Window Wednesday and a Simple Tuna in Lemon Broddetto with Pea Puree

There's a lot going on in my kitchen...



but, there's not much going on in my yard. It's surviving, but just barely. I think I even caught one of my goldfish panting, if that's possible.

The soaker hoses and compost have been laid in the garden and around the roses...



We have a small pile of compost left and Tom is building a compost bin to contain it (photos next week). When it's finished, I will begin to add kitchen scraps and yard waste to replenish it and use it later in the summer.

We continue to have a few grape and roma tomatoes, but nothing to write home about.



And my heirloom tomato teases me with what looks like emerging blossoms, but...nothing yet.



Those nasty little leaf bugs make my poor sweet potato vine look like it's been hit with shotgun pellets...



but I don't feel so bad after a visit to the Memphis Zoo over the weekend. Their sweet potato vines look just like mine. But, I still refuse to use poison.

Sadly, as you can see, my yard is not flourishing, but I still have ample herbs for cooking. I may just have to visit the Farmer's Market here in Conway. It's open Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. I suppose a trip there tomorrow morning for fresh vegetables might be a good idea.

Last week, as I was prepping for the weekend in Memphis, I was watching Food Network off and on (mainly to avoid the entire All-Michael-Jackson-All-The-Time thing that permeated every other channel) and I happened to catch an episode of Everyday Italian. This time Giada DeLaurentis was preparing a salmon dish with a lemon broth and pea puree. It looked really beautiful, light, tasty and easy to make so I thought I'd give it a whirl.

I didn't have salmon in the freezer, but I did have some nice Ahi Tuna I bought at Sam's Club a couple of weeks ago and froze for just such an occasion. And, lucky me, I found a bag of peas in the freezer as well.

I cut Giada's recipe in half because I was just preparing the dish for the two of us, but it still made two very large, satisfying servings. I followed the recipe except that I substituted the salmon with tuna and left out the mint altogether (you may remember I ripped out my skanky looking mint plant weeks ago). But, since I don't really care for much for the flavor of mint anyway, I didn't miss it. I personally don't think the dish suffered. It was delicious and fresh tasting, and I can't wait to make it again.

What follows is the recipe as I prepared it, but you can get Giada's original recipe here.

Ahi Tuna in Lemon Brodetto with Pea Puree
Adapted from Giada DeLaurentis' recipe @ Everyday Italian

Lemon Brodetto
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 shallot, finely diced
1 lemon, juiced
1/2 lemon, zested
1 cup chicken broth

Pea Puree
2 cups frozen peas, thawed
1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Ahi Tuna
1/8 cup olive oil
2 pieces (4 to 6 ounces each) ahi tuna
Kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper

To Make Lemon Brodetto: Warm the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the shallots and saute until tender and translucent. Add the lemon juice, lemon zest and broth. Bring to a simmer and keep warm, covered, over low heat.

To Make the Pea Puree: Combine the thawed peas, garlic, salt and pepper in a food processor and puree. With the machine running, add the olive oil in a steady drizzle. Transfer the pea puree to a small bowl and stir in the Parmesan. Set aside.

To Make the Tuna: Warm the olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over high heat. Season the tuna with salt and pepper. Sear the tuna until a slight golden crust forms on the first side, about 4 to 5 minutes. Flip the fish and continue cooking until medium-rare, about 2 minutes more depending on the thickness of the fish.

To Assemble: Divide the Lemon Brodetto between 2 dishes.


Place a large spoonful of Pea Puree into the center of each bowl.


Place the tuna piece on top of each mound of Pea Puree.


Serve immediately.

Debbie @ The Friday Friends is on vacation, but check out her blog for what's outside her kitchen window.

Karen @ Karen Cooks may also be on vacation, but do take a look at her beautiful peonies outside her kitchen window. I covet them.

Window Wednesday, Blackberry Cobbler & A Little Teaser

June in Arkansas has been unseasonably hot. My plants are suffering and when we returned early from our vacation, we had some serious casualties.

My squash plants did not survive...



Maybe in the fall I'll plant something else in their place. Right now it is too hot to plant anything.

I had to rip out what was left of my 2 year old thyme and my oregano is looking at me with soulful eyes, pleading with me to save it. It's just pitiful...



And, yesterday, I ripped out the nasturtium. It was just barely holding on...



What's left? Chives, Italian parsley, basil and Texas tarragon are all doing well.



The rosemary is showing signs of distress, but surviving.



I've picked a few roma tomatoes and some of these grape tomatoes...



But my heirloom tomatoes refuse to blossom. I have no idea why, but we are taking some desperate measures. I decided to take the no-dig organic garden approach.

We bought 4 soaker hoses and 4 yards of compost and Tom has laid about 3 yards of the compost in the garden, around the blackberries and under the roses. We left last year's straw in the herb/vegetable garden and put the compost right on top of it. Every bed has at least 3 to 4 inches of compost on top and a soaker hose buried underneath it. The rest of the compost is in a pile in the back of the yard waiting to be fortified with more organic material that we add from the kitchen and the yard, and a couple of bags of rotted manure. I refuse to use chemicals!

Even the blackberries are showing signs of stress, some of it caused by some damage to the canes when a large branch of our neighbors tree broke off during a storm and fell over the fence onto blackberry plants. But, the intense early heat and lack of water hasn't helped either.



But, Tom was able to salvage enough to make a Blackberry Cobbler.



As you have probably guessed by now, I'm not really a baker. Sure, I make cookies, bars, an occasional cake (usually from a cake mix) and a pretty good apple pie, but I really don't bake like some of you out in the blogosphere. I'm getting more adventurous though and baked these sweet potato rolls for last Thanksgiving and made scones for the first time when I saw these.

Consequently, I don't have a cache of recipes for cobblers and, once again, had to go searching. I decided on a recipe from the Betty Crocker website. But, I can't help myself, I did tweak it a little bit. Although the original recipe called for only 2-1/2 cups of blackberries, I had 4 cups and wanted to use all of them, however I did not increase the amount of batter. Oh, yeah, and I also added lemon juice to the blackberries. Following is the recipe with my changes. If you'd like to see the original recipe, just click on the "Betty Crocker website" link above.

Blackberry Cobbler
adapted from a recipe from BettyCrocker.com

4 cups fresh or frozen (thawed and drained) blackberries
1-1/2 cups sugar
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, melted

In a medium bowl, stir together blackberries, sugar and lemon juice. Let stand for about 20 minutes or until fruit syrup forms. Heat oven to 375°F.

In a large bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt and milk. Stir in melted butter until blended. Spread in ungreased 8-inch square pan. Spoon blackberry mixture over batter.

Bake 45 to 55 minutes or until dough rises and is golden. Serve with ice cream or cream.



And the Little Teaser? Well, I got so excited when I was able to make that wonderful ricotta cheese, I thought I'd try my hand at some others...



Stay tuned!

What's Outside My Kitchen Window & Assorted Other Stuff

I'm tired today after being up in the middle of the night cleaning up after an exploded wine bottle (see this post for a complete explanation).

But, I'm here on Wednesday, albeit a little later than usual, to show you what's outside my kitchen window and to actually share some food stuff ~ oh, how long has it been? Since April? Inexcusable.

Let's start with the view. The pond is coming along nicely. The one water lily has come and gone, but the rest of the plants are starting to bloom extremely well...

My goldfish survived the winter and are fat and sassy this year...



Tom's blackberries are showing signs of changing color. Another month and they will be ready to use in a nice cobbler...



The squash are doing okay. They have lots of leaves and flowers, but the squash that set just shriveled up because of all the rain. I think it has rained every day for nearly a month, but I could be slightly exaggerating.



I am hoping these babies grow into big, or just bigger, zucchini...



And, it looks like my basil is winning the battle of the bugs. It still has a few holes, but it refuses to be intimidated and give in to the chomping...



I finally have a few daylillies with more ready to bloom...



and there are just a few of those wonderfully fragrant honeysuckle blossoms hanging on...



Sadly, I am a shallow woman who cares about appearances, so this skanky looking 3-year-old mint is doomed for the yard waste recycling bin and will be replaced by the younger, lovelier Lily of the Nile. I mean, hellooo, she's just eye candy!



Last but not least, I have failed to post photos of our spa. Technically, it is not in my line of sight outside my kitchen window. But, I'm not an attorney so technicalities mean nothing to me. We had the spa delivered as soon as the new patio and patio roof were finished just about two years ago. One of our friends built the stairs around it. I hung curtains on either side for privacy (yes, don't gag, but I've been known to enjoy the warm massaging waters in the buff). Tom just recently made a stand for the two rhododendrons which had been taking up space around the table on the patio. It was Tom's idea to surround the spa with the foliage. I think it was a good one.



For more Kitchen Window Wednesday, visit Debbie @ The Friday Friends. Debbie started and promotes Kitchen Window Wednesday.

You might also want to take a look at Karen's garden @ Karen Cooks. She's going to have one fine garden!

So, now to the ever lingering question...What have we been eating? We've been eating light. It's been raining a lot, which means higher humidity. Who wants to eat heavy when the air is heavy? Not me. So last Saturday, after we took our son to the airport we stopped to pick up some brie and fruit. First, Tom baked some bread rounds that had been brushed with olive oil. Then I cut up some fresh pineapple and an apple and arranged it on a plate with some seedless grapes. We baked the brie in a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes until it was just barely bubbly around the edges. All that and a glass of cold Riesling. It was heaven...



This past Sunday we still felt like just nibbling and made an antipasto tray ~ mortadella, cappicola, mozzarella, provolone, sliced tomatoes, steamed asparagus and assorted stuffed olives.



I also love salads and one of my favorites is Cobb Salad...



The ingredients are simple: On a bed of lettuce (I use romaine hearts because I like the crunch) I lay in sections diced, poached chicken; diced tomato or halved cherry tomatoes; diced avocado; 2 to 3 chopped hard-boiled eggs; 4 to 5 sliced of crisp cooked bacon, crumbled; 4 or 5 sliced green onions. Authentic Cobb Salad also calls for crumbled blue cheese, but I usually leave that out because I think it sometimes tends to overpower the other ingredients. Just before dressing and serving, I sprinkle the top with a couple of sliced radishes for a little more crunch.

When we are ready to eat, I pour just enough of the dressing over the salad to barely moisten it, toss it altogether and serve. This vinaigrette just makes the salad.



Cobb Salad Dressing
by Terri Powers for Terri's Table

1 egg yolk
2 cups vegetable oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar (although I've also used cider vinegar with fine results)
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
3 teaspoons garlic powder
3 teaspoons onion powder
3 teaspoons ground dry mustard
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

With a whisk or in your food processor, whip up the egg yolk until light and a little fluffy. Slowly add the oil to the egg whisking constantly until completely combined. Then add the rest of the ingredients, one at a time, whisking the mixture to combine. Chill slightly.

Note: You can leave out the raw egg if it gives you the heebie-jeebies, but the texture will be slightly different and the dressing will tend to separate.

It's Wednesday and What's Outside My Kitchen Window?

The week is going fast. Last week went even faster. I don't think I've shared a recipe since the end of April, so I hope I do much better this week.

Almost two years ago, we purchased a small house to "flip" (you know, renovate and then sell for a profit). How did we know the market would take a dive. We finally sold it (nope, didn't make a profit) and closed escrow on Monday. That afternoon I bought a new camera, a Nikon D60. I have never used anything more complicated than a point-and-shoot, so my photos may not even be any better with a better camera, but be patient with me. I think the photos this morning are better than they have been, but it just could be that it's sunny instead of cloudy and dreary.

So, the rain has finally stopped. It's been sunny since last Sunday. Cooler, but sunny still. And with the sun, my flowers and plant are finally starting to emerge and grow.

The anticipation is over. Yes, here she is in all her glory. My first water lily of the season...



And her pond sisters are starting to bloom, as well...



They all seem to thrive sharing the small space with the six goldfish...



I love that pond and I'm so glad Tom put it in last year. I also love the pergola Tom built. It is two years old this spring and the wisteria is nearly covering the entire top portion. And, since I found my Buddhist monk with his begging bowl and the Gregorian windchime, it is my favorite place to sit in the evening as the sun is going down...



As for my garden...well, my poor basil is still standing, but sadly has become a bug buffet...



but I am resisting using any pesticides because I have a nice bunch of three different kinds of basil growing in a pot on the patio and I believe in sharing, oh yeah, and not using poison...



I've planted dill three times so far and twice they have all drowned from too much rain, but, finally, I have dill to use for cooking, along with Texas tarragon and thyme...



Although my potted sage plant seems pretty happy, this third year will probably be it's last...



I have blossoms on my tomatoes although they are still a little puny from the cold and rain, but the squash is doing well and I will be looking for little tiny zucchini in the next week...



The herbs in my garden are thriving, particularly the chives and oregano. I've used some of the Italian parsley, but it's still small. But the rosemary is completely out of control and desperately needs some TLC. I'll have to get to that this week!



I will leave you with one more photo...a full view of the pond and surrounding yard. It's not as green as we'd like it yet...too much rain, too many weeds, not enough grass, but it takes time. We've only been in this house since October of 2006, not quite 3 years. When we moved in, there was nothing in the back yard at all...literally nothing...except the shed and an 8 X 8 concrete slab patio outside the back door. There wasn't a tree or shrub or flower anywhere, just a lawn which consisted of mostly weeds and a little Bermuda grass. I think we've done pretty well for such a short period of time...



For more Kitchen Window Wednesday, visit Debbie @ The Friday Friends. Debbie started and promotes Kitchen Window Wednesday.

You might also want to take a look at Karen's garden @ Karen Cooks. The girl is seriously going to have a fine garden!