Just to finish up on the open kitchen theme, we had our second herb event and the last for the summer on Wednesday and it too went quite well. We shall have to make it an annual thing. This time the salads included a beet salad, and a fresh green...romaine and endive... with lots of parsley and basil and a light lemony vinaigrette dressing; also a salad that uses the ingredients of gazpacho soup but in a layered form...quite beautiful actually, and then I cooked some green beans and added blackberries and oregano. Then for the sandwiches we had English muffin pizzas using ketchup, basil, mozzarella and oregano; also roasted deli pork (Wegman's), slices of red onion, horseradish, mayo and fresh sage leaves on rye/pumpernickel swirl bread. Finally, I had made some herb biscuits that used rosemary and thyme and had a bunch of condiments to spread on them like Trader Joe's pub cheese, hummus, gorgonzola cheese (left over from my cheese class the day before) and some lovely Italian bread when the muffins ran out. I had also made some herb butter with soft butter and basil and another with rosemary. We had plenty to eat and about sixteen persons showed up.
Valerie had extensive information written up on the chalk board telling about herbs we used, a little history and usage, tips on keeping the herbs, etc. It tied everything together. She was really helpful with the whole project as was Bo-Kyung Kim, her sidekick who knows lots about herbs. I hope our lunchers will try some of these herbal ideas.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Open Kitchen Features Herbs
Yesterday we had our first drop-in kitchen event at OLLI where we had sandwiches and salads that incorporated a number of fresh herbs. This as a tribute to Valerie's Dirty Knee Club who have planted a variety of herbs outside the front door, handy to supply the dishes that we will be enjoying through summers to come. We had 15 lunchers and I used maybe five different herbs, including basil, mint, chives, sage, parsley. Next week we will use different herbs for fresh new dishes.
So the salad menu included: cut-up watermelon, cherry tomatoes, chopped mint in a dressing of lemon juice, sugar, honey, tad of salt; French potato salad, an oil-based salad of small red and white potatoes in an emulsion of olive oil, vinegar, dijon mustard, a little white wine, and a good quantity of chopped parsley, dill, and basil; cucumber and scallion salad; and storebought vinegar and oil cole slaw with sprinkled-on chopped dill. For the sandwiches, we had chicken salad with chopped sage on white bread; cream cheese and smoked salmon on various bagels with chopped dill; and open faced tomato, mozzarella, pesto and fresh basil on ciabatta bread. Iced tea was infused with mint because Valerie had made ice cubes with chopped mint frozen into them.
Comment and camaraderie were excellent and I think folks learned some new tricks and fresh ideas. Looking forward to next week's offerings.
So the salad menu included: cut-up watermelon, cherry tomatoes, chopped mint in a dressing of lemon juice, sugar, honey, tad of salt; French potato salad, an oil-based salad of small red and white potatoes in an emulsion of olive oil, vinegar, dijon mustard, a little white wine, and a good quantity of chopped parsley, dill, and basil; cucumber and scallion salad; and storebought vinegar and oil cole slaw with sprinkled-on chopped dill. For the sandwiches, we had chicken salad with chopped sage on white bread; cream cheese and smoked salmon on various bagels with chopped dill; and open faced tomato, mozzarella, pesto and fresh basil on ciabatta bread. Iced tea was infused with mint because Valerie had made ice cubes with chopped mint frozen into them.
Comment and camaraderie were excellent and I think folks learned some new tricks and fresh ideas. Looking forward to next week's offerings.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Blood Kin and Fish
Mostly this is a family post, plus food. That's because I returned a few days ago from a long anticipated reunion with six of altogether 13 first cousins who came from various parts of the country. Sadly, four of those thirteen have passed and two couldn't make it, but it was a good lively group, full of funny stories, revealed information and tons of photos and home movies.
We gathered at Donna's house in Palm City, Florida, a beautiful home with lots of space to move about. Her gracious husband David vacated so as to leave us cousins alone with our memories and keep it "clean", I guess, of any interfering personalities. It wasn't necessary and he did return for an evening when we all went out to dinner. To add to the conversation was an elaborate genealogy David had worked up and bound for each to take home with us.
Well, dinner in Florida can be a fabulous experience. So much seafood, eaten beside the water with soft breezes blowing through our hair. Menus that offered so many choices made it difficult to settle but any choice was awesome. My new favorite is Conch Fritters. I love the seafood restaurants in Fairfax County and given an option will choose one of the best of those rather than a beefy grill. So of course I was in dining -out heaven because we always chose a seafood place wherein to hang out. Some of our favorite memories growing up were shared weeks in the summer at the New Jersey seashore, fish being a large part of that.
I've not seen these dear ones in a very long time and didn't realize how much I carried my love for them and theirs for me, into our mature adult years. To add to the fun, some of them look like me or my mother. Well they should, right?
We gathered at Donna's house in Palm City, Florida, a beautiful home with lots of space to move about. Her gracious husband David vacated so as to leave us cousins alone with our memories and keep it "clean", I guess, of any interfering personalities. It wasn't necessary and he did return for an evening when we all went out to dinner. To add to the conversation was an elaborate genealogy David had worked up and bound for each to take home with us.
Well, dinner in Florida can be a fabulous experience. So much seafood, eaten beside the water with soft breezes blowing through our hair. Menus that offered so many choices made it difficult to settle but any choice was awesome. My new favorite is Conch Fritters. I love the seafood restaurants in Fairfax County and given an option will choose one of the best of those rather than a beefy grill. So of course I was in dining -out heaven because we always chose a seafood place wherein to hang out. Some of our favorite memories growing up were shared weeks in the summer at the New Jersey seashore, fish being a large part of that.
I've not seen these dear ones in a very long time and didn't realize how much I carried my love for them and theirs for me, into our mature adult years. To add to the fun, some of them look like me or my mother. Well they should, right?
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