Chicken and Cheese Arepas

My last outing with masa harina involved these delicious tamales. I have to admit that I haven't made them again since, but after rediscovering its wonder in this recipe, I plan to put them back on the menu right quick. 

In the meantime, these beautiful fried arepas are a wonderful treat that highlights the distinct flavor of masa harina that I really love. Arepas are a Mexican cornmeal patty filled with any variety of ingredients. In this case, I used leftover chicken. The original recipe calls for roast pork, or you could use a rotisserie chicken. The tangy slaw topping is essential and with nothing more than red wine vinegar, aids a nice fresh crunchy texture to the meal. Be sure to make it early in the game so the flavors have time to meld as you form the arepas. 

Chicken and Cheese Arepas

Adapted from Food & Wine

2 cups masa harina
1 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons warm water
Kosher salt
2 cups finely shredded red cabbage
1/4 small red onion, very thinly sliced
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 pound cooked chicken, shredded
4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (1 cup)
Hot sauce, for seasoning
Vegetable oil, for frying
Sliced pickled jalapeños, cilantro and sour cream, for serving

In a bowl, mix the masa harina, water and 1 teaspoon of salt to form a soft dough. Form into a ball and cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let stand for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in another bowl, toss the cabbage, onion and vinegar. Season with salt.

In a small bowl, combine the pork and cheddar and season with salt and hot sauce. (I used Sriracha.) Form the pork filling into 4 compact balls.

Form the dough into 4 balls and cover with plastic wrap. 

Working with one dough ball at a time, use your fingertips to gently flatten it on a sheet of plastic wrap to a 7-inch round. Place a pork filling ball in the center of the dough. Use the plastic wrap to push the dough up to cover the filling, working your way around the ball in a circle. Gently flatten the ball into a 4-inch patty and patch any holes or tears. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling.

In a large skillet, heat 1/4 inch of vegetable oil over high heat until shimmering. Add the arepas and fry, turning once, until golden, crisp and heated through, about 6 minutes. Drain on paper towels and transfer to plates. Using a slotted spoon, mound the cabbage slaw on top of the arepas and serve with jalapeños, cilantro and sour cream.

Wedding invite design

Earlier this year I was approached by a couple who had received my Boston Terriers in Love card from a friend. They liked the card very much and are getting married this June. The two have a full brood of dogs and wondered if I could translate the card into Boxers, since they have three. I had a great time putting together the top design. Ultimately, they decided on something closer to the original design, in a folded card style seen below, but I still wanted to show this off because it so much fun to do and I thought you might enjoy it!  

Dan Dan Noodles

This is a great, fast recipe for weeknight dinners. I joked with the boy that it's like a quick Asian version of bolognese sauce — ground meat fully flavored with a luscious poignant sauce, but made on the fast. I've never had the authentic Chinese Dan dan version, and so can only imagine that this is most highly Americanized version courtesy of Bon Appetit — but I just loved its wonderful flavor! I used the suggested substitute of Japanese udon noodles, as I couldn't find traditional Chinese cu mian (thick fun) noodles called for in the original recipe. I think next time I might Americanize it even more by trying linguine (sacrilege, mais non?!?) as I might prefer a more substantial bite to the noodle than the somewhat mushy udon provides.

But back to the flavor — it is fantastic, yet somewhat subtle. Again, I did more substituting with Aleppo pepper flakes standing in for Sichuan peppercorns. This is starting to sound like a bad Epicurious recipe review where every ingredient is substituted out for something else and then the reviewer is so sadly disappointed in the "recipe," and yet, this is not, and — I am not!

You will find all kinds of threads online saying there is no substitute for Sichuan peppercorns. Alas, I could not find them conveniently, so resorted to my favorite hot pepper, the Aleppo, and just loved the overall result, but I am sure you could also give plain ol' crushed red pepper flakes a try, though I may start with just a 1/2 teaspoon as they are significantly spicier than Aleppo. This dish is truly yummers and you get the picture: Make do with what you have and try this delicious noodle dinner. I served it with a quick pickled cucumber salad to cool the fires on your tongue.

Dan Dan Noodles

Serves 3

Adapted from Bon Appetit

8 ounces Shanghai-style noodles (cu mian) or udon
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
12 ounces ground pork
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped peeled ginger
3/4 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons (or less) chili oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
4 teaspoons tahini (sesame seed paste)
1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns or Aleppo/crushed red pepper flakes
Large pinch of sugar
2 tablespoons chopped roasted peanuts
2 tablespoons thinly sliced scallions

Cook noodles in a large pot of lightly salted boiling water until just tender but still firm to the bite, about 10 minutes. Drain; transfer to a large bowl of ice water and let stand until cold. 

Combine chicken stock and next six ingredients for sauce.

Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add pork, season with salt and pepper, and stir, breaking up pork with a spoon, until halfway cooked, about 2 minutes. Add ginger; cook until pork is cooked through and lightly browned, about 2 minutes. 

Add sauce and simmer until sauce thickens, about 7 minutes. 

Drain noodles well and add to simmering sauce. Cook until heated through, about 2 minutes. 

Divide between three bowls and garnish with peanuts and scallions.

On the subject of love

I recently had the pleasure of helping my friend Rebecca Packard, the founder of a wonderful online arts magazine called The Provo Orem Word. Her magazine is devoted to the arts and is filled with incredibly high-quality content, including book, theater, film and arts reviews, fiction and nonfiction essays, poetry and much more from the plethora of talented artists and art institutions in her region. Rebecca was in need of an interim designer this winter, so I put together the love-themed February issue (and she kindly asked to use my Bostons on the cover!) and am in the midst of finalizing the March issue. While some of the content is specific to the area, most of it has a broader appeal. I encourage you to have a look at the recent issue as well as the archives.

Winter blues, spring greens

I've been in quite a blogging funk. If you're a regular around these parts, perhaps you've noticed. Over the past week I even considered pulling the plug on the whole endeavor, having seen several other of my favorite bloggers do the very same this week. But on careful consideration, I realized that it is probably no coincidence that those announcements—and my feelings—came at the peak of the winter doldrums. It does, of course, depend on where you live, but right now in southeast Michigan it has been gray, grey, gray with not nearly enough snow to make it a happy gray and seemingly no end in sight. I've been feeling it and decided that now, in the midst of these wintery blues, is not the best time to make that decision. Instead, I am determined to recommit myself to the health and happiness of this little ol' blog project of mine because it does truly make me happy, and perhaps committing so little to it lately has contributed to my low creatie energy levels, or at least hasn't been there to cheer my moods.

So, in honor of this decision and as a testament to my intentions, I offer you this burst of spring color and flavor: A portioned down recipe for a lovely soup reeking of spring that Dorie Greenspan calls "Cheating on Winter" pea soup. This is not your smoky ham bone split pea, but a bright, light soup made vividly green with frozen peas and romaine lettuce. Don't fear the cooked lettuce — it gets fully pureed and lends a subtle grassiness without any wilted lettuce undertones.  I can't wait to repeat it in the height of pea season and serve it chilled. In the meantime, it's a wonderful promise that spring will indeed come soon enough.

"Cheating on Winter" pea soup

Adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table

1/2 Tb butter
1/2 medium yellow onion, coarsely chopped
3 cups chicken broth, water or vegetable broth
1/2 lb frozen peas (no need to defrost)
1/2 medium head romaine lettuce, sliced (about 4 cups)
Optional garnishes: Sour cream, crumbled cooked bacon

Melt butter in medium Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook until just soft, about 3 minutes. Add broth and bring to boil. Stir in peas and lettuce and return to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered for 10 minutes.

Working in batches, puree soup in blender until smooth. You'll never fully blend the little pea skins, but get it as smooth as possible. Return soup to pot and season with salt and pepper. (You can thin it with a bit more water or broth if necessary, though my batch was quite thin.)

Serve with a dollop of sour cream and/or bacon.

Sunny Sundays

Thank goodness for sunny Sundays and sparkling waters.

Illustrator Linda Olafsdottir

I've been extremely inspired by the work of several artists new to me this week. I've been pinning like mad on my "Illustrated Goodness" board on Pinterest. One of the standouts is Icelandic illustrator Linda Olafsdottir. She specializes in children's' books, but has great range. Her street paintings in oil — very much inspired by Wayne Thiebaud, a hero of mine — are just as skilled as her lovely pencil sketches. Her compositions make use of fantastic perspective and the colors or wonderful. I'm a fan. You can check out her web site and blog for more.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I recently got around to framing and hanging this super-licious accordion. I absolutely love the illustration — and the "main squeeze" caption below it — and picked up this letterpress card from Elevated Press knowing that I wanted to frame it. At the time, I hadn't yet met Alisa Bobzien, the talented artist who designed this piece, but now that I have, I love it even more. She is super talented and kind. Be sure to check out more of her work and her shop — and that of Elevated Press — and feel the love all day long. 

IF: Suspense

This is my entry for this week's Illustration Friday topic: suspense. I think it is a bit too flat to convey a sense of suspensefulness, but that's why I need to keep doing these exercises, yes?! Exploring…

Soft Pretzels

The boy has been asking me to make soft pretzels for ages. My prior experience of soft pretzels was from those carts in New York and they never lived up to the expectation created by the smell. I found this amazing "pigs in a pretzel blanket" recipe that was more my speed, but the boy really wanted regular ol' pretzels. So I went along with that plan and these were a happy, happy surprise. They are anything but regular ol' and I will happily make them again and again. They were super t-a-s-t-y! Perfect for superbowling — or any weekend afternoon, really.

Soft Pretzels

Adapted from From Away
1 1/2 cups warm water (110-115º F)
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (1 package)
4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
vegetable oil/cooking spray
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
coarse salt

Combine water, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle yeast on top and wait until mixture starts to foam, about 5 minutes.

Add flour and butter and begin to mix with dough hook attachment on low speed, until ingredients are combined. Turn up the mixer to medium speed and work until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, approximately 4-5 minutes. 

Remove the dough, lightly coat the bowl with vegetable oil, return the dough, cover with plastic wrap and let it sit in a warm spot in your kitchen until it doubles in size, about one hour.

Preheat oven to 450º F. Lightly oil two cookie sheets. In a deep skillet or roasting pan, combine the water and baking soda. In a small bowl, beat egg and water. Have your salt on hand. Bring the water to a boil.

On a lightly oiled work surface, divide the dough into eight pieces. Roll each piece into a long, thin rope. Twist into pretzel shape.

Gently drop pretzel into boiling water, one at a time if necessary, and cook for 30 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon or flat spatula, let drain over skillet and place on oiled cookie sheet. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle generously with coarse salt. 

Bake for 12-15 minutes until a deep, golden brown is achieved. Remove to rack to cool slightly before serving.

Clickety-Clack: Typewriters on parade

I drew this little Olympia SG-1 for a client who wanted a custom rubber stamp made for this year's International Typewriter Appreciation Month (ITAM) which is this month, February 2012. Mr. Type Clack found me through my work for Ryan Adney's Magic Margin blog and the Typosphere grows pleasingly smaller each day.

In other typewriter related news, have you heard about Type-O-Matic? It's a magical online service who will hand-type your correspondence and mail it out into the world — all in the strictest confidence, if you please. So you could send an anonymous love note that special someone this year or just a really nice thank you note. Their list of FAQs is extensive and entertaining. So let's get typing!

Magical vintage finds

Do you see the magic? Do you? It's there… So this is the "before" photo, or maybe a "middle of the way" photo. I recently found that little table on the left (aka "the magic") and decided it would make the perfect little entry bench.

Get this: It's a fold-up picnic table. Can you imagine that picnic?! I'm sure it would involve flowing floral skirts, champagne flutes and maybe a few actual flutes. And yet, it's actually quite sturdy. 

The plan is to sew a gorgeous cord-trimmed boxed cushion to fit neatly on top of the wee bench née picnic table. I'm thinking a white background with stunning yellow print that I may design and print myself (hello, ambition!) The chair is one of four I picked up ages ago and always meant to paint. Now I really mean to paint it. 

Something like this. I haven't recovered from this yellow discovery yet. This is the vision. The chair shall be this stunning shiny happy color with a coordinated cushion to the left. I can't wait. 

As an aside — I found these two beauties on the same trip. Jackpot! The side table on the left is from a cabin on the UP and the crate is going to be turned upright and fitted with some kind of metals legs that I will one day magically discover (I imagine something similar to the legs on the little green table, though maybe they will be hairpin legs). Stay tuned!

Pide Lahmajun aka yum

So I put out the call the other day on Twitter for recipe suggestions for ground emu. We've had a pound of it lurking in the freezer from our meat CSA for a little too long and I was determined to use it this week. I took a cursory look on the interwebs for suggestions, but searches for ground emu recipes turned up endless Kraft era suggestions that drowning it in cream of mushroom soup or smothering it with creamed corn, bottled salsa and cheese. Other suggestions recommended using it however you would ground beef.

I wanted something that would taste good but wouldn't completely mask the taste since I had never tried emu before. I received the perfect suggestion from Ryan who had tried it before and said it was gamier than beef, so lamb recipes might be a better fit. He sent me this link to a recipe for Pide Lahmajun from the blog My Kitchen Moovement. If, like me, you have never heard of lahmajun, you are in for a treat. According to Wikipedia, it is Syrian in origin and is a round thin piece of dough topped with minced meat, most commonly beef or lamb. I completely fell for the Kitchen moovement blog — I really like the style and substance of this fellow in the kitchen. He offers a few other variations on this recipe that I can't wait to try, including one with egg, spinach and cheese. I didn't have time to try his dough recipe so used this really fast one  that turned out perfectly. So thank you both to Ryan and My Kitchen Moovement for this tremendous recipe. I made it for a friend for lunch the other day and we both gave it rave reviews. I can't wait to make more pide!

You can see how dark the emu meat is — it has virtually no fat in it,

yet didn't dry out on this recipe.

Pide Lahmajun
via The Kitchen Moovement

1 lb ground lamb
2 roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 jalapeño or serrano pepper
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small bunch flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
feta cheese optional

sesame seeds

Heat a sauce pan with a dollop of butter and sauté the onion and garlic until translucent. Don’t forget to season it with salt and pepper early. Remove from heat and let it cool.

Meanwhile, combine the lamb, tomatoes, jalapeno, parsley and spices in a bowl and mix with your hands. Add the cooled onion and garlic mixture to the bowl and combine well. Cut the dough into 6 even sized pieces. Roll each piece flat, making a longish, oval shape.

Smear the lamb mixture across the dough in a thin layer being careful not to tear it. I couldn't resist sprinkling a little crumbled feta on top. 

 
Fold the edges of the dough over the lamb (as seen in the pictures), brush with olive oil and sprinkle with sesame seeds. 

Bake for about 20 minutes on 425º F.

Serve with a generous squeeze of lemon. Yum.

Garden & Gun love

I don't know what started it or how I landed there, but I've been combing through the Garden & Gun web site for three days now. I've never seen the print magazine, nor had I even heard of it. But now, I'm hooked. I've had multiple tabs open and keep obsessively returning to them throughout the day. There is a wonderful piece about Wendell Berry, seen above, by Erik Reese. It is a lovely meandering essay that spans six internet pages. Unheard of, right? Most welcome.

And then, in contrast, I skip over and check out the 50 best Southern bars or the 50 best Southern foods—and watch a video on how to make the perfect Rum Swizzle. I'm telling you, Garden & Gun has the best variety of content with excellent writing, photography and design. I'm in love.

And then, just when I thought I'd had enough, I discovered these beautiful Southern-made items:

The Iron Scissor Collection

from The Old Wood Co. in Asheville, NC 

Bourbon barrel table and stool

from Jason Cohen Wood Artisan in Louisville, KY

Lawrence Pulley
from Machine Shop Lighting in Austin, TX

Convinced yet?