07.09.11: home-curing salmon (Copper River sockeye gravlax with goat cheese over a bagel)

Copper River Sockeye Gravlax with Goat Cheese on a a Pumpernickel Bagel

Much like any supermarket around the country, ordering anything from the deli department at Fairway can require a wait of some duration on the weekends, and you just have to roll with the punches and try not to shoot too many death glares at the hapless dad ordering half the case’s contents a quarter pound at a time. Being a New York supermarket, though, Fairway also has a smoked fish counter right next to the deli where you don’t have to take a number and usually it’s a very simple in-and-out process…until you get stuck behind the mom ordering two pounds of smoked salmon for her brunch that day, and they don’t bring in another person to help alleviate the growing line behind her as the slicer stands there methodically making her way through the enormous salmon fillet (and then another fillet because one was not enough). I guess it was to be expected–it was Saturday morning on the Upper West Side, after all–but when you only need someone to spoon some alici into a plastic dish and hand it over to you, your patience wears ever thinner as each expertly-cut slice of pink fish is added to the pile.

The mom turned to us with an apologetic smile on her face–at least she waited with us, I suppose–and remarked that maybe she should have just gotten some pizzas or sandwiches after all. I silently grumbled that Fairway has a catering office so she could have at least called ahead, but by then it was a  cow’s opinion so it didn’t matter either way. (Incidentally, one way I entertain myself while waiting for such things is mentally flipping through my internal encyclopedia of pop-culture references. That leads me to giggle for no reason, but at least that ‘s better than giving strangers the stink-eye, right?)

That particular shopping trip came to mind when I was slicing through our little piece of gravlax last week, as I was only trying to slice enough to top half a bagel each for Michael and I as a mid-afternoon snack. Getting those gorgeous slices is not nearly as easy as it looks–no wonder the pros slice at the pace they do.

06.18.11: dinner and a movie (quasi-bouillabaisse and Day for Night).

Quasi-Bouillabaisse with Copper River King Salmon, Pacific Cod and Littleneck Clams with Rouille-Sathered Croutons)

People used to stare at fires. Now they watch TV. We need to see moving images, especially after dinner.

–Francois Truffaut, Day for Night.

Day for Night (click through for source)

Day for Night, simply put, is an amazing film. It’s joyous, hilarious, sad, and absurd. It’s a triumph of love and dedication and personal expression, and true to its tagline,  it really is a film for people who love films. The narcissism of the actors, the bullshit propelling the crew–it’s so incredibly timeless that you can easily ignore the fact that it was filmed in the 70s and therefore looks immediately dated. But it was also one of those films that I hadn’t thought about in a while until I shoved a random CD into my car’s player (yes, I have a zillion mix CDs in my ’04 Jetta, shut up) and its wondrous theme by Georges Delarue filled my car as I was making my way to the Westport train station, and suddenly I was craving to see it again, preferably after eating a big bowl of bouillabaisse.

This thought struck me in early May. I wasn’t able to actually give in to the craving until Saturday, and it ended up being an apt pairing of food and film, what with the reminder of the importance of rolling with the punches.

Shopping in New York: Sea Breeze Fish Market (40th St and 9th Ave)

Sea Breeze Fish Market

I lived in New Haven, Connecticut for five years while I went to graduate school. Although some of my friends might balk at this, and certainly time and distance has given me a shot glass of perspective, I enjoyed living there–most of the time, anyway. New Haven is an old city with a surprisingly rich food culture and filled with enthusiastic people. Also they let me cook on TV a bunch of times. Anyway. We wrote a post for our old blog last year extolling the wonders of the #1 Fish Market in North Haven, and until recently I have been hurting for a replacement, even though I moved to the supposed center of the universe.

07.10.10: dinner (Catalan cooking at its best: Fideuà y Escabetx de Sardines)

Fideuà (Noodles with Clams, Perch and Vegetables)

Michael has been teasing me lately that I’m turning into quite the talented Spanish cook due to so many weekends filled with gazpacho, bocadillos, chorizo and the like. This dinner came at the height of my preoccupation with all things Spain, otherwise known as the last weekend of the WC. Michael wanted to head downtown to the Strand to pick up a book for an upcoming trip (the details which will be revealed sooner rather than later), and being that it was the Strand I could not help but browsing through the cookbook section, seeing if there were any decent Spanish cookbooks for sale that I hadn’t seen before.

Clearly, because I went there not interested in buying anything that day, the most intriguing book that either Michael or I found was a cookbook highlighting dishes from Barcelona compiled by the editors at Williams & Sonoma being sold at half-price, calling to me with recipes that even on a cursory flip piqued my hunger. Evil bastards. Naturally I had to own this and even though it took another visit to a competing bookstore to get Michael what he wanted, we both left Union Square satisfied and smiling.

05.30.10: dinner (pasta salad and Boston Mackerel).

Boston Mackerel, ready to go into the pouch

Usually, once the weather turns balmy my appetite tends to wane a bit and there are days where I don’t crave for much more than a cup of Rita’s Italian Water Ice (mango, wild black cherry or passionfruit, please) and my mind turns to grazing on random, small foodstuffs. The exception to this is whenever I am able to spend time in a body of water, be that a pool–or on very lucky days, the ocean–as when I emerge after a few hours of frolicking, I tend to become positively ravenous.

Memorial Day weekend did not present any swimming opportunities (that came a week later when we visited my parents to celebrate my mom’s birthday), but we ended up doing the walking equivalent on our Met excursion on Sunday, turning me into what Charles Schultz famously called Lucy van Pelt: a fussbudget.

01.24.10: dinner (a tale of two comfort foods).

Mostaccioli con Salsa al Peperoni

Ever since Michael has found multiple sources for squid near our home, he has looked for any excuse whatsoever to make it, usually as a starter course or even a snack for himself during the week.  His new plan is to get a whole bunch of it, portion it out in half-pound servings, and make it for himself so he has something to much on while making dinner for us.  I’m not going to go as far and say that it’s his absolutely favorite food, but it’s pretty high up there.

Fortunately, this knowledge has become a very useful bargaining chip when I’ve proposed some of my favorite pasta dishes to him:  I’ll even buy him some squid to make as a first course if that means he’ll yield to my pasta cravings. 

01.10.10: dinner (sardines and polenta)

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!

01.11.10: dinner (wild shrimp, zucchini, fennel and couscous)

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!

1.05.10: dinner (avocado, lemon and…sardines?)

Sherried Sardines with Avocado over Toast

Elizabeth has several resolutions for 2010:  one of which, apparently, is work on her photography skills.  As the casual observer (yes, casual… I have always believed that the food should speak louder than its class portrait, right?), I have to say that in the last year of food photoblogging, she has gotten pretty handy with the old point-and-shoot.  Still, I guess there’s always room to hone one’s craft, right?

This is not a post in which I discuss honing my own craft (you know, cooking), however; no, this is an endorsement of the new Good Eats ep from January 4th about ‘healthier’ dishes for post-holiday detox.  When I saw the previews for the show, I thought the subject matter was a bit of a gamble- after all, Alton Brown is constantly placing taste and authenticity over caloric values and fat grams, and always touting a motto of moderation.  I wondered here if he had finally flipped to the stark side, or if perhaps the subject matter was dreamed up by forces larger than he.  Turns out, my concerns were unwarranted and it all worked out okay for the powers that be.  He presents a smoothie and a snack recipe, but the main dish of the episode apparently sustained the good Mr. Brown during his suspiciously-epic lbs loss, and although I do not condone dropping huge amounts of weight, this recipe is damn good.   I always liked tinned sardines as a kid, so this is hardly a stretch for me.  Even Elizabeth admitted that it is so delicious that she could eat it several nights in a row (not that we do), and she has a thing about variety.

The funny thing is, it’s almost not a recipe, per se, but a food construct, compiled for the sake of nutrition.  Food romanticism aside, it tastes pretty great.  So, if you’re feeling the need for some ‘Temple Food’ (termed from the great Nigella Lawson),  please find the links below and have at it.  In Alton we trust.  Cook on, friends.  Cook on.

Info on the episode at the Good Eats Fan Page

The actual recipe at the Food Network Site

11.29.09: dinner (celebrating an easy train ride home with norwegian mackerel).

Norwegian Mackerel with Lemon & Shallots

It was an early holiday miracle:  Amtrak delivered us home in one piece, ultimately only arriving a few minutes later than scheduled.  For the Sunday after Thanksgiving, it was something to be very thankful for indeed, because we were able to enjoy a quiet Sunday afternoon strolling in Morningside Heights, purchasing a few things for dinner and lunches that week at Westside and deciding on what lighter meal to have after a string of rich dinners and lunches over the prior four days.

Fish was naturally an obvious choice; I was personally in the mood for some whole sardines, but we were going to limit ourselves to the selection available at the fish market at 108th and Amsterdam.  They were no sardines in stock that day, unfortunately, but our helpful fishmonger suggested some wild-caught Norwegian mackerel as an apt substitute as it was an oily fish with a taste similar to that of a sardine.  Our interests piqued by both the suggestion as well as the appearance of the fish, we ordered one up to be dressed and scaled (though the latter wasn’t necessary, as there were no scales on the fish’s skin to begin with).

Chickpea and Orzo Salad

We stuffed the fish with some lemon and baked it with some white wine, shallots and thyme, and the final results were nothing short of very satisfying.  I’m usually not a fan of eating fish skin unless it’s nearly burnt to a crisp, but here it simply melted in my mouth and was barely distinguishable from the delicious meat.  We ended up placing the plate between us and picking the meat off the bones as well as indulging in an arugula salad and this chickpea-orzo salad that comes from Giada’s Family Dinners, albeit with a white balsamic dressing instead of the red wine vinaigrette.  While this was not quite the austere fish, brown rice and greens dinner that would have been the ideal cleansing meal, this was a nice transition to simpler fare–and I was able to get a big container of this pasta salad to bring with me to lunch.

I’m also pretty sure that Michael is going to run down to the fish market sometime this week to pick up another one of these beauties to have for dinner this week.