Eating

I'm not sure that subtle is a word that describes me, nor the food I cook. I'm pretty open about my thoughts and feelings, and equally forthright with the flavors on my plate. I'm fairly certain that I'm a supertaster, yet my highly attuned palate does not shy away from big, bold tastes. I love sharp pickles, lethal chiles and pungent aromatics like shallots and lime leaves. The complex funkiness of aged cheeses and fermented fish is mother's milk to me. I embrace brassicas of all sorts, with their often pronounced mustardy character and their wonderfully cruciferous texture. I shared a recipe for a kohlrabi and apple slaw earlier this year, a crisp and refreshing salad with a citrusy dressing, and I'm offering another one here, to encourage you to get acquainted with this often neglected member of the wild cabbage family. Look for tender young specimens at farmers markets now—in pale green or deep purple—and enjoy them raw in all their glory.
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Breaking Bad is back with a vengeance, and we're still making our way through the original Swedish Wallander, but we also stumbled across Inside Men, a new BBC One series that I submit for your viewing pleasure. It's really quite gripping. It's about a brutal armed robbery that takes place at a secure money counting house, the events that lead up to it and the aftermath. I especially love the performance of Steven Mackintosh as the milquetoast manager who finds his inner bad-ass. I confess that after these grueling days spent sweltering at my desk, in the garden and in the kitchen, I like nothing better than stretching out on my Society linen sheets, popping open a bottled Americano and being amused. No more reading, no more surfing, no more writing, no more cooking—but certainly not mindless entertainment, no chick flicks or idle fluff for me. I like something truly engaging, full of believable characters and smart dialogue. Don't you? Here are some more worthy distractions for you...
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David Mamet has written some great plays with plenty of memorable dialogue, but the line of his that sticks with me is a deceptively mundane one from a slightly camp film, The Edge. It stars Alec Baldwin as a smarmy fashion photographer and Anthony Hopkins as an intellectual billionaire thrust together in the Alaskan wilderness. After their plane crashes, the two of them—who mix it up like oil and water—are pitted against a gargantuan Grizzly that's out for their blood. Hopkins is amazingly resourceful and when faced with the seemingly insurmountable task of outrunning the bear, says only, What one man can do, another can do. Meaning survive, in this case, I'm guessing.

It's a reassuring thought, isn't it? A reminder that determination and force of will are sometimes all you need to level the playing field. When confronting fear, this has become a sort of mantra for me. It's handy even in the face of small challenges, like recreating the wonderfully refreshing carbonated Americanos we enjoyed at Clyde Common in Portland. Essentially a ready-to-quaff Italian-style aperitivo—Campari and sweet vermouth with an orange peel twist—these house-made and -bottled cocktails were a real revelation, and G pined for them back in New York. So what's a DIYer to do? It's not like barman extraordinaire Jeffrey Morgenthaler doesn't have the full set of instructions up on his website.
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I am not so different from the beasts of the field and forest. Even in this heat, and with all of summer's bounty making it seem that we will never lack for food, we're thinking ahead to those cold, barren months. The squirrels are stockpiling pinecones, the mice are hiding seeds, and I am preserving fruits, vegetables and herbs in a variety of ways. I buy so much fruit at the local farmers market that I am officially known as a good customer and receive certain perks. This week that meant 10 pints of free raspberries deemed too soft to sell but really in absolutely perfect condition. That very same day I cooked them down and put them up—their sweet essence, garnet hue and soft, floral fragrance stowed away for a wintry delight. I've done the same with yellow plums, apricots, gooseberries and strawberries, so I've got quite the collection going in my basement. And it would be my pleasure to share some of it with one of my readers. Just leave a comment before Sunday the 29th at 6pm, and I'll select a winner at random to be announced next Monday the 30th.
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In an effort to neither waste nor want, I felt the need to devise a recipe for all the chard stems knocking about my kitchen these days. Great green plumes of chard with bright yellow stems are proliferating in our garden, and I love to eat them simply sauteed in lots of good olive oil with garlic and red chile, and maybe a few raisins and pine nuts tossed in. This is so silky in the mouth and tastes like Italian chlorophyll. The stems—crisper and rougher—are usually chucked into the compost pile, though this is sacrilege to the legions of fans who like them stirred into mashed potatoes and buckwheat pancakes, baked in gratins, simply roasted and even pickled. I don't do much baking, as you know, but of late I've had a bee in my bonnet about making a galette—one of those free-form rustic tarts that basically scream farmhouse chic. This simple dough can be wrapped around anything from wild nettles to fresh peaches with a perfectly French insouciance.

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Sour cherries were a blip on the radar this year. Cold nights and then an unseasonal blast of crippling heat made for a small, early yield. And yet I scrounged up enough to make 6 precious jars of preserves and a batch of popsicles. In case you thought to buy up extras and throw them in your freezer, this is a great simple recipe for showcasing their unique tart flavor. It also works with regular cherries—just reduce the amount of honey—or any fruit really. Try it with chopped apricots or plums, with blackberries or raspberries, even with figs. It's hard to go wrong when you're mixing together fruit, honey and yogurt into a frozen confection. Put it on a stick and the child-like delight is instant.
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I lived in Madrid in my twenties, and it was there that I took up the habit of drinking Schweppes tonic water over ice as an afternoon refreshment. I think I considered it a sophisticated alternative to the Fanta Naranja that I enjoyed there as a child, plus the European version is more citrusy with a nice bitter edge. Now that I am more careful about what I put into my body, I prefer to create my own refreshing eilxirs without high fructose corn syrup or other strange additives. So I've been meaning to make my own tonic syrup, ever since I saw a recipe in T magazine last fall. And now that I've begun to do my own carbonation (stay tuned for the details), I figured it was time.
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This week really flew by! Remember when I used to post up to 5 times a week? Them days is over. A few too many irons in the fire now. I've been itching to talk to you about vegetables, though, and it's been too long since I shared a recipe. A couple of weeks ago, a friend told me he had been reading up on plant-based diets—books like The China Study and others by Dean Ornish, etc. But you're not interested in that, he said. He couldn't be more wrong. After reading books like this and this, I have come to understand that (non-factory-farmed) animal products are not the cause of high cholesterol and other health issues, but I do firmly believe that they should comprise a greatly reduced part of our diet. I think by now it's pretty clear to all of us that we should be eating mostly vegetables, fruits and some unprocessed grains, with small additions of high quality dairy, fish and meat products. Think of using them almost like seasoning, rather than as the centerpiece of your meal. With such a bounty of fresh produce now in season and available at farmers markets, there's no lack of inspiration if you want to start cooking more vegetable-based meals. Want a few cookbooks to help you along the path? Try this one, this one and this one.
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I know where I'll be for at least part of this weekend: up to my elbows in fruit from Trapani Farms! With berries flooding the markets, this is the time of year for preserving. I've already made strawberry jam—with mint and black pepper and with ancho chile—as well as blueberry with nutmeg, and sour cherry. Now come gooseberries, raspberries and all the stone fruits. My canning guru, Mrs. Wheelbarrow, says to make smaller batches so it's not that daunting, but I like to come away with at least 6 jars of something. I tuck them away to give as holiday gifts, when their sweet reminder of summer is so appreciated. If you need an incentive, think about stirring fresh raspberry jam into your mid-winter yogurt or serving guests a poundcake with fragrant peach preserves in February.

Maybe this weekend you'll be in front of a hot stove, too? Or perhaps putting your feet up in the screened-in porch and taking a nap? Either way, I hope you'll make time to peruse the links I've put together here. There's some fascinating stuff I wouldn't want you to miss.
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PDX is the code for Portland International Airport, and it's ubiquitous there as a shorthand brand, sort of like Manhattanites use NYC. We went there for some R&R&R—that's rest, relaxation and restaurants. We got very little of the former and plenty of the latter. What a gorgeous place! I discovered that it's known as "The City of Roses" because its climate—warm, dry summers and wet but mild winters—is ideal for these sometimes finicky flowers. All over town we saw lush gardens overflowing with fragrant roses and other blooms, tall grasses and incredible old trees. We stayed at the Ace, a slightly more quirky and rustic version of the one we stay at in New York, and I recommend it, especially if you don't mind rickety elevators, super-casual service and a Stumptown coffee outpost in the lobby. Even better, off the other side of the lobby is Clyde Common, a sweet place that describes itself as a "European style tavern," although I'm not really sure why. It's definitely the prototypical Portland-style farm-to-table eatery. The bar, run by cocktail king Jeffrey Morgenthaler, is not to be missed. We were instantly addicted to his clever new take on the Americano—a mix of sweet vermouth, Campari and orange oil that he carbonates and bottles himself. We will be doing that at home very soon, so stay tuned.
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