Category Archives: Marlow and Daughters

Food Memories: Blood Oranges

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Back in the spring of 2007, I was living in a convent in Rome. The sisters who ran it leased out the rooms and provided meals for the short- and long-term guests that stayed there. Despite Italy’s culinary reputation, the food that was served could merely be said to sate hunger pangs—it was not food that could be particularly enjoyed. Sometimes, it could not even be eaten.

However, there was an orchard next to the property that the sisters tended. The fruit often made its way to our table, the highlight of otherwise dreary meals. Shortly after my arrival, blood orange season began. Having never before tasted its sweet, subtly complex, dark flesh, I quickly became addicted, often consuming entire meals of nothing else (obviously in addition to the large quantities of cornetti, cappuccini, and other delicious foods I ate when not at the convent).

Photo courtesy of Mike’s Table

 
After several weeks, I began to notice a discoloration of my skin around my joints—a slightly orange tinge to my knuckles, elbows, and the web of skin between my fingers. Horrified when I showed her, my Italian mamma Maria Teresa insisted that I visit the doctor, convinced I had contracted some sort of fungal disease. We went for a visit to have my hands examined. The kindly doctor looked at me with a smile and quietly asked, have you been eating too much beta carotene? He then extended his hand, 30 Euro for the consultation.

Once I had calmed down after feeling swindled, I began to reduce my blood orange intake, and the color began to fade to a memory. Since coming back to the US, I have rarely seen a blood orange at the store, let alone eaten as many as I did in those few months. This winter, however, they showed up again in my life, with all of my favorite grocers stock-piling them high on their shelves, and with prices continually decreasing throughout the season, I scooped them up, eating as many as I could each day.

I’ve so far made it through without turning orange as they slowly begin to disappear from the produce aisles, now experiencing a sadness to see them go. I have, however, found one more opportunity to indulge my obsession—blood orange juice. Sold at Marlow & Daughters down the street from me, it unfortunately  commands too high of a price to be a sustainable part of my diet until the season truly ends for the year. So, I plan to enjoy this last taste as I ready myself for next year’s deluge.

Jansal Valley Blood Orange Juice

Brown Bag: Tian Tian Chao Mian and White Gourd Drink

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Last week I was terrible about bringing my lunch, which resulted in spending way too much money on crappy Midtown food. This week, I am making a conscious effort to be a better brown-bagger and eat food I actually like. Today’s lunch is leftover ‘everyday fried noodles,’ which I made last night from the most recent Saveur issue, paired with my extra white gourd drink that I bought last week.

My trip to Flushing has inspired me to introduce more Asian cooking into my diet – and this happily coincides with the fact that:
a. the two most recent issues of Saveur have focused on Chinese/Taiwanese cuisine, and
b. I own a wok.

This recipe was super simple to execute; the heavy lifting was mainly in the prep work, which really should be done before the wok is put on the flame. It’s a quick process, and you need to be able to dump and go. For the noodles, I could not find lo mein, so I used buckwheat soba noodles instead (high in protein!), which added some color to the dish.

As for the meat, I luckily live by the amazing Marlow & Daughters. I showed up at 5pm on a Sunday and to my dismay saw no ground pork. I asked the butcher what I should use as an alternative, and he replied ‘No worries! I’ll run back and grind you some fresh meat.’ Happy sigh.

Everyday Fried Noodles, or Tian Tian Chao Mian

1/2 small seedless cucumber, peeled and julienned
Kosher salt, to taste
3 tbsp. canola oil 
1 medium carrot, julienned
1 onion, thinly sliced 
1/4 lb. ground pork
4 cloves garlic, minced
1  1″ piece ginger, minced
6 scallions, minced
1 1/2 tbsp. dark soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsp. rice cooking wine
1 1/2 tsp. sugar
2 cups bean sprouts
6 oz. dried flat noodles, boiled and rinsed under cold water
1 tbsp. Asian sesame oil
1. Toss cucumbers and a pinch of salt together in a small bowl; let sit 5 minutes. Heat a 14″ wok (or stainless-steel skillet) over high heat until it begins to smoke. Add 1 tbsp. oil around edge of wok; swirl to coat bottom and sides. Add carrots and onions; cook until softened, about 1 minute. Transfer to a plate; set aside. 
2. Return wok to high heat and add remaining oil. Add pork, garlic, ginger, and half the scallions; cook, breaking pork into small pieces, until browned, 3–4 minutes.
 
3. Add soy sauce, wine, sugar, bean sprouts, and carrots and onions. Cook, stirring, until hot, about 30 seconds.
 
4. Add cucumbers, remaining scallions, noodles, and sesame oil; cook, tossing, until hot, about 1 minute. Season with salt.

SERVES 2 – 4


This article was first published in Saveur in Issue #129