Brined pork chops, grilled with jalapeno mac & cheese.
Sticky wings, green beans and either some kind of potatoes or just some buttered noodles.
Had never tried one before but they were on sale, so last night I had the EatingWell Cherry Port Pork. Damn that was good! I may go back tomorrow and pick up a couple more.
I’ve been too busy or exhausted, and the weather has been to hot, to do anything creative recently.
Sunday I made Wiener Schnitzel (veal), with egg noodles and mushroom gravy. I couldn’t bear to let the egg, flour, and bread crumbs go to waste, so I mixed them together and ran them through the ricer into a pot of boiling water for some quasi-Spätzle.
Last night I made shrimp po’boys (dressed), slices of watermelon, and Corona beer.
Food is mostly about keeping up with the garden right now. Messes of green beans, steamed them flash-sauteed with garlic. New potatoes sliced and fried till golden brown. Zucchini sliced and sauteed with garlic and lemon juice (maybe with pasta tossed in), or shredded and made into zucchini pancakes, eaten with sour cream. Big salads, made with the lettuce that’s still going. The broccoli is over, and wasn’t very good anyway. Tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant are still to come.
Meat? Eh, who wants meat. Sometimes we grill hotdogs or hamburgers. Sometimes, when my husband has time, he hauls up some Dungeness crab and we have that with lots of drawn butter and white wine.
French toast and bacon
Spaghetti with meat sauce, garlic bread, baby carrots and celery, a big glass of Syrah, ice water, and chocolate fudge for dessert.
Manwich Sloppy Joes with thick slices of Kraft “cheddar-style” cheese on toasted sesame-seed buns, sweet iced tea with lemon.
I made a special trip down to the Sunset Park Chinatown today because the Ukulele Lady really wanted some good Chinese greens. I picked up a two-pound sack of her favorite, Bean Greens, which are a bit like spinach. Also a pound of fresh Asian egg noodles and four pounds of rabbit (which is for dinner tomorrow).
Cooked the greens in the wok with a chopped hot chile and four thick coins of fresh ginger. When it wilted, topped with a dash of sesame oil and a tablespoon of soy. I reduced some homemade beef stock to optimum strength with more ginger, plus onion and garlic and salt, then cooked half the noodles in it and let them rest until they were cool and had absorbed most of the broth.
Grilled sliced tofu marinated in soy and ginger and mirin, along with two boneless beef short ribs.
Those really are pretty good
Grilled turkey breast cutlets, couscous, and corn on the cob.
Reheated Gen. Tso’s Chicken, white rice, three garlic butter crescent rolls, ice water, with lemon cookies and milk for dessert.
Bought two small rabbits in Chinatown yesterday (about 4 lbs) for $2.99 a pound. This is big news in NYC, where they usually run over ten bucks a pound.
Cut them in serving pieces, browned them in olive oil, added four chopped fresh tomatoes, simmered for ten minutes. Added some chicken broth and simmered for another 30. Meanwhile, roasted one Italian and two Japanese eggplants on the grill until soft, let 'em cool then peeled and chopped the pulp. Added the eggplant to the pot and simmered another 30 minutes. Shut off the heat and let rest for a couple of hours.
Served at room temp with a fresh sliced batonne, feta cheese, olives, and marinated mushrooms on the side.
Had dinner out on the deck with the Ukulele Lady and one of Little Banjo’s college friends who’d never had rabbit before. Was expecting 4-5 diners, so there’s a lot left over.
Picked the scraps of meat off the less meaty pieces that went into the pot for extra bone flavoring, and gave the dogs a treat.
Grilled turkey and cheese sandwich tonight.
Brownberry Oatnut bread
butter
shredded mexican blend cheese (because I forgot to buy pepperjack slices earlier in the day :smack: )
sliced mesquite smoked turkey
Blackened salmon, loaded baked potato and sauteed mixed greens and peppers.
Fettucine alfredo with chicken, garden salad, French bread, ice water, raspberry chocolate chunk ice cream.
Tuna fish sandwich with celery, pickles, onion and lettuce. Some raw sugar snap peas and cherry tomatoes on the side. Homemade peach pie with vanilla ice cream for dessert.
Dinner tonight is the result of rummaging through the freezer and refrigerator, calculating what we should use up before we close down the house we’ve been living in for the summer (lots of stuff can be given to neighbors and friends, but you really can’t foist a pathetically sized blob of pie dough off on anyone). With fewer than 2 weeks to go, here’s the menu:
Seared tuna marinated in an off-the-cuff marinade (consisting of sesame oil, sea salt, ground dill seed, dill weed, garlic powder, fresh ground black pepper, sugar and mayo).
Spinach cooked up with some leftover caramelized onions, shredded cheese, and an egg to hold it together.
Fruit cobbler - bananas, papaya, strawberries, and lime juice, topped with a mix of leftover streusel and pie dough.
Most of this came out of the freezer.
Cuttlefish balls
Sauté onion, laurel, saffron and a moderately hot chili pepper. Add white wine, cook off alcohol, add fish broth and let simmer over low flame to reduce and thicken sauce by the time you’ve finished frying the cuttlefish balls.
Put pieces of thawed cuttlefish (buy it frozen) into blender or food processer along with shelled shrimp. The right way to do this is to mince (very sharp knife), although a blender/processer is safer, easier and perfectly acceptable. Put mixture in bowl and add minced garlic, white bread soaked in milk (strain to remove excess), minced parsley, an egg, salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly and form balls about the size of a walnut. If they flatten under their own weight, you can thicken the mixture with breadcrumbs. Roll in flour, fry in mild olive oil, drain on paper towels, add to thickened sauce and cook for another seven minutes.
Crab cakes with noodles and corn on the cob tonight.