What's Cooking (Take Four)

[Jenise]

Yesterday I happened to check the outside freezer which I haven't peeked inside of in months. Found, of all things, a 1 pound lobster tail that's been there at least a year. I poached it in the shell at a simmer and then removed it, cut it into chunks and tossed it with avocado and tomato chunks, fresh lemon juice and tarragon from my garden. Wow was that a great dinner on a sweltering hot day. After dinner, what else: cherries!!

Tonight I'm making Thai stir-fried minced chicken with chiles and holy basil. Well, almost holy basil. Ordinary Thai basil leaves (bai horapa) with some dried holy basil to give it that distinctive flavor. Unfortunately holy basil starts to wilt the moment it's picked. It's very hard to find fresh holy basil for sale because of its negligible shelf life.

-Paul W.

Too much zucchini and yellow crookneck squash went into a casserole dish yesterday for lunches this week. I sliced both and layered them in a baking dish with homemade marinara, jazzed up with a good balsamic, sliced tomatoes, Parmigiano Reggiano, garlic salt, onion powder, and oregano. I finished with a layer of sauce and more cheese. After it came out of the oven, I scattered sliced green onions over the top. It turned out very well, with a tasty and crusty cheese on top. I meant to add onions to each layer, but forgot...did not miss them.
Jenise, your lobster tail find and creative recipe sounds delish. I have not had lobster in years.

Zucchini overproduction already? Here in New England it's an August phenomenon. My dad planted zucchini in our garden and, although he planted fewer and fewer of them each year, always ended up with an unwieldy surplus. And being Yankees, of course New Englanders can't just throw away the excess zucchini. During zucchini harvest season in August folks have found bags of zucchini left on their doorsteps.

Tonight I'm making Beijing meat sauce noodles using Craig Claiborne and Virginia Lee's recipe from The Chinese Cookbook.

-Paul W.

Paul, not from my garden, as I do not grow what I used to when the family was larger. I have six raised beds that sit empty now except for a huge rosemary plant, roses, and French tarragon, which comes up every year. I have a free-standing unit just outside my kitchen for the herbs I use the most. I made a Costco delivery and got a three-pound package of zucchini and crookneck. Lovely specimens, but a lot for me to cook. But by this time of year, I usually had a lot in my garden to deal with. It depends on the weather, but our growing season is very long here in the valley.

[Jenise]

Last night I went simple vegan for Bastille day: a baked garnet yam, cucumber and onion salad, and glass of Bordeaux.

[Jenise]

Tonight I'm making poke (picture an accent over the e, I don't know how to make one). Will include chopped green onion, serrano chiles, and cilantro--pretty much the usual things, but I'm going to make it a layered thing, rice on the bottom, poke on top. A recently widowed friend is coming over; we'll talk together about the things that bore people who haven't been through what we're going through now.