Monthly Archives: August 2019

Zucchini Bread – 22/67

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I just had a major milestone birthday, and I have to say, I’m feeling pretty darn good about it. I am finally, for the first time, in the same decade as my husband. I am finally the age that all the cool women who have their shit figured out seem to be. I realize I have been saying I’m “almost 30” for the past three years. It’s about time this happened, right?

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I wonder if this mindset is because I will always be that much younger than Daniel. I will always be the young one in our relationship, and also in our group of friends. I also remain the youngest person in my office by some years. So although I am excited about hitting this milestone, I’m also aware that I’m still relatively young, and that won’t be changing anytime soon. Phew. 

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So while the Amazon burned and people lost their minds over a fast food fried chicken sandwich, I slipped into the next decade. There were midnight nachos, the most perfect yoga class, and a dinner in which I got to accidentally-eavesdrop on the other Ilana (squee!). This weekend there was perfect cake, drinks galore, crab rolls, karaoke, and dancing. Dear friends, delicious food, and cooperative weather. If this is 30, then I am very very happy about 30. 

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I made this zucchini bread a couple weeks ago, as part of a thank you brunch I threw at my home for my camp staff. What a way to feel like a grown-up, welcoming the younger counselors who think of me as their boss. (I mean, I am their boss, but they feel more like friends than anything else!) In this decade, I’ll welcome these moments, when I get to embrace leadership, create community, and open my home to others. The 30s are going to be the beeeeest!

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And this zucchini bread is hella good too. Thanks for the recipe, Katherine! 

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no previous years, but looking to use up your end-of-summer zucchini? May I recommend, from the archives: veggie curry, zoodle latkes, or easy garlicky tomato zoodles

Feel Like an Adult Zucchini Bread

thanks to my friend Katherine for the recipe!

3 eggs
1 cup olive or vegetable oil
1 ¾ cup sugar
2 cups grated zucchini
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups flour (I ran out so used about 1 cup regular flour, 1 cup whole wheat, and 1 cup bread flour. It was still delicious)
1 tablespoon cinnamon
⅛ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
Optional mix ins: chocolate chips, raisins, dried cranberries, nuts (I did mini chocolate chips in the muffins but kept the loaf plain)

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease 2 loaf pans or line 24 muffin cups with liners (I did one big loaf pan and 6 muffins)

In a large bowl, beat eggs with a whisk or fork. Whisk in oil and sugar til incorporated. Add zucchini and vanilla. 

In a separate bowl, mix together flour(s), cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and any mix-ins. Add this combo to the zucchini bowl and mix until just combined. 

Divide batter into pans. Bake for at least 60 minutes (took me a little longer), or until a tester in the center comes out clean. Muffins will cook more quickly — start checking at 25 minutes. Let cool in tins. Leftovers stayed moist for daaaays. 

 

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Cosmopolitan Curry – 21/67

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…named as such because it comes from everywhere and nowhere, according to Hanna. I love that description. And so fitting for my generation, who was born in a place, moves somewhere else for college, another place for a first job, and grad school after that. We’re all the combos of so many places. So cosmopolitan.

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This was another “no-recipe” from the book (see the first one here), where Hanna walked us through her method of making a very basic and infinitely adaptable pot of dinner. The basics are: “Cook onion and other alliums. Add spices or spice paste. Add vegetables, maybe a protein. Add coconut milk and tomatoes and simmer. Add something a little sweet. Garnish and eat.” From that basic formula, which of course I know quite well but never feel I have the ability to create anew from, Daniel and I collaborated on this wonderful dinner. We also used up 5 (!!) CSA veggies, perfect before I went out of town to celebrate the bachelorette party of the lady who gave us the courage to experiment.

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Be like Hanna, feel no need to stick to this recipe. Change the veggies, the proteins, the spices. Serve with rice, or not. Also, just be like Hanna in general, foraging berries on your hikes and not shying away from the vegetable temporary tattoos. By being fully, proudly yourself from an early age and following your whims. By leaning into unicorn beverages and their aftermath. Also by cultivating an amazing Girl Gang across the country who are so excited to wear neutral dresses in the mountains in a week. It was a pleasure to do bachelorettey things with you all. And cooking and eating together. We are a cosmopolitan group, hailing from all corners of the country and moments from your life.

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one and two years ago: who can be expected to cook in August in NYC?!
three years ago: just kidding, this is just a link to the amazing Sichuan-style eggplant I made for dinner tonight 
four years ago: maple blueberry balsamic beets
five years ago: barbecue sweet potato nachos 

Cosmopolitan Curry, or Thai-ish Veggie and Egg Curry

very loosely constructed from Hanna’s suggestions. PS more egg curry from the archives here

1 tablespoon fat (I used ghee)
1 onion, chopped small
3 cloves of garlic, diced
3 tablespoons Thai red curry paste
2 cinnamon sticks
Big pinch red pepper flakes
1 eggplant, in small chunks
1 kohlrabi, peeled and cut in smaller chunks
1 zucchini, in half moons
Big handful of chopped tomatoes (or a can)
1 can full fat coconut milk
1 tablespoonish of sambal oelek (chili-garlic sauce)
4 eggs, hard boiled
1 bunch swiss chard, stems diced and leaves roughly chopped
1 small bunch cilantro, chopped
Small handful peanuts, chopped

Heat ghee (or butter or oil) in a big pan. Add onion and a big pinch of salt and cook over medium heat until they’re translucent and starting to brown. Add garlic and cook for another minute or so. Add cinnamon sticks and curry paste and saute for a minute or two, until paste smells a little roasty.

Add eggplant, kohlrabi, zucchini, and swiss chard stems and saute until veggies start to brown. (Kohlrabi will remain a little crunchy in final dish — it’s quite pleasant, but if you’d like it softer, roast first. Or use something else!) Once veggies brown a bit, add tomatoes and cook until they start releasing their juices. Next add coconut milk and sambal oelek, and give it a good stir. Add some broth or water if it seems like it needs more liquid. Peel and score your hard boiled eggs, and nestle into the sauce. Simmer, with lid on, until veggies are tender.

When everything is cooked, take the lid off and add your greens. They will wilt very quickly.

Season to taste — at this point you could add salt, sugar, lime juice, hot sauce according to your preference. Remove cinnamon sticks. Cut eggs in half. Serve over rice, with lots of cilantro and crushed peanuts.

 

 

Capusta (Hungarian Cabbage Noodles) – 20/67

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A couple years ago I hosted a dinner party where everyone made something that represented their heritage. It was a small group of us, but I was nervous that I was going to be seriously out-cooked. I mean, of Indian, Brazilian, Californian (it was a bit of a stretch but we let it slide (she made beet salad)), and Eastern European, I don’t think my Ashkenazi ancestors are the stand-out culinarians. My offering to the evening was my grandma’s Hungarian capusta, which literally translates to cabbage. And the dish itself is really just cooked green cabbage and egg noodles. With salt and pepper. And a little fat. That is literally it. It’s the most humblest, cheapest, simplest of dishes, yet it is so much greater than the sum of its parts. It’s shockingly good. At that dinner party, everyone kept asking me what could possibly be in this delicious dish. They were amazed to learn it was literally just noodles and cabbage.

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This is the dish we would always look forward to at holiday dinners. My grandma always had leftovers pre-packed for us before the meal so we wouldn’t feel like we needed to hold back at dinner. She said in the notes for this recipe that this dish is a traditional peasant food but now has become a treat because, even though it’s so easy, it’s a little time-intensive. Each batch of cabbage has to be browned fully. It also makes your kitchen smell a little cabbagey for the rest of the day. But, I promise you, these are small trade-offs for the final product. (She would also make pounds and pounds of it at a time — it’s much more doable with a single cabbage-worth.)

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So when I found myself with friends coming over for dinner recently and a giant CSA cabbage taking up space in the fridge, I decided to make capusta. I was afraid it was not as fitting at a summer potluck than on a Rosh Hashanah spread, but it worked just the same. From humble roots to star of the holiday table to a new potluck go-to, here we are.

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Capusta 

from my giant-hearted Grandma Evy, who has made this one of her specialties, even though it comes more directly from my grandpa’s lineage

1 head green cabbage
1 bag medium-wide egg noodles (I used extra wide because that’s all the store had)
Salt and pepper
butter/margarine/olive oil

First, grate your cabbage. You can do this using a box grater, food processor, or fancy knife work. I used a box grater; next time I’ll use my mandoline (which I just used to make a shredded salad and omg it was so fast.) 

Heat a big saute pan (I used my Le Creuset braiser) over medium heat. Add a bit of fat — my grandma uses margarine so the dish stays dairy-free (and hence servable with meat), but I used a combo of butter and olive oil. I probably used ¼ – ½ a stick butter in total. Regardless, cook cabbage in batches so each piece gets good browning time. Add a little salt and pepper as it cooks. Add more olive oil or small pieces of butter if it seems like it’s sticking a lot. Cook until cabbage has darkened and wilted and smells great. Once cooked, place in a big bowl. Repeat with remaining batches. 

Meanwhile, boil your noodles. Add warm noodles to cabbage, add more salt and pepper and a couple small pats of butter, and mix mix mix. Taste — it will probably need more salt. Then your capusta is done! It’s most delicious alongside stuffed cabbage rolls and tomatoey green beans.