I love denial. I apply it to just about every area of my life and remain blissfully and ignorantly content, that is, until shards of reality begin to puncture my happy dream. When I look into my bulging fridge, I don’t see the leftovers that I ate 5 nights the previous week, the half bunch of scallions that show the first signs of shriveling, or the half-full sour cream container. I only see and select what’s fresh and delectable, foolishly assuming that I will soon find use for the skeletons of meals past that are collecting in my refrigerator graveyard.
Being a true New Englander, I have an inherent distaste for waste. Thrift and resourcefulness are instinctive, and I loathe to see anything, especially food, tossed aside unceremoniously. This instinct is difficult to reconcile with a burgeoning refrigerator graveyard. The solution was to put together a list of fresh recipes that could easily make use of left over ingredients without the accompanying “left-over” blandness and sense of self-sacrifice.
Pancakes –
Everyone knows that omelets are a great receptacle for scraps of cheese, meat & veggies, but pancakes are my favorite way to use up bits of left over fruits, nuts, and dairy. Adding fruit and nuts to pancakes is as easy as tossing them into the batter right before they go on the griddle, or, my favorite way is to pour the batter down on the griddle, wait until the bottom has just started to firm up, and add slices of apple, peaches, banana, or strawberries to the top. By the time you’re ready to flip the pancake, the fruit is firmly entrenched and won’t go slip-sliding away, and when the fruit-side is cooking, it caramelizes the fruit deliciously. Add a few more raw slices to the top of your pancakes and drown in syrup.
For dairy left overs (i.e. milk nearing its expiration, sour cream, crème fraiche, butter milk, etc.), any sort of dough, but, in this case, pancakes, are a great way to use it up. Remember, the basic building blocks behind every dough, from pizza to pancakes, is fat and flour in varying proportions, and you can make substitutions somewhat liberally. I love adding either sour cream or crème fraiche to a pancake recipe (take out a bit of the milk, and just make sure that the consistency remains pancake-batter-esque.) Or, sub in the buttermilk you didn’t use up for the regular milk. Pancake recipes are extraordinarily forgiving – you can also toss in corn meal or ground nuts for a somewhat denser, richer pancake.
Salsas, crudo and cooked –
Salsas are a tasty way to use up extra veggie parts, olives, beans, and the remains of those outrageously-overpriced packets of herbs, and they’re not just for chips anymore. (As an aside, I hate seeing recipes that call for 5 or more different herbs. You only need 1 teaspoon of each, and yet each little packet costs $3 or more, making the meal ridiculously expensive, and contemplating leaving out one or two always makes me feel guilty, cheap, and lazy. It was a no win, until I planted my herb garden… more on that later).
Salsas are versatile – they can be made cold or cooked – and go with a variety of items, not just chips. Pour a cooked salsa over chicken or fish, mix it in with mashed potatoes, pour over a bagel and cream cheese, anywhere that needs a little freshness and lightness.
Whenever I make one, I pull all of the ingredients that I need to dispose of onto the counter and pick out what will go together best. You can easily pair onions of any variety, olives, garlic, tomatoes, Italianate herbs, zucchinis, radicchio, corn, and any vegetable that can manage a bit of heat together to make a warm salsa. Just sauté the onions in a pan for 5-10 minutes in olive oil, add the rest of your ingredients until mushy, salt, pepper, a little balsamic vinegar, some parsley or arugula at the end, and pour over a bit of meat.
Alternatively, lighter ingredients can all be chopped up and added together with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper, and lime and/or lemon juice for a raw salsa. I would always keep tomatoes as a main ingredient in this, but mangos, cherries, pomegranates, celery, spring onions, shallots, radishes, and chili peppers could all be combined in different ways to prepare a light, fresh salsa. Use this one on seared tuna, over a bagel and cream cheese or crackers, or as a spread in a sandwich.
The following are my favorite pancake recipe and cooked salsa recipe. Enjoy!
Strawberry Hazelnut Pancakes:
2 Cups Flour
3 Tbls. Sugar
1 1/2 tsp. Baking powder
1 tsp. Baking soda
1/4 tsp. Salt
2 Cups Milk
2 eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla extract
1/2 Cup ground hazelnuts
Dash of cinnamon
Handful of strawberries, sliced thin
Butter for frying
Sift all dry ingredients into a bowl (flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt). Whisk the wet ingredients (milk, eggs, and vanilla) together in a separate bowl and combine with the dry ingredients. Add the ground hazelnuts (I recommend grinding them in a food processor to get them very fine) and a few shakes of cinnamon.
Heat a pat of butter over medium heat on a skillet or griddle. Ladle about a half cup of batter onto the skillet. If the pan is hot enough, the pancake should stretch out, but start to firm up within a few seconds; once it has, lay your strawberry slices on top of the pancake. After 3 minutes or so, you should start to see the pancake pull up from the pan; lift it gently with your spatula to check that it’s done to your liking, and flip the cake onto the other side. It won’t need quite so much time, and you’ll want to be careful that the strawberries don’t burn; 1-2 minutes should do. Continue through the rest of your batter; stack your pancakes, add a few strawberry slices on top, cover in syrup, and enjoy!
Salsa Crudo –
1 cucumber
1 Mango
1 Cup Cherries
3-4 Radishes
1 Bunch Spring Onions (Scallions)
Dressing:
1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Juice of 1 Lime
Salt
Pepper
1 Tbls. Honey
Super easy. Chop all of the fruits and veggies together and place in a bowl. Whisk all of the dressing ingredients together, and pour over the veggies. Toss and serve, as a salad, over meat, over flatbreads, you name it. Enjoy!
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Saturday, June 21, 2008
What is and What Should Never Be - III
And the conclusion to our “What Is and What Should Never Be” series, are the items that most definitely should be, at any and all costs. These are your splurge items… spend the money, go high-end, these items, like that inexplicably perfect date, can not be duplicated.
Kitchen Aid Mixer (5 qt) – There is absolutely no substitute for the Kitchen Aid mixer… actually, there is, and I tried to use it for many years. My ersatz mixer would cough and wheeze through the wimpiest butter and sugar creamings, and become all but paralyzed at the mere mention of dough. It eventually died, its pathetic engine smoking, when I decided to break down and get the Artisan. You don’t even need to open the box to know that you’re dealing with a serious piece of machinery; it weighs more than an 8-year-old, and as soon as you plunk it down on your counter, the deafening thud tells you that your mixer will outlast you, and probably most of your great-grandchildren. I haven’t yet tested anything more challenging than pizza dough, but it whips through its tasks with serious and powerful efficiency, and, like that perfect date, is prepared to handle any request that comes its way.
8” Chef’s Knife – I’ll never forget the episode of “The Restaurant” with Rocco DiSpirito in which, after some overly-dramatic gaffes, Rocco, the Hero, returns to the kitchen, determined to save his restaurant and demonstrates his skills by double chopping a mound of parsley like a martial arts expert. I desperately want to learn how to do that, but am deathly afraid of slitting my wrist in the process, because I have large, sharp chef’s knives. The kind that could mince parsley (or my flesh) with the slightest graze, make child’s play of disjointing a chicken, and effortlessly break up my decadent hunks of Callebaut chocolate. But I wouldn’t have it any other way. The fact is, not only are my tasks made lighter, but I’m actually less likely to hurt myself with the best and sharpest knives for a couple of reasons:
1) They are superiorly constructed, from the handle to the tip. Look at your chef’s knife, or whatever you use as a substitute. The metal of the blade should extend all the way through the handle, to give you the most control and sturdiness.
2) When a knife is adequately sharp, it requires less pressure from the user. Less pressure means less likelihood that the knife go awry, slip, and slice that delicate wrist-skin; also, less pressure means less hand and wrist strain, if you’re a frequent cook and chopping pounds of vegetables is a daily task.
The best knives are arguably Wusthof and Henckels; I have both and love them dearly. They are handily the most frequently used items in my kitchen, have performed consistently for over 5 years, and I intend to bequeath them to my grandchildren. I have never found a need to splurge for an entire set of knives; three 8” chef’s knives, a Wusthof paring knife, and a Henckel’s 6” knife have felt more than adequate (though anyone that roasts frequently would probably need a special set). I promise that you won’t be disappointed with this one-time, minor splurge, and your wrists, hands, and intact-skin will thank you.
The Food – Against the back drop of the most recent tomato recall and salmonella concerns, not to mention Obama’s call to South Korea to import more US beef, which they rightfully reject since the beef they import from Australia meets much higher health inspection standards, it is imperative to discuss the food that our designer cookware will be preparing.
When you hold a conventionally grown tomato up next to an organic, locally grown tomato, they may not look remarkably different. I would bet, however, that they smell different, and I know that they are nutritionally distinct. Have you ever cut into a red-ripe tomato or strawberry, only to find that the inside is white. It’s not mother nature, it’s a reddening agent that has allowed that grower to pick an under-ripe fruit, redden it (though the agent does not affect the maturation process), and ensure that the fruit arrive unspoiled to your plate. It hasn’t had time to mature, extract the same amount of nutrients from the soil that a fruit left to mature would, and, speaking of that soil, much like mama to baby, any pesticides, herbicides, or chemical fertilizers that it absorbs, the fruit absorbs, and, then you absorb. That organic, locally-grown tomato, on the other hand, has traveled less distance, thereby consuming fewer fossil fuels, the soil that it’s been gestating in and ingesting is chemical-free (and more sustainable than treated soil), and, the best part, it smells and tastes like a tomato. A good rule of thumb is that you should be able to smell a tomato, and it should be pungent, at about six inches from your face.
But produce isn’t the only department in which to splurge. Meat and dairy are, in my opinion, the most important. Even if you don’t give a rat’s ass about treating animals humanely, you should have some care about what they’re fed, how healthy they were when they were slaughtered, and the likelihood that something other than the expected boneless, skinless chicken breast end up in your casserole tonight. For those of you who haven’t read either Omnivore’s Dilemma or Fast Food Nation, I’ll sum it up for you very quickly… You need to be more conscientious of what you eat. Mainstream meat and dairy producers are less concerned with providing the public with consistently safe and healthful products than they are with profit. What’s perplexing is that these companies are tremendously profitable, but the increase in their products' shelf price hasn’t kept pace with other consumer goods. The average price of a pound of bacon has only increased 195% since 1978; a dozen eggs have only increased 229% in the same time period, whereas the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up approximately 11371%, home prices are up 402% and gas is up 516%. Logic follows that if the meat and dairy producers are effectively charging less than they once were and still maintaining profitability, the profits must be squeezed from lower operating costs, which is fine, as long as health and safety of workers and consumers aren’t compromised, but they have been and continue to be. When you get a great deal on meat, poultry, or dairy, think about the value chain associated with getting that product to you. Take the price that you’ve paid and divvy it up among the retailer, distributor, processor, the fuel costs, labor costs, costs of land ownership, equipment etc. add in a little profit for each part of the value chain. Now what’s left over went into actually producing the food that you are about to consume; if it seems dangerously, worryingly small, and you’re about to convince yourself that volume must account for the low cost, you’re wrong. Shoddy and neglectful practices account for the low-cost, which translates into a low quality product, one that may make you sick in the short and long-run.
It may be a tough pill to swallow, to pay what seem to be exorbitantly high prices for what appears to be essentially the same product, but the products aren’t the same. A healthfully raised and slaughtered animal produces a far superior product than one that has been mistreated, under-nourished, loaded with antibiotics and hormones, and brutalized.
Kitchen Aid Mixer (5 qt) – There is absolutely no substitute for the Kitchen Aid mixer… actually, there is, and I tried to use it for many years. My ersatz mixer would cough and wheeze through the wimpiest butter and sugar creamings, and become all but paralyzed at the mere mention of dough. It eventually died, its pathetic engine smoking, when I decided to break down and get the Artisan. You don’t even need to open the box to know that you’re dealing with a serious piece of machinery; it weighs more than an 8-year-old, and as soon as you plunk it down on your counter, the deafening thud tells you that your mixer will outlast you, and probably most of your great-grandchildren. I haven’t yet tested anything more challenging than pizza dough, but it whips through its tasks with serious and powerful efficiency, and, like that perfect date, is prepared to handle any request that comes its way.
8” Chef’s Knife – I’ll never forget the episode of “The Restaurant” with Rocco DiSpirito in which, after some overly-dramatic gaffes, Rocco, the Hero, returns to the kitchen, determined to save his restaurant and demonstrates his skills by double chopping a mound of parsley like a martial arts expert. I desperately want to learn how to do that, but am deathly afraid of slitting my wrist in the process, because I have large, sharp chef’s knives. The kind that could mince parsley (or my flesh) with the slightest graze, make child’s play of disjointing a chicken, and effortlessly break up my decadent hunks of Callebaut chocolate. But I wouldn’t have it any other way. The fact is, not only are my tasks made lighter, but I’m actually less likely to hurt myself with the best and sharpest knives for a couple of reasons:
1) They are superiorly constructed, from the handle to the tip. Look at your chef’s knife, or whatever you use as a substitute. The metal of the blade should extend all the way through the handle, to give you the most control and sturdiness.
2) When a knife is adequately sharp, it requires less pressure from the user. Less pressure means less likelihood that the knife go awry, slip, and slice that delicate wrist-skin; also, less pressure means less hand and wrist strain, if you’re a frequent cook and chopping pounds of vegetables is a daily task.
The best knives are arguably Wusthof and Henckels; I have both and love them dearly. They are handily the most frequently used items in my kitchen, have performed consistently for over 5 years, and I intend to bequeath them to my grandchildren. I have never found a need to splurge for an entire set of knives; three 8” chef’s knives, a Wusthof paring knife, and a Henckel’s 6” knife have felt more than adequate (though anyone that roasts frequently would probably need a special set). I promise that you won’t be disappointed with this one-time, minor splurge, and your wrists, hands, and intact-skin will thank you.
The Food – Against the back drop of the most recent tomato recall and salmonella concerns, not to mention Obama’s call to South Korea to import more US beef, which they rightfully reject since the beef they import from Australia meets much higher health inspection standards, it is imperative to discuss the food that our designer cookware will be preparing.
When you hold a conventionally grown tomato up next to an organic, locally grown tomato, they may not look remarkably different. I would bet, however, that they smell different, and I know that they are nutritionally distinct. Have you ever cut into a red-ripe tomato or strawberry, only to find that the inside is white. It’s not mother nature, it’s a reddening agent that has allowed that grower to pick an under-ripe fruit, redden it (though the agent does not affect the maturation process), and ensure that the fruit arrive unspoiled to your plate. It hasn’t had time to mature, extract the same amount of nutrients from the soil that a fruit left to mature would, and, speaking of that soil, much like mama to baby, any pesticides, herbicides, or chemical fertilizers that it absorbs, the fruit absorbs, and, then you absorb. That organic, locally-grown tomato, on the other hand, has traveled less distance, thereby consuming fewer fossil fuels, the soil that it’s been gestating in and ingesting is chemical-free (and more sustainable than treated soil), and, the best part, it smells and tastes like a tomato. A good rule of thumb is that you should be able to smell a tomato, and it should be pungent, at about six inches from your face.
But produce isn’t the only department in which to splurge. Meat and dairy are, in my opinion, the most important. Even if you don’t give a rat’s ass about treating animals humanely, you should have some care about what they’re fed, how healthy they were when they were slaughtered, and the likelihood that something other than the expected boneless, skinless chicken breast end up in your casserole tonight. For those of you who haven’t read either Omnivore’s Dilemma or Fast Food Nation, I’ll sum it up for you very quickly… You need to be more conscientious of what you eat. Mainstream meat and dairy producers are less concerned with providing the public with consistently safe and healthful products than they are with profit. What’s perplexing is that these companies are tremendously profitable, but the increase in their products' shelf price hasn’t kept pace with other consumer goods. The average price of a pound of bacon has only increased 195% since 1978; a dozen eggs have only increased 229% in the same time period, whereas the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up approximately 11371%, home prices are up 402% and gas is up 516%. Logic follows that if the meat and dairy producers are effectively charging less than they once were and still maintaining profitability, the profits must be squeezed from lower operating costs, which is fine, as long as health and safety of workers and consumers aren’t compromised, but they have been and continue to be. When you get a great deal on meat, poultry, or dairy, think about the value chain associated with getting that product to you. Take the price that you’ve paid and divvy it up among the retailer, distributor, processor, the fuel costs, labor costs, costs of land ownership, equipment etc. add in a little profit for each part of the value chain. Now what’s left over went into actually producing the food that you are about to consume; if it seems dangerously, worryingly small, and you’re about to convince yourself that volume must account for the low cost, you’re wrong. Shoddy and neglectful practices account for the low-cost, which translates into a low quality product, one that may make you sick in the short and long-run.
It may be a tough pill to swallow, to pay what seem to be exorbitantly high prices for what appears to be essentially the same product, but the products aren’t the same. A healthfully raised and slaughtered animal produces a far superior product than one that has been mistreated, under-nourished, loaded with antibiotics and hormones, and brutalized.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
What Is and What Should Never Be - II
Continuing last week's three part series on what to Shirk, Save & Splurge on in outfitting your kitchen, the following recommendations are designed to help you target the money pitfalls, items that aren't worth the brand-name (or price) and, hopefully, save some money without sacrificing quality or performance.
Save:
This part of the list will likely get me into the most trouble, as Williams-Sonoma, All-Clad, Mauviel, Le Creuset and others have spent the equivalent of a small nation’s annual budget on convincing foodies that only cooking with their products will produce satisfactory results, and in cooking with lesser products you might as well be serving CheezeWhiz on a Triscuit. This is not true, and while their products may arguably be superior, the fractional gain in performance is likely not worth the extra cost.
Pots & Pans – I covet the All-Clad sets of cookware that are provocatively displayed at the entrance to each Williams-Sonoma. I used to imagine that when I bought my first house, graduated from business school, or otherwise proceeded from the shallow end of adulthood, I would invest in them. But then I happened on a once-in-a-lifetime bargain at the Calphalon store in the Wrentham Outlets – the kind of bargain that was so profound as to become a regular anecdote at parties (“You got Prada mules for $249, well I got my 10-piece Calphalon set for $200). This bargain wasn’t epic simply because of the money saved from its original price, but because, in mingling with All-Clad pots my Calphalon pots looked, and most importantly, behaved almost exactly the same. Punctured, though not thoroughly deflated, was my vision of All-Clad as the only set of pans that would appropriately sear my tuna, or get the crust on my steak au poivre exactly so. My wonderful Calphalon pots and pans do a bang-up job at a fraction of the cost. The lesson behind this is to go for middling price but high-quality. If the pots and pans feel sturdy in your hand, are made from the same material as the more expensive ones you’re looking at, and have virtually the same features, save yourself the money and buy the lesser brand.
Williams-Sonoma – As a store it is an enigma, at once an indefatigable brand that draws foodies in like a beacon and prompts them to plunk down obscene amounts of money for items that could not, under the most liberal of circumstances, be considered necessities. But it also pays homage to the aphorism “you get what you pay for;” no marketing chicanery or charlatanism here, the products are as strong, if not stronger than the brand. Discerning what is worth the price and what is not takes a certain amount of studiousness and frugality. If you have all the money in the world, and space is your only concern, please skip this section. If you’re in the 99.9% of the population, the following are my recommendations for items that could be procured at Target or your local grocery store for considerably less than WS.
Storage & Non-Cooking Household Items – This ranges from the wine glass racks to the air-tight coffee bean holder to the $120 step stool. In the first instance, items related to design are not its core competency – they may certainly be well-made and look lovely, but the less expensive alternatives that you could find elsewhere would serve you just as well. In the second instance, I find a $39.95 air-tight coffee bean container a little laughable. The coffee beans housed in my sub $5 Tupperware give me the same jolt and stay just as fresh as those housed in expensive containers. In the third instance, what on earth is worth reaching on your top shelf, if it’s going to cost you $120 to get there? You can get almost the exact same stools at Target for half the price.
Soaps, Sponges & other Cleaning Products - Admittedly, the WS-line makes cleaning look as lovely and pleasant as a stroll through the French country-side, and for a reluctant housekeeper like me, it almost seems worth the extra cost. Maybe Herbes de Provence cleaning spray and micro-fiber cleaning cloths in a variety of Easter egg colors would make cleaning up more fun. It doesn’t. You won’t save a king’s ransom, but more likely a few dollars off of comparable products in either your local market or Target.
A general rule of thumb for WS is that its core competency is items that you cook with – they’re durable, designed well, and made to perform far better than many an ersatz look-alike. However, in avoiding money-pitfalls, steer clear of the beautiful, yet over-priced accoutrements for your kitchen. You can get equally functional and chic items at Target or the Container Store for far less.
As a foodie, it’s hard not to cost-justify every passing whim in the pursuit of the perfectly-outfitted kitchen (“Since I’m cooking at home and not eating out, this $50 can opener will practically pay for itself.”) But to maintain a balanced-budget, which, let’s face it, IS more important than a Architectural Digest-worthy kitchen, be sure to segment items by their frequency of use, performance-requirements, and visibility (if that can opener is going to spend 99.9% of its life in a drawer, why does it need to be diamond-studded?) and look for high-quality/mid-price substitutes for all but the highest-ranked items.
Save:
This part of the list will likely get me into the most trouble, as Williams-Sonoma, All-Clad, Mauviel, Le Creuset and others have spent the equivalent of a small nation’s annual budget on convincing foodies that only cooking with their products will produce satisfactory results, and in cooking with lesser products you might as well be serving CheezeWhiz on a Triscuit. This is not true, and while their products may arguably be superior, the fractional gain in performance is likely not worth the extra cost.
Pots & Pans – I covet the All-Clad sets of cookware that are provocatively displayed at the entrance to each Williams-Sonoma. I used to imagine that when I bought my first house, graduated from business school, or otherwise proceeded from the shallow end of adulthood, I would invest in them. But then I happened on a once-in-a-lifetime bargain at the Calphalon store in the Wrentham Outlets – the kind of bargain that was so profound as to become a regular anecdote at parties (“You got Prada mules for $249, well I got my 10-piece Calphalon set for $200). This bargain wasn’t epic simply because of the money saved from its original price, but because, in mingling with All-Clad pots my Calphalon pots looked, and most importantly, behaved almost exactly the same. Punctured, though not thoroughly deflated, was my vision of All-Clad as the only set of pans that would appropriately sear my tuna, or get the crust on my steak au poivre exactly so. My wonderful Calphalon pots and pans do a bang-up job at a fraction of the cost. The lesson behind this is to go for middling price but high-quality. If the pots and pans feel sturdy in your hand, are made from the same material as the more expensive ones you’re looking at, and have virtually the same features, save yourself the money and buy the lesser brand.
Williams-Sonoma – As a store it is an enigma, at once an indefatigable brand that draws foodies in like a beacon and prompts them to plunk down obscene amounts of money for items that could not, under the most liberal of circumstances, be considered necessities. But it also pays homage to the aphorism “you get what you pay for;” no marketing chicanery or charlatanism here, the products are as strong, if not stronger than the brand. Discerning what is worth the price and what is not takes a certain amount of studiousness and frugality. If you have all the money in the world, and space is your only concern, please skip this section. If you’re in the 99.9% of the population, the following are my recommendations for items that could be procured at Target or your local grocery store for considerably less than WS.
Storage & Non-Cooking Household Items – This ranges from the wine glass racks to the air-tight coffee bean holder to the $120 step stool. In the first instance, items related to design are not its core competency – they may certainly be well-made and look lovely, but the less expensive alternatives that you could find elsewhere would serve you just as well. In the second instance, I find a $39.95 air-tight coffee bean container a little laughable. The coffee beans housed in my sub $5 Tupperware give me the same jolt and stay just as fresh as those housed in expensive containers. In the third instance, what on earth is worth reaching on your top shelf, if it’s going to cost you $120 to get there? You can get almost the exact same stools at Target for half the price.
Soaps, Sponges & other Cleaning Products - Admittedly, the WS-line makes cleaning look as lovely and pleasant as a stroll through the French country-side, and for a reluctant housekeeper like me, it almost seems worth the extra cost. Maybe Herbes de Provence cleaning spray and micro-fiber cleaning cloths in a variety of Easter egg colors would make cleaning up more fun. It doesn’t. You won’t save a king’s ransom, but more likely a few dollars off of comparable products in either your local market or Target.
A general rule of thumb for WS is that its core competency is items that you cook with – they’re durable, designed well, and made to perform far better than many an ersatz look-alike. However, in avoiding money-pitfalls, steer clear of the beautiful, yet over-priced accoutrements for your kitchen. You can get equally functional and chic items at Target or the Container Store for far less.
As a foodie, it’s hard not to cost-justify every passing whim in the pursuit of the perfectly-outfitted kitchen (“Since I’m cooking at home and not eating out, this $50 can opener will practically pay for itself.”) But to maintain a balanced-budget, which, let’s face it, IS more important than a Architectural Digest-worthy kitchen, be sure to segment items by their frequency of use, performance-requirements, and visibility (if that can opener is going to spend 99.9% of its life in a drawer, why does it need to be diamond-studded?) and look for high-quality/mid-price substitutes for all but the highest-ranked items.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Farewell to a Friend
Today’s post is not about food, cooking, or kitchenware that warrants bargain-shopping. I’m veering off course today to remark on the tragic passing of Tim Russert. In trying to articulate my shock and grief, every phrase feels trite; and in trying to explain the magnitude of this man’s greatness, every word falls short. In countless tributes and biographical sketches, the descriptions of Mr. Russert as “a national treasure” “consummate family-man” “warm” “gregarious” “beloved” and “thoughtful” ring achingly true. I feel as though I’ve lost a friend, one who visited me each Sunday morning, and came around a bit more often during campaign and election seasons.
When I was told of his passing on Friday evening, I had the same reaction that I’ve had in the past to a loved one’s death…. Something must be done, and I’m going to do it. Death has never been static for me – this isn’t to suggest reincarnation or anything that would qualify for an M. Night Shyamalan film – but rather a Type A personality’s reaction to an event that I find intolerable, one that I will not allow to continue. In my brief, grief-stricken denial, the logic follows that a heart that once beat, and stopped, can beat again. It’s as simple as that, and if it requires a flight to our nation’s capital to set those doctors right, then so be it, because I simply can not stand that my wonderful and wise, humble and affable friend not come visit me again.
Mr. Russert can never be lauded highly enough, too much praise would never be too much, but I am not going to bore anyone with my inadequate extolments of his virtues. I will, however, briefly point a finger of blame at NBC’s & MSNBC’s shameful rivals, CNN, the New York Times, et al. On Satuday afternoon, I went to CNN.com and couldn’t find mention of Mr. Russert anywhere. I picked up my formerly beloved Sunday New York Times this morning, expecting to see Mr. Russert’s jollity pouring forth from a picture on the top fold of the front-page, where he deserves to be, and was instead met by a picture of bathing beauties doing water-aerobics in Turkey; Justice Clarence Thomas’s commencement address at High Point University managed to make the front page, but Mr. Russert did not (in fairness, Mr. Russert was featured on the front page of the Saturday newspaper, but I still feel that he should have taken precedence over the bathing beauties for the Sunday edition).
Only when I flipped to the Week in Review section did I find one of the most atrocious examples of petty journalism I have ever had the displeasure to read. Mark Leibovich, the writer, whose work had never stirred either my loyalty or enmity, until now, did himself, the New York Times, and all of its readers the cataclysmic disservice of painting Mr. Russert as a one-upping, hierarchical, game-player in Washington, noting “In a place of petty concerns and Big Doings, Tim Russert was chief scorekeeper.” He goes onto describe Mr. Russert as a “cutthroat killer when it came to booking guests…” “aggressively ‘not pretty’” ,liking “to seem sheepishly above-it-all, but was… as acutely status-conscious, befitting the local water,” and he generously notes “There is no shortage of politicians…. who believed that Mr. Russert could be bullying and prone to grandstanding at times, making excessive show of this top-of-the-heap position.” There was little mention of his joviality, his astuteness, how inspiring and beloved he was, or the pleasure that he took in his favorite roles of father, son & husband. On the few occasions that Mr. Leibovich did deign to commend Mr. Russert, the end result came off as nothing more than back-handed compliments. Whether the cause d’etre behind this drivel was professional jealousy, inherent misanthropy, an insuperable and misguided desire to distinguish himself as the only journalist not mourning this monumental loss, or a combination of three, is unclear. What is clear is that the New York Times editorial staff has once again fallen down on the job, and has embarrassed itself amid an outpouring of public grief for a man that deserved a far greater tribute than clearly the Times could manage.
In closing, I can’t ever remember feeling such grief at a public figure’s death, and I think it’s because Mr. Russert never felt like a public figure. His smile came too easily, he was too genuine, honest, and likeable to not be a friend. Tim Russert never kept anyone at arm’s length, pulling everyone, even Mr. Leibovich I presume, into his joyful heart, and having done so, will always remain in ours.
When I was told of his passing on Friday evening, I had the same reaction that I’ve had in the past to a loved one’s death…. Something must be done, and I’m going to do it. Death has never been static for me – this isn’t to suggest reincarnation or anything that would qualify for an M. Night Shyamalan film – but rather a Type A personality’s reaction to an event that I find intolerable, one that I will not allow to continue. In my brief, grief-stricken denial, the logic follows that a heart that once beat, and stopped, can beat again. It’s as simple as that, and if it requires a flight to our nation’s capital to set those doctors right, then so be it, because I simply can not stand that my wonderful and wise, humble and affable friend not come visit me again.
Mr. Russert can never be lauded highly enough, too much praise would never be too much, but I am not going to bore anyone with my inadequate extolments of his virtues. I will, however, briefly point a finger of blame at NBC’s & MSNBC’s shameful rivals, CNN, the New York Times, et al. On Satuday afternoon, I went to CNN.com and couldn’t find mention of Mr. Russert anywhere. I picked up my formerly beloved Sunday New York Times this morning, expecting to see Mr. Russert’s jollity pouring forth from a picture on the top fold of the front-page, where he deserves to be, and was instead met by a picture of bathing beauties doing water-aerobics in Turkey; Justice Clarence Thomas’s commencement address at High Point University managed to make the front page, but Mr. Russert did not (in fairness, Mr. Russert was featured on the front page of the Saturday newspaper, but I still feel that he should have taken precedence over the bathing beauties for the Sunday edition).
Only when I flipped to the Week in Review section did I find one of the most atrocious examples of petty journalism I have ever had the displeasure to read. Mark Leibovich, the writer, whose work had never stirred either my loyalty or enmity, until now, did himself, the New York Times, and all of its readers the cataclysmic disservice of painting Mr. Russert as a one-upping, hierarchical, game-player in Washington, noting “In a place of petty concerns and Big Doings, Tim Russert was chief scorekeeper.” He goes onto describe Mr. Russert as a “cutthroat killer when it came to booking guests…” “aggressively ‘not pretty’” ,liking “to seem sheepishly above-it-all, but was… as acutely status-conscious, befitting the local water,” and he generously notes “There is no shortage of politicians…. who believed that Mr. Russert could be bullying and prone to grandstanding at times, making excessive show of this top-of-the-heap position.” There was little mention of his joviality, his astuteness, how inspiring and beloved he was, or the pleasure that he took in his favorite roles of father, son & husband. On the few occasions that Mr. Leibovich did deign to commend Mr. Russert, the end result came off as nothing more than back-handed compliments. Whether the cause d’etre behind this drivel was professional jealousy, inherent misanthropy, an insuperable and misguided desire to distinguish himself as the only journalist not mourning this monumental loss, or a combination of three, is unclear. What is clear is that the New York Times editorial staff has once again fallen down on the job, and has embarrassed itself amid an outpouring of public grief for a man that deserved a far greater tribute than clearly the Times could manage.
In closing, I can’t ever remember feeling such grief at a public figure’s death, and I think it’s because Mr. Russert never felt like a public figure. His smile came too easily, he was too genuine, honest, and likeable to not be a friend. Tim Russert never kept anyone at arm’s length, pulling everyone, even Mr. Leibovich I presume, into his joyful heart, and having done so, will always remain in ours.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
What Is and What Should Never Be - A Three Part Series
I remember a made-for-TV movie about the rise and fall of Martha Stewart, in which Martha, played by Cybil Shepard, gave an associate a copper pot with the explanation that no decent cook should ever be without one.
I’ve read at length on the sterling qualities and uncontested superiority of copper pots, but I have yet to ever use one, and, while I would hesitate to assume the designation of “decent cook” I have thoroughly enjoyed cooking and entertaining for many years without one. While we would all likely outfit our kitchens with the highest-quality (read: most expensive) cookware and tools if cost and space were not considerations, they unfortunately are. My Beacon Hill galley kitchen and budget can barely house the necessities, let alone an avocado pitter or asparagus pot, and thus, I have had to make selections based on size and price to outfit my kitchen for years of successful cooking. The following is a list of items to shirk. Series II & III will cover the items to save money on and those on which you can justifiably splurge.
Shirk:
Anything with a singular purpose – I would include asparagus pots, avocado pitters, tomato knife or slicer, or similar. If its name contains the singular item on which you can use it, it’s likely more of a marketing ploy than useful cook’s tool (“Now I know where my guacamole has been going wrong, I didn’t have the avocado masher.”) A good rule of thumb is to ask yourself if something in your kitchen would do as good a job, then you likely don’t need the specialty piece.
Specialty Pans – This is a tough one for me to advise against, because, of course, I have my own moony fantasies of serving individual paninis to a roomful of expectant and subsequently overjoyed guests. However, this list is about making the tough decisions, and, unless you’re a panini-fanatic or cannot bear to eat meat that doesn’t have the tell-tale grill trademarks and no use of a grill, then I’m afraid that the expense and space occupancy is for naught. I myself have toyed with succumbing to the indoor grill pan, and, if you or I do so, we should select the most generic (of good quality) so as to avoid the necessity of buying the square, then circular, oval, and then trapezoidal indoor grill pan. But, my inner New Englander still feels that a piece of cookware that does little more than add grill marks to a piece of meat or veggies isn’t worth the cost or space.
Holiday-themed plates, stemware, muffin-tins, etc. – Everyone needs seasonal items and servings dishes appropriate to what is frequently served (i.e. margarita glasses, large salad bowl, chip & dip tray, etc.) What one likely doesn’t need is cornbread molds in the shape of Tom the Turkey. Again, if space and budget are not a consideration, deck out each holiday with heart-shaped cookies, Easter bunny napkin-holders, and Flag-shaped waffles to your heart’s content, but, in my single-state experience, I know that the angst at squeezing a piece of cookware, glassware, or tableware into my bulging cabinets would dwarf the pleasure my guests would derive from pumpkin-shaped pancakes. The solution is to either pick one holiday to go gangbusters for, or keep those brilliant entertaining ideas tucked away until budgets and cabinet-space become more reasonable.
Next post will cover how to save on the items that you need without sacrificing quality or performance.
I’ve read at length on the sterling qualities and uncontested superiority of copper pots, but I have yet to ever use one, and, while I would hesitate to assume the designation of “decent cook” I have thoroughly enjoyed cooking and entertaining for many years without one. While we would all likely outfit our kitchens with the highest-quality (read: most expensive) cookware and tools if cost and space were not considerations, they unfortunately are. My Beacon Hill galley kitchen and budget can barely house the necessities, let alone an avocado pitter or asparagus pot, and thus, I have had to make selections based on size and price to outfit my kitchen for years of successful cooking. The following is a list of items to shirk. Series II & III will cover the items to save money on and those on which you can justifiably splurge.
Shirk:
Anything with a singular purpose – I would include asparagus pots, avocado pitters, tomato knife or slicer, or similar. If its name contains the singular item on which you can use it, it’s likely more of a marketing ploy than useful cook’s tool (“Now I know where my guacamole has been going wrong, I didn’t have the avocado masher.”) A good rule of thumb is to ask yourself if something in your kitchen would do as good a job, then you likely don’t need the specialty piece.
Specialty Pans – This is a tough one for me to advise against, because, of course, I have my own moony fantasies of serving individual paninis to a roomful of expectant and subsequently overjoyed guests. However, this list is about making the tough decisions, and, unless you’re a panini-fanatic or cannot bear to eat meat that doesn’t have the tell-tale grill trademarks and no use of a grill, then I’m afraid that the expense and space occupancy is for naught. I myself have toyed with succumbing to the indoor grill pan, and, if you or I do so, we should select the most generic (of good quality) so as to avoid the necessity of buying the square, then circular, oval, and then trapezoidal indoor grill pan. But, my inner New Englander still feels that a piece of cookware that does little more than add grill marks to a piece of meat or veggies isn’t worth the cost or space.
Holiday-themed plates, stemware, muffin-tins, etc. – Everyone needs seasonal items and servings dishes appropriate to what is frequently served (i.e. margarita glasses, large salad bowl, chip & dip tray, etc.) What one likely doesn’t need is cornbread molds in the shape of Tom the Turkey. Again, if space and budget are not a consideration, deck out each holiday with heart-shaped cookies, Easter bunny napkin-holders, and Flag-shaped waffles to your heart’s content, but, in my single-state experience, I know that the angst at squeezing a piece of cookware, glassware, or tableware into my bulging cabinets would dwarf the pleasure my guests would derive from pumpkin-shaped pancakes. The solution is to either pick one holiday to go gangbusters for, or keep those brilliant entertaining ideas tucked away until budgets and cabinet-space become more reasonable.
Next post will cover how to save on the items that you need without sacrificing quality or performance.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Up the Veg
Up the Veg
As the first post for Eat. Food. Now. it seemed logical to cover a topic that will persist in its relevance for as long as you and I are eating, well into our nursing home stays, and that is to increase the quantity of fruits and vegetables that we eat, in relation to the other food groups…. Or, as I prefer to put it, “Upping the Veg.”
This theme will guide just about every culinary course you take… from dinner party-planning to mid-afternoon snacks, so just get used to it. You and I both need more fruits and veg in our diets – not only are they brimming over with the good stuff, but they’ll also be sating a part of your hunger that you would have otherwise given over to more calorically-dense foods; in short, you’ll consume fewer calories for the same sense of fullness, which, if you’re like me, and not going to be leg-dubbing in for Gisele anytime soon, isn’t the worst thing in the world.
Now, as a disclaimer, I have to confess to my personal loathing of the “salad as complete meal” option. I am not a “grilled-chicken-salad-kind-of-girl”; I’m also not likely to crave carrot sticks and hummus in the depths of a Boston winter, when every devilish cell in my body is demanding French onion soup.
I eat bacon and eggs in the morning, sausages with peppers and onions for lunch, and homemade-sticky-ribs for dinner, but I know that I should be eating 5-9 (closer to the 9 end of the spectrum) servings of fruits and veggies every day. We all should, but the trouble is sneaking those pesky fruits and veggies into our diets…. And, let’s face it, they don’t make it any easier on us, with their fragile shelf-lives, requisite chopping, and Magic-8-Ball like quality of unexpectedly turning up an unpleasant, oozing bruise, wormhole, or indeterminable sickening stench.
All of these obstacles amount to the need to employ a little creativity in squeezing 9 servings of veg into our daily diets, and the following are my tried-and-true recommendations:
2-3 pieces of fruit for breakfast - Give up your bagel and cream cheese, or worse, the no-breakfast-option immediately. In the first instance, heavy, carb-loaded breakfasts will make you sleepier and hungrier by mid-morning than consistently snacking on fruit; but, if you need a little more staying-power than your average blueberry is likely to supply, by all means, add some protein like a glass of milk (8g), 1 egg (6g), or, my personal favorite, an ounce of brie (6g) – don’t have a conniption, it’s only 94 calories. I’m not even going to explain the folly of foregoing breakfast altogether, but, needless to say, those hours could be spent adding some fruit to your diet.
Toss an apple and banana (or pear, plum, and orange) into your purse or keep boxes of blueberries and raspberries in the office fridge, either is an easy way to get 1/3 of the way to 9 servings before noon.
Sneak veggies into your favorite foods – This is my favorite option, as it’s the easiest, most satisfying, and turns the dullest of re-fueling exercises into a much richer and satisfying experience.
- Sandwiches – Never again have a sandwich consisting of only meat, cheese & bread. Always, ALWAYS toss some veggies in there – lettuce or arugula (the pre-washed, boxed kind is wonderfully easy and fresh), tomatoes, green peppers add crispiness and flavor, radishes (why the hell not?), cucumbers, onions, for the adventurous types, toss in some zucchini and summer squash. Pile your sandwiches high with veggies and you’re more than halfway to your goal by the end of lunch.
- Frozen veggies into Mac & Cheese –When no other food will satisfy, and you’re aching for some Mac & Cheese, toss a heaping serving of frozen peas, carrots, onions, or broccoli florets into the Mac & Cheese as soon as you’ve mixed the pasta and sauce. They don’t detract in the least from the comforting qualities of the M&C and also manage to magically clear away that attendant and nagging guilt for having over-indulged.
Roasted Veggies – Any dinner that you eat should contain at least one solidly vegetarian portion, and the easiest way to fulfill this obligation, apart from a hastily thrown-together salad, is roasting some veggies in your conventional or toaster-oven. Just plop some cherry tomatoes, carrots, asparagus, or brussel sprouts onto a baking sheet, toss with olive oil (don’t use the more expensive extra-virgin kind as its delicate flavor can’t hold up to the heat), a little salt and pepper and put into a 400° oven for 10-20 minutes (brussel sprouts take closer to 40)… you’ll smell them when they’re done.
Out for dinner – Get into the habit of ordering a salad sans any meat additions before the rest of your meal, even if you’re starting with appetizers. Yes, your bill may go up a bit, but you’ll eat a lot less of your super-rich dinner (great left-overs for the next day), and you have no excuses for not having done the grocery shopping, too many knives and chopping boards to clean up, etc.
Look for dinner recipes that consist of large veggie portions – That hangar steak recipe may look killer, but, unless you have the willpower and inclination to actually make the vegetable accompaniments separately (when I was working 10 hours/day, I certainly did not), opt for recipes that integrate your vegetables into the one recipe. Great options for this are Seared Tuna over Cherry Tomato Coulis, Seared Salmon with Green Sauce*, Roasted Chicken with Ricotta, Spinach and Pomegranate, and more. Just run down the ingredients list before settling on a recipe to make sure it tosses in plenty of veg.
Make a habit of adding veggies to whatever you sit down to eat (or shove in your mouth while running out the door), and you'll easily hit the 9-servings/day quota.
*Seared Salmon with Green Sauce
This recipe is a derivation from Pepper-Encrusted Salmon with Green Sauce from Caprial Pence’s Caprial’s Bistro-Style Cuisine, which is one of the most valuable of hidden gem cookbooks that I’ve ever come across. I don’t know how it’s not more popular, but it has handily earned a top place in my cookbook library.
Serves 2 – The recipe can easily be amended to feed more
2 4-5 oz. Salmon fillets
Salt & Pepper
Bunch Parsley
Handful Basil
Tbls. Capers
Zest and Juice of Lemon
3-4 Cloves Garlic, Finely Chopped or Grated with a Microplane
1/4 – 1/2 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 Chopped Anchovy Fillets - only necessary for the true fans, feel free to omit if just reading the word ruined your appetite
This is my go-to quick dinner recipe, and I’ve made it enough times to have gotten the cooking time down to under 15 minutes from refrigerator-fetching to first mouthful. Once you’ve made it a few times, you’ll be able to make the sauce while the salmon cooks, which can bring the prep time to sub-10, but, for the first few times, I recommend making the sauce first.
Directions:
Rough chop the parsley and basil and toss into a medium bowl (to make this your own, feel free to add any leafy green or herb that you like… arugula, mint, marjoram, thyme, could all fit nicely in here).
Add the capers, zest, lemon juice, anchovies, and garlic (the garlic should be as fine as possible, as no other heat than the freshly cooked salmon will be there to take the sting out of it; microplanes are my favorite option, but you could also do a round of serious chopping and add a tiny bit of salt mid-way through, which helps to break the garlic down). Mix the ingredients together, and add the olive oil to it, slowly, until the mixture is in a messy limbo between solid and liquid (there shouldn’t be pools of olive oil, but all parts of the greens should be thoroughly coated).
Now for the salmon. Salt and pepper each side generously. Put some plain olive oil into a sauté pan over medium-high heat and wait until you just start to see it smoke. Add the salmon for 2 minutes on each side. At this time and temperature, you’ll still have some under-done middle, which is the way I prefer it. If you like a more thoroughly cooked salmon, just cook for 3-4 minutes per side.
Remove the salmon from the pan, plate, and heap your green sauce on top. Serve.
As the first post for Eat. Food. Now. it seemed logical to cover a topic that will persist in its relevance for as long as you and I are eating, well into our nursing home stays, and that is to increase the quantity of fruits and vegetables that we eat, in relation to the other food groups…. Or, as I prefer to put it, “Upping the Veg.”
This theme will guide just about every culinary course you take… from dinner party-planning to mid-afternoon snacks, so just get used to it. You and I both need more fruits and veg in our diets – not only are they brimming over with the good stuff, but they’ll also be sating a part of your hunger that you would have otherwise given over to more calorically-dense foods; in short, you’ll consume fewer calories for the same sense of fullness, which, if you’re like me, and not going to be leg-dubbing in for Gisele anytime soon, isn’t the worst thing in the world.
Now, as a disclaimer, I have to confess to my personal loathing of the “salad as complete meal” option. I am not a “grilled-chicken-salad-kind-of-girl”; I’m also not likely to crave carrot sticks and hummus in the depths of a Boston winter, when every devilish cell in my body is demanding French onion soup.
I eat bacon and eggs in the morning, sausages with peppers and onions for lunch, and homemade-sticky-ribs for dinner, but I know that I should be eating 5-9 (closer to the 9 end of the spectrum) servings of fruits and veggies every day. We all should, but the trouble is sneaking those pesky fruits and veggies into our diets…. And, let’s face it, they don’t make it any easier on us, with their fragile shelf-lives, requisite chopping, and Magic-8-Ball like quality of unexpectedly turning up an unpleasant, oozing bruise, wormhole, or indeterminable sickening stench.
All of these obstacles amount to the need to employ a little creativity in squeezing 9 servings of veg into our daily diets, and the following are my tried-and-true recommendations:
2-3 pieces of fruit for breakfast - Give up your bagel and cream cheese, or worse, the no-breakfast-option immediately. In the first instance, heavy, carb-loaded breakfasts will make you sleepier and hungrier by mid-morning than consistently snacking on fruit; but, if you need a little more staying-power than your average blueberry is likely to supply, by all means, add some protein like a glass of milk (8g), 1 egg (6g), or, my personal favorite, an ounce of brie (6g) – don’t have a conniption, it’s only 94 calories. I’m not even going to explain the folly of foregoing breakfast altogether, but, needless to say, those hours could be spent adding some fruit to your diet.
Toss an apple and banana (or pear, plum, and orange) into your purse or keep boxes of blueberries and raspberries in the office fridge, either is an easy way to get 1/3 of the way to 9 servings before noon.
Sneak veggies into your favorite foods – This is my favorite option, as it’s the easiest, most satisfying, and turns the dullest of re-fueling exercises into a much richer and satisfying experience.
- Sandwiches – Never again have a sandwich consisting of only meat, cheese & bread. Always, ALWAYS toss some veggies in there – lettuce or arugula (the pre-washed, boxed kind is wonderfully easy and fresh), tomatoes, green peppers add crispiness and flavor, radishes (why the hell not?), cucumbers, onions, for the adventurous types, toss in some zucchini and summer squash. Pile your sandwiches high with veggies and you’re more than halfway to your goal by the end of lunch.
- Frozen veggies into Mac & Cheese –When no other food will satisfy, and you’re aching for some Mac & Cheese, toss a heaping serving of frozen peas, carrots, onions, or broccoli florets into the Mac & Cheese as soon as you’ve mixed the pasta and sauce. They don’t detract in the least from the comforting qualities of the M&C and also manage to magically clear away that attendant and nagging guilt for having over-indulged.
Roasted Veggies – Any dinner that you eat should contain at least one solidly vegetarian portion, and the easiest way to fulfill this obligation, apart from a hastily thrown-together salad, is roasting some veggies in your conventional or toaster-oven. Just plop some cherry tomatoes, carrots, asparagus, or brussel sprouts onto a baking sheet, toss with olive oil (don’t use the more expensive extra-virgin kind as its delicate flavor can’t hold up to the heat), a little salt and pepper and put into a 400° oven for 10-20 minutes (brussel sprouts take closer to 40)… you’ll smell them when they’re done.
Out for dinner – Get into the habit of ordering a salad sans any meat additions before the rest of your meal, even if you’re starting with appetizers. Yes, your bill may go up a bit, but you’ll eat a lot less of your super-rich dinner (great left-overs for the next day), and you have no excuses for not having done the grocery shopping, too many knives and chopping boards to clean up, etc.
Look for dinner recipes that consist of large veggie portions – That hangar steak recipe may look killer, but, unless you have the willpower and inclination to actually make the vegetable accompaniments separately (when I was working 10 hours/day, I certainly did not), opt for recipes that integrate your vegetables into the one recipe. Great options for this are Seared Tuna over Cherry Tomato Coulis, Seared Salmon with Green Sauce*, Roasted Chicken with Ricotta, Spinach and Pomegranate, and more. Just run down the ingredients list before settling on a recipe to make sure it tosses in plenty of veg.
Make a habit of adding veggies to whatever you sit down to eat (or shove in your mouth while running out the door), and you'll easily hit the 9-servings/day quota.
*Seared Salmon with Green Sauce
This recipe is a derivation from Pepper-Encrusted Salmon with Green Sauce from Caprial Pence’s Caprial’s Bistro-Style Cuisine, which is one of the most valuable of hidden gem cookbooks that I’ve ever come across. I don’t know how it’s not more popular, but it has handily earned a top place in my cookbook library.
Serves 2 – The recipe can easily be amended to feed more
2 4-5 oz. Salmon fillets
Salt & Pepper
Bunch Parsley
Handful Basil
Tbls. Capers
Zest and Juice of Lemon
3-4 Cloves Garlic, Finely Chopped or Grated with a Microplane
1/4 – 1/2 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 Chopped Anchovy Fillets - only necessary for the true fans, feel free to omit if just reading the word ruined your appetite
This is my go-to quick dinner recipe, and I’ve made it enough times to have gotten the cooking time down to under 15 minutes from refrigerator-fetching to first mouthful. Once you’ve made it a few times, you’ll be able to make the sauce while the salmon cooks, which can bring the prep time to sub-10, but, for the first few times, I recommend making the sauce first.
Directions:
Rough chop the parsley and basil and toss into a medium bowl (to make this your own, feel free to add any leafy green or herb that you like… arugula, mint, marjoram, thyme, could all fit nicely in here).
Add the capers, zest, lemon juice, anchovies, and garlic (the garlic should be as fine as possible, as no other heat than the freshly cooked salmon will be there to take the sting out of it; microplanes are my favorite option, but you could also do a round of serious chopping and add a tiny bit of salt mid-way through, which helps to break the garlic down). Mix the ingredients together, and add the olive oil to it, slowly, until the mixture is in a messy limbo between solid and liquid (there shouldn’t be pools of olive oil, but all parts of the greens should be thoroughly coated).
Now for the salmon. Salt and pepper each side generously. Put some plain olive oil into a sauté pan over medium-high heat and wait until you just start to see it smoke. Add the salmon for 2 minutes on each side. At this time and temperature, you’ll still have some under-done middle, which is the way I prefer it. If you like a more thoroughly cooked salmon, just cook for 3-4 minutes per side.
Remove the salmon from the pan, plate, and heap your green sauce on top. Serve.
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