THE LOOK
Home Continued from Page 19
she said.

If the home has become
more of a multifunctional
space, then the checklist
becomes more of a blueprint.

It keeps growing and
growing, which is partly why
Cuker keeps her schedule on a
short timeline. By the time she
gets to a job, it has grown into a
project. And since she wants to
please her client, she embraces
and completes said project.

Ideally, when it’s over,
the client doesn’t just have a
robust, multifunctional space:
The family has a full-scale
reflection of its desires.

In her own house, Cuker
installed two gas insert
fireplaces, one in the living
room and one in the sunroom.

Compared to a wood fireplace,
the gas version doesn’t need
logs or produce a smell.

Erdosi has a client who to the edges.

of her customers. “We have to
leads meditation classes, so she
“They have a heightened play psychologist a little bit as
designed his living room to interest in having a space that’s a designer.”
allow him to push his furniture uniquely theirs,” Erdosi said
Erdosi also said she could
Michelle Erdosi of Aeternum Design Studio completed this Fishtown living room project.  Courtesy of QA Interiors
see this theme continuing.

Working not just remotely, but
100% remotely, is now “very
common across industries,”
she added.

Cuker thinks this trend may
deepen over time.

“What’s going to happen
with technology? Virtual
reality?” she asked.

At the same time, Cuker
believes the interior design
market may have reached a
peak. Restaurants, bars and event
spaces are back open. Travel
is, too. So, clients won’t have
quite as much time or money
to put into their houses moving
forward. “When the world really
opens up, people may put
their emphasis back on travel
and less on their home base,”
she said. l
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L ifestyle /C ulture
Holding on to Summer Supper
F OO D
KERI WHITE | JE FOOD COLUMNIST
AS SOMEONE WHO loves
summer, I hang onto it for as
long as I can. In our area, the
warm weather lasts pretty far
into September and October
so, food-wise, that means a lot
of grilling, keeping it light and
using local, seasonal ingredi-
ents as much as possible.

This menu showcases
precisely that.

The fish I used here is
mahi-mahi, but any grill-
friendly fish (salmon, halibut,
grouper, snapper, etc.) would
work just fine. The eggplant
is a tad more involved, but
since the marinade becomes
a spectacular sauce when
reduced, it does double duty.

We served this with a simple
green salad strewn with some
late-summer tomatoes and
cucumbers and a few ears of
grilled corn on the cob doused
in salt, pepper, oil and cayenne.

For dessert? We opted for
lime-spritzed watermelon
slices, but vanilla ice cream
with sliced fresh peaches or a
blueberry tart would certainly
end this meal nicely and would
evoke the season.

See what I mean about
holding onto summer?
SPICE-COATED MAHI-MAHI
Serves 4
I used a jarred Tunisian
coriander spice blend that I
bought from a local vendor
at a farmers market, but any
spice blend that you like
works here — Lowry’s, Jane’s
Crazy Mixed-up Salt, Old Bay,
Shichimi Togarashi, Chinese
five-spice, curry powder,
za’atar, etc. Just be sure to
check the salt content — the
blend I used did not contain
salt, so I added it, but that is
often not the case.

4 mahi-mahi fillets
Juice of ½ lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons your favorite
spice blend
Salt to taste, if needed
In a shallow dish or pie
plate that holds all the fillets
in a single layer, mix the lemon
juice and olive oil. Sprinkle
both sides of the fillets gener-
ously with the spice blend and
salt, if using; they should be
well coated.

On a hot grill, cook the
fillets for about 3 minutes
per side until done; do not
overcook it or the fish will dry
out. This guideline is based on
½- to ¾-inch-thick fillets and
should be adjusted up or down
per the thickness. Remove the
fish from the grill, and serve
immediately. Miso-glazed grilled eggplant
2 pounds eggplant
Kosher salt for draining
Marinade 2 tablespoons white miso
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon white vinegar
½ cup water (or more
if needed to coat all
eggplant slices)
MISO-GLAZED GRILLED
EGGPLANT Serves 4
I adore eggplant — every single
type. For this dish, I chose
a variety from the farmers
market, and one was better
than the next. The leftovers
were great the next day!
Photo by Keri White
eggplant to “sweat” and drain
for about 30 minutes.

While the eggplant drains,
make the marinade by mixing
all the ingredients together and
whisking them with a fork.

Rinse the eggplant, pat
it dry and place it in a large
zip-seal bag with the marinade.

Shake it around to ensure that
all slices are coated. Allow it to
marinate at room temperature
for about an hour. Reserve the
marinade when you grill the
eggplant. Heat a grill to medium-hot,
and cook the eggplant slices,
about 4-5 minutes per side —
you may wish to move them
to an area with less intense
heat in the latter portion of
cooking to avoid charring or if
additional cooking is needed,
but a little char adds flavor and
texture. Remove the eggplant from
the grill when done and place
it in a shallow dish or a platter
with a rim to capture the sauce.

Make the sauce: To reduce
the marinade, heat it in a
saucepan over medium-high
heat and allow it to boil uncov-
ered for about 6 minutes. It
should be reduced by at least
two-thirds and should be
thickened to the texture of a
sauce or gravy.

Pour this over the plated
eggplant, garnish it with
cilantro or parsley, if desired,
and serve. l
Slice the eggplant, skin on,
into ¼-inch slices. Place the
slices in a colander, and salt
them well. Leave the colander
in the sink, and allow the
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