blogfromafar

Our kitchen is a pretty normal one:  not a lot of fancy appliances, just one stove, no convection…But we try to make meals memorable, not just something to get through on the way to somewhere else.  In this space, we will let you know what we’re doing that’s unusual, fun, and easy. 

This week it’s summer salads.  These recipes use leftovers from other meals, and combine rich taste and light texture to provide a sumptuous satisfying feast.  Here’s what’s up:

1.  We grill twice as much chicken as we need one night, so we’ll have a breast or two left over the next day.  Chop it up, add some mayo, chopped celery, and chopped green onions.  The sprinkle on some flavored sea salt for pizaaz.  We like Tuscan Rose/Pink Peppercorns ($8.49) or Mix for Meat ($8). (more…)

Granddad had a great garden in the back of the house.  East-Texas soil and well water combined to create tomatoes without peer.  Granddad was a native of Missouri, and loved being able to grow so many things in the long

(more…)

 The Dallas Farmers’ Market is reclaiming its roots, or so we hope, given the many changes needed to revitalize the area.  Those of us who grew up here remember driving down ”Central Expressway” straight through downtown, past the triangular KLIF 1190 building where exotic disk jockeys aloft in 2nd-story windows spun forbidden songs, on to the Farmers’ Market.  Already somewhat derelict in the ’70′s, the market featured sugar cane, so my dad would stop there on the way home from a weekend in East Texas and purchase what looked to me like a fishing pole someone had left behind by mistake.  When he cut the cane with his pocketknife, and handed us pieces to taste, I realized for the first time that “Pure Cane” sugar started out in this way.

(more…)

   Miracle Fruit, or sensepalum dulcificum if you must know, is an innocuous red oblong berry that, once you chew it and spit out the seed, re-programs your taste buds, fooling them into thinking that sour things taste sweet.  We’d heard about it in the news, and wanted to host a party on our own.  Attendees at our first party on June 14th were the “early adopters”, edgy eaters willing to try something new. 

And we were ready for them.  We’d set out plates full of lemon slices, grape tomatoes, vinegar and salt potato chips, mangoes, grapefruit, pineapple, radishes, brussels sprouts, sea beans, along with “shots” of tabasco, Calabrian “Viagru” hot sauce, and Balsamic vinegar.   (more…)

Originally published Wednesday April 3, 2002.

Love letter from Gilmer grandchild