Summer 2010 What's Cooking wiki thread

[Ben]

Buon giorno, Salonistas.

I'm doing a casual outdoor dinner this weekend, and would like to fix a whole bunch of antipasti. The kicker is that it's been 90+ with 85%+ humidity here for weeks, so the typical cured meats-cheeses-olives deal is too heavy IMO. I'm thinking insalata Caprese, melon and prosciutto, that kind of thing, but my creativity is failing me.

I know there are some Italophiles here, so whaddya like in that vein? There's not a great source for obscure groceries here, but I can lay hands on most mainstream stuff like Bufala mozzarella, good prosciutto, and good olives.

Grazie, honkies.

[sbornia]

If you can get really really good tomatoes, panzanella will be refreshing.

[962]

Ricotta stuffed zucchini or squash flowers
Prosciutto and pistachio (pistacchio!)
Anchovies, sardines

[AJPM44]

Anchovies with some olive oil and parsley. Roasted golden, red and chioggia beets with a vinagrette served cold and thinly sliced. Carpaccio with arugala or grilled escarole. Another really fun one that isn't strictly Italian is compressed or frozen watermelon. Slice watermelon in to a rectangular shape in equal sizes, place them in a ziploc bag and put in the freezer. Let them freeze, then thaw out, then place them in freezer again. When you take them out, the cells should have been broken and the watermelon will have the look and texture of tuna sashimi. You can then do a simple ricotta and watermelon salad with mint or something. If you need drink ideas, I have plenty of those as well.

[Sasha]

If you slice zuchinni lengthwise in long strips, and lightly blanch it, you can wrap is around something like an herbed ricotta. Grilled eggplant is good. Cooks some beets, slice them real thin, and lay them over the top of a bed of arugula. Sprinkle some olive oil and balsamic over the top. And using a peeler to shave parmesan over the top of that. Anchovies on small toasts. Halved cherry tomatoes with cream chease whipped with parsley and garlic on toasts.

These are all typical items I served in a restaurant in Northern Italy. I won't mention the items that utlize canned tuna and cow brains. They go crazy for that kind of stuff in the Piedmont.

[robin3mj]

Think marinated summer vegetables:
Artichokes
Red peppers
Pappadews


Fresh celery
Small crumbled blocks of real parmesan
The freshest, fluffiest damned white Italian bread you can get your hands on


+1 on the anchovies

[Ben]

Awesome. Just awesome. You guys are KILLING IT.

I had completely forgotten panzanella. The tomatoes in this part of the world are unbelievable - both in quality and diversity. I'll bet I can lay hands on a dozen varieties, from pink to red to yellow to purple to black to striped, with a phone call or two.

I'm interested to try the watermelon trick.

[Brandon White]

this makes me hungry. I'm flying up there, now.

[Too Tall]

Since you already have the bases covered thought I'd throw a little salty fire on the table.
I think everyone has great suggestions and you def. should mull up some cocktails :)

A good friend just gave me a jar of "Kenny's Best" "Solomon Gundy". This is a herring spread with a kick.
I think it will go great on a plain water cracker with a dot of scotch bonnet pepper sauce in the middle.

Here is an untested recipe I found to give you an idea what you are getting into:

The "traditional" Jamaican Solomon-a-Gundy included salted mackerel and shad boiled together, but in my opinion that’s just too much fish in one dish. I’ll just stick with the red ‘errin’ and make a simple recipe then you can take it to the nth degree. It’s your choice.

1 lb. Smoked Herring

1⁄2 doz. Allspice balls (pimentos)

1⁄2 cup Vinegar

1 Large Onion (chopped)

1 Scotch Bonnet Pepper or Habernero Pepper

1 Stalk Scallion

1⁄2 tsp. Thyme

4 tbsp. Oil

1 tsp. Sugar

Bring water to boil and then add the smoked herring to the water. This process will remove some of the salt from the fish. Allow the fish to boil for about 15 minutes.

Discard the water.

Warm the vinegar with the pimento balls and sugar on a low fire and stir occasionally to help the sugar dissolve. Do not boil the vinegar.

In the meantime, remove the bones from the smoked herring. You may not get to remove all the bones but do as many as you can.

Now add the chopped onion, oil, peppers, scllion, and thyme to the electric blender. Puree for 1 minute.

Make sure that the sugar is dissolved into the warm vinegar and then remove the pimento seeds.

Add the fish and vinegar solution to the rest of the ingredients already in the blender. Puree for another minute and your Solomon-a-Gundy should be ready by now.

It is your choice to make this “dry” or smooth by increasing or decreasing the puree time in the blender.


Yah Mon!

[bellman]

Two of my favorites;
Tomato half slices with a triangle of jack cheese or white cheddar laid out boy-girl-boy-girl in long rows on a tray (like dominoes) with balsamic vinagrette drizzed over them.
Cucumbers cut the long way and the seeds scooped out then slivered with Jalapenos cut the same way all laid in the same direction in a pile, salted with a big stripe of Valentinas (or tapatio if you have to) laid over the top of it all

[happycampyer]

You can't go wrong with some bruschetta. If you already have a lot of tomato-based dishes, a white bean bruschetta would be nice (and is one of my favorites). Here's a simple recipe.

[Too Tall]

Eff me I knew this crew could cook but this is just making me nuts in a good way. I might create a new summer cooking wiki thread since the other thread is so massive. Good idea?

[Ben]

Yo I'm down for the summer cooking wiki. If you build it, I'll share my gen-yoo-wine Tennessee barbecue dry rub and sauce recipes that I've never shared anywhere else. Guaranteed to make fat boys whimper and vegetarians repent.

Thanks for all the great ideas, y'all. You've broken my writer's, errr, cook's block in a big way.

As for cocktails, I've got something in mind. Here's the complete recipe:

Limoncino
Ice (optional)

[dang]

So, an easy and old standby, if you have decent peppers -- red or yellow -- you can roast them in the grill outside, which means that you don't have to run the oven and heat the house. Then sweat and peel of course. A little bit (not a lot) of decent olive oil and some basil, a sprinkle of sea salt, and maybe a drop here and there (really, not more) of decent balsamic vinegar, and you're home free with good cheese or toast. Or blend with just a little butter and pine nuts, with or without a little decent anchovy chopped, and spread on small toasts.

Roasted vegetables are always good, as per suggestions above.

If you have decent sea food, how about poaching and then marinating some shrimp and squid and serving chilled?

[Too Tall]

Yo I'm down for the summer cooking wiki. If you build it, I'll share my gen-yoo-wine Tennessee barbecue dry rub and sauce recipes that I've never shared anywhere else. Guaranteed to make fat boys whimper and vegetarians repent.

Thanks for all the great ideas, y'all. You've broken my writer's, errr, cook's block in a big way.

As for cocktails, I've got something in mind. Here's the complete recipe:

Limoncino
Ice (optional)

Done deal. Thread renamed : Summer 2010 What's Cooking wiki thread and moved. With cautious optimism I'm adding a yr. date ;)
Perfect :) Someone last yr (?) posted a recipe for homemade Limoncino. Hmmm. Organic Lemons are piled high at the local whole paycheck.

[maunahaole]

Tonight: Have some nice blue marlin fillets, currently soaking up some olive oil, salt and pepper before grilling. Those will be topped with some mango/grilled cactus salsa. Sides are a sweet potato/apple puree and a green salad with secret recipe balsamic type dressing. Fresh brownies for dessert, with optional Haagen Dazs 5 vanilla bean on top and some home made macadamia nut liqueur and sprinkle of the boozy nuts that got strained out of the mac nut booze after curing. Thew will probably be some beer and wine too.

[Too Tall]

Tonight: Have some nice blue marlin fillets, currently soaking up some olive oil, salt and pepper before grilling. Those will be topped with some mango/grilled cactus salsa. Sides are a sweet potato/apple puree and a green salad with secret recipe balsamic type dressing. Fresh brownies for dessert, with optional Haagen Dazs 5 vanilla bean on top and some home made macadamia nut liqueur and sprinkle of the boozy nuts that got strained out of the mac nut booze after curing. Thew will probably be some beer and wine too.

I'll never get over your access to wonderful seafood. After we re-located proximity to fresh seafood is non-negotiable.

[robin3mj]

Friday night:
white wine
brown ale
purple garlic
green cilantro
yellow butter
pink mussels


Saturday night:
NY strip
grilled eggplant
couscous w/ onions & pappadews

Right now:
2 chickens roasting. to become stock, soup, fajita filling, pasta accompaniment, etc.

[Too Tall]

FWIIW I finally found unadulterated long filletes in brine at Rodman's. Now, someone find me big sardines from Italy in plain olive oil and I can die a happy man.

Nice looking Mussels bub. You done good. I need a gas stove to do that good a job :(

[maunahaole]

Once again with the blue marlin. Price was right, fillets were of nice size and consistency and they were locally caught, so I know they were nice and fresh.

fresh out of the package



a little salt, pepper and oil for the grill



just before the turn



just after the turn