Week of September 7

Ok then. I have no idea what we're eating this week, because I was at this glorious place all weekend with great friends. Lucky me. :-)

I think it may be a "clean the fridge out" kind of week. Fortunately, with the garden and the local farm stand, I should be able to make some very delicious things.

Tonight we both were craving vegetables (many beverages and lots of fried food were consumed over the weekend). So I gave us a vegetable-centric meal of:

• sliced tomatoes with lemon oil and fleur de sel
• leftover roast pork au poivre
• eggplant and cauliflower salad (with red bell peppers and capers)
• boiled shell (cranberry) beans with rosemary

Dave had a cheater's peanut butter cup for dinner: a spoonful of peanut butter topped with chocolate chips.

Drink of the Week: Jack Rose

I can't believe I have not made the Jack Rose a Drink of the Week yet. We drink our first Jack Roses at The Eastern Standard. It's since become a standard go-to cocktail for us. It's sweet, tart and not too strong, so it makes a nice pre-meal nip.

The Jack Rose is a good gateway drink into the world of classic cocktails. In fact, I am going to be serving it to a group of ladies this evening and I think it was make them very happy. Think of it as an old school Appletini, without artificial coloring or flavors.

Jack Rose
Combine in an iced cocktail shaker:

• 1 1/2 ounces applejack
• 1/2 ounce grenadine
• 1/2 ounce lemon juice

Shake until well chilled. Strain into a cocktail glass.

Happy Birthday to Me

:-)

'Nuff said?

Weeknight Pasta with Vegetables

Nothing special last night, just a quick dish of pasta with vegetables. (Crappy food styling again - I swear there's basil in this dish. I was hungry.)

A few tips for when you're in a hurry for dinner and pasta's on the menu:

• Use small pasta shapes. It's sorta logical: smaller, thinner pastas will cook faster. Think angel hair instead of spaghetti, orzo instead of penne.
  
• Set the water to boil as soon as you think about dinner. Water always takes ages to boil. Get it going.
• Cut your veggies into small pieces. See pasta size logic above. Small, even-sized pieces are best.
• Give your dish a baked pasta feeling without the oven: toast some breadcrumbs to sprinkle over the top of the dish.

Fast Weeknight Dinner Pasta
Serves two

• 8 ounces pasta
• 2 cups chopped eggplant, zucchini or summer squash
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced
• 2 cups chopped tomato
• handful of basil or parsley, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
• grated Parmesan
  

Set your pasta water on the stove to boil and cook the pasta. While the pasta is boiling, saute the eggplant, squash, what-have-you, with the onion and garlic until browned and cooked through. Toss in the chopped tomatoes and set aside.

Toast the breadcrumbs in a hot skillet with a little oil until golden brown. Set aside.

When the pasta is done, drain it, reserving one cup of water. Over heat, toss the pasta with the vegetables, adding pasta water as need to make a slightly saucy dish. Toss in the basil or parsley, grated cheese and salt and pepper.

Before serving, sprinkle with toasted breadcrumbs.

Product Alert: Grapeseed Oil

A lot of people use canola oil as their standard oil. For me, canola oil is a bad choice. I find that it's pretty hard to clean up - it tends to form a slick on my pots that's hard to get off. Also, and much more damning, is that it can smell and taste fishy. I have had a few dishes turn out pretty badly as a result of this off taste.

I have read about grapeseed oil for years, but have never been able to find it. Grapeseed oil is pressed from, you guessed it, grapeseeds.

Recently, I noticed that Costco and my supermarket are carrying it. It's pricier than canola or vegetable oil at $5.00 a liter, but there are a number of reasons you should consider adding it to your pantry:

• It's pretty much flavorless so it is a great addition to baked goods or dressings where the oil's flavor should be in the background.
• It has a very high smoke point so you can use it for deep frying or sauteing with no worries.
• Grapeseed oil is a great emulsifier and may not separate as easily when making mayonnaise or dressings.
• Because of its neutral flavor, it's easily used as a carrier for flavors in making infused oils.

I've added this oil to my pantry as a standard item. This means I keep five types of oil in my cabinet: virgin olive oil (for sauteing), extra virgin olive oils (several, for salad dressings and drizzling on dishes), tree nuts oils (like almond, hazelnut or walnut - for dressings and drizzling - these get kept in the fridge), peanut oil (for stir fries - although grapeseed could take this one's place), and grapeseed oil (for all the reasons listed above).