I’ve had a lot of eggplant banter lately, and finally made some. It was a sign. Fish sauce, sugar, soy sauce, garlic, basil and eggplant. Plus, I added some gluten for meaty goodness! Of course I secured my bounty at GP. Two thanks in this one: thanks for the sweet cherries and thanks for the butterflies!! I love them.
I have been poking around in the kitchen here and there, but I haven’t made a meal worth blogging in a while. This one is in celebration of my favorite vegetable purveyor (Golden Produce) opening their new grocery establishment — Golden Natural Foods!!! I truly love this family, and am very happy for their success. I also should note that I am grateful for the MLK holiday, and appreciative of what it took of others for me to be who I am today.
This new store is beautiful, and if you’ve never had the pleasure of visiting their produce market, GP, you should. That is, if you enjoy fresh, organic, low cost, high quality, abundant produce. I picked up some orecchiette pasta, some fresh parmesan, and anchovy fillets. There was rosemary in the refrigerator, and honey on the countertop. I spied a carrot in the crisper, and took all these ingredients as a sign. I sauteed the carrots in a couple tablespoons of olive oil, added the honey and rosemary, and seasoned with salt and pepper. When the pasta was done, I added it to the pan, along with the anchovies, and topped with peels of the parmesan:
By the way, have you ever tried Lindemans‘ lambic/gueuze called Cuvée René?
It is delicious, my new favorite beer ever. I mean ever. And I like many beer flavors. Long story short, it is available at GNF, along with a pretty nice selection of beer and wine. I was pleased. Go find out for yourselves!
PS. I love the GP family.
I’ve always loved meatloaf. Even when it contained meat! This is one of my favorite dishes to make. Very easy, you just take some veggie ground beef (I like Yves “Meatless Ground – original”), a 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese, 1 diced bell pepper, a 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs, chopped shallot or mild onion, and about 1, maybe 2 eggs. Mix ingredients, and bake for about 4o minutes at 375 degrees. My secret is to crumble Semifreddi’s “Super Garlic Croutons” in the blender/food processor and make my own breadcrumbs. I made a tomato sauce for the top out of thinned tomato paste, oregano, salt and pepper, and placed golden heirloom tomato slices as a finish. Thanks, GP!
As for the frites…basic russet potatoes, sliced into quarter inch width pieces. I read that in order to have crispy fries you need to soak them in cold water to remove excess starch, dry thoroughly, then fry them twice. The first fry was 325 degrees for about 4-5 minutes. The second fry was 375 for about 3-4 minutes or until golden. This method worked very well, I recommend it. Extra crispy and light!
And the very best part of all is that I get to have it for lunch tomorrow!! Yum.
Big kids, too. Mmm – today I made an egg sandwich and decided to put a child-at-heart twist on breakfast. I hollowed out a poppy seed roll, and hid within it a fried egg on a bed of sharp cheddar cheese. Next, I placed arugula and spinach leaves on top for unsuspecting passers-by, and propped up the bun lid with toothpicks. Finally, I constructed a woodland/jungle scene of veggies (baby artichoke, blue lake beans, The Tomatoes, red onion, pickled daikon radish, bok choy, mushroom caps) and potatoes as the backdrop, on a lagoon of seasoned dried seaweed. At one point I was thinking of crafting a creature that set up this elaborate trap, but I then realized two things: that creature is me, and I’ve got to eat sometime!
There are forces in this world I don’t understand. Not a very profound statement, but I am confused! Am I supposed to just follow signs, “understand”, and live life for what it seemingly brings me or wants of me? Or do I react to messages that run counter to my wishes and wants? Don’t know. Can’t she just stick to the food?, you might wonder. Uh, yes. ‘Cause that I do understand. That, and lemon colored lion t-shirts (see end of post).
So the pursuit of life’s simplicity brings me to today’s post: pizza ‘n beer. This is one of my favorite pizzas! Partially because I was hungry for dinner and didn’t have to make the crust, but mostly because this is really tasty bread. I used a flatbread available for purchase and immediate consumption. My second favorite pizza involves homemade crust with olive oil and cornmeal baked on the bottom. I went again to my loving, family run, local grocer Golden Produce on Church St. For about $10 I got organic components to make my dinner and lunch for the remainder of the week. Today’s toppings: fresh mozzarella, pesto, basil, heirloom tomato slices, and mushroom. Today’s beer: Hoegaarden
Today’s t-shirt: Raaawwr!!!!
Tonight I decided to make an Indian version of “twice-baked potatoes”. I searched recipes for twice baked sweet potatoes, or yams, and they all had maple, sugar, toasted nuts and the like. Yummy, yes, but not what I wanted tonight. I went to my favorite local grocer Golden Produce for a good selection of fresh vegetables and some inspiration. I was pretty open to what could go into this dish. I knew I needed some type of tuber… I think I bought a yam, but to be honest I don’t always know the difference. Growing up, orange colored pie was always sweet potato, never pumpkin, and I think when I had yams in a glaze or something, my brain recorded that they were sweet potatoes. So I incorrectly use them interchangeably. Okay, so 1 yam, 2 small yellow potatoes, and I was in business. I also bought some papadum, a yellow onion, and a small cantaloupe. After I made the stuffing, I realized that I’d forgotten to saute the onion and incorporate. I still wanted onion so I decided to make onion rings. I still prepared the papadum, too. My other plan was to make cantaloupe soup, but that will have to wait until the next post.
I cooked the yam and yellow potatoes until soft, scooped out the insides and forked them in a bowl with a touch of buttermilk, 2T sharp cheddar cheese, a pat of butter, and spices (garam masala mixture,+ tumeric, salt, cayenne, cumin, cinnamon and hot paprika). These are just flavors and colors I like, not necessarily a proper recipe.
Pre-baked tubers:
I fried some onion rings for garnish and crunch.
And here we have it!
