Street Quesadillas & Laksa

We had flor de calabaza & huitlacoche quesadillas made by a street vendor in Queens and enjoyed in a Salvadoran coffee shop for lunch on Feb 13. Then we picked up the ingredients for the night's veggie laksa at a neighborhood Asian super-market.

Farmstead Mac & Cheese, again!

Made at home by Hil on Feb 11.

"Fruit and Cheese" Plate

My veggie option at Sloane's wonderful wedding turned out to be chopped up apples and pears. My concerned tablemates eagerly offered their mini-croissants and buttered carrots to round out my meal. It was refreshing, actually, to get so much edible fresh fruit in Mexico! And the most important thing, of course, were the chilaquiles at midnight...luckily there was a real veg version then.

Mac and cheese 2

New French oven! Deep dish mac & cheese. Look at that CRUST. 1/11/09. Yum!

The making of borscht

Slicing cabbage, finished product. Roasted chestnuts & pickles (go great with radish!) Sauteed kale. Sweet potato-carrot puree. The whole ensemble. Dinner 1/10/09

Post Thanksgiving

Post-TG coconut curry stew with veggies and tempeh, tomato-coconut milk based. Over brown rice. I based this on a recipe I found online, I think, but I can't remember. There wasn't much food in the house--I had Thanksgiving elsewhere--but I pulled this tasty meal together 11/28.

Composed salad

Such things as helped keep me composed during a month of writing. Black beans, sprouted legumes, Boston lettuce, carrots. Dressing on the side. Prepared and eaten 1/9/09.

Hummus!

My first hummus in a long time, along with the christening of a new Le Creuset with mac & cheese (Farmstead recipe).

Green salad. Dinner 12/2/08.

Fideos

Too spicy but fun and delicious. Served with crackers and a stinky Farmstead cheese, my favorite olives and carrot sticks. Dinner 12/01/08.

October Oatmeal

Steel-cut oats with raisins, cinnamon apples, and soymilk. Breakfast 11/29.

zenfully delicious

red lentil soup with a scoop of rice, a dollop of yogurt, and a handful of buttery sauteed spinach.

*note the pretty, inventive-but-unfortunately-bland cilantro whiskey sour to the right

Seafood, Pasta and.... Pickles?!

Over the break, my mom, Nick and I drove to the Gulf Coast of Florida for dinner at Tony's in Cedar Key. My mom and Nick indulged in the restaurant's famous clam chowder, which the restaurant will ship throughout the US, and agreed it rivals anything you find in New England.

For dinner, Nick had the "guilt free" platter (pictured on left), which includes grilled Grouper bites, steamed shrimp, and steamed Cedar Key clams, while my mom enjoyed some Teriyaki shrimp. I was amazed that a seafood restaurant in this tiny FL town actually had a vegetarian option on their menu, described as "A generous portion of pasta topped with our fresh grilled vegetable medley." Served in a fish platter (right), the pasta and veggies looked great... until I took a bite and realized that the "zucchini" in the vegetable medley were actually pieces of pickles, mixed right in with the other vegetables in the marinara sauce. Blasphemy!

At least the Key lime Pie was top notch. (http://www.tonyschowder.com/)

Ecuadorian holiday eggnog

Rompope (pronounced rome-poe-peh) is a Hispanic version of eggnog. My mom showed me how to make it Ecuadorian style. Here is the recipe:

1 liter milk
1 cup sugar
Cinnamon sticks to taste
Vanilla extract
Rum or aguardiente

Mix milk, sugar and cinnamon in a pot. Boil milk until slightly thick (~30 min), mixing regularly

When milk is thick enough, turn heat off and let cool until lukewarm (keep mixing)

Meanwhile beat 4-8 egg YOLKS (in blender or with electric mixer) until very creamy (can save egg whites for making meringue)

Warm milk with low flame and add egg yolks slowly and mix quickly and constantly. Do not let boil (turn heat off if necessary). Mix constantly until thoroughly warm and thick.

Let cool, then add some vanilla extract and rum to taste. For real authentic Ecuadorian rompope, instead of rum add some Aguardiente Caña Manabita, from my hometown of Portoviejo, Ecuador (bottle shown, with finished rompope).

Sorrel and Salmon Soup

this past friday night's dinner. light and yummy.

Poached Pears

Saul's delicious dessert this past Friday night.

And Rosh Hashanah

RH East-coast style. Robin's brownie cupcakes and chocolate-cream cheese cupcakes. Eli's Aliza Cohen's apple tart. Apple cake. Challot, apples & honey, black-eyed peas, Moroccan carrot salad, green herb omelet with yogurt, muhammara & pita chips, kugel. Not pictured: Yakov's savory pies in two flavors, and his beet salad, all from instinctual Russian recipes.

Dessert

Shabana's first apple pie, perfectly not sweet, with Nick's favorite vanilla ice cream (appropriately named "Turkey Hill"). And, Shabana's light, rich invention, pumpkin mousse tart. Caramel and candied pecans above and below the mousse. Thank you to all the chefs!

Bounty

All the veggies, including SO GOOD candied yams.

TG Veggies!

Fava beans (yum!), asparagus with sesame seeds (yum!), baby spinach with grape tomatoes and hearts of palm (I made the dressing, so as not to be a total slouch), rolls, olives, awesome millet with butternut squash, cranberries, and hazelnuts.

Turkey, cranberries, stuffing