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July 14, 2013: Semi-Italian Sunday

It started with some beautiful produce.
This was my first time to work with red torpedo onions. They were a little sweeter than I expected, so I thought they would go well in a sauce.
Heirloom garlic was finally available
So I chopped up a mirepoix…
peeled, cored, and seeded some tomatoes (a mix of heirloom and romas)
…rolled me out some homemade lasagna sheets (a little wider than usual)…
…so I ended up making something much like manicotti by the time I rolled them with ricotta, spinach, shallot, and some of the chanterelle mushrooms.
Topped it with the bolognese sauce I’d made, some fresh mozzarella and parm.
I also wanted to try my hand at popsicles. Started with 2 or 3 peaches, peeled and cut up..
… added a little cream, and some simple syrup I made..
After I ran them though the food processor, this yielded about 1 1/2 cups.
More than enough for my four popsicles
They were tasty!
But back to the meal. Started with some nice salami and peaches.
Then parmesan souffle with chanterelles and prosciutto (a la Frank Stitt)
and finally my lasagna rolls. It was nice.

Another fun Saturday marketing…

Sookie’s first trip to the farmer’s market!
And checking it twice…
Gorgeous heirloom cherry tomatoes. They’re like tiny little jewels.
I got some local pork and oxtails this week.
And I couldn’t pass up the local chanterelles
Green tomatoes destined for some batter and hot oil.
Rattlesnake beans and white eggplant
It was quite the spread!
Aromatics are gorgeous.
Mushrooms especially. Mother Nature went all out on these.

A Full Moon and Full Plates

Braised shoulder steak, grits with chanterelle cream sauce, green tomato and eggplant fries
A gorgeous haul from Pepper Place (and my patio)
Fresh, local chanterelles! I couldn’t pass these up.
What a beautiful collection of aromatics: Purple peppers*, garlic cloves*, garlic scapes*, Meyer lemons, ginger, and a red bell pepper* from my patio (* Local)
Three green tomatoes from Owl’s Hollow Farm; one from my patio.
I went to Pepper Place looking for a good braising meat–specifically short ribs, but I was too late. On my home, I went to Publix. Saturday mornings are usually a great time to get meat there, as the butchers are bringing out fresh cuts and they’re always anxious to make a custom cut or recommendation. Alas, Publix was out of short ribs as well, but the butcher recommended these shoulder steaks, which I’d never used. They turned out to be delightful and tender, and without the 18 hours or so I feel a short rib really deserves to bring out its full potential.
They seared beautifully. Then I threw in some onion and garlic into the pan and deglazed it.
I had some fresh thyme from a recent produce swap at work to throw in.
Also, when I’m braising a fatty meat, I think it’s important to have some acid in the mix. These heirloom cherry tomatoes are perfect! (To say nothing of gorgeous.)
So this is how it went into the oven; I covered it and let it cook at 300 for about three hours.
But these were the stars of the evening. I had some fresh eggplant I cut into fries, and I got the idea to do the same with the green tomatoes. As they were still green, they were firm enough to hold a squared-off shape even with breading and frying. I dredged them in buttermilk and egg, then a corn meal/AP flour/panko mix and fried them off. Add a little lemon juice for a kick and we were enraptured!