Happy Easter!

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I hope everybody has a glowing, hopeful spring green day!

Here’s a playlist of songs about spring, new life and sunshine!

crispy lacy almond cookies

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crispy almond cookies

I’ve always wondered if I could smell or taste or feel in a dream. It’s all a little vague, but I’m fairly sure I can see and hear. Exactly how much are dreams like movies, anyway? Surely since smell and taste are so closely related to memory, and dreams are fantastical jumbles of memory, these senses should play some part? I just didn’t know. Well, last night, my dream provided solid and concrete evidence that I have a sense of smell in my dreams. I dreamt that I was making black beans (as one does in one’s dreams, right?). In my dream, I went to sleep, but woke up hours later with the house on fire, and the terrible smell of burnt black beans in my nose. The panic! The guilt! Well, I woke up in real life, after waking up from the dream in the dream, and I was sure that I could smell smoke! But I couldn’t, and the sense of it passed, and I went back to sleep. Have you ever smelled or tasted anything in a dream?

The other day my friends Treefrogdemon and SpottedRichard asked about a thin crispy cookie. I made one, with rum and coarse salt. But Spotted Richard said she’d imagined something with almond. And so, to be honest, had I. So I tried again. I had two leftover egg whites, and I decided to use them to make a light, thin cookie with almost no flour. (I was worried that this would be one of those occasions that I waste a whole cupboardful of ingredients trying to use up two egg whites, but luckily these turned out very tasty!) They’re thin and lacy and crispy, almost like almond toffee.

Here’s Yellow on the Broom, by Jean Redpath, because I think Treefrogdemon and SpottedRichard will like it, and because springtime is here again!!
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Vegetable, french lentil, potato ragout

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Vegetable french lentil ragout

In which Claire goes on and on about The Two of Us, part 2 of 2.

Did I mention that we recently watched the Claude Berri film, The Two of Us? Oh, I did? I’ve told you that I loved the film, and some of the reasons why. But there was more to it than that. The film spoke to me, about things I’ve been thinking about the last few weeks. I saw myself in some of the characters in a way I don’t usually with most films. I wonder if everybody feels that way when they watch The Two of Us, because the film is so human and honest that it feels universal? Such specific things resonated, though. An old, old dog, loved more than anything in the world. A bright, energetic 8-year-old boy, who doesn’t quite understand why you’re upset by the way he acts. The father’s anxious-angry-loving face was so dear and familiar. And then there were the animals. Pepe is a vegetarian. Not a common or popular position in the French countryside at the time, it would seem. The rest of the populace was trying to find a way to scrounge some meat during the deprivations of WWII, but he proudly announced that he only ate vegetables. By choice. Not because that’s all the rations allowed. His wife raised, killed, and cooked rabbits. But to Pepe, that wasn’t an option, because he knew the rabbits. He loved the rabbits. Exactly in the way he loved Claude, though he was a jew, because he knew him. It reminded me of the film The Shooting Party, in which a parallel is made between children who save their pet duck from a duck hunt, as though she’s the only duck that matters, because she’s their duck, and the fact that the accidental shooting of an old man is only important because they know him. All this in the context of WWI, in which surely it was only possible to kill other humans in fear and ignorance, because you didn’t know them, and they were the enemy. In the way Claude, the little boy, would have been to Pepe, before he knew him.

Anyway…I wanted to make something to go with my couronne bread, and I decided to make something Pepe might eat. So I made a ragout, which as I understand it is a stew substantial enough to be a meal. This was hearty, because of the potatoes and french lentils, but they weren’t the stars of the show. We also had zucchini, broccoli rabe and tomatoes, and white wine and capers for brightness. So it had a certain lightness, despite being completely satisfying. Not the prettiest thing I’ve ever made, but right up their with the tastiest.

Here’s Nina Simone with Turning Point. A devastating, complex song, told with the simplicity of a child’s voice. A revelation of prejudice that makes it all seem so idiotic and unnecessary.
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Couronne bread

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Couronne bread

The Two of Us, by Claude Berri, is one of the most perfectly beautiful films I’ve seen. During world war II, an eight-year-old Jewish boy is sent to live in the country with his landlady’s parents. The story is based on Berri’s memories of his childhood, and it has the beautiful glow of a child’s perspective filtered through memory. With the ease that children approach friendship, Claude takes to Pepe, the old man. And Pepe loves him back, not realizing, as he weaves frightening tales of Jews as villains, that the boy himself is Jewish. There’s such a simplicity and grace to the film – it has a feeling of effortlessness and honesty – that the emotional impact is powerful and immediate, and it took me a while to realize just how intelligent it is. Pepe, as played by the incomparable Michel Simon, is so human – so wonderful in some ways, and so flawed in others. Without moralizing or judging, Berri provides a vivid illustration that prejudice is born of ignorance. In the context of the war going on around them – tragic news on the radio, threatening posters around the town – Pepe’s bigotry, which seems innocent because he’s so sweet, takes on a looming dangerous shadow.

And it takes place in the French countryside, in summer! They eat outside and drink copious bottles of homemade wine! They chase each other and their elderly dog around gorgeous fields and meadows! And, as you can see in the trailer, there’s a lovely and intriguing loaf of bread on the table throughout most of the film. I decided to try to make this bread! I believe it’s called a couronne, because a bread of that name is made in Lyon, and I believe they’re in Lyon because that’s what the sign on the train said. To be honest, what I actually made was my version of a French baguette in circular form. I’ve long wanted to make bread that had this texture – chewy crispy on the outside, and not so finely crumbed on the inside. I think this turned out that way! It’s really good! And pretty! I read a bunch of different recipes, and then combined them in a fly-by-the-seat-of-my pants kind of way. But it seems to have worked, so I’ll tell you what I did step by step.

We had a Vegetable, french lentil, potato ragout with this, and it was a perfect meal.

Georges Delrue wrote the music to The Two of Us, and oddly enough, years ago I fell in love with a song he wrote for Jules et Jim called Brouillard. I set some super 8 footage to it a while back. So that’s what this is.
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Pizza dumplings

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Pizza dumplings

The other night we made dumplings loosely based on our vision of the dumplings in Kung Fu Panda. While we were eating them, we all talked about the different kind of things we could fill them with. Malcolm came up with the idea of pizza dumplings. He wanted them to be like the earth, with layers. An olive for the core, a layer of cheese, a layer of sauce and a layer of dough. So that’s what we tried to do.

Malcolm is writing an essay for school about what he wants to be when he grows up. I’m going to share some excerpts with you. Remember, this is still a work in progress – he’s at the prewriting stage. Here we go…

Bang! Pishhh! “Hey, chef I need 3 pies.”
In my opinion being a chef is very fun.
I want to be a chef because I like to cook with my mom and she says that I have great ideas for cooking. One of my favorite things to do is invent and cooking is like inventing.
I want to travel so I can go to Scotland and find out what they eat there. Then I will learn how to cook food all over the world.

I hope he will!

Here’s Desmond Dekker with Sugar Dumpling.
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Baked asparagus custard with arugula and tarragon

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baked asparagus custard

Yesterday morning I was feeling a little tired and discouraged. I decided to tag along with David on a bike ride up the towpath that runs between the river and the canal. I pedaled along, looking at the pebbly path, because going over the big ruts makes my back hurt. Which makes me feel old. Then I looked up. The late morning light glowed in the early spring leaves so beautifully it almost hurt. Against the dark tangle of branches, the small leaves hummed with a bright hopeful light. A light that’s only there this time of year, and doesn’t last very long. Well!

I think asparagus is a little like that. It’s so vivid and slender and pretty. It tastes like early spring. You wouldn’t want to eat it all summer, but you do want to eat it now. I like it best lightly steamed with butter and lemon, but you can’t eat it that way every time! So I try different things. I’m not sure what made me think of this, and I’m not sure what it should be called. It’s not a custard, exactly. It reminds me of Stouffer’s Spinach soufflé. When I was a child, that was the special thing to have with our steak. It’s not a soufflé, because there’s no bechamel, and the eggwhites aren’t whipped. But it does feel special. It’s quite light, but substantial enough to serve in slices. It would be nice with a light tomato sauce or red pepper coulis, but it’s flavorful enough to serve as it is. And it’s quick to make!

In Blackalicious’ Green Light – Now Begin, they say,

No more of that sittin’ in a slump and uh
No more of that coulda-woulda-shoulda junk
No more of that waiting for the inspiration, innovation

Or a green light–now begin

That’s right!!
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Homemade noodles with black beans and tamari

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Black bean noodles

There’s a special kind of joy in discovering a movie by accident. A movie you haven’t watched trailers for, or read reviews of, or looked forward to seeing. The other night we watched a Korean film called Castaway on the Moon. Knew nothing about it. What a nice surprise! A delightful mix of very human, and slightly but magically surreal. I’ll try not to give too much of the plot away, but here’s the basic story. A man jumps off of a bridge over a river in the heart of a bustling city (Seoul). He washes up on an island in the middle of the river. He might as well be in the middle of nowhere. He becomes an unlikely Robinson Crusoe. And he becomes obsessed with black bean noodles. To him they represent hope. Of course, after watching the movie, I, too became obsessed with black bean noodles. It turns out real Korean black bean noodles don’t have black beans as I know them, but a paste made of black soy beans. Too late! The idea of black beans and noodles was firmly implanted in my head. It seems they sometimes add meat or seafood to the black bean noodles, so I thought of my black beans in that capacity. Apparently the soy bean paste is mixed with caramel. So I made a sort of caramelized soy sauce with tamari and raw sugar. Malcolm, who is a big fan of noodles with tamari, helped me pick the spicy spices. We decided on garlic, ginger, basil, red pepper flakes and scallions. Delicious! Black beans and tamari are wonderful together. Why didn’t I think of it sooner?

We didn’t go to all the trouble that the man in the movie did, to make the noodles, but we did make them ourselves. It turned out to be very easy and very very fun. Not as easy as opening a cardboard box of dried noodles, but much more delicious. We’ll be making more noodles, soon. And different shapes, too. Watch out!

Castaway on the Moon.

Here’s Culture’s beautiful I’m Alone in the Wilderness.

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Turnip & pecan soup

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Turnip & pecan soup

I think if turnips were people, they’d have a good sense of humor. They’d be sweet, but they wouldn’t be universally popular, because that sweetness would be hidden under a fairly sharp sarcastic edge. Now that I’ve personified turnips, I’m going to tell you how I chopped them up and ate them! Mwah ha ha ha!!

It might sound odd, but whenever I feel physically or emotionally low, I start to crave turnips. They’re not a traditionally comforting food, I don’t think, because of their edginess, but they always sound good to me when I’m not feeling well. Usually in soup form. So that’s what I made. This soup is simple but nice. The star of the show is the turnips, but there’s a pleasant nuttiness from the pecans, and a freshness from the parsley. It’s fairly easy to make – it has plenty of flavor without a broth, so you don’t have to take the time to prepare that.

To make it ultimately comforting, you’d serve it with cheese toasts made with sharp cheddar. We had a lot of leftover pizza to get through, so the toasts felt redundant, but I grated some sharp cheddar in mine, and it was very tasty!

Here’s Nina Simone with Nina’s Blues. One of my favorite songs ever. Why? Because it’s a little bit like turnips. Suprisingly comforting. She’s not doing well (she plans to lay her head on a railway track) but in the end she triumphantly declares that the sun will shine in her back door some day. Ba da ba!!
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Eggplant, roasted mushroom, red bliss, spinach bake

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Eggplant mushroom bake

There are certain things in the world I like a lot. I think of these things as “Claire-y.” Otters, for instance, or green chairs with unexpected drawers, or boxes with little secret compartments and little bottles in them. These things are claire-y. I was trying to think of a way to describe this, and I kept coming back to the word claire-y. I love eggplant, mushrooms, spinach and potatoes. I love them cooked these ways, and I love them all together. I also seem to be drawn to odd dishes that defy definition and categorization. I’m not sure what to call this? Is it a gratin? A tian? A bake? A casserole? (For some reason a casserole seems like something my fourth grade teacher from the 70s would make. The one with the polyester suit and the glasses on a chain.) As I understand it, most of these words describe the dish it was baked in. But I don’t know what my dish is called! ACK! I decided to call it a bake. Because it’s baked. Here’s what it involves…thinly sliced vegetables, each prepared in a slightly different way, layered together with some cheese and baked. That’s about it. The potatoes are boiled, the eggplant is fried, the mushrooms are roasted, and the spinach is sautéed. It’s quite easy though! It sounds like a lot of steps, but they’re all pretty easy and quick. And then when it’s done, what is it? It’s hearty and satisfying enough to be a main course, but it also works quite well as a side dish. It’s whatever you want it to be, I guess!

Eggplant mushroom bake

Today friends, instead of finding a song about casseroles, tians or bakes, I’m going to post this song that has been haunting me. It’s so beautiful and plaintive. When a song like this is an earworm, it’s like having a little ghost howling in your head! It’s Tommy Johnson’s I Want Someone to Love Me.

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White bean dip

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White bean dip

One of the nicest things in life is to have friends over, and sit and talk over a glass of wine. And, of course, have something to nibble on. Sometimes it’s a pleasure to prepare something special and elaborate just for the occasion. Sometimes it’s just not possible! Maybe you worked late, or the guests were a pleasant surprise. Maybe you’d rather just sit and talk, and not fuss over making food. This is the dip for those occasions. It’s quick as can be, to prepare, but it tastes quite complicated, and is addictively good. It has white beans blended with almonds, garlic, capers and herbs. It’s vegan, though nice and creamy. I usually have wheat tortillas in the house, because they’re also useful for quick meals. If you slice these up into cracker-sized pieces and toast them till they’re lightly brown and crispy – voila! You have something to dip! This would also make a nice sauce for roasted vegetables. I want to keep this as quick as the dip, so that’s all I’ll say about that!

Here’s Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings with The Dap Dip
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