What's cooking?

We had mostly farmers' market stuff tonight. A salad of watermelon, feta, and arugula with a balsamic reduction. Local heirlooms (the little stripey green ones) in a caprese with burrata. Purple snap beans blanched with a lemon vinaigrette. And roasted chicken breasts.

All yummy!

[Robin Garr]

A couple of beautifully ripe ox heart (Italian heirloom) tomatoes were ready to eat, so we wanted BLTs for lunch, but we were out of rye bread. Would a BLT taste good on a toasted English muffin? Only one way to find out! I thought it worked splendidly - a thick tomato slice was just the right size to fit ... and I love English muffins.

[Jenise]

We do them on English Muffins all the time, great choice. And you get all those strips of bacon overhanging the edges to nibble off first.

[Robin Garr]

you get all those strips of bacon overhanging the edges to nibble off first.

Egg-zackly!

We do portion out the bacon abstemiously, so we can keep the calorie count reasonable and still enjoy BLTs often in season ... but happily a little bacon flavor goes a long way.

.. and I love English muffins.

NJ just made a big batch of sourdough English muffins... I ♥ English muffins also.

[Robin Garr]

.. and I love English muffins.

NJ just made a big batch of sourdough English muffins... I ♥ English muffins also.

MMMMM!! We'll be right over.

Actually, I would love to make the English muffin recipe in Reinhart's new bread book. Might have to try that as soon as the weather cools back down a little.

Here ya go Robin-

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[Robin Garr]

Here ya go Robin-

Mmmmm! Do they have crooks and nannies?

[Jenise]

Wow, Winger, those are the real deal! Lucky you.

Here ya go Robin-

Mmmmm! Do they have crooks and nannies?

Dunno-
They are still cooling and I haven't sliced any yet. I asked NJ if they had "crooks and nannies" and she just gave me that look.

[Robin Garr]

I haven't sliced any yet.

Agggh!! No slicing! Poke a fork halfway through, working around in a circle until you can pull 'em apart. Slicing is inimical to the noon'n'cranny effect.

I haven't sliced any yet.

Agggh!! No slicing! Poke a fork halfway through, working around in a circle until you can pull 'em apart. Slicing is inimical to the noon'n'cranny effect.

NJ just reminded me of that. Are you sure you're not identical twins separated at birth?

[Jenise]

Went to the Dorks of York tasting last night so made a healthy tomato/cucumber salad for us to fill up on before we went and a salmon rillettes to take along.

Tonight I'm doing something with chicken. Found Rosie organic/free range chickens yesterday for $1.48/lb!! Don't have an exact plan in mind, though.

[Robin Garr]

We had dinner at lunchtime yesterday, an outstanding Mesopotamian repast at a new Iraqi place in town, Dejlah Bistro.

Semka appetizer, a smoky, delicious roast red pepper and tomato puree with pita triangles.

Chicken Top-Kapi, listed as a "chef signature" special, half of a boned chicken served over a mix of rice, ground lamb and raisins.

Kuzee, an oven-roasted spiced lamb shank with a side of something that looks like rice topped with angel hair.

Fried cauliflower, tasty but not particularly photogenic.

Zonood, an amazing Iraqi dessert, cream wrapped in phyllo.

Last night we were almost too full to eat at all, but changed our mind when we say the growing pile of ripe, juicy Oxheart tomatoes, and made mini-capreses.

With the recent posts about crab cakes and Jenise's coconut crab picture, I made and cooked Chef Bryan Voltaggio's Maryland crab cakes this past weekend and had them with a nice St. Supéry Sauvignon Blanc, '08, I think. The recipe did call for three minced spring onions which I thought might be too much but it was fine. Another item was 1/4 teaspoon of minced garlic. With a pound of crab meat, I don't really know what 1/4 tsp of garlic is going to do. On the other hand, the recipe called for one full tsp of salt! Too much. I'm wondering if the publisher got the two mixed up.
Anyway, they were good and really good the next day, heated up on the Webber grill.

[Jenise]

Last night we were almost too full to eat at all, but changed our mind when we say the growing pile of ripe, juicy Oxheart tomatoes, and made mini-capreses.

You're killing me. Still not harvesting here.

You're killing me. Still not harvesting here.

Jenise, is anyone harvesting tomatoes there? I know Lindy Stradley tells me the tomato harvest season is much later than ours and very short, but this in Sept. 1st already. Are they late this year?

[Jenise]

Yes, Karen, this has been a particularly slow summer. Finally got warm about three weeks ago, but yesterday it didn't get any warmer than 55. Today it will be back up to 70 but that's not going to last long enough to do much, I'm afraid.

Roast pork lo mein for dinner here.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Decided on my menu, perfect for a sunny day in early Fall:

Fresh radishes with cold butter
Salad of tatsoi and endive with roasted plums, tarragon vinaigrette
Chicken breasts braised with apples and sage, served with my Crispy Prairie Rice

[Robin Garr]

Casual dining for us today, but in a good way. Mary made some leftover free-range hen into an outstanding chicken salad with fresh celery and onions, pecans, a little mayo and a zap of Madras curry powder, which I guess should really have its name changed to Chennai curry powder now.

Then she went out to lunch with a pal and brought me home an excellent gyros, by which time I had already found the chicken salad and chowed down, d'oh!

So we quickly deconstructed the gyros so it would keep, and tonight we'll put it back together for dinner with a salad.

Got a really wacky Australian Riesling to try with it, too, for Wine Focus and Friday's Wine Advisor.

Chinese Long Beans are on my menu often. These seemed to take forever to start from a dried bean, but up they came and are giving me a handful everyday. Given the length, a handful is perfect for the two of us. They are very tasty and fun to watch grow. One picture shows them getting into my sweet basil.

Pickedlongs.jpg

Casual dining for us today, but in a good way. Mary made some leftover free-range hen into an outstanding chicken salad with fresh celery and onions, pecans, a little mayo and a zap of Madras curry powder, which I guess should really have its name changed to Chennai curry powder now.

Not when the best biryani spice mix out there is still called "Bombay biryani".

Well, in my produce bin are some beautiful red and orange bell peppers, so I pulled those. A big red onion in the pantry wants work, an avocado has ripened, and garlic from the Farmer's Market has dried and is ready to use. I think I will sauté the peppers, onion and garlic to a buttery, fragrant softness, then combine with grilled, sliced chicken breasts which will be marinated all day in a south-west marinade. All this will fill some warmed flour tortillas. The avocado will go into a guacamole for us to dip our filled tortilla into. We always have some sort of salad with dinner and I see a bunch of radishes that have grown to the perfect size in my garden that need pulling, so maybe they will inspire me.