Carlton’s new kid on the block offers a truly unique tasting flight….of culinary syrups and jams, each beautifully mingled with a cheese on a just-baked crostini or pastry square.  The $5 tasting fee is waived with purchase.  Republic of Jam is owned by jam master (jammelier?) Lynette Shaw and her partner Amy Wilder.  It’s a must-stop when you are next in Carlton.  Their homemade jams have about half the sugar found in most jams and flavors are bright since they aren’t cooked to death.  I sampled five jams and was deciding which ones to purchase when I realized there were another half dozen intriguing flavors on the shelves, although business on opening day had depleted some selections.  Meyer Lemon with Thyme, Clementine with Ginger, Strawberry Mint.  Better ask for the frequent buyer’s club; you’ll be back!  Or gift yourself or someone you love a jam club.  We spread a delicious Blood Orange & Black Pepper jam on bagels.  I spooned Pineapple & Rum jam and whipped cream on top of a plain yogurt cake that I made.  I ate some of the Mostarda Misto (lightly spicy/sweet with still slightly crunchy pears) with a grilled sausage and sautéed cabbage dinner for St. Paddy’s Day.

Then I picked up a jar of another kind of gooey decadence today.  I stopped by Zupan’s, where I always come across something new and interesting.  This is a product out of Seattle from a chef who propelled his airstream trailer/roaming resto into a small food empire.  They call it Bacon Jam on the website, but this is really a thick bacon rillettes. Apparently, it won top prize at this year’s Fancy Food Show.  I only tasted a smidge, just to make sure I hadn’t been taken in by nifty packaging or my empty stomach.  It seems thoroughly promising – sweet, I suspect from onions and densely bacony.  This weekend, it will find its way smeared into breakfast panini.  Once we have some local cherry tomatoes, I’ll spread a little on a brioche toast round with a half a tomato and shredded lettuce for a perfect party blt.

We’ve not been eating entirely out of jars – I promise!  I’ll be back soon with an easy recipe from Orangette that is absolutely delish (says Pirrie).

Four glorious days, meandering the streets of SoHo and the Village with Scott.  Most memorable food encounters included the addictive pretzel croissant from City Bakery, from its outpost in SoHo called Birdbath….

And the knock-out Chicken Parmesan from Torrisi Italian Specialties, which is a 19-seat resto in SoHo.  By day, the menu features just a few stellar sandwiches, including their beloved meltingly tender roasted turkey.  I opted for the Eggplant Parm.  It completely scratched the itch for something wonderfully, quintessentially New York Italian-American, and better than anything you’d find in Little Italy.  Most fun was “discovering” Torrisi ourselves, by accident.  Strolling to dinner our first night, we saw people queuing and knew it had to be good.  Although we did not have the chance to squeeze in a dinner there, we will next time.  Their 4 course, different-set-menu-nightly at $50/person draws raves.  With the $25/person wine pairing option, that’s a special meal for $150 for two people – not bad for New York, or just about anywhere.

We shared a memorable salad at Balthazar (asparagus and fennel with truffle vinaigrette), and I loved my Coq a la Biere with homemade spaetzle at DBGB.  We explored Eataly, the enormous foodporium by Batali and Bastianich, and ate a very tasty just-out-of-the-rotisserie turkey porchetta sandwich there.  And a wonderful meal and service at Colicchio & Sons (roasted marrow bones for Scott!).  I really loved the pizza from Veezo’s Thin Crust (a shout out to my nephew, Lem, who turned us on to that).

And then there was the burger we split on Valentine’s day, with perfect crinkle cut fries, at Shake Shack (part of the Danny Meyer Hospitality Group) in Madison Square Park.  Nice touch!  In honor of V-day, they gave a free strawberry frozen custard to each customer.  While we waited in line, the two men behind us discussed the disaster that is Spider Man.  They were terribly disappointed.  We, however, were not at all disappointed.  (Well, we did not see Spider Man).  What we did enjoy was spectacular weather, extremely friendly natives, and good eats everywhere.

I promised entries on living yummy in the New Year.  Here is my second installment in what will be a year’s worth of easily-digested nuggets of information for improving your relationship with your nourishment.  None of these foods are diet foods, but when you commit to increasing the Yum Index in your life, you will lose weight, because you will be happy and beautifully sated.

So this idea comes from my years working with the irreverent, talented dynamic chef duo, aka, the Too Hot Tamales, Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger.  I’ve written about them and promise future entries about our adventures together in Oaxaca or on the set of Food Network, but first comes a lesson that you will find in all well-run restaurants…the idea of side work.  Many people have worked in a restaurant at some point in their lives.  Before service began, did you roll silverware in napkins, or replace supplies such as sugar packets and condiments?

Well, in the kitchen, “side work” is much more fun and it will make you a happier cook immediately.  While you have something else simmering on the stove, or when you take a break from your laptop to stretch your legs…whirl some water, yeast, sugar and flour together in the food processor and stash the Pizza Dough in the fridge or freezer for later.

The dough is great and the pizza will be terrific no matter what, as long as you top it with quality ingredients. This is buffalo cheese, duck salami and asparagus

While the food processor and flour bin are out on the counter, make two batches of this Galette/Tart Dough (yes, fridge or freezer).  It is impossible to think of anything easier than this tart dough, but imagine later in the week quickly topping it with sautéed mushrooms, corn and goat cheese and popping in the oven.  I was able to pull that off after late-afternoon lessons last week (piano or hip hop or something).

This galette or tart has a filling of chard, corn and pancetta and is about to be wrapped up and baked in the oven. Serve with a big tangle of mixed greens.

Other quick side projects that will have you eating yummier and happier all week:

Cook bacon in the oven.  Later in the week, you’re looking at bacon with mixed greens, avocado and blue cheese?  Or Galette with Caramelized Onions, Bacon and Corn?  Or pizza with Bacon and Arugula and Corn.

Make croutons.  Every soup and salad this week (and the next – they keep well) will be dramatically elevated with these golden homemade croutons.

Boil eggs.  Slice them for a salad of Butter Lettuce with Tuna, Potatoes and Green Beans.  Add egg slices to a ham and cheese panini.

Make dressing.  You already know of my obsession with Bon Ton Dressing.  I’m out of it myself right now.  It’s going to get ugly pretty soon here if I don’t mix up another batch.

There are tons of examples of side work that save time later, and provide for much easier kitchen brainstorms.  Caramelize an onion and refrigerate.  Slow roast a pan of tomatoes, which will make even winter tomatoes taste rich and meaty. Make cookie dough, shape into a log and freeze.  I’m sure you have lots of ideas too but these are the ones I repeat the most.

If you’re thinking this sounds too planned or too organized for your life, just figure it’s so you can be unplanned and fancy-free later. On a sunny afternoon like today, you can linger in the park an extra couple of hours, or invite a last minute guest, all because you’ve got something delicious up your sleeve.

Want to eat YUMMIER in 2011?  Wouldn’t that be a great resolution?

If the tiny nation of Bhutan takes happiness seriously enough to index it, I figured I would do the same for my nourishment.  It’s my Personal Yum Index, or PYI.  Mine’s generally high, and my resolution is to inch it up even more and I’m asking if you want to join me.  No matter what is going down, I feel up about what I eat and where I shop.

I’ve found that feeling really happy about how I eat is the sum of really small ordinary things, not grand culinary coups.  When I eat delicious foods, no matter how simple, I’m sated.  It boosts endorphins and immuno responses, and gives you better posture (ok, I have no proof of any of that, just a hunch).

Please check back here frequently.  Over the course of 2011, I’ll cover 52 Simple Ways to Love What You’re Eating.

Might as well start now.  #1 Make salad dressing.  For me, it’s this simple.  If I make a delicious dressing, then I eat leafy greens and vegetables all week.  (And beets, and mushrooms, and nuts, and sprouts, and cooked egg, etc).  If not, I don’t.  There is not a bottled dressing that makes me (or the family) excited about salad.  But my homemade dressings do.  The trick is identifying a dressing that you love.  Here’s a fave of mine, based on one from the Bon Ton Cafe in New Orleans.

While you’re at it, consider making your own croutons.  The fun, irreverent, and hard-working celebrity chefs that I worked for, Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger, got me started on this path with the delicious croutons they made for their Border Grill Caesar Salad.  The croutons will punch up a so-so soup.  You can crush them to sprinkle over a casserole, or over any pasta.   Your salad, with your homemade dressing and homemade croutons, is now the star of the meal, and not a lame side.   Cut up leftover baguettes (before they turn into bricks and you have to throw them away) into small cubes (you can freeze in a ziplock bag until ready to use).  Saute with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and let them get toasty in a skillet.

They’ll keep for quite a while in an airtight container (but they won’t last that long).  The other night, I cooked some Yukon Gold potatoes in the microwave, then cut them and poured some of this dressing on them, while the potatoes were still warm.  I dressed fresh greens with more of the dressing, and topped the greens with a mound of the potatoes, some steamed green beans, a few slices of steak (chopped roast beef, or cold peeled shrimp, or cooked bacon would be fabulous)…and of course the croutons.  Scott proclaimed it best ever salad.  We drank a beautiful 2000 Domaine Drouhin Laurène with it.

So…New Year’s Day…we’ll be eating some gumbo, and enjoying a big salad with Bon Ton Dressing and homemade croutons.  And some black eyed peas for those like me who have to get their good luck for 2011!  Here we are again.  Happy Roux Year!

Pot of beans on the stove. Darn those black eyed peas. Cute little pandas of the bean world!

Ahhhh….I remember the days when an app was not a download, but the very tasty reason for the season. A coffee table or side board laden with one-bite wonders…swoon!  I’m a talker (no!) and always the last in line to get my plate, therefore, grazing on hors d’oeuvres is my favorite way to eat, so I’ve accumulated a few favorites over the years.  I hope to help you out with your assignment to provide nibbles for your upcoming holiday event, or heck, even the Superbowl.

These recipes are tested and approved by the food-savvy (and hungry!) Scott Paul Wines team.  This past Friday, with spouses and offspring, we celebrated another great year together with a graze-fest and unbelievably great wine and Champagne.  (We’re getting smarter in our old age…we planned the event to follow our day-long Masters of Burgundy open house.  Conveniently, some rare Grand Cru burgs and small grower Champagnes were open).

On offer were Swedish Meatballs, Gmama Betsy’s Cheese Puffs and Smoked Trout Spread (w/ Lemon and Shallot).  Those happen to be three of my recipes that have been published in cookbooks.  Several team members asked for the recipes so here they are as promised.  I also had on offer some foie gras mousse paté made by Chop in Portland, and a fabulous Italian sheep/goat/cow milk cheese called Robiola from the marvelous cheese case at Pastaworks.  For dessert bites, it was our family favorite butter cookie with almond glaze, and chocolate brownies (I used Scharffenberger this time.  Use any brand of great chocolate!).

And then there was…..the Dear Lord Dip.  I modified this from Alton Brown’s Hot Spinach & Artichoke recipe (and gave it a very apt name).  I’m not a chip and dip person, and I’m an app snob, but I will happily go slumming with this dip!   I can promise it will be the ultimate crowd-pleaser.  It couldn’t be easier to make and you can pronounce the ingredients!  Try that with the version from the frozen aisle.  Plus, there is a reason that the one at the grocery store isn’t called Dear Lord Dip.

Wishing you lots of merry gatherings with excellent nibbles and wine.  Cheers!

Here's a photo of my Swedish Meatball recipe from The Vintner's Kitchen. Photo by Rick Schafer.

I believe it was our 7th consecutive year making a late October pilgrimage to my hometown of New Orleans.  Just the girls.  We leave Scott behind to do the heavy lifting of harvest.  We amble around the French Quarter and something feels so right about the patinaed surfaces, the continuity, the fact that many things are exactly as I remember them.  We visit with friends and family members over great meals.  Then we stop for something to eat on our way to our next meal.  It begins when my mother picks us up at the airport bearing a treat that makes me swoon — her unparalleled home brewed coffee, dark and concentrated, with milk and ice.  Hope you enjoy these photo highlights.

Café du Monde is still delicious. An order of 3 doughnuts is $2.14. I remember when my father was aghast when they went from 35 to 50 cents.

Joel Dondis and his wife Gretchen are the culinary and concept geniuses behind La Petite Grocery and Sucré and a thriving catering business.  One of the best things we ate was a burger and shake at their brand-new pop-up restaurant, Sunday nights only, at Slim Goodie’s on Magazine Street.

You don’t need to be in New Orleans for long to understand the popularity of Snoballs.  When it’s 90 degrees with 100% humidity, it is actually hard to digest ice cream.  I think it might curdle before it hit your stomach.  Snoballs to the rescue — but mind you, this is no ordinary crunchy sno-cone or shaved ice.  Old man Hansen purportedly didn’t even tell his wife the secret behind his amazing machine that converts solid ice into the fluffiest, softest, creamiest snow imaginable.  (He was an octonegarian when I was a kid and his grandchildren run the business today)  The dozens of syrups are also guarded secrets.  I’m recommending nectar cream.  We happened to be there on one of the last days for the season.

How about some shrimp and grits?…..By the way, no one I talked to even mentioned the Gulf spill or its effects.  They are fishing and eating their catch.  Case in point…these were delicious, as was the jumbo lump crabmeat my mother prepared as a gratin.

Maybe it’s the local diet that did in all these ghouls and goblins.  New Orleanians go crazy decorating for the holidays.  There is actually a healthy cottage industry of crafty people selling door décor.  Whether Halloween, St. Patrick’s day or Saints game day, you’d better have something on your door.

and if you don’t decorate?  You might end up like this guy, who we ran across at the neighborhood dry goods store in Covington Louisiana!

Okra just might win the award for most maligned, or slimed, vegetable!  But this method of preparation changes everything and results in a perfect finger food!

I grew up on the stuff and can happily eat okra sautéed, stewed or fried (my mother made a delicious dish of sliced okra and tomatoes baked with strips of bacon).  But roasting it makes it a hit even with non-believers, as I discovered recently.  Pirrie called out to Scott as soon as he walked in the door, “Dad, come taste my new favorite food.”  I had purchased a small amount at the Wednesday Portland Farmers Market, not certain how they would figure into the evening meal.  A very nice woman originally from Texas and I had a nice chat about our okra plans.  We were both obviously tickled to have someone to talk about to okra (see… just buying such a Southern vegetable will make you say things like “tickled.”)  I also couldn’t resist these adorable Fairytale Eggplant. Cook ‘em?  Hug ‘em?

I was leaning toward a quick sauté, along with tomatoes and onions.  But I was trying to recall something I had seen about roasting them?  I don’t remember running across roasted okra in Louisiana, and I wonder why not?   I thought it was worth a try.  A quick look online revealed only a few recipes and different approaches (whole pods vs. sliced), but the argument to keep the pods whole was more compelling.  In this way, the slime does not develop and the roasting caramelizes the natural sugar in the vegetable which results in better flavor.  Small, more tender pods will work better than bigger, tougher ones.  I tossed them with a very small amount of olive oil, salt and pepper and a smidge of ground cumin, and roasted 15-20 minutes at 400.  (I’d probably up it to 450 and cut the amount of time next time for even better color and caramelization).  I stirred some curry powder into mayo to make a quick dip, which was yummy, but it was just as good plain.  Maybe a roasted tomato dip?  We liked them just out of the oven, at room temp and even cold, the next day.

Turns out that okra is a nutritional powerhouse, but they will disappear because they are delicious.  Now that we’re hooked, I’m just hoping I can find the okra again….

I’m happy to have recently connected with an old schoolmate.  John Currence was a couple of grades ahead of me at Isidore Newman School in New Orleans, now chef of four immensely popular eateries in Oxford, Miss.  Look for his September article in Food & Wine Magazine about lying in a hospital bed, recuperating from a near-fatal pancreatitis, musing about how to give his favorite dishes (that had nearly killed him) a healthy make-over.  While stuck on his backside, he discovered Heidi Swanson’s blog, 101 Cookbooks, which I like very much as well.  Last summer I made her Summer Squash Gratin recipe and couldn’t wait to try it again.  I served it last week for a very special occasion…a dinner party in honor of Scott’s birthday, with my mother and siblings and their spouses.  It is absolutely delicious — both decadent and bright at the same time, with the boost from the lemon zest and herbs.  (I was introduced to this recipe and to the blog by Juliette Levy (aka, David Millman’s better, oops, other half). 

Just-picked summer squash from our garden - yellow zucchini and crooked neck. This is my first year planting squash.

Last night, for dinner in our home, I served the same gratin recipe to our wonderful French friends and top Burgundy producers, Thiébault Huber and Catherine and Patrick Essa, alongside some home grown Burgundy beans and some fresher than fresh Chinook Salmon (cured first with sugar, salt and pepper, then grilled).  See below for further notes on the gratin recipe.*  For dessert?  A fresh fruit tart.  I recommended last summer that you make it.  It’s still a hit and nothing could be simpler.  (Really.  It is without a doubt the absolute easiest, quickest dessert in my collection of recipes, yet guests will think you are a pastry wizard).

This was taken last summer. Last night, my 9-year-old sous-chef topped the tart with super ripe blueberries, my preference for the fruit, and a heart-shaped center of just-picked raspberries. I also usually pulse some lavender with the sugar in making the crust, and have on occasion added lemon zest to the custard.

Anyway, it got the French guests dancing!  (OK, perhaps what got us dancing were the lovely Huber-Verdereau rosé, the 2000 Drappier Grande Sendrée Champagne, the 2006 Domaine Buisson-Charles Meursault Bouches-Chères 1er Cru, 08 Audrey, etc, etc.)

*Gratin recipe notes:  I’ve prepared the gratin ahead of serving time in two different ways.  One, I prepared according to recipe, bread crumb topping and all and froze.  After reheating, I drizzled with the additional herb oil.  It worked.  It was roundly well-regarded and dug into for seconds.  Maybe better though is to prepare the gratin minus the bread crumb topping, cook (maybe slightly less than recommended).  Cool.  Freeze.  Thaw.  Reheat with bread crumbs, then drizzle with the extra herb oil.  By the way, I just drizzled some leftover herb oil onto briefly steamed fresh green beans.  Delicious!

If short on time to make the gratin, how about sautéing squash in a large skillet, and topping with a sprinkling of grated gruyère, the herb oil and the toasted breadcrumbs or crushed up croutons?

Oh, the garden.  The GARDEN.  Have I mentioned how fruit I am for the little veggie plot I tend?  I’m separated from it for a week at a time, and occasionally two weeks.  The 9-year-old and I literally jump out of the car to see what has happened.  The potato plants have flowered, then flopped over.  The tomato plant has grown to 20 times the size of the original start.  The beets greens have leafed, the second planting of carrots is sprouting, and the kale plant is about 2 1/2 feet tall and growing as I continue harvesting the leaves.

fistfuls of beet, kale and chard.

The green bean plants sometimes grow so quickly you’d swear you can hear them stretching, sending out tendrils and hooks that find their way up a trellis like a determined child compelled to take her first steps.   I simply will never get over how stubbornly, aggressively willful these plants are to fulfill their destiny.  Even in the face of, or because of, my neglect.  Lest you think I am bragging or have a talent, I really want to assure you that this is about dna, and soil, and water and light.  The plants grow because they are supposed to and they do.  (Disclaimer:  except you, cilantro.  I have no idea what your problem is, but that’s another story).

The author of You Grow Girl was inspired by her grandmother growing potatoes in buckets on a balcony.  Our dear friends grew potatoes accidentally because they sprouted in the compost heap.  It still slays me that I push a small piece of one potato into the earth and get a basket full of them later.

Hard to beat the thrill of the potato treasure hunt!

And one little green pea will produce all that foliage and pounds of beans.

A Burgundy Bush Bean sprout. It all begins so humbly. It's a miracle that breaks my heart open with joy. Except for you, Star of David Okra, you were a soil nutrient hogging dud, which is why you weren't invited back this year.

(Ok, I won’t deny it.  I was a little bummed about the okra.  That was last year.  But I’m almost over it.)

crooked neck squash or yellow zucchini - not sure which. I never liked squash until I ate baby squash which are very yummy sauteed with a sweet onion such as Walla Walla and a tomato and served with cous-cous or something like that.

Scott loves beets and their greens, so I love growing and cooking them for him! The beet starts came from our friends Cris & Susan Stubberfield and their Carlton greenhouse. Their veggie starts come wired for success. Last year we planted one of their small cucumber starts and had a medium sized cuke 7 days later! I wouldn't believe it either except that I wrote it down!

It’s not too late to get your hands a little dirty.  Kale and chard are easy and rewarding.  Or maybe some basil and a cherry tomato.  I’d love to know what your favorite foolproof crops are, or the perennial losers.  In the meantime, wishing you happy garden eats!

Well, from soup to popsicle weather…in 3 days.  On July 4th, we wore jackets.

Scott's son Kevin with little sister P, at Latourell Falls in the Columbia River Gorge

Three days later, the thermometer hit 100, and we needed relief.  With the lavender fest going on last weekend in the town of Yamhill, and the new shaved ice stand in the park in Carlton offering up herbal infusions alongside the standard kid flavors, I was inspired to make lemon-lavender popsicles at home.  (Garin Poole, girlfriend of Marcus Goodfellow, owner of Matello Wines, has opened a stand right in the park, next to our community pool – try her homemade rosemary syrup!) I found this recipe, and added 1/4 teaspoon of dried lavender to the simple syrup while it simmered, and strained it out later.  So very yum.  Maybe next we’ll try cucumber mint or watermelon lime?