TheLindsayist

Mom: make this slaw.

This is another variation of the cabbage/peach/pine nut version I posted earlier, or the one with the roasted matchsticked beets. This one is completely raw, and Tim ate a quart of it yesterday.

Lunch and dinner and lunch and lunch

2-3 carrots, peeled

3-4 beets, peeled

2 hakurai turnips [if you want]

1 small head red cabbage

1 bunch scallions, coarsely chopped

1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp soy sauce

1 tbsp agave nectar or honey

salt and pepper to taste

In food processor, shred carrots, beets, turnips and cabbage to slaw texture, and toss in a big bowl with scallions. Add dressing, toss to coat, adjust to taste.

This makes a big whopping pile of blazingly fuschia slaw. The other night, we had this with polenta and shrimp prepared like this.

Anatomy of a BBQ.

I’m ashamed to describe the limited scope of my BBQing history, but after the success of last weekend’s ribs, we decided to try those out on our dinner guests last night. I think my lack of experience is due to the fact that at most times, I’m surrounded by dudes who either absolutely adore BBQing (Matt coronated king of BBQ meats) or Tim, who I absent-mindedly let handle it, not that he cares much but that he can. There is some sort of gender-based complacency woven through all of this. I think to some extent, I felt about BBQ the way I felt about playing in a band; it hadn’t really occurred to me that it was something I was perfectly entitled to do.

I gave myself plenty of lead time in case something went horribly wrong, but unlike most meals where I promise a 7:00 seating and we actually eat at 11, my kitchen timing has really gotten efficient. Early views of the meat:

These were massive; one of those vertical metal racks would be a really superb idea for when I am not completely sick of ribs again. I cut each one into two and laid four across, I had just enough room to fit them all.

Rub the same as pictured earlier – cabinet content style, ditto the BBQ sauce.

Most miraculous was the temperature’s stability; last week, we fought flare-ups and blasts of high heat which created crunchy, nearly burnt edges. Yesterday, the BBQ stayed between 200-250 degrees steadily for about three hours before requiring additional coal, and asking for very little attention until it finished around the seven-hour mark. Cheers to the chimney starter.

As usual, I took next to no photos of the finished product, because I find mealtime photography antisocial in so many cases, and mainly because I forgot. To match the ribs though, we had Confit Byaldi, the Thomas Keller ratatouille dish that Tim tricked me into making through several cycles of reverse psychology after I suggested I’d make the simpler Mark Bittman approach (an hour at 300 or so, haphazardly piled but lovely for summer vegetables and sopping bread v. the former’s artfully coiled mandoline slices with balsamic and piperade, 2 1/2 hours at 275).

Also baked Courtney’s focaccia recipe that we first made on Vinalhaven with her last year. Kneading dough is such a pleasure, let alone the rewards. I really should do this more often.

Future Focaccia

And, second-smallest guest took a tour of our least-played musical instruments from the hutch, including the Zellophone. Times like those will justify impulse flea market purchases for years to come!

Recent recipes

These two made a nice lunch last week, and were cobbled together from what came in the farmshare plus what was in the cupboard. The bean dip is adapted from Mark Bittman’s adaptation of the Lidia Bastianich version. So, where one might use lemons and rosemary, I hadn’t been bothered to go to the store all week what with most groceries coming in the crates and so on – instead, vinegar for acid and whatever herbs came here. I actually, weirdly, really enjoyed the cider vinegar. The slightly sweet cider rounds the lemon’s corners somewhat.

And you can put any old thing in a salad, and it pains me to measure out these things so methodically as that is not how I cook (no baker, here), but I wanted to record. These measurements are approximations; if you find you need more acid, you probably should add that. I usually make that slaw with white cabbage, toasted pine nuts, various vinegars, honey and white peaches – alternately, yellow peaches and radicchio, but this worked. I haven’t ever done much with kohlrabi but its composition makes me want to eat it up against granny smith apples.

White bean spread

1 can white beans
2 tbsp olive oil
1 fat clove of garlic, minced to paste
Half a bunch scallions, finely chopped, and whatever other herbs you have around – I used about a tbsp of finely chopped lemon balm, basil and sage as well
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Puree beans in processor (you can hand mash; I’ve done this before and it’s fine, just not the road to fluffy) while pouring in oil to lubricate.
Stir in herbs, garlic, vinegar, salt and pepper; great spread on some kind of toasted whole wheat business with thick grilled slices of zucchini on top. About four servings.

Summer slaw

Half a white cabbage, shredded
One bulb kohlrabi, matchsticked
Four beets, roasted and matchsticked
Half a bunch scallions, chopped
1 tbsp agave nectar
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
s&p to taste

Combine cabbage, kohlrabi, roasted beets, scallions, toss to mix. In separate bowl, whisk remaining ingredients. Pour over vegetables, tossing to coat evenly. Season amply with salt and pepper to taste. Wait for me to remember if there were more things in there – it seems like there should’ve been but anyway, this was simple and quick, so maybe not. Turns garish pink and incorporates several pleasing notes of sweet, sour and salty at once. Serves four.

Ribs in the rain.

I don’t have any pictures of the ribs that resulted from this long day of BBQ because we went blind and stupid as soon as we pulled off the first available bits of meat. The moment Tim lifted the rack off the grill and onto the carving board, drops of rain started to penetrate the overhanging tree limbs; we chose to stay and eat.

I made a BBQ sauce out of the entire contents of the fridge door and spice cabinet excepting mayo and relish. Smoky, sweet, a little heat and about two tbsp. of bourbon to round it out. The meat was sticky, tender and a little crispy around the edges, and I felt like one of the Lord of the Flies kids devouring it. Every tendon was liquified and by the end of each rib, one perfect bare bone remained.

The neighbors were playing rocksteady too loud from their window, but at some point, I moved from mild annoyance into enjoyment. The foliage caught about two thirds of the rain anyway, or enough that if I kept my head down, nothing harmed my remaining ribs. It wasn’t until we scraped the last shreds of meat from the bones when it really began to pour, and we came back upstairs.

Pickles are ready.

Our first batch of pickles debuted today, after a 3-day brine soak. While I’m partial to the bright green, slightly sweet, salted only quick fermented variety, these are a little bit sour from white vinegar and have a mellow cardamom and clove finish, along with all that garlic and dill. And, it was quicker than my usual one-week ferment; the previous recipe was way too salty and easy to watch spoil (though that’s what I get for using January supermarket cucumbers that were on their way to turning, once – idiotic). Have yet to bother canning because no pickle lasts too long around here. Should invest in a salt lick.

Slept too late to start the brisket, so it’s ribs. I’ve done basically no meat smoking in my life, ever, so I want to practice. Otherwise we should put some koi fish in the Weber, because it deserves use somehow.

Bloggy blog blogosphere.

I’ve been trained in brevity by Twitter and messageboarding. The last time I had a blog, it was full of garbage about getting dressed up for the Pill. I deleted it. Lucky for you, I’m older and more provincial now.

Let’s see. I feel fortunate to have found myself working on a profoundly engaging race that captures my imagination and keeps me awake at night. That is the best kind of work.

As of today, I’ve lost fifty pounds since the start of my drive to look a bit less Stay-Puft. It’s put a crimp on my culinary endeavors – I didn’t renew my Cook’s Illustrated subscription, for example – but I have begun recording recipes again since the farmshare calls for resourcefulness. Sizewise in visual terms, that’s about the size of this fresh catch:

bigfish