Irish Soda Bread

"Laughter is brightest where food is best." - Irish Proverb

I couldn't let this day go by without a tip of the hat to the Irish! After all, my mother's side of the family does have it's roots in the Emerald Isle.

I adore Irish Soda Bread and woke up this morning craving it. I also realized I haven't made it in years either. So I got to thinking about what recipe I used and after 30 seconds it came to me!
Grandma Clark's Soda Bread from the New Basics Cookbook- it's more of a cake than a bread really because there is no yeast, but what makes it special is that you bake it in a cast iron skillet- much like grandma would have done!

Ingredients

4 tbsp unsalted butter
3 c unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 c granulated sugar
1 1/2 c dried currants
1 3/4 c buttermilk
2 eggs; well beaten
2 tbsp of butter melted and cooled to room temperature
1 tbsp caraway seeds; (optional)

Method: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

1. Smear 2T of the butter evenly in a 10 inch cast iron skillet. Line the bottom of the skillet with a circle of waxed paper.

2. Sift the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Add currants and toss well to coat.

3. In another bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, eggs, and melted butter. Add this to the dry ingredients, along with the caraway seeds and mix till blended, but do NOT over-mix.

4. Spoon batter into the prepared skillet or cake pan and smooth top gently with a spatula. Dot the top with remaining 2T butter.

5. Place skillet in oven and bake until puffed and golden brown, about 1 hour. Cool for 10 minutes in the skillet, either serve warm or continue to cool on a wire rack.

Now that is comfort in a skillet!

Chocolate and Quinoa?

It's no secret I adore chocolate- been eating it since I can remember. My tastes have changed over the years from milk chocolate to dark, almost bitter chocolate, but memories of Nestle's Crunch Bar with always be with me. It was hands down my absolute favorite chocolate bar when I was a kid.

The combo of crunchy quinoa and Fair Trade dark chocolate of the new Alter-Eco Midnight Crunch bar is like the grown up and more refined version of the classic Nestle Crunch Bar. Not only will this satisfy my long lost love of crispy chocolate bites, this bar packs protein rich quinoa-and it's baked 12 times longer than rice to make it extra crispy, so that coupled with the dark chocolate sourced from Fair Trade Cooperatives, makes for a promising new substitute of my childhood favorite, and it supports farmers ethically. Now that's some powerful stuff!

Not that I need a reason to eat chocolate but this is double-duty winner. Can't wait to get my hands on this one! It's so new that I think it's only available on their website. I already checked out my local Whole Foods and it's not there yet....but they sell the line so with any luck, the shelves will be stocked soon!

NY Times Article

photo by Peter Wynn Thompson for The New York Times

Last week Jay Goltz wrote a post in the New York Times about me and my dilemma about whether or not I should open a store. Let's just say I had no idea what an amazing outpouring of feedback it would create! Little did I realize that a very informal and casual conversation I had with Jay a few weeks ago could be such an inspiration for a real-life interest story that would put focus on this crossroads I find myself in these days.

It turns out that I am not alone. There were many folks who shared their war stories owning their own businesses and I thank them for sharing! I agree that it is grueling and often brutal.

This leaves me with even more to ponder- I see that there are many, many more possibilities that I hadn't even thought of before. It really comes down to leveraging my assets and skills and crafting that into a business perhaps other than a brick and mortar.

Here's the thing though: I find it so very sad that our world is becoming so detached from human contact- the idea that an internet business can be more successful than a beautiful shop is such a hard pill to swallow when you are as visual and tactile as yours truly. It's sad that people are drifting away from the shopping experience and that the only relationship they will have in the future is with their keyboard-operated shopping basket. Call me old-fashioned or nostalgic, but I love engaging all my senses when I shop- you can't do this with a computer! It's the dawn of the "numbing of our senses" that internet shopping has created. Not to mention, relating to a human being. To be fair, if you live out in the sticks and can't get out to shop often, then maybe getting the shop come to you in the form of home delivery is OK-but for the rest of us who live in urban areas- I thought we thrived on stepping into shops for the all-out experience. The seeing, touching, tasting and smelling products before you buy blindly.....

Clearly my decision isn't just a practical one-there's an element of preserving the past that is gnawing at my core. I come from a long line of retailers: my grandmother and grandfather opened the family hardware store in 1921- it's still there and going strong 90 years later (is that possible??) Wow. No wonder this is so hard.

My grandmother, Sophie Tarzian, taken by her sister, Lily, in front of Tarzian Hardware circa 1940

I don't have an easy decision that's for sure. I am, however, open to a happy medium. It's out there and I am going to find it.

Coffee Talk

Or as Linda Richmond would say "coffee tawk" (Mike Myers made this character famous on SNL)....but seriously I wanted to wax philosophic about that rich and delicious cup of heaven that so many of us can't live without and has become part of a daily ritual for a lot of us.

Over the holidays I was staying with family and friends quite a bit and I noticed that they all have their own individual coffee making ritual every morning, and to me, this is even more interesting than the equipment they use. It's really not about the brewing method as much as the way everyone would drink and enjoy their freshly brewed cups.

There are many, many ways to brew coffee from the electric drip, to the pour over, french press, espresso machines, stove-top espresso pots.....I could go on and on. The purists grind their beans fresh each morning- and being in this group myself, I find that it makes a huge difference in taste and freshness and the aroma that fills your kitchen is intoxicating. There are several types of grinders too: burr and blade being the most popular methods. Ah, but what follows beyond the brewing process is what caught my attention.

I love how my Dad relishes his morning cup- he uses a burr grinder, an electric drip machine and uses filtered water. He even drinks just decaf now (doctor's orders) but the best part is how he enjoys it- pouring it into a stainless thermos, sitting down with his favorite mug and the New York Times- happily reading and savoring his brew leisurely- it's his daily meditation time. It's like he's one with the coffee.

A good friend of mine, a creative director, a world traveler and all about great design, begins her morning with a fresh cup brewed in a cute little electric drip machine. She pours it into a handmade beautiful coffee mug, with a teeny pitcher of milk set out and a vintage silver teaspoon to stir in the raw sugar. She sips at her kitchen counter window overlooking the courtyard at her loft and checks through her morning emails on her Blackberry.

My sister and her husband have a rare thing going with their morning coffee ritual-they make it a time to share breakfast with their teenage son before he goes off to school and they take off for work each day. And they take turns making the coffee-it's a precise measure of regular and decaf (their absolute favorite is Gimme Coffee) that goes into their grinder, and it's brewed in an electric drip machine. They share this time over breakfast and my sis says it's her favorite time of day not to mention the coffee is amazing.


Which brings me to my own ritual- I'm a French Press girl- I put my Staub kettle on to boil, grind my beans, pour the water over the grinds in the press and wait just enough time to be sure that the water has extracted just the right amount of flavor-I do this every day even before I take the dogs out for their morning walk! They just hang out and sleep until I finish my first cup. How lucky am I?

So to me it's really not just the coffee that we crave each morning, but it's the way we all enjoy it. That is what I am talkin' about!

What's your ritual? Love to hear it.

Bubbles Anyone?

This holiday I received this amazing gadget- at first I wasn't quite sure what to make of it-I thought geez another thing to clutter up my already over-loaded counter...don't get me wrong though, I am a total gadget geek!

I have seen the SodaStream in action- mostly at my Dad's where he must make at least three bottles of seltzer a day and thinks that this is the greatest thing since he acquired his other coveted kitchen savior: the panini maker. He and my nephew have the panini fever and I have to say the two of them are making some incredible creations.

Long story short: I am digging the SodaStream and for good reason! The savings over purchasing bottle sparkling water is the first thing- you get about 60 litres from one C02 cartridge, which works out to be about 25 cents a litre as opposed to anywhere from 99 cents to a buck and a half at the grocery store. And it's environmentally friendly- you re-use the special bottles so no more filling up the earth with used plastics. Oh and I should mention, no more lugging cases of sparkling water from the car! I use my Brita so I am getting filtered sparkling water and that is truly better tasting than the tap.

You can flavor your water if you choose (I don't- it's the purist in me) to give a more soda taste to it-hey....I wonder if those bacon tablets would work in this? Just kidding. Don't get me started on the bacon thing- that I will leave to another post!

The Sum of my Travels

thistle hill tavern: photo from NYDailyNews.com

Well folks I think I managed to hit my top stops on my visit back to New York a few weeks ago.

Let's see what happened....

Made it into Blue Apron Foods for some goodies for a New Year's Eve party I attended. Loaded up the mini with all sorts of nuts and basics from Sahadi's. Didn't make it to Frankie's 457 for the ultimate BLT, but I did go to Prime Meats twice so that makes up for it! And Prime has a teeny little market set up in a teeny little space round back where I found the most amazing butter from Vermont (thanks to my galpal Li for the tip!) I actually toted that back with me in my mini in a teeny cooler.

I didn't quite make all the places I had set out to, but along the way I actually discovered some new places to get excited about....

Thistle Hill Tavern in Park Slope was a major bonus find. Forget about what used to be in that space-(Olive Vine) it is now a totally different vibe. Sort of looks like a gastro-pub but with way way better food than a typical pub would serve! Dinner was so dee-lish: to start we had the Sicilian style local cauliflower with spicy white anchovy vinaigrette- which has now become my favorite way to prepare cauliflower- (they slice it super thin on a mandoline)-that with the dressing was just out of this world! The menu changes frequently to utilize the local ingredients that are available. I had scallops for my main course and they were seared to perfection- nicely carmelized on the outside and creamy goodness on the inside! The fried chocolate donuts for dessert are a total must have! The service was splendid and the owner, David Massoni, was on hand to guide us through the menu and wine list with a totally friendly and relaxed ease.

Court Street Grocers was another amazing find- located on Court almost all the to the end by 9th Street, this cute little grocery store is rocking out some terrific goodies- like Orwasher's Breads and pastries, and Sullivan Street bread (to die for and the reason I am on a fast right now!) Their breakfast sandwich of Eggs, Arugula, Shelburne Farms Cheddar on Ciabatta was a far cry from any I have tried-tasty and hot and wrapped in brown paper- so cute!

I wound my way up north for a visit to my sister in Ithaca NY before making the 11 hour drive back to Chi-town and we had a most amazing meal at Mercato Bar & Kitchen. Eric Trichon, our bartender extraordinaire, set us up with some tasty cocktails and wine, while we munched on their oh-so-yummy clams casino. The highlight had to be the hangar steak that was done to my medium rare liking and was such a generous portion, that I had to take some of it home-served with some of the best fries I have ever had- I ate the entire portion of those and still stole some more from my sister's plate! My brother-in-law ordered the special: a braised lamb shank with white beans- it was perfection!






The meal would not have been complete without dessert-and we hit the jackpot with a killer pine nut tart with vanilla ice cream drizzled with a balsamic syrup- all kinds of textures and tastes going on there! If I have to have that flown out here to Chicago I will- especially if I don't get back for a visit for a while!

So back in cold Chicago but heading out tonight to check out the newly opened Maude's Liquor Bar on Randolph- let you guys know how that turns out on my next post!!

Travels in NYC

Happy New Year! I can't believe how fast this new month is already going and how fortunate I have been to have spent the holidays in Brooklyn.

The highlight of this particular trip has been hands down, my visit to Eataly in Manhattan. This place is absolutely amazing if you are a foodie-and if your food of choice is Italian. Yes and yes, for me.

It's really a "food court" at it's heart, but with a lot more class and style. Everything is separated into food categories, like "pesce" (fish), "vegetale" (vegetable), "gelato" (ice cream), etc. There is a grocery section where they have tons of different dry pastas, sauces, olive oils and much more.

You can get lost for hours there......

the pasta bar

sardines and julienne of peppers

kale and crouton salad