Return of the CSA

Our CSA season started while I was away, and Craig was kind enough to save me some veggies.  For Date Night on Wednesday, I made a stirfry with CSA pak choi, kolrabi, and green garlic.  I threw in some carrots, shiitakes, and chicken sausage, and it was very tasty.  I'm not good at stir-fry sauce, so I mostly followed a recipe from Cook's, that is chicken broth based.  To spice it up, I threw in some of the wonderful hot Cambodian chili that Lisa and Chris brought us.

On Wisconsin!

I just returned from a few days in Wisconsin.  I had a great time and of course, ate and drank very well.  There is a new brewpub in Wausau, The Great Dane (offshoot of the Madison iteration), and they have probably the best ESB I've had ever.  It was so good I considered seeing if I could get the contents of a growler into little 3oz. bottles and into my carryon!

Both Mom and Dad cooked up some really good food.  These are the ginormous ribeyes that Mom and I got.  A lot of leftovers there!

I grilled them, only starting a small fire.  It seared them beautifully.  We split one, and topped it with some of my favorite mushroom red wine pan sauce.  We had beautiful lettuce from the farmers' market, and Mom roasted some amazing new potatoes.  Along with a pinot noir whose name and provenance escape me, this was great.

No one wanted me to lack for iron, so the next night Dad made ribs.  He used a dry rub and made some sauce to keep them moist during the long grilling time.  They were so good and tender!  We also had potato salad and baked beans from Zillman's Meat Market--the best baked beans in the world.  I enjoyed some Summit Pale Ale and New Glarus Spotted Cow with my meal.

I did eat one or two relatively healthy meals while I was there, and they were pretty tasty too.  This is a salad Mom made, all from the farmers' market.  Two kinds of lettuce, spring onion, asparagus, and those amazing little potatoes.

I had such a good time, and not just because I ate so well.  It was too bad Craig missed it, but I did bring him back some cheese!

Mackeral and Shrimp

I tried another NY Times healthy recipe last Wednesday, asparagus frittata with smoked trout. I couldn't find smoked trout, so I subbed mackeral. I did not do a good job making a frittata, it was more like scrambled eggs, but I thought it was pretty good, served over rice (I love rice with eggs). I topped it with some garden greens, of course. What I chose not to remember/believe, though, was that Craig not only doesn't like mackeral, he doesn't like smoked fish. Oops. The bonus for me was eating his fish, and he said it wasn't too bad.


On Friday I was pretty sure Craig would get me back for the mackeral by serving hamburgers or something, but he's a better person than I. He grilled wild-caught shrimp and sea scallops, and made a scampi with cherry tomatoes. He used anchovy paste instead of the actual fishies, and wasn't sure of the amount. We agreed he probably could have used more safely. He served it with sauteed rabe over whole wheat penne, and it was a great Friday. We drank a 2008 Clos du Bois Sauvignon Blanc.

More Tenderloin!

On Saturday we had the tip end of the tenderloin James got us. Meat that good deserves a good starter, so I wrapped prosciutto around fresh figs and Great Hill Blue, then grilled them and served them atop garden greens tossed in a vinaigrette. Delicious! I speared them with twigs from one of our sadly deceased rosemary plants, a victim of the tough winter (the other late rosemary is a victim of my tough watering policy).






The main course was prettier than it looks in this photograph--we were too excited to eat to spend much time on the art. Craig grilled it to perfection, and he's really getting good at those grill potatoes, yukon golds this time. I made the mushroom madeira pan sauce and a sundried tomato tarragon vinaigrette to top the asparagus. We drank a 2005 Bodega del Desierto 25/5 Merlot La Pampa. It was a little too assertive for me, although it went well with the meal. Definitely not a wine to be enjoyed on its own. The mushroom sauce needed salt, but the meal was great, and made great leftovers on Sunday, in the form of a salad with the blue cheese, beef, and tarragon vinaigrette over garden greens.

Asparagus salad with eggs

On Wednesday I made another NYTimes recipe for health, asparagus salad with hard-boiled eggs. I more or less followed the instructions, but used more egg and tossed in some garden greens. I seasoned it with fresh parsley, mint, and tarragon, and served it over brown rice. It was really good! Craig didn't like it quite as much as I did, but we both agreed it's worth repeating. Next time I think I would use a mix of wild and brown rice, and I would add a lot more herbs. I'd been worried the flavor of the mint and tarragon would be too much, but it needed more.

Morels and Veal

Erika and Grace came to dinner on Saturday night, which was perfect timing, because I had found fresh morels at WF, and I knew Grace was the person to appreciate them. We enjoyed our first course on the porch. I grilled wild-caught shrimp and served them with microgreens from the farmers' market, a warm round of MA goat cheese, asparagus, and the morels, sauteed in butter with a little tarragon. Everything was very tasty, and enjoyed with our new favorite, the Jean-Marc LaFage. The morels were AWESOME.

After we moved indoors, the photo quality decreased, but the food was still pretty good. The potatoes, sliced and baked in a cast-iron skillet with butter, salt, and blue cheese, were not spectacular. I served "veal birdies, Tidewater-style," from How to Cook Meat. It's basically veal cutlets wrapped around prosciutto and crab meat. The pan sauce is made with capers and lemon. I think next time I would make more sauce, with some broth and/or wine. This definitely needed a little something else on the plate, but it was good. We drank Chartron La Fleur 2007 white Bordeaux.

I served my new favorite company dessert, chocolate souffle with vanilla bean creme anglaise. I took more care to even out the tops of the souffles this time, and they rose better, and the whole thing was perfect with a fresh strawberry.

Steak!!

James got Craig a beef tenderloin for a really good price, and Craig portioned it into steaks.  We dry-aged two of them in the fridge, and enjoyed them on Saturday to celebrate a long weekend and 5 years together.  Craig manned the grill, and I was in charge of the pan sauce.  I used reconstituted dried porcini and morels, fresh cremini, and thyme and garlic.  This smelled amazing:

Craig did an excellent job not just grilling the steaks, but also fingerling potatoes and asparagus.  We tossed the fingerlings in a balsamic-garlic-rosemary reduction, and topped our steaks with a French Bleu and the silky mushroom pan sauce.  A bonus atop the whole thing was our very first garden greens, tossed in lemon juice and olive oil.  Delicious!

We drank a Barbera we brought back from our honeymoon, a 2004 Gagliasso.  The steak was exactly medium-rare, with a great grill crust.  The asparagus could have been fresher, but that is the only thing we would have changed, this was a crazy good meal.

It's squid season, and Craig's been going out frequently in the evenings.  Unfortunately, they seem to be finicky this year, but he did catch two on Friday night.  He made them into a delicious appetizer last night, with mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, capers, kalamata olives, garlic, fennel, and a little of the balsamic drizzle from Saturday's potatoes.  

Great job Craig!   I hope you catch more!

Eggs and Sage

Our sage has come back beautifully from the winter, and since I had some duck eggs from the coop in the fridge, I searched "eggs sage" on Epicurious.  This is what it came up with, Hungarian eggs with sage for dinner on Wednesday.  Basically it's just poached eggs with a sage butter served over greek yogurt mixed with raw garlic.  I used olive oil and did the eggs over easy, per a reviewer's report that that works well.  I also worked on my grilled pita bread, this time using the Ben pizza stone.  You can see it's more puffed up this time, but still needs a little more practice.  This was pretty good, but only that.  Definitely easy though, and I may try it again.

Scallops and Sea Bass

Craig went all out for dinner on Friday night. It was a beautiful day, perfect for grilling fish. We started with grilled scallops--definitely the way to do scallops. The high heat of the grill caramelized the sugars, while the inside stayed moist and tender.

Our entree was a black sea bass Craig got a Champlin's fish market. He stuffed it with lemon, rosemary, and thyme, and grilled it with asparagus. A little skin was lost on the flip, but the fish was amazing. We agreed that a little fat would not have been out of place, either as an avocado salsa, or (my idea) bacon, somehow cooked on/in/with the fish. It was perfectly done and fresh and delicious. We drank our new favorite white, the Jean Marc LaFage.

Stir-Fried Snow Peas with Soba

On Wednesday I made another NY Times recipe for health, using buckwheat soba noodles. Apparently buckwheat is not only not wheat (and gluten-free), but is a complete protein. The sauce is made from peanut butter, soy sauce, sesame oil, vinegar, chile oil, and cayenne. Instead of the cayenne, I used some of the Cambodian chile that Lisa and Chris gave us--WOW is that hot! I used more snow peas than called for, and served it on mixed salad greens. It was very good, although next time I think I'll add some fish sauce, to deepen it a little.

Hannahbells and Veal

Lisa and Chris came over for dinner Saturday night. We started with my attempt at a salad I'd read about on a menu at Chez Pascal (more on that later, I hope), but hadn't actually seen or sampled, Caramelized Hannahbells with marinated beets, pine nuts, and endive and a honey vinaigrette. I was able to get the Hannahbells, a lovely little fresh creamy cheese from Westport, MA, but Farmstead Cheese was out of the plain flavor and only had scallion. NOT a sacrifice. I cooked the beets per the Cook's recipe for roasted beets and carrots, since that used a honey vinaigrette (I was able to get 22 Conch honey). Craig and Chris had fun taking a blowtorch to the cheese, and it was a really good salad. The cheese was all warm and melty and the endive worked well with the sweet beets and vinaigrette. I didn't think there was a whole lot of purpose to the pine nuts, but maybe if the beets were cut smaller they would add more flavor and texture.

We drank Monterrei Alma de Blanco Godello, a Spanish white,with this course.

Our main course was supposed to be veal medallions with baby artichokes in a lemon-thyme sauce, from How to Cook Meat. I was seduced by the fiddlehead ferns and couldn't get veal medallions, subbing cutlets that I cut into my own medallions, but otherwise followed the recipe. I served it with pistachio rice pilaf, from Epicurious, which worked perfectly to soak up that delicious pan sauce. The veal was very tender and the ferns added nice crunch.

I chose a rose for this course, M. Charpoutier Belleruche Cotes du Rhone 2007, which I liked a good deal, I thought it had a lot of flavor and body without being heavy. Craig is not a fan of roses, but every once in a while I pick one up, because I think they're nice in the spring.

I don't always get along with Mark Bittman, but his recipe for chocolate souffle was the only one I'd have the courage to try in Hollie, because he makes it seem so easy, and it was. I made mini souffles in ramekins, and they puffed up nicely. I served the souffles with a vanilla bean creme anglaise.

Sort of Greek

On Sunday I made my own attempt at Greek food.  I butterflied a chicken and marinated it in lemon juice, olive oil, and a lot of thyme and marjoram (the store was out of oregano), and grilled it skin side down.  I also grilled teeny tiny asparagus spears and spring onion that I had tossed in olive oil and more of the marjoram and thyme.  My big experiment was grilled pita bread.  I was disappointed that it didn't puff up, but you can see above that it turned out pretty.    Below is the finished chicken.

Below are the finished products, with some tzatziki, made with lots of mint and 2% Greek yogurt.  Yum.  The bread was really soft and I used mine to make little wraps with the chicken--it would make delicious gyros.

Jerk Pork

Craig loves a recipe for Jamaican jerk sauce from the Thrill of the Grill, and on Thursday I came home to find him already prepping it for Friday! He used it on extra-thick pork chops, which he grilled to perfection. I was surprised by the jerk sauce--it didn't taste all that interesting to me on its own, but with the pork it was wonderful. Craig also made grilled sweet potatoes (my favorite pork chop side) and grilled asparagus, which were nearly as spicy as the jerk sauce. We drank Dogfish Head Brown Ale, and thought it went very well with the meal.

Spanish Tortilla

I had a bunch of egg whites in the freezer, left over from the zabaglione we took to NY, and used them to make a tortilla Espanola on Wednesday night. I cooked sliced red potato and spring onion in the pan first, then threw in leftover sausage from Saturday and the egg whites. Topped with a basil-arugula pesto (WAY too much salt, but good in small quantities), and accompanied by steamed asparagus, it was a nice quick weeknight meal, and I guess healthier than it would have been with the yolks.

Sausage and Pretzels

On Saturday I made a dinner I love, grilled sausages with homemade pretzels and cabbage. I got herb and garlic pork sausages from WF, and only slightly overcooked them. I tried baking the pretzels on the grill, and you can see they sort of puffed up and got deformed, but they were still really good, especially with the yellow mustard. I braised purple cabbage, granny smith apple, and red onion in OJ (didn't have apple juice) with lots of caraway. Craig didn't like the cabbage as much as I did, he thought it was too mild, but I really liked it as a counterpoint to the strong salty sausage and mustard, and it's the closest thing to sauerkraut I'll probably ever get him to eat. We drank a beer Chris gave Craig, the Allagash 4er, which was malty and wonderful and went perfectly with the meal. I could eat this every weekend.

Halibut

WF had a sale on Pacific Halibut, and Craig used it to put together a lovely meal on Friday night. It was a beautiful spring day and he was able to fire up the grill for the first time (!). He grilled the halibut steak and served it with a puttanesca-type salsa, over white rice, with Swiss chard alongside. This was really good, he did a great job grilling the fish, and I really liked the salsa. We agreed that it was a little salty though, and Craig thought he'd cut down on the olives next time. I never agree with cutting down on the olives, but he's the chef! Delicious. Craig served it with a lovely fruity white, Jean Marc LaFage Cote Est, a blend of Grenache, Chardonnay, and Marsanne, not too fruity, just right.

Pasta with Asparagus and Peas

On Wednesday I made an Epicurious recipe, pasta with asparagus, peas and prosciutto. It's pretty light, made with white wine and broth. I used good whole wheat shells, and it only looks like there's a ton of peas because I forgot about them and threw them on at the end. This was really good, although I think more herbs would have pepped it up a little--next time I think I'll try mint. The wine I used was a Barefoot Sauvignon Blanc, leftover from Craig's birthday party last summer. I had planned to drink some as well, but (maybe it sat too long?) it was terrible! Really undrinkable, and I'll drink just about anything. And yes, I know you're never supposed to cook with wine you wouldn't drink, but it was all I had and the pasta still turned out pretty good.

Rabbit Stew

On Saturday night I took last weekend's rabbit and bacon out of the freezer and tried to make something of it. No wonder it was tough to bite before--I braised it in a 2006 Belleruche Cotes-du-Rhone for almost 4 hours before it was tender!
We were supposed to share an artichoke as a first course, but it took longer to cook than I'd thought it would, so we had it alongside, with a mayonnaise vinaigrette which was very good.
Then the rabbit, enjoyed with the same wine it was braised in. I sauteed onion, carrot, celery, garlic, 3 of my new juniper berries, fresh thyme and fresh parsley with the bacon, used those in the braising liquid, then strained it when the rabbit

was done. I then cooked the liquid down with some sauteed mushrooms, red pearl onions, and shredded carrot. Delicious! The presentation, atop whole wheat egg noodles, didn't really do it justice, but how was I to know it would be so tasty? The meat was so sweet, I'll definitely make rabbit again. This could be really elegant with some sour cream stirred into the wine reduction, maybe served over roasted yukon golds.

Celebrating Squid

Last night Craig tried a recipe from Epicurious that was supposed to celebrate squid.  Squid are tender either cooked very little, or cooked for a long time, and this recipe called for stewing them in a spicy tomato broth for about half an hour.  They were so good!  The broth was just the right amount of spicy, although we agreed with reviewers that it needed something.  We had it with some bread dipped in an herb olive oil, then in the broth.  The fennel in the oil really added to the flavor of the stew, so we thought next time some fennel seed should go in at the beginning, then maybe the whole thing should be topped with an herbed oil puree.  Craig chose an unoaked Chardonnay, 2006 Stone Creek, because I don't much like oaky Chardonnay.  This was definitely a meal worth repeating, especially now that squid season is approaching.

Grains and Legumes

Amidst all our crazy gourmet moments, Craig and I have been trying to eat food that's pretty healthy, and I've been making use of the NY Times Recipes for Health section--sometimes the recipes can be pretty bland, but the ones for whole grains seem good. Below, wild rice and asparagus:

I've actually made this twice now, because it's really tasty and easy. It's wild and brown rice, tossed with a walnut vinaigrette and walnuts, herbs, and asparagus. I toasted the walnuts and served it over spinach for a dinner salad.

This is another recipe from the Times, royal quinoa with tofu and snow peas.

My royal and prole quinoa were mixed together, so I used those, and it didn't quite toast up the way the recipe said it would, but it was good. The tofu is crisped up in the pan and the whole thing is tossed with a sesame ginger vinaigrette. Again, I threw in some spinach, steamed with the snow peas.


The recipe for chicken and brown lentils with Moroccan dressing is from Epicurious. I used chicken thighs, and served it warm over more spinach:

All three of these were really easy and pretty good, and are good served room temp. Now that we've eaten our whole grains and legumes and spinach, we're ready for jellybeans!

Rabbit

I cooked rabbit for the first time last night. When I called to order it from Antonelli's (the place where you can choose your chicken), the guy asked if I wanted the head. I decided I wasn't ready for that and said he could keep it.

I used a NY Times recipe that calls for marinating the rabbit pieces in vinegar and spices for 8-12 hours, then wrapping them in bacon and roasting them. It was pretty easy, although I was a little behind and it only marinated 6-7 hours.

Craig liked it better than I did. The flavor was pretty good, but getting the meat off the bone was really difficult, whether with a knife or my teeth, and I don't think the bacon really added anything. Maybe I should have marinated it at least the full 12 hours. I plan to use the leftovers in a stew this weekend though, figuring that might soften it up.

The accompaniments were delicious--roasted asparagus that really tasted like asparagus, and oven potatoes with rosemary and balsamic vinegar. We drank a wine that was supposed to be good with game, Domaine de la Croze Lirac Bel Air 2006, which was wonderful, intensely flavored but really drinkable. It would be really good I think with some strong cheese.

The Next Morning

....And we continued the good eating in New York the next morning at Wendy's, with a crazy good strata, made with St. Andre, prosciutto, basil pesto I think, and a really good bread. I tried to eat the entire pan myself, but was told I had to share.

Megan Ate Goooooood in New York!

Wendy, Donna, and Steve have regular dinner gatherings, and they were kind enough to invite Craig and me last weekend. I plan to return on a regular basis! Donna and Steve hosted, turning out some amazing food in their newly remodeled kitchen (beautiful cabinets!). We started with white wine and hors, delicious spanikopita, mini quiche, and an amazing cheese platter, with Gorgonzola, aged Asiago, Prato Disan Tati Pecorino, Delic de France Grand Camembert, Selections Creamy Blue, and French Tome de Savoie Raw Milk. I would be hard pressed to name a favorite--I loved them all!

We were served a really good shrimp cocktail--the shrimp were from Chinatown, although probably not originally, and Donna made the cocktail sauce, which was a zillion times better than the jarred version.

And we started on the red wine...my palate will remember this day. We had a vertical tasting of wine from Vineyard 29, ("Aida" Napa Proprietary Red from 2000 and 2001), De Toren Fusion V 2002, and 2004 St. Clement Napa Valley Oroppas. Each became my favorite until I tried the next one.

The African chicken peanut soup was really delicious. It was rich and velvety without being heavy, and the peanut flavor was there without being overpowering, and the chicken was so tender.

After all that soupy goodness, our palates needed to regroup, and we were served a lovely Riesling sorbet.

The entree was chicken with a mushroom-fennel ragout, with so many different mushrooms in it. It was served with muddled potatoes (a first for me) and delicate spring asparagus. So good and such a welcome for spring.

I've maxed out my post pictures, but dessert was more tasty than pretty anyway. It was my contribution, a Cointreau zabaglione served over vanilla bean pears sauteed in pinot grigio and some crumbled merengues (WF, not Hollie). Next time I'd use less sugar, but it was good and I'll probably make it again. The dessert wine, though, was spectacular. 2003 Rieussec Sauternes, a beautiful golden color and just the right amount of sweet.

Sweet!

Cauliflower, Beef and Bean Soup, and Pain A L'ancienne

I don't know why this picture uploaded sideways, but I guess it doesn't matter. On Saturday I made more of Craig's favorite vegetable, using another NY Times recipe (I think it's the editors' favorite as well). The cauliflower is cooked in the garbanzo cooking water, with some tomato paste and cayenne, then topped with cilantro and formerly frozen peas. Served over couscous, it was good, but we both agreed it needed a little something. Maybe next time I'll cook one of those delicious chickens and use the broth to cook the beans, and shred some of the chicken in the finished dish. The sweet peas were a really nice touch in this. Also, the recipe used harissa but said cayenne could be substituted, so maybe it's better with the harissa.

On Sunday I made more of that delicious pain a l'ancienne. This was my very first opportunity

to use the peel Craig made me for Christmas, and it worked great! I also refined my technique for making Hollie a hearth (a tall glass bottle is essential), and the bread was really good.

We ate the bread with a soup I made using the runner beans we grew and dried last summer. I wanted a soup bone but couldn't find one, so I got a little bit of short rib that I roasted a lot of the fat off of and used that. I was working without any recipe and at one point thought I was just making a big mess, but it turned out delicious. I threw in some leftover canned tomatoes and some turnip, carrot, and cabbage. The beans were really really good! I hope I'm able to grow more this summer.

Miso-Glazed Salmon

Craig outdid himself AGAIN on Friday night. He picked up some wild-caught salmon and baked it in the oven with a miso glaze. It was so good--I loved the salty miso and the salmon was perfectly done. He also made sweet potato oven fries and Swiss chard, and served the meal with a Macon Charnay Recolte 2006 white burgundy, which was delicious with the meal.

Eating Well in North Carolina!

Craig and I visited Susan and David near Wilmington, NC last weekend. It was a great trip--not only was the company exceptional, but the weather was great and the food even better! Our very first night there, Craig and David cooked up some local scallops and broccoli rabe:

Craig did the scallops, pan-seared with a lemon-thyme white wine sauce. Even I, not the world's biggest scallop fan, ate every single one on my plate--they were goooood. If they hadn't been there, however, I would have been content with a big bowl of the rabe, sauteed with lots of garlic and some crushed red pepper, just like David's mom would make.

Breakfasts were just as good as dinners. Our first morning, David made cornmeal-buckwheat blueberry pancakes, made with blueberries Susan and David picked and froze last summer. Craig said they were the best pancakes he's ever had, and that's saying something. David also introduced us to curry oatmeal, made with steel-cut oats and dried fruits. It's savory and delicious and I can't wait to make it myself.

And our little Rhode Island contribution:

Jonnycakes! We brought the mix and Craig fried them up. Apparently it's against the rules to have blueberries with your jonnycakes, but butter and maple syrup were all they really needed.

Our hosts took us to a little goat farm run by a woman who makes her own cheese. She's apparently won some national acclaim, especially for her blue:

It wasn't tangy like a traditional blue might be, but it was really soft and good. Look at that mold. That wasn't the only goat cheese I bought that day--I'll put a picture up on a future post--besides the blue, the two most notable were a cheddar (very young and mild) and an entire wheel of gouda, which I am not allowed to crack open until June 1.

On our final night there, Sue and Dave made us more of that wonderful rabe and a lovely risotto with sun-dried tomatoes, chicken, and shallots.

Mmm!

Other Things Megan Ate that are not pictured include hush puppies, stewed okra and tomatoes, crab cakes, field peas and snaps, pulled pork, and grits. I'm definitely heading south again!