We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
Cod is perhaps my favorite fish (besides Grouper). Sadly, their populations on George's Bank, the Grand Banks, and around England have been overfished. Tragedy of the Commons. You can no longer be confident that you can catch one off the Maine coast.
I found a few Cockle shells on the bay beaches of Cape Cod. I have no idea about how plentiful they are, but they are not a commercial shellfish despite tasting the same as clams.
I am in a life phase when I prefer steamers to oysters or littlenecks. Who knows why tastes change? Mrs. BD and I used to love digging them up in the salt marshes. You can get happily covered with good marsh mud.
I think maybe I have had enough lobsters and oysters for one life. God knows, I have tried to. Photo at Pearl, on Wellfleet Harbor. Fun place. Great live music, excellent seafood, good people-watching.
Mussels were not commonly considered food in the US until after the war. It's a shame they were overlooked for so long. The Indians ate them, as do crabs and diving ducks.
Mussels have a remarkable capacity for holding on to things. Photo shows mussel farming, on ropes, in deep New Hampshire waters.
Our Atlantic Blue Mussel is the edible variety - not the deeply-striated Horse Mussel. I can eat pounds of them, steamed in white wine and shallots, but Mussel Soup is good too. In my experience, kids love mussels.
Try cookin' up some mussels this weekend, with some good bread fried in olive oil to sponge up the juices.
Not new, just new to me. We've posted about all of the varieties of Italian pestos (?pesti) in the past but this one is worth trying: Olive Pesto. Marcella says it's best with grilled or fried vegetables.
Chop one hard-boiled egg roughly in blender. Add to blender 6or 7 pitted green Italian olives, 2 tablespoons capers, 2 tablespoons chopped parsley, 1 tablespoon wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons olive oil, and plenty of ground pepper. Blend briefly - it should have some chewiness and some creaminess.
While I will confess that I do kinda like that overly sweet "mint" jelly they have at the supermarket, I have grown to prefer the much more interesting taste of homemade Mint Sauce with legga lamb.
We bought two big ribeyes at Costco a few weeks ago. They were Top Choice, not Prime. I measured them - 3 1/2 inches thick. I forget the weight, but I have never cooked a steak that thick. (I should have put the ruler next to the photo.) For us, that's 4 meals.
Readers know that pan-seared is the only way to go with good steak, especially ribeye. Chefs agree. Here's a good discussion of the topic.
Thing is, you can't really pan-sear a piece over 2 inches thick. My chef consultant suggested pan-searing the heck out of it in butter + olive oil, then finish in the oven. She said 130 (F) in the center with the meat thermometer, which I could not find. I thought we had two.
So I seared all sides of it in the cast iron pan (very smokey), and put the pan in the oven at 400 degrees. Winging it. After 20 minutes, I checked the inside and the meat was not even rare yet. It took a while to get medium-rare. When I checked it again it was perfect. I do remember that meat keeps cooking for a while after you remove it from heat.
I like Black Beans. Goya, from the can. I always add jalapenos to any Black Bean recipe.
Black Bean soup is traditionally served with a scoop of mashed taters, but I like it on top of a pile of white rice. I hate brown rice. To my mind, rice, like pasta, is supposed to be a vehicle for flavor and not a source.
While cleaning out some piles of paper, I found a menu from a nice place where we had lunch a couple of years ago in Modica, Sicily. Go there sometime. I know two couples who have done biking tours of Sicily but, for me, a nice car.
I had their Gorgonzola pizza (gorgonzola, pears, and honey), but I like the look of this one with sliced eggs, pancetta, and olives:
Some readers view me as a food snob for disliking Italian-American food. I find it monochromatic, uninteresting, and there is always so much of it that it is unappetizing to look at. OK, for growing kids I guess they need anything in volume.
Sunday Gravy (aka Red Sauce) with meat and meatballs was a traditional Sunday Italian-American feast. I think one of my grandmothers-in-law (who I never knew) made this on Sundays for after Mass. Here's how Rao's makes it:
We are fortunate to have a pasta shop nearby. They make fresh daily, and make takeout meals too.
While I have never seen any meaningful difference between dried spaghetti, linguine, and things like that, fresh ravioli and gnocchi do matter. These Italian guys make excellent ravioli (many varieties, from pumpkin to mortadella, to cinghiale) and the fluffiest gnocchi.
Last week Mrs. BD decided to cook up a nice Italian supper for her Dad who had just been allowed to leave the old folk's home. I think it was also in gratitude to me for getting rid of at least a third of my stuff (excess boots, clothing, etc.) as we slowly move back into our refurbished living quarters. I noticed that lockdowns for old folks are terrible for them. They lose muscle and balance. For no reason, at this point.
Apperitivo: Olives and marinated artichoke hearts.
In recent weeks, I have posted lots of Italian food in Italy.
Without wanting to be a food snob (I am not a "foodie" - I like burgers and pulled pork), I need to explain again that Italian-American food is not to be found in Italy. The latter is an invention mostly by immigrants from southern Italy who were trying to make do. They used lots of pasta to fill people up, same as they did at home. Not a bad invention.
But, for example, try a pizza in Italy. Inedible. A pizza in NYC can be amazing.
Depending on where you live in the US, "Italian" can mean entirely different things. Generally-speaking, the fancier the restaurant the better unless you love red sauce. I have made the effort to post some real Italian food here on Maggie's over recent weeks. Northern Italian I suppose. I avoid any tomato sauce. I can make southern Italian killer "pasta fazool." Even Mrs. BD says it's better than her Neapolitano grandmother used to make for her grandfather.
Since we are approaching Christmas, check out our old post about Italian Christmas Eve food. Fried baccala - great. The feast of the seven fishes. I can't find my own old link right now.
Aren't 
Mussels were not commonly considered food in the US until after the war. It's a shame they were overlooked for so long. The Indians ate them, as do crabs and diving ducks.
The Gin Martini. It's the best. These days, I only indulge in this treat about twice yearly. I can't handle alcohol the way I used to.
A Sicilian classic
Yes, a Grilled Cheese Sandwich is great, especially with some ketchup for dipping. The bread ought to be almost burnt and crunchy.
While I will confess that I do kinda like that overly sweet "mint" jelly they have at the supermarket, I have grown to prefer the much more interesting taste of homemade Mint Sauce with legga lamb.
We bought two big ribeyes at Costco a few weeks ago. They were Top Choice, not Prime. I measured them - 3 1/2 inches thick. I forget the weight, but I have never cooked a steak that thick. (I should have put the ruler next to the photo.) For us, that's 4 meals.
A Primo which is new to me:
Salt Cod has been an important export of the northeastern US for centuries. I think most of it went to Spain, Portugal, and Italy.
It's a favorite of diving ducks, and of mine. The US lacks tiny European clams and cockles, but we have Cherrystones - small clams.
