Okra & salt fish

Vacation is over…yesterday I made a spinach, mushroom, and cheese omelet and then we started packing - our intentions were to go visit my dad in Atlanta, but by the time we got the car loaded it was almost 3pm…the 5 hour journey was not going to happen. We arrived home a little after 2am and hit the hay. This afternoon, I woke up hungry. I took the last of the turkey wings and legs out of the freezer and began thawing them in cold water. I spoke to my Italian-American friend for the first time in a while and she described the 7 Fishes Christmas Eve dinner she had enjoyed with her family…I then realized that my fling with fresh seafood had come to a screeching halt, so I thought I might have some salt fish.

As usual, I sautéed onions and garlic, added chili peppers, then added the okra and seasoning; after simmering that, I added tomatoes - meanwhile, I was boiling the salt fish - I mixed it all together, simmered and voila - okra & salt fish. I didn’t have dumplings (don’t know how to make them), so we had cornbread instead…I don’t like boiled bananas, so we substituted plantains. The results - a tasty treat.

Simply delicious

This has been a wonderful week - relaxin' and good eatin'!  Wednesday I met a friend in Savannah for lunch, which is totally random considering she moved to Los Angeles from Philadelphia several years ago and we both just happened to be vacationing in the same general area.  After lunch I met up with a farmer that I found on the Eat Wild website - grass fed cattle, the way cattle should be.  The folks from Hunter Cattle were accommodating enough to meet me on River Street so that I didn't have to drive the hour and a half to the farm.  I paid $7/lb - I made hamburgers for dinner, just added a bit of Tabasco worcestershire sauce (Lea & Perrin's contains corn syrup), and they were tasty and lean, I think this was the best beef I've ever tasted.  We ate them on Arnold's sandwich thins with a side of zucchini sautéed with onions and garlic.

The fellas went golfing today and the girls went horseback riding along the St. Helena coast.  On the way back, I stopped at a roadside stand and bought corn-on-the-cob, strawberries, and 3 pounds of freshly caught shrimp (they popped the heads off for me - probably would make a nice stock) for a grand total of $17.  As a midday snack we ate strawberries and I fried the shrimp - those suckers were sweet!  It's no wonder I don't generally eat a lot of shrimp, I've never had the real thing, ever - until now.

For dinner, I marinated the beef ribs in Odul's Amber and garlic and the beef brisket in worcestershire, garlic, and olive oil - didn't want to overpower the delicate meat flavor...my husband slow cooked those along with the corn on the grill...I baked sweet potatoes (29 cents per pound), and made kale - kale is now my green of choice - just caramelized onions, garlic, and kale...it was delicious.  We were afraid to overcook the meat so we finished it in the oven...it turned out very nice. Everything was delicious...the sweet potatoes tasted like they were candied and the corn was sweet...we had Simply raspberry lemonade to drink.

Southern style

I think this might be the first vacation I wont need a vacation from.  Yesterday's breakfast was grits and pan-seared scallops, then we went for an after breakfast bike ride that turned into quite a journey as we followed the bike trails and ended up on Fish Haul Rd (I think we were near a Gullah community - I think I might want to explore that a little closer, considering my interest in hybrid cultures and cuisine).

We came back in and I fried catfish (according to the seafood monger at Publix, the majority of the catfish is farm raised), made some turnips & mustards (frozen - sautéed onions, garlic in olive oil, a bit a broth and seasoning and simmered), on the side we had rice & beans.  My son, sister, and I decided to go for a stroll along the beach; instead HE decided to run into the ocean and ride the waves wearing jeans and a sweatshirt.  That's when I messed up - decided to go to Tanger Outlets to get a couple of things - I actually had a list, but being the consumer that I am, went far beyond the list.

On the way home from the outlets, stopped at the Bi-Lo and picked up some more sweet tea and wild caught croakers for breakfast....fish and grits were quite tasty this morning!

Oysters & okra

We are definitely on vacation...our grocery bill is through the roof, but we are definitely spending less than we would if we were dining out for seafood.  We drove into Historic Bluffton today to get the oysters.  The oyster house is basically a tattered building on the dock.  As soon as we parked, we saw what looked like a dolphin close to the shore (we think it was likely a king mackerel).  My order was ready (1 qt shucked oysters, 2 lb sea scallops);  I got caught up in the moment and added a dozen of oysters for a total of $50; I wanted to ship some to my sister-in-law (she loves oysters), but they said shipping was ridiculously expensive.

You know you're in the South when you walk into a supermarket and there's canned okra & tomatoes and canned field peas & snap.  I got the remaining ingredients for the gumbo as well as some additional necessities from Piggly Wiggly and that's when I realized we had just bought $130 worth of groceries the previous day.

I sautéed scallions, garlic, and thyme in butter, added a bit of broth and steamed the oysters for about 8 minutes.  They were delicious, didn't even need the drawn butter.  I fried some okra and we enjoyed a southern style appetizer.

I ended up making more of a stew than a gumbo (didn't have a thickening agent).  Sautéed onions, garlic, scallions in evoo & butter; added tomatoes, hyme, and seasonings then simmered.  I added the frozen gumbo vegetables (okra, corn, peppers, onions, celery), broth, then simmered.  I dumped the oysters (including liquid) and simmered an additional 7 minutes.   This morning I finally developed a technique for electric cooking - keep a burner on high and one on low - this way I can adjust the heat without too much difficulty.

We had cornbread on the side and thoroughly enjoyed the Red Diamond sweet tea made with water, sugar, orange & black pekoe - no corn syrup, no caramel coloring.

To finish off the evening, we are going out for a bike ride and will probably have Rita's water ice (buy one quart get on free) for dessert.

Shrimp and grits

We left Philadelphia just in time to avoid 20" of snow and have been enjoying walks on the beach and bike rides (I love my new bike!). We'll be on Hilton Head Island for a week so of course we need to think about what to eat!  Local seafood makes the most sense.  Why buy shrimp from Thailand when you can get wild caught South Carolina red shrimp?  I cooked those today with yellow grits for a toe-tapping breakfast.  I don't think I remember a shrimp tasting that good.

I bought the shrimp from the Publix but I asked around and will go to Barnacle Bills later to re-up.  I also want to go to Bluffton Oyster Company to get oysters so that I can try to make a oyster gumbo...I'm just pissed with myself for putting the shrimp shells in the garbage disposal instead of making a stock out of them.

We are still in shrimping season so I got excited when I saw the opportunity to go out for a educational excursion on a shrimping boat - until I saw that it uses trawling - what's the lesson - how to ruin a habitat?

I haven't noticed any industry so I imagine the waterways are relatively pristine...I'm thinking about all the stuff I want to cook this week - oysters, pan seared sea scallops, grilled fish; and I want a burger - haven't had one in ages, I wonder where's the grass fed beef in these parts.

Tremendous tomatoes

I planned to make timtimo today but didn't have enough onions.  By evening, I needed something quick to make and wanted Eritrean food.  I remembered that my friend said the beef zigni was much quicker to make than the chicken...I couldn't figure that out for the life of me...apparently it's more like a stir fry than a stew and the meat is cut small so it cooks relatively quickly without being tough.

I bought onions and two small packs of stew meat totaling 2.25 pounds, but only used 1 pack...after I cut the meat up, it seemed like plenty - I got to thinking, 5 of us will eat 1.25 pounds of meat - that's relatively small for Americans, but quite generous for those for whom meat is a luxury.

My planned accompaniment was to be peas and potatoes, but I forgot to buy the potatoes; my back up plan was spinach, but I had used most of that on Sunday; so I turned to the freezer - okra.  I was at a loss...my Ethiopian friend makes some very nice veggies, so that was my inspiration.

I sautéed onions, added a bit of ginger, tomato paste (I recently switched to TJs tomato paste when I finally decided to read the label on the standard cans - yup, high fructose corn syrup), then added the okra and 10 minutes later, the spinach.

When I started cooking, my sister was complaining that I was making another stew, but while we were sitting on the floor eating, she was loving it, especially the vegetables.  The qulwah was tasty, quite spicy, but tasty nonetheless.  That got me to thinking about the power of tomatoes to release and enhance the flavor of foods.  Is it the lycopene?

Tomatoes can be found in regional dishes all around the world, they can grow almost anywhere. They're cooked down as sauce, served raw in salads, and used as a base - the variation is due to cultural preferences.  Unfortunately the world renowned popularity of the tomato has contributed to its adulteration - most tomatoes are hybrids, sterile industrial jet-lagged pseudo-tomatoes that lack the character of what we now refer to as heirloom varieties.  The solution, grow them at home, in pots if you have to - tomato plants are high-yielding so they'll be plenty to preserve for the winter.

Second sunday

Once again our family potluck fell on a Girl Scout Sunday.  My mom did not want to wait until January so she took the lead with organizing.  She suggested an Italian theme so of course I said ziti and alfredo, clarifying that alfredo sauce in the jar was unacceptable which essentially meant that I volunteered myself to make it.  A menu of baked ziti, grilled chicken alfredo, mussels, salad and bread was established and my mom started making phone calls.  On Sunday morning we wondered if that would be enough food, thinking we should've asked Liz to make spaghetti instead of bringing mussels.  I said, what about meatballs or ravioli?  I truly did not have time to make meatballs and ravioli gets tricky because my kids only like the 4-cheese (it balances out the ricotta) so I said I'd pick up the ravioli and figure out a sauce.

After Girl Scouts I went to 3 markets and then came home and got started on the ziti.  I had to wait for my mom to arrive with the alfredo ingredients (my sister's donation) - I think I went too far with the cholesterol (still working under the influence of Julia Childs) - it was loaded with butter, heavy cream, and so much cheese...I ended up sauteeing the chicken (my mom had sliced and marinated it in Italian dressing) and we ate it over linguini.  For the ravioli I decided to make a cream sauce that turned out delicious but I'm not sure I could duplicate - butter, garlic, onions, sun dried tomatoes, half and half, cheese, spinach - I wanted to do a splash of white wine, but that hadn't arrived yet so I used vegetable broth instead.

They arrived with so many mussels that I had to make two batches (at least 10 quarts).  Everything was delicious, including the stuffed mushrooms that flew off the plate.  On Thursday or Friday my mom mentioned that she might want to make stuffed mushrooms a la Red Lobster and asked for my input...I had no idea but I made up something and didn't tell her that I had never made stuffed mushrooms until Sunday.  Claw crabmeat, mayonnaise, worcestershire sauce, orange peppers, breadcrumbs, seasoning - stuffed into baby bellas and topped with cheese.

Unbeknown to us, my aunt had made spaghetti and one of the Neicy's brought a Stouffer's vegetable lasagna, so we had a ton of food which translated into a ton of fun. It was maybe 15 adults and 10 kids. We ate, talked, danced, drank sparkling grape juice, and had a blast....we also planned the next potluck.

Beef, that's what's for dinner

It seemed like we were overrun with miscellaneous leftovers but they were quickly devoured between my husband’s lunch and the kid’s afterschool snacks – for some reason when they come home from school they’re ravenous.

My husband was pestering me about making the beef; and had the nerve to tell me how to make it – can you make it plain, without all the vegetables and sauces; I just want to taste the beef. Then I was dumbfounded. I couldn’t remember how to roast a beef – I’ve been doing pot roasts for so long; then I thought a using an oven bag, but that’s also juicy, so I thought about picanha – of course I didn’t have the right cut of meat, nor was I going to grill it, but I went for it anyway. In hindsight I suppose I could’ve cooked it in my Showtime rotisserie oven that I haven’t used in at least 5 years but I used my convection oven instead.

I don’t know why I insist on cooking after a day of ripping and running. It was almost 2pm when I returned home, fortunately I had sense enough to “marinate” the meat earlier – garlic, pepper, seasonings, worcestersire sauce, a splash of red wine, and olive oil. I took it out of the refrigerator to bring it room temperature, and then put it in the oven. The planned accompaniments were asparagus and mashed potatoes. However, since it was Thursday, I had to teach, so they ate a corn and spinach concoction and TJ mac & cheese (TJs conveniences reentered as a result of the blister and flu fiascos, not to mention I have been extremely busy with end of the semester odds and ends).

The meat was delicious – flavorful and tender – my husband said, this reminds me of something, I said, picanha? He said, yes!

The lure of the local

This blog has evolved into something other than creative cooking.  It has really become a reflection (and at times a rant) about food and eating.  Food in the sense of the substances that we put into our bodies for nourishment and in my case, pleasure.  The more I learn about food production and food science the stronger I feel the urge to become a farmer.  However, being a farmer is not a realistic option at this point because I have no land, but there are things I can do on the urban scale.

This was my first summer not being a CSA member at Greensgrow, so I bought most of my produce from Whole Foods, Genaurdis, and Trader Joes.  I tried to be conscientious about meat, but it's nothing like the CSA - they identify the farmer (name and address) who provides the meat and related products.

I heard a CUNY podcast about a man raising chickens in Brooklyn, first for eggs and then for meat and I was very inspired. This man referred to himself as a locavore - I love the concept - eating only what is produced locally.  Why can't I raise backyard chickens?  This would be an invaluable lesson for the kids and would limit our meat intake to what we could actually grow.  Well backyard chickens are illegal in Philadelphia.  Why can't I become a locavore - well I suppose it's because I haven't made enough effort, and believe me there is some effort involved. Eggs, and Chickens, Grow in Brooklyn

My first step will be to make some adjustments to my backyard.  Right now it serves as a habitat for wildlife, mostly birds - there were at least two families that used the yard for nesting this past summer.  The yard is approximately 36'x16'; I will need to plan carefully so that I can do some intensive produce gardening this coming summer and maintain at least a bit of the habitat.  Then there's the meat - how much am I willing to pay and how far am I willing to drive to get meat that's been raised and slaughtered in an sustainable and appropriate manner?

These concerns become more than a matter of what's for dinner, but a matter of life and death.

No rest for the weary

First it was the blister, then it was the flu - I’ve been totally out of commission. I made cookies with my daughter (those scrumptious cookies that they give you when you check into a Doubletree hotel - we had them in Florida this past January and have been talking about making them ever since) and a mass of turkey wings and legs on Sunday; my mom made me turkey soup; and today I decided to take a stab at Cambodian cuisine. Here’s the first problem - I’ve never actually tasted or seen Cambodian cuisine. For some reason it seems to be a bit marginalized, perhaps because of Cambodia’s location sandwiched between Thailand and Vietnam; or perhaps the socio-political-economic conditions in the country. Honestly had I not met Ms. Nong, I would have never considered cooking the food.

Friday, she told me about tirk kroeung but I wasn’t clear on how to make it or what it was supposed to look like, so I called her and realized that it was an appetizer and not a main dish. That’s when I knew I needed to expand my menu…but to what? All I had to work with was tilapia filets that my husband bought on Sunday.

First, I marinated the filets in soy sauce, lime, and sugar - why? I have no idea. Then I simmered a couple in vegetable broth and reserved the others. I removed the fish and started the tirk kroeung. Browned garlic and chili peppers, added anchovies (this is a substitution that Ms. Nong recommended for whatever it is that Cambodians use), then used the stick blender to make a paste. I then stood in the kitchen not sure what to do. I thought about steamed fish but I prefer to use whole fish for that. So I decided to go with regional influences, or at least I thought - sautéed onions, garlic, ginger, carrots; simmered in coconut milk and lime - added filets. Then I looked at the other filets and felt utterly helpless. The kitchen was a mess, there was stuff everywhere, I was feeling exhausted and a little out of sorts.

I made fish fried rice. Sautéed onions, a head of garlic, added the remaining marinade, a bit of broth, green peas, the fish, and slightly overcooked basmati rice and stirred - this became the centerpiece of the meal. I slightly steamed the broccoli for the tirk kroeung and we ate.

I made mango lassi for dessert and then my husband surprised me with Julie and Julia, as I watched it, I wondered if I was a Julie wannabe with this blog that I have…I also want to return to Paris or at least Montreal, and I certainly wouldn’t mind learning the delving into the “Art of French Cooking”…this is actually timely because I’m in the midst of reading In Defense of Food, so mastering the art of any cooking other than American could be beneficial to my health and palate.

Asia-Pacific

Yesterday I went back to my brother’s house. The plan was to make adobo, embutido, lumpia, and fruit salad (similar to ambrosia). When I got there we added pancit, and apritada to the menu as well. We got started around 6 and were a bit overwhelmed at first…there was so much to make, we didn’t know where to start.


My sister-in-law got started with the fruit salad while I got started with the pancit – this time we used both the rice and canton noodles with chicken, savoy cabbage, and carrots. Then we started with the lumpia – mixed the meat with carrots, cabbage, scallions (forgot the garlic) – and my daughter and sister started rolling – 100 lumpia which we cut in half. Then onto the embutido, which is essentially a meatloaf, the adobo, and finally the apridada – kind of reminded me of salona. I was crazy with the garlic and it yielded wonderful results.

By 8, it was time to eat, the fellas couldn’t believe we made all that food. It was crazy…we decided that we are a Filipino catering crew and would get together for the next party. My dad arrived with his Cambodian friend, a very attractive woman – she initially seemed a little overwhelmed. As we were standing in the kitchen, it just felt like family – everyone got out their cameras and started taking pictures. The Cambodian commented about the rice (“is this how they eat rice in your country?”)–somehow it was hard; I think too much was put into the rice cooker. After dinner we were putting up the food and were trying to figure out what to do with all that rice…she said make fried rice…I said, there’s no time like the present…and we got to work. We were all laughing because I had everybody excited about cooking and this was the very first time we met this woman and she was frying rice (garlic, onion, egg, mixed vegetables – she desperately wanted meat but we had none). It was so good (almost like the Bennihana rice); she said it was Chinese style because it is only relatively recent that Cambodians fry rice.

Her English is limited but of course I asked her about the food. She told me many things and said that next time she would come with her daughter so we can cook and the daughter can translate. I’m thinking this might be the beginning of a Friday night cooking club.

A taste of Mexico?

I n order not to accumulate a lot of leftovers, I wanted to think of a quick, filling meal for Thursday. While I was in Wegmans on Tuesday, I was inspired by the Mexican section – I saw the masa harina and it is definitely cornmeal processed with lye. I decided to go with a 3-bean chili (pinto, red, and dark red kidney beans) with corn.

I left instructions for my husband – sauté two onions, a head of garlic; add tomatoes and seasoning (chili powder, cayenne pepper, cumin, cocoa – inspired by the museum visit, etc), add the beans, simmer in beef broth with a bit of lime and cilantro. I came home and added TJs corn to the pot. We topped it with cheese and ate it with a very basic salad – romaine, cucumber, red onion with olive oil, lime, and seasonings.

It was filling and tasty and would’ve been great with cornbread.