Last night, the one-man farmer’s market known as Dad came to Minneapolis. He is spending the next two weeks at Karyn and Bryan’s house, building a new garage. Accordingly, he came with two weeks-worth of vegetables: cucumbers, potatoes, zucchini, carrots, tomatoes, green and yellow wax beans, pattypan squash, jalapenos and green peppers, beets and more that I’m sure I’m forgetting.
Tonight I sauteed the gigantic potatoes with olive oil, paprika, curry powder and my default spice (red pepper flakes). I added in the zucchini and pattypan squash.
8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 2 pounds total) Note to self: this is really too much for one person to eat, even including leftovers.
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced lengthwise I think I interpreted this incorrectly.
3 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
½ teaspoon ground cumin
2 canned chipotle chiles in adobo, minced
2 large tomatoes, diced large
1 cup barley
Lime wedges, for serving
Chopped cilantro leaves, for serving (optional)
Directions
In a large Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat oil over medium-high. Season chicken on both sides with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Working in batches, brown chicken on both sides, about 6 minutes total; transfer to a plate.
Reduce heat to medium. Add onion and saute until soft, about 5 minutes, scraping up any browned bits from bottom of pot (if necessary, add a bit of water to release browned bits).
Add garlic, cumin, and chiles; cook until garlic is soft and fragrant, 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and 1 teaspoon salt and cook until tomatoes begin to break down and release their juices, 3 minutes. Stir in 1 cup water and return chicken and any accumulated juices to pot. Cover, reduce to a simmer, and cook 25 minutes.
Remove several pieces of chicken and stir in barley, making sure it is completely submerged in liquid. Replace chicken, cover, and cook until barley is tender and liquid has been absorbed, 25 to 30 minutes more. Serve with lime wedges and cilantro if desired.
I’m not especially proud of the photos in this set, but figured I’d share them anyway. I really need to practice my food photography… and possibly get some better lighting in my kitchen.
I thought this recipe was pretty delicious (the chipotle chiles really made the dish), so I’m glad I found it in Everyday Food.
We roasted makkaraa (which is Finnish for “sausages”) and went to bed “early” on Saturday night.
This wallpaper is on par with my kitchen’s wallpaper, except it’s better because it belongs in a cabin. Um, I mean that in a nice way…
Good morning, the most perfectest of Sundays.
I sat on the edge of the dock by myself for a little while. It afforded me some quiet moments with baby fishes that were about the size of my lure—Northern Pike and a possible Blue Gill. I may not have caught any fish during the weekend, but at least I had interested parties.
For some reason this spider gave me fewer heebie-jeebies than your average, teeny-tiny house spider. And it was monstrous—it’s sitting on a sour cream container lid in this photo. And it was carrying a huge egg sack. Mary and Johanna trapped it in the gazebo, and later Eric let it go in the trees.
I don’t know how long we laid on this floaty, but it was awesome. Johanna anchored it somehow so we just drifted around, watching the sky. Then we would flip over and watch the plants and schools of minnows in the water.
If you know what this is, please let me know. Thanks.
We chilled on the sandy beach on the other side of the lake for a little while.
I swear I didn’t do this on purpose, but it makes me laaaaaugh…
Almost immediately after this photo the Loons ducked down into the water. This was the closest they let us get all weekend.
And then a horsefly bit my toe. It didn’t hurt then, but it bruised and later itched for days! Jerk.
I should’ve snapped a photo of this phenomenon on our way in: most of the neighbors had placed red-, white- and blue-painted rocks at the end of their drive. Apparently no one knows who started this trend.
Fred’s is where we acquired the makkaraa—very delish. I bought more before Mary and I headed back to city life. Sigh. It was such a good weekend.
I can’t believe two weeks have passed since my fantastic weekend at Hart Lake! I’ve had every intention of sharing these photos since then, but blah, blah, blah… On to the photos!
The weather at the lake wasn’t spectacular, but it felt great to be surrounded by trees and water and chirping birds. We spent most of the evening indoors, catching up and playing games—generally sinking into relaxation and take-it-easy-ness.
We spent some time in the sauna, then running out and jumping in the lake, and then getting warm again in the sauna, etc. etc. I haven’t had the chance to feel that kind of silliness in a while—it was so fun. We did it again on Saturday night, too.
We stayed up too late, and we all slept in late on Saturday morning. It was still quite cloudy and a little bit chilly, but we spent the day canoeing around the lake, then we all went for a very slow boat ride. The sun kept trying to poke through, so I refused to put on long, warm pants.
But I was mostly kept warm by all of the food we ate anyway. How many lunches do Finns have? 13? I was stuffed before the first lunch.
I learned how to steer a canoe and we also sang “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” in rounds.
Johanna kept catching fairly large Northern Pikes… without bait!
I should measure the awesomeness of my summers by the number of toads and frogs I get to hold. So far this summer is a two!
This train caboose and the house we slept in were both pre-existing structures that were moved to the site. The house was formerly a train depot. Once I knew that, I couldn’t help but imagine the place full of people bustling around arrival and departure time tables or lazily reading newspapers. Of course, I have no idea where the depot was located, but I’m sure it was somewhere neat and everyone was very fashionable.
½ Honey Weiss + ½ Berry Weiss = Honey Bear
Saturday closed with one of the most fantastic sunsets I have ever enjoyed.
It didn’t hurt then, but it bruised and later itched for days! Jerk.
