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Happy New Year 2010
Happy New Year 2010! I hope your year has started off well.
Howard and I shared a quiet dinner at home on New Year’s Eve. We had a few lamb shoulder chops from Chestnut Farms. I had never cooked this cut before, only rib chops and loin chops.
Browsing through a few cookbooks indicated shoulder chops needed a slower cook than the chops I was used to. I found a yummy-looking recipe that baked the shoulder chops on a bed of potatoes and onions.
Unfortunately, I hadn’t read the recipe all the way through. Around 6:00, Howard popped open a bottle of champagne, and I opened the cookbook. Uh-oh, the lamb needed to bake for almost 2 hours. I guess I was starting (or ending) the year with rather poor planning.
Howard looked in one of his ever-trusty Cooks Illustrated cookbooks and found that the shoulder chops could be simply broiled. I traded in the bed of potatoes for a pot of lentils and some roasted carrots and celery root. Dinner was ready in the half the time. Redemption!
While dinner cooked, we sipped champagne and nibbled on salmon caviar and crackers and some local oysters (Wianno, Wellfleet and Island Creek, all from the Cape, courtesy of Whole Foods).
After dinner, we watched a movie (Away We Go) and managed to stay up until 11:45 before dropping off to sleep. Seeing midnight no longer seems as important as it did when I was younger.
Our New Year’s Eve dinner was quiet and romantic. On New Year’s Day, we invited our friends Laury, John, and Isabel for dinner. We had a pork roast from Codman Farm. I made a spice rub from garlic, lime juice, cumin, and cilantro to go on the pork plus Cuban Sweet Potatoes and Braised Cabbage to go with the meat. The big hit was the sweet potatoes. It had similar flavors to the pork, and the whole bowl disappeared fast.
The year is off to a great start with two things that are really important to me: spending time and sharing meals with some of my favorite people, and eating food that has been sustainably and humanely produced, from local farms. I’m looking forward to more of the same in the year ahead.
Cuban Sweet Potatoes
Serves 4
2 lbs sweet potatoes
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 large cloves garlic, minced
½ cup chopped cilantro
Juice of 1 lime
Preheat the oven to 450F.
Peel the sweet potatoes. Cut them into ½-inch slices. If the rounds are large, cut in half again (into half moons). Toss the potato slices in a bowl with olive oil. Spread them out on a baking sheet (or two) in one layer. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, until they are nice and tender.
Combine the garlic, cilantro, and lime juice in a big bowl. Add the hot sweet potatoes and toss. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Still Life with Escarole
We had a quiet weekend. I was still on the mend from my bout with flu/cold, so we laid low. Bella was excellent company during my days home sick from work. She was happy to hang out and sleep at my feet while I napped.
Over the weekend, we brought Bella to meet more dogs. She took a trip to Willard Woods for her first foray on a long rope, went shopping at PetCo, and went to meet her “cousins” Ranger and Skyler at Lauren’s house. She’s getting more practice at being social.
Sunday, we picked up our Thanksgiving turkey from Farmer Kim. We listened to her 5-minute Turkey College lecture. Then, we took possession of a 28-pound bird that was still gobbling on Friday. I am really excited to taste a fresh bird that has never been even flash-frozen. More on that after Thursday.
We had a tasty autumnal dinner on Sunday: roasted chicken thighs, sweet potatoes wrapped in prosciutto, and sautéed escarole. (By the way, I just love the word autumnal!) This week’s Minimalist video on TiVo showed the sweet potatoes. You can also see the video on the New York Times site. Click here. They were as good as they looked on the video. I also recommend the entire list of The Minimalist’s 101 Head Starts on the Day (Thanksgiving Day). (The sweet potatoes are #48.)
Even better than the sweet potatoes was the escarole. The escarole was packed with flavors, including several different kinds of salty. I’ll have to try these ingredients with other kinds of greens too.
Sauteed Escarole with Pine Nuts, Garlic, Capers, and Anchovies
Adapted from “Vegetables” by James Peterson
(Serves 2-3)
1 large head of escarole (8 – 10 ounces)
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp pine nuts
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp capers, drained
1 tsp anchovy paste
1 tsp sherry vinegar
Salt & pepper to taste
To prepare the escarole: Separate the leaves. Cut each leaf in half, down the center of the rib. Cut leaves across into 1-inch strips. Wash well, and dry. I used the salad spinner.
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium. Stir in pine nuts, and cook until they start to brown (it won’t take very long). Add garlic and cook another minute. Add the escarole, and turn the heat up to high. Stir until the escarole wilts and softens, about 5 minutes. Stir in the capers, anchovy paste, and vinegar. Saute for another minute, then season with salt and pepper to taste.
A Plateful of Happiness 