Filed under: J. Cooks
We hosted Thanksgiving last night and I think it was a great success. I love the way the holiday table looks set for the meal and decorated with flowers and crafts the boys made! I had two goals for Thanksgiving this year: spend more time with my family while they’re here (less time prepping and cleaning up after), and make a meal that is well-loved and not too experimental. Last year the food was fine, but there was nothing that came out great. Not so this year! (more…)
November 27, 2009
We had a wonderful holiday, and we got a chance to host a night of Rosh Hashanah for the first time! J. and I love having our families over for the holidays, and I am lucky that he is an eager partner in all the planning and execution. And the clean up — which was not helped by us losing hot water for several hours this morning. (It’s back now, and everything is washed and put away.) I like everything about hosting a holiday: brainstorming a menu, writing a shopping list, doing the shopping, cooking, setting the table, and so on. And the best part of all is having my whole family together, happy and full and celebrating.
I was too busy getting dinner on the table and enjoying my family to photography the dishes while they were hot and first put out. So you’re getting my leftovers! (more…)
September 20, 2009
J. is still playing around with his new smoker, and since we’re planning on using it to make the brisket for Rosh Hashanah next Saturday night, we decided to do some experimenting today. He also made a couple of chickens, one perched on a beer can with a spicy rub, and the other done with a lemon & pepper rub (with a lemon stuffed in the cavity while it smoked). And a small minute steak. Oh, it’s all so delicious! This was his first time trying to smoke chicken, and the turned out wonderfully — juicy, flavorful, not overly smokey.
My dear friend Sus of Susanna’s Sangria fame demanded asked nicely if she could come up and try some of J.’s cooking, and within a day we had a small bunch of friends ready to come and eat with us. Great company, great food, great weather after several days of rain. It was a perfect afternoon.
On the plate: tomatoes and basil with balsamic vinegar, smoked chicken, minute steak, brisket, Fig and Carrot Salad (thanks, Sus), and Mustard Vinaigrette Potato Salad. And plenty of leftovers for Monday night, too.
September 13, 2009
J. grilled rib eyes Sunday night (I know, they are missing from this picture — there wasn’t room on the plate!). Thankfully we had family over to help us chip away at our farm share from the past week or so — without much cooking going on this past week, it’s been piling up. I had 10 ears of corn and I just wasn’t ready to start putting stuff up in my freezer yet.
Along with the steaks, I made a beet salad with the CSA beets from this week and last. I boiled them and then slipped off the skins Saturday night, quartering most of them to make bite-sized pieces. Then the day-of I created a dressing with about 1/4 c. orange juice, 1/4 c. red wine vinegar, a teaspoon of ginger (I used ground, from a jar), and a half teaspoon of crushed garlic (about 1 clove). Salt to taste. My in-laws loved this preparation, but to me and J. it was not better than our usual.
We also threw all the corn on the grill, and I had to ask J. if he’d added any sugar to it while it cooked. I couldn’t think of why he’d do that, but it was so incredibly sweet it seemed possible. Of course, he had not. The corn is just really that sweet. Even the boys ate some.
Finally, I made a quick salad out of the red and yellow tomatoes and cucumber from our farm share. I also minced some onion, and then tossed it with a little salt, rice wine vinegar, and olive oil. In retrospect, I think the oil was unnecessary.
Every bite of veggie was happily consumed at this meal, and after Renee took home some yellow tomatoes and a couple of peppers, I had a manageable amount of produce to take me through until Wednesday. Is it silly that it’s such a relief to use up the share? It feels like a bit of a contest each week.
August 18, 2009
Sarah sent me the idea for these grilled steak fries this week, and I knew immediately that I’d have to use it for our weekend barbecue. It’s so easy: just cut a couple of Idaho potatoes into long wedges — about 6 per potato. Boil them in salted water for 5 or 6 minutes (they should still be quite firm, not floppy), then drain and let cool a bit. Toss them with canola oil and your favorite seasonings (I used Dizzy Dust, which is an all-purpose barbecue rub that we like). Let them sit for a couple of hours in the fridge. When you’re ready to eat, grill them over high heat for 10 minutes or so, turning them once, until they’re nicely charred and cooked all the way through. Delicious! J. was really pleased with the way they turned out. Thanks, Sarah!
July 12, 2009
A couple of weeks ago, J. tried smoking a brisket on our gas grill for the first time. He’s always been good at grilling in general, but the smoking was a first-time experiment that turned out deliciously. And of course, our minds started turning over all the other wonderful foods we could hit with some smoke. I knew I wanted him to try beef ribs right away. He usually makes them, par-boiled and then grilled, once a summer and they’re delicious. I knew they’d be even better smoked. (more…)
June 14, 2009
Borscht-making is J.’s job, and this is his grandpa’s recipe. I have a copy of an email Poppy sent me in 2002, passing this recipe on to us. I love that we have this email from him preserved as part of our cooking and family history.
The problem with making borscht is that it can be very, very messy. We were lucky this time — nothing dropped, splattered, or otherwise altered our very white kitchen from its natural state. We also use the recipe just as a guide: we wanted to use up all the beets from our farm share, which was probably about double what the recipe called for (I had two almost melon-sized beets from a couple of weeks ago, plus this week’s share). With that quantity of beets, three fresh lemons provided the right amount of zing.
We served this soup tonight with pumpernickel bread my parents brought from Rockland Bakery, plus boiled potatoes from our farm share and plenty of sour cream. It was delicious, as always. We’re freezing the rest to serve at our Hanukkah party later this month.
Poppy’s Borscht
Attributed to Mama Grossinger of the Borscht Belt
10 large beets, peeled and grated
2½ quarts water
1 onion, minced
2½ tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 c. lemon juice
2 eggs
boiled potatoes and sour cream (optional, to serve with it)
Combine the beets, water, onion, and salt in a large pot. Bring to a boil and cook, uncovered, over low heat for about an hour. Using an immersion blender, puree beet mixture until almost smooth. Add sugar and lemon juice. Cook an additional 10 minutes and adjust seasoning.
Beat eggs in a small bowl, and temper with the hot borscht to prevent curdling. Then add egg mixture to the pot of borscht, stirring constantly. Turn off heat and allow soup to cool. Chill thoroughly before serving (overnight is best).
Serve with cold, boiled potatoes and sour cream.
December 7, 2008
This is a post I started over the summer, when we were receiving lots of cilantro from our farm share.
J. and I both make guacamole similarly, which is unusual for us — we tend to each have our own way of doing things, and we also have our own areas of specialty (he wouldn’t bake; I don’t grill — could we fall into more stereotypical gender roles?).
Every time we receive a big bunch of cilantro from our CSA, I can’t help but think: guac! Of course, I’ve found plenty of other dishes to make with cilantro: Spicy Sauteed Chickpeas, Beef & Cilantro, Corn, Avocado, & Tomato Salad, Vegetable Jalfrezi, and Tandoori Tofu are just a few. Still, guacamole remains my favorite. This is how we make it.
Guacamole
3 Haas avocados, peeled, pitted and cubed
1 small onion, minced (about 2 Tbsp.)
handful fresh cilantro, minced (about 2 Tbsp.)
2 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 lime, juiced
1-2 jalapenos, seeded and minced
kosher salt to taste
Lightly toss all ingredients in a bowl, leaving the guacamole as chunky as you like (we don’t break up the avocado much at all). Serve immediately, or bring to room temperature after refrigerating if you must make it ahead.
November 13, 2008
J. grilled steaks tonight, and as good as they were (always are), the side dishes were what we all talked about. We had homemade pickles (the cucumbers, garlic, and onion were from my CSA), CSA potatoes (Allyson, another Roxbury Farm member, gave me the heads up that they would be pink inside, just like the skins), grilled CSA sweet corn, and Basil Green Beans with Tomatoes (so yummy I made it again — basil, tomatoes, and green beans from my CSA).
I won’t lie: I was almost as excited to use up so much produce in a single meal as I was thrilled that everyone found it all delicious.
August 3, 2008
This is J.’s favorite potato salad (I like my dad’s more traditional mayo-dressed version the best) and it’s great for the summer because without mayo, it can sit on a picnic table for a while. We make it a couple of times each summer. This is one of the only dishes we cook at home where J. actually looks forward to leftovers.
I buy thin-skinned, medium-sized red potatoes, but pretty much anything other than a Russet (baking) potato will do the trick.
J.’s technique is to boil the potatoes whole and then cut them into chunks after they’re cooked. I normally do it the other way around. I’ve never really noticed a difference in flavor or texture (but with my way you won’t burn your hands) so do whichever works for you.
Mustard Vinaigrette Potato Salad
Adapted from French Potato Salad in The Joy of Cooking
2 lbs. new red potatoes
6 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
1/4 c. scallions, minced (or sub chives, shallots, or red onion)
2 Tbsp. capers, drained
1 Tbsp. whole-grain mustard
1/4 c. fresh parsley, finely chopped
2 Tbsp. fresh dill, finally chopped
6 Tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Cook potatoes in salted, boiling water for about 20 minutes, or until they are fork tender. If your potatoes are large, they could take up to 30 minutes to cook through. Drain potatoes, and set aside. When they are cool enough to handle, quarter each potato (or cut into large chunks) and place pieces in a large bowl.
In a medium bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients. Pour over the still-warm potatoes and mix to combine. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm or at room temperature.
June 28, 2008
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I'm Dara, the Chick in the Kitchen. Living in the suburbs of Manhattan with my two boys, ages 4 and 6, and husband. Trying to feed my family something more diverse than a different shape of pasta each night. Read more 