I took it easy this sweltering, humid August weekend, doing lots of cooking, dining out, and general relaxing. Andrew and I just celebrated 10 months of marriage (yes, we celebrate every month!) and we did a barbecue/wine tasting night as part of the occasion. We had barbecue at our wedding, so last year leading up to the event, we did several at-home wine tastings to figure out which reds and whites went best with barbecue. (I posted about the process here.) It turns out that two of the three wines we went with have a rosé counterpart, so clearly we had to try those this time!
They were both really good, but we preferred the (very cheap) Isle Saint Pierre, which was drier and really minerally/salty (and has an anchor on it, so I’m naturally drawn to it, not that you can go wrong with stripes either. . . .). The pork bbq was from Pig Beach—highly recommended!
I had a friend visiting from Chicago, so we met up for brunch at The Spaniard, which was absolutely delightful. The interior is beautiful, and all of our food was great: chilaquiles, gluten-free scones, thick-cut bacon, sausage biscuit, mmmmmm. They have a great selection of whiskeys, and the dinner menu looks great, so I’d love to go back in the evening sometime as well.
I stopped by the Union Square Greenmarket as well and picked up some heirloom tomatoes and shishito peppers. I’ll let you know if I make anything noteworthy out of them!
Maybe something that goes well with leftover cumin rice? I hope you enjoy the recipe—I really think you will. It’s very loosely based on a dish from the wonderful book 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer, and I make it at home a lot!
Cumin Rice with Spinach & Herbs
serves 8 (& makes good leftovers)
- 2 cups basmati rice
- 2 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced
- 6 packed cups spinach, thinly sliced into ribbons
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 2 Tbsp neutral-flavored oil (like avocado oil)
- 2 tsp cumin seeds
- 2–3 tsp kosher salt
- 3 cups water
- 1/3 cup finely chopped dill
- 1/4 cup finely chopped parsely
- 1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
- Place the rice in a large bowl and wash it until the water runs almost clear, about three times. Cover with water again and let soak for 20 minutes, then drain.
- While the rice is soaking, in a large saucepan, heat the butter and oil over medium-high heat. Add the cumin seeds and cook until they begin to brown and sizzle, about 15 seconds. Add the onions, reduce heat to medium, and cook, stirring occasionally, until unions are soft and getting very brown and caramelized, about 15 to 20 minutes. Add the spinach and cook, stirring, until the spinach is wilted. Continue to cook for several minutes more until any liquid has evaporated.
- Add the rice and 2 teaspoons salt, stir until combined. Add the water, stir, and cook, uncovered, until steam holes appear in the rice and the top layer is dry, about 5 to 8 minutes. Cover, reduce the heat to very low, and cook for 10 minutes more. Turn off heat and leave rice covered for another 10 minutes. Stir in the herbs and add additional salt to taste.
