Back from the beach

Deborah

The week on Fire Island with my family could not have been better. We were blessed with perfect weather and an adorable, cozy rental cottage just steps from the beach with outdoor shower and large deck to sit, read, and relax on.

My brain was in the off position, but two little discoveries managed to creep into my psyche that I would like to share. Fire island has limited resources when it comes to food options so it is necessary to preplan by carrying as much groceries on the ferry with you as possible or pay the exorbitant prices at the one tiny local grocery store. I had planned to do a pizza night with the kids and when the evening rolled around no one wanted to deal with a hot oven so we moved the pizza party to the grill. I had everyone take a hunk of dough (store bought this time, I'm on vacation after all) and stretch it out to their desired size and shape. We then grilled the dough on one side, flipped it over and quickly topped it with sauce, cheese, etc.

We then shut the lid of the grill to create an oven-y environment till the cheese melted. The evening was a huge success. Everyone was thrilled with their individual creations and the pizzas had a wonderful smoky flavor to them. I highly recommend this technique when entertaining a young crowd. It was so much more fun than hamburgers.

The second epiphany was a more leisurely discovery. While sitting on my uptown sister's deck (she and her husband own their own fabulous beach cottage on the island, lucky dogs) enjoying the end of the day, I was offered a glass of wine. It was a simple, inexpensive Pinot Grigio, not terribly complex, but chilled and pleasant. As we sat and sipped I kept eyeing my sister's basil plant and felt a curious compulsion to drop a few torn off leaves into my wine glass. My sister was aghast at the strangeness of the idea, but we took a sip and WOW! Really nice! A lovely basil perfume filled the glass and gave a charmed complexity to what was a fairly simple wine.
What can I say? Try it!

The tiny leaves of this basil plant are perfect to drop whole into a glass of white wine.

Armed with my new found discoveries I am rested and restored and ready to handle the rest of the summer with my basil infused cheap white wine and our next grilled pizza night with the kids on the calender.

just beyond my own backyard

Deborah
The weekly email newsletter from The Queens Botanical Garden proudly announced the opening of their new farmer's market. Yippee, I am there! The timing could not be better. Not only have I been yearning for a farmer's market in the hood, but I also had to prepare a tasting for a vegan hors d'oeuvres party this afternoon and could really use some fresh produce for inspiration.

A happy sign! 

The market is located on the corner on Main Street and Dahlia Street (what a great street name!) just outside the gates of the gardens. There were only a few vendors but they had plenty of beautiful things to choose from. 

The surprise hit for me was Tierra Farm from Valatie, NY selling organic nut butters and toasted seasoned organic nuts that were insanely fresh and flavorful. I bought some of their Roasted Cajun Cashews, immediatly opened the container and began eating, much to the amusement of the young vendor. Be forewarned- they are ADDICTIVE!

Back to the vegan hors party. Yes all vegan. And the 100 plus guests will be mostly non-vegan eaters which means they will need some convincing. Black bean cakes with fresh corn relish seems like a crowd pleaser. The corn at the market was so appealing, the husks still pale green and tender- not grey and papery like the corn I am still seeing at the supermarket.

The relish was easy to make and really delish. I didn't need a lot for my sample tasting so I ate the rest myself (!) piling it on top of some roasted vegetables. The  kernels were bursting with sweet corny juice. The relish added a lively bright note to the deeper woodsy flavor of the vegetables and is a perfect foil for the black bean cakes. 

Black Bean Cakes with Corn Relish

for the black bean cakes:

2 cups cooked black beans

1 small red onion finely chopped

2 jalapeño peppers finely chopped

4 cloves garlic finely chopped

1/2 cup cilantro finely chopped

1/2 lime zest

1/2 cup gluten free flour

1 cup canola oil

Mash the beans in a large bowl and add the onion, jalapeno, garlic, cilantro and lime zest. Mix well. If this were not vegan I would add an egg. Just saying. Form the mash into 1 Tbs. sized little buttons and press a little depression into the center of each one to form a little cup. Dust each one with the gluten free flour. Refridgerate for 1/2 hour so the cakes don't fall apart (too much) when frying.

Heat the oil in a large skillet till very hot and almost smoking. Fry the cakes in the hot oil in batches so that you don't crowd them and have room to turn them over (carefully). The oil should come to about half way up the side of the cakes. Fry on one side for about 6-8 minutes, then flip and fry on the other side for 5 more minutes. The idea is to get a light crust on the cakes which will act as a seal to hold them together (hopefully)- there will be casualties, don't fret, even the mangled ones taste good.

Carefully remove the cooked cakes from pan and allow to drain on a paper towel.

for the corn relish:

1 cup red wine vinegar or cider vinegar 

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 clove garlic, peeled 
• 1" ginger cut into rounds
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 small red pepper finely chopped
• 1 jalapeño pepper finely chopped
• 2 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels
• 3 tbsp chopped fresh chives
• 
  

In a small saucepan, bring vinegar and sugar to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Reduce heat and add garlic, ginger, and thyme. Simmer 10 minutes, until mixture is reduced to 3/4 cup. Remove pot from heat and strain, reserving the reduced liquid. Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, red pepper and jalapeño. Cook, stirring, until pepper softens. Stir in corn. Cook 2 minutes longer. Add vinegar mixture to corn mixture; simmer 5 minutes. Cool to room temperature in fridge. Stir in chives.

Amanda
Hmmmm. A Vegan Hors d'oeuvres party for mostly non-vegan people. Interesting challenge for which to prepare. I would be at a total loss of course. Would love to hear what else was on the menu!  This particular recipe sounds great. It's similar to the black bean burgers I make (which do have egg). I think the corn relish would be the perfect addition to my burgers! Can't wait to try it.

For an hors d'oeuvres party, it is easiest to just pick wines that are very food-friendly in general, and will pair with a large variety of flavors. This is not a type of event where you really have to be too particular about the wines you choose. However, I would typically opt for wines that are familiar to most people. Most are not wine connoisseurs, and I just want the attendees to feel comfortable looking at whatever choices are available. Recognizable varietals are always a safe way to go.

I recommend "crowd-pleasing" wines - wines that will be enjoyable to everyone, whether they are a novice or expert.  Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc are always good options for whites. I choose these for their crisp, light, fresh qualities.  For reds, I suggest Cabernet Sauvignon or a Pinot Noir. Choose simple, straight-forward wines. The crowd is not there to assess the characteristics and complexities of the wines. They are there to mingle, enjoy good food, and have a good time! The wine will certainly not be the focal point of the party. Deb, let us know how it goes!

a locavore meal, almost

Deborah

Locavore: one who eats foods grown locally whenever possible

Spent the afternoon with a dear friend who I have not seen in a long time, sustainable food blogger and committed locavore Mary Nelen. Mary, who writes the blog Valley Locavore,  filled me in on what is going on in her community of Northern Massachusetts where a strong DIY food ethic flourishes. She boasted of canning and preserving and shaking hands with farm animal. All very cool and admirable. We decided we would make lunch together during our visit. Mary supplied the broccoli rabe from a farmers market and I rummaged through my fridge at home to pull out some tofu (locally made!) and shitake mushrooms (I have no idea where they came from, oops) and some red quinoa I thought Mary might be interested in.
I also contributed a large handful of fresh herbs that I pulled out of my garden just before leaving the house to meet her (how much fresher can you get?)

The Upper West Side where Mary was staying was in full bloom Spring mode.

Our plan was simple, we would gab away with each other a mile a minute and give barely a fleeting thought to the meal. Kind of like cooking on auto pilot. I made the quinoa while Mary prepped the broccoli rabe.

I guess we could have used a slightly larger pan for the broccoli rabe.

The kitchen we were borrowing was minimally stocked and equipped. I did a quick sautee of the mushrooms and then the tofu which we cut into cubes. We found an onion in reasonable shape, chopped it up, sauteed it with the broccoli rabe and then threw in all the chopped herbs. The tofu and mushrooms went back into the pan and we mixed it all together.

The herbs coming up in my garden now are mint, lemon balm, sorrel, chives and oregano. I roughly chop them all together and add them to almost any dish right at the end of cooking to add freshness and depth.

We cooked the shitake mushrooms and the tofu separately, just enough to get a little brown crust for flavor and texture.

The finished dish: a mound of steamed red quinoa surrounded by the sauteed vegetables and tofu.

It was a simple, tasty, easy and healthy meal, which meant we could drink wine and not feel guilty.  What can I say, talking makes you thirsty. We drank white wine which seemed a good choice. How did we do Amanda?

Amanda
A good friend, delicious, easy lunch, and a nice bottle of wine. Sounds like a pretty great afternoon! Question - you don't blanch the broccoli rabe first? Just toss it right into the pan? I'm always in a quandry about that whenever I prepare it. I never really know when to blanch and when to just sautee. Any recommendations or thoughts on this?


Yes, I am in agreement regarding your wine choice! I think any light, crisp white would really work fine here. I wouldn't give it too much thought. Albarino, Sauvignon Blanc, Muscadet, Pinot Grigio - all fine, simple choices. You and Mary had set out to have a fun, easy afternoon together which does not require hemming and hawing over a wine. Just go with something fun for an occasion like this. I find that Prosecco is always a great afternoon libation to enjoy with friends, especially as the warmer weather hits. Prosecco is a staple on my block for afternoon/early evening barbeques. This light, refreshing, frizzante wine from Italy is always a huge hit.

Prosecco is made from a grape by the same name, and hails from the Veneto region of Italy. Very versatile, you can really enjoy it with a wide variety of fare. It's great for brunches, showers, and large get-togethers - it is Italy's answer to Champagne, minus the hefty pricetag. For great examples of this inexpensive sparkler, look to producers Bisol, Riondo, Caposaldo and Zardetto.


Choosing a wine should never cause stress or too much thought. Wine is best when shared with friends. As long as the "indulgers" enjoy it - that is all that matters! But I do recommend keeping a few bottles on hand as Prosecco is a great bottle to open for unexpected guests!

Presto, pesto!

Deborah
Life has never been the same once I learned (by heart) Marcella Hazan's basil pesto recipe from her seminal tome The Classic Italian Cookbook. It is the classic of the classics and the very first pesto recipe I had ever encountered waaaaaaaaaaaaaay back when.  These days I make pesto in every imaginable configuration- substituting all kinds of herbs and nuts and combinations there-of for the traditional basil and pine nuts, but retaining the tried and true proportions of herb to nut to garlic to olive oil. The results are always happy, which just encourages my wayward instincts.  The real payoff for me is that ALL four kids in my household will actually eat pesto in all its mutations and THAT alone is worth getting happy over.

I like to mix vegetables in with the pasta and the pesto, steaming them in the same water I cook the pasta in. Some good choices are broccoli, peas, green bean, cherry tomatoes, and zucchini.

The family was all home and hungry this week when I looked in the fridge to find spinach and parsley. Perfect. Went for it. Replaced the pine nuts with pepitas and we were good to go. Dinner in minutes and everybody ate!

My friend Dawn in Brookfield, CT. gets a head start growing her own pesto herbs from seed. 

Classic Pesto
by Marcella Hazan (& substitutes by ME):

-2 cloves garlic, crushed with side of knife (there is no substitute for garlic!)
-2 Tbs  pine nuts- I generally use more (pepitas, pecans, walnuts, cashews, macadamia)
-1 teas. salt
-2 cups fresh basil lightly packed (spinach, parsley, arugula, cilantro)
-1/2 cup of olive oil- I generally use LESS
-1/2 cup freshly grated parmesean cheese
-2 Tbs. Romano pecorino cheese
-3 Tbs. Butter, soft- I NEVER put this in, seems unnecessary to me

Place the garlic, nuts, salt and basil and half the olive oil in a food processor in that order,start to process and as the machine is running, slowly drizzle in enough of the remaining olive oil to  get a smooth paste. Remove pesto to a small bowl and beat in the cheese and butter (if using) by hand. If serving pesto over pasta ladle in a few tablespoons of the pasta water into the pesto to thin in out a bit before tossing over the pasta.


Amanda
I never thought of making pasta with pesto for my children. At ages 4 1/2 and 6, they still shy away from anything green. It makes for very difficult food preparation! Though my son does love salad, thankfully. If only they would try pesto,I know they would love it. What's not to love?


I am going to make a point of trying this pesto recipe with macadamia nuts. My favorite! And I can't wait for my basil to start growing in abundance! I started it from seeds, as I did parsley. So I should have no shortage of pesto this summer.


White or red would work just fine with this recipe, including any and all versions! Just depends upon your mood. In particular, there are many styles and varieties of whites that would be delicious with pesto. Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Albarino. My inclination would be to look towards Italy for the perfect match. Vermentino. Currently grown in several Mediterranean countries, it is most commonly associated with Northern Italy, specifically Liguria and the island of Sardinia. The wines are crisp, citrusy with bright acidity. For an afternoon lunch on a warm Spring day, I would lean towards white. It is a refreshing wine, and will also pair very well with a variety of vegetables as well as seafood.


I recently tried the Casanova della Spinetta Toscana Vermentino 2009 (their first vintage) and it was spectacular! It is medium-bodied with flavors of peach and apricot on the palate. Just so enjoyable and very affordable ($15.99)

For red, I would choose something with a bit of old world earthiness, such as a Rosso di Montalcino. The earthy quality of the wine would do well next to the pesto. Rosso di Montalcino is made from 100% Sangiovese, and is considered to be the younger sibling to Brunello. You can enjoy the Rosso with a variety of cheeses as well. This stunning Sangiovese is a little pricier (but well worth it) at around $21.99. Argiano is a great producer to go to for incredible, classic Tuscan wines.

Southern Comfort

Deborah

All dressed up and ready for the game. Waddya mean, the Jets are out?

It's game time! The Super Bowl. All I can say is THANK YOU to the powers that be that the Jets did not make it this year. Otherwise my home would be in an INSANE frenzy of excitement and expectation. I really could not manage that. Instead we will watch the game in a civilized manner with minimal name calling, cursing and crying. No one's voice will be hoarse the next day from hysterical screaming and cheering at the television screen. My husband and children roll their eyes at me because I don't GET the concept of wearing the exact same clothes and sitting in the exact same position as you did when the last crucial game was won. All I can say is THANK YOU Jets for not quite making it this year and I wish you all the best next year.

Super bowl parties are a great excuse to get together on a cold day and eat junk food. Where does a wine drinking vegetarian fit into all this you may ask? Well, they are invited to the party too. Who says vegetarians don't have gross, unhealthy foods of their own to contribute to the pot luck?

Everything you need to get the party started.

A few years ago I catered a party where I was specifically asked to make pimento cheese for the Southern birthday boy. What the heck is that? It was explained as a mushy mess of cheese and pimentos that means the absolute universe to anyone who grew up on the stuff. Oh, ok. I made a batch and was horrified, but served it anyway.

The finished product. Not so pretty.

The leftovers ended up in my fridge and a few weeks later I pulled it out and tasted it. Boy was that stuff GOOD!! It had improved with age and I couldn't get enough of it. Ah HA!! Perfect yucky party food! I have made a batch for Sunday and I thought I would try it as a canape, putting a dollop on cut-out rounds of toast and sticking it in the toaster oven for a minute. Doesn't a toaster oven seem like the perfect Super Bowl party cooking tool?
Yeah team!

Pimento Cheese Canapes
2 cups of sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1/4 cup of Mayo
8oz. *Pimentos, minced
2 Tbs. lemon juice
2 Tbs. Bourbon

8 slices of bread cut into rounds or quarters
1 Tbs. canola oil

for the cheese: Mix the first five ingredients and store in fridge for up to six weeks. serve as a dip or spread

for the canapes: brush the bread with the oil and toast till crispy and golden. Add a dollop of the pimento cheese on top and put in the toaster oven till cheese begins to melt and bubble.
Serves 8

*Full disclosure: When I first made pimento cheese I said "what's up with PIMENTO"?  I mean, does it have to be pimento? Why not some other kind of pepper? I was told that PIMENTO IS ESSENTIAL! Well ok, but, I made mine with hot pickled peppers called Piri Piri. And I liked it! The peppers give some heat and the pickling provides the tang. I'm just saying. Experiment.

Amanda
Hmmmm. Sounds Interesting. Perhaps I should give it a try. My initial reaction is probably what Deb's was at first - call it "skepticism". But Deb, if you sing its praises, then it can't be bad! What attracts me to this recipe is that you don't have to be a vegetarian to enjoy it! Seems like a crowd-pleaser to me! Sounds like something you could even heat up in a bowl and serve with tortilla chips (what Super Bowl Party would be complete without tortilla chips?)


I personally will be watching the game at a friend's house with several other couples. I figure that the women will be drinking wine and the men will be gulping down beer and eating wings. Of course, there will be a lot of different things to eat, so I wouldn't pair a wine with any single item. And, on Game Day, I definitely don't want anything too "serious" or complex. I just want a simple, fun, easy drinking wine, a wine that I would enjoy at a barbeque perhaps. I will probably bring a nice jammy Zinfandel for all to enjoy. (Seghesio, Ravenswood, Rosenblum). If you are planning to drink white, again, just a simple wine - Pinot Grigio or Chardonnay perhaps. When I choose wines for a large, informal gathering like a Super Bowl party, I want to make sure the wines are not too "out there", and that my choices are ones that will appeal to everyone. I save my "off the beaten path" wines for smaller gatherings where the attendees really appreciate, or want to experiment and learn about wine.


But, after all, it is the Super Bowl. There's always beer as an option...