Too Darned Hot

How does that old rhyme go? "April showers bring May flowers"?

Not today.
Today, April 7th, 2010, the temperature hit 90º in NYC. That is ABSURD!!! And also, in my book, unpleasantly hot. So while running my afternoon errands I decided to treat myself to a delicious lunch that required no cooking.
Unfortunately I was foiled in my attempt because apparently Salumeria Rosi changed their delivery schedules, and now they receive their fresh burrata on Thursdays instead of Wednesdays.
Damn.
Not to be too disappointed, I still purchased their fresh focaccia (truly, some of the best in the world. Definitely in NYC.) and some freshly carved prosciutto.

You know the focaccia is good just by seeing how the olive oil has already soaked into the paper it was wrapped in. It only took me 15 minutes to get home, and already the bottom of the paper was slick.

In case you have never had freshly sliced prosciutto, it is much more velvety and chewy than anything you buy pre-packaged from a store. Delicious.

Now, since I could not have my perfect meal, which would include the fresh burrata with a fruity olive oil and salt, I decided to try to make a substitute creamy cheese spread. I still had some mascarpone cheese in the fridge, as well as some fresh ricotta, so I decided to make a spin on my Creamy Orzo sauce.

Since I was sticking to my rule of not cooking for this meal, I had to try to create this sauce without heating any garlic or oil, or reducing anything. This does not create as fabulous a sauce. But it was still fresh and creamy and bright.

First I combined a spoonful of mascarpone (right) with about 2 spoonfuls of fresh ricotta. I added the zest of half a lemon, and some kosher salt. (I also dropped about a teaspoon of white wine in it just for fun.)

Stirring all of that together, I added some chopped fresh thyme, and called it done.
As I said, it was not as fabulous as the full-on sauce I made for the orzo and peas, but it was a nice accompaniment for the salty, chewy prosciutto and the airy, oil-rich focaccia.

If the roof to my building were open now, I would be eating this up there and drinking a glass of pineapple sparkling wine that I brought back from Maui a year ago.
Pineapple wine?
What?
It's real. Last year my in-laws invited us to Maui and we drove up the side of the volcano to a vineyard that made regular wine as well as blends with passion fruit, mango, and this pineapple sparkling wine that I just loved. And unfortunately, their website does not ship to NJ or NY, so I can only get it if I'm actually IN Hawaii.
(Unless someone who loves me in Oregon wants to ship a bottle or two along on their own...)
Pineapple wine is not something you can drink a lot of. Or at least not something that I can drink a lot of in one sitting. But it is incredibly refreshing on a 90 degree Summer day... even if it happens to be April.

Going Bananas, Late-Night

What's more fun than curling up in bed at 10PM and watching old Haunted House movies on TCM?
Making banana bread!

Ok well not really but for some reason that's what I ended up doing tonight. Sure, sure, most people like to bake when the sun is still up. Once you've cleaned up dinner, you're done with the kitchen for the night.
Not in this house. In this house we've been known to make lamb chops at midnight, and steak at 1AM. And by "we" I mean me. And they are FABULOUS! And really what man would complain that you were cooking extra deliciousness at an odd hour of the night, so long as he's still awake to enjoy it?
Tonight I just couldn't stand looking at those almost-black bananas anymore. I had promised Mike that I would turn them into banana bread but I just was unmotivated during daylight hours. And there's nothing like a less-than-suspenseful old movie and the Marquis to make you feel like doing something in the kitchen. That, and eating at very random intervals during the day.
So in under 15 min I had everything going in the oven. Tho I admit it is the most basic of banana bread recipes. No nuts (I loathe walnuts) and no chocolate chips. Just straight-up plain but it comes out moist and delicious. And the apartment smells great!

It's not exciting to describe. There's the usual "creaming" of the bananas & sugar & eggs.

Addition of flour and varying sodas, cinnamon & vanilla, oil.

Distribute.

Magic! They're done! (with 1 measly hour baking...)

Enjoy!

Not an exciting post, I grant you. But Mike is extremely excited for the slice or two that I will include in his lunch tomorrow.

And whatever he is pilfering from the kitchen as I type this up...