Harissa is hot

It seems like every day I see a new recipe using harissa. Just a few short months ago I had never heard of it, and now, all of a sudden, I know what it is — a spicy red chili paste from North Africa—and I NEED to try it. In Crazy Water Pickled Lemons Diana Henry says that it's traditionally served with couscous and can "just about take off the roof of your mouth." Yum! Spicy is king in this household.

The version we tried last night came from April's Food and Wine and included this menu: Herb-marinated Chicken Skewers with Harissa, Parsley Salad with Pine Nuts and Lemon-Tahini dressing — all thrown together in pitas with a dab of hummus, and a little chopped cucumber and tomato.

Herb-Marinated Chicken Skewers with Harissa
CHICKEN
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon rosemary leaves
• 1 teaspoon chopped thyme
• 1 teaspoon chopped oregano
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
• Salt
HARISSA
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon caraway seeds
• 2 roasted red peppers from a jar, coarsely chopped
• 1 red Thai chile, with seeds, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Salt
• Hummus, for serving
1. Marinate the chicken: In a large bowl, mix the olive oil with the rosemary, thyme, oregano and ground cumin. Add the chicken and toss well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
2. Meanwhile, make the harissa: In a small skillet, toast the cumin, coriander and caraway seeds over moderately high heat, shaking the skillet a few times, until the spices are fragrant, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a spice grinder and let cool completely. Grind to a powder.
3. In a blender, combine the roasted peppers with the chile, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and ground spices and puree. Season the harissa with salt.
4. Light a grill. Thread the chicken pieces onto 8 metal skewers. Season with salt and grill over moderately high heat, turning, until nicely charred and just cooked, about 14 minutes. Serve the skewers with the harissa and hummus.

Parsley Salad with Pine Nuts and Lemon-Tahini dressing
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 1/4 cup tahini paste, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 small garlic clove, very finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons water
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 4 cups flat-leaf parsley leaves (3/4 pound)
• 4 scallions, thinly sliced crosswise

1. In a small skillet, toast the pine nuts over moderate heat, shaking the skillet occasionally, until the pine nuts are golden brown, about 4 minutes. Transfer them to a plate and let cool.
2. In a small bowl, blend the tahini with the lemon juice and finely chopped garlic. Stir in the water and season the tahini dressing with salt and pepper.
3. In a medium bowl, toss the parsley with the scallions and pine nuts. Add the tahini dressing and toss well. Transfer the salad to a serving bowl or plates and serve.

Let me tell you, it was delicious! The harissa is hot, but the flavors of the cumin, coriander and caraway are distinct. Wonderful and smoky.

How much for the whole tree?

I had to wonder when I saw this on the sidewalk during my walk this morning. Also, the tree tapped for sap that I mentioned in my post on Saturday was in action today:

Design the Modern Board 2009 submission

I've just sent off my submission to be printed for the Design the Modern Board 2009 call for entries sponsored by K2 Snowboards and Design Within Reach to benefit SOS Outreach. The submissions will be on display in the Denver DWR studio on Friday, March 27 and judged by attendees to the fundraiser. The winning entry will have a board produced in their design. So if you're in Denver, come on out and vote!

Hurray! is just one letter away from hurry

I was so wrapped up in projects yesterday that I never even made it out of the house — not even to check the mail. So this morning, the first day of spring, I thought I would go for a nice long walk. When I emerged from the cocoon of our apartment, however, I realized immediately that spring may be here, but it is certainly not in the air. I headed right back inside and grabbed my winter hat and put on a warmer jacket. Not cheered by this fact, I changed my plans to a quick walk. As I came out of the little wooded path into the neighborhood behind ours, I saw this:

I have never seen a tree tapped for sap before other than in pictures. And this jug had some liquid in it, but quite thin murky-looking liquid that I thought was quite possibly rain water. (I was told later that this was, in fact, how sap looks straight from the tree.) Nonetheless, it made me chuckle and break out the camera that I often bring on walks, but that usually remains forgotten inside my pocket. Then down the block from the sap gatherers, I found this:

Hopscotch is surely a sign of spring. There were many more welcome signs around the neighborhood, despite the snow flurries in the air:

This house had a whole hedge of forsythia — I can't wait to come back to see it in bloom. I was tempted to snap a piece off to force at home, but my conscience won out on that debate. And then I was happy to see these reminders of Long Island gardens and the beach:

And, of course, my squirrel friends were out and about. I often talk about how aggressive and crazy the Michigan squirrels are, and today was no different. This fellow stayed put as I walked right up and snapped three shots. I was sure he would jump on my back as I walked away.

And last but not least:
How great is this entry? A white shag/feather wreath — I'm not sure if it's a holdover from the December, or a spring wreath — but either way, I love it, along with the colors and great house numbers. So, my walk did in fact turn into a long one and I saw many welcome signs of spring — hurray!

It's never too late…

… for a new calendar! I'm very picky about calendars and this year I just couldn't find the right one for tooo long. And then, I found paper + twine on Etsy through poppytalk. I don't know if it was the rock bottom sale price or the lovely delicate drawings or the superb styling in her photos that got me first, but I love this store. I ordered the gocco printed 2009 calendar ON SALE HERE NOW and it has arrived. It is even more charming in person (can a calendar be "in person?" In my world, yes.) So petite and the ribbon is just right.

To Do List

Here it is 1:15pm and I'm still in my pjs. How did this happen, I find myself asking once again?!? Here is a recreation to the best of my ability:
7:30 AM — Crawl out of bed
7:32 AM — Brush teeth, wash face
7:35 AM — Make coffee
7:40 AM — Sit down at computer
7:44 AM — See that Etsy treasury is almost open
7:44.05 AM — Search for lovely peacock items
7:55 AM — Coffee refill
8:40 AM — Nab treasury

8:43 AM — Finish filling in items for treasury
8:46 AM — More coffee
8:47 AM — Clicking through treasuries, post to forum, etc
9:00 AM — Start printing new prints on fabulous new Epson R2880 printer
9:17 AM — Begin swearing profusely after ridiculous numbers of paper jams resulting in not one print
9:40 AM — More coffee
9:50 AM — Still swearing; add pounding fist on desk to temper tantrum, still no prints
10:01 AM — Break down and call support (I never do this. This is bad sign.)
10:48 AM — Hang up with support with newfound knowledge that properly feeding paper into new printer is slowly honed skill only mastered by Epson employees after years of training. Surprisingly calmed by this bit of info.
11:01 AM — Brew more coffee. East some toast with PB.
11:15 AM — Feebly continue printing away
12:05 AM — Gather fresh prints on dining table and admire glowingly with coffee in hand

12:08 AM — Bust out new frames to reshoot new prints for Etsy shop
12:55 AM — Upload new photos
1:00 PM — Wonder where the morning went?!?!
I haven't even gotten to item two on my list of things to do today. I think it's time for more coffee…

What I love about a college town

Yes, those are all staples. And at one time each one secured a flyer of some sort: bands, garage sales, lectures, etc. Gotta love a college time with so much activity! I know I do. Here's to Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan.

Mama's BEST Chicken Scallopine

When I went off to Australia for a year during college in 1992, I had never ever cooked for myself before. My mother put together a little book in which she wrote all my favorite recipes. I still have this book and use it often. The spine is completely demolished and the pages constantly fall out, but it is truly a treasure! One of my very favorites is a recipe for Chicken Scallopine. It's so easy and versatile. I will share it with you here in case you can't read it in the picture above:

Chicken Scallopine
• 8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 Tb butter
• 1Tb lemon juice
• 2 Tb chopped parsley
• 2 Tb choped chives or scallions
• 1/4 tsp marjoram or thyme
Pound cutlets out between foil until 1/4" thick. Sprinkle with salt. Melt butter over medium heat in large skillet. Add chicken. Cook about 10 minutes until lightly browned. Turn, sprinkle with lemon juice, parsley, chives and marjoram. Cook about 10 minutes or until tender.

I made it last night with Heidi Swanson's Spring Asparagus Puree on fettucine from Super Natural Cooking and it was a divine combination! As you can see above, I beefed up the amount of herbs. I enjoyed the asparagus puree greatly and had planned to write about that recipe, but quickly realized that the little book from my mom was as worthy a topic, if not more so. I plan to share more from it with you in the near future.

You must try this — it's so good and so quick and easy!

edibleWOW now!

edibleWHO? edibleWOW! That's the name of the publication that I recently started contributing to and the new spring issue is available now! It focuses on seasonal, sustainable foods, food producers and the bounty of Southeastern Michigan. I knew of the Edible Communities from the Edible East End magazine on Long Island and am very excited to be involved here. They are still working on getting their web site up to gear, so rather than a link to the articles I contributed, here they are as scanned directly from the pages… so if you are interested in reading about shrimp farmed in Okemos, Michigan or an extraordinarily green, sustainable restaurant in Rochester, scroll down and click on the images for a larger view…

Keeping tabs

I haven't written about much cooking activity lately — mostly because I have been sticking to tried and true recipes in the recent weeks and not branching out into new territories. It's been a busy time and I've gone for the routine rather than new out of convenience, surely not for lack of enthusiasm. As always, I have a stack of glossy mags lurking on the coffee table with too many pages turned down and recipes marked just waiting for me to try. As an incentive and an easy reference I decided I would make a small-ish list of recipes toward the top of my "try this soon" list:

• Tandoori Chicken, Dal Makhani and Naan (Saveur, May 2007)
• Wasabi Flank Steak and Miso-Glazed Potatoes (Food & Wine, March)
• Sake-steamed Halibut with Ginger and Cabbage (Food & Wine, March)
• Monte Cubano Sandwiches (Gourmet, March)
• The WHOLE Korean feast layed out in Gourmet this month, but most especially: Soy-pickled jalapenos, cucumber-apple pickle, short rib and vegetable stew, Korean-style Romaine, warm tofu with spicy garlic sauce, sauteed oyster mushrooms, brown rice & barley (and then some!! Yum!) (Gourmet, March)
• Glazed Chicken with Porcini and Crisp Potatoes and Creamed Broccoli with Parmesan (Gourmet, March)
• Beef Tenderloin with Aromatic Thai Spices (really interesting technique simmering steaks in water in a plastic bag) (Food & Wine, April)
• Garlic-rubbed Pork Shoulder with Spring Vegetables (Food & Wine, April)
• Lamb Pita Pockets with Tomato-ginger Compote (Food & Wine, April)
• Grilled Merguez Sandwiches with Caramelized Red Onions (Food & Wine, April)
• Warm Spaghetti Squash Salad (Food & Wine, March)
• Farro with Green Onion Sauce, Toasted Walnuts & Asparagus (Super Natural Cooking, by Heidi Swanson)
• Otsu (Super Natural Cooking, by Heidi Swanson)
• Gnocchi alla Romana (Super Natural Cooking, by Heidi Swanson)
• Fettucine with Spring Asparagus Puree (Super Natural Cooking, by Heidi Swanson)
• Stir-fried Bean Sprouts (Saveur, April 2007)
• Green Goddess Dressing (Saveur, May 2007)
• Ginger Shandy (Food & Wine, March AND an old Saveur I was flipping through today from 2007. Definitely calling my name for spring)
• Molasses-Gingerbread Cake with Mascarpone Cream (Food & Wine, April)

There. That's the most pressing of the recipes, I think. (Ask me tomorrow, of course, and I would compile a wholly different list, right?!) I'll keep you posted on my progress through the list.

Can you say "yoborobo"?

A lovely, lovely package arrived by post yesterday — WAY ahead of schedule. How tempting does this look? Not one, but two gift-wrapped items. What could they be? Well… the boy and I fell head over heels for these guys made by the incredibly talented Pam of Yoborobo.

Wesley and Chet

Say hello to Chet and Wesley. According to Yoborobo, "During the week, Wesley teaches math at the University. After all, rabbits like to multiply. Chet always plays poker on Fridays nights with the guys. He usually wins, because no one can tell what he's thinking. They think he has an amazing poker face, but really, it's the only way Chet knows how to look. " They are both adjusting well to their new surroundings — all shyness and good manners. But I feel, lurking just below the surface, that there may be trouble ahead…. Please go see this motley collection of wonderful characters in the yoborobo shop here.

The All-American Condiment

Ketchup. Heinz 51. The all-American condiment. Found in every American home.

A couple of weekends ago I was busy reviewing the ingredients and preparing my shopping list for the Tyler Florence pulled pork sandwich recipe I was planning to make from his eat this book cookbook. (Look at that cover — I think I WILL eat this book!) I had my list, but there were a couple of pantry staples I needed to check on:
• dry mustard — check
• cider vinegar — check
• yellow mustard — a staple for some, but we didn't have any. Better pick that up.*
• cayenne — running low, better pick up some more
• brown sugar — again, running low. buy more.
Note the asterisk. This is important.

I made my trip to the store, hurried home and prepared my dry rub. Slathered it all over that pork shoulder. Put that pork shoulder in a roasting pan and got it roasting. Sat back and relaxed, it was the weekend after all and the pork would be porkolating for six hours. Plenty of time. The afternoon was whiled away, enjoying some sun and a couple of beers in preparation for barbecue supper. With one hour of cooking to go, I moseyed into the kitchen to whip up the sauce. It's easy. Here's the recipe:

Cider Vinegar Barbecue Sauce:

• 1 1/2 cups cider vinegar
• 1 cup yellow or brown mustard
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 garlic cloves, smashed
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

To make the barbecue sauce: combine the vinegar, mustard, ketchup, brown sugar, garlic, salt, cayenne, and black pepper in a saucepan over medium heat. Simmer gently, stirring, for 10 minutes until the sugar dissolves.

I began to combine away: in went the vinegar, then some mustard… but wait… no… it can't be… heavens to Murgatroyd! We had no ketchup. WE HAD NO KETCHUP. I shoved around all those condiment bottles that live on the refrigerator door, making quite a racket: pickles, chili-garlic paste, olives, sweet relish, dijon, grainy mustard, green curry paste, horseradish, capers, black bean-chili sauce, maple syrup, assorted jams, Hellman's AND Miracle Whip (that's a-whole-nother condiment story altogether).

We have lived in this apartment for six months and had no ketchup. We cook a lot. We eat at home a lot. I mean, A LOT. And yet, somehow, some way, we've gone six months without ketchup. No yellow mustard? Okay, understandable. I don't really like it anyway. But no ketchup seemed impossible. I hurried to the computer to see what it would take to whip up my own ketchup. Time—that's what it would take. And we didn't have it. I had been in relaxing mode and now the pork was almost done. Running right alongside my panic and the boy's speedy dash to the store for said missing ingredient, I have to say I felt a little, well … yes, pride. There, I've said it. Is that just plain un-American?

Reduce, reuse, recycle Ann Arbor

The Ann Arbor ReUse Center is a huge warehouse of thrift, trash and treasure. In honor of Earth Day they are sponsoring an art show and for inspiration they have offered up a free "artist pile" of trinkets and gems to sort through (seen above). My first thought was groan. Double groan. As you can see in the photo, it was a beautiful, sunny, warm, springy day perfect for sifting through refuse. I was lead to this pile after weeding my way through a trash bin filled with discarded electronics — not my thing, artisically-speaking. What crap-ola. But then I began to zero in on the shiny stuff:
Gleaming, glittering circles… hmm… perhaps there is more here than meets the eye. I was warming to this idea. The artist pile did, in fact, offer inspiration. I have all kinds of ideas swarming through my pea brain now. Let's hope they (or at least one) comes to fruition.

This is a portion of my haul. Check back later this month for photos of my creation(s) and the show!!

Illustration Friday: INTRICATE

Dreaming…

Here she is… dreaming. I decided this would be fitting for the IF since it is much more detailed and elaborate than my usual style (see frog below…?!?!) Prints now available here.

Sneak peek: Dreaming

As promised, here is a small detail from a new piece I am finishing up and will be listing in my Etsy shop later this week. It's quite different from much of my other work and I am very excited about it. I may have an Illustration Friday post, too. We'll see. The theme is intricate… hmm…

Keep Calm and Carry On

KEEP CALM and CARRY ON

I put together what I think is a really lovely treasury on Etsy last night. You can find it here. I am becoming obsessed with making treasuries — it is so much fun to play curator! Anyway… I'm working on a couple of new pieces that I hope to add to the shop this week. I'll be doing a sneak peek later today. I am also working on revamping the shop: cleaning up photos, checking price points, rewriting descriptions, that kind of thing. If anyone has any suggestions or feedback, I'd love to hear it!

Thinking of you

Sweet Quagmire, Sam's dog of fourteen years, passed this morning. We are missing him greatly.

For the kids out there

Flying Frog

After my post with the giraffe on roller skates last week, I received several words of encouragement that I should work on some childrens' art. With that in mind, I post this. I'm thinking about working on an alphabet series. What do you think?

Compare and contrast

I've been working on this drawing and can't decide if I like the palette. I tend to go with much softer colors, but that is not what happened in this case. Looking back at the original sketch, I am trying to decide if I went in the right direction. I may save this version and then try again using a milder palette. Although looking at it so close to my banner, I am rather liking it… feel free to chime in!

IF: Breezy

I haven't posted to Illustration Friday in quite some time, but I really like this week's topic, "Breezy" — particularly since I am weathering a 14-degree day here in Ann Arbor. Thinking tropical thoughts…

Welcome signs of spring

This is a very happy post quite suitable for a Friday. The apartment complex we moved into in the fall is not a fancy place and has very little in the way of landscaping. So as the fall turned colder, I did some last-minute guerrilla bulb planting knowing that the Michigan winter would be long and I would need a healthy dose of spring when the time came. I put in about twenty daffodils and tulips in the shared courtyard space. I began looking for signs of them a week or two ago because we had had a bit of a warm spell and I was afraid I hadn't really planted them deep enough. I wasn't really expecting to see anything since it is only February, but today, what did I spy…


Yes, that's right. Some very early signs that there will in fact be a spring here. I do hope it isn't too early and they don't shrivel up and freeze away. But I was reassured and delighted to find that there were already some bulbs around and they, too, are peaking out, so all should be okay. We should have some spring color before too much longer. Yippee!

Nothing's for free

What to do with all of those plastic bags piling up in the kitchen, under the sink, in the coat closet? A while back I decided I would knit them together into a tote bag. Clever me would be able to tote my groceries in a bag of grocery bags. I had just read through Mason-Dixon Knitting and was inspired by a rug made by looping together cotton potholder handles into one big ball of yarn. That would be fun, but at $5/bag of loops, the rug would cost $100. Not such a good deal. Hence the bag on the cheap: free in fact.

I became extreme — rinsing out the thin little produce bags, saving the bag from the carrots. We had damp, limp plastic bags draped over every available surface in the kitchen. Slipped over the utensil jar, hanging off the pot rack, propped up by the soap dispenser. I didn't pay close enough attention to the fact that in the book, the author had her children loop together the yarn. Hmm, I realize now that this was for a reason. IT'S DAMN TEDIOUS!

You flatten out each bag and then cut it into horizontal slices. these slices are then connected by slipknots forming a chain. The chain is then wound into a ball. Four months later, and I am stuck on this step. I spent several hours one evening hunched on the floor connecting the loops. By the end of this session, I could barely straighten my back and was cursing the plastic. (OK, so maybe next time I should sit with better posture. Whatever.)

We are still saving bags. the difference now is that I wad them up and shove them into a bigger bag — complete with water, mud, etc. still clinging to them. This makes my next session of chain-making even less appealing. But dammit, I want that bag. The boy had generously offered to help cut them up and loop them together while we watch movies at night, but who really wants to do that? Me reclining on the couch with a pair of scissors and a beer doesn't seem like a good idea, non?

But I did just check online and found a great-looking knitted plastic bag bag at DIY Network and they say to cut the bags in one long spiral from top to bottom and then just knot together with next. I may have to try this technique since it entails just one cut and knot per bag… hmmm, I'll keep you posted.