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Recipe: Sparkling Watermelon Lemonade

July 14, 2010 by Kendra Nordin Beato

A few days ago, I carted home a watermelon and made a watermelon pine nut salad. That was delicious, but I had a problem. There is only one of me. And I had a lot of watermelon leftover.

I was sharing this “problem” at work with my colleague, Owen. And he had a great idea: “Make watermelon lemonade.”

Drink my leftover watermelon? Of course! It made perfect sense. And it will make perfect sense for you, too, because this mocktail is delicious, refreshing, and tastes just like summer. It would have been beyond perfect if I had mint ice cubes. But fresh mint works just fine.

I found a good recipe on SmittenKitchen.com, and just altered it slightly to my liking. Oh my. You will love this and may never eat another watermelon straight up again.

Sparkling Watermelon Lemonade

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
1/2 cup fresh watermelon puree, strained to remove seeds
3 tablespoons simple syrup*
1 1/2 cups sparkling water
Mint, for garnish (or mint ice cubes)

Mix together and serve over ice. Serves 2.

*To make simple syrup: Simmer 1/4 cup water and 1/4 cup sugar until sugar dissolves. Allow to cool.

Posted in Beverage, Recipes | Tagged , | 6 Comments »

Recipe: Watermelon, Arugula, and Pine Nut Salad

July 6, 2010 by Kendra Nordin Beato

Man is it HOT out. Heat wave hits the East Coast.

See my temperature barometer?

The 80 degree F. tag is floating close to the bottom. That means it is hotter than 80 degrees in my apartment even though the a/c has been blasting all day.

Turning on any electrical appliance to cook is just not an option. A watermelon salad is a perfect refreshment for a heat wave. Keep it in mind for your next backyard cookout.

Continue Reading »

Posted in Salad | Tagged , | 4 Comments »

Recipe: Feijoada (Brazilian black bean stew)

June 29, 2010 by Kendra Nordin Beato

Meet Evelin. (Pronounced ‘Eva-leeen.’)

She wanted me to show you what she looked like “normally,” right away. Because, as you’ll see, she looked pretty unusual the day she came over and cooked a full Brazilian meal in my tiny kitchen. Make that 2 days. Actually, the whole event spanned 3 days. More on that in a bit.

Evelin is from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She’s been living with our mutual friend Ana Paula here in Boston for the past month taking English classes and visiting our inferior beaches (my words, not hers!). Anyway, during one of our adventures, maybe it was after suffering through “Sex and the City 2“, we came up with the idea of cooking “a real Brazilian meal” together. I would take notes and pictures, and she would do everything else. It turned out I was also on fan duty.

This was to happen on a Sunday afternoon. At my house. “Sure, no problem!” (I’ve picked up this phrase from Evelin). Continue Reading »

Posted in Main dish, Recipes | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments »

Movie review: “Fresh”

June 21, 2010 by Kendra Nordin Beato

The two repeating drumbeats being sounded by sustainable food advocates are:

1. Industrial farming has grown too quickly to produce safe and humane food.
2. Inner-cities with their lack of access to fresh, locally grown food have become food deserts.

If this is a topic that you have been following, and have seen “Food, Inc.,” and “King Corn,” two documentaries that explore the problems of large-scale farming in the United States, you might also be interested in seeing “Fresh.” And if you feel like converting your friends to the cause, you can pay a licensing fee and host a screening.

Having seen “Food, Inc.” and “King Corn” and reviewed books by investigative journalist Michael Pollan already, I can’t say that I learned anything new (and still ate a hot dog at a barbeque the next day. I’m trying).

But, I did enjoy more in-depth interviews with Virginia farmer Joel Salatin and Milwaukee urban farmer Will Allen. The Christian Science Monitor published great profiles of these guys here and here. Interviews with hog farmer Russ Kremer and supermarket owner David Ball will really connect you to how the American food chain works. Here is a partial list of the characters in the documentary.

Two of my favorite quotes from the film:

“I’m just trying to help chickens express their chickeness.” – Joel Salatin

“Food is at the foundation, but it is really about life.” – Will Allen

Indeed.

Posted in Eating in season, Food musings | Tagged , , | Leave a Comment »

Cookbook review: “Seasonal Fruit Desserts” by Deborah Madison

June 17, 2010 by Kendra Nordin Beato

Everyone has experienced the disappointment of buying a lovely looking piece of fruit only to discover it is as appetizing as cardboard. Deborah Madison hopes to redeem the paradise-lost pleasures of truly ripe fruit. The cookbook guru has written a bit of a love letter to summer’s jewels with her new “Seasonal Fruit Desserts” (Broadway Books, $32.50). A perusal of the gorgeous photos alone will prompt you to rush to your nearest Farmers’ Market and load up your canvas shopping bags.

Madison wants us to rededicate ourselves to the fleeting joys of locally grown, seasonal fruit – even if it requires the discipline of putting those well-traveled strawberries back on the shelf in mid-December. Whether it is figs and raspberries elegantly presented unadorned or a recipe for a compote, “Seasonal Fruit Desserts” advises even as it tempts. “Don’t assume that everything from the farmers’ market or farm stand is stellar,” she cautions. “Be watchful, asks for tastes, sniff, ask questions, and be prepared to say, ‘No, thanks.'”

I was delighted that Madison includes a mention of pawpaws, a fruit native to the Midwest that some say should replace the carbon-footprint-ladened banana of the tropics. In fact, the pawpaw is a distant cousin of the banana. “Its bananalike notes are probably what account for its other names – prairie banana, Hoosier banana – and other banana appellations for every state where the pawpaw grows,” writes Madison. “[T]he pawpaw is the only member of the [Annonaceae] genus that doesn’t require a tropical climate to survive.”

How about them apples – er – pawpaws?

As always, Madison offers tips for preparing fruit, techniques for coaxing the best flavors out of your dishes, and advice on the best kitchen equipment to have on hand. “Seasonal Fruit Desserts” will set you up perfectly to enjoy the sweetness of slow summer evenings.

Read my article about shopping at Farmers’ Markets and listen to my interview with Deborah Madison by clicking here.

Posted in Cookbook reviews, Eating in season | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments »

News Buzz: Disappearing food boundaries

May 14, 2010 by Kendra Nordin Beato

Two interesting news reports this week that show a loosening of controlled spaces to allow for new food experiences in unexpected places. Who is being affected? Corporate America and the toddler set.

First, The New York Times had an interesting feature describing the “Rise of Company Gardens.” Doing a little weeding on your coffee break is taking off, it seems, and not just for sun-splashed corporations such as Google and Yahoo. Kohl’s headquarters near Milwaukee is also growing veggies for local kids. The receptionist for Harvard Pilgrim in Quincy, Mass., waters their company garden before work and harvests at lunch time. The article references several other companies across the United States that have a new crop of raised beds.

Next, CNN took a hot debate (1,111 comments at this posting) on fine-dining restaurants catering to the 3-and-under crowd to a national level. The CNN post was simply responding to  NYT article “Fine Dining Where Strollers Don’t Invite Sneers” about Manhattan restaurants that are welcoming little people.

The comments range from: Children need to be exposure to restaurants beyond Chucky Cheese, to please don’t train your child on my expensive dinner tab. For most, “haute tots” are only cute for about five minutes, it seems.

Kitchen Report weighs in:

Corporate gardens = Great!

Toddlers in expensive restaurants = Not so much.

Posted in News Buzz, Poll | Tagged | Leave a Comment »

Poll: Home cooking

May 13, 2010 by Kendra Nordin Beato

Posted in Poll | Tagged | Leave a Comment »

Steamed fiddleheads with horseradish sauce

May 13, 2010 by Kendra Nordin Beato

You can tell a true New Englander in May by two things:


1. They know what a fiddlehead is.
2. They have eaten one and enjoyed it.


The sudden cold snap we are having here means we might get another week or two of enjoying this once-a-year treat. Food bloggers are reporting their appearance in their CSA bounty. You can also  pickle fiddleheads, but no matter how you decide to prepare them, make sure you clean them well.

I tried fiddleheads last year for the first time, with some success (see recipe here). This year my friend and colleague Leigh said her family enjoyed them at their Mother’s Day feast. What else did they have? French grilled pork chops – with olive oil, garlic, rosemary, herbes de Provence, salt & pepper Yukon Gold potato and carrot purée. I can see the artful fiddlehead was the perfect side note.

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Fiddlehead ferns by Leigh Montgomery

This New England delicacy is as beautiful as any of nature’s patterns or the scroll of a violin that inspires their name.  To me nothing else tastes like an early spring evening or a verdant forest floor.  When I see them I am transported back to a memorable fly-fishing trip on New Brunswick’s Miramichi river, where every night we retired to the lodge for salmon and fiddlehead variations on the side or in soup.  About the taste – it does have a slightly wild taste and tough consistency, requiring a little trimming, softening and saucing.  I found this recipe, from a 1992 Gourmet magazine issue, an easy and elegant way to introduce them to those who might not have tried them before.

Continue Reading »

Posted in Eating in season, Side dish | Tagged | 2 Comments »

Chocolate chip banana bread

May 10, 2010 by Kendra Nordin Beato

For Mother’s Day I headed down to the Cape for a quick visit with Mom and the sea. I feel pretty fortunate that Mom relocated on the Cape a few years ago so I can zoom down for a few hours to escape the city and then zoom back up again.

The lilac bush behind her old Cape house was in full bloom, the first time I’ve seen it. Mom told me I should take back as many blossoms as I wanted. This is pure joy for me, being a city dweller. The lilac display in the arboretum is just a couple of blocks from my apartment and I can go sniff them anytime I want but to pick them would be criminal. So I settle for paying way too much for fresh, cut flowers at Whole Foods. Driving down to the Cape means I can have my pick of whatever Mom’s garden is offering.

I arrived with a hydrangea bush and a couple of paperbacks, good for beach reading. Mom has two great loves: Gardening and books. As long as her house has enough room for all of her books and as long as her back garden is big enough to dig around in, she is happy. If for any reason a Christmas or Mother’s Day goes by without a new book for Mom, we hear about it. “That was a lovely holiday,” she’ll say, “but I didn’t get any new books.” Continue Reading »

Posted in Baked goods, Recipes | Tagged , | 5 Comments »

News Buzz: Foodie food fight!

April 28, 2010 by Kendra Nordin Beato

Salon has an article today talking about an oven-mitt showdown between the Brighton, Mass., test kitchen that produces Cook’s Illustrated and Food52.com, produced by New York Times food columnist Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubs.

At issue: Is a test kitchen better than an army of blogging home cooks? A recipe contest will decide the winner.

My favorite points the article brings out:

1. “home cooks are the original ‘old guard’ of cooking”
2. “with blogged recipes … it’s hard to know whether they come from a talented or trained chef, or are simply the musings of someone who is a disaster in the kitchen.”

It seems chefs, professional cooks, and test kitchens are starting the feel the same competitive heat that journalists have been feeling for years. And now it has come to this: A blogger who wears an apron over her pajamas while taking pictures of her food is someone to reckon with.

May the best recipe win!

To listen to my conversation with Amanda Hesser about her book, “Eat, Memory” click here.

Posted in News Buzz | Leave a Comment »

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