My anger and injury over the closing of Gourmet has been simmering since I heard the news back in October. But, I am not about immediacy. I prefer long cooked dishes, lingering dinners, and well thought out plans. Blogging is a counter-intuitive medium for me, as many bloggers, and even the “successful blog” model rely on posting frequently. The passing of 2009, however, lets me revisit this piece I wrote and abandoned:
We are living in interesting times where the future of newspapers and print media are uncertain. The most disappointing thing to me is the dirth of quality journalism – and sometimes this even prevents me from pressing the publish button. I would rather read one well researched, well written, well edited article than 30 short, quickly published blog entries. But don’t get me wrong – I don’t care about the medium, as long as the writing is something worth reading. Now, there are more words available, more people writing them, and more places to read them, but quality writing is rare even through established venues. Traditional newspapers are some of the worst offenders – why do I care if your paper no longer exists when your staff cuts has dropped your quality level so extremely (NYT I’m looking at you)?
The closing of Gourmet Magazine felt like the death of a friend. No, the murder of a friend. I might be on the young end of the demographic, but I’ve been a reader for over 10 years. Maybe more than a reader. I was attached to it – even when I lived abroad and couldn’t find the magazine, my mother would send me her back issues to sate me. Impassioned arguments were made by publishers and bloggers when the news surfaced, yet I didn’t and don’t agree with any of them. I don’t think the ‘blogosphere’ has enlightened me, I don’t find the Cook’s Illustrated model very interesting, and I’m absolutely sick of the food tv/magazine/book/blogging obsessive focus on recipes. One of the arguments I’ve heard for the closing of one of the Conde Nast food magazines is that the websites, blogs, etc have filled the niche for food writing and recipes. And I agree – the internet fills the exact niche that made it easy to stop reading Bon Appetit. In January 2009 I cancelled my subscription because the boring articles and uninspired recipes didn’t seem worth the meager $15/year. It was frustrating, or rather, actively irritating enough that I didn’t want it coming to me every month, especially when I have access to a wide number of blogs and websites that I can get similar content from. And despite its dwindling pages, I kept my Gourmet subscription because even with reduced content I have found nothing to replace it.
Sauver and Gastronomica are magazines I follow, and Food & Wine can be a good read, but Gourmet was unique in its devotion to (what I consider) the “good life.” My devotion to the magazine was due to its focus on quality. Not just a focus on tasty food – everything about it was well considered – outstanding writing, fantastic photography, thorough research, strong editorial voice without ever being overpowering – and most important to me, an element of fantasy. Maybe I’m not the customer Conde Nast is looking for, but I was well aware that there are ingredients, and restaurants, and travel locations that I could never afford within those beautiful mute-gloss pages. And I liked that. I wanted to be transported, I wanted inspiration. The last thing I want, or wanted, is another variation on a quick recipe to make after coming home from a day of work. I do that every freaking day, and I don’t read for affirmation. Gourmet, rest in peace, was like nothing else. I wanted to read something beautiful – beautiful in its craft – that combination of cooking, dining, writing, design, communicating – and to my mind Gourmet is the only periodical that ever got the balance right.
To add insult to injury, my Gourmet subscription was commuted into a Bon Appetit subscription. I read the January issue that came to me, then promptly hurled its testament to mediocrity across the room. Today I officially subscribed to Savuer. 2010, my first Gourmet-less year.
Lately I have been working later shifts and not only is this bad for blogging, it means I have been spending a lot less quality time in the kitchen. My fleeting weekends occasionally get monopolized by events, visitors, and a variety of other entertainments, but this weekend I was determined to cook something long and lovely. Saturday’s rainy autumn afternoon made me long for my favorite – long braised meat and creamy polenta. I went to the grocery store planning to buy short ribs, but was less than satisfied by the offering, so I chose a meat that has been showing up on that particular store’s shelves a lot recently: veal stew meat.
The beautiful thing about this dish is that the young meat, chicken stock rather than beef, and orange essence add a lightness to the long cooked stew that seems perfect for the season of change from warmth to winter.
Veal Stew
Around a pound of veal stew meat, cut into small cubes
Flour
Salt and Pepper
1 lg or 2 sm oranges, zest and juice separate
1 small clove garlic, sliced
1 dollop of tomato paste
1 can chicken stock
Chopped fresh Italian parsley
Toss the cut veal with salt, pepper and flour. Brown in olive oil, and remove from pan. The flour might make the veal pieces look a little gunky, but this is fine as it will melt off and enrich the sauce when re-added. Add the juice from one orange and get all the browned bits unstuck from the bottom while it simmers. Add the zest, tomato paste, sliced garlic, and chicken stock, and bring to a boil, re-add the meat, bring down to a simmer and cover and cook for at least an hour. If it doesn’t have enough tang, add a tablespoon or more orange juice. If its too thick, add some water and if it isn’t as thick as you’d like, add a slurry of flour and water (or to be more dramatic and decadent, a beurre manie) and let cook a little longer. Serve with a sprinkle of chopped Italian parsley over the top.
It is incredibly easy to make if you have the time to let it simmer – almost a disappointment to someone who wanted to spend time in the kitchen. I’m calling it a stew, but really its braised meat with a velvety, rich sauce so it really needs an accompaniment. I made up my kitchen time by watching over a pot of creamy polenta to serve it with, but if an easy meal is called for, I’m betting it would be great over couscous which only takes some boiling water and a few minutes to make. Buttered egg noodles would also be easy and yummy alternative.
Filed under: Kitchen Notes, Recipe | Tags: baked eggs, polenta, Recipe, roasted tomatoes, sauteed spinach
I have a love/hate relationship with eggs. I can’t stand the typical diner omelette or greasy fried eggs with the yolks fully cooked. Dry scrambled eggs are palatable, but far from enticing. And even just the smell of hard-boiled egg, egg salad, or deviled eggs absolutely turns my stomach. But eggs poached or lovingly fried so the white is tender but cooked while the yolk remains hotly runny, so when it is punctured it spills a delicious secret sauce all over your plate is something I dream about. Light, sharply cheesy souffles, quiches and frittatas filled with any combination of savory morsels, sauces fortified with raw yolks, and rich custard desserts are some of my favorites. Creamy, soft-curd scrambled eggs or a properly cooked, custardy centered French style omelette have become indulgent comfort foods.
This evening I have a birthday party to attend which got in the way of my desire to spend my afternoon in the kitchen cooking something for Saturday dinner. Instead I decided to make something hearty and brunch-like, so I could still get in some time in the kitchen and have a substantial enough afternoon meal that I can eat lightly later on. At the grocery store I recently picked up these tiny, locally-farmed organic eggs that are that much more beautiful than the ones I normally pick up, so I figured an egg dish was the ticket. I’ve recently been thinking about adding some new baked egg dishes to my repertoire, but the eggs en cocotte recipe I’ve had my eye on seemed a little more delicate than I was going for today. So I decided to try a layered baked dish with the eggs on top.
Baked Eggs and Polenta with Roasted Tomatoes and Spinach
Roasted tomatoes
Sauteed spinach and onions
Cooked polenta
5 medium eggs (adjust if eggs are larger)
Salt and pepper
2 tbsp Parmesan cheese
Preheat oven to 400°, butter a souffle dish and fill the bottom with the cooked polenta. Mix together the roasted tomatoes and sauteed spinach and onions and spread as a layer on top of the polenta. Crack each egg one at a time into a shallow dish, making sure to keep yolk intact. Pour each on top of the layered polenta and veggies, trying to space out the yolks and cover entire top with whites. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and grated Parmesan cheese. Bake in hot oven for 15-25 minutes or until whites and yolks achieve an acceptable level of doneness.
Substantial and delicious was achieved, especially as I fried some bacon and toasted some english muffins to accompany the dish. The yolks were a little more cooked than I had hoped, coming out cooked on the top, and liquid under the crust. In the end it was a good mix of runny and cooked as the fellow eating with me is not the same fan of juicy yolks that I am. As I was interested in spending time in the kitchen, I actually made each component today and then put them together, but I could see this dish being an extremely easy way to put together leftovers with the fresh eggs on top.
Component recipes:
Quick Roasted Tomatoes:
1 can whole plum tomatoes
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper
Pre-heat oven to 400°. Drain tomatoes and squeeze excess juice from them and roughly chop. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper, and spread evenly in small baking pan. Roast about 30 minutes.
Sauteed Spinach and Onions
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cups torn spinach
1/2 large spanish onion, chopped
Heat pan to medium high and add olive oil. Saute onions until translucent and beginning to color, and add spinach. Saute until wilted.
Polenta
3 cups water
1 scant cup cornmeal
1 cup monterey jack cheese
1/4 milk or cream
Salt
Bring water to a rolling boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Add polenta in a steady stream while whisking. Reduce heat to low and continue to whisk regularly for about 30 minutes. Whisk in cream and cheese until again smooth.
Filed under: Travel
I love to travel, but I am terrified of flying. Don’t let this confuse you. This doesn’t stop me from anything. This just makes me a terrible person to be around when it happens. I require pills and alcohol and can never sleep and have spastic movements every time the plane moves a little bit. Rationally, I know there is nothing to worry about – but this is why it carries the moniker “irrational fear.” But this is not a story about how stupidly scared I get. This is a story about mine and others stupidity at Security.
When I moved to Oakland, I finally had a full kitchen all to myself. Oven, big fridge, room for a big cutting board, and any appliance I could hold. I wanted a food processor. And I got one – back in Connecticut at Christmas, my mother gave me a classic brushed metal Cuisinart that I freaked out over. I didn’t even take it out of the packaging because I knew I was just bringing it straight back to my California kitchen to use. I had only been on the East Coast for a short time, so I hadn’t checked my carry-on sized bag on the way over. But now it was laden with presents and stuff, plus I had a shopping bag with an unopened Cuisinart. As per my insanity, I had already smoked a requisite two cigarettes in anticipation of nicotine depravation, and dosed myself with half a Xanax with the plan of downing an airport lounge vodka and another half a pill upon being seated. So I checked the overnight bag, and took the food processor and my purse with me.
See, the thing is, I didn’t think about what is included in a food processor. I just thought, yay, I can do so much with it… Not, wow, there are really big, sharp, metal blades that are components.
Of course, it wasn’t until I was pulled aside for a full inspection that the panic even the Xanax couldn’t stop started coursing through my body. Now, I’m generally not phased by being searched – I was once almost denied entry to a plane back to the US for looking nervous (um, did I mention I’m terrified of flying?), and flying alone on a bunch of cheap, one-way tickets is one of the quickest ways to get “randomly” searched. But it wasn’t until I got the nod for the extra search that I really started freaking out, realizing what I was holding. Even though I could feel the anxiety to my toes, the Xanax had at least made me seem chilled out to the public. In a certain way, I’m grateful that for once, they wanted to extra search what I was carrying on instead of my person – if they wanted to search me, that would have required a woman guard. Instead, I had a very military looking man. Who, thankfully, had no idea what a food processor is. He cut the seal of the present I hadn’t even opened while I held my breath. And opened my gift. And on the top was cardboard, and plastic, and styrofoam. He poked around. He closed it back up and told me to go on my way. I put my shoes back on and hurried away before he could change his mind.
I found a bar and ordered a double vodka, and after calming down, actually slept on my flight. I thank the TSA for taking the time to scare the shit out of me, actually being completely incompetent, and giving me the most calm flight of my life by accident.
