steelhead

Not so much a recipe, just sharing this steel head picture with you, maybe bragging a little too. It is a record breaking season for steel head numbers this year, it's even making the news. I talked to a river biologist and he says there was good ocean conditions and the heat wave pushed all the fish to the cooler rivers. But it is so delicious, and we have one for the freezer. It just came out of the oven, and Tallu is scarfing it down as I write. This is half of the fish, I put fresh thyme and green onions from the garden and garlic and lemons. And it is very very tasty.

little vegetable fritters

This is about the fifth batch I've made of these, because Tallulah loves them so much, and so do we. It's a great way to use up my zucchini from the garden, get veggies in her, and they're so versatile, you can add whatever is in the fridge, sometimes I add chicken and its a whole meal for L'il Miss. So I thought for any new parents out there, or for any person in the mood for a finger food dinner, perhaps paired with a salad and a glass of chardonnay, here is a simple idea for you. These are slightly crispy and chewy sweet, perfect fried in a cast iron pan to get the whole southern effect. Now, I have never measured mine, and I like to play with the consistency, but here is the recipe I followed to the best of my knowledge, and is fairly accurate, (as far as measurements are concerned). So shred your veggies and then ring them out in paper towels over the sink. I have tried many methods and this works the best, roll them in paper towels, ring out, put in a bowl ,toss paper. Then mix everything else in with the veggies, and drop them with a spoon or your hands in a med-heat pan of olive oil, let them brown nicely, then flip once and serve, perhaps with chili aioli or sour cream.

1 cup cornflour or cornbread mix, which is what I use and is a staple in my kitchen (Bob's Red Mill)
2 cups shredded vegetables( sweet potato or a starch is good to keep in it)
1 TBL baking powder, ( unless you are you using the mix, makes it easier)
1 egg
1/2 cup Parmesan
I also put a dollop of sour cream in if I have it

salt and pepper to taste

So simple, and good, Molly

Stone Fruit Tea Cake

I'm currently reading a book by an English writer and it's got me thinking about tea time in a whole new way. When he talks about missing his tea time, it sounds like he really missed something that he considered one of the highlights of the day. Why not take a little break at 4pm every day with a nice cup of tea and maybe a biscuit or sweet of some sort? Spaniards have their siestas, the UK has their tea time and I think I feel a little peckish and run-down at that time each day and could really benefit from this new habit. And, as we all know, just as it can be hard to stop a habit, it can be hard to start a habit too. I think this delicious recipe helps. The ingredients in this recipe are simple and mostly on hand. I recently got suckered into buying a nicely packaged bag of plums at the store and found this recipe to be a great way to go through them. I added some of the blueberries that were in my freezer from a big blueberry picking frenzy a few weeks ago, and voila!, it made a lovely tea cake.

The recipe is as follows:

3/4 Cups room temperature butter

2 1/4 Cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp Baking powder

1 Cup Sugar

3 Eggs

1 tsp Vanilla

2 1/2 Cups Stone fruit (Peaches, Plums, Nectarines, whatever, coarsely chopped, fresh or frozen)

1 T turbinado sugar

Begin by preheating the oven at 375 degrees (although I recently read that preheating isn't so necessary and why waste extra energy). Mix the flour and baking powder together and set aside. Beat the butter and add sugar slowly until it becomes creamy and light (most easy by using a paddle mixer). Add the eggs, one by one so that the mixture gets light and fluffy. Add the vanilla. Mix this with the flour mixture and put ball of dough in plastic wrap, then freeze for thirty minutes. When ready, take half of the dough and press to bottom of a buttered, shallow tart dish or 10x10 size pan. (I think shallow is better here) Pour in your chopped fruit and with remaining dough, form tablespoon size "cookies" and put on top. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until lightly golden brown on top.

Scrumptious and easy.

---Nell

Carrot & Ginger Dressing/Dip

Easy, absolutely delicious dressing you can indulge in with crusty bread, mixed greens, avocados....the list is endless! You can find the original recipe here. I modified the recipe just a bit by not using as much of the oils as called for.

*Serves 4 hearty dinner salads*

Blend together in a blender/Cuisinart:

• 2 large, peeled carrots
• small piece of fresh ginger, about 2 tbsp
• 1 large shallot
• 2 tbsp white miso
• 4 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1/4 c grape seed oil
• 3 tbsp water

Slainte'......Jaime