Back to Work I Go.
This week I'm back on the subway, trying outdoor dining, and feeling the pangs of being out of practice in my craft. Plus no recipe 🤷♀️, but have you ever eaten crickets?
Autumn has been creeping in since last week, with morning temps in the 50s and 60s, and days and evenings in the 70s. What a relief.
This week, I took the subway for the first time in 6 months and it was an emotional roller coaster for the first 15 minutes, but it quickly felt old hat (new mask). My partner and I walked through Manhattan from West 4th Street all the way up to and through Central Park, and were delighted to see people out and about, dining in the open streets, going in and out of shops, and generally taking care of business. There were not nearly the amount of shuttered storefronts that I was expecting to see. The city is almost entirely free of tourists right now, reducing some of the overcrowding that we’re accustomed to and making it feel more like the locals are out to play.
Back in my neighborhood, on one of my strolls I found a cricket farm housed in a former hot dog cart. Have you eaten crickets before? I once tried a free sample of a protein bar that used cricket protein powder and thought it tasted like any other crappy protein bar I've had. But crickets are allegedly a more sustainable and environmentally friendly source of protein than meat or dairy. Although some sources disagree.
Another first this week was outdoor dining with a friend in town. We went to Piccola Trattoria in Park Slope for Italian food. It was a lovely evening, perfect for sitting outside with a glass of wine. We shared an appetizer of prosciutto, grilled peaches, and pecorino cheese with a balsamic fig reduction, and ordered entrees of pappardelle with honey braised short rib ragu, and rigatoni with “grandma’s bolognese”. The bolognese (not pictured) was the superior order, but everything was good and the pasta is house made.
My biggest update this week is that I'm back to work. After a 6 month spell of unemployment split between Quarantine in the city and a Summer upstate with my family, I’ve jumped back into personal cheffing with my pre-pandemic employer, Meal Prep Chef. And I am r u s t y.
Below is a photo of a vegetarian meal prep I slogged through for a client this week. Top to bottom is: Falafel Bites using my Chickpea Fritter Recipe (with a flax egg and no miso paste) over Quinoa Tabbouleh Salad and Harissa Roasted Carrots, Vietnamese Style Tofu with Roasted Broccoli, Pickled Onions and Rice (based on this recipe), and Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese with more Roasted Broccoli.
What I’m Cooking (for myself)
Although the outdoor temperatures have cooled, it can still be balmy inside the apartment so I’ve been sticking with my low maintenance meals. Since I’m back to work, I’m spending most of my cooking bandwidth preparing food for other people, which can sometimes leave me drained of the energy needed to cook for myself. Some highlights in my kitchen this week were:
Taco Night I made taco meat using ground beef mixed with all of the typical spices. There are three secret ingredients I like to add to my taco meat: vinegar, tomato sauce or paste, and if I have it on hand—sour cherry jam. We used corn tortillas that I toasted over an open flame on the stovetop, and piled our tacos with shredded cheese, lettuce, sour cream and pickled red onions.
Herby Tomato Gazpacho I finished off the last of the produce from my mom’s garden by making gazpacho based on Julie Moskin’s recipe for the New York Times. I omitted the Italian frying pepper, swapped out sherry vinegar for apple cider vin, didn’t measure any ingredients, and tossed in lots of leftover herbs that were starting to wilt in my crisper (chives, dill, parsley and mint). The resultant color wasn’t very vibrant, but the herbs really punched up the end of summer flavors.
Something for Dinner
Herby Baked Chicken The origin of all of those fresh herbs was this super moist and flavorful baked chicken breast. I sliced three breasts thinly and generously coated them with salt, garlic and onion powder. Then I left them in the fridge for several hours. Before baking, I coated them in a tablespoon of cornstarch, then whisked an egg with a handful of chopped herbs and tossed the chicken around in it. It baked for about 15-20 minutes in a 400F oven. I had a hot pan already on the stove so I placed the breasts into it for just a minute or two to give them a touch more color after coming out of the oven.
Adequate salt, plus the chives were what really made this chicken great. I served it alongside white rice and a hodgepodge of veggies that were stir fried with lemon zest, fennel, a splash of vinegar and maple syrup.
Something Sweet
Raspberry Lemon Muffins I had a big old fail with these this week, but redeemed myself with a second batch.
Weekly Bread
Oh how I’ve neglected Doughseph since being back. Finding a baking rhythm has been tough. Actually, finding any rhythm has been tough as I re-acclimate myself to working and living in the city again.
I even let last week’s loaf go stale. But I made garlic and herb croutons out of it, which I used to top the gazpacho with.
Rosemary & Sesame Seed Sourdough With slightly cooler temps I opted not to make changes to my recipe or method, and moved forward with a prayer instead. I added 2 tablespoons of dried rosemary and 2 tablespoons of white sesame seeds when mixing up the dough. Then, I made a sesame crust by pressing the ball of dough into a bowl full of seeds just before transferring it to the banneton for the final proof. It was beautiful, inside and out.
Thanks!
If you try any of the recipes please share what you think in the comments or reply to this email, and tag me on Instagram! Let me know what you loved (or didn’t!) and how you made it your own. If you like this newsletter, please share it with a friend!