Yellow Pear, Early Girl & Sungold Tomato mixture

I have three different colors of tomatoes out in my garden so I thought it would be visually appealing to use all three plus the contrast in taste between the three would be enjoyable.  The orange sungold's taste like candy - which by the way are my favorite which is why there isn't as much Sungold mixture in the top photo, the yellow pear's are more savory and the red Early Girl's taste like, um...tomatoes.

Bruschetta Three Ways

The recipe called for a olive oil, minced garlic clove, fresh black pepper, fresh rosemary and kosher salt mixture to be brushed onto the tops of the bread.  I used fresh french bread instead of a day old crusty bread (usual selection for bruschetta) as that was the only thing available.  Instead of a super crusty bread that is usual for bruschetta after it is grilled or baked, it was crunchy on the outside but soft on the inside. The contrast was perfect.

Each tomato mixture consisted of fresh basil, olive oil, fresh lemon lemon juice, kosher salt and pepper. After I baked the bread slices that had been brushed with the olive oil/rosemary, I topped each one with the tomato mixture.  5 minutes later the entire platter was gone.  Success!

Enjoy your Tuesday ~ Eat Well!
Susan

I had such a great Saturday that I'm going to share it all with you in photos.  By the way, does anybody else agree that the iPhone takes mediocre inside pictures?  I must find a tutorial to give me pointers...

"Tropical Fantasia" by Michael Michalski from Brooklyn, NY.

"Barnyard Boss" by Cindy D Burlingham from Calgary, AB Canada. Just love the little chicks!

"Chromatic Transitions" by Rachel Wetzler from St. Charles, IL.  This is just the center -  absolutely gorgeous applique.

I hunted this one down especially for Becky from Solar Threads...well worth the search. This quilt was made by a friend/neighbor of Becky's.

"Spinner" by Marlene A Oddie from College Place, WA.  Absolutely striking  - the photo doesn't do it justice.

"Grand Guard" by Linda C Anderson from La Mesa, CA.  Zina and I couldn't believe this was a quilt.

"All Roads Lead to California" by Sharon Chaffino from Upland, CA.  This would be a perfect quilt for a 4th grade classroom which studies California History.

"Sirena" by DeLoa Jones who is part of the faculty at RTC.

Zina and I in front of a giant Route 66 Quilt exhibit.

What could be more fun that meeting a fellow quilter who listens to my podcast and tweets with me on Twitter?  Zina and I had a fun meet up with Diane, otherwise known as @ddrquilter.  Super fun.  

For my first recipe of working through the ad hoc at home cookbook by Thomas Keller, I decided to start (relatively) easy with something I've already made - Buttermilk Fried Chicken.  I've made various versions of Buttermilk Fried Chicken over the years with Alton Brown's being a personal favorite..until now.

Oh my goodness was this fried chicken delicious.  It was nothing like I had ever tried or made myself before.  The clear difference was the brine.  The brine included garlic, peppercorns, flat leaf parsley, honey (that was a surprise) and lemons. The brine ingredients are brought to a boil on the stove top then cooled completely before adding in the raw chicken pieces which then are to brine for 12 hours in the refrigerator. 

Chicken  Brine

After 12 hours in the brine, the chicken is drained, rinsed and dried.  I deviated from the recipe with my choice of chicken - instead of cutting up a chicken and frying all pieces, I used chicken breasts.  I'm such a wus when it comes to meat on bones.  After drying, the chicken pieces are dredged in a flour/spice mixture then dived into a buttermilk bath and then covered again with flour/spice mixture.

Then it's into the hot oil for about 10 minutes.

Once out of the hot oil and rested for about 5 minutes, the fried chicken is ready to eat. The double coating of flour/spice mixture makes all the difference for the amazing crunch this chicken has.  I would imagine if you are using chicken pieces with the skin on, it would be off the charts. Inside the chicken was so incredibly tender from the brine and had a definite lemon flavor which added depth to the chicken.  My older son kept singing the praises of this recipe.

Buttermilk Fried Chicken

Chicken Biscuit Sandwich

Although I began with a fairly easy (for me) recipe, I enjoyed the process that Chef Keller has the reader follow for his recipes and I learned a few things along the way.  His introduction prompted me to spend two hours cleaning and organizing my spice and baking pantry.  A job well worth my time.  As for fried chicken - a double coating is a must from now on....

Eat well and enjoy your Tuesday,
Susan

ad hoc at home by Thomas Keller

The other day I was looking though old history notebooks for specific notes from a class to help study for a class I am taking now, and was delighted upon finding a graded rubric for a speech I made during a Speech Communication class in 2005.  An "A" and my instructor's great comments inspired this blogpost.



I took Speech Communications my first year of college and honestly.. I failed miserably.  I learned how to write speeches, watched the teacher and enjoyed my fellow students give their speeches but on my day to give a speech - I wouldn't show up to class.  Eighteen year old me was too scared to get up in front of class and talk.



Fast forward 15 years or so and it was time to re-take Speech Communications. Supported by a great teacher and a lot more confidence I aced the class this time.  One of the speeches we were to give was a demonstration speech where we talked about something that we were physically doing in class.

I always add 1 1/2 bags of chocolate chips - yum.

I choose to make Chocolate Chip Cookie dough. The speech went great and at the end of the speech I gave away spoonfuls of cookie dough and cookies that I had made at home. Always good to please the crowd.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm linking up with Debbie at her Tuesday at the Table feature (for what seems like the first time in ages!) so please go visit what she and others have on their Table this week.



Hope you are having a great Tuesday,
Susan

Tofu-Vegetable Tacos with Eggplant-Ancho Spread

Have a great rest of your Tuesday,
Susan

Last night I made Shrimp Linguine with a Sun-dried Tomato Cream sauce and although I had zucchini, squash and red bell peppers on hand for a side, I didn't feel like steaming them.  I had time so I thought I would pop them in the oven to roast for a different taste - boy was that a smart choice.

I used a recipe from The Silver Spoon , a massive 1,200 page cookbook originally published in Italy as  il cucchialo d'argento in 1950.  This tome was first translated into English in 2005 which is the edition I have, but has since been through another revision in 2011..... with 400 new photographs I may have to check it out.

Going into the oven

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Slice your zucchini/squash/red pepper any way you like - I tried long slices this time. Lay on parchment lined cookie sheet.  Slice up three of four garlic cloves very thin and sprinkle over zucchini/squash/red pepper.  Sprinkle with fresh parsley & basil if you have some (used dried if not) and season with Kosher Salt and pepper. Then drizzle over the olive oil to your liking.  Place in the oven and roast to your liking.

Perfect.

Dinner is served.

Try roasting up vegetables next time you are looking for a side dish- a splash of olive oil, slivers of garlic and S&P are all you need to bring out a new taste in your vegetables.

A little late today again due to school but it was for a good cause - last day of one of my classes!
Please visit Debbie at her Tuesday at the Table feature to see what her husband has been working on...it's so cool!
Ciao!
Susan

When brought out of the oven, Chocolate Pixies are like little puffy clouds of chocolate just waiting for someone to float by and gobble them up.  These come out of the oven a bit underdone to account for the residual cooking time which occurs once out of the heat - a perfect time to slide one off the tray and onto a napkin...gooey and chocolaty before it has time to set.  That was me last night...standing in my kitchen, enjoying the first cookie off the tray and of course...coughing.


Please tell me I'm not the only one who inevitably coughs when eating that first cookie/bar/tiramisu slice which has powdered sugar or cocoa on top? 

That first bites gets me every time.

1. First bite of Tiramisu in Venice, Italy.  Walking along the canals and (coughing) eating my piece. 
2. Lunchtime in New Delhi, India where we would go eat for hours...oh the Naan!  So bloody hot inside the restaurant with the tandoori oven in the center - a wonder for me at eighteen. 
3. Turkey Parmigiana my mother used to make for my birthday.  The best ever.  
4. Foie Gras. 
5. Pizza in Naples, Italy with girlfriends...so silly we were - such a wonderful time.  
6. Harvesting corn from my garden - standing in the row, husking it and biting into fresh corn...so good. 
7. Last meal I had with my father on his birthday. 
8. Sitting on the kitchen counter (I was 4) next to the sink while my father cleaned and cracked Dungenous Crab.  Remember getting full on the crab pieces he was giving me.  

Please don't think I only make desserts around here.  I know I've been showing you a great many lately but only because they are fairly easy, I always have my pantry stocked with baking goods and I don't buy cookies/cakes/etc.  Soon I'll be featuring meals I make for dinner again (The April edition of Bon Appetit has about 50 recipes that must be attempted in my kitchen.) but for today I'll share with you what I made last night; Chocolate Oatmeal Bars.

These have been around a long time with many variations in the name so attempting to credit the original recipe writer is proven (for me) to be rather impossible.  Here is my version of Chocolate Oatmeal Bars.

A batch of Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Dough

Melted: chocolate chips, sweetened condensed milk, butter and vanilla

Parchment Paper: One of my tricks in the kitchen

13 x 9 x 2 Pyrex Dish

Line Pyrex dish with Parchment Paper

Load in about two-thirds of Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Dough: press down

Pour over melted chocolate goodness and make sure you lick the spoon

Dollop remainder of dough over melted chocolate

Bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes

Let sit for about 30 minutes (if you can), then pull out of Pyrex pan

Enjoy!

Chocolate Oatmeal Bars