Feta Omelets at the Agora Restaurant by Ruth Paget

Feta Omelets at the Agora Restaurant by Ruth Paget 

A delicious memory I have of attending the University of Chicago is eating feta omelets at the Agora Restaurant in Hyde Park before going to study at the Regenstein Library. 

My college roommate was a Greek-American, so getting her to support the local Greek diner was no problem. We took the University bus to the nearest stop and walked the final few blocks. 

We were the steady diners, but three of our friends always tried to make it to breakfast, too. I warned them that if they did not come, we would talk about them. One of our male friends joined us for breakfast once and called us the female mafia. 

By the time senior year rolled around, we spent our breakfasts sharing job-hunting information. We were looking for work in different industries, which made it easier to share what we had learned. There was a recession in 1986 with fewer recruiters coming to campus. We were unhappy about this, but industrious about finding work nonetheless. 

I had found an international job in downtown Chicago doing informational interviews. I was a salesman at a translation agency that also did public relations work. (I eventually helped two classmates get work with the agency doing foreign-language narration and teaching/cultural consulting.) 

Since I was employed, I bought two extra pots of coffee for the table, so my friends could have abundant coffee refills as we talked about Richard N. Bolles’ book What Color is Your Parachute?, which counsels people on how to find dream jobs. 

We were all mortified that employment agencies downtown had typing skills tests. I told everyone to bite the bullet and learn to type 50 words per minute without a mistake; it could help with finding a job. Most businesses still used IBM electric typewriters in 1986 and were just beginning to introduce desktop computers to the workplace. 

The University of Chicago had “Apple” computers in the study halls, but companies downtown used all kinds of computers with Microsoft software being introduced. Knowing lots of software programs was an asset and hard to obtain. 

The tech change happening in 1986 was stressful. I credit the food I ate during this period of competitive and stressful tech change with keeping me strong, able to sleep, and willing to learn new ways of organizing and presenting information. Notably, I loved my weekly calcium-rich feta omelet with sliced, kalamata olives and roasted red peppers preserved in olive oil. 

Greek diners offer plenty of nutritious sides to go with omelets like this that I always ate including bacon, whole wheat toast with butter, calcium-added orange juice, and real cream to go with coffee. (In addition to dealing with technological change, I credit this meal with preventing me from having osteoporosis – weak bones – later in life.) 

After this robust breakfast, the female mafia would walk to the Regenstein Library like the “Reg Rats” we really were for a day of studying as we thought of dream careers and the reality of entry-level jobs. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Tex-Mex Food is a Community Asset by Ruth Paget

Tex-Mex Food is a Community Asset by Ruth Paget 

Smart Californians know that having a Tex-Mex taquería down the street with from-scratch food at reasonable prices is a community asset. 

That is how I feel about Michael’s Grill and Taquería in Marina, California. My family has been their customer for many years, but I think tourists to the Monterey Peninsula might also like their Tex-Mex food in a place with free parking out of the downtown bustle. 

Some of the dishes tourists might like at Michael’s follow: 

-La Playa Combo (The Beach Combo) with charbroiled shrimp, blackened chicken, a cheese enchilada with red sauce, rice, black beans, and warm flour tortillas 

-Quesadilla with carne asada (grilled think steak) – the steak is an add-on item to the folded-over large tortilla with melted cheese. This is like a grilled cheese sandwich. 

-House burrito – a wet burrito with green tomatillo sauce (Mexican greet tomato sauce) on top of a wrapped tortilla filled with charbroiled shrimp, blackened chicken, and Spanish rice with black beans on the side 

-large tacos with blackened chicken or charbroiled shrimp with chopped lettuce and grated cheese 

-street tacos for smaller appetites 

The ordering is taquería style. You place your order at the counter, pay, and receive a number on a stand to place on your table in the dining room. A server brings your food when it is ready. 

Michael’s is good food, good prices, and good people. 

The regulars know it is great, and first-timers might be pleasantly surprised. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Tomato-Black Bean Salad Recipe by Ruth Paget

Tomato-Black Bean Salad Recipe by Ruth Paget 

A vegan recipe for winter 

Serves 2 

Ingredients:

-1 (15.5-ounce) can organic black beans, rinsed and drained 

-1 (14.5-ounce) can organic, diced tomatoes with juice 

-2 tablespoons Maille mustard from Dijon 

-1 tablespoon olive oil 

-1 tablespoon red wine vinegar 

-1 teaspoon salt (optional) 

Steps: 

1-Mix the black beans and tomatoes with their juice together. 

2-Mix mustard, olive oil, and red wine vinegar together until they are homogenous. Pour dressing over the black beans and tomatoes and mix salad. 

3-Serve with pita chips or toast points. 

Source: Ruth Paget – Monterey, California 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Cannery Row for New Year's by Ruth Paget

Cannery Row for New Year’s by Ruth Paget 

Our family visits Cannery Row in Monterey, California to honor both John Steinbeck and Ed Ricketts. Steinbeck wrote the book Cannery Row that made the area famous. Ed Ricketts, Steinbeck’s friend and the character “Doc” in Cannery Row, is my fellow alumni from the University of Chicago, who wrote Between Pacific Tides with tide pools as a main character. 

The influence of both writers can be felt at the Chart House Restaurant on Cannery Row, which sits above the ocean with an excellent view of the kelp forest offshore in a dinner-only bar-restaurant, part of the nationwide Landry Restaurant Group. 

As you order your meal, you can watch sea otters twirling in the surf, dolphins diving in arches, white egrets hopping from kelp top to kelp top, black cormorant birds swimming in circles dodging waves, brown pelicans flying in lines and sometimes swooping down to snag a fish, and pudgy, tan-bodied Western gulls flitting about noisy white seagulls. 

It is easy to see why Ed Ricketts wrote about the ecosystem of the Monterey Bay here, and why it is worth reserving a window seat. The tiered seating in the restaurant, though, makes every seat a good one for bird watching. 

On our latest outing to the Chart House to celebrate December birthdays, I ordered kimchi calamari, which comes with a sticky, mayonnaise-like sauce that is not too spicy. My main dish was butterflied and deep-fried coconut-mango shrimp followed by coffee ice cream as dessert made without sugar. My husband Laurent and daughter Florence both ordered Monterey’s famous clam chowder, prime rib, and mango sorbet as dessert. 

Everything tasted great in the packed restaurant, which is a rave review all by itself. (Note – Landry has a loyalty card point program that works at all its restaurants. Ask the waiter about it. You can sign up online.) 

That was the birthday meal celebration. My husband Laurent and I came back for New Year’s Eve. Laurent ordered clam chowder while I had Caesar Salad with shaved Parmesan for starters. For our main dish, we both had broiled sea bas with a lobster Hollandaise sauce followed by Florida’s famous, tangy key lime pie for dessert. 

Our brisk walk in the salty air of Cannery Row from one end to the other took us past the restaurants for kids and teens like Louis Linguine, Gharardelli’s Chocolate Shop, Bubba Gumps, and Lalla Lounge. I am sure the women who worked in the sardine factories that Steinbeck made famous would love it that their grandchildren and great-grandchildren can eat tony restaurants like those in LA or San Francisco on vacation. 

When we reached the Clement Hotel (part of the InterContinental Hotel Group) near the Monterey Bay Aquarium where we were staying, we opened the window in our room and fell asleep to the rhythmic sounds of waves crashing on the shore while Florence and her friends may have been dancing at Sly McFly’s Night Club nearby. 

On New Year’s Day, Laurent and I ate in the hotel’s C Restaurant. The C is reliably great and serves posh kopi luwak coffee from Indonesia (priced accordingly). I could have just drunk that for breakfast, but ordered delicious eggs benedict and fried potatoes to go with it. Laurent ate an all-American breakfast of eggs over easy, bacon, fried potatoes, and rye toast breakfast with his kopi luwak coffee. From our window seat on the ocean, we could see seagulls circling. 

After breakfast, we went to Florence’s suite and drank some sparkling white wine for the New Year from De Tierra Winery in Monterey County. One of her friends proudly works at De Tierra – they are award winners.  

Laurent and I got the car from valet parking and drove home along the coast in Pacific Grove. Pacific Grove was teeming with people on a sunny New Year’s Day with glistening lapis lazuli water. I thought of John Steinbeck and Ed Rickett’s climbing on the rocks there and wading in tide pools looking for cute creatures from the deep. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France  

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Italian Potluck Parties by Ruth Paget

Italian Potluck Parties by Ruth Paget 

Potluck parties where a host will provide a main dish and invited guests will provide side dishes and drinks keep costs down on entertaining, especially during times of economic crisis. 

Main dishes do not have to be expensive, but they should be plentiful. Some good potluck party main dishes include: 

-pasta with warm sauces 

-risottos 

-warm lentil bean salads 

-soups served in mugs, so people have less of a chance of spilling on clothes or carpets 

Hosts should do the main dish, because people do not always show up at parties. 

For potluck parties with an Italian theme, I like to use the classic and easy recipes in Everyday Italian: 125 Simple and Delicious Recipes by Giada De Laurentiis. What is great about this book is that you can find youtube videos about how to make these dishes from the De Laurentiis’ Food Network show.

I think the following recipes work well for Italian potlucks: 

-white bean dip with pita chips – for this recipe, you can blend olive oil, oregano, salt, pepper, cooked cannellini beans, parsley, lemon juice, and crushed garlic together. This room-temperature dip is served with pita chips that you can buy at Target. 

-clams oreganata – clams in this recipe are broiled with a bread crumb mixture made with olive oil, oregano, parsley, mint, salt, and pepper. If you like champagne or prosecco, this is a relatively inexpensive seafood dish for New Year’s Day. 

-caprese Salad – a tasty mix of mozzarella cheese, tomato slices, and torn basil with a lemon-olive oil dressing from the Isle of Capri 

-antipasti platter – a selection of Italian salami, coppa, and prosciutto along with cubes of fontina cheese and crackers of toast points. Olives and toothpick spears of roasted red pepper preserved in olive oil can also be part of an antipasti platter. 

-prosciutto antipasti are always welcome with champagne or prosecco – prosciutto wrapped breadsticks, roasted asparagus wrapped in prosciutto, and prosciutto purses, prosciutto wrapped around melon slices -

Other great potluck party recipes include: 

-roasted bell pepper salad 

-vodka-marinara pasta sauce 

-turkey meatballs in tomato sauce 

-polenta (boiled cornmeal) with gorgonzola cheese -mushroom risotto 

-rice-stuffed baked tomatoes 

The ingredients for these dishes have become readily available in supermarkets, making Everyday Italian by Giada De Laurentiis a great buy for organizing parties or weekday entertaining for young professionals.  

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Parisian Budget Food by Ruth Paget

Parisian Budget Food by Ruth Paget 

The words “Parisian” and “budget” rarely go together, especially when applied to food. However, in the book The Bistros, Brasseries, and Wine Bars of Paris author Daniel Young lists recipe after recipe of bargain meals. 

If you make these recipes at home, they are even more of a deal. Young also chose recipes for dishes that are easy to make with a little organization. I especially like his fish recipes that hide the fish. 

I think the following recipes would go well with either beer or wine: 

-marinated red peppers with anchovies, white wine, white wine vinegar, olive oil, and canned crushed tomatoes 

-tomato toast – a specialty of Barcelona and Catalonia – toast rubbed with garlic and tomato halves that is drizzled with olive oil. Serrano ham can be served on the side. 

-salt cod and avocado brandade dip or spread with cilantro – poach cod and then place it in a blender with avocado, lime juice, and lime zest. Blend and serve with toast or tortilla chips. 

-warm lentil salad made with onions, cloves, carrots, olive oil, and sherry vinegar 

-mackeral croquettes made with poached fish and potatoes that are made into balls and fried 

Other delicious recipes in this book include cream of carrot soup with cumin, pan-fried steaks with mustard-cream sauce, and pipérade – a dip, spread, topping, or main dish made of green and red peppers, tomatoes, olive oil, onions, garlic, Basque piment d’Esplette (this dish is Basque) and scrambled eggs. 

Economical and tasty recipes abound in Bistros, Brasseries, and Wine Bars of Paris by Daniel Young making it a great purchase for home cooks. 

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Japanese Comfort Foods by Ruth Paget

Japanese Comfort Food by Ruth Paget 

When I lived in Japan as an exchange student, my Japanese host mom made food straight out of Shizuo Tsuji’s Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art. 

I took for granted nutritious and economical meals such as: 

-onigiri – rice triangles with pickled plums in the center and held together by a strip of nori seaweed  

-rolled Japanese omelets with snipped chives or green onions and soy sauce 

-okonomiyaki – shredded cabbage and carrot pancakes made with egg and topped with sprinkled soy sauce and lines of mayonnaise 

Now that I am older, I still like these items but am learning Japanese comfort food secrets by watching Japanese restaurant videos on www.youtube.com (subject Japanese cuisine) to see how the Japanese eat mounds of hearty food. 

One dish of curry gravy goodness is tonkotsu udon, an udon noodle soup with sliced, deep-fried pork cutlet on top of the noodles. The pork cutlet is topped off with an omelet. The omelet is covered in curry gravy. Yummy stuff on a cold day. 

After watching several Japanese restaurant videos, I have noticed that refried rice or noodles can take the place of noodle soup as a base for other items to be placed on top of them. 

I have set up the following general recipe guide for making Japanese bowl meals: 

*Base – Choose 1 

-plain rice 

-refried rice 

-noodles without soup 

-udon noodle soup 

*Middle layer – choose 1 or 2 

-sliced deep-fried pork cutlet 

-omelet 

*Topping

-stir-fried vegetables 

-omelet -curry sauce 

-tempura vegetables, seafood, or meat 

Refried rice is often made with egg, carrots, and mushrooms. 

Stir-fried vegetables are often made with garlic, onion, cabbage, bean sprouts, and mushrooms. 

Composed Japanese bowl meals like these are delicious, nutritious, and not as expensive to make as you would think. These Japanese comfort foods might appeal to Americans who would like to save money. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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