Cooking from Blogs

I’ve been all over the blogs this month, frantically trying to use up my CSA produce before it wilts (why does it wilt so fast?).  Here are the things that made an impression:

For once, the bacon didn’t steal the show.  This crappy shot was taken over vacation, which was SO three weeks ago.  Still, the Southern cream biscuits from Trivialissimo were to-die-for, along with this rhubarb compote that Helen of Beyond Salmon recreated from Cambridge’s Rendezvous. 

Another recipe from Helen is her mother’s rhubarb cake.  It’s slim pickings for rhubarb these days, but you can substitute in other seasonal fruit and it makes for a rustic, not-too-sweet treat that will inevitably turn into a meal.  I’m waiting for my CSA peaches and plums to arrive.  Where the hell are they, anyway?

Looking for the chicken piccata of chicken marinades?  It's at Kalyn’s Kitchen.  Thank goodness, or I might have resorted to injecting capers directly into my bloodstream (not nearly as delicious).  Her tips for grilling are spot-on and the meat was perfectly juicy, as promised.

If you’re at all lukewarm on quinoa, as I was, this particular recipe at Tea & Cookies truly is the thing to change your mind.  The red stuff is beautiful, and it cooks up just right in the rice cooker.  Mixed together with farm-fresh radishes, a well-seasoned vinaigrette, and some marjoram from the deck, not to mention a liberal hand with the goat cheese, it can make a girl weak in the knees.  Tea, you weren't the only one who was wrong.

Comments

[Kalyn]

I'm so glad the chicken turned out well for you. Very fun blog. I'm going to add you to my rss reader.

[sunny12]

Thanks for these links, all the recipes sound yummy (well, except maybe quinoa. I don't know, haven't made that leap yet). I have a bottle of capers at home. I've never really understood them to be honest, they don't seem to taste like much of anything, but I'll try again.

[pyewacket]

By the way, when I was doing a CSA, I found that those "produce-fresh bags" really work. You can find them in with the regular Ziplocs in fancy-pants stores. Reusable. http://www.deliciousorganics.com/Products/freshgreenbag.htm

[Tammy]

Pyewacket: You are a wealth of information. It might be worth a trip to Whole Foods. Have you sourced out any local vinegar, by the way?

Sunny12: I might have liked that quinoa dish because the vinaigrette kind of drowned out the quinoa flavor. Which might technically be cheating, but I don't care because it was so damned good.

Kalyn: The chicken turned out great and there were seven other people at the table who can vouch for it, as well.

[Cottage Smallholder]

My friend Kate keeps on banging on about quinoa. Up until now, I've just examined the packets in the supermarket and rejected them as it looks so squeaky clean healthy.

I am going to try some now as that salad looks superb. And hey, why not be actively healthy for a change.

[pyewacket]

There's a cider vinegar made in Vermont, I bleieve, but not widely available. I make my own - it's a complicated process involving dumping the ends of bottles of wine into a big jug that once was seeded with a bottle of active vinegar. I dump in the new wine and take out some vinegar every once in a while. It's good - not surprisingly, given that wine good enough to drink isn't usually what they use to make vinegar. So my vinegar is locally-made, but the raw materials are grown in California, France and Chile. (Although there's definitely still some local wine in there, from a Rhode Island vineyard that frankly needs to work on their product. Shudder.)

[sunny12]

I marinaded the chicken in the recipe link above, and it was GOOOOOOOOD! Maybe I'll have to succumb and try the quinoa.

[Tammy]

Sunny12: Now, you're walking on the wild side!

Pyewacket: Cider vinegar. Of course. I had my blinders on for wineries, but we have apples here in New England. Duh.

CS: It's not easy to make the leap. I would know.

[Tea]

I'm tickled that you liked the quinoa! Yay! I brought a similar version to a potluck lately and someone--who didn't know it was my dish--looked at me and said: I hate quinoa, but this is good! Thanks for the report, how fun!