First gazpacho of the summer

After finding a few of the very first, perfect tomatoes of the season, I decided it was time to fire up the food processor and make gazpacho.  I posted the recipe last year and it's an ideal lunch or dinner in the summer. It also makes a large quantity so you can feed a crowd or enjoy what's leftover for a few days.

I find the more I cook recipes, the more the dish changes and evolves in the way I make it.

Tonight, I didn't have plain bread crumbs so I threw in a handful of saltine crackers to thicken the soup.  Also, once the vegetables were pureed, I added the olive oil and sherry wine vinegar while the mixture was still in the food processor.  After I transferred the mixture to a large bowl, I stirred in the tomato juice and then added in kosher salt, pepper and a bit more paprika.

Here is the link to the original post: http://bit.ly/jyCjrl

Enjoy!

No stove required

If it were appropriate, I would have worn my swimsuit to my office today and set up a blow-up pool next to my desk.

Yes, it is that hot outside.

Like oh-my-I-think-I-am-melting hot.

And people, it's only June.  

The fun has just begun.  Welcome to summer in the swamp that is the District of Columbia.

At this rate, I may be eating ice cream for dinner every night this summer.   Generally, this is what I do when it is 100 degrees outside with 95% humidity.  The thought of turning on the stove is unbearable even in an air conditioned house.

Frankly, it was even too hot to go to the grocery store tonight.  Since I decided I needed a food group other than dairy (i.e. ice cream), I hit the pantry where I found cans of black olives and chickpeas.  I decided to pair the olives and chickpeas with small pieces of fresh mozzarella and added a few splashes of red wine vinaigrette and a few shakes of garlic salt and oregano.  

In about five minutes or as long as it takes to open a jar and a can, I had a perfect summer dish to pair with cold flank steak.  This dish is also filling enough to have on its own if the heat has completely squelched your appetite.

I fully admit that this is not the most inventive thing to come out of my kitchen.  However, on a really hot night, it didn't matter because it was cool, satisfying and did not require turning on the stove.

You can add so many things to this dish and feel like you are never eating the same dish twice.  Other things you could add that I've used in the past include: kidney beans, northern beans, roasted red peppers, any vegetable you can think of, diced chicken, capers, cooked orzo, or tomatoes.  

Who knew the sky could be the limit without even turning on the stove? 

Simple Pantry Salad

(serves 2 as a main dish or 4 as a side)

Ingredients

1 can chickpeas

1 can black olives (you can use kalamata olives too)

1 small ball of fresh mozzarella cheese cut into bite-size chunks

A few splashes of red wine vinaigrette

A few shakes of oregano (you can use fresh from your garden if you have it)

A few shakes of garlic salt

Details

Drain the olives and chickpeas.

Cut the mozzarella cheese into bite-size 

Place all ingredients in a bowl.  Give the ingredients a few splashes of red wine vinaigrette, garlic salt and oregano.  Gently toss to coat ingredients.

**The seasoning with the vinegar, garlic salt and oregano is really based on your preference. So add a little of each, taste and then add a little more if you want.**

You say tomato, I say delicious!

One of my favorite parts of summer is the abundance of fresh, sweet tomatoes.

To my suprise, I have discovered that my neighborhood fish market, Black Salt, is my source for the sweetest locally grown tomatoes I have ever tasted.  Two weeks ago, along with the fish I purchased, I picked up a couple red tomatoes to go along with dinner and I couldn't believe it when I took a bite of the tomatoes!  Sweet beyond belief.  Almost like eating candy!

Tonight I remembered what a chef at one of my cooking classes taught me.  She used to say that the best dishes are not those with the most ingredients but rather a dish concocted with the freshest, best ingredients you can find.  For example, her theory was that a dessert made with the best eggs and a quality vanilla bean would be better than an overly complicated dessert made with processed ingredients any day.

This brings me to the side dish I prepared for dinner tonight.

I stopped at Black Salt to pick up scallops for dinner and told the chef of the restaurant (who happened to be in the market) about the amazing tomatoes I had purchased two weeks ago.  He suggested I try orange sunburst tomatoes he had in the market.  The tomatoes were the size of a cherry tomato but sweeter than any tomato I have ever tasted.  The chef said the tomatoes were particularly sweet given the hot weather this area experienced in August.

Once at home, I cut the tomatoes in half and cubed some fresh mozzarella cheese.  After depositing the tomatoes and cheese in a bowl, I added a pinch of sea salt and a few dashes of good balsamic vinegar.  

The result was delicious and frankly, almost like eating dessert for dinner.  What could be better?

And, since it is the middle of the week and my husband and I work full-time, being able to prepare a tasty and healthy dish in under five minutes makes this dish even better.

So remember as the final days of summer are upon us, take advantage of the farmer's market in your area to buy fresh, quality ingredients and keep it simple for a guaranteed delicious dish!

Sunburst Tomato Salad

Ingredients

1 small container orange sunburst tomatoes

1/3 cup fresh mozzarella cheese, diced

Balsamic Vinegar

Sea Salt

Details

*Cut tomatoes in half and deposit in a bowl along with the diced mozzarella cheese.

*Toss tomatoes and cheese.

*Add a pinch of sea salt and 2-3 dashes of balsamic vinegar.  Toss and serve.

Remembering my Dad with Orzo ...

Father’s Day was extremely special at my house this year as we celebrated my husband’s first Father’s Day! Our son, Davis, is the light of his life (and mine) and Dan is a terrific dad. While Dan played a bit of Father’s Day golf in the morning, I decided to cook up a nice lunch for his return.

It was extraordinarily hot in DC over the weekend so I turned to a tried and true favorite, my Pat McCarthy Orzo Salad. It is a cool and refreshing dish that isn’t heavy but still filling and satisfying.

As many of you know, my beloved dad passed away almost six years ago and loved food and cooking. Being that it was Father’s Day, I couldn’t help but think of him even more than usual. I wanted to cook something that reminded me of him to celebrate his life and honor him on Father’s Day. Because I know that he was looking down at me from above and saying, “C’mon Colleen, cook something I would have loved today to share with your husband and son on Dan’s first Father’s Day.”

In the Fall of 2004, my dad was recovering from his cancer surgery and had some time on his hands. It was during this time that he discovered Food Network and more specifically, Ina Garten, better known as the Barefoot Contessa. He thought Ina Garten was terrific and the dishes she prepared on her show appealed to him and inspired him. My dad was a planner when it came to food. He would eat breakfast and already be thinking about what we were going to make for dinner.

In that fashion, I remember the call from my dad in early November 2004 that he had just watched the Barefoot Contessa prepare a side dish of orzo with roasted vegetables and he was so excited because he decided he would cook it for our family for our Christmas dinner along with crab cakes. He wanted to make a special dinner for us as we would be together as a family for the holiday. With his cancer battle and my brother having gotten out of the military that year, it was going to be a special Christmas for us.

We hadn’t eaten orzo in my house growing up so he was beyond excited to cook up this delicious concoction for us. If I remember right, he even told the nurses at the hospital where he was getting his chemotherapy treatments about his new orzo dish he was going to cook for Christmas Dinner. My dad passed away on December 22, 2004 so we never did get to have his orzo with roasted vegetables but I chose to remember him and celebrate his life on Father’s Day by making something similar.

I started with some whole wheat orzo which doesn’t taste much different than regular orzo. I boiled the orzo and then added a quick lemon vinaigrette to the orzo. Then, I tossed in chickpeas, kalamata olives and diced roasted red peppers. I also sprinkled some feta cheese on top.  You can use any vegetables you want or even add in some chicken or shrimp to make this a main course. I ate some of it while it was still warm but it was still delicious served cold when my husband arrived home from golf. This is also great served with my favorite hummus.

Although this dish is a summer version of what my dad had planned to prepare, it made me feel so good to prepare something I know my dad would have enjoyed. One of my goals in writing this blog is to pass on the joy of cooking and food that my dad passed on to anyone who met him.

So, here’s to you, Dad! We felt your presence with us with each bite of orzo. In memory, here is a pick of me and my dad that I love taken 11 years ago.  We were sharing a piece of cheesecake.  One of the most important things my dad taught me was never to forget a good meal or dessert!

Pat McCarthy Orzo Salad (serves 4 as a side dish)

Ingredients
*1 ½ cups orzo
*1/4 cup olive oil
*1 ½ teaspoon minced garlic
*1 tablespoon dried oregano
*3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
*A few splashes of balsamic vinegar to taste
*3/4 cup kalamata olives
*1/2 cup chickpeas
*1/2 cup roasted red peppers
*Feta cheese



Details
*Add orzo to boiling water and cook until tender.
*In a small bowl, whisk the lemon juice, garlic and oregano. Slowly add the olive oil while whisking.
*Add a few splashes of balsamic vinegar to taste
*Add orzo to serving bowl and slowly add the vinaigrette while tossing the orzo.
*Add roasted red peppers, chickpeas and kalamata olives and toss. Sprinkle with Feta cheese.

Crumblies, Anyone?

My dad LOVED dessert.  Carrot cake may have been his favorite dessert (which will be another post down the road as I have found a delish carrot cake recipe) but not far behind was anything with "crumblies" on top.

Crumblies?

You know, the delicious streusel-like topping that is a combination of brown sugar, rolled oats, flour, a pinch of cinnamon and a whole lot of butter to hold it all together.

He always loved the apple pie my mom made that didn't have the traditional lattice-work on top but rather the crumblies.  I've acquired my dad's love of crumblies and to me, the filling of fruit is the sideshow but the delicious topping is the main attraction!  In typical fashion, my dad would justify this as an almost healthy dessert because it involved fruit.

This past weekend, I made a Strawberry and Peach Crumble that I know my dad would have loved.  My son was napping and I had a craving for something sweet but couldn't run to the grocery store while he was asleep so I had to make do with the ingredients I had in the house.  I happened to have a container of strawberries that was in need of being eaten within two days or thrown away and I hate to waste so into the Crumble they went!  Then, I moved on to the freezer.  We are moving in a couple weeks so I am trying to use up as much food as possible pre-move.  Lo and behold, there was a bag of frozen peaches I had purchased when I thought my son might have an interest in trying peaches.  Turns out, he had no interest.  So, into the Crumble went the peaches. 

I found a great recipe to pull together my random fruit assortment online.  God bless "The Google."  It turns out, Giada De Laurentiis must have found herself in the same position one day and she made a dessert with strawberries, peaches and a crumble topping.  Occasionally when I have made an Apple Crumble, the topping is a bit more high maintenance and involves blending by hand, but this was very easy.  I simply blended brown sugar, flour, and a stick of butter in the food processor while holding my breath that the whir of the food processor wouldn't wake up my sleeping son.  Thankfully, it didn't and about 40 minutes later, I took the bubbling, sweet Crumble from the oven and had a very nice treat as my son napped.  While I was sitting eating this glorious dessert, I couldn't help wishing my dad was with me to share in some strawberry and peaches with crumblies.  But, proving that he is with me and that my son is like him in so many ways, I gave Davis a bit of Crumble after his nap and he loved it. 

It seems that even at 11 months old, crumblies are just too good to pass up!

Here is the recipe:

Strawberry and Peach Crumble

Ingredients
Filling
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about 1/2 large lemon)
1.5-2 tablespoons corn starch
1 pound strawberries, halved
1 pound frozen peach slices (feel free to use fresh later this summer once they are in season)
1/2 cup light brown sugar

Topping
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup old fashioned style oats
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 stick unsalted butter, chilled, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

Details
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray medium baking dish, similar to this one with cooking spray.
*For the filling whisk together the lemon juice and corn starch until smooth. 
*Add the strawberries, peaches and brown sugar and toss until fruit is coated.  Pour the mixture into the dish.
*For the topping, combine the oats, brown sugar, cinnamon and sea salt in a food processor.  Pulse until mixed.
*Add the butter and pulse until the butter is the size of peas.
*Sprinkle th emixture over the filling and bake for 40 to 45 minutes until the filling is bubbling and the top is light golden.

Recipe adapted from Giada De Laurentiis' Strawberry and Peach Crumble recipe

Ready to Roll?

Last year, in an effort to add more variety to my cooking repertoire, I took a cooking class focused on preparing various Asian dishes. One of the best recipes I learned in this class was for Summer Rolls. I made the rolls multiple times last summer as an appetizer for parties but also as a light side dish to accompany a main course. Not only do the Summer Rolls make a pretty presentation as an appetizer but they are loaded with vegetables which is great if you are attempting to eat healthy without sacrificing taste for less calories.

This is a recipe that much like my Timeless Tart as you can make it feel new each time you prepare it by varying the filling.  I've made Summer Rolls with a variety of different vegetables and have even added shrimp or rice noodles to make the rolls more hearty. Since we like things spicy at my house, I occasionally add jalapeno as well.

I marinated the vegetables in sesame oil, ginger, soy sauce and lime. A little goes a long way with these ingredients! You can make your own dipping sauce or even buy some sweet chili sauce in the store and it is a great compliment to the Summer Rolls. For the filling, I used a red and orange bell pepper, green onions and shitake mushrooms. I julienned the peppers so they would be approximately the same size as the mushrooms. I bought the mushrooms pre-sliced and with their narrow cut, they worked perfectly with the peppers. I used rice paper to wrap the vegetables.  All you need to do is submerge the paper in warm water for 10 seconds and then you are ready to roll.  Literally!

Since it is tricky to explain how to roll the Summer Rolls, I enlisted my husband to take a quick video of me preparing the Summer Rolls. Please don't mind the dishes in the sink or the background noises from our son!

Enjoy this versatile recipe and definitely experiment with your favorite filling. One last thing: be sure to place the Summer Rolls on damp paper towel and cover with damp paper towel as well before serving to make sure they retain their moisture.

C's Summer Rolls (makes approximately 20-25 rolls)


Ingredients
Rice paper
1 red bell pepper
1 orange bell pepper
1 package of pre-sliced shitake mushrooms
Green onions
1 lime, squeezed
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons ginger (I bought the kind you squeeze from a tube)



Details
*Slice the peppers into matchstick slices and place in a small bowl with the mushrooms and sliced green onion.
*In a small bowl whisk together the sesame oil, soy sauce, lime juice and ginger.
*Pour the sauce over the vegetables and mix well.
*Begin assembling the Summer Rolls (see video above) by placing the rice paper in warm water for 10 seconds. Remove the paper from the water, pat with a towel and then fill with the ingredients and roll. Be sure to place the rolls on damp paper towel and cover with damp paper towel until ready to serve.

Guacamole I Cannot Live Without (and a preview of what I am cooking this weekend)

I've been traveling this week for work so I've had less time to cook than I would like. Tomorrow, we are headed to dinner at Rosa Mexicano, one of our favorite Mexican restaurants and a sentimental favorite as it is where we had our rehearsal dinner (those who attended remember the pomegranate margaritas for sure!!). My husband and I adore Rosa's guacamole too and we hope our son might enjoy a little tomorrow night.

Click here to try the Rosa Mexicano guacamole recipe. It is just too good! I think the only way to eat guacamole is having it made fresh with ripe avocados, fresh cilantro and a good squeeze of lime juice. This recipe is by far the best.

But, be sure to stop by on Sunday for a new recipe for Summer Rolls. They are light, veggie-heavy and an impressive little appetizer for summer barbecues or even as a light accompaniment to dinner on a hot night.

Putting Your Margarita Glasses to Good Use (with something other than margaritas)

When I got married in 2006, one of the most enjoyable parts of the engagement process outside of the fun of planning our future and wedding was registering for items to fill our new home. And I embraced it with passion. In fact, as a resident of a two bedroom apartment, we registered for far more items than we could possibly keep in our apartment. My theory was register for the house we will have one day, not the dwelling where we currently lived. As someone who loves to entertain and cook, I had a little too much fun with this process. Hence, we ended up with glassware galore and more platters than anyone could ever really need.

Which brings me to the inspiration for the recipe I cooked this weekend, gazpacho. When we unpacked 10 margarita glasses out of a gift box, my husband rolled his eyes. And, rightfully so given that our apartment can hold about four people for dinner and that is a tight squeeze! I decided if we were going to keep the glasses and not return them (we did return four of the 10 as I reasoned we could maybe squeeze in six people for a party), I needed to find multiple uses for the glasses rather than just using them for margaritas. A few summers ago, we had a small group for dinner and as I looked at the margarita glasses, I decided to use them to serve gazpacho and garnish each glass with a lemon so that it looked like a cocktail. It definitely made a traditional summer dish more visually appealing and was a special touch for dinner guests. Since that summer night, this has become one of my favorite recipes.

The recipe I used is from Tyler Florence. I omitted a couple ingredients including cucumbers and parsley as I don't care for either. In the past, I have also added jalapenos to increase the heat of the dish. Feel free to personalize the dish. It is delicious with shrimp or scallops if you want to turn it into a main course. Additionally, you can enjoy the leftovers for several days and the gazpacho gets even better each day the longer it sits.

Don't hesitate to make this recipe even though tomatoes are not in season right now. I suggest looking for the vine-ripened tomatoes at your local grocery store which tend to be flavorful and not too watery.

Now, the thought of chopping all the vegetables could be slightly daunting if you are pressed for time but luckily, nothing needs to be chopped perfectly. I prefer to use a more 'rustic' chop (read: various shapes and sizes and utilizing none of the learned skills from my knife skills class). Once everything is chopped, deposit it in the food processor with bread crumbs. If you do not have a large food processor, you may need to puree in batches. The original recipe calls for using day-old bread but the bread crumbs are much easier. Once the puree is complete, you add paprika, sugar, salt and pepper, olive oil, tomato juice, fresh lemon juice and olive oil.

You are left with a fantastic and refreshing summer dish. And, another use for those margarita glasses that sit on the shelves between crazy margarita parties. Oh wait, we've never really had those so good thing I came up with the gazpacho idea!

Margarita Glass Gazpacho

Ingredients (Serves 4-6)
*2 lbs tomatoes, chopped
*1 red bell pepper, chopped
*1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
*1 medium onion, chopped
*2 teaspoons minced garlic
*Salt and pepper to taste
*1 1/2 cups plain breadcrumbs
*1 tablespoon sugar
*1 tablespoon paprika
*1/4 cup sherry wine vinegar
*1/2 cup olive oil
*2 cups tomato juice
*1 lemon, squeezed

Details

*In a food processor, combine the tomatoes, red and yellow peppers, onion, garlic and breadcrumbs. Puree until almost smooth. Transfer to a large bowl.

*Add to the vegetable mixture salt and pepper to taste, sugar, paprika, sherry wine vinegar, olive oil and tomato juice. Squeeze juice of one fresh lemon into the gazpacho.

*Pour into a margarita glass or bowl and garnish with a lemon wedge.

Recipe Adapted from Tyler Florence Gazpacho Recipe

Big Pat's Favorite Things Salad

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens?

Not in my family. Those items definitely did not count as favorite things. We had a few things that ranked higher.

Channeling my dad (known as “Big Pat” on this blog), I know he would say: “No thanks. Give me Italian sausage and cheese any day instead.”

It’s very warm in D.C. today and it made me think of summertime growing up in Wisconsin and all the great things my dad would cook. In particular, he loved to grill Italian sausage from our favorite Italian grocery store in Milwaukee, Glorioso’s. He would serve the sausages with a salad full of fresh vegetables including peppers, mushrooms and onion with his special vinaigrette. My dad always made a great salad dressing (olive oil, red wine vinaigrette, garlic, onion salt and oregano and a squeeze of lemon juice) and I have tried for a long time to replicate it. I think I am getting closer and my attempt is below.

I decided to make a nice, warm weather-appropriate salad for dinner tonight with a few of my dad’s favorite things. What could be better than bocconcini (little almost bite size balls of mozzarella that you can find at almost any grocery store) with fresh mushrooms, roasted red peppers, toasted pine nuts, white beans (northern or cannellini will work), kalamata (or regular black olives) and turkey Italian sausage pieces tossed in a delicious vinaigrette?

Because it is not the weekend, I was a bit pressed for time to cook since when I get home from work my priority is to be able to spend as much time as possible with my husband, Dan and our son, Davis. The salad turned out to be a great idea because it was hearty enough for a main course and filled with fresh ingredients but still easy to prepare. The only real “cooking” I had to do was grill the sausage. Since Italian sausage does not rank high on the list of healthiest things in the world, I opted to use spicy turkey Italian sausage. After tasting the turkey Italian sausage, I think it could have even fooled my dad as tasting like the “real thing” from Glorioso’s. Additionally, feel free to personalize the salad for your tastes and add more of less of one ingredient. And, add as much or as little of the vinaigrette as you please.

Though I didn’t have a lot of time to let the ingredients marinate today before serving, this salad is even better the next day after the various components have soaked up the tasty vinaigrette. As my dad liked to say, “It’s never too early to think about your next meal.”

And with this salad, at least it’s already waiting for you ready to go the next day, even more delicious than the first time.

Here are the details:

Big Pat’s Favorite Things Salad (Serves 4)

Salad Ingredients
*2 eight ounce containers of bocconcini, drained from the water they are packaged in and cut in half
*1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
*1/2 cup kalamata or black olives
*1/2 cup roasted red peppers cut into 1 inch squares
*1/2 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced
*1/2 cup white beans (northern or cannellini), rinsed
*4 Turkey Italian Sausage links, grilled and cut into bite-size pieces

Vinaigrette Ingredients
*¾ cup olive oil
*¼ cup red wine vinegar
*2-3 garlic cloves
*2 tsp oregano
*½ tsp onion salt

*Juice of half a large lemon
*Salt and pepper to taste

Details:
*Grill two links of turkey Italian sausage until brown and thoroughly cooked.
*While the sausage is grilling, drain the bocconcini and beans and cut each bocconcini in half. In a medium bowl, add the bocconcini, beans, olives, fresh mushrooms and roasted red peppers which have been cut into 1 inch squares.
*Place the pine nuts in a pan over medium heat on the stove and toss them until they are toasted. You will know they are done cooking when you can smell the pine nuts “toasting”. Add the pine nuts to the bowl once toasted.
*Once the sausage is grilled, cut it into bite-size pieces and add to the bowl.
*Whisk the red wine vinegar with the garlic, oregano and onion salt. Slowly add the olive oil while whisking and then squeeze in the lemon juice. Add salt and pepper to taste.
*Slowly add the vinaigrette to the bowl of ingredients and toss (use more or less vinaigrette to taste).
*Serve to the ones you love with a good loaf of Italian bread.