kayb

That's possible. Or the combination. The original photo I saw used country style ribs, the boneless cuts that look more like strips of loin. I may try that next time, or try just not cooking the tenderloin at all first. I was particularly pleased with the flavor combo of the bacon and pineapple; it was marvelous. Sam's has whole pineapples, cored and cut into spears lengthwise, as opposed to slices; I'm thinking those, wrapped in bacon, would be a marvelous grilled accompaniment to, well, most anything. My other favorite grilled fruit is peach halves with blue cheese and balsamic reduction.Grill the cut side of the peach first, turn it over and fill the pit cavity with blue cheese, scattering some over the cut surface, while the other side grills. Remove from grill and drizzle with balsamic reduction.

That's possible. Or the combination. The original photo I saw used country style ribs, the boneless cuts that look more like strips of loin. I may try that next time, or try just not cooking the tenderloin at all first. I was particularly pleased with the flavor combo of the bacon and pineapple; it was marvelous. Sam's has whole pineapples, cored and cut into spears lengthwise, as opposed to slices; I'm thinking those, wrapped in bacon, would be a marvelous grilled accompaniment to, well, most anything. My other favorite grilled fruit is peach halves with blue cheese and balsamic reduction.Grill the cut side of the peach first, turn it over and fill the pit cavity with blue cheese, scattering some over the cut surface, while the other side grills. Remove from grill and drizzle with balsamic reduction.

Someoneone on the dinner thread recently -- was it you? -- posted some baby zucchini, blossoms still attached, the entire thing battered and fried. It was one of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen. I'm going to plant zucchini next year just to be able to try that.

I grew up on a small farm in the South, where we raised almost everything we ate, and summers were made for canning and preserving vegetables and fruit from the garden and orchard. We also raised pigs and cattle -- not a big operation, really just a couple of animals a year for our own use. About all we bought at the grocery were basics -- flour, sugar, coffee, some cereals -- and for some reason, bread (Mama was not a bread-baker other than on special occasions), so I grew up "puttin' up." Then I grew up and moved to the city and stopped. A couple of years ago, 40-plus years removed from the canning and preserving of my youth, I ventured into canning some jams and jellies, brought on mostly because I'd come by a surfeit of ripe figs, and I couldn't stand to see them go to waste -- so I made fig jam. Not too long after that, I was visiting "up home" and noted the pear tree was bearing fruit on only two branches -- so I picked up windfall pears, took them home, and made pear preserves. Last year, I widened the scope to apple butter and pear butter, and also canned green beans, several bushels of tomatoes (ripe tomato chow-chow, marinara sauce, chili base, and just plain tomatoes), and I froze several pints of corn as well as field peas. This year, it's going to be blackberries, more corn, more peas more green beans, more tomatoes, some peaches. I probably have enough pears to last the rest of my natural life. I'd love to get into dehydrating and freeze-drying. I'm limited on freezer space (I have a small chest freezer, but I generally fill it with a bulk beef purchase from a local farmer every fall). And I've always wanted to try charcuterie. It's on the list....

Well, I forgot this one, because it was last Saturday. Sous vide pork tenderloin, originally stuffed inside a whole pineapple, which had to be cut down the side to accommmodate it, then wrapped in bacon. It split during the early portion of the cooking, so grill-side surgery resulted in halves. Very good, but for the fact I'd cooked the tenderloin too long SV (90 minutes at 125) and it got mushy. I'll do better next time. The tenderloin had Cajun seasoning, and the bacon melted nicely into the pineapple. Served with sweet corn, roasted in the husk on the grill, and sauteed fresh green beans with ginger and soy sauce.

Norm, I consider myself an aficionado of pulled pork, having lived in Memphis and its environs for 30-plus years. Your pork is tee-totally gorgeous. AnnT, I could dine on an antipasto spread every evening for a LONG time with no complaints. huiray, I love the notion of the peas with the wurst and kraut. I love browning mine a tad, as well. Try browning in bacon grease. Been out of town for three days. Nothing exceptional in the meals department. Will cook this weekend.

Okanagancook, try doing those zucchini fritters with cracker crumbs (my fam prefers plain Saltine crackers for the crumbs) with eggs and a splash of milk.

Nice 'shrooms, huiray! I TRIED to buy light this week, as I'm out of town tomorrow through Wednesday, but.... Blackberries, blueberries, squash, eggs, eggplant, tomatoes, new potatoes, kettle corn, early peaches. Peaches need to ripen and should be about ready when I get back. Eggplant and squash and potatoes should keep just fine.

radtek, I put mine in the freezer for about 45 minutes first. Grates passably well. But you're right, the sauce does fine.

Porterhouse, sous vide for an hour at 125F, cooled to room temp, and then seared on a hot grill and finished with blue cheese butter. Served with hasselback potato, the last of the asparagus with Hollandaise, a caprese, and red zinfandel.

I suspect you'd eat it all before it went bad! You can also cut the recipe in half, if you want a smaller batch. A lot of people pass on the cream cheese/Velveeta entirely, and just go with Cheddar, but I like the creaminess.

I've been to dinners where a specific ingredient was highlighted in the appetizer, entree and dessert. One I particularly remember was peaches -- sliced peaches with balsamic reduction, gorgonzola and proscuitto as an appetizer, a peach sauce (complete with a grilled peach half) with pork loin, and an astonishing peach-topped cheesecake for dessert. Similar menus I've seen and sometimes tried in restaurants include tomatoes, and avocado. Rice is probably one of the most versatile things to do double duty, I think. I often make extra rice when I'm cooking it for dinner so I can make calas, the delightful little New Orleans rice fritter, for dessert. Recipe here. Japanese mochi makes appearances in both savory and sweet versions. Of course, when sweet corn is in season, I have been known to go back and get a second helping of THAT and call it dessert, too.

ElsieD, I just saw the thread had bumped up, and I just posted my pimiento cheese recipe there. It's very much a Southern thing, and every Southern cook has his/her own recipe for pimiento cheese as well as for deviled eggs. There are about as many ways to make it as there are people who make it, but I can promise to you that I have never used Cheese Whiz in mine!

I have been making pimiento cheese for more than 40 years, and while there are some versions I like as well as my own, there are none I like any better. Mine uses 8 ounces extra sharp cheddar -- and I generally use Kraft from the grocery store, eight ounces of Velveeta, a 4-oz jar of drained pimientos. The dressing is 1/2 cup Hellman's mayo (the full-fat variety, please); 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar; 1/2 tsp Lawry's seasoned salt; 1 scant tsp sugar; a pinch or two of cayenne pepper, enough to satisfy your own heat craving. I generally stir the pimientos up in dressing, and pour the dressing over the grated cheeses and stir until it's combined. This one of the three things I make for which I must have Velveeta, the other two being the canonical RoTel cheese dip and mac and cheese. Fortunately, due to its highly chemicalized nature, that stuff lasts forever in your fridge. Love pimiento cheese on a Ritz cracker or just on white bread for a quick sandwich, but my two favorite applications of it are either on a burger or on a bacon/tomato/pimiento cheese sandwich, which is something I've been eating with great regularity since tomatoes have come in season.

Those creamed tomatoes look awesome. Looked up the recipe. May have to try this weekend.

Bacon, tomato, pimiento cheese sandwich. One of the greatest summer pleasures.

Two places I've always loved on trips to Chicago are the Ashkenaz deli on Cedar, but I see from a recent Yelp review that it's closed, which is sad. And I dearly love the Original Pancake House on Bellevue. Their corned beef hash topped with over easy eggs is a thing of beauty. Been a while since I was up there, but I always loved eating at Bistro 110, Shaw's Crab House, and Hugo's Frog Bar.

If you do decide to go through Birmingham either en route to or from, highly recommend the Hot and Hot Fish Club in the Five Points/UAB area. Can't testify to Wintzell's in Montgomery, but the ones in Mobile and Fair Hope are wonderful. I know the chamber of commerce guy in Columbus if you need any other recommendations or assistance.

Oh, wow....what amazing meals and dishes. I'll take some of either Dejah's or scamhi's steak, with Anna's mozzarella-stuffed baked cherry tomatoes (what a great idea; never thought of it, but will assuredly do it, and whoever had those delightful watermelon cubes with the cucumber. That would about hit the spot. It's going to be leftovers tonight; burgers from a couple of nights ago, warmed in gravy, will become hamburger steaks; leftover potato salad and squash casserole. I may bestir myself to cook the last of the asparagus.

I love a ripe tomato more than just about anything in the world, but my No. 1 daughter won't touch them. I craved them and ate them constantly for the last four months I was pregnant with her; I think I burnt her out in utero.

Shelby, SOOOOO envious of you for the peas! No one around here grows them; guess if I'm going to have any,I'll have to grow my own. I seriously think this fall, I'm going to put in some raised beds, spend the winter composting them and getting them ready,and planting next spring. I want tomatoes, peas, asparagus, maybe squash, cucumbers, maybe melons. If I had room, I'd plant corn and beans.

I love tarragon sauteed or steamed with any fresh green veggies, especially sugar snap peas and green beans. Also good with tomatoes, and corn. But in the event that you also have tarragon-on-steroids, start with a LITTLE BIT and work up! And you KNOW I was happy about American Pharoah! He got a good start at Oaklawn!

This should have been good, but wasn't. I had leftover roast chicken, and made a crust of grated russet potatoes, grated onion, an egg and some crumbs (as if I were making latkes). Pressed that into a pie plate, and baked it until the edges were lightly browned. Put the chopped chicken and some chopped asparagus in a cream sauce (cream cheese, milk, grated Parm) and added some tarragon. Either my tarragon is nuclear strength tarragon, or I used too much. It overpowered the entire dish. I only used about a tablespoon, minced. But any of you Green Goddess dressing devotees, if you can tell me how to send you tarragon, I have a gracious plenty of it. This, however, was quite excellent. A simple squash casserole -- yellow crookneck squash and sweet onion, cut up and steamed lightly, then mixed with egg, milk, grated cheddar, cracker crumbs, salt and pepper, spooned into a casserole dish, topped with more cheese and crumbs, and baked. Very simple, very good.

Bacon, tomato (love those sandwich-sized tomatoes, so just one slice makes a great sandwich) and pimiento cheese sandwich. Homemade pimiento cheese (preserve me from the grocery store stuff!), homemade white sandwich bread, lightly toasted. And a leftover vanilla custard with fresh raspberries.

I may possibly -- just POSSIBLY -- have put too many blueberries into this batch of blueberry muffins. But they were the first blueberries of the season, purchased at the farmers' market this morning before 8, and sitting on my plate with an excessive amount of melted butter by 9. Oh, well, consider them a blueberry cobbler in a muffin tin. After all, nothing succeeds like excess, right?