How You Will Know that I’m Not Southern
Do we dare stop to try them?
Since it was spring break for the girls last week, we decided to take a few days and head off to one of our favorite vacation spots in Virginia. We’ve been going to this place for years, and always pass this stand at the side of the road, barely registering its presence. But after all these years, Joe decided it was time to check out Boiled Peanuts.
Louisa: “You’re not going to stop there.”
Joe: “Why not, let’s see what boiled peanuts are.”
Louisa: “What if it’s not safe?”
Joe: “It’s been there for years, I’m sure it’s fine.”
Me: “I’m sure if the boiled peanuts were poisoned, the police would have closed down this stand years ago.”
Louisa: “What if the police came to do that and they became poisoned?”
Joe: “I’m pulling in.”
Me: “We’ll buy them and google them when we get back.”
Annie: No comment this whole time, she was listening to her iPod. That’s just the way it is with 14 year olds.
Wikipedia: ”Boiled peanuts are popular in some places where peanuts are common. Fully mature peanuts do not make good quality boiled peanuts; rather raw or “green” ones are used. “Raw” denotes peanuts in a semi-mature state, having achieved full size, but not being fully dried, as would be needed for roasting or peanut butter use. After boiling they take on a strong salty taste and become softer with the length of cooking, somewhat resembling a pea or bean, to which they are related. The most flavorful peanuts for boiling are the Valencia type. These are preferred in the United States, being grown in gardens and small patches throughout the South. Green Virginia type peanuts are also sometimes used.”
Further down on the Wikipedia page I learned that boiled peanuts have 4 times the antioxidants of raw or roasted peanuts. Who knew?
P.S. We ate the peanuts. They were soft and salty, but strangely appealing in a hearty, satisfying food kind of way. Somewhat reminiscent of sweet potato flavor, in my opinion. No one died from this food experiment.
Catching Up on Missed Opportunities
Since last Thursday I’ve been running in full foodie mode. I could have been blogging, tweeting, and facebooking all of my preparations for Easter dinner. But I didn’t. I get so wrapped up in my “doing” that I don’t have much time to write about it. I truly admire foodie bloggers that can do both simultaneously. I’ll try to make up for it now in hindsight.
As of last Thursday, the only framework I had for my Easter dinner was that we would have a pasta course, mandatory in this Italian household if any holiday falls on a Sunday, and a fresh ham. That’s why on Thursday I had to get serious about my menu planning. For starters, I attempted to find a recipe for fresh ham since I had never roasted one before, and was concerned that I would blow it and the ham would be undercooked. I had no luck with that, so I consulted with the butcher at Whole Foods who gave me general cooking guidelines. On the advice of my mom who has cooked many fresh hams, I created a bed of celery, onions, carrots, and a green pepper (to substitute for the green pepper bread stuffing she usually makes). I rubbed the ham with a paste of garlic, olive oil, kosher salt, and fresh thyme the night before. It tasted very good, especially the gravy made from the vegetables and drippings, but I had the opposite cooking problem, it was overcooked instead of undercooked because I got wrapped up in the girls’ Easter egg hunt and didn’t check it on time.
As for the rest of the menu, I decided to turn to Giada’s “Family Dinners” for inspiration. I prepared the marinated vegetable salad you see here as one of the appetizers:
I also made these fresh herb goat cheese balls with home made crostini:
The next course you’ll have to take my word on because I missed the opportunity to photograph it. I was too busy digging into our locally made cheese ravioli, and the fettuccine noodles that Louisa and I made together the previous night. I actually found good tips on making the fettuccine earlier that day on a Lidia Bastianich program I had caught on PBS. Serendipity. So while watching the wonderful “Ten Commandments” we made sheets of pasta dough until Annie became too tired. I cut the strips after she went to bed.
For the main course, you can see we had the fresh ham accompanied by roasted asparagus and pine nuts, and couscous with raisins and almonds, both recipes from “Food Network” magazine. Asparagus always seem like a perfect Easter vegetable to me. We also had a little salad, home grown by my dad.
Dessert was another missed photo opportunity. I made a small New York cheesecake (the recipe I was having such a good time with back in January), fresh strawberries, and nutella ravioli, another recipe found in Giada’s cookbook. The nutella ravioli were really pretty simple to make. The day before I filled wonton wrappers with nutella and deep fried them very quickly. Unfortunately, while reheating them on Easter, I lost track of the time and they were a bit toastier than I wanted. But everybody still agreed that they were basically pretty good – just could have been better!
Today is Candy Monday, and I’m doing my best to celebrate in the spirit of the day. Plus, we’ll be eating leftovers for the next two nights, a great bonus for a pretty good Easter dinner.
Polenta as Easy as Pie
It’s always exciting to discover a new trick in the kitchen, and even better to share it with other food lovers. And if you like polenta, you’ll love this foolproof trick for making polenta.
I’ve attempted to make polenta at home before. It requires a lot of attention to stirring, stirring, stirring the pot so that it doesn’t stick. Patience and a willingness to stir are one thing, but the bigger problem has always been the volcanic eruptions. When polenta reaches a certain temperature, and you’ll know it when it happens, it bubbles so violently that it can hit the ceiling. Trust me, I’ve been there. Just be glad it hits the ceiling instead of a part of your face or arms. It’s not pleasant.
If you’re not brave or patient enough to try the stirring technique, you can purchase premade polenta rolls in the store. That’s fine if you planned to use fried or baked polenta slices for a recipe. But if you’re craving creamy, pudding like polenta, they just won’t do. I’ve tried to reconstitute them, but it’s just not the same.
So I think you can see why I’m so excited. I found a way, thanks to the Philadelphia Inquirer, to make creamy polenta without the tedious stirring or volcanic hazards. All you need is some unattended time to leave your pot in the oven. Not a bad tradeoff if you ask me. Here’s how:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a 4 quart casserole, mix together 8 cups of water, 1 teaspoon of salt, 2 cups of polenta, 2 tablespoons butter. Place in oven and bake uncovered for 1 hour, 15 minutes. Stir polenta and bake for 15 minutes more. Stir in 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese. Serve in a shallow bowl and top with sauce of your choosing. Enjoy!