Let’s get ‘cheffy’

BY LINDA BASSETT

You eat first with your eyes, before you smell or taste. A beautiful plate is often love at first sight. When food looks good, the cook looks good. Now, you don’t need to dollop a baked potato with caviar. Or spend hours tweezing food on a plate. Beautiful plates cost pennies in cash and seconds in time.

Here are some quick tricks, from professional kitchens, to make food look glamorous.

Fresh herbs

Fresh herbs in bunches at the Marblehead Farmers’ Market to use right away. The leaves, chopped and scattered over a whole platter of food, look and smell great. My favorites: mint, basil, chives, cilantro, in any combination or separately. I sprinkle them over fish or chicken or vegetables. (Be careful of cilantro. To some palates it tastes like soap, not lovely lemon-and-lime.) I also buy herbs in pots to keep on the back porch so I don’t have to wait until Saturday.

If you have a green thumb, get packets of seeds from Ace Hardware or the Marblehead Garden Center to grow near the kitchen door. Long ago, that was a custom in this town. Note: the scent of mint growing outside the front door is welcoming.

Fresh greens

A tiny box of micro-greens goes a long way to “cheffy-ness.”

These are teeny, barely-sprouted arugula, cabbage, radish or other boldly flavorful leaves boxed in small plastic in the greens section of the produce aisle. Choose a mixed assortment or a single green. Rinse off the sand quickly by swirling through a bowl of cold water. Lift them out, shake, roll in a paper towel to dry. One box lasts a couple of weeks.

Now broil that piece of fish, or serve up a plate of pasta, scattering or piling micro-greens over each serving. They’re good on most foods, except possibly birthday cake. For extra dazzle, drizzle a bit of good olive oil over the top.

Olive oil

Invest in a small bottle of the good stuff. It’s not cheap: it is liquid gold, strictly for drizzling. High heat ruins it. Pricey French olive oil is good. Italian, especially from Sicily, is somewhat less expensive and more full bodied. California now presses great olive oil. Shubie’s always carries those precious bottles. Drizzle just a little over a green salad, a bowl of pasta, a thick broiled steak or a piece of broiled fish. Even a slice of takeout pizza benefits.

Celery and fennel tops

Fennel, the vegetable, looks like pregnant celery and tastes deliciously like ice cold licorice. The leaves, feathery little clusters at the top, add subtle flavor and visual punch without work or expense. You’d normally throw them out. Just place them on the side or on top of food. Or in a citrus-flavored cocktail.

Lemons & tomatoes

Lemons, squeezed, add zest. That outside yellow portion of the skin adds more. Peel it in long thin strips and drape it over chicken cutlets, crab cakes — any main dish or appetizer. Or grate and brighten a sauce or softened butter with a spoonful.

Tomatoes in May are barely edible. Except for hothouse grape tomatoes. Make a wreath around fried chicken pieces piled high in a bowl. Or pierce them through with toothpicks and marinate in bloody mary spices — with or without vodka — for a cocktail snack.

Creamed spinach

You only see creamed spinach on upscale steakhouse menus today, a vestige of two centuries ago. Once, prepping it made a major mess — washing out sand, paring stringy ribs. Today, we have triple-washed baby spinach by the bag! You will need two: it wilts a lot when cooked.

Just melt butter in a large skillet. Walk a garlic clove through it (or not) until it turns pale gold, then throw it (the garlic) out. Add spinach leaves, stir. Cover the skillet and wait a few minutes. Take it off and swirl in as much or as little cream, or whole milk, or even part-skim, as you like. Add a shake or two of nutmeg, salt and pepper. Add a little grated parmesan. Toss. A steakhouse delight in a minute!

Irish butter

The Irish have a way of bringing a lilt to butter, by slightly souring the cream. Don’t cook with Kerry Gold (brand name found at major supermarkets). Spread it over biscuits and banana bread, melt into a bowl of peas or a fat baked Idaho. Tastes “cheffy.”

A rose reported him for allegedly carving a swastika into a car.

Buy one rose, or cut one from the garden. Any color. Pull off the petals.

Years ago at another publication, I submitted a romantic recipe for a roast garnished with rose petals. The editors were sure their “blue collar” readers would disregard it as too “cheffy.” I argued in favor of hard-working home cooks, like my grandmother, who spent days preparing spectacular celebratory meals. Rose petals scattered over a platter of sliced roasted pork, soaked in winey juices? Little expense, little effort, huge impact. And to anyone who wants to taste one or two petals, best wishes!

Marblehead resident Linda Bassett has worked as a cook, trained up-and-coming chefs, studied food history and led food tours. Her book, “From Apple Pie to Pad Thai,” is about local cooks and cooking.

“This isn’t a fact-finding hearing,” Gallo complained. “The photos aren’t real, okay? That is non-corroborated evidence.

“Throw the photos out,” he added, raising his voice.

The Marblehead Current contacted the IG’s office to ask if it had authenticated the Gallo photos, but a spokesperson there said it does not comment on investigations.

In a second case, police were called to Gallo’s home in July 2021 when his then-girlfriend reported that he was abusing her, her children and her dog. Gallo was never charged, but King did launch an investigation into the incident because the responding officers said alcohol was involved and children were on the scene. Gallo, his girlfriend and their children had spent the day boating.

King said the investigation showed Gallo enabled his girlfriend, who was a person with alcoholism, by not stopping her from drinking that day and even getting her a beer at a restaurant.

Gallo argued that it is impossible to stop such a person from drinking.

“I cared about this girl.

I didn’t enable her. Saying anything else is friggin’ dirty,” he said.

King determined that Gallo exhibited “conduct unbecoming an officer” and accused him of dereliction of duty and falsifying records. King also said Gallo violated policies relating to professional image, off-duty use of alcohol and cooperating with investigations.

“Officer Gallo’s actions put the police department in a light that was unfavorable and had negative consequences on public trust,” King said. “The number of times that the cruiser was observed at his residence showed he was not devoted to duty.”

Relating to the domestic incident, King said, “We have a violent domestic call that resulted in neglect of the children involved. The decisions by Officer Gallo affect the reputation of the department. The decisions throughout that day make me question his fitness to be an officer.”

Through a public records request, the Current learned that Gallo had 11 “sustained” complaints against him, more than any other Marblehead officer. In addition to seven suspensions, Gallo has received four reprimands during his 22-plus year career on the

Marblehead force.

Town Administrator Thatcher Kezer oversaw the hearing and asked attorneys for Gallo and the town of Marblehead to submit closing briefs by June 30. He will release his recommendation within 30 days from there and speculated that the Select Board may want to schedule a special meeting to address this case, probably in September.

After the hearing, the Current asked Gallo what he hopes will happen next.

“The problem is I’m too young to retire,” he said.

Gallo said he is working, running heavy equipment.

“I love, love, love what I’m doing now, and the money is good,” he said.

It is tough to live in town with the accusations against him, he said.

“I live, work and socialize here. It’s horrible… I just want to clear my name.”