Despite my best efforts, positive thinking, and water drinking it happened: I got sick. It was a quick little 48-hour head cold - the kind where you think your eyes are going to explode. (Fortunately, my eyes did not explode.)

- Walnut Flax No-Knead Bread

- Roasted Beet Risotto

- Poached Catfish

I think the longest paper I ever wrote in college was a 15-pager about the artist Yves Klein. He's the guy in that photo who looks like he's swan-diving from the ledge of the building, you know, this one. He hosted those evenings where women would paint their bodies blue and press themselves against canvas. (He called these anthropometries.) He also did fire paintings. He patented his own color: International Klein Blue, IKB for short. He painted large canvases with this color and only this color. He believed the color blue had no dimensions, it was...beyond.

I like color and I like believing it's "beyond". I like going to hardware stores and collecting stacks of paint samples - and I mean stacks. My preferred designer to collect is Martha Stewart (available at Lowe's,) a close second is Mythic Paint. Not only are their paints non-toxic, but their samples come in sheets. Sheets! Color is calming for me, it's lets me breathe, it's like an inhaler.

Did you know that when added to bread walnuts turn the dough sort of purple-ish? It's true. See:

We can't get enough of this No-Knead Bread, we go through a loaf of two a week. I look forward to eating oven-fresh bread slathered in butter, it's one of the greatest experiences - ever. George made this loaf on Saturday and it set the tone for Sunday. I almost remade the strudel from last time, but the walnuts made me think of beets. (Duh.) So bright, so pretty, so unreal. The color of beets tells me everything's going to be okay. The only acceptable option was going to be either a giant bowl of beets or beets added to something that would become bright pink - a.k.a rice.

With little trouble, a Risotto with Beet Greens and Roasted Beets recipe was located on the NY Times website and we were off and running. The other think I love about beets is that you can eat the whole thing! Roots! Greens! It's all delicious. Bonus: the greens look great in a sea of beet risotto.

Second bonus: living where we do we can get some great catfish locally. Triple bonus: I found an awesome incredibly easy recipe for poached fish. It takes 15 minutes, tops. I've used this recipe for sole, catfish, and tilapia.

Poached Catfish

from Real Simple

1 lb. catfish fillets

3/4 c. dry white wine (water is also acceptable)

2 T. capers

2 T. olive oil

2 T. chopped chives

salt & pepper to taste

Cut each fillet in half, you know, "spatula size". Heat wine in a large skillet, then add fish, drizzle with olive oil and capers. Cover and cook over medium-low heat for 4 minutes, they'll become opaque and will flake easily. Sprinkle with chives.

I stopped into a used bookshop; I was in the market for some David Mamet. Not finding it and not remembering any other books on my growing list, I turned to my back up plan: stand in front of the cooking section, my head cocked to the right and read every title on the shelf. This typically proves fruitless and I move to the craft section. This time there was something waiting for me.

I recognized it by the font, the border, the color: blocky, simple, yellow. Chez Panisse - but which one? I was hoping for Fruit. Alice Waters and Chez Panisse - her biography! Hardcover! $6! I gasped, I grabbed, I was victorious. Finding a Chez Panisse book used is rare find, in my experience. It meant someone had cleaned out their books on food - undoubtedly just collecting dust on their shelves, they probably aren't that into cooking anyway, but Alice Waters looks so good and impresses guests. Chances are this person didn't bring just this single book.

There was one by Anthony Bourdain; he writes about food, stars in his own show about food, loves New York, is a little crass and swears. George recently started watching his show, No Reservations. There were two copies of his book, Kitchen Confidential, one was clearly meant for me. There was a paperback copy of Laurel's Kitchen, a staple vegetarian cookbook found most commonly in the North East, the Bay Area, and my book shelf. There was...what? Really? Here? The River Run Cookbook. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, River Run is a Southern style restaurant in Plainfield, VT. The French toast is my favorite, followed by grits with cream. There's usually catfish available for breakfast, lunch and dinner. They hold trivia night on Tuesday and live music on the weekends. I used to live above their kitchen. The unexpected didn't end there, one shelf below I discovered a copy of the Horn of the Moon Cookbook. Another one from the restaurant in Vermont. This one, however, is long gone. It left Montpelier before I even knew it was there. What're it's recipes doing here?

I would like to know who relinquished all these books to the shelves of Mr. K's. Do I know them? There's a bookmark in the back of Alice Waters advertising the Berkshires. Not much to go on. There they were and there I was and it was like bumping into an old friend I hadn't seen in a while. I remember things about life before now. It put me in perspective for myself. There was no need to one-up this old friend with impressive stories, we were what we were and I like what I am. If River Run is the past, I think Chez Panisse is the future.

This week:

- Extra Tangy Sourdough (Sort Of)

- Beet & Goat Cheese Salad

- Pasta with Veggies

- Granola

Often times when I make bread, and all is said and done, the flavor of the bread lacks something. It's a little tricky to say what specifically, but I generally classify it as "depth." There are a variety of ways to deal with this: slather it with butter or Nutella, ignore it, or let it rise slower and longer. This holds true for many fermented things - think beer, wine, or even some cheeses. This Extra Tangy Sourdough begins by mixing part of the flour, part of the water and the starter (called the sponge) then it rises in the fridge overnight. In the morning the rest of the flour and water are added, along with the salt and it rises again for five hours. It's then shaped and rises for another two to three hours before going in the oven. There's no extra yeast added, which forces you to let it rise for a long period of time. George made these loaves, and while they're definitely more tangy they're not quite as sour as he'd like them. We may try messing with the amount of starter used and I think adding a little whole wheat flour couldn't hurt.

Beets. I really like beets. They're naturally sweet, wicked magenta, and edible from the greens to the roots. Roasted or raw, it makes little difference. In my world (and many others), beets in salads are typically accompanied by goat cheese. The tried-and-true salty/sweet (bacon ice cream, chocolate covered pretzels...) is unbeatable. Taking a hint from Martha this time, I added green beans. Not just any green beans, no no, haricots vert. They're French, they're thin, long, tender, and crisp. More importantly, I actually found some. (I was pretty sure I was destined to substitute greasy beans.) Oh, they're amazing. Their flavor is lighter and more delicate, maybe a bean/cucumber hybrid. Now, I'll be honest, this salad isn't fully assembled. There's a sauce Martha recommends and it involves...mustard. I'm not a mustard fan. I'm working on a substitute. Boy, when I'm done, it's going to be one bitchin' salad though.

After these two dishes things got simpler. The big dish this week is a little unsophisticated. Pasta. Vegetables. Toss. Add cheese. Luckily it's delicious and really easy to put in some tupperware at 4 am. I highly recommend it. The breakfast is a good friend: granola. This time I went a little crazy and put some dried cranberries in. This should be tossed in after the oats and things are already toasted.

While this project is still young, last week I was overwhelmed with some form of writer's block. Despite countless rewordings I couldn't come up with anything satisfactory to say about the dishes, so I'm going to break down real simple: Basil good. Garden good.

From last week:

- Penne with Pesto, Onions & Peppers

- Fresh Salsa

- Sourdough Bread

- Pretty Beets & Carrots

- Mushroom Bacon Fritata

After the whole rain/sun/rain/sun/time passing thing our basil was ready for harvesting and boy, did I harvest. After picking over and measuring...presto: pesto! About two cups of pesto! All the foods instantly became the kinds you make and want to eat all of as quickly as possible. The pesto ended up in a bowl full of penne with sauteed peppers (two of which actually came from our garden!) We got our act together and fed the sourdough starter and ate almost an entire loaf when it came out of the oven. Friends came by bearing a gift of a huge heirloom tomato which became salsa. Beets and carrots and ginger all jumped into the food processor then swam in oil and vinegar and were a salad. The good bacon was on sale, I was too lazy to make pie dough, we had a fritata for dinner. It may not have been eloquent, but it sure was delicious.

Prettiest Beets & Carrots

Based on Pretty Beets & Carrots from Moosewood Restaurant New Classics

Shred:

2 large pretty carrots

2 large pretty beets

Put the shredded roots in a large, pretty bowl and...

Add:

1 T. fresh, grated ginger

3 T. apple cider vinegar

2 T. vegetable oil

1/3 c. finely chopped scallions

salt & pepper to taste