July 31 – August

Sunday:                     Poached Eggs with Avocado Toast (brunch) / Grilled Pork Tenderloin, Corn and Avocado Salad with Feta / Strawberry Cake

Monday:                   Peach and Cornbread Panzanella with Roast Pork Slices

Tuesday:                   Tukey Burgers with Chipotle-Lime Baked Beans

Wednesday:            Gazpacho with leftovers

Thursday:                 Spaghetti with Meatballs / Crostini Parmigiano / Green Salad

Friday:                       Pan-Roasted Shrimp Salad with Cannellini, Tomatoes and Parmesan

Saturday:                  Pizza with Frankie’s Sausage, Green Pepper and Onion

Cleveland’s Not Bad – and Frankie’s Is Great 

I know next to nothing about the food business, but I am astonished at the competence and quality of a supermarket like Wegman’s or of a local Pittsburgh market like Labriola’s.  I myself could not adequately stock or manage a 7-Eleven.   And running a restaurant seems to me to be in the same category as commanding an aircraft carrier – innumerable working parts, personnel issues that would have daunted IBM, constant surprises (world war, bad vegetables, spoiled meat), and a thousand external events affecting your success (location, weather, changing tastes).  As for cultivating vegetables or raising livestock, my ignorance is limitless.  I can walk a dog, wash it, and feed it with food bought from PETCO.

So, I am in awe of anyone who gets into the food business and in double awe of those producing a great product.  And that’s why you need to hear about Frankie’s Sausage, an establishment in the small, nearby community of Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania.  Two young men decided to go into business to produce and sell sausage like their father’s (one of whom was called “Frankie”) used to make, hence their motto, “Prodotto dei nostril padri”.  (Look it up.)

Now I love almost any sausage.  As Barbara and I were telling Hilda and Tim, just last night, over dinner on the glorious terrace of the PFC:  Give us Jimmy Dean’s Original Sausage Patties on Sunday morning and we are happy.  Even Giant Eagle Italian Sausage can send me to the moon.  But Frankie’s sausage is on a different level.  How different?

Let’s say you’re a very good golfer, like my friends Rosie, Dick and Lindsey.  But you would still need 15 or more strokes to get close to the pros (both male and female) playing in the U.S. Opens.  That’s the difference between Frankie’s and other good local sausage – between Giant Eagle and Frankie’s the distance is oceanic.

Perhaps there are equally fine sausages elsewhere in America, but in the Pittsburgh area you need to get your sausage-craving carcass to Frankie’s in Sharpsburg (maybe a 10 minute drive from Fox Chapel).  And, if you happen to be driving by on a Saturday, stop and buy one of the sausage sandwiches they grill curbside.

And now, for a change of pace and a great recipe . . .

Cleveland Has Its Pluses 

If you cook on a grill and you do not know about ‘Symon’s Dinners’ on the Food Network, you are laboring under a severe handicap.  I mean, would you enter the hundred meter dash with your shoelaces tied together, or the high jump with a 50 pound backpack?

If you answered ‘no’ to either of the above questions (and how could you not answer ‘no’ to both of them?), then log on to the Food Network and enjoy Cleveland native Michael Symon’s approach to grilling.  In addition to the food, Symon’s back yard garden and grilling space is enviable, his wife, Lizzie, regularly makes cocktails for him as he cooks, his skills with a knife and other tools of the trade are spectacular – and he has a great laugh.

Finally, his approach to grilling is beautifully rustic – it’s all about fire and coals and mostly about meat.  You should look up his grilled pork tenderloin or his grilled corn and avocado salad with grilled endive and feta.

The recipe below, however, does not involve either meat or grilling – save it for a rainy night.  This is Symon’s brilliant approach to a shrimp salad better than most steak dinners you’ve ever had.  The recipe is for one of the signature dishes that put his restaurant, Lola (now, regrettably, permanently closed due to pandemic), on the map.  If you can resist this, you should be able to get to heaven without a stopover in Purgatory.

Cleveland’s History Center and football team are inferior to Pittsburgh’s.  The Pittsburgh skyline beats Cleveland’s flat out.  And while they have had a recent edge in baseball and are home to an NBA team, their real claim to fame is Michael Symon, chef extraordinaire and all-around good guy.

            PAN-ROASTED SHRIMP WITH CANNELLINI, TOMATOES AND PARMESAN

Timing:                                                              15 minutes

Ingredients:                                                   Serves 4-6

2 shallots, minced (about 2 Tablespoons, you could substitute onion, but the shallot is best)
1 clove garlic, minced (we used some garlic salt instead – SWMBO is not a fan of raw garlic)
Kosher Salt and ground black pepper

Juice of 2 lemons
1/2 cup (4 ounces) extra virgin olive oil, plus 1 Tablespoon for the shrimp
1/2 cup grape tomatoes, halved (we used ¾ cup)
1 cup freshly cooked or canned white beans, such as cannellini, drained and rinsed
1 cup (about 4 ounces) aged Wisconsin Parmesan cheese, cut in small dice – we used a non-aged cheese, but the aged is better and offers some real crunch
1/4 cup fresh dill, chopped

Note:  We added 2 scallions, green parts sliced on a bias for color and taste
1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined

Prep:

Mince shallots (and garlic, if using), juice lemons, drain and rinse beans, dice parmesan, chop dill, slice tomatoes and thaw shrimp if necessary.

Make the Salad

Place shallots and garlic in mixing bowl. Add pinch of salt and mix. Add lemon juice, stir and slowly whisk in olive oil. Add tomatoes, beans, Parmesan cheese, and dill. Mix well and set aside.

Pan-Roast the Shrimp

Heat remaining 1 Tablespoon olive oil in sauté pan. Add shrimp and cook, turning until pink and cooked through, about 3 minutes. Do not overcook. Season to taste with salt and coarsely ground black pepper.

Add warm shrimp to prepared mixture and toss. Serve immediately.