February in Photos

Recent Breakfast of Champions: a bean tostada topped with a fried egg.




Sometimes it pays to spend an afternoon staring at the ground.




You never know when you will spot a vagabond.




Freight trains cross the Cumberland in East Nashville...




... and sit idle in South Nashville.




Meanwhile the frozen wetlands in Shelby Park are beginning to thaw. Spring is coming.







BONUS SHOT

This is a collage I made as part of a mail-exchange project.

Vegan Red Beans and Rice

It's been a while since I've posted a recipe, so here's a little something for those of you looking forward to mardi gras, or anyone hankering for something hearty, spicy and vegan.



Vegan Red Beans and Rice (with Veggie Sausage)

Ingredients

For the Rice
1/2 cup diced onion
1 Tb olive oil
1/2 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp oregano
2 cups of vegetable broth
1 cup brown basmati rice¹
a dash of salt and pepper

For the Beans
1 Tb olive oil
1/2 cup diced onion
3-5 cloves garlic minced
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 bell pepper², chopped
2 15oz cans of kindney beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups of chopped veggie sausage³
1 - 2 cups of vegetable broth
1 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
2 bay leaves
1 tsp or more cayenne sauce or other hot sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Let's get cooking!

Start with the rice. In a small pot over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the chopped onions and sauté until transparent. Add the spices, broth and rice. Bring to a boil, slap a lid on it and lower the heat to a soft simmer. Let simmer for 50 minutes or so until done. Easy Peasy!

While the rice is doing its thing, prepare the beans. In a large soup pot sauté the onions in the olive oil over medium heat until they are tender. Add the garlic and sauté another minute. Add the celery and bell peppers, and sauté for another 3 minutes or so. Add the kidney beans and sausage and stir well to combine. Add just enough vegetable broth to give the whole mess a stew-like consistency. (You don't have to drown everything, but you want enough broth so you can get a nice sauce going. I think I used about 1.5 cups.) Finally, add the spices and hot sauce and lower the heat so the beans can simmer. Stir occasionally, crumbling the sausage and mashing the beans as they soften; this will help thicken up the sauce. The beans will be done when the vegetables are all softened and the sauce is nice and thick - about 20-30 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.



When everything is cooked, filled your bowl with a big scoop of rice, a big scoop of beans, and maybe lace the top with some more hot sauce. This stuff is stick to your ribs good. It's even better after a day or two in the fridge.




FOOTNOTES

1. I used brown basmati, but you can use whatever kind of rice you have on hand. Just remember to adjust the cooking time and the ratio of broth to rice accordingly.

2.
Sad to say, but I'm with His Airness on this one. Green bell peppers are super delicious raw, but once you cook them they become bitter, mushy messes. Since I am a petulant moneybags these days I have switched over to yellow, orange or red bell peppers for anything that goes on or in the stove.

3. You can use store bought veggie sausages, or make your own. I used leftover homemade veggie sausages from this recipe:
Chorizo-style Vegan Sausages from Vegan Brunch by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. Here's what they looked like before I chopped them up:

Zoo School, part 1

I have been animal crazy my who life. In kindergarten I began flipping logs and catching salamanders. By fourth grade I was catching snakes. I've kept nearly every pet my family/significant other would allow: hamsters, gerbils, rats, mice, water snakes, fighting fish, anoles, iguanas, parakeets and many other critters. In another lifetime where I am less paralyzed by math I will become a biologist and live out my dreams of studying the natural world. But until that reincarnation, there is Zoo School.

I am currently training to become a volunteer docent at the Nashville Zoo. As a docent my job is informal interpretation: answering questions, providing information and showing off "biofacts" like skulls, pelts and preserved specimens. This is a dream come true for me.

When I received the training schedule, I was utterly delighted. Who wouldn't want to take a class called Zone 1 - Entry Village exhibits {meerkat, macaws, lorikeets, etc}. Just to repeat, I AM TAKING A CLASS ABOUT MEERKATS.

We had our first class yesterday and it was a blast. I sat there the whole time thinking Wow, I really get to do this. This is really real. We spent part of the class discussing the mechanics of zoo interpretation and biofact use. The rest of the class was devoted to an exhibit called The Unseen New World, a collection of fish, reptiles, birds and amphibians from the Americas and West Indies. We moved through the exhibits at molasses speed, discussing the animals and habitats with keepers and experienced docents. We learned how to tell the caimans apart, which animals were a-courting, and which turtles had to be separated because they wouldn't stop a-courting in front of guests. Even though I am pretty well read on wildlife I learned so much, especially talking to the aquaria keeper. Needless to say, I am super stoked for my next class.

Here are some of my new friends:



These Mexican Beaded Lizards may look sweet sleeping, but they are one of the few venomous lizards in the world.





Here a Caiman Lizard (not to be confused with the crocodilian caiman) shows off its swimming skills.





A staring contest with a Black Pacu. I love its weird mouth.



QUOTE OF THE DAY:
little boy, looking at a stingray: "It looks like a QUESADILLA!!!!"
dad: "..."

My Secret Weapons

Although I fancy myself a pretty decent cook, I am not afraid to admit my undying affection for these two little kitchen cheats. Without them, I would be sad and lost, unable to make a 5 minute tostada or ultra-luxe croutons to save a wimpy soup.

Penzey's Sandwich Sprinkle: This shit is legendary. Originally devised as a crouton spice blend, this mix of garlic, salt and stuffing herbs (basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme and marjoram) is perfect for when a dish needs just a little oomph. Also, it makes everything taste like Thanksgiving. Brilliant in salad dressing, stuffing, gravy, eggs (and egg sandwiches) and anything involving a potato. And fear not, Penzey's does not lie; it does make rad croutons. From the back of the bottle: mix 2 cups of bread cubes & 1 TB seasoning, saute in 2 TB butter or olive oil until crispy. So easy it doesn't even need a complete sentence. PS: although my little vegetarian heart breaks to say it, I bet it would be killer on a turkey sandwich with lettuce, tomato and mayo.

Tabasco Chipotle Pepper Sauce: While Sandwich Sprinkle has been my jam for the past year, me and Tabasco Chipotle go way back. I've been chugging this stuff since I found a bottle of it at FoodLand in 2005, and I've still totally entranced by its rich, smoky flavor. Naturally, it is fantastic on anything tex-mex, mixed into refried beans or blooped into chili. It's also the secret and vital ingredient in my stand-by quick meal of beans, hominy and greens (recipe to be featured in a later post). Lastly, this shit makes a KILLER MARINADE. The basic recipe is soy sauce + Tabasco Chipotle + minced garlic + white wine. Throw it on some tofu and stick it in the fridge overnight. Fry it up the next day and die because it is so delicious that you plucked out your own eyeballs.

Jules Verne is a Helpful Cat

With Matt in school and me working full-time, it's hard to find the time to do everything that needs to get done. That's why we are very, very lucky to have a helpful cat by the name of Jules Verne.


Jules Verne is a fabulous organizer. Here she is packing up some books to be stored in the basement. Good kitty! Watch out for brown recluse spiders while you are down there!





Like many people I hate folding laundry and putting it away. Fortunately Jules Verne is an expert at folding laundry. She can even fold those elastic-edged fitted sheets without ending up with a fabric lump resembling a tumor. Check out this folding prowess!





But what good is a cat-maid without a deep, tender emotional connection? Jules Verne greets us each day with the warm affection of a wet-nurse. Here she is making sure overworked Matt gets enough sleep. Growing brains need rest!





Yes, we are very, very lucky to have a helpful cat like Jules Verne.

Winter in Nashville

Every week or so we get an inch of snow, not even enough to cover the scraggly blades of grass in our backyard. And every week the sun breaks through with deep blue skies that stretch from horizon to horizon, and the snow is gone in a day, in hours, in minutes. I apologize to my Northern friends; while nothing is growing here we still get those whiffs of soft dirt and warmed air that sing spring. I'm sorry our January feels like February, and our February skips to late March and flowers and rainstorms. It's not fair.

Growing up in New England, I always recognized the first robin of spring as a harbinger of budding trees and thin jackets. In Pittsburgh giant swarms of robins filled the parks after the last snow, pulling worms from the dirt and leaving the tunnels open to the sky. But now the robin is a winter bird; flocks fifty to one hundred deep line the telephone wires and fill trees with rustles and chirps. Snowy mornings are pandemonium: birds careen from yard to yard, looking for exposed dirt and fighting over the last of the fall's forgotten fruits. The robins are not alone; they are joined by mockingbirds and clumps of greasy-looking starlings, and occasional strikes by ravens or small hawks. One snowy morning I looked up in surprise to see three seagulls winging westward, their long thin wings and throaty call unmistakable, even 700 miles inland.

It's true that you never want what you have. This mild winter makes me long for the feet of snow burying my mother's house and envious of the my friends' slow, slushy bus rides to work. I miss the kind of winter where you feel like you are surviving. Where a walk to the state store for a bottle of wine becomes an exercise in character-building. Where you hole up at your buddy's house, under blankets and wool hats, bullshitting all night because it's too cold to walk home. Those kind of winters thicken your backbone and make the spring that much more of a miracle.

Friends, do not lament your cold and adverse winters. Do not envy me. For six months from now, when you are wearing light shirts and walking by a river, I will be driven indoors by endless blazing sun, soaked with sweat, and wracked with migraines from humidity so thick you can cut it with a knife.

Barszcz Czerwony (Red Beet Soup)

For the past five years or so I have had a borscht problem. Basically, everything in borscht sounds delicious: sweet chopped beets, lots of onions and garlic, so-good-for-you cabbage, and a rich hearty broth perfect for a dollop of sour cream. With the best of intentions I have made borscht about a dozen times over the years, and each time I have been utterly underwhelmed with the result. As I geared up for my latest attempt, I thought long and hard about why my borscht has failed where so many other soups have succeeded. After much reflection, I think I have fingered my culprit: the 28oz can of chopped tomatoes.

Now I am not totally anti-canned tomato. There is a time and place for it - when making chili or a wintertime marinara, or anything where you know you are going to spice the heck out of it. However, in a dish as simple and guileless as borscht, there is nothing to cut that overwhelming canned tomato taste. Also, I feel like tomatoes and beets are a rough combination; the acid in the tomatoes negates the sweetness of the beets and leaves you with a big bowl of pink, bland mush.

I built this borscht recipe from the ground up, doing a little research into regional variations and taking out everything I don't like while adding in a little extra of what do. The end result is a little closer to an extra-chunky Polish Barszcz, and will really sing if made with homemade vegetable broth.



Barszcz Czerwony (Red Beet Soup)

ingredients
1 Tbs olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 stem of celery, chopped
1-2 carrots, chopped into coins
4 small beets with greens (peel and chop beets, rinse and chop greens including stems)
1 potato, peeled and chopped
2 cups red cabbage, chopped into thin ribbons
1/3 cup red wine
4 cups of vegetable broth, homemade or high quality
2 bay leaves
fresh ground pepper
salt
the juice of 1/2 a lemon

Sauté the onion in a the olive oil over medium heat until the onion is transparent. Add in the garlic, celery and carrot and sauté for one minute more. Add the chopped beet greens and cabbage, as well as the red wine. Pop a cover on the pot and allow the steam from the red wine to wilt the beet greens. When they are softened add the chopped beets, potatoes, vegetable broth and bay leaves. Bring to a boil and then turn the heat down to a simmer. Simmer maybe 15 - 20 minutes until the beets are soft. Add salt and fresh ground pepper (light on the salt, heavy on the pepper) and lemon juice. Take a bite and close your eyes, because you live in flavor country now and it is Kraków.