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somethin’ on the side

camponata? tapenado? empanada?

January 8, 2012
somethin' on the side
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I brought caponata to a friend’s birthday party and no one could pronounce the damn thing. No matter how you try to pronounce it, caponata is a stupidly simple eggplant dish that is perfect atop fresh or toasted Italian bread.

Sweat onions in extra-virgin olive oil until translucent. Throw in a good amount of thinly sliced garlic and cook until fragrant, without taking on any color. Add peeled, diced eggplant and cook until softened, stirring frequently and adding more oil as needed so that it doesn’t stick to the pan. Then add a can of diced tomatoes, a splash of red wine vinegar, and chopped capers. Season with S & P and allow the flavors to meld for a good 20 minutes. During the last 5 minutes of cooking, sprinkle in a healthy amount of chopped fresh parsley.

If you bring this to a party, please bring your pants. It’s just good manners.

(pork) chop shop

January 6, 2012
somethin' on the side, the main event
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One of my favorite things about spending time with my parents and brother is all the incredible food we prepare together. This past Christmas vacation, I was assigned a night to make dinner, and this is what I created:

Whether it was my mom who was quick to clean a bowl or stir the red cabbage; my dad who poured the cocktails (my mom warned, “Watch how much you’re drinking–I don’t want drunk pork chops!”); or my brother who is always armed with a joke, I kept great company in the kitchen. And that truly is what I enjoy most about cooking.

The pork chop was simply seasoned with S & P, seared and then finished in a 400-degree Fahrenheit oven. Deglazed the pan with white wine, and after that reduced I poured in chicken stock. Once the liquid evaporated by half, I stirred in some heavy cream and mustard.

As for the mashed potatoes, I did the same old thing I usually do.

The red cabbage? Well that’s a breeze. But I’m gonna save that for another post. Keep ya coming back for more (either that or you’ll be so annoyed with me, you’ll boycott EIYU all together. Please don’t).

Now stop reading about my family and my meals–grab someone you love (gently, of course) and make something delicious.

is it too late for thanksgiving?

December 21, 2011
ramblings, somethin' on the side, the main event
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It seems the holidays have snuck up on me. Wasn’t it just last weekend that I prepared my first Thanksgiving dinner?

The one with herb-mustard butter for the chicken (yes, chicken–there were only three of us!)? With white gravy, green bean casserole, and scallion mashed potatoes? Wasn’t it just last weekend I made homemade cornbread for sausage stuffing? And wasn’t it all washed down with pumpkin custard?

Am I showing off? A bit. Believe me, it didn’t all go as smoothly as I’m making it seem. But in the end, after all the profanities, I managed to produce a Thanksgiving dinner that I was proud to share.

And I can’t believe it’s already over.

wine and cheese and…scalloped potatoes

December 12, 2011
somethin' on the side
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Last weekend I visited my best girlfriends from high school for a wine and cheese party. Though the wine is usually the shining star of the party, there are some requirements for the food:

1. It must contain cheese

2. It must be kick ass

And being that I had to travel for the party, my own personal requirement was that it had to be easy. Since I didn’t get to make scalloped potatoes for Thanksgiving (did I not post about my first Thanksgiving dinner? That will change…), I still had them on my mind.

Peel a few regular old potatoes and slice them up nice and thin with the help of a mandoline, if you have one. While this is going on, half and half should be steeping on the stove top with a smashed garlic clove, a few peppercorns and a bay leaf (strain and season well with salt before adding to the potatoes). Layer the potatoes in a pan and pour in the half and half. Top it all off with grated Gruyere cheese and cover the pan with foil. Bake in a 375-degree Fahrenheit oven for about 40 minutes. Remove the foil and finish cooking until the liquid is absorbed and the top is golden brown, about 20 minutes more.

The scalloped potatoes were a hit, and so was the rest of the spread: grilled vegetables with truffle oil, penne alla vodka, bean dip, and crostini with goat cheese and marinated cherries. The pictures are terrible, the food was terrific, and now it’s just a memory–albeit, a fuzzy one.

my cousin vinny would approve

November 20, 2011
somethin' on the side, the underwear diet
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If you’re Italian, you call it polenta. If you’re from the South, it’s known as grits. I call it delicious. This creamy side dish errs on the side of indulgence, but when plated with leaner fare, it creates a healthy dish that actually satisfies.

I used medium-ground cornmeal, which gave the dish a chewy texture. Prepare the polenta according to the package’s directions; I recommend using whole milk in place of water. Once cooked through, toss in corn (fresh, frozen or canned will all work) and season generously with S & P, butter and cheese (I used Pecorino Romano, but you could easily substitute with Parmigiano Reggiano, or even smoked Gouda or cheddar cheese).

I served the creamy polenta with salmon and sauteed spinach:

I didn’t feel the least bit self-conscious when I stripped down to my underwear at the end of the night. And neither did my S.S. And, I’m sure, neither would my cousin Vinny.