Again with the new?

Do you know the expression "Your eyes were bigger than your stomach"? Meaning, you take more food than you can possibly eat? I have this problem all the time at the grocery store, especially in the produce section. Especially during the summer, when there are so many wonderful fruits and vegetables available. I see something on display and think, "Oh, that would be great!", bring it home, put it in the refrigerator, and then promptly forget about it.

Such was the case with a big wedge of watermelon that was ticking away in the fridge. I could have just cut it up, but there was no way I could eat it all before it went bad. Then I stumbled on the idea of making a granita with it. A granita is like a slushy sorbet, only lighter and more melty.

I adapted this recipe from the Food Network, switching lime juice for lemon (because I had a lime in the house. Also, I used a blender instead of a food processor). It was very easy to make, and tastes wonderful too!

Tuscan Bean Stew

I got quite a bit of cooking done yesterday, which was nice. During the week, when I come home from work, I'm often so tired that cooking dinner is just about the last thing I want to do. So if I have the time on the weekend, I like to cook something, like a casserole or soup, that I can reheat later.

This time, I tried this recipe for Tuscan Bean Stew from Cook's Illustrated, and it turned out very good. I had to make a few substitutions, as follows:

--I didn't have any pancetta, so I used three slices of bacon instead.
--My grocery store doesn't sell dried cannellini beans, so I substituted two cans of cannellini beans, which I drained and rinsed.
--Instead of kale, I used escarole, because I like the taste of it. I just roughly chopped the head into pieces. You could probably use spinach or any Swiss chard too.
--I didn't put in a sprig of rosemary.
--I didn't bother with the bread, because I knew I'd be reheating the soup later.

Definitely would make this one again.

The iceman, he's on his way

This weekend, it was time to face reality and realize that winter is coming soon. I pulled out all the tomato plants and raked the lawn (for the third time). The weather was gray and cold and damp, a true November day. We even had a little snow, although it didn't last. Just enough to for Old Man Winter to whisper in your ear, "See you soon!"

I even spent a little time in the kitchen, making a split pea soup that seemed right for the season. I also attempted something called a galette, but I won't embarrass myself by describing how I goofed up with it.

And somehow, in the surest sign yet that the days of playing outside are over, Alice finally popped her bouncy ball. Here she is having one final tender moment with it:

Rhubarb mania

Looking for ways to use up all that wild and crazy rhubarb growing in your yard?  Here's another fun recipe to try.

This had a really lovely sweet, but not bland, flavor to it.  The addition of the club soda made it nice and sparkly.  Of course, I'm a fan of carbonation, so how could I not enjoy it?

New recipe

Looking for new recipes is always a challenge for me.  It seems like all too often, I fall into the same old rut of making the same 10-12 recipes in rotation.  And as my tastes have matured (ahem), my standards for new recipes have risen.  They have to be easy to prepare, no weird ingredients, and they have to taste like something.  I find that I now prefer strongly seasoned dishes--not spicy like hot, but spicy like spiced.

So I was very pleased to find that I really, really liked this recipe.  I substituted ground turkey for the pork, cashews for the almonds, and since I didn't have coriander, I added extra cilantro.  The combination of flavors was different but tasty.  I would think it could easily be made vegetarian by substituting soy crumbles for the ground meat.

Definitely a keeper.