dcandohio

Homemade meatballs A store-bought Arribata pasta sauce, to which I added onions, red peppers, garlic, mushrooms, thyme, and oregano. Zucchini noodles

Something that I make that always blows people away is a log of goat cheese (I buy the big log at Trader Joe’s) baked in a very spicy, preferably homemade, marinara sauce. I use an oblong au gratin dish that is just the right size. If you are going to the trouble of homemade bread, this is a beautiful and delicious topping for any bread. Always wows people because I have never known anyone else to make it.

One pan meal: salmon and chick peas. I had some spicy olives from the salad bar, so I chopped up a few of those and mixed them with the chickpeas. I seasoned everything with lots of lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper, and Greek seasoning. It was a surprisingly tasty meal. The spicy olives and chick peas were delicious. That’s going to enter into the rotation, for sure.

I haven’t been cooking much due to travel and lack of motivation. This weekend I made a sort of vegetable Tian with zucchini, yellow squash, potatoes, and tomatoes. I kept it simple with just onions and garlic sautéed on the bottom of the pan, and a drizzle of olive oil plus a little sprinkle of salt and Parmesan on the top. Baked, covered, about 50 minutes. Then I uncovered it and used the broiler to brown the top. I Should have added herbs.

It’s not that hard to get a good shrimp poboy. Bevi is very popular, very casual. But if you are anywhere near a local chain called “New Orleans hamburger,” which is basically a fast food joint, they have very good fried seafood Poboy’s. If you want to go to Bucktown, you can also enjoy a Poboy at Deannies or R&O.

I love my Cesarstone counter. I think the color is “Buttermilk.” Easy to keep clean. I don’t worry about chipping.

Liuzza’s and Parkway don’t open till 11. Neither should be very crowded then unless there is a big festival nearby. But August isn’t really the height of festival season because it is so freaking hot. If you’re going to either one, you are close enough to City Park that you must visit and see the newly expanded sculpture garden. It’s phenomenal. I drove by on Wednesday before it was open. The garden is free, and there is lots of free parking. Trust me.

2016 remodel. GE Refrigerator, Bosch dishwasher, Frigidaire stove and microwave. No problems with matching.

That was a popular saying on my Catholic grade school playground!

I marinated baby back ribs Greek style: Lemon juice, garlic, oregano, olive oil, salt and pepper. I pre-cooked them in a 300° oven for about 40 minutes, and then finished them on the grill. I was going to make a salad when my neighbor called and said that she was “gifted” a crudités platter and a cheese platter left over from a party. So we had ribs and vegetables and cheese and crackers. Kind of a weird meal, but we enjoyed it immensely as we were sitting under a tiki hut with a beautiful view of the ocean.

Easter dinner: Starters were Serrano ham and cantaloupe, and Manchego cheese and various crackers. I topped steelhead trout with a mixture of chopped Kalamata olives, sun-dried tomatoes, roasted red pepper, garlic and pomegranate balsamic vinegar. Those went into the oven alongside a pan of asparagus with just salt pepper and olive oil. While the fish cooked, I sautéed some riced cauliflower until it was pretty dry, then added some garlic, and let that infuse, and then added chopped up artichoke hearts, lemon juice and Parmesan. I plated the fish on top of the cauliflower rice, and with the asparagus spears, the plate looked rather pretty. Dessert was supermarket Keylime pie, as requested by The guests.

I don’t know a lot about golf, but it seemed to me, on Sunday, he played a very competent and elegant game. It was a pleasure to watch him win.

Tonight I made chicken curry out of chicken thighs, with mushrooms and green beans. By design it was a rather light version, with a base of garlic ginger paste, tomato paste, and chicken stock. The Penzey’s hot curry powder, for my taste, does a nice job of bringing flavor and some heat.

While the site was down I went to a Brazilian grocery store in my area that I did not know existed. Two nice and easy dinners resulted from that: 1. Picanha steak sprinkled with coarse salt, seared in a screaming hot pan for just shy of two minutes on each side. Served with buttered corn. 2. Smoked pork loin, seared very quickly just to put some color on the outside, served with steamed green beans. I also bought some different kinds of Charcuterie, which I enjoyed for lunch with fruit and cheese. Here in Fort Lauderdale, if you go west of I-95, there are some very interesting ethnic restaurants and grocery stores.

Depending on your definition of “between,” The Winds in Yellow Springs, near Dayton south of 1-70, is a gem. The town is a hippie enclave and is super cute. Great lunch stop. Then get ice cream at Young’s Jersey Dairy.

That looks so delicious!

When I lived in Columbus, everybody raved about Terry’s turf club for burgers and cocktails in Cincy

The weather here is horrible today so, being housebound, I am going to make meatballs.

When I am in New Orleans taking care of my elderly parents, I tried to take a daily break to get some time for myself and to eat a tasty lunch. On this quick trip, I was able to visit three venerable spots off of the tourist circuit, in Metairie, where my parents live. Acme oyster bar, Metairie: A cup of gumbo ($5) an appetizer portion of fried crawfish tails ($7) an Abita Amber. Note that Acme has a few other locations Drago’s Metairie: famous chargrilled oysters and a cup of gumbo. I was here with other people, Busy talking, I don’t recall the specifics of prices. Drago’s has a location downtown, in one of the huge hotels on the river New Orleans Food and Spirits: Half dozen chargrilled oysters ($10) and a cup of corn and crawfish soup ($6). The gumbo at Acme was superior to the gumbo at Drago’s. Dragos was fun because the cup contained a pretty large piece of blue crab, but the roux flavor and the sausage was better at Acme. Super fresh shrimp. Both leagues better than anything I’ve had outside of Louisiana I would give Dragos a slight edge on the chargrilled oysters, although New Orleans food and spirits, being slightly less charred, might appeal to people who prefer that. The crawfish in both the fried and soup preparations were firm and sweet. It is possible that places are using previously frozen crawfish, but they probably come from a good quality local source. These are essentially neighborhood restaurants, places that at lunchtime, are packed with workers, from guys in steel-toed boots and groups of people in scrubs, to the suit and briefcase crowd. Prices are reasonable for the quality/quantity of the food, and every dish and every experience is one that would be a standout if it were in any other city in America. None of these three places is hip, or cutting edge, or “new and noteworthy.” They all just work hard to put out delicious food at decent prices in egalitarian settings.

Grilled flank steak, marinated in red wine, soy sauce, Thai chili garlic sauce, maple syrup, pomegranate balsamic vinegar. Twice baked potatoes, Caesar salad, store-bought brownies.

Steelhead trout baked with hot pepper vinegar, Dijon mustard, garlic and lemon juice. Roasted cauliflower and roasted organic frozen corn from Trader Joe’s.

Manhattan clam chowder: I made lobster stock from spiny lobster is that my neighbor caught. It’s been in my freezer forever and I decided it was time to use it. I had to reheat it, and strain it, as there was quite a bit of icky stuff at the bottom. The base of the soup was spicy turkey Italian sausage, onions, carrots, celery, and garlic. After cooking this for a while to brown the sausage, I added the lobster stock, canned diced tomatoes, saffron bloomed in hot water, chopped potatoes, coriander and lemon juice. After it cooked for a while, I decided it needed more punch, and added some tomato paste and dry vermouth. When the potatoes were almost cooked, I added a 10 ounce package of lovely frozen clam meat that I bought at Wild Fork Foods (A chain that specializes in all manner of frozen proteins, from exotic game to ground beef. Their stuff is great) and more lemon juice. Finished it with parsley and some Tabasco. Enjoyed with a ficelle from a local bakery.

I’ll chime in. I have watched my mother make roux hundreds of times, and I have made it myself. I cannot overstate the importance of being vigilant. You really can’t stop stirring for more than a few seconds, so don’t go to the bathroom, don’t check your phone, and don’t engage in other prep. However, have your trinity chopped and ready to go before you even start your roux. As soon as the roux is at the right stage, dump in the trinity and stir like mad to cool down the roux. That’s how mama did it. Oh, she also made her roux with bacon fat sometimes. Like all other southern mamas, she had a special jar in the refrigerator for collecting bacon fat.

Leftover french fries re-purposed into a white cheddar and potato omelette. Easy peasy.

Tonight I roasted chicken thighs that I had tossed in jerk seasoning on top of quartered tiny Yukon Gold potatoes, sliced red peppers and sliced onions.