Eating, Drinking and being Merry

Friends don't let friends leave without food.

We had some of our best friends for a long weekend of eating, drinking and being merry. They actually helped us get caught up by power washing the deck and helping us transplant tomatoes. YEH!!!!! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!


Now for the food. Thursday night we had Moroccan Tuna skewers with couscous and grilled vegetables.

Friday night, we started with poached garlic soup.







We smoked some rib and grilled pork chops along with grilled vegetables including grilled sweet potatoes and wonderful wilted spinach salad with raisins and homemade garlic croûtons.


Saturday night we had an Indian inspired evening with dal in a spicy tomato butter (palak moong), curried chicken with yogurt, basmati rice, samosas, cilantro chutney, raita, garlic relish, roasted eggplant in yogurt, lots of beer. On Sunday, we went to a pot luck to support the orchid society's spring orchid auction for lunch. We didn't have much time, so we used what we had in the freezer and made mini-turkey burgers on dill rolls with cheddar cheese and succotash with butter beans and corn. Sunday night was a Mexican/Greek combination. I had been dying to try this Diana Kennedy recipe for angel air soup and it turned out divine. The huz thought it was better than spagetti, which is awesome. It's a recipe that everyone who likes pasta and heat will love! After that, the main dinner was

souvlaki, tzatkiki (leftover raita), pita, a Greek salad with lots of olives and feta, and spanikopita.

Oh, and we took the eggplant and yogurt and added sesame tahini and made a pseudo babaganosh. We picked grape leaves for dolmas but ran out of time! Another yummy weekend, over and done, but with great friends who love to eat!

For recipes, check out the website!

Harissa

I have been inspired by Morocco of late. Specifically Joanne Weir's From Tapas to Meze. I suppose if you follow this blog, or just stumble upon it, we hunger for something until the hunger gets satisfied, then we move on to the next hunger. It's all about the food.



One night we had spiced grilled tuna with roasted peppers and onions and (more) fresh asparagus from our garden. The tuna only marinated about 45 minutes but I used one of those sealing devices to suck the air out which is supposed to make the marinade penetrate quicker. It was very flavorful so I think it worked. The spice combination was very complex, not the same as Indian cooking but the same kind of complexity. We liked it very much! And I want you to know that fresh asparagus, I mean freshly picked asparagus, has a totally different texture than what you buy at the store. I did a post a good while ago on asparagus. You should check it out!



Last night we made a lamb and lentil stew. It's cold again. Last night it got down to 28F and there is a dusting of snow on the ground. Since the vines are out, we think there is surely some damage; particularly on the vinifera. It's going to get colder tonight and probably have a significant impact on the industry state wide this year. Fortunate for us, our vineyard is a research vineyard since he (the hus) is a grape breeder working to develop better grape varieties for the southeast. So tests like this one let us know that we have something special. If we have vines that survive unaffected, then we know we've come closer to having a grape to replace the current varieties being marketed & planted. You'll be the first to know if there is a seedless muscadine out there that is resistant to freezing temperature. In 1997 we got down to 23 on April 11th. Most of the vines were leafing out, even more than they are right now. All of the vinifera were affected but most of the muscadines were unscathed, save Carlos, the most widely planted grape in the south. The cold killed the shoots that year resulting in little or no crop. All this cold weather made us want warming foods and this lamb and lentil stew was the perfect thing, warm, brothy and spicy with harissa. Harissa is a spice mix used frequently in Moroccan dishes.

It is quite easy to make yourself. I get small dried peppers. We can find them loose to purchase by the pound. I used small red ones, about an inch and a half long. Start with a generous 1/4 cup dried peppers. Bring peppers to a boil in about 1 cup water. Simmer 10 minutes. Let sit one hour. Drain. Put in a food processor with 3 large cloves garlic and a generous pinch of salt. Process well. Move to a storage container with a lid. Cover with enough olive oil to cover, about 3 or 4 tablespoons. Adding only 1 teaspoon to 6 cups of broth in this stew, highly flavored it. It was very, very good. For a green vegetable we had the hus's favorite asparagus: pan roasted in sesame oil and served with toasted sesame seeds.

Our spice this week is a spice mix, harissa, and is being submitted to Weekend Herb Blogging hosted this weekend by hosted by Anh from Food Lover's Journey. Be sure to go to her site on Monday evening and read about food from all over the world! It is always inspiring.

For more recipes, go to the website. Until next time, cheers!