Happy 4th of July

I'm off for a LONG weekend in rural, internetless places so happy early holiday!

The Dread Eggplant

I really love most veggies, even less popular ones like beets and kale and brussel sprouts. However, I truly loathe eggplant. I find it very pretty but just plain nasty. I don't the taste, the smell or the texture. The only preparation I've found that I will eat is baba ghanoush.

This does not reflect on a growing open mindedness towards this member of the belladonna family on my part but rather the fact that baba ghanoush is pulverized eggplant with other intense flavors thereby obliterating any trace of Satan's veggie's native taste, smell, or texture.

Because I have a new grill and it is hot I decided to make baba ghanoush as a part of my lunch box this week and so yesterday I did something I have never, ever done in my entire life. I bought an eggplant. And took it home. And threw it on the grill as I ate my meal last night.

This morning I made the baba. The process of getting the eggplant into the food processor reaffirmed my dislike (that spongy give is just NASTY) but the end result was pretty rocking. My flavor set was lemon, garlic and a good whallop of chipotle sauce.

Flavored Butter

Tucked away in my notes I found a recipe for a flavored butter. I'm unsure where I got it from but it is easy a nice to have on hand; especially since I picked up a mini-Weber at a garage sale this weekend and am now all into what I can put on the grill. (I do find it sort of hilarious that because grilling is supposed to be all butch, grill accessories are all HUGE. The charcoal aisle at Target is flanked by giant tongs, forks the size of my arm and sauce mops. Gentlemen, face up to the facts: you are cooking. And normal size utensils are going to give you better control. If you can take the heat.)

But I've digressed. This a great on a grilled steak. I've got notes about it working well for sauteeing chicken or fish (although it has a low burn point so you'd probably want an oil splash in there) and this morning I used for huevos ranchero.

• 1 stick butter (softened)
• Zest from two limes
• Juice from one lime
• 1 small shallot, finely diced
• 1 clove garlic. finely diced
• Fresh Herbs (I had chives and tarragon on hand so that's what I used, parsley would also work well)

Throw in the food processor. Scrape out and chill.

V. Special Treal

I don't live in the woods or the Pacific Northwest so wild mushrooms for me are a very special treat. I was surprised to find them (I thought it was past season) but there were Morels at the Farmers Market last Sat. They were a splurge, but I figured it was justified if I threw them into a meatless meal.

Their fate was a risotto. Base layers were butter with fresh thyme and rosemary, then green garlic and white wine. Then the morels, then rice. A bit of asparagus and then the long slow broth bath.

Iced Coffee

There are certain things which mean summer: BBQ, Baseball, Pools, Rhubarb Pies, Splashing Water, Cold Beer drunk outside. I consider all of these sort of national prerogatives.
In my family, summer also meant ice coffee. Growing up (and still when I visit my folks) ice coffee means a strong pot of Folgers brewed in the morning and then put in a sink of cold water. Then drink it black.

Which is fine and all. I'll still drink it.

It tastes like home after all.

Then I went to Holland and found Cafe Verkeert (sorry, I'm sure I've mangled the spelling. Between studying German and picking up a smattering of Dutch at social gatherings my grammar and spelling is a disaster. Hell, my spelling is iffy in English.) It is basically a cafe con leche or a a cafe au lait. But the fact that it translates to "coffee gone wrong" makes it sooo right. The end result is that I now take my coffee with milk. Including iced versions. And this is my standard for ice coffee now: strong with lots of milk NO sugar (same as the hot).

Then I went to Vietnam.

And there was no milk.

But there was white coffee. Which meant a swirl of heavy, sticky, sweet condensed milk to stir into your coffee cup.

And then there was the iced version.

One glass ice.
Condensed sweetened milk at the bottom.
A little filter perched on the top full of grounds.
Hot water poured slowly over.

Drip.
Drip.
Dripping down.
Onto to the ice
and the sweet.

And there goes your afternoon.

Roasting and the Single Girl

Wee Roast: Nothing in this Pan is over 1.5 Inches Long

One of my favorite pieces of kitchen equipment is a red enameled cast iron Le Creuset dutch oven that I dug up at TJMaxx. It is a thing of beauty and gets heavy use for stews, soups, roasts, carmelizing onions, etc. etc. But it holds 4 and a half quarts. I've also got a nice roomy roasting pan.

This presents the dilemma of what to do when I'm making dinner for myself and want just a small portion of roasted goods. I used to use a small ceramic baker for these sorts of projects but the outer surface never got that nicely crispy, roasty browning. Recently though, I've roped in my little 2.5 quart Staub into duty. Last night I had a nice bit of lamb and some teeny little fingerling potatoes. I pan grilled the lamb after marinating and to go with I tossed the potatoes with a bit of green garlic, olive oil and salt into the li'l pan and roasted at 425-450 F. Perfect. Proper outer surface on the taters without the trauma of a giant pan to clean.

Radish Bingo

Market Madness

I went a little nuts at the market yesterday.

It was one of those seductive summer days: warm, but not too hot. A bit breezy. The heaps of fresh produce were too, too much to resist.

Check out my little bouquet of alliums: chive blossoms and green garlic. The chive flowers will make their way into salads and maybe a stirfry. The garlic makes it way into everything for as long as its in the market.

Last night did a spring risotto with green garlic and sorrel as the base flavors then a bit of prosciutto. As a last minute what-the-hell addition I threw in some fresh English peas. They added a nice fresh accent to the creamy richness of the base risotto.

Cradling Sorrel

Present Obsession

Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing

Start with a heap of fresh local spinach, as much as the plate with hold.
Slice two hard boiled eggs.

For the dressing, mix balsamic vinegar and a bit of brown sugar. Set aside.
In a non-stick pan, fry two strips bacon chopped. When the bacon is crispy, set aside to drain on paper towels. In the rendered bacon fat, sautee one finely diced shallot. Reduce the heat, pour in the vinegar and sugar. Stir to emulsify.

Crumble bacon over salad, pour warm dressing over.