Runner's Bread

I've run three marathons.  Mind you, this sounds like I'm a stud.  I am not.  I don't run fast.  I do a run-walk the whole time and usually complete a marathon in around 5 hours.   Still, finishing my first marathon was one of the greatest accomplishments of my life.  I always remember the feeling I had as I crossed the finish line.  I was so impressed with myself and so happy that it was OVER.  I felt like, if I could do that, I could do anything.  I know a lot of people say that but they say it because it's true.

One thing that people who run marathons know is that, when you are training it is as much about running as it is about food.  When you are running for 5 hours, you get hungry.  You burn massive amounts of calories and you loose electrolytes as much as you sweat.  Before any run, I eat toast and peanut butter with sliced banana, a cup of coffee (which I know is not good, thank you) and a big fat bottle of water.  Most runners actually eat while they run.  It's totally counter intuitive to the old adage that was drilled into us as kids to "wait 20 minutes after eating before you exercise."  But when you run a marathon you have to learn to eat while exercising.  I eat a power bar, 2 goos, a banana, pretzels and anything else, my family and friends bring along the way.  When I am done with a run, I want to get something in my body right away.  I always crave savory foods after a long run, like a chicken sandwich and of course a ton of fluids.

In between marathon day and the beginning of training, there are a lot of medium runs.  I like those runs the best.  They are work but without the extreme physical burden of race day.  My favorite of these runs is the 7 mile run.  This is because I live 7 miles from the beach.  There is a bike path that takes you down to the ocean along the Ballona Creek (which, thanks to the army corps of engineers, is now a huge concrete drainage basin).  At no point do you cross traffic just the occasional cyclist, so it is the perfect 7 mile run for me.  When I get down to the ocean, it's so rewarding.  The marina opens up and the ocean breeze rushes in, cooling me off and telling me that I am almost done.

I haven't run a marathon in 4 years.  I remember asking The Husband (when he was still The Boyfriend) if he would wake up early on a Sunday morning to pick me up at the beach after one of my runs.  It was sort of a litmus test for our early relationship, and of course it worked out just fine.  I would ask him to pick me up in the little town of Playa Del Rey at a coffee shop where I finished my runs.  I would stretch and go inside for a huge glass of ice water and a muffin.  They served these insane muffins there that I called "Everything Muffins" because they seemed to have every kind of fruit, veg and nut inside them that you could imagine.  They were so hearty and delicious that I remember feeling like no muffin had ever been more delicious that they were.  Of course, endorphins will do that to you but still they were pretty damn good.

I have been thinking about training for a half marathon recently maybe in the fall and I thought that I would attempt to recreate the Everything Muffin on my own.  Also, I have a surplus of zucchini in my garden and it's a good way to use them up.

I've modified a few recipes to create this one.  Muffins seem fussy to me unless I'm cooking for a party so I made bread.  The bread is very hearty and dense.  It's more "healthy" than the original Everything Muffin.  If you wanted to add 1/4 cup more sugar and use white flour instead of white/wheat they would probably be more like the original.  And I'm sure it would be even better with cream cheese frosting but that's more like cake at that point.  Here is the version that I like.  It's good for an every day breakfast or for an post-run recovery snack.

Runners Bread

3 Cups White Whole Wheat Flour
1 t Salt
1 t Baking Powder
1 t Baking Soda
3 t Cinnamon
1/4 Cup Milled Flax (I have one with dried blueberries from Trader Joes that I like)
1/4 Cup Shredded Coconut (I used unsweetened but it doesn't matter either way)
1/2 nuts (I prefer walnuts but used almonds because that is what I had)
3 eggs
1 Cup Grape Seed Oil
2 t Vanilla Extract
1 1/2 Cup Turbinado Sugar
1 Heaping Cup Grated Zucchini
1 Heaping Cup Grated Carrots
1/2 Cup Yellow Raisins

Combine flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon,  flax, coconut and nuts and set aside.  Then in a separate bowl, combine eggs, oil, vanilla, sugar whisk together.  Add zucchini, carrots and raisins to wet mixture.  Add dry ingredients to wet.  But into a parchment lined bread pan and bake on 350 degrees for about an hour.

White whole wheat is a great substitute for regular white flour.  You usually don't have to modify the recipe like you do with whole wheat flour and you still get some fiber.
Combine dry ingredients.  My dry ingredients included flax seeds with dried blueberries.  I bought it on accident and it was a great mistake.
Oil and eggs.
Add vanilla and sugar.
Add in the vegetables and then the dry ingredients.
Line a loaf pan with parchment paper.
Fill loaf pan with batter.  Slam down on the counter a few times to get the parchment in it's proper place.
Bake for about an hour at 350 degrees.  Use the ole toothpick test because it can take as little as 50 minutes depending on the oven.
Enjoy (with or without the run).

Spiced Cranberry Poached Pears

These are my Holiday secret weapons. The ultimate in versatility. This recipe yields so many options and culinary variations that making them a few days before any holiday is just smart. It yields a cocktail mixer, garnish, a holiday salad component, dressing ingredient and a wonderful desert.

Spiced Cranberry Poached Pears & Syrup

1 gallon of sweetened cranberry juice
5 bosc pears
1 slice of lemon peel
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon of mulling spices (juniper berries, star anise, cloves)

Peel pears with a fruit peeler.
Slice them in half, leaving the stem on if you like (I like).
Core with a melon-baller and a paring knife.
Find a nice cranberry juice or juice blend (one without high fructose corn syrup)
Put the cleaned pears in a large sauce pan and cover with the juice.
Add cinnamon stick, lemon peel, star anise, cloves and juniper berries.

Cook until the pears are tender. Remove the pears and spices and let the sauce reduce by over a half.

Once it is thick, sweet and syrupy (coating the back of the spoon) and your house smells like wonderful, consider the following options...

#1 Warm poached pears with vanilla ice cream and spiced cranberry syrup
(Or let the syrup and pears cool in the fridge for up to four days and make...)
#2 Salad w/baby greens, chilled poached pears, blue cheese & candied walnuts
#3 Cranberry salad dressing (olive oil, cranberry syrup, Dijon mustard, lemon, salt & pepper)
#4 Cranberry/Champagne cocktail (Champagne, cranberry syrup & a lemon peel)
#5 Chilled pears for breakfast. Perfect for a New Years hangover.

I hope you try them and I hope you love them. If you come up with any other awesome uses for these beauties, leave a comment below because I can't get enough of them.

Coq Au Vin - The Best Thing I Make

Look people, I'm not a trained chef. I don't make French food very often. I don't even claim to say that this is actually an authentic version of the dish because it's not, I don't use bacon and I slice my veggies entirely too big, plus this last time, I used bagged baby carrots. Regardles, this is by far, the best thing I make. This is part of my perfect Christmas meal. Well, this and a poached pear salad with blue cheese, some leafed brussel sprouts with pancetta, roasted new potatoes, a pot of lavender creme brule and a bottle of champagne (but those are other blog posts). This however is the king of my Christmas dinner.

Coq Au Vin
(boy chicken with wine)

1/4 cup olive oil
1 large yellow onion, sliced
3 cups of carrots
4 stalks of celery sliced thickly
1 whole chicken cut up (yes a girl chicken is fine)
6 garlic cloves, peeled and diced
2 cups chicken stock
2 cups Bordeaux wine
3 fresh bay leaves
Lots of fresh thyme sprigs
1/2 lb button mushrooms whole
Salt and pepper to taste

In an enameled cast iron skillet on medium heat, sweat carrots, celery onions and garlic in olive oil with salt and pepper. Remove and set aside.

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Working in batches add chicken to hot pan skin side down. Brown the chicken well, on all sides, about 10 minutes. It will not be cooked all the way through.

Don't be afraid of the color at the bottom of the pan (within reason) as that is where the flavor of the dish comes from.

Spoon off any excess fat or not. I don't. Add wine and de-glaze the pan by getting that spoon down in there scrapping the brown bits off the bottom. Add the chicken stock and herbs.

Let it come to a strong boil.

Then add back the veggies and chicken. Lower heat to a simmer.

Cover and cook for 20 minutes, or until chicken is tender and cooked through.

Remove chicken and onions to a separate platter. Remove the bay leaves, herb sprigs, garlic, and discard.

Add mushrooms to the remaining liquid and turn the heat to high.

Boil quickly and reduce the liquid by three fourths until it becomes thick and saucy. Mushrooms should be dark by the time it's done. Taste and season with salt and pepper if you still need a little bit.

Lower the heat. Return the chicken and onions to the pan to reheat and coat with the new thickened sauce.

Serve with roasted or gratin potatoes or even egg noodles, the sauce is king in this dish, so any starch that soaks it up ends up tasting like heaven.

Drink the rest of the wine with this dinner. Bacchus with be dining with you since it's his favorite meal too and it's only polite.

Butternut Squash Soup

Looking for an awesome soup to start off your Thanksgiving? Oh look, I've got it.

It takes a few ingredients, a little elbow grease, some love and BOOM you've got a big pot of awesome. I made this for our Halloween party, where I called it "Mr. Butter's Nuts Got Squashed Soup." Despite the name, it was gobbled up. The spices were just perfect for my batch, but you never know with starchy root veggies and gourds. You may need to add a little more of the spices (but don't go crazy, jeeze).

Mr. Butternut's Soup

1 1/2 Large Butter Nut Squashes
1 Large Onion
3 Stalks of Celery
3 Large Carrots
3 Large Potatoes
1/2 Stick of Salted Butter
8 Cups of Chicken Broth
1 T Sea Salt
1/2 t Ground Ginger
1 1/2 t Curry Powder
1 1/2 t Cinnamon
1 1/2 T Brown Sugar

You'll need a large pot, an immersion blender and a veggie peeler.

Cut butternut squash in half, clean out seeds and peel with veggie peeler.

With a large sharp knife, cut squash into thumb sized pieces. Your palm will get sore from cutting, use a towel on top of the knife if you need it.

Clean and chop your mirepoix (Onion, celery & carrot).

Peel and dice potatoes. Once all veggies are prepped, melt butter in a tall heavy soup pot. When butter is melted, add veggies and cook for 6 or 7 minutes then cover with broth.

Once the soup begins to boil, add 1 T of salt and pepper to taste. When all the veggies are soft use immersion blender to make the soup smooth and creamy.

Once soup is pureed, add ginger, cinnamon, curry and brown sugar. Add more spices if you think they are needed. Serve with hot fresh buttered bread and thin slices of green apples. Enjoy! Happy Thanksgiving... eat too much for me!

Seattle - Walk

So, the post-doughnut walk wasn't an ordinary walk by any means. We, the mob of sugar-filled, marauding, Greek cousins covered all of downtown Seattle in an afternoon. One of the highlights was our trip to the market. Pike's Place Market is one of those special places in the world where tourists actually mingle with locals. True, tourists may outnumber the locals, but the fact that a destination so famous, still maintains such street cred with the natives is incredible. My cousin's wedding flowers came from Pike's. It's a beloved place, it's not hard to see why...














After the market we walked to the most remarkable library in the world, the church of books.












The night concluded with a rehearsal dinner on the lake and a view of the space needle in the sepia tone of a sodium light. The wedding was the next day and I was ready, Seattle never lets me down.