Fall squash are some of my favorite ingredients to work with. Spanning from soups to stew, roasted to mashed, there is no shortage of preparations. So one afternoon, I was looking at a few delicata squash on my counter and asked a very simple question. Why not fried?
My general philosophy (one of many) in life is: fried = good and beer battered + fried = better.
Full of fall flavors, be sure to make this salad at your next dinner party.
I am always looking for new recipes to try (and ultimately set off the fire alarm in my apartment….) It just so happened the incredibly talented Janness Koh who writes for our Full Access Singapore site had just what I was looking for with her Pandan Cake.
Disregard the fact there are 3 grocery stores within half a mile of my apartment.
Throw out the knowledge there are 2 bakeries, countless bodegas and Seamless ready to handle all my restaurant delivery needs.
Let’s take it back to ’79 (1879) when people were making their own food at home.
Challenge accepted.
The pineapple is one of those perfect ingredients (alongside avocados and mangos.) So why mess with perfection? I would say it is more about taking a different approach to something you are familiar with than a detraction. The heat concentrates and enhances the natural sweetness of the fruit and the caramelization on the outside is just delicious.
I originally put this together for my paleo friends. Aside from that, I wanted to play around with temperature and texture. The raw and cooked ingredients play well off each other. This is also a really simple salad and you can put it together in about 20 minutes.
It’s Summer so there are only two things you need to concern yourself with; some type of fire powered grilling device and ingredients to sear over aforementioned fire. If you live in New York, there are actually designated areas you can bbq in the city. You can also make due with a broiler in your oven or grill pan.
The Ponzu in this marinade has a salty-citrus flavor that pairs well with the heat from the Italian peppers.
Not to be outdone by Bareburger (which I really like by the way and highly recommend) and all their burger choices: beef, elk, wild boar, duck, quinoa and more, I put together my own at home Ostrich burger.
There is a local vendor at the green markets around New York who only sells Ostrich so finding the ingredients wasn’t too difficult. Next up was thick cut bacon, which also isn’t a problem (if possible get the one from the meat counter where they cut it for you and not from the package.)
I thought of this episode as I walked down the block to my local community garden and picked some hearty Red Russian Kale from my little 4 ft. x 4 ft. garden plot. But what to do with this bounty (of 6 leaves?)
Kale carpaccio, kale salad, kale smoothie, raw? I actually don’t know if kale carpaccio is a thing but it sounded cool so someone should do that and send me a pic.
Every week the plants in my garden seem to grow 30% bigger. This city guy is learning a lot about plant care (and that my garden neighbors are probably going out of their way to help me out – I really shouldn’t have this much success….)
The first of the crop that I can actually use are my herbs (cilantro and parsley) Butter Lettuce and some Red Russian Kale. Again, my neighbors reminded me to start harvesting the lettuce leaves from the outside so new growth can come in.
Frutti Di Mare a fresh seafood specialty dish created by Executive Chef Thomas Cook at Trattoria Il Mulino Nashville. This upscale version uses Abruzzese-inspired Italian cuisine that infuses the flavors of Music City and featuring only the finest ingredients paired with inventive new twists.
