Food & Thoughts

  For obvious reasons, it would be silly to cook fennel for people who don't appreciate it, which is just about 2/3 of my household. I, on the other hand LOVE fennel - so I had to find someone to cook this dish for. Luckily, I had a much cherished and also fairly new friend come over, who happened to also love fennel.  Let's just say we gobbled up the two bulbs I made between us - it was THAT good. Dressing could definitely be used elsewhere, too. Easy to make, too. 

  Oh my God, soooo good! The recipe header reads: Calling all olive heads... Well, you had me at hello! Exactly the right amount of brine-y - salty - spicy - hot one could wish for, with the ricotta salata giving a little respite from the heat. I guess it really depends on your chili paste what heat you get - and of course also on your heat preference - but I might dial the amount back to half a tablespoon, because if I am not to adapt to my liking, why take notes at all?  Used self imported Rancho Gordo Ayocote Blanco Beans , which were outstanding. The poached egg on top made it a full meal. Definitely a do-again. 

  Every once in a while, my dad-in-law stumbles upon an offer of red meat he cannot resist. That sometimes result in a somewhat spontaneous (as in: planned within a week or so) dinner - they bring the meat, we provide the BBQ and some sides. Couldn't let the opportunity of trying yet another one of Justines recipes pass me by. I leafed through the book, suddenly realizing that the majority of her salad recipes are made of cooked or baked vegetables, and somehow hit my autumn/winter spot, more than the summer equivalent. I am definitely on team 'cooked salads' AND team 'a salad can be a meal' - but a lot of the recipes suddenly seemed well - wintry. Which might not be entirely fair, because there are Tempura-fried Asparagus with Buttermilk Dressing, A Garden Salad to Make You Love Garden Salads and Basil Cucumbers with Slightly Sweet Peanuts also available - but on certain days, I have to take the people I feed into account as well, and I wasn't sure any of those...