stuffed pablano peppers

Our CSA brought us some delicious poblano peppers last week...so I stuffed them...then we ate them. They were delicious and quite hot.

eat.shop.kansas city

I saw this at broadway this morning whilst enjoying a cup.

Perfectly Poached

My favorite way to start the day.

Caprese Buffalo Burger

Last week we received one pound of organic buffalo meat in our CSA. We have had buffalo before but we used it in a meat sauce over some pasta and it was delicious; however, this time we decided to go for the buffalo burger. Seeing that we are now getting beautifully ripe black krim heirloom tomatoes off of our vine we decided to use big thick juicy slices on our burgers. Next we decided to use some fresh mozzarella we had for the cheese atop the buffalo. Since we had gone that far we then piled on a stack of fresh basil and drizzled some balsamic over the toasted bun and viola!! we now have caprese style buffalo burgers. They were fantastic.

Peach Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Frosting

I have to give a big THANK YOU to smittin kitchen for this killer recipe. I made these cupcakes last night with some peaches from our local CSA. I wasn't able reproduce the cool dots of icing but they tasted great nonetheless. Here are some photos.

Heirloom tomato update

It has finally arrived! Our first black krim tomato basically fell off of the vine into my hand yesterday. I think its a beauty, but I am probably bias seeing it's our first born. I have big plans for this little guy tonight. It will involve fresh mozzarella, basil and hopefully a glass of red wine.

heirloom tomatoes!

A quick update on our garden. After many many weeks of our tomato plants growing and growing without any fruit to speak of, they (well at least one of them) have exploded with fruit. We had about two weeks of blossom drop but after some quick googling and a sprinkle of an organic calcium based fertilizer the fruit has arrived. Unfortunately the Black Krim heirlooms are not ripe yet but they are looking beautiful and the vine is chalk full of them. So, I am sure in a week or two their will be a post right here showing the magnificently maroon fruit ripe and ready for enjoyment.

Grilled Rib Eye Steak

I love a grilled steak. This summer, I have especially fallen in love with grilling the rib eye. Besides the fact that it seems to go on special more often than any other cut, it just sings with flavor and melts in my mouth every time. On this particular evening I served the steak with simple potatoes that were halved and boiled in heavily salted water and then simply fried cut side down in a frying pan with butter and olive oil. Lastly we had sliced heirloom tomatoes with orange zest, sea salt, and sherry vinegar. I loved the tomatoes like this although I think Abs prefer the heirlooms caprese style. Anyway, I got the idea from Rocco Dispirito's book, Flavor, I recommend trying them if you are in the mood for a very light and fresh summer salad.

grilled salmon with pan fried potatoes

Sunday evening's dish:

Grilled Chicken and Romaine

Last night I grilled a couple chicken breasts for me and abs. For the longest time I struggled with grilled chicken, either over cooking it or having to put it back on the heat for a while because it wasn't quite done. However, I believe I have figured it out. I have learned how to grill the perfect breast. First of all, I only grill bone-in, skin-on chicken. The boneless-skinless stuff cooks too fast and loses all its juices to the coals below. I season the chicken with whatever sounds good at the time...usually fresh ground sea salt, ground black pepper, and an herb. Next, I paint the top (meaty part) of the breast with a small amount of olive oil. I get my fire nice and hot and bring the coals up close to the cooking surface to sear the chicken. I place the chicken meaty side down on the grill for about 4 minutes allowing the skin to sear and lock in all the delicious juices. Once the skin has a nice crust on it I flip the chicken, lower the fire box and continue cooking for about 25 more minutes (depending on size of chicken this may vary) at 325 degrees. The key here is not touching the chicken once it has been flipped, the heat is seperated from the meat of the bird by the bone and indirectly cooking it. When done you will have a nice crispy skin with the juiciest chicken meat ever.

Last night I tried something I have never done before. I grilled a salad. I took a head of romaine lettuce and split it length wise. I then painted the cut side of the lettuce with olive oil and placed it cut side down on the grill for about 3-4 minutes until the face of the lettuce had a nice char on it. Lastly, I simply drizzled some Caesar dressing on it and topped it with some fresh grated parm. It was fantastic, the charred lettuce gave the salad a smokey taste that was better than I could have imagined. This is one of the easiest and one of the best salads I have ever made. I recommend every one try it.

Broadway cafe

As some of you know, Abs and I stop into the broadway cafe every friday morning for what we call our friday morning 'coffee date'. We have made some friends at broadway over the past months and now we sit and chat and enjoy starting our fridays a little slower than the typical weekday morning. Its glorious and the coffee never lets me down. This is a photo of our latte's this morning made by Dan, one of my favorite baristas at the cafe.

Enameled Cast Iron

I know...two posts in one day, so out of character for me. But I am too excited to wait, I got a new toy yesterday. Abs and I got a great deal on an enameled cast iron pot. We went the Martha Stewart route. As much as I would love a Le Creuset cast iron pot the $230.00 price tag is a bit steep. We found the $140.00 Martha Stewart version that was on sale for 60% off with a $20 gift card much more affordable. That's right, a $140 cast iron french oven for 40 bones!! Naturally, I had to cook with it the first night. I am a little disappointed that I didn't take any photos of the pot stuffed to the brim with veggies and herbs, I was to excited to eat the slow roasted deliciousness that I completely forgot. Anyway, here are the results.

Margherita pizza on a zucchini crust

We are part of our local CSA (community supported agriculture) and receive fresh meats, fruits and vegetables every week. It is great, we love it. However, it is a little difficult to consume all of the veggies we receive. For instance, two weeks in a row we got 6+ zucchini in our package, we had zucchini coming out our ears. Don't get me wrong I love me some zucchini be it sauteed, grilled, stuffed, etc... and believe me we have done it every way known to man. That said, we recently came across an idea that I had to try, a pizza crust with zucchini as the main ingredient. The dough...actually more of a batter was 4 cups of zucchini that had spent some time in the food processor, 3/4 cup of flour, 3/4 cup of parm cheese, an egg, salt and pepper to taste. It took a bit longer to finally start to crisp up than I thought it would and in hindsight I probably could have left in even a bit longer. I topped the pizza with fresh mozz., tomatoes, garlic, red onion, and basil from the garden. Lastly, to finish the plate I drizzled some good balsamic on the pizza to make it really pop. All that said, it was great! I will definitely be making this next time we are bombarded with zucchini. I hope you enjoy the pics.

Pizza Crust

Tonight...Margherita pizza on a zucchini crust. Tune in tomorrow for photos and a review.

the King of Pop

I debated with myself whether or not to post this. I decided that there is no denying it, I have always been and will always be a huge fan of Michael Jackson. His contributions to music and entertainment have been immeasurable. And I will also go ahead and say that there is still, without a doubt, no one that can dance like he did. And just in case any of you doubt his complete awesome-ness on the stage...chech this out.

vacation

Sorry for the lack of action on the blog as of late. I have been on vacation in southwest Florida soaking up rays. Here are some photos from the trip. I hope to have the rest of the images on my flickr soon.

Tailorbyrd

I love this shirt company, and their logo is pretty cool too.

Dave Matthews Band

Everybody has that one band which resides in a special place in their heart. That band for me is the Dave Matthews band. I have been a Dave fan for a very long time. I saw them live for the first time when I was a sophomore in high school (1998) and fell in love with their lyrics, their sound, their energy, everything. No matter how my taste changes or grows, this band always seems to quench something I didn't even know I was thirsty for. Anyway all that said,  their new album, 'Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King' comes out June 2 but can be heard now in its entirety on pandora...click here, if you are interested.

...happy listening. 

The Hux

Our boy huxley likes to pout when he feels he is not receiving enough attention. He lays down and puts his chin between his front paws, he will not move until you concede to play with him or until something more fun comes along...like a bunny. Tonight we were inside and he was pouting big time, so I took the opportunity to shoot this, since there were no bunnies running around in our house he stayed perfectly still for the shot. Then we played.

a couple teasers for some friends

intelligentsia

I have to give a big thanks again to my little sister for picking me up some more tasty joe. Intelligentsia is a really fantastic coffee roaster based out of Chicago with locations all over the windy city and a few in Cali and I believe one in NYC. That said, the closest location is in Chicago. Well, my sister happens to have a couple friends in Chi-town and goes to visit quite often, most times without me knowing. The other day I got a call from her asking if I needed a re-fill, the next day I get home from work and on my counter is this beautiful little bag awaiting my indulgence. Thanks Ren.

here are some links to intelligentsia: click for the...blog....website.

landscape update

In a previous post of our garden I asked that you ignore the mud because we were in the middle of a major landscaping renovation of our back yard. Over the past weekend we took some huge steps towards the completion of that project. There are a few things left for us to finish up but for the most part we are pretty satisfied with our progress this spring. Since its completion, I have not wanted to come inside. In fact, I don't know why I am still sitting here typing this...I am going outside.

camera fun

It has been a very long time since I have just enjoyed my camera. It is easy to get caught up in trying to take 'good' photographs and forget how to just have fun with it. So, last night I decided to step outside and take some long exposure shots of me...and a flashlight. I was just goofing around, trying to write stuff in the air. Anyway, it was fun and I am sure if my neighbors peaked out their windows it was real entertaining to watch. 

raised bed garden

Our Sunday afternoon was spent with our hands in the dirt. This is our first attempt at a vegetable garden. We have some heirloom tomatoes, peppers, carrots, squash, lettuce, and herbs that hopefully will keep us from spending half our income in the produce section of hen house. I think we will be able to handle the standard care of the garden, its the bunnies and of course the hux man that make me nervous. Anyway, wish us luck. I will take progress photos through out this process that, if all goes well, will end with a dinner plate.

p.s. 

Please ignore the mud and weeds around the raised bed. The landscaping project is in full swing right now, although the end is in sight. I will post photos of the finished back yard in the following weeks. 

(herbs: cilantro, basil, & french thyme)

(future carrots)