A Good Friend, Coffee, Paper & A Blueberry Scone

Have I told you yet how much I love the summertime? Come June everything just slows down a bit. Traffic is less tiresome. Neighborhood noises abound with kids voices, lawnmowers, sprinklers, cicadas and dive bomb splashes into the pool. And maybe you can sit down each week and read the New Yorker cover to cover in time for the next weeks edition. Here at Casa de la Pav we enjoy it all plus, what I like to call, the ubiquitous revolving summer door. Where family and friends come, stay, eat, drink and play with us all summer long. Ok, we work too!

So this past week we’ve had some dear friends in from Boston - Max & Shari. Shari and I have been going non-stop. Therefore, even though I have hundreds of recipes “in the vault” , I’ve been racking my brain on what to post for today’s Friday Food Find. So today, we went for a 2-mile run and stopped by Starbucks to pick up a coffee. Since it wasn’t a drive-thru we had to take our sweaty selves in to the counter. We purchased our coffees, The New York Times and a blueberry scone.

Once we situated ourselves outside, sippin’ on our coffee, Shari began reading the Friday movie reviews (aloud as I didn’t have my old girl’s peepers with me) and I dove into the scone. I’ve had Starbucks scones before and they’re pretty good. This one was especially yummers. It was crumbly, lightly sweet, crunchy on the outside and had just the right amount of blueberries. I thoroughly enjoyed it! That said, I probably gained back all the calories lost whilst running. But isn’t it just the best to indulge sometimes? Especially on a great Summertime morning with a good friend over coffee, a paper and a blueberry scone? I think altogether that makes a very good Friday Food Find.

Lemons, Preserved

A gift from the heavens is what a preserved lemon is to me.  When I think of that brine-y, tart and juicy yellow orb brightening a dish I just swoon.  And it’s all because of a trip to North Africa - Morocco to be exact.  That trip is a whole lot of other stories.  But for today’s Friday Food Find it’s a recipe for just one beautiful ingredient and preserving it to use in any number of dishes.  It’s simple to make and it lasts a while.   Most importantly it’s flavor inserts itself magically transforming a dish from fabulous to FULL of FABULOUCITY.  One of the best things about this recipe it doesn’t have to be perfect! How rockin’ is that - enjoy.

Ingredients

10 medium lemons
3C Kosher salt
6C water 

Process

Place all lemons in a medium, non-reactive bowl.  With a sharp knife make up to 8 fine 2-inch vertical incisions around each lemon from the stem down.  Repeat with each lemon. If you are able, do not cut deeper that the pith or white inner lining of the lemon. Once incised squeeze each lemon gently to juice.  Place the incised lemons and their juices in a non-reactive pot; large enough so the lemons set on the bottom in one layer.  Pour salt and water over the lemons.  Cover and bring to a boil.  Turn the heat down to a simmer until the lemon peels become very soft (15 to 30 minutes).  Set aside to cool.  Once cool take the lemons, one by one, out of their juice (which you can now call a liquor) and place each into a clean glass jar (with a tight lid). Then cover the lemons with the reserved cooking liquor until liquor reaches right under the brim of jar.  The lemons and liquor should be packed in the jar tightly. Secure the jar by placing the lid on tightly.  Discard any left-over liquid.  Leave the jar of lemons in a cool dark place or refrigerator for approximately 3 days.  After 3 days they are ready to use.  Your preserved lemons can be refrigerated for up to two weeks. 

How to Use

Take however many preserved lemons you need for a recipe out of the jar.  Rinse gently to wash of excess liquor.  Pat dry and follow recipe directions. 

Tips
*If you cut deeper than the pith - don’t worry - it’s going to be just fine.  The lemon will come apart but that’s ok!  You primarily use the preserved lemon peel.  Therefore, it’s going to be usable and delicious.
*Used sparingly, left-over liquor can be used to marinate meat, fish or chicken.  Use it within a couple days, however, as the shelf life is no longer than 1 week.

Friday Food Find: Flowering Leek from Casa Pav's Gardens

Have you ever seen something as beautiful as a flowering leek?  It’s one magnificent life force; pushing it’s soft miniscule flower pods out of a silky tough skin.  

My husband, Mike (gardner extraordinaire), will be pulling these gorgeous leeks this weekend so we might use the white bottoms for a BBQ.  So this was my last chance to share the bloom with you.

It’s my Friday Food Find; and a kind of gift to you - a flowering leek.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.  

Friday Food Find: A Bahn Mi Pizza

When it comes to pizza I’m pretty much a purist.  So when my husband called me last night to say he was bringing home a few slices of a Bahn Mi pizza I was alot curious though a bit ambivalent.  

A Bahn Mi is basically a Vietnamese sandwich.  Traditionally a breakfast food, it is a combination of meats, pate, pickled vegetables, herbs and a some heat usually in the spread.  It’s all placed inside a beautiful crusty, soft-on-the-inside baby French baguette.  Believe it! The Vietnamese make some of the most delicious bread I’ve had.  It is the French influence, of course.

After the last trip to Vietnam we picked one up on our way to the airport.  Here’s what we noshed on for only $.75.  

Mike walk in the door and said, “Babe, you gotta try this pizza!” So I did.  

It was really divine.  The combination of little salty bites of sausage, briny pickled vegetable, fresh cilantro, heat from jalapeño and the mildly sweet bread-y crust made for one flavor and mouth sensation.  I couldn’t believe it; a bahn mi pizza?  But it really worked. 

I finished off the last piece today for a lunch left-over and it was just as good.  

As you can see I’ve eaten this pizza second hand.  I didn’t go to the actual house in which it was made.  And my husband had it catered.  That said we’ll be on way to have some again and you should too.

You’ll just have to hop in the car and drive on out to Pinthouse Pizza Craft Brewpub in North Central Austin.  

Here’s to the Bahn Mi; my Friday Food Find just for you!  Enjoy.

Friday Food Find: Frittata with Arugula & A Citrus Vinaigrette

I wish I could say I made this dish myself; but I didn’t.  It is a frittata with baby arugula and a citrus vinaigrette.

Recently I met my sistah-friend Kelly at 24 Diner in ATX.  It was her birthday and she wanted to eat somewhere close to our ideal shopping destination, Anthropologie; which was just across the street.

Not wanting to get too full (we were going to try on clothes afterall), I decided to order the Feta and Tomato Frittata.  

Let me just say it was fluffy, salt and peppered perfectly and had slight crispy edges.  Just on top and in the center lay a few handfuls of baby arugula that had been dressed with a tart lemon vingaigrette.  

The combination of flavor and texture exploded in my mouth like dynamite; bite after bite.

While chatting away between explosive mouthfuls I wondered aloud, “How may eggs are in ths frittata?”  

So I asked the waiter.  He said, “I think six.”  

“Whaaaatttt!” we exclaimed.  Both Kelly (who had also ordered a frittata) and I looked down at our almost empty plates, looked back up at each other and said, “OMG!”

Kelly said, “Why did you have to ask?”

Let’s face it, six eggs is a shitload - in one sitting and for one person.  

Needless to say, we did try on clothes with tummies a little fuller than anticipated. We both agreed, though, that our frittatas were some of the best we had ever tasted; and almost finished. Thank you 24 Diner for provided my more than ample Friday Food Find.

p.s. Notwithstanding, Kelly found a most flattering, rockin’ body birthday outfit.
p.s.s.  You know, us girls, always do!