thai melon salad

last week, larry and i had a really

lovely day. it was the day after my

birthday and we both took off from

work. i drank coffee in bed and, later,

we ate lunch outside, very close

to the ocean. we bought fig vinegar

from an olive oil shop and sat on the

boardwalk with our legs dangling over

the sand. we went to see the help,

which i've been hoping to see in the theatre,

since finishing the book last november.

in between the beach and the movies,

we stopped at the book store, where i was

given a really great gift: unlimited time

to look through as many cookbooks as i

wanted. and, truthfully, that's quite a gift.

as much as i love cookbooks, i rarely buy

them. and when, i do, it's a specific book

that i've had my eye on for a while. rarely,

do i just plant myself in front

of the shelves and read.

ultimately, i left with three - two baking

books that, it turns out, i actually had wanted,

but had forgotten about,

and a third, cooking in the moment

by andrea reusing.

to be honest, i keep picking up and putting down

the last one. i would decide that i was not

going to keep it and then i'd turn one last page

and see a recipe, like the one for

black sesame sauce.

in that case, i read the recipe twice

and thought, ok, i know

how to make this. as i shut the book,

i noticed a page reading

garlic and crab fried rice.

this happened several times.

ultimately, it was the kale panini and

salt preserved chilies that cinched

my decision.

that night, i got back in bed and read

cooking in the moment from cover to cover.

and, in spite of my curiosity about the

recipes above, i knew that the first dish i

would be making was the

spicy melon salad with peanuts and mint.

it uses fish sauce. and a lot of it.

need i say more?

and, then, you should have seen me the next

day, standing at the grocery store, staring at

the melons, trying to channel my melon

knowledge. is it the santa claus melon that's

really sweet or is it the canary? are any melons

really dark orange? or yellow? what will happen

if i add watermelon? will the color run?

ultimately, i was lucky.

a melon expert - or at least he seemed

that way to me - helped me pick three

small, sweet flavorful globes. he was spot

on. (except when the next day i realized

that i somehow had two green-fleshed melons,

but i'm very over it.)

after a search for my melon baller -

a tool i'm pretty sure i haven't used since

culinary school - i cracked open the melons

on sunday, prepared to make a cooling

summer salad for a hot summer night.

except it was sunday.

when there was lightening.

and thunder.

and rainstorms that made me fear

for our basement.

so, i scooped melons for a cool evening.

and, that's ok, too.

the melons were incredibly sweet,

floral and juicy. i pulled small

and large balls from

all three:

the honeydew,

the crenshaw and

the galia.

(as for the remaining melon in

each half, i used a spoon to separate

them from their skins, put all three

into the same container and have

been adding the pieces and sweet

juice to my smoothies in the morning.

it's been a nice change.)

i whisked together the juice of two limes,

a few glugs from a new bottle of fish sauce -

i forgot how powerful a brand new bottle

could be - a squeeze of agave and an

unfortunately, mild, chopped

red fresno chile pepper.

the dressing was powerful.

slightly spicy, slightly sweet,

tangy and salty. i tossed it over

the melons, took a premature bite

and knew that i would love this dish.

simplified, it reminded me of a

sweet green papaya salad.

the recipe said to let it the mixture

sit for at least 45 minutes or up to

several hours. we went for three.

before serving, i topped it with

shreds of mint and salted peanuts

and we dug in.

the marinating liquid is

unbelievably bold.

but, the melons, when picked up with

a fork, instead of scooped,

gave a significantly more subtle delivery.

i don't know how many fruit salads are eaten

with a spoon,

but it would be a shame to leave all that

limey-fish sauciness on the bottom

of the bowl.

team spoon. all the way.

regardless.

this salad slash side dish slash

potential dessert is everything i look

for in a recipe.

it's different, so it won't see itself

coming and going. but, more importantly,

it's sweet and salty and soft and crunchy.

it's slightly spicy and kind of tangy

and would be perfect on

a hot night spent outside.

it was a recipe that gave me

reassurance. it made me feel justified

about buying the cookbook. and, about

making larry amuse himself in the bookstore

while i dealt with my indecisiveness.

and, it made me find my melon baller.

worth it all around.

thai melon salad

adapted from cooking in the moment

i followed this recipe pretty closely. the only real changes were using agave instead of sugar and using a serrano chile pepper and a red fresno chile pepper, because neither were very spicy. with a spicy pepper, i would have stuck to one. i also chose not to measure the peanuts - just grabbed a handful and chopped.

i agree that this salad should only sit for a couple hours. by the next day, the melons had expelled a lot of their own liquid and mellowed the flavor of the dish significantly.

2-3 assorted melons

2 large, juicy limes, juiced

1/4 cup fish sauce

1 tablespoon agave

1 spicy chile pepper, chopped

10 mint leaves

1 small handful roasted and salted peanuts

halve melons. using melon baller, scoop melon into balls, transferring to a measuring cup as you scoop. measure 4 cups melon. transfer melons to mixing bowl.

in liquid measuring cup, measure 1/4 cup lime juice. whisk in fish sauce, agave and chile pepper. pour lime juice mixture over melons; toss to combine. cover; chill 45 minutes, or up to several hours.

when ready to serve, rip mint leaves into smaller pieces. chop peanuts.

using a slotted spoon, transfer melon to serving platter or bowls. top with spoonfuls of marinade. garnish with mint and chopped peanuts.

buttermilk lime ice pops

i had one of those moments recently.

you know what i'm talking about -

you go into home goods,

crossing your fingers that the perfect rug

or lamp or outdoor furniture has arrived,

only to leave $7 poorer and the

proud new owner of ice pop molds.

it was kind of inevitable that they -

or something similar -

would one day find their way into our house.

larry likes cold desserts. a lot.

i'm not sure, but i think he would pass up

cake or a slice of pie or maybe cookies,

for a bowl of ice cream. a few months ago,

he was looking through the latest

williams-sonoma catalog and he pointed out

a mold machine that was very tempting,

but was absolutely overpriced. and last month,

when visiting my sister, she pulled

mickey mouse molds - procured earlier in the

year in disney - out of the freezer.

it was only a matter of time.

we are in major money watching mode,

thanks to the whole house buying/moving thing.

we cannot make frivolous purchases.

but, when i saw these molds, i knew that it

was a decision that meant more than spending

out of turn. it meant taking a stab at being

a good wife. if the tables were turned and i held

a deep love for anything icy,

larry would have bought them without pause.

he was away and i instantly envisioned filling

and freezing them, greeting him with a pop

upon his arrival. but then, it was three days later,

he was due home in about 4 hours and i hadn't

done anything. i started looking at recipes

and saw a lot more work than i was expecting:

simmering, blending straining, partial freezing.

i was not up for this.

but, then, i had one of those fortuitous moments

that i always think only happens to other people.

i saw a recipe for buttermilk and lemon ice pops.

two days before, still unsure which hamburger buns

i was going to make (these or these),

i picked up a carton of buttermilk. afterward,

i was lingering somewhere at annoyance at myself

for the unnecessary purchase and the desire to make

a chess pie, but it was still sitting in the fridge,

destonationless.

but now, ice pops.

it seemed too good to be true.

there was only one thing: lemon.

i spent a long time anti-lemon.

as you can see here, here and here,

i've grown out of that. but, i still got annoyed

this year when the irish soda bread that i picked

up was lemon-scented and i wasn't so

sure that i was up for lemon ice pops.

luckily, i love lime.

saying that i love lime is probably an

understatement. i can never have enough.

and so, buttermilk-lime ice pops were born.

have you ever tasted buttermilk?

not good, right? and, yet. i can never resist

sampling just a tiny bit, even though i always

regret it. i just can never get over how unpleasant

it tastes. yet by adding just a couple ingredients

to make a dressing or a glaze, or now, ice pops,

it's harshness turns into tangy deliciousness.

and for these,

it really is only a couple of ingredients:

lime juice,

lime zest,

sugar and salt.

you zest,

you juice,

you mix,

you pour,

you freeze and

you're done.

but, i'll be honest with you

about one thing that's not

so much fun:

then, you wait.

for at least four hours.

or, if you're like us,

you wait for three days,

because well, you are really

tired and dessert is the last thing

on your mind once you start commuting.

but when you finally take a lick,

or a bite, if that's how you roll,

i think you'll find they were worth

the wait: tangy, tart, sweet and,

yes, icy. for an ice pop, they feel indulgent,

but they're not so bad as these

things go. and, they're bordering on

mysterious. larry guessed sour cream,

cardamom and many other things

before i told him buttermilk and lime.

and, now, i think i'm up for pops

that might take a little more work.

but, it's important to say that when

i made these, i hardly felt like a slacker.

buttermilk lime ice pops

adapted from bon appetit magazine

i have a confession: i have no idea what size molds i bought. and i thought they were big, but after using them once, i'm now thinking they're normal. so when i was making this recipe, i doubled it, but it was probably unnecessary, considering i had a ton left over. my mold makes six, this recipe originally called for eight 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup capacity molds. as for the lime zest - i learned after several botched attempts at perfectly distributing orange zest in the olive oil pound cake that it's best to take a minute and use your fingers to separate, before adding zest to your liquids. otherwise, they clump up around the whisk, or just settle into lumps into the final product.

3-4 juicy limes

3/4 cup sugar

pinch of salt

1 2/3 cups buttermilk

zest enough limes to measure 2 tablespoons (this took me two limes). juice enough limes to measure 1/3 cup lime juice.

in 4-cup measuring cup or bowl with pour spout, whisk together sugar, lime juice, lime peel and satl. whisk in buttermilk. divide mixture among ice pop molds, leaving 1/4 inch space on top. add tops; cover and freeze 4 hours, or until firm.

cottage canoes

i have been writing this

blog post for two weeks.

yes, two weeks.

at first, i was going to

tell you about every recipe

i made at the super bowl,

because, really, i thought they

were all worth it,

each deserving their own

blog post and story, because

really, each had one.

then, when it became a week

since super bowl sunday,

and still no post, it seemed

absolutely silly to talk about

the super bowl when everyone

else had moved onto

valentine's day and mardi gras.

so, i tried to condense five

recipes into one post -

a not lazy. rustic. first.

but alas, it just didn't work

and five recipes are an awful

lot to tell you about in one

sitting.

and the more

i thought about it, the more

i wanted to tell you about them,

but the further we were from super bowl

and i felt trapped, because i didn't just

want to jump ahead to another recipe.

it was a terrible circle of

self-loathing and blogging inadequacy.

so tonight when i was driving home from

work, it struck me:

move on, don't look back -

it's just a blog.

so here, i finally got over myself.

i'm giving you brief stories with links,

and a recipe for what i think

was a crowd favorite.

and then, maybe, we can all

just be ok.

--

last year, i swore that

this year's super bowl would

be much easier on me,

mentally.

i swore that i would not

spend hours stressing

over what we would eat,

or hours cooking

whatever it is i finally

decide upon and

that i would write

about it all the next day

(well that part wasn't in the post,

but in my head. clearly,

this is where i failed miserably).

looking back,

i guess i'll have to take

one out of three.

and because i think

every recipe is worth sharing,

but it has taken me an unspeakably

long time to tell you about them,

here they are,

one by one.

i decided very quickly that

i wanted to host a mini chili

party, similar to what my mom

used to do when we were growing up:

three or four soups would

simmer on the stove and guests would get

a bowl,

a table full of toppings and

an unlimited pass to the saucepots.

picking the chilies,

were easy, too.

i remembered two that i've made in the past,

both found on epicurious,

one out of bon appetit,

the other, originally, in gourmet.

the first was vegetarian,

a hodgepodge of

onions

black beans

sweet potatoes

poblanos

and garlic,

all simmered in a couple cups

of orange juice.

i chopped everything,

save for the sweet potatoes

the night before and when it

was time to make, emptied

each bag into the pot, one by one.

for some reason, this pre-planning

on my part, thrilled me to no end.

while the mixture was good the

night of the super bowl,

i really wish i had prepared it

the night before - it was much

more delicious the next day.

the second,

equally simple,

featured only,

chicken pulled off a rotisserie bird

and pinto beans.

these are simmered inside a blender sauce of

dried chilies,

stewed tomatoes,

chicken broth,

nuts,

cilantro,

onion and garlic.

i couldn't find the new mexico dried chilies

called for in the dish. instead, i used simply,

dried green chilies, which worked well,

but i do not know enough about chilies

to be able to tell how how different the

final flavor was.

i knew they would be good.

they were easy.

and they were fast.

this of course,

gave me plenty of time to focus

on appetizers.

both of which, again, i picked

pretty quickly.

i decided to revisit a snack i'd

made years ago for a barbecue

at larry's, when we were first dating.

i had convinced lauren to come with me -

i was way too afraid to go alone.

and, after stumbling across a recipe for

previously unheard of cottage canoes,

i decided that i would charm

his friends with my cooking.

cottage canoes,

the homemade,

non-fried version of

jalapeno poppers -

named, if i remember correctly,

for their resemblance to the boats

that line the cottage lakes

in canada -

seemed like the perfect way to

win guys over.

instead, i burned my fingers

on the peppers, could not figure out

a good method for stuffing,

or breading,

realized too late that i had to learn

larry's oven to bake them and

then, understood that while lauren

and i were very prompt for the party,

most people would not show up

to this all-day summer bash

for many more hours.

lauren,

larry,

his brother, david,

and i,

ate them ourselves

and we spent a long time

discussing their name.

it had been quite a while since i made

cottage canoes -

i couldn't even remember which

cookbook i had found them in -

but i found a recipe online,

and figured that was all i needed.

i tried my hardest to slice most

of the peppers so that they

each had a stem "handle"

and when i made the cheese

mixture - to which

i added chopped onions,

lime juice and hot sauce,

i let it sit out and

soften so that i could pipe the cheese

into the cavity of the peppers.

i also convinced larry

to be the egg dunker so that

i could quickly pass the wet peppers

through breadcrumbs.

much easier this time around.

these baked much better than i remembered -

the peppers softened into pleasant bites,

the cheese melty and the very thin

breading, there just enough to count.

after a few, lauren noted that eating these

was a game of jalapeno roulette:

some had such little spice that you forgot

they could have heat and the next one

would zap you and then cling

to your tongue for dear life, refusing to

relinquish its burn-your-mouth hold.

we kind of loved it.

next up,

was a should-i? or shouldn't-i? add in.

as part of my job,

i sometimes teach children's cooking classes.

a couple months ago,

i had the bright idea that it would be fun

to make soft pretzels with the kids.

the day of, at the end of january,

i was a ball of nerves,

imagining burnt dough,

not cooked dough,

not pretzel-tasting dough,

or worse.

but in the end - thanks to a lot of help -

they came together beautifully.

so, of course, i thought,

pretzel bites for super bowl.

i can do this, i thought:

you make a yeast dough,

set it aside to rise,

cut into shape,

boil in baking soda-laced water,

then coat with egg,

sprinkle with salt

and bake.

and these? they were easy,

but of course, they had to be

made day of.

so somehow,

in spite of myself,

it was 3pm the day of the super bowl.

i had been cooking since 8:30,

was still in my pajamas,

and my coffee - my coffee that i look

so forward to every morning - sat

mostly untouched.

thank goodness i had made the dessert,

salted brown butter rice krispies squares

from smitten kitchen, the night before.

(side note: this is the best dessert to make

when you are in a hurry. the entire thing

takes less than 10 minutes to mix together

and everyone will love this sophisticated

version of a childhood treat.)

another year.

another super bowl.

and now, i can switch my focus

back to where it belongs -

the end of february and

the dinners that come with it.

cottage canoes

adapted from the canadian food network

i don't remember enough to tell you if i made the same recipe both times, but i can tell you one thing for certain: last time i did not tinker with it. this time, i couldn't stop. i just like things to pop with flavor, not just be cheesy. so i increased the scallions and added onions, lime juice, hot sauce and a clove of garlic - all things that i think made a difference in the end.

12 jalapeno peppers, halved

1 1/2 cups extra sharp cheddar cheese, finely shredded (i used the smallest hole on my box grater)

1/4 cup mayonnaise

3/4 teaspoon worcestershire sauce

1/2 lime, juiced

10 drops garlic-lime hot sauce

2 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced

1/4 small onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, peeled and finely chopped

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup breadcrumbs (seasoned, if you want)

heat oven 350˚f. using small spoon, remove seeds and membranes from peppers. place peppers, cut side up, on a flat surface.

in bowl, combine cheese, mayonnaise, worcestershire sauce, lime juice, hot sauce, scallions, onion and garlic; set aside until very soft. transfer to a small plastic bag. twist bag to secure and snip corner. pipe cheese mixture into pepper cavities. using your finger, flatten cheese.

chill peppers at least 1 hour.

dip peppers, one at a time, into beaten egg. let as much egg drip off as possible and then coat with bread crumbs, shaking off excess. place breaded pepper on greased baking sheet. gently coat with cooking spray or olive oil spray.

bake 15-20 minutes, or until peppers are cooked through, the cheese is melted and the tops are just golden brown.