Popular at this week’s Union Square farmer’s market, cousa squash originated in the Middle East. This summer squash is similar to standard zucchini (and interchangeable in most recipes), but with a thicker shape and grey-green striping.  In Persian cuisine, this type of squash is often stuffed – with tabbouleh, rice, lamb, or couscous.   Wanting something a bit lighter, I made the squash into a salad that didn’t require turning on the oven.  Cousa, with its sweet, creamy, and slightly nutty flavor and firm texture was perfect for this simple and pretty summer salad. 

Cousa Squash Salad

1 large cousa squash (about 1 lb)
3 T parsley, chopped
1 T red onion, minced

For dressing:

1/4 c lemon juice
1/4 c olive oil
2 t mustard
1 t honey
salt and pepper to taste

For garnish:

1/4 c pine nuts
1/4 c Parmigiano Reggiano shavings

• Cut cousa squash lengthwise into 1/8 inch thick ribbons using a mandolin or sharp knife.
• Place ribbons into colander set over a bowl.  Toss ribbons with salt and let sit and drain for 10 minutes.
• Rinse squash and lay zucchini ribbons flat on a paper towel to dry.  Place another paper towl on top of the zucchini.  Let sit for 10 minutes.
• While zucchini dries, combine lemon juice and mustard and whisk in olive oil until emulsified.  Add salt, pepper and honey to taste.
• Remove zucchini from paper towels and carefully place in mixing bowl.  Gently toss zucchini ribbons with parsley, red onion and just enough dressing to lightly coat.  There will be some dressing left over.
• Loosely pile mixture on plates.  Top with a sprinkling of pine nuts and Parmigiano shavings.

Enjoy!

Like tourists on the Grande Traversata delle Alpi, New Yorkers have been making the journey to the Upper West Side to sample the rich, dense gelati at Grom, a newly opened micro-chain founded by Guido Martinetti and Federico Grom, two natives of Torino, Italy. Principled and high-quality, Grom offers authentic gelati with Slow Food cred. Their fresh, seasonal and organic ingredients, combined with a storefront that feels very Italian in design, adds to the pleasantly sophisticated experience at Grom.

Gelato is made from whole milk and with less fat and air than American ice cream. This generally yields a denser texture and more concentrated flavor. Grom sells gelati and sorbetti (icy gelato without dairy), and immediately following a couple exalting articles about the shop, the lines wrapped around the block. While I’ll rarely cross a street to investigate a media-manufactured food craze, I recently found myself in the neighborhood of Grom with two friends, and we decided to check it out.

Grom’s laid back but efficient staff will serve up to three different types of gelati per cup. Trapped between my staunch one-food-at-a-time dogma (one pizza topping per pizza, thank you) and my desire to try as many flavors as possible, I opted for both the Crema di Grom which contains Piedmontese Battifollo biscuits and Ecuadorian chocolate chips as well as the ultra-dark Extranoir Chocolate flavor. I was satisfied with both. Friends tried the Zabaione (a sweet custard) flavor, Cappuccino, and the Chocolate gelati. They remarked that a couple of the flavors were not as intense or flavorful as they would have liked, but all were enjoyed on that warm June evening. Other current flavors to check out: stracciatella (vanilla with chocolate shavings), cinnamon, nougat, and the beautifully simple fiordilatte and mint. Grom also offers an appealing range of sorbetti including lemon, made with Sfusato lemons, an intensely flavored fruit grown in Amalfi, Sicily and Calabria sometimes used for making limoncello. Likely among the better gelati in New York City, we discussed whether Grom compares to experiencing this cool and classic treat in Italy. Perhaps a trip to one of Grom’s dozen or so shops in Italy would give some perspective. While I may not go out of my way to visit Grom again, (Is this foodie phase of “destination dining” going to be over soon?) it offers one of the more Italian-feeling experiences I’ve had in New York City in some time. And the line moves quickly.

Grom

Due to the grossness factor of noxious mutant chicken parts, I rarely eat chicken. Recently, however, the idea of hot buffalo wings with thick blue cheese sauce and cold beer sounded pretty irresistible. Brooklyn has some solid wing options in restaurants and bars, particularly Bonnie’s Grill, highly praised for their buffalo wings. But I wanted to try a place that specialized exclusively in chicken wings. I soon found myself at Wing Wagon, where I’d hoped to get messy with a mound of bona fide chicken wings.

Your choices in a chicken wing establishment are level of heat (mild to Chernobyl), wing form (the standard “flats and drums” or “fingers”), sides (hardly necessary), and the sauce (always blue cheese). Other wing joint offerings such assandwiches, salads and desserts should be avoided on principle. Wing Wagon is a small storefront with a takeout counter and a few tables. Like all wing restaurants, the walls are painted yellow. Sit in the front window and you can watch your non-wing-eating neighbors working out on the elliptical machines at the Crunch directly across the street.

I ordered ten of Wing Wagon’s “X Hot” wings, which were described as “hot with a little more sizzle,” and were the second hottest level of wings after “XXX Hot.” While the bony little wings were fairly hot, leaving a mild numbness on my lips for several minutes afterwards, the heat was not too challenging. Similar to the film Midnight Cowboy, the wings probably didn’t warrant an “X” rating. I was displeased with the use of Ken’s brand blue cheese salad dressing as the accompaniment. The oily dressing does little to cut the heat and grease of the wings. Served with the requisite celery and carrot sticks, the messy wings had an orange hue that seemed to make its way everywhere. I didn’t find the wings to be particularly meaty or juicy, but I did like the crunchy skin and could appreciate their dainty cocktail snack proportions.

Unsatisfied by my wings experience, a friend suggested Manhattan’s NYU wing standby, Pluck U. The Pluck U wings were noticeably different from Wing Wagon’s in their larger size and deep mahogany color. At Pluck U, I again ordered the second hottest level of wings, there known as “hot.” The “hot” wings built to an uncomfortably delicious heat plateau after only 3 wings. They were twice as meaty and juicy as Wing Wagon wings, and thus, I could only eat half as many. One of the best things about Pluck U was their blue cheese sauce which was chunky and thick. I could almost hear the cooling sizzle when I carefully dipped each wing into the little plastic tub of blue cheese.

Wing Wagon
351 Flatbush Avenue

Pluck U (various locations)
230 Thompson Street NYC