Cooking for People without Teeth

Having my wisdom teeth out really sucked. It hurt, it made me grumpy, but worst of all it dramatically limited my options food-wise. At first I could only have ice cream and creamy soup which might sound like the best time ever, but actually it got old really quickly. Yogurt, smoothies and kefir, which are all the same thing, came next. By friday I was feeling ready to upgrade something excitingly mushy. I consulted the Chez Panisse "Vegetables" cookbook and found a recipe for Panade. Call me sheltered, but I had never heard of such a thing. I read the recipe and couldn't imagine what it was getting at so I asked my friend Holly for a description. Her eyes rolled back and she sighed, "It's like brothy bread pudding with a cheese crust! Every time you pull a spoonful out, cheese stretches with it... There are silky bites, and crunchy bites... and so much cheese." Now that I had such a clear visual of what this dish was I knew I could make it, and also eat it.

It was a huge success. It tasted like something I would make even if I had a fully functioning jaw. And that is a big compliment, Alice Waters.

Onion Panade
adapted from "Chez Panisse Vegetables" by Alice Waters

6 sweet onions
2 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup madeira
1 1/2 quarts beef stock
3 springs of thyme
salt and pepper to taste
12 slices stale or toasted country bread
1 cup grated parmigiano reggiano
1 cup grated gruyere

I used a large dutch oven for this recipe. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Slice onions into rainbows and caramelize with olive oil. Scrape the bottom of the pan frequently, and when the onions have taken on plenty of  color deglaze the pan with 1 cup of madeira. Separate remove the onions from the pan and set half aside in a bowl, and in another pan add the other half to the beef stock and let simmer. Break the bread slices into pieces and make one layer in the bottom of the dutch oven. Then layer on some of the reserved onions, then the parmesan, then one of the sprigs of thyme. Repeat this layering 3 times, and then ladle the beef and onion broth over the whole thing. The broth should come up an inch from the top of the last layer. Sprinkle the top with gruyere. Cover the pan and bake for 45 minutes, then remove the top and bake for another 45 until the cheese is toasty brown.

Word of Mouth Meatballs

Last night, to go along with the most perfect tomato sauce ever, I decided to make meatballs. The last time I made them was for Adult Spaghetti-O night, and those were tiny. This time I wanted to have some fun with them, aka stuff them with cheese. I asked around and everyone instructed me to use ground pork and beef, chopped garlic, and breadcrumbs. Some suggested onions, some suggested grated cheese, but I skipped those and put a little nugget of fresh whole milk mozzarella in the middle.
Also, my new best friend Charlie the bulldog came over. It's love.

Word of Mouth Meatballs

3/4 lb ground beef (not too lean mind you)
1/2 lb ground pork
3 gloves of garlic, chopped
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
pinch of oregano
salt and pepper
1 ball of fresh mozz, cubed

Gently combine meats, garlic, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper and oregano. Don't over work the mix. Form balls the size of a small lime or so. Stick a cube of the cheese into the center, and then pinch shut. Heat up a cast iron skillet with lots of olive oil. Sear the meatballs so that they have a nice brown exterior, then transfer them with a slotted spoon over to the hot and ready tomato sauce. Finish cooking them in the sauce. Serve over spaghetti.

Simple and Impossible

Boiling the milk


Cutting the curds and taking their temperature


The whey


The curds


The cheese


Impossible is the wrong word- people have been successfully making mozzarella for hundreds of years. But for this hillbilly, it did not come easy. I followed the directions, I actually took temperatures, and I still ended up with rubbery cheese.
It was somewhere around the time when I was supposed to reach into the 135 degree water and start pulling the curds when I realized I should have bought the rubber gloves they recommended. I kept thinking, Come on! Do Italian Nonna's really put on plastic gloves to pull their mozzarella? Either yes, they do, or they are even cooler and tougher than I thought before. That water is fucking hot. My hands became pink and tender immediately, and I couldn't handle pulling the curds while my hands melted into skin glue. So I threw the curds back into the water hysterically and ran my fingers under cold water. I think this is when I failed.
Next time, I will have gloves ready so I can get in there like a tough guy and get that cheese done!
Does anyone have any tips for making creamy and tender mozzarella?

LOCAL EDITION

I have discovered a few spots in my new neighborhood that rule.

One of these spots is where The Best Day Of My Life Happened: I Got To Feed A Baby Goat With A Baby Bottle. And it is only ten, count 'em, ten, blocks from my new house!!!! It is called Abita Springs Farm, and it is an urban goat farm AKA my dream land. I have recently realized my dream future, and it involves living on ten to thirty acres, raising goats and making cheese. There are other parts to this dream but those are the basics that don't include the 100 Jacky Scrapple clones that will be frolicking with the baby goats in the background. Something that I have been reading a lot about lately is raw milk, and that is how I found Abita Springs. Raw milk is living and wholesome and remarkably good for people to drink. I love the raw goats milk and plan on using it for my first attempt at making cheese!
Also, if you ever get the chance to feed a baby goat I highly recommend it. The little girl I was feeding was so happy- her little tail was wagging like crazy!

Another great local spot in NE Portland is Livingscape Nursery. They specialize in edible and native plants, and they have stuff for raising chickens. Right now they are trying to get rid of all of their pepper, tomatillo, and tomato plants, and they are giving them away for free! So stop by and get some plants! We got 6 pepper plants today and they all have little peppers already growing.

Not quite as close but still local, blueberries are finally in season. My friend Mariah and I drove out to Sauvie Island yesterday and picked a few pounds of giant, sweet blueberries. We went to Sauvie Island Blueberry Farms which is right off the road heading out to the beach. They have everything you need and you can even pick in a skirt. We finished our trip by stopping off at Kruger Farms and picking flowers. We picked a ten gallon bucket full and it only cost $12 dollars. My house is totally full of flowers and berries now. And zucchini. And goat dreams.