(Kitchen) Cabinet Invokes 25th Amendment and Relieves Phil of his Grocery Shopping Duties

When you drove to Jersey Shore for the sole purpose of procuring 10 frozen duck breasts, we looked away. When you hit Aldi’s multiple times in a week to “lay in” some reasonably priced tuna steaks, we said nothing. Had you properly labeled the 10 pounds of pork loin that you cut and froze, so it would be recipe-ready (See Sweet Soy-Braised Pork in Recipe Index), we could have overlooked it. But, this, Sir, is a measure too far. The insurrection you mounted against my organizational system in the freezer has shaken my meal planning to its very core. Grocery Czar, we love you. You’re very special, but please stand down.

It took some time and resolve to restore order to the freezer, but restore it I did. Bacon, stay in your lane; there is no reason for you to be mixing it up with the ice cream. Chicken stock bones, we appreciate your bipartisan spirit, but when you’re tossed on top of strawberries dating to the Obama administration, you both lose your allure. After making the freezer great again, I pledged to maintain my duties as Secretary of the Interior of the Freezer.

Once I swore (myself into office), I set to work drafting a menu that would utilize one item from the freezer every day this week. Of course, the menu had to be rounded out with fresh things from the grocery store, so my shopping cart looked very virtuous – sweet potatoes, broccoli, clementines, baby spinach, baby kale (lots of juvenile leafy greens). I almost felt like I needed to confess to the cashier, “We don’t really live like this! I wish we did, but we don’t. There’s a lot of pork at home. A lot of pork.” In any case, it was a relief to regain control of the grocery cart.

Ben was thrilled to take on pork steak for our Ben’s Day Wednesday meal. Pasta with a broccoli sauce rounded out the meal. And for dessert? Mmmmm… peach cobbler!

I know that I have referenced pork steak before, but I have never given a recipe because there isn’t much to say. Wikipedia confirms that it is a steak cut from the shoulder of a pig, and that it is a “cheaper cut of meat.” We recommend that you buy it from Flook’s, put salt and pepper on it, grill it until it’s done, and eat it like a Viking.

I love that the pot of water does triple duty in this pasta vegetable dish. First you cook the broccoli stems that are the basis of the sauce, then you cook the broccoli florets, and finally the pasta, all in succession in the same water. We use a pot that has a pasta cooking insert, but if you don’t have one, use a slotted spoon to remove what you’ve cooked before the next thing goes in.

Pasta with Broccoli Sauce

(Adapted from Milk Street Tuesday Nights, Christopher Kimball)

2 pounds broccoli, stems and florets separated

3 ounces baby spinach

2 medium garlic cloves, chopped

4 tablespoons salted butter, cut into small pieces

1 tablespoon drained capers

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Zest of 1 lemon

1 pound mezze rigatoni pasta

1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese (plus more to serve)

1. In a large pot, bring salted water to boil. Peel and cut the broccoli stems into 1/4 inch rounds. Add stems and leaves to water and cook until fully tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the spinach and cook about 20 seconds. Reserving water in pot, remove vegetables to blender. Reserve 1 cup of the cooking water and continue to boil water remaining in pot.
2. Cut the broccoli florets into 1 inch pieces, add them to the boiling water, and cook about 3 minutes. Again, keep water boiling in pot, remove broccoli to a colander, and rinse with cold water.
3. Cook pasta in boiling water until al dente. Reserve 1 cup of the cooking water and drain.
4. Meanwhile, as pasta is cooking, make the sauce by blending broccoli stems, spinach, garlic, butter, capers, red pepper flakes, 1/2 teaspoon salt, lemon zest, and the reserved vegetable water until smooth. Taste and season with salt and pepper, if necessary.
5. Return drained pasta to the empty pot and add broccoli florets, the broccoli puree, 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta water, and cheese. Cook over medium, stirring until sauce thickens slightly and pasta is coated, about a minute. Taste and season with more salt and pepper if necessary.

Peach Cobbler

5 cups frozen sliced peaches, thawed

3/4 cup sugar, divided

3/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 stick unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract

1 – 2 tablespoons raw sugar

1. Preheat oven to 375º and spray deep dish pie plate with cooking spray. Put peaches into pie plate and sprinkle 1/4 cup sugar on peaches.
2. In food processor, blend 1/2 cup sugar, flour, baking powder and salt. Put butter pieces in and pulse about 10 times until coarse crumbs form. Add egg and vanilla, pulsing until rough, sticky dough forms.
3. Squeeze cobbler dough into lumps, and place over peaches. Sprinkle with raw sugar and bake about 35 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or “whupped” cream (as Ben calls it.)