Sunday was the annual football banquet. As the coach said when sent out the note asking for contributions “not everyone can bring soda”. There were four options for contributing entrees: Baked Ziti, Lasanga, Sausage & Peppers and Meatballs. You know the kind of banquet we’re talkin’ ’bout.
So we signed up for meatballs. We made about 60. Those puppies lasted about 30 seconds around all those 7th and 8th grade linemen.
Filed under: Garden
The turkey was succulent. The sides were better. Our own fare consisted of Brussels sprouts and herbs.
Some pics from T-day.
Filed under: Garden, Kitchen | Tags: brussels sprouts, Garden, herbs, Kitchen
4 days and counting. The long range forecast is not looking great for the frying of the bird. We’ll keep you posted.
On the other hand, this year may be our most bounteous harvest yet for the holiday table. In the past we’ve had little more than a few herbs to use for the big feast but this year we’ll be able to serve our own Brussels sprouts as well as lettuce if we went nuts and decided we needed to ruin our holiday meal with a salad. There are also a few shallots poking their fronds up from the soil.
Alas, it doesn’t look like the beets I planted in late August are going to amount to anything. Maybe enough for a garnish at best. I’ll wait until Thursday to pull a couple and roast ‘em up real fast if there are enough to make a side.
In preparation for the arrival of friends and family we gussied up the yard this weekend. Mowed, fertilized, raked the remaining leaves. This year we only threw out one bag of leaves, the rest went to the composting bin to be used over the course of the year.
Also, on Friday I stopped by our guys at NJ Grinding to get our knives sharpened for all the food prep we’ll be doing.
Friday night fish was this wonderful recipe from The Boss (aka Bittman) called Ligurian Fish. We made it with Alaskan Cod which I’m told is OK to eat according to the PC Fish Police.
Saturday night was more fish and potatoes….stunningly fresh bluefish from the fish guys at the Montclair Farmer’s Mkt. This time is was a Marcella recipe done in a very similar manner to the cod, but involving a parsley and garlic sauce. Then it was off to Primo’s football game in the wilds of Bergen County. They romped 27-7.
Sunday was horseradish crusted pork loin along with Mom’s Red Cabbage. As usual the pork loin, while perfectly cooked, was very lean and tended towards dry. But a tasty crust made up for a lot. With the Principessa’s apple crisp for dessert it was our first real “fall” kind of meal.
You really can fix anything, including this tub of B&B which took a dive from the top shelf of the fridge.
Actually that’s the problem. There are no smells coming from our new stove. The nitwits who delivered it said they “weren’t really trained” to hook up a gas stove. So why would I be charged for “installation”?
Hmmmmm.
Hopefully it will be up and running for the weekend. We’ll keep you posted.
You can’t stop a winner. You can only hope to contain it. Last weekend we led off with the Mussels, white beans and pasta again. We just love this dish and it’s the perfect Friday night dish…not too much cooking and prep but enough to keep one occupied in the kitchen, whilst having an adult beverage and listening to WFUV.
Saturday we tried rib-eye bison steaks from the bison lady at the Montclair Farmer’s Market. Just simply grilled. They were OK but we’ve like the filets we’ve had in the past better. Not really rich enough to be considered a rib-eye.
Sunday we crammed the cavity of a chicken full of herbs and a lemon and roasted it. The Principessa made a wonderful ratatouille AND a risotto with one of the butternuts from the garden. Not our usual chicken and mashed which was nice for a change.
So, while this blog has devolved into a few really lame posts about tomatoes over the course of this summer I keep thinking about our other aspect, that is, food. While toiling over the grill this summer, I more than once though “I should share this dish with my loyal readers (well, both of them)” But , I’ve often been reluctant since better than half of what we cook every weekend is whatever ideas Mark Bittman had. So it always seemed somewhat derivative to just fluff somebody else’s blog which is why I have resisted. But for god’s sake, the recipes usually work. As published.
But then I figured what the hell, I’m not doing anything else. And besides, since the tomato season has ended a bit early (thank you cool and rainy summer) there’s not much else to write about so here goes with our initial “WWALW”
Firs off, I should point out that due to the crazy schedule I work, I rarely get the chance to do much cooking during the week. Between driving to football practice, picking up at aftercare and whatever activities the Principessa has going on it’s usually a miracle if anything home cooked gets put on the table that’s not leftovers. So the weekend is when we let hair down. So to speak.
This past weekend we kicked off with (‘natch) a Bittman recipefor mussels and pasta. Whenever Bittman posts something involving seafood be it in Bitten or The Minimalist (or both) there’s a good chance we’re going to cook it on Friday night. Not that we’re religious fanatics or anything, it just works out that way. Anyway, killer recipe, will do again.
Saturday was an Indian feast, Jerzeetomato style. Steve Raichlen’s “Tandoori Style Beer Can Chicken” but instead of beer we used some wine from the packing crate in the fridge. The Principessa made raita, some wonderful cauliflower and a pilaf from Julie Sahni’s “Classic Indian Cooking” and we also did some chapatis on the grill from (you guessed it) Bittman. Lots of work for this meal and lots of clean up, which prompted the Principessa to refer to it as “Fricking Indian Thanksgiving”
Sunday, keeping it simple since it was the kickoff for the NFL season and we wanted to spend quality time with the flat screen, we grilled bison steaks we got at the Montclair farmer’s market and made a version of “Ass the Potatoes” from Mom’s first book. (someday we’ll share the story of how that dish was named, but for now, buy the book) Potatoes were fingerlings from the “organic guy” at the farmer’s market.
And one more Bittman on Monday. We managed to crank out the Pork Skewers with Peanut Basil Sauce and had them with some leftover pilaf. Good stuff and we realized that the peanut basil marinade/sauce would be good on just about any kind of skewer. Or just eaten from the bowl with a spoon for that matter.
Julia, Julia, Julia.
Everybody’s got Julia on the brain with the release of “Julie and Julia”. There is more being written and talked about Julia than anytime since she passed. Not that that’s a bad thing. But, since I haven’t seen the movie yet, I’ll leave the blabbing to others. Suffice it to say we’re all in her debt.
Some of you have asked if we’ve had any problems with the fungus that is affecting tomato growers up and down the east coast. Well, it’s good news/bad news….While we haven’t had any evidence of the Late Blight that is grabbing the headlines, we’ve been battling our usual problem with Early Blight that always affects us during particularly wet summers.
Excuse me, I need to go fire up the sprayer. Again.
