No Food Just Beer

Food not necessary on an 85 degree day at Far Rockaway beach. Sand, saltwater, cold Coors. So lovely I just had to post it.

Tomatoes and Basil are HERE!

Goodie goodie gumdrops made of tomato and basil! The most delectable summer flavor pairing has arrived, and I am taking full advantage. First stop: fresh tomato, roasted eggplant and basil chilled down (900 degrees outside) and heaped onto toasted baguette.

Second stop: tomato, basil, parsley, zucchini, feta frittata.

Third stop, coming soon: gazpacho!

When a Vegetable is No Longer a Vegetable

Today: a lesson in turning vegetables into treats. The following are in no way original recipes--a thousand slight variations on both can easily be found online, but damn if they aren't insanely delicious ways to "eat your vegetables." It's always nice when a slice of cake covers a quarter of your recommended daily intake of veggies.

Here sit the keys to Stevie's happy heart! Zucchini and baby Yukon gold latkes spiked with parsley, basil and lemon zest, crisping up in olive oil before being smothered in mascarpone cheese and devoured. I am not sure if fried zucchini and sweet cheese count as dinner, or just a first-course dessert.

Then, of course, I made zucchini bread. I had just made a fresh batch of walnut butter, so I was fresh out of walnuts to add to the batter... but why not smear walnut butter all over a fat piece? Yes, yes that is good.

Red White and Bluefast

Happy fourth! I started it with challah French toast, some leftover mascarpone cheese I had in the fridge, and fresh blueberries and strawberries. So celebratory.

My Potes are Burning

There are 15 minutes left in the very intense Spain v. Paraguay World Cup match. I am sweating and preoccupied and antsy for Spain to score already.

For a few minutes around the time of the two penalty kicks, I thought, "What is that lovely smell! Which neighbor is cooking something delicious right now? How nice!"

Then after I stopped sweating so desperately, I thought, "Hmm, my neighbor is letting something burn."

"Wow, it's really burning..."

Then it got really potent, and I thought, "Did I not put a pot of pretty little red new potatoes on the stove on extra-high heat to salt-boil about an hour ago?"

What a shame.

Picnic Perfect

It is summer, and these are the best days of my life.

On the menu: McCarren Park, a wildly refreshing poached-pink sunset breeze, chilled Baudry Chinon, spicy cold corn salad, basil chicken salad, bocconcini, cherries, peach pie, and my special leftover creations: cold, thinly sliced five-spice-rubbed duck breast and scallion fried rice with 10-second eggs in a wok.

Divine.

The Last Pieces of June

Cherries, glorious, in all their red, white and sour forms! A much healthier cook-time snack than my usual bread groaning under the weight of cheese.

And then... Fresh duck breast! I have not seen this lovely vendor at the Union Square Farmers Market until just last week. It was 6:00--closing time--and produce was a little tired and discounted. I wanted to use my wok again and had scored bok choy, mint, scallions and snow peas when I saw the sign: "10% Off All Duck!"

Abawhaaat!? Giddy, I stepped right up and nabbed a big, fatty, fresh not frozen(!) Moulard breast--almost a whole pound for $7 from the Hudson Valley Duck Farm.

At home, I rubbed five spice and Sriracha onto the breast, browned it up nicely in the wok and then, ghetto-like, finished it in the toaster oven. To keep the heat in the kitchen down, I stir-fried all the green things with a bit of ginger for just about 15 hot seconds, then I put some orange juice, a tiny bit of hoisin sauce and soy sauce, a spoonful of honey and a squirt of Sriracha into the hot wok (these things sort of sounded like they should go together, no?), let it reduce and then poured it all over my duck before mixing everything together.

Final answer: really pretty, really easy, fairly good flavor... and I decided I don't like bok choy. Poor bok choy.