Tag Archives: tomatoes

My New Favorite Seasoning!

Linda in Site News

The best thing that a recent visitor from California brought down with him was a spice mix from Trader Joe’s called “Everything but the Bagel Sesame Seasoning Blend”. It is delicious on so many things, from fried eggs, to sliced tomatoes and avocadoes and any cooked or roasted vegetable. The sky is literally the limit. I sprinkle it on my homemade sourdough roasted garlic and Kalamata olive bread before I bake it, on toast or a bagel topped with cream cheese, guacamole, salad, popcorn – you name it. BUT, it comes in a small container that empties quickly.

What do you do when there’s no Trader Joe’s down the street when you’re living in Cabo San Lucas for the season and, because of COVID, we have few visitors this season as well. The answer is that you read the label and MAKE IT YOURSELF! Here’s the mixture I came up with:

Combine the following ingredients in a bowl:

4 tbsp. white sesame seeds
3 tbsp. black sesame seeds
3 tbsp. poppy seeds
3 tbsp. dried minced garlic
3 tbsp. dried onion flakes
2 tsp. Maldon salt (flaked sea salt)

Store in an air-tight container or jar. Make extra and give it away – whoever you give it to will LOVE you for it!

From Mediocre to Sublime

Linda in Newsletter, Travel Blog

We were invited over to our friend Monte’s for dinner last week. Monte, Ron and I all love mussels, so I offered to prepare them as our contribution to the meal. One of my missions on this last trip to New York was to enjoy as much seafood as possible, so buying mussels at Cor-J Seafood (a great place for the BEST fresh fish and seafood in the Hamptons) and bringing them to Monte’s fit in well with my plan.

Steamed Mussels

I’ve prepared mussels a few times and was looking for a new and different way to do them. In a large stockpot on Monte’s grill, I browned a quarter pound of porchetta (which Ron and I had purchased at Scotto’s, the local pork store in Hampton Bays), cut in small cubes, in 1 tbsp. olive oil, then added a generous pinch of hot red pepper flakes, a medium onion, diced, and one large clove of garlic, finely minced. When the onion was cooked to translucent, I added a bottle of beer and the fresh mussels (approximately 3 dozen) that had been thoroughly rinsed in cold water in a colander (be sure to tap any mussels that are opened and, if they do not close, throw them out as they are bad and should NOT be eaten). Once the contents of the pot were boiling, I lowered the heat to medium, covered the pot, and simmered for approximately 7 minutes or until the mussels began to open. I turned the heat off and added 2 tbsp. butter (for flavor) and 2 tbsp. of fresh parsley, chopped fine, for color and garnish.

Manhattan Clam Chowder

The mussels prepared this way were fine, but I’ve had better recipes. We had a lot of leftover porchetta/onion/beer/mussel broth left over and I decided to make a Manhattan Clam Chowder the next day to use it up. I found a great recipe for Manhattan Clam Chowder by Sam Sifton in the NYT Cooking App and modified it to make the BEST, and I mean the BEST, clam chowder I’ve ever tasted, or certainly made, in the past. Using the broth from the steamed mussels from the night before created the most delicious broth – seriously, like the best bouilabaisse you’ve experienced. Here’s what I did and what I’ll definitely do again:

1). Over medium-low heat, melt 2 tbsp. butter and added 1 large onion, diced, and 2 large cloves of garlic, minced;

2). Once the onion was cooked to translucent, add 4 ribs of celery and 4 large carrots, all diced into small cubes;

3). Stir in 3 large Yukon Gold potatoes, cubed, and 1 litre of low sodium chicken broth and bring to a simmer;

4). Add the leftover porchetta/onion/beer/mussel broth from the night before, 2 bay leaves, 1 tsp. of dried thyme, 1/4 tsp. of black pepper and a generous pinch of hot red pepper flakes;

5). When the potatoes are tender, add 1 – 28 oz. can of Italian whole tomatoes and, using your hands, squeeze the whole tomatoes into large chunks and add to the chowder with all of the juice;

6). Add 2 small (284 g) cans of chopped clams with their juices and allow to simmer for 5 minutes;

7). Remove stock pot from heat, and remove and discard bay leaves;

8). Let the chowder sit to allow the flavors to blend and reheat to serve. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley and garlic toast or, if you’re on the East coast, oyster crackers (traditionally served with chowders and bisques).

Even though the initial mussel recipe wasn’t my favorite, I would make it again in a heartbeat to repeat this Manhattan Clam Chowder. Like any good stew, this chowder got better and better every time we reheated it and was truly delicious!

Fast Food…With A Difference

Linda in Site News

Neither Ron nor I are lovers of fast food, but we do make one exception when we’re in California: In–N-Out Burger (check out their full story at www.in-n-outburger.com). Ron introduced me to this regional chain three years ago and we look forward to a visit on every trip back to California for one very good reason – they do fast food REALLY well. Several renowned chefs are huge fans of the chain including Mario Batali, Antony Bourdain (who I ran into in Schmidt’s Market in Southampton, New York last summer) and Gordon Ramsay.

This chain was founded back in 1948 by Harry and Esther Snyder with a simple philosophy that lives on today: “Give customers the freshest, highest quality foods you can buy and provide them with friendly service in a sparkling clean environment.” Their first location was in Baldwin Park, California and In-N-Out Burger can now be found in 281 locations in Arizona, California, Nevada, Texas and Utah. No location is situated more than a day’s drive from one of their regional distribution centers as they own and operate their own burger patty-making facilities in California and Texas. The burgers are made from fresh, 100% pure beef that is free of additives, fillers or preservatives of any kind and the patties are never frozen or pre-packaged. Every burger is cooked fresh to order, one at a time.

In-N-Out’s commitment to quality doesn’t stop at the burger patties. They bake their own buns and cut their own fries in every location, use real ice cream in their shakes and every burger is dressed with the finest and freshest lettuce, tomatoes and onions. They are an example of doing food right the old-fashioned way and NEVER compromising on quality.

Service is also a very important part of the In-N-Out Burger experience. Their staff is clean-cut, polite and very efficient. They are one of the few fast food chains to pay their employees significantly more than minimum wage and their staff reflects a very high standard.

On our way out to New York last spring, Ron picked up a great black t-shirt with the In-N-Out logo on the front and a classic vintage design on the back. It seems that everyone in the east (and throughout the USA) knows about this fast food chain and commented on the restaurant and the shirt itself.

In-N-Out have done something that few other chains have ever done – they’ve stayed true to their initial commitment and never compromised, despite their growth. Still family and privately owned, we sincerely hope that they never waiver from the standard they have set and firmly maintained since the restaurant chain was founded in 1948. Some things should never change.