little feet, big sky

I’m excited about our upcoming “geek BBQ” this weekend. The idea was to invite all our geeky friends over for a typical BBQ. What’s fun is that lots of them might know one or two others, but are unlikely to know everyone. (Even I don’t know everyone coming!) the other fun bit is that we’ve kept the guest list secret, so our guests won’t know what cool and interesting geeks are showing up until they get here.

Of course, it’s open to families, too, so there should be plenty if non-geeky conversation going on.

I thought about hopping down to San Pedro for some fresh crab to throw on the grill, but my mother talked me into whole grilled fish instead.

We’ll also have garlic potatoes, zucchini, eggplant, corn and yams. I’m not sure about dessert yet, and our guests are bringing even more food! I should get to BevMo today to pick up some beer & wine.

I’ve been making a lot more no-knead bread lately and have cut the steps down to the following.

• 4 cups flour
• 1 tsp active dry yeast
• pinch of salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 cups warm water
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Mix the flour, salt, yeast & sugar in a large bowl. Add the water & stir until you have a sticky/shaggy dough. Drizzle the oil on top and cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap. Leave in a warm place 16-20 hours. “Punch down” by gently gathering the sides in and turning it over a few times in the bowl, then cover again and leave to rise another 2 hours. Preheat oven to 450 deg with a 3- or 4-quart cast-iron dutch oven with lid inside for at least 30 minutes. (Our oven helps heat our house, so I do this while the bread rises a second time.) Carefully remove the hot dutch oven from the oven, remove the lid and quickly turn the dough into the pot, using a rubber spatula or dough scraper to scrape the dough from the bowl as needed. Cover the dutch oven and place in oven. Bake at 450 for 20-30 minutes, then remove the lid and bake for an additional 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes, then turn bread out onto a cooling rack for 30 minutes.

I usually start the dough the night before just before I go to bed, or while making dinner and take it upstairs to camp out next to the spouse-unit’s computers, since it’s a pretty even warmth there. :-) If I start heating the oven and punch down the dough by 5pm the next day, we have a fresh loaf of bread in time for dinner. I’m experimenting with other flavors and add-ins. I tried substituting a cup of rye flour for 1 cup of white flour and the result was good, but quite denser. The spouse-unit enjoyed it, though, so I’ll be playing around more with that. Another idea I’m eager to try is some kind of garlic herb bread – would go great with winter soup.

This morning, I had fried eggs. They were lightly pan-fried and were served warm and alone on a small plate. Two were had with freshly ground sea salt and black pepper, and two were lightly dusted with Parmesan. I quietly ate them standing by the kitchen sink, looking out the window, in part to avoid the dog’s longing glances and the not-so-subtle licking of her lips.

I love eggs. I hated them as a child, but lately I can’t seem to get enough of them. The average egg has 5.5g of protein and is quick and easy to make in a variety of ways, no matter how much you hate eggs. As an old-world custom, my mother used to break a raw egg in a mug of warm milk and make me drink it to “fatten” me up. Sunday breakfasts always included eggs, so my choice at the time was scrambled and with a few drops of Tabasco and soy sauce on top. (For some reason, eggs with soy sauce always tastes like bacon.) Recently, I’ve found gently hardboiled eggs to be a treat – easy to cook in the morning and quickly snack on through the day. When I have more time, I prefer my eggs soft-cooked, as in liquid whites and runny yolks, served with freshly ground salt, pepper, and buttered toast ’soldiers’ to dip in. If you’re at all curious about the wonderful world of cooking eggs, I highly recommend Michel Roux’s Eggs.The recipes are to-die-for, even if a little floofy French gourmet.

Which brings me to another one-food-topic book that I love: Oysters by Rebecca Stott. For the oyster-lover, this is a must-read. Enough said.

Then, there are those of you who are fond of neither eggs nor oysters. A pity really, but I even have a food book recommendation for you. Salt: A History is a fascinating read into that humble staple that graces just about every kitchen table. If you don’t like salt, well then.. good luck with that. :-)

Our local farmers’ market, the Hollywood Farmers’ Market, has oysters. *drool* They started selling there while I was pregnant and I would walk by and sigh a little. (I happily ate sushi while I was pregnant, but got sick once from raw oysters, so I thought it best to wait.) Last Sunday, I bought a dozen Luna for $10 and sampled one right at the stall – delish!

I had picked up some from Whole Foods the week before, but the farmers’ market ones were so much better. I was practically purring with each one. :-) I know they’re an acquired taste for most, but I love, love, love oysters. I either eat them unadulterated or with a little concoction of rice vinegar and finely minced shallots. The spouse made me a martini and I was just in heaven! I have decided that Sundays evenings shall be now known as Martini & Oyster night!

All I’ve been doing this weekend is sleeping! Oh, with some occasional laundry tossed in. I had a craving for ramen yesterday, so we ended up at my favorite ramen stop in L.A., Atch-Kotch, on Fountain & Vine. I ordered my favorite: shoyu ramen with garlic, hot & spicy, fresh egg, fried chicken and nori. Mmm. (You start with basic ramen and add your own toppings.) It’s always so good that the owner, Yosh, knows to pack up the last dregs of soup for me to take home, no matter how little is left in the bowl!

The spouse and I are off to the Grove to go to the Apple store and try and get my poor-battery-life iPhone replaced. (Wish us luck; the last time I tried this at the Century City one, the guy tried to tell me my four barely-used email accounts were sucking up battery life. Doh.) While we’re there, I’ll get in my walking around; I’m so not a mall shopper, so we’ll probably wander around the Farmers’ Market. I’m sure I’ll end up having the roti chanai at Banana Leaf, even though I know the rotis are frozen rather than fresh and the curry is generally bland. (Hey, when you’re almost 30 miles from the only decent Malaysian restaurant in Southern California, you get desperate sometimes.) I also noticed somewhere that the Gumbo Pot has beignets? Are they any good?

Some of my other favorites places to eat in these last few weeks:

• The Bowery. Had the Bowery burger, medium, with St. Andre & grilled onions. All sized to fit on a toasted English muffin bun, it was the perfect portion for a tiny pregnant tummy.
• Fabiolus. Ah, order anything here, everything is good! Eat half and save the rest for the midnight snack – most things taste just as good the next day, especially the pesto dishes.
• Buddha’s Belly. Haven’t been here yet, but it’s bound to happen, since I’m dreaming of the Tom Yam Seafood Soup and a side of their fabulous Seaweed Salad.
• Bossa Nova. Brazillian cuisine with a huge menu. I really enjoyed the Willy’s Burrito with shrimp, to-die-for fried plantains and their cheesebread is awesome.

I’ve been on a fruit kick lately, and one of my absolute favorites is watermelon. Cold, chilled, crisp, sweet watermelon. I used to be a huge fan of honeydews, but not while pregnant, apparently. The spouse has been good lately in keeping chopped watermelon ready-to-eat in the fridge for me. :-)

Watermelon eases heartburn and reduces swelling; its high water content (92 percent) and fruit sugars alleviate morning sickness and dehydration; and the minerals it contains can help prevent third-trimester muscle cramps. – Watermelon Wonders onFitPregnancy

I’m have one of those days – the kind where nothing seems right, even food. After opening all the cupboard doors and staring for a while, then opening the fridge and staring for a while, I was almost ready to turn to a lonely packet of ramen out of desperation. I didn’t really want something hot, I wanted something cold and creamy, but not sweet like a smoothie.. ah, gazpacho. Here’s what I put in mine…

• 1 clove garlic, peeled & roughly chopped
• 1 slice of Ezekiel sprouted bread, crusts removed and chopped into squares
• 2 tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
• 2 tbsp. flax seed oil
• sea salt & freshly ground pepper to taste

Blend to desired consistency. (Add water to thin; add bread to thicken.)

I would take a picture of the serving I just made, but it’s in my tummy now. Maybe I’ll try making a cold corn chowder later…