Yogurt Anyone?

Perhaps it was merely by accident that yogurt was discovered thousands of years ago as a nomadic tribespeople attempted to preserve milk.  Imagine their surprise when their carefully collected milk fermented as it was exposed to wild bacteria.  Consuming the new substance, with a creamy texture and an astringent, slightly tart taste, may have seemed like a risky proposition.  Lucky for us they decided to take it!

Yogurt has since evolved over the years.  Many styles of yogurt-making are popular, but my particular favorite is the Greek-style strained yogurt.  I typically enjoy yogurt as a mid-morning snack sprinkled with a little granola or blended into a fruit smoothie.  Recently, however, I've begun to dabble at other uses for yogurt such as a liquid ingredient in baking.  Today's labor resulted in two delicious products: Cocoa Fudge Cookies (recipe from Cooking Light magazine) and French Yogurt Cake (recipe from Bon Appétit magazine).  These two treats are a testament to how deliciously versatile yogurt is!  I, for one, am grateful their ancient accident turned out so well.

Cocoa Fudge Cookies

French Yogurt Cake

Go Green

For an event that occurs on or around St. Patrick's Day and is called the Shamrock, it naturally follows that green would be the dominant theme at the Expo.  One green vendor in particular caught my attention because they were passing out food samples.  (Imagine me being drawn to food!)  A food truck (by the way, did anyone catch the episode of Food Paradise on the Travel Channel called Food Truck Paradise?  How in the world do they fit so much food goodness into such a small space?!  But I digress..) with a colorful awning and a big picture of an avocado fit right into the green landscape.  They offered samples of avocado gazpacho and pineapple cucumber guacamole.  For all you guacamole fans out there, do not be leery of the introduction of pineapple and cucumber to guac- it works!  It has a very refreshing taste that made me go back for seconds, and they were kind enough to pass out pamphlets containing the recipe.

It was such a hit with me that I made a batch at home to accompany taco night.  It really is a feast for the senses while preparing it- the chopped fresh cilantro, freshly squeezed lime juice, peeled and chopped cucumber, sweet-smelling pineapple and of course perfectly ripe avocado.  Delicious!  You should go make some very soon.

Shamrock

What a day!  The 7:00 a.m. start found thousands of runners and walkers corralled and awaiting the magic countdown that would release us into our 13.1 mile journey.  Cool temperatures paired with a persistent wind motivated us to keep on moving.  Despite the chill, volunteers and spectators were out in record numbers to encourage us along the way.  It's such an exhilarating experience to be a participant in the race- the continual shouts from the sidelines such as, "You look great!  Keep it up!  You can do it!," fuel your enthusiasm and help you dig deeper and keep going.  (Can these well-wishers please join me for all of my long runs?!)  Before I knew it the finish line was in sight and a glance at my watch revealed I could make a PR if I amped it up for the last 0.1, so I did.  At the finish were my two favorite race volunteers, my mom and sister, to offer me hugs and award me my race medal.

As if the whole race experience wasn't reward enough, my family took me out to lunch.  My favorite post-race meal is a big, fat, juicy burger.  Today's burger of choice is The Farmhouse Burger at Gordon Biersch because it's topped with...what?  If you guessed an egg, you'd be correct!  Mmmm...it was so delicious that I cleaned my plate!

Nonna

Nonna in Italian means grandmother.  Mine was completely masterful in the kitchen.  From meager ingredients she could make a feast.  She left absolutely nothing to waste.  In recent years I've discovered a woman who is reminiscent of my grandmother in her preparation and love of food.  In watching Lidia Matticchio Bastianich on PBS and reading her thoughtful cookbook entries, a kindred spirit to my nonna is unveiled.  I'm drawn to her and am enjoying all the wonderful Italian traditions she teaches me in the kitchen.

Today's preparation is Zucchini and Potato Minestra.  It's an ideal choice for a meal on a Friday during Lent since it contains no meat; it's also an optimal choice for fueling my body with some healthy carbs before Sunday's race.  The dried porcini mushrooms create a rich flavor base for this soup teeming with potatoes, carrots, leeks, zucchini and Arborio rice.  I topped my steaming bowl with some freshly grated Locatelli cheese and delighted in every delicious bite.  I think my body will have no choice but to have a fabulous run with fuel like this!

How do you like your eggs?

Have you ever seen the movie Runaway Bride?  There's a scene in the movie when Richard Gere asks Julia Roberts how she likes her eggs.  The implication is that if she can define how she likes her eggs, she's one step closer to identifying who she is as an individual.

I've always liked my eggs fried- and fried to a dead crisp at that.  But that changed the day I came across a recipe for Bacon and Leek Risotto with Poached Egg in Bon Appétit magazine.  The recipe directed me to poach the eggs just long enough for the whites to be cooked but leaving the yolks still runny.  This egg then topped a bowl of hot risotto.  As the runny yolk seeped into the tender rice, a new level of creaminess was achieved that absolutely delighted my taste buds!

That experience prompted me to wonder what other grains may be enriched this way.  As a runner, I'm always looking for foods that will fuel my efforts without weighing me down.  So on the morning of a 10-miler, I made a pot of quinoa with some chopped tomatoes, green onion and red pepper added in, then topped my bowlful with a poached egg.  I felt supercharged!  My run that day was extraordinary.  I tested it out again the next week on the morning of a 12-miler, and I'm happy to report a second extraordinary running experience.  So now my breakfast of choice on the morning of a long run is a bowl of hot grains (often quinoa, though I've also tried others) topped with a poached egg.

And so my egg selection has been forever altered; I know I will not go back to the dead fried egg that once took center stage on my plate.  Now if only I could figure out what that says about me as an individual...

Metamorphosis

Technically speaking, a complete change of form, structure or substance has not really occurred here.  Actually the process was more like evolution than metamorphosis, but the word metamorphosis has a much more alluring quality in my mind.

It all started when I saw a photograph of a beautiful cake in a Betty Crocker fall entertaining magazine. Amaretto Almond Poundcake.  My mouth was watering!  Naturally, I did what any sane person would do in response to such a yearning for cake- I challenged my family to a bake-off!  Unfortunately, the bake-off concept was not really a hit.  While my Mom, sister and two girlfriends did come by to visit, I was the only baker that afternoon.  My wonderful cake sent very tempting aromas wafting through the house.  In fact, the crowd grew quite restless for the cake's removal from the oven...so I went against my better judgement and removed the cake too early.  (Mistake number one.)  I then applied the accompanying hot glaze over the still soft cake.  (Mistake number two.)  My final mistake was flipping the cake out of the Bundt pan too early, and to my dismay the inside wall of the cake collapsed.  Disappointing defeat.

But the cake tasted absolutely wonderful; I knew something must be done to transform it.  That's when the idea to try petits fours came to mind.  Though I'd never made them before, I read about the process of making them from various sources and settled on a plan.  My crumbled poundcake was not the ideal building block, but I carefully cut out fairly uniform, thin slices of cake and layered them with fresh raspberry fruit spread.  Because I was a bit intimidated by the prospect of making pourable fondant (a very traditional topping for petits fours), I opted to coat my petits fours with ganache instead.  Once the coating set, I finished the top of each miniature cake with a drizzle of white chocolate.

Then remained the question of what to do with the ganache as there was so much of it left.  I decided to try my hand at truffles, carefully rolling the chilled ganache into balls and then coating each in cocoa powder.  To my delight this method worked.  Simply delicious- an inspired transformation indeed!

(gas-stron-uh-mee)

(gas-stron-uh-mee)

Gastronomy.  I'm rolling the word around on my tongue, feeling excited by how intriguing it sounds to me.  I say it aloud, pleased to find it is equally fun to say and then Brian breaks in with a question.  What was that you just said?  Gastronomy, I repeat.  Is that some sort of disease or illness, sounds a little gross.  Uh-no.

Gastronomy is the art and science of good eating.  It's about discovering, tasting, exploring, experiencing and even writing about food.  That's my purpose here.  I'm not a chef or professionally trained in a kitchen, but I love food and I want to share my journey.

Linen woven by my grandmother's grandmother.