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.