Tag Archives: July 4th

Summer Gazpacho and Bean Salad

Posted on by
1

Summer Gazpacho Salad

I’m a planner, by trade as much as by nature.  I’ve been in planning mode for my imminent Europe trip.  After a plane change and two train rides, I’ll find myself in Northern Italy for a week of pasta school.  School is followed by a week solo in Prague for exploring and, finally, one afternoon in Milan before heading home.  I’ve created a few different guide maps for the trip – maps of the can’t-miss tourist sites,   the must-visit restaurants, and, of course, maps of the local artigianale gelato shops, at least while I’m in Italy.  My Italian gelato class in 2013 has converted me into a gelato elitist.  This wait has become a countdown to exceptional gelato as much as a pasta school countdown.  Let the trip begin.

In the interim, I’m trying to behave:

Summer Gazpacho and Bean Salad
Serves 4

3 Various colored tomatoes (heirloom preferred)
2 Stalks celery
2 Green onions
½ English cucumber
½ Yellow bell pepper
1 14.5 oz. can Great Northern beans
2 T. Red wine vinegar
¼ t. Salt
1/8 t. Pepper
1 t. Hot pepper sauce
3 T. Olive oil

Cut tomatoes into wedges and cut wedges in half crosswise.  Thinly slice celery and green onions.  Dice cucumber and bell pepper.  Drain and rinse beans.  In a large bowl, combine beans and vegetables.  In a small bowl, combine vinegar, salt, pepper and hot sauce.  Slowly whisk in olive oil until combined.  Pour dressing over vegetables, stir well and let marinate at least 30 minutes before serving.

July 4th Guinea Pig Hoedown

Posted on by
Reply

I capitalized on the 4th of July holiday to party-host and try out of few of my potential menu items on my family.  My desired outcome was some honest, usable feedback that would guide me towards improving my recipes. My relations are people of opinions – strong opinions.   Saturday, I came to understand that they are people of conflicting opinions.  Nine conflicting opinions, to be exact.

 We began the afternoon with my appetizers of eggplant and lamb meatballs in a garlic-walnut dipping sauce served with a few different flatbreads.  My sister, S., thought the meatballs were a bit greasy and she has determined they would be better if baked.  My sister-in-law’s brother-in-law (no joke) and my brother decided they needed more binder (egg or breadcrumb).  S. said the binder was fine, but the dipping sauce was too garlicky (my brother, B., disagreed).  I served three kinds of flatbread.  Before the party, I had already settled on the Moroccan “pita-style” flatbread for my menu.  Well, S. thought the traditional, cracker-style flatbread was better.

 The main dish was Tamarind-glaze baby back ribs.  Everyone (surprisingly) liked them and told me not to change a thing.  Sister-in-law’s brother-in-law thought they would be undercooked (I baked them at 350 for 90 minutes), but had to take it back as they were perfect. The main course was “opinion intermission”.

 I finished the evening with two desserts.  The first was a pile of sticky honey-glazed yeast fritters dotted with crystallized ginger and golden raisins.  S. didn’t think they sounded good when I described them to her, but changed her mind once she took a bite of their sticky and crunchy goodness, although, she kept trying to convince me to dust them with chopped walnuts.  She also thought they needed to be smaller and encouraged more ginger.  My brother, B., said they needed more raisins.  I also served a tart with sucree crust, fig and sesame layer, topped with an orange-cardamom pastry cream, and finally decorated with Chantilly cream and sesame brittle.  My sister is the pastry expert.  She thought the crust was undercooked (I would agree) and we both agreed that the pastry cream was too “floury”.  She also didn’t like the texture of the sesame brittle.  My sister-in-law, T, loved the sesame brittle.  My brother’s mother-in-law said “10” on both.

 So what the fuck do I do now?