Just Another Day In The South.

Breakfast, Saturday May 27: Shrimp; cheesy grits; melon and pineapple.

Not much to say here. A southern east coast favorite. My only twist here is the use of horseradish cheddar in the grits.

Mountains Meet The Sea

Supper, Friday May 26: local flounder; salad (mixed greens, garden radish, mushroom, local garlic goat cheese, lite italian).

We came to the beach, and of course we eat as much seafood as we can incorporate into our routine. The salad greens and radishes are from our garden, while the fish is a local flounder. Mountains meet the sea.  

Finally A Day Off

Breakfast, Wednesday May 24: scramble (chives, spinach, mozzarella); fruit salad (apple, pear, banana, pineapple, shredded coconut, pecans, yogurt); seedy sour rye.

Alexis worked five in a row so we have not had a chance to have breakfast together in a while. (I know you are asking doesn't nearly everybody work five days in a row?' She works 12 hour shifts. that's 60 hours in 5 days.)  She likes chives so we have a nice little chive plot near the greenhouse door. Also there are some shallots and garlic. Right now the area around the greenhouse door smells wonderfully oniony. 

Isn't It Supposed To Be Red?

Supper, Tuesday May 23: tomato soup; grilled cheese (homemade sour rye, habanero cheddar, smoked gouda).

That depends on the tomato. I used yellow romas for this soup. We got a case of yellow romas at the farmers market last season and put them up as crushed tomatoes. The soup is pretty straightforward. Start with a mirepoix (1 onion, 2 carrot, 2 celery) and chopped garlic and shallot. Saute in olive oil til tender. Add a couple of quarts or equivalent of crushed tomatoes. Also add some basil, oregano, and black pepper. Bring this to a boil. Simmer until everything is tender. Puree with a hand blender. Simmer until desired thickness is achieved. 

Squee!

Supper, Sunday May 21: artisanal radish canape (mushroom pate, capers, celery leaf).

I wanted comfort food. I wasn't feeling well. For me, the best comfort food is chicken and pastry. That was the main course. I wrote about my favorite food in a previous post so follow that link if you're interested in my blatherings. 

As a funky side we had mushroom pate, but with a twist. Just that day I was chatting with my friend and neighbor across the street. I showed him the lovely daikon radish I had just harvested. He related a story of a relative (uncle?) who used daikon slices like crackers. Alexis and I had been eating them sliced as nibbles already. This just got me on the question of what to eat on a daikon cracker. Mushroom pate popped in my head. I hadn't made that in forever, and a quick look in my recipe box showed I did not have a recipe. 

Yay interwebs! I scanned a few recipes, fused and modified to come up with something to my taste. (Been on a tarragon kick lately. Don't know why, I used to hate tarragon.) I will give the recipe at the end but first I need to comment on the radish. Clearly the picture above is not of a daikon radish. The radish pictured is a variety called "Sweet Baby." It is purple, cylindrical, and about 3 inches long. Perfect for slicing. The name comes from the flavor. Cut a slice, lay it on the tongue, a subtle sweetness pops out, then when you bite you get that good radish burn. That little second or two of sweet is a little surprising and fun. 

Anyhoo here is the recipe.

5 medium portabella caps coarsely chopped
5 dried shiitake caps coarsely choped
2 shallots diced
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1/4 cup pinenuts lightly toasted 
1 tsp rubbed sage
1/2 tsp dried tarragon
1 heaping Tbsp capers
1/4 tsp each of salt and freshly ground pepper

Soak the chopped Shiitakis  in a cup of boiling hot water until tender.
Sweat the shallots in the olive oil over medium heat.
Drain the shiitakes, reserve the liquid.
Add the portabellas and the drained shiitakes and saute 5 minutes. 
Add the reserved liquid, spices, and 2/3 of the pinenuts.
Simmer until liquid is mostly reduced away. 
Process with the sesame oil to a paste. 
Fold in the capers and the remaining pinenuts.

So I Had These Ribs. . .

Supper, Saturday May 20: rib sandwich (pulled rib meat, habanero cheddar, rosemary and olive oil bagel); fried yucca; fried okra.

A Study In Brown

Supper, Friday May 19: savory waffle (pumpkin whole wheat waffle, bechamel, toasted pecans); seared pork belly and caramelized onions.

This grew out of having two little belly pieces off of the ribs I smoked recently. I was originally going to use them as breakfast meat but that didn't work for schedule reasons. Then I decided to have "breakfast for dinner" which we (Alexis and I both) thought was a hoot when we were kids. 
Little did we know that it was likely due to the fact that eggs and pancakes are cheap and that is what he had available. Nevertheless I got on the breakfast notion then I thought about making the hwole thing savory. That got me to the waffles. Then I had to come up with something to put on the waffles. The most common item in the intersection of savory, breakfast, and sauce, at least where I come from, is sausage gravy. I didn't want to use that since I already had these 2 lovely belly pieces, but I did realize that if I took the sausage out of the sausage gravy I would have bechamel.