Things I've Made Recently

It's a big month for experiments around here, thanks to an overabundance of herbs, peppers and tomatoes. Here's this week's batch of cooking trials:

First, tomatillo salsa paired with pork tenderloin. I actually liked this better with chips than with the pork. It was good - chunky with nice flavor - but a little uneven in terms of spiciness. (I messed with the recipe ratios a little, just to amp up the spice.)

Next up, a slightly more successful roasted heirloom tomato, stuffed with a mixture of goat cheese and basil. This was pretty and tasty and very, very easy. I'd absolutely make it again. (In this case, I only made three tomatoes, instead of twelve, so the roasting only took about 20 minutes.)

Finally, and the results of this experiment remain to be seen, habanero and cayenne-infused vodka, inspired by this Infusions of Grandeur experiment. I prepped the infusion on Saturday afternoon and stuck the jar in the wine cellar. We'll pull it for a taste test tomorrow.

I have even more infusion plans, too, including basil-infused gin and maybe something with mint. We certainly have enough mint.

Can't wait to see what the farmers' market has for me tomorrow, too. More tomatillos? New peppers? Could this be the week the eggplant reappears?