Quaintrelle Weekender

Four ways to a better weekend

Welcome to Quaintrelle Weekender.

This is a short list of things I am currently loving to make eating, drinking, and hosting easier and a lot more interesting.

Kitchen Equipment

Thai Pestle and Mortar

In coming weeks I’m going to share with you outstanding recipes for peanut noodles and lemon grass chicken. Both are excellent, deeply flavourful, straight forward, and on high rotation this summer. But, in order to make them, a heavy, granite, Thai mortar and pestle is required.

You can’t get away with dainty one, it will break, you need the big girl version. Mine is a whopping eight incher (not to brag), but you can get away the more demure 6 inches. I also use it for pesto, and the Thai green curry recipe I sent back in June (link is below if you missed it.) The good news is it looks great on kitchen counter, should you have the room, and when not in use, can double as a fruit bowl.

To Eat

Scamorza

This southern Italian cow’s milk cheese will revolutionize your life. Or at least your cooking. It’s a hard cheese that resists melting but stands up to heat really well, like halloumi, cheese curds, or paneer. You’ve probably seen it in Italian grocers and cheese shops, hanging from the ceiling by a rope, which is exactly how it dries, giving it that profile of a hung sack. I slice it into quarter inch rounds and gently fry it over medium-high heat for a few minutes, flipping halfway through. It’s a delicious and unexpected topping to Caesar and chopped salads, adds interesting texture to cheese platters, and is delicious mixed with grilled fruit, like seasonal peaches and cherries.

To Read

Sauces by James Peterson

First published in 1991, and now in its fourth edition, this book is informative, fascinating, and enlightening. I’m embarrassed it took me this long to discover it. I covet cookbooks that are also instructional texts, not just offering recipes, but the filling in the blanks as to why things are done the way they are. This nearly 700-page behemoth opens with a fascinating history to sauces, outlining their use in ancient Greece, Rome, and France, and even offering incredibly well-researched ideas to cooking in the Middle Ages (where it’s assumed sauces were needed to cover up the taste of tainted meat.) Some terrific takeaways include never boiling your stock – the rapid heat can lead to the fats and proteins of the meat breaking down and dissolve into the liquid, leaving a cloudy and muddy tasting broth. For the same reason, start your broth in cold water, never hot. Also, red wine sauces are challenging due to the tannins and acidity in the wine. It’s better to add red wine to a brown chicken stock for a more complete tasting sauce. I haven’t made my way through every page, but it’s already become an indispensable edition to my culinary library. A must for any enthusiastic cook.

To Drink

Watermelon Daiquiri

Friends, I hate to get serious in these jovial weekend dispatches, but we really must discuss an issue of the utmost importance.

Pitcher cocktails. And when I say cocktails, I really mean, cocktail. Singular.

There is absolutely no reason to get stuck behind the bar whipping up custom drinks a la minute when you should be floating on a pool noodle. Nor is your party a bar. Your guests don’t need to order from a winding list of classic and modern cocktails.

Resist the urge to get into the cocktail weeds. Offer one drink, make a big batch of it ahead of time, and call it a day. Of course, offer a non-alcoholic and alcoholic version so everyone can join in on the fun, but that’s the extent of the effort. After that, a few bottles of wine, beer, and water in a bucket of ice round out the good time.

Watermelon is de rigour on these hot summer days, as is the breezy Caribbean vibe of a rum daiquiri. And, the striking crimson colour of a watermelon daiquiri makes a dramatic presentation. All good things for a laid back summer soiree.

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Thanks for reading.

xo -Erin