Diary of a Food Writer: Lisa Hunter
Posted on Friday, July 9th, 2010
by block club
LISA HUNTER
EDITOR, EDIBLE BUFFALO MAGAZINE
My mornings are fairly routine. I’m an early riser, so each day must begin with coffee. I admit I was an ardent drinker of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee until recently. But these days I am thrilled to be drinking New Day Coffee’s Brazil Bob-O-Link roast. New Day is a local coffee roaster who specializes in fair trade, direct trade and organic coffees. I’ve become particularly fond of this roast because of its smooth, rich flavor which doesn’t require copious amounts of half and half or raw sugar to drink. Most days I drink it black, it is that good.
I more often than not drink my coffee with some toast and yogurt. I vacillate between two slices of raisin cinnamon Monk’s Bread or two slices of whole-grain slathered with Blackman Homestead Farm’s Pear Port Butter (my fave!). Breakfast is rounded out by a small bowl of vanilla yogurt.
My office is out of my home, so lunch is never a sit-down meal but rather a series of grazing sessions. One of my favorite job perks is getting food samples to try. I recently took a trip down to Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture in Westchester County where I was meeting with my fellow New York Edible publishers. I scored lots of yummy things to bring back home, including vegan roasted coconut marshmallows from Queens, a not-big-enough-jar of pâté from the Piggery in Trumansburg, decadent chocolate brownies (pretty sure they were flourless) from Black Cat Bakery in Sharon Springs, and to top it off, a goody bag from Blue Hill Restaurant (this is considered Mecca for die-hard farm-to-table foodies). Included in the goody bag were a jar of local strawberry preserves, fresh-made granola and spicy glazed macadamia nuts, all from the Blue Hill kitchen. This potpourri has comprised much of my lunch grazing rotation these days. Throw in some New York State sharp cheddar cheese on cracked wheat crackers, a sliced Macoun apple and voila! Lunch.
Dinner is a frittata. It is fast, easy, and can be varied depending on what’s in season. I always use the same base: angel hair pasta mixed with a couple of fresh eggs (I use Windy Ridge Natural Farms pastured eggs) and shredded parmesan cheese. The rest is improvisation. Fresh spinach from the farmers’ market, capers, crushed whole tomatoes (Muir Glen organic––my stand-by when tomatoes aren’t in season), kalamata olives, fresh garlic and some anchovy paste (why not!). I always enjoy having a light red wine with an egg dish so I usually pair my frittata with Arrowhead Spring Vineyards’ Apogee or Freedom Run Winery’s 2008 Estate Pinot Noir.
