What Foods Would You Take to a Desert Island?
Readers, there is absolutely nothing inspirational about last night’s dinner. You’re not going to learn a single thing about cooking from it and neither will you be impressed by my culinary skills. I’ve been busy playing summer chauffeur which has cut my work day shorter than usual, and I’ve been finally fixing up my mom cave in the basement that was water damaged over the winter. Thank goodness there’s light at the end of the tunnel.
As I said, before I made excuses, this dinner was good, but hardly inspirational. We had the sliders in our freezer since the 4th of July and they were tasty hunks of beef, cooked well (not well done) on the grill by Joe. The broccoli was roasted in the oven, and almost overcooked (I became distracted by aforementioned Joe), but they were rescued in time from an over-crispy death. The red splotch on the plate were leftover fried peppers from my Mom, still very good. As you can see, I barely cooked.
Since I haven’t given you much to chew over in a recipe sense, I thought maybe we could have a few moments of foodie thoughts. When my kids ask me what my favorite movie, book, or whatever is, I rarely have an answer. But if you were to ask me what food I’d have to take for a long term stay on a desert island, I can provide a list that stays fairly consistent. Today, that list consists of:
Coffee; bacon; popcorn; milk chocolate truffles; Italian bread; cheese; a bitter vegetable of some sort like broccoli rabe, radicchio or endive; tortellini.
Eight simple items, I don’t think I’m asking for too much, do you?
So what would you need on your desert island, to get by until the rescue plane arrived?
Getting Out of Doing Homework
After raising Louisa for over 12 years, I can usually tell when she has an ulterior motive, which is often. The school year is winding down, and her get up and go for homework has gotten up and vanished from what I can tell. It’s not that it doesn’t get done, it’s just that she does it in bits and pieces, now and again. I can’t really complain because she gets to it, but I don’t like it when she tells me at 8:30 that she still has to finish homework, or when I see her sitting in the kitchen after breakfast finishing up something. I’m the kind of person that wants to finish the ugly stuff and put it behind me before moving on to something better, and I wish she would follow the same discipline so that she doesn’t find herself out of time when the bus is pulling up in the morning.
Ah, but I digressed, didn’t I? Let me return to ulterior motives. Last night as I was getting ready to prepare dinner, Louisa asked if she could make the Mango Ham Quesadilla that was on the menu. The recipe comes from “Everyday Food” and it was a very quick and easy meal, selected for that very reason. We were going to be out last night for Louisa’s voice concert and I didn’t want to be delayed in the kitchen. So when she offered to help, how could I refuse? Although I suspected that her homework wasn’t complete, I appreciated the extra set of hands assembling and grilling the quesadillas while I prepared the broccoli slaw salad. Between the two of us, dinner was whipped up in no time. And it was good. And homework got finished… this morning.
Note: This recipe was so easy and good, and uses just the kind of shortcuts that I like, that I thought I’d share it. Take one large tortilla of choice – I tried the red chile variety, but it didn’t really taste any different – spread a few tablespoons of Major Grey Chutney on one side. Top with shaved or shredded deli ham, crumbled Queso Fresco cheese (but you can use your favorite melting cheese with ham), and some chopped green onions. Fold in half, and grill approximately two minutes on each side over medium high heat. We grilled them indoors on a flat griddle, you can also grill them outside. And if your grilling surface isn’t non-stick, you might want to spritz them first with a little oil to keep from sticking.
Why Didn’t I Think of This?
Did I ever tell you that I play with my food? I don’t mean juggling oranges (although my brother can do that pretty well), or pushing it around on a plate – like a little kid avoiding dinner might do. No, I mean that unconsciously I’ll deconstruct or rearrange my food when I eat it. It used to drive Louisa crazy, but I think she’s now amused by it.
For example, take the Oreo cookie. I’ll split it in half, peel off the cream and eat it, then dunk the chocolate cookies into whatever beverage I’m drinking. I know, some of you probably do that too. But how about a Hostess Cupcake? First the white squiggle is picked off the top and eaten. That’s followed by peeling off the chocolate frosting and downing that. Next the cake is divided in half and I eat the cream, followed by the cake. Still not convinced? Take a Mallomar cookie how many of you have ever had one of these – they’re one of my mom’s favorites – but don’t look for them now, because they’re a seasonal cookie. I press in the dark chocolate dome on top to create cracks in the chocolate that I can pick off to eat first. The big marshmallow is bitten off whole and devoured. Finally the base is dunked in my beverage. Too much dessert for you?
Let’s move on to mashed potatoes then. Sometimes I don’t even realize when I’m doing it, but the potatoes are pushed around into a block or rectangle, then I delicately cut off strips with my fork as I eat, keeping the shape uniform as I go. Or string beans get lined up in neat military lines and stabbed in small regiments with my fork. I guess by now nobody really wants to eat with me, do they?
My point is that someone like myself should have realized the potential in Armenian string cheese, but it took my friend Sheri to clue me in. I don’t really know how I missed this since I will peel layers off a block of mozzarella. But little did I know that Armenian String (DUH)! Cheese could be completely deconstructed into a pile of strings like you see in this photo. What a fun way to prepare food, and even better way to eat it.
Does anyone else have fun food ideas for me?