kayb

Things are really picking up at the market. Today's haul: Ripe tomatoes, green tomatoes, new potatoes, green beans, radishes, the last of the asparagus, eggs, cucumbers, broccoli, green onions, romaine, and BLUEBERRIES! (There are blueberry muffins in the oven as I type. Blueberry cobbler later.) I passed up zucchini and yellow squash, as I still had some in the fridge. Didn't get peaches, either, as I had run out of cash and didn't feel like going to the ATM and coming back. I'll go back Tuesday evening and get them.

All these meals spoke to me -- Norm's meat loaf (I DO love a meat loaf!), MM's steak and veggies (and that dessert -- would never thought of purple basil with fruit), FauxPas' tomato tart, and liuzhou's prawns with pasta. I'm going to try that tomato tart this weekend at some point. Last night was a quickie dinner, and no photos -- small sirloin tip steak, diced, stirfried with onion, tomato paste, lemongrass and curry powder, and then simmered briefly in an added can of coconut milk. Overdid it a bit on the curry powder; result, served over rice, was quite tasty, but a little fiery for my taste.

Not a huge hot dog fan, but do like them occasionally, grilled or roasted on a stick over a campfire. Soft white bun. Mustard, sweet relish, The bacon wrapped dog with cheese in the middle sounds good; I may try that for my next cookout. I love a mini-corndog (sold as "corn pups" at the corn dog stand) -- they have about the right proportion of corn to dog. Must have with lots of mustard, preferably honey mustard. And it's cocktail sausages (Little Smokies, from your supermarket sausage case) AND meatballs in the jelly and barbecue sauce in the crockpot, though I personally prefer raspberry jam and bbq sauce. The same Little Smokies, wrapped in half a crescent roll triangle, become the canonical "pig in a blanket," and are a favorite weekend breakfast to this day at my house when the kids are here.

Here in Arkansas, Heifer International has set up a "food hub" which both supports small farmers by buying their produce, and offers healthy food to lower-income consumers who might otherwise find it unobtainable. It's a fairly new program, but it's showing signs of taking off. Details here. I'm fortunate that I'm acquainted with one of the producers, and I get my chickens directly from him. I get four at a time, whole chickens, frozen; they're between 3 and 4 pounds and he charges me $12 apiece for them. Slightly more expensive than grocery store, but well worth it to me, and truthfully probably NOT that much more expensive if you take into account what you're paying for the additional saline solution they're injected with before they're packaged for sale.. His are tractor chickens, and I don't know the breed, but they have a very smooth skin, not the "goosebumps" you're accustomed to seeing on chicken skin. Great taste, and it seems to me that a smaller portion serves to satisfy than with supermarket chicken. I generally roast them whole.

Such gorgeous meals, everyone! The "mutton bunny," particularly (I had to google it, too), and the idea of a shepherd's pie with smoked fish just intrigues me. Do you use the peas and carrots as well, or just the fish and herbs and bechamel?This may be calling my name.

You inspired me. I'm about to have cottage cheese and honeydew for lunch.

So very sorry to hear about your father. Y'all will be in my prayers.

mm84321, I'm fascinated by the hay technique. Did you soak the hay first? Did it generate a lot of smoke? btbyrd, thanks for those links. I'm thinking if it's a big smoke generator, it would be simple enough to remove to the grill outdoors.

This morning's haul: Yellow squash, zucchini, tomatoes, asparagus, cucumbers, eggs, raspberries. We'll have blueberries and blackberries in the next two or three weeks, and corn should be in around the end of June. New stuff will be coming in thick and fast for the next six weeks. My favorite time of the year!

Fascinating. Thanks!

Hands down, my favorite place in Atlanta to eat is Murphy's, which is also a bakery and wine shop. I have never had a meal there that did not make my eyes roll back in my head. American/Continental cuisine, from burgers up to Chateaubriand. Great wine list. Just stunning. It's in Virginia Highland (at the intersection, if memory serves correctly), so convenient to Emory. There's a Thai place down from Murphy's a couple of blocks that was good, but I don't remember the name. Liked the Tom Kha soup served in a little donut-shaped dish with a tea light candle in the middle to keep it warm. About a bajillion restaurants up and down that stretch, including the Majestic, on, I think, Ponce de Leon, an OLD diner that has primo breakfasts.

I did individual quiches for my granddaughter's christening, and since her mom is gluten-free, i used corn tortillas for the crust. Warm tortilla in a skillet with oil, cut four slits at the compass points to within 2 inches of the center, and lap the edges of the "petals" over each other in a muffin tin. These are sizeable, so may not be appropriate for appetizers, but they made a nice addition to a brunch table.

ninagluck, I'm intrigued by the brioche-encrusted egg yolk. How did you achieve that? Shelby, marvelous enchiladas. I'm about due some enchiladas, myself. May have to do that this weekend. Not doing much cooking this week, as a grandchild is here. Lots of takeout and kid-friendly stuff. Fortunately, she likes fruit and cheese and olives. And, I have now discovered, Momofuku soy sauce eggs.

My absolute favorite has always been the shrimp and grits at Mr. B's Bistro, and the soft-shell crab at Antoine's. Tujague's prix fixe menu is a good price point, and it's a neat old place, but I was not impressed with the food at all. Love the oysters at Drago's. As for drinks, you can't go wrong with the Sazerac Bar in the Roosevelt Hotel on Canal.

No pictures, because I forgot to take them. Sunday we had brisket; I decided I didn't have time to SV it, as I only got it out of the freezer on Saturday for Sunday dinner. So I put it in the oven overnight at 250 on Saturday night, starting about 10 p.m., in a Coca-Cola sauce consisting of a 20-ounce bottle of Coke, a cup of commercially prepared chili sauce, and a packet of Lipton onion soup mix. That's the canonical southern "Atlanta Brisket," as documented by the Southern Foodways Association. Some 12 hours later, after it had cooked for 9 and cooled in the oven, I took it out to slice, which proved pretty impossible, being that it was so tender as to just pull into shards. Strained and defatted the sauce, then cooked it down to a thicker version, which I served with it. We had it with fresh corn, cut off the cob and served cream style; homemade rolls and purple-hulled peas from last summer's crop, from the freezer. It was threatening rain, so we'll delay the traditional grilling until later.

Love me some fried pickles. Burger looks seriously good. Y'all in any flooding danger out there? Stay dry!

I would kill for a charcuterie vendor like that within easy driving distance. Lovely.

Starting to pick up more variety in the market, as more veggies come in. Today's haul: Tomatoes, both ripe and green; new potatoes, squash, asparagus, eggs, radishes, strawberries. Passed on hearts of romaine lettuce, got home and wished I hadn't. I may go back down there and pick some up. They also had green beans, which I didn't get, and snow peas, along with lots of seedlings, tons of cut flowers, and the usual meats and baked goods.

About to start my maiden venture with brisket. Six pound point cut, grass-fed. Hoping 48 hours will be enough.

Meat loaf cooked with new potatoes; roasted broccoli; tomato cobbler. The tomato cobbler is one of my favorite summmer dishes: thin cornbread batter, fresh diced tomatoes, garlic, herbs, parmesan cheese. I keep threatening to put bacon in it. This one had two large tomatoes, about 8 cloves of garlic confit, three or four green onions, and about 1/3 cup mixed fresh herbs (tarragon, basil, oregano, thyme).

Glad to have you!

Rotuts, I'm with you on the bell pepper, but I'm partial to eggplant! (and that looked quite lovely. I'm waiting for them to some in season because there's some moussaka in my future....

Well, looks like that one's getting dumped sooner rather than later. Thanks, Andiesenji.

Honestly, I didn't read the ingredient list. I saw pure vanilla extract, and it was at the specialty store where I buy a lot of my spices and so forth, so I went ahead and grabbed it. (It was $8.65 for a 355-ml bottle, which I thought was in line for what vanilla extract ought to cost in the grocery), and it was the only brand they had, although they did have both the brown and the clear. I figured it'd be better, all things being equal, to have the clear, so it wouldn't discolor the rare things that I bake with egg whites only and no other colorant. Like btbyrd, I figured if it said "pure vanilla extract," that's what it meant. My bad. Guess I'll wind up chunking this and back to the grocery store to get vanilla!

Is anyone out there familiar with Danncy vanilla extract? I bought some of their clear vanilla extract recently, and I've noticed it has a distinct taste and smell of cinnamon about it. I think this is the first vanilla extract I've ever bought that is produced/bottled in Mexico. Generally I don't mind a bit of cinnamon, but there are baked products where I just don't want that flavor introduced at all. The website is little help; it's mostly a vehicle for ordering the product. Any insight out there? Mostly, I'm just curious.