Bloody Mary... Come Out to Play-7/31/09

Warning: The post below mentions blood... If you are not comfortable with blood and food in the same post, do not read!

When I was young, one of our favorite sleep-over games was to try to scare ourselves silly. The best way to do this was to tell stories about Bloody Mary, then at midnight, stand in front of a mirror, spin around, and look for the bloody face of a young girl to look back at us. Thankfully, we never did see a bloody face but as I grew older, I couldn't help but think of this game every time someone referenced the tomato-based cocktail, the Bloody Mary. As you can imagine, this visual picture would not make you want to drink something so I've never been a fan of Bloody Marys.
There were two recipes in Gourmet this month that made Bloody Marys and with a small amount of dread, I saved them until the very end of the month. One of the recipes was a drink recipe to go with the brunch menu, "Wake-Up Call". Since I'd done this menu in parts anyway, I decided to make the drink and compare it to the other recipe, a Bloody Mary-style ice pop. The drink was made by blending tomatoes, celery, and parsley with flavoring ingredients. As you can see from my picture, the green ingredients overpowered the tomatoes, giving this drink a green hue instead of the namesake red. I found that the flavor was a bit muddled in identity too. There was no strong tomato flavor and the vodka was a bit overpowering. I won't be making homemade Bloody Marys again.
As for the Bloody Mary Ice Pop, this was an issue of texture and visual effect confusing flavor. When I have red Popsicles, I am not prepared for a savory flavor and sadly, this block was impossible to get over. I just couldn't eat more than a few bites before I got completely weirded out by the taste over texture thing. I've had this problem before (see the post for 2/20) and sometimes your brain just wants something to taste like it looks.
I finished up this month's recipes with the recipe for Grilled Steak and Potatoes with Charmoula Sauce. The steak and potatoes were just that, grilled steak with boiled potatoes. The Charmoula Sauce was the variation of the dish and I'm must say I found it much too lemony. I've made a sauce similar, I don't know if it was called Charmoula, but I did not enjoy this variation. The amount of lemon and cilantro was overpowering and did not highlight the cumin and paprika.
I made the final boozy ice pop to go with this meal and I was pleasantly surprised. I've mentioned in other posts that several of these ice pops were so mildly flavored that the alcohol either over or underwhelmed. This ice pop had the best mix of flavor to alcohol ratio. It was a bit like having a frozen mojito. I have never had a caipirinha, frozen or otherwise, so I didn't have a good frame of reference for what that drink would taste like. The only strange thing was the small pieces of mint that had floated to the top and frozen. I didn't eat the last 1/2 inch or so of the ice pop to avoid major issues with mint on my teeth.

Fresh Tomato Bloody Marys-D

Bloody Mary Ice Pops-D

Grilled Steak and Potatoes with Charmoula Sauce-D

Mint Caipirinha Ice Pops-B+

Gourmet's Idyll Summer Menu-7/30/09

I've occasionally complained while doing this project of making every recipe in Gourmet magazine for the month about the huge menus with 10+ recipes. I think Gourmet got it right with this month's dinner menus. Tonight I made the menu titled "American Idyll", the last of the three dinner menus in this month's Gourmet. All three of these menus where of manageable size and could easily be reduced for a smaller family. The menu I made today was the largest with 9 recipes but I was able to make one of the two pie recipes at a different time and only the pie had an active time of more than 30 minutes.
Tonight's menu was a true summer classic with Mint Ice Tea, lots of fresh veggies, ribs, and pie with ice cream. Every component went together well and there wasn't a single recipe that I thought, "Why did they stick that in here?"
The menu began with a Fresh Mint Tea Julep that could be made with or without alcohol. I'm not a huge sweet tea person so I did water mine down but the mint added a wonderful freshness to the tea. The bourbon, an alcohol I usually don't like, was a good match for this tea as well, giving some kick without overpowering the mint flavor.
The Sticky Balsamic Ribs were also good, though not the best I've ever made. There is a recipe for ribs with a Cherry Coke glaze in Bon Appetite from years ago that still holds that honor. I only cooked one rack so they did not take as long as the recipe stated.. The balsamic glaze did not thicken up in the 15 minutes or so of boiling but I brushed it on anyway and it still flavored the ribs well.
The starter of Eggplant and Sun-Dried Tomato Spread was super easy and I will definitely save this one for other occasions. It worked well with a summer menu such as this one but had enough flavor to work with lots of menus, even heavier winter meals. Yum!
The sides were quick, easy, and starred fresh summer vegetables. The Corn-and-Tomato Scramble and the Green Beans with Sweet Onion Vinaigrette both had great vinaigrettes that were flavorful but did not overpower the vegetables. The Lemony Potato Salad seemed almost too simple but again, it was flavorful and filling.
The dessert of the Plum-Blackberry Pie and Sour Cream Ice Cream was a real summer treat. I've never made a plum pie and loved the combination of plums and blackberries. My only suggestion for next time would be to cut the plums in smaller slices. The recipe said to quarter the plums but the pieces were too big for a manageable bite. I had to go back and cut the plums up for Eyrleigh. The Sour Cream Ice Cream was a great variation on vanilla. It had a cheesecake-like flavor that was very smooth but had a nice tang at the end. Way to go, Gourmet, this is a great summer menu!














Fresh Mint Tea Juleps-B+
Eggplant and Sun-Dried Tomato Spread-A-
Sticky Balsamic Ribs-B
Corn-and-Tomato Scramble-B+
Lemony Potato Salad-B+
Green Beans with Sweet Onion Vinaigrette-B+
Plum-Blackberry Streusel Pie-A-
(All-Butter Pastry Dough-A)
Sour Cream Ice Cream-A

Afternoon Tea with Eyrleigh and Me-7/29/09

Just a few days ago, Richard was reading the weekly updates we receive from Babycenter.com, a online site with helpful hints for parents. One of the suggestions of things to do with a young toddler was to have a tea party. Naturally, Eyrleigh is a bit young for tea but she sure enjoyed the scones I made to go with the tea. This month's Gourmet had a wonderfully simple recipe for currant scones on page 13. These scones were light and moist, almost like a cookie. I'm not a fan of the dry, hard scones and these were a perfect blend of sweetness and texture.

Dinner was a refreshing change. Gourmet is not a hot dog kind of magazine but tonight's recipe was as close as it gets. Tonight's recipe was basically a dressed-up hot dog and called for any type of of fully cooked sausage. I choose a Chicken and Apple Sausage by Bruce Aidells to make the Sausage, Arugula, and Piquillo Pepper Sandwiches on page 63. This sausage was a good match for this recipe as its mild flavor didn't interfere with the strong olive flavor. I found the olive flavor a bit overwhelming but I liked the idea of a cheap and easy meal with gourmet sausages.

I had a tough time finding Swiss chard but I finally found it at Publix. I made the Wilted Swiss Chard with Garlic, Lemon, and Parmesan. This dish had some very strong flavors and I don't think I'd make it again. It wasn't that I didn't like the dish, its flavor was just so strong that I can't picture it with many other dishes.
For dessert, I made the Maple-Blueberry Parfait on page 33. I've been really good at reducing recipes but for some reason, with this recipe, I forgot. This picture at left in actually 3 servings, whoops! This was a simple dessert with layers of blueberries, whipped cream, and crumbled ginger cookies sweetened only by maple syrup. Eyrleigh loved it and helped us finish off the giant parfaits.

Currant Scones-A

Sausage, Arugula, and Piquillo Pepper Sandwiches-B

Wilted Swiss Chard with Garlic, Lemon, and Parmesan-C

Maple-Blueberry Parfaits-A-

Amateur Photography Alert!-7/28/09

Some days the pictures I post on this blog really show off the food I have made and let the reader know what the dish should look like. Other times, I think I'm just about the worst photographer on earth and a beautiful dessert looks like a blurry mess. Sadly, today was a bad picture day. On the tiny little screen of my digital camera the picture at left of tonight's dessert, the Three Layer Berry Pavlova, from page 63 of this month's Gourmet, looked just fine. After loading it to the computer, long after we had cut into and made a mess of the meringue, I realized the picture was blurry and looked really lopsided. As the saying goes, it looked much better in person. This dessert tasted great, too. I have made one other Pavlova, also for this project, and love the flavor and texture of this dessert. The only down side is that it is not good for leftovers. It gets soggy pretty quickly and after cutting, looks like it has been struck by a small bomb. Yep, that's why you get just this one blurry picture.
I didn't do a whole lot better with the other two pictures of tonight's dishes. I made the second mussels dish in a week, the Mussels Marseilleaise on page 13. This dish was just the mussels in a wine sauce so I bought a baguette to go with them. I enjoyed this dish but perhaps because the novelty was no longer there, I was not as impressed as I was by the linguine dish from last week. I made the Romaine Salad with Anchovy Dressing and Parmesan to go with this meal. This was basically a variation of the traditional Caesar salad, minus croutons. It was good and very easy. I made it even easier by using anchovy paste instead of fillets and I thought this time saver worked just fine.

Mussels Marseilleaise-B

Romaine Salad with Anchovy Dressing and Parmesan-B+

Three Layer Berry Pavlova-A-

Don't Drop Kiwi Sorbet On Your Head-7/27/09

Nope, if you can possibly help it, do not drop kiwi sorbet on your head, particularly if it is still in liquid form. There was some television show in the 80's that regularly dumped green slime on its host and audience members and I can confirm that unfrozen kiwi sorbet would be an excellent substitute. Let me explain. I was making tonight's dessert, the Kiwi Sorbet on page 52 of July's Gourmet, and I put it into the freezer for a quick chill before putting it in the ice cream maker. I needed to dig into a lower drawer in the freezer to get out the frozen bucket for the ice cream maker and I must have jostled the rather precarious bowl of unfrozen sorbet. It fell right on my head before flipping over and landing right side up on the floor. Thankfully, only about half of the liquid fell out so I simply put what was left into the ice cream maker. The rest I washed out of my hair or wiped of the side of the freezer or the floor. I should have taken a picture but I didn't want it drying in my hair so I prioritized taking a shower. The remaining sorbet was excellent. With just kiwi and sugar, this was a very simple dessert that tasted just like it should have, kiwis.
For dinner, I made the Thyme-Rubbed Lamb Chops on page 48 and though good, they were nothing outstanding. I like lamb but I didn't think the rub really added anything flavorwise to the lamb.
As a side, I made the Provencal Bok Choy. Again, this was a good dish but nothing outstanding. The bok choy retained its crunch and the vegetables added nice flavor but I thought this dish tasted much like other dishes made with Swiss Chard or another similar cabbage.

Kiwi Sorbet-A

Thyme Rubbed Lamb Loin Chops-C

Provencal Bok Choy-B

Language Barriers and Green Tapioca-7/26/09

No, your eyes are not deceiving you. There is
a distinct green hue to the tapioca pearls in the
dessert picture on your right. Tonight I made the Fruit on the Bottom Tapioca Pudding on page
45 of July's Gourmet magazine. I learned several
months ago (see blog post for 2/17) that there is a vast difference between quick cooking tapioca and small pearl tapioca. So with that in mind, I looked diligently for small tapioca pearls at Super H Mart. I found some, but they were green. I couldn't find any other item labeled small pearl tapioca. While checking out, I double checked with our favorite cashier, who adores Eyrleigh and speaks to her enthusiastically in Korean every time we see her. Her English is limited but I'm pretty sure she knew what I was asking and she said the only other color was purple. It wasn't exactly what I wanted but I thought green tapioca made this dessert looked a bit festive, maybe a bit of Christmas in July. It is the 26th after all:)!
For the meal, I made the Quick Marinated Flank Steak on page 72 and paired it with the Panfried Tofu with Romano-Bean and Herb Salad from page 57. The salad had been listed as a vegetarian main but with Richard ramping up his triathlon training, I knew tofu wasn't going to cut it. I was glad I did this because the tofu was fine, but not particularly flavorful or filling. The steak was another acceptable but not outstanding dish. I think the meat would have benefited from a longer marinade, therefore eliminating the name "Quick-Marinated". A longer marinade may also have helped soften up the flank steak as I found it a chewy cut for this recipe.

Fruit on the Bottom Tapioca Pudding-B

Quick Marinated Flank Steak-C

Panfried Tofu with Romano-Bean and Herb Salad-C

The Queen of Tarts-7/24/09

I have never been the queen of brunch. It's too early for me. I don't mind going out for brunch and let someone else do the cooking but to make brunch, I would have to be awake much too early. Today, I made brunch for lunch before we left for the night. Richard has a triathlon tomorrow so this afternoon we will drive to Thompson, Georgia to help him get ready.

I've mentioned before that I am dividing up the large brunch menu "Wake-Up Call" so it's more manageable for the 3 of us. It was surprisingly easy to reduce the ingredients for the three tarts in the menu to make just 4 tarts for us. The three kinds of tarts were Pea, Scallion, and Pancetta Tart, Goat Cheese and Tomato Tart, and Crab and Tarragon Tart. Since all three tarts used the same crust recipe and the same custard recipe, the only thing different was the fillings. I really liked all three variations, though I found the Crab and Tarragon Tart to be the most flavorful. The other two tarts were more mild but also very good. As you can see, I'm still having trouble with the pictures loading sideways and though I tried about 5 different ways to fix it, it still keeps happening. AHHHH!

Several days ago, while make the Tenderloin with Tomato-Peach Compote and the Peach Pie, I pureed up the Peaches and Cream Ice Pops from "The Last Touch" series of ice pops. I didn't have amaretto and had been having a little trouble balancing the right amount of alcohol for ours while leaving it out of Eyrleigh's, so I just left the amaretto out altogether. These were the best ice pops yet, and I don't think the lack of alcohol had anything to do with it. These ice pops were yogurt based and it gave them a creamier texture and stronger flavor than any of the other ice pop recipes from this issue.

Crab and Tarragon Tart-A-

Goat Cheese and Tomato Tart-B+

Pea, Scallion, and Pancetta Tart-B+

Peaches and Cream Ice Pops-A-

Please Explain "Crimp Decoratively"-7/23/09

Making a pie always reminds me how little time I have spent being taught how to cook. With no offense to my mother, she was never a person who enjoyed cooking. She did a lot of cooking but it was not something she enjoyed. I never remember her inviting me into the kitchen to cook with her or showing me how to make something. She helped me when I asked her but I think watching me cook made her nervous. She still leaves the kitchen when I cook at home.

I also belong to perhaps the first generation of American girls that did not have to take home economics, a high school class that centered around cooking and sewing. It was, in fact, discouraged for those of us in college prep classes so I never took home ec.

My only real training was when I was involved in 4H when I was a kid and I took a cooking class once a week at Mrs. Coulter's house. We made a volcano cake, a chocolate cake that looked like it was erupting, and lots of variations of chop suey. After Mrs. Coulter moved away, we took the class with Mrs. Putnam but I don't remember much about what we made. I remember laughing about the goofy farmhand that loved to come into the kitchen while we were there.

I would comfortably say that this lack of training is not unique among Americans. Oh, we may eat a lot but very few of us have had much training, either from a mentoring family member or from formalized classes. It's amazing to me how much time people spend cooking, probably for most even more than they do reading, but they've spent 100's of hours learning to read, and very few learning to cook.

Back to the pie... At the end of the recipe for tonight's dessert, Honey Caramel Peach Pie, the directions said to crimp decoratively. I tried but as you can see from the picture above, there was little decorative about it. I guess I'll have to settle for videos and directions on the Internet. The video on eHow is pretty good.
The pie, even with an ugly crimping, was excellent. My only complaint is that the honey made the sugar mixture look caramelized so it was hard to tell when caramelization had occurred. I'd never used milk and sugar on the top of the crust and it made a great glaze for the top.

Staying with the peach theme, for dinner I made the Pork Tenderloin with Tomato-Peach Compote on page 51. This was a very good variation of tenderloin. The garlic curry rub was easy and added a subtle flavor that played well with the sweet tomato-peach compote. This was an easy dish that looked good on the plate. Sadly, I couldn't get the picture to load correctly, I even had Richard try, so I apologize that it looks a bit strange. I put it at the bottom of the page so it was not the first thing you see when you read this post.
I've been trying to catch up with July's recipes so I made a Gourmet recipe for lunch too. I made one of the recipes from the 'Wake-up Call' menu, a huge brunch that would be ridiculous to make for a family of two and a half. So I started by making the Bacon, Egg, and Tomato Club Sandwiches on page 63. This was a jazzed up version of the BLT and I really liked it. The egg added that extra touch that made this sandwich more filling than a regular BLT. (I always get hungry within two hours of a BLT.)

Bacon, Egg, and Tomato Club Sandwiches-A-

Pork Tenderloin with Tomato-Peach Compote-A-

Honey Caramel Peach Pie-A-

This is Gourmet-7/22/09

The best part of this "Month of Gourmet" project is those nights were dinner is delicious, everything looks great, and cleanup is minimal. Tonight was one of those nights. I only made two dishes from July's Gourmet but both were outstanding. I made Linguine with Mussels and Fresh Herbs on page 48 as a main. Some may notice I made a major substitution to the recipe. There were no mussels at the store so I substituted clams and the dish still worked great. It was simple to make, looked impressive, and the herb and wine sauce flavored the dish well. I'm realizing shellfish are a sure fire way to impress because most American cooks are less familiar with using them and therefor think cooking with them is difficult.
The dessert recipe was equally impressive. I made the Almond Praline Semifreddo with Grappa-Poached Apricots that was originally listed in the "Sail On Home" menu but I'd repositioned because of timing. I've never made a semifreddo and was a little nervous because I was heading out to the zoo with Eyrleigh and some friends at 9:30 this morning. All it took was a little organization before hand, mostly an extension cord so I could use the beater over the stove. (My stove top is on an island in the middle of the kitchen and there is no outlet there.) I finished with plenty of time to get ready for the zoo. I boiled the apricots with French brandy instead of the Italian variation grappa, because I had brandy on hand. This dessert was probably one of the best I've made in this Gourmet project. The almond praline gave a wonderful crunch to the light and tasty semifreddo and the apricots added a tart sweetness. Excellent dish that would fit well on any classy restaurant menu.

Linguine with Mussels and Herbs-A

Almond Praline Semifreddo with Grappa-Poached Apricots-A

The Axis of Evil-7/21/09

Chocolate cake is the axis of evil. Richard may be the first husband in history to be upset that his wife made a chocolate cake with dinner. We worked through it by the end of the night but the basic gist was that he felt that I made the chocolate cake with the intent to derail his triathlon training program. For the record, that was not my intent. I made the Dense Chocolate Fudge Cake on page 52 in this month's Gourmet because well, I'm making every recipe and this was one of them. Part of Richard's frustration is that I am not tempted by sweets as much as he is and having a chocolate cake sitting around was too great a temptation. Resisting temptation is a very wonderful skill to practice, dear!
The dessert kind of ruined it but for what it's worth, dinner was pretty healthy. The Chicken Breasts with Zucchini Pappadelle on page 44 was a simple and flavorful dish. I don't have an adjustable-blade slicer but a vegetable peeler dragged across the width of the squash worked pretty well. The basil added a nice dimension to the chicken and zucchini.
I made two sides, Grilled Scallions Vinaigrette on page 44 and Summer Beets with Mint on page 45. I found the scallions stringy but the dressing was good. The hard boiled eggs on top added a bit of depth. The beets with mint was a very good dish. I haven't made many dishes with beets from Gourmet. I like beets and my mom touts their virtues as a body cleanser. This dish was very simple, basically boiled beets but the mint added freshness to the dish.

Chicken Breasts with Zucchini Pappadelle-B+

Grilled Scallions Vinaigrette-C

Summer Beets with Mint-B+

Dense Chocolate Fudge Cake-B

In Defense of the Lunch Lady-7/20/09

I was a teacher for 13 years before taking time off to be a full-time mom. As a busy teacher, there was many a day when I forgot to make a lunch to bring to work and ended up sampling the school cafeteria fare. I've got to tell you something. All jokes aside, the cafeteria staff at a large public school have a challenging and often unappreciated job. Cooking for over a thousand children and loads of adults like me who didn't bring lunch is no easy task. Cooking all this on an extremely limited budget and with little room for creativity is even harder. If you are not familiar with the typical school food service system, there is a certain percentage of their food that is government surplus and menus must be created months in advance. There are a required number of fruits and vegetables that must be served at each meal and the drink is milk unless a child shows documentation of a milk allergy.
I had the privilege of working with a number of women who were extremely dedicated to their job. They were all very professional about their job and did their best to make meals that were both appetizing and healthy. They cared not only about the quality of the food they served but about the kids to whom that food was served. Because of the confidential nature of the Free and Reduced Lunch Program, they often knew more about the financial struggles of many families in the community. Lunch ladies may be the brunt of jokes in popular culture but I hope I'm doing my part to change that.
What brought on this treatise about school cafeterias? Today I stole an idea straight from the school menu, breakfast for lunch. I made the Fresh Corn Pancakes on page 46 of this month's Gourmet. These pancakes had actual corn kernels in them but they puffed up just like a regular pancake. Both Eyrleigh and I liked the pancakes but the extra work is not something I'm likely to do in the early morning.
For dinner, I made the "Sail On Home" menu. This was a pretty simple menu, by Gourmet standards, with only 5 recipes. The menu began with Toasted Corn Crisps, a basic cornmeal cracker that Eyrleigh just loved. These light little crackers were designed to go with the Chilled and Dilled Avgolemono Soup. I am not usually a fan of cold soups but this was a creamy, lightly flavored, satisfying variation. Aside from burning myself with hot soup flying out of the blender, this soup was easy to make. (Remember my earlier issues in this blog with blenders!) The other nice thing was the fact that I didn't have to time making it to make sure it was hot.
The main dish in this menu was Roasted Black Sea Bass with Tomato and Olive Salad. I only found skinless sea bass fillets. At $13 a fillet, I was happy that the cook time given was perfect. The tomato and olive salad was also excellent and a good compliment to the fish. The side dish of Rice with Fennel and Golden Raisins was Eyrleigh's favorite. I liked it but am a little over the love affair with fennel. I don't always find the anise flavor a good match, I think it's been a bit overused in Gourmet recently.
The menu called for a semifreddo with apricots but because of time, I paired the menu with Nectarines with Ricotta-Vanilla Cream and Pine-Nut Brittle on page 7. This was a very pretty dessert and the creamy ricotta paired well with the sweet-tart nectarines. The only thing I didn't like was the slightly gritty texture of the ricotta.

Fresh Corn Pancakes-C

Toasted Corn Crisps-C

Chilled and Dilled Avoglemono Soup-A-

Roasted Black Sea Bass with Tomato and Olive Salad-A

Rice with Fennel and Golden Raisins-B-

Nectarines with Ricotta-Vanilla Cream and Pine-Nut Brittle-B

A Little Bit of This... And That-7/19/09

As you may have realized if you read this blog regularly, despite returning home from vacation almost halfway into July, I am well on my way to finishing Gourmet's recipe for the month. Throughout this project of making the recipes from Gourmet for each month, I always find those recipes that don't fit well with the others. Today was a bit disjointed as I made a few recipes that didn't seem to fit well into another menu. Yesterday, I'd spent over an hour making a chicken salad so it's somewhat surprising that I would try another so soon.
The Walnut Chicken Salad with Green Apple Vinaigrette was a much simpler version of chicken salad, using much of the same flavors as the famous Waldorf Salad. This salad is mayonnaise free and is quick to make. I was not a huge fan of the flavor, however. The dressing as called for was not enough to coat the chicken so there was a lot of dry chicken. The flavor of the dressing was good but again, there was not enough of it to effectively flavor the chicken and really make the salad tangy and delicious.
One of the hardest recipes to put in the right place was the "Le Cake" Aux Olives Et Au Reblochon, a savory quick bread taken from the featured cookbook for July, A Table in the Tarn.
This bread was packed with a variety of ingredients such as Reblochon cheese, pancetta, and olives. Reblochon is a soft French cheese that I was unable to find so I substituted Brie. I cooked the bread the recommended time and the skewer came out clean, but it still tasted doughy. Some of this may have been due to the soft cheese but it was an off putting sensation and we ended up throwing out the bread. Even after the bread had cooled a day, it was still strange to have gooey bread. I think there was too much going on in this bread to really enjoy one flavor and it ended muddling all the flavors.
The last recipe I did today was from the "The Last Touch", the section at the end of the magazine that focuses on a particular theme or ingredient. This month the theme is ice pops with a grownup kick. (I initially toyed with calling them "adult Popsicles" but thought this name might give the wrong idea.;) I made the Pina Colada Ice Pops with pineapple, coconut milk, and rum. This was actually my second recipe from this section. I made the Watermelon Margarita Ice Pops yesterday but neglected to take a picture thinking I could do it later since I had 4 left. Sadly, I forgot to put the ice pops back in the freezer and they melted. I suppose I could have refroze them but they were actually rather unimpressive so I will just tell you the Watermelon ones looked just like the picture above but they were pink instead. The Watermelon Ice Pops were very subdued in flavor (Why did I add water to watermelon in the blender?) and I did not taste the tequila at all. I did make non-alcholic ones for Eyrleigh, for the record. The Pina Colada Ice Pops were the opposite, so boozy I couldn't really detect the pineapple and coconut flavors. Eyrleigh's were excellent, though so I think next time I'll just make the ice pops without the rum.


Walnut Chicken Salad with Green Apple Vinaigrette-C

"Le Cake" Aux Olives Et Au Reblochon-D

Watermelon Ice Pops-C

Pina Colada Ice Pops-B

The World's Fanciest Chicken Salad-7/17/09

When I think of chicken salad, I traditionally think of something with chicken, mayonnaise, and another ingredient to add crunch, like celery or apples. Tonight, I made the menu from July's Gourmet titled 'Blue Skies Ahead". The centerpiece of this menu is the most amazingly complex chicken salad I have ever made. I should have figured that out when the start to finish time was identical to the active work time, an hour and a half. It was actually 6 smaller salads in one. That's some chicken salad!
I found this menu a bit odd. Usually it's quite easy to understand the theme that brought together a menu, usually focusing on either a regional or cultural subject. Other than each is universally appropriate for dining al fresco, these recipes were a bit disjointed as a menu in my opinion. Each component was good by themselves but didn't complement each other in flavor. The spicy Buffalo Grilled Shrimp with Blue Cheese Dip and Celery overwhelmed the other accompaniment, the yeasty Garlic Herb Bread Twists. The Grilled Chicken Summer Salad was so complex, it was almost a meal of its own. The drink recommended with the menu was a rather heavy choice, the Guinness-based Black and Tan. The dessert dish was the most versatile recipe of the menu and was a perfect match for a summer night, a Blueberry Streusel Cake.
As I mentioned above, I enjoyed the recipes for this menu, even if I didn't think they went particularly well together. I have been to Ireland 3 times, and though the drink is called a Half and Half in the Republic, the Black and Tan is a classic there. The reason for the name difference is political. The Black and Tans were the name given the occupying British soldiers at the time of the Irish Revolution. For obvious reason, those in the Republic of Ireland would rather not call a favorite drink the name of a hated occupying force that brings back bitter memories.
The Buffalo Grilled Shrimp were much like the bar food fav, Buffalo chicken wings. These shrimp even had the familiar red tint of hot sauce that stains the Blue Cheese sauce at each dip. This was a simple recipe to save for sporting events, perfect for a Super Bowl party.
The Grilled Chicken Summer Salad was excellent but as I mentioned the amount of time it took to make was pretty unrealistic for a regular meal. I actually overcooked the chicken because I'd gotten involved in another component of the salad. With this recipe, that is easy to do. The different flavors balanced each other well, though. The crunch of beans and chickpeas contrasted well with the tart braised cucumbers and radish. The earthy mushrooms cut the bite of the charred chicken and tasted great with the fresh tomatoes and mint.
The Garlic Herb Bread Twists were easy to make for a yeast breads. Like the recipe states, the dough is very wet, and needed a lot of flour to stop sticking, but these rose well and baked up deliciously crusty but still soft.
The Blueberry Streusel Cake was an excellent choice for any summer menu. Blueberries were on sale at the grocery store, another sign that this recipe is perfect for the season and the abundance of fresh blueberries. The blueberries at the bottom and the sweet cinnamon streusel on top were a perfect compliment to each other. Eyrleigh was literally shaking with excitement when she saw this cake.

Black and Tan-A

Buffalo Grilled Shrimp with Blue Cheese Dip and Celery- A

Grilled Chicken Summer Salad- B

Garlic Herb Bread Twists-A-
(Pizza Dough-A)

Blueberry Streusel Cake-A

Back in the Swing-7/16/09

Here's a picture to prove we really did leave Georgia. This is us, Richard, Eyrleigh, and I, at Oriole Park in Baltimore. We arrived back in Georgia on Monday, July 13th but it took me a few days to get back in the swing. By Thursday, I was ready to start on the Gourmet recipes for July. I won't finish every one. I don't boil live lobsters so that eliminates 2 recipes right there. But I will try to do as many as I can and I started off with the Summer Salmon Cakes with Zucchini Fennel Slaw on page 56.

I've never felt very confident with "cakes" or patties of meat held together with some binding ingredients. Getting the oil hot enough but not too hot is the first tricky thing. If the oil is hot enough, the patties don't hold together right away and can start to break apart. If the oil gets too hot, the patties get too brown before they are cooked through. These patties were no easier and as the picture shows, I got the oil a little too hot. The patties were good though and the salmon was cooked well. The Zucchini Fennel Slaw was a unique twist on slaw but I found it a bit heavy on sauce and again the anise flavor was a bit like having licorice flavor in your slaw. Good, but a bit odd. That's one recipe, let's see how many more I can finish in the two weeks left in July.

Summer Salmon Cakes with Zucchini Fennel Slaw- B-