Bruschetta w/ Garden Tomatoes, Basil and Parmesan Cheese

             When you have Olympic fever and it is a hot summer eve and you are intrigued and inspired by the summer games and the astonishing performances of the athletes,you want to have a platter of assorted bruschettas and a glass of wine as an accompaniment  The traditional bruschetta topping involves chopped tomatoes, garlic, basil and parmesan cheese on toasted artisanal bread.
             Another is diced onions and diced mushrooms sauteed in olive oil, seasoned with garlic, sage and butter.
             Enjoy the games.Savor your bruschettas. Quaff your wine. Celebrate the surprises and successes of the Olympic athletes. This is heaven. I think of youth and desire and faith and belief and hard work in pursuit of goals.And as always I think of fresh food well prepared.
                          

Fresh Berries and Yoghurt, Summertime Treat

          Summertime berries, plain yoghurt seasoned w/ vanilla extract; all drizzled with honey and garnished with fresh mint.As breakfast, snack or a dessert. It is delicious and good for you, too.
       

Cook With Wood in Your Weber

       Every food magazine in summer does a piece about outdoor grilling. For good reason . There is nothing better than grilled meats and vegetables slathered with herbed and spiced olive oil and grilled outdoors over coals or subdued flame. The smoke adds a dimension of flavor that you get no where else.
       The debate is always gas vs charcoal. Which is better.
        Neither, really. I would choose charcoal over gas, but charcoal does require an expertise born of experience. If you are doing a dinner party or a picnic and you are not proficient on your weber with charcoal, by all means use the gas grill. I am in awe of those who have learned the indirect grilling technique for large cuts of meat like ribs and turkeys or chickens with charcoal on their weber. That is an art. Cooking it without burning it and getting it fork tender yet moist.Nothing better than that kind of slow cooking.
       But here's the rub. Just about anywhere you live, there is an abundance of local hardwoods. Either on your land or a friends or by a local wood purveyor.Wood is a lot cheaper than charcoal, and why in the world would you pay someone to burn wood to make charcoal when you can put real wood in your weber and burn it yourself till it is coals and then cook over it.Even softwoods work if you are grilling. Hard for longer indirect roasting.
      . Charcoal is expensive and has poisonous additives. Use local wood cut small and start your fire with paper, cardboard or birchbark and kindling.Cook as you would over charcoal. Enjoy the best meal of your life.
        Begin of course with quality ingredients,such as these jalapeno cheddar brats from Thielens Meats in Pierz, onions, sweet peppers and potatoes. The ethereal alchemy of burnt wood and food.

Grilled Muenster, Herbed Tomato Soup and Garden Green Beans

           Upgrade the standard grilled cheese w/ tomato soup by using whole wheat bread incorporated with  muenster cheese, garden tomatoes and fresh basil. You can make a fast upscale tomato soup by adding milk and herbs(basil and chives) to a store bought jarred marinara sauce. Do garden green beans on the side, boiled till tender, drained, sauteed w/ olive oil, garlic, crushed red pepper.
          A great and easy lunch that tastes way better than the usual fare and is better for you, too.

Bluegill w/ Cherry Tomatoes and Basil

         Pan fried bluegill with just harvested from the garden cherry tomatoes, basil, and chives, finished off with white wine and butter. This is about a month early for garden tomatoes in Minnesota.Love this hot weather with plenty of sun and rain.
         Green beans are ready too, as are squash blossoms and broccoli and hot peppers. Considering planting a second crop of beans.

July - All in the Family

Ninety five degrees in a commercial kitchen is a good and and tolerable temperature. A hundred to a hundred five is not unusual yet acceptable because you get used to it and because you come to work hydrated and you drink V-8 juice ( salt and potassium and vitamin K) and continue to drink watered down cranberry juice with soda( carbonated water) with slices of lemon and lime as you go These provide needed electrolytes.
         You can die in your kitchen if you do not get it right when it spikes to 110 or 120 degrees. At that point you need a icewater cold wet towel around your neck , and on your head and you have to duck into the walkin cooler now and then to drop your body temperature.You need salt tablets before that point. I understand that these days they make ice pack vests you can wear. Your blood pressure is rising. You are dizzy. You are at risk of a stroke.
        You have to keep your body temperature down and at the same time you have to get the food out to your customers in an orderly and timely manner, and the food has to be good or your guests will not be satified and you will lose business and then you will go out of business and your life and family's life will go to hell.
        All those years.
        It was a pleasure today to assemble a cold platter of smoked chicken, red grapes, watermelon, and cheese to feed me and my daughter on the patio . 90 degrees - no problem . No restaurant- no problem. Just the 2 of us.
        A green tea elixer for Nati- my 15 yr old daughter. A glass of Pinot Noir for me.  A breeze off the lake thru soft white pines, birch, black walnut and basswood trees like a prayer. What an evening. Soft thunder, far off, like drums from Johnny boy.I think of my boys and girls and grandsons.
        Make a dipping sauce for the smoked chicken of 3 parts ketchup to 1 part mustard and tabasco to taste.      

A Chili Dog And A Chili Burger

Practising for the 4th of July. Carmelized onions, sweet red and green peppers, garlic, heat to taste, pinto beans in chili sauce. And of course the dog.


Or the burger.


Mustard on the dog.

Ketchup and mustard on the burger.


Sweet corn on the cob and potato salad on the side.

Watermelon.

Happy 4th!




Midsommarsdag

 

These are photos of the annual mid summers day feast and celebration at cousin Tim and Beth's at Upper Lake St Croix in NW Wisconsin.

Assorted cheeses,deviled eggs, pickled beets, pickled cucumbers, potato/herring salad, pickled herring in cream sauce and mustard, grill smoked sockeye salmon, swedish meatballs, assorted breads and crackers, boiled dilled  red potatoes,
grilled shell on shrimp,rice pudding, fresh melons and berries and more.

A wine and beer bar. Aquavit. Scotch tasting. Music, dancing around the "stang", Kub competitions, boat rides. What a day.

Swedish meatballs w/ chokecherry jam/jelly was one of my favorites.