What's cooking?

[Jenise]

I'm terrine-ing today so completely uninterested in preparing dinner. A bite here and there as I test the components seems to keep me from getting hungry. So it's 4:30 and I have no plan. Didn't have one for lunch either, so when Bob begged for food? A cold plate with some of Friday's terrine--this is one of the best kind of leftovers to have around.

IMG_4463.JPG

[Robin Garr]

A cold plate with some of Friday's terrine--this is one of the best kind of leftovers to have around.

Yum-mo! Tomatoes were involved in our dinner too. We're eating a lot of them this season.

Spaghetti salsa cruda with chunks of ripe, juicy Italian heirloom tomatoes and fresh basil tossed with green Sicilian olive oil and hot spaghetti, brought up to meet Pinot Noir with dabs of fresh Mozzarella and mild goat cheese. 

Tonight it is grilled rib eye steak with Mushroom, thyme and white truffle oil risotto made with home made chicken stock.
Fresh green beans cooked simply in shallot, fresh tarragon, and lemon.

Stir-fried beef with snow peas tonight.

-Paul W.

[Robin Garr]

Eggplant steaks, pan-seared and oven-finished, smothered with mushrooms and onions sautéed in Sicilian olive oil. 

Jeez Louise!

Tonight it is pizza with my own sauce, tomatoes and basil. I think I will throw on some artichoke hearts and mozzarella.

That is beautiful Robin, sounds rather rich. Did you have some sort of salad with it?

[Robin Garr]

That is beautiful Robin, sounds rather rich. Did you have some sort of salad with it?

Oh, yes, I should have mentioned that. Mary made a nice, simple salad with lots of diced tomatoes from the garden. And on the side, a NZ Pinot Noir for this month's WIne Focus!

[Jenise]

Haven't been planning many dinners lately. By the time I finish working on terrines all day, I'm basically spent: anxious, and not very hungry so I end up scrounging to throw something together for Bob's sake more than my own. Tonight's dinner--planned earlier today and looked forward to--is a very welcome return to normal and one of my favorite simple summer dinners: corn on the cob (yellow!) and a fresh tomato salad.

Haven't been planning many dinners lately. By the time I finish working on terrines all day, I'm basically spent: anxious, and not very hungry so I end up scrounging to throw something together for Bob's sake more than my own. Tonight's dinner--planned earlier today and looked forward to--is a very welcome return to normal and one of my favorite simple summer dinners: corn on the cob (yellow!) and a fresh tomato salad.

Sounds good Jenise. One of my favorite summer meals is a whole artichoke, sliced tomatoes and cucumbers!

[Robin Garr]

Spicy red lentil dal with okra and onions. Filling and full of protein. It was a great match with Sierra Nevada Kellerweis Hefeweizen. 

Roasted Cornish game hen halves, baked potatoes, coleslaw with green onions and tiny shrimp, and sliced garden tomatoes.

[Robin Garr]

Patatas bravas, a traditional Spanish dish of roasted potatoes tossed in a sauce of tomatoes, onions and garlic, smoky and hot paprika, made in a lighter summer variation using barely cooked chunks of fresh tomato. 

Tonight we had, you guessed it, grilled rib eye over charcoal and mesquite chips, corn-on-the-cob, and sliced tomato; washed down with a Knapp Cabernet Franc. Yum!!!

Beef short ribs, with a mix of Serrano, jalapeño, Hatch peppers, tomatillos, garden tomatoes, leeks, garlic, herbs, balsamic, served over Pappardelle pasta. Steamed broccoli, and a salad of red and green romaine lettuce, radicchio lemon cukes, and Chocolate Striped tomatoes. We are drinking a home made cab that our neighbor makes.

[Robin Garr]

Our recent discussions on faux meats prompted me to samole something new: LightLife Smart Wings with a celery and blue cheese salad, served with farmers' market potato rolls and a simple Rioja Vega 2009 Rioja. "Hail to thee, blithe spirit! Bird thou never wert."

Homegrown heirloom chicken cooked in a dutch oven on the gas grill, with crushed tomato, stock, celery, red bell pepper, Vidalia onion, and Balti curry seasoning from Penzeys. Served over mixed brown, red and black rices.
Gail gave it a big thumbs up for flavor, and the chicken turned out tasty and tender.
Faux meat? I don't think so...

Faux meat? I don't think so...

Why not? It tastes just like chicken.

Homegrown heirloom chicken cooked in a dutch oven on the gas grill, with crushed tomato, stock, celery, red bell pepper, Vidalia onion, and Balti curry seasoning from Penzeys. Served over mixed brown, red and black rices.
Gail gave it a big thumbs up for flavor, and the chicken turned out tasty and tender.
Faux meat? I don't think so...

I don't grasp the faux meat, either. However, I do know folks who, because of medical reasons, cannot eat meats and really miss it. So, if the faux meat can fill that void in their lives, that is good. As for me, I am eating what I love, in moderation, and hoping I will never have to give anything up.

Yesterday I had a hankering for veal. So when in town to run some errands I stopped in the local super and found to my great surprise two beautiful veal "porterhouses." I marinated them for an hour in Marsala, and then dried and seasoned with salt, pepper,and grandulated garlic. Grilled over charcoal and black cherry chips. They were fantastic with zucchini from our garden nuked with onion, seasoning, butter, and Romano. Excellante'.

[Jenise]

Haven't been planning many dinners lately. By the time I finish working on terrines all day, I'm basically spent: anxious, and not very hungry so I end up scrounging to throw something together for Bob's sake more than my own. Tonight's dinner--planned earlier today and looked forward to--is a very welcome return to normal and one of my favorite simple summer dinners: corn on the cob (yellow!) and a fresh tomato salad.

Sounds good Jenise. One of my favorite summer meals is a whole artichoke, sliced tomatoes and cucumbers!

We could eat together!

Tonight's dinner is a little inspired by Carrie's thread on 'whole' foods. Still reeling from a little case of PTSD (post-Terrine stress disorder ), I've decided to go as far in the other direction as possible with nothing but corn on the cob, boiled shrimp and wilted cabbage seasoned with but water and salt.

[Robin Garr]

Zucchini Provençal with fresh tomatoes, fresh thyme, onions and garlic over spaghetti. 

Had fettucine in a sauce that consisted of oil-packed tuna, capers, onion, garlic, golden raisins, and parsley. Good stuff.