After the success of the grilled salmon with blueberry salsa, I decided to try my hand at a similar combination over the weekend — grilled shrimp with peach salsa. (The original plan was for pork and peaches, but we had dim sum Saturday, which pretty much topped off our pork tanks for the week.) And “meh” doesn’t even come close to describing it. I’m practically dozing off just writing about it now.

It was a good idea in theory — ripe peaches with brandy, cilantro, red onion, cumin, and jalapeno. What could go wrong? I blame the peaches, which were ripe and smelling quite peachy, but tasted like not much of anything, to be honest. I tried doctoring them with pineapple juice and a touch of brown sugar, but to no avail. The best parts of the salsa were the red onion and jalapeno, which do not a complete salsa make.

So it’s back to the drawing board. I’ll try the peaches at the market again this weekend to see if they’re better this time around, and if the weather cooperates, I’ll grill them, too. But perfecting this one’s going to take some work, I can tell…

“Your eyes are bigger than your stomach” was one of my dad’s favorite sayings — which never got old, by the way — when I was a kid. Of course, by the time I hit my teen years, that saying was defunct, as I became an eating machine and the “hollow leg” jokes started (which also never got old).

I still have issues with my eyes being too big, mostly when I visit the Ringwood Farmers’ Market on weekends. I know I won’t be cooking much during the week, but I just can’t help myself with all of that gorgeous summer produce on display. Surely I’ll find a way to use blueberries and cilantro and beets and tuscan kale (and about 10 other things) before next weekend, right?

Well, not always, or even usually. But last night I was determined to at least make a dent in last weekend’s haul, so I started researching recipes for salmon and blueberries and kept coming upon one that sounded promising and had the benefit of only requiring a quick stop at Garden of Eden for a jalapeno pepper and a grapefruit (both easily toted on the bus).

I gotta say, this salsa rawked! Assuming frozen blueberries were recommended for a reason, I used about 1/2 cup of frozen and supplemented with about a cup of fresh, but otherwise stuck to the recipe. I’d like to replace the grapefruit with pineapple next time to sweeten it up a bit more, but this version was so good Gil and I dug into the leftovers with a spoon.

I grilled the salmon (and the asparagus, now that I think about it) with nothing more than a slick of olive oil to keep them from sticking to the grate, but the blueberry salsa and a sprinkling of fleur de sel knocked ‘em out of the park.

I’ll keep the fruit salsa solution in mind for this weekend. Pork loin with peach and basil salsa doesn’t sound half bad, and I think they’re still pretty good after only a week in the fridge…

recipe after the jump

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This only reflects my most recent posts, but I’m still pretty happy that the word “ribs” is the largest in this word cloud.

Image courtesy of Wordle.

When Gil and I visited Milan last year, we had quite a few memorable meals, as you can imagine, and most of them were within walking distance of our hotel. The pizza at a nearby trattoria (run by Chinese immigrants in the dead-after-dark financial district) was leagues better than anything we’ve ever tried in the States, and the revelatory salumi at Osteria del Treno still makes it challenging for us to completely enjoy local cured meats (though I do have my eye on a couple of mail order purveyors). But my favorite dish of the trip, the one I recall with a sigh, had to be the parmesan flan at Joia.

The soft, cakey exterior of the flan spilled its secret as I cut my first bite and discovered a pool of parmesan flooding out to greet me. Much like the moment of piercing a poached egg yolk and realizing there are only a few fleeting seconds to truly enjoy the sensation at its finest, it filled me with delight and longing. But the ephemeral joys of these dishes are part of the reason we love them so, aren’t they?

Cooking Light published a recipe for parmesan flan in their most recent issue and I considered making it, but didn’t think it’d come even close to what I remembered, so I hit the interweb looking for a better more sinful recipe. I found it at Weir Cooking in the City. I did like CL’s idea of using fresh tomatoes as a topping, though, so I prepared a few heirloom tomatoes from the farmers’ market in my favorite summery way — doused with fruity olive oil and balsamic vinegar and shot through with minced garlic and slivered basil, with salt & pepper to taste. It’s simple and delicious as a bruschetta topping, on crackers, as a topping for fish or pasta, or even eaten on its own in great spoonfuls. Yum.

I forgot that convection ovens cook a little faster than regular ovens do, so the flans were a little crusty on top, but still completely delicious. I’ll keep looking for a recipe that duplicates that glorious parmesan flood, but until then, this flan is staying in the rotation.

recipe after the jump

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I hope to get back to cooking and posting this weekend, but for now, Ru’ll have to do.

Greyhound Friends of NJ held another meet & greet at Rusty’s Place today, so we took Rufus down for two hours of panting and butt-sniffing.

These events usually turn into a big tangle of leashes — greyhound spaghetti — as the kids socialize, and today was no exception. (Click on either picture for the full flickr set.)

Not Rufus. This is a sweet boy who’s in foster care after coming off the track only three weeks ago.

I only just realized that I should be mentioning these local meet & greets/adoption fairs in advance so any of you who are interested in meeting some pooches can swing by; I’ll be better about that in the future. There isn’t another one in Ringwood for a while, but the organization sponsors events all over the state, so if you’re interested in learning more about greyhounds or just want to hang out with some charming retirees, click here for more information.

I fully intended to give you a rundown of our July 4th menu today, complete with a couple of lovely side salads inspired by Mark Bittman’s picnics column from last week, but today’s fare was ribs and there’s just no way I can write about vegetables at a time like this.

Since I first posted about the grilled vegetable salad I found on The Kitchen Sink, it’s been a weekly fixture on our table, so I knew Kristin’s featured recipe for baby back ribs wouldn’t disappoint. As ever, through poor planning or simple willfulness, I adapted the recipe a bit, but can’t imagine them being any better even with the full complement of ingredients.

The adaptations were fairly minor, but worth pointing out. To start, as embarrassing as it is for a Southern girl to admit, I have no bourbon in the house. Lucky for me, there is a lot of Jack leftover from some party or other, so that went into the glaze instead.

Though I seem to have an extremely well-stocked spice rack (okay, well-stocked spice bins), my refrigerator is lacking in the saucy condiments department, so I went without the plum and hoisin sauces called for in the glaze. I thought the finished product would lack some depth because of these omissions, so I tinkered a bit on the front end, baking the ribs in a favorite marinade for flank steak — equal parts pineapple juice and soy sauce with a hefty dose of garlic — instead of the stand-alone pineapple juice in the recipe.

Gil and I ran out while the ribs were baking and we were treated to the most mouthwatering smell as we walked up to the front door two hours later. Poor Rufus was left alone with the baking ribs and was beside himself with pork lust by the time we got home; to reward his patience, I gave him a tiny piece of meat with a little fat attached, fresh from the oven.

And I’m not too proud to admit I rewarded myself, too. Mmmmmmm…

At this point, it was a simple thing to fire up the grill, brush the ribs generously with the glaze, and grill them until the crispy bits outnumbered the soft.

As Rufus would (and did) say, “NOM! NOM! NOM!”

recipe after the jump

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After taking off exactly three days so far this year, I decided to treat myself to another luxurious vacation day and thus enjoy a wonderfully long holiday weekend. Gil’s been working from home since last week, so we slept in (by our standards), walked Rufus, and puttered around for a bit before I even considered being productive. Not inclined to waste the day cleaning, I got in cooking mode and treated myself to a nicer breakfast than my usual weekday cereal or egg sandwich — multigrain waffles with blueberries and maple syrup.

Yeah.

I modified an old favorite recipe for the waffles, leaving out the cinnamon, cardamom and vanilla, then tossed in two handfuls of fresh blueberries. To keep it simple, I just topped the waffles with a little butter, more blueberries and a drizzle of maple syrup before quickly taking the obligatory pictures and devouring my breakfast.

And then there was cleaning, followed by some work, but the day was redeemed by the “grilled everything” lunch.

Being a congenitally lazy person who relishes her cool house in summertime, I refused to stand around cooking in a hot kitchen on my day off (woohoo!), so I did a little experiment to see just how much of our meal I could cook on the grill. Turns out that would be every single thing. A grass-fed ribeye was a no-brainer slathered with avocado oil and a little salt. Two minutes of grilling per side produced a nice, rosy medium steak. (I’m usually a medium-rare girl, but had no trouble overlooking the lack of blood in such an otherwise-delicious hunka beef.)

We had several grilled sides which really were the focus of the meal, so maybe “sides” isn’t the term to use, but hey. It’s already there and I don’t feel like editing. First up, we had kale tossed with olive oil and salt that was grilled in a basket then tossed with a little sherry vinegar. I dug out some new potatoes and grilled them in a foil packet with spring onions and garlic, avocado oil, salt and pepper. Once they were done, I added a handful of chopped herbs (thyme, rosemary, and chives) from my balcony garden. And to finish off the meal, some baby carrots tossed in olive oil and salt and grilled until slightly charred on the outside and just short of soft inside.

And then we locked Rufus in his cage and feasted.

Have a safe and happy 4th, everyone! I hope your day is filled with grilled meats and delicious beverages.

For the record, my husband’s the one who enjoys dressing the dog in human clothing.