MBAs cannot pass up low-hanging fruit. We just can't.

I recently came into possession of slightly more than a pound and a half of fresh, wild blackberries.

This is because I picked them. On, essentially, the side of the road in Sonoma County. With my friend C.C.

It was actually C.C.'s idea to pick the berries. She's the smart one. "Do you know how much these would be at Whole Foods?!"

Exactly, C.C.  Exactly.

We both came home with bags filled with hard-won blackberries. I say "hard-won" because have you ever picked blackberries? Those brambles are NOT a JOKE.

This is about what the two of us sounded like while picking berries:

"Ooh, these look great!"
"Nice!"
"OW! Motherf---!!"
"There are so many berries over here!"
"Damn it! OW!"
"My fingers are covered in prickly things."
"Can you imagine having this job? This job would really suck."
"Could you wear gloves?"
"I don't think so."
 "I am picking a lot of low-hanging fruit. Ahahahahaha."
 "AAAAAHHH Ouch."
"This. Berry. Is. SO. Sweet!"
"GODDAMN IT, BLACKBERRY BUSH! YOU HURT!"


Anyhow, then I got home and was like, "Hey, Kate, one and a half pounds of blackberries is kind of a lot to eat fresh. I mean, these aren't strawberries!"

So I got to cooking.

First I made Blackberry Jam.

I used a pretty basic jam starting point - fruit plus sugar and citrus peel/juice for pectin but I added a little of my own pizzazz. That means I put some Grand Marnier in it. When I add pizzazz, that's what I add. Now you know.

Actually, I didn't put "some" Grand Marnier in it. I put "a lot" of Grand Marnier in it because I tipped the bottle over a bit too far. No harm, no foul. I cooked the booze off a bit and you can't even really tell it's in there. I swear.


Very Sketchy Blackberry Jam Recipe I Just Made Up 
That You Should Probably Not Ever Try To Make Yourself

I took the pound and a half of (cleaned) blackberries, combined them with a long strip of lemon peel, a teaspoon of lemon juice, a bay leaf (thanks, Martha Stewart, for the ingredient suggestion!), two cups of sugar, and a pinch of salt in a 4 quart pot. I cooked it for about 10-15 minutes, then added the pizzazz. Did the whole jam-freezer-plate test, and filled a pint jar. (No processing here, just keeping this stuff in the fridge.) My wooden spoon seems to have suffered permanent staining as a result of this endeavor.

That's what I did. What I should have done was mash and strain the seeds out of the berries first, before I started cooking. Instead I strained some of the seeds out partway through - about half of them. Half, it turns out, isn't enough. Trust me when I tell you there is a reason you can only buy seedless blackberry jam at the grocery store. Unless you really like to chew. If your jaw needs a workout, and you're tired of gum and Grape Nuts, by all means leave the seeds in.

It does look prettier with the seeds in, so there's that...

I let that cool and then made some blackberry cookie bars. After straining the seeds out of a large portion of the jam. Which took me half an hour. Because I am an idiot.

In case you're not paying attention, let me be clear: Strain first! Better yet, don't make blackberry jam without a food mill. Just buy a jar and save your jam efforts for wins like Tomato Jam.

After all that, I am not going to post the blackberry cookie bar recipe for you.

Mean, right? Not really. Actually, I am doing you a favor.

Here's why: They came out delicious but SUPER buttery. Too buttery, really. Eat-one-and-wonder-if-you're-going-to-be-ok-buttery. I would hate for you, dear reader, to make these and be all like: "Kate, if I wanted to lick a stick of butter, I would have just done that.  No need to gussy it up with your homemade jam."

Which is probably what my co-workers will say when I bring these cookies into work. 

Sorry in advance guys! Thanks for being my guinea pigs!
By the way, that milk isn't just food styling. You really will want some milk with these.
Consider yourselves warned.

July is National Hot Dog Month

I've been working from home today. East coast hours, if you must know.

What that means is that I started working at 6:30am and after 7 straight hours of calls, I almost fell over from hunger. I believe that kind of marathon deserves a reward, so here's what I made and ate for lunch:

Turns out you can't get classic Chicago dog "sport peppers" in San Francisco. Well, not at my Whole Foods or at the Bristol Farms downtown.

I'm also bummed I didn't think to brush the bun with water and poppyseeds before toasting until after I was halfway through eating this thing. Maybe next time.

Still, on balance, this tasted pretty close to true. Better than I was expecting, actually!

Now if I only had some fries covered in melted Merkt's "cheddar" cheese spread...

Health in a Bowl

As I mentioned last month (cannot believe it has been that long - ugh!), I've spent a couple of weeks feeling rather under the weather recently. Being sick for a few days sucks. Being sick for two weeks is really a whole other story that I hope to never experience again. At some point in week two of this malaise I decided what I really needed was a bunch of vegetables. I'm sure if I owned a juicer I would have been going crazy with that thing.

I don't own a juicer.

I actually am kind of anti-juice. I don't understand why or how juice could possibly be better for you that eating the whole fruit or vegetable itself. But I'm funny like that. Juice is just not my thing.

On the other hand, I can really get behind a good, brothy veggie soup. This was another "let's be thrifty and environmentally responsible and everything and use what's already in the fridge" move. Also an "I feel like crap and don't want to walk a block to the grocery store" move. And with a few supplements, I had a pretty tasty vegetable soup that I will happily make again, only in probably half the quantity as I've discovered that three consecutive days of a vegetable soup meal represent my absolute limit.

If you want to feel healthy, or if you have a lot of veggies in the drawer that are about to go, this is your recipe.

Doesn't this gorgeous kale just scream "I AM SO GOOD FOR YOU!"?

Kate's Vegetable Soup
Makes four big servings

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 carrot, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
1 small red or white potato (thin-skinned, not Russett), peeled and diced
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
4 cups chicken broth (I'm a fan of Swanson Natural Goodness)
1 can diced tomatoes with their juice
parmesan rinds (optional)
1 zucchini, diced
1/2 roasted red pepper, seeded and diced
1/2 bunch of kale, chopped coarsely
kosher or sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Directions

(Before you start, I highly recommend pre-chopping all the veggies.)

1. Roast your red pepper if you haven't already. I only had half a red pepper but I still just stuck it on the burner. (God, I love having a gas stove.)

2. Once the pepper is good and blackened, put it in a bowl and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let the pepper steam for about 10 minutes. Then use paper towels to rub off the blackened skin. Chop the peeled pepper.

3. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil over medium-high and saute the onion, garlic, carrot, and celery until the onion turns translucent, about 10 minutes. You don't really want to brown it here. 

4. Add the potato, spices, chicken broth, and tomatoes. Simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 5 minutes. Toss in one or two parmesan rinds, if you have them. 

5. Simmer for another 15 minutes or so, until the broth looks a little cloudy and starts to smell delicious. 

6. Add the zucchini, red pepper, and kale.

7. Simmer for another 5 minutes or so, until the zucchini is tender but not mushy. 

I love all the gorgeous colors. It's like rainbow soup.

8. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve with some whole grain crackers. And a big spoon.

I finally kicked that crazy flu a couple of days after I made this soup for myself.
So clearly, this works. Sample size of one. I'm a believer.

A Fall Salad and My Perfect Granola

Hi Blogosphere,

I miss you. It's been awhile. A lot has happened since I saw you last. Although nothing very exciting, to be honest. I made a bunch of food. I took some pictures. I did a lot of work. I went to some concerts. I had lots of fun with friends.

Mostly, I didn't blog. But I'm back and I'm vowing to do this more regularly. I'm sure I'll regret this. But like taking my packet of vitamins each morning, I believe it's good for me. Kind of like this salad.

Because I've been a bit under the weather lately, I've been doing a lot of working from home. The benefit to working from home (i.e. one of the few benefits to being sick) is making lunch for myself, on the spot. For some reason, I love making lunch for myself. A couple of days ago, I opened the fridge and decided to just make a salad from what was in there. Here was the result - a very tasty autumnal salad.

Mixed greens, sliced fennel, mission figs (fresh!), green apple, halved grapes, sliced parmesan, toasted walnuts with a dressing of sherry vinegar, olive oil, a little bit of honey, and salt and pepper.

It was a delightful little lunch and I think it even made me feel a little bit better. Food can do that, you know.

Unlike the salad, which I made up on the spot, this granola recipe has been several months in the making. I actually honed it at the end of July but, as previously discussed, have lacked the time to blog about it. By which I mean, I totally didn't prioritize it. Clearly, I had time. I just didn't make time. So now. I'm making time now. Even though I did a terrible job taking pictures of this granola. Oh well. I'm out of practice. Or something.

Anyway, I've finally got My Perfect Granola. I still can't believe how easy it is to make. I'm never buying granola again. For real this time.

This recipe is super easy to modify. You can add or change the quantities on pretty much anything. I like the balance of this one. It's just a little bit sweet and just a little bit nutty.

I certainly don't know anyone like that. 

Kate's Perfect Maple-Vanilla-Pecan-Coconut-Pepita Granola

Ingredients
3 cups old-fashioned (not quick!) rolled oats. Quaker Oats. Obviously. 
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup pepitas
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
pinch of kosher salt
1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons canola oil
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons real, pure maple syrup

Directions

1.     Preheat oven to 350F. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

2.     Combine oats, pecans, pepitas, coconut flakes, and pinch of salt in a medium to large bowl. 

3.     In a small bowl, combine canola oil, maple syrup, and vanilla bean seeds. Whisk to combine.

4.     Pour maple syrup mixture into oat mixture. Stir until all the future-granola bits are coated evenly.

5.     Dump granola into baking pan and evenly distribute across pan.

6.      Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown. Stir once in the middle of baking.

7.     Cool completely, then store in an airtight container. I like to keep mine in a glass jar with a rubber gasket like this one. 

8.     Eat! I like mine over Fage 0% Greek Yogurt with whatever fresh berries I can get my hands on. Or peaches. 

Or straight from the jar with a spoon.

Rosemary, Sweet and Savory

Apropos of nothing, the first figs of the season arrived last weekend.

In case I haven't made it clear before or before how much I love figs, this little pint basket cost me $7.

Yes. I seven dollars love them.

No foreign figs for me! Steven Colbert would be proud.

And here comes the segue into what this blog post is really about.

Speaking of things I love, I really love the herbal scent of rosemary. (See what I did there?) I might like it better than any other herb. Well, not better than lavender. I love lavender.

I should probably just move to Provence, already.

Anyhow, after plying my coworkers with a variety of flourless baked goods in the past few months, a friend at work, Rachel, let me borrow her awesome cookbook, Good to the Grain. This cookbook in particular covers recipes featuring a wide variety of "alternative" grains. This is the kind of thing I get excited about.

One of the recipes I copied from Rachel's book (figuring if I brought the whole book home, she'd never see it again, or I'd do something horrible like spill a whole bottle of red wine on it) was for Olive Oil Cake.

It, like Jerry Maguire, had me at hello. Spelt flour (my favorite of the alterna-grains), rosemary, olive oil, and bittersweet chocolate. Yes, rosemary and chocolate. Read it again if you must.

There is something about the addition of traditionally savory ingredients to desserts that I am drawn to, fundamentally and physically, as if there were some sort of savory-sweet gravitational pull on my heart. See also: basil chocolate chip cookies.  

But when would I make this cake? I had no occasions for cake making. Back of hand to forehead. Despair! (Ok, not really. I'm totally being dramatic here. Just play along.)

Have you ever noticed how sometimes the timing of life is just really spot on and perfect? You know, in a way that makes you think that perhaps there really is a God, orchestrating this chaos? Like, maybe God is just really, really busy all the time and is juggling SO many plates that it's hard not to drop one now and then (oops, was that a tsunami?) but when all the plates are spinning simultaneously, you practically get knocked over by the serendipity of it all.

As it so happened, the day after I discovered and photocopied this Olive Oil Cake recipe, my friends Sneaks and Juju invited us all to their place to celebrate their engagement and cook us a boatload of amazing Italian food inspired by their recent trip to Italy, where they got engaged. I volunteered to bring dessert, and cooked up this cake along with some of the most beautiful strawberries I've ever seen, and a little mascarpone cream (with crushed amaretti on the side).

Gorgeous, no?

 
I'll be honest here, the strawberries/mascarpone cream/amaretti were totally an insurance policy against this cake. I was nervous about the cake. In case you weren't paying attention before, let me repeat myself: Rosemary. Bittersweet Chocolate. A LOT of olive oil.

I love savory in my sweets, but this felt like a bit of a different ballgame. This was no bit-of-basil in a cookie.

Here's my adaptation of the recipe.

Olive Oil Cake, adapted from Kim Boyce's Good to the Grain

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups white spelt flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 eggs
1 cup good extra virgin olive oil (the best you are willing to part with a cup of!)
3/4 cup whole milk
1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves (from about 4 stalks)
3.5 ounces 70% bittersweet chocolate, chopped into 1/2-inch-ish pieces (I highly recommend Perugina if you're doing the Italian thing full-on. You can get Perugina chocolate at World Market.)


Directions
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Rub a 9 1/2 inch fluted tart pan with olive oil. Place the tart pan on a flat baking sheet.


2. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt into a large mixing bowl. Set aside. 


3. Whisk the eggs in a medium mixing bowl. Add the olive oil, milk, and rosemary and whisk to combine. 

Let the folding begin.

4. Using a spatula, fold the egg mixture into the dry ingredients. When just combined, dump in the chocolate bits and fold those in as well. 


5. Pour-slash-scrape the batter into the tart pan and spread it evenly. Slide the tart pan / baking sheet combo into the oven. 

6. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the top is domed and the edges are a bit darker than the middle. (You can do the toothpick test to confirm doneness. I think I overbaked mine a few minutes, so I'd start checking this thing at around 33 minutes.) Slide the tart pan from the baking sheet onto a cooling rack and let cool completely in the pan. 

Everyone at dinner gobbled up the cake to fairly rave reviews (I actually thought it was a little dry due to my overbaking it, but no one seemed to mind. Probably because most of us were a bottle of wine (each) into the proceedings. That is my number one tip for getting people to like what you cook for them. Get them drunk first.)

All in all, a success and I look forward to trying this again and pulling it from the oven a bit earlier.

There is one problem with this recipe, though, and that is this: at the end of it, you are left with a bunch of rosemary.

Well, that's not a problem. As we say at work, that is an opportunity.

Now you've got the goods to make a delicious dinner.

If you like cedar-planked salmon, you'll like this. It's very similar, except there's no tree-killing or grilling involved. 

Kate's Impromptu Rosemary Salmon in a Packet
Serves 1 (but you can make multiple packets to serve more people)

Ingredients
1 lovely piece of center cut salmon, skin on (mine was 6 oz.), rinsed and patted dry on paper towels.
2 stalks of rosemary (you will see that I used more than that but you should not unless you REALLY love rosemary.)
1 small onion, any kind, sliced
1 small lemon, sliced
olive oil for drizzling
salt and pepper

Directions
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Tear off a piece of aluminum foil approximately 15" long.  

Season the salmon on both sides with salt and pepper. Put one stalk of rosemary in the middle of the foil. (I used twice as much rosemary as my recipe above calls for. You might not want to do that. Just saying. You have to really like rosemary for that. Want-to-stick-it-UP-your-nose-like it.)

 Scatter half the sliced onion over it. Then layer half the lemon slices over the onion. Place the salmon skin-side down on top. 

Reverse the layering order: add the lemon, then the onion, then the remaining rosemary stalk. Drizzle olive oil over the top of the stack. 

Bring two of the foil edges (I suggest the short ones) together and fold over twice to seal. Roll the side edges in so they meet the top edge and make sure that the packet is well sealed all around. Place the packet in a pie plate or other rimmed oven-safe dish.

Bake for 15 minutes (for a 6 oz. piece).  Be careful when opening the packet not to burn yourself on the escaping steam.

Serve.

Yup, that's haricot verts and figs on the side.

Try not to eat the entire piece of salmon in five minutes like I did. Yum.

This salmon could not be more perfectly cooked. I love it when that happens.

Getting Over It

Hi Readers!

I want to begin this by thanking each and everyone of you who actually read this blog. It might sound silly, but I can't tell you how much it means to me to have "readers." I never ceased to be amazed that, according to Google analytics, you actually exist. I don't know who all of you are but I love you.

Please, please know that I appreciate every single one of you and the time you take from your busy lives reading about my homemade adventures and (often only semi-coherent) ramblings and reminiscences. You all are awesome. And I am truly humbled by your existence. I mean it.

Alright, so onto this post. It has been really hard for me to accept that I can't just eat whatever I want. I don't just mean in terms of quantity although THANK YOU, 30-something metabolism, for letting me learn that one the hard way.

What I'm talking about this time is more in terms of ingredients. Specifically, being challenged to create a delicious dietary life without all-purpose flour and its many relatives...bulgur, wheat berries, and many packaged things. (Pasta, I'm talking to you. And you, crackers. And you, Acme Bread. And croissants. UGH. I looooove croissants.)

But maybe I was meant to be this way. To paraphrase Lady Gaga, maybe I was "born this way". I'm a purist. Always have been. Since birth, I've loved and prioritized the freshest, most whole ingredients, almost instinctively. I'm not a picky eater in the classic sense...I've always been adventurous in the food department. It's not the food itself, but the freshness and the quality of the ingredients that have forever mattered to me. Always. Maybe GMO wheat and I were never meant to get along. Philosophically, we're just not on the same page.

Nevertheless, it is somewhat difficult for me to admit to you, aloud (or whatever the "aloud" equivalent of typing is), that I used a mix in making these cookies. To be fair, it was a gluten-free flour blend. But still. I do NOT bake from a box. I never have. That Cake Doctor lady has her niche and that's just fine, but that's not me. Not who I am. I've got "from scratch" written all over me.

All of that said, I'm excited about these cookies. Really and truly excited. Not just because they are gluten-free but also because I fed them to a bunch of people (science-experiment-style), who, in my view, can eat whatever they want and you know what? They loved them, too. And I think you will as well.


Kate's (Gluten-Free!) Salted Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
Adapted from this recipe


Makes up to 4 dozen, depending on how much raw cookie dough you pilfer in the process.

Prepping ingredients. By the way, I have been using my own homemade vanilla extract and so far, so good! Here's the recipe.

Ingredients
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups gluten-free flour blend (I used Better Batter for this particular endeavor but you can sub an equal amount of regular all-purpose flour

1/2 cup oat flour
 (for info on how to make this, see here)
2 cups rolled organic (gluten-free) oats

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
 (I used Ghirardelli bittersweet chips and chopped them up since they are huge)
Maldon sea salt or kosher salt

Chopped gigantic bittersweet chocolate chips

Directions
1. In a stand mixer (or using a hand-mixer), cream the butter. 
Add the brown sugar, white sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. 

Creamed butter, adding sugars, baking powder, cinnamon.

Combine at a medium speed until the mixture has a crumbly texture. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix again until combined.

 2. Fold in the all-purpose flour and oat flour until just combined, being sure not to over-work the dough. Gently fold in the oats and chocolate chips. 

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and transfer to the refrigerator to chill the dough for an hour. NOTE: This is important. If you do not do this, your cookies will spread all over the cookies sheet and you will be sad. 



3. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. When the oven is hot, drop the cold cookie dough, using a tablespoon or cookie dough scooper, onto a parchment lined baking sheet.

Sprinkle the tops of the dough with sea salt or kosher salt. Do not skimp on this front. There's no salt in the dough, so you really need to be pretty liberal here.

Bake for 13-15 minutes until the edges are golden brown but the center is still kind of soft. The cookie should still be soft to the touch so carefully transfer them to a cooling rack. (If you bake on parchment, as I do, you can just slide the whole sheet off the pan onto the rack, which is a method I highly recommend.)

Serve to people without dietary restrictions and don't be amazed at their responses! These cookies are delicious!

Cookies as seen at our Point Bonita picnic.

Game of Scones

Last Sunday I breakfasted at the Fairmont with Mom and Doug. We sat at a ridiculous low table in gigantic mohair wing chairs which made me feel very much like Alice in Wonderland when she takes the "Drink Me" potion.

Mom and Doug both had delicious-looking scones ("A Fairmont Specialty") that I immediately decided to go home and recreate without the all-purpose flour. With the prior week's blueberry oat scones fresh in my mind, I also wanted to work on improving the texture (more flaky, less spongy) and was aiming for a more classic scone flavor.

Kate's Classic Dried Fruit Scones
Makes 12 2" square scones

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups white spelt flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, very cold and cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons dried blueberries
2 tablespoons dried currants
5 dried apricots, chopped finely
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup yogurt

A bit of extra milk for brushing the tops of the scones (which I absolutely forgot to do this time).


Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. 

2. In a large bowl, combine spelt flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt with a whisk. Cut butter into flour mixture using a pastry blender or your (cold!) hands.

As much as I love the food processor, the pastry blender really does work better for this, I think.

3. Stir in dried fruits. Put flour mixture back in fridge for 5-10 minutes.

4. While the flour mixture is chilling, combine the milk and yogurt with a whisk until well blended. Remove the flour from the fridge and pour in the milk/yogurt mixture. Stir to combine. The dough will be very dry.

Very dry and crumbly, just as it should be.

5. Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface and, using your hands, knead the tough together, picking up the remaining dry bits. Form the dough into a rectangle. 

Like magic, the dough comes together nicely.

6. Using a chef's knife or bench scraper, cut the dough into 12 squares. Place squares on the prepared baking sheet and place back in the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes.

Studded with fruit. Yum.

7. Remove from refrigerator and brush the tops of the scones with milk (or an egg wash). Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until scones begin to brown on top.

Once I was on the scone kick, it just felt right to cook up some lemon curd with the remaining lemons in the fridge. Very British of me, no? Once again, I used Alice Waters' recipe, which is killer. You can read about it here.

I am happy to report that these scones turned out to be quite delicious. So much better than the last batch! They are tender yet flaky and just dense enough to feel legitimately scone-y without being like dried out hockey pucks. I love the mix of dried fruit versus the traditional single-note of currants alone.

I have managed to restrain myself, once again, from eating them all...

Dessert scone, anyone?

Ode to Joy

There's something about having grown up in the brutal winters of Chicago that leads me to embrace Spring like it's the second coming.

Despite having gotten out and firmly situated myself in what must be the world's most temperate climate, a climate where you never freeze and you never sweat, I still love Spring.

Spring feels optimistic. It inspires hope. Every year, Spring equals new.
New clothes, new shoes, new places to go on vacation, new foods at the market. The last of these, of course, being my favorite among favorites.

After the recent parental visit weekend (featuring much dining out at many fabulous places) and after foods such as the Chocolate Pot de Creme at Boulevard which I am pretty sure contained in its tiny cup twice the sum total of calories I typically ingest in a day, I was ready for - craving, really - some lighter fare.

Night number one was a simple preparation - just some pan roasted wild salmon and a few spears of asparagus. I rubbed the salmon with a little salt, pepper, smoked paprika and olive oil and threw it in the hot pan. Ditto for the asparagus, omitting the paprika.

By the time the salmon was done, so was the asparagus. Delicious, healthy, easy, fresh.

Alas, once again, my eyes were bigger than my stomach, and I was left with a few leftover spears and a couple of ounces of salmon.

Of course, I was also getting ready to take off for the week to the wilds of Central Wisconsin for a longer-than-usual business trip. This meant no trips to the grocery store. I would have to make do with what was on hand for dinner the night before departure.

Time to get creative.

Here's what I was working with:

A bit of cooked salmon, a few spears of roasted asparagus, an egg, a lemon, a bag of unshelled green garbanzos (I saw them at the store earlier in the week and could not pass them up!), a baggie of frozen (spelt) breadcrumbs, some dill, a stalk of borderline-rubbery celery, some sorry-looking parsley, and one gigantic shallot.

Blah.

Here's what I turned it into:

Salmon Cakes with Green Garbanzo Salad and Asparagus in a Blanket.

Fancy!

And here's how:

1. Prep the green garbanzos. This involves shelling them. When I was done (it took at least 10 minutes, and be warned, the stem bits can prick your fingers), I had about 3/4 cup of fresh garbanzos.

In the pod.

Cute! A little green garbanzo!

All shelled and ready to go.

2. While I was shelling the garbanzos, I put a small pot of water on to boil. I had no idea how long the garbanzos would take to cook and I overcooked them a bit. Turns out they take about only as long as fresh peas, so be warned. They are delicious and taste like a cross between fava beans and edamame. I drained them and rinsed them under cold water to stop the cooking, then put them on a towel to dry while I dealt with the other items.

3. Stem the parsley. I just pulled the leaves off the stems, whole. Like so.

Peel strips off the lemon peel - make sure you don't get the pith. Slice into thin strips (julienne). Whisk together the juice of half a lemon, some salt, and some olive oil to make a little dressing. Add the garbanzos, parsley and lemon strips and toss.

4. Prepare the salmon cakes by combining in a bowl the following:

about 2 teaspoons minced shallot
half a stalk of minced celery
1 tablespoon of minced dill
1 scant tablespoon of capers, drained and chopped
1/4 cup of breadcrumbs
a pinch of cayenne
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons of egg, beaten (reserve the rest of the egg for the "blanket")

 Add the leftover salmon, flaked (skin removed and discarded).

Mix this until combined and then divide it in half. Form patties by mushing it together with your hands. It looks like they will fall apart if anyone in a 4-block radius slams a door, but I swear they'll hold.

5. Prepare the "blanket" batter. Add to the bowl with the remaining beaten egg about two tablespoons flour (I used whole spelt flour), a pinch of salt, and a splash of milk. Whisk to combine.

6. Now get your pans ready. Heat over a medium flame a bit (a tablespoon, maybe? I didn't measure) of canola or grapeseed oil in a small frying pan (this is the blanket-cooking pan). Swirl to coat the pan and then use a paper towel to remove any oil that's running around the pan. You want a nice coating but you don't want to fry the blanket.

Put a few tablespoons of the same oil in another frying pan (the salmon cake pan). Heat until shimmering. In this pan, you want a standing pool of oil, probably about 1/8".

7. Pour the blanket batter into the smaller frying pan and tilt the pan so the batter covers the bottom. Cook undisturbed until bubbles form on the surface, pop, and don't close themselves.

8. Meanwhile, gently slide the salmon cakes into the hot oil. I found that the best way to do this was to use two spatulas, one under the cake and one to help slide it off into the oil without splashing. This is a good trick for flipping them, also.

9. Cook the salmon cakes a few minutes until browned and crispy, then flip them. Don't forget to flip the pancake blanket, too!

10. Drain the salmon cakes on a paper towel lined plate. Heat the leftover asparagus for a minute in the microwave. Wrap the asparagus in the pancake blanket, seam side down.

11. Plate your delicious dinner!

I have to say, I'm really glad I decided to make a pancake for the asparagus rather than just tossing the leftover egg. It was really fun to have Asparagus in a Blanket. What I learned is that I should eat more things "in a blanket." Or, as the French say, "dans une couverture."

The salmon cakes came out crispy and flavorful and didn't fall apart, much to my utter incredulity. I was kind of expecting to end up with salmon hash when I was forming the patties.

And the green garbanzos are a total pain in the butt to shell but their flavor is delicious. I will certainly be looking for other ways to prepare them before they disappear from Whole Foods until next April.

The whole meal felt very Spring-like. Just what I wanted!