Alone. I am alone in the kitchen on a Saturday? No plans, No kids, No cars that need to be worked on. Just me. So what to do? Well?....Make something man!
OK, so with no plans other than to make dinner for two and the whole day to do it. I just wanted to wander about the yard and kitchen and see where it took me to.
One thing I noticed was that we had a bumper crop of citrus. My God I hadn't taken the time out from my busy days to even stroll through the abundant paradise that was right in front of me. The smell of Navel orange and Meyer lemons just waifed through the air on this beautiful warm day. closing my eyes I breathed deeply filling my lungs with God's perfume.
One of my favorite things are grilled citrus. doesn't matter if it's limes, lemons or oranges. Charring them over an open grill brings out all of the natural sugars as they get nice and caramelized. I don't put anything on them prior to grilling just slice them and pop them over an open flame, or under the heat of your broiler.
I am really starting to get into dry toasting or grilling. We get so used to pouring Olive Oil over everything we do. If you dry toast your onions and tomatillos and chili peppers prior to making salsa, you will end up with an entirely different taste and more authentic. charcoaly perfection.
Simple yet perfect natural flavors. grilled chicken with Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper along with slices of roasted Poblano pepper and my favorite a slice of fresh Tomatillo, yup, fresh not grilled I love the taste and texture of a fresh Tomatillo. it tastes like a warm summers day.
A bit like chewing on a stalk of sour grass as a kid.
Back out to the yard to cannibalize my favorite tree that will never grow because it calls to me in the night and I have to come by and rip it's leaves off.
That would be my poor Bay leaf tree or Laurus Nobilis
I planted it more than a year ago and I never let it grow because I am constantly raiding it for it's fragrant leaves. I will have to plant another one so I can raid one and let the other grow.
If you don't have one of these growing in your yard, I tell you to run and not walk to your nearest nursery and demand your shrubbery! A fresh leaf of this plant put into a soup or Adobo chicken will transform it into another dimension and once you go fresh you will never go back to dried.
I also roasted off about 2 lbs of garlic. We put this stuff on everything. It's Italian Chanel No5!
Just tossed them in a pan drizzled some olive oil on them with some salt and pepper, covered them and threw them in a 300 degree oven for about 2 hours.
OMG!! I use this for everything. toss a few in some mashed potatoes or stir with some fresh mayonnaise. OMG!! I have to go, that damn tree and that jar of garlic are calling to me again!!
Chow
Michael
6 comments:
I love this series Michael!! Well hope it's a series anyway..
I can totally eat a spoonful or more of those roasted garlic...... then some more on sliced french baguettes.
dude, SOMEONE was productive!!!!!
omfg, you are so lucky to have so much citrus fruit! meyer lemons are so fragrant and sweet. we have the thicker more sour kind in our back yard. our calamansi tree was good to us this year too. same with our oranges. i never thought of grilling citrus - what a great idea!
all that roasted garlic is just begging to be eaten!
great post!
amontillado! or shall i say tobin james?
hi Dennis, I'm gonna do one of these simpler things in life posts every now and then. And go roast some garlic and you will keep a bottle of it under your pillow like I do..hehe.
hi cc,
I love grilled lemons..just a few drops of a grilled lemon on chicken or fish is sooo good.is a calamansi like a Kumquat? and oh yeah....Tobin James!!! my amontillado!!
a calamansi in not quite like a kumquat. the rind isn't really edible either, although it can be candied.
it is rounder in shape rather than oblong. i'll have to give you some next time so you can try it out for yourself.
good for squeezing on top of panci. sometimes you can put the juice in soy sauce, add some chopped garlic and hot peppers as a dipping sauce too.
Michael we are currently under about 3 feet of snow, but you have inspired me for the spring. Yes even though there is so much snow I am already planning my gardens for the summer. And | want more herbs for sure, can't have citrus trees, but I love the idea of grilling some limes or lemons.
Oh that garlic! How long will that keep in the fridge?
The grilled citrus photos made my mouth water but the roasted garlic really threw my hunger pangs into high gear. I'm always on the lookout for new flavors and recipes -- especially as I enjoy submitting new cooking endeavors to cooking contestsa few times a year. So many great ideas that have kickstarted my inspiration.
Cheers!
Virginia O.
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