In which I take some very un-sexy pictures of the food in my fridge

So, I forgot to cook for about two weeks, and I've been prepared shit for lunch at work, which makes me feel like a terrible person. I've brought prepared microwavable stuff from home, or I've gone to Salad Creations, or gotten a greasy as all hell cheeseburger with other people from work... I used to bring lovely healthy lunches. So this afternoon I made some stuff lunch -appropriate things. Also things that are very appealing when it's approaching 90 outside.



The first is cucumber salad. My mom used to make this when we went to the beach. Recently she told me that the only reason she made this is because my dad's mother used to make it when they went to the beach, so he wanted it, and so she made it. I always really loved this dish. And it's not that I associate it with the beach and that's why I love it. As much as I love sun, bikinis, and drinking during the day, I am not a big beach person. I'll go to a pool in someone's backyard or country club, or I'll go swim in the river, but the beach has never had a lot of appeal for me. The sun is unrelenting, the water is always too cold. and that fucking sand! gets all over everything. But anyway, we would stay at the same hotel all the time, and we'd buy fried fish somewhere, and cucumer salad was a perfect counterpoint. It's effectively like cole slaw. To make mine, I used two English cucumers (from Costco, therefore, huge... like 2 feet.) and I scored the skin with a fork (so no one would have strips of though skin... probably not necessary with these thin-skinned cukes, but whatever) and I spooned out the seeds and sliced them on the bias, about 1/8 of an inch, maybe less. I tossed that with a lot of salt (maybe 4 tablespoons? I don't know, I just piled it on) and let sit for 2 hours before I squeezed it out in towel. After this, the cucumber slices have this wholly different texture. They're limp and flexible but still pleasently crunch when you bite into them, almost like the vegetable equivalent of al dente pasta. I stirred them up with a very small amount of mayonnaise a whole lot of black pepper. This will be great with some sort of chicken, with a spicy rich sauce...



I also got these gorgeous beans at the farmer's market yesterday. They had those super-cool dark purple ones, so I bought some green and some purple, thinking they'd look so beautiful together. I blanched them in some boiling water, and those little bastards turned green! I bought them because they looked so sophisticated and urbane, alll dark purple and skinny, showing up their sad little green buddies next to them. And after I cook them, they're all the same color. Serves me right. I tossed them, still hot, with sliced Vidalia onion, diced yellow bell pepper, cannellini beans and a lemon-basil vinaigrette . I think it will make a really nice lunch.



I also made a black bean salad that I think I should have eaten more of in college. It's very nutrient- dense, very health, and cheap-as-free. Black beans + corn (frozen it cool) + cherry tomatoes +jalepeno + lime juice + cilantro + onion. It looks really beautiful, and you can toss it with lettuce, or have it with grilled whatever meat you're into, or have it in a quesadilla.... it occurs to me this is the only thing I made when I was still living in the dorms that I still make now. That and popcorn. This time, I put in baby shrimp. My parents used to get my a cup of these wee little shrimp when I was like, 4, I I loved them I haven't seen them in a while but they had them at my grocery store, frozen, for $1. I know I need to eat more protein, and this recipe was originally supposed to be a side dish for grilled shrimp, so I think it should work. Another good work lunch.

Mad Men theme party

As a housewarming party, I wanted to have a Mad Men theme party, because I like cocktails, and chip and dips, and skinny ties. So, early 60's food kind of sucks by definition. They were all about some TV dinners and frozen food and they weren't super good at it yet. So, what would Betty Draper do?

So, I obviously need both chips, and a dip. Obviously we needed Utz. Instead of the classic sour cream and onion dip from a mix, I made an onion dip with caramelized onions, fresh thyme, sour cream and cream cheese. I had pigs in a blanket made with smoked sausage and puff pastry, and meatballs (on toothpicks of course). Deviled eggs seemed appropriate as well. The best thing I've seen anyone eat on Mad Men is the iceberg wedge with blue cheese. To make that an hors d'oeuvre, I used Belgain endive, spooned on some blue cheese dressing, crumbled blue cheese, diced tomato, and more bacon than is necessary. It was really freaking good.

It seemed that jello shots were necessary for a Mad Men Party. I found mini (2 oz) plastic martini glasses I filled with jello and fruit, and stacked them to maximize the tackiness. Betty Draper is totally jealous.

nicoise salad

I had leftover green beans, some little tomatoes, new potatoes, and Italian tuna... and I really wanted a Nicoise salad. I made a dressing with kalamata olives, red onion, lemon juice, sherry vinegar and olive oil. That alone is pretty stellar. I might eat it on pasta tomorrow. I tossed that with mixed greens, and topped that with roasted new potatoes, green beans, tomatoes, and the tuna. Possibly the greatest spring dinner possible. And shockingly effortless.

Asparagus and Salmon

I made a very simple, so tasty spring dinner with my bulk purchases of asparagus and salmon as Costco this weekend. I roasted both the asparagus and the salmon on the same baking sheet- the asparagus (they were really thick) for about 20 minutes in a 475 oven, and then did the salmon in a 425 oven for 15 minutes. I did 6 salmon filets (to eat throughout the week), and about a pound of asparagus. I ate all the asparagus. But look how gorgeous they are:

New Apartment

I've finally moved into my lovely apartment, and it took me a whole week to even use the kitchen. I couldn't quite get my enthusiasm up for it when I had moving and repairs and an empty kitchen. It's a pretty nice kitchen, in fact. Lots of storage, new appliances, and a little breakfast bar. I've been slowly stocking up the kitchen. It's so beautiful and warm out, I'm dying to make some spring-type thing. I'm also very fixated on dishes that would make good work lunches, and I found a potato and spring vegetable salad on Fine Cooking that sounded like exactly what I wanted.

The green beans looked shady, so I went with snow peas instead, and I couldn't find watercress so I used baby arugula. The salad is gorgeous, and it's just the right proportion of potato, shrimp and vegetable, and the dressing is amazing.

Striped Bass

Today I made one of the most perfect, gorgeous, luscious pieces of fish I have ever eaten. Most likely the best pieces of fish I've ever cooked. And it took a few mere minutes of effort.

Admittedly, the quality of the fish was like, 80% responsible. I was lucky enough to get striped bass fillets the store had gotten that day. As instructed by an article in the NYT Magazine a few years ago (clipped and carefully saved by my mom), I dusted the skin with Wondra flour. Wondra flour is this super-cool, uber-fine four that looks like cocaine, or something. In a hot pan with olive oil and butter, I placed the fillets skin side down. After that lovely intial sizzle, those damn fillets started curl up! But...but... the NYT article specifically said NOT to score the skin!

(This is the point in the dinner preparation that my mom comes in to the kitchen to see what I'm doing. The exact moment I start to worry, she wants to see how it's going, and I respond with "I don't know, it's all eired but maybe it's supposed to be like that I don't know I'm sure it's fine I did everything right I swear oh my god stop looking at me!")

And somehow the fillets chilled the hell out, layed back down, and decided they were ready to flip over. And damn, they could not wait to be flipped. That gorgeous stripped skin had no intention of sticking to the pan. insteaad, it crisped up like a strip of bacon without slipping off the fillet.

This fish was gorgeous. The Wondra flour is like some molecular gastronomy triumph. You wouldn't guess it was flour that did this to the skin. It's morelike some supernatural shimmering glaze than a breading. As I cut bite-sized pieces off the fillet, the skin still refused to slip off the fish. The effect was simillar to tempura, but still light and not remotely greasy. We had the fish with spinach and roasted fingerling potaotes.

Slaws

Cabbage is an under-appreciated summer veggie. Everyone gets excited about heirloom lettuce greens, but cabbage can be pretty remarkable too. They're preposterously cheap, something like 50 cents a pound. I love cole slaws for snacking on. The shredded cabbage is such a great canvas for all kinds of flavors, and the crispy-coolness makes such a nice pallet cleansing snack. I like anything I can eat a massive bowl of and feel good later.

I'm noming on some classic cole slaw now- shredded Savoy cabbage and grated carrot with a very very small amount of a dressing made with mayo, yogurt and white balsamic vinegar. I also put preposterous amounts of pepper in it. It's crunch and spicy and cold; it's like the savory equivalent of a popsicle.

I also made a slaw from Fine Cooking with cabbage, jullienned mango, raddichio, and sriracha, and it was So. Good. Especially with a gingerey tuna burger on top. I especially love how, unlike a salad, I can make a big giant bowl of it and eat it for several days without it getting soggy.

Swiss Chard is pretty.

This is a pretty great time for the farmer's market. Not a ton of tomatoes, or eggplant, or even zucchini yet but there are huge piles of leafy green things everywhere. I can barely fit it in my fridge, but of course I've been buying a lot of it. I love the rainbow Swiss chard. It's like spinach, but a little firmer with an earthier flavor. The bright colored stalks are just too cool to pass up. I've taken to keeping it in a vase on my coffee table, like flowers.

The first time I made this, I cut it into big pieces and sauteed it in olive oil, like spinach. This was ok. It took a pretty significant amount of time, and by the time it was soft enough, the whole mess was kind of brown.

Blanching before is the way to go. It does mean an extra pot to clean, but whatever. I cut the leaves off the stalks and washed those a few times (it's always filthy), and I diced up the stalks. I blanched the leaves for about 2 minutes, and did the stalks for about 5 minutes.


I soaked some golden raisins in the boiling water, and toasted up some pine nuts. I breifly considered adding bacon, decided that was unnecessary. Maybe next time. I sauteed some garlic in some olive oil, added the chopped up, blanched stalks, the blanched greens, the raisins and the pine nuts, ans seasoned with lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Chickpeas with Chorizo

I love any dish made up of beans, some vegetables, and a little meat. Cassoulet is a good example, and a dish I make with canellini beans, kale and hot Italian sausage. Right now, the Spanish permutation is my favorite.

At home, there is an really great Tapas restaurant called Ole Tapas, inconspicuously hidden in a poorly lit strip mall between a Dunkin Donuts and a liquor store. The quality of the food (and drinks) has consistently been better than the more well-known Jose Garces restaurants in Philadelphia. Not that they aren't great, but Ole Tapas does a phenomenal job on vegetables. My favorite is a platter of roasted seasonal vegetables.

My second favorite is a little bowl of chickpeas and chorizo. Maybe because chorizo is the greatest thing ever. Better than bacon. I don't usually set out to recreate things from restaurants, but this isn't exactly restaurant food. After two attempts I've got a version I like quite a bit.
I sauteed a small, thinly sliced onion, added chorizo cut into 1/4 inch half circles, a gratuitous amount of smoked Spanish paprika, a much more conservative pinch of saffron, and a dash of cayenne. I added in a can diced tomatoes, drained, and a can of chickpeas. I stirred in one bunch of spinach, and covered to simmer. I like the fully cooked chorizo, not the hard, cured stuff (although that's pretty amazing as well). I made it once with two sausages (1/2 lb) and once with one (1/4 lb) and I think I like it with just the one but its pretty flexible.

Cauliflower

Cauliflower was the last thing I developed a love for. I always thought of it as a washed out, sub par version of broccoli. But the beauty of cauliflower is its versatility.

I had to buy a very very large head of cauliflower. This was a big commitment. This means I'm going to eat many different cauliflower containing dishes. First up was a pretty classic Indian stir fry with cauliflower- I sauteed onions, garlic and diced carrots, and stirred in some spices. I added cauliflower in florets, stirred, and cooked covered for a surprisingly long time, somewhere between 20 and 25 minutes. Then, stirred in frozen peas and garam masala.

Next, I wanted to try a pasta dish from Fine Cooking- the recipe called for orrichette, roasted cauliflower and cherry tomatoes, and arugula. I really love doing this with pasta- adding tons of a really sturdy kinda vegetable so that the bulk of the dish comes from veggies, not pasta. Artichokes and zucchini are good for this. This dish was really good- I used spinach, because arugula seems to be illegal in southern Virginia, I used bacon instead of prosciutto because, come on, and I halved the cherry tomatoes even though they said to leave them whole. It was a good choice.

Tonight I made an Indian vegetable curry stew (I just love Indian when it's cold outside, and the high has been in the 30's). I basically just put in everything in my fridge- onions, celery, garlic, carrots in round slices, cauliflower, canned tomatoes, a diced potato, chickpeas, some leftover cooked collard greens and frozen peas. I might have gotten a little carried away, but with a little bit of chicken broth and lots of hot curry and cumin, it made a really amazing warm, happy winter stew.

With the rest, I'll either try a cauliflower gratin with tomatoes and parmasean and pine nuts, or I'll just roast it. Roasted cauliflower is amazing.