Tuesday, September 20, 2011

bounty from a friends' garden

Gary, my food-obsessed friend and his wife, charlotte, dropped in with overflowing boxes of potatoes, tomatoes, baby leeks,corn and watermelon from their garden. As if that weren't enough Gary had been fishing in Florida,so that night I sauteed the freshest, most delicate mahi mahi I'd ever eaten.I prepared it simply, finishing it off with capers,white wine and, of course, butter. So good. The tomatoes made a lovely end-of -summer sauce and I have plans for a leek tart.Tonight my niece arrives from Texas, and we'll have chicken paprikash, buttered parsley and garlic egg noodles and broad beans cooked gently in tomatoes and onion. We'll begin the meal with a caesar salad - no dessert, we'll probably indulge in ice cream later in the evening.

Monday, September 5, 2011

chipotle chili

In the mood for a bowl of chili,I decided on one of my favorites, chili with chipotle and chocolate. I coated a saute pan lightly with vegetable oil and over medium-high heat sauteed diced onion, sweet red pepper, garlic and ground turkey until the turkey was browned and the vegetable tender. I added brown sugar,chile powder,cocoa,ground cumin,salt and pepper,diced tomatoes with their juices, chipotle peppers in adobo sauce low salt chicken broth. I simmered this till it thickened slightly then added some good unsweetened chocolate,stirring it to melt the chocolate. I enjoyed this hugely over rice and topped with sour cream. If only I'd had some cornbread!!

dishes for the freezer

humid,rainy weather with no possibility of working in the garden - a perfect opportunity to spend some time in the kitchen. Every year during peach season I make a favorite; curried chicken with peaches. I browned chicken pieces in a combination of vegetable oil and unsalted butter. When the chicken was crisp on the outside I removed the pieces and cooked till soft and tender thinly sliced onion and garlic,then added curry powder,cinnamon, ginger and flour. I cooked this briefly, then added chicken stock and brought it to the boil.stirring constantly. When it thickened I added salt and mango chutney. I returned the chicken to the pan, covered the pan and simmered for forty minutes. When done I added a bit of lemon juice and some thick slices of marvelously juicy and flavorful white peaches. When cooled I divided it into containers for the freezer to be served to friends a couple of weeks from now. I'll accompany the dish with white rice, chutney, cucumber raita and green beans with shallots. A gewurtztraniner or dry riesling will be perfect.