what it's all about

One Sunday morning not too long ago, this breakfast was the perfect start to a perfect day. A day spent with people I love the best at one of my favorite places on the planet. The water was 70 degrees and there were waves. There are never waves. I spent about three hours in the ocean diving into, jumping over and riding the crest of these perfect, delicious waves with my main squeeze and my niece and nephew. Afterwards we trekked, waterlogged, back to my aunt’s house, showered off the sand and ate lobsters in drawn butter, cake and ice cream for my mom’s birthday dinner. We walked back down to the beach and watched the sunset before starting the drive home. I almost cried. Alright, I did cry a little. Because that kind of day is the sort that reminds you of what life is all about. Floating weightless, sandy toes, corn on the cob: simple happiness.

There is something to be said for utter and complete simplicity in the kitchen as well. Given the surplus of 90 degree days in Massachusetts this summer, I haven’t been cooking much lately so much as I’ve been assembling. Fortunately, these dog days are also the one time of year where we find ourselves with a bounty of locally grown, farm fresh produce. Now, during the winter, there is nothing I like better than making a big, stick-to-your-ribs breakfast. When it’s chilly outside simmering pots of baked beans, paprika laced homefries and multiple cups of warm coffee make sense. When it’s hot outside I don’t even want to think of anything that sticks to my ribs, namely because my hair is sticking to my forehead and my thighs to any sort of vinyl seat covering whose path they may cross.

For me, assembling a little “homemade” scallion cream cheese, slathering it on a bagel with thick slices of perfect summer tomatoes, adding a sprinkle of sea salt and some cranks of fresh black pepper is breakfast nirvana. This meal is best eaten on the back deck, with a couple iced coffees and maybe some fresh fruit; spending your afternoon riding ocean waves is optional, but highly recommended.

so about that pie

Last week, wait, two weeks ago? I vaguely referenced that I made a pie. An ice cream pie. With a crust that involved melted butter and crushed Oreos. I mentioned it once and then sidestepped right over it to sandwiches. That was rude of me. I can't remember how I stumbled across a recipe for Grasshopper Pie but when I saw it I quickly decided that it would be my dessert contribution to the 4th of July holiday weekend festivities. Easy, summery, super sweet and delicious; albeit, not the easiest thing to transport. This pie came together in a cinch and it went fast. So fast I didn't even get a good photo of it. It was melty and sweet. Mint ice cream isn't my favorite but the crust alone is worth the recipe. Next time I'm thinking strawberry.



I found this on a really excellent dessert site. Which I cannot recall the name of but I know it starts with an "L" and involves the word "culinary" or something. How's that for specific? Go to the Google and find it! I probably found the link through thekitchn.com, because that site is my ultimate link guru. The recipe itself annoyed me a little bit because it kept referred to Grasshopper Pie as a "white trash" recipe. I guess because the standard recipe is to simply purchase a pre-made chocolate crust, dump some softened ice cream in and refreeze it and call it a pie. And because things that are convenient are, apparently in foodie circles, "white trash" (and they used the quotations every time which made me be like either say it or don't but don't throw it in quotations like some abstract concept. Heck, I'd capitalize it). Meh. If there's one thing I hate it's food snobbery that jumps off the page. This particular recipe I read was like: "to class it up, make your own ice cream." And I was like "Why would I attempt to make something complicated in the middle of a gorgeous summer weekend when the fine folks at Brigham's have this covered?" So I opted for the partial White Trash method. Homemade crust, store bought ice cream. Now if you'll excuse me I have to go change the oil in my '83 Camaro, fluff my mullet and cut myself a new pair of jean shorts. Enjoy the pie.



GRASSHOPPER PIE

2 rows of Oreo cookies, with the filling scraped out
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips
6 tbs. unsalted butter, melted
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 gallon good vanilla ice cream (I used Brigham's)
1/4 cup Creme de Menthe*

Place ice cream on counter to thaw out a bit. Pulse Oreos and chocolate chips in food processor, add melted butter and vanilla. Process until evenly incorporated. Press crumbs into a buttered pie dish, as evenly as you can, across the bottom and up the sides. For ease, you can butter your hands a bit, or use a piece of saran wrap under your fingers to preventing crumbs from sticking to them. Freeze crust.



Scoop softened ice cream into large mixing bowl, pour on Crème de Menthe. Mix well to combine using either a silicone spatula or hand mixer. Scrape ice cream out of the bowl into frozen crust, smoothing the top layer so it looks nice. Freeze until ready for serving. The original recipe said to let the pie thaw in the fridge for an hour before serving, but if you’re serving this in July, just pop it on the counter for a minute and start slicing before it all melts away. Serve topped with a drizzle of Hershey's Syrup or a dollop of lightly sweetened whip cream.

*I now have a leftover bottle of Crème de Menthe. I bet you good money that it gathers dust in my pantry for the next quarter century.

heaven on whole grain bread

There are few joys greater in life than a fantastic sandwich. I once took an unpaid day off work just to try a particular Chilean sandwich joint that is only open on weekdays in downtown Boston. I’m not kidding. Sandwich availability was the deciding factor in my willingness to take a full day off without pay. There are some things in life you are willing to sacrifice for. Not too far from where I live, there is a particular slice of heaven called Circe’s Grotto. It is arguably the best sandwich shop I’ve ever visited. At Circe’s they bake their own bread on site, daily. The sandwich girls (it’s mostly girls here so I’ll generalize) must go through some sort of rigorous 20 step training process only open to a select few elite candidates. They are like the Navy Seals of sandwich making. Regardless of which sandwich engineer I am assigned the end result is always delicious, appropriately proportioned and foot thumpingly good. Don’t even get me started on the cookies. Do. Not. Get. Me. Started. Or the fact that their ice is crushed not cubed (!!!) and they have fresh brewed iced tea and carry the best brand of kettle chips around. If god himself could grant my every food and snack wish, he would begin and end with Circe’s Grotto.



I’ll take an excellent sandwich over pretty much any other food, any day of the week (except pizza). I feel quite strongly about it, because it’s one of the only places I’ve come to for years that has yet to disappoint. Some days they will have a limited selection of ridiculous lobster rolls under the glass, or a particularly good salad special, but it’s difficult for me to get away from the two sandwich choices that I love best. The sandwiches in question are their fresh mozzarella, which is topped with chunky, homemade pesto, mixed greens, ripe tomato slices on a dense whole grain bread and their turkey, cheddar and avocado: which is slathered with red pepper mayonnaise, thinly sliced purple onion, sharp cheddar and chunks of ripe avocado, the lot of which are pressed on a Panini press and melted to perfection. There is another menu option I like: a third dark horse in the running that involves marinated grilled and chicken, roasted peppers and gorgonzola, but it’s served in a wrap and, I’ll say this for the record: wraps ain’t sandwiches.



Circe’s is my favorite place to stop before I go down to the beach. However, it’s a bit out of the way and though my reputation precedes me (see above) as someone who’s dedication to eating is unparalleled, sometimes I just can’t make it all the way there. Especially if it’s a busy beach weekend and making the stop for sandwiches would cut into my bronzing and lounging time by well over an hour. So you can imagine the bind I found myself in 4th of July weekend. I would need sandwiches, I knew that much, but loathed the thought of going out of my way. The local sub shop would be completely mobbed and the only good option there is a meatball sub and sometimes a gal just doesn’t want to pair her bathing suit with a 5 lb. meat and sauce filled torpedo. So I did the craziest and zaniest thing. I made my OWN sandwiches and brought them with us to the beach. Isn’t that quaint and old fashioned of me? How revolutionary a thought. To get the kind of sandwich I want without going out of my way I could make it myself.



So, I’m not going to give you a sandwich recipe on here. I think you can probably figure out how to make a sandwich on your own (if you can’t call me; so I can rip on you for a few minutes). Plus, sandwich preparation is an extraordinarily subjective and personal process. Some people hail from the Land of Much Meat while others have lived a life of Condiment Domination. It’s a case by case scenario and I’m not going to force my sandwich beliefs on you. I will just give you a little inspiration. Our sandwiches were inspired by Circe’s turkey, cheddar and avocado, with the difference being that instead of tangy red pepper mayo, ours were slathered with spicy Siracha mayo and we didn’t toast or melt them because they were going to travel anyways. We paired these with some chilled pasta salad, a cooler full of beer and one of the most perfect beach days in recent memory.



TRIPLE “P” PASTA SALAD

The three “P”s are for Pesto, Peas and Pasta. Although, now that I’m reading this I guess calling it “triple” and including one of the “P”s: pasta, in the title is a bit redundant, but you know what, now I’m attached to the name, so what’s done is done. This is my take on a pasta salad offered in the cold case at Circe’s. It’s a great option for a picnic or to take to the beach because there isn’t any mayonnaise, so you don’t have to risk food poisoning in order to have a side dish with your sandwich. I like that. The last time I grabbed a container full of this I planned on sharing. Planned.

1 box rotini, ziti or bowtie
1 jar or package store bought pesto (or homemade, if you have time)
½ package frozen petite peas (or fresh, if you’re in the mood for shelling)
¾ cup toasted pine nuts, or sunflower seeds
Approx. ¾ cup whole basil leaves, ripped off the stem*
Extra virgin olive oil (no exact quantity just have plenty)
½ cup to ¾ cup grated parmesan cheese (optional)

*a perfect substitution would be baby spinach leaves. I think that this is what Circe’s uses in their original. I don’t think they use basil leaves because basil leaves turn black after they are refrigerated for a while and I have never seen any black leaves in the Circe’s version. I like the basil leaves for their flavor, just don’t be surprised if they turn a little less than verdant on you.



This recipe is so great for a couple different reasons: it travels well, it’s summer appropriate, it’s (kind of) not (that) bad for you and it’s a classic “cook and dump” as in you cook the pasta and dump everything else in the pot once the pasta is drained and voila, side dish city. You don’t even have to chop anything. Regardless, I will give you the steps I followed as I made this up as I went along:

Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, toast your pine nuts or sunflower seeds on low in a nonstick pan. When you can smell them, they’re toasted. Be careful: nuts burn! Drain pasta and return to cooking pot, add half package frozen peas, toasted seeds/nuts, your pesto and basil leaves, drizzle a healthy amount of olive oil on and toss well. Taste, add more olive, salt, pepper and parmesan cheese (if desired). Refrigerate until ready to eat.

cool snacks, hot nights

Sweet sizzling sassafras! It’s H-O-T out. Like, majorly, sweat through your shirt, wear no covers to bed hot out. Yesterday the thermometer on my dash read 101 degrees as I was driving home from work and I saw this dude walking along a desolate, breeze-free stretch of Route 53 wearing black jean shorts and an Iron Maiden tee. “I feel for you, brother” I thought, since I truly did feel his pain, having no air conditioner in my office OR my house whatsoever. And then…as I drove by him I saw he had a beverage in his hand: Nesquick chocolate milk. Ralph. I will admit it, I judged him. Like what are you trying to barf? A thick dairy product while walking in black clothing on arguably the hottest day in Massachusetts in the past three years? Seriously man, it’s called Gatorade, look into it. Milk was a bad choice. This is the kind of weather where not only do I not dare turn the oven on, the only reason I’ll enter the kitchen is to grab a handful of ice cubes from the freezer and dump them down my pants. It’s hot. It’s summer. I wanted it and here it is. I don’t like to complain* about the summer weather, because it, and all things summer related are so very fleeting here in Massachusetts. I like to soak it all in, even if it means sitting like a wet rag on my couch with my Cool Breeze7000 pointed directly at my damp face.



And with last weekend being THE 4th, summer is officially in full swing. I mentioned last year how we take our July 4 menu pretty seriously in my family. Last year, my sister busted our humps over what turned out to be an unnecessarily fussy vegetable platter that hardly got eaten. This year, I vowed, would be different. First off, I would be fixing my goods solo, since my sister is, admittedly and joyously, a little preoccupied with her brand new baby boy, Noah; and my mom, being the ace grandmother that she is was out in California last week baby whispering, doing laundry, grilling steaks and just generally doing her part to help the new family settle in. And looking at THIS (I’m dying):



So I, the lone Pithie lady bringing food to Aunt Linda’s house on the 4th was left to represent solo. I decided that I would keep it simple and try to turn the oven on as little as possible. I plotted and schemed and came up with some top notch contributions to the usual feast. For lunch we had Uncle Billy’s smoked turkey on buttery rolls, topped with pickled red onions and a slather of mayo. Accompanying this was a fresh corn dip with tortilla chips and some sort of hey-that’s-pretty-dangerous-because-it-doesn’t-taste-like-there’s-tequila-in-there-at-all cocktail that involved fresh mint muddled with strawberries and a grapefruit soda, all prepared by Aunt Sally (who else). She also brought cookies of two varieties (peanut butter and chocolate crackle, respectively) and her bedazzled Fourth of July tee shirt, because she’s not only a culinary genius but a patriotic one at that.



So what did I bring? Well I found a few recipes that jumped out at me in the week preceding the holiday. I was asked to contribute an appetizer and dessert, and I also volunteered an additional specialty cocktail because well…do I really need to explain why we needed more drinks? The cocktail in question was the Pimms Cup, because they are just refreshing as all hell and they go down smoother than an Al Green record. As for the chow I toted over, I was able to prep all my food stuffs on Friday after work, which meant Saturday I could drink at the beach all day and even with two stops on the way down, I was at the beach by noon on Sunday. And that’s MY kind of holiday weekend.



QUICK PICKLED CHERRY TOMATOES
(from Bon Appétit)

12 oz. cherry tomatoes
¾ cup apple cider vinegar
¾ cup water
4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. sugar
1 3 x ½ inch strip of lemon peel (yellow part only, no white pith)
14/ cup freshly chopped dill
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
¼ tsp. crushed red pepper



Pour vinegar, water, salt, sugar and lemon peel in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil to dissolve sugar and salt, this happens quickly, in a matter of about two minutes so stay close by. Remove pan from heat and let cool to room temperature for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, using a wooden skewer pierce each tomato twice and place into a bowl. Slice your garlic, chop the dill and measure out your crushed red pepper. Place all ingredients into the bowl with the tomatoes and pour your cooled liquid in. Let sit at room temperature, uncovered for 2 to 8 hours. I let mine sit for about 4 hours and then I poured everything into a jar and refrigerated. I made these on Friday and served them on Sunday. They were dynamite. My brother ate almost the whole jar and couldn’t stop raving about them. I like rave reviews, I must admit. These are going to be a summer time fridge staple for me now. Would be awesome to serve with cheese and crackers or in a chilled pasta salad as well.



SPINACH AND FETA HUMMUS
(found on What’s Gaby Cooking?)

2 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 ½ cups fresh spinach
8 oz. feta cheese
Juice from ½ a lemon
1/3 cup (plus) olive oil
2 cloves garlic
2 tbs. crushed red pepper (or Siracha)
salt, pepper



Combine chickpeas, feta, spinach and garlic in food processor, add lemon juice, start whizzing. Drizzle in olive oil, keep whizzing. Due to the large volume of stuff in your Cuisinart, it’s going to take a little time to make headway, but trust that eventually the solids will succumb to the drag of the giant Cuisinart death blades and hummus will result. A couple notes about what I did here. First, I definitely used much more than 1/3 cup olive oil, because this seemed like such a solid mass of chickpeas/feta/spinach. This may or may not have been due to the fact that I (naturally) measured nothing and just jammed it all in my Cuis’ and started pulsing away. But truthfully, I think that this recipe needs more olive oil not just because its main ingredients are cumbersome to begin with, but also because spinach has a semi-bitter taste and feta is a tangy, salty cheese, and the roundness of a nice olive oil serves to balance this out.



Also, though the original recipe called for crushed red pepper, I did not have enough on hand to satisfy the obligations to both this recipe and the pickled cherry tomatoes, so I used a healthy squirt of Siracha- the ubiquitous Thai chili sauce that is so popular amongst foodies that it had its own spread of recipes dedicated to it in one of last year’s Bon Appétit. Siracha is great because it’s got a great heat to it, but it’s vinegar-y enough that it’s very palatable. I figured “crushed red pepper” could mean “red chili pepper sauce” in this instance; and fortunately, it worked out. I wasn’t super jazzed about this hummus straight out of the fridge, for one the addition of feta cheese and so much oil meant that cold, it was quite solid. However, as it sat out at room temperature for a while the taste improved. I wouldn’t jump at the chance to make it again but people seemed to like it quite a bit. As I’m rethinking it now I bet it would make an amazing baked hummus*, maybe with some mild mozzarella cheese added for good measure. But that’s for another day, certainly not today, what with the heat wave and all. Blech. Just the idea of turning the oven on makes me need to take another trip to the freezer for ice.



*define “complain.” If it involves whining and whimpering and shopping around to various outlet stores for air conditioners then yeah, I might. lil bit.

**Did I just invent that? I call dibs! Baked Hummus: copyright Jess Pithie 2010. Boo yah. I’ll take my payment in the form of one million ten dollar bills. Because tens are the forgotten son of our native currency, don’t you think?

happy as a clam

Last Sunday I had the incredible urge to make clams or mussels. I didn’t know what but I knew that I absolutely, positively had to make some shellfish for dinner. With barbeque season in full swing so many of our weekend days, afternoons and evenings have been totally and completely dominated with meat and beer consumption. Not that there’s anything wrong with that! But there comes a time where your body reaches a limit and says “Seriously, if you eat another hunk of meat today, I’m going to seriously quit on you” Sunday night’s supper needed to be light(ish), it certainly needed to involve some sort of vegetables and I knew, because I was hell bent, that it would involve some clams.



There’s something about cooking seafood successfully that makes me feel all Fancy Pants McGourmet. And honestly, I don’t really know where I get off feeling so self-satisfied because not only is good, fresh seafood very difficult to screw up, it’s also probably one of the quickest meals around. But I dunno what it is, if it’s from the sea, I’m impressed (with myself). For some reason when I bring a steaming bowl of clams to the table it packs much more punch than say a steaming bowl of pasta. Maybe it’s the excitement of summer eating? Maybe it’s just because having a bowl full of discarded clam shells on the table is just so New England Summertime Bourgeois. I should probably have put on some plaid pants just for the occasion, but if I owned those I’d face to punch myself in the face. On to the clams!



LITTLENECKS in WHITE WINE with GARLIC and SHALLOTS

18 littlenecks
Butter or olive oil
3 gloves garlic, minced
2 shallots, thinly sliced
1 bottle clam juice
¾-1 cup dry white wine
Fresh parsley, chopped

Water
Flour

Thick bread, such as ciabatta, for grilling or toasting



This meal comes together really quickly. So have everything ready to go before heating your pan.

Soak your littlenecks in cool water with a handful of flour for 30 minutes. This will allow them to purge out any sand that they’re digesting. Meanwhile, mince your garlic, slice your shallots and chop your parsley. Drain your clams and set aside.



Heat olive oil and butter (about 2-3 tbs. of each, don’t be shy) in a Dutch oven or pot with a tightly fitting lid over medium high heat. Sauté garlic and shallots, stirring often so as not to scorch the garlic, about two minutes. Cut your ciabatta in half and brush with olive oil on both sides. Dump in your clam juice and wine, let reduce just a minute or so. Be careful! Wine steam CAN light on fire if you’re using a gas stove. Lesson learned. Crisis averted. Add your clams to the pot, clamp your lid on and let steam about 6 to 7 minutes, until all the clams are opened. During this time, grill or broil your bread until it’s golden and toasty. So once again I’m presently you with an inherently crappy recipe with no measurements. I’m sorry, I just kind of winged it here, because I knew that liquid + clams + lid on = steamed clams. Dump the clams and broth into a bowl and toss the parsley on. Serve with the grilled bread to dip into the sauce, a lightly dressed salad, and corn on the cob.



Things I would change on the next go ‘round. One, I used only olive oil to start the process and I believe I would change the recipe to be mainly butter, and lots of it. Because clams and butter, right? No brainer. Second, I used the whole bottle of clam juice because in my head I was like “what the buns would I use 1/3 jar of leftover clam juice for?” I would change this, and use half the bottle. You don’t wanna kill ‘em with the clamness. Third, I didn’t let my wine reduce. I poured it in, clamped the lid on, a few minutes later lifted the lid off, moderately scorched my wrist hair with wine vapor fire (whoa!), said a swear word and then replaced the lid until the clams were popped. Next time, I will let the wine reduce just a bit, to cook off some of the alcohol and let a little more saltiness shine through on the finished product. I think even if I did this, there would still be more than enough broth to steam the clams AND enjoy; but, all that being said, I am quite certain you could follow my directions as written above and still be delighted with the finished dish.