punkerdoo

I guess I am a post short, even with the day off. I told myself when I started this blog that I would not feel guilty about not posting. I always am giving myself a guilt trip and knew if I started doing that with this blog, I would eventually abandon it. In fact, I have given up posting for a few short periods, but always came back (so far) It’s called perfectionism and it’s a disease. The idea that if I am not doing something perfectly (i.e. posting every single day) than it is a disappointment and should be avoided. Anyway, I am fighting it and here’s is my imperfect post a day late.

So on Sunday I made Denver omelets and roasted potatoes. I used the new technique on the potatoes and they were wonderful. Nothing special about the omelete except for the locally grown veggies and the Vermont Cheddar. If you currently buy big brand cheddar, stop it, you are cheating yourself. Go out and find some cheddar that was made on purpose. For drinks Darren made My Psychosis, a drink of his own authoring including but not limited to Rhum, Sparkling wine, Orange juice, and Amaretto.

After the Steelers, plundered and pillaged the Vikings. Darren fired up the grill and cooked the other rib-eye that he purchased on Friday. This time the steak had been salted and resting in the fridge for two days. A concept I learned from my new Zuni cookbook. It made all the difference, not only did we get the added flavor from the grill, but IMHO the steak was more tender. I had bought a pound of unshelled butter beans and two ears of corn from Athens Locally Grown. During the football game we shelled the beans, taking the advice of a grower at Athens Farmer’s Market and shelling while watching sports. I made succotash, a scrumptious dish that did not reveal itself to me, save through Yosemite Sam, until I moved to the south. I also baked an enormous sweet potato which Darren and I split. Isn’t that steak perfectly cooked? Darren rawks da grill.

Tonight I wanted to use the kale that we got from ALG. In the past I have made a sausage, kale & bean pasta. Since we had lunch at Inoko Sushi Express, we were right next door to Kroger and decided to shop there. I think today I crossed a threshold. I could not bring myself to purchase any type of pork at Kroger. I even tried to rationalize Boar’s Head, but even they don’t make any promises about the way they raise the pork and I have learned if the aren’t bragging about it, they aren’t doing it. So I got some veggie Italian sausages and they were not bad. I will happily substitute them for any weeknight meal or when in a bind.

For lunch we had Baby Bok Choy and Shiitake Mu Shu wraps.  It was to be a mu shu-style filling served in a wrap.  I really enjoyed the flavors of this recipe, but next time I think I will make an extra effort to seek out mu shu wraps, instead of using your run-of-the-mill whole wheat wraps.  I also concocted an asian flavor potato salad as a side.  Darren made an Asian vinaigrette with ginger and soy sauce and I drizzled it over warm potatoes.  The taste was great, but it was brown in color and not visually appealing.

After work we went to pick up our veggies at Athens Locally Grown.  Some of the fun things we bought were a pound of edamame for freezing, butter beans, walking onions, broccoli, butter head lettuce, and aji dulce peppers. I have not posted about the impounding and destruction of 110 gallons of raw milk, that was initiated at last week’s pick-up. While I do feel very strongly about the rights that are being infringed upon, I am not informed enough about the subject to feel that I could give it the representation that it deserves. A situation that I will be rectifying. It was nice to get a chance to speak to Eric about his recent trials.  He appears to be feeling some relief that the initial confrontation has passed, but did talk of battles still to be waged. This is his accounting of what went down and the video of the milk being destroyed.

The last time we ate at Taste of India, I vowed to start cooking more Indian foods.  Tonight for dinner I made Chana Masala, a chick pea and mushroom dish loaded with all the typical Indian peppers and spices.  I am still a recovering bland-food-o-holic and thought it was a bit spicy, even though I did not put in the whole serrano.  Also I think that  cooked out too much of the moisture, it should have been a bit saucier.  Darren seemed exceeding pleased and praised the dish to a fault (I think I need to start upping my spice quotient ) Well, it is a learning experience I will keep trying.

Since I spent the majority of Sunday planning this week’s menu (well, playing with a new program and planning meals), we needed to go grocery shopping and pick up all the items on my spiffy auto-generated list.   It was a surprisingly successful adventure.  Usually there are at least a few items that we cannot procure, but this time we did find everything on our list.  The trip was not without it’s trials.  In order to complete our mission we had to confront and defend ourselves against the Dill Troll, guardian of all that is fresh and natural.  We were shown to be worthy.

Originally, the plan was to complete our shopping and return home to cook dinner.  The well-thought out menu called for Eggplant and Smoked-gouda Open-faced Grilled Sandwiches with a side of Creamy Okra Casserole.  This dinner would use both the aging eggplant and okra in the fridge.  By the time, we had finished our shopping, the Royal Peasant sign nextdoor to Earth Fare was shining so brightly that it could not be ignored.  Giving in to our destiny, we stopped in for a few pints, Bangers & Mash, and Bubble & Squeak.  Curse you, who doth install a public house amongst  the places of errands.

Tuesdays, have the self-imposed added pressure of trying out a restaurant that we have never before visited. I know that sounds stringent, but we try to maintain. At some point last week we decided to try Ike & Jane, a bakery & cafe. I had a Ham and Gruyere on sourdough and Darren had the combo of Roast Beef on Black Pepper Baguette with a cup of chili. Our assement? Very good and the atmosphere of normaltown is always pleasant. I would very much like to go back for breakfast/brunch and to try their pastries & breads.

So, of course when I went to make the Okra Casserole this evening, the okra was too far gone and had to be discarded wasted.  Really a bummer, considering I still want to try the recipe and will have to buy more, risking a repeated occurrence.  Tonight’s dinner was Creamy Spinach-mushroom Skillet Enchiladas, Jerusalem Artichoke and Lima Bean Saute‘ and leftover Pot Beans.  The enchiladas were simple, quick and easy to make, so I will take that into considerations as I give them a rating of “just ok”.  They also had the added benefits of using up the rest of the salsa verde I made on Sunday. I have never cooked with jerusalem artichokes before so I was not quite sure what to expect. The dish was itself pretty good, but did not pair with the enchiladas at all. I suspected as much, but was trying to save all the veggies I could. I will definitely purchase them again soon and try some other recipes.

Our much beloved Mexican-restaurant-down-the-street suffered and fire and closed almost 2 years ago. Since that time we have been seriously missing our local eatery. A few days ago, without fanfare, they re-opened.

Tonight we went there for dinner. They are obviously experiencing opening pains as it took quite along time for us to see our waiter, let alone order drinks. All was forgiven when we saw our favorite waitress Maria was still working there. In the chaos that was their service, we were unable to get her attention, until we crossed paths as we were exiting. She greeted us with hugs. She is the best waitress EVAR. Maria, you rock!

(No, I did not get a picture of her. What can I say)

How appropriate that on the eve of HR 2749 getting passed in the house we had a dinner almost completely sourced locally from small farms. Actually, it’s not all that ironic, we do it quite often. Wait, no, that would be ironical.