What's That Smell?!

Once, when asked, "which of the five senses would you keep if you had to live without the other four?" I remember choosing the sense of touch. I could imagine compensating for the others, but touch felt necessary. It was the one that would assure one's shape, one's relationship to space and things in it, provide the feedback as to where one stopped and started, tactile relatedness and, not least, provide the natural pleasures of being alive in a body. This "favorite" sense has led me to choose vocations that depended on digital dexterity and the ability to "know" through the fingertips: handcrafts, haircutting, massage and cooking.

But now, if asked, it seems I have been chosen, be it a gift or a curse, to be the standard bearer for the very specific, the exquisite realm of the olifactory. Linked to memories of a lifetime, I could probably write a whole field guide to the personal history of my stalwart sense of smell. This page is merely the prologue. I could have been one of those people who smell things for a living: a wine taster, perfumier, rose breeder, culinary herbalist, a truffle snuffling pig, a forensic bloodhound. For a human, the nose isn't necessarily the grandest sense since we tend to favor the rational mind. But emotions are intensely rooted in the same region of the brain that houses our sense of smell, our memories and our deepest sense of survival. For better or for worse.

There is such a dynamic tension between attraction and repulsion. A fine line between ripe and spoiled, fruit and rot, wine and vinegar, cheese and mold, compost and garbage, soil and filth. There are smells I will never forget and never tire of: coffee perking, bacon crisping, spaghetti sauce simmering, onions browning. In contrast, there's probably nothing more annoying than not to be able to identify a smell. My last boyfriend's house had an odor that disagreed with me and I'm sorry to admit, came between us. Such an intimate detail! I would have preferred any noxious smell to this! It smelled dangerous, toxic, like a chemical, like decay, maybe a special sore of mildew, dry rot, termites? It permeated everything. It infiltrated us.

The nose knows? If something is safe to eat, if something will taste good, be nourishing, etc. As we might say one can have an "inner sense" about things, or see things in "the mind's eye", we might also have an "inner nose"! The famous writing cook, M.F.K. Fisher calls it her mind's palate - her way of imagining what something will taste like or rememberences of tastes from the past. I know exactly what this is! I can taste things in my mind - ingredient by ingredient or all together in some dish. The inner nose leads in some way to a deeper knowing/seeing/tasting. Cassandra in her madness, was said to have been able to smell both "past and future blood" The olifactory imagination could stem purely from biology or serve simply as a means to eat the right thing, but there is a passing through into madness with each of the senses. This is the question that leads me everywhere, that proceeds me.

It's Thursday so I will hereby wish you a Very Happy Thursday. It's also going to be my Blog Day if I can manage to post a little something on a regular basis. The original idea here was to post recipes for people to try, comment on, add to, trade around, etc. This may or may not be practical. There are a few directions this might take:

1. Reviews of books I'm reading that pertain to: food, nutrition, eating events, regional cooking, etc. Right now I'm delving into M.F.K. Fisher who is providing no end of lore, hilarity and

delight around a life in the kitchen.

2. Reports from the field: what's at the farmer's market, what I'm making for people, what I'm

learning from the whole spectrum of the art and science of cookery, growing food, creating

celebrations with people, etc. Most recently I attended the Fancy Food Show in San Francisco and talked to people from all over the world about their native foods and discovered a common sense of longing amongst attendees to preserve the kitchens, flavors and traditions of their elders and ancestors. Pretty tasty conversations!

3. Sketches from my new writing project that entail a personal history of learning to cook, the places I've lived, the people who inspired me, my particular sensory take on the subject, the mental, physical and emotional palate and how it ties in to memory and identity. I may share in a week or two a piece I'm writing about the sense of SMELL and where it has taken me. Look for it in the weeks to come.

I'll leave you with that teaser and mention that one job I'm looking forward to in the months to come is leading a cooking class for 10-12 year old girls at a special day long event held at the fabulous Stillheart Institute. Last year I made all the food and gave a short talk on improving food choices and answered lots of questions . This year we'll give them the hands on opportunity to make their own meals!

In light of self-care and self-love, do something nurturing for yourself this week......

First posting of 2012! I'm not even going to comment on the fact that my last post was a year ago. Turns out I'm more of a hands-on, face-to-face type, so posting gets de-prioritized when I'm working in the real world. But I want to get started again and I thought I'd start by re-capping some of the highlights of last year in pictures. I'll catch up with recipes as we go........

My birthday at Chez Panisse. Candle in a date. Perfection.

Yes, they come in all these colors....

Chevre, caramelized onions, mushroom chip crostini.

Master melon peeler on Wilshire Blvd.

Roasted beet and tahini hummus

Raw offerings: power truffles and sunflower caraway bread

Fresh herb/ricotta canapes for a spring dinner

Lunch at Juliano's Raw Planet - Santa Monica

20 foot waves on Monterey Bay - driving the kid back to L.A.

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO EAT THIS YEAR?

Midwinter Beauty and Bounty

Arugula, Roasted Beet and Pomegranate

Asian Cabbage Slaw on Cucumber

Herbed Nut Cheese, Satsumas in Endive Spears

Edamame Pureé on Watermelon Radish

From my "Backyard" - Sorich Ranch After the Rain

Wild Persimmon - Santa Cruz Farmer's Market (w/ poinsettia)

The appetizers were made for an event held at Stillheart Institute up on Skyline above Woodside, CA. Be sure to visit their beautiful website at Stillheart Institute: Upcoming Events and check out their resort and programs. I'll be catering again on March 6th, a free community event in Celebration of Int'l. Women's Day featuring Tuck and Patty.

I think my favorite dish from the evening was the Asian Cabbage Slaw, so I'll share the recipe with you here. Be sure to make this all winter long for a refreshing, detoxifying, fiber and anti-oxidant-rich super salad!

Asian Cabbage Slaw w/ Orange Poppy Seed Dressing

1/2 head green cabbage, cored and grated

1/2 head savoy cabbage, cored and grated

1/2 head red cabbage, cored and grated

1 bunch dino kale, destemmed and sliced fine

pinch sea salt

2 large carrots, grated

4 scallions, trimmed and sliced on diagonal very thin

1 green apple, cored and grated

4 stalks celery, trimmed and sliced diagonally, very thin

1/2" piece of fresh ginger, microplaned

Place cabbages and kale in large bowl, sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt and massage with hands for several minutes until the vegetables get a little limp. Add the rest of the grated ingredients. Add dressing and toss thoroughly and serve - or allow to marinate for a while, then add a little more dressing and serve.

Dressing

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice

1/4 cup unseasoned brown rice vinegar

3 T. fresh lime juice

3 T. tamari

1 T. maple syrup

1 T. light miso

1 tsp. dijon mustard

1/4 tsp. onion powder

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

pinch sea salt

grind of black pepper

Mix all ingredients in large bowl and whisk until well blended. Taste and adjust flavors. Pour over salad and toss thoroughly. Serve immediately or allow to marinate in refrigerator for 1 hour or more. Toss again and serve.

This can be a side salad, a filling for a wrap or served on a slice of cucumber for an appetizer.

Dinner in Jenner

Look where I get to work!

This past weekend I catered a dinner for a mosaic retreat in Jenner, California. This was the view from the deck off the kitchen where I was putting the dinner together.

You can find out more about the workshops by going to jennermosaicworkshop.com

One of the courses was a traditional Roasted Butternut Squash Soup.

For dessert , a delightful fresh berry Clafoutis!

...and Gingerbread

BACK TO OUR ROOTS

Growing up, I heard my German grandmother singing the praises of an odd vegetable she called CELERIAC, or Celery Root. I would love to know how she used it then, probably grated in salad or roasted with other root vegetables. Turns out, it's the gnarled, starchy, bulbous root of the celery plant, loaded with a lot of the same minerals and phytonutrients that other root vegetables such as carrots, parsnips and turnips boast. Just as a lot of the colorful fruits and vegetables are great sources of anti-oxidants that help fight degenerative diseases, even the WHITE VEGETABLES provide decent amounts

of ANTHOXANTHINS which may help lower cholesterol and blood pressure as well as fight some types of tumors. In this month's recipe, CREAMY CELERY ROOT SOUP, I'm including a few other white vegetables - some in the ALLIUM(onion) FAMILY and some in the CRUCIFEROUS (cabbage)FAMILY, both of which contain sulphur compounds (think strong smells!) which enhance the immune system, detoxify carcinogen exposure, repair DNA and protect against cancer.

I've grown to love celery root for its bright fresh taste in a raw salad and for its earthy, almost sweet flavor when roasted or slow cooked in a soup. Think of this recipe as a multi-dimensional version of a potato/leek type soup - still richly satisfying on chilly Fall days and bringing even more deeply stored nutrients to the table.

CREAMY CELERY ROOT SOUP makes 8 servings

2 T. butter or coconut oil

1 large white onion, minced fine

2 cloves garlic, minced fine

2 stalks celery, diced fine (save any celery leaves to chop for garnish)

2 parsnips, peeled, diced

2 small white turnips, diced

2 medium white potatoes, peeled, diced

1/4 cauliflower, broken into small florets

1/2" ginger root, peeled and minced

1 large celery root, cleaned, peeled and diced

1 large honey crisp apple, peeled, cored and chopped

1/4 tsp. celery seeds

1 tsp. sea salt

1/8 tsp. white pepper

water or stock to cover vegetables (about 10 cups)

a few drops of lemon juice

a few drops olive oil

In a large soup pot, melt butter or oil over medium heat. Add onions and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté for another few minutes. Be careful not to let garlic get brown. Add celery and sauté for 5 minutes or so until getting soft and slowly releasing liquid. Add parsnip, turnip, potato, cauliflower, celery root and apple. Toss in pot until coated with juices, stirring for a few minutes. Add celery seeds, a little salt and a little pepper and sauté for a few more minutes. This will glaze and caramelize the vegetables to bring out their flavors before adding the stock.

Add enough water or stock to cover vegetables. Bring to a low boil. As soon as boil is reached, reduce soup to lowest simmer. Simmer until root veggies are soft enough to mash with a fork.

Add more stock if necessary. Check salt.

Remove pot from heat. Using an immersion blender, begin to purée the soup. Continue to purée until uniformly smooth. Check for seasonings. Use a few drops of lemon juice, olive oil, salt and/or pepper to enhance/adjust flavors. Ladle into soup bowls and garnish with a drizzle of good olive oil and chopped celery leaves.

I and my colleagues at Bauman College featured this recipe at a recent event in Berkeley SPICE OF LIFE. On stage with some very fun guys of KITCHEN ON FIRE pictured here in a few photos we managed to take even though it was raining and chefs were everywhere! I am using an immersion blender in the pot, but they had a bicycle powered blender set up which made the whole demo, well, Fellini-esque!. My kind of day. The few hardcore attendees LOVED the soup and were happy to learn an EASY, EVERYDAY use for CELERIAC. Enjoy!

GAZPACHO or PARFAIT?

The theme for this week's farmer's market demo was BERRIES. With a concentration on STRAWBERRIES, since that's what's plentifully available right now. There were some amazing little baskets of RASPBERRIES a few weeks ago from Mt. Barnabe Farms (my first Marin CSA in Lagunitas). I used them in June's demo, but they have a short season. BLUEBERRIES don't seem to be local just yet, so I picked these and a few BLACKBERRIES up from Whole Foods, just for a garnish.

The recipes were all bright and colorful and loaded with flavor: A spinach salad with a strawberry balsamic vinaigrette, a strawberry gazpacho and a berry cream and cacao pudding parfait. My demo partner, Jessica, wanted to bring some chia seeds into the mix so we put some in the chocolate pudding which added a tapioca texture and some much appreciated EFA's.

GAZPACHO has to be one of the most refreshing dishes I look forward to making, serving and slurping down each summer. Traditionally made with cucumbers, bell peppers, tomatoes, and onions, this recipe introduces another juicy player - strawberries! They add a natural sweet flavor, that compliments beautifully the crunch and tang of the vegetables. Other ingredients that might be fun to experiment with: watermelon, honeydew, kiwi, papaya, lemon cucumber, jicama, avocado. I like a chunky version of gazpacho, but some like to blend it and make it more 'drinkable'. Play with blending half and half. Blend the red ingredients and chop the green so they don't blend and make brown.

STRAWBERRY GAZPACHO RECIPE

2# strawberries, hulled and lightly crushed

1/2 C. red onion, chopped

1/2 C. red bell pepper, chopped

1 English cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 T. fresh tarragon leaves

1/4 C. balsamic vinegar

1/2 C. olive oil

splash of red wine

a few drops of lemon juice

coarse salt

fresh ground black pepper

Crush all the above ingredients together with the back of a large spoon in a large bowl. Cover and transfer to refrigerator to chill and allow flavors to meld. When ready to serve, you can blend some or all of the soup and divide between bowls or large mugs. Each serving can be garnished with strawberry slices, minced chives, finely minced red bell pepper, diced avocado and or a drizzle of olive oil.

Serves 6.

Here is a picture of the sample PARFAIT we built at the market. Ideally, each layer will be poured and set up for a minute or two so you can see all the layers you're serving. But we were in the sun and had a time frame, so the layers kind or oozed together. But, no worries, it tasted divine!! I will feature the recipe for all the layers in an upcoming post, so stay tuned. Meanwhile, know that there's a CHOCOLATElayer, a creamy BERRY layer, a sweetened NUT CREME layer, all interlaced with whole or sliced berries, your favorite granola and/or sweetened cacao nibs. Sweet, tart, creamy, chocolatey, crunchy, berry-y, you decide what to put where.

The is dairy free dessert that satisfies any sweet tooth, a healthy dollop of which could be part of breakfast or a cooling snack.

Check in next week when the secret ingredients will be revealed!

So, I knew they'd LOVE the pudding, but guess what?

They asked for seconds of the GAZPACHO.

Gotta love the FARMER'S MARKET!