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Archive for June, 2011

Stuffed & Grilled Tomatoes on Garlic Ciabatta

Posted in Recipes, Uncategorized, tagged , , , on June 22, 2011 | 28 Comments »

I am un-American.  At least that is what people tell me when they discover that we don’t have a television.  ”Do you mean you don’t have cable?” they will sometimes ask, hopefully, thinking we might be a little pitiful, but not completely crazy.  No–I mean we don’t have a tv.  At all.  The last time I had a television was 1997.  After my last 90210 dinner party in 1993, I had moved it from apartment to apartment without ever turning it on, so I just got rid of it.  I have always hated the constant noise and chatter of tv, the commercials, the empty and unsatisfied feeling I had inside after watching for several hours.  I know that I can be rather extreme at times, but I didn’t like the way it made me feel, so I made it go away.  Simple as that.  Now, I can’t imagine which hours of the day I’d give up to fill with television–the time I lie sleepily in bed with my children at the end of the day? The stolen moments I spend reading books? The time I unwind cooking dinner, enjoying the soothing, repetitive satisfaction of chopping, slicing, stirring, meditating on the scents and textures that have nothing to do with spreadsheets, social media, or workaday minutia? I know if we kept a tv around, it would work its insidious way into our lives, for what is it for if not to be turned on? It has been lovely to raise children without a tv–when they were very little, they rode along in the grocery cart without ever whining or asking for sugary cereal, packages bedecked with cartoon characters. I never had to watch them become sharp and bitter with desire instilled by corporate advertising. I am not alone. I have a friend who also does not have a television. When people make tv references (which happens all the time in casual conversation), we just look at each other and shrug. We don’t get it. But that’s ok, because I don’t want it. I know that my choices are not for everyone. But I do believe it is possible to curate our own experience, to pick and chose what we want in our lives. I find this gloriously freeing . . . and pretty American after all.

Stuffed & Grilled Tomatoes with Garlic Ciabatta

More a method than a recipe, this is one of my favorite rituals of summer.  Allow about 3-4 toasts per person.  The quantities below make about 12 toasts.

For stuffing:

2 c. fresh breadcrumbs

1/4 c. grated parmesan

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 large handful itlalian parsley, chopped

chopped basil & chives

1/4 c. olive oil

salt & pepper to taste

For toasts:

6 tomatoes, cut in half, seeds scooped out

1 loaf ciabatta, cut into 12 slices

olive oil for brushing toasts

whole coves garlic, cut in half

Build a medium hot fire in grill.  Toss ingredients for stuffing together in a medium bowl and mix until olive oil is evenly distributed.  Pack stuffing fairly tightly into tomato seed cavities.  Brush ciabatta slices on both sides with olive oil.  Grill bread until golden.  While still slightly warm from grill, rub toasts with cut side of garlic clove on one side.  Place on platter in single layer and set aside.  Place tomatoes on grill, skin side down.  Grill until they are softened and bottoms are charred and blackened.  Remove from grill, placing on toasts skin side up.  When they are cool enough to handle, peel away charred skins and discard.  Use a fork to mash tomato into garlic toasts.  Drizzle with a little extra olive oil if desired and devour.

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Grilled Peach Salad with Buffalo Mozzarella and Arugula

Posted in Recipes, Uncategorized, tagged , , , on June 15, 2011 | 13 Comments »

Thoughts on cooking real food from one of my favorite writers, Nigel Slater:

I passionately believe that anyone can make themselves something good to eat.  Cooking is a whole lot easier than many people think.  Good cooking–real cooking–is within the grasp of anyone with an appetite and a few pots and pans.  There is nothing difficult about it (it is only supper after all), so we can pretty much ignore all that stuff about it being “an art,” “a science” or “a gift.”

It takes no expertise to heat some butter and a squashed clove of garlic in a shallow pan till it froths and bubbles, then slide in a piece of chicken.  Let it cook till its skin is crisp and golden, then squeeze in half a lemon and serve it with its pan juices and a leafy salad to mop them up.  Anyone can slap a lamb chop on a hot grill pan, throw a handful of pasta into bubbling water or put an apple to bake in a hot oven.  I work from the not unreasonable premise that if someone can make a cup of coffee then they can probably roast themselves a chicken.

Real cooking is not about making fancy stocks and sauces, piping purees and perfecting spun-sugar baskets.  Real cooking is about making ourselves something to eat that involves a bit of simple roasting, grilling or frying.  Nothing complicated.  But it is cooking, rather than opening a packet or a tin.  As you will see, real cooking is also about the little things–the small points that turn straightforward cooking into good cooking.  The attention to detail that makes a simple supper into something sublime.

What makes something really good to eat?  What is the difference between cooking something that is merely fuel and something that is a joy to devour?  It is certainly not the need to make our cooking more complicated, neither is it an art that we must have at our fingertips.  It is simply the understanding of the little things that make something especially good; the golden, savory goo that builds up under a pork chop you have left to cook slowly in its pan; the intense flavor of the bits of lamb that have caught on the bars of the grill; the gravy that you make from the sticky bits left in the pan after you have sauteed some chicken thighs.  This is real cooking.  The roast potato that sticks to the roasting tin; the crouton from the salad that has soaked up the mustardy dressing; the underneath of the crust of a blackberry and apple pie, rich with purple juice; these are the things that make something worth eating.  And worth cooking.

Grilled Peach Salad with Buffalo Mozzarella & Arugula

6 peaches, cut in half and pitted

salt

3-4 large handfuls arugula, washed and dried

1 small red onion, slivered

5 oz. buffalo mozarella or other fresh mozzarella, torn into bite-size pieces

4 Tbs. white balsamic vinegar

2 tsp. honey

2 tsp. dijon or whole grain mustard

2 Tbs. minced chives

1/3 c. olive oil

2 Tbs. creme fraiche or 1 Tbs. heavy cream

Light a fire in grill and let it burn down to med-hot.  I like to build the fire on one side of the grill so I can move things around to different temperatures.  Lightly salt the cut sides of the peaches, drizzle very lightly with olive oil and place cut side down on the grill.  When the peaches are charred and just beginning to soften, remove them to a platter and set aside.  Make the dressing: place vinegar, honey, mustard and chives in a small bowl.  While whisking constantly, slowly drizzle in olive oil until emulsified.  Whisk in the creme fraiche or cream.  Toss arugula and onion with vinaigrette and place on serving platter or dish.  Nestle peaches and mozzarella amongst greens and drizzle with a little more dressing.  Sprinkle with coarse sea salt and serve.

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Shaved Summer Squash Salad with Basil & Ricotta Salata

Posted in Recipes, Uncategorized, tagged , , , on June 10, 2011 | 13 Comments »

“I’d be way too intimidated to cook for you.”  More than the note I still pay every month, more than the scars on my forearms, more than years of eighty hour weeks, more than the lost hours of youth-preserving sleep, more than anything, it is hearing these words that make me feel that having a restaurant just cost too damn much.  For a world in which no one wants to cook for me is too bleak to contemplate.  Such a statement is nonsense, for nothing makes me happier than other people’s real cooking.  My life is filled with women who make amazing food.  A tangle of warm, oily noodles, fragrant with herbs, enjoyed on the back porch on a warm summer night.  Fried chicken, followed by ice cream with sticky butterscotch sauce and toasted pecans.  Danish hotdogs (who knew?) with remoulade sauce and crunchy fried onion straws.  Sweet and tart pickled beets and homemade bread and butter pickles.  Just-harvested arugula leaves in a giant wooden bowl, their peppery bite mellowed by balsamic vinegar, good olive oil and crunchy flakes of sea salt.  A plastic tub of mocha buttercream to just stick fingers in and lick.  Or perhaps best, a sliver of Iberico ham fed to me like a baby bird with eyes closed.  The deep joy of surrendering to another’s care and efforts to delight.

We’ve been “home” this week, visiting my godmother, my mother-in-law, and my mother and at each stop along the way, each of them has put delicious, soothing, interesting, nostalgic, innovative, and beautiful food in front of me.  Chocolate cake, fresh East Texas pinto beans, homemade macaroni salad, cornbread with cheddar and dill, chicken fried in my grandmother’s iron Dutch oven, berries and mango cut up and set in front of me in the morning.  This is the ultimate vacation–freedom from care, the giddy certainty that at least twice a day someone will feed me well.  Please, cook for me.

Shaved Squash Salad

1 pound mixed summer squash, sliced very thin

1/4 c. basil leaves, coarsely torn

1 small red onion, sliced thin

juice of 1/2 lemon

1/3 c. olive oil

salt & pepper

1 Tbs. creme fraiche or sour cream

salt & pepper

1/4 c. sliced almonds, toasted

1/4 c. ricotta salata, grated

Combine squash, onions, and basil in a bowl.  To make dressing, whisk lemon juice and creme fraiche in a small bowl.  Drizzle in olive oil while whisking constantly, until emulsified. Toss squash with dressing, almonds and ricotta salata.  Serve immediately.

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