by Krista | Jul 9, 2010 | Fabulous Friday
It is blisteringly, gloriously hot in Washington at long last. As I swelter oh-so-happily I am most definitely in the mood for cold foods and colder drinks.
Last night I mixed up 1 part chilled Riesling with 1 part seltzer water and the juice of one lime for a marvelously refreshing drink that cooled me off beautifully while the sun set over the trees.
How has your week been, dear ones? Have you been working on any projects that are delighting or baffling you?
I had a rather serious relapse from my car accident, and it’s been a painful few weeks for me. Thankfully things are getting better now and it makes me smile that the sunshine arrived just as I started getting back to my old self. Such a splendid gift!
While recovering I spent many an hour in the grass on the creek bank, reading, thinking, napping, writing. I love that dear spot.
This weekend I hope to put my house back in order. Dishes, vacuuming and such are NOT a priority when I feel wretched, and it will be marvelous to see things gleaming and tidy again.
Last night I had no idea what to make for dinner, especially as I perused the contents of my fridge and pantry: mint leaves, English peas, apricots, red leaf lettuce, goat cheese, coconut-almond pancake sauce, etc.
On a whim I decided to throw it all together in a rather random salad. I’m so glad I did. Mmm, mmm – delicious!! I heated the coconut-almond sauce to make it the consistency of dressing, and drizzled it over everything else. It gave a lovely tropical twist to the salad and the sweetness was marvelous with the creamy goat cheese.
I’ve caught myself reading a lot more travel blogs lately, sighing happily over gorgeous pictures, dreaming about jetting off to the beaches of Greece or a tropical isle in the South Pacific or a beach house on the Gold Coast of Australia. I’m sensing a theme here.
In the meantime I’ve been looking at places I might visit within a couple of hours of home.
I’d love/hate to walk the Capilano Suspension Bridge in British Columbia. Yipes! I’m such a scaredy cat of heights, and wobbly heights are practically the devil! Sure looks beautiful though.
A sunny day ferry-hopping to the San Juan Islands sounds jolly.
And a picnic lunch and a bit of hiking around Mt. Baker would be wonderful.
What is your favorite inexpensive thing to do during the summer? I hope you have a gorgeous weekend and I will see you bright and early Monday morning! 🙂
This post is my contribution to Happy Hour Friday.
Coconut Almond Sauce
Ingredients:
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup agave syrup
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup ground almonds
Directions:
- Combine honey, agave, butter and coconut milk in small saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat and cool slightly.
- Stir in ground almonds.
- serve warm or let cool and use as a spread.
Lime Wine Cooler
(serves 1)
Ingredients:
1/2 cup chilled Riesling
1/2 cup chilled seltzer water
Juice of one lime and a few strips of zest
Directions:
- Combine all ingredients, pour into glasses and serve immediately.
by Krista | Jul 8, 2010 | Plucky Thursday
Few things feel more summery to me than eating ripe cherries warmed by the sun. My absolutely favorite variety is Rainier, a cross between Bing and Van cultivars, developed at Washington State University in 1952 by a chap named Harold Fogle. They are shiny, juicy and so doggone pretty, I’m absolutely smitten.
Summer also brings out other lovely things, like icy glasses of limoncello, so beautifully yellow and lip-puckeringly lemony. I do love a glass on a hot summer’s eve clustered around the grill with friends, which is where I was last night, visiting with my folks and dear friends Art and Donna, watching Art work his magic on the grill.
Although the original plan was for Kansas-style ribs, Art surprised us with Tuscan-Rubbed Salmon instead. There was nary a complaint in the house as we saw the spice-crusted fillets sizzle and smoke deliciously on the grill. Served with Donna’s fabulous grilled zucchini and buttered carrots, the salmon was tender, flavorful and smooth as silk on the tongue.
Art and Donna warned us to save room for dessert and boy, were we glad we did! Bright blue plates arrived bearing peach pie topped with vanilla ice cream and a sprinkling of fresh berries. Fantastic! It was a beautiful way to celebrate our fashionably late summer.
What is your favorite summer dessert?
Art’s Tuscan-Rubbed Salmon
(From Relish Mag)
Ingredients:
2 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp sweet paprika
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground fennel
1 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
4 6-ounce salmon fillets
4 tsp extra virgin olive oil
Directions:
- Prepare grill.
- Combine all ingredients except salmon and olive oil in a bowl.
- Brush each salmon fillet with about 1 tsp olive oil
- Press spice mixture on skinless side of salmon. Let stand 15 minutes.
- Place salmon skin side up on grill grate. Cover grill. Cook over high heat about 3 minutes. Flip and cook, skin side down, 5 more minutes or until done but still red in center.
by Krista | Jul 7, 2010 | Bits 'n' Bobs
Good morning, dear ones! Summer has arrived in Washington at long last, and I’m a happy, happy girl. Up until now I’ve been wearing sundresses (and sweaters!!) in defiance of the weather. Now I get to wear them in celebration of it!!!
Every day going to and from work I pass the most beeyootiful ditches absolutely chock full of wildflowers. Every day I think, “I really need to stop and take pictures” and every day I don’t. Finally this weekend I roused myself out of bed and took a cloudy morning stroll along those lovely ditches.
Seeing those cheery daisies and frothy Queen Anne’s Lace among the waving grasses was pure bliss and brought back warm, happy feelings from my childhood days gallivanting over the windswept prairies of Alberta, Canada. What things in nature remind you of your childhood?
After that delightful amble I headed back home started my weekend blitz cooking. I try to do all my cooking on the weekend, big batches of curries and soups, large tarts and flavorful salads, hot cereals and banana bread, then divide everything into plastic containers that I freeze or chill until needed. By the end my kitchen is a horrendous mess and I’m rather frazzled, but I sure love opening my fridge the rest of the week knowing I have something good waiting for me when I’m too tired to think at the end of a long day.
This weekend my favorite dish is Green Chili Cilantro Chicken, a marvelously flavorful dish with a heavenly sauce made of yogurt, fire-roasted tomatoes, lemon, mild green chilies, ginger, garlic, and a whole whack-load of fresh cilantro. It’s one of those dishes that is, ahem, ugly, but ohhh, does it taste good!
It’s easy as a wink too, which I absolutely love. All the sauce bits are pureed so there’s almost no chopping required, and everything is cooked in the same pot. Perfect. I serve mine over Bhutanese Red rice, but it also goes beautifully scooped up with fresh whole-grain naan or pita.
Cilantro Chicken
4 inch piece of ginger, peeled and coarsely chunked
6 large garlic cloves, peeled and coarsely chunked
1 tsp salt
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in two
2/3 cup fire-roasted diced tomatoes (or 1 medium tomato, diced)
3 cups fresh cilantro leaves and small stems
1 small can diced mild chilies (or 2-3 fresh hot chilies, chopped)
1 tsp tomato paste
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup plain yogurt
Directions:
- Puree ginger, garlic, 1/2 tsp salt, lemon juice and 2 Tbsp water in blender or food processor.
- Place chicken in glass bowl, pour over ginger mixture and stir to coat. Let sit covered in refrigerator for 1-24 hours.
- Puree tomato, cilantro, chilies, tomato paste, remaining salt, and 2 Tbsp water.
- Heat oil in pot over high heat. When hot, add chicken and marinade and cook, stirring often, about 10 minutes or until chicken is browned.
- Add tomato mixture and cook, stirring often, another 10 minutes.
- Add yogurt and cook, stirring often, about 5 minutes.
- Serve over rice or with whole-grain naan.
by Krista | Jul 6, 2010 | Gulliver Tuesday
I was delighted when Barbara at Winos and Foodies invited me to participate in her culinary tour of the Tour de France, especially when I discovered my Stage 3 started in Belgium: Wanze-Arenberg Porte du Hainaut
My first and only visit to Belgium was with my brother Ryan about ten years ago. He and I were on a road trip through Germany and decided that we were so close to Belgium we simply had to take a detour and visit.We drove through the Ardennes, stopping at Bastogne, Foy, and other places I knew from my years of reading World War II history. Then we drove north, parallel to the Wanze area.
It was like driving through a picture book of stone churches, country cottages and tidy farms. As we drove through the rolling hills and dense forests, we were mesmerized by the beauty of the Belgian countryside and kept stopping for photos, chocolate-filled croissants and strolls along cobbled streets.
I smile to think of the Tour De France cyclists pedaling madly through those places now, and wish I was with them only going much, much slower.
Wanze, which means marshland, is in the Meuse Valley built along the River Mehaigne.
From Wikimedia
Wanze was first mentioned in 1127. Over the next several hundred years, it suffered through battles, sackings and burnings as the gentry tussled over rights of ownership and power. By the 1800’s things had settled down and in 1812 Belgium’s first sugar mill was installed. (See below) By the end of the century it was the largest in Europe, attracting immigrant workers from all over. Nowadays Wanze is home to BioWanze, the most innovating sugar refinery on the Continent.
From Wikimedia
Wanze is remaking itself as an eco-tourism destination with walking trails that wend their way to the ruins of an ancient castle and a Cycle Museum that features 160 bicycles from as far back as 1830.
From Wikimedia
When I think of Belgian food I think of two things: pomme frites (French fries) and endive.
French Fries actually originated in Belgium. A Belgian journalist noted in 1680 that country people in the Meuse Valley were making these fried potatoes. Allegedly they used to serve tiny fried fish with their meals, but when the river froze they substituted fried potatoes.
Belgian pomme frites are made especially crispy and delicious by double-frying. The first dunking ensures the potatoes are cooked. After they are salted and cooled, the frites are returned to the hot oil and fried one minute longer to brown and crisp. Although Americans traditionally dip them in ketchup and my Canadian countrymen douse them in gravy, Belgians dip them in mayonnaise. A decadent topping to be sure.
I had never cooked endive before conducting research for this post, and was delighted to find them in the specialty food section of the local grocery store.
One of the most popular Belgian endive dishes is a gratin.
I gently boiled the endive in salted water until tender, then let them drain and cool slightly. While they cooled I made a simple bechamel sauce with nutmeg and stirred in a small mountain of Swiss cheese. I wrapped the endive in thinly sliced ham, then nestled them into a buttered baking dish. I poured the sauce over and baked it for 20 minutes until heated through and bubbling. Pulling it out I topped it with more Swiss cheese and set it under the broiler until the cheese was browned beautifully.
I am now a huge fan of endive (or is it the cheese??). I was going to save it to use for my lunches this week, but it was so delicious I only have enough left over for one more meal.
Pop over to the other blogs featuring each stage of the Tour de France:
Stage Two: My Kitchen Treasures: Brussels – Spa
Stage Four: Strayed from the Table: Cambrai-Reims
This is my contribution to Wanderfood Wednesday.
Belgian Pomme Frites
Ingredients:
3-4 potatoes, peeled, rinsed in salt water and patted dry
vegetable oil
salt
Directions:
- Heat oil in deep saucepan over medium-high heat about 5-7 minutes.
- Place dry potatoes in oil and let cook for 5-6 minutes. Remove with slotted spoon and let drain and cool on paper towels. Sprinkle with salt right away.
- When cool, return potatoes to hot oil and cook for 1-2 minutes more until they are golden brown. Remove with slotted spoon and let drain on paper towels. Salt again if necessary.
Belgian Endive Gratin
Ingredients:
6 endive, washed and outer leaves removed. Trim bottoms.
2 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp flour
1 cup milk
1/8 tsp grated nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup grated Swiss Cheese
6 slices prosciutto or other thinly sliced ham
1/2 cup grated Swiss Cheese
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Bring pot of salted water to boil and cook endive 8-10 minutes until tender. Remove to colander and drain.
- In saucepan melt butter over medium heat. Stir in flour and keep stirring until mixture browns. Add milk and stir until mixture thickens. Add nutmeg, pepper, salt and first measure of cheese.
- Wrap each endive in one slice prosciutto. Lay in buttered baking dish.
- Pour cheese sauce over endive. Place in oven and bake 20 minutes.
- Top with remaining measure of cheese. Place under broiler for 2-3 minutes or until cheese is golden brown. Serve immediately.
by Krista | Jul 5, 2010 | Bootstrap Monday
North America is mighty festive this weekend as Canucks celebrate Canada Day and the Yanks, Independence Day. So, dear Americans and Canadians, may this day find you with people you love delighting in the freedom we all cherish.
Special thanks to my brother Evan who is fighting in Afghanistan and coming home soon. I love you!
I’ll be back tomorrow with a special post for the Tour De France organized by my lovely Aussie friend Barbara at Winos and Foodies.
Now I’m off to enjoy this holiday!! See you soon!  🙂
