Veggie - - Page 38

by BS

Feed Us Back: Comments of the Week

– Many of you have opinions on the ”can you cook cucumbers?” debate. Maids:

My roommate says she used to cook burritos in her microwave in college using tortillas, rolled with cheese and cucumbers inside. Sounded disgusting to me, but she has a palate I respect so maybe cooked cukes aren’t so bad?

I don’t know about these cuke burritos, but I’m definitely going to start ranking my friends by how much I respect their palates.

– JoeHoya and the Mrs. coin an amazing term for the frustration found in fava beans:

We LOVE fava beans and make it a point to buy them in bulk during their all-too-brief season at the farmers’ market. But the prep is definitely a pain in the ass. Elizabeth refers to favas as the Beans of Diminishing Returns because you buy them by weight and then promptly through out half of what you paid for in the form of the outer and inner pods.

– Finally, anyone who can get worked up about indefinite articles in convenience store advertising is welcome at ES. BigOldCar:

The thing that bothers me most about the Hoagieman commercials is that the song ends with:

“At the Hoa…gie…Fest!
At the Wawa!
The Hoa…Gie…Fest!
At the Wawa!”

Why “THE” Wawa? Why not “your,” or some other gap-filler? But the definite article doesn’t belong here, and it bugs the shit out of me!

I don’t get the Sgt. Pepper theme, but it’s so interesting-looking that I’ve come to accept it.

I cannot, however, get past that improper article.

(Photo: inSinU8)

in Veggie 2 comments

by gansie

Continued: I’m Not Eating Ice Cream Every 15 Minutes

When I first started working virtually I was nervous I would eat ice cream all day, which you can read about in my post aptly titled, “How Not to Eat Ice Cream Every 15 Minutes.” I got some wonderful suggestions, such as Summer‘s guidance to eat away from my desk and to drink coffee, a natural appetite suppressant. (I’m looking at you, red-headed Olsen with the Starbucks taped to your palm like you’re playing Edward 40Hands.)

So I usually drink tea or coffee in the morning, as I’m not a normal breakfast eater. And actually, the binge eating hasn’t been so bad, especially with the abundance of fresh fruit this time of year. Although there have been some ups and downs in this whole work from home thing, I’m actually loving it.

My favorite part—besides no commuting, no dressing, no showering—is cooking lunch. I look forward to it all morning, if not the second I’ve finished dinner the night before.

by BS

Pick of the Pics: Best of the ES Flickr Pool

mathea.tanner‘s penguin standoff made our morning. You can find more food art at Peas Love Carrots, and more of our favorite photos from the ES flickr pool after the jump.

in Desserts / Photos / Veggie 1 comments

by gansie

I’m Not Familiar

Sundays at the Eastern Market flea market feature a few cooking related vendors, at least they did six years ago. There was this one vendor, a bearded man in his 60s, with a massive collection of old cookbooks and an even older collection of cast iron pans. I indulged in both.

Let me be clear though, six years ago I didn’t know a fucking thing about food. I didn’t know about cookware or ingredients or experts. I did know, however, that I needed to learn more than what I picked up by casually watching 30 Minute Meals after work.

One very thick cookbook stood out in the bearded man’s collection with its firm tone and streamlined recipes. I flipped through the pages thinking this could be a great, general cook book. The bearded man asked me, as I kept flipping, “Do you have any of his cookbooks at home? Familiar with James Beard?”

“No,” I smiled, “I’m not familiar.”

He encouraged me to buy it. And so I took home the 1981 version of The New James Beard and read it like a novel, well, a novel’s sequel. That fucker James Beard is clever.

In his recipe for “Chicken Salad with Fresh Coriander” (side note: he calls cilantro “Chinese parsley”), Beard instructs: “Roast the chicken according to directions in Theory & Practice (page 83)” and then proceeds with the duration of the recipe.

I’m not sure if he assumes everyone already owns his previous book or he wanted to boost his sales, or both, but I went back to Eastern Market. The bearded vendor stocked it. I bought it. Both Beards won.

I take out New everyone once in a while when I’m looking to cook something basic, like rice. Or want some inspiration for a new way to cook a vegetable. Beard didn’t disappoint as I made the best fucking cucumbers of all time.

in Fish / Recipe / Veggie 9 comments

by gansie

A Pain in the Ass, A Pleasure in the Stomach

I’ve heard about these suckers for a very long time. Raves. Raves. Raves. And as diligent as I am in eating what’s in season, I sometimes miss very short-seasoned produce. But this time around, in what one vendor labeled as the last available weekend, I scored a quart of fava beans.

Lord these beans take a lot of work. I didn’t follow a recipe, just the quick advice Mt. Pleasant Farmers’ Market manager Rebbie called out to me before 80P and I schlept back to our apartment.

She commanded that the process required 2 beers and a friend. One beer for releasing the beans from the pod and the next for releasing the bean from its skin. Because of my bachelorette party induced hangover, I skipped the beers but still persuaded 80 to be my friend in the process.

Sesame Enhanced Fava Bean Puree

First I took the fava beans out of the pod. After the de-podding, I boiled the beans for a minute and a half, shocked them, and then removed the skins. A not difficult, but slightly annoying process, especially as waves of hangover fell upon me. In case you’re wondering why I’m going through this multi-step process on what should have been a lazy weekend afternoon, it is because I wanted to bring a snack for the World Cup watching party.

in Recipe / Veggie 12 comments

by gansie

Needed a Little Heat

Oh it is on. It takes a while for vegetables to arrive at market here in DC. It’s a slow start with asparagus, strawberries and garlic scapes. But it’s coming now: I spied four different varieties of plums alone.

This week, however, was different. I came to the market with a specific mission. My friend Katie, who’s blogged here before, is getting married. And with nuptials comes a bachelorette party. The night started with an hors d’oeuvre potluck and then bar hopping in Baltimore.

As a food writer I feel extra pressure to bring something amazing to a special gathering like this. I then freak out because there’s just too many options. What to make! Eek!

I decided to let the newly produce-busting market be my guide. Slices of peppered cucumber and radish encircled chevre. But that wasn’t the star. Neither was my other dish. Some girl shows up with seaweed to roll sushi. FML! (Not to mention the penis cake…)

in Recipe / Veggie 8 comments

by gansie

Yellow Changes the Day

My mom is a nursery school teacher. She needs to teach exacts. Strawberries are red. A is the first letter of the alphabet. A shining sun equals a warm day. But then she met me and my farmers’ market ways.

All of a sudden cauliflower could be bright yellow. Broccoli could be purple. Grapes could be navy blue. Asparagus could be white. And holy crap, as I just found out at J&G Steakhouse in DC: watermelon could be yellow.

Amanda said that she had enjoyed “yellow dollies,” mini-watermelons with yellow interior, on the shores of South and North Carolina. I’ve never seen such a feat until tonight.

And while I believe in some certainties, like the ABCs, I do believe that teaching about produce is an entirely different, yet terribly fun, always changing and delicious game.

in Veggie 6 comments