Orzo!

Ahhhh...lovely orzo. I often forget how much I enjoy eating orzo. Shaped like a large grain of rice, it is such a fun pasta. I must cook it more often. But, I also remembered today why I don't.

I suppose I don't have to do what I do when I make an orzo dish, but if I did any different, I wouldn't feel quite right. What do I do? Orzo, is small. Therefore, I cut my vegetables small. And, by small, I mean tiny. It isn't difficult to do, just time consuming. Especially with a 19 month old who wants to pull up a stool and stand right next to you while you are chopping away with a 10 inch (sharp) chef's knife.

Here's the salad we had for dinner:
*dice the following items to approximately 1/4 inch - carrots, celery, mushrooms, zucchini
*finely dice shallots
*chop garlic; however you feel like it, but pretty small
*chop basil
*cook orzo pasta until done, & toss in plenty of olive oil; set aside to cool (I spread it out on sheet trays in a thin layer for faster cooling, but I don't think it was necessary)
*cook mushrooms in olive oil, adding garlic & shallots at the end for one minute
*sweat carrots and celery in olive oil, add zucchini and cook until desired tenderness
*combine orzo, mushrooms, & vegetable mixture in a bowl and toss well to mix everything up evenly. Season with salt, pepper, a little vinegar (I used plain red wine vinegar cuz it's what I had, but would've preferred something like sherry vinegar), and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
*fold in chopped basil
*chill until ready to serve, or serve at room temperature

This was yummy. I think it needed more vinegar, but David thought it was just fine. It would've been fun to add some little nugs of goat cheese & maybe some cherry tomatoes, but I had neither available.

Refrigerator and Cherries

My excuse for not posting recently is that our fridge has been on the fritz for a couple of weeks, making it difficult to go grocery shopping, thus having very little in the house to actually cook. But, of course, that's just an excuse, because I can honestly come up with plenty of stuff to make that would require no refrigeration. I could even make some sort of meat, if I really tried. But, I used the fridge as an excuse to cook less because of my second excuse not to cook: our kitchen has been too darn hot. It really has been. A couple months out of the year, we actually get hot enough here that it makes cooking in my kitchen unbearable. And, then there's my 3rd excuse: my 18 month old toddler. Some days, he makes it very difficult to get any cooking done. But, again, all excuses. Truth is, I haven't felt much like it lately. But, every few days, I guilt myself into doing it, and then I slack on posting about it.

Here's what I can remember that I've made recently:
-Thai red curry; forgo the light coconut milk & go for the good stuff! Red curry paste, a little goes a long way. If there's no kaffir lime leaves for lemongrass, rice wine vinegar does the trick.
-collard greens
And, several other things that I've posted about before, like pasta puttanesca...

Cherries: I discovered the "van" cherry today at the farmers' market. I didn't take note of the farm. These cherries are a little darker, a little stumpier, and maybe slightly smaller than the bing cherries. My best adjective for for this cherry is robust. I like 'em. Rainiers are still my faves.

Delicious Meal by My Friend

I'd like to give credit to my dear friend, Lucy, who cooked us a delicious meal last night. I'm not going to talk about what all she did, but I will talk about what she made.

*champagne chicken
*baked mac n cheese
*sauteed brocoli
*cucumber salad
*brown rice
*mushroom sauce/gravy

I've got to get her mac n cheese and the champagne chicken recipes. Vincent LOVED the chicken. I'm not sure if it was hunger, a need for protein, or what, but he couldn't get enough of it. I'm gonna say it was because it was so tasty!

B.L.A.T.

Bacon, lettuce, avocado, tomato - YUM!

*bacon - Thundering Hooves; cooked in the oven on 350 degrees F for 15 minutes, and then I got impatient and turned up the heat to 400, because it was barely cooking. I think it stayed in the oven for another 10-15 minutes. I just kept checking on it until it looked about how I wanted it.

*lettuce - butter lettuce from Oxbow Farm (probably freshly picked today!)

*sliced avocado & tomato (beefsteak) - from Madison Market & probably from somewhere in California; at least they're organic

*toast - sliced, buttered, toasted Como from Grand Central Bakery

*side of Annie's Organic Mac n Cheese

B.L.A.T.s were AWESOME! I think the bread was a little crusty on the edges. It would've been great with Macrina Bakery's potato bread, but I wasn't near any place that carries it when I went shopping.

Grilled Lamb Chops

A day late...

Last night we had grilled lamb chops from Thundering Hooves. So good.

*lamb chops - a few hours ahead of time: s&p, crushed garlic cloves, rosemary sprig

*sauteed mess o' greens - rainbow chard, beet greens, dino kale (yes, all from good ol' Oxbow),

-sweat sliced garlic and sliced shallots in olive oil, deglaze with white wine (I only had Lillet on hand, but that worked the same), add kale & let wilt down for a couple of minutes. Then add remaining greens, and a little water. Season to taste...and then season some more.

*steamed broccoli - I had small head from Oxbow that I cut up and cooked just for Vincent. It only made about a half cup, but he'll eat that over the greens.

The lamb chops were grilled to perfection by David and a HUGE hit with Vincent. Here's proof :