In a pickle? Pickle!

Clockwise from left:  blueberry/ginger preserves, grapefruit marmalade,  strawberry/rhubarb jam, pickled green beans, and pickled red onions.

I am the youngest of three kids, and each one of us couldn't be more different than the other.

Eldest child, Kevin, is the former Marine turned golfin', cowboy mechanic living in Vegas.  You know...that old story.  The middle child, with an incredible family of her own in Iowa, is an Episcopal priest lovingly known as Father Beth.  And then there is me...the artsy fartsy one living in the South with his big gay Valentine.

Certain accommodations have been afforded me due to birth order and financial status.  As the aforementioned artsy fartsy member of the family, my career choices have been of a more...spiritually gratifying nature as opposed to anywhere near financially satisfying.  I'm not living in a card board box talking to my pet shoe, but owning a house and jetting off to exotic lands at a minutes notice I ain't.

Which is why July is a challenge.

It is this month in which every single member of my immediate family celebrates a birthday.  It is definitely Christmas in July in terms of gift buying and spending.  So, during these economically trying times...which I call my twenties and thirties...one must become inventive when money is not at hand.

So...in a gift giving pickle?  Pickle your gifts!  In a jam about what to give?  Give jam!  If we are to believe what our mother's tell us, it is better to receive something that is hand made and thoughtful than another tchotchke or bauble to clutter up your house.

At least, that's what I'm bankin' on.

I am not going to publish recipes that aren't mine without permission (I'm nice that way).  I floated around on the interweb, borrowed from recipes, and added my own twist to them.  Now is the perfect time to play with pickling, canning, and...um...jamming.  So get out those mason jars and tongs and play with your food!

The Waxman Challenge

Last night was the premiere of a new show called Master Chef.

The conceit is simple:  home cooks strut their stuff for a shot at $250,000 and a book deal while dealing with the snarky critiques of Gordon Ramsey and a couple of highly respectable, yet terribly egocentric, guest judges.  I am totally hooked, and I am wondering why I am not on it.

During last night's episode, I actually was quite tearful.  Here were a group of stay at home moms, software programmers, and everyday Joe's risking national ridicule all because each share a common passion: food.  They shared their "signature dishes," prepared with varying degrees of success and finesse all with the hopes of taking one step closer to winning the coveted prize.

Of course, I was inspired.

Flashback to Barbuto.  J and I were having our perfect New York al fresco dining moment:  I was desperately trying to figure out how to snap a photo with Obi Wan KaWaxman, and J was attempting to fashion a tranquilizer dart out of a bottle of Pelegrino and some chili peppers to keep me from bum rushing the man to get a hug.  And then the chicken came.

This was no ordinary chicken.  Succulent, juicy, and filled with a verdant freshness that made you understand that this man had been touched by God...or had spent some serious quality time figuring out how to cook barnyard foul.

So...inspired by the Zen-like Grill Master and the hopeful everyday cooks on a reality show, here is my interpretation of Waxman's Herb Chicken

Herb Chicken a la Duff a la Waxman

1 4lb chicken
1 yellow onion, quartered
1 lemon, quartered

For the Slatherin' Goodness

3 garlic cloves
4 anchovy filets
1 Tbl capers
1 tsp fresh thyme
2 Tbl fresh parsley
2 Tbl fresh basil
zest and juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup olive oil
salt 'n pepper

Preheat oven to 400.  Combine all of the Slatherin' Goodness ingredients in your trusty mini food processor.  Whir away until it becomes a green, fragrant pool of love.

Place chicken breast side up in a cast iron skillet.  Stuff cavity with onion and lemon.  Now slather that chicky with the Slatherin' Goodness, making sure you get underneath the skin as well as covering the entire bird.  Cover with foil and roast for 50 minutes.  Remove foil and cook for an additional ten minutes to crisp up that bird.

Allow to rest for a bit before carving.  Picture yourself sitting outside in the Meat Packing District with your Valentine and enjoy.

The carnage.

Kabob: Revisited

Some plastic wrap company keeps telling me that I throw away over $500 worth of food a year.

NO MORE!

What's is the fridge:  left over kabobs, grilled eggplant, homemade pesto, arugula, grilled chicken breast.

A simple yet, delicious solution:  Grilled Chicken and Veggies on Ciabatta with Pesto Mayonnaise.  Feelin' Fancy is great, but sometimes a good sandwich does the trick.

Kabob Diversion

I am fully aware of the daunting task ahead of me.  I'm just refusing to do anything about it...yet.

In my other life, I am a theatre teacher.  For the past three years, I have been charged with creating a theatre program at a pretty groovy little school outside of Memphis, and, over those three years, my students have worked their booties off to create something wonderful.  We have tackled classic American plays, Shakespeare, narrative theatre, musicals, and have even generated a couple of original scripts developed through ethnographic studies and interviews.  Not too shabby for a program with roughly twelve extremely active participants and no formal performance space.

Perhaps our crowning achievement was when we received an invitation to take a show to the American High School Theatre Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland.  Yea, us!

Now, I have to pick a show suitable for young actors with little or no set that can travel across the pond to the world's largest theatre festival and raise an obscene amount of money to do so.  This summer should be dedicated to pouring over scripts, devising fund-raising possibilities, and working with designers to have everything ready to go.

Instead, I went to the grocery store.

If you have any ideas about which play I should take, I would love to hear them!

Yogurt Marinated Chicken Kabobs

This marinade made me soooo happy!  The chicken is beyond juicy and flavorful.  This made eight skewers, plus two that were just with the veggies.

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup plain yogurt
2 garlic cloves
1/4 cup fresh mint
2 Tbl fresh rosemary
zest and juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Veggies, sliced into sturdy wedges

zucchini
yellow and orange peppers
fennel
red onion

Combine yogurt, garlic, herbs, lemon, oil, salt and pepper in a bowl and set aside.  Cut chicken breasts into 1 1/2" cubes and place in marinade.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

Soak skewers in water to prevent burning.  While skewers get waterlogged, slice veggies into wedges and create an assembly line.  Once you start skewerin' the chicken it gets a little messy.  Assemble skewers alternating chicken and veggies (about three pieces of each per skewer).

Preheat grill pan over medium heat and turn on the fan.  It's gonna get smoky in here!  Place skewers on grill and char those suckers.  About 5 minutes on each side.  Transfer to a baking sheet and finish cooking in a 350 oven for about ten minutes.  Serve over Minted Eggplant Couscous.

If you have extra veggies, make a couple of skewers with them.  Just drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Delish!


Minted Eggplant Couscous

This is a great dish to bring as a side for summer get-togethers, and it gets better the longer it sits.  More than likely you will use less vinegar.  I don't really measure out each ingredient, so start with a couple of shakes and add until it tastes good to your pie hole.


2 cups chicken stock
2 cups couscous
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 small eggplant, grilled and marinated with mint
1/2 cup dried apricots, diced
1/2 cup currants
1/4 cup pistachios
1 red pepper, chopped
3 carrots, diced
7 green onions, diced
1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
zest and juice of 1 lemon
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
a ton of fresh parsley, chopped
2 Tbl fresh mint, chopped
Salt/pepper to taste

Grill and marinate the eggplant as we talked about in an earlier post, except this time use mint as your herb and forget about the capers.  Let sit for a couple of hours so flavors can combine.

In a medium sauce pan, bring stock and garlic to a boil.  Stir in couscous, cover, and remove from heat.  This will be done in five minutes!

While the couscous is couscousing, chop your veggies and apricots into bite sized pieces and drain the garbanzos. 

Using a fork, fluff the couscous and transfer to a large bowl. Add in veggies, pistachios, apricots, currants, and herbs.  Dress with lemon, vinegar and olive oil. Toss to combine.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Dinner: Improvised - Help the Cootie Laden

Ever have a friend who is havin' a bad week, and you're not quite sure what to do to cheer them up?

A good friend of mine has Cooties.  It's actually kind of serious, terribly annoying, and, sorry Tugar, not very pretty to look at.  Couple this affliction with the swamp-like summer heat of Memphis, and you have one unhappy camper on your hands.

Mission:  provide comfort (or at least distraction) through food using what I have in my kitchen and bring a smile to a friend's face.

What's in the fridge:  a whole chicken, spinach, red cabbage, some tired turnips, carrots.

Cootie Boo's fave is Thanksgiving food, and I just saw the movie Salt.  Why not brine the chicken?!

Spice Brined Chicken

I usually brine a turkey for Thanksgiving, but I have used this method with chicken or pork throughout the year.  It's time consuming, but so worth the effort.  It gives the meat an incredible spicy flavor, and keeps it moist and juicy.  I tend to raid my spices and throw in what sounds good at the moment;  just stick to your earthier spices.

1 4 lb. chicken

For the brine

1 medium yellow onion, unpeeled and quartered
1 head of garlic, slice in half
2 turnips, cut into thirds
2 carrots, cut into thirds
1 2" piece of ginger, sliced
1 1/2 cups kosher salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup
3 bay leaves
2 cinnamon sticks
1 Tbl whole black peppercorns
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp cayenne pepper
3 cups water

In a large stock pot, combine ingredients and bring to a boil.  (I like to give the mixture a good stir to dissolve the salt and sugar a bit before turning on the heat, otherwise you will have some crustiness on the bottom of your pot that is a bee-otch to get off.)  Let the brine cool completely.

Once the brine is at room temperature, place your chicken breast side down in the brine and add enough water to cover.  Cover and put it in the fridge for six hours.

Preheat oven to 400.  Remove bird from brine and rinse thoroughly under cold water.  Pat dry and place in a cast iron skillet.  Here is where you can play around.  I make a butter mixture to rub over the little chicky with a half a stick of butter, cumin, cayenne, orange zest, and pepper.  Again, play with whatever you think sounds tasty.  Slather the bird with the butter, under and over the skin.  Shove an onion in the cavity with maybe some citrus and fresh herbs.  Cover with foil and roast for 45 minutes.  Remove foil and roast for an additional 20-25 minutes uncovered to brown that sucker. 

Let that baby rest for 10 minutes and carve.

Sauteed Red Cabbage and Spinach

The balsamic make this side tangy and slightly sweet, and it looks kind of like Christmas with the bright red and green.

1/4 head of red cabbage, shredded
1/2 yellow onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
5 oz baby spinach
2 Tbl balsamic vinegar
2 Tbl olive oil
salt/pepper to taste

In a saute pan, heat oil over medium heat.  Add sliced onions and cook for 5 minutes.  Add cabbage and saute until it begins to wilt, about 7 minutes.  Add garlic and vinegar, and cook until vinegar reduces by half.  At the last minute, add in spinach and stir it around until just wilted.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Serve immediately.


I am not a dessert man, but what sort of Thanksgiving-ish dinner is complete without a sweet bite?!  I made a Rhubarb Tart with Orange Glaze (thank you, defunct Gourmet magazine...we miss you!) and I added some fresh figs I had picked up at the Memphis Farmer's Market.  A fantastic dessert that was super easy to make!

Requiem for an Immersion Blender

"Honey...should this be making this sound?"

Dearly Beloved,

We are gathered here to celebrate the brief but productive life of Kevin, the Kitchen Aid Immersion Blender.

I remember when we first met.  It was a beautiful fall Saturday afternoon, and I was mourning the loss of another dear friend, Steve - the Braun Hand-held Immersion Blender, with whom I had had a serious relationship for quite some time.  I was working through the rich tapestry of emotions oft accompanied with grief:  anger, confusion, denial.  How could you leave me this way?  Is there something I could have done to prevent this disaster?  If I use a different outlet, perhaps you will whir once more.  But, alas, Steve was gone.

And then I laid eyes on you.  Your nine speeds, your easily detachable wand for cleaning, your clever design for convenient storage were seductive and thrilling.  I was filled with excitement and feelings of betrayal.  Was it too soon after Steve to move on?  Will he understand?  Wiping a bittersweet tear of remembrance away from my glistening eye, I took Kevin in my arms and the rest became history.

Kevin stood by my side as we courageously created soups and dips and the pedestrian smoothies.  We were a great team: dazzling dinner guests and drawing an envious eye at the lunch table with our delectable culinary creations.  Like all perfect relationships, I knew it wouldn't last.  That it couldn't last.

But who knew you would go down in a blaze of glory while preparing avocados to enter a delicious bath of yogurt and cream before moving on to chilled perfection! 

To answer your question, J:  No. It should not make that sound.

I shall miss you, dear friend.

Forgive me if I meet another.

In honor of Kevin, please enjoy these soups and remember to cherish each moment with your loved one.  You never know if it will be your last.

Buster:  A Study in Grief

Roasted Eggplant and Red Pepper Soup

If you don't have a gas stove, you can roast the peppers in the oven with the eggplant.

1 large eggplant
4 red peppers
2 Tbl olive oil
1 red onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic
2 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
6 cups chicken stock

Preheat oven to 450. On a baking sheet, toss that eggplant into the oven...whole!  Roast for about 40 minutes until it looks kind of like a deflated balloon.  While eggplant roasts, turn on your burners and place peppers directly on the flame, turning frequently to char each side.  Once charred, transfer peppers to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Once peppers are cool enough to handle, remove skin and seeds. 

Over medium high heat, saute onion until tender about 7 minutes and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Add garlic, cumin, and cayenne to the onions and stir to coat.  Cook for about one minute.  Add peppers and flesh scooped from the eggplant.  Cook one minute.  Add chicken stock and bring to a boil.  Simmer for about 15 minutes.

Using your *whimper* immersion blender, puree soup until smooth.  Serve warm with crostini and goat cheese.

Chilled Curried Carrot Soup

This is a great starter for lamb!

1 lb carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2" pieces
1 Vidalia onion, chopped
2 Tbl olive oil
2 Tbl curry powder
1 tsp salt
6 cups chicken stock
1 can of coconut milk
zest and juice of one lime

In a stock pot, heat oil and curry over medium heat, stirring for about one minute.  Add onions and saute until tender.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Add carrots and stir to coat with curry infused oil.  Cook for 10 minutes.  Add stock and bring to a boil.  Simmer for 15 minutes.

Using your perfectly functioning immersion blender, puree until smooth.  Pass soup through a sieve, discarding all of the solids.  Stir in coconut milk and lime juice and zest.  Chill completely.  Serve with a wedge of lime and chopped scallions on top.

In lieu of flowers, please send me money so I can buy a new immersion blender.

My Dinner with Amy: a video experience

My first video dining experience:  a delightful evening in Chicago with my good friend Amy: Professional Lesbytarian.

Please forgive any "up the nose" shots.

Okay...so it ends a tad abruptly.

To sum up:  In Fine Spirits is a fabu place for simple, clean, seasonal food from local farmers.

If'n you enjoy the vino, it's a great place for small plates and wine pairings.

And, by the by...

our waiter's name was Anders.

What I tell ya...Lesbians and Ligonberried.