by Sam Tackeff | Mar 15, 2014 | Meal Planning
That light is coming back to us – the kind that feels restorative, and lasts past 6 in the evening. It’s sweet relief after this brutal winter, although I won’t presume that we’ve seen the last of the snow in New England! My meal plan this week is short, as I’ll be flying to the nation’s capital on Wednesday for a re-charge with Wellesley friends. I’m looking forward to lots of fabulous meals, and hopefully some real spring-like weather!
Simple meals this week, mostly built off a protein and a vegetable – the kind of dinners that come about when I shop without a grocery list. I decided to swing by the market *before* making my weekly meal plan today (usually my planning is an elaborate affair of my own volition where I surround myself with my cookbooks and get lost in them for hours) – so to avoid over-purchasing, I simply picked a few random proteins, vegetables I know we’ll both eat, some extra lettuce and spinach for salads, and hightailed out of there before I spent a paycheck on chocolate covered potato chips, matcha powder, fancy olives or some other superfluous treat.
Week of Saturday, March 15th
Saturday: Eggs, brussels sprouts, pancetta and a little bit of cheese. When in doubt – eggs for dinner. I think I might make a regular habit of a weekend egg dinner, instead of an extra meal out that too often occurs when I’m tired from batch cooking.
Sunday: Chicken thighs, brussels sprouts, and new potatoes. A variation of what I go to week after week. I picked up a few new cookbooks this weekend including Anya von Bremzen’s The New Spanish Table and David Leite’s The New Portuguese Table, so I’m guessing we’ll be having some seasoning from that general region to spice things up – maybe a large dollop of homemade mayo to bring it all together.
Monday: Marinated Pork tenderloin and broccoli. A little boring. I’ll be coming home from an evening yoga class, so I needed something quick and relatively hands off.
Tuesday: Vietnamese-ish beef and carrot salad with mint. My everyday favorite: ground beef with five spice, and a carrot and mint salad with a basic Nuoc Cham, a dressing of fish sauce, a little sugar, and lime.
What’s on your table this week?
–– Sam
by Sam Tackeff | Mar 12, 2014 | Seafood
Last year, tragically, I missed the shad roe. The season is very, very short – when the shad swim up the Delaware to lay their eggs, a week or two at most. Unlike the marketable items of the season, the shamrock shakes and corned beef, the asparagus you’ll be eating for weeks, if you see a lobe of these, buy them, buy them right away, you’ll likely only get one chance to, and then they are gone.
Let’s not beat around the bush, the visual aesthetic of shad roe is unfailingly feminine. Shad roe is the egg sac of the shad, a historically significant fish around these parts. Shad roe sacs are large, filled with tiny eggs that firm up when cooked. The taste is reminiscent of both offal and caviar, a distinct flavor I look forward to once a year.
Once you procure one of these, you have a few options, but most agree that gently cooking in butter or bacon fat (or both!) is the way to go. My mom dredges hers in a little flour, salt, and pepper before cooking, and makes a green salad with lemon oil dressing, preferring to stuff the cooked shad and salad into a crusty baguette. (This is always a good option.)
I happened across a lobe at Whole Foods this weekend, and surrendered $13 dollars for the delicacy. You can find it for less, but after last year’s debacle – I saw it in the store on my morning walk, committed to coming back a few hours later to buy it, and upon returning it was gone for the season – I was prepared for highway robbery in order to get my prize. Without knowing what I wanted to do with it, I stalled, by brining the roe sac overnight in a quart of water and tablespoon of salt. This helps to reduce any blood in the veins, and produce, some say, a sweeter flavor. It’s not a necessary step, but you can’t put off buying shad roe if you see it, and this gives you a little extra time after purchase to decide its fate.
To cook my shad roe, I took a note from Jody and Ken here – in some butter and pancetta, gently on one side for about ten minutes, basting every three, then five minutes on the other side. I re-iterate gently – to avoid the splattering, popping of roe exploding. (And these babies EXPLODE!). After cooking the roe, and removing it from the cast iron, I made a quick pan sauce with the juice of a lemon, and a large spoonful of chopped rinsed capers, and served everything over a nice bowl of baby spinach. Peppery arugula would have been nice here too.
For one, a half a lobe will do, for two, you have a meal, or for a lone shad roe lover, a meal, and a second go around at breakfast, with leftovers accompanied by some scrambled eggs and bacon. I dutifully saved some for myself and dinner, round two, was on a fresh Clear Flour baguette, with a slathering of homemade mayo.
Have you tried shad roe?
by Sam Tackeff | Mar 10, 2014 | Fitness
On a whim, I decided to stop by the new Athleta store (a fitness line owned by the Gap) in Chestnut Hill for a fashion show of their spring line. Having no idea what goes down at these swanky shindigs, but hearing tell of mimosas, snacks from the Capitol Grille, and free coffee, I decided to check it out. I love Atheta’s cheerful bright colors, and their clothes usually fit quite well – the prices are on the higher end of the Gap lines, but the style and quality seem to match. The models were all fitness instructors in the Boston area. I didn’t end up taking anything home, but it was a good excuse to get out of the house after setting the clocks forward.
My own fitness pursuits:
Saturday: CrossFit
Workout 14.2 For as long as possible: From 0:00-3:00, 2 rounds of: 10 overhead squats, 95 / 65 lb. ,10 chest-to-bar pull-ups. If completed, from 3:00-6:00, 2 rounds of: 12 overhead squats, 95 / 65 lb., 12 chest-to-bar pull-ups. From 6:00-9:00, 2 rounds of: 14 overhead squats, 95 / 65 lb., 14 chest-to-bar pull-ups, and so on, if of course, you are able to get that far.
The second round of the CrossFit opens, the world-wide CrossFit competition had us performing overhead squats and chest-to-bar pull-ups – squatting with a large bar suspended overhead, and pull-ups that get you so close to the bar that your chest can touch it. Feeling very, very sore from a few weeks of easing back into lifting, walking, and running, I found it very difficult to squat to correct depth, which was frustrating, because the weight (65 pounds for women) is actually do-able for me. I’ve had to swallow some pride with my scores this year in the open – but I’m proud that I’m competing, proud to show up, and got myself a PR last week with my double-unders.
Sunday: BODYPUMP
Bodypump boasts a strength building workout where you complete 70-100 repetitions per body part totaling up to 800 repetitions in a single workout, with varying weights on the barbell. After last weeks ClassPass launch party, attendees were all gifted a free month of ClassPass (10 studio classes at gyms around the city), and I decided to take Bodypump as my first class at Commonwealth Sports Club, on Comm. Ave, right by the Super 88. My first (and last) attempt at the Les Mills barbell fitness class ended after fifteen minutes of me huffing and puffing, when horrifically the girl in front of me had to be taken to the hospital for a medical emergency, so I was pretty sure that any experience this time would be a better one!
The front desk folks at CSC were very nice, and you can get a parking pass to park in their back lot if you pull up to the front. The facilities are fairly large, around the amenity level of a mid level Y, and a few major plusses I noticed were the saltwater pool, sauna, towel service, and bathrooms with free razors. The class was full, and kind regulars helped be put together my equipment: a step, mat, barbell with various weights and clips that you change throughout the class. Kim the instructor was no-nonsense, a bit of a drill sergeant, and powered us through the class. I’m definitely familiar with weight lifting, but it might be overwhelming to a newbie. If I go again, I’ll up the weights, but I certainly enjoyed myself this time around.
Commonwealth Sports Club
1079 Commonwealth Avenue | Boston, MA 02215
(617) 254-1711
commonwealthsportsclub.com
by Sam Tackeff | Mar 9, 2014 | Books, Meal Planning
I follow Food52’s ‘Tournament of Cookbooks‘ – The Piglet – with the same fervor that I follow my Boston sports teams. Every year there are excellent selections, usually books that I have and cherish, and a handful of new ones that I have yet to explore. The judging is done by the culinary elite, professional chefs, food writers, and a few wild cards – this year I grinned excitedly when I saw Josh Malina’s name on the list. The reviews are always thoughtful, the judging is taken very seriously, and most of the time I find myself nodding along as the rounds progress. (One noted exception would be the upset when Burma lost last year, grumble.)
This season I had some favorites: Nigel Slater’s Notes from the Larder (i.e.: Kitchen Diaries II), which has a perpetual home on my coffee table and makes a weekly appearance on meal planning day for inspiration, Megan Gordon’s Whole Grain Mornings, because I hope to have a first cookbook as lovely as this one, and Deborah Madison’s Vegetable Literacy – just a great overall work. The winner, as it turns out, was also one of my favorites: Louisa Shafia’s ‘The New Persian Kitchen’.
I’ve had a copy of Louisa’s book for nearly a year now, and I’ve cooked out of it many times. The seared chicken with peaches (and saffron, turmeric, and cinnamon) became a summer favorite. Her flavors are reminiscent of my own familiar Turkish and Jewish culinary roots, and Sara Remington’s photographs are stunning – especially the ones of Louisa herself. In honor of the win, several of my meals this week are inspired by her recipes, specific recipes with page numbers listed below.
Week of Saturday, March 8th
Saturday: Teriyaki Chicken Legs, broccoli, and mashed potatoes. This is my comfort food. The mashed potatoes in small quantity acquired from the Whole Foods salad bar.
Sunday: Vietnamese takeout. I’ve been meaning to try the Vietnamese restaurant inside the Super 88 – and I have a Bodypump class at Commonwealth Sports Club right next door late Sunday afternoon. Perfect!
Monday: New potatoes with dill and lemon (p. 29), brussels sprouts and pancetta, with some olive oil poached fish (p.93). In my childhood home, there was a line down the middle of our table between the dill lovers (my mom and I), and the dill loathers (the men). I think my brother has now moved into “ambivalent” range, thank goodness.
Tuesday: Creamy beans and chicken/turkey sweet basil sausage, salad. The sweet basil sausages are from Trader Joe’s, and they are excellent! (I like all of their chicken sausages really.)
Wednesday: Lamb meatballs with mint and garlic (p. 88) and cucumber salad. Her version of kufteh is very similar to the Turkish Köfte I make quite often.
Thursday: Turmeric chicken with sumac and lime (p. 103).
Friday: Out.
What’s on your table this week?
–– Sam
by Sam Tackeff | Mar 8, 2014 | Challenge, Fitness
{Obligatory changing room selfie pre-workout. Am I going to make it? Am I going to die?}
I had an unusual conundrum on Tuesday: attend a startup event for women entrepreneurs which boasted an impressive list of founders who I admire and free dumplings, or attend an indoor cycling event at Flywheel, for the Boston launch of the startup ClassPass (which happens to be founded by women) with free post-workout salads from sweetgreen! Both events seemed well worth attending – and dumplings! – but as you have caught on already, cycling won out! Why? To overcome fear, try something I’d previously written off as “too difficult”, and crush it. The crushing part is subjective. In this case I just didn’t want to fall off the bike. I have ambitions for a sprint-tri in my future, and you have to start somewhere!
Indoor Cycling, take one: The first time I attempted indoor cycling was when I was living in San Francisco, and after barely, just barely, making it through a class without quitting, I went home and cried. The spin instructor, Rachel, was so terribly nice, and there were four of us in the class, a bickering boyfriend and girlfriend, both athletes giving 110% the entire class, an older man who was a cyclist with experience with real San Francisco hills, and me, out of shape, a little terrified, and woefully unprepared for what I was getting into. (There is some irony in the fact that I lived in San Francisco for several years and didn’t run once on the Embarcadero, and now I work at a fitness company in Boston and yearn wistfully for the West Coast whenever I’m out running here in the winter time.) But this spin class, this first class, I was uncoordinated, in pain, exhausted, and I felt sorrowfully like I had let the very nice instructor down. So I went home, and I cried, and I never went back again.
Looking back on this, years later, I get terribly sad thinking about how I missed out because I felt out of place – this feeling is one of the reasons that I go to work every day hoping to make fitness accessible to everybody.
Indoor cycling, take two: So Tuesday was my re-do, and I had no idea what to expect, but we’ll just say I was experiencing nervous excitement with just a smidge of terror. The class was at Flywheel, a new Boston cycling studio in the Prudential. Flywheel is pretty swanky – free shoes, towels, lockers, showers with complimentary shampoo, conditioner, and hair elastics! (I used three.) Our instructor, Ann, was great – super fit, dare I say it sultry in the best possible way – and I managed to make it through an entire class and get on the leaderboard. What a difference a few years can make. Definitely will be going back!
What is ClassPass: The startup I wish I had founded. With ClassPass, you subscribe a monthly $99, which gets you access to 10 classes at studios (Indoor Cycling, Yoga, Barre, and more) across the Boston area.
Flywheel Indoor Cycling
800 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02199
617-300-0388
boston.flywheelsports.com
ClassPass (formerly classtivity)
(Currently in Boston and New York)
classpass.com
