Flameware Cooking - A New Discovery

Yup! Here's that pot again!

I don't know a cook who doesn't periodically, step back from the counter, throw up the hands, and mutter about always making the same stuff. Looking around for new techniques and different taste combinations is part of being a creative cook.  That's why it is especially exciting for me when I discover a new product or a new type of cuisine to explore, which is the case with Flameware pottery.

A Nod to Craig Claiborne ...

Let's talk about reading ... and books. I was always a voracious reader, from the times in my very early years of leafing through the World Book Encyclopedia in my parent's living room and reading a little bit about a lot of things, to the middle years of devouring Nancy Drew mysteries, right up to my high school years spent immersed in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Vonnegut novels, and Ferlinghetti's poetry. Then, I went to college and was handed  'required reading lists'  and textbooks the size of the Inquisition stones used to press people to death. (insert scream here).  Suffice it to say, I spent the first three years after college reading nothing more serious than Rolling Stone, the occasional recipe card, and the Sunday funnies.

Two Words ...

Biscuits ...

Biscuits are so very basic ... I can't make a chicken soup or beef stew without throwing together a batch for Silent Bob and I. That's what my mom always did when she made her wintertime batches of beef stew for our family, so I guess a food tradition was born with her big pot of stew and big basket of  'hot from the oven'  biscuits.  There were never any leftovers, once the five Miller kids got through with dinner! Nowadays, though, the leftovers go the next morning with butter and jam (if they're plain) or at lunch with cheese or sliced tomato (if they have been doctored with herbs).

 I once made these biscuits for a lunch that I hosted for some PTSA pals. I had these hot biscuits with a cool chicken salad and big cold glasses of sweetened iced tea. One of the women told a story of her Grammy making the same lunch for her and her sister when they were little girls. She said when she closed her eyes and took a bite it took her back to the shady porch in western Virginia where her Grammy lived. I loved that story ... what a vivid food memory!

It's funny how a basic taste can become so deeply inbedded in your psyche ...  ah, the power of food. Back to the recipe, though...

Green Goddess Salad Dressing

Here is a winner ... I'm such a 'know nothing' when it comes to salad dressings and so I get all excited and flutter-y when I discover a new way to slather up the greens.

Tonight, we're, once again, eating up the tomatoes. No surprise there ... but I bought this wonderful head of hydroponic Bibb lettuce and pulled our weird volunteer cross between cherry tomatoes and plum tomatoes from the vines. A wedge of the lettuce and slices of tomato created the perfect stage for this Green Goddess Dressing that comes from good old Ina Garten. 

I'm tellin' ya, folks ... think a cross between pesto and aioli mayonaisse. It is heavenly! Make it, eat it up, enjoy it! A word of advice ... divide the recipe if you're cooking for one or two. This dressing has to be fresh ... I don't think storing it more than one day will do anything for the flavors. The garlic will get  too tangy and brash ... an insult to the taste buds. I, myself,  will be working over time to get measurements correct for just enough dressing for two salads so that we can have it and have no leftovers.

Do fresh. It's best!

Green Goddess Salad Dressing

courtesy of Ina Garten's barefoot contessa at home

Ingredients:

1 c. Hellman's mayonaisse

1 c. chopped scallions, green and white sections

1 c. fresh basil leaves

1/4 c. freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp. anchovy paste

1 tsp. kosher salt

1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1 c. sour cream

Place all the ingredients except the sour cream in the bowl of a handblender and process until smooth and the dressing has tiny green flecks of color. Add the sour cream and process just until combined. Frefrigerate until ready to dress the salad.

Marinated and Grilled Lambchops ...

Basic grilling on a hot evening ... a practice that keeps one sane when it seems the heat will never break, the meal must be made, and the cook says, "Let's keep it simple.".

Artichoke and Red Pepper Bites

Don't you love going to a good cocktail party where the nibbles rival the drinks? I have to say ... having a small little evening thing where you don't have to put on the long dining table and time all the courses is a welcome change.

The thing is you have to have a few (or in our case, several) stellar recipes for finger food. Those little bites of savories, cheeses, warm nibbles, and dips make for satisfied guests and safeguard everyone from too many cocktails and not enough food to soak them up. Hence, I tend to look for and set aside plenty of finger food and appetizer recipes so that I can lay out a 'groaning board' of snacks when we spring for a cocktail party. We've been thinking about having a fun little thing in October, so recipes have been on my mind.

Which leads me to today's post ...

Roasted Shrimp and Orzo Salad ... Thank-you, Ina!

I'm a fan of The Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten's cooking show. She always makes everything look so easy and she's so laid back in her kitchen technique and manner with the camera. Of course, it helps that this lady is an excellent cook and shares the most incredible dishes and desserts with her TV and cookbook fans!

I recently found a recipe for a summer salad that my daughter, Kate had prepared a couple summers ago. At the time, we all 'wow'ed and smacked our lips over Kate's salad, but I never got the recipe from her! When I found it in Ina Garten's cookbook, barefoot contessa at home , I let out a little whoop of joy!  I know you will like it! The freshest of fresh herbs and crunchy cukes and onions give the orzo and shrimp such a nice platform to show off their lemon-y, pepper-y flavors. I'm pairing the salad with some steelhead trout that I'll be grilling and topping with toasted almonds in a butter sauce. The last of the garden's green beans will sit alongside too... dinner is coming up.