Memorial Day Weekend Extravaganza For Everyone (A Redux)

Okay, maybe not EVERYONE!

I am reposting last year's Labor Day Menu because it is a classic & really great for everyone on your guest list from vegetarians to the most rabid carnivore. Not fab for vegans, I'm afraid, although you can always throw a couple of portabello mushrooms that have been marinated in a little Italian-style dressing on the grill & serve them up on great brioche with avocado & tomato for them. 

Here's a link  for the grilled portabello burger to a great food blog for vegetarians  from which the picture of this yummy portabello burger comes:  Just the Food.com 

Obviously, Labor Day and Memorial Day are three months apart and the produce for early September differs from the produce in late May, but surprisingly there are some decent Brandywine & Early Girls showing up in the Farmer's Market even this early. I was avoiding them like the plague until I could resist no more. They are not as sweet as they will be in 6 weeks but they are great for making the caponata recipe I include and will definitely work as oven-roasted tomatoes for the pizza.

To make your Memorial Day more reflective of the season:

Skip the cherry tomato/ boccaccino salad. Instead, you can add seasonal veggies like fava beans & English peas to any green salad or by themselves with a little olive oil, lemon juice, fresh cracked pepper, truffle salt & shaved pecorino romano or just parmiggiano-reggiano if you don't like the piquant flavor of the sheep's milk.

Make the ribs but replace the corn (which is definitely not edible yet) with thick fresh grilled asparagus spears.

The Warm Blackberry-Apricot Crumble with Mascarpone Ice Cream will work beautifully in May. Apricots are really yummy now. You can, as always, replace the blackberries & apricots with peaches & strawberries, if you rather. 

It's your party and you can eat want you want to... eat what you want to... eat what you want to...

Here's the link for my fabulous Labor Day Feast that will make your Memorial Day Barbecue a memorable one: 

The Fruits of Labor: A Labor day Feast for Late Summer Harvest

Here's to all the men and women who have bravely served this country:

A Yummy Cinco de Mayo: Chipotle-Grilled Bone-in Beef Ribeye with Poblano & Vanilla-scented Smashed Sweet Potatoes, Chunky Mango-Feta Salsa

America is a great place! Especially if you're a food lover. Because of our multi-cultural society, this huge melting pot of cultures from countries all over the world, there is always a reason to celebrate; always a day on the calendar that encourages us to partake in other countries' days of  festivities & eat their foods.

One of these days seems to be May 5th or Cinco de Mayo as guacamole lovers everywhere like to call it. Now why a minor battle for a pueblo in Mexico should capture the imagination of Corona lovers all across this country might be an interesting story but I can't seem to find any real corroborative evidence, so, your guess is as good as mine! 

You would think the date for Mexican Independence, September 16th, would be a more likely candidate for celebration but maybe it's too close to Labor day & the beginning of the school term for parents who have small children & don't want two weekends of back to back hangovers, Don't know, maybe.

Maybe, too, it has become a rite of Spring. I mean, it falls after Easter (whose weather can still be pretty hairy depending on what part of the country you live in) and before Memorial Day and people may just be hankering for any excuse to finally get out into the  lovely warm weather of early May, enjoy their gardens or patios and start to practice their grilling to be in good form for the big Memorial Day weekend! 

Add a few margaritas, nachos & Pacificos into the mix &, baby, Cinco de Mayo seems like a godsend for those who have been couped up because of those April showers!

Fajitas & quesadillas are a nice way to go; but, nothing says celebration to me like a good steak dinner, ranchero-style! 

See what I mean? Thick, juicy, steak... yum! yum!

So go grab a movie the hubby (mine) would recommend to inspire eating this meal like "The Good, The Bad & The Ugly!" with the iconic Clint Eastwood, (undisputed king of the great Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns) pull up a tree stump & picture yourself eating this steak dinner around the campfire with that man of mystery whose steely-eyed glint spawned a thousand imitations but none better than the original. 

What a man!

My husband now wants me to prepare our steaks like this every time. The adobo -marinated chipotles provide a little heat & smokiness , not much  but just enough to give the meat a real depth of flavor that no other seasonings ever have for me. It was a spur of the moment inspiration that is destined to become a classic in my home. My hubby does not like too much innovation where steak  & potatoes are concerned but he flipped over this preparation which is really simple. 

It really is a great meal for any time of the year!

Of course, the hubby gets the bone & meaty rib part (too fatty, I guess...) & I get the "eye" (much leaner); but I'm wondering.... am I getting hornswoggled? Help, Clint, help!!!! 

Here are your ingredients, all assembled and ready:

 

For the Chipotle-marinated Ribeye:

For the Chunky Mango Salsa:

For the Roasted Poblano Vanilla scented Smashed Sweet Potatoes:

Here are the cutest little baby sweet potatoes I found at the market. The scale is hard to really show, but you can see some of them are not too much larger than that tiny  little lime. Since they are so small they roast in the same amount of time & in the same baking sheet as the poblano chile in a 450 degree oven for 15 minutes.

Directions:

Recipe to follow

To Market... To Market... To Make A Lazy Gourmet Meal: Bone-in Pork Rib Chop with Sofrito, Snap Peas, Fresh Morels with Spring Onions & Truffled Salt

Recipe to follow soon...

Fresh From The Market, Lazy Gourmet-Style: Wild Alaskan Halibut "En Papillote" with Truffled Tarragon Butter, Roasted Asparagus, Yam "Gratin"

Folks, it doesn't get any easier than this for a light, simple, elegant, market-inspired meal. Recipe to follow!

Fresh From the Market: Porcini Tagliolini with Fresh Prawns, Nameko Mushrooms & English Peas in a Verjus Nage

Recipe to follow soon...

Farmer's Market Day at the Ferry Building, A Market Madness Melange of Spring Vegetables & Prawns

The Ferry Building was all abuzz with Spring produce on this glorious day in San Francisco.

Braising greens, tender shoots & lettuces of every variety were showcased as were English peas, snap peas, asparagus, spring onions, strawberries, Spanish black radishes, wild mushrooms galore including honeycomb-like morels. Root vegetables were out in full force. New potatoes, baby carrots, turnips.

It was a cornucopia of plenty.

Surprisingly, I also saw robust chesty tomatoes as well as cherries but steered clear for fear of being disappointed this early in the season. Apples & clementines seem to be lingering. Go figure!

Hog Island Oyster Co. had some lovely rosy-colored prawns #16 (about 16 to the lb.), so I bought 3/4 lb. of those for me & the hubby.

I've got two meals worth of luscious veggies. What to do? What to do? ;P



Here's a little peek at today's greatest hits at The San Francisco Ferry Building's Farmer's Market:

Tomatoes in April???

Fresh Daikon