The Pleasure of Cooking with Old Friends
There’s nothing like bonding in the kitchen with friends you have missed. I have cooked with and for my Baltimore girls since our pot-luck days at Davidson College. Thankfully, we could squeeze in a home-cooked meal together on my recent trek back to the East Coast.
We made — surprise, surprise — a whole roast chicken with that herbed salt rub. Hey, it’s an easy crowd pleaser, yet Hannah had never made one. The whole bird can be daunting, though more economical and flavorful. After dinner, we made stock with the carcass (Hannah, what soup will you make? Don’t forget the pot in Adam’s fridge.) Olive oil and rosemary potatoes roasted in the pan with the chicken.
The highlight of the meal, though, was Hannah’s Korean Asparagus (see recipe below). Barbara Kingsolver made me feel guilty about eating them out of season, but California-grown ones were on sale, and we couldn’t resist the recipe. Now we know what to make when the elegant green spears grace our farmers markets in a month. Smelly pee, here we come! I liked the tangy Korean marinade so much I served it over lighty cooked broccoli and carrots, over rice, tonight.
Here’s the Korean asparagus recipe (from Madhur Jaffrey, I believe)
1.5 lbs asparagusDressing:3 tablespoons soy sauce1 tablespoon sesame oil1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds1 tablespoon red wine vinegar1/2 teaspoon sugar1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper1 smashed clove of garlicShave the ends of the spears if the asparagus is thick.Soak the asparagus in cold water for 15 to 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, mix together the dressing ingredients.Boil the asparagus for about two minutes.Drain and run under cold water.Remove the garlic clove from the dressing (if you want) before pouring it over the asparagus and mixing.
Vero Beach: Where Restaurants Feel Like Nursing Homes
A surprising lively street festival in Vero Beach, Fla.
Apologies for not blogging in more than a week now. I returned to NYC for my Hechinger Institute conference on covering community colleges and then have been traveling up and down the East Coast visiting the important folks on my list. Now I’m in Vero Beach, Fla., for the night with my sister to visit our ailing grandmother, who still has her spirits and spunk about her but is increasingly succumbing to dementia. It’s hard to watch someone you love go from independent living in an apartment to the nursing home’s special care (Alzheimer’s ward) in less than a year:(
But Grandma enjoys the constant attention and makes the best of things, though she has lost her appetite and apparently subsists on Ensure shakes. She did enjoy the Fig Newton I fed to her on the side today. She also takes comfort in her 100-year-old boyfriend, born in 1908 in Newfoundland, who we discovered today is still married to a woman who lives in another section of the medical ward. When she comes down the hall to visit, the nurses hide Grandma from him. Scandalous! That didn’t stop the inseparable pair from holding hands and sweetly kissing on the couch today!
Still there’s something so depressing about these Florida retirement communities, where death, illness and decay hovers in the atmosphere. Its presence is palpable. Restaurants here cater to 1950s-style tastes, even the best, more expensive ones. Though among the best options in town, The Lobster Shanty felt like an overpriced nursing home cafeteria at 2:30 p.m. (were they early-birds in for dinner?). But the complimentary corn fritters they served were sweet (albeit fattening), reminding me of those from my beloved Baugher’s farm restaurant back in Maryland’s Carroll County. We did eat local fish (Pompano) twice today: grilled with tomato-feta-olives at the Shanty, and grilled with a red pepper sauce at The Lemon Tree tonight. Both places were too expensive, but at least The Lemon Tree dinners came with a free ample glass of wine and an included scoop of raspberry or lemon sorbet for dessert. Those seniors love those all-inclusive deals!
Complimentary wine at The Lemon Tree.
The Simplicity of Soup: Broccoli Soup with Lemon-Chive Cream
As much as I cook, sometimes the day-in and day-out preparation and clean-up involved seems like a chore. That’s why this post from Orangette, and the accompanying recipe for broccoli soup, spoke to me. The broth-based soup is light and sweet, from the sauteed leeks, with an umami bite from the simmering with the Parmesan rinds. Before serving, you pick the now tough chewing gum-textured rinds out (nibbling the last morsels of cheese off, if you lust for Parmesan Reggiano, as I do.) I always save those rinds with the best intentions but had never gotten around to cook with them before. What a yummy way to squeeze some flavor out before discarding. Can’t wait to try them in a Ribollita soup soon. Overall, this dish is a refreshing change from gloppy, sometimes sickeningly rich, broccoli cheese soup. The lemon cream (I made with plain yogurt and without the chives) mellows and flavors the soup.
For dessert? Simple baked apples. Satisfying, yet far less memorable than this soup.
Hand-Tossed Pizza and a Simple Salad
Nothing like a homemade pizza dinner on a Sunday night. I love making my own dough now (though it’s still somewhat soggy in the center, not as clay-oven crisp as I’d like it to be) though it does take time and make a mess in the kitchen, what with flour and cornmeal thrown everywhere. With whole wheat flour instead of the high-gluten Italian one she recommends, I made dough from Melissa McCart‘s recipe, which appeared in The Washington Post’s Food section (I carted the hard-copy all the way out to Oregon with me:). Sauce was from 101 Cookbooks (fresh lemon zest really brightens it up!) but with pureed tomatoes, instead of crushed, for that smooth pizza sauce texture. We topped the pizzas with feta and mozzarella, roasted garlic, rosemary-sauteed potatoes and spinach. No complaints here:)
For a light salad accompaniment, I drew inspiration from Mark Bittman’s recent post on this refreshing fennel-celery salad, with the sweet addition of a crisp, thin-skinned Asian pear.
Eating for Zimbabwe
Greens with spicy peanut sauce
We had a Zimbabwean feast Friday night at an informal benefit dinner to raise money for Ancient Ways, a local non-profit that supports education and development projects in the economically ravaged country. The meal, prepared by Chef Intaba of Fireworks Restaurant and a corps of volunteered, featured spicy stewed chicken and lamb, downy sweet potato rolls and most memorably, a brilliant collard greens with dish bathed in a light, tangy peanut sauce (the Zimbabwe name escapes me, but it began with an “m.”) I hope to recreate it. Maybe use the recipe for the “Cooked Greens Zimbabwe Style” found in this book?
There was lovely live Zimbabwean music, too, though I have to say they must have been the whitest African music band (see below). Oh well, such is life in Oregon.
The whitest Zimbabwean marimba band.
Dinner 911: Turkey Bacon and Sauteed Bok Choy Salad with Orange Dressing
I was thrilled when my dear Wendy called me in a panic from San Francisco tonight. “Help Laura! Dave will be home in a half hour and I need to make dinner.”
“Ok, we’ll do this,” I replied, the adrenaline pumping. “What do you have in your fridge?”
Salad, veggies, turkey bacon, beets and goat cheese. Great, roast beet salad. No, the beet had gone bad. Here was our solution:
-Fry up the turkey bacon. Sautee your bok choy greens in the leftover grease.
-Prepare a salad bowl with lettuce mix, chopped carrots and broccoli, dried cranberries, hard-boiled egg and goat cheese. Toss in the bacon and sauteed greens.
Then Wendy said she had fresh oranges. That prompted this dressing, probably the best part of the recipe. I drew inspiration from one we made at the magical Seasons of My Heart Cooking School in Oaxaca:
-1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
-1/4 cup olive oil
-2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
-little honey if it needs sweetness
-1-2 cloves of chopped garlic
-salt and pepper
I felt so useful! Why is it so much easier to help other people plan their dinners (and lives!) than it is to figure out your own situation? The power of objectivity, I suppose.
Mardi Gras Pizza
Wood-Fired Pizza with Andouille Sausage, Oregon Bay Shrimp and Creole Sauce
We made a rare midweek restaurant visit tonight. The eclectic and locally-focused Fireworks Restaurant in Southtown Corvallis lured us in with a Mardi Gras menu and live music by Gumbo, a surprisingly talented, animated Americana band. I hope to recreate Chef Intaba’s Cajun Pizza: wood-fired whole wheat crust topped with andouille sausage, delicate Oregon Bay shrimp, zesty Creole tomato sauce and mozzarella. I can’t get enough of those tiny, slightly briny pink shrimp. They’re never tough like their jumbo cousins. I need to make more salads with them.
“Baltimoreans Have Long Memories”
Our beloved Abell Avenue in Baltimore
In this week’s City Paper restaurant review, I love the way Mary K. Zajac describes how Baltimoreans cling to their landmarks, even though those that are long gone.
Baltimoreans have long memories. They refer to buildings called “The Civic Center” and give directions based on long-gone structures, confusing newbies in the process. (“The YMCA? It’s over where Memorial Stadium used to be.”) But this historical memory is a harmless nod to the past and part of what puts the charm in Charm City.
Folks totally referred to my Y as the Memorial Stadium YMCA, even though the former Orioles staidum was demolished in 2001. The old harborfront Baltimore News-American building meant more to folks than the recently-folded Baltimore Examiner in the same location ever did. When you ask for directions, what former icons do you still hear locals referring to?
A Simple Celeriac Soup
I didn’t know what to do with the bowling ball-sized celeriac (celery root) I had in my crisper. Then I stumbled upon this Puree of Celery Root Soup recipe on the popular Seattle-based food blog, Orangette (The author Molly Wizenberg has a book out I want to read). The subtly flavored soothing soup went down almost as easy as baby food. I added extra celeriac and broth, threw in a potato, substituted Greek yogurt for skim milk and topped with grated parmesan (a requirement for most winter soups). The recipe comes from the New York Times, by way of The Red Hat Cookbook. Try it! You’ll like it. I just love celeriac in soups. Mild celery flavor, with hearty potato-like texture and heft.
- Celeriac/Flickr Creative Commons/by rachel is coconut&lime
The Pleasure of Parmesany Polenta, Topped with a Toothsome Ragout
Borlotti (Or Rather Pinto) Beans in Tomato Sauce with Creamy Polenta
For the rest of winter, I pledge to make more polenta: hand-stirred, coarsely ground corn made creamy with unsalted butter and a generous grating of parmesan cheese. Resist buying those ubiquitous fat tubes of prepared polenta. It’s not hard to make–really just yellow grits. Just sit by the stove with a book for 30 minutes of patient stirring.
This stick-to-your ribs tangy tomato sauce and polenta dish, from Heirloom Beans by Vanessa Barrington and Steve Sando is a real keeper. Pinto beans were a surprisingly fitting substitute for the borlotti (or cranberry) beans I couldn’t find. They have a similar speckled exterior that disappears upon boiling, though they cook up softer than cranberry beans. The sauteed fennel and grated carrot gave the tomato sauce a real sweetness that married well with the polenta.
Any other polenta dishes to suggest? I’m hooked. I’ll probably next tackle Mark Bittman’s polenta breakfast pizza.
| Serves | 4 to 6 |
BaltimOregon to Maine 