Occasional musings, Geistesblitze, photos, drawings etc. by a "resident alien", who has landed on American soil from a far-away planet called "Germany".

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Summer food

Cool tips for hot days...

16 comments:

Ulrich said...

I have to share this in case you haven't discovered it yourself: Häagen Dazs 5 ice cream. It is named "5" b/c it uses only five ingredients--the classical ones (cream, milk, egg, sugar, real flavoring agent like real vanilla)--no filler, no chemicals like stabilizers, no nothing. It's so good, even Laraine admitted that there is no point anymore to make your own ice cream, which she used to do.

In fact, it reminds me of German beer, which, by law, cannot contain anything beyond the classical 4 (hops, malt, yeast and water). No wonder the Bavarians count beer among the basic food groups:-)

ArtLvr said...

Hi Ulrich -- Sounds good, but I have to confess to a certain loss of appetite in the past months. In spite of Obama's election, I've been appalled by the twisted, endless lies and violence fomented by political opposition on top of the fiscal fiascos and major incompetence in public and private realms. Billions for bank bail-outs? What we need most, besides health care for all, is real education at all levels.

At least I'm slimming down amazingly! But I'll enjoy reading about people's favorite foods anyway...

Ulrich said...

Well, I never thought there would be a silver lining to that cloud:-)

mac said...

Greetings from sunny Holland! I don't want to make you envious, Ulrich, but the new herring is delicious! I've done all kinds of "sentimental eating", and we've had two big parties at my parental home already! This evening I am cooking my favorite summer pasta, Putanesca. There is a new, beautiful Italian delicatessen in the village of Castricum, so I could easily get all the ingredients, and some antipasti as well. On the corner of my sister's street is a price-winning "biological" (I think that means organic) butcher, and two doors up the street is one of the best icecream makers in The Netherlands. He is doing good business with all the tourists in this seaside resort! People are very much into eating organic, picking up vegetables and fruit from little stands at the side of the main roads. It all tastes delicious! It's a good thing I'm spending a lot of time on the bike and walking.

Ulrich said...

@mac: Yes, I am envious.

Speaking of Putanesca: We know what "puta" means in Italian, and I've been told that the pasta is so called because it's a "quicky".

chefbea said...

Hi all - here is a recipe for Putanesca and its translated title

http://www.goddessinthegroove.com/puntanesca.htm

@mac sounds like you are having a great time both eating and exercising.

mac said...

When it is too hot to barbecue, it's a good time to poach. Of course fish, especially salmon, is a natural, but even chicken is quite good cooked this way, as long as you put plenty of aromatics into the water.
A little cucumber salad, the local tomatoes, and a crusty piece of bread make it a nice summer dinner. All you need after that is a bowl of cherries and some Droste flikken, extra dark.

Ulrich said...

@mac: I always thought that you have to fry or roast the hell out of chicken to give it some taste (or simmer it in Mid-eastern spices until it falls off the bone--my favorite). But none of this is really summer food. So, I'm intrigued.

I think the trick is, as you say, the spicing of the broth.

mac said...

The good thing about this poached or steamed chicken is that you can pull it apart when it is done, and mix it with all kinds of good stuff, maybe some noodles and vegetables and some spicy pastes.
Ulrich, now you've made me hungry again! Time for a midnight snack (most likely Dutch cheese).

Ulrich said...

Aged Gouda, I mean really, really aged--my favorite cheese.

So far, I've gotten no feedback yet on Häagen Dazs 5 ice cream. I encounter this all the time--people shrug their shoulders and act generally blasé when I recommend it--until they really try it, and then they are hooked.

I know mac doesn't like ice cream, except for hazelnut (my favorite, too), but it's not (yet?) available in the 5 line (they only have about 5 flavors right now).

mac said...

I can't believe you remembered that, Ulrich! I'm not even sure my husband and son know this. I had some fabulous hazelnut icecream in Castricum, my home town (Castor hum, Roman for Castor's fortress).

chefbea said...

Gosh you two have made me really hungry!!
Had wonderful grits in north carolina - also hush puppies

Laraine Flemming said...

I'm surprised Ulrich has not mentioned our big discovery this summer, freezer jam. Now that I make it, I don't know how we lived without it. All it takes is around five cups of some mashed up fresh fruit, a cup and a half of sugar and a package of fruit pectin (I use Ball's freezer jam pectin) and within an hour, you have wonderful tasting jam, which also tastes great when it's mixed with a little rum, heated and poured over ice cream, especially Haagen Daz 5 vanilla.

Ulrich said...

I totally second what Laraine said--I didn't mention freezer jam before b/c it's really her discovery, and she deserves all the credit.

ArtLvr said...

Wow, you all are reviving my appetite! My summer thing has been making a huge quiche once a week so that I can have a slice a day, hot or cold, for breakfast or lunch or snack. I load it with bits of bacon, ham, onion, mushroom, and usually spinach too, with several kinds of cheese, plus a bit of fresh dill from the garden...

The other summer staple for me is a strawberry-rhubarb pie because of growing both here, even if not always simultaneously. I just freeze whichever is more plentiful so they even out. The extra touch is a half-cup of apple cider mixed into the pie. I have other berries too -- blueberries which are my favorite fresh or cooked, also raspberries and a patch of wild blackberries.

Very handy to hear of the freezer jam! Thanks, Laraine.

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