Good Lord, it's too hot to eat lunch

I'm glad I bothered to take a quick shot of this, because it turned out to be a very tasty thing. I might even enjoy the weather, at this rate.

greens
ham slivers
bell peppers
herbed goat cheese
pine nuts
cheap balsamic vinegar
pretty decent olive oil
really good sherry vineagar

I think it was the vinegar combination that did it. The sherry vinegar has lots of personality, but I think I would find it overpowering if I put it on there by itself. It's a little bitey. The cheap balsamic adds sweetness, the olive oil is a medium-peppery kind, and it goes really well with the cheese.

Damn! That's tasty!

Ever seen that stuff at Denny's called "hot bacon dressing"? It's creepy shit. Don't eat it. But once upon a time, it was descended from this: Salad Lyonaise. Remember my Rule of Salad! If it ain't something you'd eat naked, don't put it in! Eat the naked ingredient, I mean. I don't care what you eat without your clothes on, really, it's none of my business.

For each serving-
1 or 2 pieces of good quality bacon. Or pancetta; I had bacon.
a tablespoon minced shallot, or other mild onion
a teaspoon of dijon mustard, either fine or whole grain.
a tablespoon of sherry vinegar.
a poached egg
a little pepper and maybe some olive oil
a handful of bitter mixed greens. I used some bag o somthin-or-other from TJ's, it's got frisee in it.

Have the greens ready in a mixing bowl. Put on a pan of water to simmer for the eggs. Don't forget to salt it a bit.

Cut the bacon up into 1/2 inch pieces and fry them until they're crispy. Bacon can be fattier than pancetta, in either case, once it's rendered out, pour off all but about a teaspoon of fat per serving, and then put the onions in to brown with the bacon. Add enough olive oil to get the onions well coated. Seriously, does it really need bacon fat as well as olive oil?! Oh yeah baby.

Keep the heat turned down low enough that the brown bits in the pan don't become black bits. When the onions are thoroughly done, put the eggs in to poach. In a little bowl, mix up the vinegar and mustard. As soon as the egg yolks have filmed over, get them off the heat and drain them a bit. Quickly throw the vinegar and mustard into the hot bacon pan. The liquid will get all the caramelization off the pan in about 10 seconds. Don't be afraid to throw in a bit more vinegar if you need to. Pour the hot dressing over the greens and toss them up, divide into servings and top each serving with a warm egg.

Everybody gets to add their own pepper, if they want it, then smash the egg into their salad. I licked my plate.

Yogurt Cuke Soup

This is a very subtle dish. If the amounts of seasoning seem small, don't be worried. It's important to allow 2-4 hours of sitting time after you make it so that the flavors will have time to blend without loosing the freshness that is such a big part of the appeal.

1 qt yogurt- use greek style. Regular plain yogurt will be much more sour. Fage brand is hands-down the best, but Trader Joe does all right. I made my own using Fage as a starter, but there's no need to go to all that trouble.

1 lb persian, chinese, or pickling type cucumbers. The point is that they should be sweet with tender skins.

1 or 2 regular ol' cukes

1/2 tsp dill- I used dry, and it was just fine. If you use fresh, you may want more.
3 mint leaves, very finely minced
1/2 tsp freshly ground coriander seed

1 small clove garlic
the white part of 1 small green onion, minced a bit.
2 T olive oil- fancy is good here, I like the pepperyness
1 T fresh lemon juice

salt & pepper
toasted walnuts and more green onions for garnish

Put the yogurt in a large bowl with the mint, dill and coriander

Cut the persian cucumbers into little matchsticks and put them in the bowl with the yogurt.



BEWARE THE MANDOLINE! Dangit.


Peel the regular cukes and remove the seeds. Chop into hunks and put them in a blender/processor with the garlic clove, onion, lemon and olive oil. Puree thouroughly. Whether you use one or 2 cukes will depend on how thick you want the soup to be. If you like it thinner, use 2. If you want it more like a dip, use one, and make it be a small one. Add to the yogurt. Salt and pepper to taste.


Top with nuts and green onion bits, if desired, and serve with bread or pita chips. The ones in the picture are sesame flavored.