Homemade tomato sauce and Girls' Night

Homemade tomato sauce
with Italian sausage
& fresh basil

Derek has been working like a fiend all weekend, so I’ve had some time to play with photographs for the blog.  Now that I’ve (finally) learned how to use technology to get pictures here, I’ll probably go a little crazy-obsessive with the camera for a while.  That’s what usually happens when I learn something new and creative. It’s likely I’ll drive everyone crazy for a while.

I made some tomato sauce with peppers for dinner last night, and Derek will be proud of me: I used all tomatoes from our garden – no canned tomatoes or tomato sauce!  OK, I did use a little canned tomato paste to thicken it up.  Is that cheating?  I put fresh parsley and basil from our garden, and jazzed up the flavor with some ground fennel and some sweet Italian sausage.  Before the pasta, we had a green salad of various baby lettuces, cucumber, zucchini, celery and avocado dressed with my basic garlicky Red Wine Vinaigrette

Green Salad with Red Wine Vinaigrette
(and some red wine)

Next weekend Derek is going to Montana for a guys’ camping vacation with his brother, nephews and brother-in-law.  My sister is coming up here to visit from New Orleans for the first time since I moved here four years ago, and I’m having my first Indianapolis girls’ night here.  Like most of the country, we’ve had a hellish heat wave/drought, so I’m thinking about what I can serve at the party without having to spend all my time in a hot kitchen.  Our tomatoes are prolific this year and incredibly delicious.  We have cucumbers, too, and of course, a full range of fresh herbs, which makes me think of gazpacho. I think I’ll garnish it with spicy boiled shrimp, and if I can get Derek to make some of his homemade tomato juice before he leaves, it could just turn out to be the best gazpacho in the Midwest.  Since we have chives in the garden for garnish, I think I’ll make vichyssoise, too, which is refreshing and very satisfying.  I can make almost everything the night before and put it in the downstairs refrigerator to chill.  One of my friends offered to bring Sangria, which will be perfect.  I’ll make some kind of big salad (Caprese, maybe), some of my favorite grilled Ciabatta and buy some miniature frozen cream puffs and éclairs.  It’s beginning to sound like a party!

Brain Dead and Thirsty

It’s been a hell of a week trying to wrap my brain around the system we use for inputting and verifying data at my new job.  I’ve been completely frazzled and incapable of using words coherently.  In other words, I’ve been a cross-eyed babbling idiot and I haven’t posted anything new all week.  So spank me.  Right now I’m going to enjoy an Americano Cocktail and relax while I put pen to paper, or in 21st century terms, fingers to keyboard.  The latter doesn’t sound nearly as pleasant, does it? 

Tomato Blossom

So, let’s see…what have we had for dinner this week?  On Tuesday I made one of my favorite weeknight dishes, which is really easy, very tasty and pretty healthy.  It consists of boneless skinless chicken thighs browned in olive oil with onion, cabbage, carrots and garlic, and new potatoes, if you like.  I served some beets from our garden with it as well.  (Note to self: remember that you ate beets the night before, or you risk a full-blown panic attack the next day, if you know what I mean.)  Anyway, it’s really more of a Fall or Winter dish to me, but I’ve never been consistent with obeying rules and besides, Derek and I both love it .  I'm sure it was a little odiferous for my co-workers, but I had leftovers for lunch the next two days, making it very economical as well.   Let's drink a toast to me; I’m finally becoming thrifty, even though it’s probably too late.

Last night was another fairly easy and healthy menu, although it’s no tree hugger special.  I made brown rice with sautéed green and red bell peppers, onion and garlic, cooked in chicken broth with turmeric and oregano, then garnished with cilantro - so pretty!  This is a good side dish with grilled fish, chicken or meat, or with any Mexican food, but especially with Tilapia Veracruz.  I’ve eaten it in Veracruz, Veracruz, Mexico, where it’s ubiquitous and simply fabulous.  I love the official name of the state of Veracruz: Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave.  How’s that for a mouthful?  I think it's lovely; Derek does not.  On a side note: if you've never heard Warren Zevon's song entitled "Veracruz," about the American invasion of Veracruz in 1914, you should check it out on YouTube.  It's a lovely tribute to the many Mexican citizens who died in the invasion ordered by President Woodrow Wilson.
Anyway, my version of this popular dish starts with thinly sliced rings of half an onion sautéed in olive oil with 2 teaspoons of chili powder.  When the onions are translucent, I add 4 toes of minced garlic and cook that just until it’s fragrant, about a minute.  Then I add a cup and a half or so of fresh diced tomatoes, or a small can of drained diced tomatoes.  When using fresh tomatoes, some folks insist on peeling the tomatoes first, but I don’t mind having the skins in my sauce; they add fiber and nutrition.  I add a little fresh ground black pepper and about half a cup of dry white wine, with just a little fresh squeezed orange juice for that little spark of je ne sais quoi.  The orange juice adds just a touch of sweetness that cuts the acidity of the tomatoes.  I throw in a tablespoon or so of capers and ¼ cup of salad olives, then add the fish filets (about four filets) and cook for about 10 minutes.  I don’t add any salt because the capers and the olives have more than enough salt for the dish.  Derek usually does the plating, and he garnishes it with cilantro for a colorful, tasty and healthy meal.  While the fish is cooking, I make my salad dressing of olive oil, fresh lime juice, garlic, salt and pepper, finely chopped cilantro and a pinch of chili powder.  I like it with crisp cold Romaine, red onion, avocado, red bell pepper, cucumber and tomato, but you can use any salad ingredients you like.  Our meal was heavy on tomatoes, but that's the way, uh-huh, uh-huh, I like it.

Now I just have to figure out what to cook tomorrow!  It’s freakishly hot, so I’m thinking something cold…ceviche, perhaps?

Sunday Steak Supper

Volunteer Herbs!

Derek's been doing physical labor in the heat all day and wants to fix something easy that doesn't involve using the oven.  He's going to grill a London Broil I got on sale and we’ll have an arugula and tomato salad and some broccoli from our garden.  London Broil is a term that doesn’t really mean anything in and of itself, but refers to various cuts of meat that are typically used for a London Broil. 

London Broil with Chimichurri sauce

According to Cook's Illustrated, which is my kitchen bible, “it's a generic label bandied about by butchers to sell large, cheap, unfamiliar steaks that might otherwise be ignored by customers.  Over the years, a number of different steaks have been called London broil. For a while, flank steak was the most common, but flank's popularity on the grill and in stir-fries bumped its price up {too much} for the London Broil territory. Nowadays, you'll mostly see the still-cheap (roughly $3.99 a pound) chuck shoulder steak, top round steak, and bottom round steak labeled as London broil.”  America's Test Kitchen prefers the bottom round because of its even shape.  I have no idea what part of the cow this one came from, but it has a uniform surface and thickness.  All of the above are cuts of beef you’ll want to cook medium rare (120 degrees) and slice very thin, at an angle against the grain.  Some of the most important things to remember when grilling meat are to get the grill super hot before you put the meat on, make sure the surface of the grill is free of residue, and let the meat rest loosely covered for about 10 minutes.  This allows the juices to redistribute so that you don’t lose as much of it when you cut into it; the juice is where the flavor is, so that’s crucial.  My biggest challenge in the kitchen is timing, so I really appreciate those 10 minutes to get everything else together.

Parsley Flower

I like to use the leftover London Broil in a salad with arugula, red onion, tomatoes, red bell pepper, and radishes, when I have them; I like arugula with beef because its bold peppery flavor stands up to the hearty beef.  To accompany our London Broil, I’m going to prepare a chimichurri sauce since we have so many fresh herbs right now.  Chimichurri sauce originated in Argentina, where they have excellent beef.  It consists of loads of garlic and parsley, red wine vinegar, red onion, olive oil and red pepper flakes.  As you can see, it’s basically a garlicky salad dressing with a lot of parsley.  You can add other herbs, too; I plan to use some fresh thyme from our herb garden, which looks fantastic, by the way.  I usually make a salad dressing with red wine vinegar, olive oil, garlic, Zatarain’s creole mustard and some fresh thyme, but since I’ll have chimichurri sauce, that serve as my salad dressing.  And that, ladies and gentlemen, will be my lunch tomorrow.

I hope you all had a great weekend and ate some good stuff!

New Orleans Cuisine in Indianapolis

Trout Amandine

It’s taken me a few years, a small fortune in gas and a lot of mileage on my car, but I’ve finally figured out where to get certain food items in Indianapolis.  I’ve also learned how to make dishes I love with substitute ingredients I can find here.  Today I took a ride up to the north side of town to Trader Joe’s with a big list, including olive oil, Feta and Parmesan cheese, pine nuts, saffron and of course, wine.  I like to use Sauvignon Blanc for cooking and Trader Joe’s sells Charles Shaw (formerly known as Two-Buck Chuck) Sauvignon Blanc for $2.99 a bottle.  I’m no wine connoisseur, but I know what I like, and I prefer their Sauvignon Blanc to any other inexpensive one I’ve ever tasted – and believe me, I’ve tasted quite a few.  It’s a long drive, so when I go, I buy large quantities of the things I like there.  Today I bought six bottles of olive oil and three cases of wine.  The cashier asked me when the party was starting!  Well, in our house it’s tonight; I’m celebrating the end of my first week at my new job and I feel really good about my decision.

Bean Blossom

I’m going to make “Trout” Amandine using frozen tilapia filets.  It’s one of my favorite fish dishes and tilapia is so versatile, I don’t think it will be half bad.  I’m going to garnish it with some of the most beautiful parsley I’ve ever seen; it’s just growing wild in our yard.  We picked some wax beans and burgundy beans from our garden a little while ago, which I’m going to cook until just tender and toss with a little olive oil, lemon juice and zest!, of course.  Our neighbors gave us the seeds for the burgundy beans, which are a variety of green beans, or snap beans as we always called them when I was growing up.  They’re a gorgeous shade of purple when you pick them, but turn green when cooked.  I have some potato crescents roasting in the oven, and I just made a simple vinaigrette for my salad of Romaine, thinly sliced celery, red onion and an adorable little cucumber we just picked.  I'll add a few Niçoise olives and some slices of perfectly ripe avocado and then it’s Bon Appétit!

Here’s my vinaigrette recipe:

1 small toe of garlic, minced.  Add a little salt and mash together with the flat of a knife until it forms a smooth paste

1 t of Dijon mustard

1 t of fresh chopped parsley

¼ C good red wine vinegar

½ C olive oil

Freshly ground pepper to taste.  You won’t need salt because you’ve already added salt to the garlic

Whisk together the vinegar, garlic/salt paste, pepper and Dijon mustard until it’s smooth.  Gradually add the olive oil, whisking all the time until it’s completely emulsified.  Add the chopped parsley and whisk again.  You could certainly add other fresh herbs you like, too.  Tarragon, chervil, or marjoram would all be good.  I think you'll find that with a good vinaigrette a very simple salad is quite satisifying"

BTW, Derek loved the "Trout" Amandine.  He said it was better than Galatoire's!  Sorry, Leon, my friend.

Friday!

Americano Cocktail

It’s Friday evening and the end of my first week in training for the new job.  It’s been fun and challenging, but right now my brain is saturated with computerese.  Derek is busy in the kitchen making minestrone while I’m enjoying an Americano Cocktail.  According to Google, “The Americano is a cocktail composed of Campari, sweet vermouth, and club soda. The cocktail was first served in creator Gaspare Campari's bar, Caffè Campari, in the 1860s. It was originally known as the "Milano-Torino" because of its ingredients: Campari, the bitter liqueur, is from Milan and Cinzano, the vermouth, is from Turin (Torino). In the early 1900s, the Italians noticed a surge of Americans who enjoyed the cocktail.  As a compliment to the Americans, the cocktail later became known as the "Americano."  It is the first drink ordered by James Bond in the first novel in Ian Fleming's series, Casino Royale.”   I love the movie starring Daniel Craig, though I haven’t read the book.  We make it with a muddled chunk of orange in the bottom of a tall glass, two parts Sweet Vermouth to one part Campari and a good amount of chilled club soda.  When made right, it’s absolutely delicious and refreshing.  You have to be careful, though; it goes down like Kool-Aid! 

Minestrone

The Americano is an appropriate apéritif for our light Mediterranean supper.  Derek is using a rich chicken stock as the base of the minestrone, with some of our garden’s tomatoes, basil, parsley and burgundy beans.  He throws a rind of Parmiggiano Reggiano in the soup and adds some Cannelini beans as well as whole wheat pasta shells, onion, garlic and zucchini.  His chicken stock, made from the carcass of the chicken he roasted earlier this week, was simmering in the crock pot all through the night and part of this morning.  The aroma was so mouth-watering it actually woke me up during the night – I might have even been drooling on my pillow.  To make it even tastier and healthier, he made his own fresh organic tomato juice and added some of that to the stock.   Now that would cure anything that ails you.

When making stock, I always throw in some vegetable scraps, such as the less desirable parts of onion and garlic, carrot peels, celery leaves, stems from herbs, etc.  Never add salt, though.  You can always add that later, but if you simmer it for a long time it will be too salty.  I usually put all of the skin and fat in, too, because it gives a lot of flavor and you can remove the fat later.  We love our gravy separator for that, among many other reasons.  If you’re going to freeze the stock, I’d suggest you leave the fat, as it will protect the stock from freezer burn and unwanted smells.  When you’re ready to use the stock, it’s easy to scrape off the fat.  We’re going to have some hearty Italian whole grain bread and a first course.  He’s being very secretive about that, so I’m going to have to do a little detective work; I can’t wait!

Tabouleh

P.S.  The first course was tabouleh: a Middle Eastern vegetarian salad made with bulgur wheat and with tomatoes, cucumber, parsley and mint from our garden.  I could feel my brain cells humming as I ate it.  Thanks, Derek, for the beautiful healthy meal and for all your help with the photos.   I'm still learning.  Have a great weekend, y'all.

Roasted Stuff

Parsley flowers

There’s nothing more satisfying or versatile than a good roasted chicken and it’s pretty hard to mess up.  Last night Derek roasted some vegetables with the chicken, and the house smelled SOOO good.  Some of the veggies were from our garden, including the fennel (my new favorite) and beets; he also threw in some chunks of potato, red bell pepper and onion.  We should be picking our own red bell peppers soon enough and that will be a very exciting day for me, considering how much I love them and what they cost in stores these days.  When roasting vegetables, it’s important to cut them into similar sizes and toss them with some kind of oil.  I usually use EVOO, but it’s not necessary when you’re roasting them with a chicken, which will produce plenty enough of its own juices and rendered fat.  I’m a big fan of using the fat from whatever protein you’re preparing to give more flavor to your food, but that’s not a good idea if you’re watching your cholesterol and/or fat intake.  I suppose we all should be, but where’s the fun in that?  If you are, and you want roasted veggies with your chicken, cook them separately on a cookie sheet tossed with a tablespoon of olive oil, a little salt and freshly ground pepper.  Another of my secrets for roasting a chicken is to put some fresh herbs under the skin of the breast to keep it moist.  I use whole parsley leaves and/or celery leaves, thyme, rosemary, etc, but you can use whatever you have on hand.  The herbs impart a bit of mild flavor, but more importantly, they produce moisture as they cook without adding fat or calories.  I usually put some in the cavity, too, with salt and pepper and maybe some onion.  I’ll walk you through it next time I roast a chicken – which may not be until fall if this unseasonably hot weather continues!

Today, however, it’s been an absolutely gorgeous day: a high in the low 80’s, very little humidity, and a clear blue sky with a constant breeze.  I’m putting together a “cold” plate of leftover roasted chicken and vegetables with some of our delicious home-grown tomatoes and a few olives.  I prefer leftover chicken at room temperature, so it’s a simple matter of taking everything out of the refrigerator for an hour or so and arranging it on the plate in an aesthetically pleasing way.  Then I drizzle it with a simple vinaigrette and garnish it with herbs.  Hmmm…maybe I should let Derek do that!

New Twists to Old Tricks

Shrimp Scampi with Artichokes and Sun Dried Tomatoes



 I may have mentioned this before, but I love Italian food.  I love pasta, I love shrimp, and I love tomatoes, but I’ve never been too fond of tomatoes and shrimp together.  Shrimp Creole is probably my least favorite New Orleans dish because I find the shrimp are overpowered by the tomatoes and heavy seasoning.  Shrimp Scampi, however, is one of my very favorite dishes, and possibly one of my best. (You decide)!  Tonight it will be accompanied by my favorite Italian-inspired salad of arugula, tomatoes, red onion, toasted pine nuts, shavings of Parmesan and lemon vinaigrette.  For the pasta, I use half spinach linguine and half whole wheat linguine; the combination is pretty and a little more nutritious than regular semolina pasta.  You could try it with squid ink linguine, too, if you can find it; that would look very enticing against the bright colors of the shrimp.  I really like colorful food.  A quick question here: is anyone else as annoyed as I am that most pasta now comes in packages of less than 16 oz.? It's infuriating!  Anyway, I toss in a few strips of sun dried tomatoes and some lemon zest! toward the end and I find they add some color and a bright sunny flavor that actually compliments the shrimp instead of hiding their lovely marine flavor.  Tonight I’m going to experiment a little further and add some slivers of fresh artichoke bottom, which I typically add to my piccata for a delightful twist; I love the tangy lemony sauce with artichokes.  Did I mention that artichokes are simply divine to me?  One of my very favorite restaurant entrées is the Crabmeat Yvonne at Galatoire's restaurant in New Orleans: lumb crabmeat, thinly sliced mushrooms, and slivers of fresh artichoke bottom, all sautéed in butter.  That's it, and the simplicity of the dish is what makes it so perfect.  I do wonder, though, about the first person who attempted to eat artichokes.  S/he must have been really hungry!

I promise to post this recipe after I’ve tasted it and decided whether or not the artichoke was a worthy addition.  In the meantime, what’s your favorite shrimp recipe?

P.S. Thanks, Nutmeg, for the idea. ;-)

Old Dogs, New Tricks

Derek's Deconstructed Greek Salad




 

Today was the first day of my new career!  It seems strange to say that at my age.  It’s going to be an enormous change of perspective that will require a whole new set of skills.  I’m really enjoying the challenge, and I often think that learning new things is my favorite pastime and greatest talent, but of course, it’s only my first day.  As I said to someone earlier, “old dogs can learn new tricks, but they need more and better treats.”

My treat this evening was a wonderful meal prepared by Derek, which started with a deconstructed Greek salad.  He garnished it with oregano blossoms and used Brandywine and Juliet tomatoes from our garden, cucumbers from our neighbor’s garden, red onion, several varieties of olives and some feta cheese.  The dressing was light and refreshing, with lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, and oregano from our herb garden.  The salad was so beautiful and flavorful I honestly would have been satisfied with just that.  It was followed, however, by simple grilled pork chops, grill-roasted potato wedges and Swiss Chard from our garden.  It seems I’ve finally found greens that I enjoy cooked.  :-) They’re much milder and sweeter than collard, mustard or turnip greens.  I hear him in the kitchen now, and it sounds like he’s making homemade ice cream.  I swear the man is trying to fatten me up for the kill…I’d better go!

By the way, he made home-made peach frozen custard with slices of fresh peaches.  It was so wicked good it made me want to slap Shawn's mama.

Sunday



Early Girls

 It’s a beautiful Sunday morning in Indianapolis, and I’m enjoying a cup of coffee and a waffle with melted butter and powdered sugar – my favorite way of eating waffles!  The temperature is in the 70’s, there’s a breeze and it’s relatively dry and sunny.  I’d love to be outdoors, but today is my last day before starting my new job and there’s still so much to do after our trip.  I’m making a concerted effort to get more organized so that I’ll have more time to do the things that give meaning and joy to my life.  Writing this blog has become really important to me, and I love putting words and pictures together. 

Last night was my turn to cook, and of course I had to go to the grocery store.  Derek had thrown out or packed pretty much everything perishable before we left, so our refrigerator was close to empty.  That always makes me a little uncomfortable!  I had planned on making Shrimp Scampi and actually had all the ingredients except for lemons.  I can’t live without lemons, and I use lemon zest! in my scampi recipe.  Derek and I were watching Lidia Bastianich’s cooking show yesterday (she’s my new favorite now that we decided to give up cable) and that made me think of artichokes.  Our neighborhood Kroger always has the most beautiful giant artichokes with tightly closed leaves and I was thinking I’d add some slivers of artichoke bottom to the scampi for a new twist.  As it happened, they were on sale for $1.29 each.  I haven’t seen them that inexpensive for years.  I bought two, along with some beautiful big raspberries, cherries and black grapes, some Romaine and an avocado.  It’s so nice to go to the grocery store and not have to buy tomatoes; they’re never as good as ours, and they’re outrageously expensive.  We have a nice patch of arugula to make my favorite side salad: Arugula with tomatoes, slivers of red onion, toasted pine nuts, shavings of good Parmigiano Reggiano and a lemon and olive oil dressing.  This time I used the Brandywines, but we also have Black Crimsons, Jet Stars, Sonics, Early Girls and Juliets (a cross between grape and roma tomatoes that are simply fabulous).

I wanted to get what I would need to make dinner on Tuesday, so I checked the meat department for what was on sale.  I found some beautiful chuck-eye steaks, which are inexpensive but close in flavor to rib eyes, my favorite cut of steak.  I bought a package of four, which will be two meals for us.  I picked up a loaf of whole grain rustic “artisanal” bread and a few other odds and ends, including bacon and a loaf of Roman Meal for today’s lunch: BLTs!  We have the most gorgeous tomatoes I’ve ever seen, so I can’t wait to eat a BLT with thick slices of juicy red tomatoes on fresh Roman Meal!  Derek decided he’d rather have steak than shrimp, so I made grill-roasted potatoes (see recipe below), and prepped the steaks with olive oil, salt and pepper and fragrant fennel seeds.  I learned that little trick from Derek and it really adds a wonderful flavor to steak.  I cut the bread into one-inch slices, brushed them on both sides with olive oil and grilled them until they were brown and toasty with nice grill marks.  Then I rubbed them all over with a piece of raw garlic and a chunk of juicy tomato to give them a little moisture, color and flavor.  For dessert we had lemon sorbet with fresh raspberries and one of the perfect peaches that Leigh gave us.  Kroger has their own brand of sorbet called Private Reserve, which is every bit as good as Häagen Dazs for less than half the price.  I didn’t have any rum, but normally I would rinse the raspberries and peaches, cut the peaches into bite-sized pieces and macerate them in a little rum for an hour or so before topping the sorbet with them.  It makes a wonderfully refreshing summer dessert with very little work!

Cherries

I guess I’ll be making Shrimp Scampi on Tuesday.


Recipe for grill-roasted potatoes for two:
2 or 3 small Idaho potatoes (you can use any variety, but I like the fluffiness of baking potatoes)
1 T olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
fresh chopped herbs for garnish (optional)

Rosemary

Rinse the potatoes and poke holes in them with a fork.  Microwave them whole for 2 -3 minutes, depending on their size and the power of your microwave.  They should be just fork tender.  Cut them in half length-wise and then cut them in half length-wise again, until you have crescent-shaped potato wedges about one inch thick in the middle.  Let them cool thoroughly, about 30 minutes.  Toss them in a bowl with the olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.  Place on a medium hot fire until they are nicely browned with grill marks on one side.  Turn them over until they're browned on the other side.  If you're not serving them immediately, put them on a baking sheet on the cool side of the grill while you cook your steak.  At this point, you can add herbs if you like: some fresh parsley, or some rosemary and garlic.   After microwaving them, you can also cook them in the oven at 375 on a baking sheet if you don't want to grill them.  This is an easy and relatively healthy way to prepare potatoes that are brown and crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.

                                                               

Visiting friends

Brandywine Tomatoes

Little Queenie

On our way home from Smith Mountain Lake we had a lovely but brief visit with my fellow transplanted New Orleanian, Leigh Harris and her husband Rick at their home in North Carolina.  The drive there from Smith Mountain Lake was breathtaking and it was much closer than I realized, so I hope to make the stop a tradition.  Leigh's house is exploding with personality: the numerous plants, books, art, furniture and even the walls and cabinets truly reflect the joie de vivre she has always emanated.  Leigh, aka Little Queenie, is one of my most colorful friends and she is just so full of love and life.  It was a delight to finally see her after nearly six years of thinking I might never see her again; she is one of several of my musician friends who left New Orleans after Katrina and never returned. Leigh is an amazing singer who is well-known and loved in New Orleans; you can hear her on the soundtrack toTremé, which I recommend you go and buy right away if you don't have it already.  While you're at it, check out anything by Leigh Harris, or Little Queenie and the Percolators. 


We made a visit to The Hungry Farmer Café and to the fabulous local farmers' market, where I bought some Tupelo Honey.  Did you know that White Tupelo Honey is the only type of honey that doesn't crystallize or granulate?  It has to do with the low ratio of glucose to fructose.  Rick made us some garlic bread on whole grain crusty bread and Leigh fixed us a lovely supper of smoked chicken accompanied by fresh corn on the cob cooked in crab boil.  When folks in Louisiana boil crawfish, crabs or shrimp, they throw corn and new potatoes in the mix with crab boil, cayenne pepper, salt, garlic and onions.  I always try to find Rex Crab Boil, which was made by my grandfather's company, New Orleans Imports, but these days Zatarain's is easier to find, and it's not bad.  ;-)  If there are any leftovers, you can make the most flavorful potato salad on the planet, and use the spicy corn in a myriad of ways, limited only by your imagination.  Leigh had bought some collard greens the day before, so I threw together a kind of collard slaw with julienned apples and miniature sweet peppers in various shades of yellow, red and orange.  It was so colorful and pretty!  I made a dressing with apple cider vinegar, oil and honey, which was a nice complement to the flavors of the slaw.  Next time I think I'll cut the collards into very thin slivers, though, and let them macerate in the dressing longer; they were fresh and tasty, but a little tough and chewy.


We drank some wine and after dinner, we shared memories of New Orleans and our families and childhoods.  I was tickled to death to hear Leigh describe her grandmother, who talked exactly like my mother!   I also discovered that Leigh and I are both Ebay queens who share a love of old linens and beautiful fabrics from all over the world. 


All too soon it was time for bed, so we could get on the road in the morning and get home before dark.  After a period of torrential rain, it was a beautiful drive through the Appalachian Mountains and the Ohio River valley.  I love the mist and fog that makes the mountains mysterious and elusive.  We drove through the quaint town of Eaton, Ohio, whose striking and beautifully landscaped old homes bespoke an ubiquitous prosperity I would not have thought possible in a 21st century small town.  From there it was a hop, skip and a jump to Indiana and home again.  Traveling is exciting and educational, but it's so good to be home - and some of the most gorgeous Brandywine heirloom tomatoes I've ever seen are waiting to be picked.  Heaven in my mouth, or as we New Orleanians would say: "Dere's a pawty goin' on in heah."

New Orleans Night

Yesterday afternoon we took a nice long boat ride to a marina where we had lunch.  On the way back, we took our time looking at the gargantuan houses on the lake.  Most of them I find gaudy and ostentatious, but there are a few that are simply elegant and lovely.  I have a favorite house on Smith Mountain Lake and I try to make a point of going to see it every time we’re here.  What makes this particular home so lovely is that while it’s quite large, it was designed around the landscape and the shape of the peninsula.  It has views of the lake from three sides with a boat house on one side and a gazebo on the western side for watching the sunset.  Derek always reminds me that it’s on a busy part of the lake, but I think I could live with that!

Shrimp Etouffée

Our New Orleans night started with a lovely fresh asparagus salad with tomatoes from our garden and a red wine Dijon mustard vinaigrette with a splash of lemon juice.  I was trying to clean out the refrigerator and wanted to keep it consistent with the French Creole theme, while making use of what we had – always a challenge for me!  The shrimp stock for the etouffée had been simmering for several hours while we were out on the boat, so it was a nice dark color and full of shrimp flavor.  We have an electric stove here (bane of my existence), which makes it somewhat difficult to make a dark roux without burning it, and that, of course, is completely unacceptable.  Well, guess what!  I burned it and had to start over.  In this case, the second time was a charm, and Derek took over stirring for me so I could get busy with making the salad dressing and the rice.  I had ample stock left over, so I cooked the rice in stock instead of water.  I always use brown rice or Konriko Wild Pecan Rice, when I can find it; it adds some fiber and other nutrients.  In fact, I’ve begun using white whole wheat flour when making a roux, and I prefer it, because it darkens more quickly while retaining more thickening power - and it’s more nutritious.  I know that many folks would cringe at the very idea of calling shrimp etouffée nutritious, but I’ve always believed that when you make things from scratch with love and fresh ingredients, it’s good for your soul, at the very least!  Derek had burned some CD’s of New Orleans music and we listened to them while preparing and eating our New Orleans dinner.  I told some stories about my musician friends, including Leigh Harris aka Little Queenie, whom we’re going to visit tomorrow in North Carolina.  The kids really enjoyed telling us their stories about all the street musicians they had seen in the French Quarter on their recent trip to The Crescent City.

For dessert we had frozen cream puffs that I bought at the Kroger in Rocky Mount.  I think I’ve mentioned that I’m no baker, so I’ve found many store-bought desserts that meet my high standards.  These frozen cream puffs and mini éclairs really fit the bill, and there’s never a single one left.  It was a tasty way to end our last night together this summer. 

4th of July

Key Lime Pie for Mexican Night

The lake was lit up with fireworks last night.  They looked majestic above the trees and reflected on the still water.  Today it’s quiet and we’ve had several spectacular thunderstorms.  I love a rainy day on the water. 

Tonight we’re having a guest for dinner, a lady friend of Bob’s whom I’ve not yet had the pleasure of meeting.  Derek is going to grill a pork loin and season it al pastor for tacos.  The tacos will be accompanied by guacamole, salsa and chips, and I may throw together a little salad with a lime cilantro vinaigrette, to keep the flavors authentic.  I wonder if it’s OK to eat Mexican food on the 4^th of July!  Earlier I drove in to the grocery store in Rocky Mount.  It’s about a half hour drive on a winding country road and it’s quite lovely.  It’s become a tradition that I make a key lime pie on Mexican night, and it’s always been a challenge to get the zest! off of the lime and into manageable sized shreds, so I broke down and bought a microplane-type zester, one of my essential kitchen tools.  We can leave it here fairly certain that it won’t be used again until next summer.  In the interest of keeping it simple, I bought a pre-made graham cracker crust and some whipped cream in a can.  I can’t wait to lick the yummy sweet/tart mixture off the sides of the blender; that is the cook’s privilege and reward.

Happy Independence Day, everybody!

Lake House Sunday

Smith Mountain Lake

I slept until 10:30 this morning!  I can’t remember the last time I slept that late and it was blissful.  I stayed in my pajamas until 2:00 or so drinking coffee and playing with the pictures and colors for the blog.  The rest of the crew spent most of the day out on the lake and I joined them for a boat ride this afternoon.  I always love looking at the huge mansions on this lake and wondering what they look like inside.  Well appointed, I’m sure, but I know they’re not eating as well as we are!  As it turns out, Ryan and his wife Julie brought some cooked shrimp with them, so Derek decided to make fried green tomatoes topped with shrimp remoulade.  As with most things, it will be a group effort.  Our niece Emily drove me to the minute market where I bought prepared horseradish, celery and cocktail sauce so that I could whip up a passable version of remoulade sauce.  With a lot of fresh lemon juice, some olive oil, a dash of Tony Chachere’s creole seasoning, a pile of fresh celery (don’t forget the leaves – they add a lot of fresh flavor), garlic and green onions and the teaspoon or so of Creole mustard we had left, it’s really not bad.  Derek will fry the tomatoes while the sauce is chilling and Ryan’s cooking the ribs, chicken and grilled asparagus.  I missed breakfast and lunch, so I’m going to be hungry.

I’m looking forward to playing Scattergories with the family tonight.  Imagine that; I like word games, and I usually win.  ;-)



On the road again

A handsome fellow enjoying the breeze on the Appalachian Highway

(written last night, Saturday July 2, 2011)

It was a beautiful day for traveling and overall, it was a nice drive from Indianapolis to Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia, where we have our annual Mayer family reunion at Derek's father's house.  It's a very long, but scenic, trip through the mountains of West Virginia, so it’s nice to be here and the lake looks lovely and serene.  The rest of the gang is out on the boat watching the fireworks, but I decided to take this opportunity to have some quiet time alone to write.  Derek’s dad Bob has a beautiful long-haired gray and white cat named Porter, who’s usually a bit aloof and skittish.  This evening, though, he came up and rubbed against me and let me pet him; maybe he knows how much I’m missing the P.I.G.

There’s not much to say about food today; these days it's nearly impossible to run across anything memorable on the road.   About the best you can hope for is Cracker Barrel, and it takes too long, so we usually bring our lunch with us and hope there will be some food left when we get to the house.  During the drive we did toss around some ideas about what to cook for the family this week.  We take turns cooking at the lake, and I think Derek’s brother Ryan is grilling pork ribs and chicken tomorrow.  I have to say, though, that my honey makes the best ribs I’ve ever had anywhere!  Derek has decided he wants to cook Mexican food one night, but he hasn’t narrowed it down just yet.  His enchiladas were a big hit a couple of years ago, as they should be; he makes his enchilada sauce from scratch!  I think I’m going to make either chicken and sausage gumbo or shrimp etouffée, since the kids like it so much.  They all went to New Orleans over spring break and they joked about how Ryan ordered gumbo everywhere he went.  We brought some green tomatoes from our garden, so I considered making fried green tomatoes with shrimp remoulade as an appetizer, but it really is a lot of work and I’m more inclined to relax and keep it simple this trip.   This will probably be my last vacation for a good while, and I need to make it count. 

We heard a fascinating story on NPR today about a theater program for prison inmates.  This particular group of prisoners was performing Hamlet, and their perspectives were truly thought-provoking.  As the narrator said, these men may not have the acting chops of a Hollywood actor, but they have first-hand experience that no professional actor can claim.  Well, I hope not, anyway.   One comment really made me laugh, though…the prisoner who was playing Horatio was a man who had killed several people and referred to himself as a blue whale in a sea of minnows.  He was sharing his view of the character he was portraying and he said, “He’s a chump, fo' real…”  Somehow that led me down a convoluted path of words and I made up a new word. 

Entreprinertia: the inactivity and sluggishness that occur when a would-be entrepreneur runs out of ideas or motivation.  J

Winding down

Beet Greens

Today is my last day as a clinical therapist.  Wow...it makes my head spin a little to think about it.  I've been doing this for 20 years and in less than two weeks I'll be doing something completely different, and for a giant national corporation!  The S.O. and I are leaving tomorrow at the crack of dawn to drive to Virginia, and when we come back, I'll be going in to work at a different office with an entirely different job description.  I'm excited about the possibilities, but a little trepidatious, too. 

Last night was supposed to be my turn to cook dinner, but we went out to eat Wednesday night, so the S.O. agreed to fix dinner while I packed and organized my thoughts and to-do list for my last day here.  He took the leftover pork roast I grilled Tuesday night and made Tacos al Pastor, with a fresh salad of romaine, tomatoes and cilantro from our garden.  We had some beets from the garden, too, and they were delicious.  I always feel very connected to the earth when I eat beets.  I couldn't stand them as a child, and in fact, they were the last vegetable I learned to like.  Now I absolutely crave them sometimes, and they're so pretty - like big glistening garnets.  I like them roasted in the oven and tossed with some E.V.O.O. and a little lemon juice.  They make lovely Napoleons, too, cut in 1/4 inch rounds and layered with goat cheese, walnuts and a drizzle of tangy citrus.  As you will see if you stick around, I'm very fond of using citrus zest in my food, hence the name Zest!  You might try adding some lemon or orange zest to the goat cheese in this recipe, or making your citrus sauce with a little honey or marmalade and some orange or lemon zest.

An easy, inexpensive and tasty way to get some uber healthy greens in your diet is by making green smoothies.  Did you know that the green tops of root vegetables have more nutrition than the vegetables themselves?  Research green smoothies on the internet; you'll be amazed.  It's a special treat to use organic greens picked from your own garden, but experiment with different combinations of greens and frozen fruit until you find something that satisfies your senses.  Plan ahead by washing your greens the night before and putting some green grapes and a banana in the freezer.  In the morning, take a few dense handfuls of any fresh greens you like: spinach, kale, beet greens, carrot tops, turnip greens, lettuce, chard, parsley, dandelion, etc. and add a handful of grapes and a frozen banana cut into pieces.  Put them in a blender and add two cups of cold water.  Blend until smooth.  It sounds weird, I know, but it's really refreshing and it just feels so right going down.  You'll feel like a superstar.