Hanging by a String.

We’re on the road to sunchokes……(this part is meant to be sung).

Lists.

Things in storage at old farm that I need to bring to new farm.

 

beer capper, caps,  glass carboy, fermenter, siphon ( all beer stuff)
cusinart
blender, stick or stand
cutting board
tambourine
xmas tree
food is your best medicine book
whiskey book
yoga mat
xmas decorations?
twilight poster
rain boots.

All very important.

Huevos Rancheros in El Paso (of course)

I’ve been a bad bad blogger.  Most of this is due to the fact that I have been taking an extremely long time (about 1 month to be exact)  to transport my belongings in my new truck from NYC to Northern California.

Secret Ingredient: Anchovies.

A is for Anchovies AND Awesome.  Coincidence?  I think not.  One of the entries for the eggplant competition had such depth of flavor in the sauce and what do think one of components was?  Anchovies of course.  The best pork meatballs that I ever made?  Anchovies.  The best ricotta gnocchi ever?  Anchovies.

This all leads me to the little box of anchovies left behind by my former roommate which beckoned me to add them to my tomato based coconut curry sauce last night.

EET. (Emandal Eggplant Throwdown)

Eggplant Parmesan has got to be one of my favorite comfort foods of all time so getting to eat six of them at the same time is like a dream come true to me.  Getting to experiment with eggplant parm at the height of the eggplant/basil/tomato season is just a little slice of heaven on earth.  But who will win all the glory (because apparently there actually isn’t a REAL prize)?

Salad Interlude.

Sometimes I forget about salads.  The silly thing is that I actually eat them at least once if not twice a day.  I’m just not that excited about them and I pretty much never post recipes about them.  The combination of this cantaloupe, lettuce and basil from the garden with some thinly shaved sweet red onion and apricot vinaigrette was just too tasty, however, for me to keep to myself.

Spiced Greek Solar Pie.

Hooray!  This pie was not only delicious BUT I have found the key to making ground beef taste just like the ground lamb in the pastitsio at Uncle George’s in Astoria!  So the last issue of Saveur magazine was all about Greece.  They included a recipe for pastitsio which is  a sort of Greek lasagna.   I had always wondered what the spice was that made the meat taste absolutely delicious, and lo and behold, cinnamon.

Picnic Empanadas!

I have been pining for a hand held South American pastry treat for quite some time.  Being in the middle of nowhere in Northern California I have realized that if you want food that is not traditionally considered “American”  you probably have to make it yourself.  Thus these 2 empanadas were born.   One for the veggies and one for the porcine lovers.

Zucchini Anchovy Fritters w/ Basil Mayo.

I know, it’s another anchovy recipe BUT I have to say that even if you think you don’t like anchovy you will love this fritter.  First of all the anchovy taste is not that pronounced (you can add more if you would like it to be) and second of all, everything tastes better fried.

Sweet Corn Ice Cream. Yeah, you heard me.

Don’t look at me like I am crazy.  If you love sweet corn and vanilla and ice cream, then there is NO reason you would NOT love this iced cream.  I had a 4 quart ice cream maker so if you have one of the two quart makers, just half the recipe.