It's never easy to come back from vacation, especially after a week-long trip to the beach that involves multiple gourmet dinners. This year's features were steaks on the grill, lobster, breakfast for dinner, shrimp pasta, and the ever-popular pizza night. Cary and Brian outdid themselves yet again, with the traditional margherita, a spicy jalapeno and pepperoni pie, and an extra special clams casino pizza.
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| Jalapeno Pepperoni |
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| Clams Casino |
The back-to-reality blow was even harder this year since our house was still without air conditioning. I was hoping to score some burrata from River City Cellars to eat with fresh tomatoes and ease our pain a little bit, but, sadly, they were out of it. Instead I took home two other varieties of cheese and a new jar of spicy plum chutney, and we had another dinner with bread, cheese, Hungarian salame, and steamed edamame.
Sticking with the stove-free theme, I made a chickpea salad later in the week, minus the lettuce wraps. The poblano peppers from our share, which I diced and added at the last minute, added a little heat and extra crunch to the dish.
I put together another lettuce-free salad for lunch one day, inspired by this recipe for Mediterranean Chopped Salad from Serious Eats. Instead of onion, I added some garlic to the dressing, and was pleased with the results. I rarely think to add much besides oil and vinegar or lemon juice when I'm making dressing, but the presence of mustard makes a big difference.
One of my favorite annual events, the Hanover Firefighters Crab Feast, took place on Saturday. My parents made their second appearance, and Evan made the drive north to participate.
After the copious amounts of crab and beer, and even a few hot dogs, we relaxed, ordered a pizza, and munched on raw Dragon Tongue beans, which were sweet and crisp.
By Monday, Davy and I ended our oven moratorium. The weather was slightly cooler, and he put together an impressive pan of nachos with ground chicken, a few tomatoes, sweet peppers, salsa, lettuce, cilantro, and plenty of cheese. The oven was on at 450 degrees for fifteen minutes or so, and we barely suffered (only the cheese melted).
We sustained 100+ degree temperatures and crazy storms over the past week, and managed to maintain both hydration and power.
Before all of the extreme weather hit, Davy grilled burgers, which we ate with sauteed chard (below) and corn on the cob.
There was a third, small ear of corn that we didn't consume on Tuesday, but I cut the kernels off the cob to use later in the week. I've been on an avocado kick since March, and I mashed half of one with a little lime juice and olive oil, added the corn, and made it into sandwich filling with some arugula. As a bonus, I ate it with a medium-boiled egg on my back porch.
The sungold cherry tomatoes, quartered and arranged carefully with fresh basil and mozzarella, were the highlight of a homemade pizza.
On Saturday morning, we made our traditional breakfast for out-of-town guests: a frittata with whatever vegetables and cheeses happen to be available. This time, it contained summer squash, onion, banana pepper, and cheddar cheese.
Those same out-of-town guests, our good friends Lyndsey and Travis, weren't as fortunate with the weekend storms. They lost power at their house in Rockville, MD, and aren't supposed to get it back until this Friday (!). We convinced them to stay for the week and celebrate the 4th of July with us. Travis went back to Rockville on Sunday to check on everything and returned with some of the rescued contents of the fridge and freezer.
On Monday evening, we grilled rockfish, ate a green salad with the Hoffmanns' CSA veggies, and made a chickpea, barley and zucchini salad to round out the meal.
I am sorry that Lyndsey and Travis have to be displaced for so long, but I think Davy and I made out pretty well in this arrangement - it's been great having them (and their food).
Tomorrow we leave for ten blissful days at the beach, and as a result, the posts for last week and this week are combined and brief. I made two batches of pesto with the large bag of basil we received, and still had enough to add several leaves to the meal we made on Tuesday.
I've produced a few different versions of vegetarian pasta dishes as the heat persists. Last Wednesday I combined penne with grated zucchini, tomatoes, onion, garlic and pesto. The zucchini was only available in grated form because I was making zucchini bread, and had a lot leftover. It was a nice change from eating it sliced or chopped, and it almost melted into the rest of the sauce.
This week's variety included the two-toned squash, tomato, feta, and basil, mixed with the three Bombolini pastas I purchased at the market (black pepper, spinach, and plain linguine). All of the linguine was tender, fresh, and had a lot of flavor. I'm looking forward to trying more of the Bombolini offerings the next time I get to the market.
Since it's too warm to make soup, I threw a bunch of ingredients together into a dish that could be called a salad. Purslane, tomato, parsley, and chickpeas went in the first night, with a lime juice, cumin, onion, and garlic dressing. We ate it with corn on the cob and grilled rockfish. I added feta and leftover corn kernels to some of it for lunch on Saturday, and on Monday Davy used the remainder for dinner in a few tortillas. The purslane worked very well with the chickpeas, lime, and cumin. It's has thick green leaves, and it gets a little slimy when you chew it (from its omega-3s), but I liked it's substantial texture and savory flavor.
I'll try to post a few pictures of dinners at the beach, and then I'll be back with CSA entries for Week 14. Have a great week!
