Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Pork & Sprouts


Above and below are pictures of a recent meal Ken made for a good college friend of mine. The entire meal was just fantastic. The top image is of a squash blossom salad with baby greens and roasted eggplant, zucchini, and pine nuts. It was a refreshing and flavorful start to our meal. I certainly wasn't the only one to consider how improper licking the plate might be.

Above is an image of the walnut encrusted pork with a brussel sprout and corn compote. The pork was moist, nutty, rich, and yet somehow still light. The gravy was mouthwatering. As always Ken's brussel sprouts were fantastic. This was the first time he had included the corn and made more of a medley. It was a great variation of the dish and very tasty.

For dessert, we went to a local custard shop in Champaign called Jarling's a Custard Cup. The custard is rich, creamy, and made fresh on site. We only live a few blocks from the place and are often tempted on summer nights to take late night jaunts over to enjoy some custard with the flocks of ever-present customers. Jarling's frequently wins awards and excellent reviews from all kinds of folks-- I highly recommend stopping by if you're ever in Champaign, IL.

Monday, August 4, 2008

Garden Treats: Basil Pasta, Zuchinni, and Mashed Turnips

Back to some food pictures.
Here's a picture of a recent meal that Ken whipped up one evening with produce from our garden and the local farmer's market.

He made homemade basil pasta with some of the massive amounts of basil we've harvested from the garden and a sweet tomato sauce to top it. The zuchini dish was just amazing - I've never had anything quite like it - and can't wait for Ken to make it again before zuchini season is over. The mashed turnips had a really unique flavor but the texture was not as creamy as regular mashed potatoes. I think next time we'll try half potato/half turnip and see what we get.

Hope everyone's summer is going well and that you've all been able to enjoy some of the abundance of amazing summer produce.