Comments on: Oregon trip: “Tapas” dinner on the patio

By: kate

kate — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 22:38:04 +0000

Julie- You know, sometimes I feel like things sound more complicated when I write them up than they are in real life! Plus the photos make it seem….I don’t know, like a production. The figs, in particular, are incredibly simple, no cooking really except that you put them on the grill. But no measuring and chopping and spicing! Last winter I went through a major Complicated Meals phase, and I bet I will again once the weather gets cold, but in the summer it’s easy to cook and eat well because there are so many wonderful vegetables and fruits to eat!

Now get thee a wooden spoon! And Mom, if you see this, did I leave that new bamboo flat spoon-paddle at home?

By: julie at anothershadeofgrey

julie at anothershadeofgrey — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 13:21:47 +0000

Wow. You people are professionals. I’ve never cooked anything this complicated in my life. And you already know I don’t have the utensils to do it either. 😉

By: Beth

Beth — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 03:47:45 +0000

I love figs. Our neighbors, the Mulders, are away on an Elder Hostel tour and told us to help ourselves to their figs; say no more. I have several different ways to enjoy fresh figs.

By: kate

kate — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 10:30:55 +0000

AH, good clarification re. the lemon juice. I’ll edit the post! I did get that you don’t trim out the choke but I don’t think I was very clear so I’ll edit that, too.

Thank you for being such a good teacher and inspiration! XOXO

By: Beth

Beth — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 04:05:49 +0000

I didn’t explain myself well; what a surprise! You don’t have to trim the choke out of a baby artichoke. Peel the tough outer leaves, cut off the top third, halve and drop into acidulated water to prevent discoloring. And that’s the other thing I didn’t make clear. Before you start working with artichokes, prepare a bowl of water with lots of lemon juice. Depending on how many artichokes I have, I halve and juice one or two lemons into a bowl of water. After you trim each artichoke, drop them in the water to prevent browning. They are good, aren’t they? We used the leftovers (from your visit) on pizza with caramelized onions and goat cheese. the other pizza we made that night had Sun gold cherry tomatoes and crispy prosciutto; yum!