When life gives you Buddha's Hand....

                                                            
   There is a sentence you don't hear every day....When life gives you Buddha's Hand!
Well, strangely enough, a few weeks ago life handed me a whole bag of Buddha's Hand, as well as some Kumquats, and some pink variegated Eureka lemons.
It was Monday afternoon (Monday is usually our Sunday), and we were visiting some friends in their Tenderloin apartment and enjoying  their delicious homemade Chamomile and Vanilla iced tea. Before we left, K announced that we had to take some of this citrus with us!  Some regular of the restaurant where she works gave it to her a few days ago.  They were from the citrus ranch where this person grew up.  Of course I would take them! Thank you very much! And so I left K and K's with a heavy bag of gorgeous and fraguant Buddha's Hands, Kumquats and pink variegated Eureka Lemons.

                                                          
   When we got home, I washed them and carefully placed them in one of my beloved vintage bowls
(this is one of the two that were a bit overpriced, but totally worth it...).
For a few days, I just let them sit there.  Their colors brightening my every entrance to the kitchen, , their presence bringing home the concepts of local food, of sharing with the community, of fresh picked fruits, of friendship, and the Buddha's Hand's intoxicating perfume flooding our home.

  From the moment I got them, I knew I was going to make marmalade.  I just needed the idea to marinate in my mind for a little while before manifesting.  During those days I also did some research, looking into different jam and candied citrus recipes, to figure out what the best techniques and preparation methods would be to accomplish the delicious result of my vision (which I could already taste in my head).   I find that my food is so much better when I do that.

                                                          
   Then one day, after work, I got to work.  I started with the Buddha's Hand.  I sliced it and found some pulp inside one of them.  Luckily I had just read that some fruits have it and others don't.  This was my first with pulp, and had I not read that information, I might have thought the fruit was starting to rot.  That's not to say I wouldn't have used it anyways.  Anything that smells that wonderful could not have been bad.  I cut around said pulp, and sliced the fruit in 1/4 inch slices.

                                   
    I covered it with water, brought it to a boil, drained it and repeated three times.  Buddha's hand is mostly pith, which is the bitter part of citrus fruits.  In some fruits, almost all the flavor is in the pulp and the oils of the peel, but in this one, there is a significant amount of flavor in the pith as well.  Boiling it like this cleans it of some of it's bitterness, without clearing it of it's distinct flavor.

                                          
  After the third cleanse, I covered it with water again, this time with equal amounts of sugar and a pinch of salt.  I brought it to a boil, turned it down to a simmer, and added the fresh sliced kumquats.

                                              
    I let it simmer for a while, stirring and tasting it often.  As I usually do, I decided that it was too sweet, and that it needed a little more acid to balance it out (this not only happens when I cook sweets, anyone who knows my cooking well can attest to the fact that any given dish is almost always finished with a little lime, a little lemon, or a little vinegar, you know, some acid...).  So I halved one of those beautiful lemons with their yellow and green stripes on the outside, and pink pulp on the inside, and squeezed its juice into my concoction.  Another taste revealed that it was almost there, just a little more lemon juice and perfect!

                                         
   I got enough for three jars.  That's exactly the amount I wanted! One for us, one for K and K who gave us the fruits, and one from my friend G from work, with whom I had shared my vision (I find it's very unfair to share a food vision with someone and not share the food result with them as well, provided they live close enough).

                                       
  This serendipitous marmalade is the best marmalade I've ever had.  It has all the attributes that I enjoy the most in jams and marmalade - sweetness, tartness, spreadability, bright and intense flavor, versatility for pairings - balanced amazingly with the slight bitterness and the familiar yet surprising flavor of Buddha's Hand.

  When my friend G had it at work she said it tasted just like Lemon Drops (the candy not the coktail you drunk!).  When my friend E was having it a few days later at the farm, he was thinking the same thing as I told him that story, and he almost finished my sentence. I didn't grow up with Lemon Drops, but I knew exactly what they were talking about.

                                     
    My one little eight ounce jar has turned into one of those food items that I enjoy so much, that I  eat it very slowly, saving it, so that whenever  I crave it again there will still be a little bit left.  It's amazing how sometimes,  something we have never tried or even heard of before, can end up being our favorite thing in the world.
 This tasty batch of marmalade reminded that in the kitchen, just as in life and love, we always need to keep an open mind, try new things, and get inspired by whatever we have.  Otherwise we could be missing out on our favorite ever.

The objects of my affection

                                                 
  In an effort to live a more simple, minimalist and less consumer oriented life, I have been doing spring cleaning around the house almost every other month  for a few years now.  My husband and I have a rule, that for anything that comes in, something equivalent has to go.
 We don't really go shopping much, except for food or when we have visitors in town, and when we do, we are both very good about talking ourselves out of buying something (him more than me but I'm still better than most women I know).  When birthdays and holidays roll around, we usually ask our families to either donate to a charity in our names, or not get us anything, because honestly we have everything that we need. 

  Alas, all those feelings go out the window when it comes to vintage kitchen and table ware (unfortunately I am the only one who feels that way as my husband does not agree with any of it). It can be anything; napkins, pots and pans, spoons, sifters, bowls, plates, and especially mugs.  My heart starts racing, and I start having visions of outside picnic tables with that gorgeous brown glass pitcher full of some tasty summer libation that J just made.  Or a wonderful spring salad in that lovely circa 1950 bowl, or how my day will be so much better after having coffee in that perfect flower mug.  Sometimes, I can still talk myself out of it.  But more often than not, whatever the object in question is, turns out the be unique or special enough that I just cannot help myself. Without even realizing it, almost as if I was possessed by the ghost of that object's original owner, I find myself paying, with a giant smile on my face, because I am just so excited about this find.

                                                 

  Such is my obsession that at one point in time, I used the low price of all things vintage as a main argument on why we should move to a city; and when my husband's grandmother moved in to an assisted living community, his parents and brother saved us countless boxes labeled " RETRO" of anything they thought we (or I) would like.  In those boxes we found a meat grinder, an awesome aluminum pitcher and a giant brown glass sniffer and candy bowl among other trinkets now scattered around the house. 

                                                     
  In one of my many moves, much to my chagrin, I gave my friend C some bowls that she had given me as a gift a few years before.  I just couldn't take them with me as I wasn't sure where I was going, and I didn't want to just get rid of them because they were so awesome and had sentimental value. After returning to California, I found them in her pantry closet and immediately took them back (with her permission of course! I think...)

  The good news is that I hardly ever regret buying any of those things, and they usually never leave our lives with the goodwill runs or the "one in one out rule".  I cherish them, I admire them, and I plan delicious and heartwarming dishes or events for them. I arrange flowers in some jars, I keep  fruit and vegetables in some bowls,  I display them in quirky little arrangements of uneven numbers.  I use them.  And everyday, they make me smile.
The other piece of good news is that I usually find these treasures at a thrift shop (I admit however that sometimes it's right after dropping off a donation) so I hardly ever pay more than a few bucks for them (there were those two bowls that one time but they were totally worth it!).

The bad news is that the collection keeps growing, and as my husband likes to quote : " the things that you own end up owning you".  But these things just happen, it's not like I plan for them!

                                            

  The other day, after spending the afternoon at a friend's house, I decided to stop by a thrift shop and get him a frame for a lovely photograph of him and his dad with the family goat when he was a little boy.  I didn't have any luck with the frames, so on my way out, I casually strolled by the kitchen section, when a little treasure caught my eye. It was a  perfect old bundt cake pan (I don't have one) in the coolest shades of yellow (kind of ombre, both dark yellow and mustard) and as I leaned to pick it up and inspect the condition of it's inside (not a scratch) and its price ($0.99) I saw it: the most magnificent roasting pan/dutch oven, enameled, with a delicious design of strawberries and their blooms. 
Not only was it in mint condition, it also perfectly matched my vintage cake stand of the same design.  It was big, and it was good, so I knew it wasn't going to be cheap.  After all, this is San Francisco, not that other awesome city from my story where vintage stuff is almost free.  $13.49.  That is still pretty damn good for a piece like this one.

                                    

   As my husband patiently perused the t-shirt and jeans section, I pondered. What was I supposed to do? I knew we didn't need it, at all, but I couldn't just leave it there.  It was so perfect! We don't have space for it, and I'm getting the moving bug again, so we will most likely be packing up our lives soon, and that's just one more giant thing to pack... But it was just so damn beautiful!

  Another house rule, is that when thrift shopping, J has the right to vitto any purchase if he really believes it's not something I should get.  So after some deliberation, I put on the cutest and most innocent face I could, to show him that I really didn't mean to do this ( I didn't, I swear!) but that there was just no way in hell those two items were not coming home with us.  He is just a jewel of a man!

                                       

When we got home, I put on some gloves and scrubbed all the stains right out of it.  Then I temporarily put it on top of the desk,  where I could see it from the couch.  The cake pan found a home hanging from a nail on the kitchen wall.

                                     

  The next morning, as I enjoyed my coffee in one of my vintage mugs, and spooned the sugar from my lovely vintage sugar bowl that was sitting next to my old cake stand, I stared at my new treasures, with a giant sleepy smile on my face, and it dawned on me that sometimes it's not just the ingredients, but the utensils used to prepare it, as well as to serve it, that make a dish or a meal special. 

                            

                                  

 There is no doubt that my collection is getting a little out of hand for our one bedroom apartment and our desire to have less "stuff". But I am sure that one day, when our kitchen is ours for good, and there are people always coming in and out of it, ready to sit down for yet another wonderful meal, I will look up on the shelves at all my finds, and be glad that I kept my eye out for them, and that my wonderful husband didn't vitto any of them.  I look forward to writing about the first meal we cook in the Strawberry roaster.  It's going to be epic!

Stews are best

                                                              

  It seems to me that the main reason why people don't cook (or for that matter do any number of things that they say they would like to) is due to lack of time.  I for one, often find myself racing against the clock, incredibly annoyed because once again, the hours of my day off seem to have evaporated into a parallel universe, while most items on my to do list have yet to be crossed off.
And this is why I absolutely love making stews, and it only seemed fitting that I write a post on this fabulous one pot dish now, as I am struggling with finding time to blog :)
If you make a big enough stew, in a few minutes you can have dinner ready for every day of the week
(granted you and your family might get sick of eating the same thing every day but that's a different story).
  My go to stew is always chicken.  I find that it holds best, reheats wonderfully, and if you add enough veggies to it and serve it over brown rice, it provides all colors of the nutritional spectrum.
But also, I just love me some chicken.  Those tasty little birds are just so underated!  I like using the thighs for my stews. They are a bit darker, more flavorful and much juicier, and I  encourage you to give them a try, because they are also much cheaper.  However, if you prefer breast, being that the meat will be cooked in liquid, you don't risk drying it up, so have at it.

                                                      

  If you happen to have some homemade stock in the freezer from the last time you roasted a bird, your stew will be all the better, if not, store bought stock will do.
Below is my base recipe, which will vary a bit with the seasons, but serves as a wonderful starting point.
I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Ingredients:
8       ea     Chicken Thighs, skin off
1       ea     can of Coconut Milk
1       ea     can of diced Tomatoes (juice included)
1       ea     Onion, diced
3       ea     Garlic cloves, minced
1       ea     Anaheim pepper (or your favorite) diced
1       ea     Lime, juiced
                  LOTS of veggies and any aromatics you find in the fridge (ie:celery, ginger, lemongrass,  herbs...)
                  Chicken Stock to cover
                   Salt, Pepper and Cumin, Cayenne or Curry to taste

                                                            

    An hour or two before you start (depending on your geographic location and it's weather) take your chicken out of the refrigerator and let it come to almost room temperature.  Dry out each thigh with a paper towel, and season with salt and pepper.  In a cast iron pan (or a good dutch oven) saute the meat on one side only, in very hot grapeseed oil for about 3 to 5 minutes or until golden brown.  Turn and saute for  another 3 to 5 minutes.  Tranfer to a plate and set aside.

                                                                

  If you used a deep pan or dutch oven to saute the chicken, in the same pan, sweat the onions, peppers, garlic and any aromatics over very low heat until translucent.

                                                     

Add any hard vegetables you might be using (carrots, sweet potatoes, turnips, or squash) and season with salt.

                                                    

  Cook the veggies for a few minutes, then break apart the chicken with your hands or some kitchen shears, and throw it in.  Add the coconut milk, lime juice, tomatoes and stock to cover.  Cook over hight heat until it comes to a boil, then turn down to a simmer and let it do it's thing, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has reduced by 1/4.  If you would like a thicker stew, keep on going.  Taste and adjust your seasoning.  If you are adding any green veggies (kale, brocolini, mustard greens etc...) now is the time.

                                    
    Cook for another minute or two, until your green veggies are bright green.  And that's it.  The dish is ready to serve! 

  I make some version of this at least every other week.  If you use whatever vegetables are in season and available at your local market, you will find that you won't get bored with it too fast, as it is ever changing.  You can also add a little peanut butter, miso or hoisin sauce once in a while and give it a fresh new "look".  Enjoy it over rice for a complete meal, or as soup on a rainy day.

Raw Kale Salad

  Before I begin writing about this wonderful leafy green, I would like to apologize to you all, my readers, for not writing as consistently as promised.  As usual, life got in the way.  I got a fancy new job, and with it an apparently ever changing schedule, which has been a little rough to get used to.
As a result, my sleeping, yoga and writing routine have been altered, and in order to catch up on the first two, I have slacked a bit on the third.  I hope that as time goes by in my new position, my schedule will normalize at least a little, and I will be able to find my grove again.  Please bear with me as I navigate the unknown waters of the corporate world.

                                                                   
  With that being said, we can move on to Kale.
Kale is awesome! From Vitamins C and E, to folate, calcium and iron, this leafy green is highly nutritious, high in fiber,  low in calories and filling. On top of all that, it is one tasty vegetable! Also, in climates similar to ours up here in Northern California, this member of the cabbage family grows year round. Pretty much the perfect food if you ask me.

                                                

 Yet so many of us don't know what to do with it, and think that the only way to prepare it is sauteed or braised.  Well, I got news for you: a raw Kale salad kicks any lettuce salad's ass!
Because of how thick it is, it will not wilt as fast as lettuces do, so you can season your salad a day in advance, and it will still be crunchy and crisp when you eat it.

                                               

It's nutritional value is much better than that of most lettuces (specially if you are buying your lettuces at the supermarket) which are mostly fiber and water.  It's texture is a lot more interesting and it is a lot more filling.  Last but not least, a bunch organic Kale (usually between $1.50 and $2.00) will yield you at least 4 large servings of salad, and once washed and chopped, will keep fresh in the crisper for at least a week.   So, next time you want to experiment with a different salad than whatever your usual suspect is, give this one a try.

                                                       

                                                             

You will need:

1 bunch of Kale ( I love Lacinato, but any variety will do) washed, stripped of it's stems, and chopped.
1/2  Asian Pear, sliced or cut into chunks . If Asian Pears are not in season, use any other crunchy fruit available. If nothing is in season, radishes will do the trick.
1/4  cup Chopped Walnuts
1 ea  Blood Orange -or other varietal of your choice- , peeled and segmented (reserve the juice to add to the salad)
1/2  ea  Avocado, sliced or cut into cubes
1  TB Freshly Chopped Cilantro (optional)
1 1/2  TB Crumbled Feta Cheese (optional)
1 TB Miso
1 Lemon (Juice Only)
1 TB Agave Nectar or Honey
1/4 cup Olive Oil, Sesame Oil, or Peanut Oil

Make a dressing with the Miso, lemon juice,  oil and agave nectar.  You will not need to add salt as the Miso is salty enough.  Taste it with a piece of Kale, and adjust the amount of acid and sweetness according to what your taste buds enjoy. 

                                                        

Mix the rest of the ingredients together, and add the dressing and the reserved juice from the orange.  Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed.
If you are preparing it in advance, don't add the avocado until you are ready to eat it.
                                         

                                          

This salad will not only be tasty, it will also provide you with healthy fats from the oil, the walnuts and the avocado , a bit of protein from the nuts, cheese and Miso (as well as some probiotics from the Miso) and a few of your recommended daily servings of vegetables and fruits.

Get yourself some flowers!

                                                           
  I've always loved flowers.  I love them on plants, on trees, in the streets, in someone's house, in the buckets at the flower markets, on the fields, at the beach and on my hair.

                                                 
   But I had been talking myself out of buying flowers for a while now.  It all started while being on a tight budget.  Spending money on something purely decorative, that was also dead, and would therefore not last too long anyways, just seemed wasteful.  Plus our cat, Jupiter, loves to eat leaves, and has been known o knock over flower vases while having a midnight snack!
Slowly, it turned into one of those self imposed rules we create that end up becoming a little part of ourselves. 

                                                        
     Luckily, my self restraint from buying flowers changed one day last year, at the farmers market.  I was working in the ferry building, and during my breaks on Tuesdays and Sundays, I would walk around the market and get my produce.  They always had gorgeous flowers! Quince, Plum and Cherry blossoms first, then Anenomes, Ranunculus, Tulips and Dahlias, Daffodils and Sunflowers, Gladiolas and Lilies, Mums...  And these are only the ones I remember!  I just loved looking at them, smelling them, being around them!

                                   
   After a few months on the job, as I got to know the farmers, they started giving me deals on the produce, which left me enough wiggle room in the budget to get myself some flowers.
  It also turned out that Jupiter did not attack  these flowers, as I was taking off most of the leaves in order to arrange them into my newly acquired vintage blue mason jar.

                                      
   Coming home to a beautiful bouquet of colorful fresh flowers made me so happy! The energetic switch inside of me was so strong that it made me realize, flowers were to my soul what food is to my body: plain and simple nourishment! And so I was converted! 
If something so small, and to some people so insignificant, could make me so very happy, why the fuck should I not pursue it?!

                                               

  There is nothing wrong with indulging once in a while. Whether it's a large splurge of a fancy designer bag for a birthday, or a bunch of flowers at the market every other week, giving yourself permission to get something that you just plain don't need can be very liberating.   The key is to be aware of what you are doing, and of why, and to not confuse a splurge with a habit or even an addiction (how many shoes are in your closet?).  So I thought about it, and decided that this indulgence was worth it to me.  It was bringing a little more nature to my living space, it was reminding me of how colorful this place is, it was brightening my day.

                                                    

    As long as it was done mindfully, I could get myself flowers whenever I wanted.  So I made up a few new rules for myself and once again, became a believer.
I will only buy a bunch, and for no more than $5 unless it's a very special occasion.
Sometimes I  bargain with myself and trade in that bunch of Asparagus I wanted (although I already have enough vegetables in the basket) for a bunch of Anenomes (about the same price).
Ideally, I try to purchase them only at the farmers market, and if I happen to get them at the store, then I choose ones that are fair trade.

                                                
   I then take time to pick them, to look at all of them and see which  single bunch speaks to me.  Once I get home, I take the time to arrange them as beautifully as I can.  I pick which vase they will be happier in,  I find them a home in our home where they will be protected from the cat, yet be the center of attention. 
  Last but not least, I tend to them.  Even tough they are technically dead, they will last longer if their water is changed, and they look prettier if I remove the ones that start looking sad sooner than the rest.  In order to show respect to these plants, I try to keep them looking their best, for as long as I can, instead of just composting them all at the first sign of one wilting.

                                                         

  This small ritual is my way of thanking  the plant for giving me these flowers,  the growers for tending to them and picking them,  the driver/vendor for bringing them to the city and displaying them, my husband for giving me some cash (I never have cash!) :), and  myself for walking down to the market and buying them.
 In this way, the small, insignificant, mindless act of getting flowers for myself, turns into this beautiful exchange with all these beings around me.  And with this exchange comes a smile, and a reminder that we are all connected, as well as the sweet nectar of joy for my soul.

                                             

Local and Seasonal: why they're better for you.

     Nowadays, when it comes to our food, we hear the terms local, organic, natural, seasonal and many others thrown around as potent marketing strategies.  Unfortunately, impressionable and uninformed about the subject  as most of us are, we take the bait, and pay a little extra for products that are not necessarily better for us. 

 However, when it comes to fruits and vegetables, eating locally does make a difference, for various reasons. 

                                                     
  One of them is supporting your community and small farmers in your area, another is reducing your carbon footprint (although there are lots of schools of thought on this one, arguing that it is not necessarily greener to eat local, but that's another post altogether), and in my book, the most important reason, is that eating locally provides you with the most nutrients (and usually the most flavor). 
  From the minute  fruits and vegetables are picked off the plant, their nutrient content starts to slowly decrease.  Also, when fruits and vegetables are at their peak in ripeness, they contain the most nutrients. 

                                             
 
    Therefore, if you are eating a Mango that was picked in Haiti over two weeks ago,  probably kept in a temperature controlled truck or warehouse to prevent or increase it's ripening process, and potentially subjected to a specific gas for the same purpose,  you are getting way less nutritional benefits than if you are eating one in Mexico, just picked from the tree this morning.  Needless to say, chances are that the one that was picked off the tree tasted a heck of a lot better than the one that was picked green and manipulated into ripeness at a specific point in time.

                                             

   If you are striving to eat locally then  you will have to eat seasonally. When you go to your local farmers market in search of produce,  you will only find what is in season, what is growing in your area at this time according to the weather, the seasons, the specifics of rain fall and dry spells.   So if you want Strawberries in December, and you live in the South, chances are they will come from Chile, in which case all the previous rules about nutritional value will apply to your juicy looking berries.

        To this we can also add the fact that if we are eating fruits out of season, it's probably because we are the kind of person or household that eats the same fruits year round.  At a dear friend's house, there are ALWAYS, no matter the time of the year or day of the week, strawberries, blueberries, apples and bananas.  Two adults and a child live in this house.  That means that these three people are getting the exact same set of nutrients year round from the fruits they consume, and more often than not, they are eating these out of season, so they are not even getting the fruit's full potential. 

    If we always eat the same things, then we are always getting the same nutrients, and we can safely assume that unless we are eating super foods, we are then also deficient in many other nutrients. 
  Eating locally forces us to switch it up, without us having to really think about it, which is always a bonus :).  A few weeks ago, Oro Blanco grapefruits, blood oranges and Satsuma mandarins was the bulk of my fruit consumption.  Since then I have added tangelos, Kiwis and Asian pears to that, and last Tuesday I found that Kumquats and Guavas are now in season here, so two more fruits are now in our kitchen for our daily dose.

    Most of you are probably getting a little angry at me right now and thinking: "easy for you to say, you live in California, where everything grows and there is delicious stuff available locally year round, but what about the rest of us?????"
Please take a deep breath and calm down.  I know how lucky I am, trust me... I haven't moved back to California 4 times because I enjoy moving across the country. 
  Not living in California does not mean you can't eat locally or seasonally.  First and foremost, something is always growing somewhere except in the dead of winter.  Second and most importantly, our options in this day and age are plenty.  

                                            

      If you are willing to try your luck at canning and preserving, this is the best way to keep eating locally during the winter months.  When the bounty of summer is at it's peak, spend a few weekends preserving some of the fruits and pickling some vegetables.  It's fun, it's easy, and it will provide you with delicious fruits full of nutrients when nothing is available locally in your area.  You can do it with friends and family, or by yourself and give it as gifts to your loved ones.
  You can find great recipes online, my friend E turn me on to this awesome blog: www.foodinjars.com

   Another good way to get the most nutrient from out of season fruits are frozen fruits which are available in every supermarket in this country.
When eating out of season, this is usually your best bet for fruits that are still packed with nutrients, as most frozen produce is picked at it's peak, and flash frozen to preserve all it's goodness.   This point is explained in detail by nutritionist Marion Nestle in her amazing book: What to Eat. You can read more about it in her website as well at www.foodpolitics.com
  The frozen fruits will also more often than not be cheaper than it's imported counterpart.

                                                           
      Being that I am originally from a Tropical Island, I find myself sometimes craving the fruits of my childhood or what Americans refer to as "exotic" fruits .  I will rarely buy any of them that have been imported, as I don't want to eat empty calories from fruits ( I'd much rather save those for a nice crafted cocktail ;)).  I also don't want to set myself up for the deep disappointment that takes over my whole body when I bite into a Mango that is just not that good (J calls me a Mango snob) and  sends me into a rant about how a fucking mango should really taste like.

     When I find myself in this debacle, I go to the store, I buy a few bags of frozen stuff, and I cook them together with a little honey or agave nectar, and turn it into a delicious compote to eat with my yogurt or oatmeal, that is usually just as tasty as the fresh stuff.
  Last week, I made one with some of those local fresh Guavas I told you about, which were phenomenal, and a bag of frozen pineapple.  Divine!
 
  I challenge you all to try and eat a few more local fruits and veggies for the next few weeks.  You might find that it's a lot easier than you thought, and that the results are so delicious and nutritious,  you won't mind going the extra mile.

Roast Chicken at the Farm

                                              
    San Francisco is an awesome city.  It's colorful, diverse, has good weather, it's artsy, food oriented, and as I always say, no matter what you are into (literally!) San Francisco has something for you.
But I'm a little worn out from it.  Or maybe it's from cities themselves.  I'm sick of the noise, of the dirt, of the pee smelling sidewalks (dog pee, people pee, there seems to be pee everywhere I go...) the puke from drunken nights right as I walk out of the building, the poop that some jerk dog owner failed to pick up, the lack of green space, of fresh air, of wild animals.
So whenever I have the chance I take the train northeast to Auburn.  My little sanctuary. 

                                                          
      My dear friends C and E live there with their beautiful daughter J.  They live on a small farm, where C is slowly but surely starting a sheep dairy.  They have chickens, plenty of sheep, a llama, a dog.

                                          
  
      A vegetable garden in the summer.  There are apples, citrus, plum and fig trees on the land.  There are blackberry bushes and Concord grape vines. Even in the winter there are little surprises to be found like a Padron pepper forgotten on the plant, transformed into a sun dried Padron. 
                                             

                                           
      
   Being in the farm, tending to the animals, is to me the strongest reminder to think about where our food comes from.  Whether we are drinking the sheep's milk or just delivering it to the baby lambs, we are still moving the sheep, milking them, this weekend also castrating a few of the babies.  The chickens need fresh water, more feed, they also need to be me moved.  And then we can collect their eggs, just laid, packed full of nutrients.  The effort and care involved makes us so much more appreciative of what we are consuming.  It brings about the kind of mindfulness around our food that I feel we should always practice.

                                                                   
  C and E are both chefs, and C also works at a few farmers markets in the area.  Most of California's produce that we get down in the city actually comes from the areas surrounding Auburn, in the Central Valley.

                                           

    So when we are visiting, delicious and nutritious meals are always the norm.  This weekend, in order to give my friends a much deserved break, I decided to cook us dinner.
I asked what kind of meats they had frozen: lamb or chicken, both from D, C's friend and co-worker, a lamb farmer himself.
I honestly think that a properly made - not overcooked with a dry breast that makes you wonder why the hell people like chicken breast - roasted chicken is one of the most delicious things to eat in the whole wide world! As my husband always says, sweet simplicity.  

                                                         
  I inspected the produce that C had brought back from Saturday's market, and found carrots, baby russet potatoes, thyme and rosemary, one onion, green garlic Meyer lemons, tangelos, arugula,  and asparagus.

                                             

  Here are my steps to turn the above list of ingredients into one simple, easy and ridiculously taste meal.                                          
  First defrost your chicken.  Then pat it dry with a towel or paper towels.  Be very thorough in this step.
Make a dry rub with ground coriander, cumin and salt.  Rub your chicken with it making sure to get in every nook and cranny.  With your fingers, separate the skin from the breast being careful not to tear it.  Then stick a little piece of the green garlic and a sprig of either herb in between the skin and meat on each side.
  Season the cavity of the bird with some of the rub (or just salt and pepper) and place a few more pieces of green garlic, herb sprigs, and a few slices of Meyer lemon inside it.
Chop your carrots in large chunks, and peel and half your onion and slice it. Then rub the bird all over with a generous amount of olive oil.  Using twine, or alternatively a piece of foil rolled thinly into a strip, tie the legs of the bird together.
  If you have a cast iron pan, place it on the stove on high heat for a few minutes. Once hot, place your chicken on the pan, breast side up.  It will sizzle. If you don't have a cast iron, or a heavy all metal pan, skip this step and just place in a roasting pan. 
Scatter the carrots and the onions around it, and place in a preheated 400 degree oven.  Cook for 30 minutes undisturbed.
  Meanwhile juice 2 Meyer lemons and 1 tangelo (or other orange) and reserve.  Wash and dry your potatoes, and cut into chunks being mindful to make them all around the same size for even cooking.  Toss in a bowl with olive oil.  In a separate bowl, slice some green garlic and set aside.  I also added that sun dried Padron here, which was very peculiar in flavor, a wonderful mixture of spicy and sweet.

     After the first half hour, every 10 to 15 minutes, take the chicken out of the oven and baste it with the citrus juices, followed by the fat from the pan. Then return to the oven.  If you see that the carrots and onions are sticking to the pan  or burning, splash the pan with about 1/2 cup of wine or beer, whichever one you are drinking.  Once the chicken is evenly brown, you can turn the temperature down to 350.  Depending on the size of the bird, the total cooking time will vary between 45 minutes and as long as an hour and a half.

  Wash and slice your asparagus in sticks about 1 inch long.  Reserve the tops.  You can start cooking the potatoes while you wait for the chicken. In another cast iron pan or heavy bottomed saute pan, heat some canola or grapeseed oil on high heat.  Then thrown in your potatoes and season well with plenty of salt and pepper.  Every once in a while, stir them around a bit.  Once they are browning nicely, turn the heat to medium.  If your chicken is still far from being done, you can actually turn them off half way, and finish them later. This is a good time saver for having everything done at the same time.
                          

                                                    
   Once your chicken is done (you will know when the leg comes loose where it attaches to the breast when you slightly pull on it) take it out of the oven, transfer it to a dish, and let rest 15 minutes.

   Meanwhile, finish cooking the potatoes on medium to high heat.  Pour the cooking juices from the chicken into a heat resistant bowl, and let settle.  In another saute pan, heat some olive oil on high heat, then throw in the asparagus (minus the tops) season with salt and pepper, and squirt a little Meyer lemon juice.  Turn heat to medium and saute until they are cooked but still have a little bite to them.  Add the tops, stir around once more and turn the heat off, but leave in the pan.
When your potatoes are cooked, turn the heat to low, squirt a little lemon juice on them, and throw in the sliced green garlic.  Toss well and cook for another minute on low heat, just to soften the garlic a bit.
Taste your potatoes and asparagus, make sure everyone is okay on salt and acid, if not add a little more.

   By now your chicken should be ready to carve.  Break it down with a sharp knife and arrange the pieces on a platter, on top of the potatoes.  Then skim the fat off the cooking juices, and pour onto the chicken, including the carrots and onions.  Taste the chicken, if it needs a little more salt, sprinkle a few pinches over the  meat.

                                                        
   Please don't take the skin off the chicken. EAT IT!!!!! As Nina Plank explains on her amazing book Real Food: "...chicken fat is mostly monounsaturated and polyunsaturated, two fats even the conventional experts say are healthy...Chickens raised on pasture contain more conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), an unusual fat that builds lean muscle.(...) The diet of the bird affects the composition of the fat. (...)  Typically, chicken fat is about 40% monounsaturated oleic acid, which lowers LDL."
 Toss the arugula with a little olive oil, salt, pepper and lemon juice, and mix in the asparagus in.
Dinner is served!

   We were lucky enough to have some leftover Olive Oil and Orange Pound cake, so I candied some kumquats from the market, and we had that for dessert.
  

                                                  
  I know everyone is not that lucky, so scavenge around your fridge and see what you can find. Alternatively, send the boy(s) to the corner store to get you some Haagen Dazs or Ben and Jerry's :)

  This meal was so tasty, and so fresh.  Everything we ate came from a farmer that C knew. Even the spices (Two Spicy Ladies).  And the Padron forgotten on the summer garden, resilient through fall and winter, still there almost in spring.

  If you can get everything for this meal at your local farmers market, please do.  Talk to the farmers, get to know them, and allow them to get to know you.
If not, then at least think of how you can make your meals one step closer to the people who raised and grew them.  You don't have to change your life all at once, just take baby steps, and you'll see how much tastier your food can be.