SIT, AND EAT
Locavorism, really good noodles, overcharging at the supermarket, service without a smile but with ample attitude, stuck-in-neutral diners vs. stuck-in-neutral chefs, shopping obsessions, football cooking, New York vs. Philly (and I don't mean Giants vs. Eagles this time), "cheese sandwiches,'' what sushi says, how kids taste.
My boss Kathy Dzielak asked me last Friday if I knew what I was going to write about for Day One Blog, and I said I had 11 ideas. I lied. Yes, I had those 11 ideas I listed above, but I had 1,111 in the back of my mind, including 600 wine ideas. It weighed on me all weekend, as I reveled in the Romo rumble (sorry for being snarky, but in the long run that could be the best thing that ever happened to that cocky-kid QB), mourned the passing of the season for my Giants and Jets, waffled on the Favre retirement issue, and cooked a huge vat of black bean soup (scented with orange; black beans and orange: a beautiful friendship). Topic One is still weighing on me.
I want to talk with you about all things food, but for those of you who read The Dining Companion on Sundays and Eat Out on Fridays in good old Asbury Park Press newsprint form, be forewarned: I won't be tipping my hand on upcoming reviews. If you want to holler at me for past preferences or be reminded about the soup dumplings I had in Matawan a year-and-a-half ago, fire away. I'll listen to your rants and I'll try to answer your queries. I'll also encourage all of you who join in the discussion here to offer your own suggestions. Talk about your food experiences, the food experiences that take place in your kitchens or out at restaurants. A food forum we'll have, I hope.
You see, what I'd really like to talk about is eating. Tasting, cooking, trying and experimenting. While I eat out religiously and with relish, I also cook obsessively. I shop nearly daily. I'm sure you've bumped into me picking through the lemons at Delicious Orchards. Just last Sunday, as I was wrist-deep in a bin of them, holding them, hand-weighing them, checking their skins for thickness/thinness, a perfectly nice gentleman asked me if there was a way to pick lemons. I was so rude to him, I'm ashamed: Jets' kickoff was nigh and I was running late, so I sloughed off his question with a, "Nah, they're all the same.'' My stomach has been aching over this. Heavier lemons have more juice, so if you're looking to juice the lemons, go for weight. If you're looking for lots of zest, look for clean, unspotted, thicker skins, not sponge-y lemons. I never buy sponge-y lemons … they're all nasty white pith.
Anyway. And another anyway. I'm going to get to those 11 topics and even those 1,111 topics, if you'll let me. But I do want to ask you all something first: What's not here at the Shore that you want to eat? What are we missing here, be it in terms of ingredients or restaurants or wines or something else? It all starts, after all, with what we want to eat right now.
cheers, Andy
1.9.07
My boss Kathy Dzielak asked me last Friday if I knew what I was going to write about for Day One Blog, and I said I had 11 ideas. I lied. Yes, I had those 11 ideas I listed above, but I had 1,111 in the back of my mind, including 600 wine ideas. It weighed on me all weekend, as I reveled in the Romo rumble (sorry for being snarky, but in the long run that could be the best thing that ever happened to that cocky-kid QB), mourned the passing of the season for my Giants and Jets, waffled on the Favre retirement issue, and cooked a huge vat of black bean soup (scented with orange; black beans and orange: a beautiful friendship). Topic One is still weighing on me.
I want to talk with you about all things food, but for those of you who read The Dining Companion on Sundays and Eat Out on Fridays in good old Asbury Park Press newsprint form, be forewarned: I won't be tipping my hand on upcoming reviews. If you want to holler at me for past preferences or be reminded about the soup dumplings I had in Matawan a year-and-a-half ago, fire away. I'll listen to your rants and I'll try to answer your queries. I'll also encourage all of you who join in the discussion here to offer your own suggestions. Talk about your food experiences, the food experiences that take place in your kitchens or out at restaurants. A food forum we'll have, I hope.
You see, what I'd really like to talk about is eating. Tasting, cooking, trying and experimenting. While I eat out religiously and with relish, I also cook obsessively. I shop nearly daily. I'm sure you've bumped into me picking through the lemons at Delicious Orchards. Just last Sunday, as I was wrist-deep in a bin of them, holding them, hand-weighing them, checking their skins for thickness/thinness, a perfectly nice gentleman asked me if there was a way to pick lemons. I was so rude to him, I'm ashamed: Jets' kickoff was nigh and I was running late, so I sloughed off his question with a, "Nah, they're all the same.'' My stomach has been aching over this. Heavier lemons have more juice, so if you're looking to juice the lemons, go for weight. If you're looking for lots of zest, look for clean, unspotted, thicker skins, not sponge-y lemons. I never buy sponge-y lemons … they're all nasty white pith.
Anyway. And another anyway. I'm going to get to those 11 topics and even those 1,111 topics, if you'll let me. But I do want to ask you all something first: What's not here at the Shore that you want to eat? What are we missing here, be it in terms of ingredients or restaurants or wines or something else? It all starts, after all, with what we want to eat right now.
cheers, Andy
1.9.07
posted by Andrea Clurfeld at 12:57 PM
7 Comments:
Hi Andy:
With visions of Young's dancing in our heads, Laurel and I were lucky enough to partake of Maine lobsters at a dinner party with friends last week. They had procured freshly steamed lobsters at, believe it or not, Shop-rite, and they were indeed succulent.
A wonderful dinner assuredly, however the most amazing lobster memory I will forever cherish is that of my 50th birthday lobster extravaganza. My birthday party, in Searsport, Maine this past August was attended by friends, family from California and an eccentric food editor. She entrusted us with the beauty of her original lobster rolls. Nuff said. The next night my family and I went to Young's Lobster Pound in Belfast for fresh lobsters. By amazing coincidence, a bagpiper was enjoying the fare at the same time. My father asked if he would play happy birthday to me - which he happily did. He went out on the porch and then played more Scottish tunes.
I just want to assure everyone that this experience was not induced by any medication nor was the weekend lobsterpalooza a dream unless you count those that occur when you are awake.
Cheers,
Dr. Rob
Hi Andrea,
Two questions. The first is about good, really good Indian restaurants in Monmouth County. Our favorite closed a couple of years ago.
Second...after reading your blog I was stopped by your reference to Black bean and orange. I do other varieties of black bean soup, but was intrigued by this combination.
Thank you!
Well, Doc Rob, I'm frothing with envy not that you had another lobster indulgence, but that you can perform Hollywood-caliber plastic surgery on a Field Spaniel AND pen culinary witticisms.
Meanwhile, I think another Downeast BLT feast is due, perhaps to mark your half birthday.
cheers, Andy
To Jodi - who asked about Indian restaurants and black bean soup with orange as an accent:
First, thanks for writing and if your post got deleted, it was by accident. Honestly! I'm blogging without a net (so to speak) - mostly without instructions.
Last summer, I went to a fabulous Indian restaurant up in Edison called MOKSHA. It's worth the trip.
What was your Indian favorite that closed? What other Indian spots have you checked out? And (lastly), what's your geographical range - meaning, where's your general location so I know where I can send you?
Black bean soup with orange - I've gotten a rather surprising number of requests based on this blog mention, but space here does not permit recipes. What I'll do is write up the recipe and put it in a forthcoming Food section (which appears in Wednesday's editions of the Press). It would be a terrific Super Bowl dish, so maybe the week before the big game.
cheers, Andy
Dear Andrea: I'm so pleased you're now blogging! You are my favorite writer at APP!
You were talking about lemons in your first blog but I'd like to know what the heck happened to the limes this past year? How can anyone kick back with a Vodka Gimlet if the limes are dried out and half dead before you even cut into them?? They were just awful this summer.
Maire (Martello)
Hi Maire:
LIMES are at their best in winter, when citrus crops are just off the tree/vine. Sad for summer gimlet quaffing, you're right. You should find them at a better price and in better shape now. (You could have a July-in-January party!!)
OK, so what to do with limes now? Partner them with their best friend, the avocado, and have the simplest salad ever - sliced avocado drizzled with fresh lime juice and a sprinkling of sea salt. Stir-fry sliced green beans with a squirt of lime and lemon juice. Make a slaw of jicama and use lime juice as the focus of the dressing. I feel very insecure if I don't have a stash of limes in my fridge, so I know how you feel about them - no limes/bad limes equals misery.
Please tell me what you find you can do with limes this season, Maire.
thanks for writing.
cheers, Andy
Andrea,
Thank you for getting back to me about the Indian restaurant...it is a bit far, but worth remembering. Our favorite was Dakshin on Rte. 35 in Middletown.
I am looking forward to your black bean/orange soup recipe and hope I haven't missed it.
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