There wasn’t much spring here in New Hampshire this year–it’s gone straight to summer, and right now it is 85 degrees. The good news is that we have nice cool nights, much like back home in Oregon, so the sleeping is still good. The birds, however, are not sleeping well–they were up at 4:30 this morning, and so was I until I found earplugs.
We were in NY last weekend, and then Ben was in Boston, so I haven’t been cooking much. I had a spartan few days, using up whatever we had around, and eating a lot of bread and jam:
Tonight, despite a late start for dinner (9:30), I am going to actually cook, and it will be a Spring Special: Halibut, asparagus and fava beans. I’ll report back with what I decide to do with it all.
Katef, how is it that you can make even bread and jam look haute gourmet? By the way, I am a huge fan of the ‘Sunday Suppers at Lucques’ cookbook also – it is my cooking bible. I had a bite of Suzanne’s braised short ribs at an ‘Eating in the Garden’ event and I swear, I achieved nirvana. I am so glad I live within 20 minutes of all her restaurants, otherwise the airplane flights for dinner would get expensive!
You are totally inspiring me to cook more. I’m hosting a movie night (we watch horror movies in my garden) this weekend and I’m going to make the 3 porks burgers, your oven fries, sausage corn dogs, popcorn salad, and White Russian Milkshakes!
Germi-
Oh MAN, you should be glad I’m 3000 miles away, because that menu sounds very party-crash-worthy (despite never once having been able to sit through a horror movie)! I have never been to LA, but the Lucques cookbook has been making me think about a visit much more seriously. Those short ribs are nuts, they really are so amazing, though her plastic wrap method threw me for a serious loop when I tried it…
Thanks for reading, and for all your kind words about the blog! Enjoy the movie party; I recommend getting a friend to help make the burgers because there’s lots of chopping, but they are worth it. How do you make corn dogs at home? Do you have a fryer?
I fry the old-fashioned way – le creuset dutch oven with approx 4″ of safflower oil and a thermometer. I love corndogs and have tried lots of different batters (I like using Niman Ranch Sweet Italian Sausage as my ‘dog’), and lately I’ve been using 1/2 c. flour, 3/4 c. cornmeal, 1 tsp salt (Maldon, always!), 1/2 tsp pepper. 1/2 c. milk, 1 beaten egg, 1 Tbsp. oil – I mix the drys, then I mix the wets, then I mix them together. Then, I take a skewered sausage and dip it, then immediately drop it into 370 degree oil and let it bubble away until deep golden brown. It’s hard to keep people away from them as they’re draining, but a burned tongue usually teaches the lesson!
And I encourage you to come to LA! There is alot of good eating here…