NATIONAL CHAMPIONS

Matt and I toyed with the idea of going to Indianapolis to watch my alma mater Duke play Butler for the NCAA Championship (which, for those who live under a rock, we ended up winning by one point after a thrilling game).  When the logistics started getting too tricky, we made the decision that if we were willing to spend that much money and that much time going to the game, we should be willing to spend at least half that much money and that much time making our private viewing SUPER AWESOME.

We started with Swedish "cheese bread" toasted in a skillet.

Then it was enormous, juicy, 1/3 pound burgers from C&D farms, topped with artisanal cheddar, mushrooms sauteed in butter, organic lettuce, tomato, ketchup, and mayo.  We stacked it all on fresh-baked ciabatta buns from my local bakery, which were soft enough to rip when bitten into, but firm enough to hold ALL. THAT. FOOD.

I didn't have the wherewithal to fry fries, so we tested a recipe for kale chips we've been meaning to try: we brushed a couple cups of kale leaves with olive, sprinkled with salt, and toasted it in the oven for twenty minutes or so.

I'd doubted the recipe, which claimed that kale crisps under heat, but the "chips" did in fact come out crisp rather than wilted!  They were tasty (if you're into kale) but sort of odd, the crispness crumbling to a kale-y ash in the mouth.  I'd make them again, but really, if you're in the mood for french fries or potato chips, this just isn't going to be the replacement you're looking for.

Matt wanted to replicate my undergraduate basketball experience, so he was bent on making us "Big Beers" a la Satty's (shout-out to all the Duke grads reading this blog).  32 ounces of beer in a plastic cup.  Unfortunately, he failed to find a plastic cup capable of holding 32 ounces of beer.  We ended up with these, instead:

Finally, at half-time, when the game was nail-bitingly close, nothing would do to comfort us but a big pan of brownies, lovingly crafted from Ghiradelli unsweetened baking chocolate, fresh eggs, organic sugar, walnuts, flour, artisanal vanilla extract, and a stick of butter borrowed from our lovely upstairs neighbors, Joe and Lauren.

This feast may not have been better than actually seeing Duke win the championship in person, but it went a long way toward making up for it.

GO BLUE DEVILS!

Baby Shower in Des Moines

This weekend, Matt's mom hosted an Easter baby shower for Katie and Greg. (!!!)  I don't want to go too far into the details, but suffice it to say that most of the treats on offer were prooooobably not strictly in line with my dietary regime.

Several weeks ago, Matt threatened to start a shadow blog, "Things Juliet Doesn't Tell You," so in the interests of avoiding a post on there, I'd better be honest.

I had a cupcake.

In my defense, though, I shared it with Matt.  And he ate the sugary bunny on top.

The spread was kind of amazing ...

The numerous quiches were all homemade, and sported various assortments of vegetables and cheeses: zucchini, mushroom, spinach, red pepper, onion / asiago, parmesan, swiss, cheddar.  We helped make them before the party started, so though the crusts were packaged and frozen, I felt a little more legitimate cutting myself a huge slice.

There were fresh berries and fruit salad...

... and approximately every kind of ham and bacon you could imagine.  Katie only eats "happy meat," so I dove into one from a local Iowa farm which Ron, Matt's stepdad, called "The Ham that God Made."  (As distinguished from the Hormel variety, labelled "The Ham that Hormel Made."

Later, after presents had been unwrapped and we lay, exhausted, in front of the NCAA semi-finals, there was pizza.  But I'll let you read about that on Matt's blog...

Midnight Snack

I had to give up bacon this year. 

I know.  I know.  It's been hard. 

The thing is, even my local farmer's bacon is cured with sodium nitrate and all kinds of other weird stuff.  I haven't yet found one that is just straight up pork.  For a while, I have to tell you, life was bleak.   

And then Matt brought home some prosciutto.  Ingredients?  Pork and salt.  AND A WHOLE LOT OF DELICOUS. 

Costa Rica!

Last night, I returned to 40 degree Chicago from 80 degree Costa Rica, where I'd spent the past several days with some close sorority sisters from my undergrad at Duke.  The trip was pretty amazing (if you'd like to see non-food-related photos, check my Flickr site here) and the food was, too... I think I ate more rice, beans, and sugar-sweet fresh fruit in the past few days than I have in the whole last year:

I ate a lot of "casada tipica de Costa Rica": black beans, rice, mahi mahi sauteed in lime and garlic butter, served with fried plantains and a tangy sauce. SO. GOOD. 

  

You can't really tell, but that's beef fajitas, with the standard bell pepper/onion sautee, but also fresh guacamole, plantains, and bacon to add zing. 

And, of course, it wouldn't be a trip to Costa Rica without some serious coffee...

... or a spring break without some sweet coconut water and rum!

Family Dinner Party

Sorry for the delay in posting, y'all -- I've been off on spring break (photos from Costa Rica coming soon!) and left the computer behind.  

A couple weeks ago, Matt's sister Katie (of the incredible strawberry jam) and her husband Greg came to town to help us use one of the Green Zebra groupons.  As it happened, my little sis was also in Chicago with Jefferson again, so everyone came over Friday night for a big, whole foods meal.  Aside from a brief coffee Matt and I once shared with our respective moms, this was the first time anyone in our families had met, and it ended up being a pretty fun evening.  

And the food was delicious. 

Above: crispy parmesan chicken breasts topped with a light lemon vinaigrette salad.  Matt was in charge of hammering the chicken breasts flat, which I then dipped in 1) flour, 2) egg, 3) a mixture of grated parmesan and bread crumbs and fried in a little butter. 

Hammering the chicken thin meant that it didn't need to stay long on the fryer -- just a couple minutes on each side -- and thus was crispy on the outside, but tender and juicy on the inside.

The salad was incredibly simple: I bought an organic lettuce mix, mixed equal parts olive oil and lemon juice, and topped with shaved parmesan reggiano.

Below: cream of mushroom and leek soup.  A Barefoot Contessa recipe, found here, and I'm not going to lie, it was mostly butter.  You can see the fat in a beautiful, delicious, creamy sheen on top.

For me, the soup could have used a little more depth of flavor -- its dominant notes were the thyme and white wine -- but its subtlety was nice in contrast to the sharp acidity of the lemon-parm chicken.

We paired it all with Goose Island's Sofie: a citrusy Belgian, and one of our favorite beers.  I'd do a more thorough review for you, but it would be put to shame by Matt's brother Andy's description, which can be found on his kind of fantastic beer blog here.

Cooking for family is a reminder of why I want to live this way, eat this food; people have always come together over food, and with loved ones, the act of eating is a complete experience rather than a simple consumption of calories.  And when the food is fresh and delicious, when you've put some thought into what you're sharing with the people you love, that experience is all the better. 

Mostly Plants?

There's a question mark at the end of my blog title for a reason.  Since well before beginning this challenge, I knew that the hardest part would be the "mostly plants" end of things.  How many of us struggle with the recommended five to seven vegetables, even in summer when everything is fresh from the garden?  How about in winter in Chicago, when the greens available in the produce section were either A) grown in Mexico or somewhere similarly distant or B) look sort of sad, pale, bruisy and wrinkled?  It's like a Sophie's Choice between eating a pear from half a world away, or eating a pear that looks vaguely like Winston Churchill.

I can only tackle one eating challenge at a time.  I'd like to be responsible in getting produce fresh and local, but if it's going to be so unappealing in my fridge that I won't eat it, then I won't be feeding my body right.  And frankly, living on lattes and croissants freshly made though they may be (see previous post), is JUST NOT what this year is about.

 
So I'm buying those $5 boxes of berries.  At least until summer comes back.

Assuming summer will, in fact, come back.  Some days in Chicago it is just hard to tell.

We love zucchini.  Matt's been known to have it for breakfast.  I'll chop up a whole one, grill it in a little olive oil, and eat it instead of chips in front of a movie.

I'm trying to get two fruits or vegetables in every meal, to hit the recommended servings mark.  So, above is artichoke alongside a bolognese made with fresh crushed tomatoes.

And, of course, it helps if one of those daily plant servings comes a little decadent...

Haagendaaz "Five" Vanilla Bean ice cream topped with a cup of fresh raspberries.  That is officially my FAVORITE WAY TO GET MY DAILY FIBER.

Exams, In Sum

Latte and a fresh-baked croissant from my local bakery.  I'm pretty much living on espresso, milk, eggs, butter, and pastry flour.

And Adam Marvin Makes My Day

Antique Weight Watchers Recipe Cards

Although, let's be honest, it's hard to say which days of mine Adam Marvin doesn't make.

Things You Learn in Law School that Reconfirm your Commitment to Bizarre New Year's Resolutions Include...

Professional bakers often cannot be fingerprinted.

The years of working with enriched white flour have literally burned their fingerprints off their fingers.

This tells us two things:

1) If you plan a life of crime, take a cue from Nancy Botwin and make your front a bakery.

2) HOLY MOTHER STOP EATING SO MUCH BREAD

Lentil Soup

Winter has lasted approximately FOREVERPLUSTHIRTYSEVENDAYS in Chicago this year, and a few days ago that meant nothing would do but a big pot of my mom's lentil soup.

Start with three grated carrots and a chopped onion in a little olive oil:

(Look!  Photos from the cooking process!)

(Well, make that one photo from the cooking process.  The other ones came out too blurry.  Especially after I popped the bottle of wine and had a glass.  Or two.)

Season with a pinch of salt and pepper and a teaspoon of dried marjoram.  Saute until the onions are tender and the marjoram fragrant.

Add a can of diced tomatoes (I used the Racconio brand again, just tomatoes and sea salt), a bag of lentils, rinsed and cleaned, and about eight cups of broth.  To make the dish fully vegetarian you can go with vegetable broth, but since I have about 2908239072349082349 containers of homemade chicken stock in my freezer from the 2908239072349082349 times I've made roasted chicken and then boiled the bones, I figured I'd better use some up.

Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for an hour until the lentils are soft.  Pour in one to two ounces of dry white wine and simmer uncovered another ten minutes.

Top with cheese (I went with a lovely mellow munster) and serve with fresh baked bread and butter.

It's a vegetable-based recipe, if not totally vegetarian, and goes to the heart of what I think Pollan's food rules are all about: fill yourself with beautiful plants and herbs first, supplemented by natural starches, garnished with naturally-raised meats and dairy.

When I make this soup, I feel like I'm really eating from the earth.