Years ago, friends of ours brought us back a cataplana from their trip to Portugal. A cataplana is both the name of the cooking vessel and the dish that is made in it. The vessel is a clam-shaped copper pot with a hinge. If you don’t have a cataplana, you can use a sturdy pot or Dutch oven with a lid. The dish is a shellfish and pork stew. There are many versions. Here’s mine. Since my cataplana isn’t very big, this recipe is for two, or maybe four with enough good crusty bread and a salad. Continue reading
Here’s another easy hot weather summer dish. It’s a quick side dish or can even be a meal. Your good garden or July farmstand produce will make this dish sing. 
These last few July days have been too hot to cook. The good news is that the summer harvest of fresh produce is here, and it is a good time to make Gazpacho. I make this every summer when the tomatoes are ripe. My neighbor gifted us a cucumber, and my own parsley is in. I grew the jalapeño pepper in a pot. 
We’ve been cooking variations on this recipe on hot summer days for decades. The original “Silver Palate Cookbook“ had a version that called for Brie, but we felt that was too rich for a hot summer dinner.
Lobsters have been pricy this summer, but they had a sale this week at the grocery and I picked up a couple. They were delicious. I’d never made lobster bisque before, but I researched a few recipes, and came up with this for our lunch. 
When we were on holiday in Burwash, East Sussex, way back in 1993, it was our June 12 anniversary, and we were looking for fine dining to celebrate. We had Auntie Freya with us to watch the kiddos, so we had high hopes, and we had scouted out what appeared to be the only restaurant in town that wasn’t one of the three pubs. Sadly, when we went to make a reservation, it was closed, night off, bank holiday or whatever.
I had never had tabbouleh until I met my wife’s family in my early twenties. It was a staple of their summer picnics and I loved it. I seldom make it, as I was reminded yesterday by my unopened Bob’s Red Mill Bulgur with a 2012 sell-by date. A quick trip to Guido’s for new bulgur and I was ready. We had friends over for a Mediterranean dinner last night. We started with pita, hummus, feta and mixed olives, some nice Rose from Provence. Then I made grilled marinated butterflied leg of lamb and grilled veggies with the tabbouleh. Summer dining on the back porch at its best! 
When I Survey . . . 