purplewiz
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I'm up to my eyeballs in tomatoes, but I'm still encouraging the plants to produce as much as possible because September 15 is technically our first frost date. I'm watching the predicted lows carefully, because the night before the first good frost is when I take all the green tomatoes. Going on "frost watch" is what signals the start of fall for me.
The basil is mostly gone, turned into pesto cubes in the freezer for future enjoyment.
And the Hatch chiles are in the stores. I admit I usually use frozen, but there is nothing like the smell fresh chiles roasting, and the anticipation of the delightful meals to come.
Marcia.
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I'm really sorry to hear the lousy response to your meals - they all look wonderful to me and the peach trifle this time looks better than half the desserts served in restaurants around here. Even the peas and carrots look lovely and I hate peas and carrots!
I enjoy reading your accounts and seeing your pictures, but I'm afraid I have to agree with the other posters - it's time for you to move on to somewhere your talents will be appreciated. I hope the right opportunity presents itself for you soon!
Marcia.
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I take it when folks say they like Smithy's eggplant, they use it as a side dish and not necessarily in the lamb dish. Point being bechamel plus soft eggplant equals fabulous.
I've never made the lamb dish (but darn, it's looking good), but I use the creamed eggplant as a base for other thick stews or for meat and a sauce, where one might use a soft polenta or mashed potatoes.
I admit to monkeying with it and using a more strongly flavored cheese (read: whatever shredded cheese I have lying around!) and serving it straight up as a side dish.
Marcia.
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Marcia, that looks like a really nice light summery version. Do the flavours 'meld' as it sits?
I like the idea of grilling or smoking (lightly) the vegetables. The vegetables used would all seem to benefit from some of that charred flavour.
Oh, yes, it's almost like a different dish after sitting overnight. I like it both ways - and you're right, the grilling gives the vegetables a lovely charred flavor. I don't have a smoker, but it sounds like a great variation to try!
Marcia.
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A couple of dinners over the past couple of weeks. See if you can guess what we are getting inundated with:
Grilled pork chops with a fast cherry tomato and basil sauce, topped with parmesan, grilled zucchini on the side.
A modification of the recipe in this month's food and wine for Pork with arugula and tomatoes. I substituted bacon for the prosciutto, and cherry tomatoes for the chopped plum tomatoes. A saute of zucchini and peas on the side.
Grilled chicken breast with a side of ratatouille with cherry tomatoes. I posted pictures from the making of the ratatouille here.
(If you guessed cherry tomatoes, you're right. My plants have been very generous this year, starting early and keeping right on going.)
Marcia.
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chili dog casserole:
When they used to go to a restaurant, it was at a local place that has the best chili dogs in town, so this was an homage - not nearly as good at Melito's, but enjoyed by everyone, it seemed.
Oh, that looks SO good. What a GREAT idea! I'll have to try that on a smaller scale!
Marcia.
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I've been making a grilled ratatouille of sorts this summer, and I finally remembered to take pictures as I was doing so.
It deviates from the standard recipe in that I don't use bell peppers. I like them, they don't like me. 'Nuff said.
So I start with a big bowl of cubed zucchini (2), yellow squash(2), and eggplant(1), and another of cherry tomatoes (lots) (could use large tomatoes cut into larger pieces, but I have an inordinate amount of cherry tomatoes, my plants are being most prolific this year):
I toss them with a little olive oil, enough to coat, not enough to soak the eggplant, and skewer them with some red onion:
Then off to the grill. I use a very hot grill because the vegetables don't take long to cook and I want some nice dark spots of caramelization for flavor on them. I grill them about 2.5 - 3 minutes a side. I skewer the vegetables flat so they don't rotate all over the grill.
You might ask why I am only grilling 4 skewers of vegetables when I obviously have a nice huge grill there. The answer is simple: I have only 4 skewers. I've been meaning to buy more, but I've never gotten around to it. I used to have some nice ones with wooden handles until the grill set the handles on fire. The bowl of vegetables filled 14 skewers.
When they're done, they look more or less like this:
The tomatoes are grilled separately because they take a lot less time, 1-2 minutes max per side, just enough to heat through and char some:
For the 14 skewers of vegetables, I had about 5 skewers of tomatoes. About a 3:1 ratio works pretty well, but as this is a stew, it's flexible.
Meanwhile, I heated some minced garlic in a little olive oil (2 tbsp?) until the garlic was fragrant and starting to brown:
Then lightly mash the charred tomatoes and mix with the garlic and olive oil. salt, pepper, and basil (usually a proper chiffonade, but I was getting hungry so it ended up being a rough chop):
Mix it all together and eat right away or let it sit to develop.
Here it is as served with some grilled chicken. It was still a little juicy, but the chicken mopped up those juices very nicely.
Marcia.
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I guess I'm one of the lone people on the other side of the fence who has found the more current episodes less entertaining. I miss the edge of the earlier episodes, and even though they weren't as polished and had some, um, rough segments, to be kind, I seemed to be drawn more into them.
It's not that I'm not watching or not entertained at all, but it's more that there's something missing. My husband's take on it was that during the earlier seasons he seemed to be searching for something, and now apparently he's found it.
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The good news: peanut sauces almost always taste wonderful.
The bad news: peanut sauces tend to make otherwise delicious dishes look like a present your neighbor's dog left in your front lawn.
Accompanied by frizzled cabbage in a mustard sauce that didn't do anything to enhance the appearance of said cabbage, and you end up with a picture worthy of this thread.
(Those are grilled chicken strips under the peanut sauce. And everything tasted wonderful. It just didn't looks so good.)
Marcia.
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London broil, done on the grill and sliced relatively thin, zucchini fritters with a dollop of sour cream. Nothing fancy, just a typical summer meal around here. (Not shown: a boring tossed salad. I'll photograph one as soon as the deluge of homegrown tomatoes gets going. It's only just begun.)
Marcia.
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I've been remiss in posting pictures of dinner (or much of anything, let's be honest) because it's been hot and I've been tired and busy and really haven't felt like cooking. But I have a few shots to share, even if they're nothing surprising:
Our belated fourth of July dinner started with a variant on an insalata caprese: tomato, basil from the garden, an avocado, and perlini mozzarella balls, which were delightful to eat and so much easier than trying to slice a rubber ball of mozzarella.
The rest of the meal: hot dogs, deviled eggs, and a Thai variant on Alton Brown's Asian slaw (lime and fish sauce in the dressing).
Another night: pork roast glazed with garlic, mustard, soy sauce, and a little orange marmalade. The drippings made a fantastic sauce. Accompanied by cauliflower salad - cooked cauliflower with the standard potato salad dressing, chopped celery and onions. It was pretty good, and I've been looking for new things to do with cauliflower since it's been on sale lately.
Dinner salad of grilled beef, grilled zucchini, and lots of vegetables. I did mention it's been too hot to cook?
Marcia.
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Breakfast last Saturday:
Wedge of canteloupe, toast with butter (jelly not pictured), bacon, scrambled eggs with cheddar and chives, garnished with a chive blossom
Marcia.
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I've been following along, and the food really does look spectacular. Especially the pork...geez, I wish I was there to help with the lefotvers!
Marcia.
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That duck breast is simply gorgeous!
A few pictures I'd forgotten I'd taken:
Grilled chicken with cilantro mint pesto, grilled baby bok choy, grilled Asian eggplant with a sesame/soy/rice vinegar dressing.
Beef kabob pitas with a yogurt/cucumber/dill sauce and sliced tomatoes, broccoli.
Marcia.
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The Egg and I
I got dragged here for breakfast not once but twice. I don't know if it's a local (Highlands Ranch) favorite, or if it's just another strip mall creation (what isn't, I sometimes wondered), but it was packed to the gills both times for reasons I cannot comprehend. Pancakes were serviceable, but the huevos rancheros were rather nasty.
I also do not get this place. It's ALWAYS packed, there's ALWAYS a line, and the food is ALWAYS mediocre. I prefer IHOP - yes, the food there is also mediocre, but it costs less. There is also a Le Peep in Highlands Ranch at Quebec and 470, and it's also mediocre, but at least it's a different mediocre. The place to go for breakfast in the Highlands Ranch/Littleton area right now is a place called Toast. I haven't been there yet but our real estate agent said it was good if a little pricey.
Thai BasilMy parents wanted something basic and Asian, near their hotel, and that's what we got. Adjacent to Park Meadows Mall, this place is noteworthy primarily for the friendliness of its service and its fetching wood-and-silk-clad booths. Americanized Thai/Vietnamese dishes -- goi cuon were surprisingly good, as were red curry beef, a sizzling shrimp and scallop dish and a spicy garlic chicken stirfry, but my sauteed eggplant tasted disconcertingly like mint air freshener.
You were right in my neck of the woods, and I agree with your assessment of Thai Basil. It's good, but it's not all that. If you're looking for basic Chinese and you're in this area again, there's a local hole in the wall at Quebec and 470 (about a mile from where you were, about half a block from the Le Peep mentioned previously). It's not worth a special trip, but it's warm and comfortable and again, good basic Chinese. (I'm trying to remember the place's name and it's escaping me...I'll edit this tonight since I'm going right by there.)
It sounds like you had a pretty good trip, at least food-wise!
Marcia.
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Dessert was a really simple recipe. The cobbler is canned peach slices, canned cherry pie filling, lemon juice and cinnamon. The topping is bisquick, butter, milk and sugar.
Even before reading your description I looked at that cobbler and thought "That's GOT to be the Bisquick recipe!" That's the one my Mom always uses, and frankly, it still what I think of when I think of cobbler.
I'm glad to hear they really liked this meal! It does look very good.
Marcia.
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I make a cilantro mint pesto. It freezes VERY well (I freeze it in ice cube trays then put the cubes in ziplock bags) and pairs well with chicken, pork, fish, and vegetables (especially peas and cauliflower). This recipe is a riff on one from Fine Cooking.
1 cup cilantro leaves
1 cup mint leaves
1/3 cup unsalted peanuts (see note)
1 jalapeno, seeded
1 green onion
juice and zest of one lime
2 tbsp fish sauce
1/3 cup peanut or canola oil (approximately)
Put the cilantro, mint, peanuts, jalapeno, and green onion into a food processor. Using pulses and scraping the sides as necessary, grind into a coarse paste. Add the lime juice, zest, and fish sauce, and process until a smoother paste and slightly cloudy.
While the processor is running, add the oil in a slow drizzle until the sauce comes together. You may need more or less oil. Adjust seasonings with salt and/or sugar as needed. (I used splenda and it worked great.)
If you use salted peanuts, you may need less fish sauce.
Marcia.
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That chive blossom is a beautiful thing to behold. It's still about two weeks too early for the flowers here...I have buds on the plants but no flowers yet
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Bruce, what all was in the cucumber and ginger salad with lime? We've been getting some very good cucumbers at really good prices lately, so I'm looking for more interesting dishes with them. And since your family are cucumber experts, I figured I'd ask
Marcia.
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Highlights from some semi-recent dinners:
Steak with a grilled eggplant stack salad on the side. The eggplant is a riff on the Grilled Eggplant Parmesan salad from the current Cuisine At Home: grilled eggplant, grilled tomato slice, mozzarella, balsamic vinaigrette. I added a thin smear of pesto and an extra slice of eggplant per stack and it was most acceptable. And I broiled it all because I ran out of propane
Cauliflower gratin because as much as I love roasted cauliflower, I'm a little tired of it.
Proto-taco makings: chile coated pork and onions, grilled.
And the actual tacos: the pork, sliced, the onions, cheese, salsa from Jaymes' recipe, some lettuce, a dollop of sour cream. They were heavenly - the onions were sweet, the pork and salsa spicy, and it all just blended together really well.
Marcia.
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Scrambled eggs with cheese and the first chives of the season, sausage patties, and, uh, leftover cheese biscuits from a restaurant which shall not be named
.Marcia.
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Heaven on a plate:
Whimper. Just whimper. That looks SO good...I am going to have to find some decent tomatoes when I go grocery shopping. Just HAVE to.
I didn't know Mimi's Buttermilk Spice muffin recipe was available - they're my favorite! (Food blogs aren't just entertaining, they're educational!) I also really like them - I know they're a chain but I've always had good food and good service, they're our "go to" place when we need a quick good meal.
Marcia.
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1975. Windows on the World, top of the World Trade Center.
I grew up solidly middle class. Even though we lived in New Jersey, my mother was a Midwestern cook (her mother was from Omaha), so food was good and plentiful if not adventurous or inspired.
I read voraciously as a child. In all the books and magazines people always seemed to be eating the most exotic foods - seafood soups and chicken tarragon and Caesar salad - dishes completely out of my realm of experience. I daydreamed about living that life and tasting those foods.
Every year, my aunt who lived in New York City would give my family some kind of outing as a Christmas gift. Most years it was tickets to a Broadway show (that's how I got to see Cats a few weeks after it opened - my aunt has connections!), but this year it was dinner at Windows on the world.
I was in sixth grade that year, and I still remember what I wore - a miserable, itchy synthetic sweater in bright red (which looks awful on me) and a long skirt, black with multicolored stripes in a chevron. We definitely dressed up for such a fancy dinner.
We rode the elevator to the top and were promptly seated in the wine room. My aunt was not pleased about that because part of the treat of this evening was for "the kids" (my siblings and I) to enjoy the view while we ate. I don't know what all happened, but we did end up eating in the wine room. We were permitted in the bar and pretty much everywhere else to enjoy the view later, which I thought was pretty neat.
But what I remember most of all is reading the menu and asking "Can I REALLY order the filet mignon?" Filet mignon was THE dish served in all those books and magazines when a sophisticated and elegant meal was required. It was the ultimate.
And yes, I could have filet mignon! And I could order the potatoes au gratin with it....of which my only experience previously had been those from a box marked Betty Crocker.
I don't remember exactly what the food tasted like - I WAS only 11 - but I remember enjoying it a great deal. More importantly, I remember thinking "yes, there IS something more out there" than what I knew. It was the first step into a larger universe - it seems like such a small step from this perspective, but it was enormous then.
It was many years before I was able to dine at that level again, but just knowing for sure that there was so much more to be experienced made a huge difference in my young life. I didn't just imagine any more - I KNEW.
And I still think filet mignon and potatoes au gratin is a fabulous meal.
Marcia.
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The corner - cracker jar, Otis' NomNomNom (does anyone get this reference?)
LOLcats/icanhascheezburger (links to my favorite of the "nom" LOLcats) ?
I love your kitchen! It looks like a kitchen that's in use and being lived in....hey, that's my reasoning for why my kitchen looks the way it does
!I'm enjoying the blog!
Marcia.
Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations Seasons 1-5
in Food Media & Arts
Posted
I watched the show because I always enjoy listening to Ted Allen. Some of the topics had the potential to be interesting, but they were, as a rule, cut off too quickly.
The biggest thing I took away from this show is that I'm grateful I don't live in NY.
Marcia.