Panzanella for a Summer Dinner

Last night I cooked our very first "real meal" at our new house. One of the few cookbooks I brought north with us from California is Marcella Hazan's "Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking." I made just a few dishes out of it but so far I have been very impressed. Some recipes are very simple and easy while others are quite involved. They all taste great though. Here's our menu from last night, a perfect Italian summer dinner for 4 (mostly) from Hazan's cookbook: 

Summer Italian Supper: 

Panzanella - Bread Salad pg. 554

Green Bean Salad pg. 557

Pan-Roasted Chicken with Rosemary, Garlic, and White Wine pg. 329

Lemon Poppy-Seed Gelato from "Making Artisan Gelato" by Torrance Kopfer

 

If you haven't had a panzanella salad before you really are missing out. It's a classic Italian creation which includes pieces of stale bread along with the vegetables. The bread soaks in the juice from the tomatoes and also the vinegary dressing and is so delicious! 

Panzanella - Bread Salad

Adapted from Marcella Hazan's "Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking"

1/2 garlic clove 

2 to 3 anchovy fillets 

1 tablespoon capers 

1/4 yellow sweet bell pepper

salt 

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar 

2 cups firm, good bread

3 fresh, ripe, firm, round tomatoes

1 cup cucumber, peeled and diced into 1/4-inch cubes

1/2 medium onion, preferably a sweet variety such as Vidalia, Bermuda Red, or Maui

black pepper 

1. Start by preparing the bread. First slice the bread and trim off the crusts, then toast the bread under the broiler, and finally, cut it it into 1/2 inch squares (reserve the crumbs to add to the salad) {You'll want to keep a very close eye on your bread while you're broiling it, I got a bit distracted with the onions and burnt my first batch of bread to a crisp! Yikes!}

2. Prepare the onions. Start by slicing them into very thin rings. 

{Marcella describes a great way to tone down the harsh bite of the onions so that they add just a bit of that special oniony flavor to the salad but don't overpower it. The process takes some time but in the end I doubt if even the avid onion haters in your audience would object to their addition.}

Once you have sliced the onions, put them in a bowl and cover them with cold water. Using your hand, fish around in the bowl a bit and grasp as many onions as you can. Squeeze them firmly for 2 - 3 seconds before releasing them. Repeat this squeezing routine 7 or 8 times. As you do this, acid from the onions will be released into the water which will make it a bit cloudy. 

Once the onions have been squeezed and released 7 to 8 times, dump them into a colander to strain out the water before returning them to the bowl and repeating the entire squeezing and straining process another 2 to 3 times. 

After squeezing the onion for the last time, strain the onion slices and add new water again. Let the onions soak for 10 minutes before straining them and replacing the water. Continue this process at least 3 more times (for a total of at least 30 minutes soaking time) or until you are ready to make the salad. 

Before adding the onion to the salad, squeeze the onion tightly in a clean towel to remove as much moisture as possible. 

{By the end, your onions will look something like this:}

3. While your onions are soaking, begin to prepare the salad dressing. Start by mashing the garlic, anchovies, and capers against the side of the serving bowl using a wooden spoon (or in a separate bowl using a mortar and pestle) until they have been mashed into a pulp. {This step can also be done in a food processor, but if you do the mashing in the serving bowl you will keep every last bit of yummy flavoring to add to the salad.}

4. Clean and chop the yellow bell pepper into 1/4 inch pieces. Add the bell pepper, salt, olive oil, vinegar (and the anchovy garlic mixture if it isn't already there) to the serving bowl and toss thoroughly. 

5. Put the bread squares, along with any crumbs from the trimming into a small bowl. Purée 1 of the tomatoes through a food mill over the bread. Toss and let it steep, together with a little salt, for 15 minutes or more. 

{Unfortunately I left our food mill down in California. It is especially unfortunate since I have only used it once since I bought it and I would have loved to get the chance to use it again. However, I made do with a mesh strainer. It wasn't too much fun, but I cut the tomato into wedges and then rubbed and pressed them against the strainer over the bread until I got out as much of the juice as I could. In retrospect, I probably just should have juiced the tomato using the juicer which I did bring up from California and then poured the juice over the bread. Oh well, I'll just have to do that next time.}

6. Cut up the tomatoes into 1/2-inch pieces, picking out some of the seeds if there are too many.  {Marcella instructs us to first peel them using a swiveling-blade peeler which I suppose is more authentic, but that just seemed like way too much work to me so I left the skins on.} Add them to the serving bowl along with the cucumber. 

{I finished my salad up to this point several hours before dinner so I left the bread in a separate bowl because it didn't want it to get too soggy before dinner. Some bread sogginess in the panzanella is quite desirable, but I don't like the bread to fall apart altogether. If you want to make the salad ahead of time, this is a great place stop and wait until just before eating to finish assembling. I just layered the bowls on top of each other and left them in the fridge.}

7. Add the soaked bread squares and the onions to the vegetable and dressing mixture. If desired, finish with several grindings of black pepper. Toss thoroughly, taste and correct for seasoning, and serve. 

{Yum! I think this is one of my absolute favorite salads for a hot summer evening!}

Green Bean Salad 

Adapted from Marcella Hazan's "Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking"

This is a very quick easy way to make a simple but delicious summer side dish. 

1 pound green beans

salt 

extra virgin olive oil

red wine vinegar or freshly squeezed lemon juice {I used lemon juice}

1. Snap the ends off of the beans and soak them in a bowl of cold water for 10 minutes. 

2. Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil. Add 1 tablespoon salt. Once the water returns to a full boil, add the drained green beans and adjust the heat until a moderate boil is reached. The cooking time will vary depending on the age of the beans. Begin testing at 6 minutes. Drain when firm, but tender, when they have lost their raw, vegetal taste.

3. Put the beans in a serving bowl, add salt and toss once. Pour enough olive oil over them to give them a glossy coat. 

4. Add a dash of vinegar or lemon juice. Toss thoroughly, taste and correct seasoning. Serve while still lukewarm. 

Pan-Roasted Chicken with Rosemary, Garlic, and White Wine

From Marcella Hazan's "Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking"

{This is now one of my favorite ways to cook a chicken. It is very easy and once it gets started you will have plenty of time to work on your side dishes as it cooks along on the stove. I've found the overall prep time to be about 1 1/2 hours but most of that is just the cooking time. It's so easy and so delicious!!!}

1 tablespoon butter 

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

A 3 1/2 pound chicken, cut into 4 pieces 

2 to 3 garlic cloves, peeled 

1 sprig fresh rosemary or 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves 

salt 

black pepper 

1/2 cup dry white wine 

1. Put the butter and oil in a sauté pan, turn on the heat to medium high, and when the butter foam begins to subside, put in the chicken quarters, skin side down. 

2. Brown the chicken well on both sides, then add the garlic and rosemary. {Be sure to be very careful when flipping the chicken. It can spatter quite dreadfully and I currently have two round splotches of burns on my arm where I'm recovering from receiving a rather large splatter. A splatter guard would be quite helpful here.} Cook the garlic until it becomes colored a pale gold, and add salt, pepper, and the wine. Let the wine simmer briskly for about 30 seconds, then adjust heat to cook at a slow simmer, and put a lid on the pan, setting it slightly ajar. Cook until the bird's thigh feels very tender when prodded with a fork, and the meat comes easily off the bone, calculating between 20 and 25 minutes per pound. {I always like to test my chicken with a meat thermometer to make sure I've killed off all the nasty salmonella bugs. To do so the meat needs to reach at least 165 degrees F. I usually allow my chicken to get a bit hotter, just because I like to make sure it's safe.} If while the chicken is cooking, you find the liquid in the pan has become insufficient, replenish it with 1 or 2 tablespoons water as needed. 

3. When done, transfer the chicken to a warm serving platter, using a slotted spoon or spatula. {I like to use tongs.} Remove the garlic from the pan. Tip the pan, spooning off all but a little of the fat. Turn the heat up to high, and boil the water away while loosening the cooking residues from the bottom and sides with a wooden spoon. Pour the pan juices over the chicken and serve at once. 

Yum!

Here's a little picture of the place setting I used for our first dinner up here in Bellingham. This is one of my favorite tablecloths which shows up again and again. We got it as a wedding present from some of Woodley's family members and I absolutely adore it! Woodley was very excited to see the sunflower plates come out again. We haven't used them in a long time but wed decided to bring them up with us. It made a very cheery little dinner. :)

Hopefully I'll soon be cooking again as I break in our new kitchen! 

~ElizabethRose

Battling Juniper and Living Room Painting

We visited our Bellingham house a couple of times in May and June to help get it ready for our final move up here for the summer. We started fixing things up right away and it turned out to be hard work but also a lot of fun. One of the things that we started working on right away was the yard. 

Each time we visit it seems like we discover a new beautiful plant that we hadn't realized we had before. On one trip, we discovered a towering lilac bush, the next trip couple of lovely rose bushes were blooming, and this last trip we discovered 3 large mock orange bushes (my favorite)! 

However, there are also the plants that make their presence known during any time of the year such as the juniper bushes. Our yard is home to many many poky juniper bushes, some small but many huge. However, the one that bothered me the most can be seen in the photo above. 

This particular juniper bush was situated in a little garden space set between the driveway and the path that leads to the main house. As you can see, there was a path hiding there, but it was being taken over by the juniper. I would always try to walk down the path, but in order to stay on it, I had to brush up against the juniper which was quite uncomfortable. 

So, when Woodley got a hedge trimmer, leaf blower, weed cutter extraordinaire tool, I suggested we take out the juniper first thing. He was happy to get a chance to use his new tool and we set out to remove the juniper.

In the process we met one of our new neighbors who came over to introduce himself once he saw what we were up against. He told us he has also spent a lot of time battling juniper in his yard. 

Finally, after several hours of hedge trimming, sawing, clipping, and digging, the juniper was all but gone and our path was clear! Once we finished removing the root, I planted a bunch of flowers in this little garden spot such as sweet peas, love in-a mist, and forget-me-nots. They are just starting to come up now and I can't wait to see how they do.

There was quite a lot of debris to haul away later though!

That trip we also started painting the living room and dining room. It was quite green to begin with. There was green carpet, green trim, green walls, a green ceiling, and green curtains. We tested out about 6 colors and finally decided on "Welcome White." Below you can see our test paint on the wall and me attempting to paint the ceiling. 

Here you can see how different the new paint was. The rooms feel so much more open and welcoming now! 

Here's a lovely view of Bellingham Bay with Mount Baker in the distance that I captured as we were flying out of Bellingham last month. It's such a lovely place and I am so happy that we get to spend some more time up here. (Even if it is a gray and rainy day today...) 

~ElizabethRose

An Anniversary and a Wedding

Last month Woodley and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary! The weekend before, we traveled back to the lovely spot in Big Sur, CA where we were married last year. The particular ocean side cliff we chose for the wedding has a very special meaning to us because it is also where we got engaged, roughly a year and half ago. 

Our first year of marriage has been like a dream and I can't believe it's already over. We have had so many laughs, surprises, and have created so many wonderful memories. That reminds me...  I really need to start working on a scrapbook. :) 

During our weekend in Big Sur we had mixed weather which led us to be extremely grateful that our wedding day last year was so lovely. However, after growing up in the Pacific Northwest, I don't mind a bit of cloudy, rainy weather. Especially when I know that we need the rain. 

These are a few pictures from our hike down to the wedding spot. It's amazing to me that I ever made it down the steep path in my long wedding dress and while carrying my heavy heavy bouquet. (I asked for a large bouquet and boy did I get it - I think it must have weighed 10 pounds. I don't think it would have been a problem if I had been walking down the aisle of a church but it was quite difficult to manage while trying to hold up my dress on a 30 minute hike down to the wedding location.) :) 

Once we got past the steepest gravel part of the processional, the woods gave way and we came out onto this lovely field leading down to the ocean. It was wonderful to hike it again, this time with Woodley by my side. As we walked down, arm in arm, I asked him what he was thinking about last year as he saw me walking down to him on our wedding day. He said he didn't remember because he was too busy trying to videotape it. :) I guess that's why some couples hire people to do that part for them. Although, for my part, most of what I remember of the processional was trying not to drop my bouquet or trip over my dress while simultaneously avoiding the cow pies.

I do think it was one of the most romantic places for a processional though. 

Ah, here we are at the spot! On our engagement day, Woodley brought me down to this exact cliff. I had my camera with me and was stunned by the fabulous view so I immediately started taking photos. As I was trying to take a picture of the coastline, I came over to this ancient fence post and knelt down. Woodley tells me he was waiting for the perfect time to propose and when he saw me kneeling down, he knew that was it. He came over and knelt beside me and asked me to marry him. It was perfect! 

It is quite a long way down to the beach below! We are all grateful that although we got married quite near the cliff's edge, the pastor didn't accidentally take a step too far backward and fall over the edge. (I'll have to post pictures of the actual wedding to show how close he was later)

We always love the sunset this time of year when the sun seems to go down between the hills and the ocean just like it would in a painting!

Three days after we got back from our Big Sur Trip, on our actual anniversary - June 17, we hopped in the car and drove up to Portland, OR. Our dear friends Allen and Beth would be getting married on Saturday the 20th and we decided to caravan up I-5 with Beth. The trip went smoothly and we had a great time celebrating their wedding and remembering our own.

Theirs was the first wedding we had been to since a month after our wedding and it was very touching to hear their service which was actually very similar to ours. 

They made such a lovely couple! We had a wonderful time dancing after the wedding was over. We even got to do the Bohemian National Polka, one of our favorite dances!

Congratulations Allen and Beth! 

~ElizabethRose

A Perfect 4th of July in Bellingham

I'm back! I apologize that it has been so long since I posted anything. The past few weeks seem to have flown by as Woodley and I have worked on packing up some of our favorite things, cleaning up our rental house, and moving to Bellingham for the summer. 

After 15 hours of driving, we arrived at our cute little house last Thursday night, just in time to celebrate 4th of July! 

The last time we visited our house (actually, only a week before we came up for the rest of the summer) I did a lot of gardening and even managed to plant a few flowers in honor of the season. Normally I'm not a huge fan of red, white and blue, but for some reason these geraniums just spoke to me. They looked perfect against the blue of our house (which for some reason looks a bit gray in the picture) and, when combined with a few other annuals, made for a delightful little garden. 

I was very happy to see that they were all still blooming when we returned to our house last Thursday!

The morning of July 4th we got up early and headed down to the small logging community of Sedro Woolley (about 25 minutes south of Bellingham). There, we watched the oldest 4th of July parade in Washington state. I had never seen a logging truck filled with huge pieces of timber before, but their parade featured several. Woodley and I also had a great time checking out the chainsaw carving competition! (I'll post pictures from the parade later, when I get them from my mom.) We also had a delightful time visiting with my Aunt Marilyn, Uncle David, and First Cousin (Once Removed) Emily who came down from their home in Alaska for the holiday. 

In the afternoon, Woodley and I headed back up to our lake house and arrived just in time to watch our second parade of the day, a boat parade on Lake Whatcom. Everyone had decorated their boats and it was so festive!

There were some beautiful old boats:

We spent the rest of the afternoon playing bocce ball (we discovered our lawn is quite pitched which requires a special sort of bocce strategy)...

and laying on the lawn gazing out at the lake and up at our beautiful birch trees. 

In the evening we traveled across town to the DePaul's house for a BBQ dinner, more bocce, the sunset over the ocean, and the firework show. They are dear family friends who just finished remodeling their new home and it is a fabulous place for a party with a spectacular view! We were so thrilled to be able to join them!

The sunset over the islands was heavenly!

The firework show was also fabulous!

After the main firework show, we returned home and lit off our very own (much smaller) show. Woodley had never experienced setting off fireworks at home, since it's illegal in the area of California he grew up in. Since we have a much lower danger of forest fires here in the Northwest, it is still legal, and lots of fun! We set our collection of fireworks off down by the shore of the lake and, although Woodley was a bit nervous, it all went well and was great fun!

I hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July as well!

~ElizabethRose

Roses and Rearranging

Above: Beautiful roses from my wonderful husband!

After about a year in our little rental house, I finally decided that it was time to move around the furniture in the living room and dining room. Our house was built in the 1920's as a farmhouse and has some unique features. For example, although the house itself is quite large, the kitchen is tiny. There is no central heating, but instead we have built in electric heaters in each room. Another interesting feature is that there is just one long narrow rectangular space for the dining room and living room. 

For most of the past year we set up the dining room right outside of the kitchen door and put together a little living room on the opposite side of the long room. However, recently it began to seem to me that we really ought to separate the living room and dining room a bit more. To accomplish that, I moved our one couch away from the wall and placed it as a divider between the dining room and living room. I also brought up a rocking armchair that I got for free from a family I babysat for a few years ago. It used to live in the family room downstairs, but now it seems so nice to have another comfortable chair in the living room (see below). 

Note: Woodley is the one learning to play the harp. I got him harp lessons for his birthday last year and he is making impressive progress! It turns out that harps are ridiculously expensive but you can actually rent them for fairly reasonable rates. It's so nice to hear him practice as I work around the house!

The living room still needs more work before it will feel really put together, but at least it now feels like it's own space and 3 or 4 people can sit together and have a conversation. 

With the couch dividing our main room there was then less space for the dining room. Since it was a bit tight getting around the table, I removed one leaf and it suddenly fit perfectly. Since we rarely have more than two couples over for dinner at the same time, I think the new arrangement will work very well. 

After our wedding reception last year, I had a ton of doilies left and didn't know what to do with them. (I had used them under the vases to help decorate the dinner tables.) Woodley picked out these tan chairs a couple of years ago and we bought a few extra when we moved in together after getting married. Although they are very soft and comfortable, I thought they looked a little too straight and modern. To help soften them and give them a cottage air I picked out a few of my favorite doilies and laid them over the back. I liked the effect quite a bit and have kept them. 

And now, one more picture of those lovely roses!

~ElizabethRose

Piecing Sammy's Quilt

Back in January, Woodley and I hosted a baby shower for our dear friends Patty and Edo who were expecting their first child. I planned to sew a quilt for the baby and had pieces of quilting fabric and fabric pens ready at the baby shower for an activity. I asked all of the guests to write a special message to the baby on the pieces of fabric and later at the shower we all read them to Patty and Edo. 

Little Sammy was born in early February and I am sorry to say that I have yet to finish his quilt. I've been working on it here and there and I have a general plan but I really need to buckle down and get it pieced. 

For awhile I was worried that I wouldn't be able to find a convenient way to sew up the hexagons I had asked the guests to write on. Woodley came to the rescue though and suggested I add triangles to three sides to create larger triangles which could easily be sewn together. I found some pale blue fabric covered with robots and rocket ships that matched the shades of the hexagons. 

Here's one of the finished hexagon-triangles (note the special message for the baby!): 

I had enough triangles to make 5 large hexagons and I am now trying to decide which fabric I should use for the background behind the hexagons. I can't quite decide. The first option is Amy Butler's Martini Yellow Fabric: 

The second option (which I may be leaning towards) is Linework Robots by David Walker for Free Spirit:

My goal is to finish up the quilt by the beginning of August (which shouldn't be hard if I actually start spending some time working on it). Let me know if you have any ideas about which fabric I should pick!

Thanks!

~ElizabethRose