Weekends

The comic strip writer, Bill Watterson, once said, "Weekends don't count unless you spend them doing something pointless."  And as much as I would like to spend the weekends doing just fun things, most   weekends around here are a combination. You know, the dry cleaner, the post office, the gas station and dinner with friends.

This past weekend none of the usual suspects was around to play; but fear not, a couple married as long as we had no trouble finding something to do.  Friday evening the skies cleared and we were able to enjoy martinis on the deck before dinner.

I took a piece of tuna, briefly marinated it in a lightened teryiaki-type sauce, then pressed some toasted sesame seeds onto the suface. After the grill had heated to HOT, we barely seared it for a couple of minutes, then sliced it thinly on the diagonal and served it with some soy sauce combined with lime juice and a splash of sesame oil for dipping. Delicious with or without a martini.

  

For dinner we shared a nicely marbled rib eye steak (blurry photo below) and a Greek salad.

Saturday's weather forecast was promising, so we blew off our errands and went to  the beach. When we returned and were ready for dinner, I prepped some wild sockeye salmon for the grill, cut some farmstand corn off the cob standing ready to be sauteed in sweet butter and topped with a chiffonnade of basil. And figs for dessert.

By Sunday dinner  all we could manage was a farro salad and a bunch of grapes!

Not too bad for an old couple left to their own devices. Let's see what next weekend brings.

It's Not Easy Being Green--Or Is It?

I was recently sent a sample of eco-friendly disposal, biodegradable palm leaf plates to test. The plates come from Marx Foods, and are considered to be an alternative to "flimsy paper or "forever-in-the landfill plastic dishes."

Marx Foods is a fifth generation high-end restaurant distributor that has evolved into a unique company providing home chefs as well as restaurant chefs with fine, fresh food.  They have a strong belief in customer service as well as to be authentic and transparent and to connect their customers to the food source.  Check out their website to read more. They have recently added this line of sustainable palm leaf plates.

No trees are harmed in the making of these palm leaf plates. They are made from leaves that are naturally shed from the Adaka palm tree. After being processed using an environmentally conscious

production method, they are molded into differing sizes and shapes.

I received a package of the hexagon shape of two different sizes. They are attractive albeit a bit expensive. The 9 1/2 inch plates sell for  $33.50 per 25 pieces, and $77.25 for 100. Since the majority of us do not use disposal plates daily, they would be a nice alternative for a party. Their natural wood-like appearance would fit well into any party theme. Did I hear someone say Tiki Bar?

Since the hexagon shape is the only shape I am able to comment on, I found them to be a bit unstable as the bottom of the plates did not lay flat. Once filled with food, though, they seemed more stable. I also found that because of the higher sides on the hexagon-shaped dish, cutting food was a bit difficult. As promised the food did not leak through the plates!

Would I buy these plates?  Maybe--but I'm usually a real-plate kind of person. But I think they would be a great alternative for a large outdoor gathering. If you are going to use plastic plates anyway, and feel like splurging, why not give these eco-friendly care-free plates a try?

I received a sample of plates from Marx Foods. No remuneration was received.

The Zucchini Post

This is the time of year we are all inundated with the ubiquitous zucchini. To some it is a bland vegetable, but I have never found that to be the case. I think that summer squash adapts well to a variety of preparations. I could not leave these beauties behind at the Farmer's Market.

They were so fresh and so beautiful that I decided to make a "carpaccio" out of them. I know, "carpaccio" invokes images of raw beef--but raw, fresh summer squash makes a delcious treat.

Thin thin slices, some crumbled feta cheese, toasted pine nuts, a squirt of lemon, a drizzling of olive oil, and a sprinkling of mint. Delicious. I have also turned the squash into large thin ribbons with a vegetable peeler, tossed in some arugula, added lemon juice and olive oil and topped them with creamy shards of Parmesan cheese. Beautiful.

One of my favorite lunches when I was a kid was one my grandmother would make. She would go to the garden to pick some zucchini, green peppers and basil.  After sauteing the peppers, she would add zucchini slices and either fresh tomatoes, cut up, or a bit of tomato puree along with a sprig of basil. There was no such thing as crunchy vegetables in our family, but the slow stewing did not seem to make this dish any less tasty.

And one of my favorite zucchini dishes comes from a young friend who teaches at an outdoor environmental education center in the Santa Cruz mountains of Northern California.  In the summer when the education center is closed, her job is to tend the large garden along with her cat who thinks he's not, Wolfie. Despite her gofer problem this year, her zucchini harvest was overwhelming. Her fabulous recipe for Zucchini Feta Pancakes is a great way to use up excess harvest.

Cypress' Zucchini Feta Pancakes

4 cups coarsely grated zucchini
4 eggs, separated
1 heaping cup finely crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup minced scallions
3/4 teaspoon dried mint, or equivalent of fresh
1/3 cup flour
salt and pepper

Place grated zucchini in a colander and salt lightly. Let stand for 15 minutes to drain. Rinse and squeeze out all of the excess water.

Combine the zucchini, egg yolks, feta cheese, scallions, flour and salt and pepper. Mix well.

Beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks; then fold them into zucchini mixture.

Fry spoonfuls of this mixture on both sides in butter until golden and crisp.

These are good topped with plain yogurt mixed with some minced scallion and a pinch of cumin or curry powder.

 Sounds perfect to me.

Spatchcocked!

Spatchcock. Now there's a word you don't hear everyday. Actually in the U.S your don't really hear it at all.  But I've always loved that word. Simply speaking it means "to butterfly'', specifically a chicken.  I bought a chicken at the market, but the thought of roasting it when outside temperatures were soaring into the 90's did not seem appealing.  OK, so the thought of standing outside next to a hot grill was not appealing either, but a girl has to eat.

I wanted to make something a little different, something a little spicy. Chicken Fra Diavolo.

I placed the chicken, breast side down, on the cutting board; and cutting on either side of the backbone, removed it. I then turned the chicken over and pressed down on the breastbone until the chicken was somewhat flattened.  I  massaged the bird all over with olive oil, salt and hot red pepper flakes, then parked it to marinate for a couple of hours.

In the meantime, I grilled some zucchini, seasoned it, and set it to wait at room temperature.

When the sun went down, I was as ready as I was going to be to light the grill. I heated it to about medium-high and placed the chicken breast side down, poured a glass of icy white wine, grabbed my book and settled next to the grill to keep my eye on the bird.  I let the bird cook for about 45-50 minutes, turning quite frequently to avoid burning.

The chicken was done just as John walked through the door. After letting the bird rest a bit, I cut it up and finished it off with a squirt of lemon.

A green salad added, and it was dinner.

Down The Shore

After a weekend at S and A's beach house, I thought that John and I would have to scale back on our eating last week. Put the four of us together with a beach, and all of our common sense eating habits evaporate. But truth be told it proved quite effortless to eat healthfully. That is if you don't count the tequila and that bag of cheetos. 

At the shore we are able to get fish fresh from the boat.

S briefly bathed these still quivering scallops in shoyu sauce--a Japanese soy with wheat added for a bit of sweetness--and a squirt of lime juice.  Then he barely seared them on a hot grill.

A perfect first course.

While we ate the scallops the swordfish was marinating.

Perfection!

A has not eaten red meat in years, but decided that weekend she might try it.  So before the opportunity escaped, we seized the moment and bought some prime porterhouse steaks to present to her that evening.

We added baked potatoes and sauteed spinach to complete our steakhouse meal.

Ice cream for dessert. 

Great weekend with friends.

On second thought we had better scale back our eating.

Ah' Pizz

It seems as if authentic Neopolitan pizzerias are opening all over New York. Some, as you might imagine, are not so authentic. Now, I've never been to Naples, but I just can't imagine some of these overly-doughy soggy-crust pies even remotely resembling those served in Naples.

But I think we have a winner in Montclair, NJ.  You may be thinking,"Do we really need another pizzeria in northern New Jersey?" If the place is Ah'Pizz--I think we do.  Business partners Michael La Morte, who runs the front of the house, and pizzaiola, Chris De Lisio believe they have found their niche.

They have set out to create a high end pizzeria serving Neopolitan pizza cooked in a Neopolitan brick oven using ingredients imported from Italy. The restaurant which has been open since April of this year, is a bright and unpretentious storefront with brick walls and floor to ceiling windows.

The night we met L and J there we were seated within five minutes, menus in hand and wine bottle opened. Of course, it was a holiday weekend, but if the pizza that we were served that night is any indication, I expect long lines once word gets out.

We each ordered salads, which were enormous.

This salad was a special that night, cucumber and tomatoes with a balsamic glaze. One of the salads, another special that night, was baby spinach in a mustard vinaigrette; and another a spring mix with fresh mozzarella, roasted peppers, and artichoke hearts tossed with a balsamic glaze. All were quite good.

All the pizzas were delicious. The crust is light--not too dense-- tender but still chewy. Cooking in a 1000 degree wood-burning oven gives the crust the perfect char. The Margherita was covered with  crushed San Marzano tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, Parmigiano Reggiano and basil. The Carciofi was topped with artichokes, fresh mozzarella, Parmigiano Reggiano, and black olives--nice combination. But the favorite that night was the Gorgonzola pie topped with speck and dusted with Parmigiano Reggiano. Delicious!

As if that wasn't enough J said we had to have the nutella pizza for dessert.  I don't think so. But we had it anyway.

The dough hot from the oven was smeared with nutella, covered with banana slices, and sprinkled with powdered sugar. Coffee. Done.

Ah' Pizz is open seven days a week. No reservations. BYOB. Take out, but no phone orders.  It is not inexpensive, but considering the quality ingredients and excellent pizza, it's worth it. Check out their website for more information.

In the inimitable words of Emma in Wilton Barnhardt's novel, Emma Who Saved My Life, "It is important in the daily diet to have one representative from each of the Four Food Groups. A caffeine, a sugar, a booze and a grease...."  Except for the grease, we did all that.

Kale and Hearty

Although we found ourselves at home for the 4th of July weekend, we had time to meet friends for dinner, sit on the beach for a few hours, and even go to a fabulous fireworks display. Monday morning we were still in relaxation mode.

So while John was outside feeding the plants, I was puttering around the kitchen taking care of odds and ends when I came across five leaves of kale in the crisper. These five leaves were the last evidence of our now unsubscribed-to CSA. I tried, but it just was not for me. Right after I cashed my refund check I heard that this week's box includes a half, yes half, head of lettuce as well as one baby leek. Lord knows, I can't make this stuff up!

Anyway, what to do with the kale? Although I love just about all kinds of greens, kale has never been my favorite.  Somewhere in the back of my head was a recollection of someone somewhere making kale chips.  I started searching--and you wouldn't believe how many articles I found about kale chips. Who knew?

I rinsed and dried the leaves, then tore them into bite-sized pieces. I then tossed the pieces with some olive oil, apple cider vinegar and salt.

These are the kale leaves on the baking sheet ready for the oven.

Then I had to decide at what temperature to bake them. Some thought low and slow, others used a hot oven.  Since my oven was already heated to 375 after toasting a batch of walnuts and making a batch of crostini, that was the temperature I used.

This is what they looked like after seven minutes; turned them over and roasted for another 7 minutes.

This is what they looked like when done roasting.

Well, I can't say that either of us really liked them. I could have used a lot less olive and waaay less salt!

I actually liked our dinner of crostini and farro salad  much better.

What Do You Eat When You Are Alone?

What do you eat when you are alone?

If someone were to ask me that question, I would say, "grilled cheese." I love to eat grilled cheese when I am dining alone, but today I ate a can of beets for lunch.

Yes, a can of beets. Not roasted. No goat cheese. No arugula. A can of beets, drained and tossed with olive oil, salt and oregano. A salad straight from my childhood. And delicious. Beet salad was definitely in my mother's rotation.  It never  supplanted the tossed green salad served after the meal, but  it was a side dish with--what? I don't remember. Maybe hamburgers, maybe cubed steak. Sometimes with a thinly sliced red onion, but always delicious.

Do you ever  wonder what people eat when there is no one around? I think what we eat when we are alone can be divided into two categories. There are those of us who live alone and therefore cook for ourselves on a regular basis.  In his article, Table for One, writer Nigel Slater believes that cooking for one is the perfect time to indulge his food desires and pour himself a glass of good wine.  Mr. Slater takes great pleasure in spending at least a few nights a week satisfying his culinary whims.

In her book, The Pleasures of Cooking For One, the legendary book editor turned author, Judith Jones turns the act of cooking for one into an homage of sorts.  She sets the table and pours the wine. And then dines solo. She has even made a cheese souffle scaled down for one.

But don't get me wrong, there are times, Mr. Slater says, when dinner for him could be a a tub of hummus, a bag of pita bread and a bottle of wine.  Or a bacon sandwich at midnight. That brings me to the next category. What do you eat when no one is looking?

Ah! See there is a difference. When no one is looking many of us resort to childhood favorites or bizarre combinations we would never think to eat in front of another living soul.  Years ago when John would work every third night, my favorite after-work dinner for one was a bowl of salty popcorn and a glass of white wine chased by a couple of pieces of dark chocolate. How healthy is that?

In my very unscientific poll, I saw a big trend in solo eating of carbohydrates--a bowl of cereal, cake, a pan of brownies; an entire candy bar or a half a pan of cornbread as well as  the all-time favorite, cold pizza.  I've also known someone, who shall remain nameless, who thought the perfect dining companion was a can of cold spam. When no one is around to disapprove of what we're eating, all bets are off.

So I ask you, what do you eat when you are alone?

Pizza Again

Last night John and I had our first grilled pizza of the summer. If you have never grilled a pizza, you must give it a try.  It is easy, fun and never fails to impress.  Did I mention delicious?

Simply pat out your dough, brush liberally with olive oil and place directly on a medium-hot grill.
Grill until crisp and brown on one side. Brush top of dough with olive oil and using a tongs or your fingers turn over.  When the second side is almost done, add toppings, close grill and continue to cook until toppings are ready.  Garnish and serve.

Just Peachy

It was with some trepidation L and I picked up our first farm box from our CSA.  E-mails last week from the woman who runs this CSA gave us the feeling that it is very loosely run--definitely not our style--but OK.

The first e-mail informed us that she is not sure if we will be continuing through the summer. What? We just started our session, because in New Jersey we wait all year long for summer produce.  The next e-mail said that because of such a large response, she had to go in search of other providers. OK.

So we go to pick up our boxes, a half share each, in the pouring rain.  We make our way back to the garage where a short hunt finds us our labeled boxes. A stop at the cooler to collect our dozen eggs, and off we go. We will return in two weeks for our next box.

When I returned home I was excited to see what was awaiting me.

There was no need for me to have been apprehensive about the quantity of produce being too much for two people as it seemed quite manageable. In fact some of the quantities seemed quite ridiculous. Four baby beets and pea pods that yielded less than one cup shucked peas.  Good thing, for me, that John doesn't care for either, because neither would have made a decent side dish for two.

The baby beets looked so much prettier raw than cooked; but I roasted them with olive oil and made them into a tiny first course salad with goat cheese and arugula.

The sweet peas were just steamed and buttered and added to the dinner plate.

Dinner the next night was fresh eggs fried in a ring of red pepper and dusted with Parmesan cheese atop wholegrain toast.

This was accompanied by the broad beans, the only vegetables adequate enough for two servings. They were boiled, drained, tossed with olive oil and salted.

And some beautifully ripe and sweet Campari tomatoes roasted with olive oil, thyme and garlic.

Saturday's dinner was accompanied by the five scallions, grilled.

I am trying to reserve judgement, but I thought the whole concept of community supported agriculture was just that. Eat seasonally, eat locally, and support local farmers. I have been eating seasonally and locally as much as possible my whole life, so it is not a new or foreign concept to me.  So you can understand my confusion to find included in my box pears from Argentina, scallions from California and peaches and oranges from who knows where.  The Campari tomatoes, by the way, were purchased from the supermarket and hydroponically grown in New Jersey!

Perhaps a half share should contain less variety than a full share, but enough of each vegetable to serve at least two people.  Perhaps I'm being too picky.

Today is Sunday and I have left 3 hard pears, two oranges, and one peach. The cherries went quickly.The two yellow squash will be grilled for dinner today or tomorrow, and the large head of red leaf lettuce will be gone as well.

We'll see.