Month: July 2006

July 30, 2006

I was just about to light the grill, and cook burgers and veggies, when the wind suddenly jumped up and sheeting rain came hard behind it. So the burgers- seasoned with truffle & sesame oils, balsamic vinegar, onion, cumin, garlic, and herbs- cooked instead in the cast-iron skillet. The yellow & green squash got cut smaller, along with red onion and garlic, and browned in the pan post-meat. Once soft I threw in plum tomatoes…

July 30, 2006

Back from Brooklyn. All the rib bones went in a big pot with sweating onion and carrot, plus herbs from the newly planted herb garden, then garlic, water, and 3+ pounds of dried split peas (there were a lot of bones.) Cooked low, adding water as needed, for a couple hours and served with truffle oil and black pepper. Well-suited to a rainy day, and the perfect use for such yummy bones. Throwing bones away…

July 27, 2006

Back in the city for a few days, I called Mary and we decided to impose on Kris for a dinner; he was happy to oblige. We began with a 2001 Erdener Riesling Kabinett, which was candy, then had a luscious morel risotto with the 2000 Altesino Brunello Mary brought (beautiful nose, but a bit thin.) Then seared foie gras with quince chutney on toast, alongside 2 1990 Vouvrays: a Domaine des Aubuisiers Vielles Vignes…

July 23, 2006

The move is done. After two days getting the kitchen and lots more unpacked, I finally got a chance to forage in the field and returned with wild garlic and mint, of which there is a ton, plus other treats for later. Two big slabs of ribs didn’t stay frozen during the trip up, so they went on the grill, with the customary secret spicy espresso rub, and got a good slather with the BBQ…

July 15, 2006

A beautiful piece of salmon got the BBQ sauce treatment (I made a lot) and thrown on the grill with all the leftover polenta. We enjoyed it with the rest of the grilled veggies from last night. The salmon skin shielded the fish from the heat of the fire and crisped up perfectly, leaving the fish just cooked through; I saved the skin for something tomorrow and there’s a bit of polenta left too. We…

July 15, 2006

Mary came by, and her friend Camille, so I threw something together based on what we had in the fridge. Thus more grilled chicken, with a similar molasses/tamarind/cider vinegar based sauce, and polenta with parmesan, lemon thyme, and truffle salt, and grilled summer squash and onion. We began with De Meric Champagne, which had a strange Sherry/almost corked thing going on, so we moved on to a 2004 Wagner Stempel Riesling which was very nice,…

July 12, 2006

BBQ

A hot, sweaty day, so rich comfort food was required, all done outside to keep the house cool. Huge organic chicken legs & thighs got a quick salt/pepper/cumin/chile rub, and went on the grill along with rounds of acorn squash tossed in oil, salt, and pepper. I made a BBQ sauce from molasses, cider vinegar, tamarind, ketchup, sambal oelek, chile powder, maple syrup, ponzu, and pepper, and liberally basted the chicken with it throughout. The…

July 12, 2006

Soba tossed in tahini, cider vinegar (out of lemons), nama shoyu, nam pla, grated ginger and garlic, pepper, chopped mint and chives, lemon thyme, and olive and sesame oils to coat, then a pan full of sautéed garlic scapes to finish. This was lunch, so we just had a splash each of the Beringer Chard (’02 Sbragia) left over from the night before.

July 6, 2006

Christine made a pot of brown rice, and procured a jalapeño in anticipation of another leftovers festival. Onion and cumin seeds browned in the big pan, then garlic, then remaining kidney beans from Milo’s dinner, plus a can of pinto beans. Cider vinegar and the garlic scapes from last night finished it off, and it thickened while I made a salsa of grape tomatoes, red onion, jalapeño, scallion, olive oil, and rice vinegar. So the…

July 5, 2006

I worked my last shift at the Coop today, and I’ll miss shopping there. The garlic scapes are in, so I bought a big bunch (they’re the new ramps, don’t you know) along with some flatiron steaks, red bell peppers, and all the other things we needed. So for today, the 4th of July, in addition to updating this neglected blog, I dutifully fired up the grill and got busy. First, when I got home,…