September 21 -- Salmon with Pesto

I was looking for suggestions at work and Maureen in the library had this suggestion.

I took some vacuum packed salmon from Aldi and put it under in the oven for 15 minutes at 425 degrees. It sprinkled it liberally with asiago cheese and let it bake. It came out perfect.

While that was going, I took a cup of olive oil, a bunch of basil, two garlic cloves, a handful of Italian parsley, and a liberal pile of parmesan into the food processor and blended until smooth for a pesto topping. That recipe is here.

I sat the fish on a bed of white rice mixed with more parmesan and some black pepper.

September 14 -- Pastitsio

Well, it finally happened. I hit upon a recipe I won't make again.

Pastitsio can be described crudely as "Greek lasagna", it has marinated beef, elbow macaroni, topped with a creamy bechamel sauce. It was ok, but I don't spend almost two hours on a dish for it to be just ok. The bechamel sort of sat on top of the meat and macaroni mixture. Also it took forever to make, at least 90 minutes. It was all in all underwhelming. I do enjoy it when Greek friends who have some idea what they're doing make it but pastitsio -- never again.

The recipe I used is here.

September 7 -- Italian Stew

What is becoming of me? Beside becoming a bit of a foodie, I'm also an NPR listener. It is the first preset in the car and the clock radio alarm because there is a 6 AM news update for school days. The weekend also has The Splendid Table. I don't listen on purpose, but if it's on when I'm in the car, I keep it on.

This week in the Prairie Home Companion weekly email, there was a recipe for Italian Stew from Mrs. Sundberg's Window. It came in Friday, setting me up perfectly for Sunday.

The recipe was easy. I cut back on the onion since I couldn't get scallions at either of my stores and I had to settle for a sweet yellow onion. I put parmesan on the Sunday dinner portion. I could really use a roll for sopping up some of the beef-tomato broth left behind in the bowl when you are done picking out the steak, vegetables, and noodles. It is a hearty dish for the incoming fall weather.

I will make this again, especially if I remember to have some Italian bread on hand.

Road Trip Eating

I left town on August 2 and came back August 18 with a day in the middle to get clean clothes. Here are some places to eat if you find yourself driving around the Northwest and a treat in a place you'd never expect:

We flew from Philadelphia to Boise to start off a sightseeing, place collecting, and brewery visiting vacation. I'm becoming more of a foodie and there were some places I had to try then others that were just found along road.

Boise: 10 Barrels Brewpub was the most exceptional turkey sandwich I never had. The fries, because they are super fresh, had a different taste. They also serve fries with fry sauce (1 part ketchup, 2 parts mayo) that is popular in Idaho and Utah.

Pendleton, Oregon, was at Wildhorse Casino Resort. Since it was on a reservation, they had a Native American style in the hotel, casino, and restaurants. We went to the sports bar and I got the $7 Indian taco, a taco on traditional fry bread. It was tasty and really cheap for dinner.

On to Portland, I noticed that Bunk Sandwiches had been visited by several Food Network shows, particularly the location on Morrison. The pork belly cubano is the famous sandwich. It was good but a little fatty. I can only imagine this sandwich, with beautiful thick pork, on a Philadelphia-made hoagie roll.

One of those stumble across places was on the coast in Garibaldi, Oregon. We stopped at the Park Side Coffee House, with five inside tables, one bathroom, and wait staff who knew everyone within 20 miles. I had clam chowder and it was the best I've had outside Boston.

In Seattle, I had Ivar's clam strips at Safeco Field. Safeco has the widest variety of ballpark food I've ever seen. The next night, I threw caution to the wind and gave up the ghost on sushi. We settled on Wasabi Bistro in Belltown because if you're having sushi it has to be fresh and upscale. I trusted the other diners and my waiter, Blake, to make the right selections. They were right, everything was wonderful and I'd even go eat sushi again.

That ended that trip but then it was off to Mom's in Bristol, Tennessee where I found a hidden gem at Abingdon Olive Oil Company with a new tasting room in Bristol, Virginia. They have more than 50 infused oils and balsamics free for the tasting or dipping. I settled on a 375 mL bottle of Tuscan herb. If you are in the area, it is a good way to spend an hour, sniffing and tasting oils and vinegars that are unique.

That's it. It's back to school time then back to Mom's at Christmas time. Back to cooking on Sunday.

July 20 -- Provencal Tuna Melt

I like the tuna melt, until the grease hits rock bottom but this recipe is butter free and only involves the broiler for preheating plus five minutes. I modified the recipe and would modify more if I did it again.

I didn't have all the spices and things so I spiced up a can of tuna with celery seeds, red pepper flakes, and a few twists of the black pepper grinder. I cut the mayonnaise to one heaping teaspoon from two tablespoons. My choice for soft cheese was Havarti along with sourdough bread. It brought together a nice, non-greasy tuna melt along with a caesar salad from a bag.

With sourdough, the bread did not fall apart when I moved it which is a bonus. I sliced it with my pizza cutter into three triangles. All is well with the world.

Next week is the last recipe for a few weeks. I'll be eating road food. Maybe I'll post reviews of the dining options of the Northwest and Appalachian South instead. I already have a few favorites down Virginia into northeastern Tennessee.

July 13 -- Fish Tacos

This was a let's use everything up in the fridge because it was bought two weeks ago kind of meal. I had leftover scallions and tomatoes from the pico for pork and pico on June 29 and they were teetering the edge of no longer being edible. So into the food processor it went. I also had some lettuce shreds and an open bag of Mexican cheese. Plus there was a box with five fish fillets left. Waste not, want not.

I put one fillet, a generous spoonful of pico, some lettuce, and a handful of cheese in a tortilla. Folded it up and put it back in the oven for 5 minutes after the oven was heated to make the fish fillets.

Two fish tacos was enough for me. I also ate one fillet alone and now there are two for dinner during the week.

July 6 -- Crispy Carnitas

I really thought I messed this one up. When the pork roast came out of the oven, it was 7 somewhat charred bricks of meat but underneath that burnt coating was succulent slow roasted pork. Who knew?

A little back story, the best barbecue I've ever had was at Arthur Bryant's in Kansas City, the original one on Vine. It is well worth the wait and it will be a stop when I'm wealthy and I eat my way across the country. I ordered the burnt ends and this carnitas recipe came out like burnt ends using a pork roast instead of ribs.

On to the recipe, I cut my roast into 7 chunks, maybe 2 by 2 inches square and I added the rub as suggested with a little cinnamon sugar since I didn't have a cinnamon stick. I also left out the bay leaf because I don't have any on hand. I put in my water and did as I was told. I only touched the pot once. Maybe I should have added more water with a half hour to go but I didn't. I just let it cook.

I figured I'd be wrapping the carnitas in a tortilla with cheese and some tomatoes but instead I dipped it in Sweet Baby Ray's barbecue sauce and paired it with a caesar salad.