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!

Brown Mustard Seeds and Dinner Outside

We found out a few days ago that our dear friends, Oldakar and Nums, were going to be in town for a conference and were staying over Saturday night. Great! What's for dinner? I love to ponder these things. We see them enough that we have eaten a lot of great food together. I know that they'll eat anything but the hus of this couple loves Indian food, especially condiments and I have an abundance of volunteer coriander that is going to bolt soon as a result of the summer-like weather.



So let's start with coriander chutney. Condiment #1.

This month's Cooking Light has a recipe for Pork Vindaloo with Raita.





I also found these wonderful champagne mangoes that are perfectly ripe for mango chutney.



Condiment #3. And I bought a whole bag of Vidalia onions. Let's make a
pickled onion chutney as condiment #4.
I also have store bought Garlic Relish
and tomato chutney to round it out. And if that isn't enough, let's round run out to the Indian grocer to pick up some spices and what do you know, they are selling just made samosas.


I've got to buy them (they were the hottest thing in the whole dinner. I decided that all the Indian cookbooks must chill the heat down for the American palate. Unfortunately, we like it hot!). I decide to make some naan to use for dipping.

Main course and condiment #2.

I had these wonderful green beans from CostCo. Hmmmm. Green beans with coconut and brown mustard seed with basmati rice. Side 1 and 2.

The recipe we are going to provide is for the green beans because they were new and yummy and easy. Brown mustard seeds are a great addition. We used them in the mango chutney as well. A perfect ingredient to submit to this weeks Weekend Herb Blogging hosted by the cookin' founder Kalyn at Kalyn's Kitchen. Be sure to go to this site Sunday evening or Monday morning for great reads from foodies around the world.



Green Beans with Coconut and Brown Mustard Seed

1 lb. green beans
1 tea. turmeric
2 T sesame oil
1 tea brown mustard seeds
1 hot pepper, seeded and diced
1/3 cup shredded coconut
2 T chopped coriander leaves

Parboil the green beans in salted water with a teaspoon of turmeric until just
barely tender, about 7 minutes. Drain and cool. Heat oil and mustard seed until
mustard seeds start to pop. Add coconut and peppers and cook one minute. Add green beans and mix well, heating through. Add coriander leaves and serve.

Yum. And it is so beautiful out, that the hus makes a table for is in the middle
of the field so we eat outside with no bugs. Talk about a beautiful evening with wonderful friends and great food!




For more recipes, check out the website: Swank Recipes. Or, if I write about a food and the recipe isn't published yet, send me a note and it will motivate me to add it to the collection, sooner than later.

Until next time, Cheers!