Sip Quips

Recently my husband has had to work late a few evenings, leaving me on my own for dinner. Rather than resorting to fast food, or ‘college food’ (you know….ramen, frozen pizza, mac and cheese…the foods that are easy, mindless, and generally soulless as well), I’ve been trying to make the same types of meals I would for my husband and I, when it’s just me.

I figure it is a good habit to get into now that I’m a parent, because I don’t remember my mom cooking up MSG laden ramen whenever my dad was out of town or had to work late. Parents do things like make a well-balanced, nutritious meal every night of the week. I should figure out all of these good parent habits now before my little girl is old enough to realize that mommy would normally just indulge her bizarre food cravings (American cheese, pickles, a few slices of salami, and a half-pint of ice cream) when daddy works late.

Last night I made myself a grown-up meal of lamb chops, lemon orzo salad, and summer squash hash. Granted, it was a little bit of a cheat because the orzo salad was leftover, so all I really had to do was grill a couple of lamb chops and sauté some grated summer squash in olive oil with garlic. But, as a new mom, I think I’m entitled to take a shortcut to get dinner on the table. Especially when I’m cooking with only one hand since my wee one is a burgeoning gourmand, and loves to watch me cook. 

Dinner was so quick and easy to get on the table, I wondered why lamb chops aren’t on the menus of more busy American families. I know, I know, picturing a big-eyed, wobbly-legged lamb on your dinner table can be hard to swallow (pun shamelessly intended), but lamb packs so much flavor into those quick cooking little chops. With fifteen minutes of total cooking time I had a delicious meal to rival many a restaurant menu. Nothing more than salt, pepper, garlic powder and a smoking hot grill pan, pour a glass of Pinot Noir rosé, and dinner is served. So very quick, so very easy, so very tasty. 

For those of you not hooked on Iron Chef America, local Bay Area Chef David Kinch, of the esteemed Manresa in Los Gatos wiped the floor with Bobby Flay on the last battle aired from kitchen stadium – with a secret ingredient of cabbage no less! It was a walk down memory lane for me to see Chef Kinch in the kitchen alongside James, as I was formerly the wine director at Manresa. I cannot think of another chef I would rather see cream Bobby Flay. It’s about time Flay’s super sized ego got put in check!

It’s no surprise that Kinch was so successful with an ingredient like cabbage – after all he is passionate enough about ingredients to forge a relationship with a local grower Cynthia Sandberg, of Love Apple Farm, to get the best veggies possible in the kitchen. He found a way to honor the typically tough to deal with cabbage, and created beautiful food that must have tasted as amazing, since he received 28 out of a possible 30 points!

I do think he was robbed on the points for presentation – come on, his food was more than 1 point prettier than Flay’s. A couple of Flay’s dishes were only slightly more elegant than your standard Outback presentation. Kinch’s meal was so quintessentially Kinch that I half expected to see the Arpege Egg to start the tasting.

It is due time for Chef Kinch to receive recognition for his food. My congratulations come from being a devoted foodie – not a former employee. I couldn’t be happier for you Chef!

It seems that the term ‘foodie’ has slipped out of the vernacular of those of us who reserve our entertainment budget for restaurants, daydream about dinner at El Bulli, and worship for Julia Child for singlehandedly converting the pedestrian palates of 1960s America, and into the ubiquitous slang of the masses. Before the meaning changes too much with societal acceptance (ie geek & nerd in the 90s) let’s get it on the table – what is a foodie? 

As is often the case – it is probably easier to describe what a foodie is not. A foodie is not pretentious. A foodie doesn’t equate price directly with quality. Foodies do not hold any one class of food in reproach. A foodie cannot subsist on foie gras alone.

A foodie is someone with an irrational fascination  with food. A foodie is equally willing to try a roach coach as a four Michelin star restaurant in search of great food. A foodie begins to salivate at the mention of her favorite deli. A foodie has a favorite deli. Foodies often subscribe to food related publications, listen to food related radio shows or podcasts, and research restaurant reviews before traveling anywhere. Perhaps irrational fascination is too mild – it may well be an unholy obsession. 

I currently subscribe to four, no wait, five food publications. Even though I’ve had some good ones, I am still in search of the best hot dog around. Most trips I take are completely centered around the food I plan to eat while there. Actually there are some hypothetical trips that are structured entirely around one restaurant visit – Arpege, El Bulli, Le Bernadin – regardless of what else I do that trip, if I eat that one meal I’ll be happy. 

Yet, at the same time my death row meal includes no escargot, påté, or terrines. I’m still in the air on this one - but right know the frontrunners are the Bun thit nuong at the Vietnamese restaurant I’ve gone to since childhood, my mom’s spicy mac n’ cheese, and a perfect roast chicken for my last supper. Food aspires to be innovative and exciting, but food should always be comfortable and satisfying. Whether it’s the one we came from or the one we’re trying to get to, food is home.

Mindfulness is a mental state, characterized by focused awareness of one’s thoughts, actions or motivations (so that’s what my minor in religious studies is good for). Now, I’m not turning this into a Buddhist blog, and I fully think that pop culture  overuses the term mindfulness, but that won’t stop me from being one more person to exploit a noble religious ideal for my own purpose.

People let themselves become so overwhelmed by their day to day lives that many stop being present in their daily activities. Mealtime is often the first casualty, forfeiting a sit down dinner for the convenience of a fast one. It seems to me that amid the chaos of a hectic schedule taking time for a simple meal and a nice glass of wine would do more to help than it ever could hurt.

If you take a few minutes and really focus your attention on your meal, meal prep, and wine pairing, suddenly the worries of the day fade away, and you become aware of the simple pleasure of dinner. Once you are aware at the dinner table, you become more aware of what you are tasting. Once you are aware of what you are tasting you become a better taster. Once you become a better taster you enjoy your dinner more. Once you enjoy your dinner more you relax more during the meal. See where I am going with this?

Being aware during meals can be a form of stress relief in itself. Hmm… meditation and deep breathing or chanterelle mushrooms and PInot Noir? It’s an easy choice for me. I’ll meditate at the dinner table every night of the week.

Pornography: creative activity (writing or pictures or films etc.) of no literary or artistic value other than to stimulate sexual desire. Food Porn, according to wikipedia, is a sarcastic term variously applied to a spectacular visual presentation of cooking or eating in advertisements, infomercials, cooking shows or other visual media, foods boasting a high fat and calorie content, exotic dishes that arouse a desire to eat, or the glorification of food as a substitute for sex. 

If you happened to see the Anthony Bourdain Food Porn special last night you may question the sarcasm of the term. Damn – that was hot! And honestly how often do you here the comment, ‘ooh…that is better than sex,’ at the dinner table? It’s really not a stretch to tie up sensual side of food with the sensual nature of, well, sex. It also makes sense that the puritanical sensibility of American society would be scandalized by the immense pleasure that people derive from food.  

Granted Tony Bourdain does cross the line a bit, but honestly would we love him if he didn’t? The cheesy 70s porn was a bit much, but it did prove the point. The scandalous, sexy side of food is obviously still something we feel a little dirty about, otherwise the segment wouldn’t have worked.

Yes, its true that food is sexy but that’s no reason to feel dirty about it. Enjoy the pleasures that food has to offer, hell even lick the spoon. It’s good isn’t it? Good and oh so bad.

And yes, it is an art. Some come by it easily, and for others it is a real challenge. We all have a friend, or a relative who eats dinner in 7.5 minutes flat. Typically they also approach cooking with the enthusiasm usually reserved for term papers on Pride and Prejudice (coming from one who spent an entire college semester writing papers on Ms. Austen’s fine work, believe me I know how little enthusiasm this is).

For some of these folks the change of scenery to a nice restaurant allows them to relax and enjoy the meals. Usually this is the same subset that has an irrational fear of microplanes and thinks that a great amount of closet space is foregone in favor of in kitchen cabinets. They may not be able to enjoy the art of dining at home, but they get it. 

But there are those that never let themselves take time to enjoy a meal. Mind you, there is nothing wrong with these folks. There is no ordinance that requires that you savor your meals. Heck, I probably spend too much time contemplating herbs, time that could be put to much better use, like saving the world.

But superhero powers aside, I must say that I feel a bit sad for those that don’t get a bit weak in the knees when someone says bacon (or truffle, insert your own culinary Achilles heel here). There can be so much pleasure derived from good food, good wine, and good company. There is little more primal than the need to break bread, and well, the survival of the human race depends on those more primal needs (and that’s another blog). If we have to spend all of this time cooking and eating every day I think we should derive as much pleasure out of it as possible. 

I’ve begun to approach meals at home much the same as dining out. Perhaps it is because I love to cook, or perhaps it is because we live a half an hour drive from the nearest decent restaurant, but I have begun to take a more thoughtful approach to our meals at home. I’ve found that not only does it give my husband and me a chance to reconnect, it makes it easier for us to turn off the tv during dinner and actually connect with each other. Now, what to make for dinner tonight?

It is sad how joyless dinner has become to most of the populace. Folks approach preparing and sitting down to  family meals as work. Add to that the growing waistline and a trend seems to emerge – the less thought you put into your food, the more food you put into your mouth. Yet, if the food you eat is so deeply satisfying that you feel somehow more whole you slow down and derive satisfaction from your meal. Tell me what is better after trudging through a never-ending week of nondescript grey days than the simple comfort found in a bowl of tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. Couldn’t think of anything could you?

Satisfaction doesn’t only come from long, slow cooked homey meals. Little is more delightful than a beautiful caprese salad in the peak of tomato season. Counting the time that it take you to transfer the sliced tomato and mozzarella to a plate, you might be talking about all of five minutes of prep time, but those five minutes put together something so perfect that you delight in your meal and it satisfies not only your hunger but also your spirit. Mmm… tomato season is just around the corner. Until then I’ll make do with turnip and carrot mash, roasted beets with goat cheese, and who could forget brussels sprouts. Oh how I love brussels sprouts, especially browned in bacon drippings. Just thinking about all of this is giving me a little sense of satisfaction.