Pimento Cheese Month

I'm going to regret this.  It's late and I've only just started typing.  I rarely see the other side of 10pm these days and here I am, pondering pimento cheese.  

According to Garden & Gun Magazine, the blog Gurgling Cod has declared November is National Pimento Cheese Awareness Month and who am I to argue?  I saw this month as a perfect time to declare my love and I found the stars aligned on this particular topic for several reasons:

1. It started many Thanksgivings ago: a fondness for pimento cheese that began with the Kraft Pimento Spread version.  It featured annually in our Thanksgiving dinners, starring in a condiment tray stuffed into celery sticks and sitting next to black olives.  We always had the blue cheese version as well to spice things up.
2. Earlier this spring, on our road trip to Blackberry Farm, we stopped outside of Lexington Kentucky at The Wallace Station where I feasted on Sammi's Pimiento Cheese Burger.  I dodged bumble bees on their back porch while devouring the treat.
3. Over the summer, during one of many business trips to San Francisco, my colleague landed us a table at his friend, Scott Youkilis' restaurant, Hog & Rocks.  It turned out the two of us went to IU together and I felt compelled to share one of his dishes since I adored it so much.  Beyond the terrific oysters, lots of pig and a finale of yummy rum, what stood out was his pimento cheese.  I recently begged him for the recipe and made my very own for the first time.  

Pimento cheese is a Southern favorite, and it is the perfect accompaniment to a Sunday in front of the TV watching football and knocking back a few O'Doul's.

This recipe calls for Mahon Reserva, which I found at Whole Foods, but you can substitute it with 1/2 lb of aged cheddar and 1/2 lb of gouda, as Scott suggested.

Pimento Cheese
Adapted from Scott Youkilis at  Hog & Rocks 

1lb Mahon Reserva cheese, grated
1 cup cream cheese, room temperature
2 cups piquillo peppers, minced
2 cups mayonnaise
1 bunch of chives, minced
freshly cracked black pepper
kosher salt to taste

If you can't find the piquillo peppers, try mixing a small jar of pimento peppers and roasted red peppers- both can be found in jars in better supermarkets.

Mix all the ingredients and season to taste.  Serve with crackers or sliced fresh bread (and an O'Doul's Amber, if you're pregnant, like me.)  Please note, beer advocate.com rated O'Doul's Amber a D+ at best, but what do those guys know??

I thought this southern appetizer spread was the perfect pre-cursor to a very Southern-themed Thanksgiving menu that my sister and I are currently preparing for.  Her husband, Andy, is smoking our turkey this year.  It's been tried and tested, so we'll be making many southern dishes to accompany the smokiness- many from Sam Beall's beautiful Blackberry Farm Cookbook.  We'll be doing our best to avoid Stove-top stuffing and too many casseroles with cream of mushroom soup.

Get ready for bacon glazed carrots with wilted Romaine, kale coleslaw with buttermilk - chive dressing, cranberry compote with dried cherries, stewed apples, sausage & cornbread stuffing.  Last but not least- a sweet potato pie.  Oh sweet Tennessee!! Here I come...at least in our hearts and our stomachs from our Thanksgiving table up here in windy Chicago.

Over the moon

I pull this polaroid out of the drawer every autumn.  It's my favorite tree in the neighborhood.  It stands right on the corner of Wolcott and Cornelia and has the most brilliant fall display of all its neighbors.

Indy and I pass it and admire it daily, watching it turn into stunning sunset oranges and finally, right before the cool winds finish it off, chill red.

This autumn, things are a little different.  My walks around the neighborhood are slower.  I'm five months pregnant.  Twenty weeks to be exact.  Martin and I are expecting our first child and we're "over the moon", as Martin would say.

Just like other expectant parents, we're excited and nervous.  I'm tired and growing.  We're getting ready for things to change.  Mostly, I'm lounging around in sweatpants with my best napping buddy:

I am excellent at napping.  I should receive some sort of trophy.  At night, when I'm supposed to be sleeping, I'm tossing and turning trying to navigate body pillows and a dog who's so confused by all the extra pillows that he's taken to sleeping by my head.

Food is a funny thing when you're pregnant, especially for someone who likes to cook and eat as much as I do.  I'm really picky and let's be honest, demanding.  If I'm hungry, I need to eat NOW.  

Like many, I crave dairy.  Milk and milkshakes to be exact.  My Oberweis delivery investment has really been paying off.  During the day, I have been known to send colleagues out on a shake run, treating anyone around me who would fetch me a chocolate/peanut butter shake in between meetings.

Breakfast, lunch and snacks are my specialty.  Dinner- not so much.  By the time 5pm rolls around, I am done.  If I'm in the mood to cook dinner, it's definitely vegetarian and most likely features greens- kale, spinach, swiss chard are all top of my list.  Two of my current faces are:

• Jansson's Temptation with a big green salad
• Polenta with Kale and Wild Mushrooms (where you'll find the original shot of my tree above)

Breakfast is a whole other story- I love it.  I feel like I might even be eating two breakfasts at the moment. I normally start my day with full fat greek yogurt, some berries, a sprinkle of granola and a squirt of honey.  Full fat yogurt is such a treat.  I might grab a few bites of toast an hour or so later and definitely a generous glass of juice or a smoothie from our fridge at work.

Eggs are absolutely my friend and this scrambled dish is a combination of Bill's Scrambled Eggs and my attempt of getting greens in wherever I can.  Apparently, they don't just appeal to pregnant ladies.  My husband exclaimed that they were his favorite eggs ever when we were digging in last weekend.

Until further notice, most blog posts will be pregnancy friendly.  Sadly, there will most likely not be any cocktail inspirations or wine pairings.  I do promise that anything I have the energy to cook and share will be delicious!

Scrambled Eggs with Spinach and Roasted Garlic

Serves 2

4 organic, free-range eggs

1/3 cup cream

salt and pepper

butter

a few handfuls of spinach

a head of garlic, roasted

First, start by roasting some garlic.  You will obviously not need an entire head of garlic for this, but I like to roast the entire head and then us it in other dishes.  You can take the head of garlic and cut it through the middle.  Preheat the oven to about 375F and drizzle a little olive oil on the garlic.  Roast it until its golden, about 20 or 30 minutes.  You'll be able to pop each piece of garlic out of it's skin and it will crush easily under a fork or your finger.  At this point, the garlic is so sweet and delicious, you can add it to a variety of dishes (chicken, roasted vegetables of any kind) without any overkill.  

Boil a pan of salted water and toss your spinach in, blanching it for a few seconds and draining quickly.  Put the drained spinach on a chopping board with your garlic and chop it roughly.  Add a little salt and pepper to the pile and get on with your eggs.

In a bowl, combine your eggs, the cream and salt & pepper.  Give it a couple of quick stirs with a fork, just breaking the yolks, not beating it too roughly.  Melt some butter in a pan and add your spinach and garlic.  Get it nice and hot, but only for a minute or so.  You want the garlic to stay bright green and retain it's goodness.

Pour in the eggs and scramble over low heat until just done.  Toast some english muffins and top with your eggs.  

Open Windows

As we reach the end of summer, I'm thankful for the following:

• days that reach only 75 degrees with no humidity to frizz-out my hair
• open windows
• wrapping up for a cool summer's night supper on a patio with friends or family
• warm, sunny walks through the neighborhood with my dog
• too many golden sweet pear tomatoes to know what to do with
• this Italian ham and spinach tart

The first evening that I feel a slight chill in the air is when a part of me, that I try to suppress, feels the dread of an inevitable winter. It's hard to imagine the images of snow drifting over the hot, baked top deck where my tomato plant keeps bearing tiny, golden fruits with no signs of stopping. Still, I look forward to the change where light summer meals shift to autumunal comforts.

I think this dish sits smartly on the fence of summer and autumn, although Jamie Oliver places it squarely in his "winter" section of his cookbook. I personally feel like it can fit into any season and therefore, should be celebrated here, right at the end of August.

My version turned out more of a quiche than a tart, but I will attempt to make this thinner and more delicate on the next attempt. That's right, I said next attempt. For those of you who know my cooking well, and let's be honest, the only person who really knows my cooking on a day to day basis is Martin; you'll know that I don't like to make many things twice. Of course I have a few staples that are on repeat, but I grew up in a house where a menu of about 15 dinner meals were in constant rotation. Don't get me wrong, there were some delicious highlights:

• meatloaf
• hungarian pork chops with mushrooms and egg noodles
• tuna surprise (on nights when Mom was frazzled)
• lasagna
• mac n' cheese

Yes, it's true. I grew up on the above and mostly ate pop tarts or toaster strudels for breakfast. I did not escape unscathed. In fact, many of you know my affinity for meatloaf, but thank God, I've left the tuna surprise behind.  The moral of this story is that I have a passion for the variety of food in my life. I get bored easily. I will occasionally take down an avocado, cottage cheese and tomatoes as breakfast for weeks on end, but that's where it stops. Dinner is different- it has to remain exciting or I'd be reaching for the cereal instead of cooking up something new.

I also like anything rich and savory, like this tart, along side a crisp, fresh salad with an acidic kick of vinaigrette and a few crunchy apples.  If you're ambitious OR you really want this tart to be top notch, make your own savory shortcrust pastry like I did.

Savory Shortcrust Pastry
Adapted from Jamie at Home by Jamie Oliver

500g or 2 1/3 cups of organic plain flour
200g or 1 cup of cold lard or butter, cut into cubes
50g or 1/4 cup of freshly grated mature English Cheddar cheese
sea salt
a sprig of fresh rosemary, leaves picked
a few sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves picked
2 large, free-range or organic eggs, beaten
a splash of milk
flour, for dusting

Put the flour, lard, cheese and a generous pinch of sea salt into a food processor and pulse for 20-30 seconds until the mix is crumbly and fine.  Add the rosemary and thyme.  Pour in the eggs and add the milk.  Pulse for a few more seconds until the mix comes together.  Scoop your dough out of the food processor on to a clean, floured work surface and pat it a few times to make it compact- don't knead it.

When you have it flat and round, wrap the dough in cling film and place it in the fridge to rest for at least 30 minutes.

Italian Ham and Spinach Tart
Adapted from Jamie at Home by Jamie Oliver
Serves 6-8 

1/2 x savory shortcrust pastry recipe (see above)
a knob of butter
olive oil
3 red onions, peeled and finely sliced
1 clove of garlic, peeled and sliced
2 cups of fresh spinach, nettles, swiss chard or borage, washed, thick stems removed
a few sprigs of fresh marjoram or oregano, leaves picked and chopped
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cups of creme fraiche
3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, plus extra for grating
3 large free range or organic eggs
1 cup of cooked smoked ham, torn into shreds or chopped

First, make your pastry dough (above).  Remove from fridge and place on a floured surface and roll it out with a floured rolling pin into a rectangular shape about 0.5cm or 0.2 inches thick and big enough to line a shallow baking tray about 12x16 inches or 30x40 cm

Grease the tray with butter and line it with the pastry.  Trim ay excess off the edges of the tray and leave half an inch overhang.  Pinch this into a rustic edge - it will also keep it from shrinking.  No need to fill the case with beans or rice before baking it blind.  Prick the pastry all over with a fork and chill in the freezer for another 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F.  Remove the tray from the fridge and bake your pastry case for 6-8 minutes, until lightly golden.  Next, heat a glug of olive oil in a large frying pan and gently fry the onions on a low heat for 10 minutes until soft and sweet- don't let them color.  Turn up the heat, add the garlic and the spinach and most of the marjoram.  Season lightly and give it a good stir.  Take the pan off the heat when the spinach has wilted (this will only take a few minutes.)

To make the filling, mix the creme fraiche, parmesan, eggs and a pinch of salt and pepper.  Spread the spinach mixture over your pastry case.  Sprinkle over the ham and spoon the creme fraiche mixture over the top, smoothing it with the back of a spoon.  Grate over a generous helping of the Parmesan and sprinkle the rat of the marjoram on top.  Finally, drizzle a little olive oil over it and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes.

The top will be golden and bubbling and the filling will have set.

Serve with a salad of watercress with a lemon and olive oil vinaigrette with a few thin slices of apples tossed in.