Birthday on the Boardwak

07-30-15-jersey-produce-4

I think the last time we were at the Jersey Shore was a couple of years before Hurricane Sandy. Our vacations have either been Europe or West Coast - either of which is generally less expensive than renting a house at the shore for a week. I like going down to the ocean, but my Irish complexion is just not conducive to sitting on the beach hours at a time. I've had some pretty horrendous sunburns in my 63 years - I don't plan on ever having another.

So... when Victor asked if I wanted to head to Atlantic City for a few days for my birthday, I jumped at it! Walking the boards, eating salt water taffy, and pulling a few slots sounded like a lot of fun - and there's plenty to do besides sitting in the sand. The second thing I said after saying a resounding YES was we needed to drive home on the Black Horse Pike and hit some Farm Stands.

07-30-15-jersey-produce-1

New Jersey is called The Garden State for a reason. The produce coming out of South Jersey is pretty spectacular and the Black Horse Pike runs through what was once some pretty intensive farming. Much of it has been sold off for shopping malls and sub-divisions, but there's still farmers out there growing some awesome stuff.

The farm stands - numerous even in the '90s when we would come back to visit family - have dwindled to a small handful. But what they lack in number they more than make up for in price and quality. We stopped at one quiet roadside stand and spent 30 minutes talking with the woman who ran the place. She was apologizing for not having things but giving a rundown of when different things would be coming in and lamenting the finicky customers who want perfect-looking produce over stuff that actually tastes good. We had a great time sharing stories and cooking ideas and tips.

We bought raw, unheated, unfiltered local honey.

07-30-15-jersey-produce-2

And tomatoes, corn, blueberries, blackberries, potatoes, lots of hot peppers, plums, blackberry jelly, fig preserves, melons... And spent less than $30 for everything.

07-30-15-jersey-produce-3

We could have easily brought home more, but reality struck. We need to be able to eat this stuff up in just a couple of days. It's fresh!

Hammonton - where Victor's cousin lives and his mom used to live - is the Blueberry Capital of the east and the blueberries are outstanding.

07-30-15-jersey-produce-5

We bought a couple of pints and the minute we got home Victor made a huge fruit salad and a tomato salad.  I fried peppers and we had them on top of pork chops for dinner - along with tomato salad. Nonna absolutely loves tomato salad and Jersey tomatoes are her favorite - after the ones we get out of the yard.

Speaking of yard... they're not producing as we had hoped so we may be heading back down towards the end of the tomato season and pick up a bushel of tomatoes and make sauce for canning. It would be fun.

In the meantime... we're enjoying the few things we did get and contemplating another trek down September 26th for the Miss'd America Pageant. We saw the reigning Miss'd America - Honey Davenport and her first two runners-up, Holly Dae and Fifi DuBois on the boardwalk for a fun show and I'd love to see the whole pageant.

It was a great birthday, indeed...

 

 


Oatmeal Cookies

07-25-15-oatmeal-cookies

I needed a cookie tonight. Several cookies.

It's been a rough couple of days and I needed to get into the kitchen and dirty things up a bit. I knew right away that I wanted Oatmeal cookies and was quite relieved to find that I actually had a bit of oats up in the cabinet. Just enough to get me through today - and they're added to Monday's shopping list for the next emergency baking need. It's work keeping the larder stocked all of the time, but it really pays off when ya just have to make something - now.

This is an easy recipe I got from my Mom and I've made for years. I will often play with the recipe and add different things, but today I made them really simple. They take no time at all to pull together. They're pretty much dump and bake.

They didn't disappoint - they came out perfect.

Oatmeal Cookies

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 heaping tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • scant 2 cups rolled oats
  • 1 cup walnut pieces
  • 1/2 cup butter, melted
  • 1/2 cup shortening, melted
  • 1 tbsp molasses
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1 egg

Mix dry ingredients together. Add wet ingredients and mix well.

Drop by tablespoon onto parchment-lined cookie sheets - or ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake at 350° for 12 minutes.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Really simple but they pack a wallop of flavor. They remain chewy - not crispy. Just the way I like 'em.

 


Peppers from the Garden

 

We're finally starting to see some peppers and tomatoes from the garden! It's been another lackluster year, thus far, although, I guess it's still a bit early.

Regardless, we have a bit of a harvest, so I decided to can them. I really enjoy canning things. but doing things for fun is so different than doing them for necessity. I remember seeing my grandmother in her kitchen in Bakersfield canning - I think - green beans and peaches sometime in the mid-'50s. The only air conditioning in the house was a swamp cooler in the living room and Bakersfield gets hot in the summer. Really hot.

The kitchen was stifling and she was doing quart after quart of whatever the hell it was with sweat dripping down. I think she finally stopped canning by '57 or so and I just have the vaguest memory of actually eating her canned peaches over ice cream.

My mother, on the other hand, didn't can anything. Her memories of growing up during the Depression were too keen. Being able to buy frozen or canned vegetables was her entry into the upwardly-mobile middle class. With six kids to feed, she had her own frugalities she had to contend with - but canning was not to be one of them.

Fast-forward almost half a century and here I am doing what grandma had to do - but doing it simply because I feel like it.

I have dozens of jars downstairs along with scores of new lids, so I really can do things as the mood strikes me. I've done it enough over the years that I have all of the things I need. And really, the only thing you actually need are jars, lids, a big pot - and something to put in the jars.

07-19-15-peppers-2

I did a dozen 4oz jars and a quart jar for the 'fridge.

07-19-15-peppers-3

Hot Pickled Peppers

(makes about 12 1/2-cup jars and a quart for the 'fridge)

  • 4 lbs assorted hot peppers
  • 6 cups distilled white vinegar
  • 1 1/2 cup water
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 1 tbsp kosher salt

Wash and cut peppers to desired size.  (I made rings. )

Pack peppers into mason jars leaving about 1/2″ headroom.

Combine and heat sugar, salt, vinegar, and water.  Bring to boil and then simmer about 5-6 minutes.

Pour over peppers, leaving the same 1/2″ headroom.

Wipe rims of jars, top with lids and rings.

Process in a boiling water bath about 10 minutes.

07-19-15-peppers-4

They will be a great addition to burgers and hot dogs, and anything else we can dream up. And if we get a lot more, they might even become Christmas presents.

 


Vegetable and Meat Casserole

 

08-18-15-zucchini-casserole-1

It was a typical Saturday. I was at work and Victor was lounging in front of the TV eating Bon-Bons. His thumb was getting sore from channel-surfing when he landed on the Saturday PBS cooking shows. Back in those thrilling days of yesteryear when I also had a Monday-Friday job, we'd always have the PBS cooking shows on in the background as we did our weekend puttering around the house. It's good that one of us can keep up the tradition.

Food Network may have 24/7 cooking, but the PBS shows are quality. It's a perfect example of less is more. Quality vs quantity.  I've gotten many more recipes from PBS cooking shows than any other TV station and we've bought a few cook books because of them, as well. 

So... today Lidia comes on and before the hour is over, Victor is at the grocery store buying zucchini. Zucchini. The vegetable I pretty much never buy because Victor doesn't like it. That zucchini.

She was making a zucchini and potato casserole that had his mouth watering. Zucchini. Go figure.

I came walking into the house and was immediately greeted with the most fabulous aroma wafting from the oven. My mouth started watering and I didn't even know what it was! Now, I generally have a smile on my face when I walk into the house, but it turned into a huge grin, immediately!

It was an even bigger grin when we sat down to eat.

08-18-15-zucchini-casserole-2

Nonna complimented me on how good the dinner was. I had to let her know that it was actually her son who made it and she turned to Victor and said "Really? You made this?" She sometimes forgets he used to own his own restaurant and knows his way around a kitchen just a bit. Meals can be quite amusing around here...

Lidia's original recipe called for ground turkey - or any other ground meat - so Victor made it with a beef/veal/pork blend similar to a meatball or meatloaf mix.

Zucchini and Meat Casserole

adapted from Lidia's Commonsense Italian Cooking

  • 6 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 small onions, thinly sliced
  • 1 lb zucchini, diced
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1 1/2 lbs ground beef/veal/pork blend
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 1/2 cups white wine
  • 2 fresh bay leaves
  • 1 3/4 lbs russet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced , (¼ inch thick or less)
  • 8 ounces low-moisture mozzarella, shredded
  • 1 cup grated Grana Padano or -Parmigiano--Reggiano
  • 2 tbsps unsalted butter, at room temperature

Preheat the oven to 400°. In a large skillet, heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions, and cook until slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Add the zucchini and 1 teaspoon of salt. Cook until the zucchini is tender, then remove vegetables to a plate with a slotted spoon. Add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil to the skillet. When the oil is hot, add the ground meat. Cook and stir until it is crumbled and browned, about 4 minutes. Then clear a space in the pan and add the tomato paste. Let it toast for a minute, then stir it into the meat mixture. Add the wine and bay leaves, bring to a simmer, and cook until the wine is reduced and saucy, about 5 minutes. Stir in the onions and zucchini.

Toss the potato slices with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the remaining teaspoon of salt. In a medium bowl, toss together the two cheeses.

To assemble, butter a large 4-quart baking dish. Layer the potatoes in the bottom, and sprinkle with a third of the cheese. Layer all of the meat mixture, then all of the remaining grated cheese. Cover with foil and bake on the bottom rack until bubbly around the edges, about 20 minutes. Uncover, and bake until the top is browned and crusty, about 15 minutes more.

It really was great. I went back for seconds.

And I now have a standing order for Bon-Bons to be delivered every Saturday Morning!


Clean-Out-The-'Fridge-Ravioli

07-12-crab-ravioli-4

I did inventory of the 'fridge this morning before doing the weekly shopping and found lots of bits of things that needed using up. Time to make a pasta sauce!

The beauty of Italian cooking is it lends itself to anything and everything. Rustic cooking is really nothing more than cooking what's on hand at the moment. I did some rustic cooking, today!

I had an eggplant, stalk of broccoli, some cauliflower, a bunch of tomatoes from the yard, most of a green bell pepper, onion, garlic, portobello mushrooms, and some frozen crab meat I had bought a while ago thinking I'd make crab cakes. Well... I didn't make the crab cakes and the crab was just taking up valuable real estate. Time to eat it up. And the fresh herbs out back are going bonkers. I can't use them fast enough.

I started off sauteing onion, green pepper, and eggplant.

07-12-crab-ravioli-1

In another lifetime I would have added the peppers much later, but Nonna needs her vegetables well... overcooked is one way of describing it. We make our sacrifices...

Meanwhile, I had broccoli, cauliflower, peas, garlic, mushrooms... all waiting to be added to the party in the pan.

07-12-crab-ravioli-2

After the onions and eggplant cooked down quite a bit, I doused the pan with lots of red wine and let it all simmer a bit before adding everything else.

I had a couple small bottles of clam juice - also taking up space - and in they went, as well. I covered the pan, let everything simmer, added some S&P and fresh herbs and then the crab.

07-12-crab-ravioli-3

It ended up being a cioppino-like stew that went great over cheese and arugula ravioli.

Clean-out-the-'fridge dinners usually make for a large pot, and this was definitely no exception. I had sauce for 12, easily! The leftover sauce is going into the freezer - something out, something in - and I'm thinking it would be really good in a crepe - crespelle, in Italian - with an Italiany-cheesy sauce over it.

Another meal for another time...

The 'fridge is cleaned out, the vegetable bins are sparkling, and everything is fresh and ready to go. The freezer actually has room, and the cupboards and basement overflow are getting cleared out, slowly, as well.

Life is good...


Fish on the Fourth

07-04-15-poached-white-fish

Anyone can barbecue or grill on the Fourth of July, in fact, I think we usually do. Then, again, we grill year-round, so it's not like we're lacking in our carcinogens. But every once in a while, we have to buck tradition - and Victor did it, today!

Holiday or not, it was a normal Saturday around here. I worked and Victor did his Saturday chores - laundry, vacuuming, that sort of stuff. And, as an added bonus - for me - he cooked dinner!

Poached white fish in a white wine butter sauce, roasted sweet potatoes, and tomato salad.

Totally yum!

We totally eschewed the whole Independence Day theme. Weird, because it's actually been a pretty good week to be a Liberal in this country and I'm feeling a tad more patriotic than I normally do. Marriage Equality was definitely grand - we're now just 'married' everywhere instead of gay-married in some states and not married at all in others. Something I honestly never thought I'd see in my lifetime. And then the upholding of the Affordable Care Act - Obamacare. I especially love that the right wing pundits started calling the AFC Obamacare early on as a slur. After surviving two Supreme Court challenges, it is the law of the land - and their slur has turned into his legacy. It will always be called Obamacare. That must totally annoy some folks to no end. Personally, I love it. And see ya later, Confederate Battle Flag. As I said - a great week to be a Liberal.

But back to dinner... Not a strawberry or blueberry in the house. No red, white, and blueberry cake, shortcake... We do have watermelon, but we always have watermelon. It almost doesn't count. Normal, everyday food. I do see some grilling in our very near future, and another peach pie/cobbler/something is in the works, as well. Tomorrow is another day...

So Happy 239th Birthday, America! And here's to Bernie for the 240th!