829 Southdrive

829 Southdrive

A New Jersey state of mind



Friday, September 21, 2012

For Charles and Dorothy




Robiola di bosco was a nice start to this simple but totally satisfying
dinner.  Served with sliced parmesan-black pepper baguette and 
ciabatta, it took enough of the edge off for us to be full halfway 
through dinner.  No worries; leftovers are an everyday occurance
in this house of overindulgences.





Yellow and green zucchini marinated in olive oil, red wine vinegar,
 mint, rosemary, salt, and pepper.  Grilled whole, that way every 
slice is firm and al dente.  Just the way it's meant to be.





Jersey frickin tomatoes, with fresh mootz, roasted red peppers,
assorted marinated olives, and an abundance of chopped basil.
The cracked black pepper and kosher salt is intended to be
liberally sprinkled over your entire helping.




Sweet Italian sausage, unevenly browned but thoroughly cooked,
gave the otherwise very veggie dinner a good, fatty accompaniment
and assured the attending dinner guests had a well balanced meal.

I had a great visit with two old and dear customers from way back
in my restaurant career today.  After almost two years of mixed 
feelings about how my last job ended, I sat with them in their back
yard, having shown up at their doorstep on my bicycle, completely 
un-announced at their beautiful Princeton home, and we talked 
almost exclusively about food and the good times we all had in 
that old building.  Thank you Charlie and Dorothy.  
You most certainly made my day.

16 comments:

  1. Are you sure that's an Italian sausage?

    It looks like a Flemish sausage to me.

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    Replies
    1. It's my understanding that the Flemings use rope, rather than pork. Not as tasty.

      I wonder what the Walloons would say?

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  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  3. What is the best way to frick tomatoes?

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    Replies
    1. I think frickin may be a tomato varietal.

      It would be rather messy to frick a tomato.

      Unless it was stewed.

      Delete
    2. I'm not sure having them stewed would help with the mess.

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    3. In my estimation, a stewed tomato would be easier to frick, but certainly no less messy. We digress.

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    4. Sexual Crime Squad - Vegetable Div.September 25, 2012 at 9:57 PM

      True, but they are defenseless when stewed. Wine may be involved.

      The raw ones give the chefs a hard time. Oil good... balsamic not.

      Delete
    5. I love the little red ones.

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    6. Ok then, how about those NFL referee temps?

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    7. I will reserve my comments until they affect my Big Blue. If they do. Roger needs to act fast at this point. After all, this is the NFL. We're not talking about dopey baseball.

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    8. Note that both presidential candidates (and Bubba) weighed in today, all with the same take. Who says bipartisanship is dead?

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    9. Jennings did catch that ball as if he did have a Mitt.

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