Amuse Bouche

Scallop, bacon and potato salad

Yet again, dinner comes out of The French Market by Joanne Harris & Fran Warde.  If i haven't convinced you by now that you want this book, I guess I never will.
No photos of dinner, just a view into the kitchen from my side garden as the bacon was rendering.

Scallop Bacon and Potato Salad

Take some fingerling potatoes and steam them until tender. 

Cut them into a few pieces each and toss with 1 TBS of white wine vinegar, I happened to have champagne vinegar. 

Add some chopped fresh herbs, she recommends tarragon, but I don't happen to grow tarragon, and I couldn't find any at the store or at the farmer's market so I added about 2 TBS chive, 2 TBS basil, a few sprigs or marjoram and a tiny tip off a rosemary sprig. 

Toss it all with some sea salt and pepper and set aside.

While the potatoes are steaming render some nice smoked bacon, preferably slab if you can find it.  When it is nicely cooked to your liking, drain it and then toss it in with those potatoes.
Now, remove some, but not all of the bacon rendering. 

Take some nice sea or diver scallops and pat them dry, season both sides with some sea salt and pepper and heat that pan with the bacon rendering back to hot, hot, hot. 

When it's ready, add those scallops in a circle like the face of a clock and watch the sides for opacity.  Cook 1, maybe 2 minutes depending on how thick they are and then flip the scallop, again, following the clock motion you used to put them in the pan,(12o'clock, then 1 o'clock, etc.) Cook another minute or 2 depending on how done you like your scallops.  I like mine barely cooked through.

Put those lovely scallops on a plate and top it with some of that potato, herb and bacon mixture, give it a loving anointing drizzle of some fruity extra virgin olive oil and call it done.  I had it with a nice cold rose of course.  Can you also tell that is my summer quaff of choice?

She:  What I just told you about, now go and make it!

He: Grilled tuna steak that was marinated in ginger, garlic, tamari, kecap manis, mirin, sesame oil and rice vinegar with a splash of hot chili oil.  Steamed rice drizzled with the heated remaining marinade.

Squid (Calamari) Salad

A quick outing this morning to hit the Farmer's market in Waltham, Captain Marden's and Roche Bros in Wellesley and we came back home to unpack.  I whipped this up for lunch in under 15 minutes, again inspired by the lovely book The French market by Joanne Harris & Fran Warde.  I'm planing recipes for Everyday French for create a cook in two weeks and every time I flick the page on one of her cookbooks I want to cook something, in fact dinner tonight for me is coming out something I saw a few pages later.

Squid (Calamari) Salad
Toss some lettuce leaves with lemon juice and a little salt. 
Add some EVOO and, if desired, a few drops of white truffle oil, toss. 
Take some cleaned squid bodies and slice them in rings. 
Zest 1 lemon and chop up some parsley and lemon or regular thyme leaves, toss this in a small bowl and add some minced garlic, maybe 2 cloves, mix this up. 
Heat some olive oil on high in a sauté pan, toss in the calamari rings and season quick with salt and pepper. 
Stir or toss for about 45 secs, add the parsley, garlic mixture and toss/stir for about 1 minute more or until the calamari are just white.
Taste for seasonings and place on top of the dressed lettuce leaves and serve immediately.

Friday: We're Having (or I should say We Had)
She: Salad of Olivia's organics lettuce, butter beans, red onion, fresh corn cut off the cob and baby tomatoes (Nonantum farmer's market) tossed with EVOO, white truffle oil and lemon juice with Ortiz tuna, which is on special right now at whole Foods for $7.99 a jar.

He: His usual tuna salad of Olivia's Organics Spring Mix, Ortiz tuna, cucumber, red onion, tomato (garden) and cole slaw.  he is nothing if not consistent.

We're Having: She and He (Episode 7)

It's muggy enough today to peel the paint off of wood, the skies are starting to look like we might have another thunderstorm blow through and here I am, planning on cranking my oven up to 400F.
Before you think me mad, it will only be on for 15 minutes (alright, maybe 25 with warm up and all) and then it will hit the table with about 20 napkins and big bottle of cold rosé that will dribble condensation like the inside of shower all over the table. 

What you see up there is a lovely combo I picked up this afternoon at Captain Marden's in Wellesley.
Some diver scallops, jumbo shrimp, Jonah crab claws, littleneck clams and mussels all lovingly massaged with oil, garlic, chilies and rosemary.  After 15 minutes that will come out of the oven and be tossed with some salt and pepper, chopped parsley and basil.  There will be some crusty bread for mopping up the juice and a bit of saffron tinged aïoli, with hot smoked pimenton to dip the fish in.  Fast, easy, fabulous.

She: Fruits De Mer a L' Aïoli with some nice French bread.  Leftovers to be converted to a nice cold seafood salad for lunch tomorrow.

He: Halibut steak, dredged lightly in s&p and flour, seared on each side until lightly brown and then finished off in the oven with twice cooked fingerlings.

**This recipe inspired by The French Market by Joanne harris & Fran Warde a book I highly recomend.

We're Having: She and He (Episode 6)

Sorry guys, no pics tonight I am pooped, sipping my cocktail, post shower and some onions are gently sautéing over on the other side of the room and i can't be arsed to get the camera and find something to take a photo of to entertain you.  I shall endeavor to try harder tomorrow.

He: Beef and buffalo burger made simply with Worcestershire, s&p, slices of red onion (farmer's market), mayo, and a French roll from Whole Food.  Side of cole slaw with celery seed.

She: Beef and buffalo burger made simply with Worcestershire, s&p, caramelized onion, American cheese (shut up!), mayo - the ultimate buffer to prevent soggy bun and get a nice sauce as an added bonus and maybe some garden tomato.  Side of potato salad, extra celery.  Big ass glass of Malbec.

We're Having: She and He (Episode 4)

I've been a fan of Jamie Oliver from the beginning and his new series, Jamie at Home, is his best one yet.  I love his enthusiasm and his ability to make your average cook want to get in the kitchen.  I have not watched a single episode of this new series and not tried one of the dishes for us or for the kids at create a cook, they all draw me in.  His speedy rhubarb fool with greek yoghurt was a huge hit with both the 9-11 and the 11-13 group.  I made his pork belly braise with rhubarb and it was amazing, tart and fruity with hot chili kicks and pork belly people...PORK BELLY, I ask how you can go wrong. We've made the asparagus and potato tart, his chocolate pots and the butternut squash muffins.  He takes high quality ingredients and treats them simply and well.  What more can you ask?

A few weeks ago I watched him make what he called his Proper Chicken Salad.  Do note that he did not call this a Chicken Caesar Salad, even though it incorporates, anchovy, garlic, Parmesan, lemon, Romaine and croutons.  Could it be because there couldn't possibly be a dish more maligned, bastardized, watered down and tragic, yet available on almost every restaurant menu, especially in the summer. 

Michael Ruhlman railed against the evil that is Chicken Caesar Salad. And then he wisely suggested a desire for a Chicken Fried Pork Belly Confit Caesar, which come on, how can you not get behind pork belly?

I'm not going to give you the recipe here, a little googling of the title will find you that out there on the network that shan't be named.  I will tell you that I have been making it with gorgeous Niman Ranch guanciale, ciabatta rolls from Whole Foods as my croutons and chicken thighs.  The chicken thighs only take about 35 minutes or so. The chicken and pork products roast on top of the torn up ciabatta and some nice rosemary until the smell is too much to bear.  Just imagine the crouton goodness that comes from that folks.  I also sometimes cut the anchovy count in half depending on how strong my anchovy are, taste one first people! 

Today we made it at create a cook with the 11+ kids.  I assure you that EVERY ONE OF THEM ate the dressing and admitted that the COULD NOT taste anchovy.  In fact, one of the boys could not stop devouring it out of the pan long enough to put the lid on and go to the park for break, it was that good.

I knew that I was making it for class today so I thought ahead and bought all the ingredients to have it for dinner.  My chicken is cooling on the stove as we speak.

I implore you, if there is one recipe to try this summer, THIS IS IT.  So so so damn good, and no Caesar required.

He: Tuna salad, his version.  Jar of Ortiz tuna, Olivia Organics Spring mix, cucumber from the garden, red onion slices, tomato from the garden and some cole slaw

She: PROPER chicken salad.  Damn right jamie, damn right.

We're Having: She and He (Episode 3)

A few banner things were done around here today like replacing the shower head in my shower with one that actually rinses things from my hair!  So novel! 

I'm about to start dinner my cocktail is on it's last legs (homemade dried berry and ceylon steeped vodka with Campari, pomegranate juice and lime juice), the rain is ending and the 1970's soundtrack on the itunes shuffle is blasting Bowie's Life on Mars followed by WAR.

Both: Crab cakes (crabmeat from my trip to Maine) with homemade tartar sauce with a side salad of mixed greens from Annie's organics, cucumber, tomato from the garden (finally!!), valbresso feta and a vinaigrette of hazelnut oil and lemon juice with fresh herbs.

Episode 3

We're Having: She and He (Episode 2)

After a day of working in the garden, laundry, cleaning, watering and pickle making amongst other things we are, as husband would say, a bit peckish.

She: Rib eye (from my fabulous butcher in Maine Ballard's), rubbed with some sort of spice mix I haven't devised yet, but it will include smoked sea salt flakes and possibly cumin, grilled.

He: Filet Mignon, salt,pepper and grilled, with a side of Colman's mustard, but not the standard British wet mustard, the new one that replaced the Colman's French mustard.

Both: Fingerling potatoes (Newton Farmer's Market), chive (garden), Maine country butter and a side of Chanterelles (our yard in Maine) sautéed with butter and a splash of cream and possibly Sherry or Medeira.

Episode 2

We're Having: She and he

Starting tonight, if I can try to keep at it I will present nightly what I made for myself and his less adventurous palate for dinner.

She: Steamers, steamed with Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and an onion, purchased from her local butcher/fishmonger in Maine (Ballard's in Manchester, ME) with Maine Country Butter and a loaf of French Bread.

He: His version of Tuna salad.  A jar of Ortiz tuna with, some Olivia's organics Spring Mix, red onion, tomato, cucumber and some slaw mixed with salad cream, T. Marzetti's slaw mix and celery seed, all with grated pepper and nothing else.