Edamame Salad

Weekday salad with leftovers.

I bought a bag of frozen soy beans in their pods, known as "edamame" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edamame), because I developed a taste for them in sushi restaurants around the U.S., typically served warm and covered in sea salt. They are surprisingly good, but for a table of one, a whole bag of them grew cold quickly. What to do? 

Some out of them went into batches of box macaroni and cheese prepared with cooked chopped meat and fried onions, an old college staple for budget cooking that's been an on-and-off  but reliable go-to dish in lean times, or sometimes when I'm simply in the mood for it.

As their last day grew near (the pods emitted a telltale fishy odor, and turned greenish brown), I finally used the last of the soybeans in a salad dressed with red wine vinegar, non-GMO coconut oil that I melted stove top, salted and peppered, with a couple of cranks from an Italian seasoning herb blend for added flavor, diced white Spanish onion, a few fresh basil leaves, some leftover sunflower seeds, et voila!

Happy eating, cooks.

Summer Foods

Fried pork chop with onions.

Plated.

Summer pasta with onions and Jersey-fresh green squash.

Angel hair pasta with broccoli, onions, and a light cheese sauce.

Fully plated, with toasted bread on the side.

Oven-roasted chicken, seasoned simply with salt and pepper.

So flavorful and juicy! Hittin' it hard.

Homemade chicken salad with ripe Hudson Valley apple and diced onion.

Eggplant tomato sauce with shells.

Breaded chicken breast with mushroom sauce and side of shells.

Shells with a mushroom and onion sauce.

Pork cutlet breaded with seasoned quinoa oatmeal.

Shells with meat sauce.

Food: Creamy Pasta

Penne and sausage and zucchini and cream. Oh, my!

We have a bounty of perfectly beautiful, succulent green squash from New Jersey pouring into the store with a rich profusion that screams "Cook with me!" Yeah!! I've waited months for this kind of produce. 

Sometimes I treat my kitchen and pantry items like an episode from the cooking show Chopped: What can I make from what I have on hand? It's actually really fun, without the intense on-camera pressure, berating, viciously competitive saboteurs, and the brutal, insanely quick time line.

A bowlful of pasta perfection!

I decided to combine the squash sitting so perkily and prettily on the refrigerator shelf with some leftover penne, pecorino romano, a little light cream, all natural sausage flavored with spices, sea salt, and natural flavorings, tossed into garlic and onion fried in coconut oil, all items I bought on sale and in season. Mmm, mmm, mmm!
Take a look for yourself, and see.

Welcome to summer, readers! Today is the first day.

Food: Springtime Bounty

Stuffed Eggplant with Chicken Sausage, tomato and onion..

 I've been reaping the benefits of locally grown fresh vegetables for weeks now, taking pictures of dishes that look particularly savory.  
Let's dive in!

Skirt steak with fresh Jersey string beans & boysenberry sauce reduction.

New Jersey is called The Garden State for good reason; they produce an extraordinarily huge selection of very high quality fruits and vegetables, making it a veritable gardener and chef's delight. So, when I see them highlighted at my grocery store (which is a mere five minute drive from the Jersey border), I dive in with all my senses, smelling and sniffing for freshness.

Warm radish and string bean salad with honey glaze.

One week I used green beans in my cooking, the week prior it was eggplant. Think of sustainable cooking like the greatest culinary game you ever played: what can you make with what's available and in season? Try it. You might just come out a better chef.

Macaroni with Broccoli

unc·tu·ous

Readers know that I primarily cook Italian-American at home, though in the interest of full disclosure, I also eat a lot of Cajun, Creole, Acadian, French Canadian, and classically French foods as well, given my ethnicities with those cultural, genetic preferences. Since I typically cook for Italian-American family when I'm at home because it's food I know they'll enjoy, I often find myself going there as comfort food.

Hit that sh*t with bow ties!

This macaroni dish is a huge hit every time I make it, regardless of the type of pasta I use or the condition of the broccoli, because IT'S THAT GOOD. My grandmother made it first and then taught it to my mom, who made it at home for me, thus making it a type of cooking perfection in my family that's been lovingly honed through time and the changing of hands. I've written about the magical powers of Locatelli Romano before, and though I am no food snob, I must warn you once again before you shop for ingredients: only this type of Romano has the content to withstand frying in high heat in oil well. Also, just like with great music and art, timing is key. 

Big stainless steels mixing bowls make me happy.

The cheese cubes have to be removed right before you think they're brown enough, otherwise you've cooked the cheese all the way through, and they'll become hard while drying on paper towels. They should crunch lightly on the outside and still be creamy on the inside: salty cheesy pillows that are highly addictive foodstuffs. I made extra with this batch to eat while I cooked, otherwise (I've learned from experience) the ratio of cheese to other ingredients may be noticeably thin when it finally hits the table.

A warm bowl of pasta on a cold day = happiness.

After that, it's a breeze. When the water is boiling and the macaroni is cooking (my grandma used ziti, but here I used an open box of Farfalle bow ties), I fried some diced onion in the remaining oil. You can either parboil the broccoli florets, but in the interest of brevity and one pan cooking, I flash-fried the florets with the onions this time. 
  

Yeah, yeah, zoom in on that.

I used a sieved spoon to add just the right amount of macaroni into the bowl with the fried cheese cubes, onions, and broccoli, and I was generous with the seasonings, too: salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, more grated Romano. Some of the reserved pasta water goes in to make it moist, supple, and slightly soupy. A good bowl of pasta should "shine" back happily at you, and mine did. Ah! Fini! It was, dear readers, food magic. My mom, who can be a fussy eater, ate two bowls. So did I ;) Buon appetito.