"Woody Guthrie sang about b-e-e-t-s...

...not b.e.a.t.s." I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts - Jon Doe & Exene Cervenka.

Everyone gets a craving now and then, ice cream, pickles, a really good burger, but how many people - besides me and the insane - stop dead in their tracks between loads of laundry and decide they have to have beets for dinner. Don’t answer that, I already know.

I hated beets as a kid, but I grew up with those nasty things that came canned so, no wonder, right? But years ago I was in a restaurant, who knows now which one or where, when the server convinced me to try a roasted beet salad before my entree. It was an epiphany. They were woody, earthy, and just a little sweet from the caramelized sugars. I probably made a cartoon face after the first bite.

Roasted Beet Salad with Balsamic Glaze - by Blog O. Food

4 medium-sized beets, greens trimmed and well scrubbed Extra virgin olive oil Salt 6 oz pancetta, cut into ¼" cubes 2 Tbsp, toasted shaved almonds ½ lb Frisée, torn apart ½ cup balsamic vinegar 1 tsp sugar 1 tsp lemon zest 2-4 Tbsp lemon juice Freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400° F. Line a small baking dish with aluminum foil. Rub beets with olive oil and season with salt, then place in a single layer in the dish. Cover the beets with another piece of foil. Bake for at least 90 minutes. You can test for doneness by piercing the beets with a fork, but the longer they roast, the sweeter they'll get.

While the beets roast, render the fat out of the pancetta by browning in a small skillet over medium to medium-low heat. Start everything out with a  dollop of bacon fat like your granny taught you. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10-15 minutes, or until crispy and all the fat rendered. Reserve fat for future use. I use a creamer I bought on Great Chebeague. Grandma used a coffee can, you can too. It'll add the faintest soupçon of legitimacy to your kitchen. I keep mine frozen between uses.

Once you've removed the beets from the oven and they're cooling, start the balsamic glaze. In a small skillet add the vinegar and sugar. Heat on high until the vinegar has reduced to a thick syrup. Stir in the lemon juice and remove from the heat.

Once the beets are cool enough to handle, carefully peel away the outer skin. Yes, this fastidiously anal Nancy uses gloves. Do you know how expensive a manicure is these days! Quarter the beets.

Add the beets, pancetta, and lemon zest to the Frisée in a large mixing bowl. Drizzle the balsamic glaze over the ingredients and gently toss to distribute everything. Pile servings on salad plates, sprinkle the almonds on top, and garnish with lemon wedges. Serves 3-4 as a starter salad.

I got my vegetables, greens, protein and a little crunch all from one dish, and a tasty one at that. Kinda nice to eat light and healthy, and just in time for bikini season!

Thanks for taking the time - Blog O. Food

Although my boy Matty O. Food hasn't worn a bikini in years, he knows this recipe is for him. Three words, bro: Show And Tell.

Just One More

Omelet - Recipe courtesy of Alton Brown at the Food Network

3 eggs Salt 1 tsp room temperature butter, plus ½ tsp for finishing omelet ½ teaspoon fresh chopped chives

Crack warm eggs into a mixing bowl, add a pinch of salt, and beat with a fork. Heat a 10" skillet or medium-high heat. Once pan is hot, add butter and brush around the surface of the pan. Pour eggs into center of pan and stir vigorously with a rubber spatula for 5 seconds. As soon as a semi-solid mass begins to form, lift the pan and swirl around to distribute the excess liquid egg pours into the pan. Using your spatula, move around the edge of the egg mixture to help shape into a round and loosened edge. Let omelet sit in pan for 10 seconds without touching.

Shake pan to loosen omelet for the bottom of the pan. Lift up the far edge of the pan and snap it back toward you. Using your spatula, fold over 1/3 of the omelet. Slide it onto a plate and fold over the other third, so that the omelet is a tri-fold. Coat with remaining butter and sprinkle with chives. Serve immediately.

Okay, this is not Alton's or even Julia Child's omelet. The poor girl is probably rolling over in her grave. But I'm just a lowbrow food blogger, and a purist only when it's convenient. I like STUFF in my omelet, but really I was looking for a way to use up the last of this week's asparagus.

I chopped several stalks of asparagus on a bias and pan-seared them in some hot olive oil for about 3-4 minutes, tossing frequently. I drained them and set them aside while I used the same pan to cook the egg (don't forget to add butter before cooking them). Just before I made the first 1/3 flip of the omelet, I added the asparagus and some grated cheese, in this case, smoked gouda. Then I followed the remainder of Alton's procedures. Want a pretty plate? Slice some fresh strawberries and fan out on the sides of the dish. Blueberries would have been good too. Ooh! Raspberries AND blueberries! Okay, I'm getting carried away here.

So, cooking for one still sucks, but the dishes don't have to. Next time you're home alone and want a quick, easy meal for yourself, you know where to turn.

Thanks for taking the time - Blog O. Food

Balsamic Honey Glaze...

...wrote a song about it. Like to hear it? Here it goes.

Back in cooking mode, but single in NYC for the weekend. Takeout? A cheese pie from the corner pizza joint? Not on your life! I have to bring my A-game to the table from here on out. So it's practice, practice, practice. Down to the local butcher shop I go for some chicken breasts on the bone and a scavenger hunt through the cupboards.

Balsamic Honey Glazed Chicken - by Blog O. Food

3 chicken breasts, bone in 3 lemons, juiced 4 Tbsp olive oil Fresh herbs (tarragon and/or thyme) finely chopped ⅓ cup balsamic vinegar 2 Tbsp honey 1 Tbsp water 2 cloves garlic, chopped

I marinated my chicken breasts in the lemon juice, oil, herbs and some salt & pepper for a couple hours in the refrigerator.

Start your glaze. Combine the balsamic vinegar, honey, water and garlic in a small sauce pan, bring to a boil, then simmer to reduce by one half.

Meanwhile, grill your chicken 7-8 minutes per side. It's my untried theory suspicion that a boneless chicken breast is easy prey to drying out when grilling. I believe that keeping the bone in when cooking helps the meat retain a little more flavor and moisture. But what do I know? Anyway, my breasts got the indoor grilling treatment on my double-sided cast iron grill from Lodge*. If you live in an apartment, or don't have an outdoor grill, this one will be in heavy rotation in your kitchen. I leave mine out on the stovetop.  It's heavy duty, versatile and needs little care aside from a good scrubbing after each use. (No soap! That'll remove the coveted seasoning you're looking to achieve with cast iron. Just use a good nylon pad and some elbow grease.)

How about a side dish? I did a quasi-Mediterranean variation on my hurry-up-and-eat couscous.

1 medium yellow onion, chopped 2 Tbsp roasted red peppers, chopped 1½ tsp capers 6 oz black olives, sliced 2 scallions (green or spring onions), sliced 1 cup whole wheat couscous ½ cup whole wheat couscous ½ water or chicken stock Salt & black pepper

Couscous basics:

1-1 ratio of couscous to cooking liquid. 1 pat of butter (½ Tbsp) and a pinch of salt per ½ cup of couscous. Always bring liquid, butter and salt to a boil before adding couscous. Remove saucepan from heat once couscous is thoroughly stirred in. Allow to rest, covered, for 5 minutes, and always fluff with a fork before serving.

In a small sauté pan over medium heat, sweat the onions with some salt and freshly ground black pepper in hot olive oil until the onions become translucent. Add the red peppers and cook to heat through, about 2 minutes. Add the capers and heat through. Finally toss in the olives, cover, and keep warm over low heat until the couscous is done. Add the cooked medley and the sliced scallions to the couscous, toss ingredients to combine and serve immediately.

Not bad, BOF, not bad. The sweet and tangy glaze had a gentle garlic kick. It clung to my sliced chicken breast splendidly and brought the white meat to life. The breast itself was moist and tender. Maybe I do know what I'm talking about! I'll be using the Lone Ranger as my laboratory rat with this recipe. Try it out on a loved one of your own tonight!

Thanks for taking the time - Blog O. Food

*BOF receives no financial remuneration when endorsing products.

Rainy Days and Mondays

We've had so many rainy weekends this spring, conspiracy theorists have started to foam at the mouth.

Usually, I love rainy days, their being such a novelty for a SoCal boy. But my day job depends on, if not sunny skies, then dry ones, and I've had to cancel too many softball games already this season. One more rainout and we'll have mutiny on our hands. Our university board of trustees frowns upon that sort of rebelliousness.

Rain will keep me from walking to the market from work as well, and I'm left to reply upon my own devices. That's a good thing!

Oven-roasted pork chops with orange & peppercorn glaze Roasted root vegetables Creamy herbed farfalle pasta

Start by preheating your oven to 425° F. In a baking dish, give a couple of peeled carrots, yellow onions and some garlic a rough chop and toss together with a splash of olive oil and a couple pinches of salt. Place on the center rack of the oven and roast for 45-60 minutes. Give them a toss half-way through the roasting time.

Pick some fresh herbs for the pasta and chop fine. I went with tarragon and just a little thyme. Fresh herbs are a lot more intense than dried, so temper that heavy hand when seasoning with the fresh stuff.

Once the roasted vegetables start to show a little caramelization, add a couple tablespoons of olive oil to a hot, oven-proof sauté pan. Set pork chops in the hot oil, season with freshly cracked black pepper and leave the chops undisturbed for 4-6 minutes, allowing them to develop a nice brown sear on one side. Flip the chops, season the browned side with more cracked pepper and place the pan in the oven to finish off with the vegetables for about 10 minutes. Let the chops rest on a warm serving platter while you finish the meal. Pour off most of the cooking fat from the sauté pan and add the juice of one orange and bring to a simmer. With a wooden spoon, scrape up the brown bits that have collected on the bottom of the pan. Let the sauce reduce by about half, and ladle onto the chops just before serving.

Meanwhile, add a half pound of farfalle noodles to boiling, salted water and cook about 6 minutes or so. The pasta should be just under-cooked. Drain the pasta, reserving some of the cooking liquid. Return the pasta to a skillet, add a couple heaping tablespoons of crème fraîche, the chopped herbs and just a pinch of red pepper flakes. Bring to a simmer. If your sauce is too thick, add some of the reserved pasta cooking liquid a tablespoon at a time. Once the pasta is al dente, remove from the heat and stir in two generous handfuls of grated parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.

I got extra thick chops from my Italian butcher earlier over the weekend. The time they spent in the oven left the faintest trace of pink, and plenty of moist tenderness to the flesh. The orange and cracked pepper reduction went wonderfully with the meat and the roasted veggies, and you all know how much I love roasted vegetables! What can I say about fresh tarragon? It has a sweet, licorice-y taste all its own. It's marvelous in a cream sauce.

So let the rain come down. I'll be snug in my apartment listening to the traffic whish along the wet streets, and whipping up wonders in my New York City kitchen. Insurrections be damned!

Thanks for taking the time - Blog O. Food

One Pot Wonders

Ugh... Cooking for one again. I should just eat cereal. Or find a husband. Or join a cult. Or open a restaurant. I dunno, I can't decide.

The ingredients:

Boneless, skinless chicken thighs Whole tomatoes Tomato paste Pine nuts Black and green olives Garlic Vegetable stock Spaghetti

Cube the chicken and brown it in batches in some peanut oil and a little butter. Season generously with kosher salt and cracked pepper. Remove the chicken, soften some chopped garlic in the oil, then deglaze the pan with a little white wine. Add the stock, whole tomatoes, tomato paste, toasted pine nuts and the browned chicken.

Bring to a simmer, cover and cook for 30 minutes.

Look how rich the sauce is already getting. Add sliced olives, some dried herbs (basil, thyme, bay leaves, parsley), cover and cook for 20 more minutes or until tomatoes soften.

Add dry spaghetti, stirring frequently until the noodles become pliable, then cover and allow to simmer until pasta is al dente.

Serve with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and a bottle of Pinot Grigio to help you forget you're eating alone.

Thankfully, my room mate showed up just as I was browning the chicken and he accepted my offer of a free meal. "It has a real soothing flavor," he announced after the first bite. I didn't press him for clarification, I was just grateful for the company.

Thanks for taking the time - Blog O. Food