Phuket Shrimp

Friday June 20

An ancient Thai dish we just made up. Remember, when you're tired of the ordinary, just say, "Ah, Phuket!"
Stir-fry some Mae Ploy green curry paste in a tiny bit of oil, Napa cabbage (large then small), diced red bell pepper, a dash of chicken broth, and a touch of (Philippine!) nam pla. Put that on a warm platter, and stir-fry a pound of shelled shrimp quasi-marinated with lots of minced ginger. Once they're opaque, take them out and reduce the sauce, adding a touch of lime juice. Finally, return everything to the pan and heat through.

Yum. Which means "salad" in Thai.

Corn and Fish Chowdah

Thursday June 19

Due to Trader Joe's packaging, we had about a third of a pound of scrappier sole bits and a quarter pound of lox bits left over from yesterday's Soletimbocca. There were also four ears of corn and a red pepper lying about. The answer: a lovely chowdah (that's how they say it in Bahstun, its natural habitat).


So in a kettle with lovely butter sauté a stick of chopped celery and 3/4 of an onion, also chopped. When all is tender, add a diced red pepper and let it go for a while. At that point add the kernels cut from all the corn, and enough milk to cover. Bring to a low boil. Season with fresh chopped chervil and thyme. Once the corn is tender (and this may take a while depending) add a half-pint of heavy cream, rehot. Then the above-mentioned sole, chopped up, . At the very end, throw in the chopped lox bits, stir a few times, and there you are. The lox serves the smoky function of bacon in a regular chowder base.

Oh, and there was a secret ingredient: along with the herbs, a touch of Pimenton de la Vera, to make even more smoky flavor. Subtle, but nice.

Soletimbocca with Green Peas

Wednesday June 18

Holt has been working on this idea for a while. He tried an experimental version, when we had left over prosciutto, but it overpowered the delicate sole.

But this time, he had the proper ingredients: a layer of thin-sliced smoked salmon (in particular, Trader Joe's lox bits) folded into a fillet of sole. Each "sandwich" was lightly floured and sautéed until golden; and while Barbara watched them, Holt made a batch of hollandaise sauce to go with them. And lo, it was perfect Soletimbocca.

As we noted last Friday (and yesterday as well), there happen to be a lot of sugar-snap peas in the garden. We've been alternating between having them as in-pod and out-of-poddy experiences, just to make things a little different each day. So today we shelled and boiled them, and served them as a delicate accompaniment to the fish. They were fresh and buttery-tasting, though we hadn't added a mite of butter. Go figure.

Steak with Portobellos and Snap Peas

Tuesday June 17

Just a simple T-bone, defrosted and pan-fried. In another pan, the lovely slices of portobello, sautéed with extra-virgin olive oil along with a crushed clove of garlic (later removed) and showers of fresh garden thyme. And sweet garden peas, this time in their snappy pods, just boiled for a couple of minutes until tender. And they so were

Stuffed Chicken Breasts and Roasted Asparagus

Monday June 16

We had a little ricotta that wasn't going anywhere, and some deboned chicken breasts in the fridge. So Holt decided to make ricotta-stuffed chicken breasts the Martha Stewart way.
Some people hate her as a matter of principle, but not us. Holt's sister JoDee gave him MS's Entertaining many years ago and the recipies (whosever they may have been) have held up very well.

We used fresh garden arugula instead of spinach here, and roasted asparagus instead of plum tomatoes between our breasts (ahem). A little of the stuffing to go underneath, between the breasts and the tenderloins, also helps flavor the meat.

Grilled Swordfish and Braised Bok Choy

Sunday June 15

Trader Joe's had some frozen swordfish steaks that seem to have been both sustainably fished and reasonably priced. Greek restaurants usually make souvlaki out of them, but these were such nice little steaks we didn't want to cut them up. We just patted them with oil, dried oregano, pepper, and salt; then grilled them on high heat until firm. A squirt of fresh lemon, and you might as well be at the Tri'Adelphoi restaurant near Omonia (if it's still there after thirty years).


We cooked the bok choy more or less the same way we did last time.
Just melted the frozen broth, threw in a couple of tablespoons of butter, and braised the split bok choy until they were tender (this bunch were full-grown, so they took a few minutes longer to braise).

Kathy and Russel's Wedding Barbeque

Saturday June 14

A perfect June evening to dress up in our garden-party outfits and walk to the wedding of our good friends Kathy and Russel, at their new home here in Clifton. Their back garden was a perfect party space, and after a relaxed Reformed ceremony, a banquet of barbeque was served in the tent on their lawn.

The caterers were a local place called "Pit to Plate." Their pulled pork and chicken and meaty ribs were very good, and you could adorn the meat with a selection of sauces, not just hot-medium-mild but North Carolina and Western style. There were also traditional sides like corn bread, green beans, redskin potatoes; beer, of course; and bibs for those nervous about the effect of barbeque sauce on their attire. We didn't see the rabbi chowing down on the pork, but she would have enjoyed it had she tried.

For dessert, we toasted the happy couple with champagne and three kinds of cake (real cakes, mind, not those inedible tiered things). And we wish them many more delicious barbeques in the future.