pretty as a picture

You ever make a dish and it is almost too pretty to eat? You just want to admire your work before you take a bite? Whether it is the birthday cake you just frosted for your kid or the tenderloin you made for the potluck, sometimes you take the first bite with your eyes because it looks so good you can almost taste it.

Well, I had just that experience the other day when I made this turnip and potato galette.  And you know how I know it looked good? My carnivore served himself a heaping portion...and ate several bites, before I mistakenly mentioned that it had turnips in it. But no matter, it was so buttery beautiful that even he couldn't resist.

(Adapted from The New Southern Garden Cookbook)

What you need to create your own masterpiece:
6 tblsp of melted butter
5-6 small to medium yellow potatoes
1large turnip
1 cup of vegetable broth
kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
fresh parsley

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Pour 1 tblsp of the butter into the bottom of a cast iron skillet and brush the bottom thoroughly. Slice the potatoes and turnips thinly. Start with a layer of potato slice in the skillet. Then add two more tablespoons of melts butter and some salt and pepper. Add in the turnips and then more potatoes. Pour the broth over the whole pan. Follow with the remaining butter. Then add more salt and pepper. Cover the skillet tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 30 minutes or until the edges of the potatoes on the top layer get golden brown. Run a knife around the edge and let set for five minutes before serving warm. Top with fresh chopped parsley.

This dish takes a while to bake, but it is well worth it. Carby and rich it is super satisfying. And hey, Michelangelo didn't paint the Sistine Chapel in a day, right?

home improvements

Because we live in a hundred year old bungalow, we are constantly making home improvements. Sometimes its just painting the dining room the perfect shade of blue (even if it takes five different shades to get that right), other times its more mundane tasks like re-calking the tub. It seems like there is always something that needs fixing up a bit, even though we love our little home just as it is.

The same thing recently happened when I made these tacos. Taco night is a staple in many American households, and ours is no exception. We make many versions - meat, black bean, soy, chicken, fish, and even fried avocado - but beyond just variety it turns out there is always room for improvement on a classic.

So after seeing innumerable versions of oven baked tacos on pinterest I decided to use the general technique and make my own. As usual I prepared my own fresh toppings that the carnivore hates (lettuce, tomato, sour cream, and the like), and I prepared the fillings for each set of tacos in separate pans (soy crumbles for me / real ground beef for him). You can see how I do this here.

But then I took a couple extra steps. I preheated the oven to 375 degrees. Grabbed a couple oven safe dishes. Lined them with blue and yellow taco shells. And filled them with the taco meat (or "meat" in my case). Then I smothered them in shredded jack cheese. I baked them for about 15 minutes total. I topped mine with all my goodies and left the carnivore's plain.

And guess what? They were amazing. The filling was warm and gooey. The shells were crispy. But best of all - especially if you have toddlers in the house - they didn't fall apart! Who knew this was the secret to a perfect taco? And it was just a little improvement. If only it were as easy to change a lighting fixture or stain a deck.

root of the matter

Toddlers are notoriously picky eaters. There are no shortage of parenting blogs and cookbooks that claim to have the solution to how to get your kid to expand their palate beyond mac and cheese. Fill up muffin tins with a rainbow of healthy snacks! Smother your broccoli in alfredo sauce and hide it among fun shaped pasta! And so on. Don't get me wrong, I have pinned my fair share of these tips.

And while I don't pretend to be any guru in this area, I did have one advantage on many first time parents - my carnivore. He is the pickiest eater. I mean really, who eats ketchup and red sauce, but not salsa? Or cheese, but only if it is melted? Sound like your three year old; well it's my husband. I learned after many trials and errors in the kitchen, that when I got to the root of his palate problem it wasn't so much the flavor of the foods, but the texture. I have also learned over time that if I am going to introduce a new vegetable to his plate I had better (1) hide it completely or (2) make it in a form that he generally can resist - i.e. fried.

I decided to apply the second technique when introducing my children to some of our latest CSA root veggies. While they are much more adventurous eaters than their father, it never hurts to give them a good impression of a radish before I toss it raw into a salad. So while they created rainbows with playdough I made some rainbow root chips for them to snack on.

To make your own you will need just a few things:
You choice of root veggies - we used easter egg radishes in three colors and turnips, but you can also use beets and sweet potatoes
vegetable oil
kosher salt

Slice your root veggies thinly. Place them on paper towels and top with more. Press out any extra moisture. Let sit for ten minutes and press again. Meanwhile, find a deep sided nonstick pan. Fill with a quarter of an inch of vegetable oil. Heat on medium. Once warm, make small batches of chips by placing slices in a single layer in the pan and flipping frequently. Do not crowd the pan. Remove and drain on more paper towels as they begin to brown - about 5 to 8 minutes. Remove excess oil and salt to taste. Let dry and cool completely before serving.

We gobbled them up quickly, and didn't even have any leftover for daddy to try...much to his delight I'm sure. But, I think he would have been pleasantly surprised at how much he liked these root chips. Salty, crispy, crunchy...it is hard for even a picky carnivore (or toddler) to turn their nose up at that.

sage advice

I have been the recipient of some good advice in my life. My father in particular has told me a few truism that stick with me to this day. While he made his oyster cornbread dressing at Thanksgiving he would remind me that he had been making this same recipe for years, and "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." While he stood watch over ribs doused in his homemade bbq sauce at the Fourth of July, he would pontificate that "father time takes care of just about anything." And while cleaning coolers of freshly caught fish that he would later fry in yellow cornmeal, he would tell me that "a meal didn't have to be fancy to be special." And while he passed down his rustic cooking style and his taste for food grown in the yard, he also has left me with a guidebook for my life.

I hope to do the same for my kids. They are always underfoot while I am whipping up my latest creation in the kitchen. We taste the goodies from the CSA and peruse the cookbook library for ideas. And we talk about life (as much as you can with toddlers). Just the other day my son grabbed a long red spring onion from our CSA bag and took several big bites - to my surprise. And we talked about how important it was to try new things. Then we made this purple sage and spring onion tart together.

To make your own gather these ingredients:
1 sheet of puff pastry, thawed
1 small hot house tomato
several spring onions, red and white
1/2 cup of fresh herbed goat cheese
salt and pepper, to taste
fresh purple sage

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roll out pastry and place on greased cookie sheet. Slice tomatoes thinly. Slice onions and leave in small rings. Put vegetables in tart. Sprinkle generously with goat cheese. Add salt and pepper. Cook for 15-20 minutes until edges are golden. Coarsely chop sage and smother tart with it. Serve warm.

And just a little advice...eat it with your loved ones, because it is important to sit down to meals together.

refill please

Every year for Christmas my closest friends and family are the (lucky?) recipients of some creations from my kitchen. Everything from cinnamon fig preserves to rosemary garlic butter, I make little jars of love throughout the year, store them away, and then ship them off. Those who live close often get extras as batches are made. My mother and my best friend, however, are a bit more forward with their requests. A jar that once was full with apple butter will be returned empty and cleaned...with the implication that is needs to be refilled.

Recently, my bff showed up with a small jar that once held basil pesto made from herbs grown in my own yard. It was pristine and had a small note attached that read, "for pesto." This wasn't a reminder of what I had put in there in the past, so much as an order for what needed to go back in. As it would have it I just made a batch of spicy collard green pesto with some goodies from my CSA. So I reached into my fridge and simply exchanged jars.

To make your own, or some for your friends and family, gather these ingredients:
4 cups of collards greens, destemmed
water for boiling
3 large garlic cloves
1 cup of oil
1 cup of parmesan cheese
1/2 cup of walnuts or pecans
1/2 teaspoon of red chili pepper flakes
kosher salt and grated pepper to taste

Chop greens coarsely. Blanch them in boiling water for 3-4 minutes. Remove to colander and rinse with cold water to stop cooking. Place greens in food processor with remaining ingredients. Blend thoroughly.

I ate my portion of the batch on small toast bites, almost like a dip. But this spicy and strong spread would be great on a pizza too. I'm sure my best friend will find her own way to use up this twist on pesto...and then I will get another empty jar.

thyme out

I now live with two toddlers. One that is trying to start the terrible twos early and one that is trying to extend them into his third year. We don't spank in our house. We don't even do time outs. We just ask if whoever is having a melt down needs to "take a break" - and sometimes that's mommy. In fact, I'd be fine with being sentenced to time out. Send me to my room. Let me sit in quiet contemplation while no one bothers me until I am ready to rejoin the family. That sounds like heaven! Equally heavenly, was in a rare non-crisis moment the other day when I was able to make and enjoy this thyme toast.

To make your own gather these ingredients:
nutty whole grain bread
fresh goat cheese
crumbled walnuts
fresh thyme
local honey

Toast the bread lightly. Smear with the cheese. I had an herbed variety on hand, but plain would do too. Sprinkle with nuts. Top with sprigs of thyme. Mine came from my CSA this past week. Then drizzle with honey. I like local honey best for so many reasons, not the least of which is taste.

Take a break and make this toast. Nutty, creamy, sweet, and savory - it has it all. Plus, it is simple enough to throw together and eat in between temper tantrums. "Be right there kids. Mommy is in a thyme out!"

quintessentially southern

 When I went to law school in D.C. there were a few things that I missed about southern life. People up North walked so fast - every where - all the time. Nobody doddled about like me. People loathed the humidity - even though it was nothing compared to my home town of Memphis. Eighty-five degrees and a fifty percent humidity index woulda felt like spring back home, but in D.C. the police were passing out bottle water to tourists. We don't break a sweat until the heat index makes it feel like its over 110 degrees in the summer. But the cultural difference that stands out the most in my memory was the lack of sweet tea.

If you go to any place to eat in the South and order tea, the waiter or waitress will always ask, "Sweet or unsweet?" And as a rule, southerners always order it sweet. We take pride in our sweet tea. It is in every home. It's our coffee when it is too hot outside, our water when we want to be refreshed. It is the nectar of what it means to be southern. Fragrant honeysuckles, sweating sidewalks, bright azaleas, fresh slices of tomatoes, softball sized hydrangeas and sweet tea are my idea of summer in the South. And on a perfect day recently, I made this amazing mint infused earl grey sweet tea.

To make your own gather the following:
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of water, plus more for brewing
2 cups of fresh mint
4-5 bags of earl grey tea

Boil earl grey tea according to directions. Let steep on stove. In a separate pan add sugar and cup of water. Mix and turn heat on medium. Add in mint leaves, stems and all (mine came from my CSA, but I always have some in my garden this time of year too.). Cook until sugar dissolves. Do not boil. Remove mint with tongs. Pour mixture into a pitcher. Add brewed tea on top. Add more water if needed. Top with ice. Place in refrigerator for at least an hour. Serve over more ice.

Maybe if folks up North would just slow down a bit and have a sip of this refreshing sweet tea they wouldn't mind that tiny bit of humidity so much. It's just an idea, y'all.