By Catharine L. Kaufman — a.k.a. The Kitchen Shrink
“Tra-La…It’s May… The lusty month of May…” sings Queen Guenevere in the Lerner and Loewe musical, “Camelot.” While both the song and most people’s fancy turn to amorous birds and bees at this time of year, my perpetually chilly self is celebrating the return of warmer days. I may be anxious about, and ready to do battle against global warming, but only as long as the sun turns up the thermostat in my neighborhood.
In addition to the rising mercury, the cockles of my heart (whatever that may be) are kept cozy warm by the sight of luscious produce shelves at farmers’ stands and supermarkets. Oh what abundance and beauty May brings! The colors of each nation’s flags can be found in the fruits, vegetables and flowers tumbling from spring’s cornucopia. To my hotelier husband, they signal the soon to begin summer rush of travelers bound for vacations and business gatherings. To my eighth-grader, May is home stretch before the end of another school year, while to her 11-year-old nature-loving sister it’s an excuse to get silly reciting, “April showers bring May flowers… and Mayflowers bring Pilgrims.”
May is Prom month if you’re in high school. It’s graduation jitters to college students worried about the ‘real’ world. Some 10 percent of the 2.4 million couples who tie the knot each, do so in May—the same month in which Moms are treated as queens for a day, and most of us resolve to get back in shape as our bodies emerge from their cocoons of winter clothes.
May Day celebrations started in pre-Christian Europe, and have been ever since heralding the approach of summer. Its traditional English rites include the crowning of a May Queen and dancing around a beribboned Maypole.
An entirely different party kicks up its heels in Mexico on the fifth day, or Cinco de Mayo, to commemorate that country’s victory over the French in the 1862 Battle of Puebla. While Mexico’s Independence Day is a national holiday held on September 16, it never quite made it across the border as its more popular cousin, Cinco de Mayo has done, continuously, since 1863. It’s a huge brouhaha, not only in California, but New Mexico, Arizona and wherever anyone—not just people of Mexican descent—celebrate it. Just as we share each other’s heritage during St. Patrick’s Day and Chinese New Year, when we dress up, sing songs, pay homage to imported traditions and immigrant ancestors, and—above all—enjoy the foods provided by our tapestry of cultures.
This May, I cannot resist the heady flavors of the famous mole chicken, Mexico’s national dish, with its authentic recipe and fascinating—although probably apocryphal—story. It goes like this: Shortly after Mexico was conquered by Spain, an archbishop was sent to convert the population of the new territory to Christianity. A group of nuns in a little convent perched in the hills received word that an archbishop was coming to visit. The mother superior was shaken since they were very poor and didn’t have provisions to feed His Eminence. Desperate to prepare a special meal for their important dinner guest, the mother superior collected the few provisions she could find and brought them to the cook, asking if some dish could be made from them. She offered the cook a block of chocolate that had been given to her as a birthday gift, although she had been saving this treat to give the children during the Christmas. She also decided reluctantly to sacrifice the convent’s old red rooster, and threw in a few hot chilies for flavoring. The Mexican cook concocted a dish with the chicken, chocolate and chilies, and everyone said a fervent prayer that the archbishop would approve. Well, he was so impressed by the flavors of the chicken with mole sauce, that he took the recipe back to Spain and declared this spicy creation the national dish of Mexico.
My dear friend and mentor, Marian Jones, was dining at her favorite Mexican restaurant when her taste buds practically did a fandango from the mole dip appetizer. She begged the owner for the recipe. He refused to divulge this family secret that had been jealously guarded for generations, but graciously gave her a carton of the dip to enjoy at home. Marian played dip detective and cracked the mole code. This divine dip can also be used as a sauce over baked chicken, as did the clever cook at the convent. Whether a dip or a sauce, it will knock your calcetines off!
Mole Dip or Chicken Sauce
3 pasilla chili peppers
3 ancho chili peppers
1 teaspoon of ground coriander seed
1 teaspoon of nutmeg
1 teaspoon of ground cloves
1 teaspoon of anise seed
1 teaspoon of cinnamon (optional)
1 cup of ground almonds or almond meal
2 cups of chicken broth
1 round of Mexican chocolate
2 blocks of semi-sweet baking chocolate
Salt and raw sugar to taste
Roasted sesame seeds for garnish
Remove the seeds from the chilies. Finely grind the chilies in a food processor.
In a medium saucepan, heat the chicken broth and add a heaping tablespoon of the ground chilies, the chocolate, spices and almond meal. Melt the chocolate and continue to cook gently until the mixture thickens. Adjust to taste by adding salt, raw sugar or more ground chilies.
Cool the dip and place in a Mexican ceramic bowl. Sprinkle with roasted sesame seeds and enjoy with your favorite chips and cerveza on May 5 or all year round.
Ole Mole!
Monday, May 12, 2008
Sunday, May 11, 2008
MY MOTHERS’ DAY KITCHEN WISH LIST
by Catharine L. Kaufman --- a.k.a The Kitchen Shrink
“I’d like to be the ideal mother, but I’m too busy raising my kids.”
Anonymous
“When I was a child, my mother said to me, ‘If you become a soldier you’ll
be a general. If you become a monk you’ll end up the Pope.’ Instead I
became a painter and wound up (being) Picasso.” –Pablo Picasso
The other day, while I was cadoodling around the mall, scoping out my favorite kitchen gadget stores and compiling a wish list for Mother’s Day, I ran into an old friend who was on a similar quest. “If only my kids would shop here,” she sighed. “My Cuisinart food processor is so old it’s starting to grow whiskers. Hope someone picks up on my hints for a new one…” Many of her past Mothers’ Day gifts, she confided, still languished in drawers, packed in their original boxes, with tags attached. Stored side-by-side are chocolate-scented perfume, a neon green pashmina wrap, and the disco-ball earrings which turn her lobes an almost identical green color. Yikes! This reminded me of an “I Love Lucy” episode, in which Ethel wanted a toaster for an anniversary present, but Lucy—deeming her friend worthy of a more glamorous gift—convinced Fred to buy his wife a pair of sexy cocktail pants instead. Ethel, of course was furious and chewed out Fred for not giving her what she wanted.
There is a lesson in this for all you guys and kids: If we ask for toasters for Mothers’ Day, that’s what you should give us.
So here I was on my culinary safari, hunting down some pretty amazing tools and adding them to my Mothers’ Day wish list, in the hope that my family will take the hint and buy them for me. I’d like to share my discoveries, so that you, too, can make your kitchen into both playroom and creative sanctuary. First, they now have adjustable measuring cups and spoons, so you won’t have to diddle with multiple spoons and a pile of cups. There’s one spoon that can morph from 1/8 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon, and one cup that adjusts from liquid to dry measures, and cups to liters.
One of my favorite gadgets is a “Digital Day Timer” that fastens to jars of food via suction or magnet, and tell you how long they’ve been vegging out in the fridge. This battery operated gismo tracks food for up to 99 days. A cousin to this toy is the “Freshness Detector” that rates the bacteriological activity of raw meat and fowl in less than a minute using a sensor device. There’s also a system that neutralizes bacteria on food and kitchen surfaces. Ordinary tap water is pumped with an extra oxygen molecule to create “super oxygen,” a safe and natural way of germ-proofing your kitchen with a simple spritz.
Since I love the taste of outdoor grilled foods, but am conscious of the health risks of eating BBQ, I coveted a heavy-gauge stainless steel mesh fry pan that sits on your outdoor grid and infuses the foods with a smoky, mesquite flavor minus the carcinogens.
I’ve also been on the lookout for a peeler that can shave the fuzz off a peach without pulverizing the flesh. “The Perfect Peeler” has a zirconium oxide blade that is close to the hardness of a diamond, adjusts from vertical to horizontal angles, and fits nicely into the palms of righties and southpaws. For 20 bucks, it better be a great peeler. Finally, all culinary elitists must own at least one Shun knife. I found a utility chef knife by Shun, considered a schizophrenic genius with a straight-to-scalloped blade that slices through anything from soft-skinned tomatoes to crusty-break-your-veneers sourdough bread without crushing or tearing the food. The blunt tip is also great for spreading and making sandwiches. Sixteen layers of stainless steel with an ergonomic design--this is definitely cutting edge.
Message to hubby and daughters: FYI, my Cuisinart food processor is also pretty beat-up. The 14-cup stainless steel model would be my pick. Are you listening?
I have just one more Mother’s Day wish—that nobody makes a mess in the kitchen on Sunday. Here’s a scrumptious breakfast dish that also fills the bill for easy cleanup. It’s an apple pancake frittata that you can make with your new gadgets, especially “the perfect peeler.” Happy Mother’s Day to all you “toaster moms!”
The Kitchen Shrink’s Apple Pancake Frittata
2 large Granny smith apples, peeled, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon of butter
½ teaspoon of cinnamon
½ teaspoon of brown sugar
Pancake batter (I use Whole Foods Organic Buttermilk, add an egg, milk and grape seed oil)
In a large skillet on low heat, melt the butter, add the cinnamon, sugar and apples, and pan fry until tender. Pour the batter over the apples and cook until set. Flip the pan upside down onto a serving platter, and cut into quarters like a pizza. Top with fresh whipped cream and caramel drizzle.
If you want to chew the fat, e-mail me at kitchenshrink@san.rr.com.--- or at our blog-address: dinatalk@gmail.com
“I’d like to be the ideal mother, but I’m too busy raising my kids.”
Anonymous
“When I was a child, my mother said to me, ‘If you become a soldier you’ll
be a general. If you become a monk you’ll end up the Pope.’ Instead I
became a painter and wound up (being) Picasso.” –Pablo Picasso
The other day, while I was cadoodling around the mall, scoping out my favorite kitchen gadget stores and compiling a wish list for Mother’s Day, I ran into an old friend who was on a similar quest. “If only my kids would shop here,” she sighed. “My Cuisinart food processor is so old it’s starting to grow whiskers. Hope someone picks up on my hints for a new one…” Many of her past Mothers’ Day gifts, she confided, still languished in drawers, packed in their original boxes, with tags attached. Stored side-by-side are chocolate-scented perfume, a neon green pashmina wrap, and the disco-ball earrings which turn her lobes an almost identical green color. Yikes! This reminded me of an “I Love Lucy” episode, in which Ethel wanted a toaster for an anniversary present, but Lucy—deeming her friend worthy of a more glamorous gift—convinced Fred to buy his wife a pair of sexy cocktail pants instead. Ethel, of course was furious and chewed out Fred for not giving her what she wanted.
There is a lesson in this for all you guys and kids: If we ask for toasters for Mothers’ Day, that’s what you should give us.
So here I was on my culinary safari, hunting down some pretty amazing tools and adding them to my Mothers’ Day wish list, in the hope that my family will take the hint and buy them for me. I’d like to share my discoveries, so that you, too, can make your kitchen into both playroom and creative sanctuary. First, they now have adjustable measuring cups and spoons, so you won’t have to diddle with multiple spoons and a pile of cups. There’s one spoon that can morph from 1/8 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon, and one cup that adjusts from liquid to dry measures, and cups to liters.
One of my favorite gadgets is a “Digital Day Timer” that fastens to jars of food via suction or magnet, and tell you how long they’ve been vegging out in the fridge. This battery operated gismo tracks food for up to 99 days. A cousin to this toy is the “Freshness Detector” that rates the bacteriological activity of raw meat and fowl in less than a minute using a sensor device. There’s also a system that neutralizes bacteria on food and kitchen surfaces. Ordinary tap water is pumped with an extra oxygen molecule to create “super oxygen,” a safe and natural way of germ-proofing your kitchen with a simple spritz.
Since I love the taste of outdoor grilled foods, but am conscious of the health risks of eating BBQ, I coveted a heavy-gauge stainless steel mesh fry pan that sits on your outdoor grid and infuses the foods with a smoky, mesquite flavor minus the carcinogens.
I’ve also been on the lookout for a peeler that can shave the fuzz off a peach without pulverizing the flesh. “The Perfect Peeler” has a zirconium oxide blade that is close to the hardness of a diamond, adjusts from vertical to horizontal angles, and fits nicely into the palms of righties and southpaws. For 20 bucks, it better be a great peeler. Finally, all culinary elitists must own at least one Shun knife. I found a utility chef knife by Shun, considered a schizophrenic genius with a straight-to-scalloped blade that slices through anything from soft-skinned tomatoes to crusty-break-your-veneers sourdough bread without crushing or tearing the food. The blunt tip is also great for spreading and making sandwiches. Sixteen layers of stainless steel with an ergonomic design--this is definitely cutting edge.
Message to hubby and daughters: FYI, my Cuisinart food processor is also pretty beat-up. The 14-cup stainless steel model would be my pick. Are you listening?
I have just one more Mother’s Day wish—that nobody makes a mess in the kitchen on Sunday. Here’s a scrumptious breakfast dish that also fills the bill for easy cleanup. It’s an apple pancake frittata that you can make with your new gadgets, especially “the perfect peeler.” Happy Mother’s Day to all you “toaster moms!”
The Kitchen Shrink’s Apple Pancake Frittata
2 large Granny smith apples, peeled, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon of butter
½ teaspoon of cinnamon
½ teaspoon of brown sugar
Pancake batter (I use Whole Foods Organic Buttermilk, add an egg, milk and grape seed oil)
In a large skillet on low heat, melt the butter, add the cinnamon, sugar and apples, and pan fry until tender. Pour the batter over the apples and cook until set. Flip the pan upside down onto a serving platter, and cut into quarters like a pizza. Top with fresh whipped cream and caramel drizzle.
If you want to chew the fat, e-mail me at kitchenshrink@san.rr.com.--- or at our blog-address: dinatalk@gmail.com
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Food safety enhancement act of 2009 C Span 6/3-4
