Claudette E. Sutton
Online
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Praise
  • Appearances
  • Press
  • Discussion Guide
  • Contact

Moments of Truth

10/26/2015

 
Picture
Cooper's Hawk, Santa Fe, NM 10/25/15
It’s a gorgeous fall Sunday here in Santa Fe, an interlude perhaps between the rain we had almost every day this week and more that might reach us soon from Hurricane Patricia. Charles is out planting garlic at the garden he shares with some folks in La Cienega, leaving the house to Misty, refining the art of sleeping, and me, editing articles for the winter Tumbleweeds. In any issue there’s usually at least one article that particularly grabs me, something not just useful but charged with some moment of truth that the writer trusts us to share. I’m not sure yet which will do that for me in this pile, but that’s what I’m looking for.
 
If I must work on a Sunday, this is how I like it, feet up on the couch, Misty sleeping beside me, flamenco guitar of Paco de Lucia in the background, hot tea in reach. From the corner of my eye, some motion out the window steals my attention. A large bird has just landed on a branch of the apricot tree outside the porch. I inch forward slowly, finding my cell phone and zooming the camera lens to get a good view. I think it's a Cooper's hawk, standing stock-still, just whipping his head from side to side occasionally with the snap of a flamenco dancer. As I ease open the front door and tip-toe off the porch he flaps up into one of the elm trees, with that powerful, lumbering whoosh that animals are wired to fear. I walk out into the middle of the yard, barely able to make him out in the high branches, though I'm sure he can see me. Like a hawk.

We didn't go out looking for nature this morning, but it made its way to us, big, bold and taloned. Misty slept through it all. I assume the hawk and she are too close in size to be much threat to one another, though I'm glad not have my theory tested; I'm sure his instincts are even more predatory than hers. She's still curled in her favorite spot up on the back of the couch doing her sleep-breathing, perhaps dreaming herself a lioness in the savanna chasing down a peregrine falcon: a feline moment of truth.
 
Mushroom and Caramelized Garlic Quiche
 
I made this from things we had in the house, but you can add caramelized garlic cloves to your favorite quiche or vegetable tart and let them steal the show. The instructions for caramelizing the garlic come from Yoram Ottolenghi's amazing cookbook, Plenty; I'm only the middle-person here, though this is a case where you might just want to kiss the messenger.
 
Filling:
16 ounces crimini and button mushrooms
1 onion, chopped
8 ounces crumbled gorgonzola cheese
2 heads of garlic, cloves separated and peeled
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. balsamic vinegar
1 cup water
¾ tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. chopped rosemary
1 tsp. chopped thyme, plus a few whole sprigs as garnish
1/4 tsp. salt

Sauté the onion in olive oil until translucent. Add the mushrooms and sauté until browned.

Caramelize the garlic, from Ottolenghi:  “Put the cloves in a small saucepan and cover with plenty of water. Bring to a simmer and blanch for 3 minutes, then drain well. Dry the saucepan, return the cloves to it and add the olive oil. Fry the garlic cloves on high heat for 2 minutes. Add the balsamic vinegar and water and bring to a boil, then simmer gently for 10 minutes. Add the sugar, rosemary, chopped thyme and ¼ teaspoon salt. Continue simmering on a medium flame for 10 minutes, or until most of the liquid has evaporated and the garlic cloves are coated in dark caramel syrup.”

Egg mixture:
2 eggs
¾ cup heavy cream and/or milk
¼ teaspoon salt
Fresh-grated pepper

Whip or whisk egg mixture until smooth.
 
Line a buttered 10" pie pan with the pie dough. Spoon on the sautéed mushroom mixture, then the gorgonzola crumbles, and finally the caramelized garlic with the remaining syrup. Pour the egg mixture over all. The garlic should be peeking up above the liquid. Bake at 400 for 25 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 for another 10 minutes or until the filling has set and the top is golden brown.

Picture
Gloria Valdez
10/26/2015 01:45:24 pm

Oh my gosh! I can actually smell the garlic and my mouth is watering! Reading this I felt I was in your house with you! Beautiful writing, beautiful quiche!

Claudette Sutton
10/27/2015 10:34:04 am

Thanks, Gloria! It's been all eaten up or I'd invite you over for a slice!


Comments are closed.

    Author

    Claudette E. Sutton is the author of “Farewell, Aleppo: My Father, My People, and Their Long Journey Home,” published in 2014 by Terra Nova Books. She is also the editor and publisher of Tumbleweeds, an award-winning quarterly newspaper for families in Santa Fe, New Mexico, that she created in 1995. She lives in Santa Fe with her husband, son and cat.

    Archives

    December 2017
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    December 2014
    July 2014
    April 2014

    Categories

    All
    Aleppo
    Bacon
    Barrel Bomb
    Black Tea
    Caramelized Garlic
    Cat
    Cooper's
    Corn Chowder
    Expecting
    Family Stories
    Farewell Aleppo
    Ferncliff
    First Book
    Flamenco
    Garlic
    Genealogy
    Graduation
    Green Chile
    Green Roofs
    Hastings
    Hawk
    Hillerman
    Hudson River
    Interviewing
    Javalina Coffee House
    John-mcphee
    MoMa
    Montgomery County
    Mother
    Mothers
    Name
    New York
    Ottolenghi
    Paco De Lucia
    Paris
    Picasso
    Poughkeepsie
    Publishing
    Quiche
    Sentinel
    She-Goat
    Silver City
    Southwest Festival Of The Written Word
    Syria
    Tea
    Thief Of Time
    Tips For Family Stories
    Writing

    RSS Feed

Copyright 2018 - Claudette E. Sutton All rights reserved.
Site Design by Artotems Co.