Trying to clear the refrigerator again, I made a batch of baked ziti with cilantro-mint pesto for a sauce and a variety of add-ins mixed through. It tasted far better than the list of ingredients sounds: fresh corn, sun-dried tomatoes, bacon, spinach, arugula, and shredded romano cheese.

A nice big bowl of hot udon soup topped with bean sprouts, sliced pork, and a generous shaking of seven-spice. Go away, cold!

Thursday:
Pasta with a browned butter sage* sauce

Friday:
roasted thai eggplant stuffed with goat cheese

roasted eggplant*, tomatoes* with a basil* chiffonade
spinach-mozzarella-roasted garlic* polenta

2006 Flint (a souvenir from a friend's recent trip to Germany. Gawd, I love this stuff! Very crisp and "tingly." I gotta find a US distributor.)

Warmed blueberry Dollies scone

*CSA

salsa and chips
mesclun salad
ambrosia corn on the cob (w/butter)
brown rice with tomatoes, peppers, onion, zucchini

Corn on the cob with truffle butter
Grilled NY strip sandwich w/ fresh tomato, dijon, mayo, & romano on uber whole grain
Bruschetta made in my time-dilating broiler*
Chocolate cake w/ Breyer's original vanilla
2004 Penfold Cabernet Shiraz (anyone ever watch Danger Mouse? Wasn't Penfold the name of his assistant?)


*The bread'll be in for ten minutes without getting warm, then three seconds later I open the door and they're burnt to a crisp.

My broiler burns toast as soon as I turn by back. Never happens when I'm watching it.

Last night:
Pasta with chicken and mushroms in a white wine cream sauce.

Saturday:
Grilled flat iron steaks
fresh succotash
smashed yukon gold pototoes with parmasan, butter and a touch of cream
mixed berry sherbert (Safeway brand)

yogurt with fresh peach chunks
leftover spicy brown rice
red siberian kale, blanched then braised with sake, garlic, and red pepper flakes

grilled polyface chicken - completely awesome with just salt and pepper
grilled zucchini and yellow squash
cucumber and onion salad with fennel fronds (no dill in the house)

Shouga-yaki: ginger-glazed pan-fried pork. Served with shredded cabbage and sliced green pepper from the neighbor's garden.
With it, we drank imo-shochu, sweet potato liquor. Actually, we drank a LOT of imo-shochu.

That sounds really good.

Tonight was
broiled lemon sole with herbed bread crumbs
string beans
corn on the cob

I changed my mind several times before I put dinner together. It ended up being an Asian-ish dish with chopped bok choy and radicchio, garlic and onion, sauteed and mixed with (cooked) ground turkey, seasoned with Penzey's Singapore Seasoning, hot pepper sesame oil. sesame seeds and salt, crushed red pepper flakes, and soy sauce. This got tossed in with some fresh bucatini from Eastern Market that had been boiled and quickly fried in some olive oil.

Wow. This was really good. REALLY good.

Bouillabaisse with halibut, cod, littleneck clams and mussles (L'Academie de Cuisine recipe - Susan Holt, I think))
Mixed Greens and Arugala Salad with chevre and garden tomatoes
Ch. Reynier Bordeaux Rose (2006) (darker and bolder than most roses)

Tonight I made one of my very favorite dishes, which I don't get the opportunity to make often: Succotash with fresh limas and corn. I don't like to add a lot to it, but I did want to add a little cream. Didn't have cream or whole milk, so I added a couple of dollops of mascarpone to the hot vegetables. That did the trick--worked just like adding some cream. Otherwise, the only seasoning was some good black pepper on top.

The whole meal was:

Butter lettuce salad (proscuitto; farmhouse gouda; french bread crouton topped with poached quail egg; light vinaigrette)
Baked chicken breast
Succotash
Baked potato

Charcoal roasted, herb brined Eco-Friendly chicken
Green beans
Grilled baby summer squashes
Heirloom tomato salad

Coconut-corn pudding (recipe from Gourmet Magazine Latin foods issue) with fresh peaches

2003 DuBouef Julienas

We hosted our first dinner guests last night. I feel kind of weird about making Japanese food for Japanese people, so we had cocktails and Italian-ish instead.

3:1 Tanqueray martinis
Nama-hamu (Japanese prosciutto-like ham) with Iwate cantaloupe
Penne with Marcella Hazan's tomato and butter sauce, using more tomatoes from the neighbor across the street
Iwate spinach salad with balsamic vinaigrette and toasted garlic chips
Cheesecake

Last night we had a veggie-teen worthy dinner! Fried green tomatoes (Toigo farm) with fresh mozzarella and tomato sauce ( a la Marcella Hazan) and sauteed squash with thyme and shredded parm. Also, Toigo farm mirai corn.

Tonight's dinner is the leftover spanakopita from brunch, with a big salad (butter lettuce, olives, cucumber, tomato, red bell pepper) and garlic bread.

Veggie-teen may need a new moniker. She's always eaten a little bit of fish and seafood. Since she came back from Ecuador, where she ate some meat in order not to be a burden on her host family, she is still eating chicken occasionally--like in taquitos or tamales. No red meat or pork, however.

Last night we all had grilled swordfish with cilantro-lime butter
fregola pasta with sauteed wild oyster mushrooms (foraged in Battery Kemble)
green beans with roasted red pepper and garlic

corn-coconut pudding

2006 Domaine Sorin Rosé

Mesclun salad with roasted beets, heirloom tomatoes and homemade lavender goat cheese, lemon vinaigrette
Charcoal grilled rack of lamb, marinated in garlic, mint and rosemary (V-t had mozzarella di bufala)
Homemade crabapple-mint jelly
Fresh creamed corn
French lentils with roasted red peppers, roasted garlic and basil

Roasted plum and fig compote with Greek yogurt

2003 Llicorella Priorat

This looks really interesting. Could you share the recipe/technique? My husband doesn't really like coconut, but I do. It might be good to make when we have guests.

It's in the September Gourmet Magazine, their Latin foods issue, which is really worth buying and keeping. It's the best issue they've done in eons. The recipe is called Majarete, on page 122. Fresh corn is cut off the cob, pureed in a blender with coconut milk, sugar, vanilla and cornstarch, put through a strainer and then cooked until thickened.

Thanks. My subscription has been on the verge of expiring, and I don't know if I got that issue or not. I'll have to check my pile of unread magazines.

Long day (and night) of work. Put two frozen burritos in the microwave at around 10:30. Grabbed hot sauce. Checked burritos-- still cold. Turned on TV. Checked burritos-- still cold and tortilla is cracking. Tuned TV (my new 42" high def Aquos-- HAH!) to US Open. Checked burritos-- still cold and filling is oozing out. Poured glass of water, found napkin and placed on coffee table. Checked burritos-- they seem done now. Carry to sofa. Watch Ferrer hold his own against Nadal. Feel burrito, still cold. Put back in microwave. Decide to do more work, fire up the laptop. Check burrito-- tortilla is in shreds by now with filling bursting out. Feel what is left of burrito. Seems hot. Take bite and teeth melt off. Wait a couple of minutes while watching Ferrer push Nadal around the court. Take another bite with liberal dose of hot sauce. Center still very cold. I hate those fucking microwaves. Eat burritos anyway while watching Nadal melt down and I answer a few e-mails. Then I eat some almonds and cashews. Dinner.

Margherita pizza with dough from The Italian Store, homemade tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella and basil.
Nectarine, sour cherry and blueberry cobbler.

The Italian Store sells pizza dough? I was just in there on Monday and wish I had known. Is it is the refrigerator or do you have to ask for it?

It's in the freezer section, back left by the pizza.

Pork tenderloin with plum-apple sauce
Brown rice grain mix with spiced cashews

Huh?



Pictures, woman! Pictures! Consider posting photos of the plated meals. We've learned, from your blog, that your digital photo skills are top notch. And, I'm sure I'm not the only one who would love to see more pictures.

Xochitl10: You too!

Fried pasta??!! I've browned raviolli, but have never "fried" pasta. Do tell.

Have you ever tried a “new” recipe only to realize… after the first bite… that you’ve made this before… and it wasn’t that good the first time around? And, unfortunately, you’re committed – waste not, want not – to finishing the damned thing.

Tuesday:
Cherry Tomatoes*
Black bean patties
Dad’s (CSA) cucumber and dill salad

Maker’s Mark Manhattan

Monday:
Lay’s Potato Chips*
Shrimp and pasta salad (with CSA green pepper, cucumber, tomato, hot pepper)**

Absolut Screwdriver


*While waiting for the salad flavors to meld.
**An homage to Pat’s clean the fridge project; next: the freezer.

You don't like coconut?

I'm not talking about deep frying, just a quick stir fry in some olive oil. It probably wasn't necessary. I didn't really even brown it much. I could have left the pasta plain or just coated it in oil. It just seemed like it needed something before going in with the turkey and vegetables.

I've tried to make real fried spaghetti, where you mix it with an egg and make a pie out of it, and I couldn't get it to hold together. I've got to try that again.

If you ask, they'll go in the back and get you fresh dough (not frozen) so you can make pizza as soon as you get home

turkey meatballs
tzatziki
spanakopita

Steamed artichokes vinaigrette
Caldo de camarones (shrimp in a soup of tomatillos, poblano and jalpeno chiles, roasted tomato, onion, garlic and cilantro--VERY spicy)
tortillas
Cerveza Modelo Natural and Dale's Pale Ale

Peach crisp with vanilla gelato

Braised turkey thighs with peppers and onions

served on a bed of
Kale and Brown Rice

topped with
Cherry Tomatoes

After reading the above description, I’m grateful I couldn’t find a reference for Food and Whine magazine. Surely there was another recipe out there for pasta and tuna.

Sunday:
Sliced (CSA) cucumbers
Tuna, stir-fry frozen vegetables, and (CSA) hot pepper over
Whole-wheat linguine
Roasted (CSA) squash and zucchini with garlic

Arizona Raspberry Iced Tea (gawd! I love this stuff!)

Baker’s semi-sweet chocolate square

Saturday:
Roasted pork chop w/ Apple Butter
Leftover macaroni and cheese
Broccoli and cauliflower melody

Belmondo Pinot Grigio

Friday:
Pan-fried trout
Stouffer’s Macaroni and cheese
String beans

Fetzer Sauvignon Blanc

[Part of the ongoing "clean cupboard, clean fridge, clean freezer" project.]

Wood-grilled, dry-aged rib-eyes
Wood-grilled asparagus
Wood-grilled peaches
Wood-grilled corn with garlic-lime butter
Fresh peach sorbet

1998 Hickinbotham Shiraz

(And, to the two rabbits grazing happily in our herb garden, you're next.)

Was the cooking done in a barbecue? A fire pit? I've always associated wood-fire cooking with campfires. What kind of wood did you use? What did the fire look like when you started to cook--ie. was the wood still basically intact and flaming or had it transitioned to glowing coals? What sort of grate were you cooking on? How would you compare it to charcoal cooking?

I grilled dinner on a 22 1/2" Weber with a cast iron grate insert, and used a combination of oak charcoal that was made up in Harford County, and a few blocks of hickory wood. I usually wait until there's a fair amount of white ash so as to ensure that the grate is at it hottest point. It's charcoal cooking and, too, wood grilling; an excellent combination of flavor and heat.

3:1 Old Overholt Manhattan with a dash of bitters
Mackerel simmered in dashi stock with miso and ginger
Chingen (Shanghai cabbage, like bok choy but smaller) sauteed with sesame oil and red pepper flakes
Genmai topped with some kind of a chili relish, both from Azami's rice farmer student

black bean quesadillas

charcoal-grilled ribeyes with red chile recado
grilled portobello stuffed with recado and cheese grits for Veggie-teen
succotash of fresh corn, favas and roasted red peppers
roasted garlic mashed potatoes

2004 Santa Helena Aureus Cabernet

Peaches with honey-vanilla mascarpone

Simple, yet satisfying:

Vermicelli
tossed with olive oil, garlic, red peppers
smothered with parmesan

Arizona Raspberry Iced Tea (I can't say it enough: Gawd! I love this stuff!)

filipino chicken stew w/ pepper leaves for dinner

then baked a lovely peach cobbler and our first ever bread pudding!

The other day we tried 'Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Hot Dogs". Which we used kielbasa on actually. Smeared with ketchup and mustard on the inside, with cheese inserted and covered by sauerkraut and then wrapped in bacon and tossed on the grill. Below is what it looks like. It tasted quite good. You can't eat this stuff with any frequency, but every once in a big while, it's worth it.

Saffron Cream of Caulifower Soup
Lemon Pepper Baked Cod
Steamed Broccoli

Roast Chicken via Palena Post
Potatoes, parsnips and onions underneath the roast chicken
Steamed Zucchini from the garden
Fresh Sautéed spinach in EVOO and garlic
Strawberries and ice cream

Pork, kimchi, and cheese okonomiyaki and a giant bottle of Sapporo Black Label beer. Delicious on a chilly mountain night, but it's too bad the kimchi was bland, bland, bland.

Barbacoa de cabrito (red chile recado marinated goat shoulder, wrapped in banana leaf and steamed in a slow oven for 4 hours)
Veggie-teen had barbacoa de tofu
Frijoles refritos
Arroz amarillo
Salsa cruda

Magic Hat Fat Angel amber lager

Randolph's cupcakes

Iceberg lettuce salad with cucumber and tomato
Raisin challah
Pork tenderloin with lemon roasted potatoes