Weekly CSA Share

• 1 broccoli or 1 kohlrabi  - steamed (awesome)
• 3 early girl tomatoes  - seeded and froze
• 6 pounds heirloom tomatoes - seeded and froze most
• 1 orange tomato - sliced and eaten
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes - eaten plain, tossed w/ steamed green beans, olives & balsamic
• 1 pickling cucumber - ?
• 1 slicing cucumber - ?
• 1 pound green beans - steamed (see cherry tomatoes above)
• 3 patty pan squash - grilled to make into parmesan
• 2 squash/zucchini of your choice - grilled to make into parmesan
• 1 eggplant  - eggplant caviar (again)
• 1 green pepper - pizza topping
• 1 head garlic

eggplant caviar - French Fridays w/ Dorie

I had the best of intentions to try and make last weeks assignment, but alas, I failed! Oh well, I didn't completely skip it, just delayed but it was worth it. Very simple and tasty and healthy. I sped up the process by microwaving the eggplant for about 8 minutes on high, then put it in the oven to roast. It turns out I didn't get a chance to take it out of the oven much earlier than the hour anyway, so it was nice and soft. I used a fork to mush up the pulp and mixed in pureed garlic and cilantro. I chopped fresh basil and also put in some baked tomatoes (the reason why the oven remained on for an hour). We ate the eggplant with Stacy's pita chips, the tomatoes, Cabot's Vintage Choice Cheddar cheese we got on vacation, and a few olives. It was a nice light, yet very flavorful, dinner.

Cafe salle pleyel hamburger - French Fridays w/ Dorie

This was awesome! Oh my, the tarragon and pickle flavors were amazing. So for those of you who are wondering just what's so special about a hamburger, this isn't just a hamburger. It's ground beef mixed with chopped tarragon, parsley, cornichons, capers, and tomatoes. Julia Child said to read the whole recipe before starting. I thought I had read it all the way through, but good thing I looked more carefully because I had it in my head that the tomato/pickle/herb mixture was a topping, not something that got mixed in! This did make for wet burgers and broke up a bit during the grilling, so maybe next time I'll do them in a frying pan, but not having to add extra oil or clean up the mess was well worth grilling.

The recipe called for oil packed sun-dried tomatoes. I didn't have those but I have a glut of fresh tomatoes and tossed a few in olive oil and roasted them. The burger is topped with an onion marmalade - chopped onions, butter, ground coriander, and water, cooked down until very soft, and shaved Parmesan.

I made the tomatoes and onion marmalade the day before, so the actual making of the meal wasn't long. It was fine for a weeknight. I also had our CSA pickup tonight and got a beautiful head of broccoli that Alan steamed along with new little potatoes from last week's share. The only downside was that our daughter wasn't home to enjoy it with us. She's spending the week at my sister's, so we will have to eat this Sunday too!

Shed Restaurant, Stowe VT

Laurcl - Aug 14, 2011 *** The menu was very limited, but the spinach salad I had was very good and the beer ski we split was also nice, since we got to try all of their selections. We sat on the patio and the weather was perfect for it. The reason I wouldn't go back had more to do with the prices and selection. The salad, with 1/2 a grilled chicken breast was $12.95, a side salad was $7. The only side items they had were fries, slaw, side salad. I was trying to go healthier and didn't was to sub fries for salad for $4. I'm cheap, but didn't think it was worth it.

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Caffe Bella

Caffe Bella in Randolph rated 4.0 stars.
Went early on a monday, so no wait. It was still 1/2 full when we left at about 6:40.
I had the pasta bolognaise on homemade paparadelle and Alan had the pork tenderloin with vinegar roasted red peppers and mashed potatoes. My pasta was a little on the salty side, but I still managed to eat the whole thing. Alan took 1/2 of his dinner home. I think they gave hima a whole tenderloin! The red pepper foccacia-like bread was so good it didn't need any of the white bean & olive oil dip. Service was also good and found it rather relaxing and not at all rushed. I'm not sure how it is during a very busy time. Years ago we ate here and had a two hour wait on a Saturday night. I can't remember it being rushed, but that was a long time ago.

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Weekly CSA - getting it late this week

• 5 zucchini/squash
• 1 slicing cucumber or 2 pickling cukes
• 1 head garlic
• 1 bag basil
• 1 melon
• 1 eggplant or 1 pound green beans
• 6 early girl tomatoes
• 2 pounds heirloom tomatoes
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes
• 1 pint potatoes
• 1 bag arugula 

Salmon in a jar - French Fridays w/ Dorie

Rave reviews from everyone, finally! In fact, I was told that I have to make this again and often. This comes from my daughter, the sushi & lox lover. My husband, also a sushi lover, but not much of a lox fan, also thought this was wonderful.

So, I did happen to make alterations, but not many. The salmon itself I didn't feel comfortable with changing too much, not that I would know how to alter such a simple preparation - coat in salt & sugar, let cure overnight, then marinate in olive oil with aromatics and oil. Where I did stray was with the potatoes, and for two reasons, 1. I didn't have the time to cook them in order to ... 2. soak them in cups of oil. What I did instead was make a lovely potato salad with new potatoes from Langwater farm, green beans from our garden and the farm, beautiful mixed cherry tomatoes and spring onions, also from the farm. Rather than using vinegar, I added lemon juice, as mentioned in the serving suggestion, and a couple tablespoons of the salmon oil.

I can't think of anything I'd change, other than making more!

Marinating salmon

salmon, potato salad, rye bread

May skip out on next week's eggplant - we'll be on vacation, but I'll bring the recipe just in case. Could be fun to cook in a foreign kitchen.

Weekly CSA Share

3 green zucchini - 2 - shred & freeze for brownies?, 1 - zucchini ribbons alfredo

3 zucchini/squash of choice - sauteed beans w/ zucchini & corn

1 pint or pound new potatoes - 1/2 salmon in a jar (FFWD), 1/2 steamed w/ salt & butter

1 full pint cherry tomatoes - eat & flatbread pizza w/ cheese, tomatoes & onions

1 melon - just eat

1 slicing cucumber - just eat

3 pickling cucumbers - more pickles?

6 ears our own organic sweet corn - it was so sweet! steam and eat on the cob / off the cob, sauteed beans w/ zucchini & corn

3 early girl or 2 heirloom tomatoes - sandwich w/ over medium egg, lettuce & mayo on toast

1 eggplant or 1 lb green or wax beans - sauteed beans w/ zucchini & corn

1 bunch onions - grill, salmon in a jar (FFWD)

simple slow-roasted tomatoes - French Fridays w/ Dorie

I've made similar tomatoes before from Vegetables by James Peterson. His recipe called for removing the seeds. This may be simple, but very time consuming. I'm glad Dorie's recipe didn't have that step and I don't feel that it should. One thing his did have was filling each little tomato half with a mix of garlic, herbs and olive oil. I think this may have worked out better for me because they were a little dried out. Closer to the sun-dried tomato than the confit. However, they were like candy and we finished them all. I put garlic cloves in and also halved some small potatoes to roast along with the tomatoes. I put these together in the morning, put them in the oven and set it to start at 3:30 PM so it would be finished for dinner at 6 PM. We sprinkled with rosemary and sel gris and lots of black pepper. I tossed some greens with balsamic and served with fresh mozzarella, bread and homemade pesto. It was a feast!

Mixed tomatoes from Langwater Farm

before roasting

after roasting

lovely Friday evening dinner

Bread and Butter Pickles

These were so easy to make and taste great! I found the recipe on AllRecipes.com, but also discovered almost the same one in a cookbook I recently brought back from my mother's house - The Art of Preserving
I cut back the celery seed to 1/2 tsp. and added about a 1/2 cup more vinegar because the last time I made these, there was just barely enough liquid. Turns out I didn't have to add more. There was enough water from the cucumbers. They sealed up well and smelled very good. Another bonus was they took almost no time. Most was spent slicing the cucumbers and onions. Used the cucumbers from Langwater Farm but most came from our garden. I got 4 jars to add to the 3 done earlier this week. There's something I love about having a well stocked pantry of homemade goodies to enjoy through the winter. Very comforting.

More yummy dinners this week

Shrimp kabobs, grilled peppers & squash

This dinner was actually made last month, but I forgot to post it. The seasonings were typical Greek - lemon, garlic, oregano. Very good, but if I remember correctly, the shrimp could have been cooked a tad longer.


Wheat and white angel hair pasta with grilled squash from Langwater Farm and our garden. Green beans & garlic from Langwater. Also put in the leftover bacon, lemon juice & zest, vegetable stock, and parmigiana cheese. Very delicious and made enough to enjoy leftovers.

Weekly CSA Share

3 pickling cucumbers - more bread & butter pickles

2 slicing cucumbers - slice, salt & eat

4 zucchini/summer squash - grill

1 half-pint cherry tomatoes - Dorie's slow roasted tomatoes, for French Friday's w/ Dorie

1 pint or pound new potatoes - roasted with Dorie's slow roasted tomatoes

2 heads garlic - pesto! & roasted

1 bag basil or 1 green pepper - basil (assuming I can get my act together and make the pesto

1 bunch onions - grilled (assuming we have gas) - 1/2 gone (pizza, pickles)

6 ears sweet corn - steamed in the microwave (6 minutes on high)

1 melon - eaten, of course - it was super sweet! just finished for breakfast today (8/9)

Updated 8/9

Last Night's Dinner

Last night's dinner - enjoyed by all, even the smallest one. Eat those veggies, we only have these this good 1x a year! First big tomato from the garden. Spring greens (from the market), cucumbers & tomatoes (from our garden), beets, green beans & tomatoes (from Langwater Farm), bacon, eggs and lemon, mustard vinaigrette.

The eggs were supposed to be soft boiled, ala Dorie's lovely salads, but first the egg was very under-cooked  then ended up over-cooked. They still tasted good!

The Chocolate Bar in Cleveland, OH

I was wandering around Cleveland and had to go into The Chocolate Bar. I hadn't gotten as far as the street with Lola, but think I made a good choice. The ultimate choice wasn't completely mine - I had to ask the waitress/bartender for her recommendation and she felt the Ninja Turtle would be the best choice. I couldn't make up my mind between the Turtle and the Mocha Loco. These are the changes I would make, if I were to try this at home: I'd serve the glazed pecans on the side, put on about 1/3 of the whipped cream and add more fudge. I'd also serve it with a straw to make it easier to drink the Baileys optional add-on.

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