A dinner for Marcella and Rosie

I'm part of a large clan on one side of my family. As I may have mentioned, this side is food-obsessed. They cook, they bake, they eat, they analyze, they review restaurants, they swap recipes, they photograph, they assemble cookbooks. They also mushroom hunt.

At least some of them do. My Auntie Rosie, one of my dad's sisters, and her husband Johnny mushroom-hunted for years, and went well into their 80's. My sister went with them once and returned marveling not only at their endurance for a day of work she described as nearly back-breaking for someone in her 30's, but how methodical they were in their hunting--which is important, of course, when it comes to potentially poisonous things.

As they were with everything else, Johnny and Rosie were generous with their findings. They hunted painstakingly for the right mushrooms, then sliced them, dried them, divided them, and scattered them throughout the family. Often when I would see them, Auntie Rosie would arrive with a bag of homemade biscotti or freshly-picked peaches from a farm they liked to go to, or basil from their garden. I loved all of these gifts. But best of all was when Rosie would pull out a fat little ziplock bag full of pungent mushrooms and say softly in her scratchy little voice, "You like porcinis?" Uh, you bet I do.

To my great, great sadness, Rosie isn't with us anymore. But, some of her treasured mushrooms are. I've been holding onto the last sack of lovely porcinis she gave me for awhile now. Periodically I take them out and look at them, trying to decide whether or not I have something worthy of them. Rosie was an excellent cook, and I never wanted to fritter those delicious, earthy mushrooms on something silly. On the other hand, she was practical and not overly sentimental. She would have laughed at the idea of me holding onto a dusty bag of fungus.

Tonight, I decided to bring two of my favorite chefs together and make Marcella Hazan's chicken with marsala and Rosie's porcini mushrooms. You start by browning the chicken over high heat, then add the aromatics, wine, and soaked mushrooms, and cook everything slowly over low heat for close to an hour, until the meat nearly falls off the bone.

I don't like to cook chicken that long; I'm generally loyal to Marcella, but I know my own tastes. So I took the chicken out after 40 minutes of simmering. The sauce had reduced to a thick, dark, shiny glaze, and the porcinis had absorbed the spiciness of the marsala. I served it over buttered noodles with chives, and in spite of both of us battling colds, the husband and I enjoyed every bite. I think both Marcella and Rosie would have been proud.

Saved by nabe udon

I'm feeling cranky today. I've been unsuccessfully fighting off a cold, and now it's really settled in. Like many other people who are fortunate enough to spend 99% of their life healthy, when I do get sick, it makes me mad and fussy. I'm sure it's not attractive.

Plus, I've been called for jury duty this week. Every day I check to see if I have to report the next day. So like a little drone I go the the sfgov website at 4:30 pm to find out my fate for the next day.

The final straw was that we received a recall notice on our oven. Apparently, this model has been linked to house fires and explosions. Um, okay. So, we're not to use it until it gets fixed or replaced.

When someone tells me I can't do something, that's all I want to do. Thinking about dinner last night, I decided on chicken roasted with cherry tomatoes. Then I remembered about the oven. So we ate delicious wild salmon instead, with Israeli couscous and almonds on the side.

Today I was thinking ahead to the weekend, reflecting on how nice it will be in a few days when this icky cold is gone. AM is having a birthday party this weekend and I've been promising her red velvet cupcakes for ages. Probably since her last birthday! I'd looked at recipes, made a shopping list, and even picked up some little sprinkles to decorate the tops. But then it occured to me that sadly, AM will have another red velvet cupcake-free birthday this year, thanks to my potentially combustible oven.

I drowned my fussiness in some nabe udon soup at lunch. I really like udon, especially when I'm sick, and this one comes with the weird pink and white fish cake (what is that? I love it!), seaweed, napa cabbage, shitake mushrooms, one tempuraed shrimp (which I now know to order on the side so it doesn't get soggy), and a poached egg. When I have a cold, I'm ravenous. Normal people lose their appetites. I get an acute, demanding hunger. I finished almost the whole bowl, minus a few stray noodles, and the egg, of course.

After demolishing the soup, my spirits were lifted. Food does make you feel better, both physically and mentally sometimes. I still have to crush the cold and wiggle my way out of jury duty, but I'm a little better equipped for both challenges.

I heart Penzeys!

My Penzeys spices arrived yesterday. I'd forgotten that I'd ordered them and so it was a cheerful surprise to arrive home to.

My sister turned me on to Penzeys years ago, and since then I've never gone back to grocery store spices. I think their spices are much fresher, they have a mind-boggling variety to choose from, and I like that you can buy them in all different quantities. I really don't think they're much more expensive than what you'd find in your local store, and when you consider the difference in quality, there's no comparison.

I find it interesting to note what I order most frequently--I clearly rely on some of the same flavorings from week to week. I feel like I'm constantly renewing my supply of fennel seed, marjoram, ground ginger, whole nutmeg, garam masala, and of course their unmatched double vanilla. If you never try anything else from Penzeys, I highly suggest you at least try their double-strength Madagascar vanilla. While it's not cheap at $16 for 4 oz, you only need half what any recipe calls for. So it literally goes double the distance.

This order was full of some old standbys. I got beautiful, sagey green Turkish bay leaves...

Dried arbol chilies, perfect for rubbing roasted meats, but mostly for pasta alla amatriciana, which we eat almost once a week...

And black tellicherry Indian peppercorns.

I also ordered China cassia cinnamon which I go through at the speed of light. No photo, though.

With every order, Penzeys throws in a freebie. Often it's a blend, like a salad dressing mix, or grill seasoning. This time I got their Italian herb mix: dried oregano, marjoram, thyme, basil, and cracked rosemary.

The husband and the dog watched as I tore into the box, gleefully pulling out each item and holding it up for them to admire. Although summertime is an excellent time to take advantage of fresh herbs, dried ones are still useful in many dishes and always welcome in the hungry dog's home.