squash blossom pizza

Since I last wrote in this blog, a lot has happened. My husband and I moved to the city and renovated a very old craftsman bungalow. It is a beautiful old home with lots of character, complete with a big yard in the back. I used to live on a hill and longed for a garden. I wanted so much to run outside and pluck some plump and delicious produce from my well tended garden, but the hill prevented these dreams. This was no minor, politely rolling hill, but a steep grade that hosted daring children in ice and snow storms. Jon rolled down the hill and lost his phone one year while trying to move the sprinkler. This hill was not going to be the home of a garden.

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scrambled eggs – fancy pants style

I’ve just returned from a week of travel, and the refrigerator is a tad bare. But I’m hungry. And we need to eat lunch. There’s half a shallot from last night, some feta cheese that is still good, a jar of roasted red peppers, and four eggs. A rummage through the fruit drawer leads me to two lone grapefruits. Ladies and gentlemen – we have a lunch!

It is very interesting how some of the most delicious things that I’ve eaten for lunch have been discovered through the use of odds and ends ingredients and the benefit of a well stocked pantry and spice cabinet. I will never forget the day the kitchen sink eggwich changed my life…

Anyway, as I was sauteeing the red peppers, shallots and garlic, I added a little pinch of dried basil and a little pinch of dried oregano. Everything was smelling fragrant and delicious. I started feeling a sassy and added a splash of dry sherry to deglaze the pan and WOW. Sherry and eggs and shallot and garlic and feta and basil and oregano and roasted red peppers equate to very, very tasty and wonderful scrambled eggs. The salty feta is such a wonderful counterpoint to the other flavors. I think my humble little eggs felt very fancy with the addition of that dry sherry.

Now if we ever have any fancy people show up for brunch, I’ll serve them these scrambled eggs; they’re the best I’ve ever had. In the meantime, I plan to add this to the regular rotation, finished with two juicy little grapefruits drizzled with honey or any other fruits hanging out lonely in the fruit drawer. A handful of lettuce tossed in vinaigrette will also make a very tasty addition.

scrambled eggs – fancy pants style

serves two

two cloves of garlic, minced
one small shallot or half of one large shallot, chopped
one roasted red pepper, chopped
four eggs, cracked into a bowl and whisked with a splash of milk, salt and pepper
a pinch of dried basil
a pinch of dried oregano
about two tbsp of dry sherry
about 1/3 cup of crumbled feta
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
a splash of extra virgin olive oil
heat a non-stick pan over medium heat and add enough olive oil to thinly coat; add the garlic, shallots and roasted red peppers, and cook until just beginning to brown – stir regularly to prevent the garlic from burning
slowly pour in the sherry, stirring to coat the vegetables (you should hear the sherry sizzle in the pan)
reduce the heat to low and add the eggs, stirring constantly around the edge of the pan to gently “scramble” the eggs
when the eggs hav reached theired desired consistency, gently stir in the feta
garnish with some chopped chives or parsley if you have fancy people dining with you

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fabulous roast chicken – chapter three

A few years ago I met the mot extraordinary Lebanese woman named Diana. She was living with my in-laws while completing her Master’s Degree in Counseling. I think she may have secretly been an angel sent straight from heaven; she taught me about Lebanese food and fed it to us in copious amounts, and she consoled our family as we helplessly waited day after day at the hospital, my father-in-law dealing with a devastating illness that nearly claimed his life.

I relished the time we spent chatting on the sofa for so many reasons, but I found it especially interesting to discuss our different worldviews and the cultural nuances that shaped us both as young, independent, determined woman. For instance, when I hear a rumble of thunder, I think of the spectacular storms that I grew up with in Texas. Diana wonders where the bombs are falling.

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the joys of thai red curry paste and freezer baggies

I love it when I make something from scratch and have enough left over to store some in the freezer. It makes me feel so prepared… so wholesome (which is excellent since “prepared” and “wholesome” probably aren’t the first words that come to mind when describing myself). It also makes me feel smart, because making something from scratch that you would normally buy jarred from the store tends to be much tastier, much cheaper, and much better for you.

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end of summer tribute – chicken paillards with tangy tomato-dill relish – tender buttered corn

Summer is almost over, my friends. It’s going to be hard for me to say goodbye to the berries, the peaches, the summer squash – all of the beautiful produce that is overflowing at the market right now. I’m clinging to this food season with every meal, and tonight was quintessential summer.

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tender little mussels in fragrant wine broth

If you want to sing because you have just eaten something delectable – if you want to feel like you are dining in the manner of aristocrats – if you want an absolute slurpy flavor explosion with each little bite of food, then you need to prepare and eat the mussels that I just had for lunch. Seriously. I’m getting really passionate again about my lunch but it’s completely valid.

Mussels are so good and easy to make. The strangest thing is trying to guard their little lives so much from store to home, then confirm that they’re all healthy and thriving, only to quickly extinguish those little lives in a steaming pot. I would be kind of sad about it if they weren’t so extravagantly delicious.

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red beans and orzo – elegant and comforting

Last week was so crazy (hence the single post). Weeks of going through closets and boxes culminated in a very successful garage sale. Yippee! To celebrate, I got everything I needed for a recipe that I was saving from Saveur. Oooohhh I couldn’t wait to share it with everyone; snapper baked in foil with clams, lemon, smoked sausage, fennel, olives, orange zest, shallots, fingerling potatoes, white wine… sounds amazing, right? It wasn’t. It just wasn’t good. DANGIT. I hate it when that happens!

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best ever impromptu kitchen sink italian eggwich

Boy howdy, I’ve been eating some good lunches this week! I mean, they must be good to make me say things like, “boy howdy.” Hot damn, even! My knack for saving things in the freezer in the manner of eighty year old grannies combined with my need to use up any leftover ingredients manifested themselves today into the best eggwich that I’ve ever eaten. Ever. An absolute work of impromptu eggwich art. A sandwich so good as to inspire a spontaneous and uncharacteristic “boy howdy” must be shared.

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blackened salmon with a brown butter drizzle

I think I may have mentioned this already, but salmon isn’t really my favorite fish. It’s just so salmony. So it’s funny that we eat it about once a week in our house. Clarification: I don’t care for it as much when other people fix it, I love it when I prepare it myself. Is that snooty?

The thing about salmon is that it’s so affordable and a cinch to prepare, extremely good for your body and a very sustainable fish. All of these things appeal to my sensibilities. Also, I have found some ways to make salmon taste creamy, not salmony.

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lemony garlicky cauliflower and wilted arugula – little tiberias

The last time I was in Israel I arrived in Tel Aviv at dawn. I left Athens for Israel at one in the morning, and it took many hours of travel before I finally reached Tiberias, my first stop on the journey. Tiberias is a beautiful little city that occupies a short stretch of the coast along the Sea of Galilee. There are small and winding stone alleys, a lively beach scene, elegant boutique hotels and crumbling, ancient minarets left over from the Ottomans. Ignore the young teenagers carrying machine guns; it’s a charming town. Tiberias is particularly special to me because it is where I met my husband. I can easily conjure the colorful, swirling, exhilarating memories of the night that we met, so you can imagine how excited I was to return with him three years later.

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