Connie's Day

Connie's three boys called him on Father's Day.  They're all wonderful young men.  And, I'm really fired up because I'll get to see all three of them in July.  I've been trying to figure out if I'm going to fix them the old faithfuls or if I should try some new recipes.  One that stands out is the potato, cabbage and bacon tort that I made again a couple of weeks ago.  They're all good eaters so it should be pretty easy to cook for them.  Unfortunately, Matt doesn't like beans and Greg doesn't like fish or seafood and he can't eat a lot of fruits.  And, we eat a LOT of all three.  And, when I can't use ingredients it seems like those are the ones that come to mind.  That being said, I'm so lucky to have non-picky stepsons!!  I think all three of them would love the menu I made for Connie for Father's Day. 

What did we think?  I've never used smoked sea salt before.  OMG, it is GOOD!!!  The flavors of the steak and the bacon played wonderfully together.  The sweet potato gratin was savory unlike a lot of sweet potato dishes.  That's what initially caught my eye.  I was a bit worried about the quantity of sweet potato versus that of red onion (lots of potato to a small amount of onion.)  I'd bought apple cider but left it in the office fridge so I substituted spiced cider from Trader Joe's.  Once the gratin came out of the oven, all those fears went away.  This was great.  Last, but not least, the salad recipe called for fresh figs.  There's no way I'm going to break the bank and use those.  So, I chopped dried figs and popped them in a saucepan with the port.  Yum!  Now, I will say I bought a really small piece of Maytag Blue at Jungle Jim's.  Really small because it's pricier than the stuff I normally buy at Sam's Club.  Guess what?  It was a little creamier but the flavor wasn't that much different in my opinion.  I'll stick with the less expensive blue from Sam's. 


Bacon Wrapped Steak
Sweet Potato Gratiin
Port Poached Fig Salad

Bacon Wrapped Steak
serves 2

Ingredients:
2 - 4 oz steaks (filets are great for this)
2 strips bacon
freshly ground pepper
garlic powder
smoked sea salt

Directions:

Wrap the edges of the steaks with bacon.  Secure with toothpicks. 

Mix the pepper, salt and garlic. 

Roll the bacon in the mixture. 

Grill on direct heat.

Sweet Potato Gratin

serves 2 very generously

Ingredients:

2 small sweet potatoes or one large one
1 small red onion
1 t brown sugar
1/2 c apple cider
1 t  fresh thyme leaves
1/2 T butter


Directions:


Peel the sweet potatoes and the onion and slice them very thinly on a mandoline. 

Pour the cider into a small saucepan.  Add the brown sugar and stir until it's heated through and the brown sugar has dissolved. 

Layer the potatoes and the onions in a rectangular baking dish. 

Pour the warm cider over.  Dot the top with the thyme and butter. 

Cover the baking dish with foil.  Bake at 350 for an hour.  Remove the foil and bake for another 20 minutes.

Port Roasted Fig Salad with Blue Cheese Crumbles


Ingredients:

5 dried figs, diced
1/4 c port
1/3 c crumbled blue cheese
fresh greens
extra virgin olive oil
fig balsamic vinegar (or regular balsamic will work)

Directions:

Poach the figs in the port in a medium saucepan. 

Stir regularly.  Remove from the heat when the port evaporates. 

Put the lettuce on salad plates.  Top with the figs and crumbled blue cheese.  Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. 

















Sweet potato gratin and port roasted fig salad adapted from House Beautiful cookbook.

Julie and Julia - what an inspiration! Thus far, I've not boned a duck. But, Connie is requesting a turducken so that may be in the cards this year. Guess I'd be boning a turkey, a duck AND a chicken for that adventure.

This weekend has been another adventure in good eating. Saturday morning we picked our cooler up from the CSA at the Binford Farmers Market. It was loaded with lettuce, eggplant, beans, cucumbers, melon, herbs and corn on the cob. I got some additional corn on the cob and some blueberries while we were there. Connie was a bit disappointed that Terry Knudsen of Viking Lamb (the BEST lamb!) didn't bring the son he normally brings. That little fellow usually hits him up to buy some lamb jerky by saying, "Hey Mister, ya got a dog?" Connie's always ready with his five spot. And, Annie's certainly ready for her treats!

Late afternoon we took a bag and went shopping in our garden. Lots of tomatoes. We stood there and ate a perfect Black Brandywine. Juice was dripping down our chins. Now, Connie understands why I wanted that plant so badly. Two Asian eggplants. A handful of red-veined sorrel. Most of our green beans were pretty healthy sized so they're much more suited to longer cooking. But, there were some that were very thin - tasted almost like candy. I took four at a time and wrapped a small piece of salami around them. Then, while the corn on the cob and the eggplant toasties were grilling away, I grilled the beans. The salami got all crunchy and the beans about melted in our mouths. The eggplant toasties were slices of eggplant brushed with olive oil and grilled, then layered with chutney and slices of fresh mozzarella on whole grain bread. The outsides of the sandwiches were schmeared wtih butter before grilling. Then, when the cheese was all melty and gooey and the bread was toasty with gorgeous grill marks, I took the toasties off the grill and added tomato slices and a salad made with basil, arugula, olive oil, lemon juice and a scoosh of crushed garlic.

Sunday brunch was smoked trout and potato hash topped with poached eggs. The only thing that could have improved that dish was some hollandaise sauce. Alongside, tomatoes with a cheese topping. A bit of mozzarella, parmesan, oregano, salt and pepper mixed into Hellmans mayo then schmeared on 1/2" thick tomato slices and broiled until the tops were all brown and bubbly.