Meat & potatoes, mostly

My favorite kind of food is real food.

Here are two examples.

A challenging stove

I like to cook even on vacation. Especially Up North in Michigan.

The cottage was sweetly rustic; the stove... was not.

The oven was about 125 degrees hotter than what the dial indicated. Yep. Took a day or two to sort that out and make adjustments. And the burners—the ones that worked, that is—weren't much better.

Thus, this baked whitefish was a triumph. Fresh from Lake Michigan, of course. Carlson's, of course. Just glad the oven didn't ruin it.

And a simple salad...

Other highlights include these lovely wildflowers: bladder campion (disappointing name), also known as maiden's-tears (better...). I just happened upon them. Isn't that often the way with beauty?

And Lake Michigan was its stunning self, per usual.

That's Sleeping Bear Dunes in the background.

*

Back home, predictable cooking resumed. 

*

Oh, and speaking of beauty: here's Glen Lake, a real beauty, everyone agrees.

One reason I don't post many recipes

I don't often use them. Or, rather, my cooking is so simple that a recipe would be ridiculous. Baking is another matter, of course. But grilling? Please. Olive oil, pepper, a little salt. That's pretty much what I do. Maybe a squeeze of lemon.

Here are three versions of that "recipe."

Grilled vegetables with a filet. And a gin & tonic, my drink of preference when I was at La Quinta (the name of the resort and the town, in California) and now back at home too.

And... grilled vegetables with lamb chops.

And... salmon with slightly different vegetables (grilled butternut squash---delicious---and sautéed kale with grape tomatoes from my friend Tim's garden). Wine this time.

As for poetry, a topic I said I'd (maybe) post about, now is a good time.

I feel about poetry the same way I feel about cooking: don't make a fuss.

A pleasing presentation

More grilling: lamb chops, "gemstone" potatoes (love that name), tomatoes... with arugula and pecans and feta.

As for the day, it turned itself around. A sunny-ish later afternoon/evening and more pleasant dog walking.

Fourth of July dinner

Grilled lamb chops, grilled asparagus, orzo salad. The storminess held off until after the grilling and then stopped again for the fireworks, which are surprisingly good here in Morgantown.

And for dessert, a devil's food cake made in a Mary Ann pan, with thanks to my friend Carol for sending it to me. With creme fraiche and berries. 

Grilling is fun

Lamb chops with farro (and dried cherries and pecans) and---very exciting---fiddleheads. Tis the season for those.

And a steak salad (tomatoes, asparagus, onion, mixed greens, feta).

Spring, finally

Boneless leg of lamb, before and after. With roasted potatoes. And salad you can just barely see in the background of the second photo: mixed baby greens and spinach with sautéed asparagus, toasted pecans, goat cheese, cranberries.

And yes: very Spring-y here, at long last. 70. Thunder maybe later. Sounds good to me.

Fancy-ish

Rack of lamb with a pistachio crust.