Italian Memories and Cooking Abroad

For years I have been saying that for my next "milestone" birthday, I want to do a cooking school trip to either France or Italy with my friends for a week. Of course, I'm envisioning mornings spent chatting over piping hot coffee and pastries sitting in street-side cafes, then afternoons meandering the local market for ingredients, and finally, evenings standing in front of an old farm table preparing to cook, chopping vegetables, seasoning meats, and discussing the meal we will be enjoying together. 

Before the arrival of our Little Mister, Ken took me to Italy to celebrate becoming a family of three. It was amazing. One of the things we did was take a cooking class while we were in Florence, which was a surprise Ken arranged before we arrived. It confirmed my plan to do it again with friends one day. 

 Dusk in a small Florentine piazza. The streets, architecture, and city life were better than I even imagined. I found myself sort of getting lost and having a sense of belonging at the same time. The locals were welcoming and friendly, and didn't mind my feeble attempts to converse in Italian.

 A Florentine Market

 Waiting to speak with the butcher.

 Prepping and cooking together is one of my favorite things to do. Sharing a love for good food with the people who mean the most to me, there really is not much in this world better than that. 

Also, don't these aprons make us seem so official and so touristy at the same time?

 Fresh goat cheese raviolis in butter and cream. 

Tagliatelle with local beef in red sauce. This dish was my favorite, and I have attempted to recreate it at home a few times, especially on days when true comfort food is in order.

While I am not celebrating a milestone birthday this Summer, I will be next year. And, here's to hoping La Tartine Gourmande will be offering this Sicilian cooking course again. Her photography of food, scenery, local culture, and her daughter is an amazing blend of captivating, compelling, and calming. If you enjoy cooking and traveling, her blog is absolutely one to follow. But consider yourself warned, you'll read her blog and immediately need to eat and cook and book a plane ticket at the same time.

If any of you are already planning to attend this, or end up deciding to go, I would love love love to hear all about it!

Buon Appetito, 

-Domestic in the District

Monday Morning Craving: Papaya + Peanut Butter

During a trip to the Hawaiian Islands last November, we came across a local variation of the classic peanut butter + banana sandwich, and we fell in love. Since then, we have been working on perfecting our version of Island Vintage Coffee's Peanut Butter and Papaya Sandwich.

Using Walnut Raisin bread from Lyon Bakery, we toast a few slices at 350 for 3 minutes on each side.

Then, simply schmere oh-so-liberally with peanut butter. Drizzle the peanut butter with honey, and add slices of fresh papaya.  Enjoy immediately, as the peanut butter and honey melt into the warm toast.

Happy Monday Morning!

-Domestic in the District

Market Mentions: Union Market

Could there be a more pleasant way to kick off a long weekend than a late-morning trip with friends to the newest old market in town? Ken and I had not yet been to Union Market, and we were eager to see what everyone has been talking about. It was amazing- I cannot wait to go back. I am especially excited for the butcher who will be a permanent fixture at the market starting in November. A real butcher in our area who will be open 6 days a week. Just in time for the baby and I to start walking over to do some grocery shopping in the days to come.

 The schedule of upcoming events.

 Sampling lamb sausages from "Border Springs Lamb". They also have a make-your-own lamb gyro loaf. I've already mentioned to Ken how fun that would be for the early (and slightly delirious) days of new parenthood!

 A fun chandelier hanging at one end of the market- it's made of crushed up plastic bottles. Such a great use of something so common for an unexpected purpose.

 The oyster bar- fresh oysters served on the half shell for anyone willing to pull up a chair.

 Ken quickly found the DC Empanada counter and ordered a BBQ pulled pork empanada. The expression on his face says it all!

 A beautiful basket of ornamental pepper plants and fall gourds at the florist.

We had a great time wandering around, talking with the various vendors, and making plans for what shopping we can regularly do here to support these businesses! In fact, Ken wrapped it up with a little ice cream from one of our favorite creameries- Trickling Springs. Where would this man be without his chocolate peanut butter ice cream? I honestly do not know. 

Note: I do love having opportunities to take pictures and write about what we're up to- but it isn't often there's someone around to take a picture of me in the process...

Special thanks to Erik for catching this really common exchange between Ken and I...

 me: "Honey, hold still juuuuust a sec."

Ken: "I am." 

Have you recently made your way to Union Market or another market near you? Find anything good? 

-Domestic in the District 

An Abundance of Autumn Fruit: Apples!

Of course, Fall means apples. Apple picking, apple pies, apple pancakes, apple tarts, apple and Gruyere sandwiches, apple cider, the list (thankfully!) goes on and on. 

So when a friend mentioned she and her daughters were trying to figure out different ways to use up the 42 pounds of apples they recently picked, I asked if I could stop by.

The girls have been coring and peeling the apples to make apple chips and apple sauce. The house smelled of warm cinnamon and brown sugar as soon as I stepped inside, and I may have helped sample some of the apple chips fresh from the oven!

Here's little Miss H helping her mom with the apple corer. She's a natural! 

I am thrilled that I was given a few apples to take home, and I am already dreaming of what I will use them to make (maybe an Apple-Walnut Claufoutis.) That said, I can't promise one or two won't make it to a pie or tart because I am craving apples covered in peanut butter and granola these days.

Apple-Walnut Claufoutis
(Adapted from the recipe for Cherry-Almond Claufoutis in "A Platter of Figs" by David Tanis)

-Butter to grease the 10-12" wide cast iron pan
-Flour to dust the buttered pan
-3 large apples, preferably firm and crisp, peeled and cubed
-1 cup Shelled walnuts
-6 large eggs
-2 cups packed brown sugar
-2 tbsps all-purpose flour
1.5 cups buttermilk
1/2 tsp almond oil
A generous splash of kirsch

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and butter the pan, then dust with flour
2. Peel, core, and cube the apples, and fill the bottom of the pan with them
3. Cover the apples with the walnuts
4. Mix the beaten eggs with the brown sugar and flour until smooth, then add the milk, almond oil, and kirsh
5. Pour batter over the fruit until the batter comes just shy of the top of the pan (it rises very little)
6. Bake for 40 minutes
7. Let cool for a few minutes and serve warm or over cinnamon ice cream

  

What are you making with all of the beautiful apples in season right now?

Hello Fall! 

-Domestic in the District

Grandma Alta's Biscuits

My phone rang yesterday to the pre-selected tune reserved just for my sister.  She was calling to get the recipe for our Great-Grandmother Alta's biscuits.  It turned out I didn’t have it on hand, but thankfully our mother has it so committed to memory she can rattle it off while only semi-awake at 6:00 in the morning Pacific Time.

By the time I knew Grandma, her hands were deeply tanned and covered in soft folds and wrinkles. She had the uncanny ability to grow anything, and as a little girl I easily drifted into an afternoon nap while listening to the sweet melody of her Carolina drawl.  Grandma loved crossword puzzles and story-telling, and she couldn’t get enough of my siblings and me. She had a special soft-spot for my little brother’s pudgy baby legs. Grandma Alta lived her life working her farm in the hills of Asheville, raising her two sons, making ends meet as best she could. She persevered in the midst of remarkable adversity, and she knew great love and respect from her family. 

 {A photo of my Mimi (married to Grandma Alta's oldest, my Grandpa) in front of Grandma Alta's farm house, where my Grandpa grew up.}

While writing down the simple recipe on an index card yesterday, I was rushed back to summers spent on Grandma’s North Carolina farm, watching her skillfully sew while we rocked back and forth on her bench swing beneath the shade of an old tree.  Perched atop her kitchen counter I had the perfect vantage point for her to teach me how to fold the biscuit dough into itself, melding flour, butter, and milk into the perfect consistency for fluffy, golden, piping hot biscuits.  Remembering it now feels as though I am once again no more than five, certain my Grandma Alta is the most talented woman the world has ever known. 

So today I came home from a long and difficult day at work, pulled out my glass jar of flour, the hand-churned butter I recently bought at the market, the milk, my clear glass mixing bowl, and the pastry sifter I use almost exclusively for making this recipe. And I got to work. It's been a while since I last made a batch, but as always, mine didn't turn out nearly as fluffy or as golden as Grandma's.  Either way, the taste is the same, and all the more reason to keep trying to get them just right. 

Pulling them out of the 400 degree oven, I quickly put two on my plate with a pat of butter smothered in honey. {note: the only other way to eat these is covered in white sawmill gravy next to a side of good crispy bacon.} Sitting down at my table with the biscuits, I lifted the fork and with familiar anticipation began blending the honey into the butter, just the way I learned from watching my mother. Then I ate them ever so slowly, with the honey-butter melting into the hot biscuits, running over my fingers, and dripping onto the now-empty plate.  Good thing I made more than two.    

Grandma Alta's Biscuits

2 cups flour (self-rising)
5 tablespoons shortening (or butter)
1/4 - 1/2 cup milk (or to the right consistency)

Set oven to 400 degrees
Blend together flour and shortening/butter by hand with pastry blender
Add milk and blend, adding more as needed to get the dough to stick together
Flour the counter top and dump the dough on top, lightly roll the dough with a rolling pin
Using a mason jar lid, cut circles out of the dough, and place on a buttered cookie sheet
Put in the oven for 10 minutes, or until soft and golden- about 3 minutes after you start to be able to smell them baking
Eat immediately or place in a wooden serve bowl with a hand towel to keep them warm at the table. Serve with honey and butter or white sawmill gravy.

What foods help pull you out of a hard day and take you back to simple joys and memories of people you've loved your whole life long? 

-Domestic in the District

Eat More Noodles

Last night, MM and I spent the entire evening cooking. Inspired by the pictures and basic recipe outlines from a few pages in the Wagamama cookbook, we pulled together a cha soba noodle vegetable stir-fry paired with pan-seared pepper and sesame encrusted tuna. The thing is, even though MM is an incredibly talented chef (see our previous kitchen escapades here) we both are new to the flavors and methods in making this genre of food. We had a great time figuring out how to pull it all together, which of course made eating it that much better!

 

Prepping all of the vegetables, the sauce, and the fish before starting the cooking was essential- it all goes so quick once you start cooking- you have to be ready to go! 

 We rolled the tuna steak in a mixture of cracked black pepper, white and black sesame seeds, and cayenne and then seared it.

 Plate #1 to look pretty

Plate #2 to devour as quickly as possible! 

Excited to eat the left overs for lunch, 

-Domestic in the District

A December Must-Try: Baked Feta with Dates and Honey

While perusing my Google Reader, I came across this amazing combination from one of my favorite cheese blogs, Madame Fromage. Baked Feta with dates and honey. Yum! I think I'll be adding this to my list of dishes to try when Ken is working late and I'm making dinner for one... or maybe for a girls' night. It seems like an interesting alternative to the now-common baked brie and apples, don't you think?

Loving the ooey-gooey sweetness of dates cooked in honey,

-Domestic in the District

A Homemade Favorite: Olive Bread

One of my all-time favorite things to do is go to Marvelous Market to buy their Olive Batard (or Olive Mini if it's just for me.) The subtle flavor of the black olives is perfect with large hunks of cheese. Especially with Port Salut.

Tomorrow night Ken and I are headed to a dinner party with my new coworkers, and I'm bringing my own version of an olive batard. And of course, I'm also bringing a wedge of cheese. Here's my recipe.

Olive Batard

oven temp: 395 degrees
time: 25-35 minutes
serves: 2 loaves

3 1/4 cups plain flour + rye (or wheat) flour as needed
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 sachet active dry yeast
2 cups warm water
1 can kalamata olives, chopped, juice retained
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp crushed caraway seeds and black peppercorns

*Place flour, salt, yeast, and sugar into a large mixing bowl and combine well.
*Add the olive juice, water, olive oil, and mix (either by hand or using a kitchen-aid mixer with the bread hook on low). Add rye flour slowly as needed until a dough forms. Knead for 5-10 minutes.
*Add chopped olives and fold through the dough then cover with cling wrap and let set for 60 minutes in an area not exposed to a draft.
*Dust counter or cutting board surface with flour and empty dough onto the surface. Knock air out of dough and briefly knead until smooth.
*Cut dough in half and roll each portion into a large roll. Cut slits into the top of the rolls. Fill slits and cover the top with the mixture of crushed caraway seeds and black pepper. Lightly add sea salt to the top as well. Pat seasonings gently into the dough to keep them from falling off while baking.
*Cover with tented tin foil and put in a 395 degree oven for 20-25 minutes. Remove the tin foil and bake for another 5-10 minutes until the top is browned. If the loaves are still soft in the middle, turn oven off while leaving the loaves inside, allowing the loaves to set inside the slowly cooling oven.

Serve warm with port salut or any other cheese you like.

*Note: you can also simply make one large loaf, which will bake with tented tinfoil for 25-30 minutes, and then another 10 without the foil.

Happy Baking,

-Domestic in the District

Fresh Summer Ingredients: Radishes, Lemon, Figs, and Mustard Greens

Instead of specifically meal planning, lately I have been trying to simply purchase bright, colorful, and crisp fruits and vegetables with which to cook. Then, I have been sort of making it up as a go during the week.

Recently, I found some gorgeous greens (specifically of the Mustard variety- which have a great tartness and do not shrivel as quickly as other greens when sauteed.) I also snagged some lemons, figs, and radishes.

So tonight, I served up a salmon fillet (can you tell we eat our share of fish in the summer?) roasted with lemon juice, capers, salt, and pepper. The roasted salmon paired well with mustard greens sauteed with shallots and thinly-sliced radishes. To finish off the summery meal, a pair of fresh Brown Turkey Figs sliced open and stuffed with Gorgonzola cheese and baked at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, and served hot.


What are you enjoying experimenting with this August?

-Domestic in the District

Getting My Sea Legs Back With Spicy Salmon

I will be the first to admit that adjusting to my new gas oven and range has been a bit of an unexpected challenge, although certainly a welcomed one.

After sadly over-cooking last night's salmon, I decided to try again this evening. While I referred to my usual lemon and pepper roasted salmon last night, I was looking for something different on this warm August evening.

The result was a spicy dry-rubbed salmon. I pulled together a smoky spicy rub using a few of my beloved Penzey's spices: fresh cracked black pepper, cayenne pepper, ancho chili pepper, a mixture called "Arizona Dreamin", crushed cumin seeds, and sea salt.

Once I combined the spices, I rubbed them onto both sides of the salmon, topped it with fresh cilantro and a decent dose of fresh lime juice. With the oven heated to 425 degrees, I put the salmon dish (covered in tented tinfoil) in the oven for 10-15 minutes and then removed the tinfoil. The salmon is done when a fork inserted in the thickest portion causes the meat to flake along the muscle lines.

Partnered with this spicy salmon, I served roasted chickpeas with a sauce made of olive oil and lime juice, as well as a watermelon-tomato-mint salad.

Fresh, summery, vibrant, spicy, and light. The combination worked well, and I was happy to have had some success cooking with my new gas oven.

What are you serving in the midst of the summer's heat?

-Domestic in the District

Mediterranean Dinner Party

Here are a few belated pictures of a dinner party we hosted a couple weeks back. Stuffed and roasted red peppers, stuffed grape leaves, chicken souvlaki on warm pita, homemade hummus and tzatziki sauce, tomato and cucumber salad, roasted vegetables, and seasoned chick peas.

The Grass Is Always Greenest Outside

Nothing makes dinner better than
enjoying it while sitting on a blanket on soft spring grass beneath green trees filled with warm breezes.

We are soaking up this perfect weather and sunshine before the thermometer dips to 50 degrees on Friday. Hope you're finding ways to do the same.

Welcome Spring!

-Domestic in the District

Defending a British Breakfast: Egg and Soldiers

“I'll bet what motivated the British to colonize so much of the world is that they were just looking for a decent meal."

My guess is that Martha Harrison, the author of the quote above, never had "Egg and Soldiers" for breakfast. If she had, she might have reconsidered her sentiment.

Although initially I was hesitant to dip pieces of butter-slathered toast (aka "Soldiers") into a slightly runny egg, it turned out to be delicious. The egg tasted like cheese, and was extra wonderful with a little bit of Marmite (yes, yes, you either love it or hate it- I love it.)

This morning was my first attempt to make it myself, and it was so simple. Here's how to enjoy egg and soldiers at your own breakfast table.

Egg and Soldiers

1. Put a piece of toast in the toaster or in a warm pan on top of the range at medium high heat.

2. In a pot of boiling water, place the number of eggs you're planning to cook. I cooked mine this morning for 3 minutes and 30 seconds. It was runnier than what my sweet friend SM served, but it worked well for dipping and tasted great!

3. Pull the egg out of the water, place in an egg cup and slice the top open with a serrated knife. Note: if you, like me, do not have egg cups, any small jar or glass with an opening that holds the egg upright will work. My egg this morning sat in a small empty jelly jar I washed and saved a couple weeks ago. No shame, friends!

4. Cut the toast into strips thin enough to fit through the opening at the top of the egg.

5. Serve and eat immediately while both egg and toast are hot, and accompany it with a cup of good tea. It is perfect for a rainy spring morning.

As a long time egg-avoider, I can honestly say it was perhaps the most wonderful way to eat an egg.

Oh, and if you think the dishes SM uses are super cute, you're right! Check them out for yourself, thankfully Emma Bridgewater has started shipping in the United States.

Happy Breakfast-ing,

-Domestic in the District

Well Worth A Buck: Pork Carnitas Sliders

Waking up to an email from Living Social announcing $1 lunches all over the city was a wonderful start to the day. A small flurry of text messages between a couple friends quickly settled that we would try the lunch menu at Pound. We arrived before the crowd, secured a high-top table, and eagerly waited for our sandwiches. They were so delicious, we ate them right up, buttery toasted brioche buns and all! DDM barely paused for this picture before polishing off her plate.

Loving unexpectedly cheap lunches with fun friends,
-Domestic in the District