the meat a good rub down, getting into all the scored areas. I rested the shoulder (always, fat and skin side up!) on some roughly chopped veg (potates, turnips, onions, celery, and carrots) and then just let it do its thing. the roasting meat and herbs perfume your house with a great smell. Your neighbors will be jealous, even more than normal:) about an hour before the meat is done, tip a whole bottle of white wine into the pan and let that cook for the last hour. when it's done, pull the roast out and set aside for about 20 minutes before you start dismantling it, and pour some stock (chick or veg) into the roasting pan and let it reduce to your liking. You could thicken it if you want a gravy, but I just kind of like "jus" style. Served with some sauteed lacinato kale. Next pic is some braised elk and carrots with super creamy mashed potatoes, which were kind of an accident, but will become a mainstay now. here's the do: Peel the tates, salt the cold water and set them on high. let them boil for about 4 minutes and then cover and turn down to low and let cook for about 35 minutes (seems like a long time, I know, just go with it). Drain water and then smash with butter and sour cream (no milk!) until desired consistency is reached. Yeah, they're fatty, but seriously how often do you eat mashed potatoes? well, you might eat them more if you try it this way...season with salt and peps. next dish was butternut squash soup with braised kale, mushrooms, and bacon. a very good soup that will definitely ward off the frigid briskies. Last dish was chicken madeline, a dish I made up for the Iske's. basically chicken paillards, sauteed with brocolli, caramelized onions, and garlic, then simmered in parmesan cream and served with roasted potatoes.

ok, non-foods: Last week, we bought some power tools. Nothing that I ever thought that I would be saying, but, hey, this is definitely a year of firsts. We debated and debated and decided to go with dewalt stuff, and let me tell you, I couldn't be happier. Very well made and definitely full of zip. I've already used the reciprocating saw that I never thought I would use...

Also, Back to foods: sorry, almost forgot. I eventually knew this was going to happen, but have been putting it off for a while...Wifeshow and I are switching to buying organic stuff. Well, right now we've converted to just produce (except for a few things). We are so close to open harvest now and the quality is just so much better. If there is one thing I hate, it's mediocre produce. I thought that there would be a huge increase in cost, but honestly, we did the math and we only spent 5 extra dollars. 5 bucks, peeps. To me, that's totally worth it, just have to be smart about what we buy there. It may not necessarily be better for our bodies, but I know that it is better for the earth. and it's kind of cool that my carrots came from only 5 miles away, instead if a bajillion. if you haven't been there in a while, check out open harvest. they've remodeled the place, and it's pretty nice. hmmm, I forgot to post the cassoulet recipe again....perhaps later in the week...

DISH recommends:

Bubbies Pickles: It used to be my goal to find the best pickle in lincoln, or nebraska for that matter. until a while ago, I had given up, everything that I had found was lackluster and just riddled with neon green chemicals. that was, until, I picked up a jar of these hunger inducing gems. I can't recommend them enough, just be prepared to shell out 7 bucks a jar ! (Got mine at open harvest)

Duck, Duck, Loose!

For the longest time now, i've wanted to make some duck. It's something that I am not the most familiar with, but I do enjoy it quite a bit. For whatever reason, I kept putting it off, until last week, when I decided to just go for it. Made a cherry cider and balsamic reduction to drizzle over the top and also had some potatoes and asparagus that were roasted in rendered duck fat. Pretty decadent dish, but you know, sometimes you just have to...

Also, the legs and thighs were smoked and then used in cassoulet (will post recipe later, would make this too long), along with smoked pork butt and smoked sausages. That dish was so good that I had wolfed it down before I realized I didn't take a picture. Other dish is veggie risotto, probably an effort to offset the massive meat consumption. Speaking of ducks, wolfing things down, etc, here is a story from my childhood, thought you guys might enjoy this:

"The Year of the Duck"

“You have to come over and check this out.” Those were the words coming from my best friend on the other end of the phone line. It was his birthday, and I was sure that his parents had just given him a super Nintendo. After all, it was all that I had been asking him to ask them for. I was out the door in record time, pedaling toward marioland. I don’t even think that I hung the phone up. On the way there, I thought about how much my life was about to change, how I was going to play a super Nintendo before my brothers, and how jealous that would make them; especially when I wouldn’t tell them anything about it.

When I got to his house, I knocked on the door and tried to contain my excitement. I’m sure one of his parents answered the door, but I couldn’t concern myself with such trifle things as saying hello, so I ducked under his mom/dad’s arm and ran back to his room. There he was, on his bed with his back turned to me crouching over his great new “Excalibur” of a present. I took two steps sideways to take in the glorious view of the machine that would dictate our lives for the next year, only to find that what I had come over to see was a baby yellow duck. “I named him “Mighty Duck!” said my best friend. “Do you want to hold him?” Now, of course I didn’t want to hold the duck, I wanted to escape into a land where eating mushrooms makes you bigger and where plumbers can defeat angry, hammer-throwing prehistoric turtles. I wanted to feel the sweet sting of sweat that only comes after an all-nighter of intensive 16-bit video game overload, but all I could say was “Sure.” So I reached out my hand, letting go of my hopes and embracing what did not at all resemble the second player controller. “I think it’s the best present ever!” he said. “It’s pretty great,” was my apathetic reply. What was I suppose to say to him? It was lame and that we couldn’t use it to play contra? About that moment, Mighty duck pooped on my hand. That was it; any hope this duck had of me being nice to it was over. My friend laughed and I wanted to smear my poop hand all over his face, but it was his birthday, and even I wasn’t that mean…yet.

As the duck grew, so did my hatred for him. It would follow my friend around wherever he went and he treated it as if it was his new best friend. The duck was even getting in the way of our playing “home run derby.” That was our favorite game, since we had no super Nintendo. His yard was our baseball field and it was pretty hard to hit a home run. That stupid duck was always in the way. Let’s just say that a lot of low grounders were aimed in the duck’s general direction.

One particular day, we were playing a pretty good game of “derby” and I happened to notice the back gate being open. “Hey man, are you going to shut that gate?” I said. “No, Mighty duck stays right by my side, there’s no need,” he said, with an almost mocking tone. For some reason that statement burned in me like a hot ember and further fueled my resentment for that stupid duck. All the frustration of not being able to live vicariously through a present I, I mean he, had never received had finally taken it’s toll on me. I knew that the next pitch was going to be a worm- burning grounder headed for Mighty Duck. My friend wound up to throw me a fastball, and just as he was about to release the baseball, it happened. A stray dog had run into the yard from the open back gate and headed towards mighty duck. The dog grabbed the duck by the neck and ran off shaking the duck until it flapped lifelessly in the great beast’s jaws. At that moment, essentially a moment that seemed like it was orchestrated by me, the ducks arch enemy, I felt something I had not experienced before. Part of me wanted to cry (a very small part, and mostly for my friend), another part of me wanted to laugh, (because seriously, what are the odds that sweet irony would rain down so heavily upon us?) but most of me was so incredibly confused that all I could do was say, “uhhhhhh…” Sometimes I think that I felt bad because the dog beat me to the punch, but that would make me a monster; sometimes I think that I felt bad for my friend who lost one of his friends in such a horrible way; but mostly I think about how much I wanted a super Nintendo and how much I hated that duck. I guess the moral of this story is, If the dish asks you to ask for something for your birthday, solely for selfish reasons, you should probably do it, or else wild, roaming beasts may run off with your present:)

When I went to the apple jack, I had a caramel apple, but that's only because I couldn't take a dumpling.

I think that I have said before that autumn is my favorite season. I have this theory that you always prefer the time of year that you were born in. Maybe it is because we look forward to that time so much when we are little because we get to celebrate our birthdays and we get used to anticipating it all year long. Anyway, whatever the case, autumn wins out. as the weather turns colder, we find ourselves craving heartier things like soups, stews, and APPLE DUMPLINGS!!! That's right, peeled, cored and stuffed apples wrapped in buttery dough and then baked, and then getting a warm bath in a caramely, brandytastic sauce. Could it get better? only if you ate them on a plate made out of 100 dollar bills with a fork made of diamonds! Wifeshow and I made these (mostly her, except I rolled out the dough (we cheated and bought puff pastry from ideal:)). here's your do: (adapted from martha stewart)

use your favorite pastry dough recipe (or buy puff pastry dough if you spent the whole day helping friends move and then went on a laborious trek to outfit your kitchen with new cupboards and suffered a huge attack of sticker shock, launching you into a post-lowe's coma).

and then:

for syrup:

1/4 packed brown sugar

2 cups apple juice (we used some cider from arbor day farms)

1/2 c brandy

2 tbs honey

1/4 c pure maple syrup

1.5 t freshly grated ginger

2 tbs butter

2 tbs lemon juice

for filling:

2 tbs brandy

2 tbs dried cherries

2 tbs all purp flour

2 tbs almonds

2 tbs brown sugar

1 tbs butter

1/8 t ground nutmeg

1/8 t cinnamon

not filling:

4 apples, I used some jonathans, peeled and cored

4 cinnamon sticks

1 lemon, cut into quarters

dumpling assemblage:

egg white lightly beaten

egg yolk, beaten with tbs heavy cream.

ok, now:

combine all the syrup ingredients in a medium saucepan, and cook over med-high (stirring occasionally) until reduced by half (20 minuntes-ish), remove from heat, set aside.

then:

combine all the filling ingredients in a food processor, pulverize. peel and core apples, and rub them with the lemon quarters so they don't turn brown.

heat oven to 450. roll out dough to 1/8 inch thickness into 6 inch squares (might need to be bigger for bigger apples). brush entire surface of dough with egg white and then set apple in middle. Fill apple with filling and then insert cinnamon stick, wrapping the dough around and then overlapping it slighty (dipping finger in egg white and pressing overlapping corners into each other), should look like a rustic tart. brush with egg/cream mixture and repeat with the other apples. transfer apples to roasting pan lined with parch or silpat. bake for 15 minutes, then reduce to 375. remove pan from oven and baste with the syrup mixture. return pan to oven and bake 10 minutes more, basting every 5 minutes (twice), continue baking dumplings until golden brown, about ten more minutes (total time 45 minutes). transfer pan to wire rack to cool slightly. heat up syrup mixture and serve with the apples. We put ours in syrup filled bowls (with more syrup over the top, naturally:).

ps, if you have scrap dough (which you will) and you want to be a fancy pants, then take a pairing knife and cut little leaves out of the dough and stick them on, using egg white for glue. then, take your knife and make little "veins" in the leaves. cute points abound. ENJOY!