Lunch For Two

Lunch For One: sublime potatoes

The topic of lunch for one fascinates me. There are few things that can be either as sad or as pleasurable as eating alone. In high school, my friend, Abby, was walking home one night from a club and she saw a man, alone, sitting on a stoop crying and eating a Twinkie. The image pretty much traumatized her and it stuck with me, too, even though I didn't actually see the weeper eating his Twinkie. But while eating alone can be tragic, cooking for yourself can be among the most fun things you ever do, in my opinion, anyway. You don't have to worry about pleasing or offending anyone else's palate. This following is a recipe that I make while I'm working and it's among my very favorite lunch-for-one treats. It's easy, filling but not super heavy, and so, so delicious. You do need to be at home or at least near a stove when you make it – it's not a microwave re-heater, so it's a great weekend dish. One will find the dish's charms enhanced by an accompanying glass of hearty red wine.

Sublime Lunch Potatoes in Duck Fat

serves 1

3 organic russet or yukon potatoes, boiled or roasted (left-overs are great for this)
2 Tbs duck fat
1 tsp (or to taste) kosher salt or fluer de sel
1-3 grinds of fresh black pepper
1 Tbs chopped fresh parsley

Cut the cooked potatoes into quarters. Heat up the duck fat in a skillet over a medium flame. When the fat has melted and is hot but not burning arrange the potatoes in a single layer. Wait to turn them about 2 or 3 minutes, until they have become really brown and crusty. Turn them onto all sides – make sure you get them as brown and crispy as possible. If they burn a wee bit it's okay, that adds to the flavors. Put them onto a plate and season with salt and pepper. Toss them lightly with the cut up parsley. Pour your glass of red wine and enjoy!

White Asparagus: The Veal of the Vegetable World?

Makes you shudder, doesn't it? All those poor asparagus stalks that are raised in the dark, never given a chance to see the sunlight just so they can taste tender and pair perfectly with truffles. It hurts me every time I see them.
(photo of the extreme cruel practices of light-starvation techniques on innocent asparagus in Minneapolis courtesy Nina)

Food Crisis!

I have a friend in San Francisco who's passionate about food policy.  She's so enthusiastic, in fact, that she machine guns her friends with email rounds to keep them apprised of what's going on in U.S. food policy.  Some days I get two or three emails and I must admit that initially I would send them straight to the trash.  Then my concern grew as the media seemed to have more and more to say about what we ingest and the government, local and national, weighed in too.  It seems to me that we are resting uncomfortably on the center of a seesaw.  On one end is the consumer who is more interested than ever to know where the food comes from and if the farmer was paid enough to grow it and what kind of nasty chemicals or antibiotics the farmer may have used and whether trans-fats were used to achieve "mouth feel" in that cookie they're thinking of eating.  On the other end of the seesaw sits government which on the one hand doesn't want us to eat trans fats (New York City) and on the other thinks maybe they're OK if the Grocery Manufacturers Association lobbies hard enough (FDA).  Move the weight a few inches to the left or right on that seesaw and it's going to be mayhem!

My friend emailed me today to let me know that the Grocery Manufacturers Association, on behalf of a consortium of associations, has submitted a "citizen petition" (wait a minute, ain't I a citizen too?) to the FDA to "modernize food standards."  Be afraid, be very afraid.  What they are asking for is "flexibility" in six areas: 1) addition of ingredients intended solely for technical, nondistinctive effects, such as emulsifiers, stabilizers, or antimycotic agents, 2) use of safe and suitable flavors and flavor enhancers in standardized foods generally, and use of safe and suitable ingredients such as salt substitutes, sweeteners, and vegetable fats and oils when appropriate 3) use of advanced or more efficient technologies to produce ingredients of all types, such as enzyme technologies that enhance the properties of egg yolk used in mayonnaise 4) use of alternate manufacturing processes, also known as "alternate make" procedures, for those standards that specify particular processes 5) changes to a product's basic shape in response to consumer demands, such as "chunky" stewed tomatoes and 6) improvements in nutritional properties that do not rise to the level of a defined claim (e.g., reducing calories by 10% rather than requiring a 25% minimum reduction), or use of nutritious ingredients like whole grains.  I lifted the six bullet points directly from the petition, but some of this stuff is a little too arcane for me.  What, for instance, is an "'alternate make' procedure?"  So let's just talk about the effect this could have on chocolate were the FDA to adopt the GMA's recommendations.  Well, it would allow chocolate manufacturers to substitute vegetable oils and fats for cocoa butter and still call it "chocolate" as opposed to...well, make up your own chocolaty moniker.  But that's not chocolate, that's blech, and shouldn't we consumers have the right to know the difference and the right to choose between chocolate and chocolate-flavored?  You all can respond to the GMA's petition, but only until tomorrow, by visiting this link.

Do we really want to eat this crap?  I swear I think some food manufacturers would feed us sawdust and peanut shells if they thought they could get away with it.  (Actually, artificial vanillin which is used to flavor artificial vanilla extract comes from lignan which comes from wood, so I guess they are already feeding us sawdust.) But they are getting away with stuffing us with corn-derived junk, like corn syrup, and gobs of trans fats.  Michael Pollan had an article in the New York Times last Sunday in which he described how an obesity researcher went to the supermarket to purchase, hypothetically, a dollar's worth of food.  For maximum caloric bang for his buck, he was obliged to stick to all the canned, bagged and bottled garbage in the middle of the store.  He couldn't afford the fresh meats, produce and dairy that lined the perimeters of the supermarket.  Hmm.  What does this tell us?  Time for a food revolution, that's what!

I am disgusted and I am vowing, right now, to be a more conscientious consumer of food.  Jenny (that's my friend in San Francisco), I will read all the emails you send me and I will write the letters that need to be written and sign the petitions that need signing.  (I'm also adding a link from this blog to The Ethicurean.  They talk about all the stuff I'm ranting about and they have a sense of humor.  I seem to have temporarily misplaced mine.)  Fresh is better.  Local is better.  I will pay the premium to buy from producers who don't use nasty pesticides and hormones and antibiotics.  I want to know what's in my food dammit!  And I want to know that the human who grew or raised or caught the food I'm eating got paid decently for his efforts.  Ultimately, however, what I really want is to live to at least the age my grandmother did, 89.  My grandmother's favorite snack was a sun-ripened, in-season tomato plucked straight from the vine, sliced open and sprinkled with salt, real salt.  I think I'll take my food cues from my grandmother thank you very much.

The Neurotic White Lady

There is a tipple, much beloved by the British middle class, called The White Lady (also known as the Delilah, the Chelsea Side-Car and Lilian Forever.) The White Lady is in the class of drinks known as sours and it's made with equal parts gin, cointreau and lemon juice, shaken over ice, strained and poured into a martini-type of glass. I played around with the recipe and have come up with something that is much better than the very tasty orginal, I think,  and in fact may be my new favorite warm weather cocktail. I call it The Neurotic White Lady. Try it. It may surprise you with how sublime and subtle it really is. Much like neurotic white ladies are wont to...

The Neurotic White Lady:

makes two (recipe easily doubles, triples, etc)

2 oz fresh-squeezed lemon juice
2 oz gin
2 oz triple sec (don't use Cointreau or Gran Marnier they make the drink too orange-y and dry)
2 Tbs simple syrup
ice cubes
club soda to fill

Combine lemon juice, gin, triple sec into a cocktail shaker over ice and shake for a good 30 seconds. Stir in symple syrup. Strain into a highball glass over ice and top with club soda. Give the drink a gentle stir.

bibenda caveat: this is a strong drink that tastes like a mild one.

Strawberry Bellinis

The weather is so glorious here in Brooklyn that there's nothing else to do but bust out the Bellinis. This is a great, simple recipe that is so much fun. If you can't face pureeing and straining your own strawberries look for pureed, strained frozen fruits at Italian specialty stores. They sell them in 1 kilo (2.2 pound containers) and they are purees made from organic fruits and have no sugar added.

Spring is Here! At least 'till Thursday Strawberry Bellinis:

1 bottle prosecco*
2 cups pureed and strained fresh strawberries

Special equipment: Blender, strainer, iced champagne flutes, pitcher and tall "swizzle stirrer" (for the pitcher)

Place 8 Champagne flutes in the freezer for 20 minutes. Open the prosecco and let it stand in an ice bucket for 5 minutes.

Into a pitcher, pour the 2 cups pureed strawberries. Gently pour in the bottle of prosecco and stir gently to combine. Divide among Champagne flutes and serve.

*For Kid Bellinis, substitute sparkling water for the prosecco.

And now to: The Horror of Plastic Shopping bags which do not degrade for 100,000 years, clogging up landfill, strangling sea birds and oozing their toxic ick into the earth...what do we do? If you've spent time in France where the supermarket situation is just so insanely advanced, organized and smart that it can make you feel like an old, nattering geezer when you come back to the States and need to tell everyone you meet how much better it is in France. One of the very best things they do is make it much easier and financially incentivized (they also reserve certain check out lines for people who have brought their own bags, kind of like EZ Pass) for customers to use their own bags so that there isn't the obscene plastic bag throwaway bonanza that we have here.  One inventive woman who's decided to use the caché that  a desired fashion label bestows to a cause she cares about is British designer Anya Hindmarsh who's been making very, very clever and lusted-after bags for a long while. She also designs all the British Airways First Class toiletry bags. In any case she's bring out a shopping bag, for $15, that already has all the fashion-girls in a twitter. Happily, brilliantly they will be selling them (besides at upscale boutiques and department stores) at Whole Foods in mid-July altho everyone thinks they're going to go fast. So if you know someone who needs a gentle nudge in the plastic bag department or if you yourself are just madly chic and want to be all ec0-shmeco with a fab tote grab one and say good-bye to the horror of plastic bags on our landfills...

Australian Juice

I have tried to find good Australian wine over the years in New York. It's been a sad little project resulting in disappointment so often that I gave up. A friend of my cousin's, a Melbourne-based food and wine writer, was in Brooklyn last week and explained the problem: we have the swill sitting on our shelves. The really good Australian wines, (he recommended anything from the Yarra Valley and Pinot Noir from the Mornington Peninsula) are just hard to find here. However, now that I know what to look for, I'm on the hunt. While talking about wines we also discussed the trick of what to serve with a really good bottle. According to Richard Olney, and I'm inclined to agree with him, serving strong, stinky, flavorful cheeses and food with a really good wine is a mistake. Really good wine with its subtle flavors is hobbled by intense flavor: Olney calls certain foods and cheeses "wine killers." But, then again, when you want to share a beautiful bottle with a friend you  want to nibble on something with it while you sip. Here's my suggestion for this quandry, (one of the better ones to have, no?)

Accompaniment for a fine bottle of wine:

crostini with squashed cannellini beans with garlic

2-3 sliced cloves of garlic
canola oil
15 ounce can of cannellini beans
salt and pepper
1 Tbs red wine vinegar
1 baguette, sliced, toasted
1 clove garlic, cut in half
extra virgin olive oil

Gently sauté your sliced garlic in canola oil. You want the garlic gently cooked until it is golden. Don't let it burn or turn brown. This takes me about 4 minutes. Drain and rinse the cannellini beans and then empty them into the pan with the lightly golden garlic slices. Stir while simmering gently for about 7 or 8 minutes. Season the beans with salt and pepper and the red wine vinegar. Turn off the heat and using the back of a fork smash the beans until they are a thick paste. If the mixture is too dry add a tiny (1/2 a tsp) bit of water.

Rub your raw garlic on the toasted baguette slices, then drizzle them with the olive oil. Spread the bean purée on top and serve.

My Nana's Broiled Coconut Cake

This is a cake I used to beg my mother to make when I was young.   It was, and still is, one of my mom's favorites and I assume that as a young child she clamored for it as well.  I had forgotten about the cake until my mother mentioned that she was going to make it this past weekend.  She emailed me the recipe and on Saturday I made two cakes, just for good measure you know.

Nana's Broiled Coconut Cake

for cake:

2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Beat the eggs, vanilla and sugar until thick.  Sift the flour, baking powder and salt and stir into the egg mixture just until blended.  Heat the milk and butter until the butter melts.  Stir gently into the batter.  Pour batter into a buttered 8" by 8" square cake pan or a 9" round cake pan.  Bake about 25 minutes or until golden brown and lightly springy to the touch.

for topping:

3 Tablespoons melted, unsalted butter
3 Tablespoons light brown sugar
2 Tablespoons cream
1/2 cup shredded coconut*

Mix ingredients together and spread over baked cake.  Place under broiler flame until brown and bubbling.

*I use unsweetened coconut because the topping is sweet enough without using sweetened coconut.

Scream of the Week: Peter Pan Donut & Pastry Shop

Dear Food Diary,

I ate donuts all day.  No, I really mean I ate donuts ALL day.  Now my stomach is roiling but my palate is very, very happy.

I was propelled to the Peter Pan Donut Shop by an article in the winter issue of Edible Brooklyn.  I will pay $2.75 for a homemade donut from Marlow & Sons or a Doughnut Plant donut but it kind of makes me squirm to do it.   For that kind of dough (ha ha) you should get a sackful of donuts, served to you across an old-fashioned formica counter by a young woman in a perky uniform.  Peter Pan does it right.  It's so at home on Manhattan Avenue (forever fixed in my mind as the first place I took the wheel of a car) and reminds me of all the small donut shops that dotted New York City when I was a kid.  It looks like something you'd find preserved in lucite but it's thriving, bustling, alive. 

I haven't had donuts like this since I lived in San Francisco years ago.  After a night of drinking microbrews in Mission bars, I'd make my way to Hunts Donuts at 20th and Mission and buy a glazed raised.  At 2AM the donuts were fresh from the oven and my beer-soaked brain and tongue thought they tasted the way a cloud might taste if it were warmed and bathed in icing.  But the donuts at Hunts were served by burly, granite-faced men with lots and lots of tattoos.  They lived by night.

Peter Pan is a daytime place.  (Which is good because I don't know that I'd have the cojones now, at 39, to walk into Hunts Donuts, but I still need my donut infusion from time to time.)  Folks sit there reading the Post and gossip and chatter flit this way and that.  And the Polish women who work the counter wear the cutest little teal uniforms.

The donuts.  OMG.  They're all good: I tried jelly, glazed raised, cake with coconut and chocolate cake.  The chocolate cake donut was out of this world.  I ate a couple of those.

Oh food diary, I know I was very, very bad today.  I promise to eat a heaping mess of greens tomorrow.

Gustatorily (and sheepishly) yours,
Nelle

P.S. This is one of Alex Kapranos' favorite food spots in New York City!  So I feel like Alex and I are endorsing the cultural importance of the rapidly vanishing independent donut shop.  Right?

Peter Pan Donut & Pastry Shop is located at 727 Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, (718) 389-3676

Fromage Fort: Most genius leftover recipe ever?

Here's an amazingly brilliant idea of what to do with all the old little pieces of cheese you have left in the fridge. The ends of the cheese, the piece you re-refrigerated one too many times, the last sliver of brie you just couldn't finish...the pieces that haunt you – you can't throw them out, yet you don't eat them either. Jacques Pepin suggests this recipe which he got from his father that is a traditional, thrifty French recipe that truly borders on the insanely brilliant. You can combine any and all your old cheeses for this one: blue, swiss, brie, parmigianno, goat, sheep, cow whatever you have in old frigo, mournfully uneaten.

Take about 1/2 pound of cheese pieces, put them in the bowl of your cuisinart/food processor with 1 peeled clove of garlic, and 1/4 cup dry white wine and a big grinding of black pepper (1/4 teaspoon if your don't have a grinder.) Process the mixture for 30 seconds until it is creamy but not watery. Taste it for salt. Usually the cheese is salty enough on its own but if you think it needs salt, add a little. Slice some pieces of baguette or peasant bread, spread the cheese mixture and then broil it for a few minutes until its a bit brown and bubbly. omg. so good! Le Pepin also suggests you can eat it cold but I think the broiling makes it sublime. Serve with a glass of wine, hard cider or your favorite beer: add some olives and sliced salami if you want to get fancy for company.