and then i made

it's kind of weird to admit this,

but fava beans were

non-existent in my life,

until this year.

i don't know why or how

that happened,

but this spring,

they were everywhere -

as i'm sure they've probably

been every spring -

and somehow, i spotted

this recipe, and so began

my extreme approval

and interest in fava beans.

somewhat similar to edamame,

but larger, softer and

boasting a much

greener flavor,

these beans are easily adaptable to

tons of recipes and flavor

profiles.

but, unlike other things,

i like these simple

so that you can really enjoy

the fruits of your labor.

(i might as well tell you,

fresh fava beans are

not for fast meals.

if you, like me,

have never peered inside

a fava bean before,

it may feel like a

mysterious process: once

you shuck the outer pod from

each shell, you then must also

remove the second skin that

clings to each bean.

it's called,

double peeling.)

so - simple.

after finding ridiculously huge

fava beans at the market,

i knew that i would have enough

to support and star in

a dish for two.

lo and behold,

once shelled, we had

the perfect amount.

this recipe,

by bobby flay,

recommends blanching the

beans once removed from their

pods, making it easier to remove

the second skin.

he, of course, was right.

with this method, they just pop

right out.

i prepared them ahead of time

and then waited until about 10

minutes before dinner to toss

them with the fast vinaigrette.

lemon

and garlic

make for a very fresh salad,

shaving manchego on top

makes the otherwise

simple dish, memorable.

just make sure you pick

up a manchego worthy

of the fava beans - i'm not

sure that i did, this time around.

i know that i'm pushing it -

finding fava beans at the store

right now would be a

(somewhat scary) miracle -

but if you do come across

the pods, count your blessings,

grab a large bunch

and make this salad.

lemon and garlic fava beans with manchego

adapted from bobby flay

i halved the recipe, which is how i wrote it here, but it is obviously, very easy to double. i liked the lemony side, so i only used one tablespoon of olive oil (instead of two). as usual, i left off the tablespoon of chopped flatleaf parsley, but it would absolutely add a nice green.

2 pounds fava beans (about 2 cups shucked beans)

1 lemon, juiced (about 2 tablespoons)

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

kosher salt

cracked black pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 ounces manchego cheese, thinly shaved

shuck beans. fill large bowl with ice water; set aside. in large saucepot bring water to a boil; salt well. add beans and cook 3 minutes, or until tender. immediately plunge beans into ice water to cool. drain water; remove beans from outer skin.

in medium bowl, combine lemon juice, garlic and add salt and pepper, to taste. drizzle in olive oil, whisking constantly. add beans; gently toss to coat. top with manchego cheese.

housekeeping

blogging, i think,

should be an up-to-date

process, and sadly,

for the past

few months,

not lazy. rustic.

has been tardy.

in some respects its

fine. if you have a

potato salad that you've

been making all summer,

and you don't exactly get

around to posting the

recipe the first time it

shows up on your kitchen

table, but the second time

you think,

this really is good,

i should talk about it,

i think you've found

your loophole.

but otherwise,

i think you (ok, i) should post

in a reasonable amount of time.

especially, if the season is

changing and a bunch of

the recipes are on their way

to losing their relevancy.

and so, in the spirit of

sharing with you our

last bits of summer before

these ingredients completely

disappear and you become much

more interested in stews

than watermelon (for instance),

the next couple posts

will be a peek backward.

after, it will be a new slate

(or maybe we'll get

lucky with a few hot days

and some bumper crops

of summer veggies and fruits).

years ago (yes, this was the last

of the four recipes that i've

been wanting to make forever),

i saw a recipe in one of my cookbooks

for grape and marcona almond gazpacho.

very weird that i even stopped to look,

because i typically flip the page

fast when i see gazpacho

(unless it's this gazpacho) -

i think it has something to do with

all the chunks of peppers.

but, i stopped and read it

and decided that it sounded

delicious and unique and that

when summer came around,

i would have to make it.

of course,

it took years.

and, of course,

because i finally decided to make

a batch this summer,

i could not remember

which book it came from

in the first place.

i searched for a while

and finally gave up,

deciding to just go my usual route -

the internet.

in the end,

i took my favorite components

of several recipes that i found,

adding bread as one recipe indicated,

soaking it briefly like another said,

switching marcona almonds for the regular

and using cucumber to temper the sweetness.

by the time i was done,

adding garlic,

scallions

and

sherry vinegar,

it was my own.

(at first, i was resistant to

the cucumber, wanting a soup

that was purely grape and almonds,

but one sample spoonful made the

veggie's use clear - without it,

you could serve the soup with cookies

and drink it for dessert.)

i prepared the mixture one day ahead -

in about 15 minutes, perfect for a

hot day - and kept it in the blender

container until dinner the next night.

i'm glad i did - the mixture separated

a bit in the fridge and benefited

from the second whirl.

garnished with whole almonds

and slices of grapes, which i

absolutely loved - this soup

was the definition of summer.

just slightly sweat,

very light,

full of flavor

and delicious

without an oven.

hopefully,

you still have time

to make some of your own.

green grape and marcona almond gazpacho

this soup can be made at least one day ahead (possibly longer, but we didn't have leftovers to experiment with). the only part of this gazpacho that i wasn't in love with was the texture - the nuts never fully smoothed out. next time i would probably do one of two things: strain the mixture or only process it a bit so that the entire lot is still a bit chunky (more like a traditional gazpacho). also, a word of caution: this soup is so light, that some of your dining companions may not view this as a full meal...consider serving it as an appetizer, with a salad or alongside a creative sandwich.

3 ounces day old bread, crusts removed and cubed

1 cup water, at room temperature

1 english cucumber, peeled, halved, seeded and chopped

2 cups grapes, plus more for garnish

3/4 cup marcona almonds (not oil-coated), plus more for garnish

4 scallions, white and green parts, sliced

2 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped

2 tablespoons sherry vinegar

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

place bread in water; let sit a couple of minutes. squeeze bread to remove some of the moisture. transfer bread to blender. discard remaining water. add remaining ingredients to food processor. process just until combined. taste soup and adjust ingredients; season with salt and pepper to taste. chill in container at least 2 hours, or overnight.

to serve: whirl again in blender, if necessary. divide soup among bowls; garnish with sliced grapes and marcona almonds.

maine. finally.

i don't even remember

who started it,

why it began or

how many years ago it

first took place,

but for almost as long

as i remember our relationship,

i remember us discussing

a vacation to maine.

we pictured it,

i think, like a nonstop

lobster festival,

heading from park

to restaurant,

enjoying lobsters,

steamed,

on a roll,

tucked inside omelets

and grilled atop

open flames in a field.

for some reason,

it was always a far-off

dream, not

exotic or untouchable,

just never really the time.

we spent years - literally -

traveling the country for

friend's weddings,

then preparing for our own

and the honeymoon

(in the process, missing

the wedding of larry's

friend from college, who married

one week before us. in maine).

but this year,

after realizing we were

obligation-free and in need

of relaxation,

we finally summoned up

the decision to go for it,

and in june, we booked

before we could change our minds:

a couple days in portland,

before finishing off the week

in ogunquit.

there was just one problem.

--

i've loved lobster forever,

proud that at a very young age,

i knew what to do with a cracker

and always oddly, even prouder,

that while everyone covets the tail,

i would probably trade mine

(albeit, a bit hesitantly)

for an extra claw.

always faithful to steamed -

i never wanted to bog the meat down

with stuffings or sauces -

i finally had my first lobster roll

two summers ago at

ed's lobster bar

in nyc.

it was without a doubt,

one of the most amazing foods

i've ever had.

if there was mayonnaise,

i didn't notice. a small slick

of melted butter and a good

sprinkling of chives - it

was unbelievable.

so good, that a month

later, for our culinary school's

grand buffet (aka, our graduation),

i decided to make mini lobster rolls.

which also meant, that i had to

kill 40 lobsters. the right way.

earlier in the year we had been

instructed to follow

the-knife-between-the-eyes

method, which was scary enough.

but now, our new chef, believed

it was better to simply pull

the tails off the still-alive bodies,

then toss them in the water.

it was...an experience.

i prepped them all on saturday

and on sunday -

the day of the buffet -

my chef walked toward

me looking kind of worried.

chefs in culinary school

- chefs in life -

don't look worried. they look

confident and no-nonsense.

they tossed your rolls last night,

he said. my rolls. mini. hot dog-

shaped brioche. special ordered.

gone. and too late in the day

to make our own.

together, we worked out a back-up

plan: shot-glasses filled with

avocado crema,

lemon and chive lobster,

roasted corn

and whipped corn cream.

they were very successful.

and it was a good thing,

too. because it was my last

positive experience with lobster.

one year later,

i went to pearl oyster bar,

specifically for a lobster roll.

the whole experience,

from a very mayonnaise drenched,

just ok lobster roll

to sneaky almost over-charging

was kind of a bust,

but the worst part came later

in the night, when i really didn't

feel well.

a little over a month later -

on labor day, actually -

i steamed lobsters at home.

that night, again, i was sick.

i think there was a little voice,

somewhere in the back of my

mind that hinted at the problem.

but it was pesky. so i ignored it.

then came new year's eve,

when i put out the cheese plate

and later, steamed lobsters.

it was a bad night.

at 4 in the morning,

after finally making a connection,

i was googling "lobster allergy."

but, still, i was willing to (maybe)

chalk it up to poor planning.

who eats a cheese plate and then

lobster and makes it out ok, right?

when we booked

the trip to maine in june,

i worried about lobster.

about eating it,

not being able to eat it.

finally one night in the beginning

of august, i knew i had put it off

long enough. we went out - larry

got a lobster.

i didn't.

i ate a claw.

one tiny claw.

an almost not worth

it claw.

i waited and after a couple

hours, i fell asleep, thinking i had

somehow won. but, alas, i woke

up hours later, not feeling well.

and that night, i came to terms

with my fate:

a lobsterless maine.

--

because in theory, the trip

was about a vacation,

not about lobsters,

we were still going.

the alternative would have

been a bit extreme, i think.

and, we ate pretty well

anyway, dealing with it by

acting like adults,

with the exception of

one night, when i sat in a

restaurant, the air thick

with the smell of lobster

and i swear,

everyone around us,

at every table, was

either anxiously

waiting to recieve or

was busy enjoying

a freshly steamed lobster.

larry included.

some food highlights:

my mom's friend joelle, sent an e-mail telling me about the amazing scallop cocktail at "a funky little place - a fisherman's type bar with great food and delicious beer on tap." one of my favorite rolls at one of my favorite sushi restaurant is the spicy scallop roll. the scallops are raw, but also, chopped fine. i wasn't sure how i would feel about the whole large raw sea scallops at j's oyster bar- but larry and i voted, and for both of us, this was our favorite thing that we ate the entire trip.

toward the middle of the week, when we needed a mini break from seafood, we decided to go to this tiny restaurant, banditos, we had passed a couple times in ogunquit. we were the only ones in the entire place, something that usually scares us away on a first time visit. i'm not sure if it was fatigue from the sun, hunger or laziness, but we stuck it out. the quesadillas were perfect - made to order, not too big (and filled with portobella mushrooms!), but i could have survived probably on the peach and vidalia onion hot sauce they kept at the sauce bar. (sidenote: we were there for an hour and were alone the whole time, save for the owner and the two kids working the counter who were trying to construct a fountain from a water hose and some rocks in the front lawn.)

the first night, and our only reservation, was spent at hugo's, a restaurant we had chosen seriously, after reading many reviews of three popular dining destinations. we were not disappointed at all - enjoying very fresh raw clams, smoked salmon roe, a pork medley (loin, belly, and um, tail), and chicken liver agnolotti, which i could not get a good picture of for all my trying, but was so delicious, i had to share. first, the beautiful biscuits they served to start off the meal.

for all the seafood we ate, larry had his fair share of pork, too. after hugo's, he enjoyed this braised thick cut "bacon," which had been coated in five-spice powder, braised and served next to arugula with smears of a maple blueberry sauce, from an odd place in portland (with yummy drinks) called local 188. when we first looked at the menu, we had no idea what we were going to eat - but had picked the place based on its proximity to our b&b. even though the innkeeper had sworn to us many restaurants were a five minute walk, this was the first we found...10 minutes later and late at night. we went with tapas...larry's bacon, a flatbread with an olive-anchovy spread, sauteed wild mushrooms with swiss chard and these, pickled string beans and chili peppers, which while tangy and lovely, actually looked in person, exactly like they do in the picture - a little pale.

and yes, there was plenty of lobster for larry. i'm not that mean. his favorites. a lobster roll from the clam shack, in kennebunkport, that beat out one he had loved earlier in the week from a lobster pound in freeport. and, from katie's, a really clean, simple and friendly place, that served not only as the perfect final meal for our vacation, but also easily swept second place in larry's rankings: truffled lobster mac and cheese. so good, he ate the rest at the airport the next day (alongside my seared scallops with a corn risotto cake).