Rainy day, popcorn day.

It has been raining on and off for a couple days and the ground is wet, the mood is high, and the air is soft. So I do what is right under those circumstances (as well as almost any other circumstance.) I make popcorn. Today it was plain popcorn cooked in light olive oil in my new Stir Crazy machine, a simple machine bought after being coveted for almost 6 years. A hearty sprinkle of fine popcorn salt and it was perfect. Popcorn is a food that never loses its appeal for me. Must be genetic since my sisters and son are the same - all popcorn, all the time. I've almost got my husband on the bandwagon, too. He likes his coated in caramel but is coming around to salted, buttered, or cheesed. Still raining, corn is ready. Anyone for a game of hearts?

A little ditty about summer festival food...

Oh, curly fries, how I love your greasy starchiness. Oh, funnel cake, your powdered sugar sticks to my fingers and your fatty batter sticks to my ribs. And speaking of ribs, pulled brisket, smoked chicken, bbq sauce, "Smoke Something" t-shirts, meat of all varieties on a stick - what festival would be the same without you? Snow cones, your red yellow green purple blue bright pink colors are shocking and delightful. Who can resist salty popcorn, sweet roasted nuts, cloud puff soft cotton candy, plastic delicious liquid nacho cheese? Not I. Damp fresh smell of roasted corn on the cob, charred smell of teriyaki sauce on a grill, sour pickle smell of hot dogs in their doughy gummy buns. Mmmmm, outdoor summer fair food.

A Little Spice is Nice

Here is a fabulous way to prepare chicken or turkey that gives the skin a dark spicy taste and the meat a rich smoky aspect. And you can do it in your own home oven without needing any special equipment. This is sure to become a favorite in your house as much as it is in mine.

Start with a whole kosher turkey or chicken. Kosher meat has already been soaked and salted, which means you get a bird that has been essentially brined for you. You can get them organic, free-range or conventional. Aaron's Best brand is especially good - you can usually find them frozen and sometimes fresh, depending on the size of the city where you live. If you start with a frozen one, defrost it. Then puree in the blender a small can of chipotle chilies in adobo sauce. You can actually get those kosher, too. These are smoky roasted jalapenos in a smoky rich tomato sauce. Add to them a dash of pomegranate syrup, if you've got it. This will add a little it of tangy sweet to the glaze - but it isn't necessary. Using a pastry brush or a sauce mop brush the whole turkey or chicken with this puree: top, bottom, inside, under wings, etc. Put it in a baking dish and into the hot oven. Start at 400 degrees for half an hour, then re-brush bird, turn over in the pan and lower temperature to 350. Cook until done (~20 minutes per pound), brushing more sauce onto meat ever 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to sit 20 minutes before carving. The skin will be spicy so you can discard it if you don't want the spice. This meat will be delicious hot and cold. Enjoy!

Ah that sushi...

Just returned from an all-you-can-eat sushi orgasmo dinner. The yellow tail was, as usual, fantastic. Ditto the tuna. Loved the avocado roll, the miso soup and the seaweed salad. But also as usual left craving coffee ice cream - a treat I haven't had in many years. What is it about being totally full, stomach bloated from all the sodium, light-headed buzz from all the raw fish that makes my body think that caffeine-loaded, sugary, fat-as-can-be ice cream is the exact answer? Instead will probably have a carob-coated rice dream sandwich. Life without caffeine is just not the same.

First Bite Boulder

It is that time of year again when local restaurants put on a $26-3 course dinner for a week. Now is your chance to sample some of the best that Boulder has to offer. Check out www.firstbiteboulder.com for menus and participating restaurants. Book early and eat often.

Brownie or Blondie?

There are few people who don't love brownies. Bake them fudgy and chewy or cake-like and crumbly; cut them into giant wedges or bite-sized squares - they are still yummy chocolate goodies. You can stir in white, dark or milk chocolate chips; you can top them with rainbow sprinkles, fresh raspberries or marshmallow cream; you can spike them with amaretto, espresso or Frangelico and you still won't have leftovers. But how about brownie's little sister, blondie? Not dark and rich and mysterious as chocolate but a delicious dessert or snack with a sparkling personality none-the-less. I like mine just chewy enough not to be cake but not really ooey gooey. You can stir in chocolate chips if you miss the cocoa or carob chips for variety (I am generally not a big fan of carob-as-chocolate-substitute but as a blondie addition they add a nice contrast to the sweetness.) Try this recipe and enjoy.
Melt 6 tablespoons butter in a sauce pan then remove from heat. Stir in 1 cup brown sugar. Beat in 2 eggs, one at a time. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350. Stir in 1/2 tablespoon vanilla. Add 1/2 teaspoon baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt then stir in 1 1/3 cups flour. Stir in any additions, pour into well-greased pan (square or round cake pan.) Bake until middle is set up, about 30-45 minutes. Cool before cutting so they can firm up. Variation 1: substitute amaretto for vanilla (or 1 teaspoon almond flavoring) and top with sliced almonds. Variation 2: substitute espresso or dark coffee for vanilla and stir in chocolate chips to make mocha blondies. Variation 3: swirl together blondie batter and brownie batter to make marble browndies.

Sponge Cake (or what about English Desserts?)

Sponge Cake (or what about English Desserts?)
Traditional English food is not known for its gourmet, healthful or even edible qualities. Steak and kidney pie is appealing only to the initiated, Sunday's roast dinner is heavy enough to leave most in a post-meal stupor and the other famous English dishes are borrowed from other cultures. Chicken tikka masaala takes all its flavors and name from Indian food, fish and chips were brought to England by Jewish Portuguese exiles and even that great lamb stew is Irish in origin. But what English cuisine lacks on the savory side it tries to make up with the sweets. Sticky toffee pudding can be found on menus of even very chi-chi restaurants here in the US. Spotted dick, treacle tart, steamed pudding (the most famous of these is the annual Christmas pudding) and blancmange are all classic English desserts. They translate to other cultures with varying degrees of success (can you imagine if the public schools here tried to serve a food called spotted dick? The mass hilarity would scupper all attempts at decorum in the lunch room.) But everyone can agree that sponge cake has universal appeal. Baked round, split into layers then filled with jam and whipped cream and served sprinkled with powdered sugar is the way it appears most often in England. I like to bake it in individual sized cakes then glaze them with truffle ganache. The cake can be complicated and involve many steps and extra ingredients. Here is a basic, easy recipe and some suggestions. Make an English expat happy.To make one 8 inch round or 8 individual cakes:4 eggs9 tablespoons sugar(zest of one orange or lemon)1 cup and 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, siftedPreheat oven to 340 degrees F; grease your pans. Start with all ingredients at room temperature. Put the eggs and sugar in a large bowl, whisk or beat to mix then place over a pan of simmering water (not boiling - too hot and you'll get scrambled eggs.) If you are using zest add it at this point. Either using a whisk or an electric mixer beat the eggs and sugar until they are light and airy. The mixture should be thick enough for a visible ribbon (when you lift the mixer a ribbon of the mixture should stay on top for a few seconds before sinking in.) Remove from the heat and keep beating until cool. Add the sifted flour (the sifting is important in this recipe. If you don't have a sifter then pass the flour through a small sieve) in three additions, carefully folding it into the egg mixture each time. You want the flour to be thoroughly incorporated but don't want to mix it vigorously and deflate the eggs. Pour into pans, very gently shake to evenly distribute the batter. Bake until golden and spongy, for a large cake about 20-30 minutes; 10 for individual ones. Cool slightly, remove from pans, cool completely on rack or plate. Once it is cool cut the large cake in half, spread the bottom with raspberry jam and a thick layer of stiff, slightly sweet whipped cream. Replace the top layer and heavily sprinkle with powdered sugar. Garnish with fresh berries and eat. Or make a truffle ganache: heat 1/2 cup whole milk or cream then stir in 1 cup dark chocolate, a drop of orange oil and 1 tablespoon butter. Allow to cool slightly then glaze the individual cakes with the ganache. (To do this put the cakes on a rack and spoon the ganache over each one until it runs down the side. You can do two or three layers of chocolate, as it starts to cool it will make a thick truffle layer over the cake.) Allow to cool completely and the chocolate to harden. Serve with whipped cream, berries, ice cream, sorbet or plain. Yum!