All hail autumn
Ok, I guess it’s fall. Where the heck did our typical gorgeous Indian Summer go? (For those of you elsewhere, the Bay Area usually enjoys its best weather in the early fall. Just as everyone else in the country is resigning themselves to wool trousers and coats, we’re finally breaking out the linen.)
Well, the weather may be all messed up, but I’m not really complaining. It’s fun to have cooler weather when the fall produce starts coming, and plenty of excuses to try those autumnal recipes that have been waiting for their chance in the spotlight.
The farmer’s market this weekend was full of fabulous finds, including the white pomegranates pictured above (they didn’t taste like much, unfortunately.. but they were too gorgeous not to ogle) and some luscious heirloom apples. Even our friends at Primavera busted out with some less-summery breakfast options: chilaquiles verdes, plus pork picadillo-filled chiles rellenos made on a griddle — que macho! Unfortunately, we’d been out partying the night before and slept late, and they sold the last chile to the woman in front of me…
For our first fall recipe, we tried out the braised meatballs and gorgonzola polenta featured in the wine section of Friday’s Chronicle. Man, they were good — definitely one for the “keep” file. We also made a batch of chili from the Prather Ranch blog. Hmmm: It’s very tomato-y and the black beans are a strange choice for such a red bowl of red. This one reminded me why I always make half recipes of new things. Oh, well… maybe it will be good over burgers?
Comment by Rocky
Beans?!
Posted on 09.12.06 at 4:29PM
Comment by Anita
Rocky… Are you implying that chili can’t have beans? If it tastes good, eat it. Screw orthodoxy. (And in this particular case, I’ll wager that leaving out the beans wouldn’t have made the chili any less-bad.)
Posted on 09.12.06 at 4:42PM
Comment by Jan
Mmmmm, chili beans. The food of my youth–good with lots of cheese, salsa and sour cream on ’em. Unfortunately, not as good over things with the beans in it. Although come to think of it, there used to be a dish called the “chili size”, which was an open-faced cheese burger with chili beans ladeled over it.
Posted on 09.17.06 at 3:18PM
Comment by Anita
Oh, man…Jan, you’re bringing back memories. Marie Callendar’s used to have a chili size on their menu, in the days before they turned to craptastic mass-purveyors of, well, crap. It was listed in the same section as the patty melt and the frisco burger (cheeseburger on parmesan-grilled sourdough toast).
I have a post brewing about all the places that I miss, even though they technically still exist…
Posted on 09.17.06 at 4:49PM