Food Blog: GG Mora

[hillvalley]

GG, I love the milk stories, both being able to get fresh milk and Thomas making it come out of his sister's nose. I have never had milk that wasn't store bought. Could you describe the difference? I assume that it tastes better, as with fresh eggs, but what else? Is the color different as with eggs? I imagine there are very few places in this country where you can buy fresh milk on the honor system. How wonderful.

Does Thomas help out in the kitchen? What do you do to encourage his culinary ways?

By the way, it was unusually warm here in DC this weekend as well. The cold weather has returned this evening though. Oh well.

[Cusina]

Squeat, you are going to get your wish. There is snow headed your way GG Mora, we got a fair dusting of the stuff today.

I enjoyed the milk out the nose story. They sound like cool kids. Hope you have time to make that gingerbread house. We used to do that with our neighbors every year. They are really creative fun.

[GG Mora]

She's ba-a-a-a-ck. I haven't been able to access the forums for the last couple of hours. is it just me?

Anyway, here's a few pics of the summer's garden:

It was our first year gardening on this lot; many trees to be cleared, so we just built some raised beds and brought in a truckload of topsoil. Magic instant garden. We have plans for much bigger, but this satisfied the urge for a season.

Lunch: can of water-packed chunk white tuna, mixed with diced onion, chopped almonds and Ojai Cook Latin Lemonnaise. If you've never tried that stuff, well, you're missin it.

Late afternoon snack: small bag of peanut M&Ms (sorry, I'm menstruating).

The kids are off to their Ma's for a few days. Before they left, I fed them a quick bowl of mac&cheese – Annie's Shells and White Cheddar. If it has to be dinner from a box, I can do this one without a lot of guilt. Hub will probably get something on the road on the way home (it's a 3-hour round trip, both for him and for the ex, bless them both).

Happy to be on my own for the evening, I unplugged a bottle of a 2001 Lirac – no great shakes – and set to work making candied orange and lemon peel for Christmas fruitcake. This is damned tedious work, but some loud music helps. Joe Strummer's new (posthumous) CD is a grand beat if you go for that kind of thing. I've even considered changing my member name to "Coma Girl". Not really, but the song kicks butt.

Finally nailed down the Thanksgiving menu. We'll have a crowd of about 16 (±). All four kids will be arriving Thursday morning(ish), plus we've invited 3 other couples with 2 kids (9 months and 2 1/2 yrs.) in the mix, plus a single babe. And there's always room for stragglers. I may be a Nazi in the kitchen any other time, but at Thanksgiving I think it's nice to let everyone play along, cook or no. Let it be haphazard, I say – it's Thanksgiving. So I tried my best to zip the control freak as I planned the menu over several days and as many phone calls. I'll be doing the bird, the stuffing, the gravy, two cranberry things and a pumpkin cheesecake. Tom – with whom I worked in a restaurant kitchen some 5 or so years ago (little did I know at the time that he and his wife-to-be were harboring my soulmate in the form of their roommate; small world, indeed) I trust implicitly to do well whatever he signs up for, which I hope will include backing me up in that last insane half-our before the bird hits the table. Tom is bringing chocolate mousse and some bread he's concocting (he was a baking fellow at CIA). Moira, the single babe, who is a delight to hang with but couldn't cook her way out of a Coach bag, is bringing some sweet potato/turnip melange, and will also supply the Vermont cheese for pre-game noshing. Kristi was assigned a green vegetable, and when she suggested green-bean casserole I tried to sound convincing when I said "Oh, yes, that would be great". I finally lost my composure, though, when Toby volunteered for garlic mashed potatoes and promised to make them with "those red boiling potatoes". I could sense the attitude in his silence when I insisted on Yukon Golds. I bit my tongue before asking whether or not he'd peel them.

Okay, the turkey stock is cooling in the fridge, and tomorrow morning I'll scrape off the fat and reduce it some (the stock, not the fat). Our never-a-dull-moment world features a real-estate closing first thing (finally making this place ours after 2 years of wrangling with the first Mrs. Mora). Afterwards, I'll take a leisurely drive over to Someday Farm to pick up my 20-lb. free-range organic turkey (I'll try and remember to take the camera). Then I can shop for provisions and maybe do the cornbread for the stuffing and the cheesecake tomorrow night. Wednesday will be brine-the-bird and decontaminate-the-house day and will, I suspect, also involve the ironing of some table linens.

OOOOh....just remembered I have to add creamed onions to the menu.

For those with queries:

Toliver: I can't think of a single traditional Vermont dish. If I have time, I'll ring up one of my native pals whose Mom was a church-supper kitchen fixture until she passed away a few years back. If anyone would have the scoop, she would.

Hillvalley: the big diff with raw whole milk comes from its not being homogenized, so you get a much keener sense of the butterfat. And the color is certainly different. It looks almost like reduced fat milk, since the butterfat isn't particle....erized...erated? You know what I mean. And Thomas doesn't help out in the kitchen much. He may or may not be a little ADD; most likely he's just a normal 12-yr. old on the cusp of hormonal distraction. Either way, he doesn't make for reliable kitchen help.

[Cusina]

Beautiful garden GG, what's in it? Give us a rundown?

[GG Mora]

Well, I totally fucked up the citrus peels. I managed to reverse the proportions of sugar and water (did 1 cup sugar to 3/4 cup water & couldn't understand why the syrup looked so thick. Der.) Left both pans simmering while I wandered back downstairs to my blog. Kitchen's on the third floor, office is on the first (don't ask), so I didn't smell it when they started to caramelize and then just plain burn. Guess I'll do it over tonight.

Dinner last night was a quick plate of leftovers: meat loaf, caramelized onions, and puréed squash.

Breakfast was a piece of whole grain toast with peanut butter (Teddy chunky) and coffee before me & hub scooted off to the lawyer's to sign a pile of papers.

Little bit of work to do & then I'll go pick up the turkey.

For Cusina, the garden list:

• 4 different heirloom tomatoes, one plant each: Orange Flame, Cosmonaut, Marmande, and Yellow Currant (Orange Flame were fab, even with too much rain)
  
• 3 different eggplant: Little Fingers, Asian Bride and Farmer's Long. Too cold for eggplant this summer – got a few Little Fingers in late Augaust & that was it
  
• 2 Peppers: Poblano and some unknown long, green, bland pepper that was marked Jalapeno at the nursery ( ) Season too short and cold for Poblanos
  
• 4 Tomatillo plants: bumper crop. Put up 7 pints of Salsa Verde.
  
• 2 beet varieties: red and golden
  
• Nantes carrots
  
• Haricots verts ("Nickel")
  
• Petits poids
  
• 3 lettuce varieties grown to full heads (Red Ruffles, Buttercrunch and Oakleaf)
  
• 2 short rows cutting lettuce
  
• 2 short rows arugula
  
• 2 short rows spicy mesclun
  
• 1 short row mache
  
• Tat soi
  
• Broccoli raab
  
• Leeks (disappointing)
  
• Garlic (disappointing)
  
• Brussels sprouts (started too late)
  
• 4 plants each: Spaghetti, Delicata, and Sweet Dumpling squash
  
• 2 trash barrels Yukon Gold "dumpster" potatoes (plants filched from compost pile and grown in plastic garbage cans slowly filled with soil – got 5 lbs. from each barrel
  
• 1 whole bed mixed sunflowers
  
• 1 whole bed mixed cutting flowers
  Not a great garden overall. The season was lousy – cold into July, grey and rainy for a month and a half. And the soil in the beds was only so-so. We've layered them all with 3 inches of excellent compost and amended with bone meal, dried blood and greensand. Next year otta rock ,especially if we can take down some more trees.
  

[Nick]

[*]Garlic (disappointing)

GG, Did you plant the garlic this year or last? Garlic has to planted in the fall for the next year.

[Cusina]

Still impressive GG, thanks for the rundown. I'm always curious as to what grows well in different climates.

[maggiethecat]

-Kristi was assigned a green vegetable, and when she suggested green-bean casserole I tried to sound convincing when I said "Oh, yes, that would be great".

You are a strong and wonderful woman!

I wonder, and please let us know: Will the green beans be canned or frozen?

I'm enjoying your blog immensely, and congratulations on the closing.

[mags]

Well, I totally fucked up the citrus peels. I managed to reverse the proportions of sugar and water (did 1 cup sugar to 3/4 cup water & couldn't understand why the syrup looked so thick. Der.) Left both pans simmering while I wandered back downstairs to my blog. Kitchen's on the third floor, office is on the first (don't ask), so I didn't smell it when they started to caramelize and then just plain burn. Guess I'll do it over tonight.

Dinner last night was a quick plate of leftovers: meat loaf, caramelized onions, and puréed squash.

Breakfast was a piece of whole grain toast with peanut butter (Teddy chunky) and coffee before me & hub scooted off to the lawyer's to sign a pile of papers.

Little bit of work to do & then I'll go pick up the turkey.

For Cusina, the garden list:

• 4 different heirloom tomatoes, one plant each: Orange Flame, Cosmonaut, Marmande, and Yellow Currant (Orange Flame were fab, even with too much rain)
  
• 3 different eggplant: Little Fingers, Asian Bride and Farmer's Long. Too cold for eggplant this summer – got a few Little Fingers in late Augaust & that was it
  
• 2 Peppers: Poblano and some unknown long, green, bland pepper that was marked Jalapeno at the nursery ( ) Season too short and cold for Poblanos
  
• 4 Tomatillo plants: bumper crop. Put up 7 pints of Salsa Verde.
  
• 2 beet varieties: red and golden
  
• Nantes carrots
  
• Haricots verts ("Nickel")
  
• Petits poids
  
• 3 lettuce varieties grown to full heads (Red Ruffles, Buttercrunch and Oakleaf)
  
• 2 short rows cutting lettuce
  
• 2 short rows arugula
  
• 2 short rows spicy mesclun
  
• 1 short row mache
  
• Tat soi
  
• Broccoli raab
  
• Leeks (disappointing)
  
• Garlic (disappointing)
  
• Brussels sprouts (started too late)
  
• 4 plants each: Spaghetti, Delicata, and Sweet Dumpling squash
  
• 2 trash barrels Yukon Gold "dumpster" potatoes (plants filched from compost pile and grown in plastic garbage cans slowly filled with soil – got 5 lbs. from each barrel
  
• 1 whole bed mixed sunflowers
  
• 1 whole bed mixed cutting flowers
  Not a great garden overall. The season was lousy – cold into July, grey and rainy for a month and a half. And the soil in the beds was only so-so. We've layered them all with 3 inches of excellent compost and amended with bone meal, dried blood and greensand. Next year otta rock ,especially if we can take down some more trees.
  

And me what can't even raise a spider plant. I am in AWE.

[GG Mora]

Nick: you can sometimes plant garlic very early in the spring and get away with it. I planted it in June just for the heck of it to see what would happen (nothing).

But you can all rest soundly knowing that 2 weekends ago I planted a whole bed of hard neck.

[Squeat Mungry]

The garden sounds (and looks) wonderful, making this apartment-dweller extremely jealous.

Can't wait to see pics of the turkey farm!

Thanks again for a great blog.

Squeat

Edited to add: that Ojai Lemonnaise sounds delicious! I'm going to have to track some down.

Edited November 25, 2003 by Squeat Mungry (log)

[chickenlady]

I just wanted to say how much I am enjoying this little slice of your life. Yes, I am that person who tries to peer into everyone's houses when I take a walk.

Beautiful garden! Just curious, was this your first year with the eggplants or have you had luck with them before? My husband thinks I'm nuts to try them this far north (I'm in NY, just south of the Canadian border), so I'm looking for some affirmation that they are possible. Unfortunately, the rabbits won the battle this year, so I didn't have the chance to prove him wrong.

I'll second the the thumbs-up on the Latin Lemonnaise--I took some as a gift to my Atkins-dieting parents and we all practically licked the jar clean.

Thanks again for the great blog. And Squeat and Cusina, I read back through yours, too. Excellent all around!

[woodburner]

But you can all rest soundly knowing that 2 weekends ago I planted a whole bed of hard neck.

You'll have good success with the fall planting practice. Great blog so far, gives everyone a good feel for what goes on in New England.

woodburner

[GG Mora]

Bird's home.

Not many good photo ops at the farm today. The light was SO grey and SO flat. But there are some birds for you. Those are Christmas's turkeys. They're penned today, but are let roam in a pasture adjacent to the barn most days. Their diet is mostly grain, supplemented by whatever bugs and worms they find. Free-range turkey ain't cheap – $2.25/lb., but it sure is worth it, if you ask me.

Since I was in town, I decided to go ahead and provision for the big day. I think it's probably the case that we all have our favorite grocery stores for specific items. For example, Shaw's has the best meats around, and a broad selection of produce. There I bought more citrus to make up for last evening's failed efforts, got some lovely pomegranates and golden apples to decorate the table with, and stocked up on small boiling onions and cranberries. I also picked up something for dinner tonight: a rib-eye for the grill, a bunch of broccoli raab to braise in garlic and chicken broth, and a wedge of Great Hill blue, part of which I'll crumble on a salad. The rub is, Shaw's salad greens suck. Price Chopper has excellent baby greens from a local grower (with greenhouse), so I buzzed in there for a bag full. Dutton's farm stand (open year 'round) has locally grown winter squash, which I wanted for purée for my "pumpkin" cheesecake, so I stopped there and bought a small kabocha and two delicatas – I'll bake them tonight to bring out their best flavor. They're starting to make wreaths at Dutton's, and the air inside was scented with fresh balsam. Always smells like Christmas. I also made a stop at the natural foods store to get a bag full of evaporated cane juice, which I use instead of granulated white sugar. I love the slightly caramelly flavor of it, especially in baked goods. And I made one last stop at the IGA for eggs, since they were sold out at the farm and at the farmstand. No local ones for me today.

After all that running around, all I really want to do is fix myself a drink and go hide in a dark room.

Alrighty then. To the kitchen.

I was careful NOT to clean before snapping this pic.

[GG Mora]

Oh, hey, Chickenlady: bout those eggplants. I have had moderate success with small varieties of eggplant. I don't remember the name, but a plant that produced slightly-larger-than-golfball-sized fruit did well planted in the ground, but it happened to be an unusually warm summer. Best success I've had is planting eggplant in large dark-glazed pots kept on a deck in blazing sun all day long. Those were some happy eggplant!

[GG Mora]

Aside from peeling and blanching my replacement oranges and lemons, I accomplished next to nothing last night. Since we were without kids, hub and I decided to have a quiet, leisurely dinner together, one where we could simply enjoy one another's comany without having to "play 20 questions" throughout the meal.

I rubbed down a rib-eye with crushed garlic, olive oil and S&P and grilled it to MR on the Weber. Blanched a bunch of broccoli raab & then sautéed it in oil and slivered garlic, then added some chicken broth and let it braise for a few minutes. Salad was mixed baby greens with toasted pine nuts and crumbled blue cheese, dressed with a garlic-dijon-sherry vinaigrette. Are you starting to get the picture the we go through a lot of garlic around here?

I got into the vodka and fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice, and had maybe half of one too many. Feelin a lttle hazy this morning. I had a quick bagel with schmear (sp?) and some coffee before getting work (the paying kind) out of the way. Now it's down to business.

I'll start by getting the bird into a brine. I have one of those 5.5 gallon white plastic lidded buckets that bulk stuff comes in – think pickles, joint compound; mine had dog kibble in it. They're really handy to have around, but don't use one that had joint compound in it for food (I know this seems obvious but I do know someone that tried it). Anyway, it's perfect for brining a bird. And since the weather's turned seasonable again (it's in the mid-30's) I can just stick the bucket out on the deck for the afternoon. I'm going to try Russ Parsons' method of air-drying the bird in the fridge overnight (we have a spare in the basement for beer and such).

Next I'll get the cheesecake going. Oh, yeah – I did manage to bake the squash last night. Dang, I meant to get a new springform pan when I was in town yesterday. I'll just have to finesse the old one.

After that I'll do cranberries. I bought one bag of berries, half of which I'll cook with a little sugar and OJ. The other half I'll leave raw and make into a relish with onion, walnuts, orange peel and sugar.

Once the berries are done, I can make the cornbread for the stuffing, & then I'll boil onions and make a velouté.

By the time all that's done, hub should be home & he can help me clean. Or he can clean while I iron table linens and polish candlesticks and count plates and flatware and round up wine glasses.

Okay. Time to step it up and go.

[Squeat Mungry]

That rib-eye sure sounds great! Thanks for bringing us up to date. Everything sounds delicious!

Any snow yet?

Squeat

Edited to not thank you for "brining" us!

Edited November 26, 2003 by Squeat Mungry (log)

[Cusina]

Nice flock...

I also liked your menu. Sounds delicious. I made a cheesecake today too, nice change from pie. That cranberry relish sounds excellent. Do you serve that up with the bird too or is it more of a relish tray appetizer?

[GG Mora]

The relish gets served with the bird. It's also pretty great on a bird sandwich. Here's a pic:

And here's the cheesecake:

It was a long afternoon, but I got done everything I wanted to get done. The creamed onions are, I think, a smashing success. Rather than make a plain ole bechamel, which I find pretty boring, I made what might technically be called "bechoutay". For liquid, I steeped half a cup of chicken broth and a cup of heavy cream with half a small onion studded with two cloves. From there, I proceeded with the roux and added the aforementioned liquid, then took it off the heat and whisked in about half a cup of very sharp white cheddar. Seasoned with S&P. Fab.

Had to run to the store for a few last minute provisions & decided to swing by the farm for milk (the kids will be back in the morning – all four of them). Snapped these while I was at the farm:

The girls:

The barn:

The Steel Teat:

Ran into a friend at the grocery store & spent 45 minutes catching up. That's one of the things I love about living here. The most mundane outings can turn into delightful social exchanges: trips to the grocery store, the hardware, the post office, and even the dump often stretch out unexpectedly when you run into a friend or neighbor. And sometimes it's a chat with a near stranger that keeps one. There's a sense of community you wouldn't find most places.

Blah, blah, blah. Are you sick of me yet?

BTW, when I went to dig out the springform for the cheesecake, I discovered that I'd bought a new one last year. Does anyone else ever do shit like that? Last Christmas, I went looking for two new loaf pans I swore I'd bought but they were nowhere to be found. So I went and bought myself two new loaf pans, only to discover come February that I had indeed already bought two new loaf pans – I'd simply found a more clever place to store them. Don't know how many of you viewed the picture of my kitchen, and if you did, I don't know if you got a sense of how limited space is, especially for a gal with a serious kitchenware habit. Much of my equipment is stashed in the "attic", which is handily accessed just up some stairs from the kitchen. Add that to an aging, overstuffed, stressed-out brain, and you never know what you might find neatly stacked at the back of some shelf.

Right. I'm pooped, but I need to get some cleaning done. I'd like to get the kitchen floor washed and spread a coat of wax on it just before we climb into bed.

Don't imagine I'll be online tomorrow, but I'll take a lot of pictures and get back to the blog on Friday.

A blessedly excellent holiday to all.

[Ling]

I can't wait to see the pics from your Thanksgiving table.

[Cusina]

Happy Thanksgiving to you all too. GG, Not sick of your voice at all. It's a great monologue. Thanks for providing it!

I'll look forward to the full turkey day disclosure on Friday.

[kimabima]

Once again I can't see the pictures. Can anyone tell me why that might be?

Great reading- Vemont sounds lovely as does your life!

[bloviatrix]

Can't figure how to copy pictures, but I love the shot of the kitten eyeing that milk.

Ran into a friend at the grocery store & spent 45 minutes catching up. That's one of the things I love about living here. The most mundane outings can turn into delightful social exchanges: trips to the grocery store, the hardware, the post office, and even the dump often stretch out unexpectedly when you run into a friend or neighbor. And sometimes it's a chat with a near stranger that keeps one. There's a sense of community you wouldn't find most places.

I frequently run into friends when I go out shopping. Most people think of Manhattan as a cold, impersonal place, but there are actual neighborhoods, where you get to know the people around you.

[Squeat Mungry]

I frequently run into friends when I go out shopping.  Most people think of Manhattan as a cold, impersonal place, but there are actual neighborhoods, where you get to know the people around you.

Ran into a friend I hadn't seen in too long tonight here in San Francisco whilst shopping for brussels sprouts. Turns out she and her former roommate (also a good friend) have each found apartments within blocks of my own. Synchronicities like these make the holiday resound!

GG, your blog (and eGullet as a whole) are part of what I am thankful for this year. Love the 'bechoutay'! And everything else looks fabulous, too.

Cheers to everyone and Happy Thanksgiving!

Squeat

[ronnie_suburban]

Thanks for the great blog and for taking the time to upload all the wonderful pics.

Happy Thanksgiving GGM!

=R=