Hatch Chile Corn Fritters

Yesterday, while doing early morning yardwork, Wolf and I were talking about breakfast. "You want me to go get doughnuts?" (An offer that's hard to refuse.) "Mmm, doughnuts. I'm surprised you want doughnuts." "I thought you might want doughnuts." After this many years of marriage, yep, we still have these conversations. I'm not usually one to be lukewarm on doughnuts, especially Top Pot, but after a relatively light dinner last night, I thought, we need some real breakfast.

ByMichelleAugust 29, 20117Comments

Photo One-offs

It’s Hatch Chile Time

The heat rises off the desert floor in visible waves, a tumbleweed blows across the landscape and a cherry red 1959 Cadillac convertible comes screaming down the highway, its driver's leathery face obscured by sunglasses and a cowboy hat. The perfume of roasting chiles hangs heavily in the air. It's Hatch chile time.

ByMichelleAugust 24, 20110Comments

Travel

MountainView Blueberry Farm – Snohomish

It was a perfect morning for picking blueberries, mid 50's with a light fog blanketing the fields. Just as I rounded the corner to go down the row to pick my first berries of the season at MountainView Blueberry Farm yesterday, a little boy yelled, "Jackpot!" I knew it was going to be a good day. One of the highlights of a Seattle summer is u-pick blueberries. And picking Bluecrops, well, once you get going, picking these berries is addictive. They're big and sweet and the plunk, plunk, plunk as they hit the bottom of the bucket just sounds like summer. I filled two buckets, for about 12 lbs of berries, in an hour and a half. And even still, walking up to the check out, I thought, is this going to be enough? Should I go back out? They're that good.

ByMichelleAugust 14, 20112Comments

Baking Recipes

Pretty As a Peach and Nectarine Cobbler

When I went to the farmers market on Saturday, I already had peach cobbler on the brain, so I picked up some beautiful Sweet Scarlet peaches from Tiny's Organic. They cost almost twice as much as the going rate at other stands, but it was worth it. Sweet Scarlet is a yellow-fleshed peach, and it's lower in acid, so you get the pretty color of a yellow peach with the sweetness of a white one. I swear the sign said they were freestones (the Internet appears to differ on that point), but when I got them home...they just weren't. Those little guys were clinging to their pits as if holding on for dear life. And then I uttered what may be one of the saddest sentences spoken on a summer Sunday afternoon, second only to, "The grill is out of propane."

ByMichelleAugust 9, 20110Comments

Recipes Salads

Chinese Chicken Salad Like Grandma Used to Make

If you think of Chinese Chicken Salad as something that went mainstream in the 80s because of Wolfgang Puck and his Chinois Chicken Salad, you might be missing a chapter. Madame Wu's Garden, an LA restaurant, may have really originated it another 20 years earlier. Now closed, the lore is that that Madame Wu's salad…

ByMichelleAugust 5, 20111Comment

Recipes

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

My single cherry tomato plant is just starting to offer up ripe fruit, so we've only had a batch or two of fresh pico de gallo so far this summer, thanks to my Full Circle Farm CSA box. But now, tomatillos are coming in at the farmers market, so it's time for salsa verde. It's…

ByMichelleAugust 3, 20111Comment

Main Course Recipes Salads

Summer Grilling: Grilled Balsamic Chicken & Chopped Vegetable Salad

Today's post comes courtesy of my handy recipe binder. I've been clipping and keeping recipes for 10+ years, and sure, it'd be easier to just bookmark them and go back to them online when I need them. But there's something reassuring about just going to binder and knowing they'll be there. I mean, what if you bookmarked some recipe that was on someone's Angelfire Web site in 1997? It's probably toast, long ago abandoned by someone who probably moved on to Blogger or hosting their own site. (Holy cow, I just googled it, Angelfire still exists and is part of Lycos. Lycos still exists? Really?) Anyway, I clipped the recipes for the balsamic BBQ sauce and the chopped vegetable salad. They're great for summer grilling, but luckily both are still available online.

ByMichelleAugust 1, 20111Comment

Recipes Salads Side Dishes

Grilled Peach Panzanella Salad

Leave it to Jeremy Fox, who did amazing things with vegetarian cuisine at Ubuntu in Napa (and maybe soon at a joint called Smith?), to come up with a different, maybe better, spin on panzanella. I've had the recipe for this peach panzanella tucked away for safe keeping (since 2007!), until some hot weather and good peaches came my way. That was this weekend...it's been a scorcher everywhere. Here in the PNW, we're thanking the weather gods. Across the rest of the country, everyone else is wondering, when will it ever end?! I think I first had a traditional tomato panzanella at Caffe Centro in San Francisco, just across the street from where I worked. Their version had diced tomato, cucumber and corn with a balsamic dressing. A great summer salad. If the name is anything to go by, it's the stale bread that makes a panzanella. But after having this version, I'd say it's the peaches.

ByMichelleJuly 25, 20111Comment

Recipes

bills corn fritters

If Americans have heard of Bill Granger, they’ve probably either been to his restaurants in Sydney (and now Japan, apparently) or possibly seen his show, “bills food” on the Cooking Channel (Sunday mornings, 9 a.m. ET -- plug plug!). Why Curtis whats-his-name is catching on Stateside and bill remains a secret, I can’t tell –…

ByMichelleMay 20, 20111Comment

Main Course

Recipe: Magic 8 Ball Zucchini

Magic 8 Ball Zucchini (makes about 3 medium zucchini) 3 medium 8-ball zucchini, rinsed and hollowed out 1/2 lb. ground lamb 1/2 medium onion, chopped 1/2 t. (or so) dried oregano 2 t. tomato paste 1 sm. tomato, chopped 1-2 T. Italian parsley, chopped 1-2 T. feta 1/2 c. cooked brown rice 1/4 c. (or so) water This is one of those guideline recipes. If you…

ByMichelleJune 23, 20090Comments