Anna Getty this week on Realgoodwords

I had the chance to talk with Anna Getty again this week. She's quite the woman! Anna Getty has played many roles over the course of her remarkable life: Actress. Fashion maven. Chef. Kundalini yoga teacher. Writer. Mother. Environmental Activist. And now green living and holistic lifestyle expert. She's also the sister of actor Balthazar Getty.

I'm hoping to try some of her recipes soon... until then, here's one for you to try!

INGREDIENTS

• 7 cups chicken stock
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium white onion, finely diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons grated ginger
• 1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
• 1 cup white wine
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• Salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste

PREPARATION
1. Bring the stock to a simmer in a medium pot and keep it at a simmer until the risotto is done.

2. Heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion and 1 tablespoon of the ginger and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 to 3 minutes, until the onion is translucent.

3. Add the rice and stir. Stir in the wine and simmer until the liquid is evaporated. Begin adding stock, one ladle full at a time, stirring constantly until the liquid is absorbed. Continue adding stock until the rice is cooked but still firm and creamy, 30 to 35 minutes.

4. Turn off the heat. Add the butter, the remaining 2 teaspoons of ginger, and the Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

Is Potica Bread? Check out this recipe!

Last week on Between You and Me and Realgoodwords we talked about bread with listeners.... you can see the bread recipes that were submitted here.

Kim Ode was our guest - she's a StarTribune reporter and wrote a book about her passion for bread called "Baking With the St. Paul Bread Club - Recipes, Tips & Stories". We talked about some of the family recipes that represent this place where we live. She suggested trying the recipe submitted by baker Pat Roberts who includes a recipe for Walnut Potica.* Kim says to NOT be put off by the length of this recipe, that it is totally worth it. She also suggests making it with someone else.

WALNUT POTICA from "Baking With the St. Paul Bread Club" by Kim Ode
makes 5-6 loaves

Dough
1 1/2 c lowfat milk
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c unsalted butter (1 stick), room temperature
1 package active dry yeast
1 tsp salt
2 large eggs, beaten
5 to 6 cups bread flour

Filling
1/2 c unsalted butter
1 1/2 c lowfat milk
2 c granulated sugar
1/2 scant cup honey
2 1/2 lbs English walnuts, about 10 cups
4 large eggs, beaten
1/2 c unsalted butter, melted

Heat milk to 120 degrees F. In the bowl of a mixer, combine sugar and butter. Add milk, and mix until combined. Add yeast, salt, and beaten eggs, and mix. With mixer running, add flour, 1 cup at a time, but not more than 5 cups. Dough should be soft to moderatley firm, not stiff. If kneading with a dough hook, knead about 15 minutes, or, if by hand, 30 minutes, adding flour sparingly. Dough should be elastic and have air bubbles no larger than 1/4 inch. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, turning to coat top, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled, about 2 to 3 hours. Be patient; this dough doesn't like to be rushed.

Using a food processor and working in small batches, grind nuts until uniformly fine, being careful not to grind to a paste. Heat milk in a Dutch oven or other large, heavy pan, preferably cast iron. Add butter until melted, and then add walnuts, sugar, and honey. Stir over medium heat until mixture boils. Don't let it scorch! Temper eggs by whisking in small amount of boiling mixture, and then add tempered eggs to nut mixture. Cook for 30 minutes over low heat, stirring frequently. Don't let it scorch! Set aside until dough has risen.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Take a large, clean piece of fabric - an old sheet or a tablecoth - and spread over a large table, making a smooth, unmoving surface. Flour generously. Take off any rings or bracelets. Place dough in middle of table, and using fingertips, pull dough from underneath, slowly stretching toward table edges. Take your time. If a hole appears, don't patch it. Keep pulling until the dough is as thin as onionskin. It will cover an area about five feet long by three feet wide.

Spread 1/2 c melted butter over dough. next, using a spatula, drop dollops of nut filling all over dough, and gently spread until entire surface is covered with a very thin coating. Cut off any thick edges of dough.

Remove tape, and holding on to cloth, lift one long edge, using it to roll dough inot a long cylinder. (Make sure it doesn't roll off the other side of the table.) Lay five or six greased 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-inch loaf pans along roll for a guide, and then with the edge of a teacup saucer (a saucer seals the ends better than a knife can), cut dough into pan-sized lengths. Place each piece seam side down in a pan. Prick each piece four times with a fork.

Bake on middle rack of oven for 15 minutes. Turn oven down to 325 degrees F, lightly cover loaves with aluminum foil, and bake for 40 to 50 minutes. When done, loaves should be medium to dark brown and loose when pan is lightly shaken. Do not underbake. Remove from pans, and cool on wire rack.

These freeze well if tightly wrapped in plastic wrap and aluminum foil.

*potica is pronounced po-teets-sah

A recipe from Michelle Maisto's memoir

Her new book is called "Gastronomy of Marriage - A Memoir of Food and Love". One of the things I like about it is that she treats food as culture. She uses food memories to tell stories. Like her grandma's famous walnut tarts. Not only does she tell us about her mother making these and 11 other kinds of cookies at Christmastime, she gives us the recipe for these delights.

WALNUT TARTS
crust:
8 oz cream cheese
1 stick butter
1 cup flour

filling:
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts or a combination of the two
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. For this recipe you'll need a mini muffin tin (two ideally). Put these in the refrigerator. Then blend the crust ingredients until smooth. If, like me, you tend to have warm hands, wash them under cold water. Drop teaspoonfuls of dough into each muffin cup and press the dough with your fingertips until each one is like a mini piecrust. Don't press them so thin that you can see the gray of the muffin tin; the thickness of a navel orange peel is about right.

Put the muffin tines back into the refrigerator while you make the filling, simply mixing the ingredients together. Spoon the filling into each little pie shell, leaving a little space before the top of the crust. Bake for 20-30 minutes, until the crust is light brown.

Tune in this week for my conversation with Michelle Maisto about her relationship and her relationship to food. If you miss it, check the archive!

Comfort Food - What's Yours?

I'm reading/getting ready for interviews on a number of books this week for upcoming editions of Realgoodwords. Most this week are fufilling my need for lighter, take-me-away kind of reads.

Kate Jacobs new book is called "Comfort Food"....it fits right in with my recent devouring of food-related novels. As I said before, I'm slow in coming to the hot new craze (which is probably OUT by now) of foodie-ism. Food Channel, celebrity chefs and our household favorite "Top Chef". Here's the story on "Comfort Food":

Comfort Food is about the power of food to bring people together and the joys of savoring every bite of life. Gus Simpson is a host and chef for the Cooking Channel who has been subject to rating wars and trends in television. As she turns fifty she is pushed to start a new live, reality tv show with a young Spanish cook she can't quite get used to. Also on the show are her daughters, a younger chef and her best friend. Her "martha stewart" veneer is shattered and she learns to be more real and connect with people in a not so perfect menu, comfort food kind of way.

What exactly is Comfort Food?

It's different for everybody I guess - whether it's a dish your grandma made - or a meal with friends or family that makes you feel better....For me, baking - whether cookies or cakes - is a comfort. The eating is too of course, but mostly, the preparation is what comforts me. I can't figure out what it is...

I like to bake for other people and I like to be in our kitchen, immersed in a project. Yesterday my mom and brother and nephew visited and we had a great time - having a couple of meals together and hanging out by the lake. Here's what I made for them:

HEIDI'S COMFORT POUNDCAKE
1/2 lb of butter (I used the wonderful Dahl's Dairy Butter)

1 1/2 c of sugar
3 eggs (local from our very own Jane Grimsbo Jewett)

2 cups flour

1/2 c. milk (Dahl's again)

1 tbsp vanilla

1 tsp baking powder

generous shakes of cinnamon and ground cloves (optional - I like a little spiciness to the cake)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (otherwise known as 375 in my oven). Butter and flour a Bundt pan and set aside. Spill flour for good luck.

Cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs. Add 1 cup of flour and beat well, beat very well. Mix in the milk and vanilla and spices. Combine the baking powder and last cup of flour then add to the batter. Beat well, beat very well.(caution: this cake dough provides excellent licking of the beaters).

Pour the batter into the pan. Bake about 45 minutes - I set the timer for 30 and checked it and then for another 15 minutes or so. You'll know when it is done when it doesn't shake like jello anymore and when the stick you poke in it comes out clean and batter free.

When the cake is done, turn it upside down on a plate to cool, leaving the bundt pan on top of the cake for about 20 minutes so it will hold its shape. (This is the part where I didn't do as great and was grateful I'd be serving family who will love me despite my imperfect cake. I can usually guarantee a great tasting cake, not a great looking cake.)

For frosting I beat fresh whipped cream with a couple of tablespoons of sugar and a little more cinnamon. Best served with a strong cup of coffee.

it's not really stealing, is it?

My family and I have been spending most of our time in hospitals lately - my dad is in ICU and is on a tough tough battle to get better. We keep him and each other company, laughing inappropriately, doing crossword puzzles and my new hobby: stealing magazines from hospital waiting rooms.

It's only the food magazines I'm interested in stealing- I mean really, that's not that terrible is it? What magazines keep you interested in waiting rooms?

At least I'm getting some new recipes....Here's one I'm hoping to try soon...I've never made anything with watercress before - have you?

Chickpea Salad (from Real Simple magazine)
2 tablespoons olive oil
object
1 pound carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch rounds
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 small red onion, thinly sliced (1 cup)
8 cups watercress, washed and dried

In a large sauté pan, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil. Add the carrots and cook over medium-high heat for 5 minutes. Reduce
heat to low, add 1/4 cup of the chicken stock, cover, and cook until the liquid is absorbed, 6 to 7 minutes. Add the chickpeas, cumin, and paprika and cook over medium heat, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the remaining stock and cook, uncovered, until the liquid is absorbed, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Add the lemon juice, onion, watercress, and the remaining olive oil and toss well.
Serve warm or at room temperature. Can be made up to 2 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Yield: Makes 8 servings

NUTRITION PER SERVINGCALORIES
114(0% from fat); FAT 4g (sat 1g); PROTEIN 4mg; CHOLESTEROL 0mg; CALCIUM 78mg;
SODIUM 182mg; FIBER 4g; CARBOHYDRATE 16g; IRON 1mg

I Blame Maggie Montgomery...

Once I was all about the words. Now, it's about the words, but also about the food.

I blame Maggie. And of course, indirectly, KAXE. What with the food and the kitchen and all that.

You know Maggie, our fearless leader in all foods local. Maggie's Wednesday Morning Show segments and daily meals in the KAXE kitchen have pushed me to not only cook more but eat (and enjoy) local foods like cheese and butter and milk and meat all from local producers. I even tried goat meat for crying out loud.

But lately I've moved into a whole new realm. I'm addicted to the food channel.... and I wrote a Lake Country Journal article about some local restaurants I enjoy. I have even started reading "foodie" books. Here's a couple I've been working on and will be featuring on upcoming episodes of Realgoodwords.

"Out of the Frying Pan: A Chef's Memoir of Hot Kitchens, Single Motherhood, and the Family Meal" by Gillian Clark. I really enjoyed reading this - and I had no idea how much stress was involved in being a chef....how much politics play into the job and how HUNGRY I could get, reading a book!!

Gillian includes many recipes in the book, like:

Carrot-Sage Soup

Note: The amounts below are halved from the original recipe, which yields
1/2 gallon of soup. If you're game for a large pot of soup, double the amounts.

Ingredients
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 1/2 pounds carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
1/4 cup white wine
3 cups water
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 bunches (about 1/8 pound) fresh sage, tied with kitchen twine
salt and pepper to taste
Method
In a large pot, sweat the onions in the oil. When onions are soft and
translucent, add carrots. Cook carrots and onions together, stirring constantly.
Do not let carrots brown, but cook them until they glisten -- about 5 minutes.
Add white wine and simmer until it is almost gone.
Add water and boil the
mixture until you can easily slide a sharp paring knife into the fattest piece
of carrot. Do not cook until carrots fall apart; they should be just tender.
Puree mixture in a blender on the highest speed.

Return soup to pot and add cream. Tie sage to pot handle so that the sage
leaves are immersed in the pot.

Let soup simmer on low heat for about 20 minutes. Season with salt and
pepper taste. Discard the sage.

Makes about 1 quart of soup.

I heard a great podcast with Michele Anna Jordan about the book she edited along with Susan Brady called "The World is A Kitchen - Cooking Your Way Through Culture Stories, Recipes, and Resources". I'm just getting into the book - which includes writing about food, recipes and ideas for culinary travel. I'll let you know what I think.

Animal Vegetable Miracle recipe

I've finished the audio book of Barbara Kingsolver's "Animal, Vegetable, Mirace: A Year of Food Life" for tomorrow's KAXE bookclub. This book really got me thinking about where my food comes from. As we've heard Maggie's Local Food segments on KAXE, I've been inspired to incorporate more local foods into my diet - it's not that much yet (especially this time of year) but I do get milk, butter, potatoes, cheese, wild rice, berries, honey, venison, beef and maple syrup locally.

How about you?

I checked out the recipe section of Animal Vegetable Miracle and found one I want to try this summer, assuming the blackberry crop will be better than last year's.

BLACKBERRY CRUMBLE
2-3 apples, chopped
2 pints blackberries
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 large handful of basil leaves, chopped
¼ cup honey – or more, depending on tartness of your berries

Preheat oven to 400. Combine the above in an oven-proof casserole dish, mix and set aside.

5 tbsp flour
3 heaping tbsp brown sugar
1 stick cold butter

Cut butter into flour and sugar, then rub with your fingers to make a chunky, crumbly mixture (not uniform). Sprinkle it over the top of the fruit, bake 30 minutes until golden and bubbly.

Hope you can make it to the bookclub meeting - it's at 4pm on Tuesday March 11th.

Check out Maggie's latest post on the Morning Show blog!