For a recent dinner: an ersatz pho, mostly following this recipe, using a boatload of shiitake, some soy-marinated tofu, spinach, and soba noodles on the bottom of the bowl. Avocado garnish because avocado is mandatory.
I used some broiler-charred onions to make the stock, which was a lovely touch.
A busy-season dinner: linguine with a pesto made from whatever bits and bobs were hanging out in the fridge and pantry, topped with a generous dusting of well-crisped paprika breadcrumbs.
Oh, and pecorino romano too. Don’t forget the pecorino.
A little post-election night breakfast while getting to work: fried eggs, arugula, and soldiers for dipping.
I’ve taken to frying eggs over some toasted panko, an idea picked up from the Zuni Café cookbook. Your eggs get all crunchy and amazing. Couldn’t be easier, either: pan over medium-high heat, olive oil, panko, stir until just barely golden, a little more oil, crack eggs into pan on top of panko. Salt and pepper. Add some dried herbs if you want bonus points. Over easy is best, so you can serve them panko-side up, and it’ll all stay crisp.
Runny egg yolks 4 life.
That right there is some luxury.
What do you do with a whole bunch of leftover roasted Delicata squash?
1. Boil some long pasta. Toss with chunks of roasted squash and leftover avocado sauce. Top with wodges of goat cheese, ultra-toasted panko and pepitas, and leaves of Spicy Globe Basil. Red wine.
2. Sauté chopped Tuscan kale. Add chunks of roasted squash. Pour some beaten eggs over and make a little frittata. Top with goat cheese and ultra-toasted panko and pepitas. Beer.
And exactly how many of my dinners involve using up bits of leftovers?
[A: Almost all of them. Somehow.]
Two dinners:
1. Pan-seared white beans, celery, garlic, almonds, green onions, parsley, basil, chile in some format or another. Ricotta and fresh-basil-infused olive oil. Made after (but not exactly) this recipe from 101 Cookbooks.
2. Wheatberries, some gorgeous green (and almost purple) tomatoes, sautéed onion and anchovy, green onions, mint, parsley, feta. Arugula. Needed green hot sauce at the table.
Cauliflower roasted with curry, tossed with herbs. Served with bread, salad, cheese, and wine. A lovely Spring dinner.
Dinner the other night: Tuscan kale, sautéed with a boatload of garlic, red pepper flakes, and minced preserved Meyer lemon. I tossed in some ultra-concentrated smoked turkey stock (see these headnotes for more info) to help it wilt down. All topped with a tiny mountain of Parmesan. I cannot get enough kale lately.
There were probably some other ingredients too. And it’s hard to see, but it was served over black quinoa.
Olive oil is there for the bread, of course. It ain’t dinner without bread.
Last night’s dinner: maki filled with Gulf shrimp, avocado, water chestnut, green onion, and Serrano pepper. Because, you know, Wednesday.
Also, did you know you can make sushi with quinoa instead of rice? Cook some quinoa, purée half, mix it all together, and voilà!, sticky quinoa. Thanks, Heston Blumenthal! I used a combo of red and white quinoa, and left it unseasoned. Fabulous.
This post is also a little experiment; I started using Dropbox, which makes it way easier to post photos from my phone. The top picture is from my phone, the bottom two are from my proper camera. That is all.
Mardi Gras was on Tuesday, y’all! And my most wonderful parents sent us a king cake!
It’s hard to take a good photo of a garishly-colored pastry in a plastic bag, but I tried anyway.
Those pieces up there looked a little lonely, so we gave them some companionship.
Much better.
In case you were wondering whether that salsa verde goes well with a toasted bagel topped with cream cheese, arugula, smoked salmon, and dill, the answer is yes.
Yes it does.