Sikil Pak at CESiaK

Returning to the brutal cold and snow of my Motherland, Cleveland, after spending a lazy sunkissed week in the Mexican Yucatan was just plain old rude re-entry for this self-proclaimed freeze baby. Brrrrr. One snow angel at the first deep snowfall and I am DONE. Once home, I dropped the backpack that carried floaty  little beach attire of the last week and zipped into oppressive outer gear, gloves and boots – better outfitted to chip open my ice-encrusted car. A quick trip to the local grocery for  staples before nestling in for a few days in hopes that my body thermostat would soon regulate. Eventually, I coaxed myself out of the house for the sole purpose of getting my cold bones to a heated yoga class – ahh, finally warmed to the core.

Still, it’s difficult for my mind not to wander back to Mexico – the sun, the beach and the cuisine that is laced with a dizzying variety of native chiles. The habanero chile is thought to have originated in the Yucatan Peninsula, and you will find on the table of every local joint a bowl of salsa made from the fiery fruity pepper – hued either young and green or the hot orange of a chile left to ripen longer on the bush. I’m grateful for chiles adaptanogenic ability to cool the body down when heated, and to warm it when cold with a slow-burning inner torch.

When in Tulum, I make a point of heading down to the the wild jungly environment of Sian Ka’an Biosphere for a leisurely bite at eco-lodge CESiaK, where their kitchen prepares a particularly delicious and creamy  version of the Mayan pumpkin seed and habanero blend called sikil pak. Hummos-like in consistency, this dish of the ancients makes for  a unique softly smoldering treat. It’s easy to while away time sitting on the rooftop patio with a cold beer, sipping a shot of reposado tequila and  scooping mouthfuls of a tasty local snack. A gaze over each shoulder offers a natural pantone palette of blues – one  side is the Caribbean, the other, a dreamy lagoon – take your pick.

Hot chiles aside, a favorite way to bring fire and spice into my life is with a hot Baptiste-style vinyasa flow yoga class. That being said, heidirobb.com enthusiastically welcomes Cleveland Yoga , Cleveland’s Official Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga Affiliate Studio as sponsor to this post – let’s hear it for Cleveland Yoga with a resounding group OOOOHHHHMMMM.

With the help of heidirobb.com, Cleveland Yoga wants to help ignite your inner fire to let your outer light shine bright with this auspicious giveaway: A comment below ensures your entry: we want to know your special way of heating up in the coldest of weather. Is it bundled up with a pile of books in front of a cozy fire? A drink of steaming chai tea from your favorite mug? A nourishing bowl of your signature soup? I told you mine – now tell us yours. In two weeks, by random computer-generated selection, one commenter will be selected to win a package of FIVE FREE CLASSES at Cleveland Yoga – now that is something truly worth getting fired up about!

Ready, set, start your commenting. Giveaway ends at 10:00 p.m. Friday, March 19th – can’t wait!

I’ve yet to persuade CESiaK to share their version of sikil pak, but here is a wonderful version from Heidi Swanson of 101 Cookbooks. If you own  a Vita-Mix, use it to ensure the creamiest consistency:

Sikil Pak
From “Super Natural Cooking” by Heidi Swanson
Yield: 2 cups

Ingredients
1 habanero chile, stemmed
10 cloves garlic, unpeeled
4 tomatoes
2 1/2 cups toasted pumpkin seeds
1/3 cup vegetable stock (or water, via HR)
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
2 pinches ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

Method
In a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat, char habanero and garlic cloves until garlic has patchy dark brown spots and habanero has char marks all over its skin. Remove from pan, add tomatoes and do the same thing.

Grind pumpkin seeds into a fine, uniform meal in a food processor. Carefully cut habanero into quarters and use a paring knife to seed and devein. Using a hand/immersion blender or food processor, combine habanero, tomatoes, garlic and liquid in a medium bow and puree a bit, leaving mixture semi-chunky. Add pumpkin seeds and continue blending, until consistency is similar to thick mayonnaise; you may need to thin it with a bit of warm water.

Stir in onion, cilantro, cinnamon and salt. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve with your favorite crackers or chips.

Look for future posts sponsored by Cleveland Yoga.

Interested in amplifying your business or product? Alternative, creative banner and sponsorship opportunities are now available at heidirobb.com. Direct inquiries to Heidi on the contact page.

Back in October of ‘08, I was busy in the kitchen, working happily up to my elbows during the recipe testing phase for Michael Symon’s, Symon Says…Live To Cook book. It was during this time that I was presented with a recipe for pickled lamb’s tongue – remember this post? I had written about my experience in dealing with an unfamiliar ingredient that on first encounter put me off completely, yet by the end of of the process totally won me over. The recipe was a learning curve – and may very well have been my favorite child – so to speak, as I felt that I grew not only as a cook, but also confirmed and deepened my sentiments of honoring the cooking process as a spiritual, intimate and ritualistic connection – the handling of the tongues of the proverbial sacrificial lamb. A bit tribal – tasting the taster. Even more basic, I learned to turn a “yuk”, into a “yum”.

Ultimately, I was dismayed to hear the editor was not including the tongue recipe in the book – I’m  guessing the two recipes of pig’s head ragu and crispy pig’s ear were two recipes too many out of the mainstream for this particular publisher. Although the book’s co-author, Michael Ruhlman, pleaded a pretty good case for its inclusion, a line was drawn at the lamb’s tongues.

At the time of my previous writing, the recipe content was unpublished and considered property of the publisher, and was not permitted to print it. I may offer it now, with hopes that you are inspired to give the preparation a try. The tongues are delicious, nutritious (nutritionally speaking, lamb’s tongue is good source of  protein and  niacin, and high in vitamin b-12), and small enough to carry into your house neatly tucked into a shopping bag without potentially alarming a neighbor – of which the chance is great when hefting an entire pig’s head.

Pickled Lamb’s Tongue

Pickled lamb’s tongue is very mild, soft and delicate. It is wonderful on a sandwich or as garnish for a salad.

The Cure

6 lamb tongues

2 cups kosher salt

1 teaspoon pink salt

1 cup sugar

Zest of one lemon

2 cloves minced garlic

1 cup fresh picked thyme leaves

1 tablespoon chile flakes

Wash the tongues thoroughly and place in a non-reactive container. Mix the remaining ingredients and coat the tongues with them. Refrigerate, covered, for six days, turning and redistributing the ingredients once each day.

The Pickle

2 cups white wine

2 cups red wine vinegar

2 cups water

1 peeled and sliced carrot

1 sliced onion

2 whole peeled cloves garlic

1 bay leaf

Remove the tongues from the cure, rinse under cool water, and place them in a 3 quart pot;  cover with the remaining ingredients. Bring to a simmer, adjust flame and allow to simmer for two hours. Remove the pot from the heat and allow tongues to cool in the liquid. Transfer tongues and liquid to a non-reactive container, cover, and refrigerate until ready to use. The tongues will keep for about one month.

The tongues need to be peeled before eating. I achieved this simple task with the aid of a paring knife: trim a slice of the raggedy base and peel towards the tip of the tongue. Slice meat thinly across the width.

Suspecting the curing and pickling technique could be interchangeable with other lamb parts and animals, I turned to Bob del Grosso, aka  A Hunger Artist, and a man who is no stranger to the dispatching, processing, curing and cooking of all manner of beast, to solicit his expert advice: “I don’t see why this process could not be used for many different cuts of tough and strongly flavored/ “gamey” meats. Here is what comes to mind first: feet, hearts, brisket, shanks, ears of all the major four-legged farm animals, and of course, beef and pork tongue. Venison shanks, and brisket are usually too skinny to bother with but hearts and, if any of the meat cuts is very tough and/gamey this treatment would be okay.”

Dave Whittaker is cooking, eating and blogging  his way through Michael Symon’s book with dedicated enthusiasm at his Live to Cook at Home – check it out!

Tomorrow I am headed down to Mexico. Goals: to read content that’s longer than a recipe, feel the sun and warmth on my body, listen to the ocean and pay heed to its healing wisdoms, to do cartwheels in the sand, to eat buckets of buttery avocado, tikin xic, sikil pak and sopa de mariscos, drink refeshing coconut water and good tequila, and commit to daily practice of hamacasana – the ultimate yoga pose – which translates to “sitting my butt in a hammock while doing jack squat”. While away, I am doubly delighted to have friends Kari Moore and Herb Brosnan kick off a new feature at the blog. Although we share similar sensibilities in sourcing, cooking and eating whole, real foods, Kari and Herb bring to the table additional cache and breadth of knowledge derived from their many years of forging deep roots and close connections with Ohio’s farming and agricultural communities. Dear readers, I am pleased, grateful and proud to present Kari and Herb, A Week in the Kitchen With…

Sometimes a good idea just needs a little nudge. Heidi’s call for a guest blogger this week did just that. A long winter walk in the snow was required to ponder what might interest Heidi’s fabulous readers. Two miles in ideas started bubbling up like a soup pot ready to hit a rolling boil. One idea sort of gelled as a way to share the potluck of great cooking I frequently stumble upon here in Cleveland. I’m calling it A Week in the Kitchen With…and from time to time, we’ll visit the kitchens of local cooks like you and me. I’m honored to hatch the idea here at HeidiRobb.com with a glimpse into our own humble kitchen. Future posts will feature other kitchens and a peek at the intriguing dishes, recipes and culinary projects Cleveland cooks have bubbling away. So, what’s cookin’ in your kitchen? Perhaps it’s a seasonal dish; inspiration from a favorite cookbook, cooking style or tradition; perfection of a family favorite; or simply that every day tradition of putting good food on your table. Let us know, perhaps we can spend A Week in the Kitchen with you. For now, we’ll be sharing A Week in the Kitchen posts here from time to time. If there’s enough interest, heck, maybe we’ll even start our own blog. Cheers to Heidi for the inspiration, the opportunity, and the nudge to serve it forth.  And welcome to our lively, little kitchen.

A Week in the Kitchen with… Kari & Herb
Homely, delicious and lively.  That might be the best way to describe our kitchen this week.

The 110-year old house we inhabit has one, big, ominous, grande-dame of a project remaining – the kitchen renovation that we’ve put off for about ten years now. In spite of its humble appearance and our frustration with improper lighting, malfunctioning cabinets, and inadequate counter space, our kitchen continues to crank out some wonderful, nutritious, and at times, inspired food, proving again and again that it doesn’t take granite countertops, 400 linear feet of cabinetry, and halogen task lighting to serve up delicious, wholesome, real food.

Recently, it seems that our kitchen has come alive in a whole new way. The winter months always seem to be particularly productive for us when it comes to cooking. Cold Cleveland winters allow us a bit more time for cooking, enjoying meals with friends and family, and learning a few new things in the kitchen. We’ve sometimes declared a theme for our winter culinary explorations. Some past celebrations have included The Winter of the Potato, The Winter of the Bean, The Winter of Smoked Meats, etc. This winter is no exception. Without a doubt it’s officially The Winter of Live Fermented Foods.
Lacto-fermentation is the process of converting the starches and sugars in vegetables and fruit to lactic acid by friendly lactic-acid producing bacteria. Lacto-fermentation has been used to preserve foods for centuries. It’s what makes foods like real un-pasteurized sauerkraut and pickles so tangy and tasty.

Our introduction to fermentation came about by happy accident about a year ago while attending the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association’s annual conference. It was there, we first met Warren Taylor, Snowville Creamery proprietor and enthusiastic, dairy evangelist who was touting the flavor and nutritional benefits of kefir, a tangy, tasty, fermented milk beverage similar to yogurt. Kefir contains loads of friendly bacteria that support a healthy immune system. Soon after, we obtained live kefir grains from a friend and began our own kefir fermentation. I was also lucky enough to attend a wild fermentation workshop led by Sandor Katz which provided further fermented inspiration.

The most challenging part of fermenting foods, dairy ferments, in particular, is letting go of years of ingrained fear and distrust of un-refrigerated dairy products. Once you get over this and realize that you’re not going to kill yourself or your family, you can embrace and appreciate the fact that fermented dairy products have provided people around the world with a delicious and nutritious food supply for centuries.

Making kefir at home is simple. We’ve followed the kefir instructions of Sandor Katz, author of Wild Fermentation , and others. All you need is kefir grains, good quality milk, and a clean vessel to ferment it in. There are definitely tricks you can learn to produce a kefir that best suits your personal preferences (thicker, milder, etc.). Most of these tricks involve speeding up or slowing down the fermentation process by adjusting the temperature. But it’s definitely not a complex or time-consuming process. This has me wondering why so many people choose to help pay Jamie Lee Curtis’ mortgage when they could be making a far superior product with local ingredients in their own kitchen in about five minutes at a fraction of the cost.

We keep a batch of homemade kefir going all the time. We make ours with Snowville Creamery milk produced from happy, healthy cows that graze on green, Ohio grass. We enjoy kefir with granola for breakfast, in salad dressings, in place of mayo on sandwiches and mixed into our favorite soups. This week it was a lovely addition to a Curried Parsnip Soup. Kefir has been a wonderful addition to our cooking repertoire and has affirmed for us that fermented foods are not, in fact, weird or dangerous, but flavorful and culturally significant components of a great meal. The positive impact of fermented foods to our immune system is just the icing on the cake.

This week, there seems to be a convergence of several live culture projects going on in our kitchen. Earlier this winter, we happened upon a bounty of winter-harvested cabbage which inspired our first batch of sauerkraut. Today marks Day 24 of its fermentation process which could go on for another few weeks or indefinitely, depending on how tangy we decide to take it. It sits silently in a quiet corner of our kitchen fermenting away. We dip into the jar every so often and pull out a bowl-full to enjoy on sandwiches or alongside grilled pork chops or sausages. A recent epiphany also involved homemade pasta with sauerkraut and fresh feta. Kraut is yet another simple way to preserve the season’s bounty and add great flavor to your winter cooking.

A recent purchase of beef brisket from Aaron Miller at Miller Grassfed , inspired Herb to embark on making pastrami this week (you guessed it, pastrami is another fermented food). With Michael Rhulman’s Charcuterie book as guide, Herb started the process on Monday evening by making the brine. The brisket will bathe in brine until Thursday, then enjoy a light smoke followed by low, slow cooking. With luck, our pastrami will be ready for some festive, weekend sandwich-making with friends.

Our refrigerator has come alive too with other fermented foods that we knew we loved but didn’t fully recognize their contribution to a flavorful and healthy diet. Aged, sharp raw milk cheddar, miso, kimchi, beer, wine, and more. Hello, fermentation = flavor people! Even that innocent loaf of sourdough bread sitting on the counter awaiting tonight’s cheese course is full of friendly fermented bacteria.

In our increasingly pre-packaged, hermetically sealed, sanitized world, these simple fermented foods are an important way to feed our flora, offering replenishment of the 500 different species of bacteria that live with us. Who can’t love that?  We’ve recently heard incredible tales of health and vitality from amazing people like Jerry Brunetti , the folks at Weston A. Price Foundation , and others. It’s encouraging that more and more people seem to be discovering the traditional wisdom of real food. What remains unbelievable is that so many in the mainstream seem reluctant to believe that centuries-old foodways are somehow unsafe or suspect. I probably wouldn’t believe it either if I hadn’t spent the last three to four years eating so well and staying so healthy after introducing these things into my own diet.

It feels like we’re in the process of learning how to eat all over again in our humble little kitchen with new tricks we’ve picked up from all the local farmers, foodies, and fermentation enthusiasts we’ve come to know.  When I embarked on a career in local, sustainable food, it was mostly for the flavor, economic and environmental benefits that it provides. I had no real idea about the immense benefits to my health that would ensue from this way of eating. What a lovely and welcome surprise.

Of course, every week isn’t like this week. We enjoy plenty of pizza nights and burrito binges. But, without a whole lot of effort, we’ve made real food a part of our lives and part of our kitchen. And once we tasted it, there’s just been no going back. The kefir and kraut will keep on fermenting. And come spring and summer we’ll be ready to grow, pickle, and ferment the next season’s harvest.
Happily, we’ve finally found a builder and we’re preparing to embark upon a modest kitchen renovation project this spring. As design discussions continue we’re considering a place of honor for our new kitchen staple, the German sauerkraut crock. In the meantime, our little kitchen remains a lively hub of good eating that keeps us happy, healthy, and energized during these cold, dark days of winter, just as kitchens around the world have done for centuries.

So, what’s happening in your kitchen this week? Leave a comment below, or drop us a line at karimoore55@gmail.com and let us know.

About Kari and Herb:
Kari Moore is a local, sustainable food enthusiast and founder of FarmShare Ohio , a fresh, locally grown produce delivery service. She also serves as co-leader of Slow Food Northern Ohio . She cooks in Cleveland Heights with her husband Herb Brosnan. When Herb’s not making Swiss cheese out of steel, he can be found tending his smoker, pickling turnips, and listening to really loud rock and roll.

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“I get by with a little help from my friends” has been the theme song of my life during this past week. In addition to Kari and Herb, special thanks to Jennifer Jenny Jen-Jen Sorg, Michelle, Kyle,  Deb Mayer and always, always Karen. Sometimes it takes a village to raise a Heidi – or at least to get one out of town.

There’s a man you might know we’ll call “Barry”.

Thus far, he’s found four gals to marry.

Wife two left this dish,

I’m three – it’s DELISH!

And now make it for Matt, Joe or Gary.

Chicken a la Wife #2

Moderately henpecked and slightly improved by wife #3

Fittingly, this is one hot ‘n spicy bird so I serve it with a mound of brown rice or quinoa and a mouth-cooling salad of shaved radish, white onion, leaves of cress and avocado tossed with a little sea salt, lime juice, a touch of honey and olive oil. Extra delicious combined with the flavorful chicken juices. Feel free to reduce the amount of cayenne for less heat.

Two natural chickens, 3-3 1/2 lbs. each

Rub ingredients:

4 cloves garlic

1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt

1 teaspoon toasted ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 easpoon ground black pepper

2 teaspoons chili powder

2 teaspoons cayenne pepper

3 tablespoons light olive oil

Crush garlic with a pinch of salt in a mortar and pestle, blend in remaining rub ingredients. Rub each chicken inside and out thoroughly with the resulting paste. Wrap the birds and refrigerate at least several hours or overnight.

Roast chicken in a preheated 425 oven until done – 45 minutes to an hour.

You may divide the rub and made only one bird – the mixture lasts a while wrapped in the refrigerator.

I don’t think I’ll be using this natural Kosher Valley bird again *see comment below which is testimony to my ignorance of kosher bird packaging*. The flavor is fine, but the bird was packaged without neck or giblets, and the wing tips were removed. I want all of those parts with the bird to use in stock.

It’s almost The Ultimate Lemon Mousse.

I’m sure you’ve noticed how the deep inhalation of a fantastic scent can elevate your spirits on evening the gloomiest of days. Citrus aromas possess that marvelous sparkling quality which never fail to wake up and deliver a warming yellow glow of sunshine to the olfactory sense.

Inviting some culinary prozac into your kitchen is just a few juice-heavy fragrant lemons and a microplane away. Still braising and stewing the dishes cold weather begs for? Mince up some lemon zest, garlic and parsley to brighten your bowlful of cozy with a classic gremolata. Whip together a puckery lemon mousse – my go-to is The Ultimate from Lori Longbotham’s Luscious Lemon Desserts. Cocktail hour?  This recipe for Meyer lemon margaritas has my name written all over it.

Deep inhale. I guess you’d say, what can make me feel this way. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh – a lovely lemon lift.

The Ultimate Lemon Mousse, Lori Longbotham

Serves 4

2 tablespoons water

1 teaspoon plain gelatin

1/2 cup unsalted butter

3/4 sugar

3 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

Pinch of salt

6 large egg yolks

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1. Pour the water into a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over the water, and let stand about 10 minutes, or until softened. Place the bowl in a larger bowl of hot water, and stir until the gelatin has dissolved and the liquid is clear.

2. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large heavy saucepan over medium-low heat. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the sugar, zest, lemon juice and salt. Whisk in the yolks until smooth. Cook the mixture, stirring constantly, until it thickens and leaves a path on the back of a wooden spoon when a finger is drawn across it; do not allow the mixture to boil.

3. Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the gelatin mixture and immediately pour through a strainer into a bowl Let cool to room temperature, whisking occasionally.

4. Beat the cream with an electric mixer on high speed in a large bowl just until the cream forms stiff peaks. Add the cream to the lemon mixture in 3 batches, gently folding it in with a whisk or a rubber spatula just until blended.

5. Divide the mousse evenly between 4 stemmed glasses. Refrigerate, loosely covered, for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days, until set and thoroughly chilled.

As we  shared farewell hugs before I hopped back into the Jeep headed home to Cleveland from Charlotte, my cousin’s wife, Tamara, showed me  a favorite recipe for braised tempeh and declared, “You do know if I’m going to recommend something with a such long list of ingredients the dish must truly be delicious.” Point taken. Tamara has the knack of creating savory vegetarian and vegan alchemy for friends and family with recipes that generally consist of  not much more than the short list of  ingredients it takes to blend together a batch of her addictive signature pimiento cheese.

The key to easily producing interesting and flavorful dishes suitable for vegan to omnivore diets is a well-stocked modern pantry. I scanned the lineup of  recipe ingredients and made a mental grocery list which read like this: tempeh, carrots, cabbage, cilantro. Yep, everything else on the page was already on hand in my kitchen with most of the ingredients being staples – hardly a major shopping effort or expense to create a dish so richly layered with flavor, texture and punch.

This article is a fantastic guide to constructing your modern pantry. Other constant players in my kitchen spaces are an assortment of misos –  sweet white and full-flavored barley are a great place to begin. I keep almond butter in addition to peanut, and in the fridge you will always find a container of kim chee and a piece of bottarga. Kim chee adds a spicy crunch that can elevate many pedestrian dishes and bottarga, a layer of the salty, fishy umami flavors I crave.

A modern pantry pairs perfectly with this beautiful recipe Tamara shared with me from The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen.

Tempeh and Vegetables Braised in a Spicy Lemon-Coconut Broth

Serves 4

From THE MODERN VEGETARIAN KITCHEN, Peter Berley

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons light sesame oil

1/2 lb. tempeh sliced in half horizontally

1 cup thinly sliced onion

Coarse sea salt

1 cup sliced carrot

2 garlic cloves thinly sliced

1 tablespoon minced gingerroot

1 tablespoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon sweet paprika

1 teaspoon sugar or maple syrup – I used palm sugar

1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds

1/2 teraspoon hot pepper flakes

1 14 ounce can full-fat coconut milk

2 tablespoons mirin

2 tablespoons naturally brewed soy sauce

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Finely grated zest one lemon

4 cups sliced green cabbage (1 1/2″ slices)

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1. In a 8- to 10-inch frying pan over medium heat, warm 1 tbsp of the oil. Add the tempeh, flip the pieces over to coat both sides in oil. Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until the pieces are flecked with brown. Turn the slices over, cover, and cook for another 2-3 minutes or until lightly speckled. Transfer tempeh to a plate and set aside.

2. Add the remaining 1 tbsp of oil to the pan along with the onion and 1/2 tsp salt. Saute for 5 minutes, or until the onion softens.

3. Add the carrot, garlic, ginger, coriander, turmeric, paprika, sugar, caraway seeds, and red pepper flakes. Saute, stirring occasionally for 3 minutes.

4. Add the tempeh, coconut milk, mirin, soy sauce, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Raise the heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and let simmer gently for 15 minutes.

5. Place the cabbage on top of the tempeh and sprinkle on 1/2 tsp of salt. Cover the pan and simmer for 10 minutes. The cabbage should exude enough of its own juices to keep the braise from drying out, but it not, add 1-2 tbsp water.

6. Uncover and gently turn the cabbage over several times in the pan juices to coat. Adjust the seasonings to taste, stir in the cilantro, and serve.

“No one loses a hug fight. The score is fun to fun.” – Max Robb

Yorkshire Pudding

A Door Just Opened On A Street

A door just opened on a street–
I, lost, was passing by–
An instant’s width of warmth disclosed
And wealth, and company.

The door as sudden shut, and I,
I, lost, was passing by,–
Lost doubly, but by contrast most,
Enlightening misery.

Emily Dickinson

A very fine recipe for Yorkshire pudding here.

Is it so wrong to plan Mondays around yoga and a cocktail? My Mondays begin on Sunday which means grocery shopping – everywhere – from the West side to the East and markets stuffed in between. Days which can find my back and legs sore and achy from a weekend of heavy catering, the kitchen a minor or major disaster. Unload, clean, scour, organize, maybe some prep and baking to ready for the next day’s work. Monday morning is the beginning of a long day in the kitchen – lower back tingling, psoas cranking ever tighter, left hip feeling deeply bruised and beaten. What keeps me motivated and focused is the reward of Tami’s Monday night yoga class where I can breathe deeply, stretch and wring out the ouchies. No gentle class, this – think yoga boot camp, hot power Baptiste vinyasa flow. The kind of class that tests your mettle, the class that might find yourself questioning whether you can take any more (get out of that head!), right about the moment where you reach the other side of the practice and it’s time to rest. What remains from this joyful expression of endurance is a soggy, puddling, open, breathing, smiling and blissful remainder of the body that stumbled in an hour and a half before. Thirsty.

In my car I have waiting a large box of coconut water of which the greater part immediately gets chugged with gusto. The balance is designated for my Monday night special. Ok, I am not suggesting in any way that this beverage would be considered as “healthy”, but as far as booze-driven drinks go, this is pretty damn close. Healthy-ish. Icy cold, refreshing, hydrating, replenishing, relaxing. And just as welcome on a Friday.

The Monday

Serves one, blissfully

Ingredients:

2 oz. 100% blue agave white/silver tequila

2 oz. coconut water

1 oz. fresh lime juice

1/2 oz. raw agave nectar

Generous pinch fine unprocessed sea salt

1 small, thinly sliced thin-skinned lime

Place all ingredients in an ice-filled shaker. Shake until so cold that your fingers hurt. Pour into waiting rocks glass, or strain into an upglass. Namaste.

There still is time to support Veggie U over at Cleveland Foodie.

Check out this rad Cleveland event: Yoga for Foodies at the Greenhouse Tavern with David Romanelli.