Fourth!

Just some of the feast! MA collard greens, juice-salt licious hot dogs, toasty buns, French-style potato salad with oil and herbs, roasted onions
Leftover fennel greens? Boil for a few minutes, ice bath, then mix in raisins, grapes, crushed nuts, olive oil, and summery spices.

Grilled onions..vidalias are sweet and tender!

Blistering hot dogs: yum.
Dinin' al fresco
Some kick-but German mustard: otherwise known as senf! It's from Karl's sausage kitchen..magnificent!
Portabellos and greens


OHmAGAD is' da forth. Anyhow, I usually never do anything exciting for our nation's birth. We just have a mini-family gathering and BBQ on the smoky joes...which are pretty ghetto-fabulous wee 14-inch charcoal grills.

There were many tasty treats to be had, some not pictured such as: fruit salad, grilled corn, and some splendid Italian sweet spicy sausages.

Some fun grilling experiments:

...of course toasty buns
...portabellos! brush both sides with olive oil, salt, and pepper. After grilling the bottom brush the cap with some seasoning of choice and grill that side
...collard greens boil them in water with salt and butter (boil water, then disolve butter and salt, then boil greens for 3 minutes and but them in an ice bath) stack the greens about 5-7 high and let them go for about five minutes on each side...charred and moist! Was kann besser sein?
...corn easy! leave the husk on and wrap in tin foil...then wait

Basically everything tastes good grilled...more experiments to come! pork butt? dessert?

S.

Foodgawker and Inspiration

for all of you who haven't checked out foodgawker.. do so immediately.

what lies there is a seemingly endless collection of the "best of" pictures from the "best of" food blogs. and now, as it merrily rains out side, I will share with you my personal favorites of the bunch: things I have no way the resources to make, but one day would be proud to:

1. Red Currant and Chocolate Tart (from: http://palachinka.blogspot.com/2009/06/red-currant-tart.html)

This is potentially one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. It combines my two favorite dessert textures: a soft fruit jelly and creamy chocolate ganache. The presentation is glorious. I can't say enough. The layers look so incredibly thick, that you can just imagine a fork sliding through it. Ahhh.

2. Shallot Tarte (from: http://opistachio.blogspot.com/2009/05/shallot-tarte-tatin.html)

The O Pistachio blogger ALWAYS makes incredible looking things, but this is just top notch. As you can see, I have a distinct fondness for good looking tarts. This is a whole shallot tarte with the little devils nestled in a red onion jam. Holy crap.

3. Sourdough Potato Bread (from: http://cupcakemuffin.blogspot.com/2009/06/sourdough-potato-bread.html)

I'm not really sure how much I have to explain this one. It's ASKING to be ripped apart and dunked in something or have something slathered on it or pressed between two slices of it....

4. Lasoon Palak Di Dal (from: http://varshaspaceblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/lasoon-palak-di-dal-garlic-flavored.html)

The colors in this bowl of this Indian garlic heaven are astonishing and captured perfectly. I can almost smell it. You can see by the ingredients list how complex it is.

5. Cilantro Shrimp Dumplings with Homemade Wrappers (from http://rumahmakanmurni.blogspot.com/2009/06/cilantro-shrimp-chinese-dumplings.html)

These perfectly shaped dumplings look chewy and savory and to die for. Ultimate comfort.

6. Baked Apricots stuffed with Almond Paste (from http://www.piggyscookingjournal.com/2009/06/baked-apricots-stuffed-with-almond.html)

Most of the time, the best things are the simplest. So I'll end with these.


-R

Leftover Rice Noodles?

Make noodle soup. Obviously.

Boil carrots, mung bean sprouts, and rice noodles in 2 cups of chicken broth that has been flavored with soy sauce, red chili paste, and a drop or two of sesame oil. When everything is soft, pour into a bowl, squeeze a little lime on top, and sprinkle on cilantro.

-R

The Perfect Scoop: gone to parsley!

Oh jeeez! Alien shots again. Well I made David Lebovitz's parsley ice cream and it was a great success, so fresh and nutty! AND, I didn't fail at custard thanks to some good directionals.

I kept the heat lower and was very careful about signs of boiling this time. But, I think adding the warm mixture in little bits to the eggs really was the saving feature. After adding the mixture to the eggs, I put it on the stove again and voila! No scrambled eggs! 

Also, I've got to plug the magic bullet for ice-cream ease. Makes quite the nice parsley puree! I've gotten so lax about recipes but that just means you should go get the book!

S.

Singapore Chow Mei Fun

I remember when I started ordering random choices from the Chinese Takeout place at home, and I remember when the day came that I discovered Singapore Chow Mei Fun, which really has no relation to anything served in Singapore, but deserves merit just the same.

I used this recipe, found courtesey of Foodgawker. The site exhibits a much more attractive photograph of what the dish is supposed to look like.

It's a curried rice noodle dish with veggies and lots of various protein sources, and it ROCKS. And as usual, my pictures don't do it justice.

-R

Adventures in frozen treats: Partie Un

Chocolate and coffee sorbet with some candied lemon peel

Wow I'm awesome at flash photography: churnin!

Success! Banana pecan ice cream

These fellows are sauteed bananas in butter with brown sugar and pecans: a delightful mush to add into ice cream (or yogurt).

Ah, the adventures that ensue from the biblioteca. I took out David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop a few weeks ago and since then I've been churning away! More to come on a custard that I didn't destroy!

I'm not upset about lacking an ice cream maker, just be sure to churn everything regularly (so stir every hour or so)

S.

Hearty Breakfast: + things you can make that might be otherwise pricey!

Fit for a king! Fresh whole-wheat bread with Smör (Icelandic/Scandinavian cheesy-textured butter) baby spinach from Maine! (Locally Known farms...super fresh and not at all bitter) with some tomatoes and a super soft-boiled (ermm...raw?) egg..drizzled with a bit of "green goddess" dressing


Crusty dill-pepper boules! SO EASY

Annie's makes a divine (HAH) Green Goddess dressing with tahini etc....it's really delicious! If you've been to Dojo by NYU you'll know that delicious tahini-soy love (but this is sans carrots).

Here's how the stuffs were made!

Whole-wheat country style boules

So Rachel admonished me for not going on foodgawker, and I was glad I found this recipe before I went to bed last night! If you remember the Irish quick bread, this would be its yeasty partner in crime. (My Slovenian couchsurfer said it was like the stuff grandmas make in farmy towns..yes!)

The recipe I used called for 2 cups white and 1 cup white whole-wheat, but I didn't have all-purpose so white whole-wheat it was!

3 cups white whole-wheat flour
3/4 tsp yeast (NOT FAST RISING)
1 tsp sea salt
1-1 1/2 cups warm water

Mix n's of choice: I mixed them right in with the dough, used about a tsp. of ground pepper and a couple tablespoons of dried dill weed.

Mix the dry ingredients, then add water until dough is elastic and a bit wet/sticky.
Cover and let rise for 6-8 hours (sleep?)

Put a baking pan filled with water in your oven and heat to 450, put in your 'hearth' (cooking stone, or what have you) in for 15 minutes after the oven has heated.

Separate dough into 2 boules, shape on a floured surface and coat in oil. I cut some slits in the top and sprinkled sesame seeds, adds a nice touch! Bake for 35-40 minutes, cool on a wire rack for 10. Slather with some good butter when cooled.

On to the dressing. This is quite a simple concoction. But, you must have tahini (it's usually $5 for a jar that will last you centuries..unless you make a lot of tahini stuffs). Basically I just put stuff together that was on the back of the bottle.

Amounts (NOT EXACT) adjust to your tastes

1/4 cup vegetable oil
juice of half a lemon
2 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons tahini
2 tsp. dried parsely
1 tsp. freshly ground pepper
water to thin
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar (white wine etc. is probably fine)

Whisk it all together and enjoy the rich nuttiness of tahini all the time!

S.