by Sam Tackeff | Nov 2, 2014 | chicken, Pantry Staples
It snowed today. The first snow of the season, but I’m not ready for winter. I always get a touch of the SAD – winter is long and cold in New England, and despite growing up here, it never really gets any easier. I spent the day trying to convince myself of the joy that snow brings – thinking back to boarding school days, where it was always wonderful to be on campus when the first snow arrived. Suddenly, a common occurrence was a brand new marvel: you’d see the snow through the eyes of students who had grown up in warm climates, delighted in those large white flakes for the very first time.
This day, however, was colored with my own melancholia, as I had a last lunch (soup and grilled cheese in front of a fire) with my friend Alexann, before driving her to the airport to fly away to Denver. I came home, made myself a cup of tea, and wrapped myself in a blanket. This never gets easy.
By evening, the sky was clear, and we were treated to a beautiful sunset.
For dinner, I knew that I wanted to make something with my defrosting chicken from my Walden Local Meat share. I had two large boneless, skinless breasts, which isn’t what I usually cook with – I’m a bone and skin gal – so I wanted a dish where they’d stay moist, and something a little bit rib-sticking for this cold fall day.
With the Patriots game in the background, I looked through my Eat Your Books bookshelf, to find which of my cookbooks have recipes for chicken breasts and pumpkin. I found myself flipping through a Donna Hay – and liked the look of her ‘baked chicken and pumpkin risotto’, but wanted to make it with pumpkin puree rather than the chunks of pumpkin she calls for, so I adapted the recipe to my own liking. It’s probably sacrilege to call this a risotto, but the dish calls for arborio rice, so I can justify it to myself. Italian purists, please look away, or consider the alternate title: “Pumpkin Rice with Allspice Chicken”.
Baked Pumpkin Risotto with Chicken
This recipe served two (very generous) portions. For four, I might double it, and you’d have leftover lunch for one, the next day. If you’d like a little bit soupier rice, I’d add a touch more chicken stock at the beginning.
1 cup arborio rice
1 15 oz. can organic pumpkin puree
2 oz. butter, melted
1 cup chicken stock
salt and pepper
pinch of nutmeg, pinch of allspice
olive oil
2 chicken breasts, preferably organic and free range (about 1/2 lb. each)
salt and pepper
a tablespoon allspice
1/2 cup grated parmesan
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
In a bowl, stir together arborio rice, pumpkin, melted butter, and chicken stock. Add a good pinch of salt, a few twists from a black pepper grinder, a pinch of nutmeg, and another pinch of allspice. Stir, transfer to a shallow baking dish, cover with foil, and bake at 400 for 35 – 45 minutes until rice has cooked through. (This batch, for whatever reason, took me almost an hour.)
While rice is baking, heat up a frying pan with a little olive oil on medium. Season chicken with salt, pepper, and a generous coating of allspice, and cook in pan, about 4-6 minutes on each side, until cooked through – it might take an extra minute or two on each side if your chicken is thick. Take off the heat, let rest for a few minutes, while you chop your parsley and grate your cheese. Then chop, the chicken, making sure to reserve the juices.
Once rice is done, put in a large bowl, season with salt and pepper, and stir in the chicken and it’s juices, parsley, and parmesan, making sure to stir well, until creamy. Serve warm.
by Sam Tackeff | Nov 5, 2013 | Blogging, Challenge, Vegetables
Fall foods. I decided today that I needed to write a list of fall foods so I wouldn’t miss them. Because it seems like we’re on the cusp of winter already, and I haven’t had my fill of cider donuts and delicate and baked apples. Usually I think of seasonal foods too late, and then I become bitter and cranky. And nobody likes that.
Speaking of bitter and cranky, first, a complaint. The Pumpkin Spice Latte. The pumpkin spice donut. The pumpkin spice pretzel. The pumpkin spice soap. The pumpkin spice dishwashing detergent. (Just kidding, that doesn’t exist…. I hope.) So yes, I just don’t understand it. Peppermint mocha? Okay, I get those. I like the idea of spiced drinks and nostalgia, and feeling homey, but the majority of the PSL’s I’ve tried – not purchased, but obligingly sipped from those who say imploringly “I swear you’ll love it, just try it one more time!” – have been cloyingly sweet, almost metallic tasting. Not to mention the whole zero-pumpkin thing for most of these drinks. The pumpkin spice latte just isn’t for me. But what about warming beverages? I’ll take coffee, tea, chai, or even cider spiked with spiced rum. It’s a thing I “invented” on Thanksgiving one year at the open bar. Yep, that’s a drink I can be on board with.
I’ve been trying to get my fill of fall foods that come (mostly) from nature. Here are some of my favorites:
1. Delicata squash, reigning supreme varietal of squash. I like mine sliced, tossed in coconut oil, with chile, cumin, and salt. Sometimes I add sweeter warming spices, like cinnamon, mace, and clove. Roast, roast, roast.
2. The other squashes: butternut squash, acorn squash, spaghetti squash. Okay, these squashes, well, they just aren’t delicata. I still like ‘em anyway.
3. Apples. I didn’t go apple picking this year. I know there is still time, but I’m not sold on having bags and bags in my fridge taken up by one type of food. That said, I did go through about a dozen varietals from Volante Farms, and managed to sample another dozen more. I like them fresh, in salads, and baked – stuffed with walnuts and dark chocolate, and doused out of the oven with a hint of cream.
4. Boiled cider. Here’s how you make it – take fresh cider (not the boozy kind), and simmer down as long as you can, until reduced by half, or if you can wait long enough, by 3/4. This took me a little under an hour for a half gallon. Take resulting cider, and spoon over apple cake, vanilla ice cream, granola, oatmeal, yogurt, and more. When you are sick of it with sweet things, use some to marinate and bake a pork tenderloin.
5. Apple cider donuts. My longstanding favorite have been from Applecrest farm in Rye, warm.
6. Chili. I’ve been waiting all summer long to have my chili back – it’s not that I don’t like eating it in the summer time, it just didn’t feel right to cook something low and slow in my own house until the temperature dropped below 65.
7. Parsnip Fries. Parsnips in general. Sure they look like white carrots, but they don’t taste like carrots at all!
8. Pumpkin whoopee pies. The winning whoopee this season has come from Volante Farms in Needham. Preferably cream cheese frosting.
9. Turkish pumpkin dessert. Pumpkin braised in a simple syrup with coconut and nuts. I haven’t made it this year, but when I do, I’ll post the recipe.
10. Persimmons. Oh, how I miss these in San Francisco, where you could find them ripe, and they didn’t cost $3 a fruit. (It’s true you can get them for cheaper on the East Coast, just never ripe.)
11. Pumpkin chocolate chip bundt. This recipe. My absolute favorite fall food. Tastes good warmed for breakfast. Tastes great at the end of a long hike.
Of course there are many more – cranberries, cabbage, every type of braise. I’ll have to keep on thinking, and get started on the eating!
by Sam Tackeff | Oct 13, 2012 | Seafood, Writing
For years I’ve wanted to make, and share, a daily practice of writing, but I was too anxious to start. The act of writing really wasn’t the problem; I was afraid of not being good enough, profound enough, or not being the best. So I just didn’t write. While I’m certainly not shy or quiet, there have been many occasions in life where I’ve missed out because of this fear.
A funny thing happens when you commit to something and stick with it. Your life starts changing, fast. Seemingly impossible things completely unrelated to your original goal start becoming possible. When I started writing here regularly again, I had to consciously put aside my anxiety about being the best, and remind myself why I was here: to cultivate a daily practice of writing and photography, to support myself during the challenge, and to be part of a community who shares my values and inspires me daily. I still have to remind myself, I think we all do sometimes – you are worth it, don’t let fear hold you back.
My day started out uncharacteristically. I was supposed to have a meeting mid-morning over coffee, but it was re-scheduled, so I worked most of the morning before I realized that I had neither eaten anything nor had my caffeine. Around noon, I grabbed this Spencer apple and headed out the door to pick up some George Howell coffee at Formaggio.
It was brisk, but sunny, so I took the opportunity to take a half hour walk around Cambridge before heading back home. I had planned on running in the evening, but was feeling a little bit under the weather, so the walk seemed like a good compromise.
In the late afternoon, I put together a salmon dish that I was working on for a secret project. Not being able to keep a secret, I went ahead and shared a photo of it on Instagram, so there’s no hiding it here. (I’ll post the recipe next week.)
Lately, I’ve been working on practicing better self-care. As a coach, I was trained on the value of self-care for optimal health and wellness, but practicing what I preach in this area has always been difficult. When I was living in San Francisco, practicing mindfulness/meditation based stress reduction, getting regular massages and chiropractic adjustments, acupuncture, and practicing regular yoga were all part of my routine and provided tangible benefits, but in the past year I’ve regressed.
So I took my own advice, and went for a manicure and shoulder/neck massage at MiniLuxe. The color is OPI, I think either Sweet Heart or Hopelessly in Love, but honestly I didn’t check. For hands that have suffered mercilessly in the kitchen and the gym, I thought they turned out remarkably nice.
For dinner, I cooked flounder filets in olive oil, seasoned with Turkish fish seasoning. For light flaky fish like flounder, I usually cook them on one side for a few minutes, and baste the top with hot olive oil, which cooks it through without needing to flip it.
I baked a sheet tray of parnsip fries with rosemary, and served myself up this not quite as indulgent version of fish and chips.
For dessert, I baked a few pumpkin walnut cakes from this recipe. They didn’t quite turn out as successfully as I’d like, but when I tweak the recipe to perfection, I’ll post it.
by Sam Tackeff | Sep 30, 2012 | Uncategorized
Saturdays are usually errand days around our house. My plan was to wake up and head into CrossFit, but I woke up at 6:00 a.m. and had my doubts. At 7:15 I contemplated making coffee but lay staring at the ceiling. At 7:45 it was pouring out and grey, and by 8:00 I had already covered my head with the pillow and that was the end of that.
Instead, I woke up late, and reluctantly walked the two miles to the bank with a podcast in order to make my gym-pact for the week. It was overcast but no longer raining, and the trees were bright enough to perk me right up.
Devon met me at the bank, and we proceeded to do some semi-complicated banking while learning about how the teller was the accidental fourth child, even though her mother had been about to tie her tubes. For some reason, we inspire complete strangers to tell us the most amazing stories.
My favorite of these tell-all’s was when the 20-something teller in San Francisco mentioned to us that she had recently gotten the dinosaur tattoo on her cleavage, and was excited to have a child in the future so that it would be wallpaper when he breastfeeds.
When we got home, I put together a lunch of leftover roast cauliflower with lemon, and some Za’atar chicken thighs.
Za’atar is a wonderful spice blend from the Middle East. There is no one za’atar recipe, each family has their own special mixes, and the herbs and spices vary widely in different regions and cultures. Most za’atar blends I like have a lot of thyme and oregano, some cumin, and sesame seeds. You’ll also see it with lemony red sumac, sage or mint.
I love sprinkling it on eggs, in salad dressing, baked onto pita, or liberally coating chicken thighs with the stuff before frying them up. While I’ve made my own in the past, I picked up this particular za’atar blend at Sofra, Ana Sortun’s wonderful Middle Eastern cafe in Watertown. They sell it for $4, which, frankly is a little steep for something I can make myself, but I really do enjoy the blend.
In the late afternoon, I was hungry again, and made myself a bowl of pumpkin eggs with pumpkin pie spice, topped with almond and coconut butter. This is one of my favorite fall treats, but admittedly tastes a heck of a lot better with a large dose of maple syrup in it. (Soon!)
By eight, we were both hungry for dinner, but I hadn’t quite gotten my act together. Leftovers to the rescue! I cooked up some fresh chorizo, with cumin, cinnamon, and a good dose of chile from M.F. Dulock, added the last bit of meaty tomato sauce and carrots from our beef stew, served it all over a bowl of steamed cauliflower, and pretended that we were in Spain.
After dinner, we turned on the tv and watched the most amazing show on television – Jackson Galaxy: The Cat Daddy. You might be skeptical, but this guy is a genius.
No seriously. It’s on Animal Planet, and features a tattooed gentleman who is a guitar player by night, cat behaviorist by day. He goes around with a guitar case filled with cat toys. Pretty much every episode features slightly deranged pet owners who make excuses for their pets’ bad behavior. And then Jackson comes in and does his thing, and the cats turn into well-behaved, happy animals, and their owners become slightly more likeable at the end. Enjoyable, every single episode.
(Photo via Jackson’s Instagram)
by Sam Tackeff | Nov 13, 2010 | Baking
Each year when I put together my fall to-do list, there is one item always at the top: the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake.
This bundt is the perfect cake for fall: moist, spiced, hearty and chock-full of chocolate chips. It’s the type of cake you want to eat at the end of a long day raking leaves or cleaning your closets. It’s also the kind of cake you want on a crisp Sunday morning, huddled with a steaming mug of coffee and a wrapped in a thick blanket.
Of all the recipes my mother makes, this one is my favorite. She found it in the Harrowsmith Cookbook v. 3, which she purchased for $17 from L.L. Bean on July 21st, 1988. Yes, she made a note of it.
The Harrowsmith Country Life magazine was a popular Canadian living magazine in the 1980s, which catered to hippie environmental homesteaders. They put out three excellent cookbooks, with recipes from editors, contributors, and readers alike. My mother has cooked out of this one on many occasions, always going back to the simple pumpkin bundt, everyone’s favorite.
When I moved to California, one of the first things that I bought for my own kitchen was this shiny bundt pan from Cookin’ on Divisadero, so that I could make the cake as soon as seasonally appropriate.
[Not that fall is necessarily the season – every year, my mother would ask me what type of birthday cake I would like her to make for me, and each year, the decision was brutal. Oreo ice cream cake with mint chocolate chip? Or a pumpkin bundt? Growing up in New England, either could be suitable for my May birthday – sometimes the thermometer read 90 degrees, other times there would be frost visible on the ground.]
I’ve made this cake many times in my life, first at home with my mother, later as a teenager to take on hiking trips, or in college for the ladies of Dower House, my home at Wellesley for three years. Sometimes I’d make the full bundt, but more often than not, the batter became muffins, perfect to wrap in foil, and tuck in someone’s bag as a surprise. Muffins were also the practical fix, if, say, you ate too much of the batter to make a full bundt.
This year I started a new family tradition. I baked the cake, and sent half in the mail to my brother, John, a freshman at George Mason. He is living without a dorm kitchen, and was craving the Pumpkin Bundt as much as I was. Another good thing about this cake, is that it holds up fairly well in the mail for a few days.
The recipe itself has just a handful of ingredients: flour, sugar, eggs, pumpkin, oil, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and chocolate chips.
I set about preheating my oven to 350 degrees, and greasing and flouring my beautiful bundt pan. [This is key, otherwise your cake will stick to your bundt.]
The first step was sifting together all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Then, in a large bowl (or in my case, the bowl of Martha my KitchenAid mixer), I beat the eggs and sugar together.
Then, I added the oil and the pumpkin to the egg mixture, making sure to mix well. This takes a little bit of effort if you are stirring on your own, but it can be done!
I stirred the flour mixture into the wet mix, (on the slowest speed on the mixer to avoid a flour explosion), and lastly, folded in the copious amount of chocolate chips (and pecans, if you’d like them). I generally just use chocolate chips, because that’s what my mother does. (Mostly I believe, so that she could send this to school with me without worrying about children with nut allergies.)
I poured it all into my bundt, (which I double-triple checked that I had greased and floured first!). The hardest part about this recipe is fighting yourself from eating all the batter.
After an hour in the oven, I took the bundt out to cool for ten minutes in the pan before turning it out onto a rack. I listened to my mother’s voice in my head: “Just wait patiently!” This step is fairly crucial – waiting makes the difference between a bundt in one piece, and one that will fall apart.
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake
The Harrowsmith Cookbook v. 3
The recipe comes from Gladys Sykes, of Regina, Saskatchewan.
While the recipe below can be done by hand, I do it in my kitchen aid mixer with much success. It also calls for sifting the dry ingredients twice, but one good sift will do. {Edited: A good many of you have asked if these can be made into muffins. They can indeed! I’d make sure to use liners, and reduce the time to 25 minutes, but you might check them at 18. If making muffins, this recipe will make two full muffin tins, and an additional mini loaf worth.}
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
4 eggs, beaten
2 cups sugar
1.25 cups canola oil
2 cups cooked, mashed pumpkin (or one 15 oz. can)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (or 1/2 cup chocolate chips and 1/2 cup chopped pecans)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, and butter and flour a bundt pan and set aside.
In a bowl, sift the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt) together.
Beat the eggs and sugar together in a large bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer. Add the oil and the pumpkin, mixing well, and blend in the flour mixture. Fold in the chocolate chips and pecans, if using.
Bake in the greased and floured bundt pan, for 60 minutes.
Let cool in pan for ten minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack.
