White Bean and Arugula Dip
“The Big Game” has come and gone, the football season is by most definitions over, and many, many avocado pits and skins now lie in trash cans, the only reminders that Super Bowl Sunday is the biggest day of the year for guacamole. The end of the football season, however, should not mean forgetting about dips, in particular healthy ones that shouldn’t only be brought out to eat on any given autumn Sunday. More often than not, a bean-centric dip will make an appearance on a random Tuesday or Wednesday night around here, often paired with Alton Brown’s sardine sandwiches and a bunch of celery sticks, creating a lovely meat-light spread that satisfies without any guilty feelings of over-indulgence. read more…
TriBeCa, near Canal Street
Neither Michael nor I are rabid football fans, especially around the Super Bowl–the Eagles would pretty much have to be in it for us to feel willing to buy into the hype. While wandering around the city a week ago, then, we came up with the idea of potentially going to the MoMA with an old friend who lives in New Jersey, figuring that this quasi-holiday would discourage people from venturing into the museums in favor of making their favorite dips and snacks in anticipation for the evening’s game. All of us were very interested in seeing the Tim Burton exhibit, but when we found out that we had to reserve a time slot in order to see it, our plans were dashed because every single option was sold out for Sunday.
Clearly, we were not the only ones who are lukewarm on the Super Bowl. read more…
Fresh Sardines with Garlic-Pecorino Polenta
What can I say, my wife loves sardines. This is how we discovered the majesty of Norwegian mackerel–the fish market near us doesn’t carry them, but they suggested the mackerel as an oily, albeit larger, substitute. I love sardines because they’re so small that you’re not confronted with a lot of complicated preparation options, just grill ‘em and eat ‘em, bones and all (once Elizabeth asked me about eating the bones and I responded with “why do you think they’re so high in calcium?”). If you’re on the West Side, you can grab fresh sardines at the Whole Food on 97th and Columbus and at the Fairway in Harlem. Two fabulous establishments, simply put.
Lately, we’ve been exploring polenta. I think Elizabeth must have northern Italian blood somewhere in her lineage because she likes it so much. The instant kind is very easy to prepare, second in simplicity maybe to couscous. It goes so well with grated Pecorino and garlic, it’s easy to mix together, less than 10 minutes all told. We like onions on pretty much everything, so of course, I sautéed a bunch and coated the fishies and polenta. In Costa Rica, they put ‘onion gravy’ on plantains and this is pretty close to that. Whole fish are nothing to be afraid of friends, nor strange side dishes. Even with these little sardies, ask your fishmonger to clean them to make your life easier, because gutting them is a bit much–but ask them to keep the heads intact. Until then, friends, cook on!
When our dear friend L told us she wanted to spend a weekend in the city to visit her sister as well as check in on us, the first thought we had was, of course, what food to prepare in anticipation of her arrival. She mentioned something about potentially going out on Saturday night, and therefore wanted to eat many small plates. Michael’s only request was for eggs and sausage to be somehow worked into the meal, so it should be hardly surprising that tapas became the theme of what would be a singular afternoon in our little Manhattan apartment. read more…
Central Park Carousel
Central Park Carousel
Boy, it began to rain like a bastard. In buckets, I swear to God. All the parents and mothers and everybody went over and stood right under the roof of the carrousel, so they wouldn’t get soaked to the skin or anything, but I stuck around on the bench for quite a while. I got pretty soaking wet, especially my neck and my pants. My hunting hat really gave me quite a lot of protection, in a way, but I got soaked anyway. I didn’t care, though. I felt so damn happy all of a sudden, the way old Phoebe kept going around and around. I was damn near bawling, I felt so damn happy, if you want to know the truth. I don’t know why. It was just that she looked so damn nice, the way she kept going around and around, in her blue coat and all. God, I wish you could’ve been there.
–J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye
The passing of J.D. Salinger has, unsurprisingly, made me gather my copies of his works and pore through them as anyone who loved his writing would be inclined to do, but my initial reaction was to ponder how his stories contributed to my love of New York–to move beyond the childhood yearning I allude to in our about page and appreciate that living in this city requires healthy doses of wonder and cynicism. read more…
Wild Shrimp with Roasted Zucchini, Fennel, Shallots and Couscous
Why can’t we just call this Shrimp and vegetables over couscous? Anyway…
I’m going to keep this one brief, as I think Elizabeth’ great photo speaks for itself. This dish isn’t a traditional preparation, per se, but a movement I’ve been trying to make towards what I will call a floating approach to dinner prep (especially weekday dinners). To me, floating conjures up images of my scientific instruments operating without a lock-on signal. I apply this to mean cooking not tied to (or locked onto, get it?) recipes or specific ingredients which may or not be appropriate/available/etc. on a given day or in a certain situation.
Perhaps this is one of those zen things that every enthusiastic cook is moving towards without necessarily realizing it. As your skills develop, you need to rely less on external references. Here, the existential conditions of that day/week dictated the outcome. The Fairway was (and indeed, still is) carrying wild USA shrimp for the amazing price of $8.99/lb. They are beheaded, but not de-veined or peeled, but the purchase is still very much worth it despite the extra work. Add to this to a increasingly serious personal mission to eat more veggies (a common desire, especially this time of year I think), I added what vegetables I knew I could get away with and that I thought would go well together. I oven roasted the zucchini with lots of salt, pepper and cumin (I also roasted the shrimp in the oven, separately, of course) and sautéed the shallots and fennel on the range. I added some Parm to the couscous and piled on my ingredients. Done and done.
As much I wish I could, I still can’t quite freestyle like this every single night. I plan meals too, and unless I want to quit my job and spend everyday going to Fairway and Westside market, things will stay that way. As a person gains confidence in the kitchen, a small amount of audacity should surreptitiously follow. There’s nothing wrong with throwing caution to the wind. The fear of ‘clashing flavors’ isn’t as real as we think and if you’re focusing on what’s in season and looks good instead of what a recipe demands, the benefits to the taste from freshness alone should more than make up for it. PLUS, food purchased in season is cheaper and more environmentally sustainable. So there you go, win-win-win. So be bold, treasured readers- take small steps if you feel timid but above all, cook on!
Open-Face Bikini Pizzas on Multigrain Bread
Did you know that in Catalan, bikini means grilled cheese sandwich? Does that seem like a kick in the pants or what? This isn’t just any grilled cheese sandwich, either, because it uses fresh mozzarella, cremini mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil–not exactly Kraft slices and Wonderbread.
Perhaps I should back up first, though, and explain my sudden appreciation/curiosity/annoyance at the Catalan language. read more…
Linguini with Anchovies, Tomatoes and Tarragon
Pasta has become a once-a-week thing at our household, a truce of sorts to satisfy my cravings for it and Michael’s desire not to eat too much of it, so I am now determined to make the absolute most of every opportunity I can get to enjoy it. While this has led me into a state of nearly paralyzing indecision as I fret over what length and shape to use in order to maximize the other players in the dish, it has encouraged me to dive into cookbooks again to try any new combination I can get my little hands on.
Enter one of my newest cookbook additions: Sicily: Culinary Crossroads. read more…
Veal Scallops with Herbs
Confession time: I had veal twice in seven days. This was the first instance (it followed our pasta alla gricia), and then the following Thursday night I devoured a veal parm sandwich while watching focus groups for work. I will not apologize for either occasion because they were divine to eat in their own ways, and veal is not something we regularly purchase because it’s not exactly cheap. I think Michael has some guilt issues as well, because when I asked him if he had picked up these veal scallops for dinner as we wound our way through the cold room at Fairway Harlem (and in the meat department, no less), he quickly shushed me; when I regaled to him a few days later that I enjoyed that sandwich, he first muttered something that sounded akin to envy, then loudly decried me for daring to have veal twice in the same week and may have even called me a baby-cow-killer. read more…
Calzone with Fresh Mozzarella, Ricotta Salata, Proscuitto, Sun-Dried Tomato and Thyme
When I was growing up, the concept of the savory pie didn’t really go farther than the mince pies that my dad would get to enjoy at Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, mostly because the thought of meat in a pie so completely revolted me that I ignored it and happily went on eating my grandmother’s apple pie in peace. Even as I got older, the thought of eating anything but fruit in pastry seemed alien to me–I never got into Hot Pockets (though Jim Gaffigan has shown me that I haven’t missed much there) and frozen pot pies out of the box weird me out with their peas and gloopy sauces.
Then college came, and I finally tried my first calzone. read more…
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