Sandwiches and Happy Hour for Kids

Glimmerglass Opera - inspiration for this week's column

http://www.registerstar.com/columnists/food_for_thought/article_5b819efa-05ef-11e3-8ccb-001a4bcf887a.html

sandwich from a loyal reader of this blog

My lunch inspired by your article... Just before the idea to sprinkle chopped pistachios over the tomatoes.  A basic BLT but with the addition of some home grown avocado,  a smear  of fresh pea puree on 1 side of  toasted home made bread.  Obviously the other toasted slice had a wisp of Hellmann's. 

 It was delicious! - Mr. Guy, The Peninsula House, Las Terrenas, D.R.

 

Not just sandwiches on my mind - although they do make eating a meal a convenient exercise - but also cocktails.

I refer to the time spent with the friends mentioned in my article.  I was happy to be their guest at the same time that their daughter, and grandchildren were also in residence.   Somewhere around 5:30 - 6 pm when there's a universal desire for an apertivo - a little preprandial cocktail, something to stimulate the appetite(should you need to be coaxed - or not).

I tried to explain the concept of happy hour to the kids, ages 5 - 10 - and talked about the Shirley Temples of my childhood and started to remember the ingredients for the cheerful, non-alcoholic cocktail named for an equally cheerful child movie star (MUCH older than I).   Grenadine is the addition that gave the drink its color and faint flavor.  Grenadine is made with pomegranates I said.  And that's when Rita, my host, said that she had some pomegranate molasses.  Then Tessa, the 8-year old, middle grandchild, and I created an eponymous cocktail for the minors in the group to enjoy.

 

 

THE TESSA

Tessa thought that adding edible pea blossoms to the straw would identify the cocktail.  She was right. Her comment after her sip - "It tastes a little like Gummy Bears."  High praise, don't you think?

makes 1 drink - highball

1 teaspoon pomegranate molasses
a few splashes orange juice
lots of ice
2 - 3 sprigs fresh mint
sparkling water
a straw
edible pea blossoms for garnish

Add the pomegranate molasses to a highball glass.  Add the orange juice, ice and mint.  Pour in the sparkling water to fill the glass.  Stick a sweet pea blossom into one end of a straw.  Use the straw as a mixer, and stir/muddle all the ingredients together.  Sip.

Campari, soda and mint for the adults

 

Chicken-of-the-woods mushrooms which were harvested right after this photo was snapped - grilled with garlic and olive oil, garnished with freshly chopped garlic  - eaten with dinner.

SUSANSIMONSAYS:   another thing to do with what will soon become a surfeit of vine ripened tomatoes (isn't that the  way it goes - you wait and wait for them and all of a sudden there are mounds and mounds of them and not enough time to make everything you desire?).
I call this Pan Valenciano because that's what I understood it to be called when I ate it in Barcelona years ago.  I think that it's also called Pan Tomate. It's simple: Cut a baguette in half, lengthwise (or any bread); cut a very ripe tomato in half and squeeze and smear it on the bread; drizzle extra-virgin olive oil all over the bread and sprinkle with coarse sea salt.  Bake at 350 degrees F. until the bread is golden and appears crispy.  Eat with just about anything.

Allegra either fishing for frogs or eating some grass

 

A Match Made in Heaven

Every time I hear the word, marry - and these days it seems to be ubiquitous - I think of how often I, and other food writers use one word , marry, to mean, "go with, perfectly".   Huh, now there's a thought.

.   Franks and Beans
.   Rice and Beans
.   Peanut Butter and Jelly
.   Cream Cheese and Jelly
.   Bacon and Eggs
.   Ham and Eggs
.   Ham and Cheese

.   Asparagus and Eggs
.   Shrimp and Grits

.   Tomatoes and Mozzarella
.   Spaghetti and Meatballs

.   Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato

.   Fish and Chips
.   Wine and Cheese

.   Prosciutto and Figs (or Melon)
.   Gin and Tonic

And so on.  These are some of the classics.  You have your own favorites.   I have some new favorites too.   Actually there are some marriages that I crave, David Chang's Spicy Noodles at his seminal NYC restaurant, Momofuku.  The dish contains noodles, served at room temperature tossed with copious amounts of seriously spicy Chinese sausage - the kind of spiciness that makes your eyes tear up and your nose  run - paired with crunchy, sweet cashews and raw, baby spinach leaves to cool it all down. 

Everyone in Hudson seems to be craving a breakfast dish on Bonfiglio and Bread's menu that's a bowlful of croutons, yogurt, lardons, sliced avocado, topped with two perfectly poached eggs, chili oil, and lime zest.   I make my own, sort of, version with Bonfiglio's toasted quinoa bread saturated with extra virgin olive oil, sheep's milk yogurt and topped with sliced avocado, kumato tomatoes, a spritz of lime juice and Japanese sesame seeds and salt.
The thing about all these dishes is that they are made up of  different ingredients put together to make something even better.  Rather like a good marriage - don't you think?
Now, I wouldn't want to marry, like marry in the dictionary definition, any of these dishes because I'd gobble them all up and then, ahem, where would I be?
But, man, oh man - could people just think a minute before they open their mouths in opposition to same sex marriage with comments like  "The next thing you'll want to marry your dog, or a duck, or a turtle, or your son"   Puh-leez.   I love my dog, and we're a cute couple.  Marriage, I prefer my own species.
Confuscius ,551-479 BC,  said;
"Marriage is the union of two different surnames, in friendship and in love..."  That's it.

SUSANSIMONSAYS: