Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Dining with the Bloggers - November 30th



This week I want to tip my hat to my partner in this little venture, Zarah. I don't know how that girl does it all - studying, working and blogging. My guess is she does each exceedingly well too. I know she keeps a mighty fine food blog!

Not too long ago, Zarah gave her blog a new look and set up some categorized archives which are a huge aid in browsing the many recipes she has posted on her blog. This week I spent some time looking through those recipes and picked out a couple to try. I was sorely tempted by many of the great looking sweets and baked goods I found at Food and Thoughts, but after dallying in the bakery for much too long and sneaking a quick look at the sweeties, I started perusing the savory bits. And there I found my dinner: Mormor salat and vegetarian meatballs.

Both were very easy, though I managed to over-process the bean mixture for the meatballs. Even so, they tasted great, and it's obvious if I hadn't been so heavy-handed on the pulse button, they would have had a really nice texture. Even in their less-than-chunky state, the firm little bits of green bean provided a nice contrast to the rest of the ingredients. I went for quick and easy, so I just spooned the mixture directly into the hot frying pan (the same one where I had sauteed the pepper, garlic, and smoked paprika), forming little patties. On Zarah's recommendation, I used smoked paprika rather than chili powder and she's right - it has a wonderful smoky flavor that is just perfect for these "meat" balls.

The salad is as simple as simple can be - heavy cream, sugar, lemon juice, salt, and pepper tossed with a delicate lettuce. I used a red Boston lettuce and (I'm with M. on this...) threw in some cherry tomatoes. It was very, very good! If I hadn't cut the recipe in half, I expect I would have consumed the entire head of lettuce. I'll bet this dressing would be nice on a fruit salad too.

It's been a pleasure dining with Zarah - I hope there will be a day, not too far off, when we can really and truly dine together. I'll keep my fingers crossed!

This is my last weekly Dining with the Bloggers post. I am finding a weekly schedule for something like this leaves little time for the more creative aspects of food blogging. I will certainly continue to try recipes from many different food blogs, and I'm sure there will be times where I'll want to share what I've found, but it will be when the spirit moves me, rather than every Wednesday!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Awwww, sad to hear this is your last Dining with the Bloggers, but I can certainly understand! Thanks for the many, many Wednesdays you did devote to the theme! And, looking forward to seeing what you now have time to cook up.

Cathy said...

Thanks so much Alice!

Cerebrum said...

Awww, Cathy, so sweet of you, thanks for all the nice words! I'll miss you immensely, you know that. I've loved doing DwB with you and hope that the real-life version will indeed come true soon!

Cathy said...

Zarah - none were ever better deserved! You won't need to miss me - I'll still be here and I know we'll be staying in touch! Good luck with your exams! Can't wait to talk with you when you finally get a moment to breathe!

s'kat said...

It's been a mighty fun run, cathy, and you've ended it on a high note!

Cathy said...

Thanks s'kat! In one respect, it's sort of unfortunate timing... I've just become aware of so many more blogs by hosting BBM!