Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Last night's dinner was full of farm veggies. We had four ears of corn -- creamy white and very tasty. (Even the organic farm stand that I go to has the mixed yellow and white corn, which is good, but it's kind of fun to go back to an older variety.) I made a tiny salad with a little lettuce, a cucumber, a spicy red pepper, and goat cheese. And I made carrots and potatoes steamed with olive oil and butter, and I added a small chopped summer squash and some chopped fennel at the end. For dessert, I had a peach (not from the farm) and a banana (ditto) and some chocolate and crystallized ginger. Very tasty and even after a long swim, I'm still a little full.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
peppery eggplant and more vegetable fun
Last night, I sauteed a big sweet onion, then added a diced hot pepper and cut up eggplant (the cute thin kind) and cubed potatoes, all organic. When things were fairly well acquainted, I glorped in part of a bottle of Trader Joe's black pepper sauce and a little water, covered, and simmered for perhaps 25 minutes. We served it over rice with a small side salad that used up nearly all the remaining vegetables from last week's farm trip.
It was very tasty and kind of spicy. I'm already thinking about a do-over for this dish. It could use some greens, perhaps frozen edamame thrown in toward the end. Alternatively, it would be really good, especially in the fall or winter, with chickpeas added in.
Today, we got more goodies from the farm. I'm thinking we'll use the four ears of fresh corn we got. Maybe I'll cook up some carrots in olive oil and a little butter. We have loads of cucumbers, so either a small salad or a tiny stir-fry (summer squash, anyone?). Hmmm. Maybe cucumbers, goat cheese, peppers, and a little lettuce?
We'll soon be away for a few nights, so we'll have to get creative when we return.
It was very tasty and kind of spicy. I'm already thinking about a do-over for this dish. It could use some greens, perhaps frozen edamame thrown in toward the end. Alternatively, it would be really good, especially in the fall or winter, with chickpeas added in.
Today, we got more goodies from the farm. I'm thinking we'll use the four ears of fresh corn we got. Maybe I'll cook up some carrots in olive oil and a little butter. We have loads of cucumbers, so either a small salad or a tiny stir-fry (summer squash, anyone?). Hmmm. Maybe cucumbers, goat cheese, peppers, and a little lettuce?
We'll soon be away for a few nights, so we'll have to get creative when we return.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
kitchen has reopened
The kitchen was closed for a few nights. Wednesday, I met a friend for dinner while Mr. P foraged for leftovers. Thursday, at the end of a long stressful work week for both of us, we threw in the tea towel and went out. Friday was our usual going out night.
But last night, we'd invited a friend over for dinner, so we cooked. This was the menu:
. Brown rice with wheat berries.
. Green bean thoren (with coconut and curry, fast becoming a staple chez Dinner Report, made with fresh-picked farm green beans)
. Summer squash curry. Mr. P found an intriguing recipe that involves slitting the squash without cutting through, stuffing it with a spice mixture -- we cheated and used fresh garlic and ginger instead of powdered -- then making a tarka (frying spices then cooling down with onions), adding a little water, and steaming the squash. The vegetables were mostly from the farm. We're already thinking about what else we could stuff and how to vary the recipe. We once made a variation on this recipe in an Indian cooking class, where the teacher had grown up in Kenya. It involved tiny blue potatoes stuffed with a spicy crumbled peanut mixture.
. A side salad of farm vegetables -- cucumber and tomatoes -- with some chopped feta and a sprinkling of herbs and salad dressing.
. Sides of Indian chutneys (not home made).
. For dessert, we had a chocolate pie whose other two main ingredients are tofu and graham cracker crust, along with a little flavoring. Mr. P used enough vanilla to make the kitchen quite fragrant.
Our guest had offered to bring something, perhaps summer squash, but settled for raspberry sorbet and vanilla yogurt with raspberry swirls, both of which accompanied the pie ably.
The rest of the pie has made its way to a board meeting today, along with a second companion pie. It was requested twice by the same person, so -- oh well -- we just had to make it.
Dinner was really good. We both worked on prep and Mr. P handled the final cooking. It all seemed to go over well with our guest, and we certainly enjoyed it (and our company)!
Today, I've shredded the remaining summer squash and am flash freezing it before saving it for a winter stir-fry or soup.
Tonight, I think we'll have a variation on last night's salad -- cucumber, tomato, feta, beets, capers, fresh herbs. And I'll get some corn on the cob to go along with it.
Not sure about tomorrow night or what the farm will produce for Tuesday. The kitchen will be closed for a few days this week, with the Dinner Report to resume at an unspecified date.
But last night, we'd invited a friend over for dinner, so we cooked. This was the menu:
. Brown rice with wheat berries.
. Green bean thoren (with coconut and curry, fast becoming a staple chez Dinner Report, made with fresh-picked farm green beans)
. Summer squash curry. Mr. P found an intriguing recipe that involves slitting the squash without cutting through, stuffing it with a spice mixture -- we cheated and used fresh garlic and ginger instead of powdered -- then making a tarka (frying spices then cooling down with onions), adding a little water, and steaming the squash. The vegetables were mostly from the farm. We're already thinking about what else we could stuff and how to vary the recipe. We once made a variation on this recipe in an Indian cooking class, where the teacher had grown up in Kenya. It involved tiny blue potatoes stuffed with a spicy crumbled peanut mixture.
. A side salad of farm vegetables -- cucumber and tomatoes -- with some chopped feta and a sprinkling of herbs and salad dressing.
. Sides of Indian chutneys (not home made).
. For dessert, we had a chocolate pie whose other two main ingredients are tofu and graham cracker crust, along with a little flavoring. Mr. P used enough vanilla to make the kitchen quite fragrant.
Our guest had offered to bring something, perhaps summer squash, but settled for raspberry sorbet and vanilla yogurt with raspberry swirls, both of which accompanied the pie ably.
The rest of the pie has made its way to a board meeting today, along with a second companion pie. It was requested twice by the same person, so -- oh well -- we just had to make it.
Dinner was really good. We both worked on prep and Mr. P handled the final cooking. It all seemed to go over well with our guest, and we certainly enjoyed it (and our company)!
Today, I've shredded the remaining summer squash and am flash freezing it before saving it for a winter stir-fry or soup.
Tonight, I think we'll have a variation on last night's salad -- cucumber, tomato, feta, beets, capers, fresh herbs. And I'll get some corn on the cob to go along with it.
Not sure about tomorrow night or what the farm will produce for Tuesday. The kitchen will be closed for a few days this week, with the Dinner Report to resume at an unspecified date.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
More farm stuff
Been eating lots of salads and a tremendous number of fresh cucumbers. This is not a burden.
Tonight we had summer squash pancakes -- pretty much like potato pancakes. We used four small yellow squashes and still have a fair number left to go. Mr. P liked it, despite his aversion to summer squash. Dinner was accompanied by a salad of cucumber, tomatos, chopped basil, parsley, and tomatillos.
Last night, we had a surprise dinner guest who brought fresh corn and dessert. He also brought a half-dozen or so yellow squashes (hence the inspiration for tonight's dinner). So we had corn, alio & olio (with an entire head of garlic, chopped and lightly browned) and a really good salad with goat cheese, some steamed potatoes, salad, peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes, avocado, lettuce, chopped squash, and probably a little more. For dessert, we had fairly good store-bought carrot cake.
Sunday, we came home late from a weekend away and had spanekopita, brown rice, and a light stir-fry-and-steam (onions, squash, chard, and I'm not sure what else) tossed in soy sauce, vinegar, and toasted sesame oil.
Thursday night, before we went away, Mr. P made salad and our usual pesto delight with garlic and chard. I came home latish and we had a play to catch. Mr. P did well and it's nice to have a familiar dish with someone else's touch on it.
I can't even remember what we had last Wednesday night but I do remember it was tasty. Tomorrow, the kitchen is closed while I dine out with a friend.
And today at the farm, we got MORE SQUASH!! (Is there an Indian curry dish we could make with it? Perhaps I could puree or shred it, then freeze it for inclusion in winter dishes? Yikes! Zucchini bread anyone?), MORE CUCUMBERS!! (mmm, more cucumber salads. ooh. Cucumber soup, perhaps?), a quart of cherry tomatoes and a few plum tomatoes, a handful of charming little beets, just a little lettuce, a quart of string beans. The basil is starting to come in and pretty soon we'll be making pesto again.
Tonight we had summer squash pancakes -- pretty much like potato pancakes. We used four small yellow squashes and still have a fair number left to go. Mr. P liked it, despite his aversion to summer squash. Dinner was accompanied by a salad of cucumber, tomatos, chopped basil, parsley, and tomatillos.
Last night, we had a surprise dinner guest who brought fresh corn and dessert. He also brought a half-dozen or so yellow squashes (hence the inspiration for tonight's dinner). So we had corn, alio & olio (with an entire head of garlic, chopped and lightly browned) and a really good salad with goat cheese, some steamed potatoes, salad, peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes, avocado, lettuce, chopped squash, and probably a little more. For dessert, we had fairly good store-bought carrot cake.
Sunday, we came home late from a weekend away and had spanekopita, brown rice, and a light stir-fry-and-steam (onions, squash, chard, and I'm not sure what else) tossed in soy sauce, vinegar, and toasted sesame oil.
Thursday night, before we went away, Mr. P made salad and our usual pesto delight with garlic and chard. I came home latish and we had a play to catch. Mr. P did well and it's nice to have a familiar dish with someone else's touch on it.
I can't even remember what we had last Wednesday night but I do remember it was tasty. Tomorrow, the kitchen is closed while I dine out with a friend.
And today at the farm, we got MORE SQUASH!! (Is there an Indian curry dish we could make with it? Perhaps I could puree or shred it, then freeze it for inclusion in winter dishes? Yikes! Zucchini bread anyone?), MORE CUCUMBERS!! (mmm, more cucumber salads. ooh. Cucumber soup, perhaps?), a quart of cherry tomatoes and a few plum tomatoes, a handful of charming little beets, just a little lettuce, a quart of string beans. The basil is starting to come in and pretty soon we'll be making pesto again.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
flavor of the day: cumin
Farm day today. We seem to be just starting to get cherry tomatoes. I picked two quarts today and saw loads of flowers and green tomatoes on the vines. This could be The Summer of the Tomato, though last year, we had plenty, too.
I was all set to make a curry tonight except that it was too hot. And I was going to make raita -- usually "stuff" (often cucumbers) with yogurt. I got most of the way through the raita only to discover that our yogurt smelled like bad cheese, so we made an abrupt executive decision and had something similar but not quite.
The salad portion of the meal included:
- cucumbers from last week, peeled, quartered, seeded, and sliced.
- micro-steamed cubed potatos, super sweet beets, and garlic, then rapi-cooled
- sauteed cumin and mustard seeds and half an onion (oh yeah, the other half went into that cole slaw I made on Saturday), cooled
- halved cherry tomatoes
- feta cheese
- chopped parsley
All tossed in a light vinaigrette. Turned out well.
On the side, I served rice and tiny sliced carrots, which I'd steamed along with olive oil, butter, more cumin seeds, and a little cardamom.
We had a fresh peach, grapes, and chocolate for dessert.
Another success.
This week's farm share will be easier to get through because my share partner is back from vacation, so we'll only be faced with half of it once again. We'll have no trouble eating the tomatoes (though maybe I shouldn't speak in the plural). We have a smaller amount of lettuce to go through than in past weeks, a lot of carrots and cucumbers, some fresh mozzarella, a few herbs. We also have another huge beautiful onion, some rainbow chard, and a little summer squash.
MMM, maybe a little sautee with squash, onion, and tomato would be good, with some minced garlic and ginger thrown in at the last minute. Or maybe all that with chard instead of squash.
Thursday evening, I'll need to plan something quick because we have 8pm theater tickets. I'll see what else inspires me during the week. (oh! pesto! We're still working on last year's batch with this year's bounty just around the corner!)
I was all set to make a curry tonight except that it was too hot. And I was going to make raita -- usually "stuff" (often cucumbers) with yogurt. I got most of the way through the raita only to discover that our yogurt smelled like bad cheese, so we made an abrupt executive decision and had something similar but not quite.
The salad portion of the meal included:
- cucumbers from last week, peeled, quartered, seeded, and sliced.
- micro-steamed cubed potatos, super sweet beets, and garlic, then rapi-cooled
- sauteed cumin and mustard seeds and half an onion (oh yeah, the other half went into that cole slaw I made on Saturday), cooled
- halved cherry tomatoes
- feta cheese
- chopped parsley
All tossed in a light vinaigrette. Turned out well.
On the side, I served rice and tiny sliced carrots, which I'd steamed along with olive oil, butter, more cumin seeds, and a little cardamom.
We had a fresh peach, grapes, and chocolate for dessert.
Another success.
This week's farm share will be easier to get through because my share partner is back from vacation, so we'll only be faced with half of it once again. We'll have no trouble eating the tomatoes (though maybe I shouldn't speak in the plural). We have a smaller amount of lettuce to go through than in past weeks, a lot of carrots and cucumbers, some fresh mozzarella, a few herbs. We also have another huge beautiful onion, some rainbow chard, and a little summer squash.
MMM, maybe a little sautee with squash, onion, and tomato would be good, with some minced garlic and ginger thrown in at the last minute. Or maybe all that with chard instead of squash.
Thursday evening, I'll need to plan something quick because we have 8pm theater tickets. I'll see what else inspires me during the week. (oh! pesto! We're still working on last year's batch with this year's bounty just around the corner!)
Monday, July 28, 2008
yummy eggplant
At the farm stand yesterday, I couldn't resist three tiny baby eggplants. They were so cute! And purple! Suddenly I wanted yu-siang (sp?) eggplant -- that tangy, sweet, salty dish that's sometimes actually good. Mr. P has a huge Chinese cookbook which I consulted and tried to follow (I'm not all that great at precisely following recipes ). To the recipe, I added onion (actually, a huge gorgeous organic onion from last week's farm run), which I sauteed and set aside. Then I cut up eggplant rectangles and sauteed them on fairly high heat for a while. The recipe called for two cups of oil (YOOOWWW) and I did use more oil than I usually do, but not nearly that much. I cooked the eggplants until tasty and not overcooked.
You remove the eggplants from the heat, and in very quick succession cook minced garlic and ginger, add eggplant, toss, add a sugar-soy mixture, combine, stir in some vinegar, let it steam off, and at that point, I removed it from the heat and added toasted sesame oil and topped with chopped scallions.
We served it on rice with, what else, a side of salad (including some homemade mozzarella, not made in this home).
It was delicious, certainly not bad for a first attempt. The only thing I'd add on the second attempt would be something spicy -- Chinese pepper, chili sauce, or hot oil. But otherwise, wow. I didn't know I could make that.
The farm supplies from last week are almost gone, except for a huge pile of cucumbers and a smaller pile of carrots, and a few odds and ends. Maybe we'll have raita tomorrow night, which might require us to cook something containing paneer, which implies something curried. We'll see what we pick up at the farm and go from there. If cauliflower, then it'll be easy to add a couple of potatoes, maybe some peas, paneer, spices, and we'd call it a meal.
You remove the eggplants from the heat, and in very quick succession cook minced garlic and ginger, add eggplant, toss, add a sugar-soy mixture, combine, stir in some vinegar, let it steam off, and at that point, I removed it from the heat and added toasted sesame oil and topped with chopped scallions.
We served it on rice with, what else, a side of salad (including some homemade mozzarella, not made in this home).
It was delicious, certainly not bad for a first attempt. The only thing I'd add on the second attempt would be something spicy -- Chinese pepper, chili sauce, or hot oil. But otherwise, wow. I didn't know I could make that.
The farm supplies from last week are almost gone, except for a huge pile of cucumbers and a smaller pile of carrots, and a few odds and ends. Maybe we'll have raita tomorrow night, which might require us to cook something containing paneer, which implies something curried. We'll see what we pick up at the farm and go from there. If cauliflower, then it'll be easy to add a couple of potatoes, maybe some peas, paneer, spices, and we'd call it a meal.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
first corn of the season
This afternoon, I drove over to the local organic farm stand and picked up some corn. For dinner, we had two ears each plus a lot of salad, for which I steamed, then cooled, a small potato and a couple of beets. Our salad also included Feta cheese and half an avocado.
Oh -- cooking corn. I shuck it, wrap each ear in wax paper, and pop them in the microwave for about two minutes each. I like it with butter and salt; Mr. P likes it with olive oil. First corn of the season is such a treat, an exciting and notable occasion.
Oh -- cooking corn. I shuck it, wrap each ear in wax paper, and pop them in the microwave for about two minutes each. I like it with butter and salt; Mr. P likes it with olive oil. First corn of the season is such a treat, an exciting and notable occasion.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)