Gargantuan Reed Avocados

I don't think I'd ever seen a Reed avocado before. I'm pretty sure I'd remember. I bought one for $5. Yes, just one. It was about the size as an infant's head!! I made a batch of guacamole out of it for four of us and we couldn't finish it there was so much. It mashed up into a much creamier dip than the typical Haas avocado does. If you can find them, it's worth the splurge. They really aren't far more expensive than a typical avocado since you get so much from one (I'd say mine was equivalent to about three regular size avocados). They should still be available now but I think their season is short.

This is what I would consider a small Reed next to a large Haas. I, unfortunately, didn't get a picture of the GARGANTUAN Reed before hacking it into guacamole bits.

How Many Pickled Peppers....

I just finished reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Lifeby Barbara Kingsolver. I was completely inspired. So much so that I brought home a bag of bell peppers from my dads house. I hate bell peppers just about as much, if not more, than cheese. (If you're curious, a list of everything I hate is here!) My husband loves roasted red bell peppers though. So even though the smell is completely vile to me, I roasted, peeled, and jarred about 3 1/2 pounds of peppers!

I also shredded, bagged, and froze a pile of zucchini for winter time zucchini bread. I made a couple of test loaves today and they were wonderful!

There is now also a gallon bag of clean, trimmed green beans in the freezer so my son can have some of grandpa's green beans for dinner even in the winter!

I think Animal, Vegetable, Miracleshould be required reading. Of course not everyone can drop everything and begin farming. I couldn't do it. But it made me want to do everything I can to reap the rewards of my, or my family's, gardening year round.

And I must give credit where credit is due, the recipes for both the peppers and the zucchini bread came from Simply Recipes. They have a great site!

Easy, Yummy, Inspired-by-Pho Dinner

Heat up a grill or broiler and put on it:
1/2 onion, unpeeled
2-3 inch piece of unpeeled ginger

Grill until skin is blackened.

Meanwhile, in a stock pot heat up:
6 cups chicken stock
four cloves
one star anise
2 teaspoons sugar
one tablespoon fish sauce
the grilled onion peeled and quartered
the grilled ginger cut into chunks
a handful of cilantro on the stems
the stems of the shiitakes you're about to sauté

Let all that simmer together for about an hour (but don't boil!)

Put a pot of water on because you need to boil rice noodles (1 lb or so) and rinse them well in cold water after they're cooked.

Now the fun part, the many toppings you get to put on at the table. Here's what I used:

Sliced shiitakes sautéed in olive oil (with a little salt)
Chopped green onions
Cilantro leaves
Parsley leaves
Limes
Chopped chives
Sliced jalapeno
Sriracha (a.k.a. rooster sauce)

Strain the broth through a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth. Salt to taste.


In a large bowl place rice noodles, poor broth over them, top with your favorite protein (we used seared, local albacore) and serve alongside the many bowls of toppings.

This is a really fun dish for kids because they get to top it with whatever they like. And a really fun dish for adults because you get to control the heat level with the jalapenos and Sriracha.

Wednesday Tartare Gets a Makeover

This week's farmer's market tartare got a little help from my new purchase, On the Line, Inside the World of Le Bernardin. The recipe I went for first is Seared and Marinated Yellowfin Tuna Tartare "Sandwich" with Ginger Oil. It was good choice. It wasn't far from my usual Wednesday tartare but improved just enough to seem super fancy and special.

I'll be working my way through that cookbook and posting the results here (ingredient search willing! I've already had to make substitutions).

I'm going to miss summer

I usually don't make it to the store on Tuesday. Wednesday is Farmer's market day so I try to just hold off and eat what we've got. Last night the fridge was pretty empty. But from the garden I picked this lovely plate of Brandywine tomatoes. I grow Winter garden, so I can pick things to cook when it's cold out too, but nothing is like good summer tomatoes! I'll be so sad when the season is over.