Roast Chicken and Root Vegetables

Sunday 25 August

We are still experimenting with our roast chicken recipe, and this time we tried pushing some chopped thyme and rosemary under the skin and in the cavity, and starting the bird in a 350º oven for 50 mins, then pushing it up to 400º for ten minutes.  This worked fine for the potatoes, onions, and carrots in the roasting pan around it, but the chicken came out pale. 

Maybe we just need to use a shallower baking pan or baking sheet, so the air can circulate around and brown the skin, but there'll still be room enough for the vedge.

Branzini with Pole Beans Vinaigrette

Saturday 24 August

First, an excursus on our lunch, for which we found an amazingly good new recipe for stuffed squash blossoms.

Instead of the tomato sauce, we made a fresh tomato coulis as a base, while the filling used ricotta salata, 1 egg yolk and a Tbsp. of cream.  Holt had been dubious, but the batter coating the blossoms came out crisp, savory and delicious, and looked beautiful when garnished with more mint.

It was hard to follow that up, but for dinner, we baked two branzini in a cast-iron skillet using Anthony Bourdain's method, putting them in the oven at 450º for 15 mins, and garnishing with our own basil and basil oil. 

The side dish was our Garden of Eden beans fresh off the pole, in a garlic white wine vinaigrette.

Linguiça with Peppers and Onions

Friday 23 August

Kroger Brothers' linguiça is one of our favorite sausages, and we still have a bundle of Ed's banana peppers. 

Just sliced them up along with a big onion, and sautéed them in the same pan we'd just toasted the sausages in.  Sprinkled with white wine, covered, and steamed, and that's all it took.

As they've long known in Little Italy, sausage, peppers, and onions is a natural combination.

Shrimp with Tomatoes and Herbs

Thursday 22 August

After last night's indulgence, we felt the need to eat more lightly.  We defrosted and peeled some shrimp, made a court bouillon out of their shells, some onion skins, celery tops, and herb stems, and cooked the shrimp without even straining the bouillon, by putting them in a large sieve in the boiling pot.  When they were done, chilled them under cold water.

In another pan, cooked up some chopped red tomatoes, and while they were juicy but not broken down, added chopped parsley and torn-up basil and oregano leaves.  At the end, threw in the shrimp.  It didn't need anything else (not even salt).

Brunch for Dinner

Wednesday 21 August

Friends are filtering back into town as the start of school grows closer.  So tonight we had Lauren over for a very informal dinner, and got to catch up with what she's been doing over the summer (living with her husband like normal people, that's what). 

It was the simplest of meals.  Bruegger's sesame bagels, a package of lox, and a batch of our homemade whitefish salad, served with sliced tomatoes, garden arugula, and various of our pickled daikon, cucumbers, and tomatoes.

Lauren brought some very good fumée blanc from Long Island; not surprisingly, Long Island wine goes well with bagels. 

Finally we had a rather special dessert: Aglamesis peach ice cream topped with cookie crumbles and basil-flavored whipped cream, left over from the peach-cobbler-in-a-jar Holt made for David Warda on his birthday.

And then there was bourbon, which goes well with anything.

Pole Beans and Ham with Roast Pork

Tuesday 20 August

The Garden of Eden snap beans are flourishing on their tall poles outside, so we need to eat the produce regularly, otherwise the vines will crawl in the back door and Get Us.  

Tonight our inspiration was the South: cooked them up slow with chopped ripe tomatoes and bits of a Schad's ham butt.

And finally, the last of the roast pork.  You'd think the ham would make it redundant, but it so didn't.