Category Archives: Food

In this in-between-hour, I offer you the best of both worlds from our recent trip to Ogunquit. Breakfast at Amore and lunch at MC Perkins. An Eggs Benedict with crab and a trio of fish tacos. This is what happens when fresh seafood collides with late morning hunger, and it’s a damn near perfect collision for my stomach.

Feast your eyes on all the goodness. (I did so with my mouth.)

Yummy yummy.

The original recipe called for some crazy banana leaf action, and digging a pit in the earth to properly cook a piece of pork, but I bastardized it with a slow-cooker twist because if you think I’m going to wrap a piece of meat in a leaf and sink it into the dirt of my backyard, well, you don’t know me at all. This recipe for Conchinita Pibil, modified from a recent New York Times Magazine story, is a spicy take on the traditional pulled pork. Here, an assembly of spices (and some judicial charring and spice-toasting) works to inject some badly-needed life into our pulled pork doldrums. It’s the perfect recipe for fall, when one brings the slow-cooker back into the kitchen, and it produces some exquisite aromas to welcome everyone back inside.

Cochinita Pibil, with a Slow-Cooker Twist

1 pork shoulder (3-4 lbs)

4 Tbsp. salt

4-6 garlic cloves, peeled

1 Tbsp. cumin seeds

1 Tbsp. black peppercorns

1 teaspoon whole allspice

1 Tbsp. red chili powder

½ teaspoon whole cloves

½ teaspoon cinnamon powder

1 Tbsp. Mexican oregano

4 Tbsp. achiote-seed paste (See substitute below if not available)

1 orange, zested and juiced

1 grapefruit, zested and juice

1 lime, juiced

1 small white onion, thinly sliced

Also:

– 1 red onion, chopped

– 1 teaspoon salt

– 1 habanero, seeded and finely chopped

Corn tortillas

1. Score fat of the pork and evenly salt the meat while making marinade. In dry saucepan over medium heat, toast garlic cloves until charred all over, then remove. In same pan, add cumin, peppercorns, allspice, red chili powder, cloves, and cinnamon. Toast until you can really smell cumin and pepper. Grind spices in food processor until smooth, with oregano, charred garlic, achiote paste, citrus zest and half of citrus juice. {For slow cooker, I kept spices whole and didn’t use food processor, simply mix juice and spices together in bowl.)
2. Set slow cooker on high and place pork in it, fat side down. Add sliced onion around and coat meat with citrus juice and spice mixture. Cook on high for an hour or two, then switch to low and cook overnight (at least 10 hours).
3. Remove meat from cooker and shred with two forks, removing fat. Strain out solid spices from remaining liquid, then return meat to cooker to keep warm until serving. Serve in soft tortilla shell, with chopped onion, pepper, and salt if desired. Lime juice may also be used.

• 2 Tbsp. paprika
• ½ Tbsp. white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 clove garlic, crushed

A favorite meal, at any point in the day to be honest, this is a Croque Madame. Anytime you incorporate an egg onto a meal, I’m on board. And anytime you add ‘Madame’ to a title, I’m a fan.

More commonly known as potato salad, and a bastion of an American summer scene, this is my favorite dish of the season, mostly because everyone else does such a better job of preparing it that I beg until someone always delivers. While people always say it is a simple thing to make, anything that requires the added step of boiling potatoes (or boiling anything for that matter) seems like too much work for me. (I feel the same way about pasta salad.)

This one was made by Elaine, who brought it to a summer pool gathering. She does a wondrous version as so exquisitely seen here, with lots of hard boiled eggs (another step) and fresh herbs from her garden (hello, lovely dill).

I don’t know what other treasures are used in this fine side dish – it all feels like magic to me. Tastes that way too.

There are a lot of hidden gems on my hard drive, items that I copy then forget about until a scavenger hunt reveals something like these scrumptious shots of a distant dinner at Harvest. The trek to Harvard Square in the middle of winter is not exactly my idea of a good time, but when the journey’s destination is a place as wondrous as Harvest, it’s worth it.

When they had uni on the menu, it was proof that the stars had truly aligned. The first time I tried uni was a few years ago at O Ya in Boston – and if there’s one place where your first uni experience should be, that’s the one. Since then, I’ve had it a few times, but only this preparation and presentation has come close to that initial taste of heaven in a spiky shell.

About the only thing that could follow and top such a spectacular sea urchin start is this bowl of buttery Scituate lobster. With its combination of spaghetti squash and potatoes, coupled with an assortment of fresh herbs and microgreens, it made for a feast to please the stomach and the eye.

This was a decadent and elegant dish of comfort, elevated to an art form and energized with bright flavor. Colorful of palette, to taste and sight, it appealed on every level. This is the sort of dish I dream about during the day.

Maybe you’ll dream about it too.

A rainbow of macarons sweetly but quietly shouts its delicious presence in all manners of flavor and color. It is the perfect break for the middle of the day, and a gentle reminder that we need to take a moment to savor the small things. If you’ll excuse me…

Another mid-afternoon snack idea to kick-start the salivation, here’s a perfect pairing for an early cocktail: olives and nuts. I love the olive bowl, a one-piece work of art that neatly provides a place for the pits. An elegant presentation for the inelegant conundrum of the pit(i)ful olive.