Pizza from Brooklyn

By Nina Max in takeout No Comments

Pizza_IMG_7492Rose and Shane spent the day at his studio in Williamsburg today so that I could get some work done, and get a facial. Yes!

Shane really likes the pizza place by his studio, Williamsburg Pizza. He suggested they bring a pie home, I could get the pizza stone hot so it would be a quick re-heat when they arrived. My parents used to put the whole pizza box in the oven to keep it warm. I always thought this made the pizza taste like cardboard. Shane’s method is preferable.

They brought home a Margherita pie, and I made spinach and roasted eggplant salad. It was the perfect way to end a luxurious day. (You know you’re a mom when being left alone to work, is considered a luxury).

A little off topic, but I have to mention that the people at Williamsburg Pizza assemble their boxes inside out, so the un-printed cardboard side faces out. Then they stamp their logo onto the boxes. The inside of the boxe is still that ugly, generic, pizza box, but the outside looks great. Clever idea.

PizzaBox_IMG_7488

Egg-lemon soup (Avgolemeno) & burnout

By Nina Max in quick No Comments

EggLemon_Soup_IMG_7463Here’s a confession: I feel burned out sometimes. Making dinner is never a chore, but sometimes deciding what to make for dinner is. Particularly when under the weather, and I’m feeling kinda lousy today.

My conversation with Shane went like this:
Nina: I don’t know what to make for dinner, nothing sounds good.
Shane: I’m buying a dozen cupcakes at Billy’s Bakery for my crew, and I was going to bring three of them home for you and Rosey. (Proceeds to list off all 12 flavors).
N: Maybe soup. Did you eat a big lunch today?
S: I had a baguette with peanut butter. So, no.
N: Um.
S: Just pick up some prosciutto, mozzarella, and bread, ok?

My mom always made us egg-lemon soup when we were sick, and that sounded just about right. There’s no dog eared, hand written, index card for me to dig out, I don’t think my mom ever used a recipe. I found a simple—and quick! 15 min.—recipe for Avgolemeno (egg-lemon soup) at Dinner A Love Story. The original recipe is here, my  modification is below. And Jenny from DALS is right, kids do like it!

• Egg-lemon Soup •
adapted from Dinner A Love Story

4 cups chicken broth*
1/4 cup uncooked orzo
salt and pepper
3 eggs
4 tablespoons lemon juice

In a large saucepan, bring the broth to a boil.

Add the orzo and cook until tender but still al dente, about 7 minutes. Season with the salt and pepper and reduce heat to low; let simmer.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and lemon juice until smooth. Ladle about 1 cup of the hot broth into the egg-and-lemon mixture, whisking to combine.

Add the mixture back to the simmering saucepan. Stir just until the soup becomes opaque and thickens as the eggs cook, 1 to 2 minutes. Be sure to stir constantly or else the egg will curdle, and instead of smooth creaminess, you’ll have scrambled eggyness. Add more salt and pepper if need be, and serve.

*Our family uses College Inn chicken broth for this. I haven’t tried it with vegetable broth. More on me eating chicken broth later.

 

Pasta with tomatoes, basil & brie

By Nina Max in quick No Comments

Pasta_Tomatoes_Brie_Basil_IMG_7456If, like me, you were a young adult in the 90′s, who preferred hosting dinner parties to attending keg parties, you probably cut your teeth on the Silver Palate and New Basics cookbooks. Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins were the go-to ladies when you wanted to make something really good, bright, fresh and always delicious.

One of the recipes I’ve loved since my Silver Palate days is the famous, uncooked-sauce, Pasta with Tomatoes, Basil and Brie. So creamy and delicious. You put the brie in the freezer to make it easier to cut into pieces. Brilliant!

The problem, is the garlic. I’ve never been able to handle a lot of raw garlic. It’s not that I don’t like it, I do. It’s just that no one wants to be in the same room as me for a week afterwards. That and my mouth tastes like garlic for days, fine at dinner time, not so great at breakfast.

When I stumbled upon Pasta with Tomatoes, Basil and Brie online recently, I immediately missed and craved my old friend. But for the dragon breath.

Here’s my solution, a quicker (less than 40 min start to finish), modified, breath-friendly version. I’m quite happy with it. Shane said “This is great, does it have a pound of butter in it?” (it doesn’t, but there’s more than enough fat, worry not). Kisses all around!

• Pasta with Tomatoes, Basil & Brie •
adapted from the Silver Palate Cookbook

1lb curly pasta (I used mezze rigatoni tonight but curly is better for holding the sauce)
8 ripe campari tomatoes (approx 2″ in diameter), chopped*
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, slivered
the zest of one lemon
1/3 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1/2lb piece creamy brie (I used triple creme) chopped

Put your piece brie in the freezer, this makes it easier to chop. Put a large pot of salted water on to boil for the pasta. Chop the tomatoes into 3/4″ to 1″ chunks and put in a large serving bowl. Add the slivered basil, lemon zest and olive oil to the tomatoes, stir to combine and season with salt and pepper. 

When the brie has been in the freezer for about 20 minutes, remove it and chop into approximately 1″ chunks. Add brie to the tomato basil mixture and stir gently to combine.

Put the pasta on to boil. When it’s cooked perfectly, drain and add it to the tomato, basil & brie mixture. Stir for a while until the brie is melted and the sauce is evenly distributed. Serve immediately.

*You can use any good, ripe tomatoes. Just use your best judgement to approximate the amount based on 8 campari tomatoes.

Tuna, potatoes, veg

By Nina Max in dishes by shane No Comments

TunaSteak_Potatoes_Peppers&Spinach_IMG_7450Shane made the tuna steak. He crusted it with a mixture of salt, pepper and ground coriander seed, and then seared it in a saute pan, and finished it in the grilling pan. The coriander was a great touch. Even Rose loved it and came to the kitchen asking for more right before bed.

The potatoes were simple and delicious. New potatoes, quartered, coated in olive oil and Camp Mix Spud Fixin’, then roasted at 350 till golden and cooked through.

Since the oven was on, I halved some cubanelle peppers, tossed them with olive oil and salt and roasted them at 350. When they were soft, I threw in some baby spinach and cooked it just briefly until wilted. The juice from the roasted cubanelles was lovely with the spinach and a squirt of lemon.

Mother’s day

By Nina Max in uncategorized No Comments

I’m not a huge fan of Mother’s Day, at all. I love my mom, I love being a mom, I love that we always spend the weekend on the Cape with family, and that’s good enough for me.

For Mother’s Day, were in the car at dinnertime and couldn’t find a New Haven (or Fairfield) pizza joint that could accommodate us without an hour plus wait (for takeout). I was just grateful not to be dressed in stockings, stiff clothing and uncomfortable shoes, like the lady I saw in the McDonalds when we stopped for a pee.

I decided that we were probably screwed in the dinner-on-the-road department, it being Mother’s Day and all. We kept on going, and arrived home well past our usual dinner hour. We ordered sushi, and when it came, we were so desperately hungry that we inhaled our meal in silence. I didn’t even take a photo.

Decadent burgers on the Cape

By Nina Max in cape meals, family No Comments

Cape_Bacon&EggBurgers_IMG_0716I didn’t have much to do with tonight’s meal, mostly because I was feeling lousy. Wayne and André made some really decadent-looking bacon and egg burgers on the grill. The first grill meal of our Cape season.

There were other yummy things too, but the main attraction was Little Mr. Agreeable down at the end of the table. Who could pay attention to dinner with him around? (And look how much he’s grown!)

Car sandwiches

By Nina Max in uncategorized No Comments

CarSandwiches_IMG_1300For our trip to the Cape tonight, I bought sandwiches from Italian Farms. Shane had The Godfather, prosciutto & fresh mozzarella. Anna had the Sicilian, a whole bunch of meat with provolone and added hot peppers. Rose had a ham & cheese and I had tomato and mozzarella.

If you ask me, it was the perfect car meal. If you ask Shane, maybe not.

Macaroni & cheese, for two babies

By Nina Max in dessert No Comments

Mac&Cheese_IMG_7429You might recall that my favorite dish to make for friends who have just brought home a little one is Martha Stewart’s macaroni & cheese. This is my first time making it for a family who just brought home two little ones.

That’s right! My friends Ian & Britta finally had their twins. One girl, one boy. Two healthy, beautiful, 6 pound balls of love. And thank god they did, because Britta had become one seriously uncomfortable lady, carrying around 12lbs of baby and all the stuff that comes with them. As Rose said: “I wish Britta would just have those darn babies so she can feel good again.”

As I mentioned, the original recipe is from Martha Stewart. It’s posted below with a few extra tips courtesy of yours truly.

Since two hours in the kitchen already wasn’t enough for me (sarcasm emoticon here), I’m also making Anna’s Best Brownies for teacher appreciation week. Thanks to the friend who gently reminded me about it this afternoon.

• Macaroni & Cheese •
from Martha Stewart – takes about two hours start to finish

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter (divided), plus more for dish
6 slices good white bread, crusts removed, torn into 1/4- to 1/2-inch pieces
5 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
4 1/2 cups grated sharp white cheddar cheese (about 18 ounces)
2 cups grated Gruyere cheese (about 8 ounces
1 pound rotini pasta

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 3-quart casserole dish; set aside. Place bread in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Pour butter into bowl with bread, and toss. Set breadcrumbs aside.

Put a large pasta pot of salted water on to boil.

In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, heat milk. Melt remaining 6 tablespoons butter in a high-sided skillet or dutch oven over medium heat. When butter bubbles, add flour. Cook, whisking, 1 minute.

While whisking, slowly pour in hot milk. Continue cooking, whisking constantly, until the mixture bubbles and becomes thick. This might take a while, 20 minutes or so. See photo below for what the sauce should look like once it’s thickened.

Remove pan from heat. Stir in salt, nutmeg, black pepper, cayenne pepper, 3 cups cheddar cheese, and 1 1/2 cups Gruyere. Set cheese sauce aside.

When water is boiled, add pasta and cook 2 to 3 minutes less than manufacturer’s directions, until the outside of pasta is cooked and the inside is underdone. Transfer pasta to a colander, rinse under cold running water, and drain well. Stir pasta into the reserved cheese sauce
Pour mixture into prepared dish. Sprinkle remaining 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, 1/2 cup Gruyere, and breadcrumbs over top. Bake until browned on top, about 30 minutes. Transfer dish to a wire rack to cool 5 minutes. Serve hot.
BechamelSauce_IMG_7427

 

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