cooksome

farmers market special

our farmers market special cooking class yesterday turned out to be sensational.  one of the things i like best about these classes is seeing how a diverse group of folks come together and really enjoy each other.  it happens almost instantly.  they walk in the door, there is a smile, an introduction and suddenly a joint purpose.  food does that.  it brings people togther.   

the menu for yestereday's class was based on using the very best of what was available at the farmers market. our menu was:

classic gazpacho

panzanella

nicoise salad with basic vinaigrette

caprese with a flavored vinegar and a flavored oil

pesto

 we brined two chickens and two pork tenderloins and later some shrimp.  i think everyone walked away from the class that day with a complete understanding and appreciation for that technique.  we put the pesto under the skin of the chicken and then we grilled everything.  the beauty of this menu was that everything could be mixed and matched.  you could serve any of the protiens with any of the dishes.  we tasted some great wines, my absolute favorite being the Pares Balta Blanc de Pacs.  it's a still cava.  it matched well with all the dishes.

happy birthday tami!

no, this picture is not of tami's birthday dinner.  this was cee's dinner for her birthday a few weeks back.  sadly, i was not "feelin it" back then so tami's dinner was meant to make up for it.

the menu got tweaked all day long as i ran into and out of energy.

it all got off to a rough start when i awoke in the morning realizing i left my semi confited duck legs in the oven all night.  (it was off) if only they had been completely submerged in duck fat i would not have sweated it.  but they were not.  so not wanting to kill my friend on her birthday took precedence and i tossed them.  sustitute... duck breasts.  here is the menu

minted shrimp salad 

duck breast eggrolls with sweet hot chili sauce

miso glazed pork belly over radish salad

lump crabcakes over smoked cheddar stone ground grits with pickled chilis and cilanto oil.

frozen chocolate coconut rice pudding

we drank some fantastic sparklers starting with diebolt-valois  fleur de passion champagne.  it was a good night ending on the front porch. 

ahhh summer

 

Saturday night quickie

So it's Saturday night and I just had a quickie.  Don't know where your mind went with that but I was talking about dinner.  This is standard fare here at casa a la cooksome.  I realize early in the day that I probably have enough stuff to put together a meal and don't want to go to the grocery store so I end up winging it.  Invariably there ends up being some kind of acid (probably vinegar not LSD) and a generous amount of olive oil.  Salt, pepper, some cheese maybe some nuts for crunch, onions, I love onions, the possibilities goes on and on.  I forget who the cookbook author was that so wisely said, "the most important ingredient may be the one you left out."  In my brain, simplicity reigns.  A big thing on my side tonight is that it's deep summer and there is a whole lotta produce sitting on my counter and stuffed in the fridge.  Here is the run down on tonight's "quickie"

Thin sliced pork chops marinaded in cheap balsamic, red onion, salt and pepper and olive oil.I served the grilled chops over a salad of  sliced heirloom tomatoes, blanched green beans,

red onion, sheeps milk feta, a small amount of cooked ditalini and avocado. I added a half of a Thai chili cause everything is better with a chili.

Toss the ingredients in Olive oil and balsamic.  It needed a touch more acid so I squeezed in some lime juice.  Season liberally with salt and pepper.  

Pork Chops with Grilled Peaches

I feel like for the first time I am really enjoying all the great foods of summer.  The peaches, the cherries, watermelon, tomatoes of course.  It may have something to do with my outlook lately.  I am really excited by my new business.  Recently I saw a quote that read something like, "the more I enjoy what I do, the less it seems like work".    Food, has always been the one thing that can bring me back into focus and give me both a huge rush and a sense of satisfaction.   Didn't mean to get off track.  What ever, this year more than any others I have found myself using fruits in my salads and on sandwiches.  I use them so much I am not consuming as many tomatoes as usual.  I guess I am late coming to main stream fruit use.  Not to be confused with main stream fruit juice.  I know I am old school  about a lot of my food pairings.  To me some things just go together naturally so for dinner last night I put together a pretty classic pairing - pork and peaches.  I made a marinade for the pork chops.

3 Tbsp red wine vinegar

4 tbsp spanish extra virgin olive oil

fresh ground pepper

fresh thyme 

1/2 clove fresh grated garlic

I marinated the chops for about 2 or 3 hours

For the salad I tossed greens with extra virgin olive oil

and some good balsamic, salt and pepper.

Grill the chops along with a ripe peach halved and tossed in oil

I topped the greens with a drizzle of sheep's milk yogurt, toasted pistachios and some chopped proscuitto.  Michael Chaierllo has a recipe for making these great proscuitto bits but I was feeling a bit lazy last night.  I only grilled the peaches long enough to put grill marks on them so they were not cooked through.   In any case, the salad was great.