Friday, September 03, 2010

A summery lunch

It's still summer and the weather is summery. At least the afternoons are. We're having a great streak of sunny, warm, and dry days. The vegetable garden is loving it. Squash are still coming in and we're eating fresh tomatoes daily. Ken made a great gratin with eggplant, tomatoes, and zucchini the other day. In fact, he made two. One goes into the freezer.

Home-grown sweet corn on the cob with olive oil, salt, and pepper.

And I've been harvesting corn. This is the second meal of corn on the cob that we've had so far, and there are more in our future. I'm very happy that the corn is successful and I'm encouraged to plant more next year. Corn on the cob is not a staple in France. Most of the corn grown here is feed corn. You can sometimes find sweet corn on the cob in specialty sections of the supermarkets, shucked and shrink-wrapped and very expensive.

Chicken breasts marinated in white wine, olive oil, and garden herbs, skewered and grilled.

I'm not sure how most of the French people we know would react to a cob of corn on their plates. They'd probably try to attack it with a knife and fork and be thoroughly amused to watch us Americans just pick it up and eat it. Vive la différence!

15 comments:

  1. I am reading this at close to midnight in Portland, Oregon USA... I now you have given me the munchies! Thanks alot!

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  2. 2nd comment, only 23 to go!

    Walt, I love the pics and the description, it makes me hungry and I've just eaten breakfast. The corn is on my shopping list for tomorrow when I visit the farmers market here in Amsterdam.

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  3. I woke up at 3am and have been reading European blog and yours and Kens have made me so hungry! But I am going to wait until breakfast!

    Your photography is so good. And I've never thought of not using butter on corn. This I will try.

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  4. That corn just looks so scrumptious! I love corn on the cob, and the chicken breasts...yum!

    It's only 5:45am here and I'm salivating!

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  5. Maybe I've mentioned this here before, but we walked into a restaurant in the Orne and asked what smelled so great. Corn, they said. So we ordered it, and when it came, it was a 2" section of corn on the cob that had been boiled to death. So no, I don't think the French understand corn.

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  6. Egads, that corn looks great!

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  7. What a nice summary of your summery lunch! That corn on the cob looks amazingly wonderful! And the chicken as well. All I can say is "YUM"!

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  8. That's a lot of food for only two guys.
    Hola desde Barcelona.

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  9. I just opened your post and now I know what to make for dinner tonight!

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  10. stephen, you sure it was me who gave you the munchies? ;)

    peter, do you find it frequently in Amsterdam?

    kristi, yes, olive oil is good on corn-on-the-cob. Yum!

    rick, they were tasty. Hope you got a good breakfast!

    carolyn, the best corn in France, other than good home-grown stuff, comes out of a can.

    diogenes, who says "egads" any more? ;)

    cheryl, and I didn't mention the sommier...

    starman, there were leftovers. :)

    suzanne, cool!

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  11. Walter, it's widely available also in supermarkets, only most people don't know what a treat it is. They just buy the canned variaty from Bonduelle to mix throug a salad.

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  12. wcs...Zaneeta, the mayor's daughter in "The Music Man," says "Egads" at least a hundred times in the film. Watched it again last week. That was the role of a lifetime for Robert Preston. Don't know if you like musicals, though.... :-)

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  13. Well there's a big difference from Quebec, here corn on the cob is worshiped. And they call it blé d'inde. I've had many a meal that was only corn. (Try it with mayo and fresh parmesan, to die for)

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  14. peter, very interesting. I had no idea.

    diogenes, well that's Egads with a capital E and that rhymes with P and that stands for Pool!

    tornwordo, it took me a few minutes to think about, but it does sound good. I'll have to try it. :)

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  15. Walt, you brought me to an idea... http://tippinthescales.wordpress.com/2010/09/08/dinner-was-served/

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