So, my wife told me that this is my “Top Chef” moment. Which is fitting, as we’re sitting at the top of a ridge in Fiddletown CA and I’m trying to be a chef (get it?)

But here’s the thing:  Fiddletown is in the Fiddle-Sticks.  After driving 9 hours through country roads to the house on a gravel road, I was ready for wine. Given that it was a half-hour to get to the nearest market we were not going anywhere. 

So, improvising it would be.  I had brought food from home that would otherwise spoil or that I planned to use when we got to Sonoma County. The house was “rustic” meaning that it did not have a stove, but did have a glorified hotplate using induction to heat stuff. Sure beats the electric hotplate I had in my dorm room all those years ago.

Ingredients:

• 3 small to medium tomatoes, diced (2 cups?)
• 1 ear corn, kernels removed
• ¼ of an onion chopped
• Pine Nuts – a handful.
• Garlic – 2 or so cloves, minced
• Salt, Pepper, and some sort of herbs (dill?).
• Lemon Juice and water
• Olive Oil
• Feta Cheese, crumbled.

Recipe (if you want to call it that):

Put the skillet on the hotplate, add some oil and bring to about medium heat (I have no idea if it was medium heat; this is just a guess.) Add in the onions and soften.

Add in the corn. After a bit, I added garlic, salt, pepper, herbs and pine nuts. 

When the corn started popping, I added the tomatoes, mostly to avoid a mess. Also, some water  and lemon juice.  I let the tomatoes soften but not disintegrate. I tossed a little feta cheese over it for garnish.

That’s it.  It took about 20 minutes altogether.  I think it would be a great side-dish, but it was our meal for the day.