running with tweezers

creature comfort - a post for Apples and Thyme

I've started this blog post about half a dozen times. Every time I get going with it, I go back and erase it because it doesn't do the subject justice. It's trite and isn't saying what I want it to. I've gotten self conscious about it and just scrapped the whole thing. Here I am again trying to put "pen to paper"...and this time, I'm just going to let the words come out how they want to.

As some of you know, I lost my mom about a year and a half ago. To say that I've had a difficult time with it would be an understatement. It's only been recently that I have admitted to myself that some days...the grief I feel is too much to bear...and have started seeking grief counseling. We women think we can do it all - something I know many of us feel. At the end of the day, however...it really is okay to say that you need help, especially when it comes to sorrow, grief and matter of the heart.

In going through all of this - and all of the memories that continue to live on - people speak so often of my mom's cooking. She was quite gifted at it, despite a lack of formal training. She was so good at just winging it - something I wish I had more courage at (both in the kitchen and in real life). She often made up recipes and dishes on the fly. Most of those dishes made their way through one of the kitchens of the restaurants I grew up in. My parents were in the business in one way or another for about 30 years...so that tells you how much winging it she did in addition to raising a daughter, caring for her husband, and trying to live day to day. I look back on it with wonder. I really do.

When I ran across the blog event that Chris at MeleCotte is hosting, I really wanted to take part. It's called Apples and Thyme, and its a tribute to mothers and grandmothers created by Vanielje Kitchen and The Passionate Palate. It's been a while since I spoke about my mom - the soup challenge was really the last time. I have tried to honor her presence in my life and my career in any way I can, so this event gave me the perfect opportunity to do so. I went hunting for a photo of my mom in the kitchen...and tears have welled up so many times at the realization that I don't have one. Most of my fondest times I shared with my mom was over food or cooking - and I don't have one damn photo of it.

In an effort to remedy that, I am taking part in the event and making a recipe that was a favorite in my house growing up - a total comfort food dish. Since there was so much winging it, there aren't a lot of hard copies of recipes from her dishes, either. So...I'm winging it...and trying to create this pasta dish. I can only say that it's sort of a Midwest simple version of Sausage and Orecchiette. She used sliced Italian Sausage and frozen broccoli with shell shaped pasta. My version has crumbled Italian sausage, quickly blanched fresh broccoli, and penne. It's a great dish and a wonderful and easy way to document my mom in the kitchen, even if it's only in spirit.

Sausage and Broccoli Pasta - serves 4 as medium sized entree portions

• 1 lb. bulk roll Italian sausage or link style, removed from casings
  
• 1 16 oz. box penne or shell shaped pasta - I use Dreamfield's Penne
• 12 oz.  fresh broccoli - rinsed, dried and cut into florets
• 1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 1 lemon to use for zest
• 1 tsp. dried red chili flakes
• fresh ground salt and pepper, to taste
• freshly grated Parmesan cheese, optional

- Fill large pasta pot with water and heat until water is at rolling boil. Add pasta to water and cook according to product directions. About 3 minutes before pasta is done, add the broccoli florets. They will blanche quickly in the pasta water. When pasta is cooked, drain and set aside.
- While pasta is cooking, crumble sausage in a large skillet into large chunks and begin to brown. Don't break the pieces up too small or they will disintegrate. Let them brown and caramelize in the pan. When thoroughly browned and cooked through, DO NOT DRAIN THE FAT. This is your sauce.
- Pour cooked and drained pasta & broccoli back into the pasta pot and add the sausage, including the oil and such at the bottom of the skillet. Drizzle the mixture with the teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil and mix thoroughly. If the pasta is too dry for your liking, add olive oil as desired. Sprinkle red chili flakes on pasta. Zest lemon over pasta and add salt and pepper to taste then mix all the ingredients together one last time. Grate Parmesan over the pasta before serving. Serve immediately.

i get by with a little help from my friends...and links that finally work!

After a day so gluttonous and full of such amazing food - and a shimeji mushroom dish that I just *have* to replicate for everyone in blogland - I am taking a tasting time out. I'm fasting today...and maybe tomorrow. My stomach has reached maximum capacity. That makes it a good time, however, to heap praise on a couple of people...and do a teensy bit of shameless self promotion.

- I have to say a big thank you to my friend James, who has updated my own personal styling portfolio on my website. He's also added a few new tweaks and features that have been met really favorably. Some of my newer work can be seen at  www.tamihardeman.com.

- I also need to say thank you to Tom over at Atlanta Cuisine for the nice shout out in an article in his most recent issue. The sultry, kitchen goddess description makes me giggle a bit...but any press is good press, right?

- I have been shooting some really beautiful things lately (an example of which is in this post) with food photographer Tony Clark. We work together quite a bit...but we have outdone ourselves the past few weeks. It's been a really inspired time...and the results of that collaboration can be seen at Tony Clark Photography.

- I continue to marvel at the beauty that Bea continues to crank out over at La Tartine Gourmande. If you haven't seen her site, then you've been living under a rock...but I'm including the link just in case. All of the currants and bright colors she's been using lately make me smile.

- Lastly, for those of you in the Atlanta area with aspirations of owning your own restaurant, NBC is casting for their upcoming reality show...where you can do just that! They are looking for teams of two people with a relationship to each other (mom/daughter, spouses, best friends, etc) to go through the trails and tribulations of having their own restaurant - as a team of cameras looks on! The casting is going to take place on Sunday March 16th at the W Hotel Perimeter. For more information, email them at NBCTeamsAtlanta@yahoo.com or call them at (646)961-3991. I have a flier with information about it - drop me a line and I will be happy to forward it to you.
 

born to be wild

This is one of the most memorable non-recipe recipes I've ever come up with - for several reasons.

1) This is extremely tasty.

2) This is extremely tasty and very adaptable to a variety of palates, tastes, and events.

3) This is an extremely tasty source of party conversation. I know because I wolfed down about a metric ton of this stuff at a family reunion last summer. I spent a good bit of time scooping it into my piehole while obsessing about all the new people I was meeting and having social anxiety over and worrying about whether Aunt ______ liked me or not. Nothing helps break the ice like asking about a recipe with bits of food falling from your mouth. You should try it. Totally.

This is an adaptation of the orzo and wild rice salad that was made for said reunion. I was so wowed by it that I vowed to make my own version. That was 6 months ago. At least. Now, I've decided to finally bust out my own recipe for it to take part in this week's RootSource Challenge, over at CookThink, where there secret ingredient is orzo.

Having made it this many months later, I still love the idea of it and it is delicious. As I've said, you can really make this anyway you'd like. It's versatile and can be dressed with any sort of dressing, as well. I can totally see this being made a month or so from now using feta, fresh basil, and coming-into-season tomatoes. I think the wild rice is important for textural reasons. For my version, I used dried currants for some texture and tang, yellow and orange peppers for color and sweetness, and toasted pine nuts for a warm, nutty element.

Orzo and Wild Rice Salad - serves 4 as a side dish

• 1 1/2 cups orzo
• 3/4 cup wild rice
• 1 small orange bell pepper, chopped into small dice
• 1 small yellow bell pepper, chopped into small dice
• 1/3 cup dried currants
• 1/4 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted
• flat leaf parsley,  if desired

Dressing:

• 1 tbsp. honey Dijon mustard
• 2 tsp. red wine vinegar
• salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

- Cook wild rice and orzo - separately - per instructions on packaging. Drain each well and allow to cool.
- When ingredients are cool, combine all ingredients except for the pine nuts in a mixing bowl and blend well.
- In a small bowl, mix dressing ingredients well and then add to orzo and wild rice mixture
- Allow mixture to sit for at least one hour to overnight to give the salad time to soak up all of the dressing and for the flavors to intermingle
- Directly before serving, add additional salt and pepper to taste and stir in toasted pine nuts. Add fresh parsley or other herbs you have on hand, if desired.