A Spring French Feast

 Its Spring and I have an itch to cook up a storm.  We invited a couple of our friends over, who appreciate worldly flavors and cuisines.  First we started with Endive stuffed with Marinated Goat Cheese.  I marinated the goat chees with olive oil, herbs, garlic, salt and pepper.  Below is the fish course.  Baked Salmon with Green Goddess Sauce, which was made with Tarragon, Chives, Parsley, Horseradish and a bit of mayo.  The fresh herbs and horseradish really made that sauce pop! A delight in the mouth.

 I served  radishes and baby endives braised in garlic and white wine on the side of the fish.  If you have never tried them braised, try it.  I would suggest just picked fresh radishes, organic of course, then slice them down the center.  Braised in the wine takes away the bitter taste in the greens and gives them a buttery smoky flavor.

 For the main entre I served Coq Au Vin, which is the classic Stewed chicken in red wine.  It was outstanding.  But the best was my  Crème Brulee, I can't believe I didn't take a picture of it because they were gorgeous!  Sunny yellow with perfectly charred sugar on top with raspberries on the side.  Fantastic experiment.  I never made it with duck eggs before.  And I also made a quiche with fresh spinach, bacon and Gruyere, just to have for quick bites.  I make one about every two weeks.  Quiche is great fro breakfast or a quick lunch at work.

Planted and Waiting for Rain

A busy two weekends and we got everything planted.  What a better way to celebrate Mother's Day Weekend but digging in the dirt until exhaustion, then talking on the phone with my sons.  In the photo above we have tomatoes in the back with a few cucumber seeds on the row to the left, vine spinach, fennel and more cucumbers in the foreground.

 In the photo above, we have potatoes planted, (yes, its late this year) and bush and pole beans.  To the far right you see our uncovered hoop house.  The boxes under there were planted in March, so the beautiful veggies in the basket are from there.  Strawberries are ripening as well.  We are harvesting about 1 1/2 lbs. of asparagus every two days.  Radishes, spinach and mustard greens have been yielding well.  The mustard greens we have been using in salad, but I have so much I will cook some as well. I have one bunch of Swiss Chard growing from a stub of a plant from two years ago.  It still has not died and I just picked about 8 beautiful big leaves from it yesterday.  I call it my Super Veggie!

All hens and ducks are happily laying.  We have 7 female ducks laying eggs everyday.  I would have as many chicken eggs each day but a black snake has moved in under the floor of the coop and keeps eating my chicken eggs.  Steve will cover all the holes in the floor and lower walls to make it more difficult for the snake to get in.  I have my pitch fork handy if I see him again!