Back to School

Hi there!

I hope you're doing well and not succumbing to the back to school scramble.  This includes, but is not limited to, fist-fights in the aisles of Wal-Mart over the last Frozen Trapper Keeper, tirelessly trolling Pinterest for creative lunch ideas in the form of Bento Boxes and sandwich artwork, and reinstating the dreaded "bedtime".  Good luck with all of that and, don't worry, I'll be there in a few years. Many people have commented, "I don't know how you find time to cook/work/write/whatever, especially with a toddler around!" And I'll tell you how.  Nap time.  I cook dinner at 1:00 in the afternoon and then re-heat it at 6.  I don't know what I'll do when he gives up naps.  Hopefully that won't happen until he's 22 and off to med school.

When life gets a little crazy, I like to fall back into my comfort zone in the biggest way I know how:  cooking.  Don't get me wrong, I love trying out new recipes and shaking things up a bit (thank you, cooking blogs!), but there is one cookbook that I come back to time and time again.  A real, live, hefty cookbook that has food stains and torn, dog-eared pages and has traveled with me across the country and has a broken-in spine that keeps the book open, no matter which page I'm on.  I got this cookbook at Powell's Bookstore when I first moved to Oregon and it stood out to me immediately, saying, "take me home, you need me!"  It's called Cooking at Home with The Culinary Institute of America.  I'm telling you, the CIA knows their stuff.  It's like a cooking class in book form.  There is not a recipe in this book that I've been disappointed by, and it has tons of technique walk-throughs.  I'll share with you two of my favorites:  Fettuccine with Puttanesca Sauce and Mole Poblano de Pollo.

First the Puttanesca.  "Puttanesca" literally means, "in the whore's style,"  which I like to interpret as "quick, cheap and easy."   It is ridiculously simple, yet fabulously ribald. It is salty and pungent, with the help of anchovies, olives and capers.  Side note: if you are an adult and are still squeamish about using anchovies, you must get over this immediately.  Anchovies are my secret ingredient love affair.  They make just about any Italian dish (panzanella, eggplant parmesan, etc.) phenomenally better.  Rinse them, chop them, hold your nose if you have to, and start adding them to everything.  That's all I'm going to say on the matter.  The tomatoes add a bit of sweetness and the red pepper flakes some heat.  It's amazing. This dish is done in a flash, with no real prep to speak of.  I suppose you could substitute quinoa for the pasta, if you're G-free.  I haven't tried it, but I'm sure it would be just as tasty.  Add a green salad and a hunk of crusty bread, and you have a weeknight dinner.

The Chicken Mole requires a bit more work, but none of it is hard.  I would have used the Baklouti Green Chili Oil in this recipe, except that my toddler would have been very mad at me.  When else is he able to combine his three great loves (chicken, almond butter, and chocolate) in one sitting?  Mole is fun and there is a ton of wiggle room with experimenting.  Can't find poblanos?  Use just about any other pepper.  Don't feel like chopping tomatoes?  Whatever, use canned ones.  Don't have chocolate lying around the house?  Who are you and how can we still be friends?  For the chicken, though, I would recommend using something with skin-on.  It doesn't matter if it's breasts or thighs (I thought we moved on from the Puttensca, tee hee), or even a whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces, just do me a favor and don't use boneless, skinless somethings.  Oh!  And the Dark Chocolate Balsamic is not 100% necessary, but it does give it a little extra something and a 60 ml bottle is all you'll need.

 Speaking of Dark Chocolate Balsamic, that is one of the new things around here, along with a Gravenstein Apple White Balsamic.  They are so very, very nice.  The Dark Chocolate Balsamic is smooth and flavorful.  I like it with the Blood Orange Fused Olive Oil the best.  The Gravenstein Apple White Balsamic is sweet and tangy.  It pairs very well with vodka and soda water, as well as with the Persian Lime Fused Olive Oil.  And what a great back to school gift for teachers! Who doesn't love apples? It may or may not be appropriate to give said teacher vodka to go with the vinegar.  I suppose it depends on your kid.

We have just overhauled our EVOOs.  Remember that 1/2 off sale?  That was to make room for these guys.  First, a mild Hojiblanca from Australia.  This one is cool.  It is green with a capital G.  It has a much milder than usual beginning, but then the grassy green-tomatoey middle and slightly bitter finish that somehow still makes you cough. Then there's the medium Koroneiki from Greece which is much different from our last Koroneiki.  It has major green-apple and banana notes and a green-almond/grassy finish.  Next is the robust Picholine also from Australia (they just crushed at the end of May), which packs a wallop.  This guy is pretty much peppery from the get-go and it extremely flavorful.  I have to say that it's my favorite.  Finally we have the robust "Grand Cru" Coratina from Italy.  This one is unique.  It has an incredibly floral, almost honey scent to it, so you expect it to be mild, but then it hits you with this herbaceous and peppery middle that makes you do a double take. Yeah...so...welcome to my world of olive oil.  

Also, you'll find that we have some fun new things coming to the store.  We just had a lovely cabinet built by the talented Skip Beaton to house 10 different custom spice blends.  Yep, all of you fine people who are addicted to our Black Truffle Sea Salt will now have more little spice packets to grab and go.  They should be here in the next week or so!  Hooray!

And now the recipes.  Thanks for spending time with me in the email world.  Come in to try all our new goodies soon.  Oh!  And happy back to school month!

Fettuccine with Puttanesca Sauce
Serves 4
Adapted slightly from Cooking at Home

1 lb. dried fettuccine
1/4 c. Robust EVOO (I used Picholine)
4 anchovy fillets, rinsed and finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely minced
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 quart (ish) cherry tomatoes, halved if you want to do that
1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley
1/4 c. pitted, chopped Kalamata olives
2 Tbsp. capers, drained
Salt and pepper to taste
Grated Parmesan, optional

1.  Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Add the pasta and boil until al dente. Drain and set aside.

2.  Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat.  Add the anchovies, garlic, and red pepper flakes.  Saute, stirring frequently, until the anchovies and garlic are lightly browned, 1-2 minutes.

3.  Add the tomatoes and cook until they are slightly blistered, about 3 minutes.  Toss in the parsley, olives and capers and simmer until thoroughly heated, 2 minutes.  Taste (it may already be salty enough, with the capers and anchovies), and season with salt and pepper.

4.  Pour the sauce over the drained pasta and toss to coat evenly.

Mole Poblano de Pollo
Serves 4-6
Also adapted slightly from Cooking at Home

3 Tbsp. EVOO (Try Chipotle or Baklouti Green Chili Oil in this one)
4 bone-in chicken breast halves or chicken thighs
1 yellow onion, finely diced
1 green bell pepper, finely diced
1 jalapeno or poblano, finely chopped (I used poblano)
1/4 c. chopped almonds*
3 cloves garlic, smashed
2 Tbsp. chili powder
1 tsp. grated fresh ginger
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
3 tomatoes, chopped (No reason you couldn't use canned diced tomatoes, drained)
2 Tbsp. Dark Chocolate Balsamic
1 c. chicken broth
3 Tbsp. Almond Butter
2 oz. Mexican Chocolate (or any chocolate), chopped
Salt and Pepper
2 Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds

*If you're a "different textures freak me out" type person, just add a bit more almond butter, as the chopped almonds are crunchy and add depth to the otherwise smooth sauce.

1.  Preheat oven to 350.

2.  Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Sear the chicken until browned on all sides.  10 minutes? Remove from pan and set aside.

3.  Add the onion to the hot pan and brown slightly, 10 minutes.

4.  Add the bell pepper, jalapeno or poblano, almonds and garlic to the pan and saute until aromatic, 3-4 minutes.

5.  Add the chili powder, ginger, oregano, and cinnamon and saute for 30 seconds or so.  Add the tomatoes and Dark Chocolate Balsamic.

6.  Pour in 1 c. chicken broth and stir to deglaze the pan, scraping up any browned bits from the pan.  Whisk in the almond butter, return the chicken to the pan and bring to a boil.  Cover the pan and transfer to the oven.  Braise the chicken until tender, about 1 hour.

7.  Add the chocolate to the sauce, stirring until melted.  Taste and season with salt and pepper. Garnish with sesame seeds and serve with rice or tortillas.

Cheers!
Andrea