Category Archives: Food

Cooking techniques, Food, Recipes

Inoteca salad and Braised pork

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Dinner on Saturday night got started very, very late–we ended up getting home three hours later than I expected, and then baked cake, etc, so we started the (braised) meat at about the time I thought we’d be eating, and ate at bedtime. I scaled back the plans because we’d been snacking and it was so late, which means I have a lot of chard that I need to do something with this week. Soup tonight, maybe…

To start we had a salad that Bridge and I always split at Inoteca: Romaine and radicchio in a red wine vinaigrette, topped with a mountain of ricotta salata. It’s so, so simple, but the combo is perfect–the sharp radicchio and vinegar are offset by the mound of cheese, which is salty and perfect. I know my mom has been making this salad ever since we went to Inoteca, and this was the second or third time I made it. (Of course, afterwards all I want to eat is Truffled Egg Toast, it’s Pavlovian.) Try this at home!

For dinner I made a variation on an old Gourmet recipe for cider braised pork with caramelized onions. Whole Foods doesn’t carry pork shoulder, on or off the bone, so I made do with boneless pork butt, which….well, it’s big mess to deal with, I’ll tell you that. It was held together with an elastic net, but I had to take that off to score the fat, and then all the lobes of meat were everywhere and did NOT want to be bound back together with kitchen twine. I got flustered and started browning it 1) before sticking all the slices of garlic in (I did a bit of that while it was in the pan, an ouchy process that Bridge watched with trepidation), 2) WITHOUT SEASONING IT. That’s right, I completely forgot to salt and pepper the meat before cooking it. Brilliant. Somehow I don’t have any photos except of the finished process, but basically I browned the meat, pulled it out, caramelized the onions, added the cider in, put the meat back, and braised for a while in the oven. About 45 minutes before it was done (the time was all weird because I had a totally different piece of meat than the recipe called for) I pulled the le creuset out, peered in at my messy, messy chunks of meat, and cut off a little bit to see if it was getting tender. No, not yet. Also, it tasted like a shoe, because it was still in the tough phase, before the braising tenderizing magic happens, and also I HADN’T SALTED OR PEPPERED IT. I added S&P then, and then just really drowned the pieces in the onion sauce mixture (which you reduce a bit) when I served it. I have to say, it ended up tasting good: The Braising Magic kicked in and the meat was super tender, and blanketed in the sweet onions it was flavorful enough. I wasn’t feeling well, though, so I only ate two bites!

Served without chard or noodles, due to the lateness of the hour:

I liked my apples/sherry more than the onions, but I think short ribs might be next on the menu. And the brussels sprouts the Amateur Gourmet blogged a week or two ago, which I’ve been thinking about ever since. My mom is visiting next weekend! Cooking ahoy!

Food, General, Home

Baking with Bridge

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Ah….. Just had the most delightful weekend with Bridge and E., who journeyed many, many hours on the Fung-wah bus to visit. We revived them with Redbones ribs on Friday after their nightmare trip up from NYC, then walked all over Boston on Saturday and came home to cook and relax by the fire. Mostly the guys relaxed by the fire while Bridge and I cooked, starting with a pumpkin crumb cake that AT: The Kitchen printed last week. While we cooked the boys munched on some lovely snacks:

That’s bread and amazing olive oil from NYC, brought by B&E. (It’s a Puglian olive oil from Murray’s, incredibly flavorful and bright green!) Prosciutto and marcona olives picked up in the North End, and some pepitas for seasonal flair.

So, the cake. Basically this is a pumpkin pie that has mated with a coffee cake. And it is delicious.

You start with a dry mix that is then turned into the crumb topping and the cake layer. You also make pumpkin pie filling to pour in between. It’s simple but not exactly quick, and I was really glad we had the dishwasher up and running since you end up with lots of dirty bowls! So fun to cook with Bridge, though, and I was glad her cat Joe wasn’t there to sit on the cake once it was done. He seems to resent her baking at home!

Bridge whips up the pumpkin filling:

Layer one (cake batter), spread in place:

I pour in layer two, the pumpkin (Bridge is a better action photog than I am!):

Layer three, the topping lovingly hand mixed by Bridge (isn’t crumb topping always the best part? Mm, butter and sugar…):

Cross-section:

The next morning, ready for breakfast:

I have eaten approximately my body weight in cake in the last two days, since I really can’t refuse things with pumpkin pie in them. I’d like to experiment, though, with a crumb cake that is just pumpkin CAKE and topping, rather than the layer of pie filling. The cake part is great with the filling but would be dry on its own…I wonder if I could sub in pumpkin for sour cream in my mom’s coffee cake recipe and play with that? Good thing I have months of fall left!

Food, Recipes

Prepped on a counter!

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I cooked dinner last night, hurray! It got chilly quite suddenly here in Cambridge, and I was feeling very autumnal. I strolled through Whole Foods after sending Tom off, and ended up with a pair of lovely boneless pork chops. In the back of my mind, creeping quietly closer to the front as I contemplated the meat case, were the apples and baby brussels sprouts that I’d bought at a local farm last weekend, languishing in the fridge after we abruptly went kitchenless.

I knew I wanted to cook the pork and apples together, but a conversation with my mom convinced me to cook them in the dutch over, in part to skip the extra step of browning in one pan (and washing it) and cooking in another.

[A side note: I apologize for how wretched these photos are. The current lighting situation is grim, at best, and there simply wasn’t much I could do. Suggestions for a good lighting scheme for the kitchen are welcome!]

I peeled the apples and cut them into thick slices, marveling at the lovely star pattern the cross-cut core makes. As a kid I always thought that was the coolest thing. (I didn’t get out much.)

Cored the apple slices, diced a small onion, then patted the chops dry, seasoned them and dredged them in flour. I browned them in the dutch oven while I finished up the onion.

The temperamental stove got a little excited towards the end, and the nice browned bits scorched. I let the pot cool enough to wipe it out a bit, then melted some butter, cooked the onions until they were soft, and added in the apples. After stirring them (well, nudging them) around a bit, I added about a third of a cup of sherry and let it simmer for a minute.

I added a dash of white vinegar for some bite (cider vinegar would be better but I’m all out and my brain was turned off, so I didn’t grab the sherry vinegar!) and about a cup of chicken stock. I simmered that for another minute or so, then put the pork chops in and tucked them in snugly under the apples.

I covered everything tightly and cooked on low for about 15 minutes, turning the chops once.

Meanwhile I’d cleaned the baby brussels sprouts (so wee!), trimmed them and cut them in half. I sautéed them in olive oil with lots of salt and pepper, cut side down until they were well browned, and then tossed around a bit so their backsides could brown a bit.

Overall, a big success. The pork wasn’t overcooked, but it was a bit tough–next time I’m going to make sure I don’t brown it for too long. The tang of the sherry and vinegar with the apples, alongside the pork, was delicious. I love those. I want to try making a kind of applesauce along the same lines to serve on the side another time, or with ham. Oh, and I always love brussels sprouts. I’m so happy their season has returned!

In kitchen news, I gave the counters their first coat of Danish Oil tonight, and tomorrow the fridge and dishwasher come!!

Food, Recipes

Figuring out fish

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We had our lovely neighbors up for dinner a couple weeks ago–they were kind enough to invite us over soon after we moved in, and we hadn’t managed to repay the favor until months later. The Times had just published the recipe for Brown Buttered Corn that scooted around the blogosphere shortly thereafter, and I decided to be brave and cook fish for a change.

To start we had some fun heirloom tomatoes with a drizzle of vinaigrette and a few little dices of feta. I know it’s fall now, but at the time it was still late summer and I was reveling in those last few weeks where cooking is mostly a matter of buying gorgeous produce and slicing it up.

tom

I made the corn a little earlier in the day, and made the sauce variation by pureeing some of the corn with broth and garlic and then stirring in the rest. It was a bit too thick and creamy–next time I’d puree about a third of the corn, if that, with a bit more broth. I didn’t feel like you could tell it was corn; I wanted kernels barely bound together by a loose sauce.

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cc

I bought some beautiful fresh grey sole fillets, rubbed them with the compound butter from the corn sauce recipe, and broiled them (for only about 5 minutes, I think). Very delicate and light–even Ben, who generally does not like fish, really liked them. Of course, the fish was totally muffled by the (too-thick) sauce, so…

(I had two fillets per person; each one is so thin that it weighs about 4 ounces!)

fish

See, you can’t even see the fish under there! (That’s a very simple israeli cous cous as a side, with just some lemon juice, butter and herbs.)

For dessert I made a peach crisp, using a half-recipe from Fanny at Chez Panisse. I had made it when my aunt and cousin came over and it was great. This time something had gone funny with the vanilla ice cream, so instead of tasting peaches I tasted that alcoholic vanilla extract flavor. Sad!

Still, despite some disappointments, there were a bunch of things to do again. I am feeling much better about cooking fish, especially.

Cooking, Food

Misc. Meals

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A catch-up and catch-all post–here are some things I made over the last month:

For a wonderful dinner party with my aunt Suzanne and cousin Sara, I made a chilled summer squash and buttermilk soup, followed by sausages and israeli couscous and beans. I failed to take pictures of anything but the soup, which was a bit bland and lackluster no matter how much salt and pepper I added. Pretty, though!

s

Chinese noodles with brown sauce, from Bittman’s The Minimalist Cooks Dinner. Also not a huge success–it was ok but not killer. Does anyone have a really great simple chinese noodle recipe? I want a quick one, not one of the complicated Barbara Tropp ones. I’ll experiment with this…

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Simple summer food (the flank steak was marinated in soy, brown sugar, etc.):

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I am incredibly childish and when I got this heirloom tomato home from the grocery store and set it on the counter I could not stop laughing:

tomato

Sigh. I cut it up and combined it with zucchini in an absorption pasta topped with cow’s milk feta (a contradiction in terms, I know, but very delicious).

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Finally, in case you haven’t had your fill of anthropomorphic produce (I never was able to bring myself to cook him!):

a

Food, Recipes

Late summer pizza

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While I was in Oregon my mom and I went out for a great dinner at one of our favorite restaurants in Eugene, Marché. We shared a bunch of appetizers, including one of the fantastic wood-oven pizzas, topped with tomatoes, corn and bacon. The sweet corn, tangy/sweet tomatoes and smoky bacon (and crust) were perfect together, so when I got back I decided to recreate it, using dough that I bought from Whole Foods so that it could be super-fast comfort food.

I had Sungolds that I’d brought back from Oregon, and I cut a nice fat heirloom tomato into very thin slices. I microwaved an ear of corn for a minute or two to cook it partway, then cut the kernels off the cob.

p

I hadn’t gotten very clear directions about the dough–the guy had said to let it rise, but it didn’t seem to want to, despite the room being quite warm. It was very bouncy, resilient dough. I did eventually force it (mangled) into a relatively flat oval. I topped it with fontina and the toppings, including chopped pancetta that I had already cooked until it was nice and crispy.

piza

mmm

One nice thing about our old, old stove is that the gas oven goes to 600. I cooked the pizza fast, and then we enjoyed it with salad. The sungolds were especially nice, since they were little pockets of sweet-tart juice, basically. And I loved the corn, which just tastes like summer, doesn’t it? The pancetta is crucial–you need the savory flavor to balance the sweet tomatoes and corn. Next time maybe I’d use some sharper cheese?

pizza

yum

Family, Food, Travel

Oregon trip: Dad’s birthday dinner

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This is a short one–a simple delicious meal, and only a couple pics. But first, flip on over (in a new window!) to Germi’s great Domino garden blog, where she featured Mom’s garden the other day! In honor of Mom’s star turn, here is a photo of Mom (artfully turned away from the camera) in her kitchen:

om

The kitchen isn’t huge but it’s an efficient layout. They re-did the counters, added a new little window (not shown here) and replaced the appliances earlier this year, and Mom is very fond of her new CaesarStone counters. She says you could spill wine on them and leave it overnight—though she would never, because she’s incredibly tidy—and it wouldn’t leave a mark! We are starting to think about our kitchen renovation, and I’m going to check out CaesarStone myself sometime soon. I liked the feel of it at home.

Ahem. Anyway, Dad doesn’t get as much play on the blog as Mom does, even though he’s an avid blog-reader and big food lover! Maybe this winter he can write a guest post about his famous cassoulet, which he makes about once a year over the course of several days. His birthday was the day I was leaving, and my flight was in the evening so we had a very early dinner to celebrate before we headed to the airport.

For dinner we had more beans from the garden, again prepared with Mom’s homemade lemon confit:

bean

Plus lovely New York steaks with grilled onions and roasted potatoes. Happy Birthday, Dad!

steak

Yum! It was a lovely night out on the deck, and it was brutal to eat a little too quickly and leave, especially since I was in for a red-eye flight in a middle seat. Would you want to stop sitting here with your delightful parents and a glass of wine?

To be fair, the short flight to SF was comfortable and featured a truly stunning sunset. And then I was able to spend 45 minutes in the airport with my Maid of Honor and her fiancé, who were on their way TO Eugene. That was where the fun ended, though, because the red-eye was 100% full, and I was indeed squished between two big guys the entire way.

Here’s that amazing sunset, though–I think what looks like the ocean is actual a sea of clouds. We were just outside Eugene at that point.

sun

sun

Cooking techniques, Family, Food, Recipes, Travel

Oregon trip: Mirza

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Mirza. Mirza is a wonderful, wonderful thing, very much one of my Top Five foods. It is awful-looking, a brownish mush of eggplant, tomato and egg, but the smoky, garlicky flavor is divine. My Mom’s friend Linda (another wonderful cook) is married to a Persian man and learned to cook all sorts of wonderful food from her Mother-in-Law. We have been eating mirza since I was a kid, and I crave it at random intervals. Sadly Mom refuses to make unless it is eggplant and tomato season. Ah, seasonality.

We made it as part of our Tapas dinner, though, and I think it was one of the best batches we ever made! I forgot to take pictures until most of the way through, so bear with me.

First, take your eggplant, a nice big one or two small ones, and grill it whole over lowish heat until it the sides collapse if you poke them (carefully) with your finger. Do not puncture the skin! Once the eggplant is all charred and soft, put it in a covered bowl or something to sit and think about what it’s done while you prep everything else. Seed and chop three or four nice ripe roma tomatoes, and mince a LOT of garlic, 6-8 cloves at least. Then gingerly peel the eggplant, making sure you catch all the nice juices in the bowl, and chop up the flesh. Leave all the seeds and stuff. Sauté the garlic in a good amount of olive oil until it is soft, then add in the eggplant and cook until you break it down a bit and it isn’t in chunks. Add in the tomato and cook until soft. In a glass, scramble up one egg. Next, make a hole in the middle:

irza

And pour the egg into it. Scramble it a bit:

mirza

mirza

And then stir it through the eggplant mixture and get it all nicely cooked so there aren’t bits of raw white:

mirza

Not too pretty, eh? But oooooh man. Usually we eat it piping hot with hot pita triangles, but this time we had it with grilled bread (brushed with oil and rubbed with garlic before grilling) and that was even better. Everything was smoky and garlicky and fantastic.

bread

I made it again the other night, to make sure I remembered the steps (I actually had to call mom to check how many tomatoes) and it wasn’t quite as good. We have a gas grill, while Mom and Dad use real-wood charcoal. Can’t beat the flavor, but mine was still pretty good and it got better the next day.

Cooking techniques, Family, Food, Travel

Oregon trip: “Tapas” dinner on the patio

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Mom and I discussed a bunch of favorite foods to try to figure out what to cook for my second-to-last night home, and we realized that we could just make a bunch of appetizer type things and skip the main course altogether. Delightful!

First, a glamour shot of the Sungold cherry tomatoes I keep talking about, and which we ate by the bucket full all week:
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Now. The menu for the evening:
-White beans with sausage, red onion and tomato
-Mirza (Persian eggplant dip and one of my all-time favorite foods)
-Grilled baby artichokes
-Prosciutto-wrapped grilled figs
-Grilled bread

OK, now I’m starving thinking about it.

I’ll follow up with a mirza post since it needs its own entry. It is simple but divine. And my mom made the white beans while I wasn’t paying attention, so I’d just be guessing if I made up instructions for that (though it was very tasty). But the grilled artichokes I carefully paid attention to, and the grilled figs are so beyond simple and SO delicious….

Artichokes. My mom buys bags of baby artichokes from Trader Joe’s because her friendly Farmer’s Market artichoke man has stopped showing up. I think we started with four pounds. That sounds insane, but we wanted leftovers and as you’ll see you throw away (compost, in our case) a LOT of trimmings.

Sadly I forgot to take photos until I was trimming the last few, so I don’t have a whole one to show here. But pretend you have seen the whole baby artichoke.

Trim it down to the tender leaves, cut the top third off, leaving the bases of the leaves, then use a paring knife to clean the bottom and stem, then cut each one in half (place in a bowl of cold water with the juice of a lemon while you keep trimming the rest:
art

This takes quite a while. Once you’ve done all trillion of them, admire the giant tub of leaves and trimming that your compost heap is about to enjoy, and marvel at the tiny bowl of water and artichokes that you are left with:
arti

Despite the lemon juice in the water, the artichokes may have discolored a little along the cut edges (you’re helping slow that down by putting them in water)–do not panic. Put them in a big pan with a couple whole cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed, cover them with water (or close to cover), and bring to a simmer. Cook until they are tender but not too soft:
artic

It’s like magic! The discoloration is gone! Eat one out of the strainer to celebrate. Now coat them in olive oil:
artich

Grill in a grill pan to prevent losing them into the fire. They’re already cooked, so you’re just adding that nice charred look and flavor. Salt and pepper. I like to hit them with a squeeze of lemon juice when they’re done. Now you can start sneaking them out of the bowl while you continue getting dinner on. (Leftovers should be added to pizza, or pasta, or sandwiches, or eaten cold out of the fridge.)

Delicious!
yum

Ok, the other fun grilled thing that night–I posted one photo already, but this is an appetizer my mom has been making for years, and it could not be easier.

pro

[If you’re using bamboo skewers, soak them in water for a couple hours before assembly!]
A note on figs: They have to be ripe ripe ripe for this to be as amazing as it can be. We had lovely ripe figs, and actually some were just ripe while others were *really* ripe:
fig

I have to say, though, I could barely tell them apart when they were cooked. That slightly sketchy-looking one might have been a tad more tender; it was certainly way juicier raw!
Cut slices of prosciutto in half the long way, so you have two strips from each slice. Wind one strip around each halved fig, and string a couple on each skewer. Brush with olive oil and grill.
mmm

mg

Devour while moaning incoherently.