Summer Squash and Zucchini Ragout

Can we just take a moment to drink in how adorable these are?

Baby summer squash from my first trip to the Mar Vista's Farmer's Market.

Summer Squash and Zucchini Ragout

Ingredients
Sauce:
4 cloves
8 peppercorns
8 coriander seeds
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
1 cinnamon stick
5 cilantro sprigs, chopped
5 mint leaves, chopped
6 basil leaves, chopped
1 Jalapeno pepper

[Note: I didn't have all of these spices on hand... most of them in fact. I threw in extra peppercorns, some allspice, double the mint, and a little extra cilantro, and it still came out delicious. So I'm sure the actual recipe is really delicious.]


Vegetables:
1/2 onion thinly sliced
1.25 lb summer squash
1 can of yellow corn
2 tomatoes peeled, seeded, and chopped
1 tbsp peanut oil
salt
2 tbsp cilantro leaves, chopped


Pour the cream and milk into a small pot and put over low heat.

Bruise the hard spices with a pestle. Combine with the cinnamon, herbs, and half the jalapeno, and add them into the cream mixture. Slowly bring to a boil, then turn off the heat and let steep while you cut the vegetables.


Heat the oil in a wide skillet and add the onion. Saute briskly for a minute or so. (I used baby summer squash, which needs very little cooking, so I didn't add the squash until the onion was almost done, about 5 minutes.)

Add the summer squash, corn, and the remaining jalapeno (chopped) and season with salt. Continue to saute over fairly high heat for about 2 minutes.


Pour the steeped cream sauce directly into the pan through a strainer. Add the tomato in and simmer for several minutes. Simmer until the sauce has reduced and thickened. Season to taste with salt and serve garnished with chopped cilantro.


So maybe ragout isn't the prettiest dish. It's still bomb diggity. And that's good enough for me.

You look lonely

...Maybe I'll come back and play.

It's Been A Long Time

I shouldn't have left you
without a dope beat
to step to.



Dear Blog,

I haven't completely forgotten about you, I promise.
I've just been studying for the Series 7, 63, and working on this:



T-shirt design for the ongoing Threadless competition.
Photoshop is like a drug. It's an addiction and it's turning my brain into mush.

Våffeldagen: Day o' Waffles

International Waffle Day (March 25) originated in Sweden where it is called Våffeldagen. It occurs nine months to the day before Christmas - the day the Archangel Gabriel told the Virgin Mary that she was pregnant. As the holiday progressed, it also began to commemorate the first day of spring. Waffles come into play because on March 25th the women of Sweden would set aside their winter tasks like chopping wood and knitting, and began their spring tasks... the most notable of which was preparing waffles.

Silly? Perhaps. But 1.) It's a WAFFLE HOLIDAY and 2.) it's really very fun to say.
How can one resist?


...Also, my mom bought a waffle-maker on black friday and demanded that I make her waffles for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That was a while ago.



Buttermilk Waffles with Maple-Glazed Bananas

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 3/4 cups buttermilk
2 eggs, separated
1/2 stick of butter, melted and cooled
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Canola oil for the waffle pan

2 tbsp butter
2 large bananas, cut into thick slices
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 tbsp rum

[Note: If you don't have buttermilk on hand, you can substitute by mixing 1.25 cups of milk at room temperature with 2 tablespoons white vinegar. Let sit for 10 minutes. Also, remember these banana slices need to be quite thick, since they sort of... melt when you cook them.]

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.

In a large bowl, fully combine the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix together the buttermilk and the egg yolks. Stir in butter and vanilla.

Brush the waffle iron lightly with oil and preheat it. Stir the wet into the dry ingredients. Beat the egg whites until they hold soft peaks. Stir them gently into the batter.

Spread a ladle or so of batter onto the waffle iron and bake until the waffle is done (approximately 3 to 5 minutes). Serve immediately or keep warm in the oven.

While the waffles are baking (?), heat up the 2 tablespoons of butter in a large pan. Add in the rum and let cook for a minute. Lay the banana slices flat across the bottom of the pan, and cook on each side for a minute. Remove bananas from pan. Add the maple syrup to the pan and continue heating the sauce until it thickens a little (couple of minutes). Pour on top of waffles and bananas. (I also added in some fresh banana slices).

Top with some freshly whipped cream and serve.

Makes 4-6 servings.

The Photographic Dictionary

kinetic ki⋅net⋅ic [ki-net-ik]
-- adjective
1. pertaining to motion.
2. caused by motion.
3. characterized by movement: Running and dancing are kinetic activities.

I love, love, love this idea.

The Photographic Dictionary is an elfin, but I hope rapidly expanding, dictionary that collects beautiful photographs taken by artists around the world and draws delicate parallels between the realms of words and imagery. Every image is assigned to a single word and definition. The nuances of personal experience in the photographs recreate new significance and beauty for a collection of words both common and forgotten.

The Dictionary is a massive collaborative effort, and they welcome new submissions. It's an exercise in recognizing our processes of meaning creation and appreciating the imprint of individual experience on how we come to understand signifiers.

My two favorite things. Words and photography.

Gravity.



Nap.



Birthday.


Ambiance.