Category: Food

Escaping the Pandemic: Reading & Eating

JWF Leave a comment

Covid-19 has limited activities for most everyone to some extent.  Those of us who are more vulnerable are spending more time at home, not dining out, and not going to concerts or plays.  What do we do?  If you’re an avid reader like me, then you might tackle several of those tomes you’ve always been meaning to read—or delve into a thriller chiller.  This week I did the latter.  And if you like to eat, then you may be spending more time cooking for yourself and your spouse.  The Chief Penguin and I have trotted out old favorites like Pierre Franey’s emince de veau a la crème (veal in cream sauce with ham), only this time replacing the veal with strips of chicken.  And we’ve tried new recipes like a hearty lentil soup and the pizzas described below.

ESCAPING IN A BOOK

Atomic Love by Jennie Fields

This novel about a female scientist set in 1950 is a wonderful change of pace from the corona virus.  Rosalind Porter was a lone woman among the many men who worked on the Manhattan Project.  Beset by doubts after the dropping of the bomb, she is now working the jewelry counter in Marshall Field’s in Chicago.  An FBI agent approaches her and asks her to get back involved with Thomas Weaver, her former lover and a scientist suspected of passing secrets to the Russians.  

Agent Charlie is persistent, and Rosalind becomes immersed in a game of tell me, don’t tell me, surveillance, and even danger.  Mixed in are loner Roz’s complicated relationship with Louisa, her much older sister, and her devotion to her niece Ava.  Roz and Charlie have both been damaged by the war, physically and mentally, and come to recognize each other as kindred spirits.  A page-turner of an historical novel!

Fields is also the author of a novel about Edith Wharton entitled The Age of Desire, which I enjoyed several years ago.

IN THE KITCHEN

Explaining how to work the pizza dough

But, not with Dinah.  With the Chief Penguin, who also happens to be an experienced baker.  Multi-grain and oatmeal breads, bran muffins, and now—pizza!  He’s made pizzas from scratch before, but recently he purchased a bag of Italian 00 flour.  It’s the preferred superfine flour for thin crust pizzas. Now he’s in his element.  First experiments were traditional margherita pizzas (tomato, mozzarella, and fresh basil).  

Into the oven

The other evening, first out of the oven was a pizza of chicken on barbecue sauce with red onion. Next was a pizza with the luscious combination of gorgonzola (thank you, Publix!), caramelized onions, and walnuts, topped with arugula leaves.  Yum! 

Finished product—ready to eat!

After that, who would need dessert?  Not a serious question since it’s fall, and apple crisp is perfect.  His apple crisp was made with Granny Smith apples and maple syrup instead of brown sugar.  Double yum!

THANKFULNESS

Next week brings Thanksgiving Day.  In this strange time of staying at a distance, I am especially thankful for continued good health, great friends, and a loving family!  May your Thanksgiving holiday be a safe and healthy one however you may spend it.

Note: All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).

Tidy Tidbits: Watching, Reading, Eating

JWF 1 Comment

VIEWING

The English Game (Netflix)

This is an excellent series and great “feel good” viewing for these strange times.  A whole series (6 parts) about football, (soccer, that is), you say; but I’m not a sports fan.  Well, there’s so much more to this historical drama by Julian Fellowes, creator of Downton Abbey. 

(Kinnaird & Sutor (metro.co.uk)

Opening in 1879, it focuses on two men, Arthur Kinnaird, captain and star player on the Old Etonians, a team of toffs, and Fergus Sutor, a mill worker from the north of England and the best man on team Darwen, and their competition to win the championship cup.  The rich men feel they own the game; the mill workers are passionate about it and capture the hearts of their town.  Add in the plight of poor women, often single and pregnant, and you get a picture of contrasting lifestyles.  For me, the last episode echoed the exhilaration of the finale of Chariots of Fire.  Highly recommended!

The Geniuses of Palaces (BritBox)

For armchair travelers (and aren’t we all today), this 3-part series written and hosted by historian Dan Cruickshank takes the viewer on a tour of historic palaces built by the English kings and queens down through the ages.  From the familiar Tower of London to Buckingham Palace along with the lesser known St. James’s Palace and Hampton Court, it’s visually striking, especially the interiors.  Note that captioning isn’t available, and Mr. Cruickshank’s accent sometimes hindered my understanding.

READING

Sea Wife by Amity Gaige

(flickr.com)

This new novel is rich and chewy with a lot of satisfying substance.  His wife, Juliet, reluctantly agrees, when Michael buys a sailboat and proposes that they with their two young children leave home for Panama and spend a year sailing.  Juliet is a stalled and depressed poet with an unfinished dissertation, worries about her success as a mother, questions about their marriage, and unresolved issues from her childhood.  Michael is restless and not loving his job in the corporate world, has fond memories of sailing on a lake with his dad, and feels he can never measure up or meet what Juliet demands of him.  Their children, Sybil, age 7, and George, 2, are resilient survivors.  

The book takes the form of Juliet’s musing and recollections about the voyage back at home in the present time interspersed with Michael’s very detailed and personal log of the trip on the Juliet, named for his wife.  We know from the beginning that Michael is not present, but we don’t know where or why or how the journey ends. There is that suspense plus the delights of the trip, the initial revival of their marriage, and then an unraveling.  It’s marvelously well written with the dominant and distinctive voices of Juliet and Michael punctuated by a conversation with Sybil.  

EATING 

With more time at home, I’ve been motivated to experiment with some new recipes.  Last week, I made a straightforward cauliflower casserole with cheddar cheese from Food & Wine.  I didn’t have sour cream on hand and so substituted Greek yogurt and was pleased with the results.  The Chief Penguin thought it was okay but would have preferred the richness of sour cream.  I also cooked a spicy chicken, celery and peanut stir fry which was a bit different. The celery was a main ingredient and we both found it delicious.  Lastly, I found an older Bon Appetit recipe for spicy-sweet sambal pork noodles which just tickled my palate.  It combined fresh ginger, fresh basil, soy sauce and chili paste in a sauce that I put over spaghetti.  It’s a keeper!

Spicy Pork Noodles (bonappetit.com)

We continue to do curbside takeout with an occasional variation in which restaurant.  We finally tried Harry’s Kitchen on Longboat Key and found both their meatloaf and the beef stroganoff very tasty.  The food is prepared ahead of time, so you have to re-heat it when you get home.  The portions are generous ones. 

Savannah Dining: From Grits to Chocolates

JWF 1 Comment

EATING SOUTHERN

You will not go hungry in Savannah.  Portions are generous to very large and shrimp and grits appear on almost every menu.  Other local favorites are fried green tomatoes, pimento cheese, ham and biscuits, and crab meat.  Here’s where we dined.

Husk

We had lunch in their upstairs dining room which was largely empty and pleasingly quiet.  Service was excellent and while we ate more than we had intended, we found the food delicious.  Their homemade pimento cheese with benne crackers and the ham and biscuit starters were both great.  We also sampled the roast cobia with sour grits and collard chow chow (slightly different) and the pastrami tongue sandwich (man-sized).  This is upscale sophisticated dining and the menu changes frequently.

Gryphon

This charming café, located in a former apothecary and set up like a library, is owned and run by SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design).  It is cozy and welcoming and a relaxing spot for lunch.  We enjoyed the very shrimpy shrimp salad, the crusted medallions of goat cheese on a mound of greens, and the salmon club sandwich.  Our delightful waitress was a current SCAD student.  

Six Pence Pub

For a change from just Southern cooking and because it was a cold day, we opted for comfort food at this English style pub.  The shredded beef pot roast with mashed potatoes, gravy and baby carrots hit the spot for two of us.  Our friends ordered the shrimp bisque and a salad and one of their hearty sandwiches; both were pleased with their choices.  And the Chief Penguin succumbed to the bread pudding with whipped cream.  Beer and wine, of course, were available. 

The Olde Pink House

First off, the pink house is a large mansion with a beautiful deep pink exterior.  Our hotel concierge felt it had become more touristy in recent years, so we lowered our expectations and were pleasantly surprised by how good everything was.  There are many dining spaces and ours was large and tastefully decorated, but noisy.  The maître d’ stopped by to ask how we were and would have re-located us had we insisted, but we had already ordered drinks and so declined.  

They specialize in Low Country cuisine and the menu is extensive with many choices of platters, appetizers, soups and salads, entrees, and sides.  Having had lunch out, we ordered mostly appetizers and salads.  The shrimp, crab and sausage spring rolls with honey mustard drizzle were delectable as was the sautéed shrimp in ham gravy with a cheddar cheese grits cake.  

Equally pleasing was the BLT salad:  fried green tomatoes, bacon, and lettuce with a buttermilk thyme dressing.  Their rendition of a chicken potpie was not as satisfying as the one at the 1540 Room, this from a lover of potpies. 

Vic’s on the River

This is a very popular restaurant and given its location was crowded and busy the night we dined here.  Pluses:  excellent jumbo lump crab cakes with Parmesan risotto and baby arugula, tasty meat loaf, reasonable sized portions (except for the humongous wedge of meat loaf), and nicely presented romaine wedges with cherry tomatoes and cucumber slices on the side.  Minuses: Very noisy and we felt a bit processed, read hurried, by the wait staff.

Edgar’s Proof & Provision

Wall of bottles in the bar

Bar cum dining venue in the De Soto Hotel.  Noisy, but the drinks and the food were very good, especially the seafood chowder, fish tacos and chicken wings.  Also, the wicked garlic chips with chipotle dip.

1540 Room

Breakfast and dinner venue in the De Soto Hotel.  We had breakfasts here and one dinner on a rainy night.  The skillet chicken potpie was excellent.  One of our group also had their version of shrimp and grits.

SWEETS

Other than the bread pudding the Chief Penguin enjoyed one lunch, we skipped desserts.  That said, we are chocolate lovers and so could not resist stopping in and then purchasing a few truffles at Chocolat by Adam Turoni.  In 2011, this millennial brought a box of his own homemade chocolates to his dinner hosts and, from there, was born this firm.  

Turoni’s flavor combinations are innovative, his creations beautiful to look at, and even better to taste.  The shop we visited, one of two in the city, is modeled as a library with shelves of books interlaced with shelves of chocolate.  You pick up a tray, a bit like an old-fashioned card catalog drawer except narrower, and walk around filling it with the chocolates you wish to purchase.  The truffle flavors range from Mint Julep Truffle to Coconut Meltaway with white chocolate to a Café American to Blood Orange and more.  Double yum!

Note: Photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).

Notes from Manhattan: Film & Food

JWF Leave a comment

FILM

Marriage Story (Netflix and theaters)

This is a painful, and at times excruciating, excavation of a marriage unraveling.  As the film opens, it’s clear that there will be no grand reconciliation.  Instead Charlie and Nicole initially intend to handle their divorce themselves amicably, but, perhaps inevitably, the tensions and the disagreements lead them each to consult and hire high powered divorce lawyers. Their first lawyers are well played by a consoling Alan Alda and a falsely cozy Laura Dern.   After all, this is a successful bi-coastal couple, he a theater director and she an actress.  

Angry words and hate-filled invectives are tossed out, but, what makes it a convincing and compelling film is the moments of unexpected tenderness and even humor.  When Nicole cuts Charlie’s hair, you are touched.  Although they can no longer live together, these two still care about each other and are concerned about buffering their young son, Henry, from hurt as much as possible.  The final scene is a real punch to the gut.

Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson are superb as Charlie and Nicole, and while each party is partially to blame for the impasse, you might find it difficult to take sides, although I did not.  Reviews indicate that this film is semi-autobiographical as director Noah Baumbach was divorced from his first wife, an actress, in 2010.  Highly recommended!

FOOD

“Early Bird Special”

When you say “early bird special,” some folks will think of tired food served to past-their-prime senior citizens at 4:30 in the afternoon.  As a senior citizen myself, I will admit that when we are on our home turf, the Chief Penguin and I eat earlier than we ever did before.  In the city, not so much so.  Unless we want to dine at our all-time favorite West Village restaurant, Via Carota.  To snag a dinner table at this very popular eatery, you must arrive around 5:00 or submit to waiting in line or adding your name to a list and returning an hour or so later.  Ever since Via Carota received mention in a New Yorker column and their green salad was featured in the Sunday New York Times Magazine, their popularity has only skyrocketed.  They don’t take reservations.  Why would they when they are always guaranteed to fill their tables!

The other day, we arrived at 11:00 am, just when they opened, to have an early lunch.  We were not the only diners and well before 12:00, the aforementioned line had already formed.  The grilled artichokes with slices of lemon and onion are a standard order for us; with them we alternate between the mouth-watering Meyer lemon risotto or a pasta entree. 

 This time, it was the tagliatelle with Parmesan and prosciutto.  A mound of homemade pasta noodles arrived, covered with a thin blanket of prosciutto and showered with Parmesan threads.  Simply sublime, this dish is a tangle of a soft, but springy pasta strands coated in butter and cheese with a hint of nutmeg.  Add in the saltiness of the prosciutto and you have perfection.  The Chief Penguin dubbed this our “early bird special” and that phrase now has new meaning.    

Note: Text and photos ©JWFarrington. Header photo taken at Rockefeller Center.