Robb + Jessie Married & in the Badger State
Daily Grind
Well, I am back. Robb is still on vacation. (Our trips overlapped by a week so Robb could be at our friend Jacob’s wedding).
Soon I will have photos up, but for now a treat to show you that indeed, I am my father’s daughter and I know how to catch a fish like my mom!
Mission: Stress Reduction
My doctor informed me that my headaches are caused by the tension in my neck, shoulders and back. She prescribed muscle relaxers. In addition, the nurse I spoke with informed me that I should take a vacation. My response, “That is actually starting on Monday.” (Well, I’d like to think that it is starting right now.)
Every August (almost) I get to go on a wild and crazy adventure with my best bud, whom I affectionally refer to as Shazz. Why August? Well, simply because it’s the best month and that is how we celebrate her birthday.
This year, we are doing an ultralight backpacking trip (because I have pack all of my gear into one carryon). Past years we have endured rain and fog on the misty Mount Rainier. We have also enjoyed the glorious beauty of The Mountain in sunny warm weather. We have slept in a yurt while the ocean waves crashed outside and a raccoon devoured our cheese. We have battled mossy rocks and encountered ghosts (no joke) where Washington meets the Pacific Ocean. We have laughed with Pirates. We have tiptoed (or drove) through Humptulips. We have outrun (almost) ferries in the Puget Sound. And we have got lost in Europe a few times too many to count. What will this year bring us? One never knows. (But I think just what the doctor ordered: stress reduction).
Bob the tomato
No, it’s not really Bob. Maybe it’s his lumpy overgrown cousin?
Since buying our T.V. from Sony (a plug on behalf of my cousin), I have discovered that VeggieTales is on at 9 a.m. on Saturdays. (I don’t know which station since I still refer to the local ABC channel as KOMO-4 and the NBC channel as KING-5). Anyway, you can now find me undoubtedly in front of the television with a bowl of cereal and a mug of tea wrapped in a blanket laughing along with VeggieTales. That show never gets old. And the real bonus is that when we have kids, I will be able to watch all the episodes with them and not feel silly.
Oh, but you might be wondering what that tomato is. It is, I think, a Black Russian tomato from the plant gifted to us by our friends Eric and Ruthie. Let me tell you, that is one delicious treat. Robb and I stood amongst boxes and dishes, as we tried to pack our kitchen, each eating half of this guy still warm from the afternoon sun with a bit of tomato juice dribbling down our chins. Yum.
Goodness, gracious, eight balls of fire!
Last week I told you about Eric’s donation of a eight ball zucchini to our fridge. As promised, we cut it in half, gutted it and stuffed it with all sorts of good things (mostly what we had around the house). So now let me share with you our last meal at Paunack Place.
Instead of using the fresh swiss chard as Ruthie and Eric suggest, I used the filling I made the other week for my swiss chard ravioli. (I had frozen the extra portion). It is simply blanched chard leaves mixed with the stalks, diced and sautéed in olive oil, salt and pepper. I also missed the crutial step of saving the zucchini guts which are also cooked and added to the stuffing. (Oops). We didn’t have bread crumbs handy so I bought frozen biscuits from Trader Joe’s and baked them before I started the cooking process. [A side note about the Trader Joe’s biscuts: they take twice as long to cook as the package states. About 20 minutes at 400ºF.]
Ruthie and Eric’s Simple Stuffed Zucchini
(our adaptation)
This serves 4 as a main course. Can be doubled or halved.
2 eight ball zucchini
4 slices of bacon, chopped
2 shallots, finely sliced
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1 cup of thawed swiss chard or spinach (water pressed out)
4 oz (1 cup grated) cheese sharp cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup torn biscuit piecesPreheat oven to 350ºF
For the shell
Halve the squash lengthwise. Trim off top and bottom (stem ends). Scoop out inside flesh leaving half-inch shell. Chop up the inside flesh and set aside [don’t accidently toss or you will be sorry]. Set shells onto a baking dish lined with parchment or a Silpat. [We forgot to steam the shells like R&E suggest].For the filling
Cook bacon over medium heat until crisp and you have 2–-3 Tbsp drippings. Set the bacon and drippings aside, separately. Cook the shallots and garlic in 1 Tbsp of bacon fat until translucent (avoid browning).Add the swiss chard and reserved inside flesh from the zucchini. Cook these until the zucchini is tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste keeping in mind that the shell is unsalted. About 8 — 10 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
In the remaining 1 — 2 Tbsp bacon fat, brown the breadcrumbs.
Assembly
Toss bacon, 1/2 cup of shredded cheese, and chard-zucchini mixture together. Fill shells with mixture by gently scooping it into the shells (do not over fill). Top with breadcrumbs and remaining 1/2 cup of cheese.
Cook in a preheated oven for 30 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and melted.
Enjoy with a fork and knife, or just your hands.
We enjoyed ours with a side of steamed baby carrots and yellow wax beans drizzled with some olive oil and seasoned with a bit of salt and pepper.
My favorite part was when Robb realized that the shell was indeed edible. He is too used to eating stuffed winter squash. Speaking of which, I bet the mixture sans the squash guts would be incredibly tasty in a winter squash. Maybe with some wild rice… the possibilities are endless.
I hope the Vincills took a photo of their fridge. When we saw it the other night, their two crisper drawers were packed with eight balls! Seriously, they gave us four more and they still had too many to eat in a week.
Needless to say, we made this again last night (I am eating leftovers as I type this) but we had a different set of ingredients. This time we used thawed, frozen spinach (from our garden), parmesan and cheddar cheeses (because we hardly had any of the latter left), and omitted bacon (because we ate all of it!). It was still just as tasty, though I missed the bacon and I think it was too cheesy this time. It’s a great dish to experiment with.
Oh yes, we also used the first of our homegrown garlic. More on that later.
Madison Restaurant Week: Harvest
Like many major food-friendly cities, Madison hosts its own restaurant week twice per year in both the winter and then again in the summer. There is nothing better in the winter than to bundle up and meet up with good friends at one of the city’s well renowned restaurants. And in the summer, restaurant week is a good excuse to keep the oven off and let someone else feed you. For $25 each person selects an appetizer, main course and dessert from a simple menu. This past winter, we visited L’Etoile with our friends, the Vincills. We decided to repeat our fun evening and eat at Harvest this year.
If you recall, Robb and I went to Harvest for our first anniversary this past January. Just like last time, our food was quite memorable. From the fixed-price menu, Robb enjoyed the green salad, short ribs, and chocolate cake. I tried the zucchini almond soup, the chicken, and the espresso ice cream. Ruthie had the identical meal except gave me her olives from the chicken (major win for me) and had the cake instead of the ice cream. Eric ordered the beets, short ribs, and panna cotta. If we had to pick a winner for each of the menu items (sans the homemade pasta), the soup won in the appetizer category, the ribs won the entree, and according to Eric, the panna cotta won for the dessert (I beg to differ because I do not enjoy food that wiggles).
We, of course, had a lovely time and are looking forward to enjoying another year of restaurant weeks in 2010.
Bon appétit!