Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Coco500 has fried green beans

And truffled zucchini flower flatbread. They are awesome. Also good but not awesome was the duck liver terrine and the tomato braised pork shoulder.

Nate and I had eyes bigger than our stomachs last night and ordered two small plates, a large plate and one flatbread (after consuming lots of wine and white cheddar Cheezits at home). We finished about half of the food. Our waiter chastised us. When we ordered dessert (!?) he said that he wouldn't bring it to us unless we promised to finish it. Well, it was hard not to, given its deliciousness. Cherry gelee with buttermilk panna cotta and nice little shortbreads on the side. A fifty-fifty, it was called. And really, just the perfect mix.

Now I'm enjoying a fancy lunch of leftover truffled flat bread and cottage cheese (eaten separately) while I type a report and try not to think about wedding dresses.

Friday, June 6, 2008

Eat your veggies!

Nate doesn't like green things, except for salad. He especially doesn't like greens that verge towards bitter, like collards and kale. Unfortunately, it's that time of year when the grocery box is full of these things. And I like them, having a penchant for bitter tastes (Campari and tonic water being my favorite examples).

My not-so-sneaky plan is to just make them, regardless of Nate's preference. He seldom eats them, but it means more lunch for me the next day. The grocery box people are nice enough to include a letter with recipes specific to each week's box. A few weeks ago, they had a recipe for collard greens, which I made to great effect for the Southern BBQ cookoff. It involves a little garlic, raisins, and orange juice, which soften the bitter edge of the greens (I think).

It goes something like this:

Blanch the greens (which you've washed and torn/sliced into bite sized pieces)
Shock them in ice water
Soften some garlic in a bit of olive oil in a saute pan
Put the drained greens in the garlic-y pan, along with some raisins
Squeeze half an orange in with the greens (drink the other half's juice, if it's nice and ripe)
Cover the pan for a few minutes to braise the greens
Voila!

I mixed this with some brown rice for what turned out to be a ridiculously healthy meal. Tonight, to repent, I'll have something cheesy or meaty.