Dear friends,
My life revolves around gathering food, preparing food and eating it. Those are my hobbies, undiluted by such trivial pastimes as housework, crocheting or playing tennis.
I go to New York City to — what, go to plays? shop? No. I go to eat in restaurants and from street carts. I plan trips like a general preparing for battle. There are maps and notes and arrows and troop movements (Tony is the sometimes-recalcitrant troop).
My bucket list includes the Hatch Chile Festival in Hatch, N.M.
My Saturdays are for farm markets.
I go to movies mainly for the popcorn.
Tony’s favorite outing, browsing the rubble at the Hartville Market, is bearable because I can buy vegetables and overstock groceries (single-slice packets of Spam! chicken-flavored potato chips!).
I used to feel sheepish about my single-minded focus until I read Calvin Trillin’s “Tummy Trilogy,” in which he explained visiting museums on vacations was an activity he used as a kind of digestif to separate the main purpose of travel: Meals.
I ply my hobby in the unlikeliest of places. Last week it was at the optometrist’s while choosing new glasses after cataract surgery. After Susan fitted the glasses and wrote the order, she whipped out a cell phone to show me what she’d made for dinner recently. Neither of us had mentioned food or my previous employment. Yet there she was, describing in detail a suave watermelon salad topped with crisp-fried prosciutto, crumbled feta and microgreens. In the photo, the plank of watermelon rested on a smear of tapenade and the whole thing was ringed with dots of balsamic syrup. It was glorious.
Maybe Susan recognized my name. Maybe she just recognized a kindred spirit. I left with downloaded photos of that gorgeous watermelon salad and knowledge that unlike skiing, say, or pentanque, food is a hobby that can be enjoyed anywhere.
Here’s my take on Susan’s watermelon salad, which she adapted from a recipe she saw on Fox 8’s “New Day Cleveland.”
WATERMELON SALAD WITH TAPENADE, PROSCIUTTO AND FETA
4 thick planks of watermelon (no rind), about 4- by 2- by 2 inches
8 slices prosciutto
4 heaping tbsp. olive tapenade (commercial is fine)
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 cup microgreens or spring lettuce mix
Balsamic syrup or pomegranate molasses
Cut the watermelon, wrap in plastic wrap and chill until ready to serve. Sizzle the prosciutto in a skillet, turning, until crisp. Wrap lightly in paper towels and set aside. Chill 4 salad plates.
Just before serving, line up the salad plates and ingredients on a counter. Smear the tapenade across the center of each plate and top with the watermelon. Top with the crisp prosciutto and crumbled feta. Gently crown the whole thing with a pouf of microgreens.
Sprinkle dots of the syrup or molasses in a circle around the watermelon. Drag the tines of a fork through the dots to create a pattern, if desired. Makes 4 appetizer portions.
GUT CHECK
Some things I cooked/assembled recently:
Venison soft tacos; sheet pan chicken with potatoes, peppers, cherry tomatoes, olives, feta and oregano; shrimp burgers (Trader Joe’s), coconut cauliflower soup; chicken tacos in jicama wraps; pan-fried cod, steamed new potatoes, raw vegetables and dip; fried egg, avocado and tomato on toast; cod chowder; watermelon salad with tapenade, feta and prosciutto; whole spice-rubbed smoked brisket; rosemary-smoked pork chops.
What I ordered in/from restaurants, etc:
Thin-crust pepperoni pizza from Big Star Pizza in Copley (my new obsession); frozen yogurt from Menchie’s; Spanish omelet and toast at Alexandri’s in Wadsworth; wasabi crunchy roll from Trader Joe’s in Beachwood; mashed potatoes, roast pork and sauerkraut bowl at the cafe in Lehman’s Hardware in Kidron; rack of lamb, baked jasmine rice with feta and olive gremolata at my friend Martha’s; pepperoni pizza from Giuseppe’s in the Portage Lakes.
TIDBITS
Corn season! Yay!!!
THE MAILBAG
From Nancy R.:
Too much work!
(Returned atop my July 14 newsletter for Jian Bing).
Dear Nancy:
I understand. It’s exhausting just reading a recipe divided into four parts. Normally I wouldn’t try to foist such a time suck on you, but this is a Chinese street food millions of people eat daily… An uncommonly delicious food you’ve never heard of!… And never will get to taste it unless you visit China or make it yourself! It’s soft, it’s crunchy, it’s killer!
If you make the thing in stages — the crackers one day, the batter another, the crepes another — it goes quickly. I intend to make them again. Yessiree. Just as soon as I recover from making the last batch.
From Theresa in North Carolina:
Hi Jane. I had a barbecue for family this past weekend and served a dip called Texas Caviar (my neighbor’s recipe). It was such a hit and (contains) lots of good protein from the beans.
TEXAS CAVIAR
1 can (about 15 oz.) black eyed peas
1 can (about 15 oz) black beans
1 can (about 15 oz.) of mexi corn
Drain and rinse these 3 and place in a bowl.
3 green onions, chopped
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes cut in quarters
1 packet dry Italian dressing (I used Good Seasons)
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. rice or wine vinegar
Juice of 1/2 lime
Add to items in bowl. Mix well and chill.
1 small avocado, diced
Chopped cilantro for garnish (optional)
Before serving sprinkle with avocado and chopped cilantro.
Serve with blue corn tortilla scoops. It’s also great on chicken tacos!
Lots of variations on this recipe but this is my favorite.
Dear Theresa:
Thanks for another protein-rich recipe for my file. I think I’ll spoon it onto the jicama wraps I bought at Trader Joe’s. The paper-thin slices of jicama, about 4 inches in diameter, are a no-cal swap for corn or flour tortillas. They must be used up within a few days, though, because they spoil quickly.
.