In Season Recipes

Teka

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Blundin2005

Teka--prego. Glad you're at the table with us.

http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=56332

This is a quick post that I took from the list serve of www.wunrn.com.  The article talks about saving seeds and knowledge of indiginous peoples by the women in India.  It was noteworthy that the seeds adapt to their environment. If the plant is raised in a draught, the seeds code for longer periods between water.  Hybrids don't do this it seems. Don't you just love how nature works!  You can't fool mother nature.

I thought you'd enjoy to read this...and start saving your seeds. This may be why we had a basil population explosion this year.  We used the seeds from the plants last year...they seem to like it here. I'm happy.

Blundin2005

Last night, I went to the fish shop craving salmon yesterday (wished I'd brought the camera--next time). We arrived to find a beautiful Norweign farm salmon. They arrive every Tuesday and Thursday. I bought it. They asked if I wanted it cut into steaks or fillets or both. I asked for both.

We had some of the fillets last night for dinner with homefries on the side.  I poached the fish in white wine in a covered pan for about 10 min. on a low heat.  Served with parsley clippings and lemon wedge.  Nothing fancy. Simply good.

I'm on a specific diet for ecography of the kidney and bladder until Friday. No fresh veggies or fruit, no red meat, no coffee or wine. I'm on lockdown!

I edited this for information I found for nutrition values of salmon and on Norweign farm salmon issues. I can afford to buy the farm salmon.

http://theforeigner.no/pages/news/toxic-norwegian-farmed-salmon-poisons-french-food-relations/ 

and

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=104  Sorry ... don't know why this didn't work.  

Here's another 

http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/finfish-and-shellfish-products/4259/2 

Best wishes to all as always,

Marilyn 

carollynn79

Salmon sounds good.  I hope to have my fill in Alaska as DH is not a fan so do not cook much. Picked our first blackberries today yumm.  Flowers are doing well hydrangaes are very pretty.  Went to see MO today all is well, breast pain will most likely remain due to radiation damge but as long as I know I wont worry too much! Canned beef Sunday easy but time consuming. It makes a great easy meal when busy. Garden is booming made veggie pasta salad, used peas, chard,broccoli,onion,parsley, dill,celery, and green olives.  Dressed it with olive oil,pickle juice and mayo.  Hope all are well and happily gardening and cooking.

Teka

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Anonymous

  Oh, those pictures!!...I want to go to Italy and have my dinner on a balcony. 

   Last night we ate in the backyard and did the entire meal on the grill except for the mac and cheese I made just because I have been craving it for a week.  My father is here for the weekend and I had a few friends over.  We cooked salmon and made several sauces for it using some of my fresh dill.  I made a big salad with dad's homegrown tomatoes and also did tomatoes with fresh mozzarella, basil and olive oil.  Did potatoes with onion slices in foil on the grill and fixed that zucchini recipe I posted earlier in foil instead of doing it in a casserole and added the parmesan cheese at the end so it wouldn't burn up.  It was sort of a spur of the moment thing throwing stuff together, but everything was delicious if I do say so myself.   That is the silky terrier Harley checking out something in the woodpile.    The dogs enjoyed the dinner.  Very strange dates are showing on these pics and I don't know why.  It was a nice time, but I still would rather be eating in Italy.  Oh, and I love liver smothered with onions....am not so sure about that tomato topping you posted about. 

Blundin2005

Buon giorno,

Carolynn--Alaska salmon!  That will be something to write about! There is a difference of flavor between the wild and farm salmon.  I prefer the wild but the price is steep.

Blackberries are ripe here and I see people along the road sides picking them. Blackberry jam on toast in the morning...yum. I probably need to learn how to do canning properly. DH talked about it last night for tomatoes. We want our sauce through the winter.

BTW, I have that chest pain too. The docs just say "it's nothing to worry about". Easy for them to say! If I move in the wrong way it grabs my attention with considerable force.  Take care of yourself lady.

Teka--The Carbonara recipe sounds interesting with green beans and onions. This is one of our favorites too. Other than the green beens and onions, the difference in my DH recipe is that the parmigiano is added on top after the spaghetti and egg mixture. The heat of the spaghetti "cooks" the egg although ours is usually moist. Great dipping for pane di Sardengna. I like poached eggs on toast too.

Marybe--The impromtu gathering around your table in the garden sounded delicious. I think the spontaneous gatherings are the most fun--open the frig and see what to put together. And your vine-covered arbor is a comfortable setting for such an occasion.  I like the sun shining across the table--vitamine D at its best. Our dogs like to join the party too. We usually hold them off until the end because Stella is vivacious and seeks our guest's attention..she's not yet 2. Is Harley named after the motorcycle?  

Well I'm short on pictures myself this week. I had exams on Friday and wasn't permitted cheese, veggies or fruits for three days.  It didn't sound like a long time, but by the second day I was coveting the salad DH had on his plate and staring at the peach in front of him. I lost 7 lbs over the week and gained back two by this morning.  Shameful I know.  Saturday morning after the postoffice and bank chores, I went to the cheese shop and bought ricotta, a young presalted goat cheese and one that is similar to greek feta for salads. The two pounds came not in the foods but the quantity. Portions, portions, portions. I'm over my deprevation and back to my normal, non-exam, diet today.

Yesterday a young, local man came to trim the fruit trees...with his three year old son. I love that about this country. Children are with the parents for everything. Sadly though, the cherry tree needed to be removed because the trunk was infested and hollowed. Maybe this is why it produced so little this year. But the baby next to it is surviving so we'll have some cherries next year. The silver lining is that the tree's absence left in much more sun for the raised garden I'm dreaming about for the Spring. We cut the wood for the fireplace.

This young man does much garden work tends his own veggie garden.  He arrived with a zucchini and a bag full of tomatoes for us which DH promptly made into sauce.  Even the people we hire for work arrive with food!

Monday is holiday here ... Ferragosto http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferragosto I plan to go to our apartment in Trevignano on the other side of the lake for a mini vacation.  The town celebrates with boat parade of the Madona that ends in an incredible display of fireworks. It's just the infusion of energy I need in the present moment. It's been hard to get away this year.   

Teka

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Teka

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Blundin2005

Buon giorno,

We set the date for the BBQ--the 27th. I don't know yet how many are coming as the list is growing. The menu is shish kabob selection of beef or chicken and salmon.  I plan to experiment with Marybe's sauce recipe soon to use on the shish kabob and maybe even the salmon.  I'll have some apperativo items to munch while the BBQ is cooking.  We'll have a traditional salad using our tomatoes and I'm going to make the watermellon salad recipe here a few pages ago.  Boy was that yummy. It'll be buffet style so I cleared the terrace for more people...and maybe a line dance after dinner? That should raise a few Italian eyebrows!

Monday I went to Trevignano for the fireworks.  I needed to arrive by 9 am to find parking.  Good thing that I did because by 9:30 there were no other spots near the center where our holiday apartment is located. It was a very relaxing day. After I got settled into the apartment, I walked to a shop where a friend visiting from Germany was displaying her jewelry and art. We caught up on old times over pasta with tuna in red sauce and prosecco for lunch at my apartment and took caffe in the town square after. Then I took a mid afternoon nap.  When I woke, I got ready for dinner.  Another friend who has a holiday apartment there for the summer met me for dinner at a restaurant in the town square. The dinner was so so.  First plate was ricotta and spinich crepes, second plate was corregone, a lake fish, and we shared a small carafe of the house white wine that was...well...not so good. We picked this restaurant for the position, not the food--we had good seats for the fireworks. So here are some of the pics..

This is my favorite cafe across from the restaurant...we got our gelato from here for desert. 

 The crowd inside the cafe are qued for gelato.... 

I spent the night there and walked along the lake the next morning.  This is the view from another cafe where I had fresh squeezed orange juice e un cornetto. 

And this was dinner last night when I came home.  I grilled egg plant and topped with chopped tomatoes seasoned with some garlic, fresh basil, salt & pepper and olive oil.  The meat dish was hamburgers from our butcher.

Buon appetito.  

Marilyn 

carollynn79

Marilynn looks good,, hope you have a great BBQ.  It has been a busy week making saurkraut, picking and canning blackberries, freezing green beans and getting all at work settled so I can enjoy my vacation.  We are excited about our Alaska trip, we fly out Saturday.  I am looking forward to seafood while we are away!! We had BLT sandwiches and fresh sweet corn tonight it was delish!! 

Marybe looks like a great time had by all.  We like dill too , my DH does not like basil, rosemary, or most fresh herbs but he does like dill and parsley so I use them alot.  

Hope everyone has a great week, I will send some pictures.

Anonymous

  A good time was had, carollynn, but Italy looks so much nicer....I want to be THERE.  Speaking of dill.....how about a sauce with dill for the salmon, Marilyn?   I hope you have a wonderful time in Alaska, Carrollynn......are you doing land or sea or both?  

From the looks of it a big tree in my back yard is dying and I find this very upsetting. Leaves are brown and falling off.  It will mean most of my shade garden will be in the sun if I lose it.   I think I need to call a tree doctor to see if anything can be done to save it. 

Sherryc

I purchased tomatoe plants and eggplant for my fall garden.  I will get those planted tomorrow and then decide what seeds I am going to plant.  This will be my first fall garden and I am excited about it.

Teka

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Blundin2005

Buon giorno,

Sherryc we'll be interested to follow along with your Fall garden. What month does it end? That must be a lot of sun year round. Our frost comes sometime in Dec/Jan if it comes at all. The tomatoes were so good this year we are saving seeds.  

Ladies all...I reluctantly postponed the bbq. We are having a heat wave...constant 90 and above. It was over 100 yesterday. This is normal for July and August but our July was so pleasant we thought it might last. It won't break until sometime next week. Given our busy Sept. lineup of doctor/hospital appts. I rescheduled for the first weekend of Oct. That gives me a lot of time to experiment with Marybe's recipes.

Maybe Carolynn will post some pics from Alaska and we'll get some psycological relief from the heat! 

DH made a meal yesterday that you might like to try. It's a favorite here for summer first plate served room temperature. Tomatoes stuffed with rice baked with potatoes. For this, DH bought tomatoes from Holland...large and substanitive pulp unlike our salad tomatoes that we grow that have more juice. He scoops out the center of the tomato and blends it in the food processor. To this he adds chopped garlic, oregano, parsley, salt & pepper and a hand full of rice for each tomato. Then he fills them with this mixture. They are placed in a baking dish drizzled with olive oil along with sliced potatoes around, then bakes for almost an hour at about 350 F. When finished, let cool to room temperature to serve.

I never thought so much about the differences in tomatoes. At our markets, you simply look for the sign "pomadori riso" that's how popular this dish is. The others are marked for salads or sauce. The difference being the pulp, juice and skin thickness. I asked DH and he said the tomato arrived here sometime after Columbus explored the new world. He thought that the Aztecs cultivated them. So I googled and found this interesting article... 

http://www.landscapeimagery.com/tomato.html 

Here is the pictorial recipe.... hope you enjoy this healthy and easy recipe. It can be cooked in advance for the workweek and makes a nice side dish too. We eat it as the main event.

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Buon appetito,

Marilyn 

Sherryc

Yes we have lots of sun year round here in South Texas.  It does not really start to get cold here until December and I have seen many Christmas Days wearing shorts.  Most all of my harvest will finish around Thanksgiving to Christmas.  Then it will be too cold and my beds will be empty except for onions.  We plant those between thanksgiving and Christmas and they will be ready in the spring.  I have run out of room so DH will have to built be another raised bed for next spring.  Along with my tomatoes and eggplants I planted mustard, collard and turnip greens, green beans, blackeyed peas, carrots, radishes and a spring mix lettuce and broccoli.  My Okra is growing like crazy, that is the only thing left from my spring/summer garden.

My kids are all coming in this weekend.  One lives in Seattle and one in West Texas and then one lives an hour away.  Will be fun to have my kids and grandkids in.  When DH and sons get together we have to have a big ol Texas BBQ.  so they will cook a couple of Briskets.  Then another day fajitas and then another day ribs.  Of course we will have red beans and potatoe salad to go along with the brisket. If I don't forget to take pictures I'll post them next week.

Mandy1313

Marilyn, I love your husband's stuffed tomato recipe...perfect for a vegetarian like me.  But here is a dumb question....what rice does he use and is it partially cooked? 

I am afraid my garden is not that interesting. A few shade flowers and that is it---but they make it look nice when I sit outdoors.

Mandy

Blundin2005

Sherryc it sounds like you have good times ahead with the family and bbq. We'd love to see pics.

Mandy1313 ... there is no such thing as a dumb question. In fact, it took me a translator and a google search of "rice quality arborio" to get your answer. DH answered so matter-a-factly that the rice is called Arborio. I never heard of it and he looked at me like I had two heads. His entire universe is Italian. My sleuthing led me to this....

Arborio

This rice type originated in Italy where it has traditionally been used for making risotto. Arborio rice is classified as a medium grain, but it has fairly firm internal texture and a unique creamy exterior. It often has a white core (chalky center) that is thought to be responsible for its ability to take up the flavor of the stock or sauce it is cooked in.

DH said it was not par boiled. 

Hope it helps.

Marilyn 

Mandy1313

Hi Marilyn!

Thanks for your research.  I can buy arborio rice quite easily here....so thanks for specifying which rice.  

My daughter is home, inbetween being away for her summer research work and going  back to Harvard in the fall. She is entering her senior year.  Not enough time to satify this mama, but better than no time at home.

Have a nice day everyone.

Mandy

carollynn79

Hello all a quick message here in Fairbanks having a great time, so far have enjoyed crab roll sandwiches, smoked salmon chowder, tomato basil soup and crab cakes, lots in line to use computer, more later.

Blundin2005

Carolynn79...is there take out and do they deliver to Italy? My tongue is hanging out for the tomato basil soup and crab cakes.  I adore Maryland crab cakes. Are Alaskan crab as good? Thanks for thinking of us and have a great trip!

Teka

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Teka

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Teka

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Mandy1313

All is fine after Tropical Storm Irene passed by. Just waiting to see if the river that is across the street from my house will decide to flood as they predict (but all of the other predictions did not happen).

Glad that the Alaska trip is so good. The food sounds great....

Take care all and to those who are in the path of Irene, be safe.

Blundin2005

Irene was a recipe for disaster. 3-2-1 tropical with an umbrella as it exits stage right. Everyone learned from this storm for others that will follow.

I'm glad to hear you all faired well through the storm. I checked in with family and friends and they are OK too. Some wet basements and electricity issues but nothing unmanageable.  

Hope this link works....Irene from NASA... 

http://youtu.be/Za2411qLlBo 

more later....

Best wishes to all as always,

Marilyn 

Sherryc

Well as usual I forget to take pictures.  We have done nothing but eat since my kids have been here.  First night homemade spagetti.  Then we have had fajitas with all the trimmings and spanish rice.  BBQ brisket with potatoe salad and beans.  BBQ ribs with butter potatoes and broccoli.  Also peach cobbler and pear struddle and brownies.  And of course ice cream to go along with all that.  made everything from scratch and my DIL want my potatoe salad recipe only I don't have one.  Just alittle of this and a little of that.  Told them they will have to spend more time visiting so they can learn.  wonder if manipulation will work haha  Also DH made chopped BBQ for us to eat on hamburger buns so have had that as well.  Will have plenty to put in the freezer. Tomorrow is leftovers.

Blundin2005

Buon giorno,

Well haven't we all had a busy week!  My heart goes out to the families who lost someone in this storm and to those cleaning up the destruction. I saw the pics today of the covered bridges disappearing in the torrent of the water in Vermont. That storm was huge! It's amazing to think that the earth is moving toward water shortage when I watch the flooding. 

I had my checkup yesterday for the bladder and passed with flying colors. I hate that exam and all that leads up to it. There I said it. 

Sherryc! Ok you're forgiven for no pics. It sounds like your energies went in very good direction with the family. I'm happy for you. My bbq taste buds are peaked and I bought some ingredients to try and make Marybe's sauces this week.

Last week was the BD of DH. I asked what he wanted for dinner. His choice was my eggplant Parmesan. The best part of this story was my experience at the food market. I'm usually an invisible person who accompanies my DH--it happens when you don't speak the language perfectly. This time though, the lady behind the deli counter wanted to know how I was going to use the smoked provolone. So there I stood, giving my recipe for this to an Italian who was interested in what I had to say. This made me very happy. This is what I told her...translated to English of course.

Slice the eggplant round. Put on a baking dish with oven paper and bake for about 20 min. at 375 F. While it's baking...slice fresh tomato, mozzarella, provolone...drizzle olive oil in a baking dish. When the eggplant comes out of the oven...layer the ingredients....eggplant first...then tomato, then eggplant again, then mozzarella, then eggplant again, then provolone. Grind Parmesan on top. Bake this for about 20-30 minutes. (Mandy13 will probably like this veggie recipe.) 

This isn't low cal with the cheese, but it's enough to pay attention to portions. The other thing to remember is that eggplant is a veggie that contributes to inflamation in the body.

Here are the pics...

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...and after...fresh peaches. 

DH loves fresh peaches in the wine...a good bottle of red bought by my son when he was here for Christmas.

This is just because I like the colors...the plums, lime and lemons together. The plums are so good this time of year. 

 Buon appetito.

Marilyn 

Ps. I always forget to say something...I sprinkled oregano on the tomato.  Also, this saves well for another meal eaten heated or cold.   

Teka

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Blundin2005

Teka--I'm glad that you enjoy these post as much as I enjoy posting them and reading them.  It's just that synergy that keeps me interested to participate here. No, I never thought of doing a cookbook. I'm writing a faction that I present for critique to our writer's group--I'm using photography in that as well. I like to take pictures and tell stories--a much different project that's very enjoyable. But a cookbook? Maybe we could compile one from this thread if the proceeds went to support someone who needs treatment...or to support these threads that become our strongest link to sanity throughout this disease...showing women's strength in so many ways. I'd enjoy to work on that kind of project. But I imagine the complexity of the project would drive us crazy.

In the meantime, we have our own dynamic cookbook right here.

So what did you cook tonight?

Best wishes to all as always,

Marilyn 

I made a photograph book for my mother's 92 birthday in iPhoto on my computer. It wasn't difficult. Mom has Alzheimer's so the photographs I selected expansed time. She looks at it often. My sister leaves it on the table for her.