September 11th

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In remembrance of those who lost their lives

in the tragic events of 5 years past.

And with the hope that a more peaceful world

will prevail in the years to come.

Bacon And Eggs. . .

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...and mayonnaise and mustard and cornichon and two tiny but delicious Eureka Mist tomatoes from the garden.

The bacon bits came from leftover Neiman Ranch Applewood Smoked Un-cured Bacon. I cut the thick slices of bacon into 1/2-inch pieces and cooked them in a cast iron skillet until the fat was rendered and the bits were perfectly done to a crispy brown goodness. (Most of the bits were saved in a container in the fridge for a later use and the rendered fat was stored in a glass jar for I-don't-know-what-yet-but-I'm-sure-I'll-figure-it-out.)

Two hard boiled eggs were peeled and chopped into a bowl, followed by a tablespoon of mayonnaise, a heaping teaspoon of Maille mustard and 3 finely chopped cornichon. This was stirred together, placed on a small plate, sprinkled with bacon bits and surrounded by wedges of freshly picked tomato. That's it. It was wonderful. It's all gone. Sunday brunch.

A Bounty Of Blackberries

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This is the time of year when I feel very rich, botanically speaking. In a word: Blackberries. We have two kinds of blackberries growing on our property, the Himalayan Blackberry, a giant of a plant that has large, nasty thorns and can put out canes up to 20 feet long, and our native blackberry, which has smaller canes, thorns, growing habit and fruit. I must rather smugly add here that we actually have eight kinds of edible berries on our 2.5 acres and we only planted one of them, our blueberries. All the rest are either indigenous to our area, black and red huckleberries, salal, thimbleberry, and salmonberry, or are the blackberries that have naturalized here. Because the Himalayan blackberry is considered a noxious weed in California, we have to be vigilant in containing its growth to a prescribed area.

These crisp, leading-up-to-autumn mornings will find Clay out in the yard picking a bowl of blackberries. They're fat, juicy and tartly sweet, a perfect topping to our steel-cut oats breakfast. Now is also the time to pick whatever is ripe everyday to save this luscious goodness for winter. Our berries are completely pesticide and any other -cide free, as is all of our property, so the only thing they sometimes have on them is a bit of dust.


Since I freeze the berries for the winter, I don't want to add water to them by washing them, so after picking several quarts, I place them on a large baking sheet and "dust" them by using the cool setting of a hair dryer. This blows off the dust and other bits of garden schmutz that may be clinging to them.

To make the berries ready for bagging and freezing, I carefully spread them out over the baking sheet so they're in a single layer and place them in the freezer for about 1/2 hour or so, until each berry is semi-frozen and won't stick to its neighbors. Then they go into large zip-top freezer bags and back into the freezer, waiting for the perfect moment in the darkest days of winter to brighten an evening meal where I might make a clafoutis or a cobbler for dessert, or top a quickly sauteed chicken or duck breast with blackberry pan sauce. Yum!


This is my berry picking companion, Huckleberry. She's 15 years old, loves blackberries and has learned to pick them off without getting stuck by thorns. Jack loves berries too but, being vertically challenged, is limited to the ones growing close to the ground.
This is my submission to Weekend Herb Blogging, a weekly event begun by the ever busy and industrious Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen. Each week, food bloggers can join in by posting about an herb, plant, garden vegetable, fruit, etc. One of my very favorite food bloggers, Kalyn will 'round-up' the weekly submissions on Sunday evening. Be sure to take a peek at what food bloggers from around the world are saying about their favorite herb or plant. If you'd like to join in, click here to see how.

Eggplant Parmesan With Kalyn's Incredible Marinara Sauce

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The photo for this dish is rather unappealing to me, but the dish itself was so darn tasty and the sauce so incredibly good that I've thrown caution to the wind and will show it to you anyway.

Promising our group of Beach Night revelers that I would make something to "warm the tummy" and, as usual, starting to cook late in the day, I stole ingredients from what were meant to become eggplant timbales (which I'll just have to make and post another time) and came up with what I guess you could call eggplant parmesan. A ricotta cheese filling between layers of roasted eggplant slices and Kalyn's incredible Sausage and Basil Marinara Sauce, topped with cheese, baked for an hour in the oven, and it was done and ready to pack to the beach.

If you haven't made Kalyn's sauce yet, you really owe it to yourself to do so. I made a full recipe a few days ago and ended up with 7 containers to freeze for the winter. And I'm not done - this weekend I'm going to make another batch before the tomatoes in our local Co-op are all gone. This sauce is thick and rich and herb-y and tomato-y. Just think of all that good lycopene you'll be getting to carry you through the cold winter and on into next summer while waiting for the tomatoes to ripen!

The season is changing rapidly here; the days are shorter and the nights cooler, so a hot dish just from the oven hit the spot for our rather cool gathering on the beach.

Eggplant Parmesan a la Beach Night
Ingredients:4 medium globe eggplants
2 cups ricotta cheese
2 eggs
3/4 cup grated parmesan
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
2 teaspoons dried basil, crumbled
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 cups marinara sauce (I used Kalyn's Sausage and Basil Sauce)
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup grated asiago cheese
olive oil for the pan

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Cut the stem end and base end off of each eggplant. Slice the eggplants lengthwise into 1/4-inch thick slices and place on an oiled cookie sheet.
Roast in the oven for 12-15 minutes, turning the slices over halfway through the cooking time.
Remove from oven and set aside.
Set the oven to 350.
In a bowl, beat the eggs lightly then add the ricotta, 3/4 cup parmesan, pine nuts, basil, nutmeg, salt and black pepper, mixing thoroughly.
Place a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of an oblong 9x12" glass baking dish.
Place a layer of eggplant slices on top of the sauce, fitting the slices snugly.
Spoon 1/2 of the ricotta mixture over the eggplant, spreading it out with the back of the spoon.
Put 1/3 of the sauce over the ricotta mixture and top with another layer of eggplant.
Put the rest of the ricotta mixture over the eggplant and another 1/3 of the sauce.
Place the last of the eggplant slices on top followed by the last of the sauce.
Sprinkle the 1/2 cups of parmesan and asiago cheeses over the very top, cover with foil and bake in the oven for 45 minutes.
Remove the foil and bake another 15 minutes to give the cheese a browned, chewy texture.
Remove from the oven and let rest for another 15 minutes.

To pack this up for the beach, I put a large sheet of heavy duty foil on the counter and set the baking dish in the center. Bring up the sides of the foil to enclose the dish. Top with another piece of foil if necessary. Place in a cardboard box that has hand holes in the sides for easy carrying.

Good night!

Michelle's Poulet aux Noix

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Once in a while I see a recipe on someone's food blog that really knocks me out. And once in a while I'll just have to share it with you. Like this one that I made the other night for my family.

Michelle, of Je Mange la Ville, posted a recipe for Poulet aux Noix, or Chicken with Walnuts, and when I saw it on her blog I had to make it for myself. The photo above is a rather yellow-brown color because the dish is, well, a bit yellow-brown. But in a good way. It is soooo very delicious that nobody at my table complained. (Lots of complimentary moans and groans, and not one color complaint!)

I followed this recipe exactly as Michelle wrote it except I had skinless, boneless thighs and breasts on hand so I used those and I left the garlic cloves in their skins. At first I didn't think they would cook in the amount of time allotted, but they did and were so wonderful. The whole dish sparkled with a lemony-white wine flavor that suited the chichen to a "T" and the walnuts cooked to a caramel-y goodness, maintaining their own texture and flavor while melding with the flavors of the sauce. I also made the Haricot Verts in Walnut Oil and the Gratin Dauphinoise to round out this perfectly delicious French meal.

These recipes are all keepers and will go into my book of favorites. Do visit Michelle's site for this and other great recipes.

Making a Few Changes. Back Soon

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I'm working on upgrades to my blog. Adding a long overdue blogroll, moving things around a bit and, hopefully, putting my post section back into alignment. Have you noticed how skewed it is? Yes, the tech-challenged cook is learning a thing or two and hopefully will have a few changes in place before the end of the loooong weekend. In the meantime, there is no end to the photos I shoot everyday and post on my garden blog, Raven Ridge Gardens. Ever seen a banana slug?

What's For Lunch? Tomato Bacon Sandwich

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Just to make Pete Wells shudder in horror, I'm going to give you the details about the tomato sandwich I had for lunch today. It was made with one of these gorgeous, organically grown Brandywine tomatoes thusly:

1 beautiful Brandywine tomato, sliced thickly
2 slices of really good whole wheat bread
2 teaspoons full fat mayonnaise (Aw, go ahead, use more!)
2 slices turkey bacon, cooked (turkey bacon cancels out the fat from the mayo. Maybe.)
A few sprinkles of Maldon Sea Salt

2 fresh basil leaves

Spread 1 teaspoon mayonnaise on each slice of bread.

Place two slices of tomato on one piece of the bread. Sprinkle with a touch of salt.

Place the 2 strips of bacon over the tomatoes.

Place another 2 tomatoe slices on top of the bacon. Sprinkle with another touch of salt.

Place a basil leaf on the top of each tomato slice.
Cover with the second slice of bread.
Eat. Slurp. Munch. Mmmmm!
Oops. Forgot to take a photo of that.

Actually, all this silliness is because I haven't prepared anything very blog worthy in the last few days. But I am preparing recipes from some of my favorite food bloggers. In the tomato department, I'm making a batch of Kalyn's Slow Roasted Tomatoes plus some of her incredible looking Sausage and Basil Marinara Sauce. Both of these will be "put by" for the winter. And as a special dinner for my sweetie and my son, I'm going to make the Poulet aux Noix from Michelle's Je Mange La Ville, about which I am very excited.

Stay tuned.