Melons

Recently my longtime friend, Alice, and I shared cooking a meal.  She brought a beautiful but also healthy desert—melons.  They are in season and she said the local ones were so good.  The recipe came from Lee Bailey’s Southern Food & Plantation Houses.  It is a pretty coffee-table book with lovely pictures of homes in Natchez with recipes for luncheons, elegant dinners, Sunday suppers, fish fries, barbecues, buffets, etc.  Despite it being a pretty book the recipes are simple and tasty.  Lee Bailey is dead now but long before Martha Stewart produced attractive books about how to entertain he showed us glamorous cooking and beautiful presentations accessible to the uninitiated.   Bailey was born in Bunkie, Louisiana (where I also have a friend) but lived and worked in Manhattan and Long Island.  But he didn’t forget his Southern roots.  He had an Aunt who lived in Natchez and visited her often.  On a trip in the late 80’s he teamed up with the Pilgrimage Garden Club of Natchez to produce his Southern Food book.  The melon recipe was for a lunch under the trees at Edgewood, an 1850’s home in Natchez.  Use it for a family desert, for a buffet luncheon or dinner….or breakfast.

 

Melon with Blueberry Sauce

Serves 8

2 cups fresh blueberries

½ cup sugar

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tablespoon vodka

Dash of ground cinnamon (optional)

1 very large honeydew melon or any other good melon, peeled, seeded, and cut into medium-thin slices

Place the berries, sugar, lemon juice, vodka, and cinnamon in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, and cook slowly for 20 minutes. Cool, cover, and refrigerate until ready to use.

Arrange melon slices on individual plates and put a line of sauce down the middle of each.

(Alice used both honeydew and cantaloupe slices and added some sliced strawberries and decorated with mint.)

 

The July issue of ‘bon appétit’ had a great melon dessert with lime. Other ripe fruit can be used such as pineapple, peaches, or plums. You can chill any leftover syrup for sweetening iced tea or cocktails.

Melon Carpaccio with Lime

Serves 6

½ cup sugar

4 sprigs mint plus small leaves for garnish

½ t. thinly sliced fresh red chili (such as jalapeño or Fresno)

½ vanilla bean, split lengthwise

½ cup fresh lime juice

½ 5-lb. melon (such as honeydew), peeled, halved, seeded, cut crosswise into ¼ “slices

Coconut, mango, or lemon sorbet (optional)

½ tsp. lime zest

Bring sugar and ¼ cup water to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add mint sprigs and chili. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean. Remove syrup from heat; cover and let steep for 15 minutes for flavors to infuse.

Strain syrup through a fine-mesh sieve into a small bowl; stir in lime juice.

Do Ahead: Syrup can be made 1 week ahead. Keep chilled.

Arrange melon slices in a 13x9x2” glass baking dish. Pour syrup over melon in baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours to allow flavors to meld.

Divide melon slices among plates, overlapping them decoratively. Pour remaining syrup in dish into a small pitcher.

Do Ahead: Melon carpaccio can be made up to 5 hours ahead. Cover and chill melon and remaining syrup separately.

Drizzle some of syrup over melon. Place a scoop of sorbet in center of each plate, is using garnish with mint leaves and lime zest.

 

See what melons are in the market.  Melons love heat and we have a lot of that.  You might want to think of growing your own next year. I have planted Edisto Mystery (seed from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange) this year, said to do well in the hot humid conditions which prevail in my garden.  It should be coming in soon.

 

Recently my longtime friend, Alice, and I shared cooking a meal.  She brought a beautiful but also healthy desert—melons.  They are in season and she said the local ones were so good.  The recipe came from Lee Bailey’s Southern Food & Plantation Houses.  It is a pretty coffee-table book with lovely pictures of homes in Natchez with recipes for luncheons, elegant dinners, Sunday suppers, fish fries, barbecues, buffets, etc.  Despite it being a pretty book the recipes are simple and tasty.  Lee Bailey is dead now but long before Martha Stewart produced attractive books about how to entertain he showed us glamorous cooking and beautiful presentations accessible to the uninitiated.   Bailey was born in Bunkie, Louisiana (where I also have a friend) but lived and worked in Manhattan and Long Island.  But he didn’t forget his Southern roots.  He had an Aunt who lived in Natchez and visited her often.  On a trip in the late 80’s he teamed up with the Pilgrimage Garden Club of Natchez to produce his Southern Food book.  The melon recipe was for a lunch under the trees at Edgewood, an 1850’s home in Natchez.  Use it for a family desert, for a buffet luncheon or dinner….or breakfast.

 

Melon with Blueberry Sauce

Serves 8

2 cups fresh blueberries

½ cup sugar

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tablespoon vodka

Dash of ground cinnamon (optional)

1 very large honeydew melon or any other good melon, peeled, seeded, and cut into medium-thin slices

Place the berries, sugar, lemon juice, vodka, and cinnamon in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, and cook slowly for 20 minutes. Cool, cover, and refrigerate until ready to use.

Arrange melon slices on individual plates and put a line of sauce down the middle of each.

(Alice used both honeydew and cantaloupe slices and added some sliced strawberries and decorated with mint.)

 

The July issue of ‘bon appétit’ had a great melon dessert with lime. Other ripe fruit can be used such as pineapple, peaches, or plums. You can chill any leftover syrup for sweetening iced tea or cocktails.

Melon Carpaccio with Lime

Serves 6

½ cup sugar

4 sprigs mint plus small leaves for garnish

½ t. thinly sliced fresh red chili (such as jalapeño or Fresno)

½ vanilla bean, split lengthwise

½ cup fresh lime juice

½ 5-lb. melon (such as honeydew), peeled, halved, seeded, cut crosswise into ¼ “slices

Coconut, mango, or lemon sorbet (optional)

½ tsp. lime zest

Bring sugar and ¼ cup water to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add mint sprigs and chili. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean. Remove syrup from heat; cover and let steep for 15 minutes for flavors to infuse.

Strain syrup through a fine-mesh sieve into a small bowl; stir in lime juice.

Do Ahead: Syrup can be made 1 week ahead. Keep chilled.

Arrange melon slices in a 13x9x2” glass baking dish. Pour syrup over melon in baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours to allow flavors to meld.

Divide melon slices among plates, overlapping them decoratively. Pour remaining syrup in dish into a small pitcher.

Do Ahead: Melon carpaccio can be made up to 5 hours ahead. Cover and chill melon and remaining syrup separately.

Drizzle some of syrup over melon. Place a scoop of sorbet in center of each plate, is using garnish with mint leaves and lime zest.

 

See what melons are in the market.  Melons love heat and we have a lot of that.  You might want to think of growing your own next year. I have planted Edisto Mystery (seed from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange) this year, said to do well in the hot humid conditions which prevail in my garden.  It should be coming in soon.

 

Eggplant

At the farmer’s market last Saturday I noticed everyone had some eggplant. Now, my husband has not had any luck with growing eggplant and I don’t exactly know what the problem could be. Eggplant is really an oversized berry. Like potatoes, tomatoes, and tobacco, it is in the nightshade family. It has grown in the South since the eighteenth century, but most colonists used eggplant only as a garden ornament. Many believed that nightshades caused madness so therefore they would not use them. Some of the earliest specimens were small, oval, and white, just like a hen’s egg, so the name was fitting and came to be used for all varieties. Thomas Jefferson grew eggplant in his garden but it did not catch on in America until much later.

Italian American cooks popularized the purple globe eggplant, nearly overshadowing all other types. Southern gardens produce Asian and Persian eggplants in addition to the Mediterranean varieties. These eggplants come in various shapes and colors, some as small as a pea, to a whopper, and can be both round and long. Their solid, striped, and variegated skins can be white, green, red, orange, pink, purple or lavender. People who extol eggplant claim there’s a thousand ways to cook them. It is true that eggplant is amenable to many cooking techniques, but it is agreed that is should not be eaten raw.

Italian immigrants spread their love for eggplant throughout the South with the dish of eggplant caponata. Sicilian immigrants had significant culinary influence in New Orleans and this dish is an example of their talents of mixing flavors, aromas, colors, and textures into this amazing dish. Although there are many variations, caponata always contains eggplant, tomatoes, and onions cooked in olive oil and seasoned with vinegar. This version features the sweetness of the peppers and the salty tang of olives and capers. Caponata has many uses: relish, salad, side dish, pasta sauce, and bruschetta topping. It can be served warm or room temperature, which is great during the summer. It is best made one day ahead.

Taken from, The New Southern Garden Cookbook by Sheri Castle.

Eggplant Caponata

Makes 6-8 servings

Extra-virgin olive or vegetable oil for frying

1 pound eggplant, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes

2 sweet red peppers, cored and cut into 1-inch pieces

2 large yellow onions, diced

3 medium tomatoes, cored, seeded, and diced

1 cup pitted green olives

½ cup raisins

3 tablespoons drained capers

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste

Set a wire rack inside a large rimmed baking sheet. Cover the rack with a few layers of paper towels and place near the stove to use for draining the cooked vegetables.

Pour the oil into a large skillet to a depth of ½ inch and heat over medium-high heat until simmering hot.

Pat the eggplant cubes as dry as possible. Working in batches, add a single layer of the eggplant to the skillet and cook until tender and browned on all sides, 7 to 9 minutes per batch. Transfer with a slotted spoon to the paper towels to drain. Replenish the oil as needed.

Add the peppers to the skillet and cook, stirring often, until tender and slightly browned, about 5 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to the paper towels to drain.

Add the onions to the skillet and cook, stirring often, until tender and golden, about 8 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to the paper towels and drain.

Stir together the tomatoes, olives, raisins, capers, brown sugar and vinegar in a large saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Stir in the eggplant, peppers, and onions. Season with the salt. Cover and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender and the sauce thickens, about 20 minutes. Add a little water if the mixture gets dry before the vegetables are done.

Remove the pan from the heat and let the vegetables cook to room temperature. For best flavor, cool, cover, and refrigerator overnight. Check the seasoning and add more salt, sugar, or vinegar if needed to balance the flavors. Return to room temperature or gently warm before serving.

Eggplants are great stuffed and wonderful used is casseroles such as mousaka (a traditional Greek dish) or in eggplant parmesan. You can slice them, dredge them in cornmeal or flour and just fry them.  Go to the farmer’s market and give this versatile vegetable a try!

 

At the farmer’s market last Saturday I noticed everyone had some eggplant. Now, my husband has not had any luck with growing eggplant and I don’t exactly know what the problem could be. Eggplant is really an oversized berry. Like potatoes, tomatoes, and tobacco, it is in the nightshade family. It has grown in the South since the eighteenth century, but most colonists used eggplant only as a garden ornament. Many believed that nightshades caused madness so therefore they would not use them. Some of the earliest specimens were small, oval, and white, just like a hen’s egg, so the name was fitting and came to be used for all varieties. Thomas Jefferson grew eggplant in his garden but it did not catch on in America until much later.

Italian American cooks popularized the purple globe eggplant, nearly overshadowing all other types. Southern gardens produce Asian and Persian eggplants in addition to the Mediterranean varieties. These eggplants come in various shapes and colors, some as small as a pea, to a whopper, and can be both round and long. Their solid, striped, and variegated skins can be white, green, red, orange, pink, purple or lavender. People who extol eggplant claim there’s a thousand ways to cook them. It is true that eggplant is amenable to many cooking techniques, but it is agreed that is should not be eaten raw.

Italian immigrants spread their love for eggplant throughout the South with the dish of eggplant caponata. Sicilian immigrants had significant culinary influence in New Orleans and this dish is an example of their talents of mixing flavors, aromas, colors, and textures into this amazing dish. Although there are many variations, caponata always contains eggplant, tomatoes, and onions cooked in olive oil and seasoned with vinegar. This version features the sweetness of the peppers and the salty tang of olives and capers. Caponata has many uses: relish, salad, side dish, pasta sauce, and bruschetta topping. It can be served warm or room temperature, which is great during the summer. It is best made one day ahead.

Taken from, The New Southern Garden Cookbook by Sheri Castle.

Eggplant Caponata

Makes 6-8 servings

Extra-virgin olive or vegetable oil for frying

1 pound eggplant, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes

2 sweet red peppers, cored and cut into 1-inch pieces

2 large yellow onions, diced

3 medium tomatoes, cored, seeded, and diced

1 cup pitted green olives

½ cup raisins

3 tablespoons drained capers

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste

Set a wire rack inside a large rimmed baking sheet. Cover the rack with a few layers of paper towels and place near the stove to use for draining the cooked vegetables.

Pour the oil into a large skillet to a depth of ½ inch and heat over medium-high heat until simmering hot.

Pat the eggplant cubes as dry as possible. Working in batches, add a single layer of the eggplant to the skillet and cook until tender and browned on all sides, 7 to 9 minutes per batch. Transfer with a slotted spoon to the paper towels to drain. Replenish the oil as needed.

Add the peppers to the skillet and cook, stirring often, until tender and slightly browned, about 5 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to the paper towels to drain.

Add the onions to the skillet and cook, stirring often, until tender and golden, about 8 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to the paper towels and drain.

Stir together the tomatoes, olives, raisins, capers, brown sugar and vinegar in a large saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Stir in the eggplant, peppers, and onions. Season with the salt. Cover and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender and the sauce thickens, about 20 minutes. Add a little water if the mixture gets dry before the vegetables are done.

Remove the pan from the heat and let the vegetables cook to room temperature. For best flavor, cool, cover, and refrigerator overnight. Check the seasoning and add more salt, sugar, or vinegar if needed to balance the flavors. Return to room temperature or gently warm before serving.

Eggplants are great stuffed and wonderful used is casseroles such as mousaka (a traditional Greek dish) or in eggplant parmesan. You can slice them, dredge them in cornmeal or flour and just fry them.  Go to the farmer’s market and give this versatile vegetable a try!

 

At the farmer’s market last Saturday I noticed everyone had some eggplant. Now, my husband has not had any luck with growing eggplant and I don’t exactly know what the problem could be. Eggplant is really an oversized berry. Like potatoes, tomatoes, and tobacco, it is in the nightshade family. It has grown in the South since the eighteenth century, but most colonists used eggplant only as a garden ornament. Many believed that nightshades caused madness so therefore they would not use them. Some of the earliest specimens were small, oval, and white, just like a hen’s egg, so the name was fitting and came to be used for all varieties. Thomas Jefferson grew eggplant in his garden but it did not catch on in America until much later.

Italian American cooks popularized the purple globe eggplant, nearly overshadowing all other types. Southern gardens produce Asian and Persian eggplants in addition to the Mediterranean varieties. These eggplants come in various shapes and colors, some as small as a pea, to a whopper, and can be both round and long. Their solid, striped, and variegated skins can be white, green, red, orange, pink, purple or lavender. People who extol eggplant claim there’s a thousand ways to cook them. It is true that eggplant is amenable to many cooking techniques, but it is agreed that is should not be eaten raw.

Italian immigrants spread their love for eggplant throughout the South with the dish of eggplant caponata. Sicilian immigrants had significant culinary influence in New Orleans and this dish is an example of their talents of mixing flavors, aromas, colors, and textures into this amazing dish. Although there are many variations, caponata always contains eggplant, tomatoes, and onions cooked in olive oil and seasoned with vinegar. This version features the sweetness of the peppers and the salty tang of olives and capers. Caponata has many uses: relish, salad, side dish, pasta sauce, and bruschetta topping. It can be served warm or room temperature, which is great during the summer. It is best made one day ahead.

Taken from, The New Southern Garden Cookbook by Sheri Castle.

Eggplant Caponata

Makes 6-8 servings

Extra-virgin olive or vegetable oil for frying

1 pound eggplant, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes

2 sweet red peppers, cored and cut into 1-inch pieces

2 large yellow onions, diced

3 medium tomatoes, cored, seeded, and diced

1 cup pitted green olives

½ cup raisins

3 tablespoons drained capers

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste

Set a wire rack inside a large rimmed baking sheet. Cover the rack with a few layers of paper towels and place near the stove to use for draining the cooked vegetables.

Pour the oil into a large skillet to a depth of ½ inch and heat over medium-high heat until simmering hot.

Pat the eggplant cubes as dry as possible. Working in batches, add a single layer of the eggplant to the skillet and cook until tender and browned on all sides, 7 to 9 minutes per batch. Transfer with a slotted spoon to the paper towels to drain. Replenish the oil as needed.

Add the peppers to the skillet and cook, stirring often, until tender and slightly browned, about 5 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to the paper towels to drain.

Add the onions to the skillet and cook, stirring often, until tender and golden, about 8 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to the paper towels and drain.

Stir together the tomatoes, olives, raisins, capers, brown sugar and vinegar in a large saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Stir in the eggplant, peppers, and onions. Season with the salt. Cover and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender and the sauce thickens, about 20 minutes. Add a little water if the mixture gets dry before the vegetables are done.

Remove the pan from the heat and let the vegetables cook to room temperature. For best flavor, cool, cover, and refrigerator overnight. Check the seasoning and add more salt, sugar, or vinegar if needed to balance the flavors. Return to room temperature or gently warm before serving.

Eggplants are great stuffed and wonderful used is casseroles such as mousaka (a traditional Greek dish) or in eggplant parmesan. You can slice them, dredge them in cornmeal or flour and just fry them.  Go to the farmer’s market and give this versatile vegetable a try!

 

Julia Child

August 15^th would have been Julia Child’s 100^th birthday. She is being remembered in news articles and magazines, and in New Orleans many restaurants are doing tribute menus to her. A new book has come out about her by Bob Spitz called, Dearie. Julia called everyone and everything “Dearie,” even if it was someone she’d just met, or the person driving her taxi, or a machine. It was just an endearing part of her, Spitz says.

Those of us who love food know that Julia is the one who really changed things for the American woman in the way we eat and the way we live. She was a seemingly ordinary person who through talent, hard work, and the force of her personality launched something new in the world and changed the way we think about food.

Perhaps some of the things you do not know about her: She kept a diary her entire life--from the time she was 12 until she died; she also kept every story she wrote, every letter she sent her parents during boarding school and every invitation she received. In the end she had 180 boxes of material. She was a party girl. Julia went to Smith College and was a C student. At that time in her life she was much more concerned with finding speakeasies during Prohibition than with her class work. She was boy crazy and loved to surround herself with attractive men at dinners. She loved tuna fish. When people would go to her house for lunch they would be expecting a fabulous meal, but she often served them tuna sandwiches.

No one can deny Julia’s contribution to public television. Before Julia, educational TV in almost every city was only a conglomeration of college professors giving their lectures, or maybe the local symphony. There was no national star. ‘The French Chef’ did not have the money for retakes. Julia taped every show as if it were live, so if Julia made a mistake, it was aired that way---although many of her mistakes were planned. Once Julia realized that viewers liked to see her fumble a recipe, she started doing it for comedic effect.

One of the most memorable things Spitz said of Julia is how she would march into the kitchen of any restaurant, lean over the stove, and to the horror of the chef, would dip her fingers into the pot and lick her fingers. Then she would do the same thing with another pot. In Italy she did this, and he thought the chefs would get a cleaver to her. She never really understood the love of Italian cooking and the allure of it. She felt Italian sauces were just onions and garlic and olive oil and tomatoes!

When I need to really know how to prepare French food I always go to Julia. She has never steered me wrong. So this week we celebrate a great woman!

From Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home (You can find these vegetables in your garden or at the local market, so a good recipe for now.)

Eggplant and Zucchini Gratin

Makes 6-8 servings

½ cup, or so, olive oil

1 large or 2 medium eggplant

1 tablespoon herbes de Provence

1 teaspoon salt

2 medium zucchini, about 1 pound

3 or 4 ripe tomatoes, about 1 pound

½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

For bread-crumb topping:

½ cup or so fresh bread crumbs, not too finely ground

1/3 cup or so freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Arrange rack on lower-middle level of oven and preheat to 400 degrees. Smear a baking sheet generously with 1/3 cup olive oil.

Trim off ends of eggplant and slice on the diagonal into ovals ½ inch thick. One at a time, lay slices on the sheet, press to coat lightly with oil and turn them over. Arrange slices, oiled side up, in a single layer and sprinkle on ½ teaspoon each, salt and herbs of Provence.

Bake about 15 minutes until eggplant slices are soft and somewhat shriveled; cool briefly. Leave oven on if you are baking the gratin right away.

Trim zucchini ends and cut lengthwise into slices no more than ¼-inch thick. Salt zucchini and let it sit about 15 minutes then wipe salt and moisture off (otherwise your casserole can be too watery.) Core tomatoes and cut into slices ¼-inch thick. Spread out slices and sprinkle lightly with ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper.

Film a baking dish well with 1 teaspoon olive oil and sprinkle a teaspoon of the dried herbs all over the bottom. Lay one or two eggplants slices, lengthwise, against a narrow side of dish. Arrange a long slice or two of zucchini in front of the eggplant, then place 2 or 3 tomato slices in front of the zucchini. Repeat until pan if full of alternating rows of eggplant, zucchini, and tomatoes. Arrange each new row of slices so colorful edges of the previous row are still visible.

Mix bread crumbs, Parmesan and a teaspoon of herbes de Provence. Add a tablespoon of olive oil, then toss and rub it in with your fingers to coat crumbs but keep them loose.

Sprinkle crumbs evenly over vegetables and drizzle remaining oil over all. Place dish in the center of the oven and bake 40 minutes, until vegetables are soft, juices are bubbling, and top is a deep golden brown. If the crumbs need more browning, you can stick them under a broiler for a few minutes.

I didn’t have any herbs de Provence so I went to the garden and got bunches of basil, thyme, sage and rosemary.  Herbs de Provence are just the common herbs of Provence, now sold commercially in different formulations.  They include, depending on the vendor, varying amounts of dried marjoram, thyme, savory, basil, rosemary, sage, fennel seeds, chervil, tarragon, and mint. Some add orange zest or lavender.  Lavender has been added for the tourist in the south of France who saw it growing  almost everywhere.  So if you are making your own herbs de Provence, you choose.

Julia almost picked another catch-phrase to sign off on her show, “The French Chef.” She was supposed to say, “This is Julia Child--until next time.” But in an early script, Julia crossed it out and wrote in her now-famous

“Bon appétit!”

 

 

Tucson

Our car’s odometer turned 1400 hundred miles when we got off the I-10 in Tucson. We had come a long way but here we were in the hot desert with wonderful mountain ranges surrounding us. It was beautiful but so different from our hot, muggy, green south. We did not realize we were arriving in monsoon season (who knew Arizona had a monsoon season?). But it did rain every afternoon we were there, so it helped with the heat. Tucson only gets about 11 inches of rain each year, so I believe it comes during monsoon season. One afternoon it rained so hard I was reminded of the monsoon rains in Bombay. They also have dust storms during the monsoons, but fortunately we did not get into any of them.  I’m paying more attention to Arizona news on the TV and since returning have noted a dust storm and a flash flood from the monsoons.

We stayed at the Arizona Inn which has cheaper rates in the summer (before air conditioning it was closed for the summer), but well worth the money---great value. It is an old inn built by Isabella Greenway in 1930 and still run by the family.  We arrived at lunch time and immediately went to the Audubon Bar and had some hummus with warm pita bread and a soup and salad. Not exactly Tex-Mex but a great little lunch anyway.

Isabella Greenway is best remembered today as the founder of the Arizona Inn.  But in the early part of the 20^th century she led a fascinating life.  She was a friend of Theodore Roosevelt and went to school with and was in the wedding of Eleanor Roosevelt.  She lived in a brownstone in New York City before moving with her small children and her husband who had tuberculosis to a tented camp in New Mexico.  She later married John Greenway, a copper mogul who built the town of Ajo, Arizona.  She represented Arizona as their only US Representative in the 1930’s.  I bought a biography of Isabella—a fascinating read.

We met our daughter late that afternoon at her house. You could not miss it since it was a bright purple. This casita (little house) was bright and colorful, inside and out.  It was built in 1912, the year Arizona became a state.  She had chosen a restaurant called Cafe Poca Cosa for our dinner. The menu changes daily and is read to you by a waiter.  There is a lot offered and it is confusing, but if you have trouble deciding, the last choice is the chefs trio—his choice. We could not make up our mind, so we did the chef’s choice.  I really don’t know what I ate! It was very dark in the restaurant and I could not decide what was on my plate. It was certainly filled with stuff and lots of lettuce with a big slice of pineapple on top. So this dining experience lacked a lot for me.

Our next day was spent in Tubac.  The best part of the trip was a stop at San Xavier del Bac.  The “White Dove of the Desert” as it is called, is an impressive example of Spanish mission architecture.  Although the mission to the Tohono O’odham Indians was founded before 1700, the present structure was built 1783-1797.  It is an active mission to the Tohono O’odham and has been beautifully restored.  As for food there were lots of vendors building their fires to cook in the large plaza in front of the church.  We were there just after breakfast and did not stay for lunch.  The village of Tubac was filled with lots of artsy shops (however, several were closed for the summer) and some restaurants and a small museum. You can probably skip this little place outside of Tucson, but perhaps there is more going on with the art show in the fall.  I would like to have a look at the museum but a monsoon rain hit just at the time we got there and the museum is mostly outdoors.  Maybe next time.

One of the best things in Tucson we did was the Desert Museum.  It is located a few miles outside the city and is indoor/outdoor, filled with animal, vegetable and mineral.  The animals, reptiles, and birds are caged but in a natural habitat.  The whole place is a showcase for desert plants, well labeled. Guides are everywhere to answer questions and to suggest things to you.  We spent a good part of a day there. I think one could return over and over and not see everything.

The breakfasts at the Arizona Inn were really amazing and filling. You could have eggs any way. We had them in quesadillas (tortillas filled with bacon, onions, peppers, cheese, and then the scrambled eggs). Another morning was huevos rancheros. Such an easy way to do breakfast!  Many of my food magazines had Mexican food featured this month and especially ‘Saveur’ Magazine which devoted the whole issue to Mexican. This recipe is from their Aug/Sept issue.

Huevos a la Mexicana

(Mexican-Style Scrambled Eggs)

Serves 4-6

3 tbsp. canola oil

1 small white onion, finely chopped

1 jalapeño, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

2 tbsp. thinly sliced cilantro leaves (You could use basil since which is more available--in your garden, I hope.)

8 eggs, lightly beaten

Heat oil in a 12” skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, jalapeño, and tomato, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring, until soft, about 6 minutes.

Add cilantro and eggs, and cook, folding eggs over to large curds occasionally, until cooked through, about 4 minutes.  If using basil, add after cooking the eggs as I think basil is better if not cooked.

Our car’s odometer turned 1400 hundred miles when we got off the I-10 in Tucson. We had come a long way but here we were in the hot desert with wonderful mountain ranges surrounding us. It was beautiful but so different from our hot, muggy, green south. We did not realize we were arriving in monsoon season (who knew Arizona had a monsoon season?). But it did rain every afternoon we were there, so it helped with the heat. Tucson only gets about 11 inches of rain each year, so I believe it comes during monsoon season. One afternoon it rained so hard I was reminded of the monsoon rains in Bombay. They also have dust storms during the monsoons, but fortunately we did not get into any of them.  I’m paying more attention to Arizona news on the TV and since returning have noted a dust storm and a flash flood from the monsoons.

We stayed at the Arizona Inn which has cheaper rates in the summer (before air conditioning it was closed for the summer), but well worth the money---great value. It is an old inn built by Isabella Greenway in 1930 and still run by the family.  We arrived at lunch time and immediately went to the Audubon Bar and had some hummus with warm pita bread and a soup and salad. Not exactly Tex-Mex but a great little lunch anyway.

Isabella Greenway is best remembered today as the founder of the Arizona Inn.  But in the early part of the 20^th century she led a fascinating life.  She was a friend of Theodore Roosevelt and went to school with and was in the wedding of Eleanor Roosevelt.  She lived in a brownstone in New York City before moving with her small children and her husband who had tuberculosis to a tented camp in New Mexico.  She later married John Greenway, a copper mogul who built the town of Ajo, Arizona.  She represented Arizona as their only US Representative in the 1930’s.  I bought a biography of Isabella—a fascinating read.

We met our daughter late that afternoon at her house. You could not miss it since it was a bright purple. This casita (little house) was bright and colorful, inside and out.  It was built in 1912, the year Arizona became a state.  She had chosen a restaurant called Cafe Poca Cosa for our dinner. The menu changes daily and is read to you by a waiter.  There is a lot offered and it is confusing, but if you have trouble deciding, the last choice is the chefs trio—his choice. We could not make up our mind, so we did the chef’s choice.  I really don’t know what I ate! It was very dark in the restaurant and I could not decide what was on my plate. It was certainly filled with stuff and lots of lettuce with a big slice of pineapple on top. So this dining experience lacked a lot for me.

Our next day was spent in Tubac.  The best part of the trip was a stop at San Xavier del Bac.  The “White Dove of the Desert” as it is called, is an impressive example of Spanish mission architecture.  Although the mission to the Tohono O’odham Indians was founded before 1700, the present structure was built 1783-1797.  It is an active mission to the Tohono O’odham and has been beautifully restored.  As for food there were lots of vendors building their fires to cook in the large plaza in front of the church.  We were there just after breakfast and did not stay for lunch.  The village of Tubac was filled with lots of artsy shops (however, several were closed for the summer) and some restaurants and a small museum. You can probably skip this little place outside of Tucson, but perhaps there is more going on with the art show in the fall.  I would like to have a look at the museum but a monsoon rain hit just at the time we got there and the museum is mostly outdoors.  Maybe next time.

One of the best things in Tucson we did was the Desert Museum.  It is located a few miles outside the city and is indoor/outdoor, filled with animal, vegetable and mineral.  The animals, reptiles, and birds are caged but in a natural habitat.  The whole place is a showcase for desert plants, well labeled. Guides are everywhere to answer questions and to suggest things to you.  We spent a good part of a day there. I think one could return over and over and not see everything.

The breakfasts at the Arizona Inn were really amazing and filling. You could have eggs any way. We had them in quesadillas (tortillas filled with bacon, onions, peppers, cheese, and then the scrambled eggs). Another morning was huevos rancheros. Such an easy way to do breakfast!  Many of my food magazines had Mexican food featured this month and especially ‘Saveur’ Magazine which devoted the whole issue to Mexican. This recipe is from their Aug/Sept issue.

Huevos a la Mexicana

(Mexican-Style Scrambled Eggs)

Serves 4-6

3 tbsp. canola oil

1 small white onion, finely chopped

1 jalapeño, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

2 tbsp. thinly sliced cilantro leaves (You could use basil since which is more available--in your garden, I hope.)

8 eggs, lightly beaten

Heat oil in a 12” skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, jalapeño, and tomato, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring, until soft, about 6 minutes.

Add cilantro and eggs, and cook, folding eggs over to large curds occasionally, until cooked through, about 4 minutes.  If using basil, add after cooking the eggs as I think basil is better if not cooked.

Our car’s odometer turned 1400 hundred miles when we got off the I-10 in Tucson. We had come a long way but here we were in the hot desert with wonderful mountain ranges surrounding us. It was beautiful but so different from our hot, muggy, green south. We did not realize we were arriving in monsoon season (who knew Arizona had a monsoon season?). But it did rain every afternoon we were there, so it helped with the heat. Tucson only gets about 11 inches of rain each year, so I believe it comes during monsoon season. One afternoon it rained so hard I was reminded of the monsoon rains in Bombay. They also have dust storms during the monsoons, but fortunately we did not get into any of them.  I’m paying more attention to Arizona news on the TV and since returning have noted a dust storm and a flash flood from the monsoons.

We stayed at the Arizona Inn which has cheaper rates in the summer (before air conditioning it was closed for the summer), but well worth the money---great value. It is an old inn built by Isabella Greenway in 1930 and still run by the family.  We arrived at lunch time and immediately went to the Audubon Bar and had some hummus with warm pita bread and a soup and salad. Not exactly Tex-Mex but a great little lunch anyway.

Isabella Greenway is best remembered today as the founder of the Arizona Inn.  But in the early part of the 20^th century she led a fascinating life.  She was a friend of Theodore Roosevelt and went to school with and was in the wedding of Eleanor Roosevelt.  She lived in a brownstone in New York City before moving with her small children and her husband who had tuberculosis to a tented camp in New Mexico.  She later married John Greenway, a copper mogul who built the town of Ajo, Arizona.  She represented Arizona as their only US Representative in the 1930’s.  I bought a biography of Isabella—a fascinating read.

We met our daughter late that afternoon at her house. You could not miss it since it was a bright purple. This casita (little house) was bright and colorful, inside and out.  It was built in 1912, the year Arizona became a state.  She had chosen a restaurant called Cafe Poca Cosa for our dinner. The menu changes daily and is read to you by a waiter.  There is a lot offered and it is confusing, but if you have trouble deciding, the last choice is the chefs trio—his choice. We could not make up our mind, so we did the chef’s choice.  I really don’t know what I ate! It was very dark in the restaurant and I could not decide what was on my plate. It was certainly filled with stuff and lots of lettuce with a big slice of pineapple on top. So this dining experience lacked a lot for me.

Our next day was spent in Tubac.  The best part of the trip was a stop at San Xavier del Bac.  The “White Dove of the Desert” as it is called, is an impressive example of Spanish mission architecture.  Although the mission to the Tohono O’odham Indians was founded before 1700, the present structure was built 1783-1797.  It is an active mission to the Tohono O’odham and has been beautifully restored.  As for food there were lots of vendors building their fires to cook in the large plaza in front of the church.  We were there just after breakfast and did not stay for lunch.  The village of Tubac was filled with lots of artsy shops (however, several were closed for the summer) and some restaurants and a small museum. You can probably skip this little place outside of Tucson, but perhaps there is more going on with the art show in the fall.  I would like to have a look at the museum but a monsoon rain hit just at the time we got there and the museum is mostly outdoors.  Maybe next time.

One of the best things in Tucson we did was the Desert Museum.  It is located a few miles outside the city and is indoor/outdoor, filled with animal, vegetable and mineral.  The animals, reptiles, and birds are caged but in a natural habitat.  The whole place is a showcase for desert plants, well labeled. Guides are everywhere to answer questions and to suggest things to you.  We spent a good part of a day there. I think one could return over and over and not see everything.

The breakfasts at the Arizona Inn were really amazing and filling. You could have eggs any way. We had them in quesadillas (tortillas filled with bacon, onions, peppers, cheese, and then the scrambled eggs). Another morning was huevos rancheros. Such an easy way to do breakfast!  Many of my food magazines had Mexican food featured this month and especially ‘Saveur’ Magazine which devoted the whole issue to Mexican. This recipe is from their Aug/Sept issue.

Huevos a la Mexicana

(Mexican-Style Scrambled Eggs)

Serves 4-6

3 tbsp. canola oil

1 small white onion, finely chopped

1 jalapeño, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

2 tbsp. thinly sliced cilantro leaves (You could use basil since which is more available--in your garden, I hope.)

8 eggs, lightly beaten

Heat oil in a 12” skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, jalapeño, and tomato, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring, until soft, about 6 minutes.

Add cilantro and eggs, and cook, folding eggs over to large curds occasionally, until cooked through, about 4 minutes.  If using basil, add after cooking the eggs as I think basil is better if not cooked.

Posole

Our daughter has taken a surgery residency at the University of Arizona in Tucson and our job was to take out some of her belongings from her apartment in Winston-Salem. We had not been out West in many years so we were excited about the open highway and some new adventures with Southwest food.

We left on a Wednesday and arrived in San Antonio, Texas that evening. The River Walk there is quite impressive and filled with many shops and restaurants. It was created over 60 years ago to imitate the canals of Venice. This flood control project became a waterside urban park in 1941. It is a job well done and I am sure the people of San Antonio have reaped many benefits from this venture. We ate at Landry’s Seafood, a chain restaurant, and one I would not recommend. The food is so-so and just really too expensive for what we had, but it was a nice location for a meal. We sat outside by San Antonio River that winds through the city watching the never ending parade of people strolling as well as in the boats that passed by constantly. The next morning we saw the Alamo which is a really small building in the middle of the city. But it is free of charge so not a bad deal! This is an interesting part of our American story.

The Alamo originally named Misión San Antonio de Valero, built in 1724.  In the early 1800’s the Spanish military stationed a cavalry unit at the former mission.  The soldiers called the old mission the Alamo (Spanish for cottonwood).  The mission was home to revolutionaries and royalists during Mexico’s ten year struggle for independence.  The military, Spanish, rebel and then Mexican, occupied the Alamo until the Texas Revolution. In December 1835 Texan and Tejano volunteers forced the Mexicans at the Alamo to surrender.  On February 23, 1836 General Antonio López  de Santa Anna arrived and laid siege to the Alamo.  The defenders saw the Alamo as the key to the defense of Texas and were ready to give their lives rather than surrender.  The final assault came before daybreak on March 6, 1836.  By sunrise the battle was over.  The Daughters of the Republic of Texas have operated this shrine to the heroes of the Texas revolution since 1905.  It is a shrine to the near 200 heroes who died there.  Jim Bowie and Davy Crockett are well known but the rest are also listed, with their state or country of origin.  Three Alabamians were killed there: James Buchanan, Galba Fuqua and Isaac White.

From San Antonio we drove on to El Paso. Now when I saw the sign that said 585 miles to El Paso, I knew we were in for a long day. Yes, Texas is BIG! This is where you pray that you do not have car trouble. There are long distances out there in West Texas, with few services, and it would take a while for someone to help you. A big help is that there is little traffic and you can drive 85! We did have a good lunch in Junction, Texas at Cooper’s Barbecue. The brisket was so tasty and it just made you feel like you were in real West Texas barbecue country.  Although it is a long drive across West Texas, the scenery is spectacular.  As soon as you leave San Antonio the green turns to more brown as the desert develops, sometimes flat, sometimes with hills and mountains in the distance; cacti become more prominent.  At one point the huge boulders reminded me of my childhood’s western movies.  As we drove by, no cowboys or Indians appeared among the rocks, however.

We made it through El Paso many hours later and decided to stop in Las Cruces, New Mexico which is just about 40 miles west of El Paso. Las Cruces is now the largest business center in Southern New Mexico, since its crops are irrigated by the Rio Grande. I was ready for some good Mexican food and I thought tonight I should get started. I asked at the hotel for a recommendation and the girl at the desk told me the best place was Andele’s. She proved right and I got to taste my first Mexican stew called posole. Posole is really hominy, cooked with pork or chicken with many spices. I loved it! Traditional posole is made from the pig’s head or parts of its head and usually included an old stewing chicken. Since most people don’t have the pig’s head or a pot that big, most use pork shoulder with lots of oregano to produce their posole. So after looking into the many ways to cook posole, when I got back home I decided to try a vegetarian version, since that was all the ingredients I had at home at the time. I did buy some blue corn hominy and a spice packet while on my trip, but decided to use the spice packet when I got some pork or chicken.

 

Vegetarian Posole Stew

8 oz. dried posole (could buy canned hominy)

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 bay leaf

1 small onion, chopped

4 c. water

2 Tablespoons vegetable broth powder

1 teaspoon oregano and cumin seeds

½ lb. tomatoes, chopped

1 fresh green chili, chopped

1 ½ cup cooked beans

1 ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

Rinse and soak posole overnight. Drain. Cook in plain water to cover, and cook two hours until tender. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil, simmer, uncovered, 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Add cilantro and serve.

The best thing about posole is what you can add to it at the table. The restaurant added chopped onions, lime wedges, and radishes. These things really added to the taste.

My husband and I think posole is a ‘keeper.’  It’s a tasty stew and can be what you wish, vegetarian, chicken and or pork, as hot as you like depending on your pepper choices.  But I think the key ingredient is the lime juice added at the table along with the cilantro and chopped onions and radishes.  I didn’t have the cilantro when I did the above stew and substituted basil and parsley---good but not the same as cilantro.

 

 

Charleston Spoleto 2012

Our yearly visit to Charleston during the Spoleto Festival was a success this year. The performances we chose were just the best. We heard the Westminster Choir on a Friday afternoon and they had such good selections of music---from Rachmaninoff to Dolly Parton. Dolly’s song, ‘Light of a Clear Blue Morning’, was written by her in 1977, and it concerned her struggles from a split from a business partner. It was perhaps the most beautiful song of all.

There is a Piccolo Spoleto Festival that goes on during the same time as the real Spoleto. These events are usually free or much cheaper than the usual tickets for the main events. We just happened to see a poster promoting John Rutter’s , ‘Requiem’ being performed  by the St. Michael’s Episcopal Choir. It was uplifting and free, and if you know church music, you know John Rutter’s compositions and arrangements are always beautiful.

That afternoon we went to the Dock Street Theater for a performance of Noel Coward’s, ‘Hay Fever’.  A funny, funny play about a dysfunctional family who invite friends for a weekend in the country and of course everything goes haywire!

Of course, the food is the thing. The meals did not disappoint. We usually stop by McCrady’s every year. This year Sean Brock had a 4 or a 10 course menu, or you could order off the al la carte menu. We chose the 4 course meal with wine paring and from the starter to the cheese course it was just the best. A salad of warm vegetables was the starter, then a fish course of shrimp with peas and butterbeans, and then the entrée was a loin of pork with a small amount of pork belly with vegetables. We choose a cheese course for the dessert. I was just impressed with how fresh everything was, and the portions were small and one did not feel full even with 4 courses.

Sean Brock has another hit restaurant called Husk, and we went for lunch there on Saturday of our trip. I tried to get a dinner reservation but they told me they were booked a year in advance! Lunch was a serving of fried green tomatoes with pimento cheese and a small slice of country ham. It was really a good combination and one I came home and duplicated. My husband and I shared the appetizer, but had for our main course a bowl of squash soup with sweet corn and a crab fritter in the middle. One could not taste the crab in the fritter but it was a nice touch. I came home and did this soup and used a small fried cornmeal fritter and left out the crab.  Our daughter once said of a restaurant dish, “The only thing the crab added was cost.”

Our last meal was at FIG, Food Is Good! We had a lovely appetizer made with rudderfish, perhaps like a grouper, made into a tartare. It was so simple and fresh. We both had a sautéed soft shell crab for the main course, with an heirloom tomato and arugula salad. Again, so simple and yet so fresh tasting.

I cannot wait to go back next year. The best part, I lost three pounds. So, you can eat well and lose weight!

My take on Husk’s Squash Soup! I’ve done this twice now and it is a winner.

Squash Soup with Sweet Corn

Serves 2

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

2 yellow medium squash and 1 medium zucchini, chopped

½ yellow onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

2 cups vegetable broth

½ cup fresh corn kernels

In a 4 quart saucepan, put the butter and olive oil. Turn heat to medium. Saute the onion and minced garlic for a minute. Add the chopped squash, vegetable broth, and cook covered, until soft, about 15 minutes.

Let cool. Purée in a blender. Pour soup back into pot and add the sweet corn. Cook for another 5 minutes, so the corn gets somewhat tender. Pour into two bowls. Garnish with some greens, drizzle some olive oil and cream around the bowl. Delicious!

I made my fritter with cornmeal and onions.  Fry, drain and add to the soup just before serving.

My Take on Husk’s Fried Green Tomatoes with Pimento Cheese and Ham

Fried Green Tomatoes

Fry 4 or more slices of bacon (preferably Benton’s) in a large heavy skillet. Remove and drain, leaving the hot grease. Slice several garden-fresh tomatoes, picked anywhere from gourd-green to ripe but firm, depending on your preference; making the slices about ½ inch thick, and allow 3 to 4 per person. Coat each slice in cornmeal seasoned with salt and pepper. Lift them gently with a fork or spatula into the hot grease and fry until the meal is brown and crusty, then turn and cook the other side. Additional grease may be needed. When the tomatoes are fried to a toasty crispness, drain on paper towels.

Pimento Cheese

Grate 1 pound sharp cheddar cheese. Add to this ¼ softened cream cheese. To this add about 2 tablespoons mayonnaise, salt, pinch of cayenne pepper, 1 small jar of roasted red peppers, dash of Tabasco. Mix well. Chill before serving.

To plate: Put 3 slices fried green tomatoes and 2 tablespoons of pimento cheese on the plate with a small slice of country ham (Spanish ham such as seranno or prosciutto would be good).