The recipe from Smitten Kitchen was rather perfect (if not caloric–mine, the way I followed, served 12 peices, each I figured out has 260 calories, 12 grams of fat (2 are saturated), 60mg of cholesterol, 145mg of sodium, 1mg of potassium, 33 carbs (20 are sugar), 5 grams of protein, 2% vit A, 4% calcium, 3% iron (based on 2000 calorie diet). I used Face Greek Yogurt (full fat) and organic, wild frozen blueberries.

As you can see, even with all the calories and fat and sugar and oh my!, two of us managed to nearly kill the damn loaf in a matter of two days. Yeah, heathens.

I haven’t been posting as much because there has not been as much worth sharing lately. My produce shipment has been much the same (chard, oranges, apples, blah), and most of our meals have been grilled this and that and nothing terribly exciting or new. (Last night we had some sockeye salmon in a lime-cilatro marinade that I wouldn’t make again grilled alongside some zucchini and swiss chard with caramelized shallots).

I did make my way to the Ferry Building in San Francisco this morning for the first time in probably a year. It happened to be one of the 6 Sundays a year the mayor decides is “good for business” to shut down the embarcadero and allow bikes, skateboards, and walkers to take over the street in front. I was chatting with the gentleman who helped me at Cowgirl Creamery (I found half a mt. Tam, some pecorino genero, and a small goat-looking cow’s milk cheese from the soft case that tickled my fancy at the moment, thanks for asking) about this and then we both stared at the 3 sets of double doors which had not seen a single body enter them for several minutes. I commented that Mr. Newsome probably does not buy his hair gel at the ferry building, and the gentleman added “even when he is in town.” ;)

I very rarely shop at the building because despite the quality, there is hardly anything I’d consider a bargain. The $1.80 I spent for a grapefruit macaroon from Miette? Probably the best value of the day.

I picked up some organic russets to add to the leeks that came last week in my shipment, some ginger, some garlic, some shortbread and a Pain Epi from Acme. I grabbed a beautifully trimmed pork tenderloin (you’ll perhaps see him later this week), and some very thick bacon. I came home, we gorged on Mt Tam with our Acme, went for a run, then a long bike ride (the man managed to kill a tube on his bike again so he walked half the way), and then proceeded to make more Potato Leek Soup, sans 1/2 the butter and thankfully with homemade stock from the attempt at chicken pot pie I made last week (sorry, no pictures). So alas, all I can do today is point you towards old and other recipes (I made Katie’s artichoke and chard dip yesterday for an afternoon snack with Rainbow Grocery‘s flax tortilla strip chips. It turned out great but I used Canadian cheddar and imagine the mozarella would have been better).

In my quest to find the word “Palet” when thinking of chocolate disks used for melting, I came across an incredible chocolate resource for information on the process, terminology, and styles of chocolate.

Dropped into the store looking for a good white grilling fish to go with some Urad Dal I made and some delicious organic salad greens, stared at the case for a minute a little disappointed at the two remaining halibut filets and spotted the fishmonger slicing and dicing a huge halibut! Well you can bet your pretty penny I did score myself some of that!

Just use your gas grill (and get yourself one, dummy, if you don’t have one!) and top your halibut in macadamia oil (or other high heat oil) then gomashio (ground toasted sesame seeds and sea salt). Don’t overcook it! Halibut dries out easily, and when you score something this fresh, you better respect!

Wine: We had some delicious, inexpensive Broadbent Vinho Verde.

We had a little surf n turf on Friday evening–a little inspiration from my love/hate visit to Andronico’s in SF. I picked up more of those delicious blue Mexican prawns, and a really gorgeous rib eye steak. Our grill had a little party. Here’s how I warmed up the guests:

Prawns
Marinate in 1-2 T olive oil, juice of one lemon or lime, 2 cloves minced garlic, salt & pepper. Clean them first by removing the vein on the outter curve (not the leg area) and removing the shell.

Steak
Coat it generously in large rock salt (for eating) and fresh cracked pepper.

Toss the steak on the grill ahead of the prawns, which should cook while the steak is resting.

Collards
Clean and chop your collards, and sautee a small amount of onion (1/4 medium one) in olive oil until almost translucent. Add salt & pepper, add your collards and cook until well wilted and deep in color. Top with some avocado slices. You could also whip up some green goddess dressing and mix the collards in that instead.

For the BBQ:
2 air chilled skinless chicken breasts (or whatever)
3 large stalks fresh tender rosemary, washed
balsamic vinegar
olive oil
salt & pepper

Mince the rosemary, trim the chicken, mix the ingredients together and marinade at least 1 hour. BBQ on medium high heat, removing when just barely cooked through. Let rest 2 minutes before slicing.

For the Chard:
1 bunch mixed chard (I used red & white), stalks chopped and leaves chiffonade
1/4-1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1 small or medium apple, cubed
salt & pepper, olive oil

Sautee chard stalks in olive oil, salt,  pepper at medium heat.  until starting to be tender. Add the bell pepper, cooking a few minutes. When all is tender, reduce heat to medium low and add the leaves and apples, cook until well wilted.

Proportion for each serving of 6 shrimp:
2T minced garlic
3T olive oil
2T lemon/lime juice
1T minced cilantro
salt & pepper

Clean your shrimp by removing the vein which runs along the outer curve (this is its intestinal tract and its contents are gritty and gross to eat–so cut with a small knife along the top ridge, and then rinse under water to ensure it’s all gone, agitating with your fingers if necessary), then discard the shell or reserve to make some other project of yours.

Adjust the ingredients above as you see fit, but this is a good starting point. Marinade the shrimp for 30 min-2 hr. More than that and the citrus will start cooking them significantly and you’ll end up with oily ceviche.

Grill on high heat, turning towards the end of cooking so that you char a bit on one side. Watch them, they don’t take long. Serve with fresh lime.

1/2 pack Eduardo’s Orzo (my favorite blue and clear packaged San Francisco stuff)
Several stems asparagus
red onion
olive oil
salt & pepper
1/2 lemon

Boil the orzo in salted water until tender. Meanwhile, lightly sautee (do not make soft) minced red onion in olive oil, salt, pepper. Add asparagus and cook at medium heat until soft and brightly colored. Add the cooked orzo, turning heat up. Adjust seasoning and add the juice of the lemon to taste.