ABQ: Picnic at Tingley Beach

ALBUQUERQUE

Picnic at Tingley Beach


Fall is the perfect time to head to Downtown ABQ's Tingley Beach. While I don't care to fish in the ponds, I'm a huge fan of packing a picnic lunch. Just beware feeding the ducks and geese from the table. They'll surround you and beg worse than a dog.

The train connecting the zoo with the BioPark stops at Tingley Beach. The stores sells some snacks and paddle boats are available for rent in the summer. One pond is available for model boat racing.

The bike path and hiking trails connect to the beach.

Info about Tingley Beach.

ROUTE 66: Little Chief Lunch

ROUTE 66

Postcard of Little Chief Lunch

3101 East Central Ave., on Highway 66

While this postcard is from the UNM/Nob Hill area rather than Downtown, it typifies the "fast food" lunch stands that used to line the highways. The location is now Imbibe.

The postcard proclaims: "We serve nationally advertised foods." This would appear to be a mom-and-pop local variation of the White Castle hamburger chain, a concept unknown before the prevalence of automobile travel.

The postcard is dated 1906. However, this can't be correct. First of all, the architecture and car don't match turn of the century styles. More importantly, Highway 66 wouldn't run through Nob Hill until after 1937, when the alignment was changed from a north to south route from Santa Fe down to Los Lunas on what is now mostly Fourth Street in Albuquerque, to an east to west alignment going straight through Albuquerque on Central Ave. and by-passing places like Santa Fe.

CULINARY: Potato Press/Gnocchi

CULINARY

Potato Press/Gnocchi

On a recent trip to Chicago with my daughter I had the opportunity to eat great food--like Italian. I was reminded of all my favorites from growing up in the Midwest and found myself explaining foods to my daughter. As much as food seems to be similar at chain restaurants across the country, there are still some regional differences, particularly when looking for fresh and made from scratch examples.

However, I noticed a particular food missing from our stops--gnocchi. I don't recall eating it while I was young, either.

I've taken an interest in cooking gnocchi, if, for no other reason, it's easier to make than pasta. And I adore almost any food that involved potatoes.

My first step in attempting gnocchi was to locate a potato press, also known as a potato ricer. I don't recall my family or relatives owning such a device while I was growing up, although a forgotten potato masher at the back of a kitchen drawer was common.

Around town, I only found an expensive potato press at the local Williams-Sonoma. Luckily, a friend traveling to Denver was able to pick an inexpensive model for me at the IKEA. (I have no idea why, but I couldn't just order the ten dollar press from their website. And the closest IKEA stores are an all-day drive from Albuquerque.)

A potato press can be used to make fluffy mashed potatoes. A recipe can be found in Zingerman's Guide to Good Eating by Ari Weinzweig. And while great oils, cheeses, meats and pastas can be ordered from Zingerman's, they don't have gnocchi available.

Gnocchi, while simple, isn't easy to make taste good. A basic recipe calls for cooked potatoes, flour and some salt. Weinzweig would probably advise steaming the potatoes, although any method of boiling or baking would work. The ingredients are combined to a pizza dough consistency, then rolled into cigar shape, and cut into small pieces and dropped into boiling water. They float and stay at the top of the boiling water when they are done. That's it.

I advise keeping the gnocchi small. They swell up during cooking and are rather dense and heavy. I am beginning to experiment with adding flavor. While my recipe calls for a pesto sauce for serving, the gnocchi seems to taste better with something thick like a bacon and cream sauce. I recommend gnocchi as a small side dish. It's a bit much for the main course. While I haven't tried it in soups yet, I can recommend coating it in olive oil and adding as a unique ingredient on a meat and vegetable kabob on the grill.

CULINARY: Hand Beaters

CULINARY

Hand Beaters

I've taken a recent interest in kitchen hand tools. I cook to relax, save money, and find a meditative comfort in chopping and blending ingredients by hand. Somehow, throwing a bunch of vegetables into a food processor just isn't the same.

I once dated a Japanese chef, who demonstrated the finer art of hand chopping food. You won't find a Veg-o-matic, or other K-Tel and Ronco type devices, in top kitchens. Instead, they use very high quality knives. The chefs carry their own with them to the job, the way an artist has her own brushes for painting.

I did make a concession to kitchen gadgets, though. I was ready for hand beaters to mix liquid ingredients. Ever try to make whip cream from fresh cream with a whisk? I scouted the local Albuquerque thrift and antique stores, but couldn't locate any inexpensive models. People must be collecting them. I had better luck in an antique mall in Roswell, New Mexico on Main Street. Their selection hadn't been picked over and I found a newer model that works quite well.

Actual antique hand beaters tend to have issues, like the paint peeling off the wooden handles, rust, and wheels that don't quite crank right anymore. They seem better for display than cooking most of the time. However, the newer models work quite well and can be found inexpensively online.

CULINARY: 2 Sets to Measure

CULINARY

2 Sets to Measure

While I usually suggest simplifying the number and complexity of kitchen gadgets, there is one exception. Cooking from scratch is much easier with two sets of measuring spoons and two sets of measuring cups. Invariably recipes call for a teaspoon of this and a teaspoon of that. Stopping to wash out and dry the teaspoon can really slow the cooking process down.

If you cook regularly, treating yourself to decorative or expensive measuring devices is totally worth the cost. I would rather have great looking basic utensils than cheap plastic tools and exotic kitchen gadgets, like a sandwich press, that never get used.

If you only run your dishwasher every two or three days, you might want extras of other often used items, like garlic presses. I hand wash my good knives, so only have one each of the various sizes. Having a range of knife sizes seems more helpful than duplicates.

Having everything clean and ready to go is more inspiring for cooking meals than starting the process facing a sink of dirty dishes and having to hunt all the cabinets to find the tools.

CULINARY: One Pot Cooking

CULINARY

One Pot Cooking

One of the easiest ways to simplify cooking is to reduce a meal to a single pot. When I want a day off from cooking, I throw leftovers of a meat and veggies into a crockpot and cover it with water or sauce, letting it cook on low all day. Presto, I have instant soup or stew.

For example, I will take the leftovers from taco night--seasoned ground beef and diced tomatoes--add a can of tomato sauce, green chile, cooked potatoes or a small amount of rice, plus any other leftover veggies that might work such as peas, and simmer it on low all day. In the evening I have a delicious pot of Texas-style chili.

Another favorite one pot meal is to use my large Staub cast iron pan for baking meats and veggies together. I either coat everything in olive oil with seasonings, or cover with a cup of water and dry soup mix, and cook the dish in the oven at 350 degrees until done.