JULY 2008

SUMMER

Mini-Burger au Cheval with Match Stick Fries.  Where would July be without a grilled burger and fries.  The ground beef is grass-fed from Riverview Farmers in Ranger, Georgia.  The egg is from a local farmer in Clayton County, and the potato  and tomato are  from a local farm in Athens, Georgia.  With all this good shopping, the cooking is easy and good.

The heat is still relentless in July, but one can always benefit from a cool Vietnamese salad. Carrot and Celery Shrimp Salad with Prawn Crackers. One of the things that I realize in contructing this blog is that Vietnamese is a cuisine of many influences, fusion if you will. In this dish, European vegetables are combined with Asian ingredients to create a fresh and crunchy salad that is adaptable for the hot, humid tropics.

Having eaten a light and calorie conscious lunch, we rewarded ourselves with organic Chocolate Chip Ice Cream with Banana and Toasted Black Sesame.








Sunday morning is the time to be mindful of the senses with pure ingredients and simplicity: Farmers' Egg Omelet with Cherry Tomatoes and Pesto


Late July, the local farmers markets are full of tasty blueberries: Fresh Farmers Blueberries and Yogurt

Edamame from local farmers make a tasty and healthy appetizer. These soy beans are a tasty treat after parboiling in water for a minute or two.


A healthy vegetarian lunch continued with cold Vichyssoise and farmers fresh Tossed Salad.











To mat pha-si (Tay Boi) with Twice Cooked Eggplant.
Tay Boi is an extinct pidgin dialect used in Vietnam during the French Colonial period. To mat pha-si is the Tay Boi equivalent of Tomate Farsi or stuffed tomato. The twice-cooked eggplant is one of my favorite Vietnamese dishes. The eggplant is first charred on charcoal or on the grill until blackened. Let it cool down and peel off the skin. The remains are then saute´ed with oil, onion, garlic, and of course the ubiquitous nuoc mam/fish sauce.

Grilled Colossal Shrimp on Tomato/Okra Stew. Accompanied with toast and aioli, this is bomb! The shrimp are scary looking but are delicious and full of natural flavor when prepared this way. I brought some leftovers to work and my twenty-something co-worker commented with a tone of revulsion: "What are those bad ass creatures you are eating?"
Poor thing! my colleague, not the shrimp.

Roasted Chicken with Peach Salad.
Late Monday evening, the temperature climbed to 100 degrees. This is not time to cook but one has to eat. I picked up a roasted chicken at the DeKalb Farmers Market for dinner. The problem with these chickens is the salt. I rinsed the chicken and soaked it with ice-cold water to reduce the salt and temperature. The dinner was still delicious and gentle for the blood pressure.

Peach Melba. It's mid-summer in Atlanta and its all about peaches. Where else in the world, there are a million streets with the root word "Peachtree" in their names. A cool dessert with fresh peach, vanilla ice cream, almonds, and hot chocolate sauce.



Pate' Chaud (Pa te so = Tay Boi) Individual country pork terrine en croute.


Pate Chaud, Grilled Beef Salad, and Cherry Tomato Goat Cheese Salad make a cool summer tapas dinner.

Haricots Verts "Stroganoff." French green beans with mushrooms and creme fraiche.

Fish Stew and Pan Fried Potato

Rose' is the drink of Summer. It goes with all things when things get hot!

Sunday morning crepes, Crepes Menage a` Trois: Marmalade, Cheese and tomato, and Blueberry Coulie.

Homage to Leftovers from Rossana's Nepali Alphabet Dinner

Lamb, Potato and Lentil Cake. Redux into brunch with a saddled egg and lime oil.

Charentais Cantaloupe with Lychees. Hard to find fruit varieties can be found at local farmers markets. Sweet and full of real, summer flavors.

For a late lunch, grilled Lamb Tareko on a bed of Shredded Endive with Honey Sesame Dressing. The lamb was reheated and charred on the grill to heighten the spiced marinade. The salad with an "Asian" dressing and roasted peanuts gives a crunchy counter point to the twice cooked lamb.

Wild Berries Clafoutis and Honeyed Goat Yogurt. Black berries found in backyard and organic blue berries made a light and spongy cake.

For a light supper, Momos in Lemony Broth with Buttered Leeks. Whether in brodo, or a la nage, or as a wonton soup version, the momos (Nepali lamb dumplings) get a second wind in a chicken broth reduction.

Vanilla Ice Cream with Hot Fudge and Rice Almond Anara Cookie Crumbles.

Deconstruction of the Pan Bagna

Pan Bagna: The "bathed" veggie sandwich is delicious and beautiful to make, but messy and sometimes painful to eat with crusty, chewy baguettes.

Voila`.... Pan Bagna Salad. The ingredients are exactly as in the sandwich, but everything is cut up into bite sizes. Same deliciousness without the stress or the mess.

This is hardly a new invention, but a unique variation of the same preparation. This salad is similar to Panzanella in Sicily or Salade Croutons elsewhere.

Roast Duck with Bing Cherries Salad.

The roast duck was purchased at a BBQ shop in Chinatown (Buford Highway). The duck breast, where the flavor is nutty and mild, is tossed with fruits of the season and a mild flavored lettuce. Don't be shy when buying things at a Chinese BBQ. This is no time to be a wall flower, dictate what you want. Otherwise, you will get a bad piece of meat full of fat that nobody wants!

Pork Dumplings with Scallion Soy Vinaigrette

Ground pork purchased from farmers at a local market is stuffed into wonton wrappers and cooked on stove top as with pot stickers.

Salad Caprese with tomatoes and fresh basil from local farmers market.

Whole Wheat Tagliatelle alla Carbonara. Cabonara is a sauce made of bacon/pancetta and eggs. This carbs loaded dinner provided plenty of fuel for the Peach Tree Road Race on the next morning of July 4th!

Vietnamese Chicken Herb Cole Slaw and Cold Sesame Buckwheat Noodle.

Pan Roasted Poulet Rouge with Pesto and Caramelized Green Apples.

Roast Duck with Green Peach Salad

Another variation of roast duck salad using seasonal green fruits and leafy lettuce. Georgia green peach is crunchy and "topped" in mid-July. The curly endive used in this salad was too bitter and too over powering for the roast duck, even with the dark meat.

Peach Almond and Goat Cheese Salad

Grilled Pork Sausage with Mussel Potato Salad. Mussels reign supreme over oysters in the summer. They add a sweet flavor and contrasting texture to potato salads.