WHAT I AM CRAVING: BEATING HEART

This gorgeous dish comes from my favorite food site: Food Porn Daily. What I like about this site is really just the beautiful pictures. The whole screen is that day's dish and then there are little bitty words at the top that say: click, drool, repeat. I LIKE THAT.

I like that IF YOU WANT you can read the recipe. I am not into recipes, but I am into ideas. That is kind of why I started my food blog. I am no cook but what I eat I think it is good, healthy and somewhat cheap.

Sirloin with Shiitake Pan Sauce & Lemon Truffle Vinaigrette.

I WANT YOU and I have no idea how to cook you. But I LOVE YOU, only forever and unconditionally if you stay RARE.

WHAT I AM EATING RIGHT THIS MINUTE

A Salad...

Spinach

Thinly Peeled Carrots

Cucumbers

White Onion

Flax Seeds

Nutritional Yeast

With my most favorite dressing that they have at The Cup inside the Hotel Congress.

Asian Vinaigrette. They just give it to me and I love them for it. Well, I did do my time there.....

POLENTA CAKES THAT REST ON FIELD GREENS & TOPPED WITH A DOLLOP OF TOMATO REDUCTION

Ingredients...

Polenta

Roma Tomatoes

Mixed Field Greens

Corn from the Cob

Red Cabbage

Garlic

Balsamic

Olive Oil

I chopped some Roma tomatoes and garlic. I put them in a small pan with a ton of balsamic and let sit through out the whole time I cooked the rest of the meal. Don't forget to stir it occasionally, you will love how this will make your kitchen smell.

I then cooked some corn on the cob. Once that was done and cooled I stripped it from the cob. Added that sweet corn to a big bowl of mixed field greens and red cabbage with a bit of olive oil and that is your salad.

Now for the polenta. I bought the polenta that looks like a log (already made and just fine taste wise). Just sliced it up- about a quarter of an inch. In a pan of hot olive oil, I let them cook until both sides were browned.

So, on a small plate (preferably white- so all of the stunning colors pop), salad first (purple, all shades of green, & yellow). 2 polenta cakes to rest on (a slightly darker shade of yellow). And, topped with the tomato-garlic-balsamic reduction (red).

This is a nice little summer treat and the array of colors makes it even more appetizing to the palate.

*JUST A THOUGHT: Avocado would have been a very nice addition. Actually, an avocado is a very nice addition to anything, I believe.....

SALMON STEAK SABBATH

Ingredients...

2 Salmon Steaks smothered in Olive Oil and topped with Rice Seasoning (my favorite, it is black sesame seeds, sugar and kosher salt!)

A Vegetable Medley sauteed of Summer Squash, Green Onion, Mushrooms, Tomato and Garlic. Spoonfuls placed on top of Jasmine Rice.

The steaks were in the oven for about 20 minutes, the exact time it took for the rice to cook. Sauteed vegetables took a little over 10 minutes....

Tasty, light, and healthy. Perfect for lazy Sunday dinner on the porch after leisurely reading the New York Times all day during a beautiful overcast afternoon.

STRASCINATI IN AN ARTICOKE RICOTTA CREAM SAUCE

Ingredients...

Strascinati Pasta

Artichoke Hearts

Ricotta Cheese

Whole Milk

White Wine

Butter

Flour

Salt

While the pasta cooks in boiling water.....

In a sauce pan, I melted some butter. And then I added about 1/4 cup of ricotta cheese and I stirred and stirred to melt it down. I then added some milk, probably about a half a cup. I used whole milk, but we all know half and half or a heavy cream would have been ideal. Again, I stirred. Added a half cup of dry white wine and a bit of flour (a tablespoon). More stirred. Once it had thickened, the artichokes came on bored. Salt to taste. Key to this is to never stop stirring. Oh, and keep on a very low heat the entire time.

AUGUST, WHEN THE LIVIN' IS EASY...

Ingredients...

Rice Noodles

Snow Peas

Coconut Milk

Salt & Pepper

Perfect for either a light lunch or dinner. Very quick and simple. I basically just heated a can of coconut milk in a pot. Resting in a large bowl were the rice noodles and snow peas. I got the coconut milk to a boil, poured it inside the bowl and stirred for awhile with a fork so the milk could slowly cook the noodles and peas. Salt and pepper to taste.

FRIDAY CONFESSIONAL

BACON.

Sometimes when I need a late night snack, I like to eat just 1 piece of bacon that isn't quite cooked all the way.

BANANA YELLOW CURRY: FOR ONES THAT EAT ANIMALS & FOR ONES THAT DON'T

Ingredients...

Skinless Chicken Breast

Firm Tofu

Snow Peas

Mushrooms

Banana

Coconut Milk

Yellow Curry

Garlic

Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper

Dinner for 4. 2 vegetarians and 2 carnivores. I had duel pan action going at the same time for this dish. 1 obviously for the chicken and the other for the tofu.

In a pan I sauteed the chicken /tofu first in some olive oil with a bit of salt and pepper. Then I added sliced mushroom and snow peas. I let it cook for awhile (like 7 minutes)... I then added a half of coconut milk to the pan with the chicken and the other half to the tofu. Next, about 2 tablespoons of yellow curry (sauce). After simmering for awhile I added chunks of mushy banana. I learned in March when my friend from Venice Beach came to town that adding garlic to curry at the very end works best.

DINING IN WHITEFISH, MONTANA

What We Ate, The Highlights...

*One of the best dining experiences yet was my last night in Whitefish. We went to an old historic lodge filled with taxidermy bears, elk and mountain goats (Love). Ladies and Gentleman, let me tell you about The Grouse Mountain Lodge. We made reservations late in the evening and had the back patio to ourselves that overlooked the Whitefish lake golf course. We dined on Rare Prime Rib with Grilled Asparagus and Potatoes, Elk Carpaccio, Homemade Soup, Crab Cakes and Spice Rubbed Sake Tuna with Jicama Slaw as we sipped on Nobilo Savingnon Blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand.

*BLT's and Hard Swamp Water for lunch at The Red Caboose Diner.

*We cooked a Hutterite chicken! The freshest most delicious chicken I have ever tasted. Love these people even though I never got to see one in the flesh. They just walked into the local bar with chickens and peas (kind of like our tamale people). Brilliant. Loved this home cooked meal, shared with friends and included all the usual fixings: Biscuits with Gravy, Mashed Potatoes and Salad.

*Sunday leisure for a few hours at The Boat Club at The Lodge with the local paper and Mediterranean Flatbread, Clam Strips and a Cheese Burger with Huckleberry Cocktails.

*Katie's pasta bake. Will get the recipe and stop trying to do it myself.

Check out the new August-September issue of Zocalo. I have a recipe in there called Summer in Recession Rolls. These are all I have been eating this summer. Actually, I am eating some right now... love taking them to work to munch on. They are light, healthy, and easy. Whipped these guys (all 4 of them) out this morning and it took no longer than 15 minutes.

MAHI MAHI TO MONTANA

This was last night's very nice 3 course meal I cooked for Emilie, James, Jake, Danielle, and Adam before I leave for Whitefish . Tomorrow's high in Montana is 78 degrees and the low in the evening at 51 degrees, with a 30% chance of rain. Will return in a week. Maybe.

Ingredients...

ENTREE

1 LB of Mahi Mahi

Oyster Mushrooms

Lemon

Garlic

Butter

Rice Seasoning

POTATOES FROM HEAVEN

Yukon Golds

A Lot of Butter

8 oz of Heavy Cream (I know. Gluttony.)

Salt

SALAD

Mixed Greens

Artichokes

Corn from the Cob

Raspberries

Balsamic Cream

Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper

Red and white wine spritzers.

No dessert. Those potatoes with the insane amount of heavy cream took dessert's place for the evening. Actually, for the next week. So worth it...