Nature's Goodness

It was the first weekend post start-of-school that we actually had little or no plans. Really, the only thing we could do is dive into some local produce, maybe a coupla bottles of rose' and get some Shuggie Otis tunes cranking in the background.

With a quick trip to Allandale Farm (oh I'm sorry, do I mean the oldest continuously working farm in the United States..only since the mid 1750's? - uh - yeah.) I was able to pick up some mammoth radishes (that only Mary Anne could eat in that episode of Gilligan's Island when a crate of radioactive vegetable seeds washes up on their shore), along with some plump, juicy tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, and a freshly baked baguette. And then a nice pint of figs that are in season seemed to round out our little Saturday night 'do nicely.

Here's what I served:

Radish, butter and salt. Three ingredients. Classique et perfection.


Then, another classic from another favorite European country: Tomato, buffalo mozzarella, fresh basil, a drizzle of olive oil, and salt. I really think tomatoes in season coupled with a fine buffalo mozzarella makes all the difference to this. Funny, I'm not sure I ever noticed that the colors of this dish are the exact the colors of the Italian flag (red, green, and white).

Perhaps not so coincidental.


And then finally, I stuffed the figs with some Stilton Blue, wrapped them in prosciutto, and roasted them at 400 for 15 minutes. Drizzle with a little honey and thereyahaveit. Shuggie was the added flair for the evening. With Hannah blowing and raining up a storm out our windows it could not have been a better way to ring in Autumn.

(recipe and photo from foodnetwork.com)