Summer Fever!

We went to the local farmer's market yesterday morning and found it swung into high gear already. Locally grown produce, starter plants for herbs and flowers, a lady selling agua fresca, long lines for kettle corn. It smells like summer. We've got it bad. Just planted tomatoes and basil for the patio garden. Then, covered in dirt, I built a fire in the fire pit and grilled some veggie dogs and corn. Rather than buying that lady's agua fresca, Zips bought me a small locally grown watermelon (it's a little early in the season), and cut out all the flesh, whizzed it up in the blender, and strained it twice-- creating an entire pitcher of juice for the same price as a single styrofoam cup filled with melting ice and a little melon juice! Wanting to contribute more (and not overindulge in charred processed veggie meats), Zips found a recipe on the label of a can of garbanzo beans that looked good. The recipe is called "Rockin' Moroccan Pita" and involves cooking chicken breasts in cumin and chili powder, then tossing with garbanzos and stuffing it all into pita pockets topped with yogurt. All the elements are there for a new twist on a bean salad, so Zips took a 12oz. bag of Quorn chick'n tenders and grabbed a couple of ears of roasted corn and invented:

Mexican Double "Chick"pea Salad

blend together

1 Tb. ground cumin

1 tsp. chili powder

4 Tb. olive oil.

and toss in chick'n tenders, coating them thoroughly. Heat chick'n tenders in a pot (you can add 1/2c. water-- we did this in a pot over the fire and heated it until most of the water evaporated).

In the meantime, combine

1 16oz. can of chick peas (drained, rinsed)

3 green onions, thinly sliced

1/2 tomato, diced

1-2 cobs worth of roasted corn, de-kerneled

1/2 c. parsley, chopped

juice of 2 lemons

drizzle of olive oil

Combine seasoned chick'n to the bean mixture and serve warm or cooled.

I realize the bean company called this "Rockin' Moroccan," but with the cumin and chili and roasted corn, we agreed this tastes decidedly south of the border. The "Double Chick" comes from the combination of chick'n and chick-pea (and it's more fun to say than chickenchickpea salad) It's delicious!

My other obsession this weekend is the memory of the crepe suzette haunting me from La Creperie in Chicago. I already had a crepe batter recipe, so looked around for a Suzette a la Germain that resembled the orange-y goodness that we enjoyed. I settled on one, and realized partway through it that I had misread the directions, so improvised what I think is an AWESOME sauce:

Crepe Zipzette a la Germain (just the sauce)

Juice of 5 oranges

zest of 1-2 oranges

2Tb. sugar

1 Tb. butter

Heat these in a small saucepan about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and mix in 2 Tb. Grand Marnier. Once I'd made a batch of crepes, I folded one in half, dipped it through the sauce and folded it again (now quartered) onto the plate. Drizzle with more sauce, and sliced strawberries, bananas, orange, and some whipped cream.

Try not to let your eyes roll back in your head too much!

New Fall Soup: Potage de Crecy

It's the time of year again when I could essentially live on a liquid diet. Soup weather! Accordingly I wanted to share an excellent Carrot Soup recipe. I know, I know, it doesn't sound that glamorous, but it's simple, silky and luxurious and fantastic garnished with croutons or eaten with some crusty french bread. And speaking of the French, apparently the carrots grown near Crecy are the most delicious in the country! (Which Crecy? I guess there are several villages with that name-- I don't know. It makes a good story, though). We're adding this to our Thanksgiving Feast this year. Unless I can convince everyone to try out the Butternut Squash soup recipe I've got!

Puree of Carrot Soup

In a big pot (I use my enameled dutch oven Zips gave me for a present), saute:

1 Tb. butter

3 Tb. olive oil

2-3 cloves of garlic (since they're cooked down, the flavor gets toned down and subdued)

1/2 onion, chopped

9 carrots, chopped (this isn't set in stone. If you use this many, you'll have a thick, hearty soup. If you use, say 7 skinny carrots, you'll have a thinner, but no less delicious soup)

Saute these together over medium heat, being careful not to burn the garlic or onions. Then add:

4 c. vegetable broth

1 c. plain soy milk

1-2 bay leaves

1 tsp. dried thyme

1tsp. - 1 Tb. grated fresh ginger (this depends on how ginger-y you'd like your soup. Even though I LOVE ginger, I use closer to 1 tsp. so it doesn't dominate)

Simmer all of these until the carrots are tender. Once they are, remove the bay leaves and carefully puree everything until smooth. I use an immersion blender. You could also do it in batches with a regular blender. Just be careful not to splatter the soup and burn yourself!

Return the smooth, pureed soup to the pot. Salt and pepper to taste. I don't usually add salt, just black pepper. Garnish with chopped parsley and possibly croutons.

Bon appetit!

Just Like Berry Pie a la Mode (without the hassle of making a pie!)

Summer is ending too quickly. In just two weeks, we'll be back in school and then it's just full tilt until Christmas. Of course one of the best things about summer is fresh berries (even though we don't have access to a u-pick farm anymore), and Zips had a memory about vanilla ice cream with berries in a swirl of Chambord (black raspberry liqueur) syrup. There's literally no way to mess this one up!

Chambord Berries and Ice Cream

2 c. fresh strawberries

1 c. blueberries

1 c. raspberries

1/3 c. sugar

combine berries and sugar and simmer over low heat until sugar dissolves.

Add 1/2 c. Chambord

simmer for 3 minutes (don't stir too much...those raspberries are delicate!)

Spoon berries and syrup over vanilla ice cream. It tastes like the best berry pie a la mode!

New Painting for Bastille Day!

We're finally settling into our new digs, and hoping we can rent this home for more than a year! We finally bought some furniture to assemble and put our tv, albums and books in and on. With this new stab at sophistication, we had a vast expanse of wall behind the tv, and I've been toting this huge (30"x60") unpainted canvas that I bought at a goodwill store for like $3 (with this unbelievable print of a fish that I discarded immediately). With the desire for simplicity and elegance, I drew on my inner Agnes Martin and practiced a great deal of restraint.

I used quite a bit of my titanium white acrylic and some end papers of some old, old books I've been lugging around for this exact use. And then I stopped before I messed it all up. Here's more Agnes Martin, if you're interested. She worked in Taos, NM. I hope to be able to see some of her work in person.