Swimming

I wasn’t kidding when I said we would be swimming in tomatoes. Here is where we are at right now. We have Romas, Lemon Boys, Big Boys, Heirlooms, Cherries, and more.

Heres another picture. I can’t tell which one looks like more. And keep in mind this is after all the Bruschettas, salsas, salads and sandwiches we have made lately. They just keep on coming, more and more everyday. The squirrels can’t eat them fast enough!

Garden Pasta

Oh man this was good. We took fresh peas and rainbow chard (from the garden) and sauteed them with tomatoes and onions, mixed that with some fresh whole wheat pasta and a little bit of cream, topped it all off with freshly grated parmesan and crusty garlic bread on the side. Really delicious. Have made it once more since and I think this is one of those recipes we will always keep on hand.

Stuffed Jalapenos

Had enough jalapenos so we decided to stuff them with cream cheese and breadcrumbs, and bake them. Just like jalapeno poppers but not fried. With that we had slow-cooked pork burritos with rice, beans, guacamole, lettuce, tomato and cheese. Really tasty, filling meal.

Garden Update

The garden’s looking great. Everything is flowering.

The tomatillo husks are getting fully formed. The fruit itself will be growing inside. Right now they are hollow and look like little paper lanterns.

Something was eating the rainbow chard for a while I think, but lately it has been looking bigger and healthier than ever.

Here’s a baby cauliflower just starting to grow from the center of the plant. The broccoli is also starting to form, but I didn’t get a picture of that.

If you look closely you’ll see the pea pods hanging. These plants just crawl up the fence and the peas are very sweet already.

There are about 5 or 6 eggplants growing now. The largest one is on the left, about six inches long already.

The cherry tomatoes are almost full size and probably will be red and ready to eat this week or the next.

These are heirloom tomatoes. I think they look like pumpkins.

Here are some more tomatoes. Not sure what kind, we have so many….

Finally, we harvested our first jalapeno pepper today. We didn’t decide what we are going to make with it yet but its pretty cool looking. Now all we need are some tips on how to keep squirrels out of the garden. I’m thinking a chicken wire cage around the whole dang thing, keep them away from our fruit!!!

Trout

Our roommate went fishing over the weekend and caught this fresh trout. We dredged the fillets in seasoned flour and pan fried them in butter and olive oil. Then we de-glazed the pan and made a lemon butter sauce to pour over them. On the side, not pictured, we made a warm cous cous salad with arugula and tomatoes. Really nice meal.

Peppers and Radishes

Look at these purple peppers. They are getting almost big enough to eat. We used to have two, but one morning a squirrel or a rabbit stole one. But its ok because there a lot more flowers where that came from.

The radishes are going crazy. These sprouted up just about a week after planting the seeds. Here is one we pulled up and its just about to be full size. They taste great too, or so I hear. I don’t really like radishes.

Risotto

Last night for dinner we made risotto with peas, asparagus, and parmesan. It takes a couple of times making it to get the technique right, but this turned out great. With a side of salad.

Eggplant Flower

Today I was going through the garden and I noticed the eggplant had its first flower coming up. This was nice, because all we have seen so far are tomato flowers. Just thought I would share this.

I’m back

Wow has it really been that long? I guess so, well luckily I managed to grab a few pictures on my camera over the time. Here is a quick recap post for you.Pictures are in chronological order starting with:

Duck breast sandwiches with arugula, tomatoes, aoli, sauteed mushrooms and cheese

One of the best pizzas around. The ‘Grandma’s Pizza’ from New York Pizza Plus in Gainesville

Some more duck with sauteed mushrooms, and a side of orzo with peas and fresh mozzarella

Whole roasted quail with thyme and lemon, roasted beets and asparagus

Fried oyster po’boy with arugula, tomato, and remoulade

All of these cakes I took a picture of are ones I made at my old job, The Wine and Cheese Gallery in Gainesville. This one is a dark chocolate raspberry cake.

Fig upside-down cake

Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting

Grandma Pat’s red velvet cake

Buffalo pot roast with carrots and potatoes, side of buttered toast

Cranberry apple upside-down cake

Mushroom ravioli, snow crab, peas, asparagus, lemon and white wine

Grilling a rack of ribs with onions and asparagus on the side

Chocolate pistachio cake

Blueberry cake with fresh lemon glaze

Leftover Easter ham sandwich with goldfish (they are good on more things than you think)

Homemade pizza. Half with pepperoni and mushrooms, half with tomato and arugula. This was so good.

One of the first meals we made at our new house in St. Paul, burgers with lettuce, tomato, and cheese on a pretzel bun.

Finally, an ode to my dad. I remember him making this as a kid, Chicken Cordon Bleu. We did it with a side of broccoli and a bechamel sauce. I can’t believe I ate the whole thing.

One of the first things we did when we got up here in our new house was put in a vegetable garden. Everything is so much bigger now, this is a picture of it the day we put it in. We planted: 7 or 8 different varieties of tomatoes, baby eggplant, peas, tomatillos, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, celery, swiss chard, golden beets, carrots, radishes, lettuce, and onions. The only thing that didn’t take was the onions for some reason. So we replaced them with summer squash. You should see it all now. I’ll take a picture of it when everything is in full bloom, we are going to be swimming in tomatoes.

So thats all for now. I’ll write more soon, especially since I need to try out this app I downloaded on my phone for updating the blog. Thanks for reading.

Best dishes 2009

Was going through the pictures tonight. And here we have Patricia & I’s best plates of the year. Enjoy

Romaine heart salad with toasted hazelnuts, pecorino romano, dried apricot, panchetta, tuscan olive oil

Cavatelli and butternut squash with fried sage and cream

Rabbit with braised fennel and onions, crispy potatoes, tarragon cream sauce

Sweet figs, arugula, bleu cheese, fresh blueberries

Seared scallops, cauliflower puree, basil and scallions

Gruyere stuffed lamb meatball, creamy potatoes, pan sauce

Smoked turkey, duck, and chicken egg roll with duck fat hollandaise and seared romaine

Salmon ceviche with fennel and lemon

Flank steak with pebre, olives, roasted potatoes

Seared shrimp, boiled egg, tomato, potato and olives

Fried artichoke and chickpeas

Endive, pumpkin seeds, cranberry, avocado and fried chevre

Seared duck breast, hollandaise, parsnip mash, braised celery

For some reason This post was only saved as a ‘draft’ until today. So here it is PUBLISHED

I will be posting more now that I have some spare time (in between jobs) and have my motivation back for taking pictures of what we cook (and grow, we put a vegetable garden in). Luckily I have taken a few pictures over the past 8 months, but i’m sad to say I didn’t capture everything. Too bad. Better pick up where I left off then. I will write up a recap post soon.