Quasi-All American
It was Saturday, it was Labour Day Weekend, and it was undoubtedly grilling weather. Sounds like the perfect recipe for burgers, potato salad, and summer-fattened tomatoes.
I'd thawed out two packages of uncured bacon, procured from the previous week's farm market visit. Visions of blue cheese-bacon burgers danced in my head. DucCat began calling friends. It was underway.
Thusly began a round of frenzied shopping, and it all began at Game's Farm Market, where you can find truly quality meat. I picked up a pack of fresh-ground chuck, 20% fat thank you very much, and went on my way.
After visiting 6 other supermarkets, warehouse clubs, and produce stands (perhaps I have a bit of a problem?), I finally returned home and began the preparation. Patties were formed and sent to chill in the fridge, and I chopped and minced my way through the potato salad ingredients.
The recipe was one I'd never tried before, but sounded good enough, and came from Epicurious: Potato Salad with Fresh Herbs and Lemon
I made it up until the point of adding in all the minced herbs, just combined it all, and popped it into the fridge until later. Of course, I had to try a bit of potato with the dressing; very lemony, very good! Using yellow and orange sweet peppers really gave it a great, festive look, and I knew it was going to be fabulous.
I was doing the tomatoes a bit differently, too. The Creole Tomato Salad from Cooking Light looked like it would be a fun and different way to work our way through yet another batch of tomatoes. It certainly looked gorgeous.
Only one other person was able to join us that evening, a shame considering the volume of food that was sitting around. Thank goodness the guys who work for my husband don't mind leftovers.
DucCat got to frying up the bacon (yes, he not only brings home the bacon, but he cooks it, too!), I finished the potato salad with the minced herbs, and set out all of our condiments. I took another taste of the potato salad, and was horrified to discover that the happy, lemony dressing has disappeared beneath an overwhelming canopy of MINT. It was all I could taste.
I looked over at the Creole Tomato salad with horror, and a quick taste confirmed the same thing had happened over there. MINT. I'd even used less than specified in the recipe.
Meanwhile, all was not going well in bacon-land. I mentioned that it was uncured, and the woman who sold it to me had given instructions on how to cook it properly. DucCat followed them, but the end result was not bacony-goodness. It was a little flat, and a lot like bacon chips.
No bacon-blue cheese burgers for us that night. Then, DucCat had a moment of inspiration- we'd make our own bistro burgers! Here is a testament to his fortitude: he ran between the Weber out back, and the eggs frying on the stove, and still managed to cook everything perfectly.
Why didn't I help him out with the eggs? I can't 'do' eggs to save my life- they always come out wrong. Now you know my shameful secret.
The bacon may have gone wrong, along with the potato and tomato salads, but DucCat's beautiful bistro burger saved the day.
I'd thawed out two packages of uncured bacon, procured from the previous week's farm market visit. Visions of blue cheese-bacon burgers danced in my head. DucCat began calling friends. It was underway.
Thusly began a round of frenzied shopping, and it all began at Game's Farm Market, where you can find truly quality meat. I picked up a pack of fresh-ground chuck, 20% fat thank you very much, and went on my way.
After visiting 6 other supermarkets, warehouse clubs, and produce stands (perhaps I have a bit of a problem?), I finally returned home and began the preparation. Patties were formed and sent to chill in the fridge, and I chopped and minced my way through the potato salad ingredients.
The recipe was one I'd never tried before, but sounded good enough, and came from Epicurious: Potato Salad with Fresh Herbs and Lemon
I made it up until the point of adding in all the minced herbs, just combined it all, and popped it into the fridge until later. Of course, I had to try a bit of potato with the dressing; very lemony, very good! Using yellow and orange sweet peppers really gave it a great, festive look, and I knew it was going to be fabulous.
I was doing the tomatoes a bit differently, too. The Creole Tomato Salad from Cooking Light looked like it would be a fun and different way to work our way through yet another batch of tomatoes. It certainly looked gorgeous.
Only one other person was able to join us that evening, a shame considering the volume of food that was sitting around. Thank goodness the guys who work for my husband don't mind leftovers.
DucCat got to frying up the bacon (yes, he not only brings home the bacon, but he cooks it, too!), I finished the potato salad with the minced herbs, and set out all of our condiments. I took another taste of the potato salad, and was horrified to discover that the happy, lemony dressing has disappeared beneath an overwhelming canopy of MINT. It was all I could taste.
I looked over at the Creole Tomato salad with horror, and a quick taste confirmed the same thing had happened over there. MINT. I'd even used less than specified in the recipe.
Meanwhile, all was not going well in bacon-land. I mentioned that it was uncured, and the woman who sold it to me had given instructions on how to cook it properly. DucCat followed them, but the end result was not bacony-goodness. It was a little flat, and a lot like bacon chips.
No bacon-blue cheese burgers for us that night. Then, DucCat had a moment of inspiration- we'd make our own bistro burgers! Here is a testament to his fortitude: he ran between the Weber out back, and the eggs frying on the stove, and still managed to cook everything perfectly.
Why didn't I help him out with the eggs? I can't 'do' eggs to save my life- they always come out wrong. Now you know my shameful secret.
The bacon may have gone wrong, along with the potato and tomato salads, but DucCat's beautiful bistro burger saved the day.
posted by s'kat at 9/09/2005 08:35:00 AM
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