Herbed Butternut Squash Pizza with a side of Jane Bowles

What I especially love in food and drink, that which is complex and pleasurable on many levels, is also what draws me to the writing of Jane Bowles—her style might as well be the umami of the literary world. Reading Two Serious Ladies would be an archaeological dig to a psychoanalyst. What I loved about this novel was the sense of fullness one has in following the strange maneuvers of her characters—unpredictable, weighty moves—one has the sense there is moral churning, but without the usual indigestion from an obviously righteous-leaning text. What is it lurking under the surface here? I could never quite trace the shape of it, and the search drove me mad and wild for two hundred pages, and then I realized that must be that same lure that drove the two serious lady protagonists onto ships, leaving ports time and again, sailing past relationships never fully realized, and looking up at stars without a sextant.

“In order to go ahead, you must leave things behind, which most people are unwilling to do. Your first pain, you carry it around with you like a lodestone in your breast because all tenderness will come from there. You must carry it with you through your whole life but you must not circle around it. You must give up the search for those symbols which only serve to hide its face from you….For God’s sake, a ship leaving port is still a wonderful thing to see.” -Jane Bowles

I read most of this novel from my call room when things were dull and then from this cozy perch on the couch next to one very Serious Lady indeed. That makes Two Serious Ladies. The autumn is a delicious time in the kitchen. I’m hoarding gourds as they dump into the grocery stores from the north, though they don’t last as long here in the tropics as they did in the breakfast nook in Minnesota. We’ve got good eggplants around town, but the squash blossoms wither in the heat.

Herbed Butternut Squash Pizza

Adapted from Penzeys

dough for pizza crust (I have many recipes you can search for pizza dough if you want to make your own)

2 Cups 3/4-inch cubes butternut squash or pumpkin

4 tsp. olive oil, divided

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 TB. Tuscan Sunset or Frozen Pizza Seasoning

2 TB. basil pesto

4 oz. goat cheese

1/4 medium red onion, halved and very thinly sliced in half rounds

1/2 Cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1 Cup young chard, cut into very fine strips

1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes, optional

Preheat oven to 400°. In a 1-gallon zip-top bag, combine the squash, half of the olive oil, salt, pepper and the Tuscan Sunset or other Pizza Seasoning. Toss to coat. Spread in an even layer on a baking sheet and bake at 400° until soft and lightly browned, about 30 minutes, stirring halfway through.

Be careful not to break up the cubes. Remove from the oven and set aside. Increase the oven temperature to 500°. Sprinkle a clean surface with flour. Pat out your pizza dough to make a nice round. Brush the rest of the olive oil onto your cooking pan (you can also cook the pizza right on the oven rack, though things will fall off sometimes). Spread the pesto in a thin layer over the crust. Top with the squash, goat cheese, onion, mozzarella, chard, remaining salt and pepper and crushed red pepper flakes if using). Bake at 500° until crispy and the cheese melts, 10-12 minutes. Serve immediately.

Chicken Parmigiana with Sneakers

Now that day has exhausted me I give myself over, a tired child to the night, and to my old friends the stars — my watchful guardians, quiet and mild.

-Hermann Hesse

I read this verse last night while enjoying several idle hours on night float call. Usually I have the happy curse of running around like this chicken

—scuffing my Nikes, near headless, running between the ED the wards floors—but last night, quiet, blissful night, I got paid to sleep a few hours. The stars, the pager, both quiet and mild.

This morning, now home, I find my chickens padding about barefoot among the vines and brush, no running shorts, no water bottles, no Nikes

—it’s just a Saturday morning, all is chill, all is light. I’ll keep my scrubs on.

Chicken Parmigiana with Sneakers

Adapted from Penzeys Spices

6 split, boneless chicken breasts, pounded flat for even thickness
1 24-28-oz. jar of your favorite marinara sauce with 1-2 tsp. Tuscan Sunset seasoning
1/4-1/3 Cup olive oil
1 Cup flour
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
2 eggs
1/2 Cup milk
2 Cups Italian-style bread crumbs
6 slices Muenster cheese
1/4 Cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°. Coat the bottom of a 9×13-inch glass baking dish with 2/3 of the marinara sauce. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. In a wide, shallow bowl (pie plates work well), combine the flour, salt and pepper. In a second wide, shallow bowl, beat the eggs with the milk. In a third wide, shallow bowl, combine the bread crumbs and seasoning (ooh ooh Tuscan Sunset!) of choice.

Dip each chicken breast in the flour mix, then in the egg mix and finally in the bread crumbs, making sure to coat thoroughly. Repeat until all of the chicken is coated.

Place in the hot skillet 2-3 at a time and brown the chicken on each side, 2-3 minutes per side.

Place in the baking dish. While still hot, cover each breast with a slice of cheese. Top each breast with a spoonful or two of the reserved marinara. Sprinkle with the grated cheese. Bake at 350° for about 40-45 minutes, until the chicken is cooked, the sauce is bubbly and the cheese is melty/browned.

Trout with Olive and Sundried Tomato Tapenade and Love, Love, Love

So there is this thing called unconditional love. Like when your dog runs wild around a muddy yard and rubs her face in the chickens’ poop and promptly returns to smear the side of your new white and black striped Beetlejuice Hammer pants with mudpoop du jour. And then you wipe the poop off her face, your pants, sit by her side, and take this photo. Best of friends; poop already forgotten. Unconditional love, I think, is that. How many opportunities we have to practice this in this world, oh this world.

As for what to eat next, how about tapenade? Hmm, that’s strange. I always thought the word was Tamponade, but that’s because I’m a doctor. It’s Tapenade, like someone tap dancing on your taste buds. Enjoy this little snack with Fantasy Football. And large, feckless bulldogs.

Trout with Olive and Sundried Tomato Tapenade

Adapted from Penzeys Spices

2 rainbow trout fillets (or one giant one from Costco, hehe)

1 tsp. lemon pepper seasoning

Tapenade:

2 TB. sundried tomatoes in oil

2 tsp. capers

1/2 Cup fresh basil

1/3 cup kalamata olives

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1 tsp. lemon juice

1/4-1/2 tsp. salt, to taste

1/4-1/2 tsp. pepper, to taste

1-3 TB. olive oil

For the tapenade, combine the sundried tomatoes, capers, basil, olives, garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a blender. Pulse. Add a bit of oil as you go until the tapenade is your desired consistency. Let stand for 15 minutes or so.

Preheat the oven to 400° and brush the trout on both sides with olive oil. Place on a baking sheet and bake at 400° for 12-15 minutes.

To serve, spread a thin layer of tapenade over the fish and serve. You will probably have leftover tapenade. It’s great with French bread or crackers

Mini Cheese Balls

I see that football is back on television. That is basically the only coherent sentence I can muster on this, the eve of my last day before a three day weekend. I see that football is back on television. I give you cheese balls. And a Happy Labor Day to all, and to all, a good night.

Mini Cheese Balls

Adapted from a Philadelphia Cream Cheese Ad

12 oz cream cheese

2 TB toasted sesame seeds

1 tsp poppy seeds

5 cloves garlic, minced

2 TB finely chopped parsley

2 tsp chopped thyme

1 tsp chopped rosemary

¼ cup chopped dried cranberries

2 TB chopped pecans

Cut cream cheese into 6 pieces; roll each into a ball.

Combine sesame seed, poppy seed and half the garlic in small bowl. Mix herbs and remaining garlic in separate small bowl. Combine cranberries and nuts in third bowl.

Roll 2 cheese balls in sesame seed mixture, 2 cheese balls in herb mixture and remaining cheese balls in nut mixture.

In other news, I figured out how to do a triple fancy braid. My on-call hair do borderlines on ballroom.

Spiral-cut Brats with Fancy Relish

Spiral-cut Brats with Fancy Relish

Genius, I should have been doing this for years.

Take your hot dog or brat, stick a long skewer through,

cut around in a spiral with a knife,

then grill (or broil in the oven if it is raining like it was for me today), and voila, your hot dog extends surface area with nice little relish pockets to tuck more flavor into that hot dog and bun! Keep this in mind for Labor Day.

Apricot Mostarda

Adapted from Food and Wine

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup water

1 cup diced dried apricots (6 ounces)

2 tablespoons sugar

1 shallot, minced

1 garlic clove, minced

2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Salt

In a medium saucepan, combine the vinegar, water, apricots, sugar, shallot and garlic and bring to a boil. Simmer over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until the apricots are soft and coated in a light syrup, 7 to 10 minutes. Stir in both mustards and season with salt. Let cool completely. Stir in tablespoons of water before serving if the mostarda is too thick.

Pickled Pepper Slaw

Adapted from Food and Wine

1 cup sliced mixed green pickled peppers

1/2 cup shredded romaine lettuce

1/4 cup chopped parsley (1 TB if you use jar spice)

1/4 cup chopped dill (1 TB jar spice if you don’t have fresh)

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

In a medium bowl, toss all of the ingredients and season with salt and pepper. Serve.

9-Spice Grilled Chicken Wings with a New Spice Rack

You can never have too many spices. But the wrong spice rack might make it seem like you do. I had that tiered spice rack, but I still couldn’t read the labels and always had to play an annoying tetris game each time I needed a spice. KP and I were walking through a used furniture store, when I saw this window sill and had a lovely thought:

Added on a few wooden accents and repainted the window, KP extended each window sill back to the wall for an added ledge, and voila!

Now to put these spices to use, I made grilled chicken with 9 spices. This is better than any grilled chicken I’ve ever had. And tastes great in the taco recipe below this!

Grilled Chicken Wings with 9-Spice Dry Rub

Adapted from Food and Wine

BRINED WINGS

1/2 cup kosher salt

3 tablespoons light brown sugar

2 garlic cloves

1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

1 bay leaf

3 pounds chicken wings, tips discarded and wings split

DRY RUB

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup sweet paprika

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon granulated onion

3/4 tablespoon black pepper

1/2 tablespoon dry sage

1/2 tablespoon dry mustard

1/2 tablespoon ground ginger

1/2 tablespoon cayenne

Canola oil, for brushing

Lime wedges, for serving

BRINE THE WINGS In a large saucepan, combine the salt, sugar, garlic, peppercorns and bay leaf with 2 quarts of water and bring to a boil. Cook over moderate heat, stirring, until the sugar and salt dissolve, about 3 minutes. Let cool to room temperature.

In a large bowl, pour the brine over the chicken wings. Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours.

MEANWHILE MAKE THE RUB In a bowl, mix all of the ingredients except the oil and lime.

Light a grill and oil the grate. Drain the wings and pat dry with paper towels. In a large bowl, toss the wings with 1/3 cup of the dry rub. Grill over moderate heat, turning, until nicely charred and cooked through, about 15 minutes. Serve hot with lime wedges.

Corn Crema Tacos

Adapted from Food and Wine

3 ears of corn, shucked

1 pound mixed haricots verts, green beans and yellow wax beans, halved lengthwise

1 cup Greek yogurt

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 ounces creamy feta cheese

3 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Eight 6-inch flour or corn tortillas

Slices of that yummy 9-spice grilled chicken above

Avocado wedges, sliced radishes and cilantro sprigs, for garnish

Working in a large bowl, cut the corn kernels off of the cobs. Add the beans and toss.

Using the back of a knife, scrape all of the corn milk from the cobs into a medium bowl. Add the yogurt, olive oil, cheese, chopped cilantro and cumin, season with salt and pepper and mix the corn crema until smooth. Add all but 1/2 cup of the corn crema to the corn and beans, season with salt and pepper and toss to coat.

Spoon the corn and beans onto the tortillas and top with avocado, radishes and cilantro sprigs. Fold in half and serve with the remaining corn crema.

Salted Caramel Squares as a Soul Trampoline

And a happy weekend to all. Nothing like eating French toast for breakfast at near noon while watching Men’s Trampoline Olympic finals. I’m feeling a strong sense of recognition in regards to these men who leap and bound on a giant elastic sheet because this is my first day off in two weeks (with a couple 30 hour calls in the rearview window); my soul is doing high-flying aerials while my legs haven’t moved out of their pajama pants from their propped perch on the ottoman. I am hoping to win a Gold Medal today in the Not Moving and Personal Restoration category. I will only break the pose for the sake of a chocolate-covered caramel square.

Salted Caramel Squares

Adapted from Penzeys

Base:
1 Cup self-rising flour
1/2 Cup brown sugar
1 Cup oatmeal
1/2 Cup (1 stick) butter, melted
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
pinch salt

Caramel:
1 14-oz. can sweetened
condensed milk
2 TB. honey
1 TB. butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Chocolate:
16 oz. dark chocolate
1 tsp. butter
1-2 tsp. sea salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 360°. In a large bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, oats, butter, cinnamon (if using) and salt. Mix well on low. Press onto an ungreased rectangular baking sheet (about 10×14; a 9×13 pan would also work), about 1/4-inch thick. Bake at 360° for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool a bit.

For the caramel, combine the milk, golden syrup and butter in a small heavy saucepan. Heat over medium, stirring constantly, until big bubbles form and the mix is thickened and a light caramel color, about 8-10 minutes. Stir in the vanilla—adding it at the beginning will make it much harder to tell when the milk turns a caramel color. Pour and gently spread over the base. Return to the oven for 10 minutes. Let cool.

For the chocolate, melt the chocolate and butter using a double boiler or in a glass bowl placed over a pot of boiling water. Stir until melted. Pour and spread the chocolate over the cooled caramel. Sprinkle with the salt. Refrigerate until the chocolate has set, about 2 hours. Cut and serve or refrigerate the cut pieces in a cookie tin.

And the Gold for Not Moving goes to Izzy–

Second Place to Donatello Miletello, my favorite fat tabby.

And the Bronze to me.

Braised Eggplant, Buffalo Mozzarella with Roasted Tomatoes and Lessons in Patience

I decided to grow a Bonsai to better teach myself patience. Early in my second year of a five year residency program, I am learning that one cannot expect to all of a sudden be a good doctor—the time it takes to do this. The time it takes. I need to be reminded of the slowness of growing things right—so I now I have a little tree shoot that, if I take tender care of it, will just be ready for its first pruning when I am budding as an attending and double-boarded physician in 2020.

Braised meals are another reminder that slow cooking reaps rewards. Savory sauces are worth the wait.

Braised Eggplant with Garlic

Adapted from Food and Wine

2 medium onions, finely chopped (2 cups)

1 medium tomato, finely chopped (1 cup)

6 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 long green peppers, finely chopped

1/2 cup finely chopped parsley

1 teaspoon sugar

Kosher salt

Pepper

6 Italian baby eggplants (2 1/2 pounds)

1 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1.In a medium bowl, combine the onions with the tomato, garlic, peppers, parsley, sugar and 2 teaspoons of salt. Using your hands, knead the mixture until it is softened and well blended.

2.Peel the eggplants lengthwise at 1/2-inch intervals to create stripes. On one half of each eggplant, make 4 lengthwise slits halfway through the flesh. Rub the eggplants  all over and in the slits with 1/4 cup of the olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

3.Arrange the eggplants slit side up in an ovenproof baking dish just large enough to hold them in a single layer. Spoon the filling liberally into the slits; some will spill out. Drizzle the remaining 3/4 cup of olive oil over the eggplants and add 1/2 cup of water to the baking dish. Cover and bake for about  1 hour, until the eggplants are completely tender. Serve warm or at room temperature.

And a bonus:

Buffalo Mozzarella with Neat and Messy Roasted Tomatoes

Adapted from Food and Wine

2 pounds cherry tomatoes, halved

2 pounds cherry tomatoes on the vine

Salt

Pepper

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Two 8-ounce balls of buffalo mozzarella cheese, sliced

Crusty bread, for serving

Preheat the oven to 300°. Arrange the halved cherry tomatoes cut side up on a parchment paper–lined baking sheet. Roast for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, until the tomatoes are shriveled and half-dried. Remove from the oven.
Increase the oven temperature to 350°. Arrange the cherry tomatoes on the vine on a parchment paper–lined baking sheet. Season with salt and drizzle with the olive oil. Roast for about 1 hour, until the tomatoes soften and start to split open. Using a spatula, carefully transfer the tomatoes to a large platter. Arrange the dried tomatoes on the platter along with the mozzarella. Season with pepper and serve with crusty bread.

A little water everyday…

Shiftcon Eco-Wellness Conference in New Orleans and Wheat Berry Salad

Calling All Food Bloggers to NOLA!

Shiftcon Eco-Wellness Conference is coming to New Orleans December 1-3, will I see you there? This conference is for all food bloggers, dieticians and companies who care about health, food, and the environment. Shiftcon couldn’t have chosen a more perfect city to set the conversation on important issues like good stewardship of resources, bringing healthy foods to nutrient-poor areas within a community, and using food as good medicine. I’m excited to attend presentations by agriculturalists, dieticians, and integrative physicians like Dr. Tieraona Low Dog whose book on Medicinal Herbs I’ve recently been devouring.

Use FITBAKETHISDAY code to receive $50 off the price of your ticket! Let me know if you are coming to town, and if you used my code to register, I’ll take you on a walking tour of some of my favorite off-the-grid restaurants and watering holes in the city. You might even get a little sample of my sourdough starter to take home….

To get in the ShiftCon spirit, make this salad and rejuvenate your body with natural greens and whole wheat. It doesn’t get any more whole than a wheat berry.

Wheat Berry Salad

Adapted from Penzeys Spices

Wheat Berry part:

1 cup hard wheat berries (red wheat is best)

2 ½ cups vegetable broth

½ tsp salt

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Dressing:

4 tb lemon juice

2 tb olive oil

1 tb white balsamic vinegar

1 ½ roasted garlic

1 tsp Turkish oregano

1 tsp greek seasoning

Veggies

1 onion, diced

4-5 cups of washed and chopped spinach

1 bunch asparagus, chopped into ½ inch chunks

Rinse the wheat berries, place in saucepan with broth, salt, turmeric, red pepper flakes and bring to a boil, reduce to simmer, and the cover and cook to desired tenderness, 1-2 hours. You might need to add extra water if all of yours boils off too soon like mine did. Be careful not to scorch the wheat berries. When done, let cool on the counter and then in the fridge, and add 2 tbs of the dressing.

For the dressing, whisk all the ingredients together. That’s it! Use a blender if you want it super mixed.

For the veggie, cook down the onions and greens with olive oil in a skillet until greens are wilted and the onions are browned. Set aside to cool, and then also roast the asparagus in more olive oil. Combine the veggies with 2 more tbs of the dressing, and then put on a plate, topped with the wheat berries, or else, cover and transfer to a cool place to serve later. Serve with extra salad dressing if you have a craving for more flavor.

Prepare your bowels. Top this dish off with a nice senna tablet. Keep things moving, or else suffer the throes of wheat berry obstipation.

My Favorite Call Smoothie to Fight Hangriness – Healthy Skoop

How to keep from getting hangry when on-call. Healthy Skoop.

The cafeteria in my hospital is not open overnight, so woe is me when I am working a night call shift because the only other available free food source is the Resident Snack Room, a den of dietary sin with Hot Pockets, Lays chips, Rice Krispie Treats, Teddy Grahams, etc. A physical flashback of my elementary years. The only thing I’ve discovered to prevent me from curing my hangry-ness in that room is drinking one scrumptious protein shake before I go into work.

I give you, My Favorite Call Smoothie

One cup plain Greek Yogurt

½ cup nonfat milk

2 cups frozen fruit (mangos and peaches are my fave)

1 scoop of Healthy Skoop Viva-nilla plant-based protein powder

1 scoop of Healthy Skoop plant-based Greens blend

I recently discovered Healthy Skoop products, and LOVE this company. They are based out of Boulder, Colorado. One scoop of the protein powder has 16 grams of organic pea and brown rice protein, and it is flavored with cinnamon and coconut sugar so it has a lovely sweety, non chalk aroma. I even use a mini-scoop here and there as creamer in my coffee in the AM if I am feeling too lazy to get the Vitamix out.

One other awesome thing about the company is that they give 3% of all sales proceeds to Project Produce – so that for every serving of Skoop you buy, they donate one serving of fruits and vegetables to schools participating in the National School Lunch grant program.

There is also a plant-based greens blend that has 6 servings of fruits and vegetables, probiotics including Lactobacilus, and other herbs like cordyceps, reishi, astragalus and rhodiola. This one also works in the mango smoothie.

This summer I’ve also been really into making popsicles. I bought little mini-popsicle molds which I keep on hand for lovely dilemmas like “Oops, I made too much protein shake” – freeze and make protein-rich mango peach creamsicles!