When I was just an assistant prof at UF I saw an undergraduate team with a NASA project about growing food for a long range flight. They were growing tomatoes and wondered why they never got any fruit. I had to explain to them that many tomato varieties don't set fruit unless the over night temps get to 68 F or cooler and they were growing their tomatoes with a 72 F temps.
Last night we used some of the tomato sauce I made over ravioli. We are doing that again tonight to use up the tomato sauce. I made a lot.
Last night was stir fried beef and broccoli with Texmati rice. I used sirloin tip marinaded in soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, honey, garlic and ginger. No leftovers. Tonight we are having friends over for take-out Thai. No cooking during the baseball game. Soon I will be smoking a lot of dry rubbed Memphis style ribs and also smoking some chickens. Two different events. I know that chickens don't have to me cooked low and slow but they come out so juicy that way with a wonderful smoke flavor.
Yesterday I smoked two chickens so that we had plenty of leftovers for chicken enchiladas. Salad and mashed potatoes as sides. Today I am grilling center cut pork chops on the KJ. I was going to make bruschetta but the tomatoes were a bit moldy. My wife will buy some on the way home.
Got a lot of heirloom cherry tomatoes from our friend that is into testing tomato varieties for growing near Gainesville. Making a tomato sauce with garlic, ancho chili, sugar and salt to put over rigatoni.
Last night was enchiladas using leftover smoked chicken. Today we are having company so two racks of St Louis ribs dry rubbed Memphis style, vinegar slaw, corn on the cob and Caesar salad.
Tonight Ms. Jan is making beef stroganoff. We are having a freshly made spring & spinach salad to go with it. Italian bread will also be on the table. Moscow mules and a tumbler or two of Knob Creek small batch 100* will be the choices for the evening. Life is good in Gator Nation!
OK, made it yesterday with lobster and 2 different kinds of scallops. Truly delicious, but zero reason to spend money for lobster or the more expensive sea scallops. Couldn’t tell one sea protein from another (a good thing). Truly delicious.
Lots of great stuff the past few days. Tonight I am making spicy stir-fried green beans with pork. As a side a smashed cucumber salad.
Tonight it is a red Thai curry with chicken, yellow bell pepper, bamboo shoots, carrots with coconut milk over rice.
The youngest got home from Montreal last night just in time for me to make one of his favorites (clam linguini) before the Panther's Stanley Cup game. Actually my wife made it after I prepped everything. I did the hard work and she got the glory. But we are a team so that is OK. Tonight I am grilling some NY strip steaks on the KJ with a lemony potato salad as the side.
Have you tried Everglades tomatoes? They are tiny but don’t think they have the fruiting issue below 72 degrees.
All the little tomatoes (cherry, grape) fruit at higher temps. The really great heirloom tomatoes need cooler night-time temps to fruit.
I’m grilling cheeseburgers with home fries for tonight’s supper. Our vine ripe tomatoes are sliced and on the table as well. Ms. Jan is enjoying her chilled wine and I am enjoying an ice cold longneck or three. Life is good in Gator Nation!
Tonight my wife is making asparagus risotto and I am making caprese salad. I spent much of the day making a new garden bench after our old one (probably about 30 years old) finally collapsed. I could see it was going to happen soon. It is only for holding up plants including a very heavy herb planter. Dodging the much needed rain was a problem.
We are almost repeating last night but not quite. We had a couple of boneless chuck roasts ground up yesterday. The burgers were so good we decided to grill hamburger steaks tonight. Our sides are going to be julienne potatoes and a fresh summer salad with fresh spinach mixed in. It’s gotten summertime up here now. We had a high of 93* today. The chilled wine and ice cold longnecks are just the thing for the afternoon/evening. Life is good in Gator Nation!
The breads and pasta are so good over there. At least they were in 1994 when I went over there with my Dad and his WWII Paratrooper veterans for the 50th anniversary of D-Day.
Was it a red or white sauce clam linguini? Curious. I love both, but feel I’ve mastered the red sauce. So tend to lean towards that.
