Category Archives: potatoes

Celebrations: Thanksgiving in our new home

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November flew by in a hurry, with our apartment coming together bit by bit. Last weekend, we finally bought a dresser so that I could put my clothes away (previously, they’d been stacked throughout, since Toni literally took over all of the shelf space in the closet. He’s European, ’nuff said), but the night before Thanksgiving, we were still frantically shoving things away to assume the semblance of neatness for our guests the next day, all the while prepping a series of serious Thanksgiving dishes (I’d gone to Fairway before work so that I could have everything ready when I got home on Wednesday… Thanksgiving is very serious business to me).

The final spread

To be frank, I’d been a bit bummed about my favorite holiday this year. It was to be my third year in New York. Unlike years past, however, I had wanted to go home; tickets were just too expensive by the time I got around to planning. On top of that, none of the usual suspects were around for me to cook or eat with. That didn’t keep me from putting a little something together with a few friends and my Croatian family. It ended up being such a lovely day, full of good food, great company, hours at the dining table, a few more on the couch, and then finally tucking in for an early night… all in our lovely new home.

Katie, Maya, and me, while the boys were upstairs,
watching the pie in the dormitory oven (Dubi and Ana live six floors up)

I’d been cooking since about 4pm on Wednesday, and when we finally sat down to eat on Thursday (around 3pm), there was plenty to go around. A few of the highlights below:

 Whole Cranberry Sauce and Pan Gravy with Amontillado Sherry

And the coup de grâce:
 Pumpkin Pie (which only the Americans ate)
and my aunt’s Cranberry Apple Crumble,
 which is quite possible my favorite thing ever

I tried to cook most of the meal using recipes from SAVEUR.com, with a few adaptations and personal inflections. The cranberry apple crumble, however, has appeared on my Thanksgiving table for as long as I can remember. It’s the easiest thing to prepare and can be served either with the meal or as dessert, as I did here. It’s also great with yogurt the next day.

Cranberry Apple Crumble

  • 3c tart apples, unpeeled and chopped
  • 2c raw cranberries (may be frozen and thawed)
  • 1c sugar
  • 1/2c butter
  • 1c uncooked oats
  • 1c chopped pecans
  • 1/2c light brown sugar

Alternate cranberries and apples in a 13×9 pan.  Sprinkle white sugar over the fruit. Melt butter in a medium bowl, add the rest of ingredients, and mix.  Spread over apples and cranberries.  Bake uncovered for 45-60 min at 350°F. Serve with vanilla ice cream for best results.

Here to a great day and many more. Cheers!

Quick and Easy: Citrus-glazed Salmon with Potatoes and Brussels

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My friend Anique asked what she could do with salmon, brussels sprouts, and fingerling potatoes, and the combination made me recall one of my favorite go-to dishes, one I first tasted at cube in LA last year. I decided to recreate it myself for a quick and easy dinner tonight.

Citrus-glazed Salmon with Smashed Potatoes and Shaved Brussels Sprouts

  • Boil the water and add the potatoes.
  • Thinly slice the brussels sprouts. Once the potatoes begin to boil, place the sprouts over low heat in a steamer. 
  • Dress the salmon with olive oil, salt and pepper. Broil the top side for 4 minutes, then flip for an additional two minutes on the skin side.
  • Drain the potatoes and smash them with salt, pepper, and some butter. 
  • For the final presentation, arrange brussels sprouts on top. Lay the salmon gently over the greens and potatoes and top with freshly squeezed grapefruit juice and bits.

I ate this with a 2009 Musar Jeune, a Lebanese dry white wine with slight apple notes on the finish that complemented the meal nicely.

Get Well Dinner: Homemade Pizza

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I spent yesterday laid up in bed after a trip to the doctor. So that I wouldn’t have to worry about dinner – and to make me feel better – Alexxa brought over the makings for homemade pizza. She’d paid a visit to Fornino, the pizza spot on Bedford Ave, and picked up a variety of other ingredients and accoutrements in the neighborhood…including pizza tiles from the Brooklyn Kitchen.

pizza tiles, keeping warm in the oven.

She and Toni set about prepping everything while I laid around and watched. They rolled out the dough onto some flour and cornmeal. The first they topped with thinly sliced potatoes, caramelized onions, fresh oregano, fontina, and parmigiano.

pizza bianca

We ate this pizza hot out of the oven before we set to making the other. The caramelized onions were rich and delicious, a sweet contrast to the saltiness of the fontina. The dough was thin and crispy, and I loved the touch of the cornmeal.

In the meantime, we got the red sauce cooking on the stove: tomato sauce, 2 spoonfuls of tomato paste, salt, white pepper, black pepper, and lots of rosemary. Alexxa had bought thick slices of prosciutto, which we laid over the tomato base. She topped it with the rest of the fontina and we let it cook in the oven until the edges browned and the cheese bubbled.

 prosciutto pizza. not sure which was better!
 

Simple but delicious, and it made me feel so very good.