What's cooking?

My garden gave me a mass of beautiful red and dark gold bell peppers today. So we are having stuffed peppers. I found a blend of Israeli Couscous, Orzo, Baby Garbanzo Beans and Red Quinoa at Trader Joes. After cooking for a bit of time, this was mixed with bison, jalapeño and very finely chopped assortment of peppers, onion, garlic, and spices. A can of tomato sauce, and diced tomatoes were mixed with a dry white wine. One cup went into the stuffing mix and the rest poured over the stuffed peppers. At the end, a small amount of jack cheese is added on top of each pepper and melted. I'm serving with rattlesnake green beans, simply steamed, then sautéed in a little evoo to finish cooking. I will add my home made lemon, parsley and cilantro pesto at the end. The extra peppers will go into the refer for our grandson's lunches during the week.

We had a ribeye steak with Morton rub grilled over charcoal and mesquite chips; along with today's corn-on-the-cob, and sliced beefsteak tomato. Washed it down with Knapp 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon (12% alky). Also had fresh peaches and blueberries on top of pound cake. Yum, yum, yum, yum!!!!

Made quiche using sweet Italian sausage and mushrooms mixed with an old Mahon cheese. Texture is very good though I think I'll switch back to Emmenthaler.

[Robin Garr]

Sometimes even a dish as delicious as fresh basil pesto starts to seem ho-hum through repetition  that's when I move outside the box: Pesto of asparagus, walnuts and Parmigiano Reggiano with linguine. 

Last night's dinner was Ethiopian doro wat.

-Paul W.

Tonight it is Ina Garten's Tuscan Lemon Chicken, a real fave of ours. Zucchini spears brushed with evoo and lemon juice, then grilled, then a sprinkled with a mix of lemon zest and coarse salt. A plate of heirloom tomatoes of many colors and an heirloom cuke cut into spears.

Last night we had our upscale Chicken a'la King on biscuits, and salad mostly from our garden and local farm. Washed it all down with a bottle of Knapp Finger Lakes Chardonnay.

Sometimes even a dish as delicious as fresh basil pesto starts to seem ho-hum through repetition  that's when I move outside the box: Pesto of asparagus, walnuts and Parmigiano Reggiano with linguine. 

Robin, do you have a recipe for this dish? You should send this to Linda Stradley for her "reader submitted recipe section". beautiful picture and very original. I can give you her email if you want to send it. with picture attached?
I'd love to make this!

[Robin Garr]

Sometimes even a dish as delicious as fresh basil pesto starts to seem ho-hum through repetition  that's when I move outside the box: Pesto of asparagus, walnuts and Parmigiano Reggiano with linguine. 

Robin, do you have a recipe for this dish? You should send this to Linda Stradley for her "reader submitted recipe section". beautiful picture and very original. I can give you her email if you want to send it. with picture attached?
I'd love to make this!

Karen, I usually build these on the fly, so I don't have much of a recipe. I can summarize it, though: I took a bunch of fresh asparagus - must have been a pound - and snapped off the bottoms, cut off and set aside the tops. I cut the spears into one-inch lengths and simmered them in salted water just until they were tender. Drained, reserving a little of the cooking water, and then put the cooked pieces into the Cuisinart. I then added walnuts - maybe 1/2 cup - and maybe 1/4 cup of grated Parmigiano Reggiano. A smashed garlic clove or two, a shot of kosher salt, a grind of tellicherry pepper, a couple tablespoons of good, fruity olive oil, then buzzed until it was a puree, but left plenty of texture in it. This was very thick, so I thinned it just a bit by stirring in a little leftover asparagus water until it was about the consistency of, um, mashed potatoes?

Meanwhile I cooked linguine for two and simmered the asparagus tips until crisp-tender. Drained and portioned the linguine, topped with a scoop of the pesto, and just quickly arranged the asparagus tops on top of each. Grabbed a photo, opened some wine, and got to work.

I tried a cheap Gabbiano Chianti as a conscious test of offbeat red-wine-and-asparagus matching. It was okay, but the wine was a little acidic for the dish. Next time I think I might go with a grassy Sauvignon Blanc, or if I want to keep it Italian, maybe a Vernaccia di San Gimignano or maybe a Fiano or Falanghina or Sicilian Grillo.

We are camping on the ocean in Bar Harbor, ME this week. Having absolutely gorgeous weather for eating outside. We're a bit "lobstered-out," thus we had grilled chicken (marinated in garlic, and lemon), kale salad, asparagus with sauteed shitakes and onion.

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This is our view. Love it!

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Carrie, we haven't had a vacation in Bar Harbor since my son was a kid. We just loved it, we took him on whale watch cruises and saw a batch of different whales, and ate lobster until it was coming out of our ears. It's hard for me to get "lobstered out" but that chicken looks wonderful, as does the waterfront view. Wish I were there!

Actually when we decided we had to have a non-lobster meal, it was kind of funny, we went to the only "Mexican Restaurant" in Bar Harbor. Completely weird, I think the chili had maple syrup in it and a cube of ginger-bread on top.

Sounds like you're having a great time Carrie! Tonight we grilled boneless pork chops rubbed with Penseys' Pork Chop seasoning, and grilled over charcoal and hickory chips. Also had sides of nuked zucchini with onions seasonings and EVOO, and corn on the cob. Washed all down with Smuttynose Old Brown Dog ale.

Also cooked up some extra corn so we can make Northern Maine corn fritters with maple syrup for breakfast!

A few months ago Costco had their 2 pound bag of frozen shrimp on sale and I gave it a try. Now I have to have some in the freezer, it's so convenient to pull out a dozen or so shrimps to thaw in the fridge overnight and then toss something together for the 2 of us. And I have been trying out recipes for Scampi, since that tends to be simple and delicious. One recipe I tried was from Lidia Bastianich, elegant but too complicated. You had to make a compound butter with herbs, and split the shrimp and put them on a cookie sheet with their tails straight up and the 2 halves butterflied out to the side. OK but ???

Last night I tried a Mario Batali recipe and we loved it. It relied heavily on stuff I have growing in my yard namely fennel (for the fronds or leaves) jalapeño peppers (my tenants have a few plants in their raised garden), and mint. So for a dozen shrimp you finely slice 2 cloves of garlic and 2 seeded jalapeños. Throw those into a hot frying pan with the shrimp and "smoking" hot olive oil. Cook for a couple of minutes until the "down" side is red and cooked, flip over and add maybe 1/4 cup dry white wine, the chopped fennel leaves and chopped mint. Stir until it makes a bit of sauce and serve. I had some "fresh" linguini that cooked in about 3 minutes, served it over that. "Dessert" was a whole heirloom tomato (Brandywine I think) cut up and made into Capresi. Nice meal. BTW the basil was also from our back yard.

[Jenise]

Last night's dinner was Ethiopian doro wat.

-Paul W.

Ooh, that sounds good. The weather's acting like our three weeks of summer are totally over and there's a fall chill in the air. Wat will be perfect any day now if things don't change.

[Jenise]

A few months ago Costco had their 2 pound bag of frozen shrimp on sale and I gave it a try. Now I have to have some in the freezer, it's so convenient to pull out a dozen or so shrimps to thaw in the fridge overnight and then toss something together for the 2 of us. And I have been trying out recipes for Scampi, since that tends to be simple and delicious. One recipe I tried was from Lidia Bastianich, elegant but too complicated. You had to make a compound butter with herbs, and split the shrimp and put them on a cookie sheet with their tails straight up and the 2 halves butterflied out to the side. OK but ???

Last night I tried a Mario Batali recipe and we loved it. It relied heavily on stuff I have growing in my yard namely fennel (for the fronds or leaves) jalapeño peppers (my tenants have a few plants in their raised garden), and mint. So for a dozen shrimp you finely slice 2 cloves of garlic and 2 seeded jalapeños. Throw those into a hot frying pan with the shrimp and "smoking" hot olive oil. Cook for a couple of minutes until the "down" side is red and cooked, flip over and add maybe 1/4 cup dry white wine, the chopped fennel leaves and chopped mint. Stir until it makes a bit of sauce and serve. I had some "fresh" linguini that cooked in about 3 minutes, served it over that. "Dessert" was a whole heirloom tomato (Brandywine I think) cut up and made into Capresi. Nice meal. BTW the basil was also from our back yard.

I keep Costco shrimp on hand for the same convenience. Interesting Scampi recipe, Frank, using fennel and mint. I don't experiment with it--I've fallen into a garlic-dry white vermouth-thyme habit, but should branch out.

I love the peeled and deveined shrimp at Costco. I always keep a package of it, along with their sea scallops in my freezer. So easy to whip up something elegant fast. We have used it for years, the quality is always consistent.

I love the peeled and deveined shrimp at Costco. I always keep a package of it.

Karen is it wild or farm raised? No, I'm not going to trash the farm raised as I did the Atlantic salmon. I just find the most of it, including all I've tried became mushy after thawing. The only frozen peeled and deveined shrimp we get is Emeril's Wild Caught.

Carl, I just looked at what I have (31 shrimp per pound) -- they are farm raised but they say you really ought to thaw slowly in the fridge.

Evidently rapid thawing can lead to that mushy texture. They also say they are frozen ASAP after "harvesting."

[Robin Garr]

Fresh summer corn and black beans, usually a Southwestern combo, but tonight fashioned with Thai red curry flavors. 

[Jenise]

We have used it for years, the quality is always consistent.

I did have a bag about a year ago that I ended up throwing out for the seagulls. They tasted like mud, had no shrimp flavor at all. Just awful. I waited a long time before I bought another bag.

I love the peeled and deveined shrimp at Costco. I always keep a package of it.

Karen is it wild or farm raised? No, I'm not going to trash the farm raised as I did the Atlantic salmon. I just find the most of it, including all I've tried became mushy after thawing. The only frozen peeled and deveined shrimp we get is Emeril's Wild Caught.

They are farm raised. I buy the large ones, they are are never mushy. Taste good too. I have not seen the Emeril's Wild Caught around here. I did buy some fresh caught from Pacific Seafood in April and they were mushy. Awful...don't know what they did to them.

Tonight it is Bolillo Rolls, with marinated boneless, skinless chicken breasts which I sliced in half then grilled. I made a sauce from my roasted tomatoes, lemon basil with pistachio nuts, a little fresh lemon and added just enough mayo to make it more creamy. I added grilled bell peppers, and thin slices of Havarti cheese. This will be put into my panini press. Served with a spinach salad, with mandarin oranges, Craisins and dried blueberries with an Orange Muscat Champagne vinaigrette dressing. A few cashews added at the end for crunch.

[Robin Garr]

Broccoli florets and tofu in a spicy Thai-style coconut red curry sauce. 

Yesterday's desert was a raspberry charlotte (charlotte royale aka diplomat's tarte) decorated with whipped cream and strawberries.

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