June Celebrations

June is a month when we celebrate my birthday, our wedding anniversary and Father's Day. As a tradition, we always take vacation time during the week of our anniversary. Usually we stay close to home, taking day excursions in search of BBQ, seafood, a country ride and a good time. Sometimes we ride to St. George Island, sometimes we go to local seafood joints. Last year we enjoyed Italian food and took bike rides, for our 25th anniversary we also stayed around home but went all out with crab cakes, steak and champagne.

I will post photos of some of the things we do this week and alert you to any good BBQ we find. By the way, this anniversary was #29 and as always, I enjoyed the best company, good food and music. And wine.

Ok, birthday first: I pick whatever I want and even though I love cassoulet, roasted lamb, New York strip steak.........it's always so horribly hot that I choose cool foods. Steamed shrimp (cooled) with honey dew melon and Mojitos! Doug makes excellent Mojitos, it's the recipe from Bonefish Grill, but better!



We sit outside and enjoy patio time, wildlife, begging shibas and imbibing. This year we hung dragonfly lights and my new wind chimes. My friend Mary Margaret, who lives too far away from me up in Eagle River Alaska, sent me the chimes. Very soothing.



Ready for anniversary photos? We headed out to Bonefish Grill early so we could sit at the bar. Also, we need to be home by 6:30 for Kobe's medications so.....our time frames for going out are rigidly controlled. The idea was to have appetizers and drinks...then head home and enjoy a very light meal later on.

Warm bread with an herbed olive oil dipping tray. I had a wonderful Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc and Doug had a Sapphire Martini.



Crab cakes and Bang Bang Shrimp actually filled us up more than we thought. Big appies.



Home......take care of Shiba Dinner and meds......then we have some freshly baked bread, a Chimay cheese...(yes, like the Belgian ale)...very good semi soft cheese with a hoppy taste, fresh fruits and wine. As always, lots of begging from Kobe and Aja.





Since the heat index was still pretty high we sat in the den, nibbled our light meal, listened to a Diana Krall CD and chatted.



Perfect day, perfect company. I couldn't ask for more.

More adventure, certainly more food will be coming up.

Potluck at I ♥ Cooking Club so I am picking Jamie's Eggplant Parmesan

It's time for Potluck at IHCC, something I look forward to each month. Thank you to the hosts Kim, Deb and Sue for expanding the theme to include previous featured chefs - brilliant idea!



Why do I like Potluck? Because sometimes I feel like venturing out and cooking with a group instead of doing my own thing. I'm not super social but I do like these virtual get-togethers now and again. Jamie is a fine example of a social being so...here you have it. Check out which dishes (and chefs) are featured this week at I ♥ Cooking Club.



Pssst....I actually made this eggplant earlier but waited to share it for Potluck. Here's the amazing recipe below!


Ingredients

1 large eggplant
olive oil
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
1 heaped teaspoon dried oregano
1 good-quality canned plum tomatoes, or a few fresh ripe tomatoes
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
a little wine vinegar
several leaves fresh basil
3 large handfuls Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
2 handfuls dried breadcrumbs
a little fresh oregano, leaves chopped
a cup or more of mozzarella, depends on how much you love the ooey gooey cheese in this dish

Directions

Two ways you may prep the eggplant for this dish. Cut into thick slices and set aside.

Heat olive oil into a large pan on a medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and dried oregano and cook for 10 minutes, until the onion is soft and the garlic has a tiny bit of color. If you're using canned tomatoes, break them up, and if you're using fresh tomatoes prick each one and put them into a big pan of boiling water for under a minute.. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and put them into a bowl of cold water for 30 seconds, then remove the skins. Add the tomatoes to the onion, garlic and oregano. Stir, then simmer slowly for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, grill the eggplant on both sides until lightly charred OR use a skillet and cook in oil. By the time you are done cooking eggplant the tomato sauce should be reduced and ready.

Season with salt, pepper, basil and a bit of wine vinegar. Now the layering starts.

In a casserole dish place a small layer of tomato sauce, Parmesan, followed by a single layer of eggplant slices. Repeat these layers …you know what to do. Try and keep a layer of sauce for the top. If you want it to be pretty toast some breadcrumbs and scatter on the top.

Bake at 375 F for half an hour until crisp and bubbly. Eat it straight away, so good and ooey. Leftovers can also be used to make eggplant parm sandwiches. Great dinner, awesome lunch.


Sharing this with IHCC. Hope you enjoy this one as much as I do.



Coming up may be some disjointed posts about vacation. We have been enjoying being off work this week, always take our anniversary week off, and so we have some outings planned. Stay tuned!

Weekend outing.... Calvary Georgia

A lazy ride into southern Georgia was like stepping back in time. The route we took anyway...because we like back roads and rural scenery.






Calvary Georgia, population 161......



Old farmhouses stand way back from the road. The plain white paint and wrap-around porches are great.



Green leafy something growing in this large field.



Still searching out local BBQ...........will report back later.

Tuscan Pot Roast in the Slow Cooker; Keeping the Kitchen Cool

It’s quite hot and sticky here in North Florida. The humidity settles in so thickly it has texture. The idea of keeping the oven cranked up to roast a piece of meat is not appealing……..so I turned to the crock pot. This also frees up my time to use the oven for a very short period to bake an Italian loaf. The good news first: it smelled so wonderfully good when the mushrooms, plum tomatoes, beef, wine and carrots were simmering gently in the pot. Also, it freed up some time to do other projects and prepare the bread.

(Photo was taken after assembled in slow cooker, prior to cooking.)



The bad news, although in the grand scheme of things I suppose it's not bad...just disappointing. It did not turn out rare. I thought 8 hours on low heat was too long so I on;y cooked it 6 hours. Still too long. It was well overdone, although edible, but not at all to our liking with a red center.

If anyone has a suggestion to cook a pot roast in a slow cooker AND attain a rare end result, please, please, please email me! Maybe next time I should try 2 hours and hope the veggies aren't raw and crunchy. (big sigh) Below is the recipe if you'd care to try it. At least I can turn this into a soup :-)


Ingredients

1/3 cup olive oil
1 2 1/2- to 3-pound bottom-round pot roast
2 large onions, quartered
2 celery stalks, thinly sliced (2 cups)
2 large carrots, thinly sliced (2 cups)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 6-ounce can tomato paste
1 cup dry red wine
Handful of white button mushrooms
salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 28-ounce can whole plum tomatoes, chopped

Directions

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and brown the roast on all sides. Transfer the roast to a large slow cooker. Leave the fat and oils in the skillet.

Into the abandoned skillet add the onions, celery, carrots, and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently, until tender, about 10 minutes. Add the tomato paste and stir to coat the vegetables; transfer to the cooker.
Pour the wine into the skillet, swirl about a little and scrape up leftover bits. Add the contents of the skillet to the cooker, along with the mushrooms, salt, oregano, and tomatoes (plus 1 cup of their liquid).

Cook 8 hours on low heat, or 4 hours on high heat.

Note warning about the cooking times!

Kirkland Chardonnay - Weekend Wine Review

As the temperatures swelled to an almost unbearable 90 degrees (32 C) it was decided to open this bottle of Kirkland Chardonnay. Advertised as a crisp California wine with notes of melon and butterscotch. Yes, it was bargained priced at 7.99 for 1.5 liter bottle, which should have been the clue anyone, I mean anyone, would have picked up. I prefer unoaked Chardonnay but was willing to give this one a try. Epic Fail



Tastes heavy on the tongue, coating as the promised butterscotch or some other coagulated substance.
Tastes like a wine up too late for its age.
Honeydew, unemployment and scents of urine after you have eaten say....asparagus.
Oily, a good bum wine. First bottle we have upended into the sink in quite a long time.
Clearly, not recommend. Grade = F

Weekend outing around the lake

I took these photos when the fog had set in around a little park where we sometimes walk the shibas.






The fog lifted off the lake, very cool to watch it slowly gather up into one small location on the lake...like a portal.



The gulls line up and soak up the sun. They remind me of the gulls in Finding Nemo when they fly off shrieking, competing for food. Mine! Mine!



This injured Canadian goose was left to hang with the Muscovy ducks. The Muscoveys are hideous, fight and hiss at each other and I just can not imagine they would be good to eat. Maybe if the Zombie Apocolypse happens we may need to resort this, but then I may go vegetarian rather than eat one of these nasty ducks.



I think a local wildlife sanctuary came after this poor guy because he just disappeared after a few weeks. His mate stayed with him while he foraged near the shoreline. His foot is, as you can see, bent at an awkward angle making it hard for him to swim.



This lake isn't one you would swim in, or drink from, but I have seen people fish there. It's a nice walk in winter but way too hot in summer temps.

Just wanted to share a relaxed outing.

Cheers!