cold food for hot days: recipes
All in all, I’d say dinner was a success. Since everything was served cold, I made a bunch of the dishes the day before. I have to say, I was disappointed with the pesto potato salad and won’t be making it again. But it’s pesto! And potatoes! It should be a no-brainer and yet with each bite I found myself thinking about why this doesn’t taste very good. It may just be that everything else had such a wonderfully fresh and unique flavor that the potato salad didn’t stand up to it. Yes. Let’s just say it was because the other food was that much more delicious. *nodding my head and patting myself on the back*
I’ll list the recipe as I copied it but will put in my notes in (parenthesis). And forgive some of the wonky spacing and unnecessary bolding of recipes. I have no clue why it does this on tumblr.
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‘wichcraft Cold Cucumber Soup (serves 6-8)
5 lbs seedless & peeled cucs
2 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup lemon juice (actually, I probably added closer to a cup)
1 1/2 cups olive oil (used 2/3 of a cup, but I think may omit it for the future)
1 1/2 garlic cloves
1 lb (16 oz) low fat plain yogurt (used fat free Greek yogurt. Next time I’ll probably not use the Greek yogurt and just use regular non fat)
dried oregano (to taste, but I think I added about 2 tablespoons)
peppercino (I didn’t use anything to make it spicy, but next time will add some red pepper flakes)
kosher salt & ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup red onion, julienned
1/4 cup carrots, julienned
This makes A LOT. I had to make it in batches and put it all into one bowl. Just threw what ever would fit into a food processor (blender or immersion blender works) and flipped the switch. It’s really a wonderfully refreshing summer soup.
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Zucchini and Yellow Squash Carpaccio (adapted from the Smitten Kitchen)
2 small zucchini
2 small yellow squash
1 1/4 teaspoons salt (I used about 2 tablespoons of kosher salt. I found that you really need to douse the zucchini/squash in salt and let it sit, but remember to THOROUGHLY rinse all the salt off)
1/2 pound arugula
1 ounce Parmigiano-Reggiano, coarsely grated (on large holes of a box grater; 1/2 cup)
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Juice of one lemon
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Special equipment: an adjustable-blade slicer
Cut zucchini/squash crosswise into paper-thin slices with slicer. Toss zucchini slices with one salt in a large colander set over a bowl and let drain 20-30 minutes.
Rinse zucchini slices well, then drain, pressing gently on slices to extract any excess liquid. Pat zucchini slices dry with a kitchen towel. This step is really important. You want to make sure that the excess liquid is off. I used a few paper towels.
Put arugula greens in a large bowl. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Drizzle 1 1/2 tablespoons of oil over greens and toss. Add a squeeze of lemon juice. Arrange zucchini/squash slices over arugula greens, then drizzle with remaining oil, lemon juice and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano and pepper.
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Shrimp Salad in Crisp Wonton Cups (Adapted from Ellie Krieger)
18 wonton wrappers (thawed if frozen - I have 2 mini-muffin tins so I had 24)
1 tablespoon canola oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
FOR THE DRESSING:
1 teaspoon lime zest
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes (I omitted this)
2 tablespoons olive oil
FOR THE SALAD:
1/2 pound cooked shrimp chopped up
1 stalk celery, finely diced
1/2 cup finely diced mango
1/4 cup thinly sliced scallions
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh cilantro leaves (I probably used closer to 3TBSP. I love me some cilantro)
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Brush the wonton wrappers with oil, and place each wrapper into a section of a mini-muffin tin. Gently press each wrapper into the tin and arrange so that it forms a cup shape. The wrapper will overlap itself and stick up out of the cup. Sprinkle with salt and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until browned and crisp. Remove from the tin and allow wrappers to cool.
Meanwhile whisk together the zest, lime juice, salt, pepper, and pepper flakes. Add the oil and whisk until well combined.
In a medium bowl, toss together the shrimp, celery, mango, scallion and cilantro. Add dressing and toss to combine. Fill each cup with the crab salad and serve.
The bottoms of the cups tend to get soggy so what I may do next time is toss the shrimp-mango mixture in the dressing then put everything into a strainer so there is no excess liquid.
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Good Crusty Baguette
To be served with O&Co. Olive Oil and Aged Balsamic Vinaigrette. Just as an added tip, sometimes I’ll buy a couple extra baguettes and cut them into single serving size portions, throw them into a zip lock bag and toss them into the freezer. Heat it up and you have fresh bread. I do this with sliced bread too. I mean, c’mon. Who really goes through an entire loaf of bread?
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Pesto Potato Salad (from Ellie Krieger)
1 1/2 pounds small red potatoes
1 yellow pepper, cored, seeded and coarsely chopped (about 3/4 cup)
1 red pepper, cored, seeded and coarsely chopped (about 3/4 cup)
1/3 cup Basil Pesto, recipe follows
1/4 cup diced red onion
Salt and pepper
FOR THE PESTO:
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 clove garlic
3 cups fresh basil leaves, loosely packed
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper
PESTO INSTRUCTIONS:
Toast the pine nuts in a dry pan over a medium heat until fragrant and golden brown, stirring frequently, about 3 minutes. In a food processor, process the pine nuts and the garlic until minced. Add the basil, Parmesan cheese and lemon juice and process until finely minced. With processor on, slowly pour the oil down the food chute. Process until well blended. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Yield: 3/4 cup
POTATO SALAD (from Ellie Krieger)
Put the potatoes in a large steamer basket over boiling water and steam for 20 minutes, or until they are cooked though, but the skins remain intact. Set them aside until they are cool enough to handle. Quarter the potatoes and put them in a large bowl. Add the peppers and onion and the pesto and toss gently to combine. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and chill.
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Coconut Flan (adapted from Bon Appetit)
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/3 cups Coconut Milk
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon coconut extract
3/4 cup flaked coconut, toasted for garnish. 3/4 cup sugar1/4 cup water
In a small saucepan, pour sugar and water and place over medium heat. Let sugar bubble and turn a light brown color. Take off the heat and pour the sugar into the dish you will eventually pour the flan. Set aside and make flan.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk first 6 ingredients in medium bowl to blend. I made one large flan instead of individual portions. I put it into a pie tin, unfortunately I don’t know the size, but I would guess it was about 9” diameter. This needs to go into a water bath so after you pour into the pie tin, place the tin into another large oven safe dish (I used a cookie sheet with 3/4” raised sides) Pour enough hot water into pan to come halfway up side of tin.
Bake flans until just set in center, about 50minutes. If you use individual ramekins, it may take closer to 35 minutes. Remove flan from pan and refrigerate until cold, about 2 hours. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and keep refrigerated.) Garnish with toasted coconut.
