What's cooking?

Tonight is locally grown beef burgers on Ciabatta Buns I sourced from Tin Roof bakery in Chico, CA . Our burgers will have a large slice of heirloom tomatoes and local lettuce, both purple and green. Also serving a simple green salad with the same lettuce and tomatoes on the side. Can't get enough of this lettuce and the first tomatoes of the season. Even had a salad for breakfast yesterday!

[Robin Garr]

Robin, would you please post the bhindi masala recipe? It looks delicious.

There's really very little to it. Cut fresh okra into one-inch lengths, and cook them in a little peanut oil over medium-high heat, reduced to medium-low and covered after they brown, until they're crisp-tender. Then add a bunch of fine-sliced onions, cook with the okra until the onions are brown. Add a little kosher salt, cumin and Madras curry powder to taste (or build your own curry flavors if you're obsessive, which I'm not ). Peel and chop a good-size fresh tomato and add it in. Cook for about five more minutes or until the flavors blend, then serve with rice and sliced cucumbers or a cool salad.

[Jenise]

I'm gearing up for Bill Spohn's annual terrine dinner which, culinarily speaking, is just about my favorite meal of the year. I've committed to doing a terrine for Italian reds for which I've partially pulled the name Polpettone Rigoletto out of the sky. Only problem is that I don't know quite what that is yet, except that I'm going to try to turn this comfort food--a polpettone is a meatloaf wherein a ground meat mixture heavily seasoned with cheese is rolled up with deli meats and baked, often with a row of hardboiled eggs in the center--into something quite high end.

Regional generalizations apply: what I've been reading suggests that in southern Italy the meat mixture will more often be pork, but in the north it's more likely to be veal or beef. I'm going Tuscan, so I'll use veal in the final dish but for experimentation purposes today I'll use a blend of beef and turkey, with mortadella and proscuitto for the deli layer. That will be both Experiment #1 and dinner. In the next few weeks, when I work out a recipe I'm happy with I'll then concentrate on how to make individual polpettones (using small, 2" square ramekins) containing a quail egg at the center and set top and sides in a rich aspic. I plan to turn them out on the plate, like a petit four, for garnishing with truffle caviar (molecular gastronomy!) and chianti-braised baby turnips.

Of course, at the moment this is all in my head--I've never eaten or seen anything like it.

[Robin Garr]

Another meatless main course from the garden with such bold flavors that you don't miss the meat: Just-picked Roma beans blanched, then sautéed with browned onions, ginger and garlic, and mixed in with free-range eggs softly scrambled with crumbled tofu and a shot of Sriracha sauce. 

Edit: Good with Taburno 2009 Falanghina!

Oooh, Robin, that looks marvellous.

[Robin Garr]

Oooh, Robin, that looks marvellous.

Thanks, Matilda. Mary gave it two thumbs up, too.

With a well stocked pantry and fresh produce, this is an easy , healthy meal at the end of the week. I make a low calorie salad dressing that if full of flavor and we eat!

[Robin Garr]

With a well stocked pantry and fresh produce, this is an easy , healthy meal at the end of the week. I make a low calorie salad dressing that if full of flavor and we eat!

Want!

[Jenise]

Gorgeous salad, Karen, that's right up my alley.

For dinner tonight: Jeff Grossman's Cod Veracruz (or is it Vera Cruz?) on Mexican couscous, iceberg lettuce salad with cumin-chile dressing.

Paella with a heirloom tomato and lemon cucumber salad.

Tonight, with Liz in Trinidad, the kids and I grilled crab-stuffed salmon. We grilled it on a cedar plank that had soaked in water for a few hours. We had it with a Sau. Blanc from New Zeal and - not the best match but my 21 year old does not really like Chardonnay, which would have been my choice. We are waiting an hour then I'm doing Bananas Foster for dessert.

[Robin Garr]

Black Mission figs, ripe and sweet. Better than candy, and better for you, too.

Beautiful figs, I can't get past the texture and envy those who make great recipes with figs. I want to, but the texture turns me off. I need to try harder!

Last night we had grilled rib eye over charcoal and mesquite, roasted baby Yukons, and sliced tomato (brought back from Georgia) and avocado. Washed down with an '08 Knapp Finger Lakes Merlot. Yum!

Our breakfast omelet this morning was inspired by leftover grilled asparagus from last night. I added French Thyme, and Italian Flat Leaf Parsley from our garden. A sprinkle of parmigiano-reggiano over the asparagus added a nice touch. Served with crispy bacon, cinnamon bread and a bowl of summer fruits, and tomato juice spiked with fresh lime and Cholula Hot Sauce made it all very tasty.

Black Mission figs, ripe and sweet. Better than candy, and better for you, too.

A friend of ours has a tree full of these. We can't eat them fast enough, so I'm thinking of making some of them into a liqueur.

I had a bag of chicken wings in my freezer I wanted to use up, so I cut off the large part of the wing and am marinating them for an Asian appetizer we simply love. They will pair with whole artichokes and a panzanella salad for dinner.

Tonight we had a recipe for chicken from Eating Well, believe it or not. It was boneless, skinless chicken breast that had been rubbed with some EVOO and then a rub of herbs de Provence, smoked Paprika, salt, and pepper, and then grilled over charcoal and pecan chips; along with rice, and salad that included kale sprouts from our garden after thinning.

Sounds like a great dinner to me. I have made several very good recipes from Eating Well.

[Robin Garr]

I did a slightly different spin on that "vegetable goulash" I made the other night, this time with green beans, chunks of green pepper and lots of browned onions and garlic, finished with a sour cream-and-paprika sauce. With lots of veggies and no meat, I figure I can dollop in a reasonable amount of sour cream (1/2 cup for two) and still keep the bottom line deliciously healthy.

Robin, would you please post the bhindi masala recipe? It looks delicious.

There's really very little to it. Cut fresh okra into one-inch lengths, and cook them in a little peanut oil over medium-high heat, reduced to medium-low and covered after they brown, until they're crisp-tender. Then add a bunch of fine-sliced onions, cook with the okra until the onions are brown. Add a little kosher salt, cumin and Madras curry powder to taste (or build your own curry flavors if you're obsessive, which I'm not ). Peel and chop a good-size fresh tomato and add it in. Cook for about five more minutes or until the flavors blend, then serve with rice and sliced cucumbers or a cool salad.

Yumm! Thanks for sharing Robin! I LOVEE okra, and sure have to try your recipe!

Sounds like a great dinner to me. I have made several very good recipes from Eating Well.

Actually Eating Well did not have the part about rubbing the breasts with EVOO, and without it the rub would not have stuck!

[Jenise]

Just now, terrines #3, 4, 5 and 6 came out of the oven. All four are variations of, or attempts to improve, the best of the two terrines I made last week though it truly lacked for nothing. Just wondered if a little this or that made a difference, and tested various shapes and packing/rolling strategies. I'll slice up one of them here in a little bit and it will be my contribution to tonight's rose wine tasting with the Dorks of York.

Pasta with red sauce made from tomatoes, shallot, garlic, red wine, basil pesto, mushrooms, and organic beef. Serving with a cute pasta variety from Italy. There are about seven different shapes of pasta in one package...very interesting ones. On the package it says Pastificio Donne del grano. Everything is in Italian. I've never seen some of the pastas. Along side will be four kinds of baby summer squashes, and fresh tomatoes.