Summer is an excellent time for grilling experiments. Although we previously had nearly zero experience grilling fruit at home, we ate grilled grapes once at Ad Hoc (which is one of our all-time favorite restaurants. We live halfway across the country from that place, but Dan still occasionally, wistfully stalks their Facebook page to find out what they are serving that night for dinner.) Inspired by those grapes and a pineapple and jalapeno salsa that we recently served over grilled pork, we created a side salad with grilled fruit, and added chopped fresh jalapeno, crumbled goat cheese and a drizzle of balsamic reduction to balance out the sweetness of the fruit. The outcome of our little experiment? Successfully delicious!
Weekly Menu (Aug. 4)
Saturday
- Dinner Out
Sunday
- Pan-Seared Strip Steaks w/ Sauteed Mushrooms, Gorgonzola and Arugula
Monday
- Take-Out
Tuesday
Wednesday
- Stir-Fried Noodles w/ Chicken and Broccolini
Thursday
Friday
- Dinner Out
Friday Favorites
We debated whether to post any favorites today, in light of a very sad occurrence this week — our friend’s dad passed away unexpectedly. It seemed insensitive to post our silly little photos of food and other stuff we like when our friend and his family are hurting through such a difficult time. But the experience is a reminder that life is so very short, and we take the photos throughout our week as a way to remind ourselves to stop and appreciate the good things in our lives. So we share the photos and the hope that others will also take a little time to be grateful for their own favorites.
Roasting a chicken is easy, makes your kitchen smell amazing, and provides great leftovers.
Seeing a comedian at a comedy club is a fun date night. Even the waiters were funny — the guy who sat us (right beside the stage) said “if you guys were sitting any closer, you’d have to tell some jokes.”
Eating the grilled hamachi kama (yellowtail collar) at Sushi Sake is almost a religious experience for Dan, he loves it so much.
Remembering how good the lamb is at Ziziki’s when we were craving a gyro, but found out the place where we originally wanted to go was closed, saved our Sunday lunch.
Finding and executing an amazing recipe for kimchi fried rice resulted in the best meal of the week.
Zucchini and Feta Fritters
This was our first foray into fritters, and we felt they turned out fairly well. If you’re not familiar with them, fritters are basically flattened little patties held together with egg and flour and flavored with various main ingredients (depending on the type of fritter) such as corn, apple or, in this case, zucchini. Adding feta cheese, dill and green onions gives a little flair to the fritter flavor with a bit of tang and bite. Fast, easy to make and relatively healthy, zucchini fritters are a fun, filling, meat-free alternative main course — especially in summer, when you might be feeling like having lighter fare than you would during the more frigid months of the year.
Weekly Menu (July 28)
Saturday
- Grilled Pork Chops w/ Pineapple Salsa, Caribbean Baked Beans
Sunday
- Roasted Game Hen, Greek Salad
Monday
Tuesday
- Take-Out
Wednesday
- Kimchi Fried Rice (w/ leftover pork), Egg Rolls
Thursday
- Parchment-Baked Tilapia w/ Tomatoes, Zucchini & Basil, Sauteed Okra
Friday
- Dinner & a Movie
Friday Favorites
Some food-related (mostly) things we enjoyed this past week:
H Mart is a giant Asian grocery store that defies description. The produce section alone is overwhelming, with bins and bins of exotic fruits and vegetables. There are rows and rows of all different types of kimchi (one of Dan’s favorite things) and pickled stuff. Aisles and aisles of noodles and rices. Tons and tons of fresh seafood and various kinds and cuts of meats. Cases and cases of frozen food items. Shopping at H Mart is an experience, even if you don’t end up buying anything.
We made our own (healthier) version of a favorite fast-food breakfast: toasted whole wheat muffin with browned slices of Canadian bacon, melted cheddar cheese and a fried egg with slightly runny yolk. Ronald McDonald’s got nothing on us.
We always love finding excellent, new (to us) restaurants, especially Tex-Mex places. After just one visit, Lazaranda Mexican Seafood Grill has officially been added to our restaurant rotation. The menu is extensive and everything we tried was delicious. Most importantly, Lazaranda exceeded our Tex-Mex expectations of the perfect margarita and awesome guacamole.
We enjoyed a post-dinner evening swim last week and wondered why we’ve never done so before. Floating around the pool and watching the moon come up was a great way to end the day.
Best jambalaya ever, with smoked turkey and andouille sausage. We both had seconds and might have had thirds if we didn’t want to save some for lunches later in the week (when it was even better than the first night!)
Asian Green Beans
We have a few go-to Asian recipes in our weekly menu rotation (Korean Chicken and Asian Pork Tenderloin for example), but sometimes struggle to find a good veggie side to round out an Asian meal. Sauteed snow peas are good, but get pretty boring after the fifth or sixth time you serve them. We were excited to try this recipe, which kicks up plain old green beans with Asian flavor subtle enough to complement the main course without overpowering it. What makes these beans so good is the sauce (of sorts) made with green onions, garlic, ginger, sesame oil and oyster sauce. Add some sliced roasted red pepper and garnish with toasted sesame seeds and scallions, and the green beans are anything but boring. Come to think of it, these same ingredients could take the snow pea to a whole new level as well.
Pasta Caprese
If you’re like us and have a bounty of tomatoes and basil from your garden (or your local farmer’s market), this is the perfect meal to take advantage of these summer staples. And the recipe, from America’s Test Kitchen, is as easy as the Italian island of Capri (the supposed birthplace of the caprese salad) is beautiful. It’s so easy that it barely even constitutes a “recipe” in the strict sense of measured ingredients and detailed instructions. The most important take-away from the recipe is the technique of freezing the mozzarella cheese before adding it to the hot cooked pasta to keep the cheese from melting into a gooey mess. The rest is simple: whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, a shallot and salt & pepper for the dressing and marinate the tomatoes in it; boil the pasta; combine the pasta, mozzarella and tomatoes; then add the basil just before serving. The flavor combination of vine-ripe tomatoes, creamy mozzarella and homegrown basil is as fresh as it gets. Adding al dente pasta provides a hearty texture and elevates a simple side salad into an ideal summer main course.
Weekly Menu (July 21)
Saturday
- Smoked Turkey & Sausage Jambalaya, Sauteed Zucchini & Squash
Sunday
- Pizza Night
Monday
- Herb-Roasted Fish, Lemon Pasta w/ Tomatoes
Tuesday
- Take-Out
Wednesday
- Pulled Pork Tostadas, Mexican Rice
Thursday
- Breaded Pork Chops w/ Arugula Salad
Friday
- Dinner Out
Friday Favorites
Some food-related (mostly) things we enjoyed this past week:
Our local Central Market offers the “Sip and Shop” feature where shoppers can purchase a glass of wine or a beer to sip while — you guessed it — shopping. We don’t always sip and shop, but when we do, it turns the sometimes tedious chore of grocery shopping into an enjoyable afternoon outing.
With so many yummy fruits currently in season (see also, cheap), we were inspired to try grilling some of the bounty and making a salad out of it. We grilled pineapple, apricots, peaches and grapes, then tossed the grilled fruit with crumbled goat cheese and a finely chopped jalapeno and drizzled all of it with a white balsamic vinegar reduction. Summer on a plate. We’ll post about it soon, but a couple of tips we learned are to use barely-ripe fruit (over-ripe fruit may get mushy) and if you grill grapes longer than a couple of minutes, their skins disappear.
Back when we participated in the Charcutepalooza “Year of Meat,” we discovered the perfection that is duck confit. Knowing we still had some duck legs in our freezer, Dan had a craving but decided to prepare the confit a little differently this time. He dusted off his sous vide machine, filled it with water, set it to 178 degrees, then cooked the cured duck legs in a vacuum-sealed bag in the machine for 10 hours. Then all we had to do was pop the duck in the oven for about 15-20 minutes and pair it with a salad and a poached egg for an amazing weeknight meal.
Because we don’t already have enough kitchen gadgets and we enjoy a sparkling beverage on occasion, we recently purchased a Sodastream. We’re pretty happy with it — it doesn’t take up much space and you can create your own club soda with varying levels of bubbly-ness.
Our cucumber plant is not quite done yet! We thought it was a goner once the temps started regularly reaching high 90s and 100s, but it has hung in there and even has multiple flowers, some of which will hopefully turn into little cucumbers for pickling.