Saffron and Kangaroos

Today was interesting. It was a friend's birthday and so we all went up to Dawsonville, Georgia to visit a Kangaroo Conservation Park. 300 Kangaroos, so close, and I didn't even know it. They have more species of Kangaroos there than in Australia! And some of the other animals, the world's largest pigeon, for example (It was huge! and blue!) and the boy's favorites "lorries" and "Lorrikeets" were absolutely stunning. The day was very hot, but very beautiful.

Our friend's birthday was very nice, and I happen to know the couple is off to dinner at Kevin Rathbun's new steakhouse which opened only a week or two ago. I can't wait to hear how it was! Prior to kangaroo adventure, we had a lovely picnic of: a dry chardonnay, a selection of cheese, olives and cornichons; some lovely sandwiches, a simple mesclun salad and a ricotta salata, herb, almond and tomato salad that was quite refreshing. Dessert was fresh cherries, dark chocolate and a two bite brownie hot and gooey from the sun!

Brief descriptions of versions of the salad:

Toss:

3 tomato chopped (or 2 cups watermelon)

About 1.5 cups chopped ricotta salata (or feta)

Handful of mint/basil/parsley or mixture thereof

1 cup toasted almonds (or pine nuts)

2-3 tb olive oil

2-4 shakes of the red wine vinegar over it all

Let sit and chill. Dinner this evening was very southern and very good. It was homey and simple and the boys were happy. We had Grilled Pork, saffron and corn mashed potatoes and mustard greens.

Pork

1 1-1.5 inch thick butterfly chop rubbed with dry sage, two cloves chopped garlic, salt and pepper. Grilled for about 9 minutes on foreman type grill and split in three.

Saffron Corn Mashed Potatoes

Boil 4-5 potatoes in salted water till tender (about 20 minutes). Drain and set aside.

Saute 1 cup corn, 4 cloves chopped garlic, 3/4 onion in 2 tb olive oil for about 4 minutes. Pour in 1 c milk and bring to boil. Throw in a pinch of saffron, stir, remove from heat. Put lid on and let sit for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, get your taters and mashed them in their pot. Let them dry out a bit over low heat. Throw in about 4 tb butter. Mix in saffron/milk mixture. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Mustard Greens

Wash these a bunch of these bad boys REALLY well. Usually you plunge them in water and swish 'em around, then drain the water and repeat. Chop rough, or just tear a couple of handfuls up.

Put about 1 inch water in a stock pot with a bouillon cube and bring to boil. Throw greens in and put them under the water. Put about 1-2 tb red wine vinegar (or some other vinegar in) and swish around. These cook fast, but keep an eye on, every minute or so take a piece out and taste it to see if it is tender and not bitter. When it hits that point, drain. You can save the water or "pot likker" and drink it later if you want. It is a really rich with nutrients and flavor broth. MMMM good. Put your greens back in their pot and toss with a little olive oil, salt, pepper and juice of 1/4 lemon.

We are grateful for today: The boy is grateful for the kangaroos; he thought they were the bee knees. I am grateful for a last minute massage appointment I managed to squeeze in; I pulled a muscle in my back...erg. The other boy is grateful for dinner.