grilled corn salad

this is what happens when perfect summer ingredients come together...

Ingredients
3 tablespoons of your favorite vinegar
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
6 ears fresh corn, grilled
2 cups worth of tomatoes
8 ounces fresh mozzarella, cut into small cubes
1 1/2 cups fresh basil leaves
salt and pepper

 Directions
Whisk the vinegar, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Gradually whisk in the oil, starting with a few drops and then adding the rest in a steady stream, to make a smooth dressing.

Shear off the corn kernels with a sharp knife over a bowl. Toss in the tomatoes and mozzarella.

Pour the vinaigrette over the salad and toss to coat. Cover and let set for 15 minutes or up to 2 hours.

 (this is also good if you throw in some bacon, or some smoked salmon. i've used sherry vinegar, balsamic vinegar and white wine vinegar - all are good)

modified from food network's version

Dinner for 2...

Gramercy Tavern.  Tasting menus for each, super good.


Red Snapper, Kohlrabi, Shiitake Mushrooms and Smoked Jalapeño


Soft Shell Crab, Corn, Red Leaf Lettuce and Pickled Green Tomato


Halibut, Zucchini, Black Olives and Lobster Sauce


Squab, Barley, Sungold Tomatoes and Artichokes

Pork tasting plate

Tart for dessert

Communists:

Sweet Corn, King Crab, Shiso and Pickled Ramps

Heirloom Tomato Salad, Shishito Peppers and Pickled Fennel (there was also some cheese in here, and, when I had all the flavors together it might have been the single best bite of food all night)


Warm Bean Salad and Squash Sauce

Roasted Eggplant, Cucumbers, Peppers and Pine Nuts

Spinach Spaghetti, Tomato, Shishito Peppers and Basil

Cheese plate for dessert

Plus, the table was comped a strawberry tart from the bar menu that was superb.

Plus good beer:  Stone-Cali Belgique IPA, Speedway Stout, and J.W. Lees Harvest Ale, 1998 (it was ridiculous)

inauthentically delicious

We have added two foods to our summer repertoire of dinner recipes this winter, both with staunchly ethnic roots, both Americanized for my tastes.

Banh Mi -- very little cooking involved, refreshing with its creamy/sour, meaty/crunchy combo of flavors and textures, and infinitely customizable, we've enjoyed creating sandwiches whose only commonality is the pickled veggies, light smear of mayo, and soft, crusty bread. We've found the rolls at Whole Foods' bakery work well, even though they aren't baguette at all, but rather soft rolls. I haven't found the perfect baguette here - they're all too thick-crusted, and I have trouble getting balanced bites with crusty loaves. We use the master recipe here, more or less, alongside the pickled veggie recipe from the same blog. Since I am among the cilantro averse, I've added parsley in place of the devil herb, and I tend to lazily buy whatever meat is on the hot food bar at the Whole Foods, which completely obviates the need for cooking.

Lomo Saltado -- I had this at Acuario's in Port Chester NY, and (aside from having to pick off all the cilantro), it was quite perfect: marinated meat over an order of fries, with the juices from the meat basting the fries. Peruvian poutine. I tried out Food and Wine's recent recipe, adding just a bit of cinnamon, and pouring the meat over potatoes that we doused in olive oil, salt and pepper and threw on the grill. Perfect the first day, and just as good wrapped into a tortilla with cheese and lettuce, burrito style, the next day.


Lomo Saltado, adapted from Food and Wine Magazine

1/4 cup + a couple tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 garlic clove, minced
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 pound skirt steak
1 red onion, halved and slivered
Vegetable oil, for frying
1 large tomato, chopped
1/4 cup parsley
3-5 medium sized yukon gold potatoes

• Throw the steak in the freezer for about half an hour to make slicing it thin easier. 
• Cut the potatoes into 1/2" cubes, toss with a couple tablespoons of olive oil, salt, and pepper. Put potatoes on the grill over medium heat. 
• In a large bowl, combine the olive oil, cumin, coriander, garlic and a generous pinch each of salt and pepper. 
• Cut the steak into 4-inch pieces; slice the steaks across the grain 1/2 inch thick and add to the bowl along with the onion. Marinate for 10 minutes. 
• Heat a large griddle until very hot. 
• Add the steak and onion and stir-fry over high heat until the meat and onion are cooked through and lightly charred, 3 to 4 minutes. 
• Add the tomato and cook until softened and beginning to char, about 1 minute. 
• Add the potatoes and parsley and flip with a spatula to combine. Serve right away.

beets!

Today in food-news...  beet salad.

It's basically the standard beet salad that we make without even thinking about it these days.

Take some beets, roast them in an oven at 400ish for a while.  Peel, cube.

Toss with toasted walnuts, chopped parsley and either feta or ricotta salata (hard crumbly cheese, a nice blue would probably work too, but not too stinky)

Then, salt & pepper and a nice vinaigrette.  Do everything to taste.

While it takes about 90 minutes, most of that's roasting the beets and letting them cool.

It's really only 15 minutes of actual work, although I turn my hands pink every time when I'm peeling and cutting the beets.

Also, we cut up and slurped down some melon we got at the Trenton farmer's market.  There's about half left, it sounds like what I'll be eating tomorrow...

It's been a week, but that's partially because I was in NH last week doing some roofing and eating carrots.  The carrot was awesome.  I ate all of them that I found.  We haven't seen many here in NJ yet.

This week's share included more zuke! Onions, garlic, chard (I love chard, if I wasn't already married, I might marry it.  I'm hoping for dino kale in the fall though, mmmmm), corn, cabbage and basil.

Food wise:  it was grillin time!  All the corn got grilled and then made into a salad with some tomato and mozz.  Tasty, I just ate the last of it.  Zuke got cut on a bias, tossed with oil, salt and herb and grilled.  My goal was to get a bit of crispy on it.


I'm also going to do my first brewing this week.  It's my project for Wednesday to celebrate a pretty decent work-week.  I'm doing an ESM that's an adaptation of Peter's 5-plumber Ale that I brewed in January.  I'm going to add more munich than is called for in his recipe because (a) I've got 10lbs of the stuff, and (b) it's lighter in color when made all-grain rather than extract and I'd like to bring a bit more body to it.

Monday?  Bah and nonsense.

More food fun was had...  I made souffle of zuke!  It was pretty tasty.  Then, we ate it last night and I killed it all today for lunch.

Sadly, one of the loaves of zuke bread has already gone bad, we haven't cut into the other one, so no idea if it's both.

Plan for today is:  strata with tomato (thanks Trenton Farmer's market), bread, chard and a bit of gruyere.  mmmm, tasty.

It's sort of food news:  I spend so much energy trying to get and stay hydrated due to all the running that I can't really drink anymore.  Most days, even one beer makes me have a nasty-hangover headache because I lose too much water.  How sad...

This week in CSA land:
a lot of onions (white & green<- too many of these)
more zuch
more beets
chard!
basil

Today's adventures in baking:  zuch bread.  It's in the oven right now.  I went with Bittman.  Maybe later today or tomorrow; zuch souffle!

What to do with the other zuch that's accumulating in the fridge?  When is 'national leave zuch on your neighbor's porch day" again?  Crap, I have to hold out til Aug 8?!?
http://www.squidoo.com/National-Zucchini-Day

Today in beer news, Tod Mott, longtime brewer of the Portsmouth Brewery, has decided to leave the job.

OMG, teh world is coming to an end.  Who will make Kate the Great RIS?  Who will make Coffee Milk Stout?  Who will make all of my other favorite beers?

Due to the fact that we had about a pint of jam in a tupperware and then another 1/2 pint popped so that it had to go in the fridge, Kate declared that it was to be jam cookies.

This was basically a sugar cookie dough rolled thin, with a dollop of jam, then baked.  I am not good at shaping them.

They're tasty, distressingly tasty.  They're good for breakfast, lunch and dinner...

So...  blueberry jam!

My first canning in some time and definitely the first here in NJ.  The last time I made jam I put it in pint and quart jars that were way too big.  We'd open one and then throw a lot of it out (unless it was being used in baking).  So, this time:  1/2 pint jars.

Easy as, well, jam:
0) Pick through and wash berries
1) Berries, lemon juice and spices into the pot
2) Squish it all up with your potato masher
3) Add pectin & bring to a boil
4) Add sugar & bring to a hard boil for a minute
5) Off the heat, into the jars
6) Process for 5ish minutes (I did 10ish for kicks)
7) Stick in basement and eat as needed