Category: home cooking

In general I would prefer to eat warm comfort foods, like soup, in the fall and winter.  They are made for hunkering down and locking out the cold.  Often my favorites tend to be creamy and hearty.  This one is not.  It screams summer time.  It also is deceptively simple looking.  A recipe by Bobby Flay out of the Bar Americain cookbook it fit with the summer 12 ears for $2 of fresh corn easily found in the market.  It begins with making corn cob stock.  What?!?   I made a fresh stock from the corn cobs.  Basically just fortifying some water with cornyness.  Ending up with cloudy water feels silly but it adds so much flavor.  While the stock simmers you roast the kernels you cut from the cobs in the oven.  Simmer for a while to bring everything together.  The whole thing ends by pureeing and forcing through a strainer.  A lot of work really.  But the end result was so smooth and remarkable.  It has a touch of sour cream (I used light) but virtually no other fat.  It is sweet sweet and light – perfect for summer.  Bobby Flay calls  for fried okra and chive oil.  I didn’t quite get there but if I do this again, I will.  Instead, we ate it alongside fried green tomatoes dipped in panko and lightly pan fried with a side of chipotle cream.  Summer at it’s finest.

seriously behind in posting.   We have been working and playing so hard lately I am hard pressed to keep up.  One of the things that has changed for us pretty significantly since we began eating a healthier diet is the upswing in salads.  Where we used to eat one or so a week we now eat one almost daily.  Most of the time I am finding a homemade dressing far outweighs a store bought one and usually with minimal work.   I will work on posting some of those salads because they are incredible.   Recently there was a bogo at Publix and since we had my sister’s family coming I picked up a bottle of ranch and for the ‘free’ item chose one of Kraft’s new Sizzling Salad kits.  It is basically a chicken cooking sauce with a companion salad dressing.  I chose the Asian Chicken with a teriyaki ginger cooking sauce for the chicken and toasted sesame dressing for the cool parts of the salad.  It is a quick half pantry inspired dinner.  I filled big bowls with greens while the chicken sauteed and added some toasted honey sliced almonds that were hanging out in the fridge, a can of drained mandarin oranges from the pantry, sliced english cucumber, a couple of sliced scallions and a small pinch of terra stix for saltyness.  After quickly finishing the chicken in the sauce and slicing it I topped the cold salad with the hot chicken.  We opted for drizzling our dressing on top to preserve the crunch in the greens and limit our dressing intake.  It was a hot-cold-sweet-savory-salty-crunchy salad which is perfect for a work night and the hot summer which is nipping at our heels.

spring is here with new grass for my front yard and temps in the humid mid to upper eighties and I made something both old and new.  Z doesn’t really like tomatoes or soggy bread so panzanella hasn’t really been on my radar since we got married.  Last night I bucked the trend and made it anyhow.  It is panzanella my style and is a few tweaks from classic.

• demi loaf of crusty bread – in this case jalapeno cheddar cut into 1″ slices
• vine-ripe tomatoes cut into bite size chunks – deseeded
• english cucumber cut into bite size chunks
• red onion half moons thinly sliced
• olive oil
• red wine vinegar
• butter
• salt & freshly ground pepper

Slice your bread and lightly butter – toast in grill pan or panini maker – let cool slightly and tear into bite size chunks.

While your bread toasts toss the cucumber, tomatoes and onions together in a large bowl. Dress to taste with vinegar and olive oil.   Add bread and toss one more time.  Serve with a generous grind of pepper and a sprinkle of salt.

So, what’s different from traditional panzanella?  The bread – instead of stale bread soaked in water I use fresh high quality bread and butter and toast it to give it a warming bite.  When it picks up the oil, vinegar, juices running from the vegetables it takes on a style all it’s own.

On another note, Z plated everything but the tomatoes (he took one I think) and filled up on chicken and strawberries.  As for me?   Loved every bite.