Slow Food on Campus

Boston Globe recently published a piece on slow food on campus. Holy Cross is doing a twice-monthly dinner featuring a leisurely meal of locally-grown food and getting the fast-paced college kid to sit down, relax and eat.

It's an interesting concept. In general, I'm all for it: better quality food for the college kids, better for the producers, a chance to relax over dinner and best of all -- a change from the humdrum college cuisine (I think I ate pasta and sauce at least three nights a week when I was at school). The flip side is the same flip side for all slow food -- where it's just a little disturbing that we have to have a slow food campaign in the first place.

Imitation Is the Sincerest Form of Flattery

On Friday night, Glenn & I grabbed a quick bite at Hungry Mother (which is fast becoming my favorite restaurant). The side dish for my entree was browned Brussels sprouts and parsnips. I thought they were good, but Glenn flat-out loved them and practically licked the plate clean.

Cruising the supermarket, I figured I could do an interpretation of the dish and tweak it a little bit. I'm not much of a fan of Brussels sprouts, but I do love leeks. Seriously, in restaurants, if an entree has leeks as a side dish, I will order the entree on that basis alone. So, with that in mind, I swapped out the Brussels sprouts and cooked up a winner!

Braised Leeks & Parsnips

• 3 parsnips, peeled and cut into 1-2" chunks
• 3 leeks (white and light green parts), cleaned, quartered and cut into 1-2" slices
• 1 oz pancetta (I get mine at Trader Joe's)
• olive oil
• 1/3 - 1/2 c. chicken stock
• salt & pepper

Cook pancetta in a large pan on medium heat, until it starts to crisp and gives off all its fat, about 5 mins. Transfer pancetta to a paper towel to drain. Keep the pancetta fat in the pan and add the parsnips. Toss in the pan with salt & pepper and leave in a single layer for 4-5 mins until one side is seared. Toss again and sear for an additional 4-5 minutes. Add leeks and cook 3-5 minutes, until soft. Add the chicken stock, reduce heat and simmer ~5 minutes. Remove lid and let the remaining liquid cook off. Transfer to serving platter, top with pancetta and enjoy!

Sandwich Upgrade

Usually, I bring my lunch to work. This often involves leftovers from the night before, or, in more depressing situations, a bowl of Special K and a banana. However, from time to time, I get more creative and put together some knock-out sandwiches. There are precious few lunch options near my office, so whenever I get ready to dig into my sandwich, co-workers jealously eye it and ask where I got it from. Invariably, they are disappointed when my response is "I made it," and I take a little victory in having a delicious lunch!

Salami Sandwich

• 1 foccacini roll, from Trader Joe's (my new favorite!)
• 3 slices Genoa salami
• goat cheese, room temperature (or at least a few minutes out of the fridge)
• roasted red pepper
• romaine lettuce
• balsamic vinegar, for drizzling.

Spread goat cheese on one side of bread. Add salami, a few leaves of romaine and some cut-up roasted red pepper. Drizzle with a little balsamic. At lunch time, warm up in a toaster oven for a few minutes. Enjoy!

It's been a long, long time

Whew! Too long between posts. I'm making up for it with a delicious pork chop dish. I came across it leafing through a cookbook, looking for something new and fresh. Except for the pork chops, pretty much everything is a pantry staple, so it was easy to throw this together.

Pork Chops Alla Pizzaiola
Adapted from Food Network Favorites: Recipes from Our All-Star Chefs

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 pork chops, bone-in, about 1" thick
• 1 small onion, sliced thinly
• 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes, with juices
• 1 tsp dried mixed herbs (I used Herbs for Poultry, but Herbes de Provence or Italian seasoning would also work)
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp fresh parsley, chopped
• salt & pepper to taste
• flour, for dredging

Heat olive oil in a pan, on med-high heat. Add olive oil. Season pork chops on each side with salt & pepper; dredge in flour and add to pan. Cook until thoroughly browned, about 4-5 mins per side. Remove from pan and put on a plate to rest -- cover with foil to keep warm.

In same pan, add onions and cook until just softened, about 5-6 mins. Add tomatoes, mixed herbs and red pepper flakes. Cover and simmer for 15 mins, until sauce starts to thicken. Add pork chops back to the pan and cook with the tomato sauce, about 3-4 mins.

Serve pork chops and spoon tomato sauce on top. Top with fresh chopped parsley. We enjoyed ours with a side salad.

The End of Soup Season

Yesterday, it was 60 degrees and sunny. In typical New England fashion, today it was 30 degrees and snowing for most of the day. It's that time of year when I start to tire of roasted veggies and start dreaming about the grill and fresh fruit. Nevertheless, today's wintry weather made me wish I had some hearty soup for dinner instead of my take-out sub.

A few weeks ago, I tried Barefoot Contessa's take on Italian Wedding Soup. It was different from other versions I'd had in that:

1. It was made with chicken meatballs. I used a combination of ground chicken and sweet Italian chicken sausages and baked them.
2. The broth featured a hefty portion of dill; yes, dill!
3. Way more spinach than I'm used to seeing in this sort of soup.
4. I used my own homemade stock! Yup, 10 cups of it. I was a little worried it wasn't going to all fit in my stock pot....

It was pretty tasty overall, with just the right amount of spiciness. You can see the full recipe at FoodNetwork.com.