Labor Day Feast

Before I get into my post about my Labor Day meal, I first want to take a moment to remember all of the victims from September 11th and all of the regular people who became heroes that day. I think I speak for everyone when I say that I will never forget your great sacrifice many people in NYC made and I am extremely proud to call this city home. 

People were not the only ones who became heroes that day. As everyone knows, I'm a HuGE dog person and I recently read the loveliest story about Roselle, a seeing guide dog who, on 9/11, was sleeping under her blind owner's desk. When an airplane crashed into the tower, she calmly led him down 78 flights (1,463 stairs) of Stairway B to safety, even as debris fell around and on them. Their story is chronicled in the absolutely amazing book Thunder Dog, which I highly recommend. 

Now on to the food....


Unsurprisingly, our Labor Day feast looks extremely similar to our Fourth of July picnic. With the burgers from our Memorial Day BBQ. And by extremely similar, I mean it is almost exact.

Can you blame us?

If hamburgers and hot dogs aren't American, and a barbecue isn't the thing to do when you have a day off, and Labor Day isn't literally a holiday dedicated to giving American workers a day off, then I am confused. Translation = that's exactly what it is. It's also a day to stick to recipes you know well, not pull random ones out of a hat. And that's exactly why, on Labor Day much like Fourth of July, my family barbecues.

Here are some of the highlights of the additions we had, because our mains were CLEARLY hot dogs and hamburgers.

Freddi's chili to top our hotdogs and hamburgers

Peppers, onions and mushrooms to slap on top of our burgers

The oft-requested (and winner of "dish of the summer" in my house) southwestern salsa

Pasta salad cause...duh, it's a barbecue

Oven-fried Fish Tacos

Who doesn't love tacos? Seriously. I get that they're traditionally Mexican, but in my opinion, they're as American as hamburgers and apple pie. And being saying that is a big deal - I mean, after all, I am a Daughter of the American Revolution. Yep, true fact. My mum's side of the family is very proud of that fact that, although they cook like the Italians, they can trace a lineage to people who lived in the colonies. Crazy, right? How do you even follow that family tree back that far?

I digress.

Tacos!!! Tacos are American! I mean, they're served at school lunches. I'm pretty positive that Taco Tuesday was a part of many families dinner plans - before there was Sea Salt n Pepa's Sunday Meal Planning, there was eating the same meal every week on the same day (our consistent meals were meatballs - mum - and meatloaf - dad) 

But man, we had a lot of tacos too. And I never got tired of tacos. My parents loved it because, well, let's be honest...all you need to do is brown a pound of ground beef on the stove with premade seasoning, heat up some premade shells, slice a head of lettuce and put out some shredded cheese. We weren't exactly fancy. We could dish that meal up in ten minutes, easy. Which is why it was so common in every single house I've ever been it. 

Well now we're grown up, and our tacos are grown up too. They now include such craziness as beans (I absolutely hated beans when I was young. HATED. Now I think they make up 1/4 of each plate I eat), salsa (I only liked taco sauce because it was smooth), corn salsa, and even more unusual dishes. I've had shrimp tacos with cabbage slaw. I've had shredded pork tacos. I've even had seared scallops tacos with cucumber salsa. 

This dish is as easy as the original with the added benefit of being fancy enough to serve to an adult crowd. It's even healthy, since the fish isn't realllllly fried, it's just cooked through in the oven!

About a pound of white fish (I used sole) for a family of four
Two eggs
Panko bread crumbs
Taco shells
White rice, black beans, toppings

Preheat your oven to 450F. Set up your dredging station. In one bowl, crack your two eggs and mix. In another, pour panko bread crumbs. Rinse and pat dry your fish fillets.

Dredge your fish on both sides in the egg wash and then in panko, making sure to coat completely. Place each fillet on a baking dish that has been oiled (I used PAM canola spray, obvs).

Place your fish in the oven and cook for about 8 - 10 minutes, until the fish is flaky and the panko is golden brown. Remove from the pan and serve.

I served my fish with white rice, black beans that had been heated on the stove, corn salsa and guacamole. Boy did these go over well!

Sunday Meal Planning

Happy football season! Yes, I do realize that football season started on Wednesday, but, as a Giants fan, I've decided I'm just going to pretend that came didn't happen. So, as I said, welcome to football season!!

Sunday football is basically my favorite thing ever. Mainly because it is an excuse to drink for an entire day in the middle of winter. My thought process is...I graduated college. Spending an entire day drinking beer is pretty unacceptable in your mid-20s (I did say this was my thought process, right?) The two exceptions: drinking near a body of water (see also, summer shore drinking, lakeside drinking, vacation drinking) and drinking while watching football. And football even starts at a respectable 1:00 p.m. Although it's a Sunday, so brunch starts at 11:00. But I digress. Very respectable, drinking while watching football. Very adult.

This is also the day of the week I allow myself to eat like a total pig--I'm talking disco tots (the tot equivalent of disco fries. If you don't know what disco fries are, go to a Jersey diner and find out. But make sure its after 3 a.m. and you spent the night drinking and dancing. Otherwise, disco fries are more like disgusting fries), wings, nachos and pitchers of beer. I'm already excited for the next 3 months...

That being said, here is my meal plan for this week!

Monday: apricot-mustard grilled chicken

Tuesday: oven-fried flounder with black bean and avocado salsa

Wednesday: stuffed portobello mushrooms with roast tomatoes, peppers and goat cheese

Thursday: tomato, peach, corn and burrata salad 

Friday: salmon with avocado and tangerine salsa


I hope everyone's teams win their games (which is literally an impossibility since there is a loser in every game, but that's ok because my team already lost) and that you enjoy the first of many Sundays of football!

Wild Mushroom Bruschetta

Have I ever told you that my favorite ingredient is mushroom?

Seriously. 

I'm mildly obsessed. And by mildly, I mean absolutely. I'll literally put mushrooms on anything. Roast chicken? Mushrooms thrown in during the last 15 minutes. Pot roast? In there too. Pasta from the lunch place down the street? I kid you not, I get my penne a la vodka tossed with mushrooms, broccoli and shrimp. 

The beautiful thing about mushrooms is they basically take on the flavor of the other ingredients in the dish. Well, most, unless you get into the aggressive ones like porcini mushrooms or truffles. But the regular ones, in your grocery store? that's a veritable goldmine. 

For a very long time my mother swore that mushrooms had no nutritional value. Kind of like how she swore that I was severely allergic to cats until she finally admitted, when I wanted to work at the Nashville Human Association but was positive I couldn't because I could not be around cats for any length of time, that she just used my FAKE allergies as an excuse because she just really dislikes cats.

I won't like, I've kept that charade up. Guess I shouldn't have put that online...

Well, in fact, mushrooms are chock full of good stuff. Mushrooms have vitamin C, B6 and B12. Individual mushrooms also have lovely benefits. And by lovely I mean...look it up online, cause this blog ain't going to tell you them. This blog will, however, tell you a delicious appetizer recipe for your next dinner party. Hence...wild mushroom bruschetta, a lovely change from the classic tomato one.

Wild Mushroom Bruschetta

Ingredients

Bag full of mushrooms--I use crimini and shiitake. Please oh PLEASE don't use those awful white button mushrooms I'm begggging you
4 cloves of garlic, mince
Fresh parsley
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
French baguette

Directions

1. Wash your mushrooms THOROUGHLY. In case you forgot, these are often grown on the ground...in dung. Kinda gross. Wash wash wash, then remove the stems and chop into small pieces.

2. In a skillet over medium heat, saute your garlic until golden brown. Add the mushrooms and chopped parsley and continue to saute until the mushrooms begin to get translucent (kind of like how onions do) 

3. In the meantime, slice your baguette into thing pieces. Brush olive oil on the top and place under your ovens broiler until crispy.

4. Remove your mushrooms from the stove top. Pile onto your toasted baguette and enjoy!

This is a great recipe to serve with the olive and eggplant tapenade from yesterday. When I make this, I literally do everything (including sauteing the garlic and mushrooms) and then putting on simmer. Mushrooms are pretty darn hard to overcook, so I'd recommend doing this recipe in the 20 minutes before your guests are scheduled to arrive and leave on the stove. Then when they show up, pop your baguette in the oven for about 1 minute, pile with mushrooms and enjoy the impressed looks on your guests faces. Hosting Superstar!

Olive and Eggplant Tapenade

I've told you all about my obsession with new cookbooks, right? And by new, many times I mean...old. Preferably passed down from my mum. Did you know she still has her Joy of Cooking that she got when she was married...32 years ago? And this weekend, my aunt offered me up any of the many cookbooks she has--as long as it doesn't have "Betty Crocker" in the name. She then went on to say how her original Betty Crocker book is still, hands down, the best cookbook she's ever owned.

If you follow me on Twitter (@andieobrien), you'll know that I've recently been on a cookbook shopping binge. When added to the other ones I have, I've created quite a collection (it takes up two shelves in my apartment.) My new favorite cookbook, however, is this one...The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan.

 It is, I kid you not, my absolute go-to. I even brought it down to my aunt's house last weekend and left it on the kitchen counter--in a house full of Italian cooks, every single person who stopped to look at it said how amazing and classic the recipes are. My mum got sucked in and sat at the table reading it for at least an hour...on a beach day! If that doesn't tell you how perfect it is, I don't know what does.

It is a massive tome, but I've slowly been working my way through it. One of the first things I saw in the appetizer section was olive tapenade. Now I'm a...medium...on olives. I'm HUGE on olive oil, I like chopped olives in dishes, but I don't really love eating a straight olive. So I decided to mix it up a bit.

This weekend I even had a captive audience to test my new recipe out on! One of my good  friends (the daughter of one of my aunt's neighbor) is getting married this weekend (the one I mentioned in Sunday meal planning) so they needed to keep their house clean on Labor Day weekend. My aunt invited the three of them over so of course we needed hor d'oeuvres for our happy hour. And of course I was cooking so I could test out some new things.

My mother was absolutely obsessed with this tapenade. I was even a big fan--I did, however, eat it over fresh mozzarella, not just straight on a piece of toasted bread. Nothing wrong with adding a little mozzarella to anything!

The best part of this? How fast it was to make. I used my cousin's bullet blender (so much easier to clean than a food processor) and the whole shebang took about 15 minutes. And, it is meant to be served cold, so it's a perfect make-ahead appetizer when you have a group over.

Olive and Eggplant Tapenade

Ingredients

One jar of pitted black olives

One tsp fresh capers

Olive oil

1/3 small eggplant

4 cloves garlic, minced

Basil, chopped

Directions

1. Salt your eggplant and place on a paper towel to sweat and drain off the excess moisture. 

2. While the eggplant is sweating, combine entire jar of olives, 1 tsp capers and olive oil in a blender or food processor. Process until fairly smooth.

3. Chop the eggplant into small pieces. On the stovetop over medium, heat olive oil. Saute garlic until golden brown. Add the eggplant and basil and saute until soft.

4. In a bowl, combine the eggplant with the processed olive mixture. Toss so that the eggplant chunks are coated with olive.

Serve the tapenade with smooth, unsalty cheese (the olive is salty enough!), stone ground wheat crackers or toasted bread--whatever starch it is, make sure it is sturdy and can hold up to the strong flavors!

Happy Labor Day!

Sunday Meal Planning

I hope everyone is having a fabulous Labor Day weekend--and is looking forward to their day off tomorrow! I can't believe it is already the "technical" last weekend of summer! I feel like it has flown by...as usual. Why is it that beach season flies by while blizzard season lasts forever?

I can say, however, that I am looking forward to fall. Or boots and leather season, as I think of it...yes, sometimes my world does revolve around clothing. And other times around food. I'm looking forward to apples and potatoes and cold weather food, although I will 100% miss delicious tomatoes that only need a drizzle of olive oil (or just eat one like an apple, like I've been known to do) and sweet corn that is blasphemous to mess with besides a pat of butter and a sprinkle of salt.

Alas, it does not seem like the hot weather is going to go away anytime soon, so I will hold on to my grilling recipes as long as I can!

Monday: Labor Day barbecue (which is oddly reminiscent of Memorial Day BBQ) = hotdogs, hamburgers, chili etc.

Tuesday: back to the real world (aka real long work days) and back to my diet/health food kick to cleanse myself of the crap I ate this weekend...salmon with sweet corn puree and asparagus

Wednesday: chicken milanese

Thursday: vegetarian fajitas

Friday: tomato, peach and burrata salad

Although the summer season has ended, my time at the shore has not. I'm heading down again this weekend to watch one of my good friends get married on the beach to a Scottish man who will be wearing a kilt. Cannot wait to watch these two lovebirds tie the knot!