Things entering or emerging from RochelLeah's kitchen in recent months

Entered:
Blueberries from the Burlingame farmers' market... It's really just this one farm where the berries are only in season for about 6 weeks in May through July. J. and I went through multiple flats' worth. We still have part of one half-pint frozen in the freezer. J. and I couldn't stop eating them and decided that they were (a) the world's most perfect blueberries, and (b) the best snack food on earth. I made an amazing sauce with them, but screwed up the seals by allowing the sauce and jars to cool too much before sealing. I was only briefly dispondent.

Truffles from Max Brenner, in New York City. They had these little pink boxes for $5 each with purchase. I bought two in early July and forgot to leave one with my mother in Baltimore. I felt guilty, but there was no way that I would send chocolate through the mail in the summer. I have eaten them VERY slowly. I am still only half-done with the second box. Of course, J. and I did also eat at Max Brenner in Tel Aviv this summer.

Seasonings from Istanbul's Spice Bazaar. Including Persian saffron.

Hazelnut butter. Also from Istanbul. Before our trip, J. and I had no idea that hazelnuts were such a big deal in Turkey. The hazelnut butter is sweetened (which I usually don't go for) and as a delightful, slightly chunky texture.

Early season apples. The approach of autumn brings with it a multitude of apples from local Northern Californian orchards. I still favor the apples-only merchant at the Palo Alto farmers' market, but I've gotten some great apples and pears in Mountain View recently. I haven't started my chutney and applesauce production for the season, but I can't stop eating apples with peanut butter. I'll have to try the hazelnut butter. Mmmmm...

Emerged:
Browned gnocchi with lemon, butter, and green peas. Plain boiled gnocchi bore me. Boil them and then brown them in butter, and you have pure magic. With J.'s feedback, I've been working out the kinks in this dish, which is great as a main dish or side. It went excellently with pan-fried, nut-crusted salmon (which I cooked to perfect done-ness but couldn't keep the coating on). J. gets disappointed if I don't make it often enough.

Watermelon sorbet. I learned from friends M. and A. in NYC that one can freeze fresh watermelon, slightly thaw, then puree with rum (or another alcoholic substance) and either simple syrup or agave syrup. I couldn't stop eating it during a particularly hot NYC Shabbat in July, so I made some when I got home. I think it's sublime; J. wasn't as impressed.

Chicken thighs with gravy, served with kasha varnishkes. I love chicken thighs. I find them highly underrated. Although I love chicken breasts, they just aren't as flavorful. You can't make a good chicken soup with breasts only. You can't make a gravy with them. But thighs... a totally different ballgame. I made the kasha on Thursday, and Joshua deemed it a bit boring, even with the sauteed onions. He recommended adding mushrooms and chicken. I forgot about the mushrooms, but I did acquire chicken for Shabbat. I browned, then poached the chicken in olive oil, Earth Balance margarine, herbes de Provence, white pepper, salt, and white wine. When the chicken was done, I removed it, then added additional water to deglaze the pan. Finally, I reduced it while stirring in the usual cornstarch-and-cold-water mixture. Not a lump in sight. Now, if I could only find a kasha that doesn't come with overly toasted and pebble-like pieces...

Cleanliness Is Next to Godliness?

At the apartment in Berkeley (where I lived with female J.), we didn't have a dishwasher, but I wasn't particularly disturbed by the state of our dishes. Like most older apartments, there wasn't good lighting. If our dishes were anything less than sparkling, I didn't usually notice. Every once in a while, I'd "reject" a washed dish and put it back in the sink. J. felt the same way. Her only preferences were about the type of sponge we used (Dobie) and that we shouldn't use the natural dish soap. In everything else, we were all-natural girls, but dishes just didn't seem as clean.

Ever since I moved into this apartment, I have had a goal. And it is cleanliness of the dish kind. You see, the townhouse's kitchen sink is just below a window. Once again, the only dishwashers are human. At first, I noticed the grime and the filminess. Then, I realized that there was a huge difference between the cleanliness of the dishes I did in daylight rather than at night. Now I just accept that I will have to re-clean dishes washed at night, when my insufficient kitchen lighting fails to provide sufficient task lighting for the sink.

I changed my dish soap. Since then, I have tried at least 6 different dish soap formulas. I still haven't found the right one. The current tester: Method, unscented. (I could also rant for a while about my distaste for the scenting of every cleaning product imaginable. But that is for another time.) I'm not sure it's up to the task, but the jury is still out.

Meanwhile, J. (that is, the husband J.) and I just bought a condo. With a teeny, tiny dishwasher, one that at first glance appears to be a garbage compactor because of its narrow proportion. I really, honestly hope the little machine does its work. I think I even still have my beloved Ecover dishwashing tabs from years ago, when I last had a dishwasher.