Baby, let's BBQ...

Exactly twenty-four hours ago I was still enjoying an amazing evening and meal. Around the Table met up for the July dinner by honoring the essential summertime classic, the BBQ. Of course we kicked it up a notch and a thought a bit outside the box to come together and enjoy one delightful dining affair. I have to say that it was up there with one of the best we've had. This is good news! Many of you recall where we started and what we had to go through to get here! I don't know if these posts about our dinners are something you like reading about or not as I usually don't get many comments on them, but I share them in hopes that you will find the menus appealing or perhaps get inspired to start a fabulous group like this in your area. Joining this group is honestly one of the neatest things I've ever done and I don't think I'll be without one ever again. The whole thing is just way too good!

So sit back and make room for a lot of beautiful, mouth-watering photos and recipes. You might have to loosen your belt a bit... The talented and ever domestically-inclined Mallory hosted the soiree and will be blogging about it herself soon and very soon. I invite you to pop over to her site to see her take on things.

As usual she did an absolutely bang-up job making the atmosphere gorgeous and special. She actually drug her kitchen table out to the back deck. When it comes to entertaining Mallory does all that she possibly can and I really love that about her. All of her efforts are very worth it because what it brings to the dinners are touches that make it unforgettable. I think atmosphere and aesthetics are almost as important as the dishes we create. Wasn't it gorgeous?

I had the task of providing the beverage for the night. I knew weeks ago when we started brainstorming our dishes that I wanted to make sangria. I personally love the stuff because of it's easy drinkability and endless flavor possibilities. You could make a lovely, refreshing white sangria enriched with peaches, pears, lemons, and nectarines. Or a rosé version filled with plums, strawberries, and grapes. Or you could stay classic and make a red wine concoction like mine. I wanted to be playful with it by adding lots of fruit and just making it gorgeous. Mallory's precious antique white cart housed the drink beautifully! My sangria didn't realize how good it was going to have it! I'd live in there if I could.

I used a very traditional recipe that involved eight cups of Burgundy wine, don't be afraid to reach for low-grades like Carlo Rossi, by the time you add all the fruit and liqueurs any fine nuances of expensive wine will be ruined. To the wine I added two cups of orange juice, one-third cup each of lemon and lime juices, one-third cup as well of Triple Sec and brandy, one-half cup sugar, and one cup of filtered water. After letting that sit overnight to meld the flavors and get very nice and cold, I added one apple thinly sliced on a mandolin, an orange, lemon, lime, peach, and both bing and maraschino cherries. This will yield four quarts which will be about the perfect amount for six.

Dipping the glasses in key lime juice and then super-fine sugar made for pretty and very delicious framework for the sangria. It was perfectly sweet and tart and paved the way for the cold, fruity wine to spill over your taste buds like a wave hitting the shore. Seriously. : ) There were many moments in the evening where I looked at my glass and couldn't get over how gorgeous this cocktail really is. Red, green, pink, orange, yellow. Ooh la la.

Okay, just one more for the cheap seats in the back...

Ahhh, Ina Garten. And Mallory. Two women to treasure. And when you put them together what you get on a warm, summer evening is caramelized onion dip. So simple and easy but unbeatable in taste. We seriously couldn't stop ourselves from gorging like it was going out of style. Unable to find sweet potatoes for her oven chips, Mallory used yams and purple potatoes. Chives garnished the dainty bites.

To make enough for six, you simply caramelize five Walla Walla sweet onions for about an hour or so over low heat. Midway through season them with a good sprinkling of salt, pepper, and cayenne. Let the onions cool and mix into one-half cup each of sour cream and softened cream cheese. Season to taste and serve with home-made potato chips or your favorite store-brought brand. Trust me, your guests and taste buds will thank you for making this.

One of our members is moving away to Portland unfortunately and she actually shared her last dinner with us yesterday evening and said her goodbyes with some mighty fine grilled halibut, more about that to come. So, we've added a new member, Annika, a close friend of Laurel who is also in the group and will be the star of the dish following this one. There is always some pressure on a newbie to 'measure up' and impress the first time they attend and it's always fun for us veterans to see what kind of flair and personality they will bring to the group. You can usually tell a lot about people with their first dish. I'll just leave it at that. Annika delighted our senses with a light and zingy first course. We deemed this dish: Cucumber, Orange, and Radish Salad with a Sweet Soy Vinaigrette. She didn't work from a recipe and created this beauty all on her own. It was just heavenly in my opinion.

To make this crunchy and refreshing salad, thinly slice radishes and red onion. Peel, de-seed, and dice cucumber. Supreme and orange and dice the segments in like-sized pieces. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and minced parsley. Seems easy enough, right? Here's where it gets tricky. This is one of those vinaigrette's where there is practically a dozen 'this and that's' and you are just going to have to tinker and make it delicious. It will be worth it. Here we go, for the vinaigrette... Canola oil, sesame oil, rice wine, a couple drops of Balsamic vinegar, fish sauce, Worchestire, soy sauce, and a generous amount of brown sugar. Annika did a great job with this dish and made a fabulous and very promising first impression. I could eat this every other day at least! Just take in those gorgeous colors! It tastes as good as it looks, friends...

Laurel furnished us with another lovely salad. This bacon-studded one was loaded with rich avocado scoops and watercress.

I thought this Tyler Florence-inspired salad was so pretty set on top of this lovely blue and white dish Laurel picked up on a trip to Mexico. Doesn't it just look like an utterly perfect summer salad? She layered lots of fresh, peppery watercress and big spoonfuls of ripe avocado and dressed it in the most classic vinaigrette there is: Olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. To garnish she added a few big chunks of lemon for additional usage and topped the whole thing off with crumbled, crisp bacon...

If you added some roasted grape tomatoes you could turn this into a BLAT salad! So good, Laurel! But wait, she didn't stop there...

To accompany her salad Laurel made some delicious corn bread cakes which at dinner time she decided would best be served with the fish that was grilling away on the BBQ. It was a good plan. This is a recipe that you can find over at Cook's Illustrated, if you really want to make it just write a comment and I'll try to track down all the details and whereabouts for you! She added lots of fresh dill which is why she thought it would go nicely with the fish and served them with two amazing spreads. One was a whipped honey butter spiked with lots of cayenne pepper. The other was of the cooling variety and was made by mixing sour cream with chives, shallots, salt, and pepper. We discovered that they were most tasty by alternating bites of the sweet and then savory. Even with all of the food and courses, most of us had seconds! So, so good!

We're nearing the end our our evening but the best parts of dinner are still to come, the entree and dessert. We've had some really intense heat waves here in the Northwest for the last couple weeks, so when Laura was planning her entree choice she quickly switched from ribs to halibut. And boy, were we glad she did! Grilled halibut with onions and dill and then topped with an herb compound butter that melted ever-so-perfect and puddly that you practically wanted to dive into the dish head first!? There's just something so wonderful about grilled fish on a lazy summer evening. It was divine and such a classy way to say farewell to the group! We're going to miss you, Laura! May Portland bring you many blessings and most importantly, delicious meals!! Thank you!

Oh how I love this picture...

And last but not least, but unfortunately always the last to be eaten and photographed... dessert! No matter how we try to plan and roll things along, dessert always gets eaten at about ten o'clock at night. Too late for any good natural light! I couldn't leave it out though and ran inside to steal a couple little peaks of it for you.

Alexis is a wonderful woman and also a vegetarian who has really stretched her boundaries and been trying lots of new things at our dinners. It's quite endearing and fun to observe! She's a sweetheart and has really been pushing herself to try new things and really get creative in the kitchen. It's delightful to see. For dessert she chose to roast peach halves and topped them with homemade mascarpone cheese! She made her own mascarpone! How many of you have ever done that? I have always wanted to but never had the guts to try it! She did it and it was lovely. She also topped the dish with some candied walnuts by using the recipe on here I recently posted that was part of the granola. It was simple, elegant, beautiful, and balanced. We all loved it!

Well there you go, folks. I hope that one or several of these dishes make their way onto your tables this summer! They really were delicious and so inspired! Everyone did a really lovely job!

Stay tuned for August's dinner where we will be serving up some Italian fare and will have Ashley back as she's been in Idaho for a few weeks! I'll give you a little sneak peak, well sneak mental image I suppose, I'm hosting and I'm making a giant ravioli pillow for the second course... Can't wait! Happy Summer, everyone!

Best Granola Ever

I think I'll look back on my twenties and remember them as the decade that I fell madly in love with breakfast. I don't ever really remember caring that much for breakfast up until these last few years. To be honest, I also didn't care that much for mornings! Now, I like them quite a bit and have become somewhat of an early bird. The thing about breakfasts is that once you start having them regularly, you usually wake up hungry for them. Then... you're hooked.

Maybe there is just something about the kinds of food we eat in the morning hours. Though there is nothing wrong with cold pizza or pasta salad. I've certainly been known to go down that road. The morning time is fresh and perky, looking out at a day full of possibilities and goodness. I'm a big dreamer and idealist (sometimes to a fault) so these early hours of the day cater to my personality. Not only the day has many possibilities, but so does breakfast. There are so many items to consider and all of them perfectly fabulous. Start with your beverage. Would you like to start gently with hot water and lemon? A big glass of water is always healthy. Coffee. Black with just enough cream and brown sugar? Iced and milky with caramel? Though that's usually best in the afternoon. Juices? Perhaps a dainty glass of ice cold orange juice? Maybe you're a meal in a cup type and smoothie is on your agenda? I'm getting excited already and we've only covered drinks!

Let's move to the food portion of this topic. Depending on what's in your fridge and pantry and what's going through your food mind, there are so many great places to go. I usually find my body knows just what it wants. Usually it wants a lighter breakfast, relatively speaking I suppose. I don't do non-fat dairy or even close to it so my term 'light' could be a grey area. As featured here, I just love tart, unsweetened yogurt topped with granola and fresh fruit. It's filling, creamy, refreshing, and full of tastes and texture. My favorite yogurt for this purpose is Annie's Plain Whole Milk Yogurt with Honey. You can find it in huge tubs which provides for many and many quick breakfasts.

I'm also a huge fan of eggs. I love them scrambled with with vegetables like onions, broccoli, and peppers and then served along side a small quesadilla. Poached perfectly and laid over salmon-cream cheese-covered crostini with fresh fruit on the side. You can always scramble them into a little round and put them between a gourmet English muffin with pesto, provolone, ham, and thinly sliced red bell peppers or anything else you feel like. One of my favorite pairings is a warm, fresh scone with cream and jam served with scrambled eggs and fruit. One day, I'll make my Sunday Eggs and share that with you as well.

Are you with me yet on how fantastic breakfast is? We are near the end but I've saved the best for last. While I don't eat these delights very often, they really are the grand climax of breakfast. They bring everything together in one giant swoop. A rich, indulgent, sweet & savory morning time culinary gold mine. You can pair them with salty, rich breakfast meats when you really want to go all out. Which we do once in a while... Okay, let's get started. Pancakes. Love them. I make some out-of-this-world buttermilk flapjacks. That would be our go-to. I also have a really great whole grain recipe from Martha Stewart. To balance that, I also have a favorite, very indulgent recipe from Gourmet that calls for loads of butter and results in a very beautiful, thin and crepe-like pancake which is perfect for special occasions. My favorite topping for all of these cakes is fresh fruit compotes and vanilla bean whipped cream. I also love sweet, gooey fruit jams smeared all over the top. Let's not even get started with the thought of Creme Brulee French Toast. Or thick Belgian waffles. Or pastries. Croissants! Dutch babies with lots of butter, fresh lemon juice, and confectioner's sugar. With all these choices, I must admit I rarely make room for oatmeal of cold cereal... Can you hardly blame me?!

Now that I've taken you on the breakfast tour of delights, let's get back to this granola. I do things a little differently but I thought I should honor the recipe of origin. The biggest change I make is to cook the granola at a much lower temperature that doesn't require stirring or overly brown as easy, also, this makes the granola a giant block which means huge, crunchy chunks which is what you want. It's also just a lot easier. I would say set the oven to 200-225' and watch it. It will really harden and crisp up out of the oven also. You want a light golden color. This batch I shot went a bit over... Enjoy!

Really Good Granola

adapted from Ina Garten

Homemade Granola

4 cups (14 oz.) rolled oats
2 cups (6.5 oz.) sweetened, shredded coconut
2 cups (6.75 oz.) sliced almonds
½ cup (4 oz.) vegetable oil
2/3 cup (7.25 oz) honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon sea salt or 1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 heaping cup (5.25 oz.) dried cherries or cranberries ( I like combining bright orange apricots, blueberries, and cherries or cranberries)

candied nuts (recipe below)

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. In a large bowl, combine oats, coconut and almonds and gently stir or toss with your hands to mix well. In a small saucepan, combine oil, honey, vanilla and salt and heat for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring to emulsify slightly. Pour over the oat mixture and with a spatula stir until evenly coated. Spread onto a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and stir well. Return to the oven and bake for 5 minutes. Stir well again. Repeat twice more until the granola is golden — be very careful at the end: The coconut will burn easily, leaving the granola with a bitter, burnt taste. Remove pan from the oven, place on a cooling rack and leave undisturbed until completely cool, at least one hour. Meanwhile prepare the nuts:

Candied Nuts:
neutral oil such as canola or vegetable
1/3 cup sugar
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1½ cups raw, unsalted cashews
1½ cups raw, unsalted almonds (skin on)

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Oil a rimmed baking sheet.

In a small saucepan, combine sugar with ¼ cup water, the salt and cinnamon and bring to a boil. Add the nuts and let the mixture simmer for one minute, stirring constantly to coat them with the syrup. Remove the nuts with a slotted spoon and spread them on the prepared baking sheet — don’t be tempted to drizzle the excess syrup on the baking sheet as well (it will just burn). Bake for 15 minutes, stir and return to the oven until golden and crisp, about another five minutes. Remove pan from the oven and place on a cooling rack to cool, about an hour.

To finish the granola:

Using a bench scraper, carefully remove the granola from the pan and transfer to a bowl, keeping the granola in chunks as best as possible. Add the nuts to the bowl, breaking up the mass into small clusters. Add the dried fruit and toss mixture lightly to combine. Transfer to an airtight container to store.

Pioneer Woman's Potato Salad

It's approaching midnight here, I've got a bit more energy to give and I can't think of a better thing to do than think on potato salad. Who doesn't like potato salad? Anyone? I suppose there are those weird people out there who don't like mayonnaise or things that are creamy. I've never understood these types of folks. You know, those people who say, "I just really don't care for cheese of any kind." Or even worse, they casually murmur, "I'm not really a sweets person..." I guess truth be told, sometimes I wish I was one of those people, my waistline would thank me. But then I'd be one of those people and I hardly know which one is worse! But if you can stomach mayonnaise and like potatoes then I think we can both agree that potato salad can be wonderful. It should be wonderful. Of course it isn't always. Potato salad really must be homemade. It should also be made by someone who cares for it with passion. Anyone can throw together a potato salad, but the right person makes it great. I've decided to be one of those people.

I came across the Pioneer Woman's blog quite some time ago while on the quest for a fantastic homemade ranch dressing recipe. I guess it was quite fitting to find a killer ranch recipe on the Pioneer Woman's site. Pioneers, ranch... they go together, yeah? It was a killer recipe and I along with thousands and thousands of others frequent her site regularly. She does it all. Home schools, cooks, makes art, etc. And she makes it all look incredible. She's pretty much the pioneer of Awesome. She's super mom and wonder woman.

When I saw a potato salad she featured here I was sold. I liked this recipe for a couple of reasons. For one, you put the potatoes through a ricer or food mill. We all know that most potato salads call for one to cook the potatoes perfectly in order to keep their shape when cubed and be cooked through but not mushy. It's a bit of a balancing act! So to have a recipe deliberately turn the potatoes to a fine mash was intriguing to say the least. Also, it's just a really basic recipe. Mayonnaise, pickles, boiled eggs, scallions, mustard. That's practically it. It's a purists salad. The thing with potato salads is that most of them are truly pretty similar. They just are. To make one really unique and have it stand out, I think you have to consider adding some interesting ingredients. Caramelized onions (which I've done), olives, yogurt, bleu cheese, red pepper flakes, celery, bacon, or dill. The list really could go on and on. A bit like I'm doing! This is a good salad. Hands down. I like the creamy texture and simplicity. It's straight forward and classic. If you want something fancier play around with some of those other ingredients. I think some fresh parsley would be nice here. And you simply must sprinkle in some good old fashioned white sugar. Before I go, I'd love to hear some of your most beloved go-to Potato Salad recipes...

Classic Potato Salad

adapted from The Pioneer Woman

5 pounds russet potatoes (about 8 medium russets)

1 1/2 cups real mayonnaise (NOT Miracle Whip)

4-5 tablespoons prepared mustard (regular, Dijon, or a mixture of both)

5 green onions, sliced up to the darkest green part

8 small sweet pickles (or dill if you prefer)

1 teaspoon kosher salt (more to taste)

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 T. sugar

4 hard boiled eggs, coarsely chopped

Fresh dill or parsley

Cut potatoes in halves or thirds, then boil until fork tender. Drain.

Mash potatoes or run them through a ricer or food mill to make them extra fluffy.

Fold potatoes together with mayonnaise, mustard, green onions, salt, pepper, and other seasonings you like. Fold in pickles and eggs, then taste for seasonings, adding more salt, mustard, or mayo as needed. You may also splash in juice from the pickle jar if salad needs a little moisture.

Enjoy, friends! And get to me about your favorite versions! That's an order! : )

To Market, To Market

To Market, To Market is one of my favorite episodes of Sex and the City. If you haven't ever seen the show it would be a great place to start! Season 5, I believe? Well, this post has nothing else to do with Sex and the City but it does have everything to do with a market. Here in Bellingham where I live, I think we have a pretty decent Farmer's Market. It has lots and lots of produce, flowers, handmade items, and yummy, yummy food.

Another great thing about it is that it's only about three blocks from my house. I went this last weekend with my dear sister Tara. We stopped in at a produce stall of her friends, a beautiful gal with awesome scrolly tattoos on her feet and ankles and the hands of someone who works in the earth. I was impressed. Also, I think she had the best looking produce in the whole market. The way it was displayed had something do with it, but I think what really pushed it over the top was that everything was wet and shiny and just glistened in the bright sunlight. Unfortunately, you can't really tell from my photos!

Don't you just love pretty little bushels of radishes? And sweet onions? Those are fabulous just thinly sliced and stuck between two pieces of bread with mayo...

Curly, tangly squash blossoms. I should have bought some...

A tostada, enchilada, and rice from one of the vendors. This plate was on display. I love the three tostada plate for five or six bucks. Fresh, crispy corn tortillas with lots of beans, fresh cabbage, pico de Gallo, and lots of cotija cheese. They are so balanced and refreshing. If only everyone would make their salsa without cilantro for me. Is that too much to ask? Okay, I suppose it is. It sure would make my life a lot easier though! I guess I'm pretty lucky if I actually consider dealing with cilantro and the task of avoiding it a major life crisis. I'll stop whining now.

The couple that mans this stall with all the dirt and flower-stuffed boots and tea pots also sells the most beautiful eggs. Little cartons filled with eggs big and small, brown, blue and green, sometimes I even get lucky and find a couple wispy little feathers on one. I always like that. One Saturday the lady told me all about how I would go about setting up some chickens in my back yard and how they really aren't hard to look after, that a big bag of feed is only about ten dollars and would last two months at least. I knew my husband was wrong. If only I had a backyard, there would be chickens.

Now onto a stall that belongs to another one of my sister's friends, Azizi Tookas. He runs the Brandywine Kitchen company and is known for growing some of the best heirloom tomatoes around. You may recall that Brandywine's are some one of the most prevalent heirloom toms. If you're starting to gather that she knows a lot of cool people you're right. She's got ins with some of the most creative folks in town. They make their own baguettes the night before and use the freshest and best ingredients possible. This particular one is locally smoked-salmon and quinoa croquettes with lettuce, tomato, and a wonderfully flavorful roasted red pepper sauce. Really, really good.

I couldn't resist throwing in this shot of my precious little nephew. I wish the market sold some of those!

A Delicious Mistake

Usually when a boo-boo occurs in the kitchen it's just that: a flop, disaster, waste, blunder, the list goes on... But every now and then it turns out to be a surprising and delicious delight!

This last weekend I was preparing some dessert components for a party (whipping cream in this instance) and had my sister and nephew over. My one-year old and adorable nephew Charlie was having a hay day in my kitchen, he was taking full advantage of the more unfamiliar kitchen that his own and had his chubby little hands in everything. He was taking cans off the shelf and placing them here and there all over the floor, he found my baking collection and all kinds of other goodies. I was also fixing my sister a french press and had a pint of half and half out on the counter for her, deciding to add more creme to the mixer I accidentally picked up the full pint of half and half and dumped it right into my mixer without even thinking! I didn't even realize what I had done until the 'cream' just wasn't setting up after about five minutes on the highest setting and had started splattering all over the place. I was slightly devastated because my trifle really needed more body from the cream and I didn't have time to run to the store to buy more. It ended up being okay and thankfully my sister was here to reassure me and even more thankful that she asked to put some of the frothy concoction in her coffee.

So, if you feel like having something terribly delicious to add into your coffee, tea, or even over fresh sliced peaches or berries just mix up about equal parts regular whipping cream and half and half. It's thick, creamy, frothy, and rich and I love how it pours. When you pour it to your coffee it just feels divinely sinful. I should add that when putting it in your coffee add an equally indulgent spoonful of brown sugar to make a most-wonderful milky and caramelized cup of café!