Happy Summer!

Hello again readers! Sorry again about the radio silence - there's a reason this blog is called Heavy Tines you know... I've been a busy gal, both eating and enjoying the summer. There hasn't been much time spent in my kitchen lately, but that doesn't mean there's been a shortage of food! Here's a recap of our Fourth of July festivities:

Fourth of July weekend!

S. and I took a trip with a couple of friends to Tahoe! As they say, you go to Tahoe for the winter, but you stay for the summer. I don't really remember who They are, but it's true. With warm days, cool nights, a lookout over the lake for fireworks and a cozy cabin deck for bbq, our Independence Day weekend was perfect. Unfortunately, I couldn't quite get pictures of food before it was mostly ingested; sorry, I was hungry. Those of you who know me hungry know that I put black holes to shame.

Potato Salad

Of course we had to have potato salad at our barbecue! It's all american. But with the parsley, dill, and dijon, it was slightly fancier than your run of the mill costco potato salad, and all fresh too! Yum. me.

Corn on the Cob was courtesy of our grill master for the night, C., who was also responsible for the bbq tri-tip (not pictured because we ate most of it before I whipped out the camera. Also, I had sticky rib fingers (see below).

Baby Back Ribs

Those aren't my fingers, they're S.'s fingers. You'll also notice there's not much meat left on those ribs, I think he was hungry too. If anyone's interested, I have a post-bbq picture of S. slumped over in his chair with his eyes glazed over and looking pretty satisfied with himself. Come to think of it, that's post-any meal.

Feeding Frenzy

Mango Sticky Rice

It's been awhile, friends. And this in no way means that S. and I haven't been cooking...it means that it's been so hot around here that turning on the oven becomes something we really have to think hard about because the kitchen will quickly turn into a kiln. But, to make up for my absence, I have posted quite a few new delectables that are (for the most part) oven-free!

See above: Mango Sticky Rice! On Sunday mornings in Berkeley, there's an "establishment" called Thai Temple Brunch that S. and I like to frequent for amazing Thai food and outdoor seating. I call it an "establishment" because of it's suspicious lack of restaurant permits and because it's technically a temple that's only allowed to accept donations. However, if you do not "donate" in exchange for food, well...you don't get fed. I've considered bartering before, but I doubt the "volunteers" would be as grateful for my hugs as for my money. Anyway.

Every time we go, I ask S. if we can get the mango sticky rice. He says No. Then he says Yes. In the same breath. This is because despite the fact that he is both carb and money conscious (neither of which I am), he is always swayed by the thought of those subtly tart, firm mangoes on a side of sticky rice soaked in sweet coconut milk. Sick of waiting for those lucky Sunday mornings, I decided to make some myself and topped mine with some toasted black sesame. That's right, they're not fruit flies that got stuck in my rice.

Next up! Some hearty split pea soup with ham. I don't know why I'm in a yucky mood today, and I don't want to ruin this for you, but on first glance this may look like movie vomit. But it's not, I swear! Observe closely, that's a piece of carrot, and there's some ham in there! I topped it with some homemade potato chips fried in duck fat.

Split Pea Soup with Ham

Mmm, dinner. Last night, S. and I got all fancypants in the kitchen and cooked up some filet mignon. It's very simply done in the pan, and we ate it with a side of green beans almondine, and a bleu cheese sauce. Notice the perfect medium rare on that meat! I did that. :)

Filet Mignon with Bleu Cheese Dressing and Green Beans Almondine

And finally, an extra dose of sweetness, blueberry cobbler. I made the mistake of making this in the morning and then leaving it on the counter with a spoon in it so that every time I walked by I sampled it. You know, to make sure the flavors were uh...settling. By the time we went to bed, it was 4/5 gone. The last 1/5 will be gone by the time I finish this post. Which is now.

Blueberry Cobbler

Best Leftovers I Ever Had

Pork Roast and Swiss Chard

It goes without saying that they weren't leftovers the day we made it, but I'm glad we made more than we could eat. I kind of wish that S. and I weren't so hungry and had some more patience, otherwise I would have had a picture of the whole roast. As it was, it was hard enough to take this picture because I was ready to DEVOUR. It's the tragedy of making delicious meals that take a long time on the stove or in the oven; the aromas that come from the kitchen really get my digestive juices going...one of these days I'm going to have an ulcer and S. will have to pamper me and make me everything I wanna eat. Maybe that's not so bad. Especially after he surprised me with how great his chard was; we followed Thomas Keller's recipe for the veg, which included golden raisins and pine nuts. The pork was juicy, peppery, and tender enough so that even after I microwaved it a couple days later it was still delectable. Next time I'm going to have to plan ahead and make a lot more for leftovers.

For some sweet leftovers for the week, I made a bunch of drop mini blueberry muffins; baked with cream rather than milk or water, the muffins were very distinctly ...creamy. Duh. I'm on a muffin kick now, be on the watch for more tiny muffitos!

Tiny Blueberry Muffins!

Lamb Tajine with mint, zucchini, tomatoes and peppers

I haven't heard of tajines before, so to explain, a tajine is a Moroccan stew traditionally cooked in an earthenware pot. I don't have an earthenware pot, so this may not be a true tajine, but maybe one day it'll grow up and get promoted. What struck me first about this recipe was how many spices are involved! Being an aficionado of curries and all those mouth-watering spices that come in middle eastern and Indian food, I was excited to be measuring out the coriander and cumin for this dish. Except I didn't measure them out, I just dumped a bunch into the pot. Yummm... I'm a greedy spice-monger.

Tarte Tatin

And what better way to celebrate Memorial Day, but with apple pie! But...not really apple pie because it's French and it's a tart. I have to admit, S. and I had to ditch the first batch of caramelized apples because they burned. No one's perfect.. however, the finished product was delicious. S. sweated bullets watching me pour sugar into the pan for the caramel, but he all but forgot when he gobbled it down with ice cream:

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Sigh. It's summertime everyone! Even though earlier this morning it drizzled just enough to make me regret wearing new sandals but not enough to justify my umbrella use. Being a student is signing yourself up for a roller coast of stress, living the extremes!! 9 months of the year is devoted to mind numbing frustration, 2 sets of mental breakdowns during finals weeks (3 if you're on the quarter system), sleep deprivation, seasonal affect disorder, and coffee intoxication. Then there are 3 glorious months when the sun shines, sleeping too much becomes a problem, everything blooms, and life is worth living again!!! Let's not talk about September and school starting.

Even though I'm not completely off the hook this summer and am still working full time, something about just the thought of summer is magical. It makes me want to eat. Screw swimsuit season, this is stuff-your-face-season. I think this is mostly because the nice weather makes eating a portable activity. Picnics! Snacks on sticks! Street fairs!

S. and I make a strawberry rhubarb pie to share for a friendly poker get together. What he doesn't know is I slipped something into the pie to befuddle his friends and win all their money. Muahaha. Not really.

And what's better for a summertime dinner than something light like seared ahi tuna? Here is dinner from a bit ago; I seared the tuna with sesame seeds and served it with greens, sprouts, avocado, and a sweet soy ginger dressing:

Sesame Seared Ahi Tuna Salad

To bean, or not to bean?

Chili con carne:

It's been a busy few weeks, and with studying for (and finishing!) finals, I might briefly have slipped into the black hole that is eating takeout. But! knowing that this was a possibility, I wisely made some things to post, post operation-get-good-grades-and-work-on-a-career. It seems that this semester after the initial release of my last test and putting away weeks of notes and flashcards, there wasn't that expected zombie phase where I get to catch up with some much needed television; instead, I was making up lost time at work and arranging my quick trip to LA to visit family.

Anyway, *gesture above* here's my chili con carne! A friend and I had a discussion later whether a "real" chili has beans or not, resulting in an obligatory googling and hundreds of posts from people who also felt that this issue was more controversial than, I don't know, whether or not we landed on the moon (we did). People are passionate about their chili. This particular chili con carne is bean-less, but to give it some added textural depth, and also because of a certain diva butcher, it's made with chunks of beef chuck and ground beef.

And for dessert? Marcel Proust's Rememberall, the madeleine. I have a mold made in france that I proudly bought at an antique store for 2 bucks, and it makes beautiful orange and lemon zest madeleines that I later gave away (S. was disappointed). Interestingly, these particular madeleine's are accidentally whole grain...those who know me well know I'm awful with reading details in emails and on packages; luckily, this time the flub resulted in something that's not totally catastrophic, and possibly even good for me (disclaimer!! remember everyone, whole grain does not equal whole wheat. It's different).

Young at heart

Iced coffee with vanilla ice cream... much needed mojo for some serious studying