batter from the corn souffle that just went into the oven

I know, I shouldn't do that . It would have been worth the potential poisoning if it had occurred to me when I tasted it that I forgot to add the salt and pepper . Nope, it was in the oven before I realized it. On the other hand, the batter tasted great, and the rest of the meal is really spicy. Salt and pepper will be added to the souffle at the table, as needed.

This is pretty funny. I was sitting here starving, and opened the ONLY thing in my refrigerator: a wedge of Field of Grace Farm aged cheddar that I purchased yesterday at the Arlington Farmers' Market. I opened it, broke off a piece, and walked back to my computer.

When I was on my last bite - a big bite - I happened to Google "Field Grace Cheese Virginia" and THIS is what came up as the top hit.

I literally stopped in mid-chew, and just sat there, blinking, with my mouth full.

No harm done, of course (and the cheese is very good), but I suspect any flies on my wall had a good hearty chuckle.

Cheers,
Rocks.

It's good to know that you haven't had that in your refrigerator for a year .

not quite stale tortilla chips with salsa I just made from yellow and red tomatoes and a habanero, red onion, lime juice, cilantro, etc. (excellent salsa--hot but not too hot, and pretty too)
reheated miso soup topped with some fresh scallions
open faced smoked salmon on pumpernickel with thinly sliced shallots and cucumber and a Penzey's no-salt seasoning on top (no cream cheese, so I spread a thin mixture of mascarpone and greek yogurt on the bread--excellent)

I have an unopened wedge of their cheese in my fridge, and just checked the lot # when I read your post today--mine is a different lot, packed on July 31st. I trust that they've cleaned up their act since they were cited. I've always thought this was one of the best local cheeses available at the markets I go to--certainly the best aged cheddar-type.

While I'm here, I'll mention what we had for brunch this morning, when I came home from the Dupont Market. Scrambled eggs with squash blossoms, mushrooms and roasted tomatillo salsa on homemade tortillas made with the last of the fresh masa I brought back from L.A., with refried beans, queso fresco, Mexican chorizo and guacamole. And cappucino.

Full disclosure--lest anyone think that I made all of those things this morning, the tomatillo salsa and guacamole were left overs and the refried beans came from a can.

Chocolate babka from Korcarz, and a cup of tea.

I feel like I'm at my grandparents' house...

leftover spicy pepper brown rice

Romano slices dipped in some roasted tomatillo salsa verde (roasted the tomatillos for like 20 mins at 350, blended and added s&p...maybe not a real salsa verde, but pretty tasty). Definitely one of those "what do I have left in the fridge" decisions, but it's not a bad mix. Maybe not a great pairing, but it works since I don't want to leave the apartment.

Haagen Dazs Bitter Caramel ice cream. Mmm.

Homemade paneer crumbled and cooked with onion, cilantro, various spices, and homegrown tomatoes. Tastes like an Indian version of my favorite Mandalay dish: tomato and tofu curry.

half a leftover baked potato and succotash

Grilled cheese (Neal's Yard raw milk Montgomery cheddar), fennel, and apple sandwich.

Sliced CSA tomato with Miracle Whip
Nibbles of mozzarella
Arizona Raspberry Ice Tea

Caramelized red onion (SFWY)
Pan-fried Okra (CSA)
Pine Nuts (SFWY)
Tomato (CSA)
Pecorino Romano (WF)

One of the more successful "Hey let's try to get rid of everything perishable" attempts I've had in a while.

Tomato salad:

Click to view attachment

Roma tomatoes (Whole Foods)
Assorted small tomatoes (TJ's)
Basil from our garden

Balsamic and olive oil emulsion using olive oil from our family's plot in Greece.

Herb-crusted rack of lamb, with braised endive and potato gratin. Love being a culinary student.

For dessert, mango mousse (with a raspberry puree center) atop a biscuit, enrobed in a thin layer of white chocolate. Love being friends with the patisserie students!

Wow.
We have Jersey tomatoes, chiffonade of basil, balsamic, evoo, s&p.

Yours looks pretty good too

For me, tonight? Lather, rinse, repeat. Plus a chocolate cake with coconut mousse, caramelized pineapple, and mango cream. Two desserts. And madeleines for breakfast tomorrow morning, thanks to my new friends taking basic patisserie. Life is good.

Trader Joe's dark chocolate covered caramels. They live in my office desk and I love them.

Rice with a couple shiso-flavored umeboshi

Cream of cauliflower soup with leek greens and thin strips of ham. Yum! (Recipe adapted from old standby "Joy of Cooking")

Fresh basil tagliatelle tossed with creme fraiche. Not a bad midnight snack...

Pork and Beans: (Cedarbrook Farm) pork sausage, (home-grown) oven-roasted cherry tomatoes, spinach and Navy Beans.

This was to be Monday's lunch; I doubt it will make it to Sunday night.

Hot air popped popcorn, with enough butter to coat but not to pool, Spike, and nutritional yeast. Oh baby.

Koiwai Farms plain yogurt and some kind of "Natural Fruit Granola." Really good yogurt, mediocre granola. And coffee.

We just finished some homemade miso soup with diced pork, onions, and sliced shiitakes, plus hot pepper flakes. I've only recently started trying to make miso soup and am surprised at how easy it seems. I start with kombu and bonito flakes and make the basic dashi, then add whatever other ingredients I want and, finally, some miso paste, kelp granules, and pepper flakes.

Xochitl, is this something that people in Japan use soup packets for because it's such a basic food that people don't bother making it from scratch? Or have the things I've read about it led me to believe I'm making miso soup if I start with fresh miso paste and some other ingredients from the Asian foods section of Whole Foods?

How do you make miso soup? (I almost asked you this when you were doing your blog, but I'd only tried it once and wasn't even sure enough of what to ask.)

There is a type of miso paste available in Asian markets that is already mixed with dashi--a tablespoon of this paste mixed into a cup of hot water makes miso soup that tastes just like the soup served in most Japanese restaurants. In fact, I'm convinced that is what they use. It tastes much better than packaged "instant" miso soup that my daughter used to beg me to buy. Dashi is extremely easy to make--I was surprised to hear that no one in Japan makes their own anymore. Then again, how many American people make their own chicken stock? Present company excepted, of course.

I think that's part of it. The Japanese tend to engineer the hell out of things, so the instant dashinomoto granules you can get here are far superior to most American bouillon cubes, which is the best equivalent I can think of. Making dashi using konbu and bonito flakes is easy but requires straining, so it's less fiddly to just use the granules. Also, using the granules requires fewer tools and space, which can be important in a kitchen as small as mine. I'm not sure how well dashi keeps, either.

It occurs to me that when I was responding to Zora's question about dashi a few weeks ago, I was thinking of very traditional dashi-making. That involves shaving a block of dried bonito with a special blade, rather than just using prepackaged katsuobushi.

I make dashi using dashinomoto and bring it to a boil. Then I scoop out some of the water and add it to a smaller bowl with some miso in it to soften the miso into a smooth, liquid paste before dumping it all back in the big pot. My basic drill is to add a small handful of dried wakame (seaweed) after combining everything, let it cook a bit longer until the wakame is quite green, then add some cubed tofu (I prefer firm cotton tofu) and maybe mushrooms. After serving, I usually top it with some sliced green onions.

Miso soup is very easy, and endlessly versatile. It's really good with a side of steamed rice for breakfast!

Thanks! When I made the miso soup the first time, I mixed some of the broth in with the miso to thin it out, but I'd forgotten about that subsequently. (I saw that advice somewhere.) I've been using some kelp granules--marketed as a salt substitute--but I'll look for some dried wakame in bigger pieces.

My one concern about miso is the high sodium content. That's one reason I have tended to shy away from it. It sure is flavorful, though.

Steak salad (with last night's sirloin, red leaf lettuce, cukes, tomatoes, fresh corn, red bell pepper, and honey dijon dressing) and fresh blackberries. Best lunch I've had in a while!

A chunk of chocolate ginger cake I made a week ago. It's still moist and pretty fresh. The rest is now going into the freezer. Right now.

Me: the rest of my veg sandwich from Cowgirl Creamery, with a little extra olive oil
Scott: leftover shoat sandwich from Vidalia. So piggy and rich.

I just finished a salad plate of waldorf salad, baby romaine, and Sottocenere with truffles. It was not only delicious but looked pretty too.

Homemade duck rillettes on water crackers with a generous schmear of duck fat and finished with crunchy salt. Obscenely luscious.

I love you.

But seriously: recipe for the rillettes?

[I know this is not the appropriate thread but it doesn't quite fit in the "Dinner" or "What are you eating now" threads.]

Split pea 'n pancetta soup

[I did add a bit of sherry; does that allow the post to stay in this thread?]

[ ed: That'd cover half of St. Julia's repertoire! Were ya consuming it out of a glass? -Ol'I ]

Salad of tomatoes, basil, goat feta, olive oil and vinegar. The tomatoes and basil are from my garden.

Today is October 15. My garden is in USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 6b. This is wrong. Tasty, but wrong.

Thinly sliced tuna, lightly marinated in garlic- and basil-infused olive oil, more garlic, basil, bay, thyme, salt, pepper, and sugar, served on puff pastry, with a tomato/olive/green peppers/onions medley on the side.

A fig-banana tart for dessert.

And bittersweet chocolate bread pudding for second dessert. Because really, it isn't a Monday evening without two desserts, right?

Heap big meeting at the office yesterday with all the top regional brass. Lotsa leftover goodies around the office including little packets of chocolate for tastings. The Belcolade 64% Costa Rican Single Bean is totally delicious. But then I tried some Valrhona 100% Les Extras Noir. I don't think I've ever had 100% before, and not sure I will again. Tastes like dirt-- expensive dirt, but dirt nonetheless.

I just finished some real popcorn, popped on the stove in a little peanut oil. Butter. Salt. Freshly grated Parmesan.

Leftovers from a meeting last night - 4 different cheeses from Cowgirl Creamery (midnight moon, mt tam, one blue, and one other cheese) and a small baguette.

McVitie's Mini Cocoa and Caramel Digestive Biscuits.

dark rye Ryvita, spread with a layer of peanut butter and topped with smooshed banana

Egg, Shitake, and Manchego sandwich on Struan.

Egg - Cibola
Shitake - the mushroom vendor at Dupont
Manchego - the knockoff made by the cheese guys down at the end (near mass ave). can't remember the name
Struan - bread vendor

I love you, farmers market.

Over-easy egg on heated-up leftover polenta
Tiny little yellow cherry tomatoes
Maldon salt

mix the flowing yolk in with the warm, parmesan-cheesy polenta, add little explosions of sweet-tart juice from the tomatoes and the crunch of the flakes of salt--heaven in the mouth. Yum.

So jealous. Love those SO much. But that reminds me to break out the caramel Tim Tams. Tim tam slam anyone?

Something called "Hayashi Rice" that I picked up at the grocery store. It appears to be the Japanese equivalent of Swiss steak, except made with ketchup and served over rice. Also, it has peas in it. I kind of like it.

Butternut Squash Soup with Brown Butter, Sage, and Nutmeg Creme Fraiche from Keller's Bouchon cookbook with a side of parmesan pita crisps.

Ahhh, fall...

A Twix bar and a glass (who am I kidding, more than a glass) of red wine. Second of three written exams is tomorrow, and I need a little sugar to sustain the studying and alcohol to calm the nerves...

Good luck!

I'm eating little sourdough pretzel nuggets (Snyder's).