Thursday, 12 September 2013
I couldn’t get excited about any menu I could think of for dinner…just couldn’t tune into that wavelength…. My Sweetie saved me! Took me out for a fine restaurant meal!
Italian. Had a sautéed calamari app (not breaded) that was really special…well, actually, it was all tasty!
Monday, 9 September 2013
I haven’t made this in quite a while, one of those dishes that just fell off the rotation out of distraction rather than dislike. It’s my riff on the filling for spanakopita or ravioli or lasagne, with ricotta and spinach, some sautéed onion, and, in this case, some Gruyère and a bit of monterey jack, plus lots of freshly ground black pepper. Just the filling, though, without the wrapper. And an extra dusting of jack at the end….
Sometimes I put in an egg or eggs; this time I used one. The crucial angle is always how much of the water I squeeze out of the spinach. This time I wasn’t terribly diligent, and I should have squeezed it a bit drier.
I have some ricotta and Gruyère left; I think that in a few days I’ll make a mixed veg version to use that up.
Tuesday, 3 September 2013
When I was shopping for dinner groceries:
Fact 1: we hadn’t had any corn-on-the-cob yet this summer.
Fact 2: I read an article recently about how many more micro-nutrients are in plants of color than in highly bred low-color varieties.
Fact 3: I needed a starch for the menu, and we’ve had rice and potatoes many times recently.
Fact 4: no kidding—$6 for five ears. (I hear opportunity knocking for serious gardeners.)
And, my heavens, was that red maize tasty! All the way to the cob. (Red cob.)
And, yes, a splurge, but ya gotta do that once in a while—if you at all can—in some form or another….
Sunday, 1 September 2013
I’ve been thinking about KW spending the weekend where she has views of Canada (me? jealous? no comment…). Searching the archive for a picture, I came across this, collected when we were last in that foreign nation.
Needless to say, we left this fine beverage (?) right there on the shelf.
Wednesday, 28 August 2013
Gardiner Harris in the NYTimes says lots of spices sold in this country are…suspect. For salmonella. And most of the spices come from India and Mexico. Harris writes about a 3-year long project by the FDA:
In a study of more than 20,000 food shipments, the food agency found that nearly 7 percent of spice lots were contaminated with salmonella, twice the average of all other imported foods. Some 15 percent of coriander and 12 percent of oregano and basil shipments were contaminated, with high contamination levels also found in sesame seeds, curry powder and cumin. Four percent of black pepper shipments were contaminated.
And this is why this is a serious matter:
The United States is one of the world’s largest spice importers, bringing in 326 metric tons in 2012 valued at $1.1 billion, according to the Department of Agriculture. Of those imports, which account for more than 80 percent of the total United States spice supply, 19 percent were from India and 5 percent from Mexico.
Bon appétit.
Saturday, 24 August 2013
Lately we’ve had a little jones going on here, a modification to cocktail hour: Thomasville Georgia’s own Sweet Grass Dairy‘s Green Hill mini-wheel. I take it out an hour before showtime so it reaches room temp.
Thursday, 15 August 2013
On the theory that plants with strong flavors provide great nutrients and antioxidants and those bits that aren’t protein, carbos, or fat, I am always happy to add piles of Thai basil leaves to this dish.
Friday, 9 August 2013
Friday rituals. More or less.
Tonight’s included Samized BBQ sauce.
I write this following a NYT article by Catherine Saint Louis from the 9th, “Rituals Make Our Food More Flavorful.” (Behind a firewall.)
Friday, 26 July 2013
The very kindly Guru brought home a new gin for me to try.
Just gin over ice. (purring) Verrrrry nice.
Saturday, 20 July 2013
BBQ, as in meat with flavors cooked over an open flame/fire, is a world-wide cooking technique. B’s version this afternoon had a Korean twist and fit into a pan-Asian meal to celebrate her son’s 24th.
BTW, we guests also discussed dumplings, as in boiled dough (moistened ground grain) mixtures, stuffed or no—concluding that they are near-global, too.