Tag: how to make

Current Crush: Avocado Toast

I did notice the avocado toast on the Select Boston menu, but I was so busy trying all the lovely seafood that I neglected that option.

Then, one afternoon, Ed and I were sitting at the bar when we were joined by Kelly, a long time neighbor and dog walking friend. Being a former California girl, she ordered the avocado toast and sang its praises. Our next visit we followed her smart example.

Now, this dish is in our, "have-the-makings-on-hand" for a quick supper rotation. Penny made the batch above on Iggy's sliced Francese. We usually have a loaf of that in our freezer. The sourdough flavor plays well with the avocado.

The avocado was mashed and mixed with a bit of lime juice and salt. The toasted bread was rubbed with garlic, drizzled with a tiny bit of olive oil, spread with avocado mixture. A final sprinkle of flaky Maldon Sea Salt and Espelette Pepper added just the right bit of seasoning.

A big thank you to Chef Michael Serpa of Select for introducing us to great avocado toast and Espelette pepper. One is a new item in our quick supper list and the other is adding a delightful flavor to our pepper "palette."

Do you get food crushes? Do you love avocado toast? What's your favorite avocado toast combo?

What's on your Food Lover's shopping list?

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2015 Penny Cherubino

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August 6, 2015
Pulled Pork with Tart, Tangy Cole Slaw

Pulled pork is something we've normally enjoyed in BBQ restaurants since Penny is not about to try preparing it in our tiny urban kitchen. But, she did spot a package of pulled pork among the fresh packaged meals, mains, and sides at our local Trader Joe's, recently.

We tried it and liked it. Since the sauce is a bit sweet and mayo is outlawed in our food, Penny's solution was to balance the sweetness of the pork with a tart, tangy cole slaw.

In addition to cabbage, carrots, celery, and scallions, we added a finely shredded hakurei turnip purchased from farmer Michael Docter of Winter Moon Farm at the Wayland Winter Farmers' Market. Those are his carrots too! And, below you see him offering samples of the carrots and turnips.

The dressing was malt vinegar, salt, pepper, a bit of honey, and a handful of yellow mustard seeds. This slaw is best made the day before you need it. Letting it sit and pickle mellows out the raw vegetable flavors and allows the mustard seeds work their zingy magic. Just give it a mix a couple of times as it sits in the refrigerator.

Shredding

In case you were wondering, the shredder Penny was using is a very old, now considered vintage, Borner Thin Julienne Slicer. This syle has long since been replaced by new versions. Here's the current one – Borner Thin Julienne Slicer. (It is fun to see things you use all the time listed on ebay as vintage goods.)

This tool cuts in both directions so it makes quick work of the slaw preparation and it's easy to clean under a stong spray of water. Make sure you use a guard. It doesn't come with one but we use one from another mandoline. The guard also makes it possible to shred almost all of the carrots or turnips with only a thin scrap left behind.

Assembly

As you see in the photo, we used the bread we had on hand. Softer bread is the usual choice for a pulled pork sandwich but our kitchen staple is crusty artisan bread. This was a ciabatta from Trader Joe's. And, because of that crusty texture, we opted for open faced sandwiches. Messy, but delicious!

Pulled Pork Tips

We did heat the pork in the microwave. Penny breaks it up a bit before she cooks it and removes the occasional piece of fat. (Yes, fat is flavor, but there's plenty of intramuscular fat in this product.) She also makes an effort to get all the sauce out of the bag, squeezing it like a pastry bag.

In this review of the product from SFGate, one of the testers thought it was dry. That could be because a lot of the sauce was left behind in the bag or that the meat was not fully shredded and mixed with the sauce. It was the winner in this taste-off of six prepared pulled pork products.

Have you tried some of these fresh Trader Joe's products? What did you like or not like?

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2014 Penny & Ed Cherubino

February 18, 2014
Pulled Pork with Tart, Tangy Cole Slaw

Pulled pork is something we've normally enjoyed in BBQ restaurants since Penny is not about to try preparing it in our tiny urban kitchen. But, she did spot a package of pulled pork among the fresh packaged meals, mains, and sides at our local Trader Joe's, recently.

We tried it and liked it. Since the sauce is a bit sweet and mayo is outlawed in our food, Penny's solution was to balance the sweetness of the pork with a tart, tangy cole slaw.

In addition to cabbage, carrots, celery, and scallions, we added a finely shredded hakurei turnip purchased from farmer Michael Docter of Winter Moon Farm at the Wayland Winter Farmers' Market. Those are his carrots too! And, below you see him offering samples of the carrots and turnips.

The dressing was malt vinegar, salt, pepper, a bit of honey, and a handful of yellow mustard seeds. This slaw is best made the day before you need it. Letting it sit and pickle mellows out the raw vegetable flavors and allows the mustard seeds work their zingy magic. Just give it a mix a couple of times as it sits in the refrigerator.

Shredding

In case you were wondering, the shredder Penny was using is a very old, now considered vintage, Borner Thin Julienne Slicer. This syle has long since been replaced by new versions. Here's the current one – Borner Thin Julienne Slicer. (It is fun to see things you use all the time listed on ebay as vintage goods.)

This tool cuts in both directions so it makes quick work of the slaw preparation and it's easy to clean under a stong spray of water. Make sure you use a guard. It doesn't come with one but we use one from another mandoline. The guard also makes it possible to shred almost all of the carrots or turnips with only a thin scrap left behind.

Assembly

As you see in the photo, we used the bread we had on hand. Softer bread is the usual choice for a pulled pork sandwich but our kitchen staple is crusty artisan bread. This was a ciabatta from Trader Joe's. And, because of that crusty texture, we opted for open faced sandwiches. Messy, but delicious!

Pulled Pork Tips

We did heat the pork in the microwave. Penny breaks it up a bit before she cooks it and removes the occasional piece of fat. (Yes, fat is flavor, but there's plenty of intramuscular fat in this product.) She also makes an effort to get all the sauce out of the bag, squeezing it like a pastry bag.

In this review of the product from SFGate, one of the testers thought it was dry. That could be because a lot of the sauce was left behind in the bag or that the meat was not fully shredded and mixed with the sauce. It was the winner in this taste-off of six prepared pulled pork products.

Have you tried some of these fresh Trader Joe's products? What did you like or not like?

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2014 Penny & Ed Cherubino

February 18, 2014
Pulled Pork with Tart, Tangy Cole Slaw

Pulled pork is something we've normally enjoyed in BBQ restaurants since Penny is not about to try preparing it in our tiny urban kitchen. But, she did spot a package of pulled pork among the fresh packaged meals, mains, and sides at our local Trader Joe's, recently.

We tried it and liked it. Since the sauce is a bit sweet and mayo is outlawed in our food, Penny's solution was to balance the sweetness of the pork with a tart, tangy cole slaw.

In addition to cabbage, carrots, celery, and scallions, we added a finely shredded hakurei turnip purchased from farmer Michael Docter of Winter Moon Farm at the Wayland Winter Farmers' Market. Those are his carrots too! And, below you see him offering samples of the carrots and turnips.

The dressing was malt vinegar, salt, pepper, a bit of honey, and a handful of yellow mustard seeds. This slaw is best made the day before you need it. Letting it sit and pickle mellows out the raw vegetable flavors and allows the mustard seeds work their zingy magic. Just give it a mix a couple of times as it sits in the refrigerator.

Shredding

In case you were wondering, the shredder Penny was using is a very old, now considered vintage, Borner Thin Julienne Slicer. This syle has long since been replaced by new versions. Here's the current one – Borner Thin Julienne Slicer. (It is fun to see things you use all the time listed on ebay as vintage goods.)

This tool cuts in both directions so it makes quick work of the slaw preparation and it's easy to clean under a stong spray of water. Make sure you use a guard. It doesn't come with one but we use one from another mandoline. The guard also makes it possible to shred almost all of the carrots or turnips with only a thin scrap left behind.

Assembly

As you see in the photo, we used the bread we had on hand. Softer bread is the usual choice for a pulled pork sandwich but our kitchen staple is crusty artisan bread. This was a ciabatta from Trader Joe's. And, because of that crusty texture, we opted for open faced sandwiches. Messy, but delicious!

Pulled Pork Tips

We did heat the pork in the microwave. Penny breaks it up a bit before she cooks it and removes the occasional piece of fat. (Yes, fat is flavor, but there's plenty of intramuscular fat in this product.) She also makes an effort to get all the sauce out of the bag, squeezing it like a pastry bag.

In this review of the product from SFGate, one of the testers thought it was dry. That could be because a lot of the sauce was left behind in the bag or that the meat was not fully shredded and mixed with the sauce. It was the winner in this taste-off of six prepared pulled pork products.

Have you tried some of these fresh Trader Joe's products? What did you like or not like?

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2014 Penny & Ed Cherubino

February 18, 2014
Enhancing an Italian Grinder with Summer Market Fare

Sandwiches make it onto our menu more often when I have wonderfully fresh ingredients from the farmers' markets to enhance them.

The Italian Grinder style sandwich above was the result of a quick stop at Trader Joe's to buy milk on the way home from the Copley Square Market. Ed and Poppy (our puppy) waited upstairs while I shopped for that and something for lunch.

In the deli case, I saw mixed packages of Italian and Spanish ham and salamis. I bought the Italian to make my farmers' market version of this Italian American classic.

At home, I made a mixed salad from some tomatoes, cucumbers, and scallions from the market, seasoning it with vinegar, olive oil, and ground pepper. (There is more than enough salt in the prepared ingredients for our taste.)

Ed sliced our loaf of Iggy's Francese and I layered on the prosciutto, capocollo, and salame from the TJ's package. Next, I spread a bit of TJ's tapenade and sliced artichoke hearts we had in the refrigerator, then piled on the tomato salad.

Even in a mixed presentation like this, the freshness of the heirloom tomatoes and snappy, farm-fresh cucumbers shined through and turned a sandwich lunch into a memorable meal.

What do you know about Amazon Prime? We use it and love it. You pay once-a-year for free, 2-day shipping delivery charges. Amazon throws in access to instant streaming movies and tv shows, and they let you borrow a free ebook each month. They will even give you a one-month free trial. Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Join Amazon Prime – Watch Over 40,000 Movies

Details:

Words: Penny Cherubino
Photography: © 2013 Penny Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

July 16, 2013
Enhancing an Italian Grinder with Summer Market Fare

Sandwiches make it onto our menu more often when I have wonderfully fresh ingredients from the farmers' markets to enhance them.

The Italian Grinder style sandwich above was the result of a quick stop at Trader Joe's to buy milk on the way home from the Copley Square Market. Ed and Poppy (our puppy) waited upstairs while I shopped for that and something for lunch.

In the deli case, I saw mixed packages of Italian and Spanish ham and salamis. I bought the Italian to make my farmers' market version of this Italian American classic.

At home, I made a mixed salad from some tomatoes, cucumbers, and scallions from the market, seasoning it with vinegar, olive oil, and ground pepper. (There is more than enough salt in the prepared ingredients for our taste.)

Ed sliced our loaf of Iggy's Francese and I layered on the prosciutto, capocollo, and salame from the TJ's package. Next, I spread a bit of TJ's tapenade and sliced artichoke hearts we had in the refrigerator, then piled on the tomato salad.

Even in a mixed presentation like this, the freshness of the heirloom tomatoes and snappy, farm-fresh cucumbers shined through and turned a sandwich lunch into a memorable meal.

What do you know about Amazon Prime? We use it and love it. You pay once-a-year for free, 2-day shipping delivery charges. Amazon throws in access to instant streaming movies and tv shows, and they let you borrow a free ebook each month. They will even give you a one-month free trial. Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Join Amazon Prime – Watch Over 40,000 Movies

Details:

Words: Penny Cherubino
Photography: © 2013 Penny Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

July 16, 2013
Enhancing an Italian Grinder with Summer Market Fare

Sandwiches make it onto our menu more often when I have wonderfully fresh ingredients from the farmers' markets to enhance them.

The Italian Grinder style sandwich above was the result of a quick stop at Trader Joe's to buy milk on the way home from the Copley Square Market. Ed and Poppy (our puppy) waited upstairs while I shopped for that and something for lunch.

In the deli case, I saw mixed packages of Italian and Spanish ham and salamis. I bought the Italian to make my farmers' market version of this Italian American classic.

At home, I made a mixed salad from some tomatoes, cucumbers, and scallions from the market, seasoning it with vinegar, olive oil, and ground pepper. (There is more than enough salt in the prepared ingredients for our taste.)

Ed sliced our loaf of Iggy's Francese and I layered on the prosciutto, capocollo, and salame from the TJ's package. Next, I spread a bit of TJ's tapenade and sliced artichoke hearts we had in the refrigerator, then piled on the tomato salad.

Even in a mixed presentation like this, the freshness of the heirloom tomatoes and snappy, farm-fresh cucumbers shined through and turned a sandwich lunch into a memorable meal.

What do you know about Amazon Prime? We use it and love it. You pay once-a-year for free, 2-day shipping delivery charges. Amazon throws in access to instant streaming movies and tv shows, and they let you borrow a free ebook each month. They will even give you a one-month free trial. Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Join Amazon Prime – Watch Over 40,000 Movies

Details:

Words: Penny Cherubino
Photography: © 2013 Penny Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often, those add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

July 16, 2013