LET'S DO DINNER

Dinner was not entirely the amazing taste treat I was hoping for.  The roasted sweet potatoes were wonderful.  The asparagus salad with shallot lemon dressing was amazing.  What I expected to be the best part - the scallops - were underwhelming.  They were plump and pretty.  They should have been briny and sweet, but they were almost tasteless.  And for what I paid - that is a crime.  I don't usually complain to a store about this sort of thing, but this time I may have to.

The asparagus salad almost made up for it.  I have never made a salad of raw asparagus and this was delicious.  i found the recipe in a book I bought about cooking for one person.

At the time I was hoping for a book that would help me cook once a week and recreate all week - basically eating well with no effort.  This book does not tell you how to do that.  But now I am ready to actually make delicious meals for myself and this book is terrific.  And it follows the format that I am so in favor of now - it is organized by season.

Happy cooking to all.

I THINK THERE IS A THEME HERE

I really do love cookbooks that are regional.  The focus on a specific location, culture and readily available ingredients is enchanting.  Also, I have a particular fondness for this book because the writer is from Harford County Maryland where I grew up.  Her husband and my brother went to school together.  The geography, the people, the food are all like home to me.  AND it is a good cook book.

There are touches of contemporary ingredients and techniques; but at heart it is a down home cookbook.  The crab cakes and sweet potato biscuit recipes are authentic.  I am sorry there are no recipes for squirrel pot pie or fried muskrat - a real Maryland experience.

You will enjoy the stories of small farmers, millers who make stone ground grains, small cattle operations, family orchards, traditional oystermen, and dedicated restauranteurs who are dedicated to local ingredients and authentic preparations.  Maryland has mountains, plains, sea coast and all of the varied cuisine this entails.

Take a look at the book - it is lovely.

THIS IS GOOD STUFF

This is the weeks veggies.  Not sure what I am going to do with them.  Tonight was a late night getting home from work; so cooking is not in the picture.

I hope to find interesting ways to use the lovely produce  I have in my frig.

Going back in time - i wanted to give a shout out to my Griswold cast iron skillet.  I have three.  I have bought them and given them to my children.  They are the best and if you are ever at a thrift store, flea market etc and you come across one - buy it.  They are much light than any other cast iron skillet and totally wonderful to cook with.  When I first start buying them I could find them for $10 - $15.  Now a number 8 skillet is more like $90.  However, if you like cooking in cast iron, this is a purchase for the long haul - just do it.

It is a beautiful thing.

THIS WAS DELICIOUS

Today's dinner was back to cooking thoughtfully - focusing on taste, nutrition and visual appeal.

I think tonight was a winner.

New York Strip Steak, Sweet Potato Fries and Roasted Bok Choy.

The sweet potatoes and bok choy were new recipes to me.  Both were easy and quick and worth doing again.  The sweet potato fries were not crunchy, but had a lovely caramelized flavor.  I had read that if you have trouble getting them to be crisp to toss the raw potatoes with corn starch.  I really didn't miss the crispiness and will probably just cook them the way I did tonight in the future.

The bok choy was tossed with olive oil and sprinkled with a little garlic powder.  The recipe called for 450 for 8 minutes.  I think next time I will try 400 for a little longer.  It was very tasty - but the edges of the leaves got crispy very quickly and the stem ends could have used a little more cooking time.  I decided that a little sprinkle of parmesan would improve the bok choy and it was good.

The steak I have been buying at a local market that locally sources it's meat.  I have bought meat from this particular farm several times and have always been pleased.  The flavor is outstanding and the meat is very tender.

This is my sunporch.  I will eat out here until it gets too hot.  It is such a beautiful setting.  It looks out over the trees in the back yard and the azaleas that the dear have not yet destroyed.  There are birds to watch, squirrels, chipmunks, the occasional ground hog and every once in awhile a fox.

Good food in a lovely setting with music in the background.  A great start to my evening.

WELL -

So I have been eating too, too much carry out and not cooking.  I have been reading about cooking locally and seasonally.  Time to actually pay attention to the food, and the preparations that will enhance the lovely, fresh, tender new food.

I have talked about " A Cook's Year in a Welsh Farmhouse" previously.

I have just bought "Japanese Farm Food".

I am inspired by people who cook locally, add their own flair from their cultural history and experiment boldly.

I want to make food that is simple, that is local, that is seasonal, that is visually appealing.

My veggie bag this week sounds lovely - lettuces, scallions, radishes.  I am going to try to find simple preparations that are delicious and visually appealing.  Stay tuned to see if I can make it happen!

AS PROMISED

The dinner that I planned last night actually worked out wonderfully tonight.  I love it when what I think will be good actually is.

I started with Rainbow chard, mushrooms and a little leftover Easter ham (thank you Adrian).  From there, a very simple preparation - using my favorite cast iron skillet.

A little olive oil to cook up the mushrooms a bit - added the chard and a little water and cooked until the chard was wilted.  When that was done, I put most of it on a plate before I added the ham.  I didn't want the ham to overwhelm the other flavors - just  to be a counterpoint.  After cooking it a little I sprinkled it over the chard and mushrooms.

And had a very nice dinner -

 Tomorrow - why it is so hard not be get carry out downtown and explaining my love for my cast iron skillet.

See you tomorrow.

A HEALTHY START

My time of traveling and visitors is over for awhile and now it is time to get back on track with cooking and eating.  By yesterday my daughter and I were totally craving vegetables.

So today it is back to my routine.

I always eat breakfast.  I don't leave the house without eating, having my coffee and reading the newspaper.

After years of firmly announcing that "I DO NOT EAT OATMEAL" it is now my favorite breakfast.

Steel cut oats, grated apple, walnut pieces and a drizzle of honey.  A great way to start the day.  On Saturday it is oatmeal with a fried egg on top - wonderful.

I have tomorrow's dinner planned and it sounds delicious.  Tune in tomorrow to see what's cooking.

The last two weeks my veggie bag has been less than inspiring.  Kiwis and pears that took a week to ripen, ordinary russet potatoes, broccoli that had very little flavor.

There were some goodies - spinach, rainbow chard, baby bok choy.  But overall, disappointing.

Company for the rest of the week so probably not a lot of cooking - more ordering in restaurants.

INSPIRATION

I posted earlier about a book that I got last year - " A Cook's Year".  I was curious about the author and googled her to see what I could learn.  The answer was - pretty much nothing -BUT.  Another book came up that looked intriguing.  " A Cook's Year in a Welsh Farmhouse" by Elizabeth Luard.  Of course I had to buy it.  It was delightful.  A tour through the year with what life is like there, how people interact, what you cook, how she integrates her Mediterranean sensibility with the plain cooking of Wales and the pleasure she takes at enjoying each season as it comes.  The illustrations and pictures are lovely.  If you enjoy reading about food as much for how food infuses our life with pleasure as well as nutrition - I recommend it.

A SOUPER WEEKEND

With a new batch of veggies arriving on Tuesday; I needed to make use of what was still in the refrigerator.  A soup of onion, carrots and celery was just the thing.  After everything was cooked the immersion blender turned it into a lovely puree.  A sprinkle of parmesan and some red pepper flakes - delicious.

The start

Cooking it up

Finished product.

And there is plenty left for lunch this week.  Perfect!