Pesto

It was just me for dinner tonight and I could not decide what I wanted to eat for dinner. I know that is hard to believe, I just picked up a whole box of produce. After some thinking I decided to use the basil from the CSA and some from the garden. Big pile of basil, hmmm...That could only mean pesto. Well I guess it could mean other things but probably pesto. I had been thinking of making some pesto anyway- the Sidewalk Shoes blog- had me thinking about it. So pesto and pasta it was. And yes those are shrimp on top. I told you I love me some shrimp.

CSA Day 7/22/09

Possibly most exciting for the day- watermelon! Also squash, yellow onions, cucumbers, basil, roma tomatoes, purple potatoes, and what appear to be red okra. At least that's what I am going to call them until I cut them open. I have never seen red okra- but hey there are a lot of firsts for my first CSA experience this year.

I am thinking with all those roma's and the four that are about to be ripe in my garden that I might make some spaghetti sauce. Also basil will be featured in the next post.

BIG JUICY STEAK

The perfect ending to every Tuesday is a big juicy steak. This recipe is out of the "Cooking for Friends." It originally called for T-bones but we decided to share a bone in ribeye instead. Perhaps even better than the steak was the onion and corn salsa that went on top. It was a nice summer addition. The corn and red onions are both done on the grill and then you add chives, parsley, olive oil, and sherry vinegar- I also rewarmed everything together on the stove. I cut the parsley down considerably because I don't love me a whole lot of parsley. It was perfect. The only change I would make is another ear of corn. :)

We also did some oven roasted potatoes with rosemary and garlic to mimic the steaks marinade.

Another "Fine Cooking" Success

We don't subscribe to the "Fine Cooking" magazine, but after the June/ July issue I am thinking about it. Every recipe we have tried out of this magazine is yummy. We have done three or four and there are at least that many that still look worth trying. Last night's dinner was no exception. We tried the spicy shrimp with ginger-garlic long beans.

Now there is one very important thing to know about me. I love shrimp. I mean absolutely adore shrimp. My friends often make fun of me because I eat shrimp so often. Chances are if we are out to eat somewhere and there is shrimp on the menu that is what I am going to get. They are just so delicious.

This meal had two of my favorite things- shrimp and green beans. It was very quick and very easy. The only changes I made were a little extra soy sauce and scallions and I used regular green beans instead of Chinese long beans. I still had a few green beans in the fridge so it just made sense. The only recommendation would be a side a rice. The sauce was really good- I'd pretty much put it on anything and some rice to soak it up would have been awesome.

Lamb Chops and Leek Gratin

Chris did most of the menu selection for this week and it all promises to be excellent. Chris also did most of the cooking tonight while I tried to finish various things around the house before the weekend was over. Tonight we had roasted lamb chops, leek gratin, and sweet peas. The lamb chops and gratin are both from a Williams-Sonoma cookbook "Cooking for Friends." Although tonight it was just us. The original recipe for the lamb called for rack of lamb but no dice at the store today. The lamb was good as always.

The star of the show was definitely the leek gratin though. Leeks, ricotta, gruyere, and a little whole grain mustard you just can't go wrong. We cut the recipe in half since it was originally for four and Chris regretted this. It was actually the perfect amount with no leftovers but he still wanted more.

Chris did a twist on the sweet peas and jazzed them up with some garlic. The contrast to the sweetness of the peas was amazing and I made sure the last few peas were not relegated to the fridge.

Light Dinners

Tonight I went to Yoga for the first time in at least a month probably more. It was actually a good day for it since there was a fair amount of hair pulling at work today. Needless to say after being in a 90+ degree room for an hour and it being hot outside a light quick dinner was ideal. So I cut into one of those heirlooms and made a caprese salad. I had one zucchini left in the fridge so it got thrown on the grill pan. And just in case I needed some substance I made some garlic cheesy bread. Top it off with a glass of wine and what more could a girl ask for.

Veggie Pizza

In an effort to use up some veggies and due to going to the grocery store only to pick up a few small things on Saturday with the intention of going back on Sunday for the rest of this week and then not doing that and having only minimal meat in the freezer ,I decided it was time for a veggie pizza. Plus it's not too difficult for a Monday night. This is one of my favorite pizzas- romas, red onions and squash and then some basil and oregano from the herb garden always make a delicious addition. A nice before and after baking shot for you.

Peach Ice Cream

As promised, peach ice cream was on the menu this weekend. We put it in 4 containers. One down immediately after dinner. I am taking the fourth to work for the girls. Chris and I do not need 2 quarts of ice cream ourselves. I know we don't really need 1.5 quarts either but sharing can only go so far with peach ice cream.

Alton Brown - Pork Wellington

Sometimes it seems I find myself sitting around watching the Food Network. I love food so it makes sense. Well last week I was watching Good Eats. I enjoy this show with all its science and facts about food and how often times he takes one ingredient and does three or four things with it. This particular one was about pork tenderloin and how it's a perfect replacement as the go to for chicken as the weeknight dinner staple. Well the last thing Alton did with the pork tenderloin for the show was a pork wellington. As you can see from the first picture the recipe starts with prosciutto. SOLD. I mean prosciutto wrapped tenderloin- yum. Prosciutto is kind of like bacon in the fact that you can put it on anything and that thing instantly gets better. Then when it's all said and done you wrap all of that in puff pastry. Seems like a no brainer huh. I mean this just has to be good; there really just is not another option.

So how was it you ask? Amazing. I would cook this for anyone. Anyone. Really anyone. Well anyone who was not against pork, which is another issue all on its own. As good as it sounds and looks- it's better.

Weakness for Beautiful Things

So Saturday, Chris and I headed out to the Farmer's Market on King's Drive. I went looking for zucchini blossoms. I have a magazine that has 4 or 5 different recipes and I really wanted to try one. I have seen quite a few different recipes and blogs with zucchini blossoms and curiosity is killing me. So like I said off we headed to the Farmer's Market for ONE thing.

Obviously, we get there and the oohing and ahhing began- well immediately. So many delicious looking things. I could not help myself. Anyways here are the pictures, as you can see no zucchini blossoms but lots of other goodies.

Collards, egg plant, corn, green beans, heirloom tomatoes, blackberries, watermelon, okra and sugar snap peas. Yes I know we got green beans and corn from the CSA on Wednesday- but they were already gone. I really do love green beans. The heirlooms were too pretty to say no to. I think they are going to become a caprese salad one day this week. I was excited to see they were selling partial watermelons. Usually we can never eat a whole. Of course we get home and its so juicy and ripe that I wish we had gotten a whole one. Then Chris chimed in with yeah we should have gotten a whole one we could have made watermelon margaritas or martinis. I just gave him the evil eye. I mean honestly do not come up with these amazing ideas after we have come home with only part of a watermelon. Oh well there is always next weekend.

Chris wanted the collards. We had plenty of greens just a few weeks ago from the CSA but apparently he is already missing them.

Also from the Farmer's Market, I got this beautiful bouquet of flowers. It just looked so happy I could not say no.

Fennel

I have to admit, a year ago I don't think I had ever tried fennel. My idea of fennel was the seeds on top of pizza. I was not really a fan. I had seen it on various cooking shows and they describe its licorice flavor. I cannot stand black licorice, or at least the last time I tried it around 20 years ago I hated it. Now I am not going to go out and buy a bag or licorice anytime soon but for me fennel has little resemblance, well some but not that much. When you cut into it, it does have that licorice aroma. After cooking it becomes much mellower and although the taste is still dare I say licorice it tastes almost sweet.

My love affair with fennel began last October on our trip to Italy. We were in Siena at Ostaria de Coro. The chef, Stephano, in my mind is pure genius. Not fancy gourmet, but pure Italian every bite making you want another bite, genius. That night among many things, I ordered what was essentially a pork chop seasoned with fennel seeds. It was delicious. Chris thought I was going to pick up the pork chop and gnaw every last bite of the bone. I was tempted but showed some restraint.

After that I was more than willing to give fennel a shot. It seemed that everywhere I turned there was another recipe for fennel. Fennel risotto, baked chicken with fennel, roasted vegetables (yep including fennel). I just can't seem to get enough. Well tonight I have tried a new fennel recipe. DELICIOUS.

Orange- Fennel Chicken

The recipe came from my CSA. We had a chef come out and do a demonstration and gave out the recipe. I looked around to see what I could find on the internet and found nothing similar so I will share it here.

6 large boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

4 tbsps olive oil

2 tbsps lemon juice

2 large fennel bulb, outer layers discarded

2 large navel oranges, peeled

1 medium onion

1 1/2 cups orange juice

1 tsp fennel seeds, crushed

1) on plate, sprinkle chicken with 1/2 tsp salt and pepper; drizzle with 2 tbsps oil and the lemon juice; set aside 15 minutes to marinate, turning chicken over a few times in marinade.

2) Meanwhile, trim tops off fennel bulbs, reserving some for garnish. Cut fennel bulbs, oranges, and onions crosswise into 1/4 inch slices.

3) In large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tbsp oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook until well browned on both sides. Transfer chicken to clean plate; set aside.

4) Add remaining 1 tbsp oil to skillet; add fennel and onion. Saute 5 minutes. Add orange juice, fennel seeds and remaining 1/3 tsp salt. Heat to boiling over high heat; cook until juice reduces to half its volume. Top with chicken and orange slices and cook until chicken is done. Chop some reserved fennel tops and sprinkle over chicken before serving.

My only changes were- I did half the chicken but same amount of juice and a little chicken broth because the sauce sounded delicious. And I added the chicken back to the broth almost immediately instead of allowing it to cook down.

Definite recommendation on this recipe.

CSA Day

Wednesday is CSA day!!! Today's bounty included green beans, radicchio, violet podded beans, red potatoes, cucumbers, yellow zucchini, corn, a red onion, rosemary, garlic, and yellow onions.

This is our first year doing a CSA and we love it. It really helps you branch out and buy veggies you might not normally buy at the grocery store. Last week was the first week we received the violet podded green beans; it was quite a surprise when I lifted the lid on the pot only to see that they turn green when cooked. Mother nature and her magic tricks.

Sunday Joys

There are few things that I enjoy better than hanging out at the house on Sunday and cooking.

A nice espresso to start with. It never fails the moment you are ready to sit down. Niko, our cat, thinks it is hysterical to jump in your seat. I suppose that he thinks one day we will fix him a plate.

For lunch, crab cake sandwiches. We love crab cakes and trying out different recipes. This one came from "Fine Cooking" -the magazine July 2009. Salt and Pepper potato chips. Chris loves these- although he bought the crinkle cut by mistake.

For dinner, out of the same magazine, we had these barbecue-braised country spareribs with beer and mustard glaze. I was a little nervous, we are not really huge mustard fans. But they were very good, only a hint of mustard, and nice and juicy.

Obviously, there were plenty of leftovers here so Monday night I chopped up the rest and made some enchilada sauce. I think they were even better as a pork enchilada recreation. This was Chris' idea- usually I do chicken, but these were a good call.

Peaches

I love peaches in the summer time. So good. So Juicy. We drove down to Fort Mill this weekend because South Carolina peaches always seem to be so yummy. The grocery store just seems to be so tricky with peaches. A few weeks ago we were in the store and the peaches smelled divine. I had to have some, we bought four and brought them home to eat. I am sad to say, I was disappointed they just were not sweet- it could have been too early, I am not sure but I am convinced that it was because they did not come from a road side stand. Sometimes you just have to drive to get what you want.

To start with we made peach cobbler. The thought of which makes my mouth water now. I will say peach cobbler is not the most photogenic. Maybe I should have taken a picture before we cut into it but then you could not tell what lurked beneath. It may not have looked beautiful but it was delicious. I probably could have eaten just this for dinner.

I have to admit now for the record- I love kitchen gadgets more than the average person should. I mean a few weeks ago I had to go to Austin for work. There is a huge outlet mall there. It has a Williams-Sonoma outlet store. I had never seen one of these before. I was not aware they existed. It was mythical. It was beautiful- All Clad 40% off, sale sale and more sale. It made me want to weep. One problem with being halfway across the country- US Air not a big fan of you bringing half of Williams-Sonoma home with you. So all I could do is look and not buy. It was a sad day for me. Of course, I made up for it by buying other things.

Ok I have digressed, back to the gadgets. This weekend I decided I needed an ice cream maker. I use the word need loosely. So off to Williams-Sonoma we went. Since I had all of these beautiful peaches, I decided on something that required peaches. No not peach ice cream, much to Chris' dismay. Although I promised him next weekend. In the August 2009 edition of "La Cuncina Italiana", I had seen lemon and basil sorbet with peaches. The machine made sorbet in less than 25 minutes I was impressed

On with the Sorbet, it was interesting. I enjoy basil and I enjoy lemon but the two together in a sorbet- interesting. Not bad. Just different. After dinner, and letting the sorbet harden up some, I put the sorbet on one of the gorgeous peaches and proceeded to dig in. This combination was much better than the sorbet on its own. The three flavors worked together and I did not have a problem finishing the bowl.

4th of July Yummies

Nothing says 4th of July like Blueberry Waffles for breakfast. Yum.

For dinner we had Tuna- much better than hamburgers. This recipe is from "Chanterelle". Peppered Tuna with Escarole and Sweet Wine Reduction. We went with radicchio- because that's what was in the fridge from the CSA. The wine reduction took the longest but it was delicious. It was the first time we have cooked tuna at the house so Chris got a little carried away. Maybe just a minute over cooked.

Hello Out There

This is my first blog. Sublime Nibble is going to mainly document the crazy fun my husband and I have cooking in the kitchen. We usually cook as a team although sometimes one of us will go it alone. It's anyone's guess what's on the menu but there is bound to be a mess and usually something good to eat. I am going to stay away from recipes for the most part- it works well for one of my favorite blogs- but I will try to lead you in the direction of the inspiration.

Other than cooking there may be a hodgepodge of other things including shots from our garden and the food we have out and about on our travels.

Hope you enjoy the blog. Go out eat and have fun.