Flori Cooks

Note that I am not calling this gazpacho…there’s no bread in this bowl. Look it up.

If you’ve been following me you know that I’ve been having issues with a tomato-loving mocking bird. While I’m not ready to throw in the towel just yet let’s say that I’m not exactly winning either.

I spent Saturday afternoon and evening with my dearest friend, Anna and her sisters. I met Anna before my daughter could walk and we’ve been through so much together – all the normal things that life throws at us and then some that most of us happily don’t have to deal with. Those three women truly are the sisters I didn’t have as a child but do have now. Anna lives in Alaska and was here in LA to help middle sister Stephanie load up the car and move back to Alaska with her son Skyler. Stephanie and Skyler have been here for over 3 years for a medical miracle – a DOUBLE lung transplant. There were months of waiting for a donor – an odd head-space to be in itself. You’re not exactly hoping someone will die but because we all will, you are hoping that someone who is a match cared enough to sign up as a donor so that the person you love can live. Once we were through the initial fear, hope and exhilaration of the surgery and first touch-and-go days we found out that a woman in her thirties left 3 children behind; we said prayers of gratitude and healing for her family. There were ups and downs for Steph, some scary turns and one terrifying turn, but her being able to move back to the challenging climate of Alaska gives me such hope!

I was lucky enough to be on hand to enjoy a fabulous salmon that stowed away for Anna’s flight down along with a load of farmers’ market veggies done right on the grill in the outdoor kitchen at youngest sister Robin’s house. Skyler and Amanda swam for about 3 hours and I’ve got to say Amanda held her own with a bigger, older, stronger boy; she’s quite a girl. We toasted to the journey complete and the journey yet ahead.

Oh, yeah, back to the salad today… I got home to find that the mocking bird had pecked several tomatoes and left them with just small holes. They inspired me to treat them like the moon – ignore what’s on the dark side… Cutting away about 1/3 of each to save the rest they went into a bowl chopped up with a cucumber and topped off with a quick cold tomato herb soup. Noyan tomato juice is from Armenia and the only ingredient is tomatoes. No salt but it doesn’t taste like it; it just tastes like tomatoes. I think that’s because the tomatoes are so good but also because it is in a box and that means they don’t cook it to as high a temperature. If you ever see it give it a try. I picked a handful of herbs – basil, chives, parsley, thyme, oregano, marjoram and ran it through the blender; I poured it over the tomatoes and cukes and topped it with feta and some good olive oil. Out to the porch to enjoy a bit if this beautiful, if hot, day.

The weather is still behaving but the market is starting to really perk up. I made a special trip to the Saturday market even though I had been to the Thursday evening market just to get melons. Now, this may sound a bit extreme, but I only get melons from one farmer. His melons are so good that he has spoiled me for anyone else’s. I’m not so self controlled that I don’t mess up and try another melon at least once a year (either early or at the end of the season) but I’m always so disappointed that it ends up being just that once. Weiser Family Farms grows, bar none, the best melons on the planet. While there I grabbed a couple of bermuda onions to grill and the first of this year’s yellow romano beans. Oh, and a couple of tomatoes for good measure.

One of the tomatoes became lunch filled with smoked salmon salad with a bit of balsamic vinegar drizzled on the bed of lettuce that it sat on. It was a lovely afternoon to sit on the porch and enjoy the quiet.

There was a story on NPR the other day about a new cookbook called A Girl and Her Pig. Now, you’d think that based on the title of the book that I might have ended up wanting some pork, but the chef spoke so passionately about grilling steak that it was on my mind for days. I don’t eat a lot of beef so when I do I make sure it’s really good. I went to Whole Foods and picked up a grass fed Hearst Ranch (yup, William Randolph’s old property, San Simeon) rib eye about 2″ thick.

The romano beans went into a foil packet with tangerine olive oil, lots of pepper and flaky salt to go on the grill and the onion went on the grill out at the edge to cook more slowly.  The grill was so hot that the beans started to sizzle immediately. Flip a few times (don’t tear the foil) and when it’s swollen to its max the beans are done.  The steak got olive oil, salt and pepper and was grilled very quickly and flipped 3 times for even cooking, 2 minutes per flip. A glass of wine and another meal on the porch.

Yup! It’s summer.