Lagniappe: Power Up Your Produce

Spring is here and it's the time of fantastic renewal and change and fresh starts and blah blah blah. I love it. I love having the doors to the balcony thrown wide open, feeling the fresh breeze waft in, and listening to my 21-year-old neighbours shout loudly to each other in the parking lot in an attempt to convince women to have sex with them. Magical. I really do love it.

Aaaaaaanyway the last six months of my life have been a rollercoaster to say the least, where the peaks are highs of incomparable thrill and the lows are basically just being catapulted through a literal storm of shit at 85 mph.

But now it's spring, the time of change and *upgrade*, and since that dumpster fire is now behind me I am super stoked about all the new and exciting things coming up.

In light of this concept of upgrading, I'm here today to talk to you about your fridge! That mechanical container of wonder that holds within itself a world of new possibilities. I love the fridge. I also love what's inside it. So let's get on to upgrading your fridge game, yo.

Just as a disclaimer, I haven't been paid by any of these companies to toot their horns. I never endorse stuff I don't personally love and it doesn't matter to me if I get paid for it or not. It would be sweet as ~hell~ if they DID decide to pay me, though. It's grace@lekkerandliquor.com by the way. Just...just in case. (And if you think I *might* like your stuff, e-mail me and let's talk!)

EGGS
If you’re used to buying the standard white-shelled cheapest-you-can-get orbs of sadness, I can’t stress enough how much BETTER the organic* free range** pastured*** varieties are.

I KNOW I KNOW dirt-worshipping-tree-hugger blah blah blah but seriously, listen to me for a second. The yolks of the fancy pants eggs are this incredibly deep, bright orange with so much flavour—not to mention more vitamins and minerals. When compared to the anemic and pitiful pale yellow yolks of the usual cage farmed eggs, you’ll realize pretty quickly it’s a no brainer. You’ll probably have the best shot at finding fresh pastured eggs at your local farmer’s market or CSA, but most grocery shops now carry at least organic free range varieties.

*In order to earn the USDA “organic” stamp, the chickens are to be fed only organic feed and are certified to be free of antibiotics.
**The term “free range” has a looser definition and generally indicates that the chickens are not caged and can move about "freely" with "access" to the outdoors, but it could be as a member of a horde of 5000 all try to squeeze out through a cat flap for as little as 5 minutes in the sun per day.
***Pastured/grass-fed is what you’re ideally going for; this means that the chickens have ample access to the outdoors where they can be their natural chicken-y selves. That means scratching in the dirt, eating insects, getting sunshine, and being an overall healthier chicken. Better chicken, better egg.

CARROTS
Did you know that carrots come in multiple colors like purple, yellow, and white? In fact, carrots were grown in these colors for hundreds of years before the standard orange we know was developed. If you’re making a salad or some roasted vegetables, the extra colors make it so much more visually interesting! Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods (and even Publix now, if you're in the south) often carry them, if you have one of those near you.

CUCUMBERS
Standard cucumbers are boring. Their overly waxy peels never seem to get clean enough, and generally they’re just a sort of light green soggy mess with lots of bitter seeds. Enter: English cucumbers. Long (generally between 10-14 inches) and slim and usually shrinkwrapped, these bad boys are nothing like their boring cousins. With no seeds and a firm flesh they’ve got a fantastic crunch and snap to them, making them the perfect upgraded addition to your salads.

TOMATOES
I get that there are a ton of varieties and it can be annoying to stand there in the produce aisle and try to decide, so you just grab the nearest red thing and get out of there. But if you’re making a tomato-heavy dish like Caprese salad, a tomato basil salad, or any salad really, spring for heirloom tomatoes. They come in tons of colors (orange, bright yellow, green, purple, white, striped, and polka dotted) and odd shapes for maximum visual appeal.

LETTUCE
Stop being a sad sack with that iceberg bullshit. Yes it’s cheap and crunchy but it’s also colorless and useless from a nutritional standpoint. At least upgrade to Romaine lettuce, but also explore the spring mixes, the Boston lettuces (gorgeous, and BOMB on burgers and perfect for lettuce wraps), the Bibb lettuces, and the sweet & crunchy blends. It’s a big wide lettuce world out there, my friend. And most of them now come pre-chopped and pre-washed in bags, making it truly convenient for even the laziest among us.
 

ARUGULA/RUCOLA/ROCKET
Speaking of greens, if you enjoy a standard spinach salad on the reg or often stir it into soups for an extra nutritional boost, give arugula a try instead. Also known as rucola or rocket, this peppery green has a visually interesting shape and a sharper flavor than most lettuces. One of the simplest and most sophisticated salads you can throw together is a pile of arugula leaves sprinkled with pine nuts and freshly grated Parmesan, tossed with extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, and salt and pepper. SEXY. (Also incredibly delicious tossed with a bit of Parma ham, burrata cheese, olive oil, and S & P.)
 

PARMESAN
And while we’re at it, PLEASE for the love of god stop using that powdered stuff in the green canister for serious food. It’s fine for the childhood dish of buttered noodles but when it comes to chic salads, pastas, or basically anything else, buy a wedge of the good fresh stuff (the best comes from Italy of course) and grate or shave it fresh. You’ll be amazed at the difference, and it keeps in the fridge forever when wrapped tightly in clingfilm.
 

MOZZARELLA
Since I’m on a roll here, who likes mozzarella? Everyone. If you don’t like mozz it’s probably because you’ve been eating the wrong kind, and by that I mean: cow’s milk. Did you know that mozzarella was (and still is, in Italy) originally made from the milk of water buffaloes? HOLY SHIT what a difference it makes.

Buffalo mozzarella (or mozzarella di bufala) is definitely harder to find than the bovine variety but I’ve found it in some Publixes in the south, Trader Joe’s up north, Whole Foods sporadically, Wegman’s regularly, and at Dean & Deluca. Most local private cheese shops will also special order it for you if you ask nicely.
(Sidenote: All that said, I'm going to ruin your life with some utterly bizarre buffalo mozzarella news. Click here.)
 

PICKLES
First of all, why is Vlasic’s spokes-animal a stork? What do storks have to do with pickles? Anyway it doesn’t matter because Vlasic pickles in all their gray-green glory are the absolute worst, and you should be eating Claussen pickles instead. Look for them in the refrigerated section, usually by the cold cuts because they’re cold cured and never heated so the cukes retain their INCREDIBLE crunch. No, I’m not being paid by Claussen to say this, so, ey-yooooo, if they felt like hooking me up with a lifetime supply I would be totally down with that, you’re welcome Claussen.

Oh, and pickles are fucking cucumbers, by the way. I recently had to explain that fact to a grown man. They are pickled cucumbers. Bye.
 

And now to round out the list, two of the absolute basics:

BREAD
Nothing says “I am still a freshman in college” louder than a bag of spongey soft white nothing bread. As a grown ass adult you should know by now that it holds absolutely no nutritional value for you, but if you still refuse to go the multi or whole grain route at least switch it up with some other, more interesting white breads: sourdough, Tuscan pane, French baguette, ciabatta, and boule come to mind. Oh, and don’t keep bread in the fridge. I’ve never understood why people do this, but it dries it out more quickly.
 

BUTTER
If you’re a die-hard butter lover (as opposed to the chemical shitstorm known as margarine, which NO ONE should be eating), try upgrading from your usual sticks or tub to Kerrygold Irish Butter. Oh baby. Oh YEAH BABY. This stuff is GOLD, so I get the name. I swear it’s unlike any other butter I’ve ever tried. Sweet and salty and rich and creamy with no lardy or oily aftertaste it is my Achilles heel, and spread onto warm crusty French bread it is absolute nirvana.

This article has to end now because I’ve drooled all over my keyboard so much it’s starting to make weird sparking noises, but go forth you sexy and sophisticated ladies and gents! First the fridge, then the world.

This has been reprinted with permission from an article I wrote for the rad folks over at The Magnifier, a division of VaynerMedia.

Update 2018: Regrettably, The Magnifier no longer exists.

Lekker: Tomato Basil Bruschetta

Ciao tutti!

Long time, no chat! It's been a busy two months since I last posted, because of Christmas, New year's, and then--moving to Rome, Italy, for five months as part of a study abroad program at my university.

RIGHT????

I started a separate blog to detail these study-abroad adventures called A Broad Travelling, so feel free to go check that out to see what I've been up to. Given that I'm in arguably the world's most amazing country for food, suffice to say I've been eating my equivalent body weight in pasta, pizza, Nutella, gelato, and wine.

Cooking, however, has been a MONUMENTAL challenge. I'm living on campus in a dorm, with no cafeteria and only two regular-sized kitchens (one standard fridge, one small oven, and three oven burners per kitchen) intended to serve the cooking needs of over 140 students. It's frustrating and I miss cooking terribly, but we're doing our best to make it work.

Last week, blessedly, I had the chance to take an actual cooking class here in Rome at the elbow of a true Italian chef, focused on locally sourced and seasonal, sustainable food. (I blathered about it here, with tons more photos.)  I KNOW, THIS IS MY LIFE NOW GUYS. Fortunately for YOU, I have permission to share all those delicious recipes with you here! Thanks, Chef Andrea!

First up is my recipe for some simple, delicious Tomato Basil Bruschetta that I dreamed up years ago--and was thrilled to find out is also Chef Andrea's recipe. It's super simple and can be done largely in advance so you really have no excuse. Buon appetito!

Here, pictured next to a second kind of bruschetta that will also be coming up on the blog in the next few days!

Tomato Basil Bruschetta (a/k/a Bruschetta al Pomodoro e Basilico)
serves 4

What You Need
8 slices think white Italian bread, or any other kind that can answer the call to be bruschetta
4 large Roma tomatoes (though we used round tomatoes on the vine, here called 'Pomodori Colonna')
10-12 leaves fresh basil, roughly torn
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed into a few big rough pieces
2 additional large cloves garlic, sliced in half lengthways
4 T cold pressed extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling (since this is a raw dish that involves marinating, it's REALLY important to use a high quality olive oil)
salt and pepper, to taste

What You Do
1. Roughly chop the tomatoes into a small dice (don't worry about removing skin or seeds) and combine in a small bowl with the torn basil leaves, crushed garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss to combine and leave to marinate out on the counter for at least 30 minutes and up to several hours.

2. Grill the slices of bread on your stovetop (or in your oven, or in your toaster) until lightly golden brown and possibly charred in a few spots. You want it to get nice and crispy and dry.

3. Rub one side of each slice of bread with half a clove of raw garlic, just lightly. Then drizzle each slice of bread with a tiny bit of olive oil.

4. When you're ready to serve, simply compile your tomato-basil topping on top of each slice of toast, and serve. You can fish out the chunks of garlic if you have extra-sensitive guests, but I personally LOVE the spicy kick of garlic so I leave it in. I don't care to kiss anyone that can't get down with garlic, anyway.

Lekker: Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

So my Dad's been on a random mushroom kick lately and every weekend I come home, he buys a pair of portobello mushroom caps for us to have. No real plan or anything, just...buys them and looks at me expectantly. Please don't ask me to explain any further because I really don't know.

Anyway, last night I realised we had some spinach in the fridge that needed to be used and stuffed mushrooms became pretty obvious. Grievously, I forgot how much mushrooms shrink when they cook--it was a LONG week of calculus, okay--so with one mushroom each even topped with a poached egg for some filling protein, we were a bit underfed.

To that end I suggest you employ these as a side dish to chicken or steak; or double the portion per person to serve as a full dinner with a salad on the side; or perhaps for brunch as well. No matter what though, it's easy, fast, and delicious!

See? OK, the mushroom shrinks quite a bit so...yeah...I promise it's there and it's yummy. The molten egg yolk creates a rich sauce that pulls everything together.

Oh, and? I recognise this is a crappy picture. The photography struggle in my Dad's kitchen with flickering fluorescent lights is REAL, I tell you.

STUFFED PORTOBELLO MUSHROOMS
the recipe as written serves 2 as a side dish; double it to create a proper meal for brunch or lunch with a salad

WHAT YOU NEED

• 2 portobello mushroom caps
• 1 very large handful fresh baby spinach, chopped finely
• 1 Roma or beefsteak tomato, seeded and finely diced
• ~1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs (I didn't have any so I just made my own using a piece of whole wheat bread grated on a box grater. Spread it out on a foil-lined pan--you'll reuse the same one to bake the mushrooms so you're not dirtying another dish--and spray with cooking oil of your choice. Bake at 375 for about 4 minutes and they'll be crispy and good to go.)
• 1/2 cup of grated cheese of your choice (I used extra sharp cheddar since that's what we had but feta, Parmesan, or any other hard cheese would be great here.)
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• S & P, to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon olive oil, maybe

Optional: two eggs, poached, to top


WHAT YOU DO

1. Preheat your oven to 375. As with all mushrooms, first wipe them down with a damp paper towel to remove any excess dirt. Then, using a spoon, gently scrape out the dark gills on the underside. I've never been formally told to do this, but they REALLY freak me out and don't look delicious at all, and I know other people do it, so--follow the crowd. Do it. Also creates a deeper bowl to stuff more delicious things in.

2. In a small mixing bowl, combine the spinach, tomato, breadcrumbs, cheese, oregano, and salt and pepper. If it looks very dry and isn't bonding well, add a bit of olive oil to bring it all together.

3. On a small baking sheet lined with foil, lay your mushroom caps upside down. Spoon the mixture into the cavity until it's well heaped, leaving a bit of room around the edges to account for shrinkage.

4. Bake for 10 minutes, then broil for an additional 2-3 minutes to get the breadcrumbs right on the top nice and crispy.

You can be busy poaching your eggs while the mushrooms are baking, if you opt to serve them that way, which you should, because I said so. I can't WAIT to make these for brunch this weekend, perfect alongside a mimosa or seven.