Hello, Summer!

You guys!  I'm FINALLY home and I'm FINALLY done with conference season at work!  Most of you have been entrenched in summer for a few weeks but mine is starting now.  Um, to say I'm excited is an understatement to the nth degree.

But let's start at the beginning: as most of you know, I was at the American Library Association conference in New Orleans last week: 7 days and 6 nights.  That is a lot of eating out in restaurants, airports, and hotels.  So when I got home, all I wanted was a simple, fresh, home-cooked meal that was both satisfying and light.  And even a bit cleansing.

So I went with one of my favorites: Tuna with Butter-Warmed Corn Kernels.  Which I've actually posted here in the past.  What's funny is that when I initially posted this recipe, I was in the middle of a summer meltdown: it was late August and I was soooo over the heat and humidity.  I was trying to stick with no-heat meals and this one was perfect.  So isn't it wonderful that now I can post this in the opposite frame of mind?  Instead of fighting summer's heat, I am embracing all that summer entails: vacation, sunbathing, watermelon mojitos (because that's what I'm drinking while I write this), lounging on the roof deck, and...no conferences!

And in my joyous and celebratory frame of mind, I give you Tuna with Espelette Pepper and Butter-Warmed Corn with Cilantro, courtesy of Patricia Wells' Vegetable Harvest:

Click here for full recipes (you're clicking through to my original blog post).  Again, feel free to substitute smoked paprika for the espelette pepper.  And feel free to substitute and improvise!  Can't stand the taste of cilantro (Hi, MC and Gillian!)?  Try parsley or basil*.

When I initially posted this recipe, I drank it with a Riesling**.  But right now I am completely high on Vinho Verde and my particular favorite is this one:

It's Ouro Verde Vinho Verde (Portugal) and I get it from Fresh Direct for $6.99 - it's my summer go-to.  It's slightly effervescent,citrus-bright, and dry.  It paired perfectly.

I can't even tell you how thrilled I am to be back here with all of you, ready to start my summer, and sharing my favorite recipes and drinks.  Cheers!

Eat, drink, and celebrate summer!


* These recommendations are courtesy of the outstanding The Flavor Bible by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page.  I've mentioned it here a gazillion times but it needs to be mentioned again.  Just go buy it.


** Ditto for this one.  The Riesling recommendation came from What to Drink with What You Eat, also by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page.  Your personal cookbook library is NOT complete without either of these books, in my opinion.

Rooftop dining

It's Crazy Town around here with me leaving for the conference on Wednesday.  It's been so challenging to get out of my own head, away from thoughts about next week, and just be in the moment with my family before I leave.  Luckily, I'm distracted by the joy that my best friends in the world - nay, members of my family - are moving to NYC in a month.  The male half of that pair, Brian, was here last week and through this weekend, looking for apartments and getting a feel for the lay of the land.  I haven't thought about my damn conference at all for the last two days.  That is the magic that is Soul Twin and Brian moving here.

Tonight we sat up on our roof deck for dinner, something we haven't done yet since moving into this apartment three months ago.  And I made my first recipe from Patricia Wells' new cookbook, SALAD AS A MEAL: Scrubbed Bread Tartines with Chorizo, Manchego, and Tomatoes*.  It was so easy and required hardly any heat to be turned on; in short, it was the ideal summer meal.  Here's the lovely dish:

I paired it with a Vinho Verde, which was just lovely.  Vinho Verde is bright and slightly effervescent, and it's lower in alcohol than most wines so it's really the perfect wine on a very warm summer night.  The guys shared a large bottle of Dogfish Head's Squall IPA.  I don't know how it paired for them, though...I'd ask them but I'm back in the apartment typing this and they're back on the roof, smoking cigars.  Overall, between apartment shopping with my best friend and dining al fresco, I'm just the happiest, glowingest gal today.  And right before a conference, that's no small feat.

SCRUBBED BREAD TARTINES WITH CHORIZO, MANCHEGO, AND TOMATOES
adapted from SALAD AS A MEAL by Patricia Wells


4 thin slices hearty bread, toasted or grilled
4 ripe heirloom tomatoes, cut into thin slices
Fleur de sel
8 oz. Manchego cheese, cut into small cubes
8 oz. thinly sliced or cubed smoked chorizo sausage
24 large Spanish olives or green Picholine olives


Brush bread slices with olive oil and grill on stovetop castiron grill (or you can toast them).  Scrub a toasted bread slice with the bottom slice of tomato, until all that is left of the tomato is the skin.  Sprinkle with a little fleur de sel.  Top with a quarter of the tomato slices.  Place the bread slices on a platter.  Scatter some of the cheese, sausage, and olives around the bread.

Eat, drink, and thank goodness for chosen family.


* On my menu, I just wrote "Spanish Tartines" because I'm sick to death of these looooooong recipe titles that tell you every single ingredient in the dish.  For heaven's sake, it's just gotten ridiculous.

I Have a Dream...

...and it is to attend Patricia Wells' week-long cooking class in Provence.


Eat, drink, and start saving now.

More non-cooking...

Tonight's dinner wasn't strictly non-cook but, once again, I'm using Patricia Wells' Vegetable Harvest. It's a wonderful cookbook because it really celebrates fresh, seasonal, raw ingredients. So while I did apply heat for this meal, it was minimal.

I made Tuna Strips with Espelette Pepper on top of Butter-Warmed Corn with Cilantro. It's one of my favorite summertime meals and I'm so relieved, in the midst of my anti-summer pouting, that I didn't forget to make this before the leaves changed color. Here is the final product (note my heavily marked cookbook in the background:

Tuna Strips with Espelette Pepper

from Vegetable Harvest by Patricia Wells (Morrow, 2007)

1 lb. "ultra-fresh" tuna fillet

2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

2 tsp. ground Espelette pepper (Note: I found this by chance at the O & Co. shop in Grand Central Terminal...I had been looking ages for it. If you can't find it, I've used paprika in the past to great effect)

Fleur de sel (sea salt to the layperson)

1. Cut tuna into strips about 3/4 inch thick and 4 inches long (note: I'm never this exact - I quote PW directly here). In a large bowl, combine the strips of tuna, olive oil, and the pepper powder. Toss to blend. Marinate at room temp for 10 minutes.

2. Heat a large, dry skillet over high heat (I use nonstick - PW doesn't specify). When hot, remove the strips of tuna from the marinade, without draining, and place in the skillet. Working quickly (she does not kid here), sear the fish for about 15 seconds on each side for rare tuna, longer for well-cooked tuna. Immediately transfer the tuna strips to warmed plates. Season with fleur de sel and serve. Serves 4 - I halve for us.

Butter-Warmed Corn Kernels with Fresh Cilantro Leaves

from Vegetable Harvest by Patricia Wells (Morrow, 2007)

3 ears fresh corn, shucked

1 tbsp salted butter (I've used unsalted too)

1/4 c. fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped

Zesty lemon salt (Note: this is what PW calls for - there's a recipe for it in the book. It's a great salt and I use it on a ton of stuff. However, I have also used plain kosher salt and then grated lemon zest over the corn. Messing about with "zesty lemon salt" SO isn't necessary)

With a sharp knife, scrape the kernels of corn from the cob. Melt the butter in a large skillet (again, I use nonstick) over moderate heat and cook the corn just until warmed through, tossing the corn in the skillet for about 1 minute. Transfer to a bowl, shower with the coriander leaves, and season with lemon salt. (Note: this is SO child-friendly because you can easily give them non-cilantro corn before dousing your own with the glorious green stuff) Serves 6. (Note: PW says this serves 6. Puh-leease. I make this full recipe for the 3 of us. And you'll want to as well.)

Lastly, I consulted What to Drink with What You Eat for the perfect wine to pair with this and ultimately chose (and I might butcher this) Weingut Jakob Schneider 2008 Riesling Kabinett. It complimented the meal perfectly. Thanks (again) to Karen and Andrew for their fantastic reference guide!

Eat, drink, and admit that summer isn't all bad!

My fickle friend, the summer wind

I don't like summer.

There. I said it.

Sure, I like the sun. Of course I love all the great produce. I'm all about the beach reads. But is summer my preferred season? Absolutely not.

This wasn't always the case: when we lived in Oregon and Washington I lived for summer. Then we moved to Arizona. Seems like a weird place for a gal who dislikes summer, right? Not really. It's only 3 months of the whole year that you're totally miserable and the rest of the year is incredible. Not to mention that summer brings entire weekends spent in the pool and monsoons that shake your house and thrill you to your fingertips. No, I really liked summers in Arizona.

The Northeast did me in. That's because I can honestly say I never experienced autumn until I moved here. It seems to me the world is really alive - with color, with flavor, with texture. My reading tastes change and I open up my cozier books - a good example of this was when I read Stephenie Meyer's Eclipse. It came out in August 2007, and I was reading it on the train in summer, reading all about the rain in Oregon. It was moody and atmospheric...just not the kind of book for a summer day. I got about 20 pages in and realized I needed to wait until November, at which point I read it and swooned. Among other books, right now I'm re-reading Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. It's a horrible summer read (for me, anyway), but I am reading it in anticipation for the cooler weather to come soon.

Most importantly, though, I loathe summer here in New York because I don't cook. My kitchen isn't air-conditioned and it gets no airflow through its window. I made paninis for lunch yesterday and I was a sweating lunatic by the time it got to the table, the heat in my kitchen driving me to the brink. I'm all about the no-cook, no-heat, no-effort meals in the summer. Last night I made Berry, Goat Cheese, and Pistachio Salad (Bon Appètit, 2007) for dinner. It had phenomenal flavor...but I also felt dissatisfied by it because I didn't do anything other than assemble parts. That's what it comes down to: I'm tired of assembling parts. I want to cook, to create!

Tonight, the same lack-of-drama ensued. I made Patricia Wells' Cucumber, Spring Onion, and Goat Cheese Salad Le Cinq-Mars. It was fresh, crisp, and lovely. But for heaven's sake, I wanted to COOK. I loved it, I did. But is summer over yet? What's a gal got to do to roast some root vegetables???

Cucumber, Spring Onion, and Goat Cheese Salad Le Cinq-Mars

Adapted from Vegetable Harvest by Patricia Wells (William Morrow, 2007)

1 cucumber, scrubbed and trimmed

3 scallions, trimmed and peeled

Several tablespoons Creamy Lemon-Chive Dressing

2 thick slices of bucheron (you can also use 1 goat cheese crottin and split lengthwise in two)

1. Score the skin of the cucumber all along the vegetable, using a fork or (in my case) this zester. This just makes it pretty. Cut the cucumber lengthwise in half. With a grapefruit spoon or (again, in my case) this deseeder. Discard the seeds. Cut each half into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Place in medium bowl.

2. Cut the onions crosswise into very thin slices. Separate into rings and drop into the bowl. Add just enough dressing to lightly coat the cucumbers and onions.

3. Arrange the salad on individual salad plates. Place a slice of goat cheese on top of each salad.

Some notes: I served this salad with slices of ciabatta bread and dipping oil. Additionally, I made the full amount of dressing, which is way too much for this salad. But I thought I'd use it for another salad this week. So feel free to halve the dressing recipe.

Eat, drink, and dream about my wool sweaters, waiting to keep me cozy and warm!

Let's hit the links!

• Georgeanne Brennan, who I fell in love with after reading Pig in Provence , has some great suggestions for using leftover bread. I've already used a couple of her ideas to great success. I love that she mentions breadcrumbs tossed with pasta: carbs on carbs is one of life's great but simple pleasures. Don't think about it - just do it.
  
• The Washington Post had an article about the growing number of recreational cooking schools. I also recently read about one in NYC. This is actually something I was thinking I'd like to do post-culinary school. But not if everyone else is doing it...
  


• Mark Bittman writes about having dinner with Patricia Wells. Which is only a dream of mine. One day - mark my words - I'm going to attend one of her cooking classes in Provence.
  


• I've mentioned my local cheese shop, Cheese of the World, before: Zagat said it was the best place for cheese in Queens. Well, apparently their supplier didn't let them in on the 300% tariff on Roquefort news. My husband mentioned the tariff and our favorite guy (nicknamed by us "Handsome Guy") had no idea what we were talking about. Handsome Guy gave Adam a bar of chocolate (Cafe-Tasse!) as a thank you and was calling his supplier as Adam walked out the door. Read this at Murray's Cheese too. Now there's word that the tariff has been delayed a month while the U.S. and France negotiate.
  


• I'm currently reading The Foie Gras Wars: How a 5,000 Year Old Delicacy Inspired the World's Fiercest Food Fight by Mark Caro. Thus far, it's a fascinating read. Caro takes a journalistic approach, much like Michael Pollan and Jennifer 8. Lee. For an interesting argument, read this review.
  


• Want to take better food photos? For the Love of Food has some terrific suggestions and hints, and not all of them require expensive equipment.
  


• I was rather surprised to see Alice Waters smiling at me from my NY Times Sunday Business section this past weekend. Civil Eats posted an interesting personal reflection, inspired by the article (note: it's decidedly pro-Alice...and it's a shame that I feel I need to state that as a disclaimer. Sigh).
  


• Lest we get too precious and foodie-like, I'll post this link. Thanks to Adam for sending this to me - he inspired my stomach bile to rise while sitting at my work computer this morning.
  

And in a complete departure, I'll link to something children's literature-related. Collecting Children's Books discusses a science book from the 1940s, and I think you'll want to take a look at the illustrator. Reading this post was an exceptional way to start my morning.

Chorizo is my new boyfriend.

So I'm going through a stage where I crave chorizo kinda like I craved mozzarella sticks back when I was pregnant.  I think it's all the Spain...On the Road Again that I'm watching.  

I made the menu up for last week and put Patricia Wells' Pork Sausage with Potatoes and Red Wine Vinaigrette on the list.  Which calls for "plump, coarse-textured smoked pork sausage, such as kielbasa".  Two pounds of it.  I don't know what happened, though, because I went to Whole Foods and stood at the meat counter, staring at the soft chorizo.  The man asked what I wanted and out of my mouth flew: "Two pounds of chorizo, please!"

And it turned out just fantastic:

Patricia Wells recommends a Beaujolais with her Frenchy version of this dish, but I went with a Sangiovese and Adam drank it with...some beer...probably a Dogfish Head.

CHORIZO WITH POTATOES AND RED WINE VINAIGRETTE

Adapted from Vegetable Harvest by Patricia Wells

2 lbs. soft pork chorizo

8 small-medium Yukon Gold potatoes, scrubbed

Several fresh or dried bay leaves

Red Wine Vinaigrette

1 cup red wine

1/3 c. extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 c. red-wine vinegar

Sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves for garnish

1. In a large saucepan, combine potatoes and bay leaves.  Cover with cold water.  Bring to a gentle simmer and simmer, covered, until the potatoes are cooked through, about 20 minutes.

2. Heat a skillet on med-high heat (I used stainless - nonstick doesn't give it the same crust...and you really shouldn't cook meat in your nonstick anyway).  Cook the chorizo until browned on all sides, about 4 minutes on each side.  Set on cutting board to rest.

3. In the same pan that you cooked the sausage in, pour the red wine and reduce to 1/4 c. over high heat.  Add the oil and vinegar and whisk to blend.  Taste for seasoning.

4. Drain and cut the potatoes and the sausage into 1-inch chunks.  Put on platter and drizzle with the warm vinaigrette.  Garnish with parsley leaves and serve hot.

I also cut some thick slices of crusty baguette, brushed each slice with olive oil, and grilled it.  It was excellent for sopping up the vinaigrette.

Eat, drink, and always have bread available to soak up meat juices!