Pretty In Pink

The little girl in me, the one with tomato sauce on her cheek, wanted to exclaim, “Lookie what I found!” but the cook in me said I should get a grip and contain my excitement.  After all, I was standing at the counter in a restaurant with other patrons.

All this enthusiasm centered on the delicate petals sitting in a basket on the counter.  At first, they fooled me.  I thought it was a basket of rose petals for, perhaps, sachet.

Eyeing them closer, I realized this was a basketful of beautiful, fragile, Pink Oyster Mushrooms—also known as the “Flamingo Oyster” or Pleurotus flabellatus (that name gives me the giggles by the way).

They are most at home in the tropics, although with adequate levels of warmth, they can be homegrown too.  In most areas of the continental United States, if they are available, they appear from May to September.  (I spied these in Kauai, which is why they defy the continental growing period.)

They decompose faster than other varieties so if you find them and want to use them, be prepared with a recipe so you will be able to put them to use the same day.

The woman behind the counter, Laralei, recommended them for soups, although they lose their pink luster as they languish in a simmer.  Additionally, she shared a delightful recipe with me for a side dish served with fish.

Since I didn’t ask permission to copy her recipe in print, I will simply describe it.  Let your sense of adventure fill in the blanks.  You can also use regular oyster mushrooms with the same flavor results but you will sacrifice the ooohs and aaaahs when the plate arrives without the blooming pink color.

Hollow a mini evergreen tomato and discard the flesh.  Sweat 1 tablespoon of chopped shallots in one tablespoon of butter.  Add the pink oyster mushrooms and continue cooking for 2-3 minutes, until tender.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Fill each of the green tomatoes with some of the mushrooms.  Place the tomatoes on a tray in a 350° oven for 5 minutes or until the tomatoes are hot.

Next, quickly wilt some beet greens with butter and the remaining shallots until the bitterness is cooked out of the beet greens (several minutes).  Season with salt and pepper.

Place the tomato on the plate.  Position the beet greens in front of the tomato.  Drizzle some basil oil over the tomato.

Quickly sauté filleted flounder, salmon, red snapper or trout on both sides, in a splash of grapeseed oil, in a hot sauté pan.  Add the fish to the plate.  Drizzle the fish with some beef stock reduction and enjoy.

Romancing My Breakfast

Rarely, if ever, is staying away from home immensely pleasurable for me. Over the years, I’ve learned to make my lodgings the least of my expectations — following close behind unreliable flight departure times. As a result I can sleep soundly as long as darkness envelopes me and I am content if some means of sanitation is available.

However, The Grand Hyatt Resort and Spa impressively lived up to every large and insignificant advertised feature. The room was spacious, clean and so quiet that I had no idea there were other people in the rooms surrounding ours. The staff knew our names on sight and that added to the overall friendly ambiance with every smile!

What put this place over the top was not the grounds, although they were breathtaking and if you are getting married with endless funds for the wedding, check it out.

It was not the salt-water lagoons even though it was fun to see people kayaking along in them or swimming.

It was not the crystal clear swimming pools with floating food and drink bars.

It wasn’t even the wonderful landscaping and wildlife as we wended our way toward our morning meal.

It was our decadent, delicious and deliriously joyful breaking of the fast as we dined over looking a lagoon with koi and swans.

Begin with a Mango Smoothie Shot, compliments of the chef.

Enjoy the view while you wait for your order to be served with a smile

Then the Tropical Pancakes arrive, hot and sweet, filling your head with wild cravings

The Frittata that was out of this world with a choice of garnishes, fresh vegetables and an aroma that made me and my sexy companion delirious for several minutes

With elevated happiness both inside and out, we began our excursion for the day.

Reflections on Reality

Tranquility lives in any chosen moment

Depending on the impulse of perception

That reveals either reality or reflection

Of where we happen to be

Standing

And what we choose to see
With any degree of clarity

Madame Donna Cooks with Chef Chad

Any excursion I endeavor upon includes an educational aspect.  I don’t mean simply reading a guidebook and having my photo taken in front of numerous landmarks nor am I talking about dashing around a town hitting as many notable sights as possible in a day.

Travel preparation, Madame Donna style, begins with some research on the history and geography of my destination.  My research naturally leads me to points of interest, galleries, museums, local events, concerts, restaurants and recreational activities.

Travel should expand our world, enlarge our vision and stretch our imagination.  However, one thing I crave on my adventures is usually elusive: instruction.

As a cook, I often seek ways to stretch my talent while exploring new destinations.  Education, as a transient traveler, often means searching in out of the way places for a class, lecture or docent guided tour.

With that in mind, one of the thrills of my recent visit to the Red Mountain Spa Resort, then, was the opportunity to meet and learn from Chef Chad Luethje.

Imagine a chef who comes out of the kitchen to serve his diners from the buffet line!  That is how I ended up with a plate like this:

This is simply what happens when the chef says, “Try a little of everything!”

Chef Luethje escorted me through a savory culinary excursion teaching me the dishes from the menu he created for the resort.  We worked our way through appetizers, salads, soups and more using healthy cooking techniques and ingredients.  Just the stuff that makes a foodie like me swoon.

Sparkling Melon Gazpacho:

 

 Spa Caesar Salad with Parmesan Crisps:

 

 

 Posole with Roasted Duck:

Quinoa, pronounced “Keen-wah”

Fire Grilled Vegetable and Quinoa Salad:

 

 Chocolate Risotto:

 

You can find most of Chef Luethje’s recipes on the website for the Red Mountain Spa and Resort if you want to explore them yourself.  I brought home the cookbook and I’ve been contentedly well fed as I make my way through the selections.  Of course, don’t tell Chef Chad that I’m adding my own healthy twists to them.

Valentine, Oh Be Mine

The table set for a quiet lunch beside a sunny window

 

A light lunch leaves plenty of room for dessert

A glass of wine with dessert

Succulent Strawberries with Chocolate Truffles

Wink at the one you love

All you need are two lips

Madame Donna Hikes Zion Canyon, Utah

All this is the music of waters.”

John Wesley Powell, 1895

When I signed in at the Red Mountain Spa last week, I noticed this motto in the folder of information they handed me: “For A Healthy Inside, Go Outside.” Mini-Madame #1 and I laughed over that one because “go outside” was a centerpiece phrase of mine since the children learned to walk.

Most of my children are accomplished hikers having logged hundreds of miles through rough terrain and weather conditions in a variety of American states. Well, one child is a klutz who trips on air, but that isn’t the focal point of this article.

One of my goals during my week in Utah was to revisit Zion National Park. My father first introduced me to this 229 square mile area when I was a young child. This park, formerly known as Mukuntuweap National Monument, sits in the southwestern corner of Utah and begs for feet like mine to tread upon her trails. You see, I had to show my hiker-children that I still had it in my old hiking boots to do some serious walking.

While in the canyon, your safety is your responsibility.

The decks of these footbridges have been replaced and are now made of recycled plastic as the park strives to become a “green” environment.

Walking these trails, knowing that the Ancestral Puebloans strode these pathways over 2000 years ago, Southern Paiutes walked it over 800 years ago and then the Virgin Anasazi and Mormon settlers walked here, humbles a novice hiker like me.

The Park’s name, Zion, is a Hebrew word interpreted by the Mormons as a place of safety or refuge and bestowed upon this canyon by Mormon pioneers in the 1860’s. According to Mormon theology as told by the Park Service pamphlet, Kolob is a heavenly place close to God. They couldn’t have picked a more apt name for this majestic canyon area.

The stone cliffs tower above the valley and boast of being among the highest in the world (8,726 feet in the Kolob Canyons section).

During the Triassic and Jurassic Eras (250 million to 150 million years ago), from sedimentary rock (mostly sandstone) and limestone, shale, mudstone and conglomerate along with some recent volcanic activity that produced cinder cones and lava flows, the park’s stunning scenery was formed.

The Zion-Mt. Carmel tunnel was built in the 1920’s when vehicles were very small. To go through the tunnel today, larger vehicles (over 7′10″ in width) require an escort while Park Rangers stop all oncoming traffic to allow large vehicles to drive down the center of the tunnel. There are only a few lookout points from the tunnel. I wasn’t comfortable being in the tunnel when I realized how far underneath a mountain of stone we traveled.

Looking out from inside the tunnel.

Within Zion, alive with movement, resides one of the last free-flowing river systems on the Colorado Plateau. The Virgin River, as these waters are called, traverses the Mojave Desert, joins the Colorado River in Lake Mead’s basin and continues on to the Pacific Ocean.

Nowhere else on earth can this combination of soil type, changes in temperature or precipitation, plants, animals, or of slope, mesa and canyon be found.

Snow only blankets Zion Canyon about two or three times a year.

The diversity of plants and animals in this canyon includes mule deer, bighorn sheep, juniper and cottonwood trees, box elders, elk, peregrine falcons, mountain lions, desert tortoises hummingbirds and more— and one of my favorites, the canyon tree frog.

Zion a place of abundant beauty and discovery.

Madame Donna’s Hedonistic Adventure

Every once in a while fortune smiles broadly on me. That’s what happened last week. Mini-Madame #1 received a windfall of a cash inheritance and invited me to accompany her on a weeklong trip.

Since her donor was a man known for flagrant displays and who bejeweled himself with large links of gold chain and glittery diamonds, we decided to honor him by celebrating with a bit of Hedonism.

Mini-Madame reserved a room for us at the Red Mountain Spa Resort in Ivins, Utah—and away we went!

John, a driver from the resort, met me at the airport with a comfortable heated van, a water bottle and a hot towel to freshen my hands and face. He narrated the geographical history and subsequent development of the area during our route from the airport to the resort.

Upon my arrival at Guest Services, Mini-Madame joined me on a foot tour of our new digs.

Welcome to sensual serenity.

We found the Dining Room and the Outdoor Patio immediately—it just comes natural for us to seek food first.

This is the view of the mountains surrounding the property.

In spite of the cold, I took advantage of the hammocks that decorated the property.

The indoor pool was clean, warm and provided some great exercise. There was also an outdoor pool but it isn’t open in winter.

Playing tennis or basketball in this setting can’t be beat.

Grab a few friends and let’s sit around the fire ring.

Need some alone time? Feel free to wander around the stone labyrinth while meditating.

Alternatively, take a hike on the Lava Loop Trail.

The Sagestone Spa offers every possible body treatment that comes to mind-and is still legal. Here is the waiting area.

The Spa also offers a steam room but when I tried to take a photo, it fogged up my lens.

Set in a tranquil environment amid snow covered mountains, with a variety of bodily pleasures to enjoy and entertaining classes to stimulate my mind in between the healthy spa meals, truly, this place was an adventure for the senses.

Aside from having everything we could possibly want at our fingertips, we did venture out to Zion National Park among some other fun activities that I will share later. For now, I’m adjusting to being home again.

 

Too Many Veggies?

One of the hazards of having adult children is their penchant for spontaneous travel plans. From one day to the next, while they are temporarily residing with us, we are never certain who will be present for the evening meal.

Yesterday I experienced a major marketing trip. I loaded the basket with fresh and colorful vegetables according to my end of the week menu plan. I stuffed all these lovely fresh foods into our refrigerator, after eliciting the help of our two body building, young adult, male children who eat this food faster than I can buy it.

Afterwards, my older son inquired, “Why did you buy so much food?” My measured response was that due to the appetites that he and his brother maintain, I am required to shop almost daily to keep their stomachs full and their muscles ready to pump iron.

From the other room, my younger son yelled, “I’m going to Seattle tomorrow! Can I have a ride to the airport?” I sighed. Then my daughter yowled from her room that she was going on a weekend trip with her boyfriend and wouldn’t be back until Monday. I grumbled. I stared at oldest son and told him, “You may not go anywhere! Dad and I can’t eat this stuff by ourselves.”

The immediate and reasonable solution to this overstock of food came like an electric shock: Stir Fry! The result for tonight’s dinner was a wonderful, spicy Chinese Stir Fry with Chicken.

If you ever have more vegetables than you can consume, I highly recommend a simple, easy and delicious stir-fry. It’s a one pan, one bowl meal. It also works well for vegetables that may be aging in the refrigerator when you are just plain tired of vegetable soup.

CHINESE VEGETABLE STIR FRY WITH CHICKEN

Sauce:
½ cup low sodium soy sauce
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon sugar

Whisk ingredients together and set aside.

Next:
Lightly toast, 1 cup whole cashews. Authentic Chinese recipes would have you stir fry the nuts in oil, but I favor avoiding the additional oil so I simply toast them in a toaster oven or under the broiler. This way they are roasted all the way through. They should be just golden and crunchy. Set aside.

Chop:
3 baby bok choy, sliced diagonally
10 leaves, savoy cabbage, sliced crosswise
1 carrot, halved lengthwise and sliced thinly on a diagonal
1 broccoli crown, split into individual pieces, no stems
1 red bell pepper, julienned
8 oz. mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 small leeks, white only, thinly sliced
1 ½ cups snow peas, whole
2 garlic cloves, minced
2-3 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced

4 chicken breasts, trimmed and cut diagonally in thin strips
2 cups chicken non-fat or homemade stock
2 tablespoons Peanut oil, divided
Tamari sauce to taste

Brown or white rice to serve 6.

Heat a wok or large sauté pan until hot. Add 1 tablespoon peanut oil and a good long drizzle of tamari sauce. Saute or stir fry the chicken until it is opaque. Remove with a strainer to a clean bowl and set aside.

Wipe the pan clean with a paper towel. Add 1 tablespoon peanut oil and another drizzle of tamari sauce. When the oil is hot, add the red pepper, leeks and mushrooms. Saute until soft.

Add the cabbage and bok choy and stir fry until softened. Add the garlic and ginger. Stir fry until well mixed-just a couple of minutes.

Add the carrot, snow peas and broccoli. Stir well to combine.

Pour the chicken stock into the pan, give it a stir and let it heat enough to steam the remaining crisp vegetables. When the broccoli begins to change color, add the soy/cornstarch mixture and stir well.

Increase the heat, add the chicken back into the pan and stir until the sauce thickens and the chicken is heated through. This will only take a minute or two.

Serve over brown or white rice. Sprinkle with toasted cashews.

Food, Glorious Food

Today, my feet resemble fat little sausages from all the walking I did yesterday. Have you ever eaten your way around the world in 7 hours? Well, yesterday that’s exactly what I did!

My dear friend, King Ravioli, graciously took me along to the Winter Fancy Food Show in San Diego. King Ravi manufactures ravioli for high-end restaurants and resorts. He, thankfully, thinks of me when opportunities arise that would further my education about food and the food chain.

As a devoted cook and passionate flavor lover, I’m committed to life long learning about foods, processes, techniques, ingredients, global economies, sustainability and above all—all the tasting I can possibly manage in one mortal lifetime.

The group sponsoring the Winter Fancy Food Show, named The National Association for the Specialty Food Trade, chose San Diego as their show location this year. They are a not-for-profit, international business trade association, established in 1952, with the intention of “fostering trade, commerce and interest in the specialty food industry.”

Their membership comprises domestic and foreign manufacturers, importers, distributors, brokers, retailers, restaurateurs, caterers and others in the specialty foods business. You know what this means?

“1,200 exhibitors-including 130 new companies and nearly 200 exhibitors in the West Coast debut of the Natural & Organic Pavilion. Timed to help retailers and restaurateurs increase the momentum of their businesses in 2008, the Winter Show features upwards of 80,000 specialty foods and beverages from 40 countries.” (Website statistic for NASFT)

I hope you read that carefully, particularly the part that said, “80,000 specialty foods?” Can you figure out which major activity I enjoyed? I ate and ate and ate.

I learned more than I thought possible about packaged foods, pre-prepared foods, packaging, transportation, shelf life, organic certification, hype, and how to properly taste cheeses, chocolates, vinegars, herbs and so much more!

When I was invited to participate in a workshop on “Focused Tasting”, I nearly jumped for joy. They intended to teach me to discern “the intriguing subtleties, important differences and immense variety in three product categories through structured, side-by-side tastings” but who could FOCUS with all those aromas?

When I saw that one of the vendors was teaching about chocolate and its subtleties, I suddenly found my focal point and concentrated with all my senses. Same with the wines and vodkas.

By the end of the day, I had tasted these things and more:
Fresh lobster, crab, sushi roe, caviar, duck confit, duck rillettes, duck salami, chocolates from 7 manufacturers, sparkling juices, wines, Lithuanian vodkas (yes, several), pates, terrines, honeycomb filled with honey, stuffed olives from Spain, Greece and Italy.

I sampled maple sugar, Swiss fondue, French escargot, organic dried fruits, olive oils from at least 5 different countries and vinegars too, cheeses from Denmark, Britain, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United States.

My Escargot Shell:

In order to find quality ingredients, it helps to know the source of your food. King Ravi sought a fine ricotta and piquant parmesan for his ravioli and in the process; I learned how to choose an excellent cheese.

The cheese is the result of the grasses the animals eat, the type of animal (sheep, cow, goat or combination), the manufacturing and aging processes, flavorings and finally additives and preservatives. In order to learn this, I think I tasted at least 20 different ricottas and parmesans.

The dried mushrooms were an education unto themselves. So many fungi in a variety of forms had my head spinning. The grains made a fine showing too as did the spices that spanned the globe in variety and ethnic mixtures.

That convention hall was a veritable tower of Babel with all the assorted languages filling the air. The aromas from all those countries mingled in my sinuses for hours. Last night, my dreams were of all the things I could make with all those ingredients and flavors.

I came away from that experience, of immersion in the food industry, understanding that if you are serious about cooking and food, you owe yourself a good education.

Read your cookbooks, get to know your ingredients, learn about your food sources and maximize your enjoyment of the necessity to nourish yourself.

Cooking isn’t just about collecting recipes and sharing tips, it’s vital to our sustainability and survival.

KNOTS

Knots grow into the muscles of her shoulders. Knots tense up the muscles near her shoulder blades. Her biceps ache in the middle of the night. Frequently she awakens, in the darkened room, while he is breathing deeply beside her, and feels muscle after muscle tighten and ease. She is not an athlete. Exercise is loathsome to her. Her home is neat but little energy is expended on the heavy labor of cleaning. Cooking is her love and her hobby.

Morning light arrives and her first thoughts are of the evening meal. Rustling through printed recipes, online cooking sites and food magazines consume her morning.

Hopping into her car, she stuffs the marketing list into her pocket. A short drive later, she parks and enters the corner grocery store. Her path is a well- learned routine; first, she travels down the left side of the market to browse the imported meats and cheeses. She never buys the processed meats, but the urge to peruse is strong.

Making a right turn around the bread display, she sights the eggs and butter and she deftly grabs the dairy items necessary for her evening meal. Cautiously avoiding the center aisles of canned, frozen and dried goods, she arrives at the fresh meat and seafood counter. She surveys the selection of meats, chicken parts, and fish. After making her choices, she continues around a right turn into the produce section, her favorite. Carefully she selects the freshest foods from the produce aisle. The colors cause a smile to spread across her face. The aromatic lure of the herbs tickles her nostrils.

A short drive home and she carries the bags up the stairs to the kitchen. Each time she enters the kitchen she feels inspired by the warm cherry cabinetry and the deep purple hues of the imported granite counter tops. She gently empties the bags. Tenderly she washes the fresh food, stores the dairy food in the refrigerator, and begins to conduct the orchestra of flavors for the evening meal.

Turning up the music, she engages the rhythms from the radio with the chopping, stirring and mixing of the ingredients. The radiant heat from the oven comforts her with each pass in front of it. The warmth from the burners on the stove beckons her to move closer to watch the flames dance underneath the pots.

After a while, a soothing aroma fills the kitchen space. A heartily spicy aroma created by her cooking dances into the air and floats out the window releasing itself to the neighborhood. The onions, garlic, celery, and red and yellow peppers dance around in the pot. Sizzling and bubbling butter swirl into the mixture.

A healthy dose of white wine sings out as she pours it. Next, the color, the deep red color of life is added with the crushed tomatoes. As she stirs, she sways with the waves of the simmering vegetables. Finally, the accent notes are added–a handful of chopped basil, a dash of thyme, and a good strong shake of dried red peppers.

Turning the flame down to a simmer, she turns her attention to the pasta. Ah, the pasta, dried and stiff soon to be softened by a bath of hot water. Over high flames, she brings the water to a boil. The bubbles rise to the top of the pot as she pours in the dry pasta. They sink to the bottom, and then float nearer the top, repeatedly like small gymnasts until they soften.

The table is set with large purple pasta bowls and forks. The warmed crusty bread from the oven adds a pleasant scent to the already heavenly atmosphere. She wraps it in a towel and places it delicately on the table.

Hearing his footsteps coming up the stairs, she drains the softened pasta. She carries the heavy pot of sauce to the table. After pouring the pasta into a red floral bowl, it also joins the composition gracing the dining table.

He enters the room and takes his seat. She begins to serve. A knot seizes her shoulder. Another knot seizes her neck. Muscle after muscle begins to tighten and ease in a painful seesaw motion. She is not an athlete. She loathes exercise.

After the meal, he retreats to his study. She stands over the dirty dishes at the sink. The knots begin to fade. The music fills her ears again. The knot of an unhappy marriage tightens when he is near. It fades when he moves away, and she knows that these are the knots of her marriage coming undone.