Holy Cross 44 Dartmouth 26

Thank god homecoming isn't about football.

In Hanover, or in this case White River Junction

We're in Hanover for the weekend. We were actually here a few weeks ago as well (gotta love the everyone getting married thing that hits in the late 20s).
So we flew in, and as it was late, we ordered pizza from Everything But Anchovies (EBA's). I worked at EBA's once, long, long ago in a land far, far away.

This is what I believe is the best of local junk food in a college town - Human # 1 has a pepperoni pizza.



I have cheesy garlic bread.



Last time we were here, I automatically ordered breadsticks, half cheese half plain, with ranch. My best friend and college roommate is milk allergic. However, the breadsticks simply are better with the cheese.

This Week's CSA

This week's CSA contained green and red apples, spinach, lettuce, pears, sweet potatoes, carrots, and bread from the Breadery.

I think I'm going to make some apple butter. The carrots will become part of a stir fry or similar, the sweet potatoes into sweet potato burritos, lettuce in a salad, and I'm not sure what to do with the spinach. There are many options, but maybe I'll find something new to do.

Stuffed Squash

Note, fair reader, I am making a valiant attempt to post more regularly. I am attempting to pre-schedule at least one post a day during the week. Let's see how well this works. Onward!

I stuffed and froze some delicata squash on Sunday. Wait, that sounds bloody awful. Who wants to stuff and freeze squash? That sounds about as unsexy as humanly possible. Actually, it sounds gross and somehow industrial. Hmm, let me reword that. How about, Sunday I roasted some delicata squash with a savory bread dressing, the preserved the glorious fall flavors for later in the week, reminding me of the buttery, cinnamon-y scents that wafted through my sun dappled kitchen on that crisp October Sunday. Any better? The end result is the same, squash that can be reheated for a fantastic vegetarian supper, served along side a green salad dressed simply. This is also a great idea for a main dish for non meat eaters at Thanksgiving, though make enough for everyone, since it's likely to be gobbled by meat eaters as a side dish. I made this in a heart unhealthy fashion, using a good bit of butter and olive oil. You can cut the fat significantly if you substitute in some stock and up the amount of water. The squash was from Breezy Willow.

Stuffed Squash (serves 6)
Ingredients:
3 medium sized delicata squash (can use acorn or other similar small squash, I like delicata for a savory preparation).
Olive oil in a spritzable form or ready to drip onto a paper towel
Cinnamon to taste
Salt to taste
Cayenne pepper to taste
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium to large onion, minced finely
6 ribs celery, minced finely
2 shallots, minced finely
6 slices whole grain bread (I used Harvest Grains from the Breadery), cubed
Salt and pepper to taste
Water

Method:

Wash squash. I don't know why, I just do it.
Line pan with foil if not using a foil pan.
Oven to 400F.





Cut squash in half.



Scoop out seeds with a tablespoon. Get the stringy stuff too.
Spritz with olive oil, cinnamon, salt, and cayenne pepper.
Lay flat in baking pan.
Meanwhile, add your butter and olive oil to a large skillet. When its hot and the butter foams, add the veggies, and turn to medium-low.
Sweat veggies.
Add the bread cubes, tossing to coat.
Season with salt and pepper.
Add just enough water to moisten.
Stuff inside of squashes.
Bake until fork-tender, approximately 40 minutes.



I did freeze them, which might be a bit of a shame. They freeze decently, but I think the texture is better fresh.

This week's CSA

It's well after midnight, so I'm going to have this post tomorrow. I'm at least drinking a nice glass of wine, while holding my foot at an odd angle so this contraption can do its magic. So I figured I'd update.



This week's CSA share included carrots, green peppers, pears, broccoli, onions, potatoes, apples, delicata squash, and brussel sprouts.

I've already done up a lot of this. Most went into the freezer. The delicata squash was cracked open, stuffed, baked, and frozen for a night when some warmth will be appreciated. Many of the potatoes were oven roasted then frozen for the same reason. Carrots became brandied carrots, for the freezer. The sprouts were chopped in half, pulled apart, cooked with indian spices, then frozen. The bell pepper were cut for Human # 1's lunch, and gave me a massive allergy attack.

I feel bad about all this freezing (Gordon Ramsay's always going off about it on Kitchen Nightmares). But I'm a lousy homemaker.

Clam Chowder

We're having a lazy weekend. Human # 3 is visiting her mother, brother, and best friend. Those are three people, not one, just in case that was unclear. They just happen to be in the same place. We went out to dinner Friday, did nothing but run errands and have dinner delivered on Saturday, and today, Sunday, aside from a brief trip to Whole Foods, puttered about the house. Human # 1 is putting up wine racks in the kitchen, I'll post pictures eventually. I froze more dinners. I'm not sure how, but I've been having issues having Human Nos. 1 and 3 to properly reheat them. I'm not sure if it's my directions or not. We'll see.

Since it was just us, we made some clam chowder. It wasn't quite cold enough, but something about today felt like clam chowder. My version omits pork, using liquid smoke instead. It's just as good without the liquid smoke. If you like pork, add some with the butter, reducing the butter to account for the fat of the pork.

Ingredients:
Roughly 2 dozen Littleneck clams, cleaned and de-sanded
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup oil (olive, canola, whatever you like. I used olive, but cooking olive, not extra virgin; note, you can and probably should use all butter. Again, this was a minor fat and cholesterol saving move).
2 shallots, minced
1 large onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3-4 ribs celery, minced
2/3 cup flour
3-4 cups dairy, depending on the size of your clams, whether you like this thick or thin, etc. I used 2 cups whole milk and 2 cups half-and-half. Theoretically you should use all half-and-half, I just can't do it!
1 cup diced potatoes, or more depending on your preferences
2 drops liquid smoke
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:
Over medium heat, melt butter and heat oil.
Add veggies, slowly sweat until they are translucent
Walk off for a minute, take a phone call, and make faces at the dog. Because I know you want to cheat and proclaim that opaque and translucent are the same thing.
Now slowly, SLOWLY, sift in your flour. You're making a roux.
Cook the roux, stirring well, until it smells golden and buttery, not like raw flour. About 5-10 minutes.
In another pot, hopefully fitted with a steamer basket, steam your clams with just enough water to come to the top of the basket. Please do not over steam! Instead, let them just open, pull out and place in a bowl. I actually do this in batches.
Reserve the clam juice.
Add dairy, bring up to a nice heat, do not boil. Add as much clam juice as you desire.
Add the potatoes. Let them cook until fork-tender. If you like big chunks, pre-cook.
Now taste. It should taste like clam chowder. Add liquid smoke, salt, pepper, and extra clam juice until it is right.
GENTLY fold in the clams. "Cook" until the clams are the same temperature. If you have company, you can leave some clams in the shell as a garnish.
Eat with crusty bread. I suggest serving along with some Viognier.

Aida Bistro

Last Saturday, my husband and I had dinner at Aida Bistro. Though it's located in Gateway, aka that infinite loop office park in Columbia that people become trapped inside, it's one of the most romantic spots in Howard County. Just close your eyes until you walk inside.
Aida has jumped onto the local food bandwagon, bringing in food from Howard County farms such as Larriland. They've got some great wines too. We've had a number of meals here, and I feel somewhat foolish showcasing the simplest fare Aida has to offer, though it's my favorite. I will note that my husband's favorites include the calamari, rockfish, and anything with veal. Now back to our date.



I started with a glass of La Forge Estate Reserve Viognier 2007 (Languedoc, France). It was awesome, and I'm not really a white wine sort of girl. Interesting minerality, lots of grapefruit, nice nose, a nice body.




This is one of my favorite caprese salads. Tomato, mozzarella, a bit of basil, very good syrupy balsamic, and truffle oil.



The Husband had the andouille sausage ravioli. He's a big fan of the red sauce as well.



I had my standby favorite, handmade spaghetti with garlic and olive oil. There's nothing more perfect in this world.



A cannoli for dessert! Truth be told, I don't actually like cannoli. I love sweets, but I prefer them at, say four in the afternoon with tea or coffee. After dinner I'm more likely to have cheese or fruit. The Husband loved the cannoli though.

A relatively simple dinner date, and I would like to note that, in these troubled economic times, it wasn't terribly expensive. Now, you can totally go into Aida and blow $60.00 per person and up, including starters, desserts, wine, and drinks. But there are some good values, especially on their prix fixe menu and on days they have discounts.

For more info, visit their website.

I really love this place, but I will also be brutally honest - Aida can be very uneven. For example, a few months ago I went to Aida for one of my favorite dishes, spaghetti aglio e olio, spaghetti with garlic and olive oil. The pasta at Aida is freshly made, therefore the simple preparation is truly sublime. Except for the fact that the dish was choked with salt. And I really like salt. The poor waitress seemed shell shocked and did not know what to do. She clearly wanted to do the right thing, but she was just overwhelmed. I ended up with a less salted bowl of very good pasta. A young hostess once snapped at us, staring overwhelmed at a seating plan, nearly on the verge of tears. Sometimes the staff is just not trained about the menu items, or doesn't know how to open a bottle of wine (this poor waiter once popped the cork straight in). I will say, however, that I have never, ever had bad service at Aida. The mistakes are human mistakes that can be fixed with experience and training (I may eventually post about the horrible mistakes I once made while waiting tables). And every server has been extremely nice. Most issues arise when the owners do not appear to be front and center, a fairly rare occurrence.

Still, I would recommend Aida over most anything in the county, and certainly over any chain Italian restaurant. And, as a side note, I would like to suggest that the prices at Aida, ordering moderately from the pasta options, are not significantly more expensive (or even more expensive at all) than Olive Garden or Macaroni Grill. It's a fabulous local eatery, flaws and all.

I prefer my restaurants human. Sure, I might go to French Laundry, el Bulli, or Per Se once in a lifetime, and expect perfection. But while Aida is certainly a nice restaurant, it's a nice night out restaurant, not a once in a lifetime restaurant. And I like my nice night out restaurants to be human, to be flawed, to have character, and most of all to be experiences, not cookie cutter examples of blandess.

See their website, reviews on HoCoLoCoGirl, and for more local restaurant reviews check out HowChow.

Update

I would start out by apologizing for not blogging, or for the fact that the focus of this blog is drifting from cooking to eating out, but in many ways this is mirroring my life. I need to develop better organizational skills, I need to develop better scheduling skills, and I need to just be more proactive. But, in the meantime, I've had a bit of fun, and Human # 1 and I even *gasp* went on an actual date! Or at least we had a couple nice dinners.