A Taste of Cambridge

This week I had the pleasure of attending Taste of Cambridge, an annual event put on by the Cambridge Licensee Advisory Board.  Over 50 restaurants (both food and drink purveyors) and an even bigger crowd gathered in the courtyard outside the Charles Hotel to get a taste of the diverse dining scene in Cambridge!  This years beneficiaries included the very worthy Salvation Army Cambridge/Somerville Corps "Restoring Lives Capital Campaign" and the Cambridge Program/Special Olympics Saturday Program.

To say there was a lot of food is an understatement!  I did my best to sample from the restaurants I've been wanting to try, or those that everyone was buzzing about :)  Here are some of my favorite bites of the evening...

I think this was my first taste of the night, but I can't pass up elote!!  Grilled corn on the cob with cotija cheese and lime-chile salt from Ole was good, although a little too saucy.

The huge egg fan that I am, I was also excited to try the deviled egg from Russel House Tavern.  Local farm eggs were topped with shrimp and micro greens, with a bit of melon.  I can't say I tasted the melon in there, but certainly enjoyed this bite!

The Moroccoo Taco from Casablanca was delicious.  The smoked lamb was so tender and paired well with the fried chickpeas, preserved lemon and charmoula that adorned the taco.  I was totally smitten with the filling :)

Tacos were a popular item, and another popular one was the Crispy Duck Taco from Upstairs on the Square.  I think the accoutrements really made the taco; with pickled jalapenos, lime sour cream,spicy cabbage and pickled shallots each bite packed some good flavors.

I totally fell for the homemade veggie burger from Christopher's Restaurant.  It was packed with lots of goodies (I can't remember anything but the roasted corn, sorry!) and topped with pesto and roasted red peppers...  fabulous.

Stone Hearth Pizza offered up a local, organic meatball slider that was absolutely delicious, and the ciabatta that it was served on- perfectly toasty.

Another restaurant that I can't wait to go to is Oleana, especially after tasting their toasted green wheat salad, topped with whipped feta and wild oregano.  Yum!!

For a sweet ending, I tasted a few desserts from Veggie Galaxy, a vegan bakery spin-off ofVeggie Planet that will be opening this summer.  I kind of wanted to try everything on the table, but settled for a bite of the vegan cheesecake, TAZO chocolate chip cookie, and coconut citrus cupcake.

I also couldn't resist the PB&J hob nob from Craigie on Main!  My hob nob was a little short of jam, but I never complain about something that tastes like peanut butter-y bliss :)

Feed me please!

Only a portion of what I consumed over the evening, I left stuffed and excited about all the restaurants I need to find my way back too :)  It was also great to see Elina and Adam, Meghan, Megan, Justin and Elizabeth!

Elina, Meghan and Megan

Do you locals have a favorite restaurant in Cambridge??

Disclosure:  My ticket to the event was complimentary, but the opinions are my own.

Couple-Tree Frittate

A frittata is a great way to make something more substantial than a snack but less filling than a meal. It's hearty enough to be satisfying but doesn't leave you feeling stuffed and immobile. The first frittata was made with leftover risotto, bound with eggs and cooked entirely in the sauté pan. The risotto has the effect of adding additional moisture and softening the texture of the egg curd, so for a frittata of this type I wouldn't add any milk, water or stock to extend the eggs. When the frittata was nicely browned, I turned it out on the plate and garnished it with some diced heirloom tomato, rosettes of prosciutto, a chiffonade of mint and a siracha-garlic aoli with sesame oil and smoked paprika.

The mint plant has made the anger-shift from Bruce Banner to Incredible Hulk out back in the alley. Probably got peed on by something.* Forgive me honey we'll be garnishing with mint until he calms down.

The second frittata was formed in the skillet and finished under the broiler. I'll explain why in a minute. I've been on a kind of fennel kick lately, and I happened to find another apple-bottomed beauty at Andy's, so I offered her a cigarette and talked her into going home with me. Didn't get her name. Still got it fellas, just like Hef, hyachachacha. I sliced the fennel super thin, preserving the core for nice big fan-shaped pieces.

I started the whole affair with some 1/2-inch cubes of Paulina Market's house-smoked bacon and a little olive oil. Super delicious bacon. When the bacon was colored all over but not yet hard and gnarly, I added the fennel slices and sautéed them until they were just starting to color. I waited until the fennel was almost done to add some diced roasted red pepper and chopped garlic. I didn't want to risk overcooking them because the fennel can take her goddamn time getting ready jesus what are you doing in there come on we're already late. No you look fantastic. No the other one was not better. Okay if you think so but hurry. Yes you look fantastic. Jesus now with the hair. Are you kidding me.

While all that was going on I prepared the eggs. I used four eggs, mixed with a splash of sesame oil, some grated nutmeg, black pepper and a couple tablespoons of vegetable stock to lighten the curd. I chopped a couple of scallions and a handful of the fennel fronds real fine and mixed them with the eggs. I poured the eggs over the fennel and bacon, lowered the fire to moderate and covered the skillet to set the eggs. After a couple of minutes the bottom of the frittata was set but the top still had lagoons of runny egg. If I left the pan on the fire to set the frittata completely the bottom would most likely toughen and be unpleasant to eat, so I moved the skillet into the broiler to finish. I didn't want to brown the top or make a hard crust of it, just set the eggs without too much color and without toughening the bottom.

When the top of the frittata was set, I garnished it with the remaining chopped fennel frond, some celery leaves, a dusting of smoked paprika, olive oil and sea salt.

Comparing the two frittate (note pretentious italian plural), the risotto frittata had a fuller mouth sensation, almost like a rice pudding due to the bulking effect of the risotto, and the binding effect of the egg was helped along by the caramelization of the surface, which forms a kind of membrane and keeps the interior moist. The fennel frittata had a more substantial texture due to the big pieces of vegetables, but the mediating egg was soft and giving. They are fundamentally different dishes, despite sharing eggs as a principle ingredient and being made in the same skillet.

*Not what she said. I'm not going to do that for you every time.**


** That's what she said.

Shop at the Palisades Farmers Market for Your Independence Day Feast

What's the 4th of July without great food and fireworks?

The easiest way for some people to throw a party is to order platters from a restaurant or a supermarket. For others, only home cooked food will do.

But with busy lives, how to find the time to do any cooking?

A friend complains when the kids want to know what's to eat, she throws up her hands and says, "Ok, let's go out." But on the 4th, it's more fun if the food is home cooked.

One solution is to use easy-to-make recipes so you're not stuck in the kitchen. And to give you ideas, take a walk around the farmers market and pick out fruit and vegetables that take no time at all to prepare.

A sangria style wine cooler or a fruit salad would be easy to make with the market's abundance of fresh cherries, blueberries, Fuji apples, pluots, white peaches, nectarines, and Valencia oranges. Yum.

Sweredowski Farms - John Sweredowski will offer friendly advice and a helping hand as you pick out leafy greens for a salad--he'll encourage you to think outside the box by showing you bunches of nettles, mustard greens and purslane. If you are an arugula fan, John has fat bunches with broad leaves. He also has peppery watercress and squash blossoms.

Yang Farms - the tomatoes, carrots and asparagus are always sweet. The finglerling and sweet potatoes are good for baking and grilling. Mr. Yang's Persian cucumbers make a crunchy salsa.

Underwood Family Farms - bi-color corn (yellow and white) is available again, along with leafy greens, radishes and beets, as well as green cabbage, perfect for cole slaw.

Givens Farm - pick up Italian parsley and leafy greens to make a tossed green salad.

Capay Organic - has early season heirloom tomatoes, pricey at 3 lbs for $10.00, but so colorful they would make an attractive centerpiece, sliced, drizzled with olive oil, seasoned with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and sprinkled with fresh basil leaves.

Tropical Seafood - has a good selection of fish, including sole, salmon, swordfish and halibut for grilling, sauteing or baking. The large peeled and devined shrimp are especially nice wrapped in bacon, marinated in olive oil and seasoned with sea salt and pepper, skewered and grilled.

If you want to prepare a few dishes but not the whole meal, check out the ready-to-eat vendors at the market. Their home cooked food is the next-best-thing to making it yourself.

Sumako at Sweredowski Farms -  uses the farm's produce to make a summer time treat: squash blossoms stuffed with ricotta and roasted tomatoes.

The Heritage Kitchen - for appetizers and desserts, former food historian, Ekythe Preet sells a good selection of cheeses from small farms, homemade jams and savory chutneys, and an excellent selection of pastries, including Devonshire cream scones and gluten free amaretti meringue cookies with almonds, flourless chocolate mini-cakes, and organic brown rice crispy squares. Also gluten free are Ekythe's torts, one with orange and almonds (a Sephardic favorite), another made with polenta and almonds with a lemon flavor. Both are moist and delicious. 

Bountiful Bakery - for the holiday Denise Assad has baked lattice-topped cherry pies as well as her regular staple of apple pies, chocolate dipped macaroons, and a two-layer coconut cake with cream cheese frosting, to name a few of her treats. For a savory snack, she will have on hand freshly baked, flaky spinach and feta spanakopita that would look delicious on a dining room table or tucked away in a picnic basket. Given how labor intensive cherry pies are--can you imagine the effort it takes to pit hundreds of cherries--Denise could only pull off such an effort because Megan, her new assistant, has joined her in the kitchen. 

Have a great 4th of July!

BAA 10K

  
Waking up to 66degree temperatures on Sunday, I thought it would be perfect running weather.  Until I stepped outside and realized it was still quite warm and very humid.  Not quite perfect, but I've run in alot worse ;) Nonetheless my nerves woke me up before my alarm and before I knew it, it was go time!

Image source

Given the events of the past nine months, I was nervous.  It's been a long road to feeling good out there running again, and I didn't want to do anything stupid in the face of a race clock :)  Add in the fact that I hadn't solidified a nutrition plan and I was using this race to test the waters for my big goal of this season (an Olympic distance triathlon), and let's just say I had some butterflies.

The BAA 10K started and finished in Boston Common, taking us through Back Bay out towards BU and back.  The staggered start for the 3,000 runners seemed to work well, as I never felt like the course was too crowded.  There were 3 rolling hills over the course, nothing too steep or long.

Somewhere around mile 1

Long story short, I couldn't be happier with how I did, finishing in 49:48.  I managed to stay around a 7:30-8:30 pace the entire race, instead of going out too fast like I usually do.  I picked out a guy ahead of me in a Hartford Marathon shirt that I stayed with the first half of the race, thought about achieving my goal, focused on form, and then picked out someone else to keep pace with the second half of the race when I lost Hartford Marathon guy.  Mile 4 was the worst for me, I grabbed water at the stop and threw it over my head, but the finish line seemed more than two miles away.  Back around the Common I was finally able to kick it, and whaddya know, there's now a race picture with both feet off the ground!

Speedy!!

A successful race to cap of the end of my first three decades ;)  Now I just need to figure out how to keep this pace off a 26mile bike ride!!

Sushi Ninjas are Bullshit

Like everybody else who's been to a sushi bar, I assumed making sushi and maki rolls was some arcane and skilled art, full of difficult technique and requiring years of practice like glass blowing or finding the G-spot. Sushi chefs and aficionados encourage these assumptions and act like they're initiates into a select order. It takes two years before an apprentice is allowed to touch a knife. They practice rolling sheets of brass to build their finger muscles. They climb a mountain to a retreat where elders teach the technique for stirring rice. They walk silently and can kill with a single touch. They shit bonbons and sneeze kittens. They have the power of flight and their jism tastes like peach schnapps. Turns out it's a fucking scam and anybody can do it. Piece of cake. Lets go through the misconceptions the sushi mafia has instilled into our consciousness one by one.

• You need special rice
• You need to condition the rice after cooking
• You need a sushi mat
• Proportions are critical
• You need a special technique for rolling

All bullshit. I used regular Calrose rice. I soaked it for a couple hours in water while I did other things, then rinsed it and cooked it in vegetable stock like normal rice. I didn't do anything to it after it was cooked, didn't let it ferment over night, didn't add any vinegar, didn't do anything, just spooned it onto the nori and spread it out. I didn't have a sushi mat, so I laid the nori on a kitchen towel. I have no idea how much rice is standard, so I covered about two thirds of the sheet with rice and then stacked the filling toward the front edge. I didn't know how to get the rolling started, so I just lifted the front edge of the kitchen towel and folded it over, continuing the until the nori was wrapped around the middles. Worked fine the very first time.

For the middle, I sliced and marinated some scorched-and-peeled red pepper filets in grated ginger, horseradish, garlic and sesame oil, and stacked them with some smoked ham, julienne of celery and mint leaves. I can't believe how easy it was to make totally tasty nori rolls. The JP doesn't permit soy sauce, so I started an attempt at a dipping sauce made with olive oil, siracha and horseradish, but it turned out to be totally unnecessary as the rolls went down great nude.*

I know these aren't beautiful, but they totally hold up as food, and that's a lot closer than the lore of the Sushi Ninja would have you believe possible for just winging it. Makes me want to try my hand at cataract surgery or watchmaking next.

*You probably thought this was going to be that's what she said, but no, it was just a comment about the rolls not needing a sauce. Cock. Double cock. Made you look at double cocks just now.

Pici with Bacon and Greens

Since most of my meals incorporate pasta, the Jimmy Page diet poses some particular challenges. Noodles made with rice flour are softer than usual and require a little more care, and they don't behave the same way on the fork or between your teeth. I've found that rolling rice pasta in a machine exacerbates its drawbacks, so I tend to make hand-formed noodles, like these pici, a long pasta with a slightly thicker diameter than spaghetti.

I made the pasta with rice flour, seasoned with a little salt and lemon zest, olive oil and egg yolks, reserving the whites for another use. I'm aware that Heather could get bored of eating rice pasta while she's on the JP, so I intend to make different styles of noodle, and one element of variety will be using just yolks in this one and just whites in another, firmer pasta.

The pasta came together quickly, but I let the dough mass rest for an hour anyway to fully hydrate and minimize the graininess I've encountered with rice flour in the past. Heather's diet is particular about acids and doesn't allow citrus juice or citric acid, but the zest of the fruit is mostly oil, so I use it occasionally. It doesn't make for lemon flavor exactly, it just brightens the taste of whatever you eat with the noodle. Instead of dividing the dough, I just pinched off portions and rolled out each noodle on the cutting board. The rice dough is a little fragile, so I had to keep the noodles to about eight inches or shorter to prevent breaking.

The condiment started with some lardons of smoked bacon cooking in olive oil, and when they were browned a little I added diced red onion, julienne of ginger, sliced garlic and some mixed greens including spinach, arugula and mint from the alley. I normally splash a little vinegar on greens to wet them and mediate their bitterness, but like I said the diet is particular about acids, and the only vinegar allowed is rice vinegar, which I don't have. In place of the vinegar to help wilt the greens and provide a liquor for the sauce, I added a ladle of vegetable stock.When the liquor had reduced almost to serving consistency, I dropped the pici into salted boiling water. They firmed up when cooked, but didn't swell nearly as much as typical noodles made with white flour.

The noodles were fragile enough that I didn't want to risk breaking them by tossing them in the sauce, so I plated the noodles, then spooned the greens and bacon on top and garnished with some olive oil, parmigiano, chopped celery leaves, pepper and sea salt. The noodles were substantial enough to carry the greens, but not rubbery or tough, and the greens enriched by the bacon made a lovely compliment. A paradox of the JP is that it's a weight-loss diet, but it doesn't prohibit rich flavorful ingredients like bacon and olive oil, so making satisfying meals is less of a struggle than with a purely calorie-restriction diet. Well bowled JP, well bowled.

CSA Week 2

Days are flying by here, but here's what Week 2 of my Marshall's Fenway CSA brought me...

After all of the things I made with Week 1's goodies, the one thing that plagued me was the lettuce.  Really?  I don't know why, but it sat in my fridge as I came up with other fun ways to use the rest of my goods.  That was until my partner in crime suggested a avocado BLT, and I was sold.

the BALT:  Bacon Avocado Lettuce and Tomato

A layer of creamy avocado, topped with crispy bacon, and local tomato and red leaf lettuce made for one fantastic sandwich!!

With my leftover Six Grain & Pumpkin Seed bread I decided to run with the sandwich idea and whipped up a recipe that I've been meaning to try for some time now-- Chickpea Salad!  While pegged as a mock tuna salad, I don't think it needs to be associated with tuna at all, so I'm going with its own name :)  Garbanzo's are my favorite kind of bean, so I was quite smitten with this and will make it part of my regular rotation!  My only change to the recipe was to use picked green tomatoes instead of straight up pickles as that's all I had on hand.

Anyone else have any more creative uses for fresh, local lettuce?

Hope everyone has a good weekend!!   I've got my last race in the 25-29AG coming up...  wish me luck :)

Sauteed Greens

Things have been crazy over here, but I just got back from my last wedding of the summer so hopefully I'll be able to find some time to read all of my favorite blogs again!  Please bear with me as I try to catch up :)

Caramelized onions...  yum.

Wanting to bring you more than another massaged kale salad, I did something a bit different with the last of the dark leafy greens from my CSA!  Inspired by the salad Elina bought to the Seder dinner hosted by Cara, I sauteed my greens and topped them with a host of goodies to create this awesome dish.

Sauteed Greens w/Caramelized Onions, Prunes & Goat Cheese
Serves 2-3

Alternatively, you could use this salad idea for your favorite green, say, spinach or massaged kale?

1-2T extra virgin olive oil
1 lg red onion, halved and very thinly sliced
8c chopped/roughly torn dark leafy greens (I used a mix of kale and beet greens)
1-2 small roasted beets, chopped (optional)
1/3c chopped prunes
1/4c chopped toasted walnuts
2oz goat cheese, crumbled

In a heavy skillet, heat oil over medium heat.  Add onion, stir to coat the onions and cook a few minutes.  Reduce to low and continue to cook until nice and caramelized.  Add in greens and 1-2T water, stir and let cook until greens have softened.  Stir in beets and prunes, then transfer to a plate and top with goat cheese and toasted walnuts.

Now that it's officially summer, what are you most looking forward to??

Apple Celery Risotto with Ripe Tomato and Carrots

A few years ago I went to England to work on a record for Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. The record kept me there from the beginning of July until Christmas, so I was away from Heather for an extended period and grew homesick. One night the late movie on BBC4 was the Blues Brothers, a movie I love, and I settled into my little accommodation to watch it. A few minutes in, seeing shots of Maxwell Street and hearing all the Chicago accents, I started blubbering like a baby. I called Heather and complained of my loneliness and she arranged to come visit me. She came to hang out in the studio and Jimmy and Robert were gracious and friendly with her, and in conversation she mentioned that since I'd been gone she'd been deprived of home cooking and had put on weight. Jimmy Page volunteered that he knew a terrific weight loss diet. His exact words were "I lost a stone in a fortnight. It just melts off you."

Heather, hanging out with Jim and Bob

A stone is 14 pounds and a fortnight is 14 days, so that's quick work. The diet as he described it is a list of prohibitions rather than a menu to choose from. No refined sugar, no wheat or gluten, no mushrooms, yeast or other fungus, nothing fermented unless distilled (beer and wine not okay, distilled booze okay), rice vinegar only, no beans or legumes, no citrus and no dairy (small amounts of non-cow cheese and parmigiano permitted). Heather adopted the Jimmy Page diet and lost a bunch of weight, as advertised. While she was on the diet, I had to adapt to its restrictions when cooking and I'll admit that it improved my versatility and flexibility as a cook. Heather has decided she wants to lose some weight again, so she's back on the JP, and I'll probably be posting a couple of Page-compliant meals as a result. While I'm not interested in "diet food," most of my meals are improvised around what ingredients are available, and this just makes a few things unavailable. While Heather was in her previous JP phase I never felt like the eating suffered as a result.

Risotto is a natural replacement for pasta, so for the first JP meal I settled on that. For a condiment I saw that we had a couple of nice reticulated heirloom tomatoes, some ripe plum tomatoes and a bag of little carrots. I get nervous when I see vegetables in a bag, but Heather loves carrots and there they were. I have mentioned that I'd been using Vegeta for vegetable stock, but I thought I'd use the Jimmy Page diet as an excuse to make a nice vegetable stock and keep it handy for soup and such, so I started a stock pot with an onion and a couple ribs of celery, bay leaves, about an inch of ginger, the trimmings and core of the apple I diced for the risotto and a handful each of parsley and cilantro. After it came to a boil, I added a splash of fish sauce and left it simmering on the stove so it would be hot when I added it to the risotto.

I started the risotto with an apple, some onion and celery, all diced pretty small. I sweated them in olive oil and when they were soft, added the rice and toasted it in the hot oil until it was opaque. The risotto was conventional, I just stirred in stock every few minutes until it was incorporated and the rice had a nice, loose texture. I prefer risotto to be a little wet when served, because it firms up as it cools but shouldn't ever solidify into a lump. It should always have a loose consistency or it feels too heavy to eat*.

While the stock was simmering, I dropped in a plum tomato and heirloom tomato for a few seconds, then peeled them and set them aside. I also put a strainer into the stock to create a reservoir, and poached the little carrots in it while the risotto was underway. When the risotto was done, I plated a ladle of it, then chopped the heirloom tomato and scattered it around the perimeter of the plate. It was quite loose and wet inside*, and the jelly and juice made for a kind of sauce. I sprinkled chopped mint and parsley on the risotto, then split the plum tomato into wedges and used them to dress the middle of the plate, adding the carrots and a little sprig of celery leaf. With a little drizzle of olive oil and some sea salt on the tomatoes, the plate looked nice.

I'm not sure what to think about those little carrots. They came out of a bag*. (v) without fish sauce

*Definitely not what she said.

Disinformation

Intellectualizing relationships makes for awesome dinner party schtick. Two reactions stand out:

I know! That's so true!

or

Silence.

The latter indicates that someone's feeling flushed-out or guilty.

Whichever.

We make mental lists of ideal qualities. She/he should be like this, look like that, think like the other. I'll know her when I meet her, she'll stand out like New York in Las Vegas.

In real life we meet prospects who kinda sorta fit our perfect template, and depending upon our level of desperation, we'll ignore whatever doesn't.

* shrug *

This is real life, baby, it ain't no fantasy. Eighty percent compatibility feels like it's the most we can hope for. That prolly goes for life in general.

However. There's always the however. Because the urge to be with someone (read: continue the species) overpowers everything, we are supremely adept at ignoring warning signs in prospects. He's a drug-using philanderer with a history of unemployment and using prostitutes. But he's my John now.

Settle. Go for it. Go on. But don't then expect your day in court when it doesn't work out.





Bottoms Up Deniers.

Avocado Pesto Pasta

My basil plant was a little out of control last week, so I took it as a sign to make some pesto!  Some basil and spinach, along with the usual suspects made for a bright and vibrant pesto.

Basil Spinach Pesto

~1c (packed) basil leaves
~1c (packed) baby spinach leaves
1 large garlic clove, pressed
1-2T pine nuts, lightly toasted
extra virgin olive oil

Add basil, spinach, garlic and pine nuts to the bowl of a food processor.  Whirl together while streaming in olive oil until well incorporated and a little saucy (you know, pesto consistency!).  Can be made ahead and stored in an airtight container (I added a bit of plastic wrap over the surface to help keep it fresh).


And then, thanks to Maris, I remembered Angela's post about an Avocado Pasta and I started daydreaming about my pesto's fate--  Avocado Pesto sauce!

Avocado Pesto Sauce

1 recipe Basil Spinach Pesto (or ~1/3c prepared pesto)
1 avocado

Combine pesto and the flesh of the avocado in the bowl of a food processor and blend until well combined.  Toss with cooked pasta or use it to sauce some roasted veggies, dip for fresh veggies, salad dressing...  the possibilities are endless.

The avocado pesto sauced some homemade pasta and then I turned to the rest of my CSA goodies to finish off the meal.

Sauteed Squash

1 medium zucchini, thinly sliced
1 medium summer squash, thinly sliced
1/2 yellow onion, thinly sliced
1-2T extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper

Heat oil in a medium or large skillet over medium heat.  Add zucchini, summer squash and onion and toss to coat.  Season with salt and pepper, and saute until squash has cooked through and starts to become translucent.  Remove from heat, adjust seasoning and serve.

Avocado Pesto Pasta w/Summer Vegetables
Serves 2-3

1 recipe homemade pasta
1 batch avocado pesto sauce
1 batch sauteed squash
1 large ripe tomato, chopped

Cook pasta al dente, then drain and return to the pot.  Add avocado pesto sauce and toss with noodles.  Distribute pasta to serving dishes, top with sauteed squash and chopped tomato, then serve!


This was definitely a perfect summer pasta dish!  Tell me, do you have a favorite pasta sauce?

Texas Baby Back Ribs for Father's Day

Sure it's a cliche, but one you can hang your hat on: most guys like meat.

On any other Sunday, you'd probably find dad in front of the grill, doing damage to burgers, dogs, shrimp and steak. With red hot mesquite or briquets supplying the fuel, dad happily flips his victims until he's got caramelization underway and char marks in all the right places.

But not this Sunday. Oh, no.  This is Father's Day when everyone else should be rolling up their sleeves and doing due diligence in pursuit of dad's favorite food.

What's special about this day is that dad can rest. Drinks and food will be laid on the table without any effort on his part.

As a dad, myself, I enjoy this day. My sons, Michael and Franklin, are very good cooks. They grill and saute with the best of them and, like their dad, they fill the table with lots of choices.

Recently I visited West Texas and enjoyed myself immensely at the Wildcatter Ranch, a delightfully rustic resort, about an hour and a half north-east of Abilene.

Chef Bob Bratcher, self-taught and a cowboy at heart, showed our group how to break down a beef tenderloin and cut ribeye steaks out of what he called the "stick".

For two days we feasted on chef Bob's creations, not the least of which was a magnificent 14 ounce, bone-in ribeye steak with a peppery crust on the outside and perfectly medium-rare, juicy inside.

One of the other memorable dishes he shared with us was his baby back pork ribs, coated with the Wildcatter Ranch dry rub he makes himself.

The ribs were tender and sweet. The bone side of the rib had a thick coating of chef Bob's dry rub. Unlike traditional powdery, dry rubs, his was thick with cracked black pepper and celery seed. That added a pleasing crunch as we gnawed on the bones.

Chef Bob was kind enough to share the recipe with us and it's perfect to make for Father's Day.

Wildcatter Ranch Dry Rub Baby Back Ribs

Cooking the ribs at low temperature for a long time is the secret. Slow roasting brings out the sweetness of the meat.

Serves: 4

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Marinating Time: overnight

Cooking Time: 3 hours

Ingredients

2lbs pork baby back ribs
¾ cup freshly squeezed lime juice
2 cups Rib Rub (recipe below)

Bob's Rib Rub

The rub can be made ahead but because the garlic is fresh, use within 24 hours of preparation.

Ingredients

½ cup plus 2 tablespoons coarse black pepper
1 cup dried oregano leaves
½ cup paprika
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon celery seed
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 ½ cups brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon (ground)
2 teaspoons dry minced garlic
2 teaspoons granulated garlic

Directions

Mix all ingredients together in bowl and store overnight in airtight container until ready to use.

Pull the silver skin off the backs of the ribs.  Season the racks liberally with fresh lime juice and the rub.  

If you have a barbecue grill or a smoker, get it hot on one side and place the ribs on a rack over an aluminum lined pan on the cold side of the grill.

If you're using the oven, heat until 250 degrees.

In either case, cook for 2 ½ hours. Fork-test the meat to confirm it is tender.

The ribs can be cooked ahead of time, even the day before.

30 minutes before serving, wrap the rack tightly in foil, and bake in a 200 degree oven for 30 minutes.

Cut the ribs apart and serve on a platter.

CSA Week 1

Week one of Marshall's Fenway Farm CSA brought quite a bounty.  Two heads of kale, red leaf lettuce, beets, broccoli, carrots, asparagus, greenhouse tomatoes, zucchini and summer squash-- oh my!

Some things were enjoyed simply, a gorgeous tomato sprinkled with kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper, for instance.  Roasted asparagus and carrots straight off the pan (consumed so ravenously I did not get a picture).

There was a Paleo-friendly broccoli salad...

Broccoli Salad w/Bacon & Raisins
Recipe by Shannon

3/4lb broccoli florets, blanched
1/3c slivered almonds
1/4c golden raisins
4 slices bacon, baked until crispy and crumbled
dressing:  1.5oz extra virgin olive oil, 1.5oz apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper to taste

Add salad ingredients to a medium bowl, toss with dressing and serve.



For the first reader-inspired dish I made Annie's Vegetable Enchiladas. (Thanks Lauren!!)  I always find enchiladas hard to photograph, but hopefully you'll trust me that these were delicious.

My adaptations were to use red kidney  beans (instead of black beans), 12oz zucchini and summer squash (instead of 8oz zucchini), feta in the filling and gruyere on top (I didn't have any cheddar on hand).  With these changes I ended up with 16 enchiladas and used all of my sauce, but they made for some fantastic lunches this week :)



Another shoutout to Erin, who turned me onto an NPR article which linked to Frog Bottom Farms, I threw together another massaged kale salad.  This one was simply dressed with ~1T good olive oil, coarse sea salt and 2T meyer lemon juice, then topped with shaved carrots and raw sunflower seeds.  Perfect easy salad to throw together before work!

What's the best meal you've had this week?