What's cooking?

[Robin Garr]

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

Amazing, Heinz! What a beautiful charlotte!

[Jenise]

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

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Heinz, you're a master. That's sinfully beautiful.

[Jenise]

Our dinner tonight? Just put our crab traps out, but I'm a little over-seafooded this week. So I'm leaning toward the dreaded Surf and Turf--like, Steak Oscar. As always, I'm creeped out by the wine selection, but I do enjoy the dish.

[Jenise]

Record catch last night! 28 crabs in one trap! Seven keepers! (As compared to 12 in the other three traps combined with only 1 keeper--as unusually bad on a per-trap basis as the one trap was unusually good.)

So tonight we're having our friends David and Nadine down for an all-crab dinner: crab cakes, crab cocktails, and crab-chorizo pasta.

Last night we had our 49th anniversary dinner at Warren's in Kittery, ME. We both had baked stuffed 1 1/4 lb lobster stuffed with lobster stuffing, along with pilaf, and salad bar. They have the best salad bar in the area (remember them?). Anyhow, it was a fabulous dinner. We didn't order wine as she can't drink any right now, so I washed mine down with a local brew.

[Robin Garr]

Last night we had our 49th anniversary dinner

Happy Anniversary!

[Jenise]

Yes indeed, happy anniversary Carl and True Love!

Happy Anniversary, Carl.

Many thanks to all of you!!!

Happy 49th Carl. Your dinner sounded great!

[Robin Garr]

Sometimes even food writers have to eat ... leftovers! I try to kick them up a notch, though. Here, the remains of Wednesday's black beans and corn, enhanced with a fresh spicy-umami tomato concassé, are served on hot pepper potatoes we brought home from Jasmine Sichuan. 

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

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What a beautiful desert!!!

Last night we cooked Chicken Romano, and served with pasta and pesto with basil we grew from one little tiny seed! Washed it down with '11 Masciarelli Rosato Colline Teatine. Had local peaches and blueberries for dessert.

[Jenise]

Yesterday we smoked ten pounds of fresh king salmon. For breakfast this morning on the patio, then, we had a PNW take on lox and bagels: fresh white and orange smoked king salmons, mascarpone, red onion slivers with parsel and capers on split toasted multi-grain English muffins from a great local bakery.

After bidding our overnight guests goodbye, I turned the rest of the weekend's crab catch into 16 plump crabcakes.

And for the rest of the day, I'm going to rest.

[Robin Garr]

Another leftovers night: Last Sunday's asparagus pesto had lost a little of its pretty green color in a sealed glass container in the fridge, but it still tasted fine, reheated and served over spinach shirataki noodles heated with a quick sauté in unrefined peanut and sesame oil. 

Dinner last night was Thai: pad prik gai bai krapow (stir-fried chicken, bird's eye chiles, and holy basil).

-Paul W.

Yesterday it was beef brisket cooked in a low sodium tomato based juice (Knudsen's Very Veggie) with carrots, onions, and celery. The house smelled wonderful and we loved the resulting juices. I also made a very spicy concoction with black beans, kidney beans, and pinto beans, chipotle peppers in adobo, dried mustard and molasses,chile sauce, allspice, and cloves. Rainbow Swiss Chard from the garden, picked young, was on the side and a plate of heirloom tomatoes. Left overs for tonight

[Robin Garr]

Thinking of our friends and all the people in Isaac's wake in New Orleans and Cajun country, we cooked up a batch of garden okra and tomatoes into bowls of gumbo. 

Wild Salmon with maple/mustard glaze. Sun-dried tomato Risotto and a medley of veggies, sautéed in butter and fresh herbs. I have Sunburst Patty Pan squash, baby okra, sweet peppers, red jalapeño, and torpedo onion.

Today we had fried sea bass fillet on fennel cream with celery puree, carrot puree , pea puree and steamed potatoes

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Beautiful, and which puree did you like best with the sea bass?

[Robin Garr]

Caprese Is a regular entry in the dinner rotation around here during summer, and the heirloom Italian oxheart tomatoes and Genovese basil are at their peak of flavor right now. Add just-made fresh mozzarella from Lotsa Pasta and fruity Sicilian olive oil, kosher salt, freshly ground Tellicherry pepper ... and rub the serving plate all over with a smashed garlic clove and some extra olive oil before laying the tomato slices down, and it's over the top. 

[Robin Garr]

Beautiful, and which puree did you like best with the sea bass?

Agreed about the beauty, and i'd like to know about the purées, too.

Robin, Caprese is a constant for us this time of year.

One of my favorite variations -- green zebra tomatoes -- a subliminal sprinkling of sugar. The unique flavor profie of green zebras includes some sweetness and I just love to bring that out. It does NOT taste sugared, it tastes like the best Green Zebra ever.

Then of course fresh Mozz and fresh picked basil leaves from the back yard. The basil also brings out the green zebra flavor, I think more so than with most red tomatoes. The olive oil I have been using to finish is Veleta Olive Oil made by friends of mine in southern Spain. Beautiful green color...