Homemade pesto (grow my own basil) with pasta and chicken

Made a focaccia that was pretty good, but the shape resembled the elephant's man head :o

Apricot crostata with vanilla blue bell ice cream

Last night, it was BBQ chicken with rice.

Great minds think alike. Pesto pasta (with shrimp and broccoli florets, though, but I did make the pesto from basil I grew); apple tarts in phyllo with Blue Bell pecan praline ice cream. The apples are from my tree.

I use walnuts instead of pinenuts..not technically authentic, but it's good. D'ja see the NYT article about Blue Bell a couple of weeks ago?

how in the heck do you get basil to grow in the heat? I can't get it to grow in Florida in the summer for the life of me.

Took me 3 tries until I was able to grow some basil.

It's in my backyard, we had built a small planter, in which I am growing basil, greek oregano, rosemary, pomegranites, romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes and roma tomatoes.

My mint and thyme didn't make it :(

Didn't see the article.

Here's my thinking process on that. I'm thinking steak because we had power outages but the steak is defrosted.

I have lots of fresh tarragon and I think I should use that.

I still have some veggies that survived, including some cabbage and potatos. No cream or milk but I could buy some. And I have some habeneros and some mangos that are quite ripe.

And I have some good cheese.

And I have some stale homemade bread.

So, here is my plan:

sliced steak in a tarragon cream sauce with breadcrumbs on a bed of panfried potatoes

cole slaw

mangos for dessert -- maybe with chopped mint leaves on homemade shortbread sauced with simple syrup

That's because myefre "fertilized" it at your DO party a few months ago. :p

I planted them afterwards, couldn't take that risk ;)

I made homemade cheesesteaks (not frozen steak-ums). Sliced the beef a little too thick, but wife and son didn't care.

I haven't thought about tonight yet. Homemade pizza is an option.

Tonight's looking like breaded pork chops stuffed with an apple stuffing, served with some sort of flavorfull rice (still deciding on that). Also making some fresh Strawberry Lemonade.

I dunno. I had to call home and ask my honey.

It's gonna be grilled tiger prawns (with made-from-scratch hot and spicy cocktail sauce), grilled veggies, and blue-cheese cole slaw.

I made steak with the "Outback" peppery rub, curtido El Salvadoran cabbage salad, patatas bravas, and a brown berry betty for dessert.

Normally I do take-out, but I just put filet mignon (plain - don't know how to do sauces) in the broiler (I don't own a grill cuz I rarely cook). That & a glass (ok, a few) of champagne is dinner for me.

Just back from seeing Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (review in sep thread), so in the mood for some type of swashbuckling or action dvd to go along w/ dinner....

Cheers.

PS - What everyone else is having sounds great! :)

Making a sauce is the easiest thing, add 2 tbsp of butter and 2 tbsp of flour, cook them together, that will make a roux, add some milk, let it thicken a little bit, add some Dijon mustard, salt and pepper, and if you want add mushrooms

Super quick sauce

As a chef, cook and bottle-washer for 30+ years, I can vouch that jfe's sauce recipe is primo.

I don't have butter or flower in the house (hello - don't cook!) & I hate mushrooms. I do have dijon, salt, pepper - jfe, you have an alternate sauce for me?

I just threw on some peppers/spices - but the steak was just ok (hate that when it's filet mignon quality). The champers is great though!!! :D

Cheers.

Oh heck, I was going to correct flower to flour on an edit but then I realized, I really don't cook so mis-spelling goes along w/ the territory. However, my sister does, so I've cut/pasted & emailed the sauce recipe to her. When I visit her she does all the (fab) cooking & I'm the main dishwasher (given she doesn't have one!). :)

Very kiddie-friendly, simple flavors supper:

Baby carrots to snack on beforehand

pork chops
plain green salad w/bottled Italian dressing
milk
banana & a piece or two of chocolate for dessert

Frozen pizza

It was going to be a shrimp, scallop, calimari, and fresh pea risotto with steamed asparagus.

However, the houseguests have not been seen nor heard from for the last 8 hours, so it ended up being a grilled cheese(provolone with dijon mustard) and a beer.

I'll be your houseguest for that.

so tonight what's it gonna be? I'm thinking chicken. I have these pastured chickens that I purchased from a local farmer.

Perhaps I'll butterfly them and marinate in a spicy lime achiote sauce then cook on the barbecue...could be. Perhaps. And with it...uh, let's see, fresh from the farm chipotle glazed carrots with fresh chopped mint and cilantro? And a salad...

Dessert...dessert...maybe a chocolate pudding? That would be fun. But requires a little advance planning. Have to see how the day goes.

tonight was sweet and sour pork

A sausage and pepperoni pizza from Cafe Pesto

Nui ono! ^

leftovers from a restaurant dinner last night:
spaghetti and meatballs
filet mignon tacos

Yesterday:

Smoked duck plate
Thin noodles in soya based broth and fish cakes,fried egg, mushrooms, spinach, bonito flakes, garlic and chilies
Pitcher of beer ( shared with fellow diner )

Today:

Hunan mushroom soup
Two bowls of Hunan pork dumplings with sesame oil and soy dip
A beer pitcher is again under discussion ;)

With some caught-last-week-in-Alaska-rockfish from a friend....

Baked rockfish in rice (very simple -- put rice, water, sesame oil, grated gingeroot and garlic salt in a pan, stir til mixed. Lay fish on top and bake at 350 til done)

Leaf lettuce salad with homemade croutons

Homemade rye rolls

The vegetable lovers also enjoyed the quick-braised sugar-snap peas in sesame oil.

Chocolate and white chip coconut/macademia nut cookies (thanks to Mrs. cblaisd's incredible baking skills).

Delicious chicken/cheese quesadillas. Homemade and perfect.

night before we had quesadillas also. Made with barbecued pastured chicken in an achiote, lime and ancho marinade.

Last night we had a long simmered bolognese sauce made from free range pork and grass fed local beef, along with home made fresh pasta and a salad of organic mixed greens and home made ranch dressing.

Tonight: charcoal grilled 3 Alaskan salmon steaks brought back from a fishing trip by a friend two weeks ago; marinated in a mixture of corn oil, shoyu (soy sauce), lemon juice, and fresh grated gingerroot. On the grill they were joined by ears of just-picked corn from the neighbor's garden (simply grill in the husk).

Accompanied by sweet rolls and a mixed green salad, and topped off with the last of the Fourth of July homemade vanilla ice cream.

Picnic (dinner) under the Eiffel Tower :
- homemade tuna rillettes
- homemade pheasant pâté
- french baguette
- pasta salad with arugula, cherry tomatoes and Parmesan
- fruits (peaches and cherries)
- homemade cookies
- Pouilly Fumé

I'm thinking.....

Chicken enchiladas with green chiles and roasted corn, salad and freshly picked garden raspberries for dessert.

PL Bar (grass fed/range) beef and garden salad.

It's too early to say.

Fresh shoyu ahi poke

Pineapple from the neighbor's garden

Lemon-poppyseed muffins

Ice cream with toffee bits

For dinner today, I made Italian Meatballs in a Roasted Tomato/Red Wine Sauce, served over fresh linguini.

Tonight's fare: Cooked over a keawe wood fire -- sirloin steak, along with sausage and chicken breasts in a Hoisin Ginger Shoyu marinade. Plus Mrs. cblaisd's homemade focaccia, dark chocolate mousse and blueberry-raspberry sorbet. Green salad with lettuce from the neighbor's garden.

That's a very appetising description, cblaisd.
Is your fire an oven of sorts, or more like a barbecue grill?
How hard would it be for Mrs B and me to cook similarly, when in Kauai in May? :)

I'd better arrange accommodation! Thinking of Waimea Plantation or a Poipu Beach cottage.


Dinner in Sydney:
Seafood platter comprised of oven-baked calamari, dory fillets and other assorted sea creatures!

T-Bone, grilled medium-rare. Just some salt and pepper. Yum.