Another weekend, another barbecue, trying to fit them all in before summer slips away. I invited friends over last night for a low key gathering, and wasn't sure how many people would come, so I ended up with a lot of leftovers, both food and alcohol-wise. I guess that's a good thing, except it means I'll have to move all of it (see below).
I made grass fed burgers using ground beef from Elk Trails with my signature fresh sage (from my deck) and worcestershire sauce combination. I grilled them myself - it was the first time I'd ever personally made hamburgers on the grill, and they came out perfectly medium and yummy.
I baked up the crisp flatbread again, this time using 1 cup local whole wheat flour and 3/4 cup white flour, and mixing in fresh ground pepper instead of rosemary, and I thought it had much better depth of flavor.
For dipping, I made hummus and baba ghanoush. I bought eggplants from a new, mad cheap vendor at the Union Square Greenmarket, but I was unlucky and it turned out they had tons of seeds, so I did my best to remove them to keep the baba ghanoush from being overly bitter. I'm not going to post the recipe I used because it was kind of fly-by-my-pants and didn't come out quite as magical as I hoped. I also ended up with less than stellar corn, that was small and not especially sweet, but people enjoyed it anyway, especially topped with some Ronnybrook butter.
And now, I should probably continue packing, since I'm moving into my new apartment tomorrow. I like to think I don't own a lot of posessions, but I've realized that my obsession with food means I will have to ferry box after box after box of foodstuffs and kitchen accoutrements. Moving is a bitch.
I made grass fed burgers using ground beef from Elk Trails with my signature fresh sage (from my deck) and worcestershire sauce combination. I grilled them myself - it was the first time I'd ever personally made hamburgers on the grill, and they came out perfectly medium and yummy.
I baked up the crisp flatbread again, this time using 1 cup local whole wheat flour and 3/4 cup white flour, and mixing in fresh ground pepper instead of rosemary, and I thought it had much better depth of flavor.
For dipping, I made hummus and baba ghanoush. I bought eggplants from a new, mad cheap vendor at the Union Square Greenmarket, but I was unlucky and it turned out they had tons of seeds, so I did my best to remove them to keep the baba ghanoush from being overly bitter. I'm not going to post the recipe I used because it was kind of fly-by-my-pants and didn't come out quite as magical as I hoped. I also ended up with less than stellar corn, that was small and not especially sweet, but people enjoyed it anyway, especially topped with some Ronnybrook butter.
And now, I should probably continue packing, since I'm moving into my new apartment tomorrow. I like to think I don't own a lot of posessions, but I've realized that my obsession with food means I will have to ferry box after box after box of foodstuffs and kitchen accoutrements. Moving is a bitch.
Long story short, last night there was a gourmet meal, Luke and Lisa style, featuring the chops. I can't even describe how amazing they were. My tongue was at a loss for words. A lot of that is probably owed to Luke's repeated recomendation of "mo' buttaaa!" And the fact that this was one of the happiest little calves in the history of veal, roaming free on the land of Bobolink farm for all its short life. While working at the farmers market in Warwick this past Sunday I was also the joyous recipient of a whole load of vegetables to incorporate. And then my mom's garden in Warwick supplied the rest. So basically this meal was as free as it could get!
Veal Chops with Reduced Wine, Onion, and Sage Sauce
