What's for Dinner #152 [old]

[roxlet]

After a few lovely days here in the NE, summer will be returning with a vengeance through next Tuesday. Time to consider those hot weather meals again!

For us, tonight will be some lovely looking cheese and parsley sausage that I picked up at Fairway this afternoon. Pasta with homemade pesto and a salad will round out this very simple meal.

What are you cooking in your neck of the woods -- or is it you who are cooking?

[roxlet]

Let's move the discussion here:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/856902

[gingershelley]

Last night was a big bowl of homemade Tom Kha soup; was craving shrimp, and needed to use up the better part of an open can of coconut milk in the fridge. Soaked some rice noodles, pulled out the thai basil, and my cheaters tamarind paste and Thom Kha curry base, and WFD was on in 15 minutes. Hit the spot!

While at the Hung Long asian market (NEVER get tired of that name - hah!), I picked up some bahn mi rolls.
Did a few quick pickled radishes, garlic scapes, and nice young carrot slices so I can have homemade Bahn Mi's with the rest of my pate for a couple days. Yum!

[linguafood]

Lovely sounding soup, gs.

[Harters]

Dinner comes from the Harters "cooking the books" exercise which, today, features "Summer Cooking", Elizabeth David (1953, revised 1965). As with other of David's books, this now seems terribly old fashioned and, with most recipes, not at all what British home cooks might cook today - not least because this is primarily a book of French recipes as much of David's work was.

So, we're having "sole au vert", although not cooking the fish anything like as long as David suggest. The fillets get a quick dust with flour and are cooked in butter until lightly browned. Chopped herbs are then chucked over - sorrel will predominate as she suggests (and it's something I've just started growing in apot on the patio and this will be its first use). There will also be chives from the garden (just flowering again after after I chopped them back soem weeks ago) and supermarket tarragon and parsley. She suggests another 3 - 4 minutes cooking but I'm sure that's going to be too much - the herbs just need to wilt a little.

Alongside, some new potatoes and the first of the local peas I've seen.

No doubt a hunk of strong mousetrap cheddar for afters, and fruit.

[ChristinaMason]

Old-fashioned or not, I'd eat that! Sounds nice.

[gingershelley]

A nice piece of sole with sorrel, etc.? Can't go wrong there - and new potatoes and peas make it nearly perfect. Lovely!

[steve h.]

Burgers.

Deb and I returned late Sunday night from Hungary. It was a great trip but time to gently ease back into the harness. To that end, we de-frosted some burgers (house-ground chuck) and had fresh tomato and red onion as condiment. Italian white for Deb, Dutch beer for me. I stashed some chips in the cupboard before we left (Lay's Classic) that helped to round things out. God I love chips.

Budapest was lovely and greatly exceeded expectations. Memorable meals were had at Onyx (anniversary) and Borkonyha (Winekitchen).

I posted one review, Onyx, here: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/849016
and another, Borkonyha, aka Wine Kitchen, here: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/856656

Budapest is very cool. I like the people, I like the food, I like hanging out there. Watching Italy play Germany on the jumbotron in the square in front of St. Stephen's was a hoot.

[steve h.]

Italy won, Germany lost, Hungarians were ok with this. Here's a shot of locals watching the game in the iconic square.

[LindaWhit]

Great picture. :-) Glad you had a good time!

[steve h.]

Thanks, Linda.
It really was a good time. I made some new friends, learned a few things and walked away the better for the experience. On a different tack, The Sawx (did I spell that right?) are looking good.

[LindaWhit]

Nah. They're barely keeping their heads above water with a .519 average. Kicking it into gear after the All-Star game would be appreciated. But won't be expected.

[steve h.]

You're three games over .500, 6 games out of first, a game and a half out of second place and it's not even the break.

When life deals you lemons: squeeze 'em, add sugar, water, ice and vodka. ;-)

[LindaWhit]

LOL! Hey! That was my libation tonight! ;-)

[gingershelley]

Steve, I like the view where you watched that match much better than the pub I saw it in!

Very nice!

[steve h.]

St. Stephen's Basilica makes for one fine backdrop to a football match. Pubs are ok, too.

[mielimato]

Those grand cafes and pastries in Budapest. Sigh.

[steve h.]

Cafe Gerbeaud, next to Onyx, and New York Cafe are pretty fancy venues for coffee and pastries. I need more time in Pest.

[gingershelley]

That meal sounds lovely at Onyx. I have Budapest on my short list :)

[steve h.]

I think you'll have a great time. It seems a lot of folk on the WFD board have sampled its goodness. Please give us a shout when you go so we can chime in with a few thoughts.

[gingershelley]

ooohh, you will all know when I go! :) Thanks for the encouragement.

This is just down the list from Puglia, IT (my friend Sly's cooking school in Lecce, etc.).

And a diving-and-eating trip to Thailand....

Now, I just have to find a new travel partner!

[PHREDDY]

Steve H.....Sounds as if you two were in love the BP... when I visited...I found Onyx great......and the food in the city really good... some of teh middle eastern restaurants, and especially most of the pastry shops...June was a good month for both the Mets and Yankees!

[steve h.]

Budapest is pretty special. I liked the city and I would like to think that the city liked me. We'll be back.

Mets are looking good right now. Yanks are going to have to fight/grind through some serious injuries. Maybe we'll see you guys in October.

[weezieduzzit]

Happy Anniversary late! Sounds like a very nice way to spend it.

[steve h.]

Thanks. I like being on the road. It's always a hoot to discover new stuff.

[mariacarmen]

can't wait to read your posts. we loved Budapest. saw ourselves moving there... ah, dreams.... sounds like you had a great time!

[steve h.]

Hi mc,
Pest is definitely in my comfort zone. I could easily spend a year or two there.

[steve h.]

Thanks everyone. Budapest is a very "chow-worthy" destination. The pastries, the coffee, the fresh vegetables, the wines, the meats are all world class. Duck and goose liver dishes are superb. All that plus the Danube!

[mariacarmen]

wow. just read both reports. they both sound completely wonderful. really wish i was there right now!

[gingershelley]

Here goes one of two 'wished buttons"; '+one!

[steve h.]

Hi mc,
To me, the weather in the Bay Area is the best in the world (it's ok to laugh). Summer temps in Pest hover in the 90's and humidity is up there, too. Having said that, I see a clear connection between San Francisco and Budapest. Both cities place a premium on fresh ingredients, good food, good wine, great coffee and so on. The main difference between the two, other than the weather, is that Budapest is affordable. You could do a lot worse than spending a year or two there.
...just a thought.

[mariacarmen]

thanks steve h. - thought has been lodged in our brains for quite awhile!

i too love the weather here - too hot makes me cranky - one of the many reasons i left l.a.

i think i mentioned before i was not as food-centric as i am now when we were on our european adventure (9 mos. in 2005) - for which i'm truly rueful.... your reports made it clear that the fascination with good, well-prepared, seasonal and often innovative food is international. I aim to try it elsewhere again someday.

[suburban_mom]

I seldom post here these days because we are so darn busy. It is heavy duty fast pitch softball season and I seem to have no extra time to make tasty food.

Tonight we had shrimp in a yellow Indian curry with basamati rice and steamed broccolini. It was quite tasty with the right amount of spice.

Friday was steak, mashed potatoes and sugar snap peas. Saturday we had burgers, broccoli slaw and frozen waffle fries. Sunday we went out and had Japanese for my middle child's 13th birthday - ramen, fried noodles, lots of robato, steamed buns, edamame.

I can't wait until I get back to regular meal planning with tasty well cooked food.

[nomadchowwoman]

Those all sound pretty darned good, If your 13yr-old is any indication, they appreciate it.

[mariacarmen]

another episode of The Boyfriend Knows How to Use Leftovers!

i'm so loving that i'm having these tapas three nights in a row.... sadly, the only thing left is a 1/2 cup of the sauce from the meatballs and the same amount of the delicious, oil, smoked paprika-y marinade for the chorizo. dunking in bread for a late night snack seems on the agenda...

[gingershelley]

'Like" button applied :)

[nomadchowwoman]

Lovely, mc.

[weezieduzzit]

He's a keeper.

[weezieduzzit]

I hate to light the grill for something small and waste the charcoal when I can make several things at once- and since it's hot, it'll mean I don't have to heat up the kitchen much for the rest of the week if I make a few things tonight.

I have chicken thighs slathered in tandoori paste and yogurt, a london broil that's been marinating for about 24 hours (so sad to hear all the haters on the london broil thread- it always turns out melt in your mouth tender for me,) and chicken breasts injected with some cajun concoction I found in the frige.

I'll make aloo gobi, raita and some form of salad to go with the tandoori thighs tonight, slice the london broil and cajun chicken for sandwiches for him and salads for me for the next few days lunches.

I indulged in *plenty* of Jack and coke at the car show Saturday (an all day/ all night event,) so I think I'm going to finish tonight with a mango lassi made with our home fermented kefir. I'll join the rest of you for a vodka lemonade another night. :)

[ChristinaMason]

you can come cook for me anytime.

[weezieduzzit]

Except tonight. The man just called and one of the guys in his car club was just in a very bad motorcycle accident. He's on his way to the hospital and I'm on standby. :(

[ChristinaMason]

That's terrible. Best of luck. :(

[weezieduzzit]

Thanks.

[LindaWhit]

Oh no! Healing thoughts being sent to your man's injured friend!

[nomadchowwoman]

Oh--hope the news improves, weezie. Good vibes.

[weezieduzzit]

Thanks Linda and NCW. :)

He's stable and heavily sedated to keep him still. Surgery this morning and then everyone will know more. Not great news but not bad either.

We ended up having very bad Chinese food with very good friends. Last night's menu relocated to tonight.

[gingershelley]

Glad the news on the cycle accident is no worse!

Look forward to hearing how all that grillaxin' turns out...

[mielimato]

That menu is making my mouthwater. I've been living in Spain for the past month and have another month left. Love the food here but they like everything simple without a lot of spice--pepper is used with extreme constraint and forget about cumin, cardomon, etc. Will have to make a trip to the specialty store and whip something up to get my spice fix.

[weezieduzzit]

That would be very hard for me! Even just walking through the door of the Indian market makes me happy- the smell is magical.

[ChristinaMason]

MaryContrary and I must have been on the same wavelength tonight because I, too, made stuffed squash. I cooked up a filling of dandelion greens, garlic, brown rice, onion, chicken Italian sausage, green bell pepper, tomato paste, hot paprika, and diced fresh tomato and mixed that with fresh basil, Parmesan, and mozzarella. That went into hollowed-out pattypan and yellow squash and green bell peppers, topped w/ a little marinara sauce and more cheese, and baked until heated through.

The stuffed veg. were pretty tasty, butI think I over-blanched the peppers because they were a little bitter. Dessert was a piece of watermelon and a small bar of super-dark chocolate. I'm contemplating a cocktail...

[ChristinaMason]

Dessert is a cocktail DH dubbed "Rye Not?": Rittenhouse 100 Rye, Simply Lemon Lemonade, homemade cherry liqueur, lemon juice, and a splash of real grenadine, shaken and strained over crushed ice. A spicy homemade cocktail cherry to garnish.

[nomadchowwoman]

You cocktail queen, you!

[JungMann]

This sounds incredible. For some reason I've never thought to mix rye and lemon juice even though that's halfway to a sour. Now if only I had some cherry heering to try your improvements!

Your bar is impressively well-stocked. I am still sadly waiting for a good batch of cherries to make your recipe for cocktail cherries to get me through summer!

[ChristinaMason]

Thanks! It was refreshing. I accidentally made too much, so we each had to have two. Ooops ;)

[JungMann]

Since I will be in NoVa this weekend, I may have to suggest a barter... you know, to help you avoid having a little "too much" tipple. :)

[ChristinaMason]

LOL. I'd be down with that. I can recommend quite a few good places for a cocktail.

[gingershelley]

CM - do you think you could reprise that cocktail cherry recipe? Would love to make some... we are in full-on cherry season here. Eastern WA supplies nearly 80% of the national cherry crop!

[ChristinaMason]

Surely. Here you go: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/6922...

Not exactly a precise recipe, but you get the idea. My vote goes for the spicy cherries, unless you do a lot of tiki drinks where vanilla-rum ones would be more appealing. Both varieties are good, really; I just get more use out of the pie-spiced ones. My husband commented that we were running low and had better start another batch; he's right.

[kubasd]

wow, spicy cherries for cocktails sound fantastic....

[gingershelley]

Those sound awesome CM... we hardly ever see pie cherries here except frozen; do you think I could do something similar with bings? I know I would have to change the sugar/sour profile to compensate for bings being much sweeter.... will have to look into this!

[ChristinaMason]

Sure, why not! Or how about the yellow and red cherries....are they morello? Not sure.

[gingershelley]

Those are the lovely Rainier cherries - if you could fix the color, they would make awesome cocktail cherries. A little tarter, a little more 'flair" than Bing.... :)

Gonna try it!

[ChristinaMason]

Rainier...exactly! The hibiscus is intended to help set the color.

[LindaWhit]

It's Burger Night. The patty will be seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic powder and a bit of teriyaki sauce before grilling on the grill pan with some cheese melted on top. It'll go on a toasted English muffin, with ketchup on the bottom half, and potato chips on top of the cheese before topping with the top half of the English muffin.

Sides will be a few more potato chips, and a quick coleslaw I made with some red and green cabbage, grated carrots, and a mayo mix of a half cup of mayo, a slight drizzle of toasted sesame oil, about 1 tsp. of freshly squoze lime juice, some lime zest (maybe 2 tsp?), some grated ginger (about 1 tsp.), and a pinch of salt and a slightly larger pinch of sugar. Whisked it all together and tossed it with the cole slaw. It's chilling right now to let the flavors blend. I *might* have used a bit too much sesame oil, but we'll see.

Oh. And vodka and lemonade for libations. Several libations.

[LindaWhit]

Yup. Wrecked the coleslaw. Too much sesame oil. Oh well. Didn't make all that much, and still have both red and green cabbage for more to be made with a pulled pork dinner later in the week. This is what experimenting is all about.

[gingershelley]

If you have enough libations, you don't care about the coleslaw:)

[roxlet]

My husband is hard at work on a new concoction for dinner tonight. He is boning out a chicken and stuffing it with a combo of chorizo, bread, onion, celery and various herbs. It will be seared and then roasted on the grill. For my part, I have made a super spicy corn salad with the remainder of two night's worth of grilled corn: corn, celery, red onion, finely chopped serrano, cumin, olive oil and lime juice. It is melding in the refrigerator. Dinner will likely be late tonight...

[ChristinaMason]

That all sounds extremely appealing, especially the corn salad. Let us know how the chicken goes! I may adapt it for stuffed breasts or thighs.

[roxlet]

The chicken was really delicious! My husband thought that the filling was too wet, but I disagree.

[gingershelley]

Sounded pretty ambitious - glad it was at least mostly a success; and the corn salad sounded great!

[tiffeecanoe]

This lovely German (and Dutch) Wisconsin girl is making brats soaked and then gently simmered in beer just before finished - then tossed on the grill! Will cook some onions in the beer and make up some sauerkraut. Just tossed my homemade German potato salad in the fridge. Now I'll take the baby and hang out in the bedroom for a bit where the A/C is going full blast! Hope everyone else is staying cool today!

[Berheenia]

One of my favorites- do you add butter to the beer mix?

[tiffeecanoe]

I do for the onions, of course!

[mielimato]

I am spending the next month living with my inlaws. The one up-side to this otherwise dubious blessing is that they live in a small coast town about 45 minutes outside of Barcelona. So we have access to some of the best seafood in the world. At about 7pm, we stroll over to the local fishmonger and get the fish he literally just purchased off the boats. The fish is fresher than what most people can get at restaurants!

Today, we grilled squid and shrimp topped with lightly fried garlic and raw olive oil. My mother-in-law made "boquerones en vinagre" which are fillets of small sardines lightly marinated in vinegar and water, similar to shime-saba or the mackerel you find in sushi restaurants. We also made a caesar salad. The dressing was made from raw egg yolk, 2 fillets of anchovies, garlic, lemon and oil. Cured manchego cheese instead of parmesan. Made some quick croutons.

My 3 year old specializes in eating shrimp heads so he sucked down about 7 of them.

Cherries and watermelon for dessert.

There's the proof.

[nomadchowwoman]

Focus on the up-side; that fresh seafood, the coastal location, and proximity to Barcelona would compensate for a lot.
Your meal looks fantastic.

[LindaWhit]

Ditto on the upside focus! Enjoy, enjoy, mielimato.

[mariacarmen]

damn. I'LL come live with your in-laws for that gig!! sounds amazing, mielmato!!

[ChristinaMason]

<grilled squid and shrimp topped with lightly fried garlic and raw olive oil>

up there with my favorite foods to eat, ever. yum!

[Harters]

I love boquerones - just about my first purchase when we arrive in Mallorca (along with a bag of the local bitter olives)

[gingershelley]

That all sounds delish! Pass the shrimp heads!

[BananaBirkLarsen]

We discovered yesterday that the smoker we found in the basement easily converts into a little grill, so BBQ chicken it was last night, courtesy of my boyfriend. The first BBQ I've had in ages, and it was delicious. I made a green salad for the side and doctored up a packaged mac and cheese. It's so hot here and we don't have an air conditioner, so I've been turning on the stove as little as possible.

We had one of the leftover chicken breasts cut up into the leftover mac and cheese for lunch today and I'll probably do something with the other one tonight. Maybe something with the bok choy sitting in my fridge.

The streets here are lined with apricot trees and I already have so many ideas for them, even though they aren't quite ripe yet. Apricot ice cream and apricot freezer jam and apricot salsa and apricots with chicken and apricot margaritas... I know I should wait until they're ripe, but I'm having trouble restraining myself.

[LindaWhit]

Oh MY! on all of those apricots - enjoy coming up with lots of ideas!

[Berheenia]

Sounds like life is just getting better and better for you and the BF- you guys deserve it!
Apricots and heat go well together - I had a savory cocktail cookie with apricots last winter.
Maybe a NM apricot ice cream - I love Aztec chocolate at our local ice cream place when it is available.

[MaryContrary]

Stuffed baked white squash (Italian sausage, ground sirloin, onion and mushrooms), topped with mozarella and mushroom sauce. Garlic toast and a salad.

[kubasd]

sounds good, but what are white squash? I'm intrigued.

[MaryContrary]

Perhaps also known as patty pan? There're roundish but wider in circumference than tall. It would be good with any summer squash, kubasd. Oh, and I don't find them in stores. You either grow them or you can sometimes find them at a farmers' market.

[kubasd]

ah, gotcha. I'm a sucker for patty pan squash, even though they get some hate on these boards. My favorite are the UFO ones that I get at the farmer's market.... so buttery when sautéed :)

[twodales]

Last night I made a thai green curry. I had some baby courgettes/zucchini that needed to be used so I chunked those up along with some green beans, a red pepper and near the end snap peas. Sauteed some chicken tenders cut into smaller bits. Tossed some light coconut milk in. finished with lime juice and cilantro. A hard cider to wash it all down.

Sweet corn on the side and watermelon for afters.The corn and watermelon did not disappoint. The curry was nice too. Ah Summer!

(Posted this in error on the veggie board so I just deleted the chicken and left it over there too. I am so ditzy today! Must be the heat.)

[ChristinaMason]

<(Posted this in error on the veggie board so I just deleted the chicken and left it over there too. I am so ditzy today! Must be the heat.)>

giggle

[linguafood]

I've been off the WFD thread due to many restaurant meals (still in Berlin), travels (Amsterdam), and a crappy cold that had me in its claws for over a week. Not much eating going on in the last 10 days -- ugh.

But finally, *finally* I'm getting back to normal and can actually taste a few things.... plus I have my appetite back, which is nice.

Bought a fun pasta shape today (fusilli lunghi bucati), kind of longish, curly strands of maccheroni type pasta, which I will augment with black tiger shrimp, cockles & zuke & cherry tomatoes in a 'sauce' of olive oil, white wine, garlic, sliced chile peppers (to maybe clear out the rest of that insufferable junk in my head), and a touch of a crustacean paste I bought at the same Spanish supermarket at which I got the shrimp and the cockles.

Maybe some buffalo mozza with basil chiffonade, but the pasta will likely be enough food.

Glad to be eating again.

[gingershelley]

Lingua, Glad your back amongst 'the living' again :). Seems you have had a few decent resto meals over there tho - at least prior to the cold.

Pasta sounds light and tasty - and would love to get my hands on 'crustacean paste' that seems like a very handy pantry item!

[nomadchowwoman]

I know; sounds very intriguing, doesn't it?

[LindaWhit]

Welcome back amongst the food-tasters, lingua! I love the fusilli lunghi bucati shape. Your "comeback meal" sounds wonderful - enjoy!

[ChristinaMason]

photos, please!

[linguafood]

Your wish is my command. I was positively surprised how spicy that one hot yellow pepper was I chopped up -- gave the whole dish a good amount of heat.

[mariacarmen]

so yummy!

[Redstickchef]

Sunday dinner is usually my go all-out-meal and I enjoy experimenting with different recipes. So this Sunday I made Authentic no-bean Texas Style Chili a la Tyler Florence. It calls for three cans of chipotle chilis in adobo and a jalapeno, and let me tell you it is spicy. I like the spiciness but not all of my guests do so of course, I was scrambling to bring down the heat. I used grated carrots and some honey and also increased the masa harina by about a fourth of a cup and it actually balanced out the heat! I would make this again but next time I would only use one can of the chili's and half of the jalapeno. Tonight will be leftovers of cabbage rolls that I have in the freezer from an Ina Garten Recipe. Speaking of cabbage rolls, this recipe has a tomato sauce in it, does anyone know of a good recipe with a gravy as the sauce. My grandmother apparently made it with gravy for my Mom when she was growing up and my Mom requested cabbage rolls with gravy. Unfortunately, I have been having a tought time finding a recipe with a non-tomato based sauce.

[ChristinaMason]

That chili sounds good, but I'm with you---that's WAY too much spicy pepper.! Ouch! Lucky you were able to save it :)

There are a handful of recipes online for cabbage rolls with brown gravy, but the majority call for using brown gravy powdered mix. You could make your own, which would be easy enough if you sear up some chopped mushrooms, set them aside, then slowly brown a thinly sliced large yellow onion in butter with a bay leaf. When the onions are soft and golden, sprinkle them with 2 Tbsp. or so of flour and stir until that colors a bit. Add some beef broth/stock mixed with a little red wine and whisk for several minutes until thick. Adjust to taste with more beef base, soy or Maggi sauce, seasoned salt, etc. A minced clove of garlic, sauteed, would not be amiss here. Add the mushrooms back in and simmer a few minutes longer.

If you brown your meat filling before stuffing the cabbage, you can use the drippings from the same pan to make your gravy as well.

Or for a real cheat, make your sauce from one of those Lipton onion and beef soup packets, and forget about it :) Your grandma might have!

[Harters]

I snipped this recipe from a magazine in one of my virtuous moments and, in truth, I'm not sure how much I fancy it now. But the rules says that once it's in the "to try" file, it has to be tried.

It sees thinly sliced spring greens blanched for a minute or so. Pancetta gets going in the frying pan then, in due course, garlic and dried chilli flakes go in. Then the greens and chopped walnuts go in to warm through. And everything's stirred through pasta, along with Parmesan. The recipe suggests cavatappi which is the spiral pasta - which we ain't got, so I think another shortish one like penne regate will be on the plate.

[LindaWhit]

That doesn't sound half bad, Harters! I mean, it's got garlic, pancetta and Parm - it *can't* be half bad!

[mariacarmen]

it does sound good, Linda's right. let us know what you thought.

[nomadchowwoman]

That sounds really good to me.

[Harters]

Was better than I expected - but not a keeper. The chilli made an important contribution

[mariacarmen]

Catering gig was, i have to say, FABULOUS last night. i was pleased with everything the two of us put out. the guests were also very happy (in no small part because we drowned them in cava, sherry-tinis and sangria!) i'm sorry we were too busy to take pics last night because the bandilleras (skewers of the pickled veg with an anchovy on top) were sooooo pretty on a white plate.

in response to CM's query above, the meatballs are pretty standard - pork and beef, bread soaked in water, then mixed in, minced garlic, parsley, nutmeg, eggs, flour dredging, browned - but the sauce is what makes these. it's made by adding a beef/red wine broth to the browned meatballs, and then adding a sort of paste of about 35 sauteed whole cloves of garlic (i doubled the recipe) that were food processed with torn-up toasted french bread. a can of whole peeled tomatoes, crushed, s&p, and that's it. all the flavor comes from the garlic. and it's very mellow, but also super rich.

today was a stressful, tiring day - 5 hours in ER with the Oldster - a scare, more than anything else - he's apparently fine now - but of course it was frightening, being the first time he's been really sick since being diagnosed, and the last time we were in an ER, not 2 years ago, was the last time i saw my mother, so it was a very fraught day. and then when it became clear he was going to be fine, it just became a very long day while they ran all the tests and had us wait. and wait. and wait. for the results. better safe than sorry, i know...

so tonight was a late dinner of leftover tapas fixings, pictured here. aren't the quail eggs purty?? i have to say, though, i think my favorite thing was the tortilla with the sherry vinegar/smoked paprika aioli. a glass of old red that's been sitting around and i'm ready for bed.

[LindaWhit]

VERY glad the Oldster is going to be OK! Your leftover tapas plate looks very good - and glad the catering gig went well. I'm sure you slept very well last night.

[mariacarmen]

thanks LW! I did.

i hope you're having a wonderful time on your short but i'm sure much needed vaca!

[ChristinaMason]

that sounds stressy. hang in there, lady. thanks for the meatball technique!

[mariacarmen]

thanks!

oh yeah, and the sauce cooks (with meatballs in it) for about 1/2 hour, lid on, and if it's too watery for your taste, another 10 with the lid offf.

[gingershelley]

Glad it was just a scare MC, sad you had a tough and long day. Sure know the pain of waiting and waiting in a hospital for results of tests on someone you love :(.

Glad the Tapas were a hit (had no doubt), and that you at least had some tasty snacks when you got back home. Wishing you a quieter week! Thank God we have a mid-week day off:)!

[rabaja]

Oh, MC! What a lousy way to spend a Sunday, and after a long catering gig, ouch.
Glad to hear he is doing alright. Get some rest and hold on, Wednesday is coming!

[nomadchowwoman]

Your tapas plate looks lovely, mc (oh, and sherry vinegar/smoked paprika AIOLI--be still my heart; that would be good on anything).

So glad your dear Oldster's scare wasn't more serious, but can imagine youranxiety and exhaustion. Hope you'll be getting some some holiday time off and some R & R. Maybe the BF will be cooking for you?

[mariacarmen]

thanks NCW! I'll be at the Oldster's for the 4th (we won't really do anything, just another day to hang there, give my sister a break) and then the 3 of us are going to a dr. appt. on the 5th - pivotal - we're going to find out if this treatment is doing any good at all. his #s have been up, so we're hopeful.

tonight i think we have more tapas leftover, and whatever else the BF gets creative with...

[nomadchowwoman]

Fingers crossed here, mc.

[gingershelley]

standing by for good word (positive thoughts!), on the results of that doc. visit!

[marietinn]

Not much to report on tonight, it's been a long hot day and dinner was left over pizza (spinach, red onion, roasted garlic, and bell peppers with daiya cheese) from whole foods, alongside some homemade kale chips. We ate out for a friends birthday last night, sushi from our favorite Japanese place.

Friday, however, I cooked dinner for a friend (one I'd like to know better, ha). After a trip to the Wegmans, I sauteed some local zucchini and yellow squash with onions and garlic. We had a rice pilaf (more garlic and sauteed onions added to that as well) and some beefless tips with a hot sauce/ soy sauce/ honey glaze. Must have hit the spot, ended up staying to watch Taken and drink some strawberry lemonade spiked with mango vodka.

[nomadchowwoman]

Sounds like you're off to a good start of a good *friendship* witha great dinner.

[nomadchowwoman]

Thank goodness for grills. But I'll not complain about heat when I've got electricity; tough times for all those suffering through the freakish temperatures *and* loss of power.

Friday nightt we shared a grilled (grass-fed) porterhouse, topped w/wild mushrooms. (It was tasty, but I think ultimately we like the idea of grass-fed better than the taste.) Grilled asparagus and two salads (cucumber-and-tomato w/sherry vinaigrette and a caesar-ish one w/ baby lettuces, hard-boiled eggs, garlic croutons, anchovies) accompanied. And I made some blueberry lemonade, put it into a chilled martini glass with some icy vodka, and pretended I was drinking a very fancy cocktail.

After puttering in the kitchen all afternoon making, as DH said, everything but dinner (simple syrups in four flavors--ginger, mint, lemon grass, black pepper; garlic croutons; pickled cherries), last night I gave up on heating up anything else, especially ourselves, and we ordered pizza. Very mediocre pizza at that.

Tonight it will be grilled sockeye salmon, which I'll first brush w/dijon and maple syrup, as I've seen here so often. A few fat asparagus will also be grilled. Some baby zucchini that need using up will be very quickly sauteed w/garlic and some chopped vidalia. Another tomato-avocado-onion salad will show up. And for "dessert" (DH has already raised his eyebrows over the misnomer; he'll probably have ice cream): a pickled peach (from June COTM) half w/a dollop of chevre, a few raspberries, and a sprinkle of toasted pistachios, maybe a drizzle of one of the simple syrups I made yesterday. I will also be drinking a tall glass of blueberry-ginger lemonade spiked w/vodka, possibly a splash of soda.

Stay cool all.

[Dirtywextraolives]

Your cocktails & syrups sound heavenly, especially for those dealing with the heat wave, I agree with you on your opinion that the *idea* of grass-fed beef is better than eating one. Just not enough taste & flavor in those healthy steaks for me.

[LindaWhit]

Interesting. I often think grass-fed beef has a "beefier" taste than corn-fed. At least that which I've had has seemed that way.

[nomadchowwoman]

We won't give up on it, but those steaks just never taste as good to me.

I love making different simple syrups, but I need more excuses for cocktails like I need a hole in the head. ; )

[LindaWhit]

Lovely meals, ncw! Your puttering will provide many a nice cocktail that the DH will enjoy as well, I'm sure. :-)

[ChristinaMason]

<. I will also be drinking a tall glass of blueberry-ginger lemonade spiked w/vodka, possibly a splash of soda.>

And I will be wishing I were drinking one. Yum.

LindaWhit has officially started a trend---yesterday I ordered a Citron and Lemonade and it went down WAY too smoothly. Nice summer refresher.

[LindaWhit]

:-) It is very good isn't it?

[nomadchowwoman]

Yep, I place responsibility for my newly acquired habit of vodka-spiked lemonade squarely on the shoulders of LW ; ) . If not for LW, I'd just be getting sloshed on gin.

[LindaWhit]

That is a burden I gladly take onto my shoulders. ::::She says as she sips from her own Vodka & Lemonade::::: ;-)

[ChristinaMason]

LW, I just bought a bottle of Simply Lemonade because of you!

[LindaWhit]

Tee hee!

Last year, the Chicken Paprikash.
This year, the vodka & lemonade.
Coming this autumn? THE WORLD!!!!

Mmmwaaah-haaah-haaah-haaah-haaahhhh!!!

[nomadchowwoman]

Evil woman . . .

[LindaWhit]

Ooh! A song by E.L.O.! :-)

[boyzoma]

Those photos look luscious! I'm willing to come for dinner. Sorry you are having such heat issues. Wish I could trade you some of my rain. Hopefully this next week we might get some "sun".

[Berheenia]

Steak it's what for dinner!
Long day.

[boyzoma]

Tonight is going to be Braised Short Ribs (its been raining all day, so why not?). Browned the short ribs till there was a LOT of crud :-) on the bottom of the pot! Pulled them and browned onions, celery, carrots and sliced mushrooms until I had more "crud" - added tomato paste until I had more brown "crud". Deglazed with wine and added beef broth and seasoned with thyme and bay leafs. Everyone is now getting married in the oven. Will be adding some peeled russet potatoes towards the end. Will probably pull the potatoes and short ribs out and use the boat motor on what's left in the pot for sauce. On the side will be steamed broccoli with cheddar cheese sauce. When the wedding in the oven is over, I can't wait for the honeymoon on DH's and my plates!!!!! Oh, and the appetizer is shrimp cocktail over iceberg lettuce leaves!

[LindaWhit]

I love this marriage and honeymoon boyzoma! :-)

[gingershelley]

We shall enjoy our cool temps. for all the rest of our CH friends around the HOt. hot. HOT! country... enjoy your rain, and the braised ribs.

Happy damp honeymoon:) Send me some shrimp cocktail!

[ChristinaMason]

I'm making these Korean-bbq-inspired burgers tonight: http://www.theculinarylife.com/2009/k... , sans buns

Subbed minced onion for the scallion (fresh out) and added some lemongrass paste. We'll have the burgers grilled and served with gochujang mayo, pickled carrots, cucumber, and jalapenos, homegrown tomatoes, and kimchee. On the side will be squash from the farmers market tossed with teriyaki sauce, sriracha, rice wine vinegar, fish sauce, sesame oil, shallot salt, and onion wedges and grilled. New Belgium Ranger IPA to cool off with.

[roxlet]

Sounds great, Christina!

[ChristinaMason]

Thanks, roxy! I felt like we needed one more side (I have a thing about threes), so I barely blanched some broccoli and green cauliflower florets and tossed them with sesame oil, ginger-shitake vinaigrette (prepared), black pepper, mirin, black vinegar, and chopped cilantro. Some toasted chopped almonds will be stirred in just before serving.

[gingershelley]

Once again, the 'like' nonexistent button goes into play...

[LindaWhit]

Other than that horrid cilantro :::grin::: I agree with that "Like" button.

[ChristinaMason]

Our cucumbers were horribly bitter---a quick good turned up "heat stress" as the region. With temps. in the high 90s and low 100s all week, I can't imagine why! Bummer.

Thanks for the props!

[ChristinaMason]

er, "good" = "google". oops.

[Dirtywextraolives]

Those burgers do sound tasty!

[ChristinaMason]

Thanks! I liked them, but I think I'd skip the sugar next time. Hit a bit of a wrong note for me.

[gingershelley]

Tonight I am craving crispy chicken, and cool enough I am fine with making the house smell all yummy and cooking indoors....

Wanting those super crispy Thighs I made a few weeks back - can someone remind me of the cooking temp? I didn't save the recipe as it seemed so simple, but that escapes me now. I think this may be a LindaWhit recipe. I can't seem to trace it in a search - weird. Thanks!

Will have those with leftover Hatch chili/rice/grilled zuk/ sharp cheddar casserole, and some roasted asparagus.

Oh, and of course some leftover flourless chocolate cake that despite my protesting, got left behind last night. Sigh - dirty work, but someone's got to eat it!

[ChristinaMason]

Here ya go! I think this was mamachef's paraphrase (she used breasts instead of thighs):

"Insanely Crispy Pan-Roasted Chicken

6 skin-on, bone-in chicken breasts cut crosswise, dried, salted and peppered.

Preheat oven to 475 for 20 minutes
Heat 1 T. oil in 12" ovenproof skillet over high heat until hot but not smoking. Nestle half of chicken in (you'll clearly be working in batches.) skinside down, and let spatter and cook merrily away for 2 minutes, and then reduce heat to medium-high. Continue cooking, skinside down, occasionaly rearranging pieces and rotating pan to make sure heat is evenly distributed, until fat renders and skin is a gorgeous golden-brown, about 12-13 minutes. Now slam that skillet straight into the very hot oven, still skinside down, and leave it go another 13 minutes, at which point you flip it, resist the temptation to rip off a piece of skin, and let it go, skinside UP now, and let it finish, another five minutes. Eat immediately. Sitting will impact the crispy of the shatteringly wonderful crust."

[LindaWhit]

I'm glad you found it, Christina. I was thinking "I don't recall making these!" :-)

[roxlet]

I made it with thighs, and my son said it was as good as fried chicken. We wouldn't let my husband, who makes unbelievable fried chicken, hear that comment :)

[gingershelley]

Bless you, oh CM thigh goddess.... and to MamaChef as well.

LW, You might want to try them - they rock!

What's FOR DINNER folks - thanks to CM's answer to my cry for help:)

Seriously, I searched for 'CRISPY THiGHS", CHICKEN THIGHS, CHICKEN THIGHS + WHAT'S FOR DINNER?, and through numerous #'s of WFD threads with search - nothin'. Do you think the mod's are keeping all our collective wisdom for the weekly newsletters?

[gingershelley]

CM - can you share the thread you found it on? Bless you if you can - and well, of course, if not!

[ChristinaMason]

I know it appeared in WFD a while back, but I didn't save the link. I think I copied this particular recipe from Facebook a while back.

[nomadchowwoman]

You are lucky to be in the lone corner of the country that isn't sweltering--or burning, gs; those thighs sound so good!

[gingershelley]

Super cool out (67-ish?) and starting thighs INDOORS. Who knew that was even possible this weekend!

Stay cool! Blessings and A/C to you all......

[Dirtywextraolives]

Cooking some rice & prepping some banchan right now, to make Korean beef lettuce wraps and Kimchi fried rice. Fresh cherries made into a sauce over ice cream for dessert.

[ChristinaMason]

Ooh, I like the sound of those wraps. Tell us more?

[Dirtywextraolives]

Sure. If you are familiar with Korean food, it is the bul gogi recipe. I use boneless short ribs that are sliced very thinly, almost butterflied. They are marinated in a traditional mixture of soy, garlic, ginger, sesame oil, a touch of goochujang and a purée of Asian pear, which is what tenderizes them. Then they are broiled until crispy, which is how my family likes them. We use butter lettuce to wrap them, along with various condiments like goochujang, ssam, which is a fermented soybean paste a bit like miso, some youku, a Japanese paste of ground green chile, salt & yuzu, I believe, sushi ginger, and pickled cucumber, daikon & carrots.

[ChristinaMason]

That all sounds really awesome. Thanks for the explanation! I found some similar recipes online, including one from NYT that calls for the Asian pear. I had no idea it works as a tenderizer :)

[jenscats5]

Hi all! Haven't posted in a while....slept thru Friday's storms and I'm thankful we weren't affected by them.

Not sure WFD but I have Thyme from my CSA and some oranges - so I think I'll bake up some chicken breasts. Also have a bunch of swiss chard + beet greens, so will saute them together and make some turkey meatballs to go with.

[LindaWhit]

Change of plans – I won’t be heading up to Maine.

My sister texted late last night that Logan, The Big Black Dog, was sick. Very sick. She took him to an animal hospital up there. Looks like cancer in his stomach and potentially his lungs. My BIL drove up last night at midnight (3 hour drive - he was supposed to be working tomorrow). I haven't yet heard back from her this morning, but it didn't sound good last night. :-(

So I'm not sure WFD tonight. I have leftover chicken from last night, and LOTS of lettuce, so perhaps I'll make a big salad with a hodgepodge of ingredients. We'll see what I'm up for later today.

[gingershelley]

So sorry your plans had to change LW, and especially the reason! Hope the news gets better....

[LindaWhit]

Unfortunately, it didn't. :-( I got a text from her around 12:30 this afternoon saying her husband had made it up there in the middle of the night, they got to spend time with him and both were with him as he went to sleep. They got back to the cabin around daybreak. Both are completely heartbroken and I'm sure exhausted, although my BIL drove back to MA because he couldn't sit still (and has to work tomorrow). Sister is still up at the cabin with neighbors checking in on her. :-(

So my dinner will be as I said - a salad comprised of CSA lettuce and some butter lettuce I had bought to bring up to Maine, tomatoes, grated carrot, cuke and CSA radish slices, slices of the leftover chicken from last night, goat cheese, dried cranberries, croutons and my maple-balsamic vinaigrette. Some toasted garlic bread and a vodka and lemonade alongside.

A picture of the handsome loveable lug is attached. This was a picture I took last September and Mom had a neighbor who paints watercolors attempt a small 5x7 watercolor using it as something to work from. She did a great job - they got the picture for Christmas last year and it hangs in their entryway at the cabin.

[roxlet]

How sad. Poor doggie.

[boyzoma]

Oh, LW, I'm so sorry. My pup is 14 and almost blind and deaf, so I can feel their pain. I'm sure you loved him dearly as well. Condolences to the Sis and BIL. At least you had goodies to make the salad.

[nomadchowwoman]

So sorry--what a handsome fellow.

Your salad sounds delish; hope it is comforting, too.

[Dirtywextraolives]

Sorry to read the sad news. Can I ask how you make your maple balsamic vinaigrette, please? Thanks so much.

[LindaWhit]

Here you go Dirty...

In a medium-sized jar (I use a Bonne Maman preserves jar) combine the following:

4 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
4 Tbsp. maple syrup
1 clove garlic finely minced
1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp. salt
freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/2 to 2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Tighten the lid and shake it all together until blended. It thickens slightly in the fridge and needs to be re-shook up if it sits more than an hour or so. The above is my adaption of a recipe I had from the Boston Globe's Food section from 2/28/01. *Their* proportions were as follows:

4 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
3 Tbsp. maple syrup
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1/4 tsp. Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp. water
1/2 tsp. salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil

As you can see, I up the quantity of maple syrup and Dijon mustard, omit the water completely, and cut back on the olive oil. Obviously play with the proportions to your taste. I was trying to recreate a store-bought maple-balsamic vinaigrette I had purchased awhile back made by Jed's Maple in Vermont, and my proportions hit it pretty darn close. And it's way cheaper than Jed's Maple brand. :-)

[Dirtywextraolives]

Sounds wonderful, thanks so much for the response!

[gingershelley]

My heart BREAKS for all you all! So sad. I am sure your salad was sticking in your throat a bit, however delish' it was, LW.

Love the pic of the LUG! Sadness permeates today in your world. Long live the spirit of the pup....

[LindaWhit]

I was OK - until my sister called for some support about a half hour ago. She's pretty destroyed and hasn't slept much. I'm hoping she can get some tonight.

It turns out Logan had "Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura," which is a bleeding disorder in which the immune system destroys platelets. It's something that comes on very quickly, and he bled out into his stomach. :-( Nothing they could have done, especially tied in with what the vet thought were cancer spots in his stomach and lungs.

His spirit will live on...he was loved by many. Truly a one of a kind dog.

Thanks to all for letting me talk it out here.

[gingershelley]

LindaW, Oh! So sorry it all went so fast and you folks had to say goodbye to a much-loved pet. Very sad, especially when so sudden you hardly have time to process it.

Wishing you all comfort and many happy memories!

[twodales]

So very sorry to hear about the pup. Ours is 13 now and his legs are giving out on him at times. It's so hard to lose them and to let go.

[rabaja]

Linda, I'm so sorry to hear about Logan. It's so hard to lose a part of the family, they become so dear and give us such happiness in life.
May you and your families mourning turn to happy memories soon.
Love the picture btw, he looks like he was a truly great dog.

[mariacarmen]

oh no! so sad! big black dogs are so loveable.... so sorry for all of you and your loss - i am sure you were a great Auntie to that big boy....

[PHREDDY]

that also means you have to deal with this heat!..it really sucks here in the Baked Apple....it has saped my desire to cook today....

[LindaWhit]

Central A/C allows me to avoid the heat, Phreddy. Right now, it's not bad in the Boston area (woke up to low to mid-70s temps) but they are supposed to rise. Humidity is a bit higher than yesterday. But the salad will take care of having to deal with any heat.

[Harters]

Tonight, we should have been going in to the city for Cantonese food. However, I am at death's door - laid low by a man cold.

So, instead, it is a brown gloop meal from the freezer. Or, rather, it is two separate brown gloop meals. And, actually, they're beige gloop, not brown.

One a chicken jambalaya type thingy looks beige and ricey. And there's a vague veggie pasta thing that looks beige and pasta-ey. It's labelled "veggie pasta".

Herself has taken on the role of hunter-gatherer and will return with a bag of mixed salad leaves from village convenience store. I shall be spending the day on the sofa , watching endless re-runs of CSI.

[PHREDDY]

Fell better....it probably does not what color it is...have you lost your taste with the cold?

[LindaWhit]

Man colds. The absolutely worse thing for a woman to have to deal with. ;-)

Feel better, my friend. CSI reruns isn't a bad way to spend a Sunday.

[gingershelley]

+1 on LW's comments... :)

[Dirtywextraolives]

Steamed baby Manila clams in white wine, linguica, shallots & garlic, grilled french bread
Grilled swordfish steaks
Baby heirloom cherry tomato relish w olives, feta, lemon & basil
Parmesan couscous
Lots of Frascati

[ChristinaMason]

That sounds great! Welcome to WFD.

[Dirtywextraolives]

Thank you for the kind words.

[gingershelley]

I'll take it Dirty xtra (what a moniker you have!), welcome, and it sounds delish!

[Dirtywextraolives]

Thank you both for the kind welcome! It was delicious, my husband has perfected grilling the swordfish perfectly, so this is a go to summer & party dish for us.

[BananaBirkLarsen]

After the 16 hour drive to our new place, and only 3 hours of sleep, we decided to make it easy on ourselves last night and got an quick dinner from Trader Joe's (which happens to be only a 10 minute walk away!) Roasted veggie lasagna and a salad of mixed greens, apple and kiwi, topped with champagne vinaigrette. Sourdough baguette with brie and salami as an appetizer, and a bottle of cheap temperanillo.

We spent the whole day today exploring our new city and were starving when we got home. I made a stir fry with chicken from the Whole Foods near my house, red pepper, bok choy, mushrooms, carrots and ginger from the produce market near my house, and black vinegar and soy sauce from the "international market," also near my house. All served on top of a pile of noodles. Lemonade with sparkling water on the side.

[PHREDDY]

So happy to hear you guys made it!......and sounds like you arfe gastronomically right back into things!...How is your new kitchen? un-packed and set up yet?

[BananaBirkLarsen]

Thanks! The kitchen is huge, but ugly, and it may develop an ant problem if I'm not careful. But it has a gas stove and a big fridge and lots of counter and cabinet space. It's not unpacked yet, and I've been using just one little bare spot of counter, since everything else is covered in boxes, but I'm going to take care of that today.

[LindaWhit]

Sounds like you've settled right into the new neighborhood, BBL. How great to have a TJ's just 10 minutes away, and with a WF near your house - enjoy!

[BananaBirkLarsen]

Yeah, the location is amazing. What I'm really excited about is this place: http://www.santafenewmexican.com/food... and also the apricot trees that grow absolutely everywhere here and also the fact that I found a charcoal smoker in the basement last night. There's even a bit of garden space that I can use to plant a few things.

[LindaWhit]

Oh Ziggy's Market sounds wonderful - enjoy exploring!

[gingershelley]

BBL - wow, sounds like you have great culinary shopping all set near where you two set up house. Great planning on your part:)

WElcome to your new home!

[BananaBirkLarsen]

Thanks! We really lucked out with the location. Most of the culinary shopping is located around one intersection (there's also a great wine store!) and we're only a 20 minute walk from what looks like an amazing farmer's market, and a half hour walk to downtown, where there are a ton of great restaurants.There are even a few great looking restaurants right near the house! We walked around downtown yesterday and just kept turning to each other, saying, "This place is great! We definitely made the right decision moving here!"

[gingershelley]

BBL! So excited for you guys - Santa Fe is a wonderful place - been a couple of times - and that market sure will be a treasure trove for your home cooking...

Now go out there and start sharing with us all the Green Chile stories:)

[nomadchowwoman]

You sound very well situated, culinarily, BBL. Location, location, location.

[weezieduzzit]

Wow,It sounds like the area is perfect for you two! Have fun exploring!!!

[mariacarmen]

congrats on your new home, BBL!! sounds like you're already well on your way to finding all the great spots!

[gingershelley]

Well, I think we are in our own world here in the NW, with our continueing cool, slightly cloudy NW weather; about 70 out, and they keep saying rain possible, but nothing but a small dampness on the ground from some fleeting shower overnight. I wish it was 'hot' but not what alot of you have got - sympathies!

So last night was solo, and just had a really great improvised salad; baby kale, arugula, diced ham, radish, fava's steamed with garlic and dill (chilled), bing cherries, and a garlic/blue cheese and lemon dressing with a dash of tahini sauce thrown in. SO GOOD. An ear of corn. I can eat like that when no one else around to care - tho I would share the salad with someone for sure - and will make again! Pic...

Tonight is going to be a couple of GF's over for a mild night al fresco on the patio (covered if it rains), and sweaters will come out if it cools off too much. I am making beef ribs with a smoked paprika/sugar/garlic/ salt rub, and a to-be-improvised Hatch green chili, cheddar, grilled zuchinni bake. Corn - avo - cherry tomato salad. And a friend is bringing chocolate CAKE (!) for one of friends birthdays. Should be great. Lot's of rose, music, and gossip.

Stay cool all!

[roxlet]

Rosé, music and gossip. Pretty much the definition of a fun evening, and the food sounds good too!

[gingershelley]

It was a nice evening, Roxlet; even if my zuchinni bake was not as great as I had hoped. Used some rice, cream and an egg to bring it all together; should have just stuffed the zuke's instead, as the grill flavor didn't come through.

But corn cake and rose (why can't I get the accent to show here like you do?) carried the night!

[LindaWhit]

The accent on rosé is made by holding down the ALT key and pressing 0233 on your number keypad. :-)

[gingershelley]

Well - LW - I raise a glass of rosé to you for the tip - now do you know how to put an umlot on an 'a'?

[ChristinaMason]

You can always cheat, as I do, and just google the word so you find the accented character to copy and paste.

[LindaWhit]

ALT - 0228. ä OR you can use the Character Map in your System Tools as well. Just put the pull-down menu on a basic font like Arial or Times New Roman and scroll until you find what you need.

[gingershelley]

You are all more techy than I am - thanks for the great advice! I used to rely on Frenchman for this sort of thing, and - well, in matters of language he wasn't the best, sort of thought there wasnt a good solution - look at you both food and language literate peoples! Awesome!

[roxlet]

Unless you have a Mac, in which case, if you hold down the e (or any key actually) a list of options for that letter appears.
aáâæaåaåa. For example, these are just some of the options that appear when you hold down the "a" key.

[gingershelley]

Solidly in the PC camp still - with the Frenchman having worked for Microsoft - no way was I getting away with switching back to Mac the last 3 years..... Certainly possible now:)

[LindaWhit]

Just by holding down a specific letter it shows you options? I like that. Don't remember that being available when I was on a Mac about 20 years ago!

[roxlet]

Yup. It's really simple.

[gingershelley]

Don't tell I said it - but LONG LIVE THE MAC! tiny smile. :)

[LindaWhit]

I hope those in the Mid Atlantic states are safe - just read about the severe storms that knocked out power to many.

Heat up in the Boston area is low 90s - and not as humid as yesterday, but still A/C weather. I got my toesies painted this morning ("An Affair in Red Square" OPI color - I've never gone this bright red before - I tend to stick with more neutral tones, but I like it!), and picked up some uber-mongo Frankenchicken breasts to make chicken-corn chowder to bring up to my sister's and BIL's cabin in Maine tomorrow. They'll keep in the freezer for some fall meals. (This was one of their Christmas presents - a full 6-quart pot of chowder! LOL)

I kept one of the Frankenchicken breasts out (froze the others) and tucked it into a Ziploc bag. I had some Trader Joe's OJ that was ready to be used up, so I added some ginger honey, dried minced thyme, freshly grated ginger, and some ginger-honey white balsamic vinegar to the orange juice and shook it all up. Poured it over the chicken and put it in the fridge to marinate. It'll be roasted in the convection oven alongside some Yukon Gold potatoes tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper, and paprika. Steamed asparagus alongside. And the rest of the Blue Bunny Bunny Tracks ice cream for dessert.

I expect dinners for the next few days in Maine will consist of an assortment of grilled items. I'll be bringing some CSA lettuce and radishes, store-bought tomatoes and my homemade maple-balsamic vinaigrette, as well as some red and green cabbage for some coleslaw makings. I don't think I'll have connectivity up there unless my sister brought her wireless card with her laptop. So if I don't see you over the next few days, I'll see you some time on Tuesday (although I know I'm going out to dinner with friends on Tuesday night, so no cooking that night!)

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and/or beginning to your long week off, if you have the early part of the holiday week off, as I do.

[roxlet]

Hot, disgusting, nasty weather, and I've barely budged from in front of the TV watching Wimbledon. I went into the kitchen to make a mango fool with raspberries for dessert, and then retreated quickly to a cooler room. That being the case, no cooking in the kitchen tonight! At 5PM it is still 95 degrees! So my husband came home from his Saturday peregrinations with lobsters, and since we have a outdoor deep-frying rig, they will be cooked outside along with corn. Add some butter, and that will be dinner tonight.

[LindaWhit]

That's a majorly good dinner! Perfect summertime meal.

[roxlet]

And I just heard the blender going in the kitchen, which can only mean one thing at this hour: fresh peach daiquiris!

[LindaWhit]

WOO HOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!! I *like* the way that man thinks. :-)

[roxlet]

And there was a cup of left over strawberry daiquiris in the freezer, and for the second round, we're now have strawberry/peach daiquiris! This is our summer thing -- we go through the fruit harvest with daiquiris, apricot/raspberry being one of my favorites...

[LindaWhit]

I don't have a blender, so I'm daquiri-less. Wait. I have a hand blender. Could it be.....????

And I love the "second round" as well. Apricot/raspberry sounds HEAVENLY.

[roxlet]

A hand blender would certainly work. I've made smoothies for my son using our stick blender, and they come out as thick as the daiquiris in the blender.

[LindaWhit]

I will have to try it out then. I don't use the stick blender often enough so this is a perfect use. :-)

[gingershelley]

Great way to roll in the heat Roxlet... lobsters and corn? That might take the sweat off of things:)

[nomadchowwoman]

What a delicious way to deal with the heat!

[Harters]

We like to bring back a cookbook as a souvenir of holidays. Can be tricky with some countries as we're not able to find one in a language we speak well enough to easily use (althouygh Babelfish gets us through much). But this week's "cooking the books" is fine as it's a touristy one in English - "Majorca Cooking and Gastronomy". Interesting spelling of "Majorca" as that's how we used to spell it in the UK - although we now understand the correct spelling of "Mallorca" is pronounced the same. It's a place we visit often and many of the dishes in the book are in our regular cooking - particularly when we're on the island. But, dinner tonight is all new.

The starter will be "granada d'alberginies". Diced aubergines, onion and red pepper are cooked together in olive oil and are left to cool somewhat. They're then mixed with eggs and turned into a baking dish and then get 40 minutes in the oven. It comes out looking like an aubergine cake , or tortilla like thingy. Some fried slices of red pepper and a tomato sauce accompany.

For the main course, "Escaldums". Chicken pieces are browned and set aside. Chopped onion goes in along with a whole head of unpeeled garlic to soften. Brandy, water, bay and the chicken goes in, along with seasoning and marjoram (or moraduix as its called in the local dialect of Catalan). Lid on and a 30 minute simmer. Chunks of potato get a good browning in oil and are added, along with ground almonds and everything gets another 10 minutes simmer.

Bon profit.

[LindaWhit]

The Escaldums sounds great, Harters. I mean, it's got garlic and brandy in it. How can you go wrong?

[gingershelley]

Sounds delish Harters... very Catalan/Mallorcan with the brandy, garlic, bay and ground almonds. Yums to that!

[Harters]

Chicken was good. Aubergine was a bit unthrilling.

[ChristinaMason]

Could you post a bit more detail on the Escaldums? It sounds like something I'd like to try. Bone-in pieces, yes? How much water, brandy, seasoning, and ground almond?

[Harters]

The recipe is for a chicken cut into eight bone-in portions (although we used a mix of boneless breasts & thighs as we had them in). For 4 people:

Chicken
300g small waxy potatoes
1 onion
i head of garlic
50g ground almonds
100mil brandy
250mil water
1 bay leaf
Marjoram & s&p

Joint the chicken, dust with flour and fry to golden and put to one side. Remove as much of the papery skin of the head of garlic as you can but still keep it as whole bulb. Fry the garlic and onion till soft. Put everything except the poatoes and ground almonds in the pan. Cover and cook on a low heat for 30 minutes. Brown the potatoes and add them to the pan after everything's had its 30 minutes along with the almonds. Give it another 10 minutes for the spuds to cook through and the almonds to thicken the sauce (which should be little more than a coating sauce).

Hope you like it.

J

(Meanwhile, I'll return to the sofa to continue watching Spain trounce Italy in the football final.)

[ChristinaMason]

This sounds fantastic. Thanks for the write-up!

[nomadchowwoman]

That does sound delicious!

[mariacarmen]

dinner was the bf's ribeyes - tasty but as they were a bit on the thin side they were slightly less rare than i would have liked. his baked fries alongside green beans. still, all pretty tasty.

tomorrow night i'm helping a girlfriend cater a tapas party, so tonight i made spanish albondigas in a very garlicky sauce and they smell DIVINE. also, thanks again to BabsW, i made a sherry vinegar/smoked paprika aioli which will top the tortillas de patata i'll make tomorrow. the aioli turned out beautifully - tart and smokey and rich. also, tomorrow i'll make this avocado cream which is sprinkled with toasted cumin seeds and served with toasted thin-sliced baguette. my friend is making mussels and something with sardines, and garlic mushrooms and spanish chorizo cooked in wine, and we'll have manchego and olives and i forget what all else (but dessert is a chocolate buttermilk "flan"!). to quaff she's making sangria and a sherry-tini,and i have three bottles of my latest new favorite Cava. the people we're cooking for (and serving) are one of my bosses and her friends, so she's insisting we sit down at points and eat with them too. twist my arm. should be a great night!

[PHREDDY]

My favzzzz!.....Cuz Ben needed little fix of some good old fashioned LOX and a Bagel (GShelly he works in West Seattle off of Califonia Ave.)....well I took him to the source...Acme Smoked Fish in Brooklyn, NY ( you might know them from Costco as the Blue Hill Bay fish products)....3 pounds of lox, 2 pounds of cold smoked salmon, 3 pounds of smoked whitefish...they open a "factory store to the public , Friday mornings from 8 am till noon....then off to the bagel store for 2 pounds of various cream cheses, a dozen bagels ....what a meal!!!!

[Berheenia]

Love the Blue Hill Bay smoked salmon at Costco's! We served it on buttered french country bread with a drizzle of parsley-caper-lemon pesto to a small crowd- so good.

[PHREDDY]

If you like their products @ costco.....imagine...we do , eat them fresh at the factory...what a difference....

[PHREDDY]

OY!!!! the picture...I know the story seems "fishy"

[LindaWhit]

The albondigas looks wonderful, mc! All of the tapas sound great. And Yay! that you're being asked to sit down and enjoy the meal with them. :-)

[gingershelley]

All sounds fab MC! Love a tapas menu, and your albondigas and aioli sound delightful, as does all the rest. Have fun!

[ChristinaMason]

that all sounds wonderful! how do you make your meatballs?

[mariacarmen]

thanks! i posted below re the meatballs.

[nomadchowwoman]

That sounds like a great party--yum!

[ChristinaMason]

The forecast tonight called for violent thunderstorms with 80-hr. winds just as I was preparing to form hamburgers for the grill, so dinner plans changed abruptly. I was craving "plain food" as my grandma-in-law terms it, so I made a ground beef stroganoff served with dilled zucchini ribbons. We both enjoyed it.

Dessert is one of the last of the Mexican beers from Cinco de Mayo. We'll probably split a bottle of Belgian sour a bit later.

[JungMann]

I really like your dessert options!

[kubasd]

me too! especially the sour.... I'm a sucker for the brett.

[roxlet]

In an effort to avoid heating up the kitchen, dinner tonight will be a grilled franken-porterhouse preceded by a Caesar Salad. And that's it!!!!

[LindaWhit]

A Frankenhouse! Is that like a McMansion?

[boyzoma]

LOL - That is fantastic! DH and I usually share a frankenhouse!

[nomadchowwoman]

You're a hoot, LW!

[LindaWhit]

I'M ON VACATION UNTIL INDEPENDENCE DAY! Woo hooo!!!!!

I thank whatever deity needs to be thanked for my decision to by the DeLonghi convection oven with a gift certificate from Williams-Sonoma about 10-12 years ago. It allows me to cook a chicken breast without heating up the kitchen in the blazing heat that has started again in the Boston area. A/C is on, but starting up the full oven would NOT be fun. I guess I could have used the grill pan, but I prefer roasting.

I rubbed a b/s Frankenchicken breast with some olive oil, and then mixed some additional ground sumac with a Tunisian Za'atar Rub from Vervacious (http://www.vervacious.com/) . It's in the convection oven roasting away @ 325 degrees (if in a regular oven, go for 375 degrees). White wine pan "sauce" after the chicken is done to drizzle over the chicken and couscous.

Alongside will be Israeli couscous toasted in some olive oil, and then mixed with dried minced onion, salt and dried thyme, and then boiling water added to cook the couscous. Also some TJ's roasted corn and pan-sauteed carrot pennies mixed together.

Oh yeah - wine has been drunk. And is still being drunk. I yam, after all, on a mini-vacation. Not that a regular weekend has *ever* stopped me before from having a glass of wine. Or two!

[Berheenia]

Stay cool Jewel- my weather thingie said 101 today in Brookline- yikes!

[LindaWhit]

I have been staying in the A/C. Went out for a sorely needed pedicure this morning (An Affair in Red Square" OPI red on the tootsies!) and picked up some chicken to make some chicken-corn chowder to bring up for my sister and BIL for "Maine meals". I went with Frankenchicken bone-in/skin-on halves which were the lowest price - $1.29/lb. One package was 3 chicken breasts halves....and it weighed 4 lbs. exactly. One was probably 1 lb., but the other two were MUCH larger - minus the bone, I'm assuming each was 1.25 lbs. of meat. Yikes. I feel sorry for these chickens! LOL

I don't think it's 101 up here, but it's at least over 90 degrees. It'll be about 10 degrees cooler in Maine tomorrow, according to the 5 day forecast.

[gingershelley]

LW - Those chickens must go around wriggling around on their boobs to move - so top heavy they would be DD-cup squared! Crazy! And the price... sure the chouda' will be delish.

Glad your heading to cooler climes - and with sassy toes. I tend to pick my OPI color based on the name, as much as the color. Hee!

[nomadchowwoman]

Have a fabulous vacation, LW--and glad you are off to cooler climes and that you are OFF until after 4th. Enjoy the chowdah! (And I'm sure someone has already titled a cookbook "Maine Meals," yes?)

[nomadchowwoman]

Some 1000 posts or so, and I'm finally caught up on WFD. As usual you folks have been cooking up a storm--or doing some creative non-cooking to keep cool. I would complain about our brutal heat, but for so many of you, it's bizarrely worse. Strange goings-on, but still we must eat.

We're recently back from a two-week road trip. First stop was Cashiers, NC (if there were good restaurants there, we didn't find them; best food of the long weekend was that catered for the wedding). But we ate very well during our stay in Asheville and exceptionally well at my cousin's lake house in VA (her husband is a fabulous cook, and my husband always looks forward to his lamb burgers).

Along the way home, we accumulated all manner of peaches--white, yellow, freestone--and nectarines. We spent some time in Atlanta, where we loaded up a cooler with Berkshire pork and grass-fed beef and clams and various vegetables from the amazing DeKalb Farmers Market in Decatur. I cooked my first meal in weeks on the last night of our stay, at my sister's. She doesn't cook, and what any of you or I would consider a "staple," she does not, necessarily--so putting a meal together there is always a challenge. We opted for sea scallops (w/lemon butter sauce), which ended up a little tough as I was trying for a sear (like the one on BabsW's gorgeous scallops!), but Sis does not own a anything “heavy-bottomed” (which may partially explain why she’s not, either). Sides were more successful: corn sliced off the cob and sautéed with shitakes and a few precious morels I sprung for at WF, wild rice, and a salad of “baby lettuces” and Sis’s neighbor’s excellent homegrown tomato. I also made Sis’s favorite, peach cobbler; everyone declared the crust the best ever. The only difference was I that I used organic cane sugar instead of the usual white stuff for the dough—would that make much of a difference in taste? I’ll be trying to repeat the magic this weekend so we shall see.

Since then, we’ve been enjoying the booty ferried back from Atlanta and the bounty of our local FM. Toast and fresh peaches--or tomato sandwiches--for breakfast; a BLT (w/arugula standing in for the lettuce) for one lunch—heaven. First night home, we had one of my all-time favorite meals: linguini w/white clam sauce (and grated parmigiano, correct or not) with a side of roasted asparagus.

Tomatoes right now are divine (one FM vendor grows not only the best creoles but also 10-12 kinds of heirlooms). So we’ve been eating them like crazy: simply drizzled w/good EVOO and topped with a bunch of snipped chives one night and served alongside Berkshire pork chops braised with Vidalia onion and sage as well as some baby zucchini sautéed w/garlic. Last night, we had a tomato-avocado-vidalia onion salad (w/sherry vinaigrette) and blistered green beans (thanks mc!) with garlic and sage with old-fashioned stuffed crabs (bought at the FM). I also tried and loved Christina Mason’s cocktail (gin, lemon juice, simple syrup, bruised sage leaves)—so refreshing.

Probably steak tonight and more fruits and veggies; still thinking on it . . .

[nomadchowwoman]

Forgot the pics:

[nomadchowwoman]

And last night's. (I go away now.)

[gingershelley]

Thanks for sharing, and please, NMC, don't go away :)

[ChristinaMason]

ooh. la. la.

[LindaWhit]

Amazing cooking while on the road at your sister's and GREAT shopping, ncw! And superb eating now that you're back home. Dining high on the hog!

[Hecetamom]

Grilled pork chop and a stir fried bok choy from my CSA.

[scubadoo97]

Got some dear friends coming over for dinner.
Starting with some thin french bread with, prosciutto, herbed goat cheese melted and topped with fig preserves
Another batch of the corn and asparagus soup
Roasted fingerling potatoes
Salad with lots of veggies
Costco strip steaks on the grill. Found the choice ones closest to prime in marbling
Fruit

[teezeetoo]

fresh tuna salade nicoise, good clear flour bread, watermelon and a really nice rose bubbly. The tuna from Cindy the Fishlady at the Brookline Farmer's Market yesterday, haricot verts, nicoise olives, fresh greens from the farmer's market, yukon gold potatoes, and a lovely garlicky, capery, mustardy vinagrette. Mmm....

[scubadoo97]

tzt, I like your menu!

[ChristinaMason]

ditto! sounds great. and scubadoo, yours sounds delicious, too, as usual. great steak there!

[LindaWhit]

Oh my. That appetizer bruschetta sounds so simple but wonderful. In fact, the entire dinner sounds wonderful - enjoy! I'm sure your guests will enjoy!

[rabaja]

Last night we had bone-in pork chops, a heritage variety, they would good and moist since we babied them on the grill.
To go with, heirlooms salted oh, so lightly and corn cut off the cob and sautéed with salt, pepper and butter.
I am embracing the simple flavors of things right now, although I couldn't resist a bit of freshly cut cilantro from the garden. This went on my corn and tomatoes, not his.
The last of the potato salad was eaten up, and a beautiful head of radicchio, which I also grilled, to cut the richness of pork fat and butter.
I've forgotten how to properly grill radicchio, which is tragic. I suspect my fire wasn't quite hot enough, as the color on the leaves looked blanched rather than dark and crispy.
Any tips out there?
Also, it's time to seek out some more good, syrupy balsamic. Mines almost gone, and we have a lot more tomato salads in our future.

[nomadchowwoman]

I am so afraid of grilling pork chops, even the heritage pork. Any special advice?

[boyzoma]

I too was afraid of grilling pork chops. But I got up the courage the other night (see my post in the previous WFD post). I was SOOOO happy with them. Juicy and tender. Had I known it would have been so easy, I would have been doing them for years! Hopefully this link helps. And, you can try it with all kinds of sauces. http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/8551...

Let me know if you try it ncw! I'll be interested to know.

[nomadchowwoman]

I remember those beauties, boyzoma! Thanks for the link.

[rabaja]

Aside from watching them like a hawk, this is what I think works...
We use a gas grill these days, a concession I made because I got my way in so many other areas concerning the set-up of the kitchen/the cooking/and let's face it, life. I've had to get used to it, after growing up with a charcoal grill, and a charcoal/wood loving snob of a grilling father.
It does make grilling anytime fast and easy, but you have to exert a little self control with the flame, otherwise you end up with dry meat and lots of carbon in your food.
This is what I do, for almost all of our grilling. All three burners get turned up to high for around ten minutes. Then we clean the grill and lower the middle to low. I try to cook just in the middle (there's only two of, usually), with equal heat on both sides.
The pork chops get a nice sear on both sides, but they cook slowly, with low heat.
I've turned my back and seen the husband cook boneless chops on higher heat, and these were dry. Now we both know the process...:)
You still need to watch them, and I definitely take pork chops off at med-rare and let them sit. I know this risks undercooking, but each time they've rested an ample amount of time, and have been juicy and perfect once on the plate.
This may not be very clear advice, but I hope it helps.

[ChristinaMason]

I'm with you on grilling greens: I only get it right about half the time. I think you need hot fire, enough olive oil, and greens that aren't too old and tough. Better luck next time!

[mariacarmen]

the clever BF has two little ribeyes air drying in the fridge which we will probably grill pan. don't know what else will go with that, but that's a pretty good start.

[boyzoma]

That sounds pretty good to me, mc! Love a good ribeye!!!

[PHREDDY]

Cuz Ben needed little fix of some good old fashioned LOX and a Bagel (GShelly he works in West Seattle off of Califonia Ave.)....well I took him to the source...Acme Smoked Fish in Brooklyn, NY ( you might know them from Costco as the Blue Hill Bay fish products)....3 pounds of lox, 2 pounds of cold smoked salmon, 3 pounds of smoked whitefish...they open a "factory store to the public , Friday mornings from 8 am till noon....then off to the bagel store for 2 pounds of various cream cheses, a dozen bagels ....what a meal!!!!

[GretchenS]

oh, YUM!!!

[gingershelley]

Oh... super big yummers on the smoked fish meal Phreddy! For all the salmon coming into our port here in SEA, we don't have the widest variety of great lox here in stores - I think the best is made in resto's and peoples back yards.
The bagel and lox feast sounds super.

And Cuz Ben is right down the road from me! If he is on SEA chowhound, let me know his 'handle', k?

[Berheenia]

I dropped the mouse and broke it and my smart phone is stupid and chow starts zooming around so I have not been able to read much WFD or post. I had serious linguica envy and last night I bumped the planned dinner for a trip to the closest grocery store but they are small and no linguica- every kind of chicken or turkey sausage or hot dogs but I got some smoked brats and cooked them in onion butter and beer until they got fat and then we snuck out and turned on the grill and got some marks on them. The only rolls at the store were Wonder Bread but at least they were New England style so I grilled them in butter and that was the dinner plus some lousy potato salad from a "Gourmet store" and some instant cole slaw- Dole Classic cole slaw mix with some Kraft Cole Slaw dressing and a pinch of sugar. Tastes like I bought it at the chain store but is a lot cheaper. Weekend plans are to make our own delicious potato salad and grill a steak Sunday. I think I'll put my lingiuca envy on hold as we'll be heading to Cape Cod in a few weeks and Provincetown has linguica on every other menu.

[Harters]

Upcoming - a virtuous, veggie meal at Casa Harters, compliments of a Nigel Slater recipe in the newspaper last summer that's been in the "to try" file since then. We were sort of waiting for summer - but I think the coldish, rainy days we've got are the nearest we're going to get this year. The news is awful. Serious floods to the north of us; a man swept away in a river to the south of us.

Courgettes are grated. Broad beans are briefly boiled and skinned. Brown basmati rice is cooked in a risotto style - onion softened, rice in, white wine in, stock in ladle at a time). As the rice is nearly cooked, the courgettes and beans go in, along with chopped mint, black pepper and Parmesan.

Unthrilling but virtuous.

[Berheenia]

Sounds downright civilized to me- we are looking at a weekend of heat. Airconditioned restaurants and cookouts maybe but no risotto.

[mariacarmen]

the BF made this odd football-shaped sausage rolled in curry spices he ground himself, sauteed til crispy on the outside, very juicy on the inside (just hamburger meat, s&p in the sausage). over that, he made a sauce of some hummus we had, thinned with a little water, some vinegar and lemon. and then he took some leftover asian-like pork we had in the fridge, food processed it (!!), and poured it over boiled potatoes as a sauce. salad of toms, red & yellow pepper slivers leftover from the stuffed pepper rings i made, and red leaf lettuce. he is very proud of his ability to make something out of nothing. and with good reason - it was all really good!

[gingershelley]

Nice job mc's BF - love a creative 'fridge cleaning' cook... mark of some of the best and most creative ones IMHO.

[GretchenS]

clever, clever BF! that looks and sounds terrific!

[nomadchowwoman]

That is impressive!

[gingershelley]

Had an amazing time at Farmer's market today. Ramps, Fava's. Little fat snow peas on offer. Still no local strawberries, that may send me to a much more expensive f"ashionable" market this weekend for local berries for canning and popping in my mouth...

But, 2nite, what is on offer is a small steak for just moi; marinated in new garlic, thyme, red wine, lots of smoked paprika and course salt.
Will be fixed up soon on the grill, with a side of left-over asparagus risotto, re-fashioned as a risotto cake fried up crispy outside, soft inside. Little pan sauce of garlic and red wine, with a dab of blue cheese to finish.

Will go well with the Thursday soundtrack of some Santana LIVE, Kelly Hogan, and Sun.Kill. Moon while I cook.

I think I may go all retro while I eat, and watch Joe Vs. the Volcanoe. A fave.

Happy Eatings all, on a week night!

[gingershelley]

like!

[scubadoo97]

I made a corn and aspearagus soup the other day that turned out pretty good

I diced a couple of small yellow onions and sweated them a bit. Then thinly sliced a handful of aspearagus stems and added it to the onions then added some water and simmered it down until they were soft. Added a bag of frozen corn that was rinsed and drained to this mix and cooked it a bit to get the flavors to meld

Dumped it all in the Vitamix along with a little BTB chicken base and a little chipotle/guava purée I keep on hand along with a bit of cilantro and blended this up with a little water and once blended added a little evoo while blending at a low speed. Added a little more cilantro at the end and blended it lightly. I poached the aspearagus tips in some water added to the dirty sauté pan to pick up some flavor of the vegetables and served these on top with a drizzle of some good fruity evoo to finish. The flavor was really good and exceeded my expectations

[scubadoo97]

Yesterday we had scallops and a salad

Today I made an Israeli couscous seasoned with Za'atar then added some small diced zucchini and quartered little red and yellow tomatoes to it. Topped it with some seared wild Alaskan Sockeye salmon

[BabsW]

Oh, salmon. Yum. That sounds like a nice meal. :9

[gingershelley]

Scbadoo, how are the prices for sockeye shaking out over there? Sounds delish!

[scubadoo97]

$10.99/lb @ Costco the other day. Missed $9.99lb a few weeks back. They sold out quickly

[viperlush]

Cottage cheese with blueberries. Going away for the holiday so trying to minimize shopping this week. Not much, but at least it reminded me that I do like cottage cheese.

[BabsW]

We go through a ridiculous amount of cottage cheese here. We never seem to get tired of it. Adding blueberries sounds like a refreshing touch.

[weezieduzzit]

Chicken breasts are brining and will hit the grill along side some zucchini from the garden. The man can have bbq sauce on his, mine will get a drizzle of coconut oil and land on top of a salad like everything else I've been eating. (its worth it, I'm almost ready for yet another new pair of smaller jeans.)

[BabsW]

Congrats! I've been cutting carbs and working out like a fiend and I am almost at the point where I need to go a whole size smaller.

I like the idea of a drizzle of coconut oil on the chicken. I'll have to try that.

[weezieduzzit]

Thanks Babs. There are some awesome ideas on your blog I'll be trying- and gorgeous pics. Very nice!

[BabsW]

Thanks! I've been working on improving my photography this year. lol

[gingershelley]

Congrats Weezie, but now you officially NOT on the town with MC and my jeans... you have to find your own fun - skinnier, and sharper. Tho perhaps we might send you a drink down the bar and toast you!

[weezieduzzit]

My jeans will miss your jeans and they hope yours catch up soon.

[gingershelley]

Oh, girl, ME TOO! I have a closet full of cute too-tight jeans (and more). Seriously - I can't bring myself to shop knowing all the cute clothes I have that should fit - well, when, not if!

[tzurriz]

Butter chicken, jasmine rice, and a salad of butter lettuce, cucumber, red grapes and ranch dressing.

[mariacarmen]

is butter chicken that dish they have at indian restaurants? mmmm...

[tzurriz]

Yes, and while I admit the ranch dressing was an odd accompaniment, it worked rather well.

[LindaWhit]

Ended up not going out to have drinks tonight. So I'm reheating a cup of homemade meat sauce to toss with some spaghetti. Some crusty rolls on the side. No salad, as the lettuce from the CSA will be heading north this weekend for a couple of days away in Maine.

[gingershelley]

pasta and sauce is always worthy; let us know how the weekend away works out LW!

[BabsW]

Tonight I had seared scallops with a grapefruit-sage beurre blanc and a side of balsamic-glazed Brussels sprouts and shallots.

I've been low-carbing it lately and so have been experimenting with a range of proteins and different sauces. I've been cooking a lot of seafood: salmon, trout, swordfish. I had halibut for lunch today, the first time I've cooked with it, as the price is usually prohibitively expensive.

[LindaWhit]

Holy crap. That's WAY better than my spaghetti and meat sauce! LOL That looks AMAZING!

[BabsW]

Thank you! I'd been thinking about a grapefruit-sage sauce for a while, and it was every bit as good as I'd hoped. :)

Mmm, I haven't had spaghetti in ages. I bet it was good!

[ChristinaMason]

mmmm, wow. that sauce is inspired!

[BabsW]

Thanks :) I was really thrilled with the result: tangy, smooth, creamy. I actually licked the plate. My mom would be horrified. lol

[LindaWhit]

Your house, your rules. :-)

[mariacarmen]

Babs! long time no see in these parts. you are putting us all to shame with that deliciousness! I think i would like to bathe in that sauce.

[BabsW]

It really is kind of a luxurious sauce. I bet it would moisturize nicely. :p

[gingershelley]

My hair even?

[BabsW]

I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest!

[mariacarmen]

where's that gd "like button"??

[kubasd]

WOW That sounds absolutely fantastic!

[BabsW]

I was very pleased with the result. :)

[mariacarmen]

Oh, and by the way, I gave you credit on the last thread for inspiring me to make the stuffed bell pepper rings (chorizo and egg - FANTASTIC), and also a pasilla pepper that same night! you are quite the muse....

[BabsW]

lol I'm always happy to inspire. :p

I love those stuffed pepper rounds. I'm thinking I may have it tomorrow after the gym. :D

[mariacarmen]

how did the halibut turn out?

[BabsW]

Beautifully. I did not f*** it up, as it turned out. ;-)

[mariacarmen]

hah - you did not! i really never doubted you...

[weezieduzzit]

Absolutely beautiful!

[BabsW]

Thanks!

[scubadoo97]

Does look really good. I've been cooking a lot of scallops. Just too darn easy and taste great

[BabsW]

I know! For the effort involved, they really turn out a fantastic dish. :)

[gingershelley]

Lovely Babs! Your scallops look like mine should have a couple days ago.... nice sear!

Grapefruit sauce sounds excellent. I should be low-carbing more (note for you to notice about a bunch of us WFD have our jeans running amok around town, as we can't keep it under control...) Smiles. Nice inspiration!

[BabsW]

Thank you. :)

Those jeans are pesky critters, running amok or just falling off!

[tiffeecanoe]

oh man, need to get my hands on some scallops! Looks delicious.

[nomadchowwoman]

Beautiful! That's what I was trying to accomplish a few nights ago--but mine didn't look anything like that.

[mariacarmen]

delete, wrong spot.

[DonShirer]

Made the CH recipe for Prosciutto-wrapped Mac and Cheese Cups. Nice, even though mine didn't turn out quite as pretty as the picture.

[todao]

Tonight's menu includes Taco salad plate with lettuce on a bed of lime flavored corn chips toped with cheese, salsa, freshly chopped onion and avocado.

[rabaja]

I would love a god taco salad right now. Yours sound delicious!
Why don't I ever think to make such a thing? I'm tempted to leave my pork chops for tomorrow and go out for some ground beef and corn chips!

[todao]

I forgot to include ingredients like beans in red sauce,and chopped tomato that also go on this concoction. I remembered those when I sat down for dinner. Leave the bag of corn chips on the table (or put 'em in a bowl if you're formal about those kinds of things) as the few that form the bed on the plate get eaten pretty quickly. Or, you can simply put it all on a bed of chopped or shredded lettuce and serve chips on the side. That's sometimes easier to handle.

[roxlet]

That's a favorite in our house!

[BabsW]

That sounds tasty! I love those chips with a hint of lime.

[mariacarmen]

yep, you may have started one of those WFD trends here... too late for me tonight, BF is in process of shopping for our dinner tonight, and i'm out tomorrow night (actually helping a friend with a catering gig - tapas - whoo-hoo!) but maybe Sunday....

[gingershelley]

I want THAT for dinner, todao - my mom used to make the best taco salad on EARTH. No, seriously, yummers!