My mother comes from humble beginnings. Not that her family didn't have money (sometimethey had a lot) and nice things (sometimes they had many), just that they had a business you couldn't always count on. Her father, my dear granddad, was what you'd call a "roughneck." He was a tall, big man with a booming voice. And he could throw a punch and could be kinda scary, if he was drinking. His family was in the tavern business and when he came of age, the bar became his.
His name was John Black and the bar, Blackie's, was his domain (though his mother worked right along side him, until she was too old to bartend!). Now the difference between a bar and a tavern, according my family, is that taverns sold food as well as drink. Kind of an American version of the pub. The Black's had been in the food and drink service industry for decades. In fact, my granddad's mother, Mary Ellen, ran a chili parlor, prior to opening Blackie's. (and was in vaudeville, too!). But along with draft beers, hard liquor and food, Blackie's menu included illegal gambling. And lots of it.
So my mom grew up seeing lots of drunks, lots of sad people, lots of overly happy people, lots of local muckity-mucks, lots of dangerous looking people and a few prostitutes (not working out of the tavern, just enjoying their neighborhood bar). When my mother and her sisters came to Blackie's for a visit, they'd sneak upstairs to the game room. My mother once found a blackjack and brass knuckles sitting on the pool table. When she asked my grandmother what they were, she was tersely told, "None of your business."
My grandpa wasn't home much, when he wasn't at the tavern he could be found at Andy's, next door. That was the barbershop, cum gambling parlor. On Sundays they'd pile the barber chairs in the window and spend all day playing cards out of view. But my gramps never got in trouble, because all the local politicians and policemen drank and gambled there, too.
My grandmother, Mabel, was an excellent cook, though she hated doing it.
She was often the resident chef at Blackie's. She could whip up stew, chili and steak and lobster (their specialty) to satisfy the sober, as well as the drunk. My father still says her beef and noodles were the best he ever ate. My grandmother's other job at the tavern? Running numbers, even though she thought gambling was wrong. By the time my grandma came home, she had no interest in cooking, or anything else. So the girls often scavenged at the tavern and ate a lot of junk at home.
Basically, my mother and her sisters fended for themselves and not just with food. I loved my grandparents, but unfortunately they were alcoholics and not very present in their young daughters' lives.
When my mother had her children, she was determined to be present. In fact, she was sort of intent on becoming Donna Reed. She made everything! And baked, canned, cleaned and sewed. I had to beg, plead and cry to get frozen food or pudding snack-packs. She wanted to make it all, but we wanted what we saw on TV. We had a comfortable, decorated home and a huge garden in the back yard. I remember a very idyllic childhood. And what brings me to this blog entry is this...my mother's determination to provide fresh, homemade foods for the family she loved. And that garden was the cornerstone.
When I lived in Florida, I never had a yard with sufficient sunlight for vegetable gardening. I grew flowers, so many beautiful flowers and herbs, too. And now, years later, I am finally living up to my mother's glorious achievement. As you know, I have a huge garden. My momma's quite pleased! And Chris and I eat something from the garden every day. More than one something, too. Lots of somethings...as the garden has begun to produce a bounty.
Today I was at the P-Patch, tending to my garden. I was fastening tomato stems to their cages, tying beans to their bamboo arches and trying to get the trailing vines of the cucumbers in some orderly fashion. I hoed, fed and watered. The garden was busy with fellow travelers and Sara stopped by to admire my hard work. And then her eyes got wide and she pointed to my zucchini and said, "Um, did you see that you have a really big zucchini under there?" Under where? I thought. The zucchini plants have gotten so huge, the leaves are massive and I guess something could be hiding under there.... I ducked under a leaf and OMG...I saw IT. A zucchini of grotesque proportions. Offensive in its size and vulgar in its vitality.
I sort of shrieked and immediately broke it off its stem. Patty had to take a picture. Marsha had to laugh...obnoxious, gigantic vegetables usually don't taste very good. I should have left it to become colossal and I could have entered it in some crazy contest. But I picked it. So now we had to eat it.
I thought zucchini bread would be perfect, but it's too hot to bake in my kitchen right now. I didn't want to freeze IT, it would become too watery. So I decided to stuff IT and stuff it good. The clown-shoe sized vegetable could have easily fed a dinner party, but it was just me and Chris. Pity, but I know what Chris is having for lunch tomorrow! Because the zucchini itself could be a meal, I planned a simple summer supper: stuffed zucchini with Thai flavored beef and a garden salad with peanuts and sesame dressing. For dessert...the blackberry ice cream in the freezer.
I had all the ingredients except the meat, so I ran to the store. I wanted pork, but there was no ground pork (what?!), so I bought beef. I also chatted up the wine expert on hand about a Rosé. I have long thought of Rosés as a lesser wine. Even after Andrea Immer's Complete Wine Course in culinary school. But recently I saw Andrea on a cooking program and she finally changed my mind. Or maybe it's because it's been too warm to drink a heavy red or a wine that's not chilled. Either way, I wanted a Rosé. But I wanted a cheap one and there wasn't a bottle to be found in my price range.
So the Trader Joe's employee talked me into a particular pinot noir called Blue Fin. He said he'd had it at a tasting where they chilled it and it was delightful. "Sold." I said as I headed for the register and high-tailed it home to start stuffing.
First thing I did was have a little fun with my motar and pestle. I wanted to grind some dried spices for the meat and the salad to give a depth of flavor. I included coriander seeds,chilies, garlic, cinnamon, thyme, ginger, oregano and big fat chunks of sea salt.
I decided to go with a very flavorful meat stuffing, since I was certain the zucchini would have almost no real flavor. First I cut IT in half and then scooped out the center of each side. I left the zucchini "boat" fairly thick so that the weight of the meat wouldn't break it.
Then I mixed the beef with the zucchini innards, fish sauce, sesame oil, lime zest and juice, peppers (bell and jalapeño), onion, garlic, herbs, ginger, peanuts and the spices. I minced the veg and mixed everything together.
This was a very wet concoction and I knew the zucchini would leach a lot of water, so I mixed panko (Japanese bread crumbs, for the uninitiated) to help soak up the liquid. I took the boats in hand; salted the inside, oiled the outside and stuffed them with the meat. I lined them up on a sheet of foil and off to the grill they went.
I chopped some of whatever I had in the veg bin and mixed it with some lettuces. I drizzled olive and sesame oils over the salad, did my Moosewood thing with lime juice. I have a need to serve thematic meals (I finally gave up matching my shoes and hand bags, but it took therapy), so I finished the salad off with peanuts.
When Chris came to the table and saw the two enormous zucchini halves he said, "I can't eat all of that!" And he's a big eater. But I reassured him that I would take no offence at his leaving 1/2 of his dinner on the plate. The zucchini itself was fine. It wasn't very flavorful, as I surmised. But it was a good match for a very spicy and flavor-filled stuffing. The salad was delicate, but rich with sesame flavor.
Chris said the zucchini was "great" and the salad was "excellent". I pressed him for more, asking if he'd be disappointed with this meal if he'd ordered it in a restaurant. My man of few words replied, "Not at all."
But he did cock his head while pouring the red wine from a chilled bottle, but I told him the Trader Joe's story and we toasted our good fortune. Our plates runneth over with "great" stuffed zucchinis (pun intended) and our chilled pinot noir was outstanding.
As the sun set, we retired to watch a movie. We don't have cable or watch much TV, so dessert is usually eaten while watching a DVD or reading. This evening I had WORDPLAY, the documentary on Will Shortz and NYTs crossword nuts (like me). So we shared a big bowl of the cardamom and blackberry ice cream. I thought it was sooooo good. It did have a very chai-like taste and the blueberries were at once sweet and tart. Chris said it was "good." I pushed for more information and he sheepishly said, "I liked it, but my favorite so far is the fig with almonds." Well, now I know the ice cream benchmark.
Shopping List
2/3 lb ground beef, pork, turkey or lamb
1 gigantic zucchini, or 4 regular sized zucchini
3 T fish sauce
juice of 1 lime
2 t freshly grated ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeño, minced
1/4 C baby peppers bell peppers, minced
1/2-1/4 t (to taste) each, crushed: coriander seeds, chilies, cinnamon, thyme, ginger, garlic oregano
1/4 C toasted peanuts, chopped
1/4-1/2 C panko bread crumbs
2 C mixed lettuce
1 C mixed chopped veg (your preference)
Sesame oil
lime juice
S/P, to taste
Preparation
Light the grill on high and leave it to heat. Cut the zucchini in half and scoop out the inside. Minced the zucchini and toss it into a large mixing bowl. Add the ground meat and the next eight ingredients. Drizzle sesame oil over the meat and using your hands (I wear gloves) combine the mixture completely. It will be very wet, so add bread crumbs until it can hold a shape (like a ball). Remember the zucchini will leach a lot of water, so you don't want the meat swimming. Be sure to add a bit more panko after you can form a ball. Oil the outside of the zucchini and rub salt into the hollow. Pack the meat in (it will shrink and the squash will expand, so keep that in mind).
Place the zucchini on a sheet of foil, turn down the grill and place the zucchini halves on the grate. Close the grill top and let it cook for 10 mins and check the zucchini bottoms. You want them to have color, but not be falling apart. When they look good, move the zucchinis up to the top grate. Close the grill top and let the boats cook for about 15 more mins. Obviously, keep an eye on them. You want the meat cooked through, but not dried out. Also, you want to make sure the zucchinis don't over cook and fall apart. Just check for doneness, like you would a hamburger. You will see the water bubbling up inside the boats, using your tongs, tip the zucchini slightly to drain.
Do the Moosewood trick on your greens. Start with adding all the veg to your lettuce, drizzle with sesame oil, sprinkle with the dried spice mix (to taste) and toss. Squeeze the lime juice directly onto the salad and give it one last toss.
When the stuffed zucchinis are done, you're ready to eat. You may want to anchor the zukes by plating them on a leaf of cabbage or kale. Pile on the salad, pour your wine and Enjoy! And don't forget a big bowl of ice cream for dessert.
