BREAKFAST --- coffee LUNCH --- ratatouille(leftovers) AFTERNOON-TEATIME --- plums DINNER --- fennel salad | fusilli avellinesi with pearl mushrooms, wood-ear, boiled eggs, artichoke hearts, black olives and fresh fava beans | boiled orange clams marinated with Japanese pickled gourd | beer
Fusilli avellinesi from the neighborhood little Italian food store has very nice texture, firm and bouncy. the twisted form holds the light sauce and mix well with other ingredients for a pasta salad
BREAKFAST --- coffee LUNCH ---( at Swahili Village )fried plantain | brown rice | chicken stewed in spiced coconut sauce | sauteed cabbage AFTERNOON-TEATIME --- peach DINNER--- boiled pea leaves with minced garlic | cilantro, smoked tofu and peanuts | linguini with roasted hot pepper sauce | radish and cherry tomato salad | red wine
Kenyan food served at S.V. is pretty mild, more like Indian than Ethiopian food.
WEEKEND BREAKFAST --- coffee | coconut cream bread | water melon | strawberries | middle eastern style yogurt AFTERNOON-TEATIME --- green tea | lychee DINNER --- fresh salsa and blue corn chips | corn on cob | sauteed bitter melon with spring onions | boiled new potatoes | BBQ chicken drumettes | pale ale beer
a sunset stage show in the garden
pair bitter pale alewith bitter melon
salsa, chips, and BBQ
the pale ale is named " American Life" from Rock Bottom Brewery, a summer beer with special bitter flavor of hops. kind of interesting to pair it with the bitter melon.
BREAKFAST --- coffee LUNCH --- steamed buns with mushroom filling AFTERNOON-TEATIME --- peach DINNER --- (at Oreste and Francesca's ) Falafel, Egyptian style green Hot sauce ( long green peppers, parsley, egyptian olives, olive oil, garlic), Italian Riesling || Rigatoni al Cavolo e salsiccia ( a peasant dish from Basilicata, eastern Calabria and Apulia, with cabbage, italian sausage, and Italian hot peppers `peperoncini a botticella') , Argentinian Red Malbec || platter of Middle Eastern cheeses: Turkish Kashcaval, Armenian Cheese, Syrian Cheese, with Turkish red hot sauce (short red peppers, onion, tomato, anise seed, oreganon, sommac, olive oil), Lebanese red wine || crepes alla rosa e ricotta, Mead honey wine
Oreste and Francesca made an Eastern Mediterranean dinner including elements of Ancient Roman, Southeastern Italian, Egyptian and Middle Eastern cuisines. The Syrian food shop near their place sits on an American Main Street of bygone era.
BREAKFAST --- coffee LUNCH --- rice with stewed vegetables( leftovers) AFTERNOON-TEATIME --- green tea | plums HAPPY HOUR --- beer DINNER --- salad of cherry tomatoes, lettuce, radish and arugula | pasta with sofrito sauce, smoked mussels and radish sprouts | boiled pea leaves with ponzu sauce | red wine
met Ed in a local brewery before dinner and tried a couple of new summer beer.
WEEKEND BREAKFAST --- coffee | scallion pancake | middle eastern style yogurt | peaches | raspberries | water melon AFTERNOON-TEATIME --- green tea DINNER --- fennel salad | boiled pea leaves with crushed peanuts | Egyptian rice with mushroom, shrimp, smoked mussels and eggs | wine
Egyptian rice is short grain similar to Spanish rice used in paella, creamy but not too sticky. saute in olive oil first, then add boiling water and sofrito, cook like paella rice till al dante. We found this rice in a Lebanese food store, much more affordable than Bomba rice from Spain.
BREAKFAST --- coffee LUNCH --- rice with sauteed red pepper and mushrooms ( leftovers) AFTERNOON-TEATIME --- peach | Norwegian cookies DINNER --- grilled shishamo (willow leaf smelt, Norwegian capelin) and shishito pepper | gyoza (Japanese pan-fried dumpling) | soba (Japanese buckwheat noddle) with bitter melon and cucumber | sashimi (tuna, salmon, sweet shrimp, mackerel) | mojito || cream puff | green tea
shiso, shishito pepper, bitter melon, shishamo
grilled shishamo and mini green pepper
gyoza
soba, bitter melon, cucumber
sashimi
it is fun to make Japanese food, a collection of fine fish and fresh cute vegetables. The tiny fish shishamo is from Norway, smaller than smelt. shishito (Japanese mini green peppers) has a hint of sweetness and a texture similar to okra.
BREAKFAST --- coffee LUNCH --- rice with stir-fried soy beans and green beans AFTERNOON-TEATIME --- plums DINNER --- tomato and cucumber soup | sauteed bean sprouts | stir-fried shrimp and yellow zucchini | pasta with creamy asparagus sauce| white wine
lower part of asparagus is usually a bit tough. a good way to use them: poach for 15 minutes, let cool to room temperature, puree in a food processor in high speed, adding a couple of spoonful cooking liquid and olive oil, it will turn into creamy green pasta sauce, without any cream.
BREAKFAST --- coffee | Pocky LUNCH --- rice with sauteed asparagus AFTERNOON-TEATIME --- plums DINNER --- gazpacho ( chilled soup of pureed tomato, cucumber and green onion) | sauteed green beans with black bean sauce | stir-fried tofu, soy beans, mustard green and cured cuttlefish | rice | white wine
chilled soup of gazpacho recalls the cool mist of the waterfall in Norway
