No rest for the wicked.

Memorial Day weekend was a delightful patchwork of cooking, growing, building, shoveling, chasing, eating, drinking, parties, more cooking ... Mark and I got everything checked off of our list and I helped out some clients in between. All-in-all, a very satisfying turn of events.

I'm pretty sure this was on our way to grab a pick-up-truck's worth of compost from Lewis Farm in Concord. They're a favorite local grower of ours and their compost is dynamite.

Compost led to garden beds. We finally have a spot to put all those heirloom tomatoes we bought on impulse.

Our newest family members arrived courtesy of our amazing friends Bob Jones and Abby Tomich. They hand-raised these little guys for us *and* Bob built their coop. I will forever attempt to repay their kindness. I worry I may always come up short.

Mojitos were a hit at the Robfoustinson house. I made a mint simple syrup, and all we had was dark rum. No matter, they still tasted great.

Hannah and Melissa joined forces to create this beautiful endeavor. There's St. Germaine liquor in the strawberries AND the whipped cream. Everyone in the room was floored.

These came from a client and very good friend's garden. They are currently perfuming the entire kitchen. I must grow peonies immediately!

So it seems I've gotten into the habit of over producing particular recipes for weeks at a time. Currently, No-Noodle Lasagna is in the lead:

Ingredients:

3 to 4 zucchinis, washed and cut into thin strips (I find a long blade paring knife works great for this job)

Tomato sauce of your choice, though from scratch is always best

1 cup ricotta cheese (whole milk tastes best)

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

1 small package of frozen spinach, thawed

1 lb turkey or pork sausage, cooked through

The key to this recipe is layering ... we've all had lasagna, we all know the fundamentals. Mix the cup of ricotta and one cup of the mozzarella together with the spinach (be sure to squeeze the water out of the spinach first). I layer like this:

Sauce, zucchini strips, cheese mixture, sausage, more zucchini, more sauce ... until whatever pan you're using is totally full. Top off with the remaining cheese and bake at 350 for 30 or so minutes. If it's bubbling frantically, it's done. And it's delicious!!! You'll never want the pasta version again, I swear. I've all but ruled it out, myself.

Another frequent that I fall back on this time of year is Lemon Anything Chicken. I call it that because you can literally pair it with any herb and it still tastes great. 

Ingredients:

3 full chicken breasts, butterflied into 6 servings

zest of one lemon

juice of two lemons

1/3 cup olive oil (the good stuff)

2 large garlic cloves, pressed or microplaned into a paste

1 Tbs salt

1 Tbs fresh ground pepper

Any fresh herb you choose ... dill, basil, tarragon, oregano, chive, seriously anything will work here.

Hence the name "Lemon Anything Chicken" ... mix all of these ingredients together in a heavy duty plastic bag- freezer bags usually do the trick- and allow it to sit for a bit, anywhere from a half hour to an hour ... don't let it sit longer than that, though ... lemon juice will cook the proteins in the chicken while it sits there.

I recommend grilling this outside or on a grill pan on the stove top. With that option you get the added benefit of delicious kitchen smells.

I would serve it with some orzo tossed with tomatoes, kalamata olives, and feta cheese, with a bit of lemon juice, zest and olive oil to keep things interesting.

There you have it, two amazingly easy and oh-so-tasty options for a summer meal this week.

Aren't you glad you bothered to read another one of these posts? I'm sure glad you're here. I hope everyone had a stellar holiday. 

May all your meals be celebrations. xo

Recipe Onslaught

Growing season is upon us.

It's a big deal.

This year Mark and I will have our garden on our property, which means greater success and less water to lug (dragging 30 gallons a day over two miles to our last site started to feel more like a chore than glorious growing).

We made a trip out to Murray Farms Greenhouse in Concord last weekend and had to cut ourselves off after 6 heirloom tomato varieties, a handful of eggplants and more jalapenos than you can shake a stick at.

Hello, lovelies.

I find Japanese eggplant varieties to have some of the most beautiful foliage. 

Don't you agree?

So, it isn't safe to put anything in the ground yet. Which is frustrating, because I just want to start gardening already! In the mean time I've been trying to get my veggie fix in new and different ways. Asparagus has been almost an every day thing in my world, which is great because the stuff is delicious. For a client of mine who is adverse to peas, I've used it as the veggie in my Spring Pasta with Chicken to great success:

Spring Pasta with Chicken

Serves 4 (give or take, I eye-ball everything)

One bunch of asparagus, cleaned, trimmed and cut into 1" pieces

4 Chicken Breasts

1 cup of frozen peas (optional)

1/2 cup diced Pancetta

2 cups Parmesan cheese

1 cup heavy cream

3 cups whole wheat pasta

Salt and Pepper to taste

First things first: season and brown the chicken breasts in a cast iron skillet with a quick spray of canola oil. Finish them in a 350 degree oven until cooked through. Cube and set aside.

While the chicken is cooking, start a pot of boiling water and cook pasta according to box directions.

To the skillet, add the pancetta. Removed the cooked bits and set aside. Add the cut asparagus to the skillet and cook until bright green. Add the asparagus to the chicken. By this time your pasta should be finished. Add the pasta to the asparagus and chicken, with a few tablespoons of the pasta water. Mix together.

Next add the parmesan cheese, reserving 1/2 cup for garnish. Add the heavy cream and mix it all together. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

Garnish the pasta dish with remaining cheese and the pancetta bits.

This stuff is a knock out and it's super easy to throw together.

Something that also happened recently- I hung out at Cole Gardens for an afternoon helping CYPN with a Lunch and Learn event. I gabbed about pantry items to keep on hand in preparation for drowning in veggies come July and August. I also handed out a bunch of recipes to folks that can help them make the most of their harvest. And here they are:

Basil Pesto

2 to 3 cups basil leaves

3 cloves garlic

1/4 cup pine nuts

1 cup extra-version olive oil, divided

Salt & pepper to taste

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Combine first three ingredients in a food processor and pulse until coarsely combined. Add ½ cup of the oil and process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.  While processor runs, add remaining oil until a smooth consistency is achieved. Transfer to a serving bowl and combine with parmesan cheese.

Pesto is easily frozen in ice cube trays and can last up to 90 days in your freezer!

Quick Cherry Tomato Sauce

2 Tbs Olive Oil

1 clove of garlic, thinly sliced or minced

Flavor enhancer: anchovies, pancetta, sweet bell pepper, hot chili pepper, whatever you have on hand.

Enough cherry tomatoes- cut in half- to fill a large sauté pan.

1 Tbs chopped fresh basil

1 Tbs chopped fresh oregano

Salt and Pepper to taste

Additional garden veggies of your choice- the sky is the limit.

Saute garlic in the olive oil on medium heat. Before the garlic browns, add any flavor enhancers you want. Anchovies are a great idea for a salty and savory sauce, as is pancetta. For a sweeter sauce, red bell peppers help. Allow your flavor enhancer to cook for a few minutes before adding the cherry tomatoes. After the tomatoes simmer long enough to start to break down, add any additional vegetables you would like in the sauce. Allow to simmer for a few more minutes, and then add herbs to finish. Enjoy with pasta, chicken, fish, really anything you want an acidic and delicious kick with.

Tarragon Grilled Shrimp

Dozen Jumbo Shrimp, shells on

Juice of one lime

¼ cup Olive Oil

2 Tbs Tarragon

2 cloves of garlic, minced

Salt and Pepper to taste

Allow shrimp to marinate in mixture for at least two hours, tossing once to recoat the shrimp. Grill shrimp on a hot grill until just pink on either side. Serve with lots of napkins. This appetizer is delicious, but very messy!

Tzatziki Sauce

1 cup of plain yogurt

2 Tbs olive oil

1 Tbs lemon juice

1 small garden cucumber, diced

1 Tbs fresh dill, mint, or parsley, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, pressed or run over a microplane

Salt and pepper to taste.

Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and allow the mixture to sit in the fridge for an hour. Serve with meat, vegetables, pita bread … this sauce is good on everything!

Zucchini Pasta with Fennel

2 lbs zucchini squash

I bulb of fennel, thinly sliced, with one table spoon of fronds saved, chopped

Juice of one lemon and 1 Tbs lemon zest

1/4 cup chopped basil

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Salt & pepper to taste

Using a vegetable peeler, thinly slice zucchini to produce pasta like strands. Transfer pasta strands to bowl and combine with remainder of ingredients. Toss together and serve.

BAM! There you have it, more recipes than I've ever posted before! And just in time for you to pull on the gardening gloves, pick up your favorite shovel, and start dreaming of all the delicious things you can grow.

When in doubt, start an herb garden. Not sure how to go about it? Call me. I'll set you up for $60, plus the cost of herbs. Then you can pretty much ignore them for the rest of the summer and reap the amazing benefits.

Trust me. It's worth it.

Another thing I wanted to mention: the fantastic annual Merrimack County Savings Bank Rock 'N Race for Concord Hospital's Payson Center for Cancer Care. This was my fourth or fifth year participating and I have to say it just gets bigger and better every year. I finished in 29 minutes, which isn't my best time, but it also isn't my worst. Truly, I was hoping for better. There is always time. My future goals are to run farther distances. I could use some LSD in my life (Long Slow Distance). I consider running my time to meditate and it has helped me keep my mind and body right among the stresses of starting and maintaining a business. So far, so good. So happy, so healthy.

Reach for the sun, ya'll. And happy Friday! xo

Run. Don't walk.

A few things before I begin:

1) I'm sorry it's been so long since my last entry. Business is gaining at a good clip, and who am I to hinder progress?
2) I am IN LOVE with the blog of Geoff Nicholson: Psycho-Gourmet. Read it, but not at work. Some of his stuff isn't safe for the boss to walk in on- including his "Nudie Foodies" entry recently. Hilarity ensued.
3) My computer died. She's currently on life support and the unit I'm typing on now is on loan from my sister (she has a few as it stands). We're tempted to upgrade to full-on iMac status (big ol' screen and everything), but hubs and I are still brewing on it.
4) I haven't been taking enough food pictures lately, especially at events. I need to get on that.
5) I'm trying a hibiscus margarita next weekend. I'm very excited about it.

Alright ... sooooo ... what's new?

CYPN. No, the Concord Young Professionals Network is not new, not at all, but my involvement with them is. And I'm having a fantastic time. I love working with such motivated and dedicated people. They make me a better business owner.

So we had an annual event called the Philanthropy In Your Community Summit- such a great idea, too, considering everyone should be doing a bit of volunteer work as part of their work experience. I offered to cater the event, which went great! I was thrilled with the results and did enough apps to sate well over 100 people. Family and friends participated to show their support. Most of them found a new cause to support. Mission accomplished.

Also, very excited about the Women's Club of Concord. Being still naive about my favorite town, I only just discovered them through another great group, Let's Have A Net Lunch. Funny how the universe has all sorts of plans for us when we continue to put one foot in front of the other. I see great things once I'm finally brought into the fold of this strong and motivated group of women.

That is the Reader's Digest version of recent days. There is much more to share: new clients, new menus, new races to run, new allergies to work around ... but all in good time, which I don't have much of at the moment.

For now, I say adieu. But not for long, I promise.

Here's hoping you all find time to feast, even during your busiest days. xo

Food and Music. They might be one in the same.

I'm learning more about myself as I continue to cook for clients.

My time spent in people's homes is primarily silent. The music I move to is the sounds produced by hissing pans, popping sauces, the crack of fresh produce. I am vigilant when it comes to what I feed people- it requires full concentration and fine-tuned ears. I may speak to myself every once in a while, but it's only to curse if I've forgotten an ingredient or a piece of equipment or I'm missing something- anything- and I'm put into a panic. This does not happen often. I'm usually quiet for hours on end.

I can tell when it's time to lower the temperature on a reduction ... when the bubbles move too quickly, they get a violent sound to them.

I can tell when the browning on a pork chop or chicken breast is almost done. The sizzle and seer starts to fade, moving toward charcoal instead of caramelization. The sound of food burning has a dull, dead sound. It's almost vacant.

Tomato sauce and stock should have a "blub blub" sound instead of fast paced popping and splashing.

All of this is learned over time, the more you cook the more you can recognize the familiar sounds of the kitchen. So many times I intend to let Pandora carry me to a place of effortless time-travel. When the right music is playing, time is no longer an issue. I could sway in the kitchen for hours, not noticing where the sun sat in the sky. I could only tell time by how many songs have passed and where the bread was at for rising. I suppose there is a worse existence.

Tonight I'm making chicken cordon bleu. We have so much ham in the house from Easter dinner that I have to find some way to use it every day. This seems like a nice use of a few ingredients.

Mark and I rarely ever eat poultry unless it's eggs. We only eat beef because we have a barter system with Miles Smith Farm. Fish is something I can make an exception for every once in a while, but it's once in a great while.

So I'm off to wander in the grocery store. Usually when I go there I have an agenda, a long list to fulfill. There is no room to ramble, but I will take advantage of this open afternoon to make dinner special. Mark goes in for surgery on his wrist tomorrow morning (finally!) and he won't be able to eat after 6pm tonight. I better make every bite count! There will be wine involved.

Since I've spent so much time talking about the music of food, I'll leave you with a handful of videos of songs that have been stuck in my head this week. I hope they lull you into a comfortable place- be it cooking, dancing, or walking through the grocery store.

Jack White's new one ... Love Interruption. He makes me swoon.

My sister got this one stuck. Gotye, Somebody That I Used To Know. I almost like Kimbra's part better than the rest of the song.

A sped up version of one of my favorite songs ever. Mark Bronson's spin on Amy Winehouse, Valerie. Alas, Amy isn't in this. I miss her.

I like to think of myself as a Down Home Girl ... Old Crow Medicine Show makes it sound so desirable.

Happy listening, happy eating. xo

Fat Meets Flame

That's a slightly ironic title, considering my recent cooking efforts have been lower in fat than normal.

I love butter, olive oil, lard, you name it. If it isn't awesome for me I probably love the taste of it. But, Spring has a way of putting us all on notice.

It whispers, "Oh, that's right ... you thought swimsuit season was so far away, but here's that sunshine. Here comes the warm weather faster than you expected!"

Devious being.

I've done my best to make sure we only have healthy options on hand. That's when I do things like this:

Asian Beef Stir Fry.

Lox on scrambled eggs! These were leftovers from an event I did this past weekend. 

There's no point in throwing out the last vestiges of smoked salmon. You know I'm right about this.

Which brings me to my next point. I've been meaning to update on some food reading I've been doing. After my lovely cousins in San Francisco sent me this gem, I haven't been the same:

Thank you Jessica and Mike. Your support means the world to me ... You read me like a book.

Badum-ching!

Oh, I love puns.

So I've been taking notes and picking through chapters with precision. So far so good, but every once in a while I could use a lighthearted read before I lay my head down. So I've been picking this up every once in a while:

This is perfect for short stories and articles ... for those times when you want to read something but a chapter full of anything is too much of a commitment.

In the spirit of my doing work so you don't have to, here are a few of my favorites. One or two of them I've run across already, but a re-read is never a bad thing.

1) Peasants, by Geoff Nicholson. I'll admit, I hadn't read any of his work (knowingly) until now. And then I found his blog. The guy is a genius. The story is too short. I, too, hope to one day own a swine to call my own- and feed it my kitchen scraps. Wait til you get a load of his blog. Now *that* is a good time. The title alone stops you in your proverbial tracks.

2) From Kenya, With Love, by Rick Nelson. I love the truth of food. It brings people of dynamic backgrounds together with ease. Everyone's gotta' eat- interesting how food can help us to magically cross boundaries, oceans, large expanses of land, without ever leaving our seat at the dinner table.

3) Purple Reign, by Alan Brouilette. Lots of fun on this one. I've felt that rush of performing in a kitchen. It's thrilling- addicting. Plus, I love Prince ... and potatoes ... and pie.

4) And circling around to what this whole post was about ... intuitive cooking ...

How To Become An Intuitive Cook, by Daniel Duane.

My cooking skills were learned through years of not learning any real basics. My mother is the type of cook that has a litany of cookbooks that she never opens. Her food is always flawless, but where she gets her guidance, I'll never know. This was my introduction to cooking. Just make the food. Know what your ingredients taste like, throw them together, and stay confident. When I finally got down to the brass tax of learning how to cook professionally, there were a lot of stricter elements I wasn't really prepared for. There were skills I hadn't learned the correct way ... there is always room for improvement, but it seems that my experience was the exact opposite of Mr. Duane's. This could be an asset, it could be a downfall. Only time will tell.

I haven't gotten much farther in the book. I read one or two a night depending on how early I hit the sack and how tired I am. If there's anything worth reporting, I'll certainly let you know.

Happy reading ... happy eating! xo

Using what works

My current clients all have different needs, but their desires are all the same:

They want more time for themselves.
They want to eat better; sick of over-processed foods and the sodium and calories they sneak in.
They want to lose weight. (Don't we all?)

For a few of them, Type II Diabetes is an issue. Blood pressure medications, blood sugar medications, weight management supplements ... the list goes on and on. My job is to make their lives easier and healthier. There is joy in eating, even when your dietitian says you can't eat fried foods anymore. Even when your fat intake has been reduced to 1 Tbs per day, collectively.

I get excited when I have a client with a strict diet regimen to follow. I throw conventional recipes out the window (most of the time) and custom design meals that work for their bodies. It's the most creative I can be sometimes. I like the challenge of removing soy, gluten, allergens from diets. Whole foods are my medium, fantastic meals are my art. It thrills me every day.

But creating custom meals isn't exactly what everyone needs from me. Lots of folks have time to cook at home and don't require a personal chef to take over meal preparation. They could, however, use some pointers on what to keep in their house to make sure they do not resort to take-out nightmares or reaching for processed foods that make dinner easy on your time, but murder on your organs and mind. I'm victim to it, too. This weekend my husband and I caved to cravings for chicken fingers and fries. The sodium bloat and awful moods that followed weren't worth the trip to the restaurant to pick them up. It was a nice reminder as to why we avoid foods like that. If I had just bothered to dig through the pantry, I could have made a meal that clued in to all of those alarms sounding off in my brain.









The pantry, that protected and exalted shrine of chefs and home-cooks everywhere, is the perfect place to start.

So ... what's in your pantry? Mine looks a lot like this:

Jasmine, Basmati and Brown rice in large bags.
Black, Kidney, Canellini beans (canned). Multiple bags of dried beans and lentils.
2 gallon tin of olive oil
1 gallon jug of vegetable oil
Case of diced tomatoes
Case of canned corn
Multiple 14 to 20 oz cans of tomatoes in various states
Quinoa, couscous, orzo, wild rice in large bags.
25 lbs of flour
10 lbs of sugar
Light and dark brown sugar in large bags
Kalamata and black olives, sundried tomatoes, capers, roasted red peppers, artichoke hearts in jars.
Nutella. At least two jars at all times.
Large peanut butter jars, at least two.
Chicken and beef stock in cans.
2 lbs corn meal
Baking essentials: vegetable shortening, baking powder/soda, etc. all in large quantities
Various pastas in large quantities.
Onions. Potatoes. Squash. All kinds.

There's more than that, but this is a rough count of the things I keep on hand at all times. My sister jokes that if the zombie apocalypse comes we can all just hang out at the house for weeks on end without trouble.

She's partially right- I do keep a lot of various foods on hand, both for me and my clients. Not all of it fits in our kitchen. Mark and I bought shelving to keep the rest in my office- the room attached to our bedroom. I felt like a weirdo for doing that until I started reading more food blogs. Guess I'm not the only one!  What is wonderful about that is I can make countless meals out of that pantry without ever opening my refrigerator. I had to pull that off last night. Mark had poker earlier than usual and I had yet to get out and go grocery shopping. What to do? Pulled together some olive oil and garlic, diced tomatoes, capers, olives, sundried tomatoes, roasted red peppers and simmered it all together. I added cooked pasta and bang! Easy healthy dinner!

I added feta to it because I could, but it wasn't necessary.

A well stocked pantry gives you no excuse for unhealthy shortcuts. There is too much potential within arms reach.

This is what I can offer a home cook ... insight into their pantry and ways to use all the elements to make every night fool proof.

Another thing I'm bringing to the table: herbs. T'is the season to be planting- well, almost. Sometimes all a meal needs to really shine is the addition of fresh herbs at the end.

One can save a lot of money on these things if those herbs are growing right outside their kitchen window. Herbs are fun to grow because they require little maintenance. Just some water, sunlight, maybe pinching the ends of the basil so they don't go to bolt.

Starting a kitchen herb garden is easy for me to accomplish. I've done it dozens of times with great success. For a small fee, wouldn't you love to step outside and add your own flourish to your meals? Plus, herb gardens are lovely and smell amazing. Now that's the kind of place I like to read a book or sip a cup of coffee. Sounds delightful, doesn't it?

In other news, I'm finally working on setting up my web site: www.foreverfeasting.com. Soon you should be able to have one spot to find all of my pricing (without endless searching), special offers, how to purchase gift certificates, sample menus, links to my blog, the whole bit!

All in good time. I'm so excited to have it done.

I'm so excited that you showed up to read this, too. Thank you for giving me some of your time.

May your week feel like a feast for your belly and your soul. xo

Faking it.

Chances are if you're too busy to make dinner for yourself when you get home, you're probably too busy to make a decent lunch to bring to work.

Let's face it, eating well isn't easy for a lot of us. As my client Debbie explained, "it's any port in the storm" when you're spreading yourself thin among myriad projects.

That's when my services can come in handy. You know good food. You know how to keep yourself fed. However, there is no shame in asking for some assistance. It's the only way I've ever gotten anywhere in my life- by asking for help when I need it. Providing lunches to clients is something I do on a regular basis. I'm already in their kitchen, why can't I help with that, too? Even just offering an extra serving or two of dinner to eat later the next day can make all the difference to someone who's trying to eat better when they're out of the house.

Okay, enough of the soap box- let's talk grub!

Even personal chefs run short on time for their own meals. Here's a fun way I got out of it once:

What in the world is this? It's called a cheat!

I'm calling it Lemon Cheat Cake. Mark and I had dinner plans with my in-laws a few weeks ago. Amid my busy schedule I had to find time to make dessert to bring with us. Something that went with lobster rolls and a strawberry and spinach salad.

My mother-in-law, Diane, is a huge fan of lemon (as am I)- so I knew I had to start there ... Hmmm. Lemon and blueberries?

I wanted to make panna cotta, but there wasn't time. I had only an hour to make it once I had ingredients in hand. 

Behold, the results.

I knew a good place to start was the bakery in my local grocery store. Turns out they had lemon pound cake on sale. That was a good start. So, we work with that. I've always loved mascarpone cheese, so I figured I would mix some lemon zest into that along with some confectioners sugar to create a "cream cheese frosting" kind of deal.

I cut the cake slices with a biscuit cutter and they fit perfectly into these ramekins I had at home. I put a shmear of cheese at the bottom of each, then a layer of pound cake, then cheese, then cake, until the pots were full. I finished with a layer of the cheese and added some garnish.

But I wasn't done there. You can't just eat something that rich without some flavors to cut it.

I bought some blueberries, blackberries and Moscato. I did some partial mashing of the berries in a half cup of the wine, then added sugar, half a vanilla bean, and some lemon juice. I let all of it macerate up until spooning it onto our cakes.

Let me tell ya', the result was so awesome! And with very little effort on my part. A sweet riff on bread, cheese and wine. What's not to like??

So, feel free to put this to use in your own kitchen. Individual desserts seem so fancy- and they help with portion control. Why not make your guests feel super special with fewer steps that normal? You'll all end up happy. 

I wish you spring flavors and meals that end in smiles! xo