Cucumbers

This time of year my father-in-law is usually stopping by with bag loads of cucumbers. RL has not one but two robust gardens and is very generous with the harvest. My son loves grilled cheese sandwiches with sliced cucumbers, a favorite from my own childhood.

My gardener friends have given mixed reviews of their gardens this season. The exceptional dryness changed things dramatically, with a general consensus that the potted tomatoes did better than in-ground plantings. RL did not stop by with any cucumbers this year. I missed them.

Receiving a large bag of cucumbers can keep you on your toes. Sure, you can eat them raw, slice them thin with onion into a summer-fresh vinegar dressing, or toss them in to a couscous with grilled chicken, garbanzo beans and feta cheese, seeded and chopped… the basics. Last year I made a point to find something new and came upon a recipe for a Cucumber Martini. Good Lord! It was made with gin which I normally avoid. (Forty years later, gin still reminds me of rubbing alcohol from my bi-weekly allergy shots.) This Cucumber Martini was the best use of gin ever. And what a labor of love; two cucumbers per drink. Peeled, seeded, chopped, through the food processor, then put through a sieve, capturing the very essence.

A few weeks ago I went to Black and Blue for the first time, across from Waldbaums. I was delighted to see a Cucumber Martini on the specialty drink menu and it was nearly as good as mine. What is it about one martini that makes the second seem like such a good idea? The food was surprisingly good. A simple, sensible menu, well executed. We ate outdoors, under the blue lights that magically minimize the street below. Next time I’m planning to eat inside; I always enjoy eating at a lively bar and this one was inviting.

My cucumber discovery this year (sadly with store-bought cucumbers) was a creamy, minted cucumber soup. It was one of the middle courses for a table of eight, put through the food processor with low fat yogurt, garlic, mint, etc. – then through the sieve. Served chilled, topped with diced radishes, cucumber bits and snipped mint. Oh, so refreshing on a hot night. Below is the exact recipe.

Minty Cucumber Soup

(serves 6)
7 Cucumbers, peeled, halved and seeded
1 clove garlic
2 cups chicken stock
3 cups plain low-fat yogurt
2 t salt
1 t white pepper
1 ¼ cups fresh mint leaves (reserve some for garnish)
1 t fresh lemon juice
3 radishes, diced for garnish

Cut 6 cucumbers into one inch pieces. Use the seventh to dice thin for garnish.
Combine the six cucumbers and the garlic in food processor. Add chicken stock, yogurt, salt, white pepper, ¾ cup of mint leaves and lemon juice. Process until smooth.

Pass the mixture through a sieve or fine strainer into a mixing bowl. Coarsely chop ¼ cup of mint leaves, fold into the soup. Chill for at least 3 hours.

Serve in individual bowls, garnish each with the chopped ¼ cup mint, diced radish and cucumber. Voila!

LAVENDER – who knew?

There’s nothing like a serious event, when you really need your friends, to define who they are… Several years ago I sustained an injury that left me helpless for months. Anne and I had always been friends on the fringe, enjoying each other’s company from time to time. When I hurt myself she stepped up out of nowhere – bringing meals, keeping me company and taking me for drives to change the scene. Now we are very good friends and somewhere along the way we developed a lavender challenge.

Challenge isn’t the right word, exactly. We started out treating each other to bunches of fresh lavender when we came across them. Last week she brought me a fresh lavender plant, a cookbook on how to cook with lavender, and because she was worried the plant wouldn’t yield enough, she went to Penzey’s Spices and bought me not one, but two jars of dried lavender (and some lavender napkins).

Lavender? So I’ve been flipping through the cookbook, intrigued. Okay, I accept the challenge. Last night I made a pappardelle with a lavender cream sauce with shiitake mushrooms, slow cooked tomatoes and grapes – served with grilled lamb sausage and steamed sugar snap peas, so sweet they practically caramelized themselves.

I was excited about the meal so I stopped by Seaholm Wines & Liquors to ask for a recommendation of wine that would accompany lavender. (I’ll bet they don’t get asked that very often.) With little hesitation, John Reilly pointed me toward a Grenache, Atteca Old Vines 2007, with deep blackberry tones. John was right on target, the wine complimented the sweetness of the meal beautifully.

We finished up with some sheep’s cheese and sliced fruit I had bought at the Union Square Farmer’s Market earlier that day. My mother-in-law and I scooted in to load up on interesting vegetables, artisan breads and cheeses, lamb sausage and a smoked duck that I’d been craving.

Tomorrow night… leftover pasta with the lavender cream sauce, but I’m planning to shred in a handful of smoked duck and add asparagus to the mix. I’ll have to stop back at Seaholm and ask what wine goes with lavender AND smoked duck…

One point for me in the lavender challenge. You reading this Anne?

GETAWAY - Block Island, RI

There should be no blame. It was probably both our faults…stopping for gas, stopping for coffee… but privately I believed it was more Nat’s fault than my own. As we passed through Amagansett, heading toward Montauk for the Block Island ferry, we both realized we were likely going to miss the one trip of the day. We got snippier with each passing mile when suddenly the phone rang. There’s a benefit to making reservations – they realized we hadn’t arrived. When I told them our coordinates they said they couldn’t wait… then I pulled the sympathy card, “but it’s our 20th anniversary and we’re celebrating on Block Island – we got engaged on Block Island and this is very meaningful to us”. They waited. They even announced our plight to the waiting passengers over the loudspeaker – who all cheered on our arrival. That was the start of Memorial Day weekend.

There are some very good restaurants on Block Island. The wait staff can be amusing on this first weekend of the season… they’re all green, young and beautiful, many from other countries. Patience is a must. Within fifteen minutes of docking I had our dinner reservations made at the Manisses. Having been to the island many times before, I had a hit list. The entire weekend was such a ridiculous and shameful exercise in self indulgence, it’s worth sharing.

Day One:

• Lunch at the National Hotel (anyone who’s been there, that’s the one with the big outdoor porch). We each had a bowl of their famous clam chowder and shared a grilled salmon sandwich with basil pesto. And of course, a few vacation cocktails to get started.
• After a bit of shopping we felt parched and stopped at Ballard’s outdoor bar overlooking the water.
• The Spring House, (toward the lighthouse) with the red roof and sprawling lawn was our home for the weekend. Apparently they serve drinks on the lawn.
• Dinner at the Manisses, a three minute walk from our inn, began with a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon called an Educated Guess. Naturally, we selected it for the name alone. My asparagus soup was silky smooth with a little truffle oil I’m sure. I had lamb stuffed ravioli and Nat had Man-loaf, a hearty meat loaf with a rich brown gravy and appropriate sides. For dessert we shared a goat cheese cheesecake. By far, Manisses is my favorite restaurant on the island.

Day Two:

• The Spring House offers a lovely Continental Breakfast selection. Open access to food is always difficult for me - there’s no off switch. My husband often tempts his fate to delicately let me know it's time to finish eating. He’s a good man.
• For lunch I enjoyed every morsel of my Lobster and Avacado salad with a Pinot Grigio at the Harborview, another big porch venue. Nat offered me a bite of his hummus wrap… “uh, no thanks”.
• The rest of the afternoon was even more indulgent. While Nat went for a two hour bike ride to work off his hummus; I had a massage and some spa services. We had already made our dinner reservations so I was able to relax.
• Dinner was an attempt to recreate the moment. Twenty one years prior, on the day we became engaged, we had dinner at a lovely, out of the way restaurant called the Highview. It has since become the flop house for island workers. The restaurant served us and one other couple the whole evening and still the service was painfully slow. I had Prime Rib, Nat had Striper caught that day and we finished up with a shared warm apple pie a la mode. Simple, good food that filled our bellies for the 20-minute walk back to our hotel.

Day Three:

• Continental Breakfast with slightly more restraint (the banana bread was excellent).
• After yesterday’s massage I felt up for some exercise – we spent the day biking, hiking and kayaking. Somewhere in between we had another stop at Ballard’s for a lunch not worth mentioning.
• And before dinner we stopped at The OAR, a very hopping restaurant/bar with outdoor picnic tables for families and a very good rum punch on the drink specials.
• Dinner at the Spring House was undoubtedly the most indulgent dinner. I had seen people eating these interesting flatbread pizzas during the afternoon and had to try one… so I ordered a whole pizza as an appetizer. Arugula, pancetta, chicken… very similar to the pizza I tried at Porto Vivo not long ago in Huntington. We each had two small slices and saved the rest. The gnocci we shared melted into a rich, velvety puddle of flavor and I finished up with a course of pan seared duck medallions over an arugula salad. Thankfully we skipped dessert.

Day Four:

• Leftover pizza for breakfast…