Wednesday March 31, 2010

Geraldo Mendoza is the cook at Scrimshaw who is in charge of all the appetizers and first courses. He does a great job and is also highly valued for his staff meals. Last week he made a crazy delicious hearty quesadilla that went way beyond the melted cheese version my kids like. He served it with a Napa cabbage slaw, dressed with lime vinaigrette. So good.

Geraldo's Quesadilla

Saute small amount of ground beef, maybe a 1/4 lb, with onions. Add diced chorizo, a few handfuls of baby spinach, sliced hot peppers like jalapenos if you like the heat. In another pan quickly simmer pink beans or black beans in olive oil and garlic and gently mash them with the back of a spoon. Sandwich all this plus crumbled queso blanco between two tortillas. You can toast the quesadilla on a griddle or in a pan or in the oven. Cut in quarters and serve. This is a knife and fork quesadilla.

Napa Cabbage Slaw

Tossed in lime vinaigrette.

I am a good home cook. But my mother is a genius chef with her very own restaurant, Scrimshaw, and when she calls I don my sous chef's hat and get on the Jitney to Greenport, NY. I am lucky to be able to work in her professional kitchen sometimes. (All the time would kill me.) I firmly believe that home cooking is for home and restaurant food belongs in a restaurant. But I always bring so much back from Scrimshaw that I can translate to my own kitchen, my kitchen with a staff of one and only four burners. This week we served a lot of cassoulet at the restaurant. The beans in a cassoulet owe a huge debt to their oven romance with confit, duck fat and sausage. But they can be delicious when prepared on their own with some of the other components of a cassoulet. Their savory richness is so good with lamb chops or roast chicken or a duck breast.

Shoulder Lamb Chops

Seared and finished in the Oven, or grilled.

Sublime White Beans

If you have duck or goose fat lying around (David, I'm thinking of you) this would be a good time to use it, but olive oil is great too. Saute a lot of garlic in a lot of olive oil or other fat then add a couple of cans of white beans, sprigs of rosemary, tomato paste and water or stock. Oh, and a little white wine. Simmer briefly, maybe 15 mins, and serve. Any pan juices from the chops should be added at the end too.

A nice green veg like steamed green beans would be nice.

Monday March 29, 2010

Beef Stew

I have to come clean here and tell you that I have a pressure cooker. I swear by it and I personally think everyone should have one. It is the only reason that I can blithely say "beef stew" on a Monday morning. You can make any version you like in an hour and it will taste like it sat on the back of the stove all day. And you will have leftovers.

A Big Salad

Sorry, I just love salad and never seem to get bored with it and it cleanses the palate, as my mother used to say.

Red wine of course.

Sunday March 28, 2010

Spaghetti Carbonara

This is the hands down favorite pasta dish in my house and we often have it on Sunday nights. It's the pasta that manages to be comforting and sophisticated at once. I feel cared for when I eat it, but in an I'm dining al fresco in Rome kind of way. Which is a really good way to feel sometimes.

I always follow Marcella Hazan's recipe. It's what I was raised on, but many good recipes can be found on Epicurious.

A Big Crispy Arugula Salad

Dressed with vinegar, not lemon.

Fresh Fruit

Saturday March 27, 2010

Sloppy Joes

Is it wrong to serve Sloppy Joes the night after you've done nothing more than open a couple of cans and made toast? No it's not. Sloppy Joes are delicious and your kids, if you have them, can make them. That leaves plenty of time for a Wii tournament.

I'll make a salad because I feel guilty if I don't serve a veg.

Ice Cream Sundaes.

Someone served me an ice cream sundae recently which had been garnished with chocolate malted milk powder. It too it to another level. Just thought I'd mention it.

Friday March 26, 2010

It's Friday. I've had it.

Sardines on Hot Buttered Toast and Tomato Soup

The sardines should be King Oscar Brisling Sardines in olive oil.

The soup should be Campbell's but if you want to show off and make homemade, go ahead.

I am craving the Campbell's taste from childhood.

The beer should be cold.

Sleep tight.

Thursday March 25, 2010

Pork Chops

How about breaded and lightly fried pork chops. Season the chops and the bread crumbs and of course dip the chops in beaten egg before breading.

And sauteed apples.

And a green veg like sauteed chard or spinach.

Wednesday March 24, 2010

Pasta and Sausage

So happy to have that big tupperware of sausage and peppers. If you cut up the sausages and simmer everything briefly with Pomi, the chunky one, not the soupy one, and maybe more garlic, you end up with a whole different thing. I'd use short pasta but spaghetti would be good too.

A Big Huge Salad

Again. Escarole, red onion, shaved parmesan? Red wine vinegar, not balsamic, but that's just me.

Sorry I keep ditching dessert. I always have chocolate in the house. That counts, right?

Tuesday March 23, 2010

Shrimp and Chickpea Stew

It's nice to crisp up the chickpeas a little in hot oil before you add the shrimp. Cumin, s&p, orange zest and a little tomato paste are all I'm seasoning with tonight. Thin it with a little water or broth, just enough to make it saucy. It will be fragrant and comforting but not heavy. This is so good with basmati rice.

Spinach Salad

If you have a pear lying around you might want to slice it very thinly and toss it with the spinach. If the pear is a little under ripe even better. Nice with a vinaigrette made from fancy apple cider vinegar, or even balsamic.

Monday March 22, 2010

Korean Style Vegetable Pancake

I use Mark Bittman's recipe for these which you can find on the NYT website. His have chives, carrots and some zucchini in them. And optional shrimp. They are easy and DELICIOUS, just like all of his recipes are. But obviously you can put whatever veggies you have around in them and leftover chicken from the other night. Frozen corn is nice. His dipping sauce is essential.

I like to serve a sliced mango that's been tossed in lime juice with these. Dip the mango slices in a mixture of even parts chili powder, sugar and salt and sip a cold beer as you flip the pancakes.

Sunday March 21, 2010

Sunday Dinner

Sausage and Peppers

And onions, garlic, plenty of olive oil, s&p. All tossed together in a roasting pan and baked for about an hour at 350 degrees. Give everything a toss once or twice if you are walking past your oven. Make a really big batch so you have leftovers to make into a pasta sauce, or to eat cold out of the fridge before you toddle off to bed after a night of imbibing. Or with scrambled eggs for breakfast or supper.

This just needs a good loaf of bread and a salad. But buttered pasta would be really good maybe with roasted cauliflower. (Or zucchini!)

Lots of red wine.

I'm not that big on dessert but brownies seem especially good after this dinner.

Saturday March 20, 2010

Roast Chicken

Slathered with butter, herbs under the skin, a lemon in the cavity and then roasted the way

you like. I start at 450 degrees then lower to 350 degrees after about 20 minutes and I flip the chicken half way through. I flip it back for the last few minutes to crisp up the skin. PLEASE let

the chicken rest for at least 10 minutes but preferably more before you carve. It will stay hot for

an hour.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Whole Shallots

Tossed in olive oil and s&p and strewn around the chicken half way through.

Sauteed Broccolli Rape

Friday March 19, 2010

Friday Is For Fish

It is and it's a good thing.

I have a friend who breaks down the week by foods, as in Monday is pasta, Tuesday is chicken etc. I can't seem to do it but you might like to try it. Then half the work is done for you which is the point of this blog really. But the only one that's stuck for me if fish on Friday.

Salmon fillet is something I never get sick of. And it has supernatural healing powers. Slow roasted in a 225 degree oven for half an hour, simply or fancily seasoned, it comes out of the oven perfect every time. S & P and lemon juice is good on it or a mix of honey, mustard (NOT Honey Mustard) and parsley, or you could go the cumin, garlic, paprika route. Orange juice, olive oil, thyme. Whatever you are craving...

I am on an orzo binge and when I cook it in chicken stock and then toss in olive oil, chopped fresh herbs and sometimes parmesan it goes with everything.

Sauteed matchstick zucchini. I love zucchini and I don't care that I may be the only one.

We will probably have chocolate malteds for dessert.

And I am going to salt a whole chicken tonight, liberally with kosher salt and stick it in the fridge for either Saturday or Sunday.

Thursday March 18, 2010

Pasta Again

I think I'll toss some cavatelli with room temperature ricotta, softened butter, parmesan and a lot of salt and pepper.

AND chopped frozen spinach.

And a big salad.

Clementines. I found a bag of them from California that are fantastic the way clementines were when they first came around. Remember? Now it's always a crap shoot with clementines.

Wednesday March 17, 2010

Saint Patrick's Day

OK. Bring it on.

Corned Beef and Cabbage and Boiled Parsleyed Potatoes

Horsradish, run out and get some horseradish. And mustard.

And beer, not green.

And a hearty shot of Jamieson's before bed to insure a good night's sleep.

Siochan Leat

Tuesday March 16, 2010

It so often happens that it becomes 6:oo and dinner is just a faint memory from yesterday. But it's tonight and everyone's hungry. Someone changed the clocks on me and I didn't know until this morning that the kids had a half day. Precisely why I never complain about leftovers anymore.

Fakey Scotch Broth seemed right on another cold rainy night. I had some leftover lamb, some pedestrian veg (onions, carrots, celery, zucchini, like that) some leftover rice. Bouillion cube. All together a really good soup. If you had leftover chicken you could have authentic chicken and rice soup, but I didn't.

There was a still friendly piece of Dutch Parrano in the fridge and a couple of Braeburn apples.

There is always a bottle of red wine around.

It was good and filling and a cheat, which made it better.

Monday March 15, 2010

A cold rainy NYC Monday.

This dinner might cheer us up:

Chicken Adobe

made w chicken thighs, cider vingar, soy sauce, shallots sliced really thin,

minced garlic, slivers of ginger, scallions.

If you marinate all this in the morning you"ll be glad you did but if you

don't it'll still be great.

Rice

short grained cooked in chicken stock and a splash of olive oil and sauteed minced onion or forget the onion if it's

too much, it's Monday after all.

Napa Cabbage Salad

toss it with lime juice, canola oil, fish sauce, a dash of sugar, s & p.

And maybe slivered red onion and grated carrots.

Sliced Oranges

Cold Beer