by Sam Tackeff | Nov 25, 2014 | Meat
I’ve officially started my winter training plan. Given that I don’t actually train during race season, I was surprised that I even had the initiative to consider a training plan as the weather is getting cold. This year I dabbled in triathlon and marathon running, but next year I’d like to do better! I’m sure I’m going to dread getting out in the cold (and will have to spend a good amount of training in the gym), but it always feels good to have a plan! I got in a great baseline workout on the trainer tonight, wearing a heartrate monitor for the first time in forever. After cycling 300 miles in September, I clearly haven’t spent enough time on the bike since. It was a serious sweat session.
I got home late, and was thankful that my meal planning had taken all the stress out of what I was going to eat – all I had to do was execute. In the pan went my pork tenderloin from my Walden Local Meat share, seasoned with salt, pepper, and allspice. I stuck a few sweet potatoes in the microwave, and when the pork was almost done, tossed some shredded Brussels sprouts into the pan to steam and soak up all the pan drippings.
by Sam Tackeff | Nov 24, 2014 | Writing
I made cookies. A small batch, just two for each of us, and froze the rest of the dough. Ginger Molasses, from a Bakesale Betty mix – thinking about Oakland, about Ferguson, about the country as a whole. It’s hard to read the news here tonight in America. The anger, fear, disappointment. The terror. This can happen to the people you love. To listen to my friends hurt to the core – voices being silenced because of the color of their skin. Nobody should see their child killed and then be denied a trial to seek justice. There’s not much else to say right now. Heading to bed hoping that people stay safe tonight.
by Sam Tackeff | Nov 23, 2014 | Meal Planning
I got back in the pool today. It’s been a while, my arms were feeling it. My strokes were terrible, and I was *very* slow. But I got in the pool today! I got in about 1500 yards, warm up, a 10×100 set, and a cool down – to test my baseline 100 meters before I dive headfirst into my winter training plan. Next summer my triathlons are going to get kicked up a notch!
The weekend was low key. A dinner party with old friends, some headway with Jo Nesbø’s ‘The Bat’ – the first in the Harry Hole series. Reading my way through two gorgeous new cookbooks: Aarti Parti: An American Kitchen with an Indian Soul, and Persiana: Recipes from the Middle East and Beyond. There’s not much I like more in life than curling up on my couch with a mug of coffee and a new cookbook. Many bookmarks in each so far.
I picked up a few new products at Trader Joe’s worth mentioning – a honey trio sampler, the Sicilian single varietal extra virgin olive oil collection, uncured turkey cranberry apple sausages, pumpkin pie mochi, and a jar of sambal matah, an Indonesian condiment with shallots, lemongrass, and peppers. I served it tonight with the chicken – that red shmear – and it was hot, punchy, and good! What can I say? I’m a sucker for new Trader Joe’s products (and by sucker I mean… they are almost always great.) Do you have any current Trader Joe’s favorites I can’t miss?
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Week of November 22nd
Thanksgiving week! Boy, am I looking forward to all of the eating. We’ll see if I manage to get a Turkey Trot in there, too. Things to use up in my kitchen: pretty much the same as last week – polenta, eggplant, onion, turkey cranberry sausage (cook for breakfasts), feta, goat cheese, eggs, sweet potatoes, cabbage, a whole mess of herbs, a little bit of applesauce, and bacon.
Saturday: a dinner party! We headed out to my friend Kevin’s house to have a little dinner party with him and his girlfriend, and another couple. I’ve known Kevin now for almost 18 years! It was all very civilized. We ate mushroom turnovers (yep, I brought Trader Joe’s to a dinner party), a garlicky kale salad, a winter fennel salad that I made, and butternut squash risotto. Dessert was apple crumble, coffee, and scotch.
Sunday: rotisserie chicken with mashed potatoes I know that I’m going to need to eat more green vegetables, but I got in a massive fill at the party last night, and all I wanted was Whole Foods hot bar.
Monday: rotisserie chicken and christmas lima stew. When one has a rotisserie chicken for dinner, there are leftovers. Fortunately, I had a crockpot of christmas lima’s going in some broth this afternoon – a perfect vehicle for leftover chicken.
Tuesday: pork tenderloin, brussels sprouts, and sweet potato. These two sweet potatoes have been sitting in my house for weeks, and I’ve set out some pork from my meat share to defrost in the fridge. I also have a dearth of bacon, so it might be pork on pork to jazz up this dinner.
Wednesday: egg night. At least I think that’s what’s going to happen. I try to make one night a week egg night, because it’s super easy, and also because I always have a few dozen eggs in the house that need eating.
Thursday: Thanksgiving Linner! We used to go to an antiseptic banquet hall for Thanksgiving every year, until a good part of the family staged a coup. Now we’ll be heading to my aunt’s house, and I know it’s going to be good.
Friday: out! Or more likely…a large pile of greens and some restorative broth.
What are you eating this week?
–– Sam
by Sam Tackeff | Nov 21, 2014 | Ingredients, Local stores
Now that you’re hopefully gorging yourselves on Kringle, here’s another holiday treat worth going out on a hunt for – Panforte. I noticed that there were a stack of these when I stopped by Formaggio Kitchen this morning, but these are photos are from the one I ate last year (before I learned how to focus my lens, apparently,) and I’ll be picking up a new one in the next few days. The Panforte is similar to a fruitcake – a dense round of candied fruit and nuts that is heavily aromatic with warming spices.
I have a history of hiding food that is just too good to share – my mom and I famously rationed a jar of crunchy Biscoff spread for months by hiding it in the lid of our couscoussière and eating it by the single spoonful – and this is one of those foods that you consider hoarding to yourself and not sharing with anyone. It’s worth sharing however, because even selfishly, you’ll make friends with this treat.
The Panforte di Siena from Formaggio comes with it’s own little powdered sugar packet. If you can’t find a round of this, you can make your own: I’ve had this recipe from David Lebovitz bookmarked for the past two years.
I’d say that this is too rich to eat more than a little slice at a time, but I’d be lying – it’s rich, certainly, but left to my own devices I could polish this thing off over the course of a long afternoon.
Other similar seasonal treats I’d like to try making:
Melissa Clark’s Moist and Boozy Fruit Cake
Laurie Colwin’s West Indian Black Cake
Do you have any favorite holiday spiced cakes?
by Sam Tackeff | Nov 20, 2014 | Tea
Another cup of this tea tonight – grab it if you see it at Trader Joe’s! (It’s caffeine free, and herbal, and the ingredients listed are: Cinnamon, Ginger, Hibiscus, Natural Cinnamon and Apple Flavors with Other Natural Flavors, Chamomile, Roasted Chicory, Orange Peel.) My usual herbal tea drink is verbena leaves, but I got this box from my friend Alexann, and now I need to stock up on more.
Now I’m off to forage the fridge. Tonight’s dinner consisted of a killer cranberry upside down cake, cannoli, slices of cheese, and some sort of iced custard cake with Wellesley folks, but I haven’t yet eaten a meal, and it’s nearing 11 pm.
