brooklyn table

Vietnamese pork chop and summer squash sauté with carrot miso garlic sauce.

A new Bon Appetit issue with all sorts of “must try” dog-eared corners + gloomy drizzly Sunday = some serious experimentation in the kitchen.
We initially thought we’d pull out the pasta machine for a homemade lasagna or something, but then the pull of this Vietnamese marinade on this hearty pork chop won me over. And thank god it did- it was so damn good! And the sauce you reduce the marinade down to is like crack. It turns ordinary brown rice into something you’ll scrape up with your fingers so you don’t waste a drop.
And with amazing summer squash just around the corner, we needed to try this simple little side dish. And it too was delicious. A bit more dedicated chopping time leads to a really nice slaw like texture and it cooks up super fast.
Check out the June issue for the details- we didn’t vary a thing.

Warm Curried Cauliflower & Grains

It’s hard to motivate to cook for one. Tristan and I have been ships passing in the night with insane work schedules for weeks, and the nights I’m home hours before him, I find myself reaching for the take out menus or a can of hobo beans. It’s sad, but these days, appreciative mouths are much more fun to bring out the pots and pans for!

But, my college friend had posted something on her addictive food blog that looked amazing, simple and healthy and I’ve been dying to give it a spin:

http://bevcooks.com/2013/04/roasted-curried-cauliflower-and-chickpeas-with-grains/

Who doesn’t like cauliflower these days?! Especially when it’s curry-roasted with crispy chickpeas… and mixed up with a grainy potpourri of quinoa, mini garbanzos, orzo and Israeli style couscous?

I followed her recipe almost religiously… (even hunted my local Trader Joe’s for the mixed grain mix!). But I swapped out the pine nuts for golden raisins (be sure to soak them in hot water for 10 mins prior to adding them in so they don’t suck all the moisture out of the final dish!)

Try it on yourself. For one. It’s so worth it. Plus you’ll get many PERFECT lunches to bring to work to the envy of your coworkers. Yum!! 

Watching the Food Network while working out is weird, right? Well, tonight it gave me my inspiration for dinner, because without a little Ina Garten, I would have been happy with a sad bowl of cereal. But her breakfast menu gave me an appetite for this breakfast for dinner meal.

I started with chopping a yukon gold potato in even little cubes, tossed it in a pan with some butter and olive oil, and then added some diced onion. I sauteed that for about 5 minutes before adding some diced pepper and then cooked it all for another 5-7 minutes. While that continued on the stove, I whisked together two eggs, some chopped scallion, salt and pepper, and then mixed in some roughly chopped aged cheddar.
Once the potatoes and onions were cooked through and slightly browned, I poured the eggs over them, then slid the oven-safe skillet into the 350-degree oven for 10 minutes.
When everything seemed firm and the eggs puffed up a little, I took it out. It slid right out of the pan with just a little help of a fork. Perfect little breakfast dinner for one.

Last summer dinner.
Last night of vacation in Montauk calls for a quintessential summer supper.
So Tristan googled how to murder lobsters in the kindest way possible, and we had grilled lobsters. (His humane method entailed a 15 minute freezing, followed by a swift slash to the neck with a sharp knife, followed by 10-15 minutes on a hot grill.)
This amazing lobster was accompanied by farm fresh corn. And a salad wilted with grilled zucchini, peppers and tomatoes, topped with a warm white balsamic vinaigrette and a sprinkle of Romano cheese. So delicious, it called for 2 bottles of champagne. And a bottle (and counting) of red.
Farewell summer vacation. You rocked.

Montauk-style Caprese Salad.

All that means is it’s super relaxed, and best enjoyed along with a sunset and cocktail in hand.
We picked up all the ingredients at the farmer’s market on the green this morning- tomatoes so plump and ripe, I worried they’d explode in my backpack when biking home. Luckily, they survived and lived to tell the tale in our tummies a few hours later…

Grilled halloumi and tomato salad.

Even a gloomy holiday Monday is no match for a recipe like this. It’s summer celebrated on a plate.
Slice the freshest tomatoes you can get your hands on, grill up fat slices of halloumi cheese, sprinkle on some fresh thyme, fresh ground black pepper, drizzle on some good quality extra virgin olive oil, and then sprinkle on just a small pinch of Maldon sea salt flakes (the cheese is super salty- so you don’t need much!)… Take a bite and sigh your end of summer sigh.

Spending Labor Day weekend in town ain’t so bad when you’ve got some oysters, a cheese plate, a glass of rose, and a new book to while away the afternoon.

Green thai curry cod with bok choy and glass noodles.

While it’s ridiculously easy to order thai (at our place, it’s at least once a week), Tristan was surprised just how easy it was to cook thai.
And it’s always fun to play with ingredients you’ve barely touched before like lemongrass.
He kind of winged this one, and after working late, I only assisted by providing a few knife skills and some saute pan flips…So I can only urge you to look up a recipe and go for it! Deliciousness awaits.

The perfect beef burger ratio…

1/2 sirloin, 1/4 chuck, 1/4 short rib. Ground up together with just salt and pepper. No egg, bread crumbs or any nonsense.

We pulled out the kitchen aid for this project and finally broke in the meat grinder attachment. Looks foul as you do it, but it’s amazingly worth it.

We had the expected complements- along with grilled onion and zucchini.
Resulted in burger perfection.
Plain and simple.

Now off for some summertime soft serve.