the moderate epicurean

Salty butter, one of my very favorite things.  I humiliated myself a few years ago by confessing on Andrew Zimmern's then-radio show, Chowhounds, that I love few things more than a thin slice of cold Hope Creamery butter, no bread, just butter, oh yeah...  Not moderate, I know, so I don't even keep it in my house (shucks), only buy it for holidays or parties.  Or to try cool recipes like this one for dark salty butter caramel sauce (posted lately on The Kitchen Sink, recipe from The Smitten Kitchen), which I plan to give as a gift (if it turns out as nicely as I hope that it will).  How perfect would salted Hope Creamery be for this sauce?

Well, I won't know, since Whole Foods didn't have Hope Creamery butter.  So instead I grabbed this French beauty, Beurre D'Isigny, 80% butterfat and studded with coarse rock salt. Holy Hannah, where have I been?  How have I never picked this up before?  It's gorgeous to look at, rich yellow and literally sparkling with salt crystals.  And the taste - slighty tangy, fresh-cream sweet, with a hint of crunchy salt, it's perfect.

If I ever make that caramel sauce, I'll let you know...

Just back from a last-minute trip to NYC with Nathan.  He was going to game six of the world series (Yankees vs. Phillies) with his father, but due to illness I ended up going with him instead and thanks to my in-laws being totally cool with us crashing in on them, we had a lovely trip.

We arrived Wednesday morning, stole a quick lunch at Serafina with my mother-in-law Dot, then grabbed a cup of Oren's coffee and sat on a bench in Central Park, sipping and people-watching and marveling at how less than 24 hours before we had no idea we'd be in NYC together.  We lucked into gorgeous weather, everyone was out - babies & nannies, dogs of every size and shape, bikers, bladers, joggers, and of course the fashionistas.

Wednesday night we were in the odd (for Twins fans) position of cheering for the Yankees at stunning Yankee Stadium (wow, what a place)!  We sang, we danced, we cheered with all of New York (in the stadium and on the subway) and had a complete blast - unforgettable.

On Thursday Nathan and I stole a couple of hours to check out our friend Maud's studio, and a quick exhibit at the Met, as well as a delicious dinner at my brother- and sister-in-law's beautiful apartment.  Friday, boom, we were back home, the whole thing hardly feels like it happened.

I was glad that I'd made a simple, healthy split-pea soup before I'd left - it hit the spot Friday night, comforting and healthy and just filling enough to put me out for a long night's sleep.  And boy did I need it - of all the things we packed into our little trip, sleep was not one of them.

Good to be home, and do laundry, and pack appropriately for another trip to NYC - yep, we're heading right back, this time to celebrate our anniversary and our friend Bartley's birthday.  This time I'll be more organized, and take more photos, so stay tuned...

Split Pea Soup

Serves 6

4 slices of thick bacon (optional; if you skip it, use 2 Tbsp. of olive oil to sauté vegetables)

1/2 large onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 carrots, peeled and diced

1 celery rib, diced

1 tsp. dried thyme

1 tsp. dried rosemary

1 tsp. dried tarragon

1 lb. split peas (yellow or green)

5-6 cups of chicken or vegetable stock

salt and pepper

In a stock pot or Dutch oven, sauté bacon until crisp. Stir in onion, garlic, carrots, and celery and sauté until softened, about 8 minutes. Stir in herbs and sauté until fragrant, 1-2 minutes. Stir in peas and 5 cups of chicken or vegetable stock and bring to a simmer. Turn heat to low, partially cover the pot, and simmer for 1 1/2 – 2 hours until peas are very tender. Add more liquid if needed to achieve desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately or cool and chill. Freezes well.

Routine, Routine, wherefore art thou Routine?  Man, if you're stuck in a rut and need to shake things up a bit, may I suggest a household bout with the flu, close on the heels of acquiring a new puppy?  Actually, you probably already know these tricks - at the least the flu part - given how many of my son's classmates have also been down for the count.  None of us have felt great for almost three weeks now, with strange appetites and extreme tiredness.  The result?  (My definition of) moderation - cooking and eating relatively healthy food as well as accomplishing some form exercise most days of the week - has been chased right out the window.  (Not a shocker given my sparse postings here...ahem...)   Suffice it to say, we've eaten more take-out and Amy's Organics bean-n-rice burritos in the last few weeks than I'd like to admit.  Hopefully, we've turned a corner and are on our way back to fighting form.

And a normal routine!

I realize that I should follow that intro with an interesting, healthy recipe, an example of how to jump back in.  But I got nothin'.  The dinner plan for tonight is what we often have on Wild Wednesday nights, given limited time and wildly varying tastes (on Wild Wednesdays both kids have religious school, I take care of my three-year old nephew Cooper, and he and my sister Stacey join us for dinner).  Pasta, baby, make-your-own pasta.  I vary the shape (I'm currently digging a Whole Foods' brand of conchiglie/shells).  And the texture and spiciness of the quick tomato sauce (smooth and thin, chunky and thick, sometimes with a little cream stirred in).  And the add-in vegetables (tonight will be sauteed Swiss chard, other nights a pan of zucchini and mushrooms, or garlicky broccoli, or thinly sliced fennel and onions...).  And the protein source (pulled apart rotisserie chicken, simple ground beef, I've even set out strips of frittata, or spicy beans, or sauteed tofu, although those are less popular options).  You get the picture.  It's a relatively easy way to put a fast, nutritious dinner on the table; plus, if you go easy on the pasta, and load up on the veggies and lean protein, you can even call it "moderate."

Right now, that's the best I can do.

I posted a couple of months ago about chicken marbella, the classic Silver Palate cookbook recipe that my stepmom Susanna pulled out while we were visiting in Montana.  Man, I had completely forgotten about chicken marbella - chicken (thighs) marinated in and roasted with garlic, oil, vinegar, prunes, olives, and capers.  It takes oh, about 10 minutes to put together (the night before), and an hour or so to roast, and results in a beautiful casserole of crusty-silky chicken, a little sweet, a lotta garlicky, salty and fragrant and just damn good.

Looking up and posting the recipe got me paging through other Silver Palate recipes, fondly remembering past dinner parties I'd opened with tasties like sesame, ham and cheese bites, cheese straws, gougere, salmon mousse, phyllo triangles, or new potatoes with black caviar.  I'm such a sucker for food reminiscing, sigh.  Turns out, I'd really missed my old pal.

So when I offered to make a birthday dinner for Kim (aka The Maven of Mischief), I immediately grabbed the Silver Palate cookbook - having Kim & Suz over was the perfect reason to put together a retro-90s menu (yes, sigh, the 90s are retro).  I settled on a cold, steamed artichoke with tapenade dipping sauce, and hot, cheesy gougere (with a handful of minced, fresh herbs thrown in) to nosh with sips of champagne.  For our main course we had chicken marbella (but of course), with nothing but rice alongside.  To finish, we had lime mousse and strong coffee, in front of the fireplace, with a huge helping of chat.  All in all, a great night.

This afternoon, John and I attended The Tasting Panel Magazine's 3rd annual Tasting Panel Tour featuring the Double Gold Winners of the San Francisco International Wine Competition and the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.  Hosted at The W Hotel by cool dudes Anthony (Andy) Dias Blue (who we know through our friends Ana Scofield & Rudy Maxa), and David Mahoney (who we know through our friends Steve & Jen Katz), we had a great time tasting wines and meeting more cool dudes like Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl (yay! big fan!) and Mollie Windmiller, and having post-tasting drinks with Ana & Rudy, Andy & David, Mollie, and Ralph Bashoum.  Bonus - it was nice to be home from a "night out" by 7:30 p.m.

It's officially cold, wet, and dark, pretty much all of the time.  My summer annuals are ugly withered sticks, mocking me for my fall clean-up procrastination.  The trees are turning - brown, not fall colors - the leaves falling in soggy, mushy clumps.  The flu is even working it's way through our home.  All a bit much for October, right, but there it is.  So imagine my delight in discovering that for some reason, my pots of parsley, chives, and mint are still going strong, despite being covered in snow a couple of times already, despite being tucked amongst pots of dead oregano, petunias, and tomatoes.  When I glimpsed that lovely, lush pot of parsley I thought...tabouli salad!  One of my favorites, which I don't think I made even once this summer, what a nice little post-summer treat.

Traditional tabouli is mostly chopped parsley with a small amount of bulgur, but I like mine a little grainier.  The key, for me, is for the bulgur to be squeezed of excess moisture - watery tabouli is unfortunately common and, well, smushy and yucky.  Kinda like those brown leaves...  I use one cup of (raw) bulgur to three cups of chopped herbs (mostly parsley, but also chives and mint).  Add lemon and olive oil, tomatoes and other raw veggies (peppers, mushrooms, cucumber, etc.), salt and pepper, and tabouli salad you will have (a little nod to Yoda there, sorry).

Tabouli Salad

Serves 4

1 cup bulgur

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/3 cups water

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (usually juice of one lemon)

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

2 cups finely chopped fresh parsley

1/2 cup finely chopped green onions or chives

1/2 cup minced fresh mint

1 tomato, seeded, chopped

salt ground black pepper to taste

optional additions:

seeded, chopped cucumber

crumbled feta cheese

cooked chicken

cooked chickpeas

toasted pine nuts

raisins or currants

thinly sliced mushrooms

thinly sliced red or green pepper

Put bulgur and salt in a medium bowl. Bring water and lemon juice to a boil, pour over the bulgur, and set aside at room temperature for 30 minutes, until most of the water is absorbed. Using your hands, squeeze any excess water from bulgur, transferring it to a dry bowl. Stir in the remaining ingredients, season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve at room temp or chilled.

Hey all, I'm still kicking around.  I spent last weekend in Madison, having a grand old time with my college girlfriends Cami and Michelle.  We did the usual - stayed out too late Friday night, went to a Badger football game on Saturday, walked all over gorgeous downtown Madison and the UW-Madison campus, consumed the Wisconsin trifecta (brats, beer, and cheese) after the game (with Michelle's very kind family, who generously hosted us with a serious tailgate spread), then went to bed early Saturday night.  Yeah, not quite the same insanity we threw at a weekend back in the day.  Thank goodness, say my liver, stomach, and the bags under my eyes.  Yeesh.

Back home, I'm putting together simple, light meals, like this late summer soup I made up today.  I had lots of grilled pork tenderloin leftover from last night, as well as a boatload of ripe tomatoes, so I decided to cook ahead a bit and make a brothy-yet-hearty soup for the freezer.  I started with onions, carrots, and garlic sauteed in ollve oil.  In went a couple of chopped tomatoes, some white wine, a handful of chopped herbs (rosemary, thyme, sage), a can of white beans, and chicken broth.  After that simmered for 20 minutes or so, I added a handful of whole-wheat elbow macaroni and the pork tenderloin, diced fine.  When the pasta was just tender, I turned off the heat and stirred in several tablespoons of freshly grated Parmesan cheese and salt and pepper to taste (the cheese just melts into the broth, adding a layer of richness to the flavor).  Spinach would have been a nice addition, but I didn't have any.  Zucchini would have be nice too, especially if you're trying to use up the stash that seems to reproduce in the bottom drawer of the refrigerator.  I love soups like this - with a simple broth base - to which you can add this and that and create something healthy and delicious.

To freeze, cool the soup to room temperature, then ladle into freezer bags or tupperware.  Make sure to write the date on the container - you'll be very glad when you pull it out in January and think, what IS this?  Oooh, yay, it's the yummy soup I made in October.  Nice.

A bit of pesto is a nice stir-in to finish, as is a drizzle of best quality olive oil, or a handful of croutons, or a sprinkle of cheese.  And always a pass of the pepper grinder.  Enjoy!

Disjointed food preparation this last week, although not completely unsuccessful.  I don't think I planned one meal ahead, which is not my usual, and actually makes me feel completely whacked out.  Even if I take two minutes with my calendar before I head to bed, it makes me feel like I know where the next day is going.  For some reason, I completely lost my groove last week, and we ate all over the board.  And much less healthfully, no surprise there - healthy eating requires planning.  There are only so many egg-with-salad dinners (my last-minute, go-to healthy din) that I can eat in one week!

The week's hightlight was, once again, the lounge at La Belle Vie, this time with Suz to celebrate her birthday.  Perfection, as always, sigh.  Those damn lamb burgers, I truly crave them.  Juicy/greasy, thankfully small, with yogurt sauce and a slice of spicy pepper, piled on a pillowy little homemade bun, argh.  So good.  But equally as good is the mache/artichoke salad, the greens served atop a pool of Moroccan-seasoned yogurt, studded with salty olives, and perhaps crispy lemon rind (?) - it's to die for.  Suz and I even had a couple of gentlemen send us a drink.  Do I have to admit that the dudes were portly and 70-something?  Fine, the dudes were portly and 70-something.  To their credit, one also sent his card, which simply said, "Just Say Maybe."  I laughed, it was very good, and they didn't bug us, so it all worked out just fine.  Except, as my sister noted, there used to be a day when dudes of that age wouldn't bother sending a drink, cuz they didn't think they had a chance.  Right.

Last night, after chuckling at this article in the Sunday NYTimes, and given the frozen pork tenderloin in my freezer, and given my no-dinner-plan dinner plan, I made these Restaurant-Style Chops (albeit with, er, pork tenderloin).  I didn't do the polenta, since no one else in the house likes polenta (ugh), but made risotto instead.  The pork was tasty - a little over-the-top perhaps, with maple-glazed pork AND maple-glazed nuts AND maple-glazed apples AND candied ginger (OK, that's very over-the-top), but the maple glaze is actually rather subtle, so it works.  But honestly, the risotto stole the show.  I just made a basic version, with a bit of cream stirred in with the cheese and butter, and please.  I remembered quite quickly why I never make risotto - moderate it is not.  But it sure is tasty...

Tonight, we're off to Brasa (my first trip) for Andrew Zimmern's book launch party.  Stay tuned...

Image: http://www.bctree.com/images/photos/summer-peaches.jpg

It's cloyingly, annoyingly humid here in Minnesota this week.  It's like the summer we didn't have finally settled in, now that it's September.  Hmmm.  But despite a constitution that despises humidity, it's all OK - it gives me a chance to enjoy the last-gasp treats of summer, to really dig in to tomatoes (do you think I've been eating enough tomatoes lately?  I swear, this post won't be about tomatoes...), corn on the cob, and peaches.  Oh, peaches, how I will miss thee.  I'm eating them any way that I can - as is, of course, but also sliced with a teeny guilding of sugar and cream (1/2 tsp. each, that's all it takes).  To go all out, check out this beautiful recipe for peach cobbler from The Kitchen Sink blog.  Oh yes, that would be a lovely way to enjoy the last peaches of the season.  (Or plums.  Or blueberries.  Mmmm.)

On a separate note, if you're in a bit of a healthy eating slump, and looking for some yummy recipes, check out this 9 Foods You Should Be Eating post on www.eatingwell.com (great publication and website).  I wish my veggie share included broccoli rabe, but no.  I love it chopped, sauteed in olive oil with lots of garlic and red pepper flakes, and tossed with pasta.  Luckily I'm getting loads of broccoli, which is almost as good (same seasonings) tossed with ziti or rigatoni and showered with freshly grated Parm to finish.

So, as I mentioned below, BIG food weekend.  John and I kicked it off all by our lonesome with another killicious din in the lounge at La Belle Vie.  If you go, order a cocktail (with alcohol or no) - they're all gorgeous and tasty.  And then, feeling jazzy and chic, with ice cubes clinking merrily in a graceful glass, order the lamb burgers, pommes frites, the mache salad with artichokes and yogurt, and perhaps a tasty off the restaurant menu (you are presented with three menus in the lounge - the famous dining room tasting menu, the dining room a la carte menu, and the lounge menu; all rock).  Sit back, enjoy the elegant room, stare inconspicuously at people closing their eyes and moaning as they eat (the food is that good), and be grateful to be in such a pretty spot on a Friday night.

Sunday afternoon, John, Nathan, and I attended a neighborhood pig roast, put on by the Bennett's and Anderson's.  We arrived just as the 100-lb. pig was laid out on a big table, crisp and glistening, apple in mouth (but of course), looking very, graphically porcine.

I admit, I winced a bit as Ed and Bob sliced into the beast, but my guilt melted away as I was presented with a bite of crisp skin.  Holy Porky Cow, so intensely good.  Soon the roast was pulled into pieces and presented alongside soft buns and several different styles of barbecue sauce.  With a 1/2-block long table groaning with potluck sides (salads, bars, cookies, cakes), we definitely made ourselves a meal.  (Thanks Pam Van Ert for the pics!)

And last night, night of the tomato tart with Parmesan crust (below), we were invited to dinner at Sue & Louis Ainsworth's for a Summer's A-Wastin' Party, along with Ana Scofield & Rudy Maxa, Genie & Joe Dixon, and Debbie & Stu Williams.  We drank beautiful wine and ate gorgeous food - gougere, grilled shrimps, boned leg of lamb, ratatouille, salad, olive bread, cheeses, and raspberry cake for dessert.  What a way to end a beautiful Labor Day weekend!  (Pics here are from the party.)

And today....  Kind of a bust, today.  Due to an irrigation system malfunction, part of our back yard is not just wet, it's basically a swamp.  A puppy-loving, dig-30-second-holes-in-the-mud kind of swamp.  Bad.  So, I drove all over the metro area to find a temporary fence, and installed said fence with Nathan (no easy task, 75 feet of fencing!), only to discover that even more of the yard is seriously wet than I realized, and Louis just dug a new mudhole on this side of the fence instead.  Sigh.

Good thing he's so cute...  Anyhow, we weren't done with the (useless) fence until almost 6 pm, ack, so dinner, which was going to be post-shower veggie share new potatoes in some sort of yummy hash, was instead...sweaty Domino's pizza.  Ah well.

And now - bedtime.  Sleep tight, y'all.

Great food weekend, wow.  More details later, but for now I'm posting a recipe for the easy tomato tart I made and brought to a dinner last night at Louis & Sue Ainsworth's lovely home.  I found the recipe on the excellent 101 Cookbooks blog and it's a big, big winner.  The Parmesan crust is tender and cheesy, the tomatoes, cleverly drained of excess juice, are gorgeous and flavorful without turning the crisp crust to mush.  The two together are summer perfection.

Stay tuned for details and pics from the dinner party.  Wish I had pics from the pig roast we went to on Sunday, very dramatic (and delicious).  Back in a bit.

Well, John and I abandoned moderation yesterday in the name of Julia Child crêpes stuffed with ham and mushrooms, napped in sauce Mornay, and run under the broiler.  I came to the idea in my typical way - I, er, stole it.  We had a version of a similar dish the night before, at Bar La Belle Vie, which planted a little craving in my brain, and as luck would have it we had some good ham in the cooler...and crêpes are really so easy to make...  So voila, crêpes with ham.  A little paging through Mastering the Art of French Cooking got me thinking mushrooms too, as well as sauce Mornay (cheese sauce made with a roux), and pretty soon restraint flew out the window, the butter was on my cutting board, and the blender was whirring away (crêpe batter is a cinch in a blender).

The only actual recipes I used were for the crêpes and sauce Mornay; the ham and mushroom filling, I just winged.  I sauted a small, minced clove of garlic in some melted butter for a few minutes, then stirred in about 3 oz. of thinly sliced wild mushrooms.  When they were tender and starting to brown, I add about 6 ounces of chopped, shaved ham and stirred until warmed through.  By then I had also made the sauce Mornay, so I stirred in a generous spoonful or two to bind the filling, seasoned the whole with salt and pepper, and was ready to roll (literally).

After prepping the crêpes (I made six and saved the remaining batter for later - it keeps perfectly in the fridge for a few days, ready to go, a rather dangerous convenience), I put 2-3 Tbsp. of warm filling on each crêpe, rolled them up, and laid them out in a buttered casserole dish.  To finish, I topped the rolled crêpes with sauce Mornay and ran the pan under a moderate broiler until lightly browned.  We ate them - tender, salty, lightly cheesy - with a glass of champagne and felt fine.  And full.  Salut!

From Mastering the Art of French Cooking, re: Crêpes Farcies et Roulées:

Every French household makes use of crepes, not only as a festive dessert for Mardi Gras and Candlemas Day, but as an attractive way to turn leftovers or simple ingredients into a nourishing main-course dish.  Crêpes may be rolled around a filling of fish, meat, or vegetables, spread with sauce, and browned under the broiler.  More spectacular is a gâteau de crêpes in which the pancakes are piled upon each other in a stack of 24, each spread with a filling. This is then heated in the oven and gratinéed with a good sauce.  Or the crêpes may be piled into a soufflé mold with alternating layers of filling, heated in the oven, unmolded, and coated with sauce.  Whatever system you decide upon, including rolled crêpes, the dish may be prepared in advance and heated up when you are ready to serve.

I forget about crab cakes, which is too bad, given how easy they are to make and how delicious they are to eat.  I was prompted to remember them by the okra I picked up, I just love crab and okra together.  And I was prompted to pick up the okra, which I also tend to forget about, by the glut of very ripe cherry tomatoes I had sitting on the window sill (don't refrigerate tomatoes, ever, it makes them mealy), I just love tomatoes and okra together (particularly sauteed with bacon and sweet onions).

I had a piece of leftover corn in the cooler, so that went in too, for a pretty succotash-like pan of sauteed vegetables, just perfect alongside a crispy crab cake.

Recipes for crab cakes here, and for okra here.

So you may have noticed that my last few posts have included tomatoes, fresh, sweet, glorious tomatoes.  'Tis officially the time of year when I can't get enough of the beauties - raw or cooked, in salads or pastas, in soups or sandwiches, in gratins or eggs dishes, all good, all good.

Tonight - after last night's bacchanal - we had a simple dinner of grilled bread (thick slices of whole-grain bread drizzled on both sides with a bit of best olive oil, sprinkle of salt, grilled until hot and crusty) topped with chopped cherry tomatoes mixed with minced garlic, chopped basil, coarse salt, olive oil, and freshly ground pepper.  It's nice to assemble the tomato mixture before grilling the bread, since a rest at room temperature blends the seasonings and draws some of the juices out of the tomatoes - the better for softening crusty bread, oh yes.

For more tomato goodness, check out the New York Times topic on Tomatoes, chock full of delicious recipes and tips.  I'm a big fan of whisking a little fresh tomato sauce into beaten eggs before scrambling them - adds a pretty color, wonderful flavor, and makes the texture extra light and fluffy.  Top with a shower of freshly minced herbs to finish.

...the movie.  I was so excited to see it and let me say, I was not disappointed.  Love, love, loved it.  Was actually kind of weepy throughout, particularly during the Julia & Paul Child scenes.  The food, the romance, the finding one's passion, even the blogging and funnily enough, the tallness (Julia was 6'2", I'm 5'11") - oh my goodness did I connect with this movie.  As I sat next to my completely supportive and loving husband - seriously, he would back me and cheer me on if I decided I wanted to weave baskets for a living, although he'd be much hungrier - I coudn't help but be completely charmed and taken in by Meryl Streep's portrayal of Julia Child.  Absolutely outstanding, on every level.

This blog was 100% inspired by Julie Powell's Julie/Julia Project blog - and book, which I received as a Christmas gift from my stepmom Susanna almost four years ago.   I obviously haven't come up with nearly as cool an idea as cooking 524 recipes in 365 days (the Julie/Julia Project concept), but I sure have had fun cooking and writing about food!

So, in honor of Julia Child, I decided to roast a chicken for dinner tonight.  No, I didn't smear it with a stick of butter and roast it in my oven (although I have before, and it's delicious), but I did coat it with a small amount of olive oil, and a generous sprinkle of salt, and roast it on my Weber gas grill (with my genius Weber poultry roaster) for an hour until insanely tender-crisp.  I also sauteed a panful of mushrooms with garlic and tarragon, and added 2 Tbsp. of cream at the end to make a nice sauce.  I boiled fingerling potatoes, and finished them with a bit of butter, fresh tarragon, and chives as well.  And I finished the whole lot by adding the degreased pan drippings and crusty bits from the chicken to the pan of mushrooms, along with a splash of wine to thin things out.  As a final touch, I halved lovely cherry tomatoes, tossed them with a drizzle of olive oil, a small clove of minced garlic, and a generous shake of salt, and spread them on a baking sheet.  I ran them under the broiler until browned at the edges, and served them alongside the crispy-skin chicken, mushroom sauce, and fingerling potatoes.  Nice dinner.

In fact, tres bon.  Salut!

Warm bread and ripe tomatoes, what a pairing.  I could stop there - with a shake or two of salt and pepper - and be very happy.  But add garlic, a drizzle of olive oil, a little cheese, fresh herbs, and a blast of heat - oh my.  Gilding the lily perhaps, especially when both the bread and tomatoes are seriously good, but what the heck, especially when it's so easy to put together?  If all this sounds familiar, it could be because I wrote about this dish oh, about the same time last year, after devouring it at our friends Kris & Harry's.  The key is good, home-grown cherry tomatoes, available starting...right about now (check your garden, farmer's market, co-op, or Whole Foods).

I think the gratin makes a perfectly lovely meal all on its own (a glass of wine is a nice addition), but as you might imagine, crusty bread and juicy tomatoes are pretty fab alongside chicken as well.  Or fish.  Or steak.  And oh, leftover the next day, reheated alongside an over-easy egg, yes.

You get the picture.  Recipe here.

So, as I mentioned yesterday, I had a cooler full of fresh, delicious CSA veggies to work with for dinner tonight.  I opted for pasta, tangled with ribbons of collards, fennel, and spring onions, as well as bites of zucchini (the zucchini was not from my veggie share - it was just chilling in the fridge, biding its time, waiting for a veggie dish needing some moisture and the ability to absorb the flavor of garlic, yeah).  But really, any tasty combination of vegetables would work - choose what you like.  I had intended ziti or penne - the thickness stands up nicely to a coarse "sauce" - but when I opened the cupboard, alas, the thickest, heartiest shape I could find was linguine, so linguine it was.

I seared the veggies on the grill, chapa-style (yes, again - what can I say, not heating up my kitchen is a nice thing in the summer).  Wait, I should back up - I started by searing two slices of bacon, chopped.  When it was crisp, I removed to a large bowl and then added the ribbons of collard greens and zucchini to the pan (and drippings).  Collards are tougher than, say, spinach or chard, so need a longer cooking time and some moisture (zuchhini adds quite a bit of moisture, but I added a few drizzles of water as well) to achieve truly tender.  Make sure to add a sprinkle of salt as you stir.  When both achieved melty and lightly charred, I added a clove of minced garlic, stirred it around a bit, and then transferred the whole pan to the bowl with the bacon (toss, toss).

I then added a couple of teaspoons of olive oil to the hot pan, then stirred in the fennel and onions (and a sprinkle of salt) and saute-seared them until also lightly charred.  I scraped them into the bowl with the bacon, collards, and zucchini, added a drizzle of balsamic vinegar, a crumble of Parmesan cheese, and salt and pepper to taste, and the veggies were ready to toss with pasta.

Here's how to finish - cook pasta (1/2 lb. to serve 3-4) according to package directions until al dente.  While the pasta cooks, in a small skillet, saute one clove of minced garlic and 1/2 tsp. of red pepper flakes in 1-2 Tbsp. of olive oil, until garlic is just barely colored.  Remove from heat.  Just before draining the pasta, reserve 1/4 c. of the pasta cooking water.  Drain the pasta, return to the warm pot, and toss with the garlic/oil, reserved water, and salt and pepper to taste until "creamy" (the starch in the cooking water creates a bit of a "sauce").  Toss in the vegetables and an additional grating of cheese to taste.  A shower of freshly minced herbs would be nice.  I use probably 2/3 veg to 1/3 pasta - a perfect opportunity to enjoy a small taste of pasta (no more than a couple of ounces) with lots of delicious vegetables (go whole-wheat pasta if your family won't revolt - mine, sadly, would/has).

Enjoy thoroughly.

I'd say I made a lovely dinner tonight with the bounty of La Finca CSA produce I received yesterday (fennel, dill, broccoli, collards, onions, carrots, strawberries), but no.  Not after a late, bountiful lunch at 20.21 with John and Nathan, followed by a not-digestif-enough walk through the Sculpture Garden and the Walker's permanent exhibit.  We shared juicy, pork-filled potstickers; sticky, spicy chicken lettuce cups; chewy noodles studded with silky beef short rib pieces, crunchy bok choy, mushrooms, and asparagus; and spicy-sweet calamari salad.  Mmm, all so good that we're all still stuffed.  And so, the veggies will have to wait for tomorrow night.

Except the strawberries - the strawberries are gone baby gone...

Stay tuned for what I'm thinking will be a pasta for tomorrow's din - I'll likely saute a bit of pancetta, then the fennel, collards, and onions (separately, chapa-style on the grill) and toss it all with ziti, a handful of fresh herbs, and a generous grating of Parm.  A nice way to eat lots of delicious veggies, with a small amount of pasta.

...chapa being the process of cooking food on a skillet over a hot (600-degree) fire (technique from Seven Fires: Grilling the Argentine Way).  Tonight I grilled thinly-sliced fennel, onions, and wild mushrooms (tossed with chopped herbs and fresh-sqeezed lemon off-heat) before searing Vital Choice Wild Seafood King Salmon fillets, rubbed with a bit of olive oil and sprinkled with salt before setting them in the hot pan.  Five minutes (two minutes on one side, three on the other) is all it takes for crusty, just-done salmon.  Tonight I topped the fillets with Whole Foods' pineapple-n-mango salsa (found in the produce section - would be tasty on any fish), seriously delicious.  From chopping to plate, I'd say about 20 minutes - very, simply doable after a long day at work, and coming in easily at less than 400 calories.

I lucked into a delicious dinner at Debbie & Stu the Wine Genius' on Sunday night.  After a dry, dusty afternoon spent watching Little League baseball, it was oh-so-nice to sit in their lovely, shady backyard and sip a cool glass of white wine, ahhh.  Bill & Karla Forsythe were there as well, with their dachshund Sophie, joining Williams' two dachshunds Margeaux and brand new Sophie (yes, two dachshund Sophie's, ha).  All three girls are darling, but Puppy Sophie stole the show with her round, pink belly and happy napping.

While Sophie played musical laps, Stu grilled bison tenderloin and ribeye steaks.  I've eaten a fair amount of bison in my day, and certainly enjoyed it, but this version (from Whole Foods) was positively divine - tender-yet-beefy-beefy-beefy (despite being, technically, not beef), I imagine it tastes the way steak is supposed to taste.  I absolutely loved it and can't wait to throw some on the grill, rarrr. Stu and Debbie plated the sizzling steaks alongside roasted potatoes and asparagus (I forgot my camera, and Stu hadn't pulled his out yet, so I missed the gorgeous pic of all three piled on the same huge platter, set down in the center of the table, shame).  Stu poured a delicious Cote du Rhone alongside, Andezon 2004 - get this, it's $10/bottle!

For dessert we dug into two pastries (pictured above) from divine Rustica Bakery - a chiffon cake and a berry tart, served with a scoop of melty vanilla ice cream, so good.  Thanks to Debbe & Stu for another fab meal and evening!

Francesco Tonelli for The New York Times

On another note...you must check out this Mark Bittman article titled 101 Simple Salads for the Season which popped onto the NYTimes website this afternoon.  What a jewel!  Completely genius, do not miss it - in fact, print it out (I linked to the printable version) and get ready to hit your farmer's market this and every weekend for the rest of the summer.  Made my whole day - nice.

Date Night, Bar La Belle Vie, all good.  We skipped wine and sipped truly yummy summer cocktails - tasties such as Old Cubans (Mount Gay Rum, Fresh Mint, Bitters, Fresh Lime and Cava) and Prince Alberts (Earl Grey Infused Bombay Sapphire Gin, Fresh Lemon Sweet & Sour And Soda).  We sat down at the bar and both said, "Gosh, I wish we'd invited Stu (the Wine Genius) and Debbie" and lo and behold, in walked Stu and Debbie and Debbie's awesome sister Michelle, no kidding.

We munched on the best - The Best - bar burgers in Minneapoils, the mini-lamb burgers, topped with a spicy pepper and yogurt sauce, juicy, lamb-y, spicy-creamy perfection, they kill me, seriously.

We also noshed on crispy-salty pommes frites, and downed a mache-baby artichoke salad tossed over a pool of cumin-yogurt and slices of artichoke that was particularly divine with swipes of pommes frites.

Fry this, fry that, shake this, shake that, all fab, yum.

A drive home around lovely Lake of the Isles and despite the cold (it's 58 degrees out there as I type, nice July, puhlease), a gorgeous night.

Well, I try.  And really, there's no reason that whole-grain bread, a moderate amount of cheese, as well as a generous amount of veggies and lean protein shouldn't be a perfectly nutritious dinner - it's just the gut-bomb delivery and restaurant version that does the major damage.  (And can you say sodium?  Pizza Hut = serious balloonness, I'd hate to know the sodium content and I like salt.)  I've linked to this whole-wheat crust recipe before and I'm here to say again that it is really, really fantastic.  It makes two baking-sheet size thin-crust pizzas, or three slightly smaller, cracker-thin crusts (that's how I like it).

I pre-bake the crusts, on a pan, for about 5 minutes first.  Then I top with a quick, chunky sauce (crushed tomatoes simmered briefly with a couple of cloves of minced garlic, a generous pinch of red pepper flakes and dried oregano), a small amount of shredded cheese (mozzarella works, of course, but provolone or fontina packs more flavor-punch), and a whatever-I'm-in-the-mood-for mix of vegetables and protein.  Pepperoni and green olives for my son.  Caramelized onions and pancetta for adults.  Shirmp and artichokes if I'm motivated (which I was - above are baby artichokes, sauteed with garlic).

After topping, I slide the pie directly onto the oven rack (no pan - thus the pre-bake, it has enough shape to sit directly on the rack) and bake until the toppings are bubbling and crust is crisp, about 10 minutes at 450 degrees F.  If you add heavier toppings, bake at 400 degrees for a bit longer.  Have fun and improvise freely.