Maggie's Farm

Mrs. BD and her pal had the best burger in their lives in Mississippi in a road trip to Houston last winter, in some redneck dive place with fancy burgers.(nb: Redneck is not a disparagment on Maggie's).

General rule of thumb: Always avoid disgusting chain places. The hole in the walls have the best stuff because they have to compete.

 One of my cool daughters emailed me about the best burger she has ever had (visiting a college pal in Nashville): cream cheese, jalapeno jelly, and grilled jalapenos. I feel hungry now despite a filling lobster salad for lunch with a glass of chardonnay. Life is pleasant in the USA.

Yes, I make a mean jalapeno jelly from my garden each year. Good with cheese. My kids steal the jars from the pantry. 

Simple as pie. Roughly chop up a few cloves of garlic. Roughly chop up an onion. Throw them in a big pan with plenty of olive oil for a few minutes on medium heat.

Chop up an eggplant into about 1" square chunks - skin on. Also, a couple of zucchinis and yellow summer squashes to about 1" chunks.

Before the garlic and onions brown, throw in the vegetable chunks with a cup of water, stir it up a little, throw in some salt and plenty of ground pepper, and cover the pot.

No tomato - it messes up the subtle flavors.

Then get some sprigs of thyme, oregano, and basil from the garden and throw them on top, and let it slow simmer and steam on low medium for a while, covered. Gently stir it around a little.

As soon as the veggies begin turn soft but before they fall apart, take off the stove. Throw a handful of fresh-chopped parsley on top before serving. Even vegophobes like it.

At this very moment. Chunks of Black Cherry wood from the woodpile, with a pot of water in there.

Short and regular pork ribs rubbed with brown sugar, various ground peppers, dried mustard and Kosher salt.

Also a pork butt or two.

Let me know whether the smell of the smoke comes through your computer screen. It smells good.

If you cannot smell it, maybe your computer's smoke-blocker blocks it.

How do you do this enjoyable task? 

In the southern USA, "tea" means Sweet Tea. People usually make a couple of quarts at a time. Delicious.

I have been a fan of Sun Tea since I first had it in Montana. It's usually made a gallon jar at a time. Keep the top on or ants will come, and keep in direct sunlight for 5-6 hours.

The real recipe. Peaches or blueberries are ok too. (recipe link corrected)

Simple

Either an Antipasto or a Primi.

Simple, light, and good

From Nice, of course, as its name indicates. A charming Riviera town. I would go back there anytime.

These are a favorite summer treat around here. Yes, you can do it with pumpkin blossoms too. Use the male blossoms, on the stalks. No reason to waste them.

A simple recipe.  Do not wash the blossoms. Serve hot, with salt.

For a fancier antipasto, fried blossoms stuffed with goat cheese. How good does that sound?

Summer really begins this weekend, up here, with Independence Day. Just a few summery links:

The Cocktail Renaissance

The Southside

At a wedding a couple of weeks ago, this is all they were serving. Gallons of it. 

Pimm's Cup Cocktail

The Cape Codder

The Mojito

Gin Fizz

Long Island Iced Tea

My favorite cocktail regardless of season is a gin Martini with four olives. Vegetarian, organic, spiritual.

What are your favorite summertime adult beverages?

Here's how my mother-in-law does it. Slice tomato, then a whole large Basil leaf, then a slice of mango, then a thin slice of mozzarella. Repeat.  She runs it down in slightly-slanted rows on a platter. Repeat in rows until platter is filled. A little salt and a drizzle of oil and vinegar on top.

Readers know we think it's a sin to grill a great steak (like a ribeye, for example), but we are totally on board with grilling vegetables, burgers, hot dogs - and fish. Fish is great for the grill.

And what accompanies grilled fish perfectly? Grilled pineapple.

Some other fruits are good grilled too (figs, , but the way the pineapple sugar caramelizes is delicious.

Grilled pineapple kabobs. 

I told you that in Sicily last Spring we had Parsley Pesto (with grilled swordfish) and Pistachio Pesto (with grilled pork), but we never saw a Basil Pesto. They do love their Pistachios in Sicily - they use them with everything. We brought a small, overpriced jar of pistachio pesto home, but it's fairly easy to make.

"Pesto" means something that is pestado - pounded or ground up, as in English "pestle and "paste." Walnut-Parsley is a popular combination. Also, fresh mint pesto. The Cuisinart is what made Pesto easy. 

More: Move out the way, basil. Cheese + nuts + olive oil + garlic + whatever the hell you want = awesome pesto.

Pesto is for seafood, vegetables, noodles.  

We took my father in law out for dinner yesterday to our favorite Italian joint. I had two appetizers for supper (I often like to do that): Carpaccio, and the steamed PEI mussels in Green Harissa.

Well, that harissa/mussel broth was the tastiest new flavor I've tasted in a year. Wow. Luckily for me, there was no cilantro in it (I am among those for whom cilantro tastes like gasoline).

There are many variations on Green Harissa - you can google them. It's not meant to be overly hot, just tangy. As best I can tell, this one contained jalapenos, garlic, mint, scallions, black pepper, salt, flat-leaf parsley, olive oil, lemon zest, a little sugar. Some water. No spices, because the mussel broth had plenty of good flavor. Mix raw in blender or immersible blender.

For vegetables or fish, you might want to use some of the spices the recipes suggest. 

Photo is farmed mussels, Nova Scotia 

I had the delight of attending a Connecticut Shad Bake on Sunday after a day of trout fishing.  My pic above of shad (with lardons) on planks, with a tray of shad roe above. Shad roe is a special food for us.  Shad Bakes are done on rough planks over an open wood fire.

Some pics of somebody else's Shad Bake.  Yes, you nail the filets on the planks. The only seasonings are salt and pepper.

Shad are anadromous fish which migrate up rivers to breed in April and the beginning of May. The jolly bake I was invited to attend had Connecticut River shad, expertly-boned (few people know how to filet a Shad) along with whatever sacks of roe that the female Shad contained.

Nice outdoor party, in the woods by a large pond. Seemed like I had two degrees of separation from people I met there. 

Serve it up with beer, cole slaw, potato salad,  and strawberry shortcake for dessert. 

A daughter visiting from LA helped me work the garden today, and decided to make a tart for her friend. Crust from scratch, of course. That's a BD family specialty- flakey pie crusts.

Rhubarb tarte is amazing, in my opinion. We grow good rhubarb here. I took it from my Mom's rhubarb patch when she died. Rhubarb takes minimal care, grows like a weed but does not spread. Just a pile of cow manure on top in early Spring.