Blue ribbon cornbread? Please do tell us more about that!

txaggie and I cooked dinner for my family. Forgot about taking any pictures, though:

Roasted red pepper, garlic and goat cheese crostini

Crab and corn flan

Pork tenderloin with fresh peach chutney

Raspberry and blueberry tart

She grew up on a farm in Harford County, and learned the basics from her family and the nice ladies at the 4-H club. She uses only stone-ground corn meal, which has wonderful taste and texture, and a very heavy, hot cast iron skillet that's pre-buttered. If you'd like, I'll gladly forward the recipe, although I believe that it's quite basic. Please note, too, that she won another blue ribbon for biscuits but, alas, I could not convince her to make both yesterday evening.

Are they yeast raised, or baking powder biscuits?

So, I've got these lamb rib chops........

Plenty of dry herbs and spices. Some fresh mint, parsley, cilantro, basil.

Some onions, shallots, garlic. Some dried fruit. Some fresh berries. Some watermelon.

Some stock and/or wine that can be reduced.

What am I missing and how should I make my dinner?

Goat cheese for your raviolis.

What kind of watermelon?

I like fruit with pork and duck--not so much with lamb. Save the fruit for dessert. Or serve a first course of watermelon and feta cheese, drizzled with balsamic vinegar. Marinate your rib chops witn some olive oil, garlic, fresh mint and parsley. Charcoal grill them medium rare. Sauce not necessary. Oh, here's a thought, make cous-cous or a pilaf as a side with sauteed shallots and a little bit of diced up dried fruit poached in stock as the liquid, sprinkled with some toasted pine nuts or almonds and chopped fresh herbs on top. Have broiled fresh berries with creme fraiche or mascarpone as dessert.

She uses baking powder, Heather.

Here is the cornbread receipe:

2 Cups cornmeal (stone ground)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/4 cup melted butter
1 and 1/4 cup milk

mix dry ingredients.
mix eggs, milk and melt butter
mix together
heat cast iron skillet with 1 tablespoon butter
when hot, add batter
bake at 425 for 20 -25 minutes
ENJOY

(I type faster than my hubby)

No charcoal here, so the iron on the stovetop had to do it. Couscous salad went well too. (Decided to reduce some red wine also!) Came out really good. But, yes, charcoal would have made a big difference for the better.

-Garlic ghee* grilled lobster tails
-Balsamic grilled asparagus
-Grilled lemonated biscuits

The grill just does such a great job on the lobster. I finally perfected my method of doing biscuits on the grill (meaning I don't have to fire up the oven AND the grill when I want both). As an added bonus, they captured a lot of the aroma of the lobster.

*Get it? Garlic-ghee? Garlicky? Ah, forget it.

Broiled pork chops, sauteed corn, green beans in olive oil.

Brined the chops for an hour with 1t each chopped fresh rosemary and smoked paprika, and 1/4c each sugar and salt. Fast and flavorful.

Miscellaneous what-I-can-find-in-the-pantry-and-fridge meal--I have a summer cold and don't feel much like spending a lot of time cooking...

Feta and watermelon
Roasted, herb-brined chicken
Roasted crimini mushrooms
Marinated white bean salad
Olives
Heirloom tomato wedges with olive oil, basil and sea salt
Fresh mozzarella from Blue Ridge Dairy
Charcuterie plate with La Quercia prosciutto and D'Artagnan chorizo
Charcoal-grilled red pepper
Breadline baguette

2006 Avondale Rose´

I supplemented a Costco roast chicken with Zora's roasted fig, fennel and onion dish. This time, I used fresh lemon juice and zest per her instructions and they really cut through and complimented the richness. That roast chicken is a wonder at $4.99. The skin could be crispier but the meat is incredibly moist and I've got a ton of leftovers. The figs came from Costco also, and are pretty good!

Fresh creamed corn, grits and cheese
Mixed mushroom ragout (crimini, oyster, shiitake, porcini)
Green beans
Grilled shrimp (leftovers from Friday)
Heirloom tomato and basil salad

Ch. Vendange Manuelle Rose de Loire

Deconstructed/reconstructed peach pie (bottom crust, filling and top crust baked separately, then assembled just prior to serving, as suggested by David Hagedorn in the WashPost--worked out GREAT!)
Vanilla ice cream

Cooked dinner for friends who just had a baby, so I snagged a little bit of the extras for dinner last night:

Green beans with butter and dill
Rosemary roasted potatoes
Flank steak in a red wine vinegar, soy, garlic, honey marinade.

For dessert, two white nectarines and some red cherries. I love summer fruit.

Crab cakes with a creamy dijon mustard sauce over baby arugula dressed with said sauce. (NB-Snider's was selling lumb meat for $10/pound)

The second half of a bottle of Avondale Rose

Steaktastic Dinner for Dan's Better Half's Employees

TO START:
-Limonated Chips & Salsa
-Crudite (which rolls off your tongue a lot better than "veggie dip platter")

STEAK:
-Dan's Double F (Flat iron and Flank) Chintalian Marinated Grilled Steaks
-Would-Make-Michael-Landrum-Proud High Heat, Double Char NY Strips

SIDES:
-Three Cheese Potatoes Gratin w/ Baconated Bechamel
-Creamed Spinach w/ Baconated Bechamel & Truffle Salt
-Baguette from Firehook (What? I can't make EVERYTHING from scratch)

STEAK TOPPERS:
-Bleu Cheese Crumbles
-My Attempt @ Ray's the Steak's House Specialty Mushroom Cream Sauce (but I ran out of the "cream" element as I used up too much of my Baconated Bechamel on the sides so the 'shrooms ended up just being lightly creamed and heavily Sherried creminis & Pennsylvania honey mushrooms)
-My Best Ever Bearnaise Sauce (which I had to make twice because the first batch, despite not having any evidence of curdling or breaking, tasted more like runny eggs than bearnaise) (the second batch, unlike every other bearnaise I've ever made, neither broke nor curdled when I microwaved it for my leftovers)

DESSERT:
-Chocolate Chip Butter Cookies a la Dan (a recipe I've been honing for the past 16 years)

TO DRINK:
-A 2000 Bordeaux
-Coronas
-Mike's Cranberry Hard Lemonade

sauteed wild alaskan sockeye

purslane and arugula salad

the salad goes well with the fish, following a recipe from the new york times that has been distributed at the dupont farmers market for the past couple of weeks. the peppery arugula provides a nice foil to the lemony purslane. the two are tossed with one cup of chickpeas, two tablespoons each of lemon juice and olive oil, a spoon of capers, a sliced scallion, a clove or two of diced garlic, and a couple pinches of sea salt. i used the "polish" variety of garlic, which is a little salty and mild. (the recipe calls for a cup of arugula and one to two cups of purslane; you can just use purslane leaves if you don't like the stems. tear the arugula if the leaves are large, which they tend to be this time of year, and chop the purslane into one-inch stems.)

purchased on monday, the breadline ciabatta loaf that found its way into our bread basket was light but hard, not totally stale, the crust a potential tooth breaker. i am going to soak what i have left for a pesto, and it should do an okay job of serving that purpose.

If you have some super-ripe, juicy tomatoes, consider using the dry bread for panzanella. My daughter and her vegetarian friends went crazy for it last week.

sounds like a good idea. i think i am going to eat just about nothing but tomatoes next week. if breadline turns out not to be a consistently reliable source of stale ciabatta, then i'll buy two loaves and on the first day make this:

http://static.ecookbooks.com/recipes/a/abigtomatosandwich/

(however, it can make for considerably sloppier eating than the panzanella.)

A couple of week ago, I watched America's Test Kitchen and they were making a skilet Lasagna.
All of sudden I craved for it and cooked it on last Sunday.

Appetizer: Spring mix salad
Entree : Skilet Lasagna
Dessert : We went to Dairy God Mother and had sorbet.

Somehow either Safeway or Giant didn't carry 8 oz. Ricotta cheese, so I had to get a 15 oz. one.
I used 8 oz. of it. What should I do with the leftover?
Please give an advice. (I looked for the recipes and realize ravioli is not good for me because I don't have a pasta machine)

This sandwich recipe looks really good. I bought a container of imported Bufalo mozzarella at Costco yesterday, used 2/4 balls last night with tomatoes and basil. And this would be a worthy dish for the rest. The mozzarella was good--better than expected. Very fresh tasting and creamy, packed in a tub of water. Four balls for $9.99 seemed very reasonable to me, given that I have paid $7.99 for one.

Marvelous Market also has ciabatta, albeit inconsistently.

Tomato, onion, and fennel salad.
Arctic Char with potato scales
Mashed potato with shrooms.


As for the extra ricotta. Spread it on some nice bread and cover with slices of tomato then some S&P and a little EVOO.

Fresh black truffle risotto-- it was unanimous around the dinner table--the best risotto we'd ever eaten (sorry Joe H.). I used a variation of the French Laundry Cookbook recipe--with riso baldo instead of carnaroli. I made mushroom stock yesterday, with shiitake, oyster and crimini stems, dried shiitake, King Oyster and porcini mushrooms, aromatic veg including fennel tops, white wine, fresh thyme, parsley and bay leaf (the FL Cookbook calls for stock made from button mushrooms only). Instead of whipped cream called for in the FLC, I used some creme fraiche, and of course black truffle instead of white. But it was magnificent. Ooh-mommy!

Charcoal grilled ribeye
Charcoal grilled portobello for veggi-teen

Tomato salad with EVO, balsamico and basil

1995 Ch. Merville Saint-Estephe (a gift from a friend with a wine cellar)

Vanilla ice cream with warm lavender-vanilla-El Rey chocolate ganache

Life can be good...

Open-faced steak sandwiches with roasted garlic and Cato Corner Womanchego, with a side of broccoflower.

Last night:
a big bowl of heirloom tomates dressed with olive oil and sea salt
fennel and clementine salad with blood-orange olive oil dressing
Cheeses: Mt Tam, St Pat, Tipsy Cow, Cave Aged Marissa, Bleu de Causses
salami Toscana
black olive spread
baguette and boule
Avondale rose
Dessert: Meyer lemon-mascarpone ice cream

Really excellent grilled/pressed sandwiches made from farmer's market stuff: Multigrain bread, heirloom tomatoes, fresh mozzerella, homemade pesto and basil.

But that's simple. The point is we have farmer's markets here! I don't know why, but I really wasn't expecting that! Guess they are common enough 'these days', just never heard that we had one. Was even at a decent hour: 12:30 to 5.

Balsamic-glazed pork chop
Sauteed bok choy
potatoes (okay, okay... they were tater tots)

We had friends over for some New Mexican food last night:

Margaritas made with old-school Cuervo silver tequila and Luxardo Triplum
Aviations made with Tanqueray and Luxardo maraschino
Corn chips and salsa
Hatch green chile cheeseburgers
Black bean and white corn salad
Poundcake with fresh berries and cream

Last nite, we tailgated before a DC United game (DC lost 5-2 to LA Galaxy, suck). We had:
Guacamole and salsa with chips
Bratwurst and assorted Aidell's sausages cooked on a charcoal grill with mustard
Thin sliced zucchini and squash with parmesan cheese
beet and heirloom tomato salad with goat cheese dressing and crushed toasted pistachios
Raw carrots and vegetable chips with herb cheese dip
sesame crackers
Salsa sun chips
fake crab salad
Texas sheet cake

Lots of beer - Yuengling, Bud, and Sam Adams

Tonite, Hungarian Goulash, because I have to use up some chuck that's been in the freezer. Using the tried the true New Joy of Cooking recipe.

Not really. I stuff the blossoms, but them on a lightly oiled baking sheet and stick it under the broiler for 5-10 minutes. The cheese sort of melts and the blossoms cook just enough to take away that raw flavor. It also works best if the cheese mixture is on the colder side.

BTW-the easiest way to stuff the blossoms is to put the cheese into a baggie, cut of a corner and use it as a pipping bag.

A sack full of boiled chicken heads and an entire bottle of Patron Anejo. A guilty pleasure of mine.

For the former--Do chickens have cheeks? If not, that's mighty slim pickin's
And the latter--I hope that's a very occasional pleasure, because Patron Anejo's mighty expensive, not to mention the cost of a liver transplant...

Actually, I made the following in an effort to get my wife to enjoy fish:

Pan-seared halibut filet with a "sauce" of sorts that I made by sauteing white onion, chopped lobster mushroom, shallots, and then deglazing with a little white wine and a LARGE yellow tomato with seeds and all.

Two sides-- roasted asparagus, and kick-ass roasted potatoes. The "kick-ass" came from tossing some split yukon golds in EVOO and then roasting for about 15 mins. Then I threw in some finely sliced shallots, and squeezed about a 1/2 bulb of roasted garlic into the pan. Stirred it all up and put it back in the oven for more roasting until done. The shallots came out browned and crispy. Mmmmm.

I tried a new recipe Friday night that riffed off of a dish I saw on the Food Network's "Everyday Italian":

Lightly coated orange roughy filets in flour w/ salt and pepper and seared in a nonstick skillet. Removed the fish, then added some more olive oil to the skillet with 3 cloves minced garlic. To the garlic I added some tomato puree and heavy cream. Then I added some baby spinach. When the spinach wilted, I added the fish back into the skillet to warm through. Served the fish over creamy polenta mixed with grated parm/reggiano cheese. I was very pleased with the results.

Last night's dinner was a bacon and onion tart and a salad. Simply delicious. cjsadler was testing the tart recipe for Cook's Illustrated.

Dinner with friends and my neighbors, who provided a small package of venison marked "tough" by the person who had butchered and wrapped the meat. So, despite the weather, I did an oven braise with reduced red wine marinade, homemade mushroom stock, aromatic veg and herbs. Since there were seven carnivores and one vegetarian eating, I served:

First: La Quercia prosciutto and Sharlyn melon
2005 Pazo Senõrans Albarinõ

Main: Oven braised venison, charcoal-grilled ribeyes and portobello mushrooms, polenta with fresh corn, green beans
2003 Sebastiani Alexander Valley Cabernet

Cheese: Le P'tit Basque; Le Pie d'lAngloys boursault; Bayley Hazen blue
2003 Torbreck Woodcutter's Shiraz

Dessert: Blackberry-peach pie (made by the neighbors); pound cake (Balducci's) with black cherry-Italian plum compote and creme chantilly.

Orzo with Cherry Tomatoes and Gorgonzola

Orzo treated in a very risottoesque manner ended up getting a little extra toasty because...well...glass-top electric ranges bite

I'm a couple of days late posting this, but I recently made the corn fritters with roasted tomato from the Aug 16th Post, and they were fabulous. I served them along with linguine with pistachio pesto (the pesto recipe is in the pesto thread).

The recipe is probably only up until tomorrow, so I'm hurrying to post this. Corn Fritters with Roasted Tomato

Leftover NY Strip from Ray's turned into bluecheese steak hash
Panzanella
Broiled squash blossoms stuffed with herb goat cheese
Roasted Tiogo corn sprinkled with truffle salt
Skinny Cow chocolate ice cream sandwich

grilled pork chops w/ a brandy/apricot glaze
grilled shrimp w/ a penzeys spice rub
tomato/basil/mozz salad
grilled corn
raspberry peach cobbler made w/ raspberries picked at Butlers on Sunday

rustic tomato pie
lettuce, spinach, cucumber and tomato salad with persian star garlic
poggio al tufo rompicollo maremma toscana 2004

the pie is from a silver spoon recipe, basically sauteed spring onion, herbs and tomato sandwiched between layers of crustless whole wheat bread in a baking dish and soaked from the top with slighly eggy milk and romano pecorino shavings. there are lots of ways to enjoy tomatoes when they are bountiful, and this is one of them. from my limited experience cooking out of this book, i would say the best way of approaching the recipes is with latitude and doing what you think is best. for instance, one pound two ounces of tomato is called for, why so exact a measurement who knows, when the amount of tomatoes could easily be doubled, and i believe i did. i substituted fresh marjoram for dried oregano, a favorite in this book, because it was on hand. and i used three eggs in maybe one and a quarter cups of milk instead of the one egg and three-quarters cup called for. i also used more than the specified two ounces of romano, which cooks until it is golden and makes this dish distinctive. also, half an hour in a 350-degree oven didn't quite do it. my pie took more time and i turned up the temperature 25 degrees toward the end.

the persian star garlic in the salad, minced raw, tasted close to the polish variety and in a blind taste test i am not sure i would be able to tell the difference between the two. this is disconcerting because i am planning on working my way through roughly eight varieties in coming weeks and learning how to distinguish among them. it's a small aspiration that may turn out to have been wildly ambitious.

Charcoal-roasted eggplant gazpacho
2005 Quinta da Alorna Rose (Portugal)

Oricchiete pasta with fresh tomatoes, capers, roasted garlic, basil and reggiano
NV Dover Canyon Renegade Red (Paso Robles)

Peach cobbler with creme chantilly

The bonus to driving to visit someone at Sibley today was stopping at Blacksalt on the way back. I bought a gorgeous tuna steak, which was so thick that I had the man behind the counter slice it in half lengthwise. I'm marinating the steaks in an Asian type of marinade with soy sauce, mirin, garlic, mustard, pepper, soy balsamic dressing, and scallions. I emptied out a bunch of bottles and jars. Before throwing on the grill pan, I'm dredging them in sesame seeds, and I'm serving them over polenta.

I also bought some dry pack scallops that looked wonderful. I've got half a dozen and they are going to be sauteed briefly and served on greens with baby corn, green beans, yellow baby pear tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, garlic, lime juice and olive oil (s+p).

Last night was leftover night:
Gazpacho with grilled shrimp.
Cheese course including Epoisse and a smoked cheddar

Note: stinky cheese + refrigerator = stinky refrigerator

Tonight is gazpacho and penne with pesto and smoked salmon.

Put an open box of Arm and Hammer Baking Soda in your refrigerator. It absorbs/eliminates the odors.

I have a very pungent limburger in my refrigerator. I put it inside a little plastic food container -- Rubbermaid or something -- and put the lid on tightly, and it hasn't caused Stinky Refrigerator at all.