Life's a Banquet
'...and most poor fools are starvin to death!' ~Mame

Link: http://www.waterfrontbakery.com

How are you coping with the heat? The good news is that it doesn't last for more than a week; and then again, that is why most of us live here. We LIKE that the weather is generally mild and ever-changing. The seasons are well defined and yet they do not define US. We do not have a season for Really Bad Things to happen, like tornadoes and hurricanes. Rather, we have tides that remind us that change is inevitable, even within the predictability of our days. Yes, we get some rain, and once in a while it is A LOT of rain. What I wouldn't give for some serious rain right now! It's gonna be bad this week... and then it will get much better. We have fans running and here is a great idea: Wet down some bandanas, ring them out and put them in a bag in the fridge. Put them around your neck during the hottest time of day and they really cool you down! As the bandana heats up just change how it is folded and find a cool side once again. Once one bandana is spent, rinse it out and change it for an already chilled one!

I finally got to try Merende in Tacoma and it did NOT disappoint me. Loren and I went there for lunch and we shared the pulled pork sandwich, and the taglietelle Bolognese. Loren's favorite was the pork, she raved about the flavors in it! My favorite was the pasta. The taglietelle was hand made, light and fresh and tender. It was not too heavily sauced and I thought it was perfectly sauced! Small chunks of tomatoes and sausage, creamy and light... it was a condiment for the pasta, which is exactly how they would do it in Italy. Showcasing the flavors of all the dishes components, and how they work together. I am really looking forward to going back and trying more things. They have 'small plates' and you should invite me if you head over there!

Some of the most fun I have had lately has been with the Sustainable Bremerton group and their Green Drinks events. Green Drinks is a national movement and originated as a way for people who work in the environmental sector to connect, socialize and network. In Bremerton everyone is invited to the events and they have restructured the events to be all free! The first one I got to go to was on a rooftop in Bremerton and John & David from Henry's Deli did FABULOUS food for the event. Hale's Ales was there with beer and wine, and the views were spectacular. The next event was down on the breakwater in Bremerton and CJ's Evergreen General Store was in charge of grilling up burgers, beans and some wonderful side salads. I have to admit that whenever I can make it to the Poulsbo Farmer's Market, my breakfast is one of their sausage breakfast burritoes. I love them! We brought cookies for all to enjoy and we shared a table with The PopcornChef.com folks kept me very happy. They make the best flavored popcorn EVER!!!! Hales was there again and Harborside Market provided some wine. The main sponser was Kitsap Boat Adventures and they were giving free boat rides to all who wanted them! These events are held the 3rd Tuesday of each month and you can get on the evite list by sending an email to sustainablebremerton@gmail.com and requesting to be put on the list. Did I mention that it is tons of fun and free?

This week we will be helping everyone chill out with chilled 'soups', like Gazpacho, Mango-Cucumber, Cantaloupe, and Sparkling Strawberry. We will also offer salads of fresh fruits and veggies and of course, ICE CREAM!!! We love to get creative with our ice cream and we make fantastic shakes! We have a new blender that puts our old frappes & smoothies to shame. At the Downen family reunion my brother in law (Mark's older brother) Don made these great cucumbers! They are today's recipe because they are cool and refreshing, with a great bite to them as well, and our farmer has big cucumbers coming up this week! Keep these in the fridge and snack all day, or add chicken and toss them over greens to turn them into a tangy, refreshing salad!

Don's Sezchuan Cucumbers

3 large cucumbers, unpeeled cut in half, seeds removed, and sliced in ½-inch slices
4 t salt
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
4 dried hot red peppers, chopped or 1 t crushed red pepper flakes
1/3 c sesame oil
½ c wine vinegar or white vinegar
½ c sugar

Put cucumber slices in a bowl; add the salt, chill and let sit for 4 hours. Squeeze juce from cucumbers.

Put cucumbers, garlic, and peppers in a serving bowl. Heat sesame oil until it just starts to smoke, and then pour over the cucumbers. Heat vinegar until it boils, then pour over the cucumbers.

Add the sugar, stir well, then cover and refrigerate about 4 hours. Serve cold. Can be stored up to 1 week. And of course, as they store they get even more flavorful.

Try this recipe and tell me what you think!!!

Link: http://www.waterfrontbakery.com

I need to get to Local Boys! No onions and no lemons in this house is rendering me madder and madder... Though the smell of 2 chickens roasting in the oven is heavenly. At least I had Herbs de Provence for them, if not lemon and fresh herbs. sigh. 2 more in the freezer though, so I have another chance. Why are THESE chickens special? Because their sole destiny was always to feed my family. I ordered 4 chickens from Red Rooster Farm in Poulsbo (you can find the Lamberts at the Poulsbo Farmer's Market) and Mark picked them up for us today. They fulfilled their chicken destiny on Saturday, and they are in my oven today. There is NOTHING like fresh chicken. Even without fresh lemon and herbs, these are going to be great. We will have them with Farro & Cannellini Beans that I stewed and froze a few months ago when the weather was just a bit colder. (I LOVE this essence of fall/winter in the middle of July! And wasn't the Thunder fabulous??) along with some salad greens from our CSA farm Hand Sown Homegrown. YUM!

I have been thinking about our food finds this week and there are some lovely highlights. We got gorgeous green onions in our CSA pack last week and as we were just about to throw some brats and chicken wings on the grill, it occurred to me to grill the onions as well. I rubbed a bit of olive oil on, salt and peppered them, and Mark grilled them for a few minutes. They were SWEET!!! So fabulous I can't wait to get more onions in our pack this week. Mark was skeptical and then he tasted them. His face lit up with a smile instantly as he processed the lovely flavors. Do this and you will be so happy!

Our newest team member at the cafe is Jennifer. She is a lovely woman who loves good food and she has a great garden that I cannot wait to see! She brought us all in a beautiful dish that was almost to pretty to ruin by eating...and yet I am so glad that I ate it! The lovely white and black bowls were filled with roasted yukon potatoes, zucchini, brussel sprouts and roasted red beets, which gave the whole thing a lovely ruby hue. There was lemon juice and fresh herbs in there, and it was all topped with a perfect poached egg! I could see fresh dill atop the egg and even with some (gentle) reheating the runny yolk of the egg was fabulous as it moistened the vegetable jewels below. We each got our own bowl and it was a good thing because none of us wanted to share! Such a beautiful gift: grown, tended, harvested and prepared with her hands to feed our souls. Thank you Jenn!!

Mark and I got out of the cafe on Saturday after the Sounders game began and raced to Port Orchard (of course we obeyed all traffic laws) to watch the rest of the game. As we parked half time was almost over and the Bay Street Ale House wasn't open yet (not til 3)so we headed in to Moon Dog's Bar & Grill. They put the game on for us so we got to watch them beat Houston! We ordered some jalapeno poppers, mainly because I read on the menu that they make them from scratch there, and Ivy is always looking for the best poppers, so I had to try them for her. Anything for you, Ivy!! Oh man, they were good. The best popper ever is no longer available: the previous owners of the Toad House Pizza in Bremerton made them in the wood fire oven, rather than frying them. SO FANTASTIC! These were they best I have had of the fried version, so Ivy get in there! (Minors can be in there until the evening.) Plus they had Mac n Jack's on tap, and that always makes me happy. Bay Street Ale House still has the best pizza in P.O, though.

So today's recipes are all in the writing, rather than mapped out for you. The first was the onions and now this: Last night we were going to grill a pork loin, but I didn't take it out early enough and it was still a bit frozen in the middle. Ok, I can handle this, I thought, and I decided to braise it, though not particularly slowly because we were getting pretty hungry. I pulled out my doufeu, salt and peppered the pork, then browned it on all sides, and set it aside. I tossed some onions in the oil and let them start to caramelize for a good long while, then I tossed in a few garlic cloves that I had crushed, salt & pepper, a couple of bay leaves, and some rosemary. I then cut the pork up: first into steak sizes, then those into 3rds, so they were very large chunks. I nestled them into the pot and I poured in about 2/3 of a bottle of Perazetta Erio. I covered it and let it simmer on low for awhile. I think it was 40 minutes or so. I pulled the meat out and turned up the pan juice, letting it reduce for about 15 minutes. I strained out all the solids, poured the sauce back, turned it off and finished it with a bit of butter whisked in. It was rich and lovely and the meat was tender and so good!

Between that and the chicken tonight, we will be eating well all the rest of the week. I hope you are eating well, too!

Link: http://www.waterfrontbakery.com

We have been busy the past couple of weeks! I know I left you hanging about the pork party and now I have to tell you that we had a derailment occur. I had pre-ordered my ham (leg with shank) from Farmer George and I picked it up the Thursday before last. I prepared a bucket and brined it for three days; carefully rinsing and re-brining each day. On Saturday before I went in I toasted some spices and prepared a rub with garlic, salt and spices, and left it in the fridge. I mapped out the 18 hour cooking time so that we would get it out of the oven well in advance of needing to leave, and left a note for Mark as to how to apply the rub, what temp the oven should be and when to put the pork in the oven. (I was to be giving a wine tasting for the Kitsap Wine Society that evening.) Mark got it rubbed and in and the house smelled yummy when I got home that night. When we went to bed the oven was softly humming along and the air was perfumed with the scent of cooking pork. We slept in a bit (for us) and when I went in to check the ham I found the oven turned off. Off!! Panic set in. How long had it been off? Was the pork safe to eat? How could this have happened? Was the oven broken? Was the pork safe to eat??? We pulled it out and it was clearly not done. It would have had a couple more hours to go anyway, but I did not know how 'done' this ham was, since I had never cooked one before. CRAP! We temped it: 134 degrees. It had been in a 225 degree oven over night. The oven was still slightly warm. How long had it been? I know it can safely be between 40 and 140 degrees for about 2 hours before we have to worry. When the oven shut off how long did it take to cool down to 140? How long did it stay in that danger zone? CRAP!!! Ok think. I cannot let his pig have sacrificed its life and limb to be tossed away like so much garbage, never mind the value of my time and efforts and money. We decided to finish cooking it to see how long it would take. It took about 3 more hours. Ok. Well... I believe that the oven was off 2-4 hours total and that the pork would not have been in the danger zone for more than 2 hours. And I could not risk taking it to the party and possibly making several people ill. I was so upset! I let the pork rest and decided to make myself the guinea pig. I would eat just a bit and wait to see if I had any discomfort, then repeat the process a couple of times. Oh man it was good. It was really hard to only eat a few bites!! I am fairly sensitive, though, and I knew my intestines would tell me soon if I was going to throw it away. An hour and a half passed and I tried another chunk. MMMM, even cold it was really good. Another hour and I decided to take the skin and bone off and taste some from the middle of the ham. It was so tender and while that familiar porkiness was definitely a part of the flavor, it had a flavor that I had never helped to create before. So rich and yummy! It was an Italian recipe for ham, aka Porchetta, and yet I know that this is what they eat in Mexico and South America too, it is so familiar from carnitas tacos. All night long and the next day I WAS FINE!!!! I do not regret keeping it from the pork party goers, that was never worth the risk, but I am so glad I sacrificed my own well being to know we could eat this lovely Porchetta. We ate it all week (and one day I did make it into tacos!) and then froze the rest. We will have it again and I am so grateful to that little pig! We will make the next party and perhaps I won't try something I have never tried before... or perhaps I will. I will certainly do this recipe again!

One of my favorite meals was about 2 weeks ago. I got home too late to eat a proper dinner before bed and I was hungry and tired and needing comfort. So I made peanut butter toast. It was the BEST dinner I could have had! And it made me feel better. I love peanut butter toast!

Our nephew Travis is staying with us once again this summer to earn some dough. We absolutely love having him here and we are so lucky that we get to spend this time with him. He is a great sport and while he is a fairly picky eater, he is always willing to try new things with us. He knows we will never have him try something 'gross' and Mark has really worked with him to let him know that just because a dish may contain something that he does not particularly like, say a soup that has onions in it, he may still really like the dish. What is in it is far less important than how it tastes! Trav picks up on this quickly and has enjoyed many new tastes. I remembered that last year his first taste of pesto was enjoyable, though I could not remember which pesto recipe I used. Rather than fret it I just made some pesto with fresh tomatoes, almonds, basil and pecorino, and dumped it on hot spaghetti. He loved it! Our team member Jennifer has a fabulous garden and she brought in several things including some fresh peas. They were so sweet and delicious! I have great memories from childhood with my grampa Wright pulling over near the pea patch and wading in with me to shell a few fresh peas. I shelled some and offered one to Travis. He was hesitant and I told him that it tastes like candy so he was on it. He loved them! Trav does not eat too many veggies so we were delighted with this revelation. He did not enjoy eating the pea pod due to the texture, but he chowed down on those peas.

I have 2 recipes for you today, both of course are easy, though one is SUPER easy. It is my version of the old shake and bake trick:

Get a bag of our house-made croutons and crush them (I use a food processor) into crumbs any way that you want to.
Get some chicken (whatever pieces you like of course) and dip them in some milk, egg, or even water to make things stick.
Preheat your oven to 350
Toss the chicken pieces around with the croutons until well coated. You do not even need to season the chicken first because the croutons are so well seasoned!
Place the coated pieces on a baking sheet (I actually use a baking rack on a baking sheet, but it is not necessary)
give them a quick spray of cooking spray or oil and put them in the oven
Bake until done (different pieces will take different times. Boneless breasts will take about 20 minutes, bone-in breasts closer to 40, etc...)
Voila! with about 5 minutes of prep time you have a great dish!

My other recipe is a quick soup that you can make from the fresh veggies you get at the farmer's markets.

Carrot Ginger Soup

Peel & Grate about 3+ inches of fresh ginger & 1 bunch of fresh carrots
Finely chop an onion & 2 cloves of Fresh Garlic
Saute ginger, onions & garlic with some salt until they begin to soften
Add carrots and cook another 3-4 minutes more
Add 3 cups veggie stock (actually I use chicken at home) and simmer until very soft, about 10 minutes

Put in blender and puree with 1 cube of silken tofu, the juice of one orange, and a pinch of paprika until creamy (DO NOT FILL THE BLENDER BOWL WITH HOT LIQUID. FILL ONLY ABOUT HALF WAY AND PUT THE LID ON WITHOUT THE MIDDLE PART. FOLD A TOWEL UP AND PLACE IT ON TOP WHERE THE MIDDLE PART GOES, HOLDING SECURELY IN PLACE WITH YOUR HAND. BEGIN PUREEING ON LOW AND SLOWLY INCREASE THE SPEED. The reason for this is that hot liquids 'bloom' and will explode out the top if not allowed some air and time.

Top with a bit of paprika or fresh dill and serve warm.

Again, 30 minutes start to cleanup and you have soup!

Do you have any quick and easy recipes to share with us?