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Recently I was at my local Wegmans doing my weekly shopping. Although the humidity has dissipated, it is still rather warm. I swung by the seafood department and eyed possibilities for supper. I was in luck, they had fresh, never frozen shrimp from North Carolina for $14.99/lb. Now the question was, what recipe can I prepare that I haven’t made before? As I have been doing this blog for five years now, it’s very rare that I repeat a recipe. After five minutes of viewing my app for NYT Cooking, Epicurious and Lidia Bastianich’s website, I did find a recipe that was easy, used minimal ingredients and could be prepared in about 30 minutes, Lemony Shrimp over Zucchini from the website Lidia’s Italy. This recipe serves 6 to 8 people, however, I halved the ingredients for just my husband and I.
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It was my husband’s birthday earlier in the week and I made a dinner reservation for us at The Poached Pear Bistro in Point Pleasant, NJ. One of his co-workers had mentioned he and his wife had gone here for dinner and recommended it.

I must say, The Poached Pear Bistro certainly did not disappoint. The interior had dove gray walls with dark wood flooring. Lovely art work was sparingly displayed adding just enough interest and color to the interior. For a Tuesday evening at 5:30, the dining room already had a nice group of tables seated.
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In these waning days of summer, I am using the best the season has to offer in my cooking. For guests the other evening, I prepared Basil Pesto Cream Cheese Filled Cherry Tomatoes...yum! Week 15 CSA box from Dreyer Farms had ingredients in which to make pizzas:  Antonio’s Mozzarella, The Breadsmith Pizza Dough, plum tomatoes, arugula and corn. I did my take on two pizzas that Medusa’s of Asbury Park makes. One with prosciutto, nectarine, goat cheese, mozzarella, arugula and a drizzle of Villa Grimelli’s White Balsamic Glaze. The other pizza was topped with sweet corn, sliced plum tomatoes, mozzarella, goat cheese and basil. I had forgotten to pick up a small container of ricotta cheese, however, the tang of the goat cheese played well against the sweetness of both the corn and tomato. ​
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​I am thoroughly enjoying sharing a CSA box with my daughter. Over the past few weeks (Week 9-14) I’ve had white corn, green and yellow squash, yellow and purple onions, pickles, green leaf lettuce, bell peppers, eggplant, garlic scapes, potatoes, plums and cucumbers.
 
I made another jar of pickles , green zucchini was incorporated into turkey meatballs (recipe to follow), potato salad and the last of the season garlic scapes made more salad dressing. 
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I had a friend call me the other evening to make sure my husband and I were okay. She hadn’t seen posts from me in awhile and she grew concerned. I assured her that all was well and the reason for the gap was we’ve had our daughter and granddaughters visiting us each week for a few days each week since July. My goal was to have quick suppers on Thursday evenings after my granddaughter’s swim lesson and for the other days, you prepare what’s appealing to a one- and four-year-old.
 
Here’s a review of what’s been going on in our culinary life.
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Zucchini was one of the vegetables in my week 9 CSA box. I’ve done made many things with zucchini from pasta dishes (Summer Pasta with Zucchini, Ricotta and Basil), to Zucchini Bread and an Italian vegetable side dish called ciambotta to name a few. However, this time I found a vintage recipe from Gourmet Magazine, August 2002, for Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cake. For this recipe you’ll need all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, unsalted butter, light brown sugar, vanilla, eggs, zucchini, chocolate chips and walnuts. This recipe was meant to be baked in a Bundt pan or  fluer-de-lis pan, however, I  cut the recipe in half and baked in a large loaf pan. This recipe was easy to adapt to preparing half the amount and I used 2 eggs instead of the three called for. 

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​In an earlier blog post (CSA week 8), I mentioned that I had received a head of cabbage. As it was a rather a large head for just two people, I had to find something other than coleslaw to make. My search led me Cabbage, Potato and Leek Soup, a recipe by none other than Melissa Clark from The New York Times. This recipe appeared in her New York Times column A Good Appetite entitled “Cabbage Flexes Its Muscles Three Ways,” from March 9, 2012.
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​Our CSA box for week 7 contained peaches, blueberries, red onion, yellow squash, cucumber, garlic, lettuce, kale and sage.  My portion was red onion, yellow squash, cucumber, garlic, lettuce and kale.
 
Luckily for me, New York Times Cooking just published a new recipe by Melissa Clark for Sheet-Pan Chicken with Zucchini and Basil. For the recipe you’ll need bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs and drumsticks (I substituted bone-in chicken breasts), zucchini, fresh garlic, dried mint or oregano, coriander seeds (I substituted ground coriander), red-pepper flakes, extra-virgin olive oil, lemon wedges and fresh basil. I also added chunks of carrots as I had a few left in my crisper. 
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Back in April famed chef, David Burke, opened Belmar Kitchen, located in Beach Haus Brewery. Over 10 years ago David Burke opened his first “Kitchen” restaurant, Burke Kitchen, in the James Hotel on Grand Street in Manhattan. If memory serves me correct, my daughter and I ate outside on the patio on one of those iconic warm and clear days.

​Friends of ours ate at Belmar Kitchen and had positive comments on the meal they had. On Wednesday evening my husband and I had an impromptu dinner date reservation for 5:30. At that time the restaurant was relatively quite for midweek dining. Our hostess asked where we wanted to sit. I explained that this was our first time and where would she suggest sitting if she was trying to impress us. She recommend the back dining room. The minimal aesthetic room featured dark terra cotta walls, wood top tables set upon wrought iron stands and an open concept kitchen with a wood-burning pizza oven.
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​The heat and humidity the past week has been miserable, though not as bad as for the northwest. In my CSA box for week 8, was broccoli, green beans, lettuce, sweet onions, cabbage, raspberries, mint and peaches.
 
One of the first ingredients I used was the green beans. I found a wonderful salad on the website, Lidia’s Italy, for String Beans, Capers and Basil Salad. This tasty salad can be served warm or at room temperature. Although my husband was nibbling on it while it was sitting out, he said he would prefer to eat it cold; into the refrigerator it went.


​meet donna

A former teacher, shop-a-holic, empty-nester redefining quick, family approved dinners.

​If you have questions or comments, click on the envelope icon above to contact me directly. 

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