sprinklefingers

Like I said before, I don’t really make resolutions. 
Now that we’re in the third week of 2012, I’m mighty glad about that. Everywhere around me I’ve seen resolutions crashing and burning.

As for my goal of cutting out half & half? Well, the first week of it was really tough, but I did it. No half & half for a week. The second week I allowed myself two cups of coffee during the week that each contained one tablespoon of the good completely-amazing-oh-my-god-how-I-miss-it stuff. And this week I plan to treat myself to two to three tablespoons as well. How indulgent!

Something I’ve realized in all of this?
I’m really good at quitting! (I plan to add quitting to the list of things I do well. Right now that list also includes sleeping and walking.)

Quitting is easy! Especially when I have motivation. Here’s an example:

Facebook. While this may come as a shock to you, I am not on Facebook. This sentence surprises even me when I read it. I mean, I was, basically, the Queen of Facebook. If I did something even remotely interesting, I Facebooked about it. Most of my thoughts came in status updates. I found myself doing things on purpose so that they’d make a good Facebook story. I had hundreds of friends who were actually my friends, I commented on their cute kid photos, I drooled over snaps of what people were having for dinner, I laughed at all their jokes. Facebook was the first thing I checked in the morning and the last thing I checked at night. Madness!

Much like my half & half situation, I was addicted to Facebook.

But not anymore.

Here’s what I did. For two weeks I tracked how much time I spent on Facebook. Whether it was via my mobile phone or my laptop, I made a note of how much time I spent wandering aimlessly through the cyber lives of my friends. And it added up to a lot of time. Let me say that again: It added up to so much time that I started feeling guilty. Who was I to complain about my busy life if I was spending hours Facebooking? Madness indeed.

But this madness served as my motivation. Just like after seeing how many calories a day I was consuming in half & half alone, the hours I was logging on Facebook - and the thought of gaining those hours of my life back - served as my motivation.

So, I quit. I deactivated my account.

And then the withdrawals set in. At first it was like an unpleasant itch that I couldn’t scratch. Like, right under my bra strap in the middle of my back. And then it was like I was covered in poison ivy from head to toe. I missed Facebook so much. I was still thinking all my thoughts in status updates, but I didn’t have any place to put those thoughts. I felt lost. It was seriously weird.

But, the fact that I missed it so much didn’t push me back to Facebook - instead it bolstered my resolve and served as proof that I was making the right decision! Yes! You can turn off your main source of communication with your friends who are scattered worldwide and still be fine! Yes, you can miss out on the latest YouTube sensation that until now you’d only find out about on Facebook. Yes, you CAN (and I seriously mean this) go a day without reading about the political opinions of friends. And, yes, you can put your phone down and connect with your kid or your husband or your friends - face to face with no electronic device necessary. 

Freedom. 

So, I’m spending 2012 with less half & half and no Facebook. Unbelievable.

If Facebook was still a part of my life I would tell all my friends about this delicious dish we had for dinner a few nights ago. And everyone would have commented about how delicious it sounded. Or about how they wanted me to adopt them. Or something like that…

Sweet Potatoes & Kale in Coconut Milk
Serves 6 

The stars of this dish are earthy, roasted sweet potatoes and braised kale - add in a rich (and some might say decadent) coconut broth with some slabs of pan-fried tofu and you’ve got an easy one-bowl-meal that anyone would be happy to sit down to on a blustery January night.

The recipe may seem long, but I have given you some tips for do-ahead work. If you do some of it ahead the whole thing will come together quicker than you can imagine on the night you plan to eat it - I promise.

You need:

• 1 lb firm tofu, drained 
• 4 medium sweet potatoes, washed/unpeeled and cut into 6 wedges each
• olive oil
• salt & pepper
• 1 bunch of kale, washed/toughest part of stems removed and then cut into ribbons
• 2 T premium quality red curry paste  
• 2 cans (not light) coconut milk, shaken well
• 8 oz chicken broth (you’ll use half for the kale and half for the coconut broth)
• 1 14.5 oz can diced fire roasted tomatoes, drained
• fish sauce
• brown sugar
• 1 lime, zested & juiced
• steamed rice (we like Bhutanese red rice, but brown rice will work)
• sliced green onions

Prep the tofu:

You can prep the tofu (drain it and dry it out) a day or two in advance. Just be sure to refrigerate it until you’re ready to fry it. Drying the tofu out in a few layers of paper towels helps when it comes time to cook it - less moisture ups your chance for achieving a delicious golden crust on your slabs - the texture is a great match for the sweet potatoes and kale.

1. Wrap the already drained tofu in a thick layer of paper towels. 
2. Set the paper-wrapped tofu on a plate and then invert another plate on top. 
3. Set something heavy on the top plate - say a can of beans or a bottle of salsa. 
4. Let the tofu sit this way for around 20 minutes.
5. Unwrap the tofu and slice into slabs that are about 1/2” thick.
6. Heat a small bit of oil (your choice) in a frying pan over medium-high heat.
7. Add the slabs of tofu and let cook until golden. Flip and fry the other side of the slab in the same manner.
8. Set aside.

Roast the sweet potatoes:

Much like the tofu, you can prep the sweet potatoes in advance. I usually roast them on my day off for dinner a few nights later. I simply refrigerate them until I need them and then reheat them until hot in a 400 degree oven. Easy!

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. 
2. Toss the sweet potatoes in 2 T of olive oil and a liberal sprinkling of salt and pepper.
3. Roast approximately 25 minutes until the sweet potatoes are soft enough to yield to a bite, but not falling apart or about to become mashed sweet potatoes. 
4. Set aside. 

Prep the kale:

Since the kale will soon be swimming in a delicious pool of coconut broth, I take it easy on the seasonings here and simply braise it in broth then lightly season with salt & pepper.

1. Set a pan over medium-high heat and bring 4 oz of the chicken broth to a simmer. 
2. Add the kale and let braise in the chicken stock until dark and soft.
3. Season with salt and pepper then set aside.

Make the coconut broth:

1. Heat a saucepan over medium heat and add 2 T of the curry paste. Let the curry paste heat up until fragrant.
2. Once fragrant, add both cans of coconut milk to the curry paste and stir until the paste incorporates into the milk.
3. Add the remaining 4 oz of chicken broth.  
4. Add the fire roasted tomatoes and stir well.
5. Add 1-2 T of fish sauce. I like more fish sauce than less, but you should adjust to your own liking.
6. Add 2-3 T of brown sugar, again, the amount depends upon your taste.
7. Squeeze in the juice of the lime and stir.
8. Let the mixture sit over the heat until hot. 
9. Taste and adjust seasonings - adding more fish sauce, brown sugar or even salt and pepper if desired.

Assemble your bowls:

1. Place a serving of rice in a deep bowl. Place a few wedges of sweet potatoes on the side of the rice, then a few slabs of tofu and finally pile in some kale.
2. Ladle the hot coconut broth over all and garnish with the sliced green onions. 

I like to make extra rice to keep in the fridge and - wait for it - I reheat the rice with some leftover coconut broth for breakfast! A great way to start the day.

Goodbye, Facebook! Hello delicious meals!

no too long ago i decided to go on a ‘salad for dinner’ d-word, remember? and for the most part that’s worked really well. i haven’t started hating lettuce or anything, and late spring/early summer vegetables are continually popping up at the market - wonderful!

mark bittman and i must be sharing at least a portion of a brain because in his latest piece for the ny times he gets all salady. of course the graphics are stunning (as usual), and he includes a recipe for a raw kale salad! i love raw kale salad!

first, the graphics, straight from the ny times:

and then there’s this - a salad matrix!

and, finally, the recipe for raw kale salad:

now, most people refer to raw kale salads as ‘massaged’ kale. and i refuse to do so. here bittman says to ‘knead’ the kale, which is a heck of a lot more palatable than massaging it. so, let’s knead some kale!

Kale Salad With Raisins and Blue Cheese
straight from mark bittman of the ny times

Use kale, not chard; instead of cooking, chop and drizzle kale with 1 teaspoon each olive oil and sherry vinegar; knead until tender. Toss with 2 grated carrots, 1/2 cup raisins, 1/2 cup blue cheese and honey-garlic vinaigrette: 1/3 cup olive oil, 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar, 1 garlic clove and 2 teaspoons honey.

and so the countdown begins. we are thisclose to opening our new bakery. i am thisclose to bursting with excitement. (i’m also thisclose to bursting my stretch pants, but that’s another story for another time.)

along with being real excited, i’m also working a lot. so getting dinner on the table is becoming trickier. so tricky in fact that this past week i actually asked my husband to make dinner…which NEVER happens (and most likely won’t happen again for a while seeing as how the results of his attempt were deemed inedible by our kid. poor guy.) 

tired of rushing home and pulling whatever out of the fridge (or relying on the husband for help), over the weekend i made a dish i know we can enjoy for at least part of the upcoming week - a golden potato and kale gratin. the base of the recipe comes from jack bishop’s brilliant vegetables every day - his version uses russet potatoes and no kale, but my version echoes his so much that he truly deserves the credit for such a delicious dish. (and if you don’t have his book - get it! get it!)

as for sprinklefingers - even with the opening of the new bakery, i’ll be here…only i’ll most likely be checking in with you in the evenings rather than the morning - i’ll be reporting for baking duty daily at 5 am for the foreseeable future. lucky me! (and i mean that seriously. honest!)

golden potato and kale gratin
makes 8 servings

equipment:

a 9” cake pan or a gratin pan

you need:

• 1 clove garlic, smashed & peeled
• 1 T unsalted butter, softened
• 2 lbs golden potatoes (yukon!), cleaned and sliced into 1/8” thick rounds
• 8 oz gruyere cheese, shredded
• 1 small bunch kale, washed with leaves roughly cut into postage stamp-sized squares
• 1 1/4 cup half & half
• salt
• pepper 

 make the gratin:

1. preheat the oven to 375.
2. rub the smashed garlic clove all over the bottom and sides of the cake/gratin pan. next, using your fingers, rub the butter all over the bottom and sides of the cake/gratin pan.
3. layer about 1/4 of your potatoes in the bottom of the pan, overlapping slightly. scatter some kale over the potatoes to cover. sprinkle with salt & pepper. scatter about 1/4 cup of cheese over the kale. drizzle 1/4 cup of the half & half over the top of all.
4. repeat step #3 two more times.
5. for the forth layer, arrange the potatoes on top of the other layers, skipping the kale for this last layer. sprinkle with salt & pepper. scatter the remaining cheese over top then coat with the last of the half & half. 
6. pop the pan into the oven and bake for 50 minutes or until the top of the gratin is golden, the whole dish is bubbly and the potatoes can be pierced super easily with a knife.
7. let the dish sit for 5 minutes before cutting. 

notes:

• we love to eat this gratin with a nice green salad. you could do the same.
• it’s important to make sure your potato slices are no thicker than 1/8” - and that’s pretty thin. you’ll need to use your sharpest chef’s knife or a mandoline to do the job.
• dry your kale well after washing so that the extra moisture doesn’t get in your gratin.
• trust me on this: simply rubbing the pan with the smashed garlic will infuse the dish with a delicious flavor. no need to dice & add the garlic at all - just rub it in and toss the used clove.