Clams #2

And a big loaf of bread...

Prep the clams - clean the clams (wash the outside of the shell), then place in a bowl with cool, salted tap water (should taste like the ocean)...Let it sit until you're ready to cook.

In a shallow pan (preferably one with a lid), saute whole garlic cloves (2) in olive oil. Add in 2 medium chopped & seeded tomatoes and a pinch of red chile pepper flakes. The pan can sit like this (turn off the heat) until you're ready to eat.

Have 1/2 C of white wine (or sake with lemon juice would work too) ready. Heat the pan, add in the cleaned clams, add in the wine, cover and steam until the clams open - small clams will open very quickly 3-5 minutes, large clams can take 10 minutes.

When all the clams are open, remove to a large serving bowl. Turn the heat to high and reduce the cooking liquid...Taste, season with salt & pepper, add in a pat of butter, sprinkle in herbs (parsley or basil or both) and pour over the clams.

Serve immediately...Nothing like bread to soak up all those yummy juices!

BLT Tartine w/Farm Fresh Napa Eggs

Summer Simplicity - produce at it's best!

After last week's visit to Napa's Herb Lamb Vineyards - www.herblambvineyards.com (you too can visit for the wine!) - I came home with an ice chest filled with garden greens, eggs from the hens, herbs, tomatoes, peaches and oh, the wine!

With a glass of EII (soon to be Two Old Dogs) Sauvignon Blanc, I set out to make BLTs...Broiled the bacon on a sheet pan with a rack until nice and crispy...Toasted a slice of Sourdough bread from Model Bakery in St. Helena...A little mayo (Best Foods)...sliced tomato, salt & pepper...A handful of cleaned hand picked (by my kids) lettuces, salt & pepper...Bacon...Then two sunnyside up eggs to top it off, salt & lots of pepper.

Dessert - a cold, tree ripened Napa peach - yellow...white peaches weren't available yet!

Slush Mugs - The perfect treat on a hot Summer day!

I googled "slush mug" and found this amazing invention, exactly as I remember them from my childhood!

http://www.glacierware.com/slushmug.htm

Throwing caution to the wind - frozen plastic...I ordered them and even used them with my kids...I do like that the Slush Mugs are made in the USA by a family owned company.

June/July 2010 Saveur-inspired #3

Homemade Bread - Yet another meal inspired by the June/July 2010 Saveur - worth the cover price, I'd say!

http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Umbrian-Flat-Bread-Sandwiches-Torta-al-Testo

These sandwiches were incredible for a Summer supper! I was a little skeptical when I first saw this photo because who wants to turn on the oven to make fresh bread when it's hot outside...Well these are made on the stove top - a mix between naan and tortillas...So simple...I don't even bring out the food processor and instead mix entirely by hand...With the helping hands of two little boys, this dough is made in no time AND they get to learn to knead bread!!! Another fun activity with the kids this Summer.

I used sausage (not in casing) from Fresno State and spinach (because I had it).

I served with Caprese. There's a great Italian Buffalo Mozzarella from Costco ("Fattorie Garofalo Bufala - Mozzarella di Bufula Campana"). Almost as good as the hand pulled mozzarella we had at Cafe Bink in Carefree, AZ!

Bowl o' Chili

I had every intention of making a huge pot of chili for the 4th of July, but it didn't get made until Tuesday. I pre-browned the ground beef in oil in the Le Crueset on Saturday (6 lbs. of ground beef)...This can be done 2 days before and refrigerated. I remove the pot from the fridge, scoop the meat into a large bowl...To the same pot I add oil and then saute 5 medium sized onions (I used 3.5 large yellow onions, sliced relatively thin) and add in 5 whole crushed cloves of garlic. Cook until translucent. Then add in 2 cans of tomato paste. Cook until the tomato paste caramellizes. Add in 4 C of water stir to combine. Then I use the hand blender to puree everything. Add the meat back to the pot along with approximately (since I don't measure...I just pour or shake into the pot) 3T chili powder, 1 T ground cayenne pepper, 1 T sweet paprika, 2 tsp. ground cumin, one can of mild green chiles diced (I buy whole chiles and dice them, but you can use the diced canned chiles instead...may need 2 cans). Add another cup or so of water...Stir well, bring to a boil and cook for 2 hours (stirring occasionally). Stir in a handful of Quaker oats (learned this thickening trick from my friend Megan from pastry school) and continue to cook and stir for another hour.

Serve with grated cheddar, sour cream, onions...We like it over rice, but it would be delish on it's own or over Fritos too!

This chili tastes even better the next day! I usually freeze some too!

June/July 2010 Saveur-inspired 2

http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Umbrian-Vegetable-Soup-Zuppa-di-Verdure-allAgliata

This is a beautiful Summer soup! I just bought a basil plant and had leftover parsley from the clams...I had most of the other ingredients for this soup...I didn't have celery or frisee...I omitted the celery and used blanched dandelion greens instead of the frisee. I'm not keen on measuring when it comes to cooking...It can make the process cumbersome...I also don't like to have excess clean up...SO in a large jar I throw in a handful of basil, 4 cloves of garlic, poured in olive oil, a small handful of parsley, 1/2 medium onion (rough chopped) - then I put the hand blender directly into the jar and process until chunky. Follow the rest of the recipe...I also had leftover frozen sausage with cannellini beans that I had defrosted and diced the sausage into bite sized pieces.

Served with manchego and quince paste and a loaf of La Brea Pugliese from Costco!