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Posts from the ‘Main Dish’ Category

Sep 16

Okra, corn, and chili “fork stew”

One of the best things about it not really being summer anymore is that late summer veggies are finally at their peak. That shouldn’t make sense, but it does, really, when you live in Southern California. I know I just wrote about how summer is over, but the temperature meter in my car will tell you that it is definitely (definitely) still summer here, at least as far as the weather is concerned. So it makes sense that tomatoes are at their peak and that massive royal purple eggplants pile the tables at the market.  I’m seeing persimmons, and okra, and melons, and grapes, and chilies, and I feel like I’m eating out of a box of Crayola markers – not the classic ROYGBIV pack, but the Bold pack, full of jewel tones. Remember those?

Soon everything will be the browns and dark forest greens (and maybe a little orange if we’re lucky) of winter, but for now I’ll revel in a bit of this:

Veggies
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Sep 8

6 Comments

Mambo Italiano (including go-to cocktail, of course)

Things are a little nutty at work right now. I’d really rather be in Italy.

Let’s do it.

Italy_dinner

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Aug 14

7 Comments

Slow-cooked changes (and carnitas)

Cooking in a slow cooker is a little like slowly opening a present – unfurling ribbon curl by curl, feeling the weight and sensing the general shape of the package, and gingerly lifting paper away until you get to enjoy whatever it is inside.  Or perhaps like waiting for the vegetables in your garden to ripen – watching color creep across the surface and feeling the flesh soften.

Because an hour or two into the slow cooking process you begin to sense the flavors coming together by the scents that seep out. These scents grow and begin to piece together what is to come, but it isn’t until you lift the lid at the end that you get the full picture, bombarded by a cloud of intense flavor and the scent of food that has slowly come together all day.

Tomatoes

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Jun 1

3 Comments

A bit of broccoli rabe detox, perhaps?

This is a pretty common occurrence in my life:

  1. Go out of town. See lots of people. Schedule every breakfast, lunch, mid-afternoon snack, dinner, and post-dinner drinks time. Eat out approximately six times per day.
  2. Pants get anxious.
  3. Don’t exercise nearly as much as at home.
  4. Pants give warning.
  5. Bring tons of food on return journey, because there were so many bakeries/restaurants/delis/grocery stores that couldn’t fit in ridiculous vacation schedule.
  6. Pants begin routine of punishment, particularly when in contact with a very small, hot airplane seat. Discomfort ensues.
  7. Get home. Experience separation anxiety from kitchen; bake at least three things in the first 36 hours.
  8. Pants stage a coup; jersey skirts and yoga pants triumph and reign over life for a week or so.

Throw a wedding weekend into that mix – full of celebratory meals and drinks with friends and some of the most amazing cake I’ve ever had – and things are even more out of control. So that’s why I came home craving foods in various shades of green and beverages in various states of not alcohol. (And by that I really mean one particular state of not alcohol, that being: 100% not alcohol.) Read more

May 16

10 Comments

PUPUSAS!

When I type “pupusas” into my phone it auto-corrects to “PUPUSAS!”

I like to think this is because my phone really gets me and how I feel about pupusas, but really it’s only because the first time I typed it into my phone it was as “PUPUSAS!,” which still says something. Read more

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