Mint

I was inspired by the recipes on the Greek cooking blogs I shared earlier and decided to try one of the recipes for peas in a mint cream sauce over pasta from the Kali Orexi blog. It was wonderful- filling but light to the taste with a refreshing mint flavour, satisfying all of my spring food desires.

Mint, like cinnamon, is a spice I do not automaically associate with savoury cooking. Mint is a taste that I know from peppermint ice cream and candy canes, peppermint tea and lots of variations in gum. Maybe Southern Living magazine would once in a while have a recipe for a cool strawberry and mint dessert in the summer months. I think we did not even have a lot of mint on hand growing up that I remember. I am sure my mom did have mint as we had a magnificent herb and spice collection, though I cannot recall ever using it.

Although mint and cinnamon are not sweet per se, because I have this association with those flavours in sweet dishes, I always find it surprising when my fiance enjoys mint and cinnamon with dinner. Somehow, I expect him to not enjoy it because he does not like sweet and savoury tastes together, though he does not have the same associations with these flavours as I do. I can see it already and it will probably increase over time that we influence each other's tastes more and more so that one day I might think a dish is missing mint and he might want syrup with his bacon. I'll let you know when that day comes.


Back to the mint cream sauce. This was a simple recipe to make although I could not find fresh mint in a pinch so I used a large amount of dried mint. The fresh mint would definitely be better, but dried mint still imparted a refreshing flavour. I wasn't sure if this would go, but I decided to cook a bit of pancetta to sprinkle on top of the pasta. The pancetta was sometimes overpowering, but a little sprinkle on top was just enough to add some saltiness and crunch, which was great with the freshness of the mint.


For full instructions and beautiful pictures, check out the Kali Orexi blog.

Pasta with Peas in a Mint Cream Sauce from Kali Orexi

1 packet pasta
lots of peas (about 1 pound)
3-4 Tablespoons olive oil
1 cup double (heavy) cream
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
5 leaves chopped fresh mint or 4 Tablespoons dried mint
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
pancetta (optional)

Cook the pasta and peas, drain most of the liquid, drizzle with olive oil and set aside. Heat cream until almost simmering and add lemon zest, mint and 2 tablespoons olive oil. I kept heating the mixture so the flavors would combine, stirring constantly. Add the pasta and peas back into the pot and coat with the cream sauce, thickening it as you go for a few more minutes. Serve with a sprinkle of cooked pancetta and mint if desired.

Greek food blogs

I told you I would get back to Greek food soon, didn't I?

Perhaps not in the same sense as I meant, but as the UK is experiencing its first weekend of spring/summer-like temperatures, I am in no mood for Greek food, unless it is a Greek salad. In lieu of my own cooking, I finally had a look around for other Greek food blogs. There is so much inspiration in these I think they may prod me back into the kitchen to try some of these recipes. Searching for blogs has also prodded me to keep up with my Greek language learning so I can read all the blogs out there in Greek for lots more good recipes!

For some other Greek food inspiration, try these:

Souvlaki for the Soul
Kopiaste
Kalofagas
Elly says Opa!
Kali Orexi
Aglaia's Table


Enjoy!

My favorite season

I know I haven't been cooking a lot of Greek food lately, but I cannot seem to muster my strength against the call of spring. When there is even a hint of spring in the air, sometimes even when the crocuses have first started to bloom, I crave salad, vegetables and light dishes instead of the core-warming stews, roasts and heavy meals of the winter months. My own spring tastebuds awaken with the flowers.

Last summer, I went to Cyprus with my fiance and his family during the height of the heat- late July/early August. We visited some family, saw the sights and of course went to the beach. But the heat just about killed me. When I am hot, I do not like to eat much of anything and even then only cool, refreshing meals that will be light to the taste and to my stomach. Many of the meals in Cyprus had elements of this- salad, cucumbers- but not a lot. We had souvla (roasted meat on the grill), hot cooked beans and even soup (this was specially made for my fiance to be fair). All of these had beautifully fresh and tasty vegetabls and were very good, though I was surprised not to find a slightly different diet to the Greek food I have encountered in London. I suppose I expected more cold dishes, more fish, more dishes with lighter flavors to combat the oppressive heat. Then again, I seemed to be the only one having any trouble with the heat, so maybe my views are merely a consequence of my northern-latitude-bred blood. From what I know of Greek dishes and what I have tried, I have not found anything that will satisfy my springtime light and refreshing cravings.

In the meantime, until my regular tastebuds make an appearance, I made crab cakes with roasted potatoes and green beans. Ok, that doesn't sound too light, cool or refreshing, but it was! The crab cakes were flavorful and filling without being too heavy and delightfully spring-y with a squeeze of lemon. The potatoes gave the meal a bit of filing, but not too much, and the green beans added a springtime touch of vegetables.

I have never made crab cakes before, but I found a fantastic recipe and gave it a go.

Combine flaked crab meat, mayo, mustard, egg, garlic powder, finely chopped green onions, breadcrumbs and a dash of cayenne pepper.

Then make small cakes or patties of the crab mixture.

Roll the crab cakes in breadcrumbs or crushed crackers, whatever you have on hand.

Heat a little oil in a skillet and start frying the crab cakes. I wasn't sure how long they would take to cook all the way through, but after each side was golden brown I served them. I think it was about 7 minutes all together.

No idea about that bubble.

A tasty spring meal!

Maybe this isn't everyone's idea of a springtime meal and maybe my tastebuds and spring stomach are a little off. I'll get back to Greek food soon, but with all the great vegetables coming up, the flowers in bloom and the feel of refreshing possibility in the air, how can I resist?

PS- You can find the whole recipe in its original form on Allrecipes.com here.

Granola bars

In history classes throughout my time growing up, I remember the ideal of the self-made man in American history. This came into play in the frontier states and with pioneers, in stories of successful businessmen, and, of course, the background of politicians. This idea is something that is almost ingrained into the core of American values and yes, Weber was a big influence on me. (Name that book!)

Certainly the idea is still around in American society- people will exemplify those who worked hard and made something of themselves, those who did things for themselves. Isn't that the American dream itself- the ability to come from nothing, work hard, do things of your own accord and abilities to be a success?

I know that in my family and definitely with me, I try to live by this ideal. I try to work hard, to take action, to take responsibility and do things on my own. I am finding in London that this ideal does not permeate society as much. In the UK, I think the self-made man ideal has only recently, in the past 60 years or so, entered into society in an meaningful way. Perhaps the rigid class structure and societal influences held sway in keeping this ideal out, plus only the recent influx of the US culture, and it does not have the history behind the ideal as it does in the US.

I was thinking about this ideal because I recently made my own granola bars. I have never tried this and always bought them from the store. To be honest, it did not occur to me that granola bars were something to make at home. Granola bars just seemed to be one of those things you take for granted and they always come in a pre-packaged form. Well, to me at least.

After making the bars, or many things from scratch as I often do, some people will ask how I made them, with a comment about how they could never make the item at hand. Maybe it is my American self-made man ideal talking, but I cook and bake by a pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps kind of way. I work hard, use my resources (usually internet recipe searches) and make things myself. And I have a great sense of accomplishment afterwards. It sounds silly, but it's nice to know that is Armageddon comes, I can make my own granola bars, among other things, and be ok. Baking and cooking things from scratch is in some ways a validation that I am a self-made woman, capable of living and being successful on my own.

The greatest thing about the granola bars? They are really easy to make! So if you want to start your own self-made man/woman cooking journey, this is a great place to start.

Mix together 3 cups of various ingredients, whatever you like in your granola bars. I had almonds, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, raisins, cranberries and dried apples, but you could easily throw in some chocolate chips or other fruits and seeds.

The recipe I found has butter and sweetened condensed milk as binding agents. Maybe not the healthiest, but on average per bar it's not so bad. There are good things in them too, so that counts ... right?

Mix it all together and press the mix into a flat pan. I lined mine with parchment paper so clean up is easier. :)

Then bake for about 30 minutes or until the top is lightly browned.

You have to let them cool before cutting or it's like cutting into oatmeal!

Mmmmm, tasty.

The recipe:

3 cups quick-cooking oats

1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

2 Tablespoons melted butter

3-3.5 cups nuts, seeds, berries

Mix all ingredients together and press into a greased or lined flat pan. Bake in a 350 F/175C degree oven for 20-30 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool before cutting. Enjoy!

May Day

I went to a college in the US with a Welsh name and which still carried on many of the British traditions- college robes, fur on the collar at graduation, and May Day. At Bryn Mawr, my undergraduate college, May Day was a wonderful combination of Wimbledon and a country town May Day fete. We would start the day off with strawberries and cream (like Wimbledon), have a parade, dance around the May pole and have a general festival all day out on the green (like a town fete).

Some of the towns in the British countryside still have festivals for the May day celebration, which is also a bank holiday weekend in the UK. I get the feeling that in London it is more of a long weekend than a true celebration anymore and most people just appreciate the extra day of sleeping in and hope for enough sun to sit in the garden.

There is another meaning behind May Day that I never knew until I moved here- the day of worker strikes and protests. This may happen more on the European continent than here, but on Saturday (May Day as in May 1st) there was a huge protest march of British workers and unions through central London as it is a traditional thing to do for May Day. Maybe they chose May because it was better weather than other months? Maybe it is the double meaning of May Day that is too good to pass up for protest signs? I don't know the history of the worker protests on May Day, but I do know that I was trying to get across London on Saturday and the protests made that incredibly difficult.

In amongst the worker prostests and town fetes, I brought a little bit of the Bryn Mawr May Day festival to London this year, carrying on from another alumna's celebration last year. Although it was supposed to be in a park, the weather did not cooperate and I ended up hosting a small gathering of alumnae at my flat. We had strawberries and cream, champagne and owl sugar cookies and were going to watch The Philadelphia Story, another Bryn Mawr May Day tradition, but never had the time.

I saw an owl cookie cutter (and teapot) a year or so ago and snatched it up to make these cookies.

I love sugar cookies anyway, though in my family we usually reserved them for Christmas cookies and I did not get to eat them a lot. As my school's mascot is an owl, here was a perfect opportunity for owl cookies!

I also got a bit crafty and decorated with white icing.

Even though my time in London has changed me more than I can ever change it, I like to think that I am bringing a little bit of me and what I know to at least a few people here, and sharing my May Day is part of that.

the cultural English Breakfast

I sometimes like to treat myself on a weekend with a Sunday Times, but only when I know I will be able to read all of it. I like to have civilised late morning reads with lots of tea, sunlight and perhaps classical music in the background. Yes, I am quickly aging from 26 to 60.

The other week on my splurge for a Sunday Times, I came across a fantastic article about the changing aspect of the English Breakfast and what that says about the cultural landscape of Britain. I love that food is the medium not only for the change in culture but, in this case, English culture itself is represented through the traditional breakfast. Seems to tie in nicely with my own experiences.

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It is the May Day bank holiday weekend here in the UK, so with a bit more time to spare, I hope to have a couple of posts up by next week. Perhaps an English Breakfast?

Food compulsion

I think I am developing a compulsion to feed people.

I'm pretty sure it hasn't always been this way for me, though maybe I am only aware of it now that I am thinking about food. When I am frustrated or worried or angry, I often bake (or clean, but that's a whole 'nother issue). When there is a family situation that is out of my hands and for which I cannot help, I want to feed people.

It is not the influence of my family as far as I can tell, because I don't ever remember my grandmothers or mother pushing food every time I had a bad day. No stereotypical Jewish mothers here; I think this compulsion is all mine.

Greek households, or at least the ones I have visited, will often push food onto you, but in a nice way. Their compulsion is to welcome people into their home and share one of the most basic yet intimate scenes of human society: breaking bread to share with fellow people in a sign of trust and companionship. With time, my fiance's grandmother's constant attempts to feed me, I know, are more than signs of welcome and are signs of caring and nurturing.

Maybe a new side of me is developing with age so that I feel a compulsion to care and nurture others as I prepare to care for my own children. I suppose at 26 I am well into the years that nature and evolution would have me reproducing and this could be another way to show my attractiveness to a mate. I'd like to think it's because I care for people and want to show my appreciation through something I know well, like food. If I had talents of painting or building or singing, it might be different, but I work with what I know. It's food or medieval history lectures and I think I have definitely chosen the more sociable compulsion.

In light of his birthday and a tough week with family issues, I gave into my compulsion and made my fiance a nice dinner. I roasted some carrots and potatoes, but the best part was the lightly grilled flank steak with a mushroom cream sauce. I wanted the sauce to not overpower the meat but add a little extra something to the meal.

I started by taking advantage of the dusk light and the beautiful chestnut mushrooms.

Aren't they gorgeous? I love mushrooms.

Then I sauteed some garlic, minced onion and lots of sliced mushrooms in butter.

I added a touch of water to the pan to deglaze, though you could easily use balsamic vinegar or red wine, and let the sauce simmer a bit to condense.

I then added the tiny bit of cream I had left in the fridge. I originally wanted this sauce to be creamier than it turned out, but it worked out so that the tablespoon or two of cream was just enough to make it have just a bit more oomph than just the mushrooms and juice on its own.

I sliced the flank steak and briefly placed the strips under the broiler/grill to cook and topped with the mushroom sauce.

Lovely, tasty and fulfills my feeding compulsion. Well, for today.

Identity

Identity is a funny thing. It is one of the most interesting subjects for me to study in history and something that I think about often. It's also something that I never thought about in relation to myself until I moved to London. Throughout history and certainly now, identity and labels only become worthwhile and take on meaning and importance when in opposition to others. So when I first moved to London, I often had to proclaim that I was not a British citizen and was, in fact, an American. Perhaps it wasn't really that formal of a proclamation, but certainly one of the first things people asked about me. (And I always think that my accent pretty much gives it away that I am an American, but of course you cannot always tell just by an accent.)

Side note: A strange thing about the US is that people are constantly reaffirming that they are American and try to almost out-do others in American-ness. I wonder if this is because the idea of an 'American' has been created with a purpose, not grown organically, and anyone can still embrace this identity and make it their own. Some need to project their identity on to others I suppose, even when surrounded with those of the same identity, though I have found this more in the US than anywhere else.

Growing up, I never thought about being American. I celebrated Independence Day and cheered for the US in the Olympics but I did not sit down and think about what it meant to have to claim something that I have been given since birth. At the beginning here, I chafed at the idea of having to constantly label myself for everyone to lump with all other Americans, especially at a time when America was not too favored in the rest of the world. Although my citizenship has been with my my whole life, I had never had to identify myself under a citizenship label and I was not sure that I liked being burdened with this identity. What if I wanted to be known firstly as an educated woman, or as a historian? Why was this label of identity so important?

Over time, I have come to accept and embrace my American identity all over again in a pro-active and involved way that I never imagined could take place. Nothing has changed about me except that way that I interpret this label and what my American identity means to me. It means my values, upbringing, accent, family, and everything that goes with a culture and these are not parts of me that I want to forgo, but I want to carry them with me and share with others.

I wonder too about the labels of origin in food much the same way as people. Just because a dish now is known for being American does it mean it has always been that way? Maybe one culture commandeered a dish and made it famous even though it originated somewhere else. (I like to think of French fries this way though hardly a commandeering.) I suppose food is supple and can take having many labels, never minding what the labels mean or their association.

So today I made a traditional 'American' food: chilli and cornbread. Chilli is made thousands of different ways across the US and it seems like every family has their own recipe for it. We do too, and that's what I made.

Brown onions and mince meat/hamburger meat in a large pot. Or a pretty, new blue pot!

Then add kidney beans, chopped tomatoes and tomato passatta until a thick, but still soupy, consistency. You can also just add stewed tomatoes and a little tomato paste to boil down into a thick soup, but this will take a while.

Don't forget the chilli powder, which gives this dish it's name and a nice warmth.

At the same time, I made some cornbread to go with the chilli. Some eat chilli with rice or perhaps something else (noodles?), but I like it with some sweet cornbread. This type has butter, sugar, an egg, milk, flour, baking powder and cornmeal all mixed together with little ceremony.

Then pour into a pan and bake!

Really simple and it comes out beautifully springy, like cake.

At this point, the chilli has been simmering for a at least half an hour and can probably be eaten with some warm cornbread. Mmmmm.

Make this and you can feel more American too, if only for a meal.

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In case you are interested, this is a really good recipe for cornbread that does not require buttermilk, which most seem to. Enjoy!

1/3 cup softened butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

3/4 and a bit milk

1 cup and a bit flour

1/2 cup cornmeal

2 full tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Combine all ingredients in order, then pour into a greased pan, ideally square and not too deep. Bake on 400 F/ 200 C for about 22-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean from center. Makes 6 servings.

Easter

For those of you celebrating this weekend, happy Easter. This is a long bank holiday weekend in the UK thanks to the Church of England. It also happens to be the Orthodox Easter as well, which is a rarity as the two easters usually fall on different weekends. (Side note: The difference in timings for Easter is one of the main differences between the Catholic/Protestant and Othodox religions and was a major issue when the churches split in the Middle Ages. Oddly enough, the Irish church followed the Orthodox timing of Easter for most of the first millenium of the current era.)

As it is the pinnacle of the Orthodox calendar, Easter means a lot of church services to attend. Well, for me they are a lot considering my family was more of the CEO type (Christmas and Easter only), if that. The Orthodox services, much like the Catholic stations of the cross services, re-enact the passion, mourning and resurrection of Jesus. My fiance's family usually attends the Friday night service to pay homage and kiss the funeral bier (epidafio), the Saturday morning service when the people makes lots of noise to represent Jesus rising from the dead and the culmination of the weekend, the Saturday midnight service which represents Jesus ascending into heaven.

The Saturday night service is the most recognizable as everyone holds candles to represent the spread of holy light and spirit and it is quite a beautiful scene. It reminds me of my undergraduate college and looking out onto all the lantern lights representing the light of wisdom being passed to everyone.


After this, my fiance tries to keep the light on his candle all the way home (through the rain and car journey) to bless the house. Dangerous? Maybe.

On Sunday, what I traditionally consider Easter, there is a service in the Orthodox church but my fiance's family does not usually go, which is a little strange to me. But I suppose if you have been the night before and stayed until after midnight, it's fine. But as it was Easter Sunday and on special occassions you should have special breakfasts (to start the celebrating off right), I made myself French toast.

Not that French toast is particularly hard to make or even takes a long time, but it definitely has an association with special days. And like all things with syrup, hardly anyone has had it here.


I feel silly describing how to make French toast, but for anyone who doesn't know it is simply bread dipped in beaten eggs and lots of cinnamon, then lightly fried in butter until the eggs are cooked.




Serve with syrup. Or powdered/icing sugar. But syrup is better.

Red velvet cake (and cupcakes)

This is a post full of colors in celebration of spring.

Some blogs that I read have recently featured red velvet cake and although I have never made it before, the idea of making this cake seemed to grab me. I think it was something about the great contrast of the red cake with the white icing that looked so appealing. And it is soooo red!

I told some people at work that I was thinking of making this cake and no one had ever heard of it, which is not unusual in my world, but probably just means it's an American thing. I think the final consensus at work was that the cake lives up to its name and this cake should feature more regularly as a dessert. Now that I think of it, the cakes in the UK (that I have tried at least) are not usually as smooth or light as this cake and the icing is usually not a buttercream or cream cheese icing either. It makes a lovely spring cake and is a luscious dessert.

Here is what is needed for the cake part:

Mix the dry ingredients of flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and cocoa together.

In another bowl, mix the wet ingredients together, starting with the eggs and oil, which makes a funny, creamy mixture.

For the really red color, add a whole bottle of red food coloring (!). You can marble along the way for amusement.

You would almost expect the redness to go away when mixing with the dry ingredients. Nope.

When everything is mixed together, pour the batter into a greased and floured cake tin or two, or cupcake liners if you would like.

The cake turned out a little brown on top, though the cupcakes were nice and red all the way through.

Now onto the icing- cream cheese, icing sugar, butter and vanilla all mixed together until smooth. Beautiful stuff.

Once the icing is all made (one hour and a very tired arm later when mixing by hand), time for the fun part!

A lovely spring birthday cake!

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While out on my day off, my fiance and I happened upon an amazing shoe store in Carnaby street. We are never usually in this area of London but I may start to frequent it more often. The store features really cute and whimsical shoes in bold colors that invokes the Carnaby street of the 1960's. Though I am still learning to walk in heels, my fiance convinced me to get one pair of shoes in particular.

The bold colors, the heels, the funky flap in the front- I would never pick these out on my own. If there is one thing I have learned about London fashion though it is that you can wear anything and try anything. So I am trying these and embracing London fashion, and I think slowly over time my wardrobe is adjusting to living here. Much like my food repertoire, my clothing will become an amalgamation of London and US fashion.