Saturday, July 19, 2008

Leftover Bonanza

Today was a work day for both of us, despite being a Saturday. Nate was doing an opening shift, which is nothing too new, but I had to go to a product launch at 10:45 .... which turned out to be a product launch that was rescheduled to 5pm. So since it was so far downtown, I made it a day for running errands downtown, doing some shopping, and, most importantly, eating some delicious food.

Since it was just about lunch time by the time we figured out we'd need to head back to the store at 5pm, Christian, the photographer, and I decided to grab some. We went to Inoteca, where we split the truffle egg toast, which is a delicious and extremely truffly Fontina-covered slice of toast ready to be soaked with egg yolks.



Then, continuing a trend begun with Nate's genius lasagna, I had a panini made with zucchini, ricotta and fresh mint, with a chunky tomato puree on the side.



Then, because it was, after all, already 95 degrees and baking on the Lower East Side, we went to Il Laboratorio del Gelato, and let the kid serving pick the flavors (3 each). We got one cup with pink peppercorn and tarragon, dark chocolate, and coconut, and one cup with fresh Black Mission fig, mint chocolate chip and blackberry. Both combinations, while unorthodox, were fully enjoyed. The pink peppercorn and tarragon was the standout, even though I don't care that much for tarragon, generally -- it was spicy and creamy. The fresh black mission fig flavor was also great, but confusing: at first, you don't really taste much, just a generalized creaminess. Then you get hit with a flavor of, there's no way around it, dirt. And then, at the end, a wave of figginess. Bizarre. Totally bizarre -- but surprisingly yum.



By the time I made it home from the rescheduled launch, it was go time for dinner. Since we're having some friends over tomorrow, we decided it was a prime night to clean out the fridge and make a smorgasboard-style dinner of leftovers. This also had the advantage of requiring no oven, no boiling water, no microwave and thus no use of anything, that however minorly, might contribute to adding to our A/Cs burden. For it is STILL 93 degrees in NYC right now, despite being almost 10 o'clock.

I made some bruchetta-style appetizers with the leftover bread, using a recipe that we stole then adapted from Plum Pomidor -- baguette, goat cheese, avocado and salt and pepper.



Nate tossed some of the beets we got with balsamic, olive oil and s&p as well.



And really, those are the only two things we made -- Nate made some salad, we hauled out the last few gratined potatoes, the leftover piece of lasagna, the leftover tomato-mozzarella salad, the leftover mashed potatoes, the leftover broccoli and the leftover croutons. And then we watched the Tour, recorded this morning.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Gad-Zucchs

Man, we have a lot of vegetables this week. Having a tremendous amount red leaf lettuce left, I wanted to start off by using that up.



One of my favorite salads to make in the summer is tomato, mozzarella and basil with a touch of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I usually mix up a big batch in a bowl and then use it over the course of a few days. What I do is add a lot of olive oil and balsamic and then I spoon the tomato salad mixture over greens. I usually use pine nuts as well. Tonight I made croutons out of some stale bread we had. I baked them with grated Parmesan and basil.



Personally, I don't really like croutons. I think they're the ruin of a good salad. I think I hate them for the same reason I hate biscotti: they're just both too hard and crunchy and they make me feel like eating them is going to make my gums bleed. With that said, I still decided to make them. Jen doesn't share my dislike for the nasty little rock-hard bread cubes, so at least she would like them.



Next (actually earlier that day, before I went to work) I cut the zucchini up into ribbons and gave them a quick browning with a little olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper.



I layered the zucchini with pasta, ricotta, mozarella and basil in a casserole dish and baked it in the oven (for about 40 minutes at 375 degrees).



I served the slices of lasagna on a coating of tomato reduction and garnished with a chiffonade of basil. I went very light on the cheese and seasonings, really wanting the flavor of the zucchini to be the most prominent taste. It was fairly successful except for the inexplicable taste of the clam cakes I used to have at Rocky Point as a child. I think it must've been from the oil I used smoking a little while I cooked it. That may sound kinda nasty but it actually made it taste even better!

And for dessert we are having yogurt with the fresh blueberries (again). I haven't had time to do anything very interesting for dessert this week.

This is Jen -- I think this is one of the most successful farm share meals yet. And yet again, I had zipppity-do to do with it. The lasagna was a triumph -- the taste of the zucchini was really paramount, and the tomato sauce was a nice accent. We only used three farm share ingredients (zucchini, blueberries, red leaf lettuce), the addition of some non-CSA fresh produce (tomatoes, basil) made it extra seasonal-tasting. This gets two thumbs up.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

London Broiling

Jen is working late tonight interviewing some celebrities. They're fashion celebrities so I don't actually know who any of them are but one time she interviewed Seal and I know who that is. I believe on that night we were both "kissed by a rose."



Tonight I made a quasi-greek salad to start. We had some olives in the fridge and I figured they'd go well with the cucumbers, tomatoes, goat cheese, green onions and red leaf lettuce. I used a little lemon and olive oil as dressing. Since I hate cucumbers (almost as much as I hate it when people call them "cukes") I made myself a separate salad sans cucumbers.



I decided to use one of the kohlrabi bulbs raw. I sliced it thin and combined with some grapefruit slices, olive oil, honey, green onion, garlic scapes, salt and pepper. I served a tiny portion as a second course to cleanse our palates between courses*.

*Note: it is idiotic to cleanse a palate after having a refreshing salad with citrus elements but I just like to say "cleanse the palate."



I made almond dust by smashing up some almonds with my mortar and pestle. If you don't have a mortar and pestle you can achieve the same thing by using a hammer and a plastic bag. Just like that time I watched Mr. Rogers make peanut butter using that same method!



I wish I could say I grilled the London broil over wood but instead I broiled it over a teflon-coated piece of George Foreman's home cooking empire. I marinated the broil for about a day and a half with cracked black pepper, garlic, red pepper flakes, olive oil, salt and rosemary. I served it with mashed Red Bliss potatoes generously drizzled with truffle oil, almond dusted beets and wilted beet greens and kale with garlic scapes.



I then used my patented pick-the-wine-with-the-coolest-label pairing method to select this fine $9.00 bottle of wine to accompany our dinner.

I also cleverly did all this before Jen even got home so she will be shocked to discover the blog is completed before we even eat dinner! Mama mia! This has never been done before!

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Swedish. Fish.

Today I felt very virtuous in hurrying home for dinner, because I had an event for work at a new store opening downtown -- a store opening featuring Swedish barbecue from the amazing Aquavit. I had a small ear of corn on the cob and half a Swedish meatball sandwich with cucumbers and mashed potatoes on a hot dog bun (much better than it sounds, believe it or not), but I shunned the crawfish, the shrimp sandwiches, and the chips with a salsa: there was farm eating to be had.

Nate will tell you about what we got -- which he deserves, because once again he is the one who left work early to pick it up!

Hey, y'all, Nate here! I'm just tickled peachy to be talkin' to y'all about my down-home cookin'! Today's meal turned out better than a fly on a hog's belly!



Today we got: 3 cucumbers, 1/2 pound of kale, 1 head of red leaf lettuce, 2 sweet Italian peppers, 3 garlic scapes (last of the season!), 1 1/2 pounds broccoli florets, 1 head of broccoli, 2 bulbs of kohlrabi, 1 bunch of scallions, 3 zucchini, 3/4 pound of beets, and 1 pint of blueberries. That's enough eatin' to make a caterpillar blush!

I was workin' late tonight, y'all, and I had to skedaddle on home early so I could pick up our grub before the farm share people up and left for the evenin'! Bein' that I was so late I had to throw together this down-home meal fast before my sweetie came on home!



First I made a salad usin' mostly ingredients from the farm: red leaf lettuce, cucumbers, garlic scapes, sesame seeds, green onions, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, salt and pepper. Just like grandma used to make. Grandma Yu! She was my Asian grandma, y'all!



I was rushin' around like a prospector who just heard there was gold in California! I barely had time to steam up this broccoli! We had a lot of leftover fixins in the fridge from last night so we had it as a side dish along with the salmon, au gratin potatoes and a whole heap 'a spinach!



We had to clean out that there fridge. It's more packed than a prospector's truck who is going to California for gold (like I mentioned above)! That meant that Jen and I had to partake in some Amstel Light which we agree may be one of our least favorite beers, y'all!



To finish it all off we had some of them there blueberries on some yogurt with granola and flaxseed. Just like my grandma used to make! Grandma Sunshine! She was my hippie grandma, y'all!

See y'all later! Bone Apa-teet!


I'm not quite sure why Nate always adopts these personas when he writes, but no matter. The cucumber and green onion salad was really delicious -- Grandma Yu would be proud. Nate, however, didn't have any of the delicious cucumbers, because he hates them. His loss, and more for me. I'm intrigued by the kohlrabi -- I'm going to look up the recipes as soon as I finish this entry, since I'm not even sure I know what sort of a thing it is, to say nothing of how to prepare it. And I'm SO happy to be having blueberries. Blueberries are one of my all-time favorite fruits, and these are a particularly good set of specimens. Tart, flavorful, enormous -- perfect.

Also, I totally chatted with Marcus Samuelsson, the head chef of Aquavit, at the party. He was really nice. And handsome. And his food is great. Now I must save all my pennies, and maybe in a few years Nate and I can afford to go eat at his restaurant.

Hey, y'all! This is Nate comin' back at 'cha! I must say I do hate cucumbers! Almost as much as I love to hear Jen talk about how handsome a guy is and how delicious his food is and find out it's not me. Well sheooooot!

Monday, July 14, 2008

Vive la France! Vive l'oeuf!

Today is Bastille Day. In honor of the storming of the Bastille in 1789 I wanted to make a feast that would make Talleyrand himself sing! Unfortunately, as is often the case the day before we pick up our farm share, I had a pantry that would make Robespierre weep.

So, as is the challenge on the days we are not wading in fresh produce, the challenge became to see what I could do with the shabby collection of ingredients I had on hand. Tonight's challenge: Make the most authentic French meal possible without purchasing any auxiliary ingredients.



I started by wanting to make a Salade niçoise. The only ingredient I had on hand that I could really, truly say belongs in a Salade niçoise was tomato and egg. So I hard boiled some eggs for the salad. Both Jen and I kinda hate hard boiled eggs but the crazy French love to put hard boiled eggs on everything (that's something I learned at culinary school) so I figured this was one tiny area where I could really go for authenticity. I served the egg over some tender greens (instead of crispy greens) and topped with lemon, olive oil and topped with marinated Portuguese (Portugal is pretty close to France when you think about it) sardines.



The next step was to make Potatoes au Gratin (this is French for Potatoes with Gratin). I was able to use up some old half and half, the rest of our Parmesan and all of the potatoes in our fridge to make this dish.



I had some salmon and some nice mustard so I marinated the salmon in the mustard (flavored with shallot and balsamic vinegar) and topped it with some breadcrumbs before baking it in the oven. It was actually panko that I use. Panko is what they call Japanese breadcrumbs. French Japanese breadcrumbs.



And I finished it all up with a little épinard sauté.

I served "French" goat cheese with a "baguette" before the dinner. Some dinner guests complained that the baguette was a bit too round to be classified as a traditional baguette. I say that those guests lacked vision. Also, those guests hated France for their freedom.



For dessert I made a quick crêpe batter and began by making something Jen refers to as the "crap crêpe" (see above). Jen has a theory that the first crêpe always gets ruined and she christened this theory The Crap Crêpe Theory. I did not subscribe to this theory. Then I made my first crêpe (see above).



The next crêpe turned out much better and I topped it with some fake Nutella (not brand name, but actually much more delicious).



And there you have it! An authentic French meal, just like the French eat! Sacré bleu! Mon dieu! Qu'est-ce que c'est? Charles de Gaulle!