Is the increase in so-called street entertainment a desperate ploy by high street retailers to attract people out of their homes to spend money? Probably not but there some increasingly weird street artists around at the moment. Take this chap, sitting on air:
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Ephesus
One of the highlights of our recent visit to the Mediterranean was the ruins of Ephesus in Turkey. Our ship docked in the nearby port of Kusadasi (Bird Island) which is named after the island, now called Pigeon Island, which dominates the harbor. The island is crowned by an ancient Byzantine fortress which has been rebuilt several times over the centuries and is still a commanding presence. The island has restaurants and entertainment centers and is connected to the mainland by an ornate causeway. At night the lights along the causeway and on the fortress battlements create a stunning view.
Ephesus is not far away on a modern highway and is only a little over a mile from the modern Turkish city of Selçuk, population 36,000. . Ephesus dates back thousands of years and was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League during the seventh century BCE. One of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the Temple of Artemis, was located nearby. Ephesus was a center of Greek culture until the second century BCE when it became a part of the Roman Empire. At its height, the city had between 250,000 and 500,000 inhabitants and was one of the largest cities in the entire empire. Later, it was an important city of the Byzantine Empire. Its dominance was because it was a center of trade, related to its harbor. Over the years and in spite of dredging efforts, the port and the river silted up, and Ephesus became landlocked. Earthquakes and Arab raids also contributed to the decline of the city, and it was abandoned in the eighth century.
Ephesus was important in early Christian activities. Because of its size and importance, there were early missionary activities there. In the Book of Acts in the New Testament, there is a story of Paul arriving to preach in the massive open-air theater. He was discouraged from doing so by friends who worried for his safety. One of Paul’s’ letters, “Epistle to the Ephesians”, was addressed to the Christian community in Ephesus. Tradition has it that Saint John was imprisoned here and that Jesus’s mother Mary lived out her final days in a house a bit removed from the city.
Ephesus was clearly a wealthy city. The ruins, including baths, gymnasia, temples, theaters, and enormous residences all bear that out. The Library of Celsus is beautifully restored and preserved. In its day it served as a mausoleum for a prominent Roman as well as a library with many scrolls.
Terrace homes of wealthy residents line one side of the main thoroughfare, Curetes Street. The houses were at their peak from about 100 to 700 CE at around the time of abandonment of the city. The rooms filled with dirt resulting in remarkable preservation comparable to that in Pompeii and Herculaneum. Still under excavation, the homes reveal elaborate mosaic floors, ornate wall decorations, and marble doors, walls, and pools.
The enormous theater, seating 35,000 has been amazingly well-preserved as have the agoras (gathering places) with their arcades and shops, public latrines, a brothel, and numerous public buildings.
Map of archaeological site open to visitors
Of course the marble streets are filled with tourists, and you could easily spend much more time than that alloted in the usual tours. Even with all that, though, it is a place well worth visiting.
Lokum
This is a traditional sweet that was invented by a famous Turkish cook in the 1700’s. It is soft, sweet, dusted in sugar, and usually flavored with rosewater. Supposedly lokum or Turkish delight is offered to guests with coffee, but you will see it everywhere, boxed up for purchase from street vendors or small shops.
There are many recipes for lokum on the internet. In general, they fall into three categories depending upon what is used as a firming agent. Some use cornstarch; some use gelatin; and some use pectin. This recipe is derived from one published in the Joy of Cooking as late as 1975. Subsequently the recipe disappeared from the index of the cook book, I think because the candy may turn into a sticky mess if you are not careful. I have made the recipe several times over the years, and this is by far the most successful version. You need to make sure the pan and waxed paper are well-greased or you will never get the candy out of the bottom of the pan. Actually, I had to throw away the pan the first time I tried making Turkish delight. You also need to make sure that you cook the sugar mixture at least to the soft ball stage or it will not get firm enough.
My very strong advice is that you should travel to Turkey and buy your supply of Turkish delight from a street vendor. Failing that, go to your local Middle Eastern market.
Pan prepared with overlapping sheets of buttered waxed paper 
Pistachios 
Candy cooking with added pistachios 
Cooling candy 
Lokum (Turkish delight) cut into squares and dusted with confectioners’ sugar
RECIPE
Lokum (Turkish Delight)
Ingredients
Method
Filed under Food, Photography, Recipes, Travel
I had some napa cabbage left over from my New Year’s Day braised cabbage, so I decided to make some soup.
Napa cabbage (also spelled nappa cabbage) is an authentic Chinese cabbage. The name comes from a Japanese word that means something like vegetable greens. So far as I have been able to figure out, the name has nothing to do with the Napa Valley in California. I think that name is probably from the Spanish, meaning an aquifer or gas layer. The taste of the cabbage is milder than regular cabbage, and the leaves are crisper
Regular cabbage dates back to the Egyptians, but probably cabbage heads did not appear on the culinary scene until the twelfth century in Germany. For this recipe, you can use regular cabbage, but I think you will like the flavor better with Chinese cabbage.
The soup makes a simple lunch or dinner. We had the added pleasure of a slice of Srah’s new bread, Douglas fir scented levain topped with fresh butter. A perfect winter-time light lunch
RECIPE
Napa Cabbage and Bread Soup with Croutons and Parmesan Cheese
Ingredients
Method
Filed under Food, Photography, Recipes
During our recent visits from children, one of the big food hits was making Danish ebelskivers (ebleskivers, æbelskivers, æbleskivers – lots of alternative spellings) with the grandchildren. I took down the heavy cast iron pan hanging on a nail in the garage, cleaned it up, and got it ready for the process. After many years, the pan was in great shape for a ritual that our kids remembered with fondness from their own childhood. Honestly, the procedure is more fun than the finished product, but the little, round pastries are delicious, with a little hollow just begging to be filled with jam or jelly.
Our cast iron ebelskiver pan is at least 40 years old, but new ones are available in cooking shops or online. There are also more “modern” versions made of cast aluminum and lined with no-stick coating. I have never used the modern pan, although it has its adherents. Of course, there are lots of complaints about the traditional version – too heavy, rust, not suitable for use with modern smooth-surfaced kitchen ranges, limited to a single use, special turning tools are too expensive, etc., etc.,
To the critics I offer the following comments:
If you can get past all of these concerns, you can actually have fun with kids making this special breakfast treat. You can also test your creative streak for party appetizers – ball-shaped blini with a dollop of red caviar, grown-up-suitable fillings, batters made with different flours like spelt, whole wheat, or cornmeal. Just lighten up a bit and have a good time.
The only other instructions that are important before you start are to heat the pan until it is evenly hot and the right temperature. Medium heat will probably work. Too hot and the ebelskivers will burn on the outside before they are done; too cool and the ebelskivers will never get the golden brown color you are looking for. Before each batch, use a paper towel soaked with vegetable oil to wipe each cup before refilling.
Cast iron ebelskiver pan 
Egg whites whipped to stiff peaks 
Batter baking before the first turn 
First turn 
Second turn 
Finished ebelskivers 
Filled with raspberry jam
Ingredients
Method
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It is the custom in the US South to eat black-eyed peas and cabbage on New Year’s Day, one for good luck and one for wealth. Some believe that not to eat these dishes will result in the opposite effect, bad luck and poverty.
Our family lived in Louisiana to get into the custom, even though we didn’t really believe the superstition. The habit has persisted even though we have lived outside the South for many years. There must be lots of other former Southern citizens in our Southwest community, because canned and frozen black-eyed peas are always sold out days before New Year’s Eve.
There are many versions of cooked black-eyed peas which qualify as good luck charms the New Year: Hoppin’ John, Texas caviar, black-eyed pea vinaigrette, and plain ol’ Southern black-eyes. The following recipe borrows from all of those classics. Likewise, the cabbage dish is an update of plain old boiled cabbage.
It may be too late for you to get your protection for 2013, but hold onto the recipes for next year. In the meantime, HAPPY NEW YEAR!
RECIPES
Ingredients
Method
Ingredients
Method
If you wish, serve the black-eyed peas with cooked rice, along with cornbread on the side for dipping.
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Whenever our children visit us with their families, as they did this Christmas season, we try to make old favorites from their childhood. Often the food is drawn from the Southwest, but all three of them grew up in Louisiana, so Cajun and Creole dishes are high on the list of favorites. Gumbo is popular, and boiled crawfish in the spring is almost required. Bread pudding and shrimp creole are also on the list, along with red beans and rice.
For as long as anyone can remember, Monday has been laundry day in New Orleans. For as long as anyone can remember, red beans and rice has been the standard Monday supper in New Orleans because it can be started when the wash is started, stirred from time to time during the day, and finished when everyone is ready to gather around the table in the evening. We didn’t live in New Orleans, but the custom is common throughout the entire state of Louisiana.
An essential part of the dish is the meat that is used in the red beans. Traditionally a ham hock is tossed in – mostly for flavor – but also for the morsels of ham that are closest to the bone. Andouille sausage is popular as is Tasso ham. Sometimes you will see whole pork chops swimming in the stew. For this version, I chose boneless pork loin which gives good flavor and tenderness without bones. The chunks of pork fit perfectly on the fork and make a single melt-in-your-mouth bite.
Usually red beans and rice have the spiciness that is famous in Cajun and Creole cooking, but because one of our family members has severe reactions to hot spices, we make it without red pepper or chiles. Not to worry, because it is easy to add your preferred level of hotness at the table with Tabasco or Louisiana hot sauce.
Cooked red beans waiting to go back in the pot 
Celery and green bell pepper 
Sautêing the vegetables (onion, celery, green bell pepper) 
Browning pork loin 
Scallions to add to the mix and for the top 
Ready to eat
Red Beans and Rice
Ingredients
Method
Should serve 6 to 8
Filed under Food, Photography, Recipes
Our family has lived in the Southwest USA long enough that we have adopted many of the local traditions, especially those that have to do with food and with Christmas. For many years we have gathered around the kitchen table on Christmas Eve to make and then eat tamales.
The event is festive, with everyone laughing and each person assigned a particular task. Susan usually prepares the masa – always with lard, and beaten until the dough floats on water to show that it has enough incorporated air. I prepare the corn husks in hot water so that they are pliable and can be used to wrap up the dough and filling. Others make the filling. Our favorite is chicken. The recipe came from the back of a bag of masa harina from many years ago.
Pork in red chile is more traditional, and we sometimes make those, too, but our family favorite is chicken with an unusual ingredient – olives.
After the filling and dough are prepared, the teamwork and fun begin. Some spread the masa dough on the corn husks. Others put on the filling. Others wrap up the tamales. We try to make things come out even with just enough filling for the masa dough. Usually it doesn’t, and we have a little of one or the other left over. Even at that, we always wind up with enough tamales for everyone to get their fill.
Finally, the tamales are stacked on a trivet in a big pot to be steamed. The steamer pot is put on the stove, and the tamales are cooked to perfection.
While we wait – it may take an hour or so – we sit around the Christmas tree and enjoy a mug of home-made eggnog. Then the feast begins before it is time for bed and dreams of Christmas Day.
This year, Sarah and her son will join us for a few days before Christmas while Carol and her family will arrive on Christmas Eve so we won’t be able to have our tamales party. Instead we will make them ahead, freeze them, and then thaw and steam them for each of our visiting families.
Ingredients for chicken filling 
Chicken filling cooking 
Chicken filling cooked and ready to use 
Ingredients for the masa 
Mixing the masa using a stand mixer 
The dough is not beaten enough unless a bit floats in water 
Corn husks specially prepared for tamales 
Soak the corn husks in hot water so they are pliable and can be folded without tearing 
A work station for filling the tamales 
Spread some of the masa on a corn husk, out to the squared edge but with enough space on the sides and bottom so that it can be folded 
Put a good sized tablespoon of filling in the center of the masa 
Pull the sides together. Roll up, and then fold the bottom over the rolled-up side 
A stack of uncooked tamales ready for steaming
RECIPE
Ingredients
Filling
Masa
Corn husks for filling (about 2 dozen, soaked in hot water)
Method
Don’t try to make the dough without a mixer as the dough is heavy and it really does need to float in water before you quit beating. That’s hard on the modern wrist. You can use vegetable shortening if you wish, but the tamales are never as tasty as those made with lard. Choose your own degree of heat with the ground chiles. Personally, I prefer “hot”, but some in our family are incredibly sensitive so we choose “mild”. You can always douse your personal tamales with hot sauce.
IMPORTANT: Remember to remove the corn husk wrapper before you eat the tamal.
There should be about 2 dozen tamales.
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Along the Border in El Paso, they’re called biscochos and in Northern New Mexico they are called bizcochitos, but they are the same cookie and an important part of the Christmas tradition. They are served at nearly every party, but they are essential to Las Posadas. This celebration recalls the biblical story of Mary and Joseph seeking lodging on their journey to Bethlehem in order to participate in the census. Throughout New Mexico the story is re-enacted in villages and urban centers alike. Two individuals dressed as Mary and Joseph lead a band of pilgrims from door to door, often around the plaza, seeking lodging. Repeatedly they are turned away, often with scornful cries, until at last they are welcomed in – usually at the church on the plaza – to find rest and warmth.
Once the crowd is inside the welcoming site, there is a celebration with traditional songs, hot drinks like atole, and treats, always including biscochos.
There are many recipes for biscochos, but the best ones always include lard. This recipe is the best of the best. It comes from Lorenza Zuñiga, an amazing woman who worked as my promotora de salud many years ago when I worked in the clinics in the colonias along the Texas-Mexico border.
RECIPE
Ingredients
For cookies
For sugar-coating
Method
Lard and dry ingredients
Kneaded dough
Sugar and spice topping
Cutting two-inch diamond shapes
Ready to bake
Cooling and ready to eat
The recipe makes about 3 dozen cookies, of course depending on the size of the diamonds.
Filed under Food, Photography, Recipes
Daughter Sarah surprised us with a short visit, so we cooked up some of the favorites of her childhood. One of the breakfast specials was huevos rancheros. The real version takes some effort since you need to make the ranchero sauce from scratch along with a base of refried beans.
This version can be cooked up in a flash using items from the pantry like bottled salsa. You may not be able to find blue corn tortillas – they seem to be sort of a New Mexico specialty – but any kind of corn tortilla will do. We had some guacamole left over from the night before, but fresh avocado slices also make a good garnish.
Blue corn tortillas
RECIPE
Green chile sauce
Huevos Rancheros
Ingredients
Method
Huevos rancheros
Filed under Food, Photography, Recipes
Back to Europe. One of our favorite visits during our recent Mediterranean cruise was a beautiful little city just north of Marseilles. Aix-en-Provence is about the same size as Santa Fe but a lot older. We think that Santa Fe is old and it is for the USA, going back to 1510. But Aix-en-Provence dates back at least to 300 BCE and was a Roman outpost in 150 BCE. The main part of the “old” town, though, dates to the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, while the “new” city is filled with modern buildings and young students from the several universities and colleges located there.
We spent a too-short-day strolling up the Cours Mirabeau from the elegant fountain set in the center of la Rotonde to the statue of the “Good King” René at the head of the street before turning into narrow streets lined with beautiful old houses and interesting shops. The Cours Mirabeau is a narrow street set between two wide sidewalks under palisades of towering plane trees. Moss-covered fountains sit in roundabouts in the narrow street. Banks line one side of the boulevard, and there are several cafés on the other side. The cafés include the Deux Garçons famous for hosting Cézanne, Zola, and other famous artists and writers.
Instead of stopping in one of those cafés, we chose to continue our stroll through the old town. One of our stops was a farmers’ market in the place de l’Hotel de Ville. There were rows and rows of stalls filled with fresh fish and shellfish, meats, sausages, eggs, vegetables of all sorts, jellies, soaps, and even a smiling bronze boar peeking from behind a refrigerator truck. The market stood under the shadow of a sixteenth century clock tower and flags of the European Union, France, and Provence.
Enticed by a windowful of elegant pastries, we took a break at La Boutique du Glacier with tea and coffee and pastries including a delicious napoleon.
We walked past the carousel before boarding our tour bus to end a most enjoyable day that we would like someday to repeat.
Fountain in la Rotonde 
Building on the Cours Mirabeau 
Along the Cours Mirabeau 
A moss and fern covered fountain in the middle of the Cours Mirabeau 
Good King René 
Delicious breads at the market 
Shellfish 
Vegetables 
The happy boar 
Sixteenth century clock tower and flags 
Coffee and pastries at La Boutique du Glacier 
Carousel at la Rotonde
RECIPES
Inspired by our visit to Aix, this is an effort to make a simple napoleon with absolutely no pretenses of duplicating the wonderful pastry we enjoyed in France.
First task is to make the pastry cream. This is a cousin to the three sibling creams I wrote about a while back: creme anglaise, creme brulee, and crema catalana. The main difference with this cousin is the addition of flour which enables you to boil the sauce without worrying about scrambling the egg yolks. It is actually fairly easy to make..
Puff pastry is beyond most home cooks – at least this one – so frozen sheets of pastry become the ticket to making an easy, quick, but tasty “home-made” napoleon.
CRÈME PÂTISSIÈRE
Ingredients
Method
EASY NAPOLEONS
Ingredients
Method
Makes six napoleons
Filed under Food, Photography, Recipes, Restaurants, Travel
From the Family Table 