First:
Piquantes peppers stuffed with Goatsbeard's Moniteau Blue cheese
Second:
A trio of bruschetti
-fava bean and broccoli rabe
-olive tapenade
-beets and feta
Third:
Grilled asparagus and spinach and salad with blue cheese and walnuts (hat tip: Columbia Tribune)
Fourth:
Lamb koftas
Grilled bitters
Lemon-herb risotto
The peppers -- imported from their only locale of production, South Africa -- are sweet-spicy little things I picked up from World Harvest Saturday. They're crunchy and go well with Goatsbeard's blue and Osage Orange cheeses. I just stuff a little cheese in there and bake at 350 for a while. I didn't make enough of these for people but hey, always leave 'em wanting more, right?
This was the second time I've made fava beans. They're meaty, aggressively-flavored little morsels and I think they're great with just olive oil, parsley and salt and pepper. It was my first time for broccoli rabe. I had picked up the rabe (pronounced "rob" and not actually broccoli at all) at the Columbia Farmer's Market the previous week. This spring has been so wet and cold that the farmers have had a tough time producing anything other than lettuce and spinach.
Anyway, I jumped at the chance to try something other than lettuce. One thing you can do with rabe is chop it up and saute it with onions and olive oil; my kind of green. I did that, threw in some cooked favas and then mashed them up to make a more spreadable concoction. The rabe itself was mustardy, very slightly bitter and not unlike spinach in texture, at least after cooking.
The olive tapenade came together using briny purple olives from Peru, garlic, olive oil and parsley. It was fine but came in third to the others. Coulda used some basil but our itty bitty basil plants outside aren't giving it up quite yet.
Then came the beets and feta. Just threw some red and gold beets, fennel seeds, olive oil and salt into aluminum foil and baked at 375 for an hour. Then peeled, chopped and tossed with feta. Voila! Bruschetta number three.
The canvas for all three experiments was Columbia's best crusty bread, the batard from Uprise Bakery.
The asparagus and spinach came from the market and, tossed with blue cheese, walnuts and dijon mustard dressing, made for a tangy break in the meal. Very tasty.
The main event:
Lamb koftas are Moroccan-spiced and sausage-shaped fingerfood we first had at a restaurant in Washington, D.C. Cumin, cayenne, cinnamon, coriander, garlic and cilantro. And lamb. Mix it up, roll into balls and skewer for the grill. They're fantastic and really quick. The lamb came from Susie's Grassfed Meats. Susie lives and farms in Madison, up near Moberly in Monroe County. The recipe came from The Grassfed Gourmet, a remarkably varied cookbook for working with grassfed meats.
Piquantes peppers stuffed with Goatsbeard's Moniteau Blue cheese
Second:
A trio of bruschetti
-fava bean and broccoli rabe
-olive tapenade
-beets and feta
Third:
Grilled asparagus and spinach and salad with blue cheese and walnuts (hat tip: Columbia Tribune)
Fourth:
Lamb koftas
Grilled bitters
Lemon-herb risotto
The peppers -- imported from their only locale of production, South Africa -- are sweet-spicy little things I picked up from World Harvest Saturday. They're crunchy and go well with Goatsbeard's blue and Osage Orange cheeses. I just stuff a little cheese in there and bake at 350 for a while. I didn't make enough of these for people but hey, always leave 'em wanting more, right?
This was the second time I've made fava beans. They're meaty, aggressively-flavored little morsels and I think they're great with just olive oil, parsley and salt and pepper. It was my first time for broccoli rabe. I had picked up the rabe (pronounced "rob" and not actually broccoli at all) at the Columbia Farmer's Market the previous week. This spring has been so wet and cold that the farmers have had a tough time producing anything other than lettuce and spinach.
Anyway, I jumped at the chance to try something other than lettuce. One thing you can do with rabe is chop it up and saute it with onions and olive oil; my kind of green. I did that, threw in some cooked favas and then mashed them up to make a more spreadable concoction. The rabe itself was mustardy, very slightly bitter and not unlike spinach in texture, at least after cooking.
The olive tapenade came together using briny purple olives from Peru, garlic, olive oil and parsley. It was fine but came in third to the others. Coulda used some basil but our itty bitty basil plants outside aren't giving it up quite yet.
Then came the beets and feta. Just threw some red and gold beets, fennel seeds, olive oil and salt into aluminum foil and baked at 375 for an hour. Then peeled, chopped and tossed with feta. Voila! Bruschetta number three.
The canvas for all three experiments was Columbia's best crusty bread, the batard from Uprise Bakery.
The asparagus and spinach came from the market and, tossed with blue cheese, walnuts and dijon mustard dressing, made for a tangy break in the meal. Very tasty.
The main event:
Lamb koftas are Moroccan-spiced and sausage-shaped fingerfood we first had at a restaurant in Washington, D.C. Cumin, cayenne, cinnamon, coriander, garlic and cilantro. And lamb. Mix it up, roll into balls and skewer for the grill. They're fantastic and really quick. The lamb came from Susie's Grassfed Meats. Susie lives and farms in Madison, up near Moberly in Monroe County. The recipe came from The Grassfed Gourmet, a remarkably varied cookbook for working with grassfed meats.
The risotto wasn't to be, as all I had was regular rice from the Martin Rice Company in Bernie, Mo. They produce arborio as well, so I need to try that out. Anyway, stirred some lemon zest and thyme in at the end. Not risotto, but not too bad either.
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