Stop the Insanity! (to quote Susan Powter : ) by stepping into uncertainty. Yep, we're stepping right into it and the payoff is big. We're no longer waiting around for the world to settle and instead we're placing a bet on ourselves with a meal that showcases just how satisfying that decision can be.
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Feed Your Fire Podcast Episode Transcript:
Hello and welcome to Feed Your Fire. I'm your host, Kim Baker. We're coming up upon the month of December, and the earth has made nearly another rotation around the sun. The world may feel a bit uncertain, but we are not letting that stop us. And I encourage you to do the same. We've got one life to live. That's it. How are you gonna meet that moment? Without any guarantees, with a constant swirl of nonsense and tragedy, you owe it to yourself. To enjoy the very moment that you're living in, and to take a chance on yourself. We'll be right here beside you, bringing with us a meal based on the very promise of that reward.
In nearly every setting that I've been in this year, the reigning word has been uncertainty. And to borrow the catchphrase of Susan Powter, who's now back in the mainstream, we need to stop the insanity. How can we do that when the world is just spinning around us? Ironically, it's quite simple. We anchor into the one place we can find certainty, ourselves. In psychology, there's something known as a locus of control. We can either place this internally, where we believe that our actions are the determinant of the events in our lives, or we can place it externally, placing the fate of those outcomes on circumstances and situations. Which one of those two things are you going to place your bet on?
It's with that decision alone that we can turn helplessness into power and fear into promise. And that's not just a mind game. It's supported by research. This sense of personal accountability and influence leads to more success, better health, and happiness.
I was recently at an event where the speaker was telling a story about a decision that had to be made, without knowing if it was going to pan out. And I realized that that uncertainty is the backbone of our lives. And I had always sort of thought of commitment as something that came after rigorous analysis and decision-making. And to an extent, that's true. But we can't remove all of the risk and unknowns. And standing still can actually set us back. And as I've thought through it, I realized there's only one way to fill that gap. And that's with our heart.
If you're someone who likes to think their way through life, like me, that may create some anxiety. But it shortchanges us on the tools that we've been given. And finding that link to something deep within ourselves can be the remedy to that uncertainty. It can be like the rare mineral buried deep within the earth that powers electric vehicles and wind turbines. But in this case, it's found within each of us. And it doesn't require Wi-Fi or a battery pack.
Maybe the uncertainty around us is an opportunity, a calling for us to get back in touch with that natural resource. Learning to more fully rely on our innate compass. Maybe we've all begun to rely a little too much on external forces, and we need to exercise the muscle of our heart, strengthening its ability to guide us.
If taking that control within ourselves leads to greater fulfillment, then regardless of the outcome, we're already halfway there, with the remainder comprised of thoughtful consideration and the leap of faith. And with that jump, the world actually becomes bigger. Our entire vantage point changes.
Sometimes I think that the uncertainty in the world can give us a hall pass to our fears. It could create the very logical reason why not to do something. A rationale that any sensible person would understand. When I was setting out on building my business, I had this incredible fear that would rise in me on a daily basis. And I wasn't just afraid of failing. I think I was most afraid of succeeding. Because if the business worked, then I had to step into bigger shoes. And I was afraid I wasn't ready. But one of the things that life has taught me the most is that rather than attach to an outcome, I'm better served focusing on the navigation. And it's within that process that we build the confidence and our capabilities that we often don't have at the get-go.
The only way to become ready and to acquire those skills is to do the very thing, to commit in that uncertainty. And today's meal is inspired by that journey. My son was getting together with some friends and had enlisted me to cook. And I prepared these beautiful potatoes and this bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin for them. And I thought perhaps we would share a similar meal. The potatoes were fabulous. And the pork was good, but I didn't quite think it was podcast worthy. So I felt like I was at the drawing board again. But I thought maybe there was a way to build off of what I had begun.
One of the things I know to be true about myself as a chef is that I can be really resourceful. And some of my greatest creations come when I just look around and see what's available to me. I don't have some signature dish, but give me a handful of leftover ingredients and I can create a masterpiece. So it's in that very spirit that I looked around the kitchen. And I landed on a dish that's potatoes, au gratin, meats, lasagna, inspired from a moussaka. And it's absolutely fabulous. And it sort of compresses a few steps, making it a pretty simple dish to make.
Normally, with a moussaka, you would blanch the potatoes, you would make a bechamel. But I consolidated that using a potato au gratin recipe that I've made before. Slicing a couple pounds of unpeeled Yukon gold potatoes, auto mandolin, and tossing it in a bowl with cream and minced garlic, a little bit of nutmeg, parmesan, and salt and pepper. Toss it around so all of the potato slices are coated, and then place them flat in layers in a baking dish. I used about two pounds of potatoes and a cup of cream, filling an eight by eight baking dish about halfway.
The cream should nearly submerge all of the potatoes. Cover it with foil and then bake it in the oven at 350 degrees for about an hour. The cream will start to bubble, and the starch from the potatoes will thicken it, allowing nature to do that heavy lifting for us.
I had a zucchini and some eggplant. It was the last eggplant from my garden. I sliced them up, placed it on a baking sheet with a little olive oil, salt and pepper, and baked them while the potatoes were cooking for about 15, maybe 20 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
Lastly, I made a meat sauce on the stove. I sauteed a small onion in olive oil over medium heat until it became translucent. I added in a clove of minced garlic and a pound of ground beef. Season the beef really well with salt and pepper before it's cooked through. Breaking it up with a fork and allowing it to brown completely. Then I added in a little bit of leftover red wine and let that reduce.
Then I added a 28 ounce can of San Marzano tomatoes, crushing those tomatoes up with the back of a spoon. I seasoned it with a little bit more salt and pepper and some nutmeg. I let that simmer for about 45 minutes while the potatoes were cooking. You'll probably need to add in a little bit of water as it goes. Just keep an eye on the sauce, stirring it periodically.
By that time, the potatoes should be nearly done. You want them to be just fork tender. Take them out of the oven and then add the zucchini and eggplant as a layer on top of it. I also like to add in some drained artichoke hearts.
Then top it with a layer of that meat sauce. I use about three quarters of it and I reserve the rest for another day. It's the perfect base for pasta bolognese or something simple like a sloppy joe.
To finish today's recipe though, I just sprinkle that baking dish with the potatoes and the vegetables and the meat sauce with a little bit of shredded Gruyere cheese, which gives it a nice nuttiness. And then put it back in the oven for about 20 or 30 minutes. I like to turn the oven on to broil for the last few minutes just to get that cheese nice and golden.
Remove it from the oven and let it rest for about 10 minutes. And that, my friends, is a masterpiece made in the midst of uncertainty, where I leaned into what I know about myself, my resourcefulness, and the experience I had making that meal for my son, to create something totally new that absolutely comes from the heart.
I hope this episode gives you a taste of what you can create, overriding the unknowns, the hesitancy, and the fear, committing to creating something outstanding, because you can count on yourself as the architect, and then savoring those results.
Until our next episode, I say so long. Feed Your Fire, where food nourishes growth.