Strange and Hairy Fruits

This week I was not exactly in the countryside, but while house-sitting for a friend with a backyard I found I could trick myself into believing I was. Butterflies and hummingbirds pollinated bougainvillea, squirrels stole figs from a tree, a raccoon dared to cross the patio in the middle of the day, and lemons and mint were begging to be picked and made into lemonade. After living for so long surrounded by the concrete and noise and rush of city living I’d forgotten how amazing mother nature really is. I discovered yesterday, however, that you don’t necessarily have to be in nature to appreciate her. A stroll through the produce section at a grocery store can be awe inspiring as well when you happen across a strange fruit called a Rambutan.
The Rambutan I bought was from Guatemala, but Rambutans are native to Malaysia and commonly imported from southeast Asia. Loosely translated from Malay, Rambutan means “hairy” and this is an apt description of the fruit. Its hairy tentacles are apparently edible, but its more palatable to cut the outer skin away and go straight for the fruit inside. Slightly more palatable anyway. I’ve posted some of the more G-rated photos of the opened Rambutan, but, how can I put this delicately . . . there’s something oddly erotic looking about this fruit when you cut into it, but not in an appetizing way. It is, however, a completely fascinating specimen, from its hairy exterior to the soft lychee-flavored fruit that is wrapped around a surprisingly large pit. While I won’t be snacking on them regularly, I may buy Rambutans from time to time. When the world starts seeming dull and dreary its good to have a fruit like a Rambutan around to remind us how truly amazing this planet we live on really is.

Growing Grapes

During a quick trip to Santa Barbara wine country this weekend, I was filled with grape envy. I didn’t necessarily want to become a winemaker, I just wanted those beautiful rows of vines to come home with me, giving me something to gaze at out of the window of my city dwelling.
While a grape trellis isn’t exactly a vineyard, its not a bad substitute for anyone with a little bit of outdoor space. With proper, regular pruning and lots of patience (it can take a few years for the vines to produce fruit) you will be plucking amazingly sweet, perfectly tart, fruit right from your back porch. This cluster of grapes was plucked from a friend’s backyard trellis and I can vouch that they taste better than any grapes bought in a store.
Grapes will grow pretty much anywhere in the U.S. as long as you plant the right variety for your region’s climate. I’m all for leaving winemaking to the experts, but if you do have aspirations of making your own version of Two Buck Chuck, make sure the grapes you plant are in the Vitis Vinifera family. Grapes in this family have the higher sugar and acidity needed for turning grape juice into delicious alcohol. This can make them tasty to snack on too, but wine grapes are also seedy and have tough skin. Table grapes have lower sugar, but they also have lower acidity, which balances their flavor and makes them good to eat. Vitis Labrusca is a North American species meant for snacking but not necessarily winemaking (if you’ve tasted Concord wine, you know what I mean.)
If you’re a city dweller with a small deck it’s possible to grow a grape vine out of a single a pot, then train the vine to grow up a post and/or across a trellis. Don’t expect beauty right away. For the first year or two your vine will basically look like a thick branch. See the big stick growing up out of this pot? That’s the vine. When it eventually grows across a trellis, it becomes leafy and green and produces the lovely cluster you see hanging here. There's nothing like sitting on the deck of a winery gazing out at acres of vines, but you shouldn't underestimate how happy a few clusters hanging off your back deck might make you.

Micro-Greens and Sprouts

During the summer, time moves at warp speed (can anyone believe today is August 1st?) This feeling of life passing by too quickly is ironic, since the heat of summer seems like it has the power to slow everything down to a leisurely crawl. One thing I do know about time: no one likes to waste it slaving away in a kitchen on a beautiful summer evening. Salads are the best route to a quick, easy meal in the summer and I've been eating plenty of them, but a girl cannot live on lettuce alone. To keep things interesting I’ve been digging deeper into the produce aisle and experimenting with Micro-Greens. Micro-greens are nothing new: think back a few dozen years and who among us did not have, or covet, a Chia Pet? Although Chia is actually packed with nutrients, its not a Micro-Green you're likely to see often in the produce aisle. You will see, however, Micro-Greens of cabbage, arugula, mizuna, radish, and numerous other vegetables and greens. When a plant is growing, the micro stage is the first point at which tiny leaves become visible. If the plant is harvested at this very young age, it is called a Micro-Green. Micro-greens are visually interesting in salads, adding different variations of color and texture, and often have more flavor than regular old lettuce. You can use Micro-Greens in the place of lettuce, or try adding them to other types of cold summer salads. I mixed chilled orzo pasta with feta, cucumbers and mint, then put a ring of Micro-greens around the outside of the bowl. The dish looked beautiful, and the Micro-greens added a little bit of texture and additional flavor to the pasta salad. Feeling that I had mastered Micro-Greens, the next week I delved into sprouts. Unlike Micro-Greens, which are grown in soil, sprouts are grown in water. For a long time the alfalfa sprout was the only one with name recognition, but now sprouts are readily available in all sorts of shapes and flavors. In the produce section or at the farmer's market look for broccoli sprouts, clover sprouts, sunflower sprouts, you name it, and its got a sprout. I tried Pea Sprouts, which have a similar flavor as alfalfa but have more of a "crunch" - kind of like alfalfa sprouts with a backbone. I roughly chopped the Pea Sprouts and added kalamata olives, baby tomatoes, avocado, and lemon and olive oil. When The Husband took his first bite of what I still claim is a delcious salad he said, not unkindly, "These Pea Sprouts taste like dirt." Now, I would have chosen the word "earthy," but what can I say. Sometimes one person's delicious culinary discovery in the produce aisle is just another person's dirt salad.

Goats Take Over the World

For years the lowly goat got no respect. Not as cute and fluffy as a sheep, not as big and strong as a cow. As far as most people were concerned it was a scrappy looking, tin-can eating, sad excuse for a farm animal. But look who’s having the last laugh now . . .
Slowly but surely the goat has been taking over the dairy section with new brands of goat milk, butter, yogurt and ice cream popping up all the time. If you stroll into the beauty section, you’ll notice the same thing happening. See any sheep and cow’s milk soap and lotion on the shelves? I didn’t think so. It’s not because it doesn’t exist, but goat’s milk has firmly cornered the skin care market in retail stores and farmer’s markets. Just as goat’s milk is considered easier to digest, it is also absorbed into the skin more easily than other skincare products. The pH level of goat’s milk is about the same as the pH level of human skin which helps maintain the skin’s natural moisture content. I received Canus Goat’s Milk lotion as a gift recently and love it. Working in the food industry, I’m washing my hands constantly and this lotion has been keeping them silky smooth. Unlike other body lotions that seem overly heavy, Canus Goat’s Milk lotion is light enough that I use it on my hands and then rub any excess lotion onto my face. How do you think all those beautiful French milk maids kept their skin smooth and lovely? Goat's milk, of course.

Escaping Reality

Who among us hasn't dreamt of escaping the daily grind to make a living in an idyllic setting where our destiny is in our own hands? Meetings and constant text-messaging would no longer exist, the loud roar of traffic would be replaced by the soft chirping of birds, and the morning commute would consist of walking from your kitchen to your garden. Maybe you'd open a bed & breakfast, or a vineyard, or why not both?

In reality, this sort of daydream isn't easy to pull off and after too much time in the country I'm sure there's a few of you out there who would actually miss constantly text-messaging. Maybe what you need is not a radical change of career or location, but just a weekend away to somewhere like Shinn Estate Farmhouse. Barbara Shinn and David Page have owned Home restaurant in Manhattan since 1993. They also produce wine from their own vineyard, Shinn Estate, on the North Fork of Long Island. The final piece of the dream was put into place when they opened a farmhouse bed and breakfast with four elegant guest rooms, vineyard views, and Chef Page's morning breakfasts of "slow cooked eggs, savory biscuits, maple smoked bacon, and scones." Whatever it is you're doing this Monday morning I can guarantee that sitting on a front porch eating that breakfast and looking at a vineyard would be much, much better.

Wine country on the West Coast has no shortage of escapes either. The Black Walnut Inn is a wine country retreat in the Willamette Valley, a region known for producing Oregon's stunning Pinot Noirs. In Washington state,

The Inn at Abeja is surrounded by twenty-two acres of gardens and the rolling vineyards of the Walla Walla Valley. If you want to get really ridiculous, you can get in on "the dawn of the Solage experience," at the grand opening of the Solage Calistoga Resort in the Napa Valley this month. You can drink wine during the day then head to the Mud Bar and Bathhouse for spa treatments like a full-body "mud cocktail" with "nutrient rich volcanic" (and I'm guessing very expensive) mud.

If a wine country escape is not in the cards for you right now, then at the very least pop open a bottle in your backyard tonight, set out some cheese, relax, and dream of the day you'll open your own idyllic retreat and finally have that elusive kitchen-to-garden commute.

Kombucha

I am always suspicious of anything that comes out of Beverly Hills, especially if the word "miracle" is attached to it. How can it be, then, that my drink of choice this summer is both?

I can't vouch for any claims the product makes of miracle cures, but I can vouch that Synergy Organic and Raw Kombucha is the most refreshing beverage I've had in a long time.

Like many things Hollywood claims as theirs (anyone see the movie The Departed?) Kombucha originated somewhere else, as far back as 250 BC in China. Kombucha is a Western word used to describe a fermented tea. Among other numerous health claims, it contains probiotic cultures, the same type of good bacteria and yeast found in yogurt that can do wonders for the digestive system. When you drink Synergy's Kombucha, there will be a few soft chunks of yeast still floating around.
If you've been avoiding soda because it tastes like the equivalent of sucking on a dozen sugar cubes, then this drink might be for you. The flavor is much more acidic than sweet, almost vinegar-like, but in a good way. It's very fizzy, to the point where drinking it too fast can give you that brain-freeze feeling (again, in a good way). Some people claim they feel "mild euphoria, relaxation, and an overall sense of physical and mental well-being" after a few sips, which is probably attributed to the fact that Kombucha has trace amounts of alcohol (from .5%-1.7%). "Mild euphoria" is pushing it a little, but while drinking Synergy Kombucha I have experienced that same calming feeling you get after you've had a long day and then come home and have a few sips of wine. Mainly I like it because it tastes better than any bottled juice, sports drink, or soda I've tasted. Almost every store I walk into these days seems to have the slim, glass bottles of Synergy Kombucha next to the chilled water and soda. Get out there and buy a bottle before all the kids are doing it and you'll be too embarrassed to be seen drinking the stuff. I have this weird feeling that when Lindsay Lohan makes it out of rehab she won't be carrying her trademark water bottle anymore, she'll be holding a bottle of Synergy Kombucha.

Squid Ink is Fabulous

Usually when I fly I avoid the in-flight magazine until I’ve gone through all the other reading material I have, there’s no movie playing, and I’m bored stiff. Sadly, this happened yesterday before the plane even took off. Trapped in a stifling hot airplane for two hours on the runway of JFK, I pulled the Delta magazine out of the seat pocket and after using it as a fan for a few minutes, finally read a few pages. The article I read was taken from a guidebook by Splendora, a website that is the self-proclaimed “authority on Fabulous.” Making the list of fabulous things this summer were kite surfing in Tarifa, Spain, swimming in the rooftop pool at Hotel Gansevoort in NYC, and accessorizing with Cartier watches and belts and buckles reminiscent of the 60’s and 70’s! (that exclamation point is Splendora’s, not mine). I realized that if this was the criteria to be fabulous I didn’t have a chance, so I read on and then, finally, there it was, my chance to be fabulous.
What to eat this summer: Black linguine with lemon zest
Four years ago, black linguine with seared scallops was what I cooked the first night I met my future in-laws. The dish was a hit, which helped draw attention away from the near disaster that also occurred in the kitchen that night when I left a glass pan setting on the stovetop and it blew up and shattered into a million pieces, scattering glass and scallop juice all over the kitchen. But I digress…
Black linguine gets its color from squid ink that is added to the pasta dough when it is made. Although squid ink could be added to any shape of pasta, you’ll see it most often in the shape of linguine, spaghetti, or fettucine. Squid ink pasta is more about color than flavor. It basically tastes the same as regular pasta, but the black color, dulled only slightly after cooking, is striking, especially as a backdrop for bright red tomatoes, green herbs, yellow lemon zest or pale pink shrimp. Squid ink pasta also makes you think about the color of the bowl you’re serving it in; I like it best in a plain, white bowl so that the black color really stands out.
I don’t see black pasta regularly in stores, but its out there and you should keep your eyes open for it, because unless you plan to kite surf in Spain this summer, eating it might be your only chance at being fabulous, too.