Eat Boutique

Put a medium-rare steak, hot pastrami sandwich or anything containing bacon in front of me and I’m a happy camper. But I love fruits and vegetables equally. When it comes to food, for me, anything goes. One thing I haven’t embraced though is the vegan/raw food movement.

Limiting so many categories of food outright just seems, well, sad. Like a morning without coffee really. That’s why when my husband’s cousin, Vanessa (also Maggie’s incidentally), opened a vegan restaurant in the East Village and had us in for a raw food dinner, I was a little apprehensive, not because I don’t like vegetables, but because on the menu was fettuccine alfredo. I don’t know much about vegan raw food, but I know this much: no cream, no cheese, no pasta. What else is fettuccine alfredo?

Vanessa is a great cook though, so I headed off to the dinner with an open mind. As it turns out, to raw foodies, “pasta” is zucchini put through a spiral slicer to give it an effect that is somewhat like noodles, but not really. As for the alfredo, I never did find out what was in Vanessa’s sauce, but I’m guessing nut milk because she does amazing things with nut milk. Vanessa’s fettuccine alfredo definitely wasn’t that, but no matter. It was delicious. The vegetables were crunchy, the sauce was rich and flavorful, and I happily chomped away until every last bite was gone.

To my surprise, I even found myself craving it later, but I felt daunted at the task of recreating it. Then I found a recipe for squash and zucchini “linguine” with goat cheese in Food & Wine. The farmer’s market is overflowing with chubby green zucchinis and baby yellow squash, and this seemed like the perfect way to use them. This “linguini” has become a new favorite of mine because it is easy, light and refreshing. I adapted the recipe, switching out parsley for dill among other things. I just peeled strips of zucchini and squash using a vegetable peeler, blanched them in boiling water for 30 seconds, then dropped them into a bowl of ice water before patting them dry.

When the whole thing is put together, the effect is pretty great. You can even twirl the strips around the prongs of your fork, and while it’s not linguine, it’s something else entirely. And that something is good.

Squash and Zucchini “Linguini”
(adapted from Food & Wine, August 2008)

Ingredients:

• 2 zucchini
• 2 summer squash
• 1 tablespoon chives
• 1 tablespoon chopped dill
• 1 lemon for juice
• 1 chopped shallot
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• olive oil
• Fresh goat cheese

In a bowl, whisk the lemon juice with ¼ of a cup of olive oil, salt and pepper. Add the chives and dill. Sauté the shallot, garlic and red pepper in 2 tablespoons of olive oil until fragrant over medium heat. Add salt and pepper. Meanwhile, peel the zucchini and squash with a vegetable peeler, then peel off long thin strips until you reach the core. Blanch the strips in boiling water for 30 seconds, then remove them to a bowl of ice water to cool. Remove and pat dry. Put them in the bowl with the lemon juice and herbs. Add the garlic and shallot, and stir. Top with crumbled goat cheese.

Posted by Jessica Merrill

Today’s post was written by Jessica Merrill, a new contributor to EatBoutique.com. Jessica is a food and travel writer who has written for some big-time publications - check out the About page for more. Jessica and I are working on some very cool food stuff together. Promise to tell you more once it’s solidified.

As far as I’m concerned, cooking and summer are a bit like god and the devil; you can put the two in a room together but I don’t want to be there. And by cooking I mean pots and pans and a heat-powered indoor appliance, not grilling. I live in an apartment in Brooklyn, so words like “yard” and “garage” aren’t part of my vocabulary, and when the temperature soars past 80, I simply give in. I surrender to summer’s bounty, to the fruits and vegetables practically begging to be lightly dressed, gently touched and eaten at their crispest or ripest.

Stocking up on ingredients and inspiration means hitting the farmer’s market. A few weeks ago, it was a vibrant bunch of pink radishes that caught my attention. Socked in by greenery on all sides, they looked like little gems glinting in the sun. And I sighed. Because the truth is, I’ve never really liked radishes. But these were just lovely, and they reminded me of my grandfather who grew them in his garden and adored them sliced and sprinkled with nothing but a dash of salt. And so inevitably they ended up in my bag on their way home with me. I pickled slices of those little rubies quickly in red wine and sugar, which turned out to be tangy, spicy and delicious, perfectly good alone, but a real hit on salads where they were a yummy mouth-puckering addition.

This week it was baby bok choy. It looked so darling stowed away between lofty leaves of Swiss chard and beet greens. And long story short: it was the bok choy that got me thinking about summer rolls with peanut sauce, the Vietnamese specialty (like spring rolls but not fried). In case it isn’t obvious enough, these are named SUMMER rolls for a reason. They are cool, crisp and refreshing and require almost no cooking at all. It doesn’t matter that bok choy isn’t an ingredient in authentic summer rolls. I’d argue it should be. It’s true, too, you can order them easily enough in Asian restaurants, but I find those versions are too often overstuffed with clumpy vermicelli noodles and not enough shrimp and vegetables. Even the driest ones are delicious, of course, dunked in peanut sauce (really, you could pull leaves from a tree and dip them in peanut sauce and they would be delicious, right?) But I wanted a homemade adaptation crammed with ingredients from the market – including the peppery bok choy, mint, cilantro and cucumbers. I also bought plump shrimp from my seafood market and vermicelli noodles (vowing only to add a few). All these ingredients I tightly wrapped in rice paper and, tah dah, dipped in peanut sauce.

Summer rolls are easy to make, and when you’re done, they look pretty spectacular. I doused the shrimp in olive oil, salt and pepper and roasted them for five minutes earlier in the day, before chilling them. When I was ready to eat, I simply chopped a few bok choy leaves, sliced cucumber, and pulled sprigs of mint and cilantro from their stems. The rice vermicelli noodles only take three minutes to cook! To assemble, simply soak a spring roll wrapper in a bowl of room temperature water for about 30 seconds, then gently place it on a work surface. Put about three to four shrimp down first, then layer bok choy, mint, cilantro, cucumbers and a few noodles. Lastly, wrap the rolls like an itty bitty burrito, bundling the goodies inside and tucking the ends under. As for the essential peanut sauce, I make a couple of different versions, but for this, I used a quick recipe from Cooks Illustrated’s “The Best Recipe” cookbook, a version that is packed with flavor and thick enough to make a good dipping sauce.

Spicy Peanut Sauce

• 5 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• ¼ cup unsweetened coconut milk
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger
• 2 medium garlic cloves
• ½ teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon curry powder (optional)

Combine the ingredients in a food processor and blend.

Forget orange, lime or even pomegranate juices. I’ve been head-over-heels for watermelon juice since the season started and found a glorious way to integrate it into my weekend cocktail hour.

You could buy a large melon, scoop out its meat and mash the juice from it. I opt for the easy path. My local farmer’s market has sweetly carved up the melon, packing the fruit in easy plastic containers to take-away. I grab a few tubs each week, as this fruit juice is quite refreshing during our hot summers in the northeast.

Tonight, I popped the fruit into a blender and kept my little finger on purify until there were no lumps to be seen. Next, fill a cocktail shaker with ice and all the ingredients below. Shake and pour, with ice, into a hefty glass, and decorate with a chunk of melon. Sure, I could strain out the ice and serve it straight up in a martini glass. But I wanted my husband to feel at home with a large, hefty glass, so I kept the ice

Watermelon Margarita

Ingredients:

• 2 parts, watermelon juice
• 1 part, orange liquor
• 1 part, tequila
• 1/2 lime, squeezed into shaker

You could also choose to garnish with lime wedges, but I’m a design freak who believes in the power of the monochromatic, so it had to be a watermelon chunk. You may opt to make these super strong or fairly light; play around with the measurements to get a drink that suits your event. Today, I wanted something tasty but light. On an evening when one needs a little more punch to ease the nerves, you could certainly up the liquor ratio.

I had a great time in Provincetown a few weeks ago, a visit that always includes a long visit with the goodies on display at Connie’s Bakery. This cupcake was loaded with meringue and quite tempting. I’m now kicking myself for keeping my dollars in my pocket. There’s always next trip.

I set to cook on the morning of July 4th with so many meals in mind. So. Many. Meals. While I knew I was serving blue cheese filled all-natural burgers for the holiday barbecue, I had a two-pound piece of pork from the rear of the piggy that I wanted to smoke. It was a holiday and I had the time so the smoking commenced.

First, I prepared the meat. For any other occasion, I would typically marinate the meat 24 hours ahead of time. I’d use a dry and a wet rub to help tenderize the meat. As I decided to make this pork butt at the last minute, there was little time to tenderize so I had to put lots of flavor into both the meat and the smoking liquid.

Now, the smoking liquid goes into a pot in the bottom of your smoker. We have three different smokers. Yes, we’re a tad bit obsessed. Being that it was a holiday and we were also feeling a tad bit lazy, we decided to use the gas-powered smoker so that the temperature was regulated without us having to monitor the fire all morning. Don’t hate us because we have a gas-powered smoker.

Our smoking liquid starts with water and is peppered with goodies. I needed to pack in a lot of flavor in a short period of time, so I layered in multiple items. First, I added some classic flavors like bay leaf, cinnamon, dried thyme branches (from a friend’s organic garden in France, she snuck them on the plane) and juniper berries. Then I turned up the heat with Thai dried chilies and garlic cloves. Lastly, I tossed in a large chunk of ginger for spice just before pouring in a small splash (err, river) of whiskey. You may choose to omit the liquor, but I must ask - why? Seriously, the alcohol burns out and the hint of flavor is amazing.

The meat was equally inundated with flavor. I rubbed these small slabs with olive oil, salt and pepper, and added some fennel seeds, black peppercorns and a little more of that Thai chili, chopped coarsely. Isn’t it pretty?

After a quick rub, we put the pork into the 225 degree smoker and waited. (I didn’t really wait. I got on with the rest of my cooking and didn’t have to think about the pork.) Pork cooks at about 1.5 hours per pound. As this meat was a mere two pounds, we didn’t have to wait long. Around lunch time, we pulled the meat out and admired it’s crusty goodness. But we’re not done yet!

I set the kitchen oven to a low 225 degrees and before wrapping the pork in some aluminum foil, tossed in a few splashes of malt vinegar. Malt vinegar and pork just marry well, especially with ginger and chili. I popped in the wrapped pork into the oven for a short while, less than an hour. When the meat emerged, it still had that crusty goodness, but with a little shine.

I grabbed two forks and proceeded to pull the pork apart. This meat was tender to the bite, but a touch snug to the touch of the fork. Snug meat reminds you to always plan ahead and marinate the meat 24 hours ahead of time. Still, the meat was succulent and shiny. The pink smoke ring was perfect and so mesmerizing that two vegetarians at my table had to sneak a bite.

In case you can’t see that smoke ring or the luscious shine, look a bit closer. I chose to not serve this for our barbecue. This succulent meat adorned some toasted buns as pulled pork sandwiches, and the flavors that lingered long after each bite were rich, tangy, sharp and filling. I am in love with the rear of the pig, and so were my guests.