Oh, Mexico
Traveling in Mexico as a bacteria-deficient American can be torturous. Our family spent the last week of March in Zihuatanejo, and after several mouth-watering excursions to the central market, I found myself wondering, how sick could I really get if I ate that flan/fruit/pepper/torta? Fortunately, the pragmatic side of my brain quelled these thoughts, and I managed to limit myself to paletas.
I tried tamarind, guava, and rice, a milk-based treat that resembled frozen rice pudding. I wish I could have tried:
Popcorn
We were scheduled to fly to Boston on February 26th, the day the nor’easter dumped 22 inches of snow on Manhattan. After Delta canceled our 7:30 shuttle, we re-booked ourselves on Amtrak. Facing a 3 1/2-hour train ride, with an additional hour and 1/2 wait before our 9:15 reservation at O Ya, we mollified ourselves by packing a delicious snack: microwave popcorn dusted with chili powder. It travels surprisingly well.
Faire les Courses for Robert Frank
The summer after my sophomore year of college I interned at Pace/Macgill Gallery. And when Robert Frank—one of the artists Pace/Macgill represents—returned from an extended vacation, I was dispatched to Whole Foods to restock his empty refrigerator. Here’s the grocery list I followed (the Gallery Assistant warned against improvisation). Unfortunately, Peter Macgill denied me the privilege of hand-delivering the food to Mr. Frank’s apartment. That roast chicken was the closest I came to meeting him. I hope the white meat wasn’t dry.
Turkey Redux: Part 3
Yams!
Adapted from “Brown Sugar-Glazed Sweet Potatoes with Marshmallows,” Bon Appétit, November 1994
4 pounds garnet yams
1 cup apple cider
1 1/4 cup packed golden brown sugar
10 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 pinches of ground ginger
Preheat oven to 375°F
1. Peel yams and cut into 1-inch pieces. Combine in a bowl with apple cider and “marinate” for 30 minutes
2. Remove yams from cider and arrange in a large glass baking dish, reserving cider
3. Heat sugar, butter, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, and ginger in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to boil, and add the cider. Stir until sugar dissolves
4. Pour cider and spice mixture over yams, tossing to coat
4. Cover baking dish tightly with foil
5. Bake yams for 50 minutes. Uncover and continue baking, basting occasionally, until yams are tender and syrup thickens, about 20 minutes
Sunday Supper
After I graduated from college, emerging from the hole of academic hermithood that was my undergraduate life, CAR and I vowed to cook Sunday supper together on a regular basis. Although we’ve struggled to stick to the “regular” part of the plan, we usually manage at least one end-of-the-week meal per month. A proper Sunday supper consists of hearty and comforting fare, but stops short of overindulgence; Mondays are sluggish enough as is.
Last night we prepared butternut squash risotto
Mixed greens with fennel, shallot (having inadvertently chopped more than we needed for the risotto), radish, and shaved carrot
And port-poached Anjou pears with cinnamon, cardamom, and star anise
All the poached pear recipes on Epicurious instruct you to combine the wine, sugar, and spices in a saucepan, bring to a simmer, and add the pears. We use a different technique: peel, halve, and core several firm but ripe pears. Place them face down in a glass baking dish. Add enough port or red wine to submerge 1/4 of each pear. Add about 1/8 cup of sugar per pear (taste to adjust the sweetness to your liking). Spice it up with cinnamon sticks and/or star anise and/or cloves and/or cardamom and/or ginger and/or vanilla bean. Bake at 350º for about 40 minutes, basting occasionally, until the liquid thickens and the pears become tender.
Turkey Redux: Part 2
Our Thanksgiving dessert consists of three pies—key lime, pecan, and pumpkin chiffon. Key lime pie may not scream “Thanksgiving” to you, but our family used to spend Turkey Day in Boca Grande, Florida. Although we stopped traveling south in November about 12 years ago, we’ve maintained this tropical tradition. After all, Key lime pie is unconditionally delicious. It also cuts the autumnal richness of the other two pies. So really it’s a digestive.
Decipher these recipe cards to recreate the deliciousness.
Scoff all you want pastry aficionados, but we love Pillsbury Refrigerated Pie Crust. Not too salty, not too sweet, and not too flaky, it complements the rich pecan filling perfectly.
The North End, Boston
Itinerary: lunch at Neptune Oyster, dessert at Modern Pastry
Seems like it’s hard to go wrong at Neptune Oyster. My only complaint was the stingy portion of sea urchin from the raw bar. We split one traditional and one Maine (hot with butter) lobster roll. Consensus was that the traditional was better, but that’s more a question of personal preference than quality of execution. One more word of advice: it’s a small space with limited seating capacity, so get there early. And don’t drive because it’s hard to park without a residential sticker.
Modern Pastry: you know what you came for. Keep your eye on the ball, and stick to the classics. Coffee, cannoli, and half moon cookies. These light, freshly frosted black and white cookies are a different species entirely from the pre-packaged bastardizations you find in delis.
