Ms. Kiwi Meets Roasted Peppers

The next great adventure of Ms. Kiwi involves roasted red peppers (see the colorful multitasking in the photo above) and stewed tomatoes, all slow-cooked and whizzed into submission before submitting to my stomach.

On the side, a little peppery salami and a feta-parsley pesto with green garlic over homemade flatbread. And Virgil's cream soda, of course.

Kiwi Creuset!

There she is! Isn't she gorgeous? Isn't she lovely? I couldn't resist this picture with all the complimentary greenery.

Didn't have time straight away for cassoulet or osso buco, but a couple pounds of mussels with fennel, leeks, thyme, oregano, feta and parsley will do just fine. She's just so BIG! 6.75 quarts makes two pounds of mussels look like a mini meal.

I tried homemade frites, too, but those damn things never come out right. I soaked for an hour then rinsed and patted very dry, to no avail. All soft 'n sticky. Help?

Not So "Short" Ribs

Our most recent trip to the Meat Hook sent us home with nearly $70 worth of Korean style short ribs. There were 13 of them at approximately three feet long:

So we put round three to use a few nights ago by rubbing them with ras el hanout and then serving them, grilled, with a bunch of stuff we had on hand in the fridge: feta-stuffed peppers and a lovely fresh salad of cucumber, tomato, spicy mixed greens and parsley.

Oh! And I almost forgot about the adorable little fairytale eggplant from Lani's Farm (quite probably my favorite vendor at the Union Square farmers market on Mondays and the Dag Hamerskjoewlrjdklxfd one on Wednesdays) that we pan-roasted and snacked on while we prepped. Looook at how cuuute...

Tomatoes and Basil are HERE!

Goodie goodie gumdrops made of tomato and basil! The most delectable summer flavor pairing has arrived, and I am taking full advantage. First stop: fresh tomato, roasted eggplant and basil chilled down (900 degrees outside) and heaped onto toasted baguette.

Second stop: tomato, basil, parsley, zucchini, feta frittata.

Third stop, coming soon: gazpacho!

Gasp! Tomatoes in May in NYC

Seasonality be damned. I wanted a tomato in my mouth so badly that I didn't care if they were flown in from Mars. You stinking carbon footprint!

So I popped right into the shiny new, fluorescent green "Kim's Millennium Market" around the corner and snatched up a heap of cherries, tomatoes and basil, all unsustainably trekked from the entirely opposite side of the nation. And heavens, they were delicious. I scarfed the cherries as a snack while I whipped up the last of my box of whole wheat couscous, then I dumped in a greedy ton of tomatoes and ribbons of basil and some nuggets of feta that I had hiding in the back of the fridge.

Tastes like sunny California! Humm. Homesick.