What's cooking?

[Jenise]

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).

A quinoa salad! Combine cooked quinoa with blueberries, chopped walnuts and small chunks of diced, roasted butternut squash and dress with oil, lemon juice, salt and fresh basil. At the last, stir in some blue cheese.

A quinoa salad! Combine cooked quinoa with blueberries, chopped walnuts and small chunks of diced, roasted butternut squash and dress with oil, lemon juice, salt and fresh basil. At the last, stir in some blue cheese.

Thanks. Great idea. In essence, using the blueberries somewhat like how one would use raisins in such a dish. Although obviously 'fresher'.

We don't eat quinoa anymore after we discovered that my wife is allergic (apparently somewhat common and involving EXTREMELY painful stomach cramps that at one point sent her to the ER) but we eat tons of couscous, millet, barley, etc, etc. So this will get a shot soon.

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.

I can't quite visualize this in my mind's palate but I suppose it's somewhat similar in concept to the plum sauce I made. And I'm always game to try new stuff. Thanks!!

Hell's bells, man. Fresh blueberries with sour cream. What kind of a Jew are you?

Fresh blueberries with sour cream. What kind of a Jew are you?

Believe me, there is no shortage of fresh blueberries (and other fruit) being eaten in this house. I'm somewhat of a fruit-eating maniac!

But this particular situation is beyond even my capacity for consumption. We were supposed to host a picnic today for a few neighborhood families but then our son came down with a fever last night and we had to cancel. Which leaves us with an insane amount of rapidly-perishing fruit and I'm not a big fan of freezing and I don't make jam. So my first thought was figuring out ways to slip the fruit into the meals. Looking forward to blueberry sauce and fish for tomorrow' lunch.

Smoked salmon quiche tonight.
Yes, real men eat quiche.

I'm not a big fan of freezing

Why not?

I'm not a big fan of freezing

Why not?

Diminished flavor and texture. But I'm slowly coming around to it. Practicality eventually wins out.

I'm not a big fan of freezing

Why not?

Diminished flavor and texture. But I'm slowly coming around to it. Practicality eventually wins out.

A technique that helps: freeze the berries individually, on a cookie sheet in the freezer, and only put them in a bag when they are already solid.

What Jeff said, plus don't wash the berries before freezing. Of course, it is a good idea to rinse them before eventual consumption.
'Winger

Pork tenderloin is marinating in fresh rosemary, balsamic and apple cider vinegars, honey, garlic, fresh rosemary, evoo and will be grilled. Squash blossoms, to be dipped in a light tempura batter and quickly fried in evoo. I have both male and female flowers. Females have some of the baby squashes attached. Baby rainbow chard leaves to be cooked with fresh garlic, chicken stock. An heirloom tomato and kalamata olive salad with grilled bread, cut into chunks. Marjoram, sweet basil and a vinaigrette will dress the salad.

What Jeff said, plus don't wash the berries before freezing. Of course, it is a good idea to rinse them before eventual consumption.
'Winger

I rinse my blueberries as soon as I get them home, lay out on paper towels to dry. I freeze them on large sheet trays, overnight, then put them into food saver bags in the morning. They freeze beautifully, are are ready for use all winter.

Macaroni Salad with fresh lemon, and sweet basil. A refreshing twist on an old favorite. A plate of heirloom tomatoes and garden cukes to round out the meal.

[Jenise]

Fresh steamed Dungeness crab--I hope. Today's opening day and I just put my traps out. We're pensive this year because a screwup on the part of the dadgumgummammint in the Fish & Wildlife contracts with the local Indian tribe which allowed them commercial access to our little fishery for the last week and some. Typically, they can't come in here until AFTER our little six week open is over. Have no idea if they left any crab for the rest of us.

Macaroni Salad with fresh lemon, and sweet basil. A refreshing twist on an old favorite. A plate of heirloom tomatoes and garden cukes to round out the meal.

That looks good!

[Robin Garr]

No photo today, I've been out all day and am about shot, but I used up another bumper harvest of okra by slicing it into rounds and sauteeing it with onions, gralic and red and green bell pepper julienne, peeled seeded and diced fresh tomatoes, S&P and red-pepper flakes and a few shots of interesting spices to give it a little more dimension. Served with brown basmati rice just because I heard Alton Brown mention it the other day and wanted to try some. Good stuff, nutty and appropriately chewy.

Tonight was a rotisserie chicken, roasted fingerling potatoes ( red, white, and purple) I semi peeled the potatoes, drenched them with olive oil, sprinkled with a mix of seasoned salt, garlic powder, and black pepper. Then I sprinkled with Penzey's cracked rosemary, and roasted in the oven for 40 min at 400F. chopped a half dozen carrots and parboiled them. Then I sauteed them in butter adding a teaspoon of sugar near the end of the sautee and just before taking them off the burner hit them with a hand full of chopped Tarragon from the garden. Major yum tonight!

Tonight was a rotisserie chicken, roasted fingerling potatoes ( red, white, and purple) I semi peeled the potatoes, drenched them with olive oil, sprinkled with a mix of seasoned salt, garlic powder, and black pepper. Then I sprinkled with Penzey's cracked rosemary, and roasted in the oven for 40 min at 400F. chopped a half dozen carrots and parboiled them. Then I sauteed them in butter adding a teaspoon of sugar near the end of the sautee and just before taking them off the burner hit them with a hand full of chopped Tarragon from the garden. Major yum tonight!

Yum is right! Thanks for the inspiration!

You are very welcome Karen!

Grilled burgers, nuked zucchini, and Shipyard Blue Fin Stout.

Grilled burgers, nuked zucchini, and Shipyard Blue Fin Stout.

I could eat that.

[Jenise]

Our day:

Morning: Grilled breakie sandwich for Bob (fried egg, chipotle sauce, and avocado on high fiber rye), cucumber salad for me. Blueberries we grew ourselves for me.

Lunch: Fresh spinach salad with sundried tomato vinaigrette and flakes of halibut that we smoked a few days ago standing in for the bacon. Divine! Fresh local spinach is one of the best treats of summer. It's so strong in flavor, yet so tender.

Dinner: Curry-cured filet mignon with roasted beets, turnips and carrots, after a green salad of Renee's baby lettuces with walnuts and a lemon dressing.

Dinner: Curry-cured filet mignon with roasted beets, turnips and carrots, after a green salad of Renee's baby lettuces with walnuts and a lemon dressing.

Humm, I've "curry cured" salmon but never beef.

[Jenise]

Dinner: Curry-cured filet mignon with roasted beets, turnips and carrots, after a green salad of Renee's baby lettuces with walnuts and a lemon dressing.

Humm, I've "curry cured" salmon but never beef.

I love curry-cured beef. My favorite cut is flank, but this time it was a way of rescuing a pair of filet mignon steaks that I got out of the freezer by accident. (I removed them looking for something else, then forgot to put them back.) I hadn't like the flavor of the tenderloin these steaks had come from--very livery. So faced with that, the curry-cure seemed a good way to mask what I didn't like. And it worked very well, and even better than anticipated, since the curing firmed up the soft texture somewhat. For me, a plus.