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Sometimes if my daughter has an overabundance of produce in her Dreyer’s Farms CSA box, she’ll pass along some items to me. In one of her boxes, she gave me had a half of head of cabbage and a purple spring onion. At first, I was puzzled as to what do with these two items, but after going through my recipe files, I came across a recipe from the March 1996 issue of Bon Appétit Magazine for Carolina Cole Slaw. What is great about this recipe is the fact that there is no mayonnaise in this slaw.
Fortunately for me the half of head of cabbage yielded the 1-1/4 pounds of thinly sliced cabbage I needed. I also used the purple spring onion instead of regular yellow onions for a little color. A sliced green pepper is also in the slaw. In order to get the cabbage and onion nice and thin, I used my mandoline slicer for both.

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I'm now into my sixth week of recovery from hip surgery. The challenge has been not to overdo things such as bending more than 90 degrees and no heavy lifting to name a few. However, the challenge to find great meals using wonderful summertime ingredients has been the best way for me to pass the time.
 
Years ago, my husband gave me the cookbook, The Tra Vigne Cookbook - Seasons in the California Wine Country, by Michael Chiarello with Penelope Wisner. It's a seasonal cookbook broken down by ingredients. In the summer section, one of the ingredients chef Chiarello focuses on is corn. This weekend I made raw corn, arugula and pecorino salad with grilled chicken breast. What a delightful and light summertime meal this was.
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​Summer vegetables are now coming to market.  I was in a quandary as to what to make for dinner. My husband mentioned that we hadn’t had paninis in a while, so I began to think about sandwich fillings. On recent visit to Delicious Orchards in Colts Neck, I saw New Jersey green and yellow zucchini, Mediterranean zucchini, bi-color and white corn, broccoli and tomatoes. I thought a vegetable panini would be a great change of pace.
 
I already had a green zucchini, white spring onion and two red peppers at home. For additional color I purchased a small yellow zucchini. My husband suggested Portobello mushrooms. I couldn’t resist summer corn, so I purchased several ears. Melted cheese on a panini always sounds appealing. On a second visit for the week to Pastosa in Manasquan, I purchased a large ball of fresh made mozzarella and a round loaf of Italian bread.
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​This week ShopRite has on sale a flat of blueberries. You get six pint containers for $7.99, or if you have a flyer, there’s a coupon for $6.99 with an additional $10 purchase. I missed this offer last summer and was delighted to see that ShopRite had it this year. 
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Pastosa Ravioli of Brooklyn, New York has found a new home at The Orchards at Wall Shopping Plaza, 2410 Highway 35, Manasquan. Their grand opening was Friday morning at 8:30, however, since the rains came through, I waited until about 10 am to make my trip.
The store doesn’t seem as large as the Cranford location, but it does pack a lot into the space. Pastosa has a selection of ready to go entrees and salads such as broccoli rabe ($9.99/lb.) and cheese and beef lasagna ($7.99/lb.) to name a few. The meat case was filled with assorted varieties of pork and chicken sausage, boneless pork chops and steak. I purchased pork sausage with fennel ($6.49/lb.) for sausage and peppers lunch for my daughter and son-in-law. 
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​The other day I took advantage of my Wegmans digital coupon for a $2 savings on fresh, wild caught sea scallops. I was looking for something light and easy to prepare for supper last night. I checked my New York Times Cooking app for a recipe, but nothing caught my eye. A search of the Epicurious app, resulted in a recipe by Carla Lalli Music from the December 2017 issue of Bon Appétit Magazine. A deliciously sounding recipe for seared scallops with brown butter and lemon pan sauce seemed like the perfect option.
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It’s been almost four weeks since my hip replacement surgery. Sitting still is not something I can easily do. I was, in my mind, very good the first two weeks of recuperation. Since then, I’ve been able to move better and being careful at what I chose to do.
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I’ve missed cooking during this time. The meals that we prepared were easy and unimaginative. However, as my recuperation progresses, the meals are getting better. Some of the things I have made in the past, but I do have a few new ones. I was able to try out some these recipes on my family this weekend.

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Currently I am laid up recuperating from total left hip replacement. The recipes given here today were prepared prior to my surgery. Hopefully, in two weeks or so, I'll be walking with a cane and will be more mobile.

For those who live near the water, June brings Father’s Day, graduations, June brides and summertime company.  I’m still experimenting with new frittatas for my husband. The two most recent preparations were Shiitake, Fontina and Prosciutto Frittata from an old issue of Buon Appétit Magazine (no date on torn out page) and a Crust-less Broccoli Quiche (Cooking Light Magazine, July 2003).
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My son loves to fish. Be it off the jetty or on the ocean he’ll spend his summer days fishing whenever he can. Last week he was fortunate to have a friend invite him on their boat. They left the marina at 6 AM and by 7:30 had caught their limit. My son caught three large strip bass. Lucky for me and his sister, he was kind enough to give a large fillet to each of us.
 
I prepared mine the other evening very simply to let the freshness of the fish shine through. I made my fish en papillote, meaning I placed the fish on a sheet of parchment and proceeded to enclose the fish in a pouch. I did this to keep the fish moist as it baked in the oven. I seasoned the fillet with salt, pepper, EVOO, a sprinkle of panko breadcrumbs and fresh chopped  parsley.
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For my birthday and Mother's Day my son and his wife gave me dinner at my choice of restaurants. As I was to be laid up for a while following hip surgery, I asked them if we could roll my birthday and Mother's Day gift into one and they suggested going to Heirloom Kitchen in Old Bridge, NJ. My son recommended that we sit at the chef's counter for dinner which would afford us a view of the meal preparation and interaction with the chefs.
 
Neilly Robinson is the founder/partner/general manager of Heirloom Kitchen. Neilly is an accomplished baker and prepares breads daily for the dining room.  Neilly's partner and Heirloom's executive chef is David Viana. The menu for this restaurant is driven by seasonal ingredients by a chef who gives his interpretation of American cooking. Chef Viana is a 2018 James Beard Award semifinalist. 


​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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