More pickles!

Was out in the neighborhood the other night and noticed someone had cut up and thrown away an entire tomato garden! Just chopped it all down and tossed it the curb. What kind of crazy is that? I am a recycling nut and these tomatoes looked good enough, so I rescued them and took 'em home to clean and pickle. Pickled green tomatoes! Why not?

Some pickling vinegars, mustard seed, black pepper, garlic, dill and habanero for a wonderful bite. In the fridge they go to marinate and get all delicious!

Grinder Bash 2010

What is Grinder Bash?, you ask. Well, it is a sort of fan appreciation day the Chicago White Sox throw every year for their season ticket holders. The stadium is open for fans to walk around (every where but on the grass-boooo! I wanted to run the bases). There was free food and you could go into the dugouts, clubhouse, bullpen and walk around the field. Really cool to kinda have the stadium "all to yourself". Thanks White Sox!

Grinder Bash!

Rows and rows of seats.

Load up your plate!

Manager Dave is ready to take questions.

I have an invisible glove.

Sox manager Ozzie Guillen and the great Bernie Mac.

Beautiful field.

I love the movement in this great statue. Great day!

Snappy summer salad!

Isn't a nice salad the best thing to eat in the summertime? I think so too. It's hot outside, you don't want to get stuffed but still need to eat and look good in a bikini? Make yourself a lovely salad.

Here's my creation-chopped romaine, tomato, sliced radish and radish sprouts for a great spicy bite, and some creamy delicious gorgonzola cheese. A simple drizzle of olive oil, squeeze of lemon and dash of sea salt and pepper. Delicious!

Once in the bowl, I added sliced hard boiled egg, there's your protien! Throw a little more gorgonzola on there just because it's so yummy. The flavors worked well together, the lemon and radish sprouts made it sparkle my mouth. A guilt-free healthy summer salad that won't make your bathing suit tight at all!

Steak tacos @ home

Having grown up like most Americans, "taco night" usually consisted of hard shell store bought tacos, sloppy joe like taco meat and jarred salsa. Oh, and cheese. I discovered a far more authentic version when I moved to NYC many years ago. The true Mexican taco that can be found at the taco trucks in Jackson Heights, Queens. Small corn tortillas that can be stuffed with pork, beef, tounge, goat, chorizo, etc. No cheese here. The toppings are usually tomato, cilantro, radish, onion, hot peppers, hot red or green chili sauce with a squeeze of lime. After enjoying these tacos off and on again throughout the years, I have never wanted to go back to store bought ingredients. So here is my version of "taco night" at home.

Fresh, locally made corn tortillas, grilled steak that was rubbed with salt, pepper, cumin and red pepper flakes, tomato, onion, cilantro and lime. I used Sricracha hot sauce, which together with the lime had a fresh, spicy tangy bite. They came out pretty good, and I want to make them again trying out different meats, especially chorizo, which is pork from the gods. Here's to experimenting!

Caesar Salad

Who doesn't love a good Caesar Salad? I do, and it's better when you come across the "true" version. No processed dressing here, I decided to make it myself . I mashed together garlic and anchovies, Coleman's mustard, lemon juice, worcestershire sauce, raw egg yolk and whisked in olive oil. Chopped romaine lettuce and croutons were put in dressing bowl and tossed. Salty, tangy deliciousness made the perfect salad, if I do say so myself.

Pickles!

Summer is the perfect time to experiment and I want to try some pickles. I found a "refrigerator" pickle recipe, no boiling or steaming, all that jazz. Hot ingredients and glass containers make me super nervous. Just all the vinegars and spices to the jarred cut cucumber and pop in the fridge. The recipe I found called for a lot of brown sugar, so after a day in the fridge I added more vinegar. It's all an experiment. I had enough for four jars, so two were dill, one garlic and one habanero.

So far they have absorbed all the spices, vinegars and are crunchy and tasty. I figure they can sit and stew for a while to develop full flavor, but the habanero pickles are SUPER HOT!!! Awesome! I love experiments and so far, so good. A great summer so far!

The Puttanesca Project

It's been aaaagggesssss since I had posted anything. No direction here. Do I write about books? Sightseeing? Things I hate? I will get my shit together and post goodies about what I have been doing lately, which is reading and cooking. Maybe this will work.

Up early this morning on a walk to get coffee I was already thinking of what to make for dinner. Puttanesca immediately popped into my head. It really is a dish I love. The saltiness, earthiness and spice is wonderful. I've had it with spaghetti or penne, but really like it with angel hair pasta.

I sauteed onions and garlic in olive oil, then added capers (rinsed and whole), different types of olive (nicoise, kalamata, empeltre), four to five thick anchovies, and diced tomatoes in their juice. A lot of crushed red pepper flakes, dashes of basil and oregano. A nice long simmer, then the pasta was added and sauced up.

It really came together nicely and was delicious. I just might be getting the hang of it!