So much has changed since the lock down days of the pandemic. Plenty not so good, but one decent aspect that has seemed to emerged from that dark time is that people’s schedules are a bit more fluid. Work from home or hybrid schedules allow for some unusual flexibility. And so it was that enabled us to host our cousins for lunch on a Monday. Yup, right at the start of a work week. If anything is going to shake the Monday blues out of you, hosting loved ones is a sure fire way. The main reason for their dropping by was to visit my parents. Yes, this on the heels of my cousins, Therese and Tom, visiting them the Friday before (as noted in my last post). Back to back visits for my parents meant the same for us.

Just a little side note. My dad vowed he would never move to Westchester due to narrow roads, cold weather and missing Long Island and all their neighbors. This idea always struck me as funny, as if the traffic on the LIE is so much more desirable than narrow roads. Or the weather is that much colder than Long Island’s wet winds coming off the water. Sure we are a tad bit north but not the North Pole! And missing people? HA, they have had more visitors in 6 months than they had in years.

Anyway, much like with my other cousins, we thought it would be nice if after their visit they could bring my parents over to our house for an outdoor lunch. As luck would have it, my imagined al fresco moment was dampened by rain. That said, I must admit that the indoor dining switch-aroo wound up being a better scenario for the group. We ate the appetizers and the meal all at the same table which was easier that shifting all over the place.

The beauty of back to back entertaining is that I was able to repurpose part of the table from our Friday Night Dinner, with some minor tweaks to make it casual lunch style. I also had some food surplus, so a few items reappeared from Friday night’s event.

Kept the table setting simple by using big cotton napkins as placemats.

For the table, I simply removed one runner and flipped the other lengthwise down the table. The flowers were still holding on, so they made a repeat performance. Instead of regular placemats, I used cotton napkins and folded the top and bottom edges in to create an elongated shape. As you can see, I didn’t have time to iron. It kinda pisses me off looking at this photo and noticing the creasing but I’m getting over it. Our guests were appreciative of the effort, so I guess I can let the wrinkles go. We are so fortunate to have such a wonderful family. Both sides, all sides, from every angle are full of loving, and thoughtful people. So spending the day together is not just a treat, it’s a blessing. And when you love people, you try to make food that reflects the same. As I said, I tried to repurpose as much as possible. That goes for the menu to. Here’s what I served:

Appetizers

Marinated Artichoke Hearts (store bought but with homemade herb/garlic oil)
Fennel with Extra Virgin Olive Oil & Course Salt/Pepper
Smoked Salmon/Cream Cheese Rolls on Cucumber Rounds
White Bean Dip with crudité (same as for the Friday night dinner)
Marinated Wild Mushrooms (store bought from Italian Specialty shop)

Main Meal

Oven Roasted Vegetables (Eggplant, Zucchini, Peppers, Onions, Tomatoes)
- Cut vegetables into thick slices, season with salt/pepper and slight drizzle of olive oil (do not over oil them or they will be soggy instead of roasted.) Roast at 400 degrees flipping once.until browned.
Marinated Feta
Homemade Focaccia
- I just started making my own. There are the two recipes I follow on Instagram. One is for overnight proving. The other is for same day, which is the one I used. Please be aware that the chef in the below link curses a lot, and I mean alot.
- Tastelessbaker : same day foccaccia
Summer Pasta Salad
- Like me, these are pasta people. But it was summer so a salad versus a hot dish was called for. I just threw together what I had in the house and made an herb/garlic oil dressing. I used pasta shells, cucumber, chick peas, grape tomatoes, red onion and tossed it all together. Important part is to cut the vegetables to bite size pieces.
Pork Belly Roast: This one is all Juancarlos. I will try to explain what he did best I can.
- Skin side up score the skin through the fat but not into the meat. Flip it over to meat side to fill.
- Create a filling of chopped herbs, garlic, oil and spread it onto the meat side.
- Roll it up and tie with cooking string, and rub with oil, salt and pepper.
- In a roasting pan, place onion halves and whole carrots for pork to sit on.
- Roast at 425 degrees for 1/2 hour then turn oven down to 350 for another 2 hours, depending on the size of pork. Roughly, 20-25 minutes per pound.
  Here is another way of cooking Pork Belly that isn’t rolled.

Dessert

Cream Puffs (exquisitely made by my cousin, Gina)
Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches

If you have ever had Monday-itis, and aren’t quite ready to start the work week, might I suggest that
you block off time on your google work calendar, rearrange your schedule and book in a lunch with family or friends that you love. I highly recommend it.

A Monday completely stirred with LOVE.

My cousin, Therese, loves to eat healthy, as do I. So whenever she visits the menu is focused on fish, vegetables, and no carbs. Just recently, she and her husband, Tom, took a drive from NJ to Westchester to visit to my parents in their new home in Westchester. This past January we moved them from Long Island to be closer to us, and fortunately our family and their friends have been willing and gracious to make the trip to visit them. We hadn’t seen Therese and Tom since before the pandemic so it made perfect sense to feed two birds with one crumb. They started out early in order to extend their stay to include dinner at our house. Lucky us.

Keeping it light yet ensuring it would be filling was my main goal. So, we started off with mezze-style appetizers that would do just that.

All make ahead appetizers. Just plate before guests arrive.

Also, top of mind was trying to make as much ahead of time as possible. This was a Friday night dinner and I was going to be busy most of that day. Whenever you can give yourself a running advantage to ease your work load on the dinner day, the better. Here’s what I prepped the day before.

Cut the crudite and kept in glass jar with wet paper towels. Carrots are kept in a covered jar of cold water.
Made White Bean dip
Grilled Eggplant
Roasted Tomatoes
Made Marinated Feta
Store bought olives (Offering store bought items also helps ease the work load.)

Made ahead on the day of:

Roasted Spiced Carrots
- Cut carrots lengthwise. Season with cumin, cinnamon, turmeric, salt, pepper, oil. Roast at 425 degrees until tender and browned. I made this in the afternoon, then warmed it up at the same time the Halibut baked
Roasted Onions
- Cut in thick slices or in wedges. Season with Magic 3 (oil, salt, pepper). Roast at 425 degrees until caramelized. I made this at the same time as the carrots, then warmed it up at the same time the Halibut baked.
Halibut en Papillote
- While the onions and carrots were roasting I prepped each packet and refrigerated them. Then baked it while we enjoyed the appetizers. You can prep this up to 4 hours ahead of time.

The night before while the tomatoes were roasting I set a simple but fun table. I wanted to give a nod to dinner. So I pulled out two matching runners that featured a sea creature and laid them across the short end of the table. This create a bridge from one side to the other. I picked up these runners at IKEA years ago, and have used them in so many ways. I love the bold, graphic contrast to the neutral tone. An inexpensive purchase that has paid off. I then chose complimentary napkins, swaddled the silverware in the center, then secured it with a napkin ring. The flared top of napkin gave the illusion of a fishtail. Another nod to dinner. The flowers were trimmed and rearranged from the ones my niece, Gianna, brought over for dinner earlier in the week. Glasses and some candles to make it moody, and we can call the table done.

This meal was a strike right down the alley for Therese’s palate. But not to worry, everyone else enjoyed it, too.

Making fish en papillote is not only a fun way to serve the main course but can be prepped ahead of time, placed in the fridge and baked right before serving. Oh, and wait, there is more; you don’t need exact amounts, or exact ingredients. Something near and dear to my heart. Use the type of fish and vegetable in the amounts that work for you and your guests. And if that wasn’t enough, it’s protein and veg all in one neat packet so you don’t need a side dish of vegetables. (I made more veggies because Therese loves, loves, loves vegetables.)

Ingredients

Halibut 6-7 oz/person ( you can use cod, snapper, flounder, salmon)
Onion, rounds
Scallion, long strips
Carrots, strands
Zucchini, rounds
fresh thyme
Lemon slices
Olive oil, salt, pepper
White wine

Instructions

Slice the vegetables accordingly. This is an important step since everything will be baking together at the same time. It is essential that the ones that need more cook time be cut more finely than those that don’t. I used a vegetable peeler for the carrots, while the onions and zucchini I cut in thicker rounds. The scallions I cut in long strips.
Place the parchment paper on a baking sheet. Start placing the lemon slices, onions, zucchini on top of each other at the center of the parchment. This way when you fold over you will have enough paper to fold and tuck.
Then place the fish, carrots, thyme and season with salt, pepper a drizzle of oil and splash of white wine.
Fold the parchment paper over the fish/veg pile then starting at one corner fold the paper all the way around creating a seal. You can either bake right away or if you are making ahead, place the entire baking sheet in the fridge until you are ready to bake.
Bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish.

As I mentioned, I was short on time. Therefore, I didn’t have time to photograph the en papillote part. However, I did have images from the time I made it with red snapper. Which is actually an excellent example to demonstrate the many variations of this technique. In the pictured below, I used Red Snapper, Spinach, Zucchini Strips, Scallions.

With the many variations that can be made the list seems endless. But let me give you a few ideas. Other vegetables that work well: Asparagus, Spinach, Kale, Yellow Squash, Cherry Tomatoes, Olives, Capers, Basil, Sun-dried tomatoes, Broccolini.

You can even use potatoes if you slice them thin.

As you can see, this method affords a huge range of flexibility and versatility depending on your guests tastes. That is also another huge benefit. Since they are made in individual pouches, you can customized them for each guest. This might seem like asking for trouble having to make different combos for each guest. But it does allow you to accommodate guests who have allergies or food sensitivities. Or just the pesky ones who don’t like certain veggies!)

All in all, it was a fun evening of healthy eating and a great time catching up with family we love.

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