Sunday, September 13, 2009

Eggs Beatrice

Monday August 31

Again, when you've got lotsa lox (and we do, see below), you make this favorite.

Pasta al Salmone

Sunday August 30

We've given up counting how many times we've had this. We made it with some of the pound of smoked salmon we got as loot from the Nashville Costco, and the last of the cream.

Venison Chili

Saturday August 29

The sight of all those rolls of v-burger in the Kelleys' freezer (some of which snuck into our luggage, making us once again interstate food smugglers) gave us a taste for a good ol' long-simmered venison chili. We were a mite late in getting the kidney beans soaking, but after a couple of bouts in the pressure cooker (with salt! because that thing about salt making them tough is a myth!), and a long simmer with chopped fresh tomatoes and the other chili secrets, the chili was satisfying and savory.

Corn, Pepper and Cheese Casserole Redux

Friday August 28

See Sunday, below - it makes enough for two meals, so it's nice to have the other half reheated after the long drive home.

Lamb Feast in Nashville

Thursday August 27

When visiting the Kelley-Parker abode, we try and fit in a visit to the local Costco, where we load up on things we can't get elsewhere, like giant jars of artichoke hearts and cheap legs of lamb. We also try to make a big family meal, so the latter served as an excellent main dish, once again rubbed with mustard and broil-roasted until it was good and rare. Garrett was unsure of whether lamb was one of the things he ate, but he good-naturedly tried it, and we were pleased to find that it sure was. He ignored the imported Cincinnati pattypan squash, steamed and served with butter, but the rest of us did not. David (had he known) provided the wine, a classic 2003 Paradigm, and we only wish he'd been there to enjoy it with us.

Tomato and feta salad

Wednesday August 26

We were up at the Vanderbilt campus, where we met our old friend A.-J. for a big, slightly late, Indian buffet lunch. Well, of course you can't help but try a little bit of everything on a buffet, and afterwards, you can't actually tackle a proper dinner. So we chopped up a bunch of varicolored tomatoes - and yes, we'd brought them from the garden at home, so I guess you can call us interstate tomato smugglers - and had them with some sundried-tomato-flavored feta we found in JoDee's fridge.

Green chile chicken enchiladas

Tuesday August 25

JoDee is a great cook, and what with her hectic schedule, she has become adept at throwing a tasty meal together that can be microwaved and eaten at any time. This one recalls the Parker clan's home of Albuquerque, where the green chile is the state vegetable, and tree, and fruit, and possibly insect (the bird, of course, is the roadrunner - though chicken is far preferable for the enchiladas).

Penne Qualcosa

Monday August 24

...with sautéed red onion, then bits of Schad's ham, dollops of ricotta, parmesan, and cream thrown into the pan to warm, and garnished with fresh basil, oregano, and nutmeg, with the boiled penne thrown in at the last and tossed. Odd but endearing, it was something to clean out the fridge before taking off for Nashville.

Corn, Pepper and Cheese Casserole

Sunday August 23

This is the recipe from new Joy, which we've done before, using poblano peppers, this time from the Italian sandwich place in Findlay Market - ten for a dollar, can you believe it?- and lovely sweet summer corn. We even froze some for those pepperless days of winter.

Different Squash Blossoms and Gazpacho!

Saturday August 22

Two recipes from the latest Gourmet added a mite of variety to our seemingly-endless parade of garden produce:
Squash blossoms stuffed with ricotta and mint, and
Tomato and tomatillo gazpacho.
We made the latter with ripe greeny-yellow tomatoes, so it was all a green thought in a green shade (of green).

Scallops with Tomatoes

Friday August 21

The recipe that inspired us is this, but with heirloom tomato and cherry tomatoes from the garden. The scallops were just the frozen sort, so this recipe suited them, as they are just barely cooked and then removed, so their copious juices can be boiled down while they remain tender. We also ransacked the garden for both lemon and lime thyme, which added to the lively citrus flavors.

Lamb Hash

Thursday August 20

This is great to use up the slightly-browner ends of roast leg of lamb. We've done this with just turnips before, but this time we used both potatoes and turnips, and a healthy dose of fresh chopped parsley. All were diced by hand rather than processed, as last Saturday's lamb actually didn't have any less-than-perfect bits, and we wanted to preserve its rareness and texture. And we actually had some lamb broth from its bones too.
Though manually-diced hash doesn't stick together and brown like the processed kind, this is the apotheosis of lamb hash. Holt didn't even put any ketchup on it, which is the ultimate hash accolade.

Napas with Onions and Pattypan Squash

Wednesday August 19

Another garden-dictated meal, as every morning Barbara goes out and, at the cost of being thoroughly mosquito-bitten, lifts the enormous squash leaves and finds adorable little marble-size pattypans. So after preparing our favorite Napa sausages in the usual manner, fried with onions and then steamed in wine, we delicately placed around them many little yellow half squashes, each little one set to soak face-down in the pan juices, and covered until tender.

Gnocchi with fresh tomato and basil sauce

Tuesday August 18

There are so many tomatoes out in the garden, and so much basil that needs to be snipped down, that this one's a natural. And you can introduce a little variety by choosing a different kind of pasta, or in this case Trader Joe's gnocchi. (Actually, the mix of what's ripe among the tomatoes always makes a nice change too.)