Remind me, please, of all the reasons I love winter.  Right now I can’t think of one stinking reason.  The snow has covered curbs and sidewalks; mountains of it conceal whole houses…the wet and now dirty cold stuff comes up the ankles of those two pugs Dino and Rita Rose.  Do I need to tell you what it was like walking them this morning…me with my layers of polar fleece, snow boots complete with Yak-Trax (a wonderous invention…if you live in the snow, dash out right now and fetch a pair), a wooly hat, gloves, two scarves, pockets of tissue for the sniffs, and pockets of plastic bags for the poops.  This is not a pretty sight!  Add to that the coaxing I must do to move these two entitled pugs through this morning walk.  They much prefer the comfort of a warm house.  Who doesn’t!

I wonder sometimes about life without dogs.  I think of all that extra cash I would have were there no vet bills or exotic foods to buy at my favorite Pet Cabaret.  I think about the trek to the Himalayas I would take with the money saved or maybe the three months I could enjoy living in the Italian countryside in one of those lovely little antique farmhouses in Lucca.  I think of the very real fact that if I didn’t have dogs, I might be indoors having a second cup of coffee and a cigarette (and I don’t even smoke!).  For certain, I would still be in my pajamas and maybe that robe I rarely wear…because, guess why, the dogs need to go out as soon as they wake.  They are, after all, pugs and notorious for “accidents.”  And then I think about sleeping without Rita Rose next to me, snoring softly and keeping me toasty, and I think about the life she had before me…it wasn’t all just singing in roadside taverns for that girl!  Then there is Dino and who in their right mind would take him in were he not to live here…he is a dog made up entirely of left over pug parts who lived much of his early life on the street.  And then I think of how they tickle me with their antics and somehow that trek in the Himalayas or the Italian farmhouse just doesn’t seem like an option.

Because there is too much winter and because I could go on and on about these two pugs, I am going to stop right now and give you a recipe I cut out from somewhere a while back…perfect for warding off the flu!

ASIAN ANTI-FLU SALAD DRESSING

Combine in a jar and shake well:

1 teaspoon each, garlic and ginger, peeled and minced

3 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

1 tablespoon sesame oil

4 tablespoons canola oil

1 tablespoon soy sauce

3 tablespoons orange juice

1 teaspoon honey

1 grind of black pepper

I use roasted sesame oil or sometimes I add a bit of hot sesame oil to the mix…being Italian by chance, I have mixed feelings about salad dressings made without olive oil but this one works well with canola oil.  I serve this over very thinly sliced Napa cabbage, green onions, orange or mandarin wedges.  Enjoy!

Sunday  is one of those days when I start, at around 3 pm, to think of dinner.  Woe is me if there is nothing in the house to eat!  Now, let me tell you, years ago my Zia made Chicken Cacciatora almost every Sunday.  The chicken was alive and well only hours before…pecking around the chicken pen for grain and small bugs only a chicken’s eye could see.  The hens that became dinner were plump and most definitely organic!  They were loved and cared for by Zia and even in their demise, they got tender (well, sort of tender!) handling.  Her Chicken Cacciatora was about as close to heaven as any human can imagine while holding a fork and a knife!  I remember once reading an essay by Alan Watts called “Murder In The Kitchen”…the thrust of his essay was thus…a chicken poorly prepared is a chicken that died in vain!  I couldn’t agree more!

So here I was a couple Sundays ago…sitting in the shop, end of day, thinking dinner and knowing there was not a chicken…organic or otherwise…in my larder at home.  I did what I tell all others to do while in my store: “Open up that cookbook and just feast your eyes on those recipes!”  My first choice was “Yummy Potatoes,” the first page I turned to became the fixings for dinner and let me tell you it was delicious!  The cookbook was written by Marlena Spieler with photographs by Sheri Giblin.  There is not a dud in the whole wonderful book, if you love potatoes (who doesn’t?), this is your kind of cookbook!

ALOO TAMATAR BHAJI  Gingered Tomato-Curry Potatoes

1 lb. small new potatoes

1 tsp tumeric and several large pinches of sea salt

6 Tbl. extra-virgin olive oil

1 1/2 Tbl chopped fresh ginger

6-8 garlic cloves, chopped

2 shallots, peeled and chopped

2 tsp. yellow or black mustard seeds

1/2 tsp. whole cumin seeds

large pinch of ground coriander

medium to large pinch red pepper flakes

4-6 large ripe tomatoes, grated over the large holes of a box grater…(Yes! it does work and is a genius way to prepare those tomatoes that look red and ripe but are a tad too early!)

pinch of ground cumin

3 Tbl. chopped cilantro

Boil the potatoes in their skins until just tender, drain and set aside.  When cool enough to handle, peel, then break the potatoes up coarsely with a fork…each potato into 3 or so pieces…toss the broken potatoes with the tumeric and season with the salt.

In a skillet, heat the olive oil add ginger, garlic, shallots, and the mustard seeds.  Cook until the mustard seeds start to pop a little, then sprinkle in the cumin seeds, coriander and red pepper flakes.

Add those magical tomatoes you have grated!   Cook over medium heat until it all makes a sauce (not very long), then gently add the potatoes and toss them in the tomato mixture until well combined.

Cook slightly longer…season with salt if needed and sprinkle with ground cumin.  Serve warm or at room temperature, sprinkled with the chopped cilantro.

Divine!…I added a dollop of thick yogurt to my full bowl!

This is just about as good as it gets!  Two dear friends, Don and John, for a New Years Eve dinner and slumber party….I can’t imagine a better way to see out the old and celebrate the new!  We were, three (unwashed) adults, four dogs (three of which were Pugs!), great food, Apricot Egg Nog, and twenty two years of back issues of The World of Interiors! Now, first I must tell you, these issues have traveled from attic to attic with me, all tapped up in their own boxes…just waiting for a snowy night and enough Egg Nog to see us all through the stacks.  Here is the deal…we have become critical and maybe a tiny bit jaded…the old issues are not all we had dreamed them to be…not that they will be placed curb side, for next weeks trash pickup, any time soon….they were savored, with a somewhat clear eye, then placed back into their boxes, carried into the attic, put way over in the far corner, under the eves.  These boxes will be shifted around for, most likely, another 22 years!

Apricot Egg Nog

10 eggs separated

3/4 cup sugar

1/8 tsp. salt

1/2 cup milk

1 cup heavy cream (which you will whip)

46 ounces of Apricot nector

1 cup Rum (you could use Brandy)

1/4 cup Cointreau

fresh grated Nutmeg

In double boiler, mix egg yokes with 1/2 cup of sugar, salt and the milk…cook, over gently boiling water, until thickened…about 15 minutes.  Cool

Beat egg whites until frothy, add the balance of sugar then beat until stiff…pour cooled custard over the beaten egg whites…fold in gently…add whipped cream…fold in gently.  Add nectar, Rum and Cointreau.  Mix to blend, cover and chill over night…Stir with wire whip, when about to serve, sprinkle each serving with fresh grated Nutmeg.  Enjoy!  I cut this recipe in half, for the three of us, and could easily have treated the whole neighborhood…were we willing to share!

 

Here we are, one week short of Thanksgiving.  This is the time all our minds wander into food…the cook books are propped open, lists are being made and scratched out and made again!  I believe one of my favorite vegetables might just be a perfectly steamed artichoke.  This I would have for my last supper and I would take time savoring each leaf.  I find the artichoke to be a magical item…who in the world was the first to eat such an unfriendly looking thing!  I would serve, with my final artichoke, a dipping sauce which changes each time I make it…take heaps of finely chopped flat leaf parsley, a garlic clove or two (finely chopped), the zest of two lemons, the juice of one of those lemons, some capers, an anchovy or two, a small slice of sweet pickle (very small), some hot pepper flakes, some chopped celery, a chopped shallot or a couple spring onions also chopped, a few oil cured black olives (chopped) add this to mayonnaise  (home made or not)..taste, add more of whatever feels right.  I assure you this is the perfect dressing for a finely steamed artichoke.

And speaking of last suppers, where the artichoke will be front and center…I would call out to Townsends Restaurant in Hyde Park (just a mile or two from where I live) I would have them deliver their grilled romaine hearts dressed with Caesar dressing, white anchovies, fresh croutons and thinly sliced garlic that has been quickly fried and is thin as a French model and even more delicious!  If you haven’t been to Townsends…GO!  If you don’t live anywhere close, come visit…see the store and I will go with you and together we will have the grilled romaine salad!

Happy Thanksgiving!