What's cooking?

[Jenise]

Bob, the classic version of the dish involves not just butter, but browned butter. Makes it nutty!

Bob, the classic version of the dish involves not just butter, but browned butter. Makes it nutty!

Thanks Jenise, your info re browned butter makes my mouth water even more! Speaking of browned butter, I like to use it on cauliflower. I steam the veggie but leave it a bit al dente. then separate the florets apart in a serving bowl, sprinkle heavily with Italian seasoned bread crumbs, then pour the browned butter over the top. It's been too long since we've made that dish.

Looks yummy Jo Ann. Are they creamy or crispy in the center?

Crispy and crunchy -- through and through!

Recipe, please! Looks like to-die-for party food.

click on the word Cheez-its! The recipe is there.

[Robin Garr]

Bob, the classic version of the dish involves not just butter, but browned butter. Makes it nutty!

Hmm, we didn't get brown butter in Alba, but it was alfresco dining in the summertime. Browned does sound good, but I didn't know it was classic.

Bob, I'd use the amount of spaghetti you would normally use for a course. A half-pound is more than Mary and I normally go with for a pasta dinner: 4 to 6 ounces between the two of us amounts to 200 to 300 calories each before you even put the butter on. I guess we just have to be more disciplined at home because we "have to" eat out a lot, but if I shared a half-pound of pasta for dinner often, I'd be hard-pressed to keep my boyish figure.

[Robin Garr]

4 to 6 ounces between the two of us

PS: What you see there is about 2 1/2 ounce (before cooking) single portion. It's plenty, and with a nice big caprese on the side with Lotsa Pasta's fresh mozzarella and a glass of Stickybeak Russian River Valley Chardonnay on the side, it made a pleasant summer dinner that left us feeling both satisfied and healthy.

Tonight is is heirloom tomatoes, with fresh mozz, and a sprinkle of fresh herbs. Red potato salad with tarragon, thyme, red onion, garlic, and celery heart, evoo and champagne vinegar, oven roasted chicken that has soaked in buttermilk and Tabasco, then dredged in corn flake crumbs, seasoned with herbs, salt and mignonette pepper. Breakfast this morning was this fabulous Jalapeño and Cheese quiche, with fresh chives, fresh, and pickled jalapeños.

[Jenise]

On the stove right now: six pork ribs (from the meatiest end of the rack) leftover from last week's rib rub testing session, along with onions, Hatch green chiles and several scoops of the two fresh salsas I made on Saturday. Think Chinese black bean ribs meet El Torito. Will add a lot of fresh oregano from the garden and serve whatever this turns into over rice later today.

WOW! Jenise that sound finger licking good. I might just have to take a riff on something similar sometime.

[Jenise]

WOW! Jenise that sound finger licking good. I might just have to take a riff on something similar sometime.

Should be great--a highly seasoned chile verde of sorts made out of repurposed leftovers. I love cooking this way!

[Robin Garr]

Fusion: Okra with a little Cajun gumbo, a little Indian curry, and all good; with basmati rice. One thing about a productive garden, you eat what's in season. I'm sure glad we like okra.

I can never seem to remember to photograph my creations until they are past their photogenic point. I am alway too interested in getting it to the table. Last night made Kashk-E Bademjan, an Iranian eggplant dish, for the second time. Though I have never eaten it anywhere my husband found it while researching places to dine when visiting our son in San Francisco. He expressed the desire to try it as an adult after refusing to eat it as a child and garlic hater. It is interesting to experiment with a traditional food and make it to your taste when you have no idea how it is "supposed" to taste. Eggplant cooked with onions, garlic, mint with Kashk, a fermented whey purchased in a jar like mayonnaise with a texture like marshmallow cream without the stickiness. The dish is really tasty: smooth and smoky, very satisfying. First recipe called for frying the eggplant and did not add garlic, I have since decided to roast the eggplant for richer flavor and less oil, add garlic and tumeric. We made it dinner spread on whole wheat pocketless pocket bread, served with chardonnay. Mmmmmm. I will soon need to find more kashk.

[Robin Garr]

Kashk-E Bademjan, an Iranian eggplant dish

Sounds delicious, Susan! We have a fair number of Iranian restaurants here and I've become a fan of the cuisine. I've made quite a few Iranian dishes at home, but I've never had kashk. I'm pretty sure I could get some at one of the little Iranian markets. Might have to think about this! Do you have a recipe, or did you do it out of your head?

St Louis ribs smoked with hickory and slathered with our tangy BBQ sauce, sourdough bisquits, and salad; burp! We picked up the ribs at BJs yesterday, and we cooked one and froze the other. The one we smoked were so meaty that we are going to get 2 1/2 meals out of it.

[Robin Garr]

Vangi Batata Bhaji, Indian eggplant and potatoes with browned onions and garlic, green chiles and spices. 

Vegetable - herb pancakes. Using chick pea flour as the starch, any number of vegetables [ grated zucchs, grated kohlrabi, shucked corn, chopped greens ] or just minced herbs and spices make terrific tiny appys or larger lunch entree or dinner side.
Happen to have a plethora of chard and zucch blossoms now and anxious to find new uses

Kashk-E Bademjan, an Iranian eggplant dish

Sounds delicious, Susan! We have a fair number of Iranian restaurants here and I've become a fan of the cuisine. I've made quite a few Iranian dishes at home, but I've never had kashk. I'm pretty sure I could get some at one of the little Iranian markets. Might have to think about this! Do you have a recipe, or did you do it out of your head?

Robin, I am working on combining a couple of recipes. I will post it soon.

Grilled rib eye steak, a fast saute of baby squashes with sweet peppers from our garden, then tossed with my home made tomato sauce at the end. Heirloom tomato and lemon cucumber salad with home made green goddness dressing.

[Robin Garr]

A locavore farmers' market spin on Ethiopian gomen wat, subbing fresh garden chard and cabbage for the traditional collards, cooked with onions, bell peppers, garlic, ginger, green chiles, cumin, turmeric and a shot of fiery spice. 

I didn't have injera, so we ate it with warm pita quarters, which worked just fine.

Boneless, skinless chicken breast, sliced in half and then pounded out a little. This will go onto a ciabatta bun with home made caramelized, balsamic onions, heirloom tomato slices and dark burgundy lettuce leaves. Onions are cooking now and their odor is making my mouth water. If time allows, I will make oven zucchini fries.

Vangi Batata Bhaji, Indian eggplant and potatoes with browned onions and garlic, green chiles and spices. 

This sounds delish Robin, do you have a recipe to post?

[Jenise]

A locavore farmers' market spin on Ethiopian gomen wat, subbing fresh garden chard and cabbage for the traditional collards, cooked with onions, bell peppers, garlic, ginger, green chiles, cumin, turmeric and a shot of fiery spice. 

I didn't have injera, so we ate it with warm pita quarters, which worked just fine.

You're really on a roll with these vegetarian curry-like dishes!

[Jenise]

On the smoker right now: local king salmon and halibut.

We have a surplus of plums in the house so I made a Chinese-style plum sauce. Cooked and pureed with garlic, ginger, soy sauce, clove, and a bit of cinnamon. We had it for lunch today with our roasted potatoes but I'm already looking forward to serving it with fish tomorrow. Fun fun fun.

Now, does anyone have ideas for bringing a surplus of blueberries to the table? We don't want to make a dessert and don't really do big breakfasts (one idea is blueberry sauce for waffles but I'm hoping to get others).

We have a surplus of plums in the house so I made a Chinese-style plum sauce. Cooked and pureed with garlic, ginger, soy sauce, clove, and a bit of cinnamon. We had it for lunch today with our roasted potatoes but I'm already looking forward to serving it with fish tomorrow. Fun fun fun.

Now, does anyone have ideas for bringing a surplus of blueberries to the table? We don't want to make a dessert and don't really do big breakfasts (one idea is blueberry sauce for waffles but I'm hoping to get others).

Blueberry/lemon/garlic or blueberry/lemon/garlic/ginger as a sauce or jam to go with chicken or fish. I picked up a jar with heavy garlic in Maine a few years back at a roadside stand. The heavy garlic worked better with chicken, but with a lighter hand and some fresh ginger, I could see it working nicely with fish.