That said, I’ll be in London on July first for a whole month and I have loads of friends there, and friends coming in from places, and friends, friends, friends. For whom I intend to cook, seducing them into visions of domestic bliss with me living amongst them. And then hopefully one of them will offer to transport me  to London and sponsor the louche lifestyle to which I’ve become accustomed. Think it will happen?

It might, actually, if I make what I’m about to show you. It’s a simple ragú, which is fancy for a meat-based pasta sauce. They’re thicker and chunkier than your normal tomato sauce, with more stuff than tomato, if that makes sense. I love ragús, but the problem with them is that they’re very heavy for summer. Granted, I’m going to London and not Hawaii, but still. No one wants to eat a winter meal on a summer day.

Then I saw this recipe over at the New York Times. I loved a number of things about it: I loved that it looked a bit lighter than most ragús, especially with the use of turkey meat instead of the beef, veal, and pork many recipes call for. But I also loved that except for being a tad bit lighter, it wasn’t too fucked with–the soffritto is the traditional onions, carrots, celery, and garlic, without any Neapolitan flourishes like dried fruit or nuts.

Anyway, it looked good, it looked like something my friends will eat, and it looked like something I can make a day ahead of someone’s arrival, so that he has a nice meal waiting for him while I get to enjoy his company rather than my kitchen’s. That’s my perfect kinda cookin’, right there.

The first thing I did, as the recipe calls for, was to render my pancetta. Unfortunately, I no longer live in a place where pancetta is readily available. But a nice, thick-cut, bacon will do nicely. Now, this recipe is on crack with its timings, especially the fat rendering. It’ll take longer than 2-3 minutes to properly render some bacon, and bacon is nothing if not properly rendered.

So plan for about 5-10 minutes, depending on how much fat is on your pancetta.  Here’s mine, fresh in the pan. Mmmmmm. Bacon.

While the bacon cooked, I chopped up all the vegetables. Remember to chop the soffritto finely–it’s supposed to be almost like a paste as it cooks down, not like a bunch of chicken-soup vegetables. I cut corners by grating the carrots, rather than chopping. I also threw in a bunch of mushrooms I had left over from the party I’d held a few days earlier. They were delicious, giving the ragú a nice earthy flavor and chunkier texture. Here’s my lovely veg all ready to go in the pot:

The next step is to take the bacon out and put it on a plate, but leave the fat in the pan. Pour in the olive oil, then add your vegetables. And here’s what you want them to cook down to. They should be soft, and just starting to get golden and stick to the pan. You don’t want to burn the hell out of anything, but you want some lovely caramelization happening so you can scrape up all that goodness when your wine goes in.

When the vegetables are done, take them out and add them to the same plate that you did your bacon. Then fry up your turkey, breaking it up so it’s in nice small chunks and cooked through. Then you just throw all the veg and bacon back in, and add your red wine. Let that cook on the bottom of the pan for a few seconds, then start scraping all that caramelized goodness up into the sauce with a wooden spoon (be sure to use wooden as many pots are damaged by metal spoons). This is called deglazing your pan, for those of you who give a toss. When  you’ve got all that lovely goodness off the bottom of the pan, then season everything and add the crushed tomatoes. It’ll look like this as it cooks down:

To serve, spoon some sauce over pasta and add a dollop of ricotta cheese.

This sauce is super easy, super fast, and tastes relatively light for the season. But it’s absolutely delicious, and you can really taste the vegetables, the garlic, and that lovely bacon.

Buon appetito!

Anyway, I’m trying to kill some time by blogging, but realistically that means shite will pour forth from my exhausted brain, onto my laptop, and directly to you! Awesome!

But I really need to pull up my big girl pants and not complain. Up until the horror which has been Delta’s customer service, I’ve had an absolutely amazing trip.

For those of you who haven’t seen my travels with Dr. Ruth, she’s the photographer. Meaning that the night we were in Paris, we have over 200 beautiful photos. For the rest of my trip, when I was on my own? I think I have one fuzzy iPhone photo of an off-center cooked breakfast. Pathetic!

So I hope you enjoy the Paris photos, but I can’t take any credit. They were all Dr. Ruth’s!

Here we are at the EuroStar, waiting for the train. Everyone looks very glamorous! You’ll be seeing this “cafe configuration,” as I like to call it, quite a bit in these photos.

And here we are! On the banks of the Seine. The train ride is ridiculously short, and does not go through Wales. Also, if you ask your Europeans friends (with their much firmer grasp on geography) whether you’ll be going through Wales, they will mock you. From left to right, we have Mrs. Whisky, representing Norway; me, representing either oompah loompahs or the USA, depending on whom I’m standing next to in a photo; Dr. Ruth, representing England and Wales (which you do not go through on the Eurostar), Judith, or Yoooo-deeeee, representing the Netherlands; and Linda, representing both Ireland, and Salim in that one reading my friends did for me. Such pretty ladies!

Here we have another cafe configuration, this one con blankets. I’m practicing my French, which I’m ashamed to say was absolute pants. Apparently, two years of high school french over a decade ago gets you bupkes in the field.

Here we have the ubiquitous “upward photo” shot:

And the  ubiquitous Louvre, “Look, that’s where Mary Magdalene is buried!” shot:

With another at night, just to keep it real:

Keeping in mind that between the five us girls there are about 97 degrees ranging from physics to sexual health, you might wonder what cultural things we got up to. Well, we made Linda act like an Egyptian:

But she wasn’t Egyptian enough for Ruth, who had to intervene:

There may have been some molesting of statuary:

Someone (Dr. Ruth) might have pointed at a fountain and said, “Who wants to pretend she’s peeing!” And someone (Dr. Peeler) might have said, “Me! Me!”:

Obviously, none of these things can be blamed on the drinking of many kir royales and pastises:

Or the two helpings of abused goose I managed to cram into my gob on the first day we were there. Here’s round two. And yes, Mrs. Whisky’s starter featured a shot of vodka. How very Scandinavian!

The steak frites was amazing, and enjoyed by all:

And, admittedly, quite a few croissants were abused in the photographing of this trip:

We did have a few moments of serious contemplation of Paris’s incredible beauty:

And there were a few monuments too large for us to mess with:

But the best part of this trip was being with my beautiful friends, who make me so very, very happy.

Ruth says it all with this lovely smile in front of the Eiffel Tower:

There was much catching up, and gossiping, and sharing. I dont’ know what we were talking about here, but it must have been intense:

I think this looks like a still from a soap opera. Cracks me up! Finally, the whole whirlwind trip can be summed up by these two photos. Now you see it; now you don’t:

Mmmm. Fondant.

Anyway, the trip was gorgeous. We got back to London late evening, and the next morning Ruth and I went for a full English breakfast. Then I went to grab a train up to visit another friend, leaving Ruth to her work week. I had a brilliant time in the frozen North: totally relaxed and louche. We did nothing, which is exactly what I needed. A few wee wanders, much watching of movies in our skivvies, and a few nice meals with lovely conversation. Brilliant!

Then I returned to London, where I had one last meal with Dr. Ruth. This morning, very early, I was up to get to Heathrow. Where Delta commenced screwing me silly. So right now I may smell like a goat, and I’m absolutely dreading the 11:30 pm drive back to Greensburg, but the trip was lovely. I’m so privileged to have such amazing people in my life, and to be able to visit such beautiful cultures. And to eat their food in copious quantities.

And despite sitting in the Sartrean hell which is JFK, I was also very, very thrilled to see some of my favorite book bloggers have made themselves into Peeler’s Cheerleaders. They’re adorable:

Jessica, aka the SPINECRACKER (rawr!) has a contest to win Tempest Rising attached to the post, as they’ve made it their mission to wrangle me more fans. Which I appreciate very, very much. You girls are lovely, and I’m so glad I get to meet some of you at AAD, and hopefully more of you at RT! I’d give you big sloppy goat kisses but I’m thinking I should just say, “thanks,” and maybe buy you a bevvie.

All right, I am about to melt into some sort of primordial goo, so I’d better sort myself a coffee and a walkabout. Maybe throw a temper tantrum. Or write a strongly worded letter to Delta, using copious amounts of metaphor and simile.

It’s been a long day. See you in a few, after mucho zzzzzzzzzs. Don’t forget you still have time to enter to win the contests on this page. Just scroll down a few entries!

]]> http://www.nicolepeeler.com/2011/01/2561/feed/ 11 http://www.nicolepeeler.com/2010/11/cooking-with-nicole-eggplant-stew-with-potatoes-mushrooms-and-chickpeas/ http://www.nicolepeeler.com/2010/11/cooking-with-nicole-eggplant-stew-with-potatoes-mushrooms-and-chickpeas/#comments Tue, 16 Nov 2010 02:34:16 +0000 Nicole Peeler http://www.nicolepeeler.com/?p=2371 Hello my darlings! Last night I made the most fabulous vegetarian stew that I HAD to blog about. It seriously rocked my casbah. I took the recipe from what has to be the ultimate vegetarian cookbook. If you are a vegetarian, or like eating vegetarian, and you don’t have this cookbook…that’s like being a mammal and not having nipples. Seriously.

The cookbook is by the charming and lovely Madhur Jaffrey, a British cooking celebrity and actress whom you may recognize from Eastenders, among other shows. I adore her. Here’s a pic of the book:

And here’s the recipe I used:

(Sorry, I cannot get that last pic to rotate to save my soul.)

The big changes I made to start with was that I automatically threw an onion on my list, as everything Must Have Onion. I also knew I wasn’t going to be able to find asafetida at my local shop, so I knew I’d need extra garlic (a decent enough exchange), and I knew I was going to use red chili flakes instead of an entire dried chili. That last one is because I “know” how much red chili flake to use, whereas every time I fuck with a whole chili I end up burning someone’s face off. Usually my own.

After shopping, I had a lovely spread:

This is the kind of recipe where you want everything chopped and ready to be thrown in. It’s not that it’s difficult, and despite the wide variety of ingredients it’s actually a very straightforward recipe. But there are things, like frying spices, that need to be done quickly so they don’t burn.

So the first thing I did was a LOT of chopping. But first, some garlic smooooshing. If you don’t know how to crush garlic, as this recipe calls for, here’s how ya do it.

Choose a very wide bladed knife (a butcher knife, or a sudoku, as I have here), and lay your garlic clove out in the middle of an empty space:

Then, keeping a firm grip on the hilt, balance the knife (blade away from you) on top of the garlic clove, almost as if you were making a table top out of it. Then, once you’re confident you’re not going to slice the heel of your palm off (again, have the blade facing AWAY from you), use that heel to punch down on the knife, crushing the garlic underneath. You might try going slow and squishing, the first few times you try it, working up to a nice, swift motion as you become more comfortable. Just do be careful; such big knives can do some damage.

What you end up should look like this:

Despite the term “crushed,” it’s not going to be a paste (unless you’re the Hulk). It’ll be slivered, so that once you’ve crushed all your garlic, you can run your knife through the pile a few times, and be left with nice, chunkily chopped garlic that will melt into your stew:

After you’ve crushed your garlic (and, again, because I wasn’t able to find asafetida, I used the entire clove), you can start chopping everything else. Or make your friend do it (thanks, Eric!). Try to keep all the veg uniform in size. That’s partially for cooking time, but also so it looks nice in the bowl. For this recipe, I did a nice thick dice, as the recipe called for. Here’s everything all chopped up. First was the potato and onion, which I put into the same bowl as they go into the pot together:

I left the eggplant and the mushrooms (which I quartered AND forgot to take a picture of) separate, as they would go in a few minutes apart from each other and from the onion/potatoes.

While the last few things were being chopped, I put a very large stew pot over medium heat, adding the peanut oil. Whenever you’re cooking something with strong spice, such as Indian food, you always want to gently fry your spices. The key word there is “gently”: it’s very, very easy to burn your spice. When your oil is the right temperature, add your cumin and–as I didn’t use a whole chili–your red pepper flakes. The oil should be hot enough that the spices sizzle, but not smoke:

After about 10 seconds of enjoying all those gorgeous aromas, start adding the vegetables as Ms. Jaffrey commands. First add the potatoes (and onions):

Give everything a good stir, coating your veg in all that gorgeously fragrant oil. Let this cook a few minutes, then add your eggplant, and do the same:

Cook for another few minutes, then add your mushrooms:

After another few minutes, add your turmeric and ground coriander. Again, you are going to be knocked out by these smells. Stir the spices in a bit, then add your tomato puree (we used roasted tomato w/ garlic because, really, who can have enough garlic?). Next go in all those lovely chickpea and fragrant cilantro (fresh coriander). Finally, add a LOT of salt–use what the recipe calls for, but don’t be afraid to add more after tasting–and then the water. The recipe calls for four cups, but what you want is enough water that it reaches just the middle or bottom of the topmost veg. Keep in mind that all of these vegetables will cook down dramatically, and you don’t want to waste time boiling off tons of extra water.

As for cooking times, I cooked this for about 20 minutes with the lid on, then realized it was never going to boil down enough. I took the lid off, and cooked it another 30 minutes w/out the lid. Then again, I’d nearly doubled the recipe. So, my point is to play this one by ear. It’s not going to turn into a thick gravy, but it shouldn’t be soup, either.  You may have to adjust the time/method of cooking (lid on or off) to get your desired consistency. But definitely start with the lid on, till the veg boils down and you know what you’re working with.  Here’s everything as it began simmering away:

And here’s the stew all cooked down and ready to go:

To serve, we warmed some different breads–naan and some lovely wheat loaves–for dipping, and added a dollop of Greek yogurt to our bowls:

It was absolutely, amazingly delicious, and I can’t recommend this recipe highly enough. Let me know if you try it, and how it goes! And feel free to ask any questions you might have. Happy cooking!

For the version I’m showing you, I made a vegetarian enchilada pie. I was attending a (very fun) potluck thrown by my colleague, and I knew she was vegetarian, as was at least one of my other colleague’s wives. So, keeping in mind my second law of catering,I made a vegetarian version of this dish. Everyone ate it with no meat, but at least two people would not have eaten it with meat.

For all versions of this dish, you’ll need the following:

• Taco spice
• Refried beans
• Tortillas of your choice
• Enchilada sauce
• Cheese (Mexican blend, or cheddar, or whatever you like. Just lots of it)
• Olive oil

For this version, my filling contained:

• one  zucchini squash (courgette)
• two large portobello mushrooms
• one red pepper
• one large onion

For a meaty version, your filling could also contain any of the following: ground beef, ground turkey, strips of chicken, beef and/or turkey, or anything else you’d like.

Here are my filling ingredients, all lovely and ready to rumble:

The first thing I did was chop all my vegetables into rough, big, but still bite-sized cubes. After which I put everything in a bowl, and coated the veg in olive oil and taco seasoning to marinade. Vegetables don’t need too long to marinade; I think I left these in for about 1/2 hour.

Here’s shots of the veg with and without the marinade:

As you can see, the marinade isn’t smothering the veg, but don’t be skimpy with it, either. A lot of the flavoring for the dish will come from this single layer. Also remember if using mushrooms that they soak up oil, so I’d use about 1/4 of a cup of oil for this many veg. Even if they seem a little dry, the mushrooms will release all their juice (and the oil) upon cooking.

[Note: If I were making this with, say, chicken I intended to grill and cube, I would have marinaded the chicken overnight. If I were using a ground up, taco filling (the turkey taco filling would be sublime in this), I would just cook any vegetables I used (and you can use all or none of the above with your taco meat) with the meat.]

After the veg is done marinading, I dump it into a big Pyrex dish, and roast it at 400℉ for, oh, maybe 30 minutes? Just keep checking it every fifteen minutes, stirring the veg around, till it’s roasted.

You’ll know it’s done when it looks like this:

While the veg is roasting (or the meat is cooking, depending on what version you make), I get everything else ready.

First of all, you want to put two cans of refried beans on to cook. You could, probably smear them on cold, but I think this would be a pain in the butt. Plus, the final dish will cook faster (obviously) if the ingredients are already warm. I use refried black beans:

But you can use whatever you like. While you’re by the beans at the grocery store, you also want a can of enchilada sauce. I’ve found through lots of tastings that the more ghetto and rinky-dink the can looks, the better the sauce tastes. So don’t go for the (white people’s) fancy, organic, stunningly packaged sauce. Go for something in the part of the store that houses all the authentic Mexican food, and that has the shittiest label possible. It will, inevitably, be the best enchilada sauce. For this version, I used this bad boy:

It was really, really tasty. You could also use the salsa verde version, or–gasp!–make your own, should you be so inclined.

When your beans are hot, and your vegetables are roasted (or you meat ready to roll), we can start assembling. First, at the bottom of another large pyrex dish, spread a layer of the enchilada sauce. This should keep the pie from sticking, but I still gave my dish a brushing of olive oil.

On top of the enchilada sauce, place your first layer of tortillas. I cut mine in half, and jigger them about quite a bit. You’re never going to get a perfect cover, so don’t drive yourself batty, but do get as much tortilla coverage as you can:

On top of these tortillas, you add your first layer of black beans. There will be two layers, eventually:

At this stage, you can also sprinkle a layer of cheese on top of the beans, if you’d like. Next comes another layer of tortilla:

On top of which you spread your layer of roasted veg (or your meat filling):

And then you’ve got another layer of tortilla, then one of beans (and cheese if you wish), and then one, final layer of tortilla. Upon this last layer of tortilla, you pour a generous amount of your enchilada sauce, and then start covering that sauce with your cheese:

You end up with a lovely enchilada pie, waiting to be baked:

Cover in foil, and bake the whole thing in a 375℉ oven, for about 30-45 minutes, or until the edges are bubbling. Take the foil off for the last fifteen minutes of baking, till the cheese melts and bubbles.

Serve with sour cream, guacamole, and salsa.

Obviously, you can make this dish any way you choose. Here are some possibilities you can explore:

• Don’t like beans? Use two layers of veg, or two layers of meat/veg.
• Don’t like veg? Use just a layer of meat between the beans.
• Want more filling? Use two layers of filling with only one layer of beans, sandwiched in the middle.
• Want a veggie/meatie Enchilda Neopolitan? Use one layer meat on the bottom, a layer of beans in the middle, and then a top layer of veg. OMG I just made myself hungry.
• Make a fajita version, with grilled, marinated meats and veg.
• Do a super simple, Taco Bell bean burrito version with a layer of cheese and roasted onion, a layer of beans, and another layer of cheese and roasted onion. I’d make out with that pie. A big, stinky, oniony make out. And I’d love every second.

If you can think of any other varietals, or you already make a variety, do share with the class! Or ask me any questions. AWESOME.

Here’s a picture of the finished product, sitting with all the other delicious food we consumed at the potluck:

We have to do it again soon, colleagues! YUM!

You’ve undoubtedly had a version of this dip. They’ve become common at grocery stores in the past few years, but there’s nothing like making it yourself. Everything is so much more fresh, and you can adjust the layers with whatever you like.

First, you start out with stunning smorgasbord of ingredients:

And a little help from a kitchen must have: The Joy of Cooking:

Here’s the recipe, itself:

Keeping in mind that I grew up in a family home that doubled as a catering biz, I have some “common sense” tips that people who didn’t grow up cooking might not think about. First of all, whenever you make a finger food…make sure it fits in people fingers and their mouths. In the case of a dip like this one, make sure everything’s diced fairly fine. After all, the whole point of this dip is in the name: seven-layers. A person wants all seven-layers in their gob, with every bite. If I leave my olives whole, or cut up great big chunks of tomato, that’s not going to happen.

The second thing to keep in mind when serving large amounts of people is that you want every recipe to be as palatable to as many people as possible. If I was making a tiny version of this dip for 6 close friends, all of whom I knew LOVED spicy foods, I’d use jalepeños. But if I’m taking this to a pot luck with people whom I don’t know well, as this particular dip was, I don’t use the chiles. Why? Because people who love spicy food will still eat this dip without it–it’s still creamy and delicious. But people who hate spicy food won’t touch it if there’s chiles in it. Meaning I go home with a huge quantity of dip that I neither need (hips!) nor do I want (it’s been sitting out at all day).

So always keep in mind the intention of the food (is it a fingerfood?) as well as the intended audience (and cater to the majority).

Otherwise, this dip is completely straightforward. I’d suggest prepping everything before you start layering, just because it makes the smearing all that much more enjoyable. And who doesn’t enjoy a good smear! Here’s me, all ready to go:

Start with your refried beans (I actually use the Frito-Lay Bean Dip, two cans) and your avocado. Don’t skimp on your lime juice. It really adds a fresh zing. I also think this avocado layer is what separates a homemade seven-layer dip from the store bought variety. Whatever they use to preserve avocado and keep it from going brown tastes really preservative-tastic. When you make it at home, all you have are fresh, and fresh-tasting, ingredients:

Then move on to your sour cream layer. I’ve almost never used the entire amount, but I also make this recipe from memory and not from the recipe, which I think is significantly bigger than the one I usually make. That said, keep in mind “balancing” your layers, whenever you make a dip like this. On top of your sour cream comes your diced spring onions. They add a really fresh, sweet, oniony taste:

And, finally, add your diced olives, your diced tomatoes, and your shredded cheese. I use mature cheddar, but use whatever you’d like. Doesn’t it look nummy? And yet… something’s missing…

I know! A tomato rose! Now that’s what I call a seven-layer dip:

I sprinkled this one with some chopped chives I had from making omelettes.  You could also use chopped parsley, cilantro, or some leftover green onion. The green just adds a little contrast to the orange of the cheese and the red of the tomato.

Finally, the recipe says to heat this dip up. To be honest, I’ve never eaten it this way (although I do plan to at some point). I’ve always served it cold, and it’s delicious that way. It’s also a lot easier to transport and keep fresh if it’s not warmed up, if you’re having a picnic or a potluck.

And that, my friends, is a seven-layer dip! Next time you’re tempted to buy one, resist and make it from scratch. It’s so much better, and you can tweak the recipe to suit your own tastes. Love chile? Add a shitload! Like onion?  Use chopped vidalia instead of green onion. Not a fan of raw tomato? Use canned salsa. Once you’ve made it a few times, it takes about 1/2 hour to make, from start to finish, and you have a way tastier product. Plus you get to say, “I made this, bitches!” which always impresses people. Just don’t actually say that, especially the “bitches” part. Just carry the dip out, all normal-like, and absorb the ooohs and aaaaahs. Act humble. Gloat inside.

It’s a cook’s prerogative!

Why? Because I like to put a lot of really unhealthy shit in my tacos. I want to slather on the sour cream, pile on the cheese, and add a healthy dollop of guac. And I want to eat two, till I’m bursting at the seams with taco goodness. And yet, I don’t want to feel too guilty, or feel like I can only make tacos once or twice a month, because they’re just piles of fatty goodness.

So I’ve learned to make a healthier filling, which mitigates my guilt about eating tacos as often as I can. It’s also a great way to use up leftover veg (something I’m terrible about).

Basically, my tacos are filled with ground turkey (obviously), and then Any Veg I Find In My Fridge. Hence the “bunch of shit in a pot,” part. For this outing, I had a of couple droopy carrots, a zucchini, a ginormo red pepper, an onion (you always want an onion), garlic, and what I thought were shelled edamame, but were actually pods of edamame, so they didn’t end up in the tacos.

Your first step is to cut up your veg, adding it to a pot over medium flame, into which you’ve added a generous few tablespoons of olive oil.

You can see that I’ve done quite a chunky dice on my veg. I’m an adult; I’m doing the cooking; I don’t need to be fooled. If you are cooking for kids who don’t necessarily want to know they’re eating veg, don’t forget you can always grate a carrot or grate a zucchini into a sauce, and they’re usually none the wiser. Chop the red pepper up fine, and it pretty much melts into the salsa-like texture of the final product, so they think it’s tomato. As they get older, you can stop grating and start slicing, so this is a great way to “thin edge of the wedge” some vegetables into their lives.

While I’m softening my veg (not browning, just softening), I usually cook the turkey meat (and this time I am going for a little browning) in a separate skillet to save time, while not overcrowding my pan. Rule number 4 of cooking meat is never overcrowd you pan! As liquid’s released in the cooking process, if you’ve got too full a pan you end up releasing too much liquid and steaming, rather than browning, your meat.

When both the turkey and the veg are done, combine and add a shit ton of taco spice. I buy the little jars of spice, rather than the individual packets. But if you buy the packets, to figure out how much you need, think in terms of pounds of meat and pounds of veg. And then add some extra, to make it even tastier.

After adding the spice, remember to add a cup or two of water that you’ll simmer off. This is especially important with the vegetables: if you don’t do this you have what’s more like fajitas than tacos. Which is delicious, but when you want taco meat, you want taco meat, and no fajita will do the trick.

While your filling is simmering away, you can pull out yer good stuff. Mmmm. Creamy.

And here’s the final filling. It’s actually about half vegetables, but you’d never know by the taste or the texture. Granted, some of that’s probably from all the MSG in the taco spice, but let’s not get persnickety!

Other good news: It freezes like a dream. So this is a good trick for making guilt-free tacos that are really, really tasty. And remember the grating vegetables trick: it works especially well in spaghetti sauce. So you can be feeding your kids the marinara they like, but spiking it with grated carrot and/or zucchini.

For those of you who are entirely vegetarian, or want a vegetarian option, do everything I did up until the turkey part. Instead of browning meat and adding it to the mix, open up and rinse three or four cans of beans. I like a combo of chickpea and kidney, OR cannellini and black beans. But obviously you can go nuts. Just add the beans, add the spice, and add the water (probably a bit more than with the meat) and boil the fuck out of it, till it’s the right consistency. I used to make this a lot in Edinburgh, as my former partner loved it and we didn’t have to worry about it being halal. You can eat it like a stew or as a taco filling.

This isn’t a fancy recipe, and it’s not even a recipe, really. But it’s a good way to think about cooking–use what’s in your fridge, try to sneak in vegetables wherever you can, and try either different meats than beef, or no meat, whenever possible. I’ve got nothing against the moo-cow, however Bessie isn’t very good for us on a daily basis.

Coming up next on Cooking With Nicole, I’ll teach you how to make a tomato rose garnish. How is THAT for seventies chic?

So I jumped at Matt and Mariah’s wedding as a chance to get me an enormous beehive. I have what I like to refer to as a Secret Shit-Ton of Hair, which can get a little scary when it’s under construction…

But in no time, the amazing Emily of Emerson Salon had me looking fierce. And I mean FIERCE:

I’m like Wilma! Minus the pterodactyls! A shit ton of eye makeup and our fabulous dresses from Vivian’s of  Holloway’s completed our look:

The wedding itself was fabulous, and it was so nice seeing all of our friends all dolled up:

The wedding itself was lovely, despite the inclement weather. The ceremony involved many umbrellas and a trumpet surprise:

It’s not easy to smuggle in a baby AND a trumpet, as Mrs. Whisky can tell you from experience!

The most amazing part of the wedding (besides seeing my friends get hitched, of course) was the dessert. Instead of getting a weary old wedding cake that goes dry and nobody eats, Matt and Mariah had Top Pot donuts for their cake. I nearly passed out when I saw them. And I’m not the only one, as everyone started swiping donuts WAY before dessert was supposed to be served. In our defense (as my table may have swiped a few), it was the old ladies who started it! Greedy old ladies! Here’s some XXX-donut action . . .

They were soooooooooooooooo good. I am drooling just writing this, like one of Pavlov’s dogs. If you’re in Seattle anytime soon, get thyself to Top Pot!

All in all it was an absolutely stunning wedding, and remarkable in how many people came from all over the world to see each other. Here’s a final group pic of all of our Edinburgh Crew: These are all people who met at the University of Edinburgh and came together that night for Matt and Mariah’s wedding. May they all know great joy, for I sure do get great joy out of knowing each of them:

Bright and early the next morning, the Whisky family picked me up and we all trudged off to the airport. It was a long day of travel (Seattle is so far away!), but considering I had to fly through O’Hare it went pretty smoothly.

Monday, however, came all too soon, and I went off to my first day of orientation. It was really good. Seton Hill is very different from my former university, and I think it’s going to be a great fit.

In other news, I only just built my last 3 bookcases, so I’ve yet to do any book unpacking. Which means that for the two of you who are waiting for your prize packs, they’ve not been unearthed, yet. That said, I should tackle the final few boxes soon, and as soon as I have the prizes un-boxed I will re-box them and send them out to you.

On that note, I’m going to bed! It was a crazily long day at orientation today and I am BEAT. But I’ll see you soon . . .

And one more Huzzah for Matt and Mariah! HUZZAH!

We then went for Thai food. It was both delicious AND titillating:

Besides Penetrating, there was another dish involving the word “Pulsating.” Who could resist such descriptions? We ended our day out with cookies from Macrina, and some showing off of our nails:

Duck and fish are friends! After that, we lounged around for a bit before getting ready for the Reunion/Signing. Synde joined us at our apartment, and we had to take a picture of the fabulousness:

(We’re also rehearsing for the fifties dresses we’re wearing to the wedding, which will require some major shoulder throwbacks and posing. We’re limbering up the coccyx muscles, otherwise chaos could ensue!)

Before the signing started, we all met up at the Pub at Third Place, which was awesome. I don’t have many pictures from this part of the evening, as it mostly consisted of people squealing and hugging as various members of our Edinburgh contingent wandered in. It was SO good to see everyone, and I felt so lucky to have such amazing friends.

After we’d had some beers, we all headed upstairs for the actual reading and signing at Ravenna Third Place Books. It was a great crowd and a great space!

For our readings, we swapped books. I started out reading Mark’s particularly filthy opening scene from Battle of the Network Zombies. All I’ll say is that it involves a churn, a corn cob, and a buttery snootch. Mark said he was reading my book, but actually busted out with some deliciously filthy erotic. This swap was particularly awesome considering we were stationed next to the children’s department. Sorry kiddos! It was hilarious, but I think everyone was a bit disappointed when Mark ceased reading the erotica and started reading my book, instead.

All I have to say is “rod of dominion,” people.

The questions afterward were fun, and Mark gave out Jesus bandaids for those who asked us something. He’s generous like that. He also offered a pill bottle cocktail shaker to anyone who would cup someone’s genitals, but there were no takers. Crowds are tough these days, let me tell you. But despite the lack of genital cupping, we had a great time and here we are, triumphant:

I’m not sure whether I’m giving a peace sign, throwing a gang symbol, or enacting some scissoring, but we’ll just go with it. All in all, I think everyone had fun. I do know that I got to wear my new fascinator and the Wee Dram got in some reading time with her mom, Mrs. Whisky. And I love all my friends for attending! Thanks guys!

After the signing, we headed over for Pie and Pints. There are few things on earth I like better than a meat pie, but pie is even better when it’s combined with something just as good, like pints. So I was in heaven at Pie and Pints. Not least because Jesus ended up in my cleavage. What can I say, things like that happen when Mark’s around!

We had a huge crowd taking up basically the entire middle section of the restaurant, but the place did an awesome job serving us with both speed and sass, a combination I love.

And the food was delish. Here are some full frontal food shots. Synde’s mac and cheese was to die for!

We had an awesome time at the pub, and much beer was consumed. Huge thanks to everyone for coming to the signing, and never once complaining that I hijacked Edinburgh Reunion Night. It was so lovely to see all of you, and I totally appreciated your support!

The next day kicked off the build up to Matt and Mariah’s wedding. Ruth and I met Mrs. Whisky and the Wee dram for lunch and some girlie gossip. I hadn’t seen Kristin for ages, and we’ve both been so busy we hadn’t even found time to talk since the last time I went to the UK. Which, frankly, is unacceptable on my part. But it was fabulous to see her and the baby and catch up on everything in our lives.

After lunch, Dr. Whisky himself met us at the restaurant. They’re such a gorgeous family!

They also have very exciting news: They’re moving back to London. Which makes me unbelievably excited, as it’s another awesome excuse to cross the pond as often as possible. I love Britain, with my reasons for loving her grow all the time. This time x3! Which will necessitate Much Visiting, as who will teach the Wee Dram to snark if not her Auntie Nikki? I mean, I have a duty here, people. I must learn the childrens good, like Whitney the Wise said all those years ago.

After lunch, we all went up the Space Needle (or the Spiceh Noodle, as it quickly became in our parlance). It was fun and Ruth took some gorgeous pics of Seattle you can see on my Facebook page. We were being right proper touristers!

After the Spiceh Noodle, we met up with everyone for my favorite kinda tour . . . a Duck Tour!

It was super fun, especially since we were surrounded by friends!

After the duck tour–which was a really good one, and I’d highly recommend the Seattle operation–we went to a restaurant right down the street from our apartment for a combination stag/hen night with Matt and Mariah. It was so much fun: lots of food, booze, and dancing.

Here’s my “I love Hendrick’s!” face, followed closely by my, “Don’t judge my love of Hendrick’s!” face (otherwise known as my “I’ll cut a bitch!” face):

And here are Judith and Dr. Whisky looking at me with their, “Shit, she’s already hitting the sauce,” faces:

By the end of the night, we were all bombed, danced out, and sweaty. Plus, Rootie’s hat had a mishap:

But all in all, the evening was sublime. So much laughter that my sides ache this morning. People had flown in from Brussels, Britain, and Australia, and everyone was ready to party. Which might be why we had our vuvuzelas confiscated. But all good things must come to end, and to (night)cap it off, Ruth and I went with Dr. Whisky for a quiet Old Fashioned down the street, where we talked of the Whiskys’ upcoming move and just how often I could visit.

And best of all, I got to eat the cherries! Score!

At about midnight (hey, it had been a long day!) we called it quits. But not before getting one last slice of NYC style pizza stuffed in our gobs. It was a fabulous few days, and it makes me miss my Edinburgh friends very much. But one of the things we all talked about was the Next Thing To Get Us All Together, and we came up with quite a few ideas. So this certainly isn’t the last Edinburgh reunion, and I still have until Sunday to enjoy my friends before Real Life comes a-callin’.

Today Ruth’s out bicycling around the city with some other folks, but I stayed home to do some work, laundry, and some packing. And because the last time I was on a bike, I fell into a dumpster in Granada, Spain. It was awesome.

But tonight is Pizza and Pints (seriously? I love this city) with everyone, and tomorrow morning, bright and early, we’re getting up to have our hair done in big, fifties bouffants to match our big, fifties dresses. Then we’re off to Bainbridge Island to see Matt and Mariah get hitched! Yay for them!

So see you soon! And in the meantime, hug yer friends and let them know you care. Then steal the cherries from their drinks. It’s the only way to roll.

]]> http://www.nicolepeeler.com/2010/08/seattle-reunions-and-signings-oh-my/feed/ 3 http://www.nicolepeeler.com/2010/08/uk-releases-and-more-seattle-shenanigans/ http://www.nicolepeeler.com/2010/08/uk-releases-and-more-seattle-shenanigans/#comments Thu, 05 Aug 2010 16:48:12 +0000 Nicole Peeler http://www.nicolepeeler.com/?p=2029 First off, today’s the UK release of Tempest Rising and Tracking the Tempest. Could I be more excited? The books themselves look slightly different: The covers have been given a sort of Frank Miller-esque, gothier colouring scheme (did you enjoy that extra u, there?), and the books are also a different size than the US mass market paperbacks. They’re not as big as our trade paperbacks, but they’re significantly bigger than our mass market size.

So that’s soooo exciting! I’m hoping some of my British readers will, if they’re out and about, be so kind as to send me any reports/pictures of TR or TtT out in the wild. You can email them to iheartselkies(at)gmail(dot)com, or tweet me at NicolePeeler.

In other news, Seattle Shenanigans are still going strong, but now with added Dr. Ruth. I last left you on Sunday, after I went and hung out at Casa Henry with Mark and Caroline. That Monday, Ruth was getting in late in the evening. So, partially because I’m ridiculously domestic and partially because I knew I’d need a day of rest and quiet before everything went manic with my friend’s wedding, I had a lovely day of puttering around various local markets, delis, and gourmet shops. I wanted to have dinner waiting for Ruth, but don’t get me wrong. . .I’ll use any excuse to poke around food markets, and Seattle is an amazing foodie culture. Here are pictures of my booty (my gourmet booty, that is):

I bought donut peaches, as well as ingredients for pasta with italian chicken sausage and vodka red sauce from in and around Pike’s Place market. Then I hit up Macrina Bakery for some of their out-of-this-world granola, a loaf of sinfully delicious olive ciabatta, and a green salad.

Dinner turned out beautifully:

But even better was having dinner with Rootie!

And yes, I’m wearing a lady bug pinafore. What?

Ruth was obviously tired after her incredibly long flight to Seattle, so all we did that evening was eat dinner, drink wine, and catch up, with an early night.

The next morning, bright and early, I got up to run. This time in Seattle, I wasn’t called a “filthy fucking cocksucker,” as our local crazy homeless man was in absentia. Instead, as I was running back up 1st Ave, I saw a homeless guy with a sign that said, “I like money, fat chicks, and pot.” He did a Snoopy dance of happiness when he saw me coming, lunging through a crowd of people at the stop light to show me his sign.

I guess he thought I had some pot stashed in my sports bra.

For breakfast we had our granola with yogurt and donut peaches, then we had an elevenses of a little quiche:

Hey, if I run without eating two breakfasts, at whom will the crazies wave their signs? Hm? And speaking of crazies, we spent the rest of that Tuesday with Kat Richardson and Mark Henry, eating basically everything that wasn’t tied down.

Mark and Kat met us at our rented apartment in Belltown, and we walked down the street to where (quite handily), the Marination Mobile was parked for the day.

Those of you who have travelled with me know that there are few things I love more in life than street meat. I love food from carts, trucks, vans, satchels, or off the top of wide-brimmed hats like they do in Istanbul. So I was thrilled at the prospect of a Korean/Hawaiian taco truck, and we were not disappointed. Here’s my “STREET MEAT!” face of anticipation:

It deserved the face, and even more, as it was delicious. I had the spam slider, the Kalbi taco, and the spicy pork taco. Ruth had the same, but she went for the Aloha slider, with kalua shredded pork.

The food was phenomenal, and I was stuffed, swearing I wasn’t going to eat again. Till I did, just a few hours later. But first, we did some sightseeing around Fremont, which has all sorts of odd things. Here’s the Fremont Troll:

We also visited the statues of Waiting for the Interurban, where I practiced for our signing’s promised genital cupping and Ruthie imitated the human-faced dog:

After that, it was shenanigans ahoy. Here’s Mark, Kat and me posing as Happy Families:

And here’s a handy dandy Homer and Bart Simpson impression:

Culminating our trip to Fremont was a visit to Molly Moon’s for ice cream. What was that about not eating again?

After ice cream, we went with Kat to her boat, so she could change before her signing. That day, she launched Labyrinth, the fifth book in her Harper Blaine series. It looks awesome, and I love the first books in the series. I can’t wait to get to this one!

Anyway, we took Kat to her boat to change, and had some fun playing Pirate and Saucy Wench on the docks:

Before we went to Kat’s signing at University Bookstore, however, we managed to fit in some MORE food and drink. This time margaritas and Tex-Mex, with Richelle Mead and Psynde joining us at the restaurant. Ruth and I do love a happy hour cocktail:

After we’d had some liquid fortification, and Mark and I had sweat off about a pound each as we got the bitch seats sitting in the sun, we went to Kat’s signing. There, we saw these funky, colorful lookin’ books. Who wrote this shiz? Really?

Kat did a fantastic job at her reading. She’s very funny and charismatic, especially on stage, and I really enjoyed the excerpt. I grabbed Rootie’s cam and did some audience reaction shots. Ruth is riveted, Psynde is shocked, and Mark is . . . maybe asleep.

“Somebody poke that man, right there, with a stick!” Commanded Kat, with obvious glee!

Isn’t she perty? The day was awesome, and culminated in some drinks at some bar that wouldn’t accept Ruth’s UK Driver’s License as ID. Which is LAME! But whatever, we were exhausted, anyway. And we had a big day planned for tomorrow, what with the signing by Mark and me, alongside our Edinburgh reunion. It was raucous and ridiculous, and I’ll blog that next. But for now, the Touristing with the Laydeez commences in 3. . . 2 . . . 1.

Ciao for now!

I’ve been having a great time in Seattle. Last Saturday, I was able to go out with my friends who are getting married, Matt and Mariah. Matt and I met in Edinburgh, where we were both doing our PhDs. Matt’s girlfriend, Mariah, soon joined him. They were part of a very close group of friends I had in Edinburgh, and they were one of two other couples with whom my former partner and I would swing, gourmet style.

Gourmet Swingers started out as a joke between my friend Andy and me. Andy and his wife, Jenny; Matt and Mariah; and Jamal and I all love to cook. We’d have each other over for big, elaborate dinner parties, that, while very fun, were also a huge amount of work and very expensive. Keeping in mind that we were all grad students, who didn’t have tons of money or time to spare, we knew there was a better way to do things.

Plus, in groups of friends and, I think, especially with couples, there are some people you end up talking to all the time, at the expense of tightening up your relationships with others. Oftentimes the divide is by gender, sometimes by common interest, and sometimes by who you knew best, first.

So Andy and I were joking that what we needed to do was swing, but with cooking. We joked about coming in, putting our keys in a bowl, and coming away with a different partner every time. Only instead of parting ways for separate bedrooms, we’d all head into the kitchen. There, one “new” couple would cook the starter, one the main course, and one the dessert. The couple hosting “swingers” that evening would pick the recipes and buy the ingredients, then we would divvy up the cost amongst us.

It started out as a joke between Andy and me about keys in bowls, and then everybody else joined in, and it became the best idea we ever had. It was so much fun, and we made some amazing food. We also got to spend quality time with one of the other people (it wasn’t divided by gender limits) without feeling we all had to share each other equally. We could be greedy and selfish with each other, and then pig out on delicious food. Which is basically my heaven.

Usually the swinger’s night would have a theme. We did Southern, Afghani, hors d’oeuvres, Canadian, Mexican, and Japanese, amongst others. Each night would feature a cocktail, and I can guarantee that Southern night was made a lot more interesting with a vat of Georgia Artillery Punch.

So it’s very fun that now Matt and Mariah are getting married, with Andy–who is a Reverend in Canada–officiating. It was also great that I got to see them on Saturday. Because of wedding shenanigans, I’ll probably be one of the only people who got some unadulterated Matt and Mariah time. We spent the whole day together, and–needless to say–it involved a LOT of food and booze.

We started with me taking the light rail out to Columbia City, where Matt and Mariah were staying. It was also Mariah’s Dirty Thirty birthday, so we started out with a celebratory brunch at Verve. I didn’t take any pictures, as we were yakking each other’s ears off. But it was delicious, and I’d highly recommend the restaurant.

After brunch, we took the light rail back into Seattle. Then we walked alllllllll the way up to Capitol Hill, stopping at lots of furniture stores as I am in a slightly manic hunt for Ghost chairs and their knockoffs. Basically, I’m trying to determine just how cheap one can go with a Ghost chair knockoff, before they get all wobbly and sad.

So we wandered up the hill, sitting on variously priced plastic chairs. We also wandered into this AMAZING boutique that I am now officially obsessed with. It’s called the Cake Spy Shop, and it has the most amazing art. I bought Dr. Ruth and me an adorable apron each, and I also bought this amazing print for my dining room:

Pardon my bad photography. It’s a VERY cool print in person and I adore the sailor’s tattoos. Mariah also bought some very fun finger-mustache fake tattoos, so we can all have finger mustaches when we go on our group duck tour that’s part of the wedding shenanigans. I’m ridiculously excited for my ‘stache.

After we made it alllllll the way up to Capitol Hill (that’s quite a hill, people!), we first went and got ice cream at Dick’s. I had a root beer float (my favorite!) that was perfect on a hot day after a lot of walking. After Dick’s, we wandered around doing some boutique shopping, until we were more than ready to indulge in a little happy hour. For drinkiepoos, we went to Bleu Bistro, which is this awesome little pub that has all curtained off, nook seating. It was pretty much my heaven: very dark, cozy, and louche. And when the bartender discovered it was Mariah’s birthday, we were suddenly getting a lot of booze for free. So we were feeling no pain when we made our way to dinner at Kingfish Cafe, with its amazing bar:

Here are Matt and Mariah at Kingfish, where Mariah’s gone for nearly all of her adult birthdays:

For dinner, I had the gumbo, Matt had the outrageously decadent mac & cheese, and Mariah had the blackened salmon. It was perfectly blackened, with a delicious salad:

For dessert, we had their absolutely OUTRAGEOUS strawberry shortcake. It was enough for eight people, seriously:

Mariah was very excited to see it. Maybe a little too excited….

We rolled out of the restaurant on a sea of food and pear cider. It was a fabulous day, and so good seeing my friends again!

The next morning I got up and, after puttering around a bit, I got on a bus to go visit Mark Henry. Mark picked me up at the Tacoma Dome, and then took me on what was loosely described as Mark’s “ghetto tour.” We started out at the gun shop famous for selling weapons to the DC sniper. It’s called Bull’s Eye:

See, the bull’s eye is a site? Get it? Bulls eye?

From there we drove around Tacoma, then Lakewood. Where, apparently, much of Cops is shot. I didn’t know that, did you? After the tour, we went to Mark and his wife, Caroline’s, house. It was like wild America. There was a snake:

And about four hundred humming birds, although they wouldn’t stop humming for me to get a picture.

And then there were the dogs. This was my view from where I sat on the porch:

Little faces everywhere! I also finally lived the dream and got to star in my own #Yodabreak:

I was acting like I was going to eats the Yoda. That would never happen, though, and no Maltese were hurt in the taking of this #Yodabreak.

I had so much fun chatting and working with Mark. And here’s why I have come to love the Henrys, encapsulated for posterity in a single photo:

Mmmmm. Bacon. Mark made Caroline and me a delicious dinner of homemade potato salad, cole slaw, baked beans, and wieners. Here’s what was supposed to be a funny picture of Mark preparing his wieners for his laydeez, but ended up just being gratuitous puppy torture:

The puppies are like, “Stop dangling your wieners you evil man!” Poor puppies. And yes, you can blame that picture, and many of Mark’s perverse tweets to this sweet tea vodka:

It’s delicious! And evil. Like all good things in life. After dinner, we went and signed stock at the Lakewood Barnes and Noble, so if you want some signed Tracking action, and live in the area, you’ll be in luck. Then Caroline and Mark dropped me off at the bus station, where I made my way back to Seattle to walk through about 1,400 homeless to get back to my apartment. I find that unspeakably depressing, although there was some comedy gold when, on my Saturday morning run, I was called a “filthy cocksucking whore” about 29 times by various shambling crazies.

Oh, Amanda Feral. Where were you when I needed you?

Today I’m cleaning and doing laundry (we’re staying in an apartment, not a hotel), and waiting for THE Dr. Ruth to get into town. I can’t wait to see my Rootie! She gets in late tonight, and will probably be knackered. So I’m going to have dinner and cocktails waiting. Maybe I’ll wear my new apron.

Tomorrow there will be more shenanigans with members of Team Seattle, plus added Ruth, culminating in my signing on Wednesday with Mark. We’ll also be attending Kat Richardson’s signing tomorrow night, at University Book Store here in Seattle. So much book love, people!

And with that, I’m out. Gotta go be domestic and shit. See y’all later! Hopefully with pictures of us making out with the Fremont Troll . . .