Potato and Leek Galette...and Listening

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Cooking is relatively easy.  Listening is hard.  


I repeat...Listening. is. hard.  


I have always wanted to be a better listener to others.  Time and time again, I fail rather  miserably in that category.  Look at me.  I am such a chatterbox, word warrior, sentence streamer... that I have to resort to talking to the World Wide Web.  Seriously!


The advice I have been told over and over again by mothers who have gone before me and reared teens is that the key is:  Listen to them. 


Sheeeeesh.   Like I said, this potato and leek galette is easy!  Listening... is a challenge.  What they didn't say to me is that listening involves hearing what your KIDS' interests are, not what I would prefer discussing.  My kids' eyes glaze over when I get tickled by how expertly I diced my onion and want to demonstrate for them my newfound technique.  Where is their fascination with my budding culinary talents?

My eyes glaze over when I am excitedly approached and  eagerly engaged in a scene by scene description of the current novel  or heroic deed  of "Vorax the Brave" in the latest video game.  Whether it be play-by-play of Vorax's escapades within the medieval lands or scene-by- scene of the tortuous struggles by "Saffron the Light" throughout the novel, its not always easy to engage actively in your teens' world of hobbies.


But I'm working on it... the "glazed eyes" that is.  Video games and fantasy fiction just aren't up my alley!  I'm working on being a better listener; just like I am working on mastering recipes that strike my fancy; just like I am working on mastering photography so that one out of 5 photos I submit to food publications don't get rejection e-mails.  


(To my fellow food bloggers...don't you just hate those rejection e-mails?  Ouch.  Oh that could be a lament for another article...)

Anyway, just as I am listening with my eyes to the nuances of light on the tip of a frosted cupcake and with my nose to the just right smell of baking bread, I am working on listening to my teens.

Now, a little about this galette.  It is delicious.  Who doesn't like crisped potatoes and leeks sliced in a pancake round?  My biggest piece of advice making this is to be sure (REALLY SURE) that you use a a non-stick pan.  Are you listening?  Hmmmmm??  If not, return to the top of this article and re-read.  I took a risk and thought I could flip the galette easily enough.  Nope.  Need a non-stick pan.  See?  I didn't listen!   Sigh.

This would make a great appetizer for a small group.  Its a nice little savory to cut into wedges for a party.  The colors are pleasing but the aroma is what is enticing. 

Enjoy!  I'm going to go now and hear what my kids have to say... about Vorax... and Saffron!

Potato and Leek Galette with Watercress
(adapted from Martha Stewart Living, April 2011)




Prep Time: 10 minutes      Total Time:  20 minutes
Yield:  Serves 4


Ingredients:






1 large russet potato, peeled and grated (1 1/2 cups)
1 small leek, white and pale-green parts only, thinly sliced crosswise and rinsed well
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup watercress, trimmed
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Recipe:

Place potato in a bowl of cold water, and let soak for 10 minutes. Drain well in a salad spinner or squeeze in a clean kitchen towel to remove excess water. Combine potato, leek, flour, nutmeg, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Scatter potato mixture in skillet, and press lightly with a spatula to make sure it holds together. Cook until underside is golden, about 6 minutes. Flip. Raise heat to medium-high. Cook until underside is golden, 4 to 5 minutes.

Turn out galette. Toss watercress with lemon juice and 1 1/2

teaspoons oil, and place on top of galette. Slice into 8 wedges.

Chicken, Fennel, and Artichoke Fricassee

Continuing to be inspired by all of the spring recipes popping up everywhere, this dish here certainly caught my attention.  The crispy chicken, sauteed fennel and roasted artichokes were such delightful combinations for this dish.

 I know we're supposed to choose the healthier white meat option but I really don't think the dish would have been flavored so richly and aromatically if I had used boring chicken breasts.  The enticing crispiness of the chicken browning up on the stove top is just wrong but - oh, so right.  This is a definite do-again.  This dish is so full of delicious scents and beautiful spring colors, easy to prepare, and feeds a large group.  

I often go to the "Pioneer Woman" blog when I am overwhelmed with the homeschooling world we have chosen.  

I  immediately identify with Pioneer Women's  "homeschool" anecdotes.  I love her tongue-in-cheek approach to this very demanding of roles.  I gleen inspiration from her on days when I am scratching my head and seriously asking myself "why, Why, WHY?" did we choose this homeschooling path.  

We are crawling along to the end of our school year with all of the typical "burn-out" sentiments of our friends who attend public and private schools.  Taking long walks with my husband is definitely therapeutic.  On weekends, we leash up an always eager Chester and take off towards the nearby lake.  We walk along this gorgeous wall bursting with honeysuckle and become intoxicated with the heady perfumed air.  

Now that our children are called "teens", it is wonderful that they can "weigh in" on our schooling decisions with opinions and wishes of their own.  They have classes in a small private school here in Texas where they take their science and math courses with groups of other kids. 

However, when we hit a rare day when we truly "homeschool" and the day is filled with deeper conversations, rich documentaries, and quiet study for hours, that is when they tell me how much they appreciate our decision.  

They understand the importance of working in groups, volunteering by giving presentations at the museum, answering to the deadlines of teachers.  "Yes, Mom, stop trying to socialize us. We're over-socialized!  Can't we just have a few more days of  "down time?" is often the request I am asked.  

It saddens me to see that their world has become a hectic frenzy of deadlines, exams, packed social schedules, and concerns about grades.  That is the reality of our world though, isn't it?  Yes, it is.

I can mostly offer comfort in family dishes relished, time shared at the table exploring world happenings, and musings about the many "what-ifs" of the future. 


As we all watch the events unfold this week, from the merriment and festivities of the Royal Wedding in London, to the dramatic killing of a man deemed to be responsible for attacks on our country, we wonder and reflect on the emotive images and sounds that we hear this week.


However, as Patrick and I take our long walks around our home, in one of the most diversely populated cities we have seen outside of NYC, what we see around us is a universal human desire for time spent together, enjoyment of beauty through nature, and yearning for a better world for our children.  It never fails to utterly amaze me when I watch the myriad of international families living in our neighborhood interact with their children.  

Playfulness, Joy, Hope, and Love are the common threads of sentiment that I see.  Am I mistaken?  Watch any family interacting with their children.  Is that not love personified?  

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken (about 4 pounds), cut into 10 pieces (Snippets Notes: I chose all thighs and legs)
Course salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 fennel bulb, trimmed and cut into 1/4-inch wedges, 1/4 cup fronds reserved
1 can (15 oz) water-packed whole artichokes, drained
1 small red onion, cut into 1/2-inch wedges
1 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon red-wine vinegar
3 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped

Recipe:

Preheat oven to 425º.  Season chicken with 1 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper.  Heat oil in a large ovenproof skillet over high heat until hot but not smoking.  Brown chicken on all sides, 8 to 10 min.  Transfer to a plate.  Pour off all but 1 TBS fat.  Reduce heat to medium-high.  Brown fennel wedges, artichokes, and onion in skillet, stirring occasionally, 2 to 3 min. (Breathe in this incredible aroma!)

Return chicken to skillet. Add stock.  Transfer to oven.  Braise until cooked through, 18 to 20 min.  Transfer chicken and vegetables to a platter.  Reduce braising liquid over high heat to about 1/3 cup.  Stir in vinegar.  Pour sauce over chicken, and top with fennel fronds and parsley.

Fava Bean and Goat Cheese Dip with Radishes

After being so thrilled to find all of those beautiful fava beans at Canino's  Mexican Market here in Houston, I knew I was set to make this delicious looking dip in Martha Stewart's April issue.  We had a busy weekend with many activities beginning to wind down for the school year.  I knew there might be some fast food runs here and there so I wanted to make something healthy for at home.

My son's "Odyssey of the Mind" team qualified for the state competition. That would keep us quite busy for half of the weekend.  His team was challenged to build a contraption that would perform a "simple" task like hammering.  They had to come up with a skit and tie the contraption to a storyline that included a famous person from history.  They created a story line about a lost invention of Leonardo da Vinci. 

The ingredients that went into this dip were simple but so aromatic. It was a wonderful dish to pull together because it is so visually appealing.  The lemon zest and juice with the fresh snippets of tarragon made my nose buds tingle.

Fresh Fava Beans from the market

The soft goat cheese is a perfect partner for the mild fava beans and the sharp crispness of the radishes.
I just cannot believe I haven't eaten radishes until now.  They are so good...well...especially spread with this dip.

Fava beans are the prettiest color green.  They are fun to shell because the pod is so big that they really "snap" quite satisfactorily!

The team did a great job.  Often I had to chuckle at the variety of pieces and parts teams were carting up and down the hallways.  All items for costumes and apparatus must come from scrap parts so some of the uses of foil, candy wrappers, soda cans, and whatnot were pretty amusing.  The judges were wonderfully kind and supportive of the kids.  Many of them had funny hats that they wore during the competition to create a light-hearted mood.

As the school year draws to a close, events like this help mark the end of so many new experiences for us here in our new home of Texas.  This was a tough move for all of us but we are finding our place slowly but surely in this metropolis.  We enormously appreciate the diversity of cultures all coming together in this city.  We always feel like we've just tipped the edge of discoveries waiting for us here.

Fava Bean and Goat Cheese Dip with Radishes

Fava Bean and Goat Cheese Dip with Radishes Recipe:
(adapted from the April issue of Martha Stewart Living)

Ingredients:

2 pounds fava beans, shelled
1/2 cup soft goat cheese (4 oz)
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest,
plus 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon water, plus more if needed
1 bunch radishes, halved if large

Prepare an ice-water bath.  Bring a saucepan of salted water to boil.  Cook fava beans until tender, 1 to 2 minutes.  Drain, and transfer to ice-water bath.  Let cool.  Drain, and peel beans.

Pulse beans, goat cheese, oil, tarragon, lemon zest and juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a food processor until just combined but still chunky, about 6 or 7 times.

Stir in water.  Add an additional tablespoon water if mixture is too thick.  Transfer to a bowl.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.  Sprinkle with pepper just before serving.  Serve with radishes. (Snippets Notes:  I found these imported thin crackers at Whole foods that had bits of figs and hazelnuts in them.  I know, it sounds odd but in addition to the radishes, they also added a nice crunch)

Ingredients:

Sweet Petite Cupcakes with Sugared Flower Petals

With the flutter of incoming Spring, all sorts of "rites of passage" events begin unfolding all across the U.S.  One of the most important to juniors and seniors in high school is "The Prom".

In our homeschooling world, we have what is called "The Gala".  I know, we could have just called it "The Prom" but we just have to do things a bit differently...

For a teen girl, this means shopping for formal dresses and pretty sparkly shoes, pampering the nails and toes, and booking a hair salon for that romantic and elegant "up-do".

But the swirling thoughts in this mother's mind were "What should I bake for the pre-party?".  It should be sweet, elegant and petite.  That's when I eyed these hydrangea flowers at the market.  They were so soft, fragile, and velvety.

Something with sprinkles and flowers sounded like a good idea.  Little petite cupcakes.

The girls spent the day in full girlie preparation for the evening Gala.  Toes were polished, hair was curled up in ringlets.  My daughter and her sweet friend Mary are huge Jane Austen fans and this is their modern day version.

I spent the day making crystalized flower petals.

When I snipped off a hydrangea petal and held it upside down, it was in a nice little heart shape.  These could be the adornment for the tip of my petite cupcakes.

The Limosine was parked outside.  The belles of the ball and the dashing young gentlemen all arrived. Along with the fun and frolic came my petite cupcakes with their crystalized flower petals.  Photos were capturing the moment and sweet bites of small treats were savored.

The day was ending for my baking quest to make  little sweets to bring for their gathering.  The night was just beginning for these young ladies and gentlemen, who were all swept  into the waiting limo, ready for hours of dining and dancing.

Sweet Petite Cupcakes with Crystalized Flowers:

Cupcakes:
(adapted from Martha Stewart's cupcake recipe)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup milk

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cupcake pan with paper liners; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time; scrape down bowl, and beat in vanilla.
3. Add flour mixture and milk alternatively, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
4. Divide batter evenly among liners, about three-quarters full each. Bake until golden and tops spring back to touch, about 20 minutes, rotating pan once if needed. Transfer pans to wire rack; cool completely.

Frosting:

I must admit.  My first batch of frosting was a dismal failure.  At room temperature, the butter cream frosting I made started to droop and sag on the cupcakes.  I decided to buy canned cream cheese frosting.  It worked beautifully.  It has the texture and strength to really sit up and hold the sprinkles.  

Flowers:

Whisk the whites of one egg until bubble and frothy.  Take a small paintbrush and lightly coat the flower petals.  (Snippets Notes:  I do one or two petals at a time and then sprinkle with sugar)  Lightly sprinkle the petals with sugar.  Let air dry in a safe spot over night until stiff and sparkly!  

Poached Rhubarb with Saboyan Cream

Poached rhubarb with Kirsch Sabayon

I decided I wanted to make a variety of spring dishes to celebrate the turning  of seasons.  I was so inspired by that Mexican market and the bundle of vanilla beans I discovered there.  It seems that in every other program of "The Take Home Chef", Curtis Stone is hailing the necessity of using REAL vanilla, straight from the pod.  As he excitedly scrapes his knife  along the slender skin of the pod, I can't imagine that tiny bit of mushiness can be that impactful.

But it most certainly can.  And, now I have experienced its beautiful-ness myself.

Did you know that a vanilla bean is the stamen of an orchid and is native to Mexico? I most certainly did not know this. No wonder there were buckets of them at Canino's market.     And small tidbits like this, just give us fodder to procrastinate many times during our day.  We are intrepid googlers and it only takes an "I wonder why...." to get the googling going...

Vanilla Bean goodness...all bottled up

When my husband and I had recently graduated from college, we were both hired by the same company.  I moved from NYC and he from Missouri way up to Michigan.  We were introduced to the stalky plant called rhubarb because it seemed to dominate a section of our yard.

Vanilla beans from Canino's market

Our neighbors spotted it growing there and asked if they could have a bunch.  We had never heard of rhubarb, being a midwestern and a southern couple.  It certainly didn't look appetizing or even pretty for that matter.  We figured it was some sort of pink celery that they wanted to slice up in a salad.

Vanilla seeds scraped from the orchid pod.  Oh the smell! 

A few hours later, they knocked on the door and proudly presented to us a fresh out of the oven rhubarb crisp.  We all sat down and had a bowl of this dessert with a scoop of ice cream.

Rhubarb.

Now we know.  Who knew?  Who cares?  Rhubarb = Amazing!

I looked at our stalky overgrown patch of it in our yard with new felt pride.

I came across this recipe using rhubarb and thought that it reminded me so much of that spring so many years ago.  We were so young.  We had our first house.  Life was so simple and sweet.  We had money jingling in our finally employed pockets.  Rhubarb Crisp certainly helped add to the sweet newness of everything in those post college and newlywed years.

What I quickly learned here in the South is that rhubarb is not easily found.  It is a northern plant.  It likes cold soil and close to freezing temperatures.  That must have been why Patrick and I weren't familiar with it from childhood memories.  Cold is also certainly foreign to Texas.  People at the grocery looked at me very quizzically when I asked where is the rhubarb.  I read the recipe again and still really wanted to try it out.  Finally...I found a bunch and snatched it up realizing it probably travelled pretty far to get into my recipe.

S. Kenney - 2011 (not rhubarb, just my pretty flower!)

The colors in rhubarb are subtle but very beautiful.  It reminded me of this flower that I photographed recently.  Only in the spring time do you see such vibrant jewel tones as flower buds present candy colors that are fresh and clean.  Rhubarb is the perfect spring plant and represents the season well.

rhubarb...poaching in sugary syrup

At first, when I was making this spring dessert, I thought it was going to be rather uninteresting and plain.  The rhubarb boiling in the pan did look like chunks of pink celery.  I was a little nervous the 3 eager critiquers here would be feigning politeness.  Especially after the Easter Bird's Nest cake!

The Sabayon cream is mainly whipped yolks and sugar.  The recipe called for elderflower liqueur. Patrick and I went out to a new wine shop that just opened here in town.  After passing in front of two liquor stores, we remembered that we now live in Texas.  Closed on Sundays.  Closed ALL DAY on Sundays.  Grrrrrr.

S.Kenney 2011

I decided to replace this elderberry liqueur with kirch (cherry) liqueur because we had some at home.  Again,  the entire presentation didn't look like too much at this point and I thought perhaps I had hit a recipe that was photographed to look like much prettier than in reality.

Trust me.  This was not the case.

After my first taste of the poached rhubarb with a small dollop of the cream on the spoon, I experienced profound happiness.

Oh. My.Word.  If spring could be scooped into a bowl, this is IT!

The rhubarb is sweet and syrupy, earthy and rustic in presentation.  The sabayon cream is velvety, rich and deeply floral in nature.  The two pair sublimely together.  The colors are fresh, sweet, and delicate.
I will definitely be experimenting more with poaching fruit and adding a cream to it.

S.Kenney 2011

What a light dessert.  Spring is a short season.  Before the heavy heat of Texas descends, I need recipes like this.  Its the season of long walks.  Baby spiders are beginning to weave their web of seasonal change and sparkle in corners and crevices.

Poached rhubarb with saboyan cream

The air feels fresh and clean.  The wind blows soft and cool.  Overnight it seems, baby shoots of flowers open and dominate the fields.

A walk in the neighborhood

I wonder if we'll see another adorable family of little ducks like we saw last spring.  I'll have to tuck my camera with me and be on the look out.  One thing is for sure, the herons are flapping their graceful long wings and creating such artistic pleasure as they dominate the sky with their lanky physique.

To all those coming out of long, harsh winters in the North, you should celebrate one fortunate fact.  Rhubarb is a Northern plant.  It is spring bottled up in a relatively unattractive stalk.  Its a gift to the northern climate for sure.

Poached Rhubarb with Elderflower Sabayon
(Adapted from Martha Stewart Living, April 2011)

Serves 4
3 cups water
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped, pod reserved
1 strip (2 inches) lemon zest
1 1/2 pounds rhubarb, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
4 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons elderflower liqueur, such as St.-Germain, or any other sweet, floral liqueur
(Snippets Notes: Due to it being Sunday, all liqueur stores were closed so I used Kirsch which is cherry.  We thought it tasted wonderful)

1.  Prepare an ice-water bath.  Bring water, 2 cups sugar, the vanilla seeds and pod, and lemon zest to a boil in a wide, shallow saucepan.  Stir.  Reduce heat.  Simmer for 10 minutes.  Add rhubarb, and simmer gently until just tender, 3 minute. (Snippets Notes:  Important not to over cook.  Don't go too far away from the bubbling mixture. If over cooked, it is instantly mushy)  Transfer to a bowl set in ice-water bath.  Let cool completely.  Divide among 4 bowls.

2. Whisk together remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, the egg yolks, and the elderflower liqueur in a double boiler or a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water.  Cook, whisking constantly, until sabayon is tripled in volume, frothy, and warm to the touch, 6 to 8 minutes.  (Snippets Notes:  Do not walk away.  I went to pour a cup of coffee and within 1 minute I had scrambled eggs and had to start over.  Baby, baby, baby it)
Serve immediately over rhubarb.
3 cups