Kiwi Salad

Wow, Kiwis are cheap -often four for a dollar. I love the tartness and the crunch of the tiny seeds. All the Kiwis I've been getting lately are from Italy, a top producer of Kiwifruit. Although they are grown in every hemisphere, Kiwi are native to regions of China.

I threw together a salad of mixed greens with a slight amount of lemon and olive oil. Then I cut up some Parmigiano-Reggiano and tossed that on top. Then sliced some kiwi and tossed that on too. I was pleased.

Mignon Parmigiana

I have an Italian American mother who doesn't like much -but tomato sauce, pasta (family says macaroni for all shapes) cheese, and meat. So, no surprise I tend to cook this way. But after leaving home, you start eating other people's food and growing your taste. Unlike Ma, and whatever Batali says about real Italians liking mushy broccoli, I like broccoli sauteed firm with garlic and drizzled with a good olive oil, salt and pepper. I chose bread instead of pasta cause it was hot enough in the apartment without a steam engine going. Fairway in Red Hook (across from my wife's studio on Van Brunt) was having a crazy deal on fresh mozzarella (3.99/lb). I bought three -froze two. A can of LaValle san marzanos I had stored from some crazy deal they had on those a few months ago. Basil -garden. Fairway again, they had a deal on filet mignon (4.99/lb) in one of those wet-age bags that I do not prefer -but still a deal for this meal. I cut it up and froze some. Sliced the rest 3/8ths thick, covered it in breadcrumbs and fried it up in xv olive oil, lightly browned. Then into the dish with the sauce and cheese. Its very hard for me to cook for one, which I'm doing all summer. Fortunately I'm learning that leftovers are good. My mom always told us we needed to finish the pot(that meant the rest of the pasta) insisting we'd be hungry and this left an indelible urge to eat everything.

Dip the steak in egg. Then cover in bread crumbs.

Fry it up in the pan.

Have the sauce ready to go. This one has mushrooms.

In a dish layer the steak, sauce, and cheese. Throw some basil on top and yummy.

Home Made Street Meat

I eat this about once a week, purchased from a halal cart on the sidewalk in front of school. We don't have many choices in our neighborhood for a quick bite, and this meal checks in at 5 bucks and is relatively healthy (chicken, rice, not greasy). I thought this meal would be quick at home and maybe even more tasty. I added more broccoli than the man at the cart seems ever willing to give me and added the peppers for flavor. On the street, vegetables are 99 percent iceberg lettuce and a slice of tomato. I omitted those, working only with what I had on hand, but add those too if you wish. I can only imagine that I missed a spice in my home made street meat, but that said, I think the cumin and paprika approximated the street experience.

For two plates, plus lunch leftovers:

• 1-1/2 cups rice with added sweet Hungarian paprika for color cooked in the rice cooker
• 1 cup frozen peas into the rice cooker
• 1-1/2 lbs boneless chicken thighs.
• as much broccoli as you like
• 1 onion -sliced
• 1 Italian red pepper -diced
• 1 hot pepper, any kind -diced
• oil, your choice
• paprika
• cumin
• salt and pepper
• optional hot sauce
• optional yogurt or sour cream

Cook your rice as you wish. I added the frozen peas to the rice because my cooker is big enough to accommodate cooking both at the same time. Also, the cooker keeps the finished rice done while I am waiting on the chicken.

Chop up the chicken. I put the chicken in a cast iron skillet and into the oven at 325 degrees with some olive oil, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper. I cooked it for about 1/2 hour and pulled it out of the oven (watch the hot handle!) to drain off the fat. I threw into the skillet the sliced onion, chopped peppers, and broccoli florets along with some more paprika, stirred it up and placed it back in the oven for about another 1/2 hour.

Serve the rice and chicken together. I add lots o hot sauce. You could also eat the meat and vegetables alone in a pita. 

Ham Casserole

This is the extra large ham that my father-in-law gave to us as we left his home in Minnesota this past holiday. He wants to give us a ham every year. One year, I am ashamed to admit, the ham only made it as far as a rest stop garbage can in Pennsylvania. This year, since the ham was recently purchased and the air was so cold the ham remained frozen for the whole trip in the car's trunk, I decided to keep it.

When I was searching for a white wine at a local liquor distributor, many of the tags on the shelves read "Good With Ham." I do not know why ham is the meat of choice around the holidays in Minnesota, but it is (maybe all the time?). No matter, I decided to cook its 11 pound ass last night.

I am a fan of ham and eat many varieties. My main complaint about this kind of ham is that it is way too salty. I washed it off and cooked it for 2.5 hours at 300 degrees even though it was 'pre-cooked.' So now the question remains, what to do with all that ham? Any ideas?

Below was my first idea. A casserole, which I am learning to appreciate. It's the meal of choice in my wife's Minnesota homeland, and I feel that the best way for me to get accustomed to casseroles is to start making my own. I even convinced myself that baked ziti is a casserole.

 Portuguese Peas, Parmigiano, and potatoes.

Olive oil underneath, sliced potatoes 1/8-inch thick, grated parmigiano.

Small chunks of ham, minced shallots.

More potatoes, then peas, cheese, and shallots. Repeat until dish is full.

On top, one last set of potato slices, cheese, black pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil.

The result was tasty, but I forgot one ingredient: funghi! Well, I think a casserole is defined by what you have on hand, and mushrooms were not. I still have 9 pounds of ham left. Now what?