Back to Basics

Well, here we are in a condo in Aspen for 3 weeks. As is normal for such rentals, the kitchen is pretty well-equipped but NO food at all is left between occupants. I've done this in temporary condos before -- stocking a pantry and frige without spending a fortune on stuff that will be thrown away when I leave.<br /><br />This is a real challenge. How can one make simple meals with only a few ingredients. Home cooked food can use better materials, as I discussed in the <a href="http://regional-food.blogspot.com/2011/06/excellent-point.html">previous post</a>. But how to give them full-scale flavor? I thought I would keep track of what I did to try to make food that we'll like better than restaurant food.<br /><br />The nearest market (half a block from here) is called City Market, but it's really a Krogers. Last night when we first arrived, I bought some flavored rolls, sliced beef (of my preferred brand, Applegate), gruere cheese, a tub of whipped butter, and prepared potato salad. For dessert: strawberries and cookies. I also bought a box of cereal, coffee, milk, and orange juice. Somehow I brought my Trader Joe's Himalayan salt grinder with me.<br /><br />Tonight I needed to start cooking. Happily, City Market had a special on wild-caught Alaska salmon that they said came in today. I bought a pound of the salmon, various vegetables, a sour-dough bread, and three basics: olive oil, vinegar, and mustard. In the apartment's handy no-stick pan, I seared the salmon in a bit of olive oil, salted it a little, and covered it til done. Then I swirled in a spoonful of my butter and a splash of wine from my glass. (We had one bottle of Santa Barbara white wine that we babied in the hot car for the whole week on the way here!) Salad: avocado, lettuce, fresh cilantro leaves, tomato, and classic vinaigrette I made from the oil, vinegar, and mustard. The bread was good with a sop of the butter sauce -- after all, we're at home.<br /><br />Yes! The flavor of the simply-prepared never-frozen Alaska salmon beats every piece of fish I've recently tasted in any restaurant. The salad is fresher. And the total dinner is lighter and more enjoyable -- at least I think so. I'll be using the oil, vinegar, mustard, and cilantro in lots of ways.

Back to Basics

Well, here we are in a condo in Aspen for 3 weeks. As is normal for such rentals, the kitchen is pretty well-equipped but NO food at all is left between occupants. I've done this in temporary condos before -- stocking a pantry and frige without spending a fortune on stuff that will be thrown away wh…

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An Excellent Point!

I've been traveling and eating all my meals in restaurants (or just crackers and peanut butter or something like that). So I appreciated this point from the <span style="font-style:italic;">Atlantic</span> food section:<br /><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" >"I'm perturbed that people have gotten so turned around that they think restaurant food is the best food, and that today's modern, self -aware 'foodie' thinks that the highest level of cooking is to cook restaurant-style food in the home. Even in the finest restaurants, restaurant food, while delicious and deserving of its place as entertainment and theater, is really not the best food at all. It's over-sauced and over-salted and over-rich, because the only thing restaurant chefs have to worry about is that the food tastes exquisite on the table. They don't have to worry about whether you should eat less salt and fat or eat more vegetables or if you are consuming trans fats or saturated fat or petroleum. Even very good restaurants buy industrial commodity chicken and veal bones for their stock, and bulk up the plate with cheap commodity vegetables. What you pay for in most restaurants is for the transformation from ordinary into good or exquisite. And one of the ways that food is transformed is through copious amounts of butter, salt, and stocks." -- from <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/life/archive/2011/06/why-home-style-cooking-will-always-beat-restaurant-style/240195/">Why Home-Style Cooking Will Always Beat Restaurant-Style</a></span></blockquote>

An Excellent Point!

I've been traveling and eating all my meals in restaurants (or just crackers and peanut butter or something like that). So I appreciated this point from the Atlantic food section:"I'm perturbed that people have gotten so turned around that they think restaurant food is the best food, and that today'…

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Zion Lodge Restaurant

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdRjDvW_KFMijm2KPLgcCDRGKtcZuMJTCTChDafN1eNlo69rybzI520U6MFcDnNAULByiA7eFrAutHn9pRtgfNRFETUALAuWcuGEfCsG0-ozPHVERyfGn9PHu3kzBidrkDxZdsEYssrm4p/s1600/zionrestaurant.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5616789585312580034" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdRjDvW_KFMijm2KPLgcCDRGKtcZuMJTCTChDafN1eNlo69rybzI520U6MFcDnNAULByiA7eFrAutHn9pRtgfNRFETUALAuWcuGEfCsG0-ozPHVERyfGn9PHu3kzBidrkDxZdsEYssrm4p/s400/zionrestaurant.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" /></a>The terrace of the restaurant at Zion Lodge has a magnificent view of the cliffs that overshadow the valley. Besides the view, the restaurant offers a very nice menu of Southwest-style food: I enjoyed the quesadilla. <div><br /></div><div>As we ate, the sun still vividly lit the eastern wall, though the cliffs to the west had been in the shadows since shortly past noon. Look carefully at the wine glass: you can see the reflection of the cliff!</div>

Zion Lodge Restaurant

The terrace of the restaurant at Zion Lodge has a magnificent view of the cliffs that overshadow the valley. Besides the view, the restaurant offers a very nice menu of Southwest-style food: I enjoyed the quesadilla. As we ate, the sun still vividly lit the eastern wall, though the cliffs to the wes…

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Morning Snack

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg0xMksromtF6PZAM-qdisg2dPN5-OaIV_gp1HnLjou0s9WY6dyLsFFlPkEPBgciBjfW6uEqu-P5YiP1T4fSod_NPg_BNquCrM0B8TRaIue3jNmpbAn4y1YfclSSfYxrs8-mVKjflFqyru/s1600/zionsquirl.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5616785833193463586" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg0xMksromtF6PZAM-qdisg2dPN5-OaIV_gp1HnLjou0s9WY6dyLsFFlPkEPBgciBjfW6uEqu-P5YiP1T4fSod_NPg_BNquCrM0B8TRaIue3jNmpbAn4y1YfclSSfYxrs8-mVKjflFqyru/s400/zionsquirl.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 258px;" /></a>This squirrel was amusing the hikers this morning as he pulled seed-filled grass stalks towards him and munched away. We saw him on the trail along the Virgin River at the rock formation called the Temple of Sinagawa in Zion National Park. The scenery is spectacular!

Morning Snack

This squirrel was amusing the hikers this morning as he pulled seed-filled grass stalks towards him and munched away. We saw him on the trail along the Virgin River at the rock formation called the Temple of Sinagawa in Zion National Park. The scenery is spectacular!…

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Evening Meal

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRjQTXlZq74rOwkdjgHdtpYmSpxDGpbInHgZa6oCnwjdD8UJaVP07MKRc3HIunoQrqhf5GZ0lOnoSIxp1syBeXrjBLY4YOt3EWHqRNhRlPCXoY-BQFRKFWtaOr9H3cqdCAsyArGQ5sbQxz/s1600/zion+3.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5616427687996614498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRjQTXlZq74rOwkdjgHdtpYmSpxDGpbInHgZa6oCnwjdD8UJaVP07MKRc3HIunoQrqhf5GZ0lOnoSIxp1syBeXrjBLY4YOt3EWHqRNhRlPCXoY-BQFRKFWtaOr9H3cqdCAsyArGQ5sbQxz/s400/zion+3.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" /></a>The scenery here at Zion National Park is spectacular. The last rays of the sun were still shining on the highest parts of the steep walls when we saw this young deer browsing on tree shoots.

Evening Meal

The scenery here at Zion National Park is spectacular. The last rays of the sun were still shining on the highest parts of the steep walls when we saw this young deer browsing on tree shoots.…

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Shavout

The holiday of Shavout begins this evening. The <span style="font-style: italic;">LA Times</span> ran a very interesting article about foods for the holiday: "<a href="http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-shavuot-20110602,0,2918024.story">Shavout: A Feast for Body and Soul</a>." One of my interests is the history of foods for Jewish holidays and celebrations -- and also cooking and eating them. Shavout, a grain-and-fruit-harvest festival, has an especially rich tradition of foods and complex history of what and why people chose them.<br /><br />In Biblical times, bread was the main food for Shavout. After the Temple fell, Rabbinic scholars shifted the significance of the holiday to a celebration of the giving of the Torah: "Searching through the Bible like employees at a 'CSI' crime lab, they found clues that proved to them that the ancient harvest festival had actually coincided with a crucial 'spiritual harvest' as well: What the Israelites 'reaped' at Shavuot was the giving of the Torah to Moses on Mt. Sinai."<br /><br />Still later, the Shavout food tradition morphed again, and dairy foods appeared as the centerpiece of the holiday table. As a secular Jew, I enjoy the complicated explanations for why this is the tradition (as well as liking to eat them). For example, it's said that the Jews waiting for Moses didn't know about dietary laws until the Torah was delivered. To celebrate, they had to make a kosher meal -- but had no time for kosher slaughter that had just been explained to them. What to do? Eat blintzes.<br /><br />I also like the more historic explanations, such as those in the <span style="font-style: italic;">L.A. Times</span> article and those I wrote about last year here: <a href="http://regional-food.blogspot.com/2010/05/blintzes-for-shavouth.html">Blintzes for Shavout</a>. This post is also on <a href="http://www.blogger.com/http://hero-or-antihero.blogspot.com///">my other blog</a> for today.

Shavout

The holiday of Shavout begins this evening. The LA Times ran a very interesting article about foods for the holiday: "Shavout: A Feast for Body and Soul." One of my interests is the history of foods for Jewish holidays and celebrations -- and also cooking and eating them. Shavout, a grain-and-fru…

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Super Cucas and Its Opposite

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/12003515@N05/5797970914/" title="cucas6385 by mesander2000, on Flickr"><img alt="cucas6385" height="375" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2236/5797970914_26374a90e0.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br />We really enjoyed the burritos, quesadillas, enchiladas, and green and red salsas at Super Cuca's Taqueria, quite near our temporary home in Santa Barbara. It's a completely informal place -- order at the counter, eat in a kind of garden area or take it home, which we've done a couple times. Cucas' kitchen makes a much more interesting photo subject than the food.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/12003515@N05/5797415931/" title="cucas6383 by mesander2000, on Flickr"><img alt="cucas6383" height="375" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5274/5797415931_d6e8c9c9b2.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/12003515@N05/5797971056/" title="cucas6382 by mesander2000, on Flickr"><img alt="cucas6382" height="376" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3145/5797971056_1642ccd227.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Cucas' also has a grocery section with an outstanding selection of fresh and dried chiles:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/12003515@N05/5797489485/" title="cucas6219 by mesander2000, on Flickr"><img alt="cucas6219" height="375" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5269/5797489485_2332a6a5fd.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br />Earlier this week, we had a very different meal at the elegant French-California restaurant called Bouchon. Local food is their focus. The chef shops at the same farmer's market where I've spent almost every Tuesday afternoon. Probably he was one of the guys I saw with a wheelbarrow or other huge conveyance, buying in large quantities.<br /><br />I've eyed the artistically arranged red and yellow beets at various farmers' stalls each week: at Bouchon, I ordered the beet salad with local greens and a sort of croquette made of wonderfully flavored cheese:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/12003515@N05/5797971112/" title="bouchon6369 by mesander2000, on Flickr"><img alt="bouchon6369" height="374" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5029/5797971112_978c379916.jpg" width="500" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYBGU9iTKcfGQubiF6pUNX2bi71bXOrRf3vzuOAA2z7XxpL8V58vnocfC1ZvHskL9PWSyMXanMJwkLrUKGP5byHjmhVAC4Lw00GzEIddzZm7MTli3Ev7Yzwowz7N7StPi3-_soCFpR_Pff/s1600/bouchon_evening_specials_menu.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5614490368243980674" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYBGU9iTKcfGQubiF6pUNX2bi71bXOrRf3vzuOAA2z7XxpL8V58vnocfC1ZvHskL9PWSyMXanMJwkLrUKGP5byHjmhVAC4Lw00GzEIddzZm7MTli3Ev7Yzwowz7N7StPi3-_soCFpR_Pff/s400/bouchon_evening_specials_menu.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 306px; height: 400px;" /></a>I love the contrast between delicious but informal tortilla-based food to eat with coke or beer, and special boutique-y food with local wine pairings. Other dishes in our Bouchon meal included rillettes of duck (Len's appetizer), local sea bass for Len and a duck main dish for me, and a meyer-lemon bread pudding and a blood-orange-and-strawberry tarte for dessert.

Super Cucas and Its Opposite

We really enjoyed the burritos, quesadillas, enchiladas, and green and red salsas at Super Cuca's Taqueria, quite near our temporary home in Santa Barbara. It's a completely informal place -- order at the counter, eat in a kind of garden area or take it home, which we've done a couple times. Cucas' …

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