Sunday, July 31, 2011

Fried Squash Flowers and Sesame Noodles

Hurray we have photos!

For starters we had Fried Squash Flowers. I remember stopping by my Uncle Art's house and he would give me a greasy paper bag filled with fried squash flowers. I would eat them all by the time I got home.
I picked these flowers at my dad's yesterday. I used flour and club soda for the batter. Nice!

For dinner I was reading Carol Egbert's blog about Sesame Noodles and knew I had to make it. I always thought that Sesame Noodles had peanut butter as an ingredient. Guess I was wrong. Chris had grilled some Chicken to go with the dish. Excellent summer meal.

Saturday, July 30, 2011

The First Fig


Today I was at my dad's house. We were picking green beans and he said he had a surprise for me. The first fig was ready for picking! Of course we shared it. It was so good.

Tonight we had Steak and Green Beans (the ones I picked this afternoon). But I am having technical difficulties with my camera so.... no photos.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Burgers and Tricolor Pepper Relish

Burgers and corn were grilled by Chris. I was taking care of the condiments. So I made relish! This relish recipe can be found in the August issue of Bon Appetit. Tricolor Pepper Relish. It is much better than store bought and really easy to make.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Sauteed Shrimp and Scallops and Farro Salad

This was supposed to be Grilled Shrimp and Scallops but a large band of rain came though our area. So let's heat up the saute pan! I had the scallops and shrimp marinating in olive oil, lemon juice, salt. pepper and Cholula Sauce. I tossed them in the saute pan until both the shrimp and scallops were cooked.
 
The zucchini and yellow squash were sauteed in olive oil and butter with salt, pepper, parsley and basil.
Now about that Farro Salad. I got the basic recipe from Giada De Laurentiis. I did not use garlic (surprise!) and in place of chives I substituted scallions (scallions were a lot cheaper).
This was a delicious meal. It was nice light and so simple to make!

Monday, July 25, 2011

Quick Marinara Sauce

If you read the earlier post you'll know I was away this weekend so I did not have anything planned for dinner. But the weather has cooled off and the first thing that came to my mind was of course Pasta!



I opened a can of San Marzano Tomatoes and diced some Vidalia and Red Onions. I then sauteed the onions in extra virgin olive oil. Next I added the tomatoes and seasoned with salt, pepper, crushed red pepper and fresh basil, parsley and thyme (all from the deck!). That cooked down a bit and then I added the cooked pasta.
A nice welcome home dinner!

I just flew in from...

I just flew in from Fort Lauderdale and boy are my arms tired! Okay I altered the joke. But my sister and I did spend the weekend in Fort Lauderdale visiting my niece.
Let's start at the beginning...
I am not a fan of flying so I did a little prep work before stepping on the plane.
On Saturday we headed to the Boca Raton Town Center Mall. It was a good day! 
We took a lunch break at Petrossian located in Bloomingdale's.
 Then after a long day of shopping we picked up some items to make an antipasto for dinner along with a couple bottles of wine. Mad Housewife Merlot and a bottle of Bolla Valpolicella.
Sunday we had breakfast by the water. Nice view.
For lunch we tried an amazing cake that my niece made. It was started out as Anginetti Cookies but the dough was not the correct consistency so she baked it as a cake. She served it warm with ice cream. Wow. I hope she can repeat this recipe because it was really good! Unfortunately this photo is pretty bad...
That night we ate at the 15th Street Fisheries.  
We started with Chessy Bread and Bahamian Conch Fritters. Loved them!
For dinner I had Joe's Sizzling Skillet. Fresh fish, shrimp, scallops, tomatoes, and artichoke hearts served on a sizzling cast iron skillet, with a creamy white wine-sherry sauce. 
A restaurant favorite for 30 years! 
Lenore had Grilled Swordfish and Mary Lucia had the Fish and Chips.
And we shared a pitcher of Sangria.
 One of the attractions at the restaurant is the feeding of the Giant Tarpon!
 But before you go sticking your hand out watch this video...




Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Ciambotta

Remember La Cucina. It has been a while since I have cooked from that book. No Archie I am not making that...
 
Ciambotta, Vegetable Stew. Of course I was sure I had all the ingredients. But surprise no potatoes! I check the freezer. Hurray! I had some cooked brown rice. Not a bad substitution.

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 lb. eggplant, slice and salted to drain the bitter taste, then rinsed
1/2 lb. potato, peeled and cubed 1 cup cooked brown rice
1 1/4 cups tomato puree
1 garlic clove, chopped
salt

Heat half of the olive oil in a large pan and when it is hot cook the eggplant until golden. 
Heat the remaining olive oil in a second pan and cook pepper. Then add them to the eggplant. Add the tomato puree, garlic and salt and stir. Cook at low heat for 1 hour, until the vegetables have formed a stew. Add the cooked brown rice.
And of course serve with Italian bread.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Caesar Salad and Meat Pie

Yesterday I bought, for $2.50, the largest head of Red Leaf Lettuce that I had ever seen! So tonight we had a Caesar Salad. Before anyone says that I should have used Romaine I am not a HUGE fan. I don't mind it but given a choice I would pick Red or Green Leaf or even Boston Bibb over Romaine any day. Now the Croutons are the star of this salad. I used Sage, Parsley, Rosemary and Thyme from my herb plants on the deck. 
The other star of the dinner was the Meat Pie. Back at Easter I froze a pie or two....

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Grilled Pork Chops and Quinoa, Lentil and Feta Salad

The Pork Chops were marinated in olive oil, salt, pepper and fresh sage. They were grilled perfectly. As a side dish I made Quinoa, Lentil and Feta Salad. We loved this dish!
 Stopped by the farm stand and picked up some green beans, tomatoes and red onion.
What a lovely summer day...

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Polpette di Carne alla Griglia

Thank you Google Translate for the help with tonight's title!
I had some ground beef and wanted to make meatballs to put on the grill. I added an egg, salt, pepper, oregano, panko bread crumbs, parsley and some Parmesan cheese to the ground meat. I had some blue cheese so that went in the mix. I noticed a bottle of New York Style Hot Dog Onions in the fridge. I thought why not... Wow what an amazing meatball!
I made some polenta with Parmesan cheese. Chris put that on the grill after it firmed up.
Grilled zucchini.
 A wonderful meal on the deck.

Our deck in February -


Our deck now -

Friday, July 15, 2011

Cacio e Pepe con Zucchini

It seems like a long time since we have had pasta. The heat has reduced the amount of "real" cooking that has been taking place. Grilling is cooking, don't get me wrong, but I wanted PASTA! So tonight I got my wish. It started out being Cacio e Pepe. But at lunch I ran over to Jake's Farm Stand and bought some zucchini. So now we have Cacio e Pepe con Zucchini.

I sauteed sliced zucchini in olive oil and butter, salt, pepper and thyme. Then after removing the Zucchini I proceeded with the Bon Appetit recipe. After toasting the pepper I returned the zucchini to the pan. Added the water and cheese and pasta... The result was delicious.
A bottle of 2009 Cupido Toscano Sangiovese was the perfect match.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Monday, July 11, 2011

Grilled Skirt Steak, Potato and Green Bean Salads

The temperature is rising so the grill is on. We marinated the skirt steak in Alton Brown's marinade.
The Potato Salad was from RealSimple.com with a couple of changes. I used Dijon instead of coarse-grain mustard and didn't have tarragon so I added scallions.
Now the Green Bean Salad was made the way my mom use to make it. Steam the beans and dress in olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper and lots of oregano. It was a good as I remember it. The beans, tomatoes, potatoes and scallions were all from Jake's Farm Stand.
We opened a bottle of Cavit Teroldego 2004. Amazing flavors. Raspberry, Blackberry, Cherry!

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Grilled Pizza

Pizza dough was whole wheat which I purchased at Big Y. 
The tomatoes were from Jake's Farm Stand. 
The cheeses were Fontina and Parmesan. 
Salt, Pepper, Olive Oil and Oregano.



And the plants on the deck are doing nicely...