SobaAddict70

Looks great, Heidi. Salads for dinner tonight. Lamb's quarters (wild spinach) and Campari tomato salad, with cow's milk ricotta cheese, garlic scapes and crispy lemon zest. Salade parisienne with sauce moutarde. Clockwise from upper left: cold leftover roast poussin, Campari cherry tomatoes, new potatoes fried in French butter, hard-cooked wild turkey eggs, blanched green beans and French breakfast radishes. Because if it's French, it must be good.

Here's a version I did a while ago. It's not authentic though, if you're into that kind of thing. 2 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and diced 1 large firm tomato, diced 1 small onion, peeled and cut into small dice 1/4 cup golden raisins juice of half a lime 1/2 cup puffed rice and sev snack mix — (1) handful of mint, chopped handful of cilantro, chopped pinch of kosher salt Bring a pot of salted water to a gentle simmer. Add potatoes and cook until potatoes are tender, about 5 minutes. Drain, then shock immediately in ice water. Drain thoroughly and put potatoes in a large bowl. Add the tomato, onion, puffed rice snack mix, raisins and lime juice. Stir thoroughly. Taste for salt if necessary (you shouldn’t need much), sprinkle with mint and cilantro and serve at once. The pic doesn't show it but there's a little mint chutney in there as well. I recommend adding the sev at the last minute. Maybe passing it out in individual ramekins or containers for people to add to their taste? That'd side-step the sogginess.

Looks awesome. I mean that sincerely ... anyone who can make XLB for dinner is awesome. Tonight: Radish greens, Campari tomato and radish salad, with hard-cooked wild turkey eggs and herb vinaigrette. Greens were sautéed in olive oil with garlic; tomato salad consists of blanched French breakfast radishes with diced Campari cherry tomatoes, extra-virgin olive oil, rice vinegar, salt, pepper and mint. Pea shoot flowers and parsley to garnish. Whole wheat spaghetti with Jersey tomatoes, Campari tomato confit and mint Quick tomato confit -- sliced Campari cherry tomatoes, 1:1/2:1/4 mixture of salt, black pepper and sugar, olive oil; bake at 350 F for 1 hour. Garlic sautéed in olive oil, to which was added lemon zest, chopped capers, parsley, mint and lemon thyme. Add 1 chopped Jersey tomato to garlic-herb mixture. Let tomatoes partially break down. Add cooked pasta directly to skillet, toss together. Taste for salt and pepper. Add tomato confit, toss again, then serve immediately.

I would've been satisfied with either shot but the 2nd one is more (to my eye) aesthetically pleasing. And also more food-pr0n worthy, as if the photographer was a professional, shooting for a food magazine. Choice of bowl is important. I recently went to BBB (Bed Bath & Beyond) and got a couple of deep pasta bowls. I eat pasta A LOT, so I'll be using them almost exclusively over my other serving bowls. The difference is striking. There's more "white space" which in turn, puts more emphasis on the content of the photo. It also means I don't need to do too many close-ups, unless that's the effect I'm going for. Contrast this: with this: to see what I mean. With dcarch's "corrections", I prefer the pic where he or she made the roes more translucent. In that pic, the roe is the center of attention and the first thing my eye gravitates towards.

Looks great. It was my first time making it so I'm afraid I didn't quite know how "liquid" it was supposed to be. I used golden beets and Persian cucumbers. It's topped with green mango pickle and cilantro.

Curd rice. Not a very good photo, but you get the idea:

As soup: Stewed spring vegetables with poached eggs: If I have a large quantity of them, they're wonderful as tempura.

How did those xiao taste? They look picture perfect.

1/2 cup Greek yogurt 2 tablespoons honey, or to taste (best if you can get Greek honey) chopped nuts (pistachios are great) It's barely a recipe, but this is the way I like to eat it.

Use in pasta also. I know it sounds really strange but the flavor combination of anchovies and mint is a winner in my book. Goes well with zucchini- (another perennial garden dilemma) and tomato-based sauces.

Roast poussin (using T. Keller's method (1:1:1 mixture of salt, black pepper and lemon thyme, sprinkled over the chicken; truss chicken, then roast at 425 F for 40 minutes), spring vegetables (asparagus, young onion, radishes, carrots), Chardonnay jus Sliced strawberries macerated with sugar, mint and fresh squeezed orange juice

I must have this now! Wild turkey egg omelette with nasturtiums and pea shoot flowers; sautéed Tuscan kale with garlic, Umbrian olive oil and rice vinegar.

I agree. Moopheus, that's actually a great shot. Black and white pix are harder to carry off than you might think, imho. Here's one I took within the last two weeks that came out well, despite the busy-ness of the photo. Smoked bacon and wild mushrooms, with sautéed spinach

That chicken really is black. WOW. I thought y'all were kidding earlier. Looks great btw.

Pasta primavera. This version has asparagus, young onions and foraged oyster mushrooms. Each vegetable was briefly sautéed in unsalted butter (the asparagus were first steamed, then shocked in ice water), then finished in vegetable stock with, you guessed it, more butter. Salt and pepper to taste. Garnished with lemon thyme, nasturtium flowers, parsley and cheese.

Thanks Genkinaonna. +1 on the cola and jam sauce. I don't cook pork all that much but that might be a good reason for me to do so. Sore throat is gone so I've been making up for lost time. Late dinner tonight -- will involve asparagus, pea shoot flowers, nasturtium flowers, peas and young onions. Be back in a little bit.

Try braising it with peas, pearl onions and wild mushrooms. Asparagus and watercress would be nice as well.

Thanks guys. Steven, I'd be really interested in seeing AD's material. Here's hoping.

Oyster mushroom, bacon and heirloom potato salad, with fresh wild turkey eggs, pea shoot flowers, and herb vinaigrette

It adds a certain "oomph" to the sauce. These are oil-packed anchovies. They *will* disintegrate, so you might as well help things along.

Slowly getting over a weird sore throat that struck towards the end of last week. Light dinner: Whole wheat spaghetti (from Eataly), with Jersey tomato sauce, anchovy and mint. This was supposed to have been dinner for one night for last week's Foodblog. 3 tablespoons olive oil 1 anchovy fillet 1 garlic clove, thinly sliced scant pinch of red pepper flakes 4 Jersey tomatoes, diced a generous handful of mint, chopped salt and black pepper, to taste mixed pitted olives, optional Warm olive oil. Add garlic and red pepper flakes to skillet, then anchovy. Let anchovy disintegrate, mashing it with a wooden spoon. Do not let garlic burn. Add tomatoes to the sauce. Add olives, if using. Cook until tomatoes reduce their volume by half. Taste for salt and pepper. Add mint to the sauce. Stir. Stir in drained cooked pasta, toss, then serve immediately. You could make this in half an hour, including prep.

I've not been feeling well the last day or so. Had a sore throat that seems to have mysteriously crept up on me so I went to bed early last night. Dinner was takeout Japanese -- miso soup, noodles and lots of hot tea. I hope it doesn't develop into a summer cold which would mightily suck. It's still lingering, so I'm going to go back to bed.

Lunch today: Linguine with asparagus, fromage blanc and lemon linguine olive oil yellow onion, finely diced asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1/4-inch lengths pinch of red pepper flakes lemon juice grated lemon zest salt, to taste freshly ground black pepper, to taste fromage blanc (1) chives freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for serving In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook linguine until just al dente. Drain linguine, reserving one or two ladlefuls cooking water. Meanwhile, in a large, deep skillet, heat olive oil until it shimmers. Add the onion and cook over moderately low heat until softened, about 3-4 minutes. Add the asparagus and crushed red pepper and cook over moderate heat until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Add the linguine and the reserved cooking water to the skillet along with the lemon juice and zest. Check seasoning. Cook, stirring, until the linguine is al dente and the asparagus tender, about 1-2 minutes. Add the fromage blanc and chives. Stir. Transfer the pasta to bowls and serve immediately, passing Parmesan cheese at the table. (1) Goat cheese is a nice substitution. I've left out proportions intentionally -- this is one of those dishes where it always comes out different each time I make it.

From this morning: Shiitake mushroom and fromage blanc omelette Roasted Austrian fingerling potatoes, sliced tomatoes These were leftover fingerlings that seemed to have been languishing in the crisper for a few months. At least potatoes keep forever. Slice on a bias; drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, then roast at 350 F for 45 minutes. For fingerling potatoes, I rarely do the par-boil method. Shiitake mushroom and fromage blanc omelette -- filling consists of shiitake mushrooms that have been cooked in butter with garlic and parsley, salt and pepper to taste; to which was added 1 tablespoon fromage blanc.

on the light bulbs. Thanks for the tip judiu. Not sure what I want for breakfast. I'm also not fully awake just yet.