Coriander Sugar-Poached Figs

I made one batch of these coriander sugar babies yesterday, finished what remained for lunch today, and just made a final round with the rest of those gorgeous fresh figs I was gifted. These.are.scrumptious. Now if only I had some freshly made ricotta to spoon these over. Next up!

I love my home-state (LA), but...

This sort of ignorance is mind-boggling: according to a recent poll referenced on TPM, more people in Louisiana blame Obama for the poor Katrina response than Bush, even though the hurricane happened three years before Obama took office. Really??? This is so, so embarrassing. Please, please read the facts people. This is not disputable information. Also, my mom just sent me an article showing that this year, Louisiana beat 8-time (in a row!) winner, Mississippi, to become the nation's most obese state. Sad.

Friends and dinner

This afternoon, we had a really special treat. A dear friend and her new husband came over, and a TBD visit turned into an hours-long, wonderful hang-out session. It was so much fun and truly quite dear: they're expecting, and being with them brought me back to being a newlywed and to-be-mom myself. After they left, I started in on dinner. Craving a steak, I thawed two of the Piedmontese filets I'd trimmed from that enormous cut a few months ago. In the meantime, I reduced some balsamic vinegar with about a tablespoon of sugar and at the very last minute -off-heat- I threw in some slivered, fresh figs. Once the steaks were done -in my Lodge, natch- I spread some Gorgonzola on top and then drizzled with the hot fig-balsamic reduction. Insanely good!

While I did all this, I sent T to the grill to man the baby okra I'd bought at the farmers market on Sunday. I dressed it with olive oil, minced garlic, crushed red pepper, lemon and salt; also, I tossed in the rest of a head of radicchio I had and the remaining squash blossoms. After it was decently charred, we redressed it (critical) with more lemon and salt. Grilled okra is the bomb; after T had his serving, I ate all the rest.