Takes us back to old times

The first rule of Lobster Fight Club...


There is no Lobster Fight Club!


New glasses, girl.


Avoiding the lobsters in the shadows.

My mom came up for a quick weekend in the city. What did she want? LOBSTERS! So we went down to my guy in Chinatown to get some live lobsters for my mom. He graciously said to us after handing over the very heavy orange bag, "You eat for me tonight ok?"

It is a special family past time to have lobsters. I remember my mother putting the lobsters in the bath tub. Or letting them run on kitchen floor so that the dog could bark at them. We always had fun when it was lobster night. The visceral cracking of the shells and the bad jokes that come with it. We're from New England so of course we think that gruesomely devouring a crustacean goes excellently with a hefty side dish of puns.

I made roasted potatoes and the best coleslaw my mom has tasted. And she lives in North Carolina now where they even put slaw on hot dogs. Really? On hot dogs? So, she's had a lot of slaw.

Christine's Buttermilk Coleslaw

For the slaw -
1 head cabbage, shredded
3 large carrots, shredded

For the dressing -
1/3 cup buttermilk
2/3 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons white vinegar
juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon celery seed

Mix all your shredded veggies with the dressing and EAT! Even put it on a hot dog if you fancy.

You can add apples, bell pepper, and red cabbage to spice up this recipe.

May Day Dinner

312 square feet boyfriend came over for a May Day dinner of my own Thai influenced innovation on a salad Niçoise. This one had smoked salmon instead of tuna, and a horseradish cream sauce accented with a Thai cucumber salad, served with a starter of ripe yellow tomatoes with goat cheese and balsamic vinaigrette

Thai Cucumber Salad

Serves Two

2 cucumbers, chopped
1 carrot, shredded
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 bunch cilantro, finely chopped
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons fish sauce, or less
2 dried bird chilies, ground
2 tablespoons brown sugar
juice of one lime
dash of salt

In a mortar and pestle, grind the chilies with the brown sugar. Dissolve the sugar and chilies into the vinegar, lime juice and add the fish sauce to taste. Toss the cucumbers, carrot, onion and cilantro with the dressing and dash of salt. Cover and refrigerate for half an hour to an hour before serving to let the flavors set.

More Mediterranean

A trip to East Village Cheese 40 3rd Avenue at 9th Street this past weekend left me so excited to keep on with my Côte d'Azure kick! I picked up some fresh Morbier, Bulgarian Feta and other gourmand treats. East Village Cheese has a wide selection of basic imported cheese at inexpensive prices. Though other cheese shops such as the infallible Murray's have a much broader selection of artisanal cheeses, for your basic triple creme brie, this is the place to go! At $10.99 a pound the Morbier is a deal and the fetas are fresh and range from $3.99 to $6.99 a pound.

Grilled Eggplant and Feta Salad

2lbs Slim eggplants sliced pretty thin
1 pint cherry tomatoes
Bunch fresh parsley
1/3 lb fresh feta
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
juice of 1/2 a lemon
plenty of extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and pepper
1 garlic clove
slices of crusty bread

Get the gril nice and hot. Brush the eggplant slices with plenty of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill with the cherry tomatoes until soft turning once. I had to do this in shifts since my grill top is pretty small, but this salad is good at room temperature. Once soft and the tomatoes are just bursting, toss with the feta, parsley, pine nuts and extra salt and pepper, drizzle with a little extra oil and the lemon juice. Rub the garlic clove on the slices of bread and brush lightly with oil, put on the still hot grill and toast!

Strawberry Balsamic Vinaigrette

August is upon us and that means that the berry season is almost over. Capitalize on the last of the fresh berries with this simple and delicious vinaigrette and salad recipe.

Strawberry Balsamic Vinaigette

1 cup sliced fresh strawberries
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons aged Balsamic Vinegar
Juice of a lemon
Sea Salt and Pepper

Combine the strawberries, lemon and vinegar in a blender and blend. Slowly add the oil to the mix until slightly emulsified (It becomes a bit more opaque and will not separate as easy) add salt and pepper to taste. You can also add a bit of dried tarragon to this to make a more herbal version. This will keep about one week.

Spinach and Strawberry Salad

3 cup fresh baby spinach
1 cup sliced strawberries
handful of chopped and toasted walnuts
shaved hard cheese such as Parmigiano Reggiano, Pecorino Romano or Asiago
Strawberry Balsamic Vinaigrette

To toast the walnut bake them in the oven at 300 degrees for about 10min or until slightly brown.
Toss all ingredients with a healthy portion of the vinaigrette and shave cheese on top!

Mediterranean Morsels

My boyfriend's mother was kind enough to send us some cook books of international cuisines. Since it is so hot in the city, creating a Mediterranean feast for Octavio and I seemed like a wonderful chance to adapt and experiment with some new tastes.

Adapted from the cookbook medeterraneo by Claire Ferguson, I created Provençal Pickled Beans and Red Snapper en Papillote. The verdict was the that pickles could have been tarter, so I added more vinegar, but that the fish was excellent.

Provençal Pickled Beans
8 small pearl onions
12 oz. Green Beans
2 tablespoons golden raisins
1 Lemon
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons sweet wine (I didn't have this so I used some Pama Pomegranate Liqueur which was excellent!)
1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic or red wine vinegar (or more for more tartness)
1 fresh jalepeño sliced thin
1 teaspoon coriander seeds cracked
pinch of sugar
sea salt and pepper to taste

Cover the beans, raisins and onions with boiling water and simmer until the onions are just tender and the beans are crisp. Do not over cook. Refresh under cold water and pat dry.

Squeeze the juice of half of the lemon in bowl with the olive oil, chile, salt and pepper, coriander seeds, wine or liqueur, sugar and vinegar and whisk until well combined. Toss over the beans and and garnish with the other half of lemon.