Sunday, July 20, 2014

By its cover

Chioggia beets are unremarkable on the outside, but slice them open...



Gorgeous, right? Looks even better raw, but I forgot to take pictures (just have a Google!).


This is sliced roasted Chioggia beets and baby zucchini and summer squash with sorrel pasta, crispy sorrel and kale "fries," and a walnut Parmesan tuile over an incredibly silky Northern bean puree.



That dish actually happened two weeks ago. This is what happened on Monday:


God, these pictures are worse than usual!



On my last day off (before today, during which I mostly slept), I took Andy to Teardrop Park. It's my favorite park in Manhattan, in small part because it's conveniently close to the Tribeca Whole Foods (cheap lunch and fun games of How Many Obnoxious Brands Can You Spot On One WUCer!) and in large part because it's gorgeous. We gorged ourselves on salad and fruit* with an ice-packed fresh whole mackerel beside us. Unlike the quart of strawberries, half-pound of cherries, and whole watermelon, it lasted until the next day for me to cook up.


Underneath it is a dollop of paprika aioli with roasted potatoes, pan-seared shallots, and pan-roasted asparagus. There's a relishy type thing with tomato, mixed olives (including these green Castelvetrano olives that I'm a little obsessed with), red wine vinegar, cayenne, and lemon zest. Mackerel is an oily fish; while it takes well to fatty preparations like a rillette, or being smoked in cream sauce, I vastly prefer it with something vinegary. If I had time, I'd have done an escabeche using the relish and its curing liquid, but the dish was thrown together between 8 and 8:45 p.m. after I got home from long call. It shows in the presentation... Either way, that relish may be one of the best things I've ever made.

Other than a few quick curries, it's mostly been eggs and vast amounts of kale. Maybe at the end of this week I'll do something nice, and blog about it in a timely manner!

*[rips open watermelon using flimsy plastic knife and bare hands**]
That... may have been the most feral thing I've ever seen.

**This is why I lift.

1 comment:

  1. That "relishy thing", can it be spread atop garlic bread or atop polenta (the latter being quick toasted)? I figure I can have shaved dark chocolate in fine shavings atop for a contrast in taste and texture. The relish item can it be frozen for a week (this coming from a fellow who enjoys eating but when cooking, foods explode or get charred-cooking challenged I believe is the term). I just have others prepare it for me.

    ReplyDelete