La Vieille Ferme Côtes du Rhône

During my semester abroad in Paris I developed a great appreciation for Côtes du Rhône wine - mostly because it was dependably good and even more importantly, cheap! At any marché in Paris you could spend under 5 euros for a decent Côtes du Rhône. I still rely on it now for having people over or in this case for a mix of cooking and drinking. I made my red wine barbecue sauce this weekend and grabbed this pretty affordable ($11.49) bottle. After the sauce, I had about half left and poured myself a glass - it was great! Really smooth, no dry-mouth aftertaste. I poured a glass for my friend who exclaimed that it was, "lovely." I think that's a perfect description. It isn't too full bodied, but it's easy to drink and has a very nice taste. Highly recommend it for a dinner party where you don't want to spend too much! Pull off the price tag and no one will know you didn't. Plus I love the chickens on the label!

Big Gay Ice Cream Truck

I just went to the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck for the first time - amazing! I'm known to dabble at Mr. Softee, but this is definitely the more grown up option. With the same blank canvas (a cone of vanilla or chocolate soft serve), they have amazing toppings that transform an average cone. I got the Salty Pimp, a vanilla cone dappled with caramel, sprinkled with sea salt, then dipped in hardening chocolate. So delicious (I love salty and sweet). Next time I may try the kitschy Bea Arthur w dolce de lece and crushed Nilla wafers, or something drizzled with a pomegranate balsamic reduction. If you're around Union Square on a warm day, definitely give it a try! 

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

When rhubarb comes into season I immediately crave strawberry rhubarb pie. It's such a great blend of sweet and sour and I'd say it's my favorite pie, hands down. Especially when served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It's not terribly difficult to make - especially if you buy frozen pie crust. (I recommend the Trader Joe's variety if it's available.) Just putting this up makes me want to make another tonight!

Ingredients:
Pie crust (frozen of homemade)
1 pound fresh rhubarb, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 pound fresh strawberries, cut into halves or quarters
3 tablespoons corn starch
3/4 cups sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/4-1/2 tsp freshly grated orange peel
2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into cubes

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400. Mix rhubarb, strawberries, corn starch, sugar, cinnamon, lemon, and orange peel in a bowl.

 

Pour into pie crust (if it's homemade, first put the pie crust down in a pie in and trim the edges). Cut remaining pie crust into strips and lay across the top of the filling in a lattice.  Dot the pie with the butter and sprinkle sugar on top of the strips. 

Place the pie on a cookie sheet and then into the oven (it tends to drip a bit). After 35 minutes, if the crusts are burning, cover them with tin foil. Let it bake another 10 minutes or until the middle is pretty set. Let cool a little and serve it up with vanilla ice cream!

Vegetable Garden: Week 7

 My Swiss Chard, Zucchini, and Peas - all from seeds!

After not making out to Long Island for two weekends, I was a little worried about my garden. Luckily there had been a lot of rain. I went out on Saturday and am happy to report that everything is happy! The peas are two feet high and clinging to the trellis, the tomatoes plants look good - not too much change, two zucchini plants emerged from the seeds I planted, and the Swiss Chard finally came up! Aside from a large bunch of weeds, I couldn't have been happier.

After admiring all of my little seedlings, I got to work planting the newcomers. I stopped at the farmer's market on Friday and picked up a 3-pack of Better Boy tomatoes, a 3-pack of zucchini (I didn't know if any of mine had sprouted), and a 3-pack of jalapeno peppers. I also got 2 little basil plants. I planted the tomatoes with cages around them (it's better to put them in early as not to damage the roots) and planted the two basils in between the tomato plants - apparently growing basil with your tomatoes improves the tomato flavor. I planted the new zucchini next to those that I planted, so my zucchini patch will be a bit larger than anticipated. I left plenty of room around the chard because I know they'll get a lot bigger - provided they don't become bunny food. I planted the peppers with lots of space in between. There's a fare amount of free space right now which I think I'll fill with herbs, nasturtiums (pretty and edible), and marigolds (to keep the bad bugs away, also adding a little color).

It's so satisfying to see things you've planted from seeds growing. (My little peppers in the egg shells are growing, just a little slowly. They might stay in the city in pots.) I can't wait to get out there again next weekend to mulch, water, and plant herbs/flowers. Stay tuned!

Chinese Dinner - pork dumplings, scallion pancakes, and general tso's chicken

I like having everyone over for themed dinners every once in a while, and this time I chose Chinese. I hadn't made dumplings in a while and was ready to do it again. It's a bit of a process, but homemade dumplings are really amazing and worth the effort of assembly. The scallion pancakes were inspired by reading the in season blog on NYMag and the General Tso's is the Martha Stewart version - a quick, healthy weeknight meal usually, but I have 8 people coming and wanted to add one more dish in. It was also a Friday, so I didn't have too much time to cook after work. To save time, I started the dumplings in the morning. For the best dumplings, you want a ratio of half meat half other stuff (veggies etc). Sorry I didn't take more pictures - but they were delicious and everyone seemed to love them. My advice, though, is don't put too many dumplings in the steamer at once. I got a little overzealous and they all stuck together. Still tasty, just messy!

Pork Dumplings
Ingredients:
1 lb ground pork
1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced
handfull of canned water chestnuts, chopped
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sesame oil
1-2 tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tsp sugar
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup cabbage, minced
2 tbsp corn starch
1 egg white, beaten
sprinkle of salt
squirt of sriracha
wanton/dumpling wrappers, thawed

Directions:
Mix all of the ingredients besides the pork, egg, and cornstarch. Taste and adjust seasonings. Add the pork, egg, and cornstarch and gently blend with your hands - don't over do it, just until it's all incorporated. Take the wanton wrappers and a small bowl of water. Dip your finger in the water and trace around the edge of the wrapper. Put a spoonfull of the mixture into the middle of the wrapper and fold it in half, pressing the edges together into a half moon, trying to get all the air out. Then wet the two corners and fold them in slightly and press. Keep dumplings on a dry tray while assembling
To cook, if you have a big bamboo steamer, great! Line it with big cabbage leaves and fill it with dumplings, place it over a pan filled with simmering water and let them steam. If you don't have one of these (like most normal people) you can just drop them in boiling water until they float. For a crisp, once they're cooked through you can throw them into a hot pan w/ a little oil and get a crispy edge on them.

Dipping sauce
Ingredients:
Soy sauce
sesame oil
sugar
rice wine vinegar
red pepper flakes

Directions:
Pour some soy sauce into a bowl. Add a splash of vinegar, a pinch of sugar, a couple drops of sesame oil, and a few red pepper flakes. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Cisco Brewery

I was in Nantucket two weekends ago and stopped at Cisco Brewery - a local brewery on the island (which is also a distillery and a vineyard). It's out by Bartlett Farms and is surrounded by farmland. It was a sunny May day and all the locals were there with their dogs. We did the beer tasting - so much fun. We tried 10 different beers, all served in mini beer steins. My favorites were the Whale Tail Pale Ale and the Grey Lady wheat beer. (Whale Tail Pale Ale is now available in a lot of Whole Foods.) I knew Jamie would like the Bailey's Blonde Ale - a really hoppy variety - so I brought him home a growler as a souvenir. Some people did the wine tasting which was cool too with creative blends like Pinot Gris with cranberry. If you find yourself in Nantucket, this is a great way to spend an afternoon! (Also, stay at the White Elephant Cottages! I'm biased, but they're super cute and right near town.)

Carnitas tacos with spicy roast pineapple salsa

I had a few people over for Cinco de Mayo and wanted to try making carnitas - one of my fave taco options. They were delicious, and though you have to have a few hours to kill before you serve them, it's not a lot of work, just a long cooking time. The meat was extremely tender and flavorful and the spicy and sweet salsa went perfectly with the pork. I also like to top tacos with some very thinly slice radishes - gives it a fresh crunch and looks pretty too! This would be perfect for having a bunch of friends for a casual Mexican night, maybe adding in some carne asada and other salsas. Just throw it all in the pot a few hours ahead of time.

Carnitas

Ingredients:

3 pounds pork shoulder, cut into cubes

2 cups water

1 white onion, peeled and cut into quarters

Tuna kebabs

These kebabs are delicious. The marinade is so flavorful - with sesame oil, ginger, chilies... It's pretty easy and you only need to marinate the tuna for half an hour. Big people pleaser! I found the recipe here on epicurious.
Serves 5
Ingredients:
2 pounds tuna cut into 1 inch squares
1/3 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
1/3 cup finely grated peeled fresh ginger
1/3 cup peanut oil (or vegetable/canola oil)
1/3 cup Asian sesame oil
4 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, plus more to sprinkle on top at the end
2 serrano chile, minced (seeded if you don't want too much heat)
Freshly ground pepper
2 large red bell peppers, cut into 1-inch squares
2 large sweet onions (such as Maui or Vidalia), cut into 1-inch squares
wooden or metal skewers




Directions:
Whisk first 8 ingredients in a bowl.  Add tuna and let marinate for 30-45 minutes in the fridge. Drizzle a little sesame oil and rice vinegar over the onions and peppers and toss with a little salt and pepper. Remove the tuna from the marinade and save the marinade! Alternate onion, pepper, tuna, onion, pepper, tuna with 2-3 cubes on each skewer. Get a grill or grill pan screaming hot and cook the tuna for about a minute on each side, more if you want it more well done. Drizzle with the marinade and top with cilantro.

Vegetable Garden - Week 3

My garden is starting to look like a real garden! I went to the Union Square Green Market last week and was pleased to find that all of the vegetable plant vendors are back! I browsed several of them to find the plants I was looking to use. I found a pretty big green grape tomato plant (produces bright, almost neon green cherry tomatoes that are tart and sweet and look beautiful in salads) and a small yellow brandywine tomato plant which is supposed to make big, yellow beef steak tomatoes. I want to plant a few big beef tomatoes as well. The heirlooms are definitely pretty and tasty, but the big beef tomatoes straight from the garden are equally as tasty and they're much hardier and produce more tomatoes. To hedge my bets, I want a few heirloom and a few big beef for a good mix. I also bought an eggplant plant - first time planting them and very excited.