Difficulty

Having Some Technical Difficulty. Not the kind that can be blamed on Computers, either.

Its been hard to find the time to sit down and write about all the things that have been going on here. Cooking has been intermittent, and mostly includes plopping things into a slow cooker on Saturdays and eating it for the next few days, in some incarnation or another. Two separate frozen pizzas have been eaten this week alone. This is not something that usually happens in Kitchen 75. As the holidays approach, I am working on seeking out the personal time needed to decompress, to gather my thoughts, and to put them to (digital) paper here. Writing here is important to me, its not just a place for recipes, or a catalog of meals shared. With every entry, a piece of my own personal history is recorded, (for what its worth) and for everyone that reads along, thank you. I'm hoping to get on the horse, as they say (or in front of the stove, in actuality) and share with you the things that have been swirling around in my head. Coming soon are the recipes for freezer-friendly holiday cookies, an attempt at bread baked with yeast (I have to try it sometime!) and more of the usual, tasty, interesting fare. More...

On Vegetables.

I feel like I should put a section on this blog and call it 'confession time' because...I have some confessions, huh? While I try to make my way toward an eco friendly (Im not using the word green) lifestyle, where I support the local farmers and the local milk company, and all the rest...well, sometimes I sleep in on Saturday...and Sunday.

I don't make it to the farmers market, and then we eat vegetables from Hannaford. The man never notices the difference in the taste (or at least never says anything about it,) making it all the more easy to sleep in all weekend, and hit the grocery produce bins at 4pm on Sunday. (WITH EVERYONE ELSE AND THEIR BROTHER)but this my friends is going to change. At least until it snows.
There is a Winter Market opening up in Pawtucket! We live about 25 minutes from Rhody so Pawtucket is not far from where we live. I'm hoping that the novel idea (here in New England) of a winter market is enough to get me out of bed. We've been seriously tightening the apron strings as Christmas and Channukah close in, (and we made that super large purchase) so I'm also hoping I dont get so excited by squash and beets and shellfish that I blow a thousand million dollars at this market. I'll keep you posted. More...

French Food

Sunday

I'll have the weekend edition up a bit later tonight, but for now I want to let you know that I've registered to participate in French Fridays With Dorie. Amazon is sending Around My French Table my way as we speak. Stay tuned for more!

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Spice Spiked Red Pepper Salsa

Up on Food52, my Moroccan inspired red pepper salsa. Go on over and take a peak and if it sounds good to you, give it a 'like'. I'll be following the weekly challenges as best as I can, and posting the recipes over there, and here. I must recommend that this sauce is perfect for these meatballs. I can not tell you about these turkey meatballs enough. They are moist, and delicious, and spicy, and...I could go on.

But I shouldn't really.

Instead what I'll do is post the recipe for the sauce. That, and encourage you to go over to view the meatball recipe. I will say that I only brown these meatballs and then bake them for 10-ish minutes at 350 to finish them, mostly because I have a tendency to mis-manage my oil temperature, and so I burn things...that, and I'm afraid of undercooked poultry. I might even  let you know, as a sidenote, that this is especially delicious when you serve it on top of cooled couscous combined with radishes, cucumbers, and fennel. Dress the whole thing in sherry vinegar and olive oil, and plunk down two meatballs on top. Perfect.

Red Pepper 'Salsa'

1/2 cup kalamata olives, chopped

1 shallot, chopped

1/4 cup golden raisins or dried apricots, chopped fine

1 meyer lemon, zest and juice

1/2 cup cilantro finely diced

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

1/4 cup mint, finely chopped

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

3 red peppers, roasted, seeded, peeled, and chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

Combine the first seven ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside
Put 1 tablespoon of oil in a small skillet, add cumin and cinnamon, and heat until fragrant. This is the important part. In another bowl, dress roasted red peppers with the spiced oil, and toss gently to coat.
Add the remaining combined ingredients and fold to gently so as not to pulverize the softened peppers.
Dress with remaining oil, if needed





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Something to keep in mind...

(a peek into the kitchen behind kitchensevenfive)

If you cook, your family will eat dinner together.

If you cook, you will naturally have a more sustainable household.

If you cook, you'll set a lifelong example for your children.

If you cook, you'll understand what goes into food and will eat more healthily.

If you cook, you'll make your home an important place in your life.

If you cook, you'll make others happy.

If you cook, people will remember you.





Shameleesly riffed from the Food52 website. But its such a nice reminder, I wanted to have it here, too.

This weekend I'll be trial running some succotash, some cornbread, and a very unusual 'salsa'....but first, Im going home to have a cocktail with the man and pretend like this week of head colds, chest colds, and lack of sleep never happened. More...

Good News

The movement to limit 'Factory Farming' is gaining momentum. you can read more here.

What does this mean? It means cleaner, healthier existence for the animals that we eat. It means less antibiotics in your food, which is NEVER a bad thing. 

On the other side of the coin, it could mean a hike in meat and egg prices. I but cage free eggs already, and I only buy meat when its on sale, although we don't exclusively  buy organic meat...yet. It will take some finagling of our rather restrictive budget to make that a reality, but its in the works. The man will not survive without the occasional chicken dinner, so we will learn to work around any increase in price.

Its interesting to me that standards for all of the animals / animal products we consume could be judged not only by their quality, but by the quality of life that they cam from. More...