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In walking in the farmer's market this week, I stopped by the Grinnell Heritage Farms stand.  They had a nice variety of products, but they had some gorgeous (smelling and looking) carrots.  The tops stand straight up, good color and just a wonderful smell.  So I bought two bunches.  I think today I'll roast a big chunk of them and eat the rest.  It was a beautiful morning at the market.  Though a bit chilly.  I almost wished I had worn long pants.  My layers of fat, however, kept me nice and warm, but my toes (wearing sandals) were a bit cold.  It's nice to know that the summer is coming to an end.  Though I am not looking forward to winter, especially if it is going to be so snowy like it was last winter, spring and fall are my favorite times of the year.  We talked a bit about it, and we'll most likely be going to Farm Crawl 2010 this year (10/3).  We talked about going last year, but, if I remember right, Shannon wasn't feeling well that day.  I am looking forward to it.

Shannon brought home a zucchini, she suggested cake.  I will not be making cake...

• Pepper-Crusted Pork Loin (p9 Fall 2010 Entertaining), roasted carrots and potatoes
• Basil Pesto on Pasta on Toast
• Zucchini Pancakes with Basil Chive Cream
• Eden Farms hot dogs
• Turkey Breast Sandwiches

This was a week of quick meals...it was kind of nice to not spend so much time in the kitchen.  That being said, there is a limited amount you can do in that time.

Summer Pasta With Tomatoes and Chickpeas

This was simple, and quick.  Though I suppose a little more heat on the chickpeas would've been nice, but even so, heating up the ingredients with the hot pasta led for a simple dishes night.  It tasted good.  I added a bit more spice (read Sriracha or Frank's Red Hot) when I had it for leftovers, but over all it was good as leftovers too.

Fresh Tomato Sauce with pasta

Made quickly.   The Sauce perhaps needed more herbs to it, but perhaps that's just me.  But even with that it made a good meal.  While I was making this, I took some time to make a full meal.  I baked some leftover biscuits (Mattas' left them behind) and we had a nice meal.  I suppose this took the longest over all to make.

Scrambled Eggs à la Provençale (requires fresh tomato sauce)

Real quick to make, and quite good.  The tomatoes sauce addition made for a great quick meal.  I served this with some La Mie multi-grain bread with some Robiola.  A wonderful meal for being so simple.

Dijon-Cilantro Tuna Salad on Whole Grain Bread

This was pretty good.  I think it needed more mustard, but I think lots of things need more mustard...

Eden Farms Pork Burgers

nom nom nom, gone.

Done a bit early this week, though, it growing closer to midnight and myself having to get up at 5:30 AM, I should've probably stopped a bit ago and just done this later tomorrow, but, it's done now.

This past week we participated in Resturant Week 2010 and went to Le Jardin and Proof.  Both meals were excellent.  It's been a while since we've gone out two nights in a row.  But I did try to keep it a surprise.  We had talked about going to Le Jardin before they moved (if that's what is going to happen).  It's nice to know that you are going to spend ~50$ (plus tip) for a night out, rather then sometimes we go out, where it can get to be quite a bit more then that.  After our recent lousy service experience at another restaurant, I was very happy with the service at both, attentive, but not intrusive.

• Summer Pasta With Tomatoes and Chickpeas
• Fresh Tomato Sauce with pasta
• Scrambled Eggs à la Provençale (requires fresh tomato sauce)
• Dijon-Cilantro Tuna Salad on Whole Grain Bread
• Eden Farms Pork Burgers

Spinach-Chickpea Burger

While it turned out pretty well, at the end of it, The taste was a bit bland. I was able to get some nice color, though I didn't really make patties. I ended up filling up my pan, giving the bottom a nice crust and then putting it in the oven. The problems with this recipe are numerous.  First they don't tell you how hot the pan should be to cook the spinach, then they don't tell you how how the oven should be, but most importantly, it needs more spice.  Now I covered mine with some Sriracha, which added a bit of heat to it, but beyond that it tasted really like chickpeas with some cumin in it with maybe some spinach.  Would I make this again?  Perhaps, but I'd add more spices right up front. I also served this with some Yellow Crimson Watermelon which was quite good, at least I thought so.  I also thought that it had a great color and design to the flesh, which I hope comes out:

Yellow Crimson Watermelon

Perciatelli with Roasted Tomato and Almond Pesto

So this was the movie night meal.  It was time consuming to make, but it had a good taste and I learned something.  I don't like rice noodles.  Maybe it's just my first experience with them.  They don't have the right texture or taste, and how the hell do I know they're done.  Also, once cooked, they don't really keep their noodley texture, they dry up, so leftovers...I believe Shannon ate all of them.  Anyways roasted the tomatoes?  Easy, but time consuming.  Roasting my own almonds?  Easy (not as time consuming).  Combining it all together?  Easy (thank you food processor).  I served this with some bread a simple salad (spinach and feta) with a greekish type dressing.  I also served some cantaloupe as well.  Anyways, the meal was good for all parties, one vegetarian and one with a sizable issue with gluten.  Overall I'm pretty pleased, the rice noodle thing is probably just my personal preference.  I also made some cucumber water (ice, water, cucumbers), it is very refreshing.

Just before it was time to eat.

Turkey Cutlet Sandwiches with Smoked Paprika Mayo and Roasted Bell Peppers

*cough* neither of us had this with the roasted bell peppers.  But the smoked paprkia mayo was pretty good.  I had it on sandwiches at work and today (the last of it).  Quite good.  I think I made it with more paprika then the recipe called for.  Anyways, the dish (minus the roasted bell peppers) was pretty good and we both enjoyed it.

Eden Farms Applewood Smoked Hot Dogs

Good, as always.

Bacon, roasted hatch chilies, and feta Quiche (I'll wing it)

Sean roasted peppers last week (this week too).  So this kind of popped in my head at the last minute.  So I diced up 2 or 3 chilies, some bacon, and I ended up using cheddar cheese (I wanted the feta for the salad for movie night).  Combined some eggs and milk, and put it in some frozen pie dough, a bit later (took longer then I thought it would), we had ourselves a nice meal.  I believe we both had it the next day for leftovers.

• Spinach-Chickpea Burger
• Perciatelli with Roasted Tomato and Almond Pesto
• Turkey Cutlet Sandwiches with Smoked Paprika Mayo and Roasted Bell Peppers
• Eden Farms Applewood Smoked Hot Dogs
• Bacon, roasted hatch chilies, and feta Quiche (I'll wing it)

Talk about a struggle.  At the market I was struggling with inspiration from the food, it looked good, but when it came down to it, I didn't feel really inspired by anything.  Many things look good, but that thought process just didn't happen.  Just like right now, I'm struggling to figure out what to cook.

It was a busy week this week with lots of guests.  We had the Matta's stay the night on Thursday and then my Sister, her husband and child stopped by on their way to Ohio, for, if I remember right, graduate school.  To keep my niece entertained, Ryan took her over into the store part of Gateway, and she came back bubbling about kiwi (kiiiiwiiiii).  So after hearing this for a while I headed over there to get her one.  Beyond that I fed them and sent them on their way to my parents.  Now I'm not certain what was going on, but I think they had their entire lives in those two cars (including several plants).  The Mattas were here and between all 3 girls when they visited the house Freyja and Loki did well.  They were worn out by all the playing with the Mattas' kids, and they seemed to like the attention, for the most part, from Amelia.

Grilled Mustard Chicken with Fresh Corn Polenta (p71 August 2010 Bon Appétit)

I modified this, since I don't have a working grill.  I cut the recipe in half, combined some Dijon mustard, lemon juice and cut out the garlic and scallions.  I covered the chicken with the Dijon sauce and then cooked them in a pan, while making the fresh corn polenta.  It turned out pretty good.

Quinoa with Black Beans and Cilantro

I used the leftover quinoa and made a bit more to make this dish.  It made for a good lunch as leftovers too.  I did add a bit of Frank's Red Hot sauce in the left overs.  I think I would've added more spices then the recipe calls for.  It was good, but a little bland.

Summer Corn Sauté with Tons of Herbs

 So I got a, lets not call it a complaint, but a suggestion, that I wasn't using enough meat.  So I used the leftover lamb (there was about 1.1 pounds and I had probably 0.4 pounds left) and added that to the sauté.  It worked out well.  I cut the recipe in half so we didn't have too many leftovers.  I think with the addition of the lamb, it made it feel like more of a meal, rather then perhaps a side dish.

Dean & Deluca's Tuna Sandwich with Carrots, Red Onion, and Parsley

I am really starting to think that to make a tuna sandwich, I require mustard...of some kind or another.  It's just not the same with out it.  Oh you can add acid, you can replace flavors, but I know and it just seems lacking.  That being said, this was a pretty good tuna salad.

Lamb Burgers

I added some red onions to the lamb, and it worked pretty nicely.  I love lamb.

Pancakes, fruits, berries

This actually turned into a modified version of a recipe I found.  The modification was that I added around half an onion (caramelized a bit).  I used Gateway's breakfast sausage (I like the taste of it), but other then that it was pretty normal.  The night before I had Nathan help me by slicing strawberries, while I put the rest of the pears they brought (for pear tarts) and some cantaloupe into the fruit salad.  Covered with a bit of lemon juice and bam, breakfast was all prepped for the next morning.  Due to the suspected timing, I thought I would have been able to take my morning walk, shower and then start cooking breakfast.  But the Matta's girls got up earlier then normal so I moved things around a bit.  We ate around 7:45 or so.  it was a good breakfast with toast, egg casserole, and fruit salad.  Good meal to send them back to Adventureland.

• Grilled Mustard Chicken with Fresh Corn Polenta (p71 August 2010 Bon Appétit)
• Quinoa with Black Beans and Cilantro
• Summer Corn Sauté with Tons of Herbs
• Dean & Deluca's Tuna Sandwich with Carrots, Red Onion, and Parsley
• Lamb Burgers
• Pancakes, fruits, berries

Running a bit late today, We went to go to the fair with Shannon's parents.  After a long day there (and me being extra good (pork tenderlin, Bauder's ice cream sandwhich and water, and that's it), we ended up going out to eat at the Gateway Market for dinner.  They had a special where they have 3 fair favorites, but their vegitarian counterparts.  Shannon had a Seitan Gyro and I had the State Fair Veggie Grinder.  Both were very good and I realized that it was my 4 veggie dinner in a row (movie night (Holly's turn), Gazpacho, Quinoa Salad, and then at Gateway).  Not that I'm thinking about that, but it is a interesting turn of events.  I heard a story on NPR about meatless Mondays and perhaps I'll implement that into my planning, but I doubt it.

Quinoa, Garbanzo, and Spinach Salad with Smoked Paprika Dressing (p48 June 2010 Bon Appétit)

 I used all my cucumber to make the Gazpacho, so I really didn't have it for this, but over this turned out ok.  I did like the dressing, though I did make a bit to much quinoa so I'll have to figure out something to do with it next week.

Potato Salad with Pancetta, Rosemary, and Lemon (p84 June 2010 Bon Appétit) (creamy, and uncured apple wood smoked bacon instead of pancetta) with Eden Farms Apple wood smoked hot dogs and Bratwurst

 I think I added to much lemon juice...or perhaps I just missed the mustard...but it still tasted good.  Oh that and I used bacon instead of Pancetta.

Tomato-Cucumber Gazpacho

 It was very hot, I didn't want to turn on an oven, so this wokred out well.  I used low sodium V8 as the base and then added tomatoes, cucumbers, skipped the onion (forgot to buy it), but I also added some spicy peppers to make it a bit warmer.  I used some poblanos and a couple of these peppers that are orange and red and similar to heat as a jalepeno.  I keep forgetting to write down what kind it is.  I think it turned out great.  I wasn't going to buy store bought croutons, so I served it with toast.

Pork Burgers

 Fatty porky goodness.  Need I say more?

• Quinoa, Garbanzo, and Spinach Salad with Smoked Paprika Dressing (p48 June 2010 Bon Appétit)
• Potato Salad with Pancetta, Rosemary, and Lemon (p84 June 2010 Bon Appétit) (creamy, and uncured apple wood smoked bacon instead of pancetta) with Eden Farms Apple wood smoked hot dogs and Bratwurst
• Tomato-Cucumber Gazpacho
• Pork Burgers

Southwestern Grilled Chicken Salad with Tomato and Black Bean Salsa (p58 August/September 2010 Fine Cooking)

Easy, quickish, done.

Thai-Style Spicy Chicken in Lettuce Cups (p25 August/September 2010 Fine Cooking)

Unless I want to make a special run, lemon grass is a tough find in the bigger stores in the metro. I've made this before, and it always turns out pretty well. I really liked the way this turned out. It had a nice balance of flavors and made fore a relatively simple recipe.

Spaghetti Frittata with Arugula and Fresh Herbs (p57 August/September 2010 Fine Cooking)

This sounded strange, and almost didn't take the list of I should make this. But it did, and it actually turned out pretty well. It also demonstrated that my stove is clearly no where close to being balanced. Why put pasta in it? I have no idea, it didn't really add a ton to the texture, though the arugula (actually a mix of baby greens, Hy-Vee didn't have anything that was JUST arugula) cooked down, but because it was in the egg, it didn't get that odd texture. Anyways, it turned out well.

Spaghetti Frittata with Arugula and Fresh Herbs (look at the nice crust every where but that back corner...)

Ground Goat Kofta (meatballs made with onions, garlic, cilantro, jalapeno and spices) on rice

So I didn't end up using the rice...or garlic. But I did use a nice combination of Jalapeno, and several types of spicy peppers from Juan O'Sullivans Pepper Gardens along with a dash or 3 of hot paprika, some onion, leftover scallions, pepper and bacon (adds salt and fat) and an egg. When I was thinking about making this yesterday, as I was walking around the Farmer's market and I was thinking, do I really want to have this on rice? The answer came back as no, and I hoped that Carly from Proof was there so I could buy some flat bread (I like the new website). Could I have made my own? Sure, I suppose so, though I haven't ever, but since she was there, I bought from her instead (I suppose I would've had to start it the day before though). I was going to make a yogurt sauce (yogurt, cucumbers, tahini, some spices) and I actually started. Another part of my brain said this would go well simmered in a tomato sauce, but I didn't have enough tomatoes (canned or otherwise), so I started making a tomato sauce. So I have this start of a tomato sauce (can of fire roasted diced tomatoes, some tomato paste (left over), and a mix of O'Sullivan peppers) and a start of a yogurt sauce (without the spices and tahini). So I think, hey, you can make a tomato cream sauce, so why not a yogurt sauce? Though the cucumbers (bought that morning at the farmer's market, little stubby ones, but fragrant and delicious), might hold me back a little. I figure, why not risk it. I think it turned out well. So all in all, the dinner came together pretty well, and cleaned out a whole lot of stuff from the fridge (tomato paste, scallions, onions, diced peppers from earlier in the week). I guess the only draw back here, was that I had to much vegetable matter in the meat and they didn't hold together that well (made them hard to rotate while cooking in the pan. I suppose it would've been better if the onions were a fine dice like the peppers and scallions were. So after the sauce had cooked out a lot of the liquid (clearly not quite enough, from the water coming out of it, and the meat balls were cooked. I put the meat balls on the flat bread, topped with the sauce then added feta (at Shannon's suggestion) and some baby greens. It tasted pretty good. It still have some nice cucumber flavor through the sauce. I'm looking forward to having some of the leftovers for brunch or lunch, depending on when I get to it.

Goat meat balls with onion peppers, scallions, hot paprika with Feta and mixed baby greens on a Proof Flatbread

Tuna Salad with Sweet Pickle and Egg (p17 August/September 2010 Cook's Country)

I followed the recipe to a point. And the point here? I added mustard. I added some poblano peppers. It was pretty good.

Hamburgers with Poblano Peppers

I got some poblanos from Sean and Becki and figured they'd be a nice addition there. And it worked out well. I think, though, it could've used a bit more pepper to add taste to it, and perhaps a pepper relish after the fact. At some point, though, I suppose it might push the boundaries of Shannon's spicy tolerance. Anyways, simple but good combination.

• Southwestern Grilled Chicken Salad with Tomato and Black Bean Salsa (p58 August/September 2010 Fine Cooking)
• Thai-Style Spicy Chicken in Lettuce Cups (p25 August/September 2010 Fine Cooking)
• Spaghetti Frittata with  Arugula and Fresh Herbs (p57 August/September 2010 Fine Cooking)
• Ground Goat Kofta (meatballs made with onions, garlic, cilantro, jalapeno and spices) on rice
• Tuna Salad with Sweet Pickle and Egg (p17 August/September 2010 Cook's Country)
• Hamburgers with Poblano Peppers

Ham and Leek Frittata (Splendid Table Weeknight Kitchen)

 This was pretty easy to make, I suppose I've made enough frittatas that it is starting to become more of a second nature, and pretty good.  They were ham chunks, but more diced up ham deli slices.  Anyways, good, relatively quick (took me longer to move the dishes along) and for lunch on Friday, I used a couple of pieces (about 1/4rd of it) and made a sandwich with mustard and some greents.  It made for a good sandwich.

The Best Tuna Salad (p17 August/September 2010 Cook's Country)

This was, in now way shape and form, the best tuna salad.  Where's the mustard?  Anytype of mustard?  To me, mustard is a integral ingredient to any tuna salad.  Anyways, it was still good.  They added acid by adding lemon juice, which added a sort of bright flavor backnote, however, event with that, it just didn't have the flavor like I wanted.  I remember a recipe from a while ago where I was much more satisfied with the results as a whole.

The Best Tuna Salad (according to Cook's Country) with Carrots, Celery and Yogurt with Strawberries

Jalapeno Burgers with Avocados

 I diced up 2 jalapeno, combined them with some George's Grind from Gateway and fried them up in a pan.  Because of the fat and the heat, the peppers loose most of their heat.  I suppose this could be adjusted but adding peppers on top, but I didn't do that.  Even so.  It had a nice taste and was quick to make.  I like the avocado addition because it's just a nice taste to have.

Emu Bratwurst with Tex-Mex Rice (p15 August/September 2010 Cook's Country)

 I believe I stated that I liked Emu Brats, but I liked pork ones better.  The rice worked out pretty well, it reminded me of the rice that my mom would make, though a bit different.  It worked well.  I had it as part of my lunch (with sour cream, which added a whole new level of tastiness), and we had it as a side for dinner later.  I did however, overheat it perhaps a bit.  I didn't turn he flame down enough while it was simmering to have the rice absorb the tomato juice and chicken stock (I think my original thought was that I would speed it up, but then I didn't adjust the time).

Roasted Pork Loin with Hobo Packs (p18 August/September 2010 Cook's Country)

 So I used a small section of a pork loin that I had in my freezer from Eden Farms.  It had a nice fat cap on the top of it.  I covered the pork in salt, pepper and hot paprika (to tie in with the potatoes).  I then put a little oil in a pan, and seared the loin on all sides for about 4 minutes per side. and then stuck it in the oven at 350° for a while.  This was the result:

Roasted Eden Farms Pork Loin

Before this, I glanced at the hobo packs recipe, vaguely, and then just kind of made roasted potatoes.  I cleaned the new potatoes from Emmack farms.  I tried to use some other potatoes that I had bought, but they had turned, so they went in the trash.  To about 3 pounds of potato, I added two diced jalapeno, two diced hatch chilies, some salt, pepper, tossed it with some olive oil and into a baking pan and into the oven.

I also made a simple mustard vinaigrette (Ad Hoc at Home) though I had to replace about half of the olive oil with canola oil, because I ran out.  Which turned out well (usually I use more vinegar then I should which makes it too tart for most peoples' tastes.  I tossed together some arugula and some Reichert's Basil Feta and set a little bowl of dressing on the side.  I had Shannon pick up some bread from La Mie and we called that a dinner.  The goal here was to try have the majority of dinner being eaten by everyone (one item not vegetarian friendly, one item not celiac friendly).  So this was the dinner as set:

Roasted Pork loin with salt pepper and hot paprika, roasted potatoes, Arugla and basil feta salad, mustard vinaigrette, La Mie bread and Jasper Winery Behind the Shed RedNow, for the issue.  Everything turned out really well, except the pork.  This is really my own fault, since I cooked it a bit too long.  I checked it when there was about half an hour left, and the temperature was looking good, but then when I took it out the next time, it was over the point where I wanted it.  *sigh*  This has been my problem for many of my medium sized hunks of meat...  It was still good, even though it was a bit dry.

Roast Chicken

The whole point of all these chickens is for me to practice roasting chickens.  And now that I'm getting that down, I decided that I need to practice carving the chicken.  So with this I tried to cut off the breasts for the sandwiches that I was going to make with it.  The chicken, good, me cutting off the breasts?  ehh...not so much.  More practice needed.  They did make good sandwiches though.

With the left over check, some leftover pork and a bit of tuna some dice celery and onion some of the mustard vinaigrette, mayo and mustard, I made a mixtures of this to make a salad to put on bread.  It was pretty good.