Sunday, August 12, 2007

One Local Summer: Week Seven

We've been eating outside a lot this summer, out of the hot a/c-free house, mainly to take advantage of the lake breezes out on the west lawn. On Wednesday, the designated OLS meal day, we expected my carb-phobic mother and brother to dine with us, but they canceled at the last minute, sadly! Which was too bad as they missed a decent meal.


The menu:

Corn chowder (peaches and cream corn, my stock, salt/pepper/butter not local)
Chard custard (our eggs, ruby chard, onions, garlic, and herbs; local smoked gouda)
Shredded raw-beet salad (beets, tarragon vinegar, local blue cheese)
Nearly nekkid cucumbers (just a bit of salt and tarragon vinegar)
Yellow plums, red peaches
Round Barn wine (Red Demi-Sec)



Note the difference in pictures. The first was taken outside, with the "soup course," and then it started raining. Inside we ran, food in hand, and I forgot to reset the camera's focus. Actually, that is what I am telling myself; my husband says I just need glasses!

4 comments:

mary grimm said...

The shredded beet salad sounds good--I'll have to try that.

Faith said...

That chard custard looks awesome!

Anonymous said...

That all looks yummy. How about a recipe for the custard and the cukes? I can never find a good cuke recipe.

El said...

Hi Jules

I relied mostly on Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone for the custard recipe. Basically, I sauteed diced onion and chard stems in some EVOO, then toward the end of the saute I added the chopped chard leaves to wilt. I mixed 1.5 cups of my veg stock to 5 of my girls' eggs, adding salt, pepper, and about 3 tablespoons of chopped fresh herbs. I also added about a half cup of shredded smoked gouda cheese, though almost any mild cheese can be used. In a warmed 350* oven, I melted butter in a 1-quart casserole, then swirled it around and set it aside. I put a much larger casserole in the oven and added about an inch of boiling water to it. I mixed the above ingredients together, then poured them into the quart casserole, then set it gently into the larger pan with water in it. This cooked in about 40 minutes. YOu can put it in individual ramekins, too; just don't cook it so long.

The cukes were very simple. I've had some white vinegar that I add my fresh tarragon to. I put a dash onto the cucumbers, added some salt.