High Tide

The stage is set for dinner

Sitting on the screened porch and watching the sunset while dinner is cooking on the grill has been the theme of this week at the beach. It is no small luxury to wake up every day and ponder two big questions: when shall we go to the beach, and what should we eat tonight. Taking advantage of the outdoors and a grill, dinner varies between fresh, off-the-boat seafood that smells like the ocean, and an occasional steak. My exotic spices sit in the cupboard but I find myself reaching for very basic, clean, and light flavors - lime, jalapeno, cilantro, chopped garlic, salt and pepper, olive oil.

Perhaps it's because we eat while looking out at the water, but this is some of the best food I have made, and it takes nothing more than combining all ingredients in a bowl along with scallops or shrimp and a dash of white wine for 20 minutes, giving them an occasional gentle toss, then spearing them on skewers and grilling them briefly. Sliced avocado with lime and salt and corn on the cob, grilled wrapped in aluminum foil with olive oil and spices, or boiled and served as a salad, are wonderful side dishes.

Our seafood at home won't be as fresh and we won't be dining to the sound of waves lapping against the shore, but this will work well for broiling, too, and is a surefire way to evoke summer.

Quick tip: Beach house kitchen essentials

We're spending a week at the beach, and as soon as we found a rental I started to think about what to bring. And I'm not talking about clothes. I consulted blogs, friends, the local realtors, and took note of what I reach for every day to compile a list of essentials for a week of easy cooking and fabulous eating. This assumes a house with a functional kitchen including basic pots, pans and utensils; a barbecue; and access to fresh protein and vegetables.

Beach rental essentials for the foodie

• Good canned tuna for sandwiches and quick pasta dishes
• Good canned beans and chick peas for sides dishes and salads
• Olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dressings and marinades
• Salt and pepper mill
• Spices: cayene pepper, chili powder, cinnamon, garam masala, ground ginger, ground cumin, oregano, paprika, and thyme 
• Light brown sugar (for rubs)
• Whole wheat pasta, Israeli or regular couscous
• Oatmeal for breakfast (and if you're so inclined, for baking)
• Package of good strained tomatoes
• Pistacchios or other nuts to sustain you while you sip and cook
• Good chocolate for eating or shaving over ice cream
• French press and coffee
• Red and white wine, beer
• Wine, bottle and can openers
• Candles and matches for romantic dinners and power outages 
• Heavy duty aluminum foil for grilling
• Napkins, paper towels, kitchen towels 
• Oven mitts
• Plastic bags for marinating proteins
• Tongs
• Kitchen shears
• Grater

Throw in a bathing suit and a pair of shorts, and you're good to go!

Comfort

Comfort food makes you feel good no matter when you eat it. For me, one of life's great little indulgences is a piece of warm, crunchy toast with butter. Even the smell of bread cooking in the toaster oven makes me insanely happy. I feel the same way about my homemade omelette, although my version is really more of a frittata sans the cheese. It feels like a treat partly because we have it for dinner and you're supposed to have eggs for breakfast. You can make this in 20 minutes or less and I'll share a few tricks to make it low in fat and high in flavor. Have a glass of really cold Sauvignon Blanc or Sancerre with this dish and voila! It will feel like you're dining at a bistrot.

"Omelette" dinner

Ingredients:

• Two eggs per person
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Olive oil
• A handful or two of chopped fresh herbs (I like a mix of basil, cilantro, chives, and tarragon)

Preparation:

Drizzle a teaspoon of olive oil in a non-stick, oven proof skillet. Use a paper towel to moisten the entire skillet with oil.

Set your skillet over a burner at high heat.

Preheat your oven to 250 degrees.

Crack eggs into a bowl. Using a whisk, combine the egg whites and yolks. Whisk very well until the eggs are almost foamy - this is the trick to an airy texture. Add herbs, salt and pepper to taste, and a table spoon or so of water per 2 eggs. Whisk again.

Pour the eggs into the hot skillet. Turn down the heat to medium. After about 3 minutes, or when the bottom is firm and the top starts to settle, put the skillet in the oven. Bake for 6-8 minutes, until the top of the omelette is firm but still very yellow (this is very important - a golden omelett will be pretty but dry).

Side dishes:

I serve this with steamed potatoes and asparagus. For optimum time management, before you start on the eggs, cut off the asparagus ends. Set water to boil in a medium pan. When the water is boiling, add the asparagus and cook for 3-4 minutes. Drain the asparagus in a colander and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking - this keeps them nice and green. Set on a plate and drizzle with a vinaigrette of olive oil, vinegar, and a touch of dijon mustard.

Wash and slice the potatoes (I buy organic ones so I don't have to worry about peeling them). Steam them for 10 minutes or so in the same pot you used for the asparagus. When they are soft, remove the basket. Serve the potatoes drizzled with olive oil. If the are really sweet, that's all you need, otherwise sprinkle with salt and pepper.

As the potatoes cook, make the omelet. Everything will be ready around the same time. Pour the wine and bon appetit.

Quick tip: Garam masala squash

The best of summer: squash
and heirloom tomatoes

Here's a delectable, yet oh-so-simple idea that I picked up at a July 4 barbecue for jazzing up all that gorgeous summer squash: slice it, lay the slices out on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garam masala (a mix of ground cumin, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, star anise and coriander seeds). Preheat your oven at about 400 degrees and broil for the squash for 10 minutes or so. This is so yummy that you will be making this all summer long. And here's one good reason to look forward to fall: I can't wait to try it with butternut squash and pumpkin.

Spontaneity

Growing up there was always someone coming to our house to eat. We had an open door policy and my friends would turn up for lunch or snacks after school. My parents also entertained a lot and my mom threw fabulous dinner parties, meticulously planned from the table decor and menu to the guest list. My dad jokes that we never get to enjoy leftovers because our guests always have seconds and thirds, something that deep down every host probably wants to complain about! When I moved into a home of my own, I wanted it to be the kind of place where people drop in for the extra seat at the table. In reality, we lead such hectic lives that every moment is planned and everyone pulls out their handheld device to pencil in dinner appointments four weeks out. People do not come by unannounced because it is simply not practical.

With impromptu dinner guests just about as rare as leap years, I was thrilled that a friend found himself in our neighborhood one evening last week. My enthusiasm at entertaining on a whim quickly turned into panic when I remembered what I had planned for that night: a modified recipe from Williams Sonoma for pasta with endives, olives and tomatoes. My version was going to be with whole wheat spaghetti and I only had enough ingredients for two people with rather modest appetites. Blanching at the thought of serving insufficient amounts of extremely healthy food to a guy who has been known to eat a few burgers in one sitting, I peered into the fridge to see what else I could piece together. Small quantities of lentils, assorted herbs and vegetables, and eggs didn't offer any promising alternatives, so I decided to brave it, follow my original plan, and add whatever plausible ingredient I had in the kitchen. After all, if I couldn't feed one spontaneous friend, how would I ever have a revolving door of dinner guests?

Farmer's market harvest

As a caveat, we did call ahead to warn him of the menu so he arrived knowing full well what to expect. Fortunately he is easy going and open minded, and hoping for the best I retreated into the kitchen, along with a big glass of the Malbec he brought. It may have been the wine or the recipe which was an excellent starting point, but I gathered my wits about me and started adding ingredients: strained tomatoes and yellow cherry tomatoes for substance, and white wine, red pepper flakes and fresh basil for flavor. When I brought it all out in a big bowl it looked picture perfect: yellow and red cherry tomatoes played off beautifully against the wet-sand color of the pasta and the bright green basil leaves. Our friend pronounced himself impressed and I'm quite sure that he was not just being polite since he asked for seconds and then thirds. No leftovers! Triumphantly I carried the empty bowl back into the kitchen.  

  

Whole wheat pasta with endives, cherry tomatoes, and basil

(This recipe is adapted from a Williams Sonoma cookbook)

Ingredients

• Whole wheat pasta (I used spaghetti but any shape will do)
• Olive oil
• Garlic, chopped
• A handful or two of cherry tomatoes, halved (for visual appeal mix yellow and red ones)
• White or red wine (whichever you are drinking - if you go white, choose something full-bodied since the pasta is hearty)
• Good strained tomatoes (I use Pomi)
• A handful of olives (I used kalamata)
• Belgian endive, outer leaves removed and cut into one inch slices (I think radicchio would work very well, too)
• Salt, pepper, red pepper flakes
• Fresh basil (don't skip or skimp on this, it really makes the meal)

In a large skillet warm a tablespoon or two of olive oil on medium heat. Add the garlic and stir it until it becomes soft. Add the tomatoes and stir them every so often for about 3 minutes, until they start breaking up. Add some white wine and tomato sauce, but only enough to barely cover the cherry tomatos. Add the olives, endives, salt, papper, and red pepper flakes to taste, stir, and turn off the heat.

Boil pasta in plenty of salted water. Do not overcook, although whole wheat will be firmer than regular pasta.

Drain the pasta (do not rinse) and put into a large serving bowl. Add the sauce, and stir in plenty of basil leaves. Serve with fresh parmesan or pecorino cheese and garnish with basil if you are feeling fancy.