What Did You Eat?

Savory Bread Pudding With Summer Squash And Shallot Salad

This certainly wasn't a traditional Memorial Day meal. We usually have something off the grill, but I felt like eating lighter fare.   And light it was, almost like a savory angel food cake.  I don't kid myself that it was low in calories, as it contained two cups of cheese. But, it did seem much less greasy than strata recipes I've had in the past, which ooze puddles of oil all over your plate.  I used an egg laden white bread in the dish, so it came out light as a cloud. Seriously.  If there wasn't a mushroom layer, it would have surely floated away.  Deborah Madison, who created this dish for the Green's Restaurant in San Francisco, recommends trying different breads. Whole wheat bread will make the pudding crunchy and nutty tasting.  With white bread, the custard makes it swell like a souffle. As a side dish, a salad looks and tastes best with this kind of creamy concoction. So, I made a warm summer squash salad, also from Deborah Madison.  Freshly picked tomatoes would have been even better.

They're Back!!!!!

I went to the Farmers Market yesterday and found quite a few stalls selling fava beans.  They were much better quality than the ones at the grocery store. I didn't get any because we're still recovering from our two month onslaught. I don't want to shell any fava beans for a while, thank you very much!

I'm still trying to decide what to do with my big container of pine nuts.  I bought this delicious little slice of pine nut and almond torte.  It was wonderful. You can see where I had already started eating it.  Hmm, still leaning towards pine nut biscotti, but a torte would be good too.

Weekend Cat Blogging: My New Cat Fancy

Jeesh!! I can't believe these cats got a centerfold.   See, I can do that little crying routine too.

You should go over to Clare and Kiri's site at Eatstuff. That's the Weekend Cat Blogging headquarters and ALL KINDS of things are happening there!   I'm going to take a nap.   

Weekend Herb Blogging: Lemon-Garlic Chicken

One of my favorite restaurants is Mustards Grill, in the Napa Valley.  Often referred to as a "truck stop deluxe," the food served there has a kind of homey sophistication.  It's located on the main highway--and truckers do indeed stop there. The prices are reasonable, considering the high level of the food served to loyal patrons.  I recently bought the Mustards Grill Napa Valley Cookbook and found many of my favorite dishes in it, including their famous lemon-lime meringue pie. Yesterday I fixed a wonderful recipe from the book, Lemon-Garlic Chicken, which has heaps of different herbs rubbed onto the chicken and mixed into a vinaigrette drizzled over the chicken just before you serve it. So, that means it qualifies for Weekend Herb Blogging, which was created by Kalyn at Kalyn's Kitchen. This weekend it's on the road, so to speak, and is being hosted by the lovely Ilva at Lucullian Delights.  Go to her site and see all the herb inspired recipes assembled there! 

Asparagus Aspirations: Wild Rice and Asparagus Salad

I admit that I always keep a bag of wild rice on hand, not only for the taste of it, but because it makes any dish seem special.   We eat regular rice at least 3 or 4 times a week, so wild rice is a nice change.  It looks pretty served with brightly colored foods, such as this simple salad made with asparagus and sesame seeds.   Wild rice, which is really an aquatic grass, is native to North America.   Even though I live in California, where almost 80% of wild rice is produced, I buy my rice from Minnesota sources where, by law, rice is cultivated and harvested according to traditional Indian methods.   My paternal great grandmother was Native American, so I have a personal interest in the controversy that surrounds wild rice production.   For some tribes, wild rice is a much needed source of income.  Genetic engineering has also reared its head in this, with many tribes concerned that genetically engineered wild rice threatens the future existence of truly wild rice.  Finally, it may be my imagination (or bias) but I think Native American grown and harvested wild rice is better looking.  For more information about true wild rice go to Slow Food. 

OK, back to our regular programming!  This dish also qualifies me for Asparagus Aspirations, which is the brainchild of Kevin at Seriously Good. He has a plethera of asparagus dishes at his site which you may want to check out.

Oh Boy, Pine Nuts!!

Sometimes it's the little things in life that give you pleasure.  Yesterday I went to the grocery store and one of the items on my list was pine nuts.  I don't know what they cost in other parts of the country, but out here they can run as high as $15 a pound!  Naturally that limits me to recipes that call for only a few tablespoons. It was just such a recipe that led me to the store, where I discovered the bulk item bins had been seriously downsized.  The bin for pine nuts no longer existed. Instead, critical items like gummy bears, chocolate malt balls, and yogurt covered pretzels were all that remained in my space challenged grocery store's bulk item section.  Just as I was facing the fact that I would have to drive to a bigger store or use another kind of nut, I suddenly saw plastic containers stacked on a rack. And there it was--nearly 3/4 lb. of pine nuts, for $1.13!  I stared at the container dumbfounded. Then I opened the lid and sniffed.  They didn't smell rancid. Should I taste one?  I didn't.  I wondered if they had been mislabeled, and since I know all the clerks at the store I wouldn't want to take advantage of a mistake.  (Yes, I actually thought that.)   Then I decided they were the remains from the discontinued pine nut bin, and the store just wanted them gone. For $1.13 I took the gamble that they weren't rancid. To my delight, they were perfectly fine when I ate some of them at home.  I've never had this many pine nuts at one time!  I feel rich.  Maybe I'll make biscotti.

Favas, Favas Everywhere.

In an earlier post I talked about how hard it is to get fava beans here in the Central Valley, so I decided to grow them.  I wasn't sure if I would get any beans at all, but was thrilled to get very good harvests from just a small planting.  I estimate that I harvested over sixty pounds of them in two months.  Of course, that was their weight before they were shelled.  I was shelling favas nearly every day, and we ate them in different recipes three or four times a week.  I finally cleared out the fava bean bed a few days ago and planted eggplant, herbs, and peppers. Here are some of the ways I fixed my fava beans, starting with the best recipe, Pappardella with Fava Beans and Morels.

Bay To Breakers Sweet Potato Muffins

Bob is running in the Bay To Breakers race in San Francisco tomorrow. He's actually going to RUN in it.  I planned on walking it with friends (the whole race is one long party, so why would you run?), but discovered that I had previously bought tickets to see Bombay Dreams tomorrow.  Oh well, next year I'll do it for sure.  Since Bob will be heading out to San Francisco before dawn, I baked him some sweet potato muffins.  He can eat the muffins in his car for breakfast.  I'm positive that they'll give him extra energy to navigate past all the racers dressed up like bananas or streetcars.  If you've never heard of this race, go to this site and see what I'm going to miss tomorrow.  I wanted to see the guy who comes each year decked out as a functioning bar.  He actually dispenses drinks to people as he races...well walks.

Weekend Cat Blogging: Just Chillin'

Hi everybody!  Nothing much to report for this week.  Well, mom put out a bowl of Corona beer last night and we found around 12 huge snails in it this morning, totally dead. Man, those snails love their beer. They will literally die for it. I sort of feel the same way about shrimp.  Mom said that she's eaten snails in butter sauce, but I think she's kidding me, right? 

Weekend Cat Blogging was created by the lovely Clare.  Everyone should go over to her site. Kiri is having a great time, hobnobbing with wild animals!!!!  I would do that too, but I need a nap.  Anyway, go see Kiri.

Weekend Herb Blogging: Tuna With Tomato Butter and Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

It's Friday, so that means by my particular logic, it's Weekend Herb Blogging.  I think that Fridays should be added to the weekend. Three day weekends--it works for me.  My herb of choice this week is oregano, which grows happily in my backyard.   Nary a bug nor snail ever bothers it. Instead, all the pests are waging war on my innocent eggplant seedlings.  It's a sad thing for the eggplant, but not the oregano. I had plenty to use for this dish of tuna with roasted cherry tomatoes.  Now, if you go over to Kalyn's site, you'll find links to other herb bloggers, who all have fabulous dishes to share with you.