Cheeses and bread from Cowgirl. Then cooked up some linguine and shrimp with an improvised sauce of garlic, leek, fresh tomatoes, EVOO and a little white wine. Pan fried a soft shell crab to have on the side. Talked my wife into eating 1/2 of one small crispy leg joint-- baby steps, baby steps...

Last night: arugula salad with grilled chicken and lemon vinaigrette

Tonight: Ensalada de cachelos y atun, from Penenlope Casas' Tapas (made of course with local potatoes), green salad, bread, humboldt fog, rose to drink

Pizza tonight. I'm trying the cold ferment method on my dough and I'll be cooking on a pizza stone on my grill.

I know I shouldn't be trying two new things at once, but that's just the kind of crazed rebel cook I am.

The various pies are:

1) A pizza version of my flank steak with blistered serranos and tequila-lime sauce tacos (plus homemade guac!)
2) Pizza margherita w/ buffalo mozz from Cheesetique
3) The requisite plain cheese
4) Italian sausage & ricotta with sundried tomato pesto in place of tomato sauce
5) A veggie lovers with red and yellow peppers, carmelized onions, spinach, some kind of mushroom, and (if my annoyingly picky guests will allow me) goat cheese*
6) Spicy vodka-tomato cream sauce with shrimp and sausage

*Seriously, one guest always told me they hated goat cheese because it tastes like plastic. So to teach them a lesson, I made them eat my remote laser surface thermometer. Now they just say EVERYTHING tastes like plastic. True story.

cornmeal crusted fried catfish with homemade tartar sauce
buttermilk biscuits
sweet corn with butter
herb salad
lemonade
ice cream with strawberries fopr dessert

You left out the most important part! What kind of ice cream?

Unfortunately not homemade. No time.

Purchased vanilla gelato, with raspberries instead of strawberries, because they looked and tasted better.

I love this time of year!!!!! A vegetable dinner with my bounty from two days of market shopping.....

Salsa and chips to munch on while I prepared the rest of dinner
Fava puree with truffle salt, ev olive oil and parmesean
Roasted squash blossom that were still attached to their baby squash, stuffed with a goat cheese, fava bean,
herbs and truffle salt and topped with parmesean cheese
Blueberries and raspberries on top of a snickerdoodle cookie and topped with whipped cream.
Pomegranate Izze


All of the veggies and fruit used for dinner came from New Morning Farm, the Mt. Pleasant Market or Dupont Market.

Just bought some truffle salt from Cheesetique. I could put that stuff on everything. Or smell it all day. Either one is good.

Made pork vindaloo from The Best Recipes in the World last night. Delicious? Yes. Vindaloo? Not like any I've ever had. Sauce, even after reducing by half, was still much thinner and subtly flavored than expected. Maybe it needed some ghee.

Source of these squash blossoms? Mt. Pleasant? Sounds fabulous!

I am not sure I have ever seen them sold this way in D.C. before.

The squash blossoms were from New Morning Farm. They also had the blossoms available with out the squash attached.

easy-peasy summer meal:

grilled smoked sausage
homemade vidalia onion relish
corn bread
tomato, cucumber, and vidalia onion salad

ice cream cones for dessert

Fava bean pesto bruschetta

Fig-walnut ravioli with gorgonzola sauce
Domaine Dirler Riesling (good stuff)

Pork loin with smashed red bliss potatoes, marsala-mushroom sauce and broccoli
Saintsbury Rose of Pinot Noir


Cupcakes

Grilled strip steaks
grilled corn on the cob
grilled veggie skewers
fruit salad
green salad with homemade buttermilk dressing

blueberry cobbler
strawberry shortcake

Charcoal-grilled shrimp skewers
Lemon aioli (WAY too much garlic )
White bean salad

2004 Pazo Senõrans Albarinõ

Rustic apricot tart with vanilla ice cream

I need to go make most of this now, but this is the menu:

SLOOOOW Smoked spare and baby back ribs
Homemade potato chips
Grilled Corn on the Cob with a chive compound butter
Corn Bread
Coleslaw

Finished with
Nutella Gelato

Oh and lots and lots of beer and 1+1=3 Rose

Last night we had grilled sweetbreads with chimichurri sauce (Gourmet May '06, and on Epicurious.com), grilled corn on the cob, and steamed rainbow chard. It was our first attempt at grilling sweetbreads, and we really enjoyed them.

Who knew that Avondale rose of cabernet sauvignon would go so well with Hebrew Nationals?

I'll make a note of that!

Tonight we had Cibola Farms spareribs, which were delicious in spite of the excess of black pepper in my rub, along with steamed corn on the cob and broccoli, oven-roasted potatoes in chimichurri sauce, and grilled eggplant Graziella style (Fabio's recipe), which was fabulous.

-Grilled burgers which were 3/4 ground sirloin and 1/4 ground bacon, topped with Maytag blue cheese - myocardial infarctiolicious
-Grilled corn on the cob with a garlic, paprika & honey composite whipper butter
-Leftover truffled mashed potatoes
-Watermelon
-Cookies & cream pie

We don't have a grill, but managed a summer meal anyhow: braising a pork tenderloin with dry rub (cumin, paprika, brown sugar, cayenne, S&P), and boilin' up some corn on the cob.

Far be it for me to swim against the tide...

Hickory-smoked ribs: (Jonathan LOVED the succulent ribs at China Gourmet, and while I wasn't looking for Asian flavors on this all-American holiday, I did make some Chang-inspired changes in the usual way I slow-cook ribs. First they spent some time with a dry rub on them, then braised in the oven, in a beer and chicken stock with lots of aromatic veg and herbs, at low temperature for about three hours. They then spent two hours in the Weber kettle on indirect heat with pans of braising liquid directly underneath, and a slow charcoal fire banked to the side onto which I sprinkled a goodly amount of wet hickory chips. I turned and wet-mopped the ribs with braising liquid a few times, and then brushed on some homemade bbq sauce for the last few minutes.) The were falling off the bone tender, juicy. Absolutely the best ribs I've ever made.

BBQ sauce--tomato based (what can I tell you...I'm from the West Coast) with the usual plus a few surprise ingredients: cumin, chipotle powder, chopped grilled peaches, pomegranate molasses. Long, slow cooktop time. Excellent.

Garlic mashed potatoes

Cole slaw with coconut dressing (this was a pantry improvisation. I usually put crushed pineapple into coleslaw dressing, but didn't have any on hand. I did have some small cans of coconut milk, and added some to the mayo-yogurt-rice vinegar-sugar combo that is the usual basis for the dressing. I added onion and celery seed and whizzed it together. It worked! He liked it! So did I...)

Leftover apricot tart

2005 Turkey Flat Rose

Tonight, an easy dinner for one:

Steamed Dungeness Crab*
Steamed corn on the cob
Steamed artichoke
Garlic lemon butter

*Labeled "Vancouver Crabs" today at the Great Wall, they were $5.99/lb. I was looking over my shoulder for security guards after I paid for my crab and left the store--I felt like I stole it!

[and with that, I am a Hammerhead!]

forager's wild oyster mushroom tart
charcoal grilled ribeye
corn off the cob
spiced new potatoes

2002 Ch. Reignac St. Emilion

watermelon cubes

gazpacho with a bit of lemon olive oil and crumbled goat feta
filet mignon au poivre
blueberry wheat beer
buttermilk banana ice cream

Since Dame Edna picked up a bunch of peaches at the Dupont Circle Farmers' Market on Sunday, this evening we had the season's first episode of Chicken with Peaches and Basil. It won't be the last.

Also made peach sorbet today with the rest of 'em.

Broccoli soup (Broccoli, sel gris, broccoli blanching water) as seen through my wholly inadequate digital camera. The green color is amazing. The creme fraiche is practically an insult (that said, some lemon zest might be neat as well dusted on top there).

Drawing inspiration from zoramargolis’ lavender, Monique DC, LaShanta, Corrine and yours truly, gathered for potluck. All dishes used lavender

Legant: lamb strips with a balsalmic-honey-lavender glaze served with (lavender-infused) orzo pasta with goat cheese:

LaShanta: Chicken, marinated in thyme and lavender, served over rice:

Corrine: Cornish hens, rubbed with a lavender butter, served on a bed of spinach and couscous:

Monique DC: Bread pudding with blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries with a lavender crème anglais. [Sorry, no pictures; we were too busy smacking our lips.]

Thanks Zora!

pasta shells tossed with small potatoes, olives, red-leaf spinach and garlic sauteed in butter and olive oil.

cherries.

water.

OK, girls. I am going into Jewish-shrewish mother mode here. So, this is how you thank me? You prepare a fabulous meal like this, with the lavender I gave you, and you don't invite me? All I get is pictures? Would it have killed you to pick up a phone and call? But, no, really, don't worry about me. I'm fine. I'll have a Cup o'Noodles, and that'll be plenty. I don't need much. And besides, my doctor told me to watch my lavender intake. So you go ahead and have the leftovers, too. Gesunter hayt!

Sandwiches made from RTS leftovers. Tomato, romaine, vidalia onions, Maytag blue, all on a baguette that's been broiled while covered in my paprika/garlic/thyme composite butter.

It's served with a pickle and some Terra garlic & onion potato chips (who wants to kiss me NOW?).

-Grilled zuchini with some McCormick's veggie seasoning
-Grilled sage-rubbed vidalias
-Grilled lamb... something (shoulder?) rubbed with garlic and rosemary
-A fire roasted orange pepper and roasted zuchini puree with honey, cumin, and cayenne*

*I roasted the veggies over my chimney starter while the coals were lighting. I thought that was a pretty cool trick if I do say so myself

some more from deborah madison:

golden fennel with linguine.

this recipe swallows up one whole lemon, its juice and zest, so it is lemony, and it calls for fettuccine that was not on hand. three good-sized fennel bulbs are sauteed for about 40 minutes in butter and olive oil, a three-step process starting out over high heat and then simmering down in water with the lid on the pan. chopped fennel greens, garlic and the zest are added at the end. i also added ricotta i had no other use for, a suggested variation, and dust with parmesan. by the time it is finished, the fennel is saucy.

red currants from the farmers market, served plain, and not as plump as those i remember from my early childhood in frankfurt, when our maid would take us picking and then serve them in a bowl with cream and sugar. i don't know how other people feel about raw currants, but even my wife, who dislikes the seeds, conceding they do hold flavor, is coming around to them. they are my madeleines.

a bottle of silverado sauvignon blanc, lemony too.

a small bucket of vodka with watermelon juice sans seeds, because it was a hot summer day, which has never been a rarity in washington.

(this is a meal i would gladly serve to the zany character played by amy sedaris in "candy from strangers" after she snaps her father out of a coma by (almost) winning the science fair by devising a (shank-free) battery out of materials available in prison. children, and childish adults, would like it, but for the littlest you might have to sugar the wine.)

How can you make fettuccine if you don't have any fettuccine?

Sounds good. I love slow-cooked fennel.

Grilled chicken with a lemony grilled vegetable medley. The vegetables were fennel, rabe, and radicchio seasoned with lemon thyme salt, lemon balm, and blanched lemon rind. The vegetables were nicely caramelized and the subtle lemon flavors of the herbs and rind brought a nice complexity to this dish.

you must improvise.

Cooked fennel is only occasionally served chez moi, since my daughter only likes fennel raw in a slaw with olive oil and lemon, and my husband doesn't like it at all. I roasted some fennel wedges the other night, with Meyer lemon olive oil and ended up eating the leftovers for lunch--delicious.

Last night, I did a charcoal-roasted, herb-brined Polyface chicken, which was about as good as a chicken can get. Served it with fresh corn polenta-- creamed corn combined with corn off-the-cob, slowly stewed with butter. And braised chard. Chilled 2003 DuBouef Julienas Cuvee Prestige. Watermelon for dessert. Ah summer. Food--yay! Weather--boo!

And what, pray tell, is a Polyface chicken? I'm guessing it's not, as my imagination hopes it is, a crazed mutant chicken with two heads.

It's beyond organic, sustainably raised chicken from Polyface Farm in Swoope, VA recently made famous in Michael Pollan's book, _the Omnivore's Dilemma_. It's sold at the Dupont Circle Farmers' Market by Eco-Friendly Foods, which is owned by Bev Eggleston, who built a small meat-packing plant in the Shenandoah Valley, also now made famous in Pollan's book. These are chickens who follow the grass-fed cows into the pastures, eat bugs and grubs and grass in the sunshine and live happy, though short lives, are humanely slaughtered and taste absolutely delicious.

Do you have a recipe for the lamb strips and the cornish hens? Both look really good, I am been running out of ideas for dinner. I think I will try these next week

Margaritas made with Herradura silver, Cointreau and Agavero

Spinach salad with grilled wild Copper River salmon (from Costco, of all places, $8.99 a pound, fresh and good!-- I also bought some for gravlax)
Roasted beets with orange vinaigrette
Marinated white beans
cherry-blueberry-apricot compote

2005 Ch. Guiot Rose´

To celebrate my wife’s birthday we had burgers on homemade focaccia, and topped with freshly made pesto. This was served with fries served with a homemade mayonnaise.

We washed it down with a 1996 Pol Roger Rose, a vibrant, and flavorful champagne.

Also can be found on Saturday mornings at Courthouse. These are great tasting chickens, even the white meat has a very chickeny flavor and the whole texture is different, denser somehow. I've rubbed with a spice paste, spatchcocked and grilled with great results. These are smaller birds that what you would find at a supermarket so the cooking times are conveniently shorter.

Pasta with chicken and an "I have crappy ingredients that don't stand up well enough on their own so I have to embelish them with lots of other ingredients so I end up with a way-too-complicated" pesto.

IHCITDSTUPWEOTOSIHTETWLOOISIEUWAWTC Pesto Ingredients
Roast in foil over grill:
Pine nuts, fresh oregano, garlic, lemon slice, salt, pepper, and EVOO

Mix in food processor until pesto-y with:
Fresh oregano, locatelli cheese, EVOO, lemon juice, maple syrup, dried basil, salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar, cumin, paprika, cayenne, beau monde seasoning and, uh, probably some other crap

Wednesday: Emerald Martinis (3:1 Tanqueray to dry vermouth, with a splash of green Chartreuse); Sausage and Spinach Pie from "How to Be a Domestic Goddess," made with Snider's sausage.

Thursday: Beef and bean burritos on Bueno tortillas imported from New Mexico, Harp Ale.

Tonight: Martinis and Cowgirl Creamery cheese tasting! 4:1 Hendricks martinis alongside a baguette, Gubbeen, and Red Hawk.

Salad of romaine lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, nicoise olives, basil and bleu cheese, dressed with a Rozendal vinaigrette

Cheeses: Rassembleu (lait cru, biologique), Ste. Martine (lait cru brie), with a baguette

Avondale CS Rosé

Tart with leeks, speck and Comte
Spinach salad with lime vinaigrette
Sharlyn melon

2004 Weingut Strauss Gelber Muskateller

we drove to Uzes France last night to have dinner at Chez Waitman and Mrs. B. After a bit of foraging - literally in the case of the rosemary - we ate:

Melon with jambon. Sauternes

Veal entrecote, marinated with garlic, olive oil, and rosemary. Chops were boned, sauteed and finished in a hot oven. We made stock with the bones for a chanterelles sauce. Served with tagliatelle and zucchini gratin.
Gigondas and Lirac.

Mache, heirloom tomatoes. Six cheeses, including aged crottin. Pain au Levain.

Purchased Mille-Feuille, eclairs, tarte au abricots. Chocolates from Joel Durand's shop in St.-Remy. The rest of the Sauternes.

In the words of the inimitable Waitman, it was a proper meal. Delightful food, delightful company, on a terrace watching the sun set and stars come out.

Two good dinners this weekend. Nothing like the lucky folks in France had, I'm sure, but still tasty.

Saturday: an actual successful homemade Indian dinner, with sauteed eggplant, okra stir-fried with tomatoes and jalapenos, and tandoori chicken a la Mark Bittman. Produce courtesy of the Star Hollow Farms online farmers market. Beautiful, beautiful okra.

Sunday: steak sandwiches with onions, parmesan, and chervil-shallot mustard. Fresh corn. Panzanella.

My daughter returned yesterday from a three-week backpacking trip, craving fresh food. She told me that she and a friend on the trip had spent hours talking about what great cooks their moms are, and naturally that affected my ego not one whit...

Since I came home from Dupont yesterday with a TON of tomatoes, and she is a vegetarian, we had:

Cherokee purple tomato slices with fresh mozzarella, basil, EVOO and 10 year balsamic
Rosemary bread
Orecchiete pasta with fresh tomatoes, roasted garlic, ricotta, Reggiano and basil
Romaine, cucumber and avocado salad with lime vinaigrette
Apricot upside-down cake