These are a few of my favorite things

I have been a long-time reader and fan of Sarah's beautiful blog, the Pink of Perfection. I love her writing and, while I'm not a very crafty girl, I love reading about her ideas and creations there. Her recipes always feel friendly and warm, like she's a good girlfriend just passing along her most helpful weeknight dinner ideas. This one in particular has happily entered into my regular, "I don't really feel like making dinner, but I want to eat something delicious and fun," category.

All that being said, it seemed like a great idea to play along with her July project and write up my very own happiness list. Here are a few of my favorite (food-ish) things:

• The recipe and wine listings at the beginning of every issue of Food & Wine magazine -- the categories, the color coding, the possibilities!
• The very tip of a slice of pie, cake, or even quiche. My mother has always insisted that this was the very best bite, and now, even though I don't necessarily agree, I always try to savor it.
• My new ice-cream maker. So far, I've only ventured as far as Philadelphia-style chocolate chip, but much more happy news on the ice-cream maker front to come in future postings.
• Watching Peter take the first bite of something delicious. There is some variation, depending on the dish's level of amazing-ness, but it typically involves closed eyes, a nodding head, and a slow smile, followed by an extended thoughtful gaze off in the distance.
• Packing up a fast weeknight picnic for dinner in the park. There's something that feels very special about eating outside on a blanket with a glass of wine on a Wednesday, isn't there? I've been taking inspiration from this lovely list lately, courtesy of Mark Bittman.

Island food

We just got back from an absolutely delightful week on Martha's Vineyard. We ate a lot. And we beached a lot. Here's a sampling of some of my favorite meals (and some of the Vineyard -- it's just so pretty).

View from the lighthouse in Edgartown:

An incredible salad we made at home one night. We stole the idea from a salad special that Gennaro serves. It's shrimp, avocado, roasted red peppers, fresh grilled corn, and a simple balsamic vinaigrette. Isn't it gorgeous?

Sidewalk in Vineyard Haven:

Tuna, green pepper, tomato, and fennel kabobs:

Net Result lobster dinner:

Pretty soup bowls on the front porch at Chilmark Pottery:

Happy summer vacation!

Mercy, Gramercy

Peter and I have hit a lot of milestones lately.  I finished my first New York job and am about to start my second, and in the very same week, Peter finished graduate school and was offered a wonderful job.  Some celebrating was in order.

We went to Gramercy Tavern for dinner the night before the Fourth of July and hopped right up to a table thanks to the holiday weekend.  It was tough to decide between a sparkling rose and a fun cocktail to start, but ultimately we went with cocktails.  Peter's was a gin icey concoction that tasted gross to me, but he adored it.  But, oh my -- the Tea Time was just perfect.  Vodka, iced tea, lemon, amaretto, with a giant spring of mint.  

We started off our meal sharing the merguez sausage, which came with chickpeas, beet greens, and almonds.  Our delightful server suggested a spicy red wine to go with the sausage.  I liked this dish, especially with the crunch of the nuts mixed in, and they very nicely spilt the order onto two plates for us.  Our second appetizer was a baby trout special that came on a thick soup/stew made of squash and zuccinni and squash blossoms.  It was bright green and had big leaves of herbs floating around inside.  The trout were lightly battered and fried, and it tasted like the very best parts of summer.  

We shared the scallops for our main dish (also split onto two plates for us, a very nice touch), which came with baby beets in a pretty, thick pink sauce and bacon bits.  The scallops were tender and soft and delightful.  I'm embarrassed to admit that I've only just recently tried scallops, and now I can't seem to get enough of them.  

I'm a sucker for any restaurant with a nice cheese plate, but Gramercy was above and beyond.  There are about two dozen cheeses on their menu, and our heads were spinning.  By this point we trusted our server completely, so we told her that we were pretty adventurous and asked her to put together a plate with five cheeses for us.  The first was a lot like cheesy butter -- amazing.  Neither Peter or I can remember the second cheese (usually a bad sign...), but I remember enjoying it at the time. The next one was nutty and a bit grainy.  Peter, budding cheese maker that he is, wistfully said, "I wish I had an endless wheel of this..."  Next was our Cheez-It cheese -- flakey and full of that delicious cheddar taste.  The last was a strong and tangy blue.  

It was a bit decadent, but we got the German chocolate with chocolate coconut ice cream.  Good, but it too was difficult to top the incredible cheeses.  Still, an absolutely incredible celebration meal.  

A little night music

I didn't grow up in a very musical house -- if something was on, it was almost always NPR. Luckily for me, Peter did grow up in a musical household, and listening to something fun at dinner is one of the best things he has introduced to me.

The only offerings I brought to the [dinner] table were Tony Bennett's "Unplugged" and the complete Michael Buble collection. Awesome (obviously!), but not exactly extensive. Here are some new favorites, all excellent dinner companions:

She & Him
Forro in the Dark
Super XX Man
John Pizzarelli Trio

Savory strawberries

One of the best and worst things about dating a teacher is summer vacation.  On the one hand, said teacher gets some much needed rest, has more time to do annoying chores around the apartment, and is a generally more relaxed person.  

On the other hand, they do not have to go work in the morning.  And you do.  

Peter helps to make up for this injustice by making lots of wonderful dinners in the summertime.  He's a much fancier and extravagant cook than I am, which makes it even more fun.  I'm always hoarding our ingredients, saving them for goodness knows what, while he piles on the good cheese and olives and fancy vinegar.  

Now, he's not doing foie gras or frogs legs (yet!).  But he is doing homemade candies walnuts and polenta cakes and savory strawberry sauce.  On a Tuesday!  We had a delicious salad with walnuts, goat cheese, beets, strawberries, and baby lettuce.  We also had polenta cakes topped with slices of beets and goat cheese (I know, I know.  I'm having trouble restraining myself with the beets.).  And, best of all, he made beautiful pork chops covered in a strawberry sauce spiked with cumin.  A delicious, fancy summer dinner.  

Savory strawberry sauce (courtesy of Peter)

You will need:

7 or 8 nice sized strawberries

A shake of cumin

Tablespoon of chopped fresh basil leaves

Chopped up 5-6 of your strawberries.  Add chopped berries and basil to the food processor and shake in your cumin.  Let it work just a little while, maybe half a minute, until you have just a slightly lumpy consistency.  Pour into bowl and add remaining chopped berries.  

Peter seared pork chops, transfered them to a baking dish, then poured this sauce on top.  They went into the oven to finish cooking.  We've never tried it, but I'm sure this sauce would also be fantastic with chicken.  

Quiche!

My all-time favorite weeknight meal is quiche.  It's deceptively easy, versatile, and forgiving.  I made a roasted garlic and rainbow chard one with some cheddar cheese. 

You will need: 

1 pie crust

2 eggs

1 cup cream or half and half

2 cups shredded cheddar (though lots of other cheeses are also be delicious in this)

1 cup sauteed swiss chard, chopped

4 cloves roasted garlic

Roast four cloves garlic for about 20 minutes in a 400 degree oven.  Chop swiss chard and saute until wilted in a little bit of olive oil. 

Mix eggs, cream, and cheese in a mixing bowl.  Add mashed garlic and swiss chard.  Pour into pie dish over crust.  Cover crust edges with foil and bake for 30-40 minutes in a 400 degree oven.  

Nice little Saturday

Pretty Union Square things: 

And the pretty things that came home with me:

Greek feast

I love trying new cheap date places, and luckily, Peter is incredibly good at finding them.  Last night we went to Kefi on the Upper West Side.  They have delicious Greek food, an enthusiastic wait staff, and a cozy navy and white decor that felt cool and relaxed and just a little bit special.  And it boasted a Food & Wine best new chef.   What more could you ask for from a cheap date place!

  

Because we cook so much at home, I always feel impressed by the appetizer side of the menu when we go out.  Lately we've just dug in, ordering two or three appetizers and then sharing an entree.  We first got the warm feta with Greek olives, tomatoes, capers, and an anchovy served with pita bread.  The feta was spread out in the bottom of a small baking dish and was just a little bit warm -- not hot -- which was delightful on a summer night, even if we were sitting in air conditioning.  

Then there was the sheep's milk dumplings with lamb sausage.  It came in a lemony tomato sauce that had nicely toast pine nuts, tomatoes, and a bit of feta crumbled on top.  The sausage was a little too spicy for me (Peter adored it), but I fell in love with the dumplings.  They were light and pillowy, the way a good bite of gnocchi should be, but the sheep's milk was a little tangy, and when I swished them around in the sauce, it was heavenly.

We were just a little bit adventurous with our third starter and decided to try sweetbreads for the first time.  They came breaded and fried with roasted garlic and spinach, and looked fantastic, but I was nervous.  It's not everyday that I eat thymus glands.  Peter went at it first. After one bite, he was glowing.

"It will be like the best chicken nugget you've ever tasted."

And it was!  They were light and white and swam in lovely lemon sauce. Our entree was a lamb chop special, and while the lamb was fantastic, I absolutely loved the rice and spinach that came with it.  The rice was wet and buttery with large pieces of parsley and small pieces of spinach mixed in.  Like everything else we had, there were strong lemon flavors mixed in, which made it taste fresh, despite all the butter.  

Definitely a spot to return to!

 

Let's Talk About Food, Baby!

I am completely and totally in love with pod casts. I know I'm about to admit something totally lame, but truth be told, pod casts are the only reason I ever use my i-Pod. To me, they offer all the incredible benefits of Tivo -- you get to pick from a list of your favorite shows and listen to them whenever you want. This weekend, while Peter and I were fleeing the hot, sticky city for a day at the beach, we totally gorged on new pod casts. We tried a few of the NPR Food pod casts for the first time, and much like my beloved NPR Books podcast, they were a bit hit and miss, but mostly hit.  

The annoying parts mostly draw from NPR's most irritating show -- the Bryant Park Project.  The hosts have loud, grating voices, ask stupid questions, and talk aimlessly about nothing.  But the pod casts are redeemed by things like an interview with the Neely's, or a long chat about Greek feta, or an explanation on how to pick the perfect strawberry.  

Isabella hash

One of my favorite Friday night activities is to stop at BaBa Louie's for dinner in Great Barrington on the way to my family's house in the Berkshires. They serve incredible salads and pizza -- just the sort of thing I'm often craving on a Friday night after a drive. The last time we were there, Peter and I tried the Isabella Pizzarella with sweet potatoes, garlic, fennel, and a bit of balsamic vinegar.

I found myself with all of these incredients at home last night, and decided to turn it into a hash, with some baby bella mushrooms added in for good measure.

Isabella-inspired hash:

You will need: a giant sweet potato, a medium sized fennel 

bulb, six or seven baby bella mushrooms, two large cloves of garlic, chicken stock, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.

Wash and peel apart the layers of your fennel bulb. Cut into bite-sized half rounds and saute with garlic in a splash of olive oil and a pat of butter until soft, about 6 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside. Add washed, peeled, and cubed sweet potatoes to the pan with a bit more olive oil and butter. Cook until soft, about 10 minutes, and then remove from pan. Quickly saute mushrooms in butter. Add fennel, garlic, and sweet potatoes back into the pan, and and add a good swirl of chicken stock to the mixture. Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste, and finish with a couple good shakes of balsamic vinegar.  Left-overs are delicious served with eggs the next day.