This recipe comes from Phaidon’s Thailand cookbook. Not only is the cookbook filled with hundreds of exotic recipes, there are plenty of photographs of the Thai people, their land and lifestyle.

This is probably one of the easiest meals I’ve made. Outside of cleaning the shrimp, the soup takes minutes to make. I served it with a loaf of Tuscan bread that I, admittedly, bought because I liked the way it looked, and a bottle of chilled sauvignon blanc. Enjoy!

Serves 2

2 cups (16 fl. oz/475 ml) coconut milk

1 Tbsp. shrimp paste (I used oyster sauce instead)

1 Tsp. granulated sugar

1/2 Tsp. salt

1 handful of melinjo leaves or young spinach

4-5 uncooked shrimp (prawns) (I used 8), peeled and deveined, tails still intact

Bring the coconut milk to a boil in a large pan. Add (whisk in) the shrimp paste (or oyster sauce), sugar, and salt, then stir and return to a boil. Add the melinjo leaves and shrimp, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for two minutes or until the shrimp are cooked. Ladle into soup bowls and serve.

Lynn’s grandchildren have been at a beach house for the month and so, with Sandy and I, the three of us have been indulging in relaxing late Sunday lunches on our front porch. We eat great food, chat with neighbors and say hello to folks we don’t know who walk by the house. This lunch was built around a recipe that Sandy borrowed from Real Simple magazine. Lynn made a tossed salad with creamy goats cheese , tossed with a light raspberry vinaigrette. I took a frying pan out to the grill and cooked some sweet Italian sausage with onions and peppers. Sandy served the roasted tomatoes on toasted baguette slices topped with fresh ricotta and she also cut up some fresh fruit. This lunch was accompanied by a 2009 Saint-Damien Gigondas. Enjoy!

Slow roasted plum tomatoes with garlic and oregano

8 plum tomatoes (about 2 pounds), halved

2 sprigs fresh oregano

4 garlic cloves

1/4 cup olive oil

Kosher salt and black pepper

1. Heat oven to 300 degrees F. Place the tomatoes (cut side up), oregano, and garlic in a 3-quart baking dish. Drizzle with the oil, 1 Tsp. salt, and 1/2 Tsp. pepper.

2. Roast until the tomatoes are slightly reduced in size and the skins are puckered, 1 hour, 45 minutes to 2 hours.

3. Serve on toasted baguette slices smeared with fresh ricotta or refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Sandy, Lynn and I had a late lunch on the front porch yesterday and this is what I made, taking the recipe from this weekends Financial Times. I had two thick cut pork chops so after cooking, I cut each into thirds, and we each had two thirds of a pork chop, which was plenty. I also cooked the peperonata with one onion instead of two, and as it says in the blurb above the recipe, “This makes quite a lot of peperonata and half can be kept back and stored in the fridge for a week”. Enjoy!

2 red peppers
1 red chili
2 onions
30 ml olive oil
2 cloves garlic
A few sprigs of thyme
50 ml white wine
2 thick cut pork chops, at least 2 cm thick
1 lemon

1. Char the peppers on an open flame until blackened all over and place in a plastic bag together with the also charred chili. Tie a knot in the bag and leave for 20 minutes. After this time, remove the peppers, remove the blackened skin, cut open and remove the seeds and then cut the flesh into long thin strips. Peel, seed and chop the chili as well.
2. Peel and slice the two onions very thinly. Peel and chop the garlic very thinly as well. Stew them both in a heavy sauté pan until soft and transparent. Add the peppers and the thyme, season with salt and pepper, and then add the wine and stew very gently for 10 minutes.
3. Season the chops with salt and pepper and place in a heavy, dry pan. Let the chops color very gently for about 8 minutes and then turn and cook for the same time on the other side.
4. Remove the chops from the pan. Squeeze half the juice of lemon into the pan and scrape up any juices before adding the peperonata. Return the chops to the pan, coat them with the mixture and then serve.

When I get home from work, and I’m tired, there is sometimes the temptation of take-out. But, I hate to waste food, and there are plenty of ingredients in the fridge and in the garden so I get busy. I have cherry tomatoes. I have onions, shallots, small potatoes, a pepper, four mushrooms left over from the other night and eggs.
So…I make a frittata with grated cheese and top it with sautéd mushrooms. (Start like you’re making an omelet, then pop the pan in the oven at 450 degrees for about 10 minutes or until frittata is lightly browned around the edges). I cook up the potatoes with onions and peppers (just adding salt and pepper), and I make a pan sauce with tomatoes, shallots, and Herbs de Provence. (go to the search box and type in Herb Roasted Tomatoes for recipe). Cut the frittata into the desired size and top it with the tomato pan sauce. Pair it with the potato, onions and peppers and serve with a chilled White Burgundy. My wine of choice for this meal was a Louis Jadot Pouilly-Fuisse.

Today is Sunday, and according to the weather people, it was going to rain all day. Perfect. I need a day to do nothing, and although the weather folks couldn’t have been more wrong, I stuck to my plan. Now, when I say I’m going to do “nothing”, that’s not entirely accurate. I have a hard time doing “nothing”. So, as of 5 am., I’ve walked the dog, worked on a new painting for a few hours, returned a DVD from last night, made us a frittata for breakfast using veggies from the garden, and watched a movie titled “Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus”, starring the ex pop star Debbie Gibson. I did this all without getting out of my pajamas.
And, I made this dish for our late lunch. I adapted the recipe from one that I found in the latest edition of Sunset Magazine. The magazine version is not vegan, it calls for thinly sliced lop chong (Chinese sausage). I also used 16 ounces of spaghetti where they call for 10 ounces. This is a terrific dish to mix up, put in a big wide bowl and place on the table letting people in the house take some when they want. You don’t have to worry about it going cold!
So….enjoy! I’ve got to go, another movie, “Dinoshark” just began!

16 ounces spaghetti or Chinese-style noodles
10 ounces cucumbers, cut into 1 inch pieces
6 Tbsp. soy sauce
4 1/2 Tbsp. unseasoned rice vinegar
3 Tbsp. each toasted sesame oil and smooth peanut butter
1 Tbsp. dark molasses
1 cup roughly chopped cilantro
1/2 cup sliced fresh basil leaves
3 cups loosely packed salad greens
1/4 cup chopped roasted salted peanuts

1. Cook noodles according to package, drain, rinse well with cool water at least 4 times and set aside.
2. Cut cucumbers and set aside.
3. Whisk together the soy sauce, vinegar, oil, peanut butter and molasses and set aside.
4. Put the noodles back into large, pot (cooled down) that they were cooked in and add the sauce. Stir through then add the basil and cilantro. Blend completely and pour on to a bed of lettuce in a large serving bowl. Top with cucumbers and chopped peanuts.

I found this outstanding recipe on the side of my box of Carpi Riso, Riso Arborio. The only thing I did differently is that where it calls for a small onion, I minced a medium onion. I served it with a garden fresh salad of cucumbers, tomatoes and parsley, and also roasted some purple peppers which also came from the garden.
And for dessert…..local peaches sliced up, topped with freshly whipped cream and served over a shortbread made by our local bakery.

1/4 cup clarified butter
1 small onion, minced
2 cups Carpi Arborio Rice
1/2 cup white wine
8 cups chicken stock
1 Tbsp. saffron
1 cup grated parmesan cheese

Melt the butter in a heavy pan. Add the onion and sauté until golden brown. Add the rice and stir in the white wine. When the wine evaporates, slowly add in the 8 cups of chicken stock, stirring often until the liquid is absorbed. Add the saffron and mix well. Stir in the parmesan cheese and serve.
Buon Appetito!