What's cooking?

Carrie, As good as restaurant food can be, eventually your soul needs your own real home cooking, doesn't it?

Oh yes, my desire is to eat "in" as many nights as possible. It's funny, neither of us was even looking forward to the Labor Day bbq we were obligated to yesterday.

For Labor Day we enjoyed a broiled kielbasa (American made!), our microwave dish of yellow and green zucchini with EVOO, grated cheese and seasoning, and cherry tomatoes viniagrette. Washed it down with Knapp Serenity (a blend of Cab Franc and Baco Noir). Very nice indeed.

Having order our plants late we ended up with just one variety of cherry tomatoes this year, Summer Gold. We have it running out our ying yang. We had collected them in a pint container which overflowed, and last night we dumped them out and had to discard a dozen or so even tho we have been eating them almost every night. Sigh!

Tonight is a large salmon steak, wild caught in Trinidad and purchased here the next day. It has a dry rub on it right now. A cold broccoli salad with crisp bacon, dried cranberries, red onion and cashews. I bought a light green squash at the Farmer's Market on Saturday that is bulb shaped on one end , then the tail starts growing. Mine are small but yesterday at an heirloom vegetable tasting, I saw a lady walking around with one she had purchased that was as long as a sword.
They are the long ones in back.

Some good cooking at home over the last few days. On the grill: jerk chicken, paneer tikka and burgers at various times, in the kitchen made a curry of black eyed beans with pork and jerk seasoning one night, rajma (north Indian kidney bean curry with onions, tomatoes and various spices) and Thai-style sticky rice with pork sausage.

[Jenise]

Tonight is a large salmon steak, wild caught in Trinidad and purchased here the next day. It has a dry rub on it right now. A cold broccoli salad with crisp bacon, dried cranberries, red onion and cashews. I bought a light green squash at the Farmer's Market on Saturday that is bulb shaped on one end , then the tail starts growing. Mine are small but yesterday at an heirloom vegetable tasting, I saw a lady walking around with one she had purchased that was as long as a sword.
They are the long ones in back.

Never have seen anything like that, Karen. Please report back on your results! (I love squash.)

Trombocino or zuchetta squash as I found out today, and Googled, had a wide array of comments from, "don't ever plant this invasive monster in your yard" to how delicious they are. The ones I bought are small and I am doing a simple test with them tonight, just slicing and cooking in a little butter and evoo, then a sprinkle of Parmesan. Some folks said they are great with tempura batter or an egg and flour dip, then fried. I will let you know. I've been reading about heirloom veggies lately and it's interesting what regional growers say, so varied.

[Robin Garr]

Dinner with Mary and a friend at The Irish Rover: A wild-lettuces salad garnished with plenty of cold shrimp. Addictive fried potato-salmon puffs. And lots of properly pulled draught Guinness, of course.

The squash last night was very good. I cooked it simply in butter and evoo, salt and pepper. I had a large, red, heirloom tomato that was getting soft, so I peeled and chopped it, and put it in with the squash. It broke down almost immediately and made a wonderful thick sauce. I also threw in an Arbol Mexican Chili pepper with the sauté. The Trombacino or Zucchetta squash is very meaty and has a nice sweetness. It went well with the beautiful salmon steak. That steak was big enough to feed three people.

Trinidad Salmon.jpg

Tonight we had pasta in our fresh tomato, basil, butter, and salt sauce; Romano for her and Parmesan for moi, Italian sausage with lots of fennel, and a great salad with our Summer Golds as a highlight. Washed it down with Masciarelli Montepulciano d’Abruzzo.

Last night was Kaeng Kari Kai (Thai Yellow Curry with chicken), as a way to use up the yellow curry paste left over from last weekend's Satay.

Tonight will be Iddli and Dhansak (Parsi pureed seasoned dal and vegetables).

-Paul W.

[Robin Garr]

Fish gumbo made with lots of okra from the garden and some chunks of grouper that Mary had experimentally frozen (coating them with water so they froze within hard shells to protect them from air and freezer burn). Worked out pretty well, especially as an ingredient in a spicy dish.

I received a shipment of two pounds of fresh galangal from importfoods.com today. It was delightful--in perfect, fresh condition. Galangal goes fibrous and woody if it's kept too long after it's dug out of the ground (the state I'm used to encountering it in oriental groceries--still aromatic and flavorful and useful, but not a patch on the fresher stuff). So I celebrated by making Tom Kha Kai (Thai chicken soup with coconut milk, galangal, lemon grass, chile, kaffir lime leaf, and fish sauce). It was to die for! The main dish was Chicken Jambalaya with Andouille Sausage.

I cut the remainder of the galangal into pieces and preserved it in 100-proof (50% alcohol) cheap (meaning flavorless--an advantage for this application) vodka. This will last me several months, with the galangal preserved in near-perfect condition. And the galangal-infused vodka can be used to give that hint of kha seasoning to other dishes.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Organic Oregon lamb chops with fenugreek cream curry, another recipe from Vancouver restaurauteur Vikram Vij.

We had fillet steaks in rasher grilled over charcoal and pecan chips, corn-on-the-cob, and our own sliced Brandywine tomatoes. All terrific. Peach shortcake for dessert left something to be desired.

Organic Oregon lamb chops with fenugreek cream curry, another recipe from Vancouver restaurauteur Vikram Vij.

Our wine group friends (in the desert) who are from Vancouver bought his cookbook and made these lamb chops for one of our gatherings. They are amazing! Wish Len liked curry...I'd be making them all the time.

[Jenise]

Organic Oregon lamb chops with fenugreek cream curry, another recipe from Vancouver restaurauteur Vikram Vij.

Our wine group friends (in the desert) who are from Vancouver bought his cookbook and made these lamb chops for one of our gatherings. They are amazing! Wish Len liked curry...I'd be making them all the time.

They were scrumptious, Carrie. Maybe you need to introduce Len to the flavor gradually and help him develop a taste for it--think it can be done?

Organic rib-eye steaks from Prather Ranch, grilled. White and brown mushrooms, sautéed in butter, olive oil, and fresh rosemary. Butternut Squash Risotto, and golden cauliflower roasted with olive oil, bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, until nice and brown.

[Robin Garr]

Fresh slaw and Kentucky bison burgers.

Organic Oregon lamb chops with fenugreek cream curry, another recipe from Vancouver restaurauteur Vikram Vij.

Our wine group friends (in the desert) who are from Vancouver bought his cookbook and made these lamb chops for one of our gatherings. They are amazing! Wish Len liked curry...I'd be making them all the time.

They were scrumptious, Carrie. Maybe you need to introduce Len to the flavor gradually and help him develop a taste for it--think it can be done?

Overtly, he would never try something with even a "litte curry" in it. Andy, unfortunately he is a "super taster" so sneaking it into something would never work.

Overtly, he would never try something with even a "litte curry" in it. Andy, unfortunately he is a "super taster" so sneaking it into something would never work.

The mildest curry we have ever had is Conimex Boemboe Sate. Penseys' has a sate curry, but it is stronger. Try a little of this and you may get him started. http://www.dcimports.com/conspicboems.html

[Robin Garr]

Dreamcatcher Farm pastured pork chop, pan-seared and oven-finished with fresh sage and cracked black pepper, with Au Bon Climat 2009 Santa Barbara County Pinot Gris/Pinot Blanc.

Tonight it was country pork ribs rubbed with our rub, grilled over charcoal and hickory chips, and slathered with our tangy barbeque sauce; corn-on-the-cob (with a little BBQ on them along with butter), and our sliced Brandywine tomatoes. Washed it down with a Smuttynost Old Brown Dog Ale. It hardly gets better.

[Robin Garr]

We had a big Cuban lunch at a new eatery just across the Mighty Ohio that pretty much filled us up, so for dinner tonight it was a fresh tomato and basil salad with a little olive oil, and some crunchy Stacy's pita chips.

Mahi Mahi dipped in lemon juice, dredged in an herb breading and browned in olive oil.. Chinese long beans, sauteed in onions and garlic, then dressed with home made salsa. Roasted potatoes, sitting in evoo, lemon juice, oregano, fresh garlic,and a little water. They roast a long time for a crispy brown outside and buttery inside.