Palisade peaches just started coming up for sale here in Colorado. I restrained myself and only bought half a dozen. We’ve had peaches (sliced, uncooked) in full fat, organic whole milk yogurt with active cultures, and I’m seriously considering making some baked peach wedges (plus lemon juice to prevent browning/add acid, and dash of turbinado sugar to up the sweetness a smidge), topped with a butter/rolled/oats/chopped pecan crumble, and maybe a bit more yogurt thinned with a bit of sweet sherry to top.
Depends if I can keep the calories down tomorrow, been stuck calling around for quotes on some home improvement needs and trying to find a spare tire option I can live with.
Once in awhile I hit on the Exact Perfect Thing for dinner. It’s rarely complicated or difficult, just something I didn’t realize I was very much in the mood for. Tonight was such a night.
A simple shrimp salad made with shrimp boiled in Old Bay and lemon juice, then combined with diced celery and onion and a dressing made with mayonnaise, more Old Bay, lemon juice, dill and salt and pepper, served over greens with a few seeded crackers alongside and a beer. Totally hit the spot, and there’s enough leftover for a repeat tomorrow night.
Peach pie for dessert later. Hey, @ParallelLines, did you end up making your roasted peach wedges with an oat pecan crumble?
Sure did. Two peaches, pits removed sliced into thin wedges placed in a pinwheel on an oven safe plate after a short bath in lemonized water. A tiny pinch of salt and broiled for 5 minutes in air fryer. Then sprinkled with 1/2 teaspoon of dark brown sugar and back in air fryer for a few more moments. The topping was made with 1/2 tablespoon melted butter, one tablespoon of extra dark and molasses heavy dark rum, a handful of rolled (not instant) oats, and about a dozen hand crushed pecans. Pinwheel got topped with the mixture and then baked the whole thing until the kitchen smelled of toasted oats.
Very good but I did Not allow myself to buy more peaches this week. A man could eat quite a few of those!
Tonight is going to be some TJ’s wheat udon noodles served cold, topped with one small fresh avocado cut into half moons, 4-5 oz of large shrimp seasoned and and seared, sesame seeds toasted in same pan, and all topped with a lemon-soy based sauce. Raw spinach salad on the side.
I’ve been in the hospital for back surgery the last week. The food was surprisingly okay. For dinner, I stuck with yellow split pea stew with injera bread, or a falafel sandwich with tzadziki sauce. Breakfasts were really good thick bacon, perfectly cooked, and an egg/cheese/bacon biscuit. Lunches were mostly a hazy, oxycodone blur.
Back home, a friend has brought me over a King Ranch Chicken casserole, which I’d never had before, and some breakfast egg veggie muffins. Both are delicious. My daughter brought me a poke bowl for dinner two nights ago. The king ranch chicken was last night’s dinner as well as tonight’s. It’s funny was always curious about it and wanted to try it, but never went to the trouble of making it. My friend spiced hers up with some canned jalapeños.
We picked up a jar of home-made garlic scape pesto from a farmstand while driving around this weekend that became last night’s dinner- bucatini with pesto and cubed mozzarella.
Tonight was pasta shells stuffed with some sort of ethereally delicious whole-milk ricotta, in tomato sauce. It was so good, I nearly had a When Harry Met Sally reaction. Dessert was strawberry shortcake with vanilla crème Anglaise. Both were brought over by a friend while I’m recovering from back surgery.
Yesterday was Thai food - Tom kha Kai - soup made of chicken, coconut milk, lemongrass, lime, etc, and massaman curry - more cocont milk, curry, vegetables, etc. They were delicious, but I’m kind of coconut milked-out now. I need to order something lighter next time.
For a moment I thought that was the same as one of the frozen soups I regularly buy, but mine is actually a variant – Khao soi – which shares some of the same ingredients but adds curry to a slightly sweet coconut-milk broth. It’s one of my two faves from this line of frozen soups, the other being chicken won ton.
Dinner tonight will be (again) a prepared grilled chicken souvlaki dinner with Greek rice and tzatziki dipping sauce. It also comes with roast potatoes which is way too much food. I put the potatoes away and later crisp them in the air fryer to have with breakfast eggs or with beans and sausages.
I had multiple errands to run today so I skipped out on visiting the local supermarket from which I get those nice roast beef subs. But I was planning to go to one of the upscale ones a bit farther, and figured I could get the ingredients to make my own. Which I did – roast beef from the deli, hoagie style buns from the bakery, sauteed mushrooms and sauteed onions from the hot buffet. They didn’t have any premade tuna salad sandwiches on white, so I got a couple of containers of their excellent tuna salad and I guess I have to endure the hardship of making my own sandwiches!
Tuna salad doesn’t keep long so dinner tonight will be tuna salad sandwiches with Tuscan tomato soup (from their hot soup stand).
Yes, folks, as much as I love the beautiful forests and pristine lakes of northern Ontario, this is why I cannot live far from urban civilization! I need prepared foods!
I made sub sandwiches tonight with a sauce composed of Dukes Mayo and Valentina salsa picante hot sauce. There was sauce left over so I put that on fresh from the garden cantaloupe for dessert. Damn Fine.
I started with two large boneless Red Bird chicken breasts I had in the freezer, defrosted in the fridge, seasoned with a Citrusy Garlic spice blend from Trader Joes, and seared in a hot skillet. Meanwhile I roasted 4 meaty hot Hatch Chiles in the air-fryer, seeded and peeled the blacked skins.
The two breasts were cut on the bias, about 1.5 cm wide, and placed in a 9x9 Pyrex dish. Then about 16-20 garlic cloves from my MiL’s garden (most of it was ruined by a major later hail storm) were lightly smashed, peeled, and dropped on top. Then the peeled, roasted chiles. Then a very large shallot (also from MiL) was sliced thin and spread atop the rest. Seasoned with a bit more salt, and a scant 1/3 cup of adequate olive oil went atop, along with a couple glugs of lemon juice. Baked (air fryer combo again) covered with foil at 325 for 40 minutes, then finished uncovered for another 20 at 350.
I used a bit of the melded oil from the above to wilt about 3 handfuls of baby spinach, and served on a plate minus any carb sides. Ate half tonight, and the rest will be tomorrow or Friday’s dinner, though I’ll indulge in bread for dipping (maybe with a decent balsamic to mix!).
So, as happens, I was busy all day, and decided at the last minute I wanted to cook something different. I had some bonus goodies that my MiL brought over from the hail-ravaged garden, including a half-dozen ripe or almost ripe fresh tomatoes, a bunch of herbs, and some root veggies. My wife claimed most, but the tomatoes are all mine.
After running some late afternoon errands, I swung by Trader Joe’s and picked up a Garlic and Herb Pizza dough along with my wife’s list of goodies. I allowed the dough to get to room temp, then spread into a rough oval, topped with the last portion of the Garlic clove and chicken leftovers from the last post, a couple of ounces of thin sliced Monterey Jack cheese, some fresh cilantro and scallions from the garden haul, and folded into a rough calzone and crimped the edges. It now bakes and the house smells delicious of course.
I also got some bagels and cream cheese, so that, plus most of the tomatoes and some red onion I had will be breakfast/lunch for the week, minus the tomato I thin sliced and used to top some fresh (but not garden) baby spinach I got Friday for a lovely salad, with fresh ground pepper, some of my smoked Maldon sea-salt, and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.
And why yes, I did reserve a bit of the garlic and hatch chile infused olive oil from the chicken dish to brush on top of the calzone and drizzle on the salad. I’m not a complete idiot, at least, not when it comes to food.
My sweetie started off suggesting we grill pork chops last night, and she was suggesting jalapeno pintos as a side dish. At one point she asked whether I’d be fine with canned beans, or if she should make the pintos from scratch. I replied, if you’re willing to make pintos from scratch, you don’t need the pork chops. Save them for later.
So, she decided to make jalapeno pintos and cornbread, and I was totally spoiled. She picked up some smoked brisket from HEB for the meat, and I’ve been eating wonderfully spicy beans since. Brisket jalapeno pintos are the best pintos. I’m going to suggest she use some brisket in the black eyed peas at new years, we’ll see if she goes along with that.
Yesterday - roasted gammon with a honey, soy, maple and apple juice glaze served with a potato-spinach mash and slow roasted tomatoes and courgettes.
Tonight - kingklipen papillote with home fries and a tomato-cucumber-spinach-herb salad
Not very hungry tonight so dinner will be albacore tuna salad sandwiches and Wolfpup’s Tomato Soup.
Wolfpup’s Tomato Soup consists of vodka, clamato juice, a few dashes of Worcestershire, and a few dashes of Caesar rimmer. Served in a glass with lots of ice!
