Wednesday, July 23, 2008

B - L - T! It's Dyna-MITE!

Welcome back, folks! After two days of reruns (or near reruns) we're back with fresh new material! We'll keep this up as long as possible until we need to do a musical episode and then we'll probably drag it on for a year or two longer than we should then call it quits, shark squarely jumped.

We are running behind due to our (mostly Jen's) busy work schedules so we're catching up on the last 30 minutes of yesterday's Tour de France stage, watching today's stage and trying to make another meal with our farm share vegetables from this week.

In perusing our haul from yesterday I really wanted to feature the vegetables as the primary flavors of the meal.



Salad is easy. I used the red leaf lettuce and the disgusting, nasty cucumbers along with some tomato, goat cheese, garlic scape, olive oil, lemon and slivered pecans. I topped it with a light dusting of old bay seasoning just for fun.



I was remembering how my mom would occasionally make BLTs for dinner and how it was delicious. Sadly, I usually had a Jewish friend over (always the same friend) when it just happened to be BLT night. The first time was just bad luck. The second time was funny. The third time it became a tradition. Then every time he was over we would have BLTs! It was good that he was not particularly orthodox. He ended up loving BLT night!

For the BLT I cooked the bacon then removed them from the pan, drained the oil and grilled some slices of paesano bread in the pan, allowing a little remaining bacon fat to flavor the bread along with some additional olive oil and butter. I know it sounds extremely unhealthy but I used just a touch of each for flavor.

I got out my unopened jar of mayonnaise to observe that it was 9 months past its expiration date. It looked pretty nasty so I had to throw it away. In place of mayonnaise I decided to use a little of the balsamic shallot mustard I had in the fridge. I put a very light spread of it on both slices of bread and then topped the bottom piece of bread with lettuce, thick slices of tomato, bacon and sliced avocado.

Since I used avocado it should technically be called a BLT&A but that just didn't sound appropriate.

I've got to say, the result was pretty good. In the future I think I would continue to use a sweet or spicy mustard in place of mayonnaise.



I took our onions, garlic, garlic scapes, and peppers and browned them lightly in a little olive oil. Then I threw in some of the green and yellow zucchini and cooked it down with a bit of basil and oregano. Then I added in some tomato with a dash of balsamic and some salt and pepper. I like to really stew my ratatouille down until it is almost overcooked. Then I serve it warm or room temperature. While it's not a traditional accompaniment to a BLT I thought it would go nicely.



This wine had everything going for it, a cool label and a really awesome name: Gnarly Head. It probably should have been called Gnarly Tree but it is really not my place to judge. Perhaps when I open my own vineyard I can make such decisions.

The merlot* was not necessarily the perfect accompaniment to a BLT but it was a decent enough red wine.

*Note: If you are one of those pretentious jackasses who has seen the movie Sideways one or more times and now fancy yourself a wine expert, please excuse yourself from this blog, find a deep puddle and promptly submerge your head. You are a jerk and people may be civil to you to your face but truthfully they find you insufferable.



I'm constantly torn between enjoying the delicious fruit we're getting in its natural state and trying something new and exciting. While this isn't super new (or exciting) it was something slightly different enough to keep us interested but didn't require so much preparation that we wouldn't be able to savor the delicious berries as they were. I took a Belgian waffle, topped it with a dollop of yogurt, sprinkled berries and slivered almonds on top and then drizzled with maple syrup.

And there you have it.

I'm not sure about tomorrow night. Jen and are having a battle to see who can work the latest (I may win tomorrow) so there may be nothing to eat or write about. We should be back in full force on Friday to rock your world with tales of a meal so amazing that it may leave you speechless!

10 comments:

Lisa Marie said...

Oh please, like you've never wanted to yell "I am NOT drinking any merlot!!!" at Jenny just for kicks and giggles? Psht. It's funny when they're not expecting it.

FYI: I heart merlot.

Sandy said...

You could have called it a BLAT, but I guess that is equally disgusting, like some nasty thing hitting the ground. I heart Merlot too!

Unknown said...

Yeah, BLAT doesn't sound particularly appetizing.

Lisa, I've never actually seen "Sideways", I've only heard annoying asshats quoting from it.

Lisa Marie said...

"Sideways" wasn't that good of a movie. Hopefully you do not harbor similar ill will towards people who quote from "Smokey and the Bandit", cause that would really damage our bro/sis in law relationship.

Jen said...

Oh, don't you worry. Nate has nothing but love for Smokey and the Bandit. I should see that, one of these days ...

Unknown said...

There's nothing wrong with Smokey and the Bandit at all! Quite the opposite! Besides, it's not filled with horrible wine snob humor.

I have no tolerance for wine snobs.

Lisa Marie said...

You should have named this blog "Let me have a Diablo sandwich, a Dr. Pepper, and make it fast, I'm in a God-damn hurry!". I don't like wine snobs either. If you're not cool with wine cubes from Target, then your not cool with me.

Unknown said...

Wine cubes? I'd never heard of them before but I did a search and found them:

The perfect answer for everyday wine lovers, special occasions and travelers across the country is the Target® Wine Cube. Target Wine Cube offers delicious, high-quality wine without the high prices, broken corks, limited life after opening and fragile glass packaging typical of bottled wine.

Wow! Who knew drinking wine was such a hassle!

Lisa Marie said...

Best part of that description "travelers across the country". I know I hate traveling across the country without having immediate and direct access to a box of wine, and I will NOT be bothered with locating a grocery or liquor store once I get to my destination.

And do try the wine cubes! They are as delicious,functional and competitively priced as the description claims!

Unknown said...

Well here's the thing, if you travel to New York you will need to bring one with you because it is illegal to sell wine at a grocery/retail store in New York State.

The Northeast is the home of idiotic laws involving where/when/how you can buy alcohol.

You can't buy wine in a grocery store. Beer? Not a problem, available everywhere. In Rhode Island, neither is allowed.

Jen & I will have to stock up on our next trip to the midwest.