Tasty Side: Potato, Bacon and Garlic Scape Hash

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Tuesday, I wrote to you about Monkfish Wrapped in Bacon and today I want to share my new favorite starchy side dish, which I rediscovered on Monkfish day: hash. On weekends when my mom was out and Dad was in charge, he'd fry up a can of corned beef hash and eggs. It was one of my favorite things to eat. My brother and I would fight over the crunchy bits that Dad did his best to scrape up from the bottom, salty chitling type bites that, like the bottom of a paella, is the absolute best part.

Easy Dinner: Bacon Wrapped Monkfish Fillets

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As I've written before (Panko Flounder anyone?), I didn't come easy to fish, but nowadays I try to eat it at least twice a week. Most often I buy flounder or scallops or clams or porgies from the fish stand or a bit of salmon from the grocer. In the cooking of fish, I've found it hard to branch out beyond the pan fry. However, last Friday I saw a headline in the most recent issue of Saveur magazine: Bluefish Wrapped in Bacon. Of course we all know bacon makes everything better so I decided that's what we'd have for dinner that night. I didn't read the recipe. I just knew bacon and bluefish would be involved and I'd take it from there.

Tasty Treat: Rhubarb Scones

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I am obsessed with afternoon tea. I love the sandwiches, the tea, the scones and devonshire cream, which I could eat straight with a spoon! Afternoon tea is supposed to be a leisurely event intended for relaxing and recharging, kind of like a siesta, but with food. Most afternoons, tea time includes a warm mug of earl grey and a homemade scone if I'm lucky or even just toast with butter and jam. By myself, I stare off into space and meditate on my life while the steam gently massages my face. Other days, I sit down with a friend to chat and giggle because tea, when taken in the company of others, inevitably generates the giggles.

Classic Meals: Korean Bulgogi

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Until recently, I didn't have the guts to experiment with Asian cuisine. Big ingredient lists, unique spices, and alternative cooking techniques all seemed too complicated for my limited time in the kitchen. But then I tried Steamy Kitchen's Beef Pho, a Vietnamese noodle soup. It was flavorful and, despite the seeming long ingredient list, not too involved. Bolstered by my success, I made Pork Potstickers. Um, they were so very good, a little time consuming, but, happily they are meant to be made in big batches and frozen for future lazy dinner days. I've still got some in the freezer.

Roasted Pork Butt with Rhubarb Compote

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In high school there was a group of us, four of us. We did everything together and oftentimes everything meant breaking the rules. Of course, I went to convent school where the rules were so strict and pretty silly that breaking them, though highly offensive to the administration, was mostly innocent. There's the time I ripped my coat in half while scaling the walls to escape. For a split second or two I just hung there with my coat still attached on one side of the fence and my body on the other. My alma mater, Georgetown Visitation is connected to Georgetown University so the older, cooler students just walked by and poked fun of the poor little Catholic school escapee. Other hijinks include but are not limited to the weekly skirt exchanges where the dean called us to her office, ripped off our short skirts that we'd fringed and decorated in studio art and gave us new to-our-knees version, the day I smuggled my best friend out of school in the trunk my car because I had a note to leave early and she didn't, and the time a couple of us, after months of hiding out in the parking lot to avoid chapel were finally found out by a nine months pregnant dean who gave birth the next day.

Breakfast: Poached Eggs over Polenta

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Until ohhh six months ago I thought poaching an egg was the most difficult thing in the world. Every time I'd tried, the egg always burst apart and was an inedible mess. Turns out, poaching a delicate egg on a rapid boil isn't a good idea. Too bad it took me twenty years to figure out that a gentle simmer will yield perfectly poached eggs time and time and time again. Seriously, it's now my go-to method for eggs - easier than scrambling, I sah-wear!

Easy Dinner: Panko Flounder

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I didn't grow up eating fish. My mother had been traumatized by my grandmother's cod cakes which were forced upon her each and every Friday 'cause that's what us Catholics had to do until Vatican 2. My father, on the other hand, loved it and always grilled a swordfish steak when my mother was out. Dad would offer my brother and I a taste, but remembering my mother's severe hatred of it, we'd refuse. Such a shame it took me until I was 14 to finally try it and realize it was pretty good. That first taste lead to deep experimentation with all sorts of fish and the many many ways to cook them. 

Tasty Side: Asparagus with Chives and Lemon Zest

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We had a few weeks of summery weather and now the tides have changed. I'm wrapped in a blanket shivering at my computer and sipping hot tea because, understandably, our building turned off the heat in April. So I will do my best to evoke the essence of Spring even though I'm feeling like winter today.

Tasty Side: Avocado & Artichoke Salad

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I always thought artichokes were best left to the pros what with their prickly leaves and intimidating choke. However, I was recently at the grocery store and spied a pile of baby artichokes from California and thought I'd better give it a go. While California isn't really local, artichokes are in peak season there and they don't grow well on the East Coast. So, like lemons and oranges, some times you just have to get as close as you can and Cali is it for artichokes.

Classic Meals: Pastitsio

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When baby girl was born, I was lonely. None of my local friends were pregnant so while everyone wanted to meet baby girl and play with her occassionally, no one was interested in the nitty gritty of being with a baby all day long... and I was with her all day long. Did I mention that for her first six weeks baby girl screamed her head off day and night unless she was nursing or being walked?

Easy Dinner: Gnocchi with Creme Fraiche and Lemon Zest

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Wondering what to cook tonight? So was I the other day when I decided to take everything out of my fridge and see what's what. Turns out, I had the fixin's for a delicious meal. On friday, I'd bought fish for dinner, but then the hubby called up and said he had to work late. I hate putting a lot of effort into dinner for me and baby girl largely because she doesn't eat with the incredible gusto she use to. She's still good, but much of the time, she'll eat a few bites and then start desperately crying out, I wanna get down!

Snack Time: Labne with Za'atar and Olive Oil

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Hmm, this post is what my mother would call a cheatsie. As a child before TV, she and her sister spent hours playing card games. Double Solitaire was a favorite and, from time to time, when the cards weren't agreeing, my mother and aunt allowed one, two or even three cheatsies - depending on the day - where they could peer at hidden cards or reshuffle those in their hands. While I'm an admitted TV addict, I love getting away with my family where we play cards together constantly and laugh and get mad and tease and allow little cheatsies from time to time.

Easy Dinner: Flounder with Pea Shoots and Olives

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While spring has officially sprung, I haven't seen any evidence of it at the Farmer's Market. No asparagus or rhubarb or strawberries. It's murder walking through on a warm sunny day only to see the same old root veggies of winter.

Tasty Treat: Raspberry Shortbread Bars

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Five years ago, I was an unhappy cog in the machine that is Citigroup. Five years ago, I decided to stop being a cog and be happy and do things that make me happy and hopefully make me money. Five years ago I discovered Food & Wine magazine and, in the very first issue I bought, I discovered Raspberry Shortbread Bars. They are exactly what they sound like: a chewy, sweet and delicate cookie with a layer of raspberry jam in the middle.

Sunday Dinner: Leg of Lamb with Garlic and Rosemary

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My husband's biggest fear when baby girl was baptized Catholic (he's Jewish by birth and atheist in practice) was that she would be talking all the time about Jesus and how much she loved him. I laughed hysterically at his fears since I don't remember being completely obsessed with Jesus as a child and I was basically raised by nuns and priests. Not only is my mother very religious, but she put me through Catholic school all the way through college. Seriously, I was a convent school girl. Well, funnily enough, baby girl on her recent trips to church has begun creating songs about baby Jesus and how he's coming and how she loves him so much. I have no idea where these songs came from since Catholic church is more about singing of being blind and sinning.

Happy Birthday Almost Slowfood!

On this day 32 years ago, I was born. And then last year, on this same day, I mustered up enough courage to finally start a blog. Over the last year, I've shared stories, recipes and my ideas on local food and how easy and affordable it can be to eat well while supporting the environment. While I've tried not to preach, I hope you've found some recipes and some fun along the way.

I thank you all for reading, trying out recipes and telling your own stories. I'm excited for another year of cooking and eating well and sharing it all with you!

xx,
Peggy

PS - if there's anything you'd like me to try or if you have any suggestions on how to make this blog better, I'd love to hear them!

Tasty Treat: Best Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Einstein's theory of relativity changed the course of science; so too will my Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies change the course of, well, my baking at least. It's been years and years of off again on again experimentation and finally, finally, finally I've discovered the most amazing chocolate chip cookies. Crispy, chewy edges with soft chewy innards, my dream cookie, are now a reality.

Boston Baked Beans (my way)

My grandmother, while not from Boston, makes incredible baked beans. Every Christmas Eve, she hosts a buffet dinner and alongside the honey ham, parker house rolls, petit fours, Jelly Cake, potato salad and deviled eggs are her baked beans set on an old cast iron trivet in the antique clay pot she's been making them in since the 40's. Her beans are soft, a little sweet with an almost syrupy sauce. They go down easy.

Classic Meals: Esther's Fried Chicken

I've been sitting here trying to put words together for two hours and thinking how I use to complain about writer's block all the time. It was my ultimate excuse. Writer's block meant I didn't have to query work on my assignments or my fiction. I could go out for a walk or get a pedicure or clean the bathtub. Nowadays, ever since baby girl was born to be exact, I just don't have time for writer's block and I've found the a** in chair approach really is best (except for when the Internet and email beckons.) But really, now that I have a babysitter to come while I'm working, I feel like she's babysitting me too and ensures I work!

Easy Dinner: Sausages with Polenta and Swiss Chard

I'm spending the week in Virginia with my mother and grandmother and brothers and cousins and aunts and uncles. Everyone but me lives in Old Town, Alexandria and I do adore being overwhelmed with family. It's how I grew up: my grandmother up the street and my aunt and cousins round the corner and various and sundry other relatives sprinkled throughout the area. While Alexandria is a huge city outside an even huger city - Washington DC - for me and my family there's something very small-town about it. We've been here since the 1800's, since Robert E Lee lived here and since Northern Virginia was considered the South. Heck, to me and mine, we are Southern and we have a sad Confederate statue to prove it.