Concentrated Flavors

I wasn't gonna yammer about our anniversary meal last week, but now it has more context because I've made two soups in a row with very concentrated flavors.

Lobster Bisque

This was part of our anniversary meal, and as a penny pincher, I couldn't help but groan at the expense, but after eating what I wound up with– two small bowls of bisque made from a live two pound lobster cut into huge chunks (claws left whole) in a homemade stock cooked from the shells, flambéed with brandy, and made velvety with cream– I realized if you even found something this rich on a menu, you'd probably pay double for it and you wouldn't leave the place without dropping 5x more. Anyway, it was a very focused lobster flavor explosion.

*not my picture- it was too late to get a good one, but when I logged this recipe in my database, I searched hard for one that would be identical to what I would have captured had the sun still been up.
 

Silky Zucchini Soup

Also rich and velvety, this soup is similar in that it's a concentrated flavor, but opposite in that it only cost the seeds Kara planted in our back yard and it's incredibly healthy. It's little more than puréed zucchini and onion with some seasoning and a little broth. There's not much better of a way to taste garden-fresh zucchini. Eating the leftovers chilled. Mmmmm.

Carbonara

Zucchini Carbonara

Penne pasta with nearly two pounds of zucchini from our garden, smothered in carbonara sauce. This was sinful but delicious. I served it alongside a salad with more of our homegrown greens, and a light homemade vinaigrette.

Carbonara sauce is basically bacon, cream, egg yolks, cheese, and pepper (sounds like 4 of the 7 deadly sins). According to wikipedia, since the name is derived from carbonaro (the Italian word for charcoal burner), some believe the dish was first made as a hearty meal for Italian charcoal workers. In parts of the United States the etymology gave rise to the term "coal miner's spaghetti." Some even attribute its name to a secret society of revolutionaries in 1800s Italy called the Carbonari, or "Charcoal Men."

Food for thought...

 

 

Farm-to-Table

It's almost summer, so Kara's got more stuff growing than our usual–and heavily utilized–herb garden: tomatoes, zucchini, mesclun (mix of wild lettuces), strawberries, jalapeños, and we're trying for watermelon.

We did some harvesting today and here's our first meal. Kara's request.

Zucchini Frittata with Mozzarella, Parmesan, and Feta

Served with a salad of (mostly) our home-grown greens in a light vinaigrette, and fresh tomato slices (not ours- they're still green), all garnished with our chives.

Kara and I agreed the frittata was almost too light, even with all the cheeses, and needs some mushrooms and/or beef/sausage/bacon, but we were both scraping the gooey cheesy egg stuff that stuck to the skillet, and frittatas are so easy to make (just hard to turn out of the pan). I wish the greens were in focus in the pic because they're pretty, but the frittata looked yummiest from this angle.

More Artichokes

Taking advantage of that artichoke season! Now THIS was a successful Saturday dinner, thanks to Kara's request...

Shrimp and Artichoke Tagliatelle with Black Pepper and Pecorino- That's the official name of the recipe, but I'd call it Lemon and Butter Amazingness. This is basically everything you love about artichoke and shrimp. Shrimp roasted in lemon and butter with fresh artichoke hearts cooked in white wine, then tossed together with pasta and Pecorino Romano and more lemon and butter. Plenty of freshly ground black pepper to taste. Genius idea. Not something to do every night, but wow.

Served alongside a mixed greens salad picked from our garden with yellow heirloom tomatoes in a Balsamic vinaigrette topped with Parmesan

And I even made dessert- Mixed Berry White Wine Sabayon (like a nice, warm custard with fresh fruit)

Finished with French-pressed coffee.

Aahhhhh...

Weekend Cooking

I'm toying with the idea of posting these cool weekend meals (and occasionally my backlog) to a Tumblr account or something, but for now, here's another email from the weekend:

In a combo-celebration this weekend of Cinco de Mayo and the Kentucky Derby, I even threw in some Texas pecans for the Mavericks...

Tacos with choice of meat and toppings, all fresh from scratch:

Grilled Pacific cod in citrus vinaigrette

Grilled pulled chicken

  Charred corn and black bean salad
  Chipotle crema
  Grilled pineapple-habenero sauce
  Red cabbage slaw
  Tomato and avocado salsa

Mint julep

Grilled Peaches Foster with bourbon glaze, toasted pecans, and crème fraîche

Smoky Vegetarian Beet Reuben

Here's an experimental recipe I just tried that worked great. It's basically a classic Reuben- toasted rye bread, Russian dressing, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, but just when you start wondering where the corned beef is, you chew once more and realize it's been replaced by roasted beet slices seasoned with coriander and smoked salt. (Smoked salt is a little expensive and tricky to find, but very flavorful.)

Anyway, it's really, really good, and makes you want another one immediately. It's pretty easy aside from the pain of dealing with beets and a few ingredients you may not have laying around, so I highly recommend.

Artichokes + Wild Mushroom Chicken

It's artichoke season and I don't know if it's the same for the rest of the country, but they're 99¢ or less in CA (take advantage, Tev).

Almost 100% of the nation's artichokes come from California, mostly from in and around Castroville, CA where Marilyn Monroe was crowned the first Artichoke Queen before she was famous. They have a huge artichoke festival every year.

Here's an artichoke stuffed with bread crumbs, Parmesan, olives, and capers, alongside wild mushroom chicken in white wine sauce over cous cous pilaf, with an arugula, green apple, and pecan salad in lemon vinaigrette.