Friday, July 23, 2010

braised radishes


Well the radishes in the garden are pretty much done. OMG, did we grow too many of those things. Fred suggested that we not grow them next year, and I had to agree. Although the peppery bite is tasty, there is a limit to how many radishes two people can consume.

Eating them raw with butter and salt didn't turn to be as exciting as we had hoped, so we turned to braising them. A farmer at the Millerton Farmer's Market suggested this, so I found the recipe at thekitchen.com. A combination of shallots and balsamic vinegar make this really delicious. The vinegar cooks down to a syrupy consistency while the shallots caramelize, and the radishes lose some of their strong, peppery flavor. This is definitely a grown up dish. Not really the flavors that most kids would like.




Now that the radishes are done we've moved on to the other spring vegetable that we are harvesting in the middle of summer: peas. I plan to pick a bunch this weekend and make a simple pasta of peas with mint and some sort of cheese. Feta? Goat? Not sure yet.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Summer Pasta Part I


During last week's heat wave, when it reached 103° in NYC—a record for that day —I couldn't bare the thought of spending too much time in the kitchen to cook dinner. So I relied on one of our favorite warm-weather meals: spaghetti with arugula, cherry tomatoes, garlic, and olive oil. This dish tastes like summer. The beauty of this recipe is that you most likely have all or most of the ingredients in your cupboard or refrigerator. Garlic is a staple in our kitchen as is olive oil. We're growing tomatoes in our garden in Copake but it's too early to pick any just yet, so I grabbed some cherry tomatoes from the market. Arugula on the other hand was one of the first vegetables to grow in our new garden this summer. Carl takes the credit here. He grew the plant from seeds and took pains to keep the patch weed and critter free.


I cut the tomatoes in half and washed the arugula. Next, I sauteed chopped garlic in the olive oil for 30 seconds or less. Don't let the garlic start to brown. It will taste too bitter. Add the cherry tomatoes and saute until they start to caramelize and create a thickened sauce. While you're doing this have a pot of water on to boil. I prefer traditional spaghetti # 8 for this but you can use linguine or any long pasta of your liking. Once the pasta is al dente, drain and pour the hot spaghetti on top of a heallthy serving of arugula placed in your serving bowl. The heat from the pasta will wilt the greens. Pour that delicious red "sauce" of tangy tomatoes over it. Voila! A taste of summer at your ready in less than 20 minutes. Fresh ground pepper and little Percorino Romano on top finishes it off. Take your bowl as quickly as you can into the air-conditioned living room and slowly enjoy your dinner in front of the AC and the latest episode of Glee stored on your DVR. Dishes can wait until tomorrow when the weather cools. Hopefully.

Friday, July 9, 2010

Meatballs with spinach



When I worked for Cookie magazine I edited a weekly recipe newsletter. The recipes were "kid-approved" meals from the parents on the staff. Our executive editor, Alanna Stang, submitted a recipe for turkey meatballs with spinach. I finally got around to trying it a few weeks ago, and it will definitely be in heavy rotation in my home.

I made a few changes to Alanna's original recipe. She used ground turkey, but I substituted mixed meat (beef, veal, pork) for the turkey, and I baked them rather than frying them as she suggested. I left my food processor upstate, so I chopped the ingredients by hand, which produced bigger chunks of onion and pine nuts. If you're making these for a picky eater, I would suggest using the food processor to blend all the ingredients together, and to hide those pesky onions.

Vivi and I ate them with spaghetti tossed with butter and garlic, which she told me she wouldn't eat because she doesn't like garlic. After a little coaxing, she tried the pasta and the meatballs and said, "You're right Papa, I do like this." I savor moments like that.

Fred wasn't home that night so he tried the leftovers a few nights later and he just asked me today when I would be making them again. In fact, he just bought some more mixed meat. I think that was a hint that I should make them soon.

Here's the recipe.

Adapted from Alanna Stang's recipe.

1 pound ground mixed meat
1 small garlic clove, minced
3/4 cup fresh bread crumbs (or 1 cup, if adding the spinach)
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
3 tablespoons toasted, chopped pine nuts
1/2 cup minced fresh parsley leaves (preferably flat-leafed)
1 large egg, beaten lightly
1/3 cup of chopped, cooked spinach (I used frozen. The key is to make sure it's well drained before adding it to the meat mixture)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper


Preheat oven to 350°.

In the food processor blend together all ingredients. You'll get a sticky, slightly green mixture.

Using hands (wet them slightly so the meat won't stick to your fingers), form it into meatballs about 1 inch in diameter.

Place meatballs on a cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes.

Enjoy.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Fourth of July recap


We had a great time over the holiday weekend despite the relentless heat. Vivi had a blast setting up a lemonade stand with her Auntie and a few of my cousins, who stopped by for a bbq.


My sister squeezed the juice out of 17 lemons by hand! Next time I'll bring a juicer for her. We got two cars to stop, and the family got very thirsty sitting in the sun watching all the other cars speed by without stopping. Guess what? Vivi does not offer a family discount! So, all in all, she walked away with her target goal of $6. Now she can buy that stuffed SpongeBob she saw a few weeks ago. I put the left over lemonade in ice-pop molds. They were super sour, but very refreshing after a day of kayaking.


The grill got some action: chicken breasts got dressed up with a mango/chili marinade one night, burgers and brats another night. I picked more radishes from the garden and tossed them into a pasta salad. We had a late lunch on Monday before heading back to the city, so my plan of grilling some pork chops got nixed. My cousin Debbie made an icebox cake, which is chocolate cookie wafers with whipped cream. I can remember eating this cake as a kid. Mom made a blueberry buckle, which I forgot to take a picture of. It made for a great breakfast the next morning with some yogurt and more berries. I'm going to get both of those recipes and post them soon.

Friday, July 2, 2010

Happy 4th of July



Last year we stayed in the city for the 4th of July and had a really good time. This year, however, I'm very excited about getting upstate and kicking back. I know there'll be plenty of lettuce to pick, so I'm thinking about salads and perfecting my vinaigrette. I promised Vivi we would make ice-pops. Other than that, I'm going to check out what's at the farmer's market and see where my inspiration takes me. I rented kayaks to take out on the lake, and I'm going to see if I can find some sparklers.

Happy 4th. Enjoy the long weekend.