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From our Food Goddess, TaMara:
What I love about summer cooking is how everything is fresh and tastes terrific. I’m reluctant to do more than the bare minimum to the bounty from the garden or farm stand. So tonight I’ve got two simple potato recipes.
Grilled Potatoes with Onions is a family favorite and the recipe can be found here.
Tonight’s featured recipe takes advantage of new potatoes and garden fresh dill. Summer is all about grilled vegetables for me, what do you like to grill? Is there something you look forward to every summer? (yum, corn!)
Grilled New Potatoes with Dill Butter
If you don’t like dill, you can substitute garlic, chives or any fresh herbs from the garden.2-3 lbs of new potatoes, any variety
Olive oil
Kosher salt
4 tablespoons butter, softened
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
2 teaspoons minced garlic
Salt & pepper to tasteWash and dry potatoes. Slice in half or quarter larger potatoes. Coat well with olive oil and lightly salt with kosher salt. Using a grilling basket, grill over medium heat (or to the side of hot coals) turning frequently to brown all sides. Roast until tender. I actually used my cast iron skillet, added a tablespoon of butter and tablespoon of olive oil and stirred as need to brown all sides. Cast iron works great on the grill. My grilling basket was otherwise engaged.
For butter, mix together butter, dill and garlic and you can either toss with the potatoes before serving or put on the table and let people add as desired.
Just Some Fuckhead
Fried Green Tomatoes.
Yellow Crookneck Squash.
Tomato sandwiches featuring giant beefsteak tomatoes.
TaMara (BHF)
I had a question I couldn’t answer the other night. I promised I’d repost it in tonight’s recipe thread.
Comrade Mary
Dill weed is the secret killer herb that makes so many things so much, much better: tomato soup, egg salad, yogurt cheese spread on good bread, mac and cheese — basically, almost any dairy, tomato or eggy things. Chicken in white sauce with dill is the NOM. Also, as we see, potatoes. Must try!
TaMara (BHF)
@Just Some Fuckhead: No side of Tomato Cucumber Salad? Slacker.
Just Some Fuckhead
@TaMara (BHF): Nah, but how about cherry tomatoes right off the vine?
kindness
My tomatoes are only now starting to fruit. Don’t know why it’s so late this year.
MonkeyBoy
I believe for any recipe that involves potatoes with dill you can substitute basil (in greater quantities) for the dill. This swap works great for e.g. boiled new potatoes with dill and sour cream.
I’ve never tried adding both dill and basil – somehow I don’t think they would work well together.
Valdivia
Looks yum!
ETA: @TaMara (BHF): Someone (Nobles) was asking about sites where one can alter recipes to find caloric intake. I use FitDay, under custom foods.
jeffreyw
@Just Some Fuckhead: Now that you mention them…
waratah
I always have to have some fried okra when it is fresh, only time it is good.
The thing I love most during the summer is that the fresh vegetables taste so good with out a lot of work. Just add sliced fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, corn on the cob, new potatoes green beans etc.
This is also a time when I will add pan fried chicken and cream gravy, because my mother in law taught me how to do it and it goes great with the fresh vegetables.
AA+ Bonds
Is there a front-pager about the massive bloody police riot against mine workers in Spain and am I just missing it
Because I thought liberals gave a shit about miners this week or something
rikyrah
your food posts rock. the food looks yummy
Arclite
Gamer Geek Alert:
The Steam Summer Sale has begun.
Lock up the wallets and chits.
Yutsano
Ahh wonderful sputzim! The best poisonous veggie we got!
@Comrade Mary: Dill is huge in Eastern European cooking.
Omnes Omnibus
@Yutsano: And pickles.
Valdivia
@Omnes Omnibus:
mmm. pickles!
BigD
This is indeed a very nice meal.
The sauteed onion strips are especially pleasing as, maybe its just me, they are very erotic.
Omnes Omnibus
@BigD: FranziaPundit, is that you?
Yutsano
@Valdivia: I’m partial to Asian pickles. But I enjoy them all!
General Stuck
I am just so pleased with myself, for the brainstorm of buying a small refridgerator/freezer to replace the ancient one I had. On the gamble it would mean big savings on the electric bill. Been using the Igloo compact fridge for two weeks now, and have reduced my daily kWatt hour from 12 to 15, down to 5 to 6. It should pay for itself in a few months, and is big enough for me and the pooch.
Valdivia
@Yutsano:
I like the ones my people used to eat in the old country. Brine. :)
How are you?
Omnes Omnibus
@Valdivia: Pickles need both salt and vinegar … and dill. And a little garlic can’t hurt too much, right?
BigD
I suspect that Yutsano apprehends, perhaps knows, that backyard pickles are superior to Asian pickles.
Valdivia
@Omnes Omnibus:
yes and no. ;)
I like the vinegary, garlicky, dilly pickles but like them with the really salty brine instead of the vinegary taste.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Valdivia: Have you tried BaTampte Half Sours? They are pretty good.
Liquid
Shallots and Mushrooms lightly cooked, in a little butter, some oil, and a dash of sherry makes a great topping for steak or pork chops.
Valdivia
@Just Some Fuckhead:
BaTampte is excellent. I like the fully sour ones. See I have no limits on that!
But my faves are from Gus’s which I go search for whenever I am in nyc! very crisp.
CA Doc
Mmmm, starting to think about menus for 4 night camping trip to the Sonoma coast. I like to do similar new potato recipe but sliced thin, tossed in olive oil and herbs and then cooked on the grill in foil packets. Pair that with shish kabobs, and corn on the cob, with some good wine picked up during the day’s travels, and of course s’mores for dessert. Sadly, I have to wait til next Wed for this dream to come true….
J.W. Hamner
Tomatoes and sweet corn are definitely what I look forward to in summer months. The latter especially for our annual vacation from New England to the Mid-Atlantic where the corn is roughly 100x better and is one of my favorite things about being at the beach besides the availability of steamed crabs.
Food question: Was making fish and chips tonight with cod and a beer batter… I don’t cook a lot of fish nor deep fry a ton either (but I do own a deep fryer)… and had two problems tonight 1) made potato chips not fries and couldn’t get them to crisp up… they stayed kind of soggy and limp so maybe I just under cooked them, 2) my batter wouldn’t stick to the fish. I don’t think the oil was too low temp… I set the deep fryer to 350-360, but I didn’t test the temp with a separate thermometer so maybe its thermostat is going? It’s also possible I overcrowded though I did many batches. I saw suggestions to hold the fish in the oil for a bit to get the coating to firm up, but I wasn’t sure how to do that… with a metal spatula or what? Is there anything key with the batter for getting it to stick?
TaMara (BHF)
Friends and I went to lunch today and stumbled upon a restaurant that sounded good. We walked in and they said, “Oh, cool, you’re our very first real customers. We’re having a soft open today.”
My brain said, oh, this is going to be a complete disaster, but in reality, the food was tasty, the service excellent and just a few stumbles. Not to mention we got 25% off on a very upscale luncheon. And while we sat there, many more tables filled up.
Life is kinda funny sometimes.
Omnes Omnibus
I am contemplating the picnic goodies that family and friends will be bringing to Spring Green this weekend for our annual APT Shakespeare outing – the APT website appears to be down right now. We will be seeing Twelfth Night. The picnic will be snacks and such so that no one is chained to the grill. I am bringing bread and wine. I think a Beaujolais and refreshing white. I am enthused.
Valdivia
@Omnes Omnibus:
One of my favorite plays. Enjoy! Maybe a cool rose would be nice too?
Omnes Omnibus
@Valdivia: It wouldn’t hurt.
Valdivia
@Omnes Omnibus:
I saw Taming of the Shrew and Much Ago About Nothing in Central Park in nyc. Very fun. Nothing like a play in the park in summer. Have a great time.
Ok. I am off to sleep. G’night.
Omnes Omnibus
@Valdivia: Taming of the Shrew was our play last year. Sleep well.
Yutsano
@Valdivia:Nothing makes one cranky like yelling “OW!” In the middle of a therapy session. But at least he didn’t smile. Too much.
About to go home. I’m wiped.
clayton
Awe, Catsy doesn’t get any love here. Catsy doesn’t know what BHF means. Where is Catsy to get an FP hat tip and a whine about redirecting to another blog?
Catsy?
mainmati
@TaMara (BHF): I think this is an interesting concept but when you consider the huge range of ingredients in a serious cookbook or recipe site like epicurious.com you would need someone to compile a database of the calories, minerals, fats, etc. for every possible food ingredient, which is easily in the 10’s of thousands given our cosmopolitan diet these days. It would be simple to make an algorithm to calculate the allocation of these calories, etc. by portion (teaspoon, cup, liter), But making the database would be a huge effort and probably not really necessary for healthy cooking (there are plenty of healthy cooking recipes out there). On the other hand, the data needed are undoubtedly mostly on the web somewhere so someone with a good data mining program might be able to do compile the database you are looking for.
Yutsano
Made this for dinner. Amazingly different and insanely delicious!
Schlemizel
@J.W. Hamner: The easiest way to get the batter to stick is to dust the fish with a tiny bit of corn starch before you batter it.
No idea about why they are soggy. I prefer starchy potatoes so I use “baking” potatoes and make sure they are well dried on paper towels before you begin. Maybe its the weather, sorry I can’t help more.
Has every one seen to translucent potato chips you can make at home?http://www.geekosystem.com/translucent-potato-chips-shards-of-glass/