Slowlane,

Watermelon is sweet near the center, it gets not very sweet near the rind. There is a lot of rind on a watermelon to throw away.

The not-so-sweet rind, the white part, is perfect for cooking.

Depending on what you are trying to make, you can include some red and it will be sweeter.

The texture for the rind after cooking is also variable from soft to crispy, depending on your preference. The longer you cook, the softer it gets.

You should always peel off the thin green skin, which is very tough.

You basically cook it about the same way as with broccoli, pan fry, roast, bake, or steam.

You can cook it faster by microwave it first.

dcarch

lbpod, I'm one of those odd people, I can't kill anything, not even mice and I stop and move turtles out of the road. Bossy Cow is one of my favorite pets and would follow me off the edge of the earth for a powdered sugar donut. That's why she let me get close enough for that picture.

If I had to eat commercially raised meat, though, I'd give it up. The way the animals are raised, fed, treated and handled is offensive to me. The only way to be able to continue to eat chicken, beef, etc., is to raise it myself, be certain it's healthy and well cared for and finally killed in the fastest and most humane manner possible. I won't even truck the animals to a slaughterhouse, I pay a man extra to come to the farm and do it there, so there's no trucking in trailers, holding in unfamiliar pens or barns. And I still cry every single time.

I could never eat Bossy Cow or Red Cow, any more than I could eat Copenhagen (my saddle horse). Sigh. I make sure that neither I nor my kids or the grandkids make pets of the animals destined to be beef but everything else on the place are absolutely pets, from the cows to the laying hens. I know, not much of a beef farmer, am I?

Annie

Everything is beautiful...but those soft shelled crabs brought back lots of memories of when my husband shrimped and saved the soft shelled crabs to bring home.

Annie, great photo. Love mom and her baby.
Shirl, welcome to the CF.
Nancy, how nice that you and Sherry got together again. You put on a real feast. Is there anything better than homemade croissants?.

FOAS, that deep fried poached egg looks spectacular. I just might have to try that this week. I know Moe would love it. The board is Big Leaf Maple (Western Maple).

Adam, perfectly cooked steak. OOOH and all that garlic. So good.

Dinner last night

Spicy Wings

and homemade fries.

I am zeroed in on directing a play at our community theater....so dinner is what I can grab and get out the door fast.
I am living vicariously through your pictures. I bought some wings today (when I was going for more peaches and sugar)....but I am out of time....so I'll pop them into the freezer....
This might be another BLT night.

Nancy...I would really like to know what you put on those lovely pork loins.

Wondering what the green part of watermelon tastes like...in my experience it tastes like nothing unless pickled and spiced.

Annie - I love your newest addition! Do we get to name him again this time?

Welcome, Shirl! Nice to see a newcomer jump right in, even if she makes me feel guilty about NOT going to the gym.

Nancy - Dinner with Sherry looks great. Remind her about this place; would be nice to see her post more often again.

dcarch - You've had me curious about your watermelon rinds for a couple years now. Among other places, I've looked at recipes on watermelonrind.com (IIRC - if not exactly that, something like it.) But I think we look at watermelon slightly differently. I rush through the sweet red part in anticipation of getting down to the harder, less sweet, perhaps slightly bitter sections where it starts to get white and green. To me that's the best part, and that's what I gnaw on for a bit.

Dinner tonight was yet another CF-inspired meal. As Pam and Teresa were reminiscing about a past Philly get-together, I was googling Beck's Cajun Cafe's "Train Wreck." Pictured below are leftovers in the process of getting wrapped up. I made homemade French bread figuring on splitting a loaf with my wife, but we both barely got through half of our halves. It was really good, but fill-ING!

I finally got around to doing something for Sally's birthday (a day late ...). Talk about a comedy of errors!!! We found some wild caught Pacific Salmon on sale, so I cedar plank grilled a gorgeous fillet starting on a charcoal grill then moving to gas, since the charcoal didn't stay hot enough. I slathered a top coat of a honey, mustard, rosemary and lemon zest on the salmon. It was a yummy marriage, but next time I'll use something more subtle; it tended to dominate the smokey salmon. Going with a wild, native American theme, we had a wild rice, maitake mushroom, cranberry and walnut melange, grilled corn, and, though it's not native and just because it's SO tasty, some grilled asparagus. With a nod to our Aztec bretheren and sisteren, Sally's favorite, a chocolate meringue pie. Twice I burned the meringue when I got distracted at the wrong 20 second interval, but finally, before despair, panic, wailing and gnashing of teeth ruled the evening, I got it done right. Beverage of the evening, a Kendall Jackson Cabernet Sauvignon. Now, the pics ...

Ann, wings...they are a favorite around here and yours look soooo good.

FOAS, it's nice to have a sandwich like that just sitting in the fridge waiting for lunch time to roll around.

Jsutt, you made a wonderful birthday dinner for Sally. I'll have a piece of that pie please!

LindaC, I'll just post the recipe for the pork tenderloin. Next time I make it I'll have some grilled fruit on the side, it would go well.

Island Pork Tenderloin (adapted from Gourmet Cookbook) For spice rub: 2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp pepper 1 tsp cumin 1 tsp chili powder 1 tsp cinnamon 2 pork tenderloins (2 lbs total) trimmed 2 tbsp olive oil For Glaze: 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar 2 tbsp finely chopped garlic 1 tbsp Tabasco Stir the spice rub ingredients together in a small bowl and rub all over the pork. Heat oil in ovenproof 12\-inch heavy skillet over medium high heat. Brown pork, turning occasionally, about 4\-5 minutes total. Remove from heat, but leave pork in skillet. Stir together brown sugar, garlic and Tabasco in a small bowl. Pat the mixture on top of the pork. Place skillet in the oven at 350. Roast until thermometer inserted diagonally into the center of each tenderloin registers 140 degrees, about 20 minutes. Let pork stand in skillet, loosely covered with foil for 10 minutes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Our dinner last night was very simple. Burgers. We rarely go to a fast food place but sure do enjoy our own fast food. Instead of fries though, we had corn fritters. [](http://s121.photobucket.com/albums/o214/wizardnm/2012%20Food/?action=view&current=1-2012Food016.jpg) Nancy

Ann T - would you be so kind, as to post the recipe for your Pollo Alla Marengo. that looks soooo good!! TIA :)

never mind, ann t. i found it!! :)

Thanks, dcarch. The only way I've ever heard of eating watermelon rind is pickled, and I rarely get around to doing that. I've always hated throwing out all that rind, so I can't wait to try your version.

Having problems with these

This is a core of blue cheese, wrapped in salmon, wrapped in bacon, deep fried. Working up a dish for tuna night but salmon was cheaper for a first experiment. Anyway, if I get the bacon fully crisp through and through, the salmon is overcooked. This will be worse with tuna, since overcooked tuna is cat food. I want the fish nearly raw.

I may try half freezing the fish and cheese, then wrapping with bacon and into the deep fryer. Make sense? Don't bother?

What cheese would go well with tuna? Or is there a better filling? I want something tangy or sweet, contrasting with the salty savory bacon.

Marinate the tuna?

A couple of dinners this week.

Roast Pork Sirloin with corn pudding.

Italian dinner starting with

an Eggplant, tomato, pesto puff pastry tart

and grilled boneless chicken breasts

with Spaghetti Carbonara.

Moe and I celebrated our 33rd Wedding Anniversary with this dinner:

Roasted Tomato Caprese Salad

The tomato is wrapped in proscuitto, drizzled with olive oil and baked for 15 minutes.

and beef tenderloin fillets in a green peppercorn cream sauce with Parisienne potatoes and fresh steamed and buttered green beans.

Ann - Outstanding filet of beef. Wow!
There are so many other wonderful meals here and I'm particularly pleased that so many of them speak autumn, which we are longing for here in northeast Texas.

We enjoyed the ultimate Southwestern Surf & Turf: Ancho-braised Beef Shanks and Shrimp Cocktail à la La Mansion del Prado, with a side of Cauliflower-infused Chipotle Garlic Mashers.

Here is a link that might be useful: Please, just get to the point.

I love, love looking at all your beautiful food! Last night I actually did fix dinner: Amish Baked Chicken, sliced fresh tomatoes, biscuits and watermelon. Dessert was some Cherry Vanilla ice cream. It has been so hot here for the past two months that I've basically lived on tomato sandwiches and salads, but at least we've had plenty of rain here, so no drought for us, thank the good Lord.

Today I'm making sourdough bread again! I was given some dry starter from a Ravelry member and I've revived it, fed it, and began the bread yesterday. I'll bake it later this afternoon.

I'll be so glad when soup weather is finally here!

Teresa

Welcome Shirl and Happy Anniversary Ann.

As always this thread inspires me and lays a guilt trip on me!!! What great looking meals.

We have had a ton of company at the cottage this year and to tell you the truth I'm "companied" out! Mind you I have had some great fun trying new recipes and new ideas.

Last week we had a huge "smokefest" with our company. Ribs, wings, baked beans, slaw ....all the usual suspects. New additions were smoked trout, smoked oysters and smoked mac and cheese. It was quite the hit but WAAYYYY too much work!

The week before that I hit a home run with a sorta " Bouillabaisse " dinner. To die for and very easy. I used a white wine, leek, saffron, shallot, garlic broth in the bottom of a large pot with a steamer plate on the bottom. I then layered in, at various time intervals, small red potatoes, clams, mussels, shrimp, lobster, chorizo and corn.

When done I dumped the entire mess onto a large deep sided serving tray and let everyone help themselves. Lots of homemade baguette to sop up the broth....so d@mn good and really easy!

Also had a build your own grilled pizza night and a corn roast and an appetizers only dock party. Like I say I'm done! LOL

Tonight is grilled burgers, sliced field tomatoes and sweet corn.....it will soon be gone and that is a sad thing.

This week the bushels of Roma tomatoes are in our stores, and I got my bushel. I've made roasted pasta sauce, roasted tomato soups, bruschetta, regular tomato sauce (peeled romas and simmered).

I've been waiting for the romas to make Tomato Pie and tonite I did. My word, is it ever good. I used Ruthie_tx's recipe, using Frank's hot sauce. I did cut down the mayonnaise to 1/2 cup from 3/4, and it made no difference to the setting up or anything.

I've cut the tail end of the romas into the quantity needed to make another pie, asap.

I could turn Southern quite easily. This is a specialty of the south. Except for the grits and the heat! I'm going to start saying Y'all, bless your heart, and fixin' to do something or go somewhere. LOL

Shirl, welcome to the Cooking Forum.

Ann, Happy Anniversary to you and Moe, and I wish you many more happy years together.

I've not been cooking, we've been mostly eating hospital food while we were with Elery's Dad. He's doing better now and I'm home, but while we were gone we ate Chicken Crepes at Mimi's Cafe, we had Mexican one day and I tried something new, Goetta. It's basically minced pork mixed with oatmeal, sliced and fried. It tasted like pork loin, I had it with eggs for breakfast.

Other than that, it's been Chick Fil A, hospital cafeteria and what passed for breakfast at the La Quinta. Cooper went along, I don't think he even wants to see McDonald's again, as he had chicken nuggets a couple of times, and burgers other times, and leftovers a couple of times.

Ugh. Back to cooking.

Annie

foodonastump, I'm googling Beck's Cajun Cafe Train Wreck sandwich without success. Did you find the recipe or did you make it up from memory? Would you please share the recipe you used? It looks wonderful.

Ann, your dinners look fantastic. Happy Anniversary!

Ortho, fall will come soon enough, we've had a few cooler days lately, in what has been a high temp, record setting summer.

Teresa, soup weather will be coming.

Sharon, it has been a busy summer around here too. Everyone that could come north has... Our last big summer weekend is coming up.

Jasdip, that Tomato Pie is calling me. Enjoy the tomatoes, they are coming on strong here too.

Annie, sure glad Elery's father is dong so well. Welcome home. Canning season is still going on... so jump in! I made my second batch of sweet relish today.

Tonight's dinner was filet, lobster tails and eggplant.

It was rich and I couldn't eat it all, so I guess it's leftovers for tomorrow.

Nancy

Ooops, I forgot to comment on the meals ahead of mine. I got so excited, posting my tomato pie :D

Unorthodox, your beef shanks are incredibly enticing! I love your meals and photography.

Ann, congratulations on your 33rd year! I just love the look of your roasted potatoes. I keep wanting to try making them, then I forget, till I see yours.

Chase, you had a low-country boil! That sounded fantastic. Your whole summer sounds like a string of activity. You'll need to go back to the city for a rest!

So many good-looking meals! AnnT, I don't think I'll ever tire of seeing what you can do with potatoes. And BTW congratulations on your anniversary.

Lord have mercy, Jasdip, that tomato pie looks evil. Not sure AnnT,et al could top your picture. Almost had me drooling on my screen. And honey chile, bless your heart, you can come on down south any time.

I'm fixin' to make some more of that Peach Jam on a Cold Morning today. Peaches are about over for this year.

Sharon, your smoke fest sounds wonderful.
Jasdip, great looking tomato pie. The mayo has always put me off. But your pie looks so creamy that I'm very tempted.

Nancy, Fillet, Lobster and eggplant. What is not to like about that. Yum!!

Picked up fresh halibut on the way home from work and made fish and chips. I had a craving thanks to the other thread.

We pass blackberry bushes on our walk so picked enough to make a cobbler. Served it with a vanilla cream sauce. Like a white caramel sauce.

Annie, I understand completely.
And if I had a few acres outside the city,
I would be doing the same thing you are.
But as far as animals go, I recently had
a cat die, (from natural causes), and I
had all I could do to dig a grave for her
in the back yard. I'll never forget my
Kiwi Girl.

lbpod, I'm sorry about your cat. Many of us here have loved beloved pets, including my own Dead Cat (she wasn't always dead, LOL, but a vet said she would die and we fooled him) and WonderWeiner, who I loved more than nearly anything. We usually post about our pets over on conversations, and many times there are pictures. Our pets here have become members as much as their human owners!

So, what's for dinner? I had French toast for breakfast and I canned beans instead of dinner. I have a bushel of tomatoes that need to be done next and Elery's Dad has been moved to a rehab facility, so we'll be going there next weekend.

Eventually I'll get back to cooking, all these delicious dinners are making me anxious to cook something.

Annie

I'm in Yakima, visiting SWMBO's ailing mother for probably the last time. SWMBO's sister, our host, is in a lamb phase. Not unwelcome news!

Last night she made a rack of lamb with a hoisin sauce.

We took the bones plus one un-eaten piece and made lamb stock, boiled it down to 3 cups, strained it and today she used it to make lamb stew.

I looked at the recipe, it was pretty standard with the addition of orange zest. We substituted the stock for some of the wine.

Tommorrow, I'm thinking lamb omelettes with the remainder of the rack.

Wow, fabulous pics!

Ann, your fish and chips always look better than any fish and chip shop. I know just what you mean about using mayonnaise in my tomato pie. For that reason, I kept putting it off. But do make it, it's delicious. The mayonnaise is essential, and you don't taste it at all.

JohnLiu....fantastic pics and meals. I'm sorry about your
MIL. Every time I see pics of lamb posted, I'm so tempted to try it. Yours looks delectable.

Looks like you've all been putting out some wonderful dinners! I enjoy seeing all the different ways the ingredients of the season can be used. We are still canning, freezing and drying, like squirrels gathering nuts for winter. I'm intrigued by FOAS's fried poached egg and plan on trying it to surprise DH.

Lots of fairs and festivals going on here. We went to the Hamburg-er Festival in Hamburg PA yesterday. With about 40 different burger stands, we had a meatless dinner last night.

Fluffy corn pudding, sauteed watercress and spinach. I love cooked cress and picked enough to make Green Goddess dressing tomorrow.

For a change of pace from "summer foods", we had oven baked Greek beef stew one night last week. I'm still cranking out peaches - Peach crisp and peach mousse last week.

Had apple and Brie leftover after making omelettes.

John, I'm sorry to hear about your MIL and that it will probably be your last visit. Know that is difficult, I'm sure, especially for SWMBO. Elery would love the lamb, though.

ruthanna, your meatless dinner looks delicious to me, especially that corn pudding.

Ann T's fish and chips always look perfect. Mine are often not that pretty. Well, maybe they're never that pretty, LOL, You know I love halibut, one of my favorite fish.

I've been remiss, still no pictures. The girls came over with the Grandkids and my Mother came along. Elery grilled ribs, I made potato salad, baked beans, Sol's honey rolls, some fresh Royal Burgundy beans from the garden cooked with a couple of slices of our home smoked bacon. We did the "cheater" baked beans, much like Chase does, and added some bacon to that too.

Grandma's blueberry crisp and a Hot Fudge Pudding Cake made great desserts, with vanilla ice cream.

I was too busy taking pictures of Makayla in the pool and Madison making a mess of my living room to think about taking pictures of the food, LOL.

Today I'm canning the first ripe tomatoes, it's taken a long time to ripen this year. I'd like to try a batch of KatieC's Smokey Chipotle catsup too.

Annie

Annie, thank you for understanding about my Kiwi.

Today, I am grilling 2 chicken halves, (yup, both from
the same chicken). I've been marinating them in
'Good Seasons' salad dressing for the last 24 hours.
I'm planning on putting them on the gas grill, using
indirect heat, (the meat on one side, and the lit burner
on the other). I'm planning on dusting the halves with
garlic salt before grilling, because I know that the
grilling process will wash off most of it, but leave
the garlic flavor. Wish me luck. No pics, 'cause my
camera and my 'puter don't play well together.

lbpod, how did the chicken turn out?

Today I had an appointment with my dentist. Yeah, again. Tomorrow morning Bud is having his adenoids removed, so I thought it was a good day to make chicken noodle soup. Forget that it was 92F, I pulled a chicken from the freezer and started rolling noodles. I'll take some to Bud tomorrow, he'll need some spoiling I think:

I also made whole wheat and cheddar rolls, but my kitchen was just too hot and they rose far too well and too quickly, then collapsed just a little. They still taste good:

I had a small visitor, she quietly read her new book about farming, she likes the page with the big red tractor. That's my girl!

Ashley wanted something sweet and since the kitchen was already hot and the oven was on, I made lemon bars:

{{gwi:1545882}}

I've been hungry for beans and vegetables, so Elery made a brown rice and black bean concoction over the weekend that tasted far better than it photographed:

We had salmon with that, glazed with maple and a few chives pulled from my herb garden:

{{gwi:1545884}}

It was time to buy maple syrup anyway, so I got a gallon of Grade B from Cook's Sugar Bush, it's going to be baking weather soon. The big jug won't fit anywhere in my small and old refrigerator, though, so it all gets transferred to canning jars...

{{gwi:1518351}}

Annie

Annie, my DH would glady eat any leftovers from Elery's rice and beans. Your salmon with maple sounds like a perfect combination.

After being closed for three weekends for the county fair, the local farmers' market was wild this morning but I did get stocked up for a while. Dinner tonight was unadorned calves' liver, roasted asparagus and a cold salad of kidney beans, zucchini, tomatoes and avocado.

annie1992, those whole wheat cheddar rolls look so tasty...recipe please!

ovenbird, I used my regular honey wheat recipe, but cut the honey down to 1/4 cup, and added chunks of cheddar about the size of peanuts. I don't shred because the cheese seems to melt into the bread, I like little pieces. I also put it all in the bread machine on dough to mix and rise, then shaped the rolls to bake.

Here's the recipe, with changes made for you!

Wheat-n-cheese Bread

� 3-1/2 to 4 cups all purpose flour
� 2-1/2 cups whole wheat flour
� 2 pkg. active dry yeast
� 2 tsp. salt
� 1 cup milk
� 1 cup water
� 1/4 cup honey
� 3 Tbsp. oil
� 1 egg
1 1/2 cup crumbled cheddar cheese

PREPARATION:
In large bowl, combine 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 cup whole wheat flour, the yeast, and salt and mix well.
In saucepan, heat milk, water, honey, and oil until a thermometer reads 120-130 degrees F (warm)
Add liquid mixture to flour mixture and stir to combine. Beat this batter for 3 minutes. Then, gradually stir in rest of whole wheat flour and enough remaining all-purpose four to form a firm dough. Add cheese at this point.
Sprinkle work surface with flour and knead dough, adding more flour if necessary, for 5-8 minutes until smooth and satiny. Place dough in a greased bowl, turning the dough in the bowl to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place about 1 hour, until double in bulk.
Punch down dough and divide into 2 pieces. On lightly floured surface, roll or press each piece of dough to a 14x7" rectangle. Starting with shorter side, roll up tightly, pressing dough into roll with each turn. Pinch edges and ends to seal and place dough, seam-side down, into greased 9x5" bread pans, making sure short ends of bread are snugly fitted against the sides of the pans. Cover and let rise in warm place until the dough fills the corners of the pans and is double in bulk, 30-40 minutes.
Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 35-40 minutes, until bread is golden brown. Remove from pans and cool on wire racks. I like to brush the bread with butter when it's still hot from the oven for a softer crust.

Annie

Annie, love your little visitor. So cute.

Poor Bud. He will need to be spoiled today.

Ruthanna, I love calves liver. I haven't had it in a long time. Need to check with the butcher and see if it is available.

Tagliatella with Pork, Garlic and Basil meatballs.

annie1992, thanks so much for the customized roll recipe!

Annie, I ADORE your 'small visitor'. Never had any
female babies in this house. My sons only had more
sons. When I used to sing in the Church Choir, there
were members that brought their little girls up to the
choir loft. And that is when I wished I had a tiny
little grandaughter. Goodness Gracious Me....(sigh).
By-da-wee, my chicken turned out fabulous. After a total
of 3 hours on the grill, it was not overly moist, nor
was it dried out, (as 'some' expected). And no pink
near the bone joints. God, I'm good!!!!

lbpod, I had two girls. Amanda has a boy and a girl and Ashley has a girl. Amanda's BIL has three girls. Poor Bud is the only boy cousin on both sides of the family. He'll get older and realize that all the girl cousins have friends who are also girls and then he'll love it. (grin)

I'm glad you fooled "some" people who thought you'd dry out the chicken, LOL

Ann, I babied Bud. For about a minute, then he was over it. We built Monster Trucks out of legos and had a popsicle, then he was tired of being fussed over. Sigh.

Ruthanna, the rice and beans were one of my favorite meals in a long time, they just tasted good to me for some reason.

Ovenbird, you are so welcome!

Annie

Annie, I'm sure Bud loved being babied by you, at least for a little while. Glad he didn't suffer much.

Lemon Chicken - Asian Style

Ann - Fresh Halibut on the way home from work?!? How fortunate are you? The only 'fish' I can get on the way home from work must come from Long John Silver's. If I want 'fresh' fish, I have to settle for catfish. Not gonna happen. Also, the lemon chicken has prompted me to change my Sunday menu.

Wizard - Filet and lobster tails.. Eggplant.. Outstanding. After a meal like that, I might as well die. Nothing can top it.

Ruthanna - I'm only allowed to eat calf's liver (or chicken gizzards, East Texas Hotlinks, pickled pigs feet or pickled pork rinds) when my wife is out of town. She took the kids for three weeks this summer to NJ/NY to visit family. While they were getting their fill of ziti, pizza and Wo Hop, I was able to indulge. But your liver looks a lot better than the stuff I cooked for myself.

John - Apples and brie. Mmmm.

Garlicky Cilantro Chicken & Sopa de frijoles y chiles (Chile Bean Soup)

Dinner in Foil

Here is a link that might be useful: Confession No. 58 - Confidential to my parents: Your curse is in full swing - and then some

Lots of good food wrapping up this thread; I think can see where I'm going to take some inspiration for this week's menu. Perhaps eggplant or meatballs tonight, and the fish and chips is calling, too. Definitely heading to Ann's blog to check out the lemon chicken. Looks like something the kids might actually eat.

Ruthanna - Can you talk about the Greek stew?

Yesterday I went to Epicurious to look something up. I have no idea what, because I got sucked in by a picture right on the home page. I knew I just had to make this steak sandwich on sourdough bread, with roasted tomato, mint, cilantro, watercress, etc. Prime sirloin is on sale this week so I used that rather than ribeye. It was SO good. I might have to roast and freeze some tomatoes while they're still available so I can recreate this once the season is over.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rib-Eye and Roasted-Tomato Sandwiches

Ann, your chicken is beautiful.

UE, I enjoyed reading your blog. Our youngest daughter bears the same curse but it hasn't materialized yet. There is a similar recipe for a Hobo Dinner in one of my WWII cooking booklets but it's cooked in a coffee can.

FOAS, I've been making this baked stew since high school and that was a long, long time ago. The smell of the steam when you remove the lid is intoxicating. It can be baked a day or two ahead of serving and be reheated in the microwave.

GREEK BEEF STEW (2-3 servings)

1 lb. lean beef stew meat, cut into 1 inch cubes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 Tbs. butter
2 medium onions, coarsely chopped
1/2 bay leaf
1 small stick of cinnamon, broken into 2 or 3 pieces
1/4 tsp. whole cloves
2 Tbs. dark raisins
1/4 cup dry red wine
2 Tbs. water
1/2 can (6 oz. size) tomato paste
1 Tbs. wine vinegar
2 tsp. brown sugar
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. dried mint, crumbled or 1 1/2 tsp. finely chopped fresh mint

Season meat generously with salt & pepper. Melt butter in Dutch oven or heavy casserole. Add meat and turn to coat on all sides with butter. Arrange onions, bay leaf, cinnamon, cloves and raisins over top of meat.

Mix remaining ingredients and spread over casserole contents. Do not stir. Cover very tightly and bake at 325 degrees for about 1 1/2 hours. Remove bay leaf and cinnamon sticks and stir sauce gently when serving. Serve with crusty bread to sop up the sauce.

If you have any leftover cress and mint, you could make some of the now-dethroned former queen of salad dressings - Green Goddess. I made it this weekend and served on top of cold poached salmon.

GREEN GODDESS DRESSING

1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 cup (packed) fresh watercress leaves
2 tablespoons (packed) chopped fresh dill
2 tablespoons (packed) chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons chopped green onion
1 tablespoon (packed) chopped fresh mint
2 to 3 tsp. tarragon vinegar
2 tsp. oil from anchovies or 2 anchovies, chopped
1/4 teaspoon Cholula or other hot pepper sauce

Mix all ingredients in blender. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Thin out with a little milk if needed. Pour into container and chill until serving time.

I'm making soup today so your steak sandwich will be the star of Wednesday's soup and sandwich dinner, if I can wait that long.

Great food! I don't know how to pick my favorite. So I won't.

Our weather has cooled and I have been thinking about fall. Yesterday I just had to have a braised pot roast. It was cooked in wine and we enjoyed one of our favorite dinners. Fresh green beans and homemade chili sauce.

Nancy

Adam, I am lucky. I have a wonderful seafood shop that I can pass on the way home from work if I take a slight detour down through Cowichan Bay. Fresh Halibut, live Dungeness crab, salmon, scallops, etc.. always available.

FOAS, that is one great looking steak sandwich.

Nancy, you make the best looking gravy.

Tonight's dinner was inspired by Adam (unorthodoxepicure).

I made a version of his Gold Coins - Crispy pork stuffed eggplant. Just a few minor adjustments to how I seasoned the pork and I used my favourite Asian chili sauce.

Moe and I both love eggplant and the combination of eggplant, pork and tempura was amazing. Moe declared it a keeper.

It's the time of year here when we can buy good old-fashioned, non GMO corn. It is the Jubilee variety and is normally ready around the beginning of September. No shortage this year - I'm buying it right from the farm for 4.00 per dozen. We've eaten a lot of corn on the cob lately, so decided to make chowder tonight.

Nancy, I need gravy - now!

Ann, I've never tasted anything quite like your Gold Coins. I would love to try them.

Tobyt, your corn chowder looks so appetizing.

A couple of dinners this week:

Grilled ham with plum glaze, roasted potatoes and one of our favorite vegetables - brussels sprout leaves

Marinated and grilled short ribs, brown arborio rice with shitakes, steamed cabbage and carrots, and zuchinni relish.

Ann - Your Gold Coin looks fabulous. Please do tel about your seasoning adjustment.

Adam, just minor adjustments. And my chili sauce is not a cooked sauce. Thanks again for sharing your recipe.

Crispy Pork Stuffed Eggplant
Also known as "Gold Coins"

Pork Filling
1/2 pound finely ground pork
1 inch piece ginger grated
2 to 3 cloves of garlic minced or grated (Use a Microplane to grate)
1 chopped green onion
2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine
1 teaspoon sesame oil
salt
white or black pepper

Mix all ingredients together. Saute a small piece to test for seasoning.

Eggplant

Japanese Eggplants or small purple or white eggplants

Peel eggplant. Cut into 1 inch slices. Make a horizontal cut in each round, stopping short of cutting all the way through. Stuff a little of the pork filling between the slices.

Tempura Batter

1 cup flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking powder
Salt and pepper
Soda Water

Spicy Asian Chili Sauce

1/2 cup rice vinegar
1 or 2 tablespoons of garlic chili sauce
1 or 2 tablespoons Thai sweet chili sauce.
minced ginger
minced garlic
1 green onion minced
sesame oil

Mix all ingredients together. Adjust to suit own taste.

Heat Peanut Oil to 375�F

Mix dry ingredients. Add enough soda water to make a thin "pancake" batter.

The eggplant is twice fried. Fry in stages, 3 or 4 pieces at a time. Dip stuffed eggplant into flour and then into batter. Slowly place in hot oil and fry until golden. Turning once. About 4 minutes. Remove and drain on paper towels. Just before serving, reheat the oil and fry each piece for another one to two minutes until golden brown. Serve with spicy chili sauce.