While Tony was heating up the grill for a pizza experiment, I sliced the veggies and pulled the salad together. I pulled the first fennel bulb from my garden.  It was still relatively small compared to those found in the grocery stores, but just the right size for feeding salad to four.  Earlier this spring, I found a pot of Florence Fennel at a garden center grown for the herb garden.  There must have been 50 baby plants in that one pot!  I took the pot home, separated the plants and filled two 4 ft. beds with fennel plants.  After cutting the stems and fronds away from the bulb, I plunked them into a flower arrangement with purple stock.  Don’t you love it when all the parts of something grown in your own backyard get to be used?

This time of year, salads can take on a much different look and taste than those of early spring.  I’ve often thought how unfair it was to have tomatoes and lettuces ripen at such different times of year.  I’m still pulling some arugula out of my garden, and dreaming of August 15th to be able to plant lettuces again.

Great tomatoes are just around the corner, but probably not from my back yard.  The squirrels and chipmunks seem to take a bite out of each ‘almost ready’ tomato we have.  I am ever optimistic though and continue to plant them each year.  So, I’ll continue to frequent the farmers’ markets for the perfect tomato.

Summer Fresh Salad

• 4 cups fresh baby arugula
• 1/2 cup or more very thinly sliced red bell pepper
• 1 small fennel bulb (about 2″ wide) very thinly sliced
•  1/4 cup or less thinly sliced red onion
• kernels removed from 1 ear of fresh, raw corn
• 1 avocado, cubed
• toasted walnuts or pine nuts
• 3 Tbls olive oil
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard

Place the arugula and the remaining vegetables in a large bowl, keeping the avocado and walnuts separate for now.

In another smaller bowl, whisk the oil, mustard and honey together. Pour over the veggies and toss.  Add the avocado and nuts and toss again.  Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

I saw a simple batter recipe about a million years ago in a magazine or newspaper, had the urge to try it, and the rest is history.  Imagine the light and crispy canned French’s onion rings you put on top of a green bean casserole.  Now, imagine them hot, fresh and just sprinkled with salt.  Imagine piles of them.  Put them on your burger, dip them in ketchup, just eat them!  Fast, before everyone else catches on.

Mark's Favorite Onion Rings

There is no doubt that the batch made for Mark’s party the other night turned out really well because of my portable deep fryer.  Turning these rings in a saute pan takes a bit too much attention.  If you don’t have a little fryer, just use a fairly deep, but narrow sauce pan and place about 3″ of canola or vegetable oil in the pan.  The optimal temperature for deep frying is between 350 and 360 degrees.  Less than 350 and the food will absorb too much fat and taste greasy.  Hotter than 360, the exterior will cook too quickly, leaving the interior undercooked.  This may sound too precise for some, but using a candy/deep fry thermometer makes the process simple.  A sample onion ring tossed into the hot oil should also give you the clue as to whether the oil is hot enough to begin.  The food should start bubbling the second it’s dropped into the oil.

Add enough of the food (other vegetables coated in this batter fry up nicely too), to make your batches efficient, but keep in mind the temperature of the oil will drop with each addition, causing the cooking process to slow down.  Give the rings room to swim.

Another tip is to salt them as soon as they come out of the oil, but not before.  Salt is one of a few things that will cause the oil to break down.  You might want to experiment with some salt and pepper combinations to jazz your rings up even more.  Maybe a bit of cayenne or chipotle, smoked paprika, or even a bit of cinnamon and sugar.  Ooh, deep fried sweet potato fries with chipotle, cinnamon and sugar… a story for another day.

One last thing before we start; plan ahead.  The batter is easy, but it takes a while to rest before it’s ready.

Mark’s Favorite Onion Rings

• 1 cup beer
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 2 sweet onions, such as vidalia or mayan sweets
• canola or vegetable oil
• salt and pepper

Pour the beer over the flour in a small bowl; stir with a whisk until smooth.  Allow the batter to rest for 4 hours.  This gives the gluten in the flour time to develop.  Slice the onion into rings about 1/4 to 1/3 inch thick  and place in large, open bowl.  Pour the rested batter over the onion rings, gently mixing to coat.  The rings can stay in the batter for a while before you cook them.

Heat the oil to 350-360 degrees.  Drop a sample ring in the oil and cook until golden brown.  Remove to a platter that is lined with paper towels or brown grocery bags.  Salt and/or season as soon as the rings are removed from the oil so that the salt will adhere.  Cool slightly before eating.

If you are working in small batches, line a baking sheet with additional paper towels and keep in a 200 degree oven while the remaining rings are frying.

Caution: if you and your guests beginning nibbling before the bulk of the rings are fried, you won’t have enough rings to add to the dinner table.

Enjoy!

Word travels fast when a basket of Bacon Squares hits the door.  Selfish people might think to keep the news to themselves, but everyone starts raving… and eating these snacks.  Before you know it, they’re gone.  It’s best, I guess that I didn’t even get ONE last time, because one is really never enough.  Sort of like the reason I don’t keep potato chips in the house, once you get started, it’s too hard to stop.

Try these with some bubbly at an appetizer party.  The salty, crunchy combo is perfect with cava, prosecco or champagne.  You will too form a love-hate relationship with this recipe.  A guilty pleasure for sure.

Jackie’s Bacon Squares

• Keebler Club Crackers
• 1 pound sliced bacon (not thick sliced)
• parmesan cheese

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 275 degrees.  Cut the sliced bacon into quarters (each slice will now be 4 small slices).  Line the baking sheet with crackers and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.  Place one of the 1/4 slices of bacon on each cracker and again sprinkle with parmesan cheese.  One pound of bacon will make 60-68 crackers.

Bake for approximately 2 hours.  The bacon and the crackers will be crispy.  Mom says “enjoy the compliments”.

Happy New Year!

I immediately begin to relax, knowing that my accomplished sous chef is in charge of the cookies. (So relaxed, in fact, I begin singing the Shortbread song…) It’s not that I had a specific recipe in mind for the shortbread cookies, but surely I could lay my hands on one in my  wide array of cookbooks.  I tried three books before I found something that I thought would work.  King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion was my guide as I thumbed through multiple recipes to land on one that we could adapt for this evening.

So, the dessert selection wasn’t too shabby.  Not exactly what I had in mind when I designed the menu of two cakes, three cookies, candies, etc.  But Oatmeal cookie wedges, Chocolate Cake with Orange Butter cream and Chocolate Ganache, Truffles, and these Shortbread Cookies seem to be enough to satisfy everyone.

I rarely get a chance to bake enough cookies during the holidays and January is usually when I try to make up for that.  Since Christmas, we have already managed to bake up a batch of Martha Stewart’s Outrageous Chocolate Cookies, but I still  need some Thumbprints with blackberry jam and Coconut Macaroons.    These shortbreads will be a repeat performer, and I hope you’ll like them too.

What makes a shortbread cookie ‘shortbread’?  Well, it’s the fat content.  High fat content, such as in biscuits, pie crust and shortbread cookies, ‘shortens’ the gluten strands and prevents the item from getting tough or chewy.

What makes a shortbread cookie an easy, last minute choice for a baker in a rush?  Simple, always on hand ingredients – nothing fancy or peculiar.  If you don’t have the coarse ground sugar on hand, just use granulated sugar, colored sanding sugar, or skip this step.  The cookies are improved by the extra crunch of the coarse sugar, but it’s really not a necessity.  These cookies would be great to cut into ‘fingers’ and use as dippers into chocolate fondue – decadent!

Christmas Eve Shortbread Cookies

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 generous teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 1/3 cups (10 ounces)unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 Tbls (or more) coarse Bourbon Vanilla Sugar (Demerara Sugar or Sugar in the Raw are  good substitutes)

Heat oven to 300 degrees.  In the bowl of a mixer, cream together the butter, granulated sugar and vanilla.  While the butter and sugar are mixing, whisk the flour and salt together in a separate bowl.  Once the sugar and butter are fluffy, mix in the flour and salt until thoroughly combined.

Press the mixture into an 8″ square baking pan or a 9″ round cake pan.  Since the air that has been whipped into the cookie dough will provide space for steam to help ‘rise’ these cookies, handle the dough minimally and gently press into the pan.   Sprinkle generously with the coarse sugar, and press the sugar down lightly, helping it adhere to the dough.  Bake for 30-45 minutes, the center will be puffed and the edges golden brown.  Remove from oven and allow to rest for about 5 minutes.

Using a bench knife or other flat blade, cut the shortbreads into squares or wedges and allow to cool completely in the pan.

Enjoy!

Blogging about orange, lemon, lime and grapefruit peels seemed like a great thing to do, so here I am.  Citrus is available to us all year long, like most fruits and vegetables.  But, citrus is ‘in season’ during winter months. There is a reason that oranges and tangerines show up in Christmas stockings.  Watch the Susan Sarandan , Claire Danes, Winona Ryder version of Little Women – it’s my fav – and look for the oranges.

Remember that zest is the colored part of the citrus fruit peel only – don’t include the white ‘pith’ underneath the zest, it will be bitter.  So, as you are peeling or grating, don’t push too deeply.

OK, I am going to give you a list of one million things to do with citrus zest, most of them really simple.  As a finale, I’ll outline a detailed process of making candied orange peel that you can use in lots of recipes throughout the coming year.

To start, here is a list of my favorite tools for working with the peels and zest of citrus fruits:

• Fingers – to remove tangerine and mandarin peels
• Julienne Peeler – to remove little, thin strips for garnishes
• Potato Peeler – to remove wide strips, which you may then chop in the food processor or by hand
• Zester – a good one will dig a bit deeper than the J-peeler, and provide lovely, curling strips for garnishes or for candying
• Chef’s knife – to finely mince the zest, and to cleanly peel an orange or grapefruit for slicing or sectioning
• Paring knife, to score oranges and grapefruit for removing peel
• Rasp grater – Microplane or Pampered Chef has the best.  This tool will shave off tiny fragments that you can add directly without further fuss.

Now, here is my list of 1 Million things to do with citrus zest:

1. Drop a piece of orange of lemon zest into your cup of hot tea while it’s brewing
2. Grate orange peel into your oatmeal or chocolate chip cookie batter
3. Use orange and lemon peel in hot apple cider
4. Lemon zest goes well with blueberries – in pound cake, scones…
5. Make simple syrups infused with any citrus zest
6. Flavor salad dressings with finely grated zest
7. Make citrus sugar (orange, lemon, lime) by drying the zest in a jar of sugar
8. Add zest to icings for the most intense flavor
9. Add a mixture of orange and lemon zest to a simple cheesecake recipe
10. Make my Brown Rice Salad
11. Add orange zest and ginger to sweet potatoes or carrots
12. Add lime zest and juice and honey to cantaloupe chunks
13. Add lime or lemon zest and juice to salsa
14. Use the zest of red grapefruit along with tarragon for an incredible sorbet

OK, so maybe it wasn’t a million, but hopefully a few ideas that you hadn’t thought of yourself.  Here is my favorite thing to do with lots of oranges – if you are lucky, someone will give you a fruit basket for the holidays.  Or just buy yourself a bag of oranges during their season.  Most times, I don’t get to this until January.

Candied Orange Peel

• Score 3 thick skinned oranges into quarters and remove the peel, zest, pith and all.  Use the oranges for salads or snacking. Slice the peel into 1/4″ long slices.
• Place the orange peel slices  in a heavy bottomed sauce pan and cover with water.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.  Drain and rinse.  Repeat this process twice more.
• Return the peel to the pan and add 1 cup sugar and 1/2  cup water.  Bring to a boil once again and stir until the sugar is dissolved.  Reduce to simmering and cook and watch closely until most all the liquid is absorbed.  Gently stir until the liquid is completely absorbed – the peel will still be moist.
• Line a rimmed sheet pan with parchment paper or lightly oil with vegetable oil.
• Pour the orange peel out onto the sheet pan, and separate the sliced orange peel with a fork.  Be careful!  The peel is blisteringly hot – don’t touch it with your fingers.
• While the peel is still hot, sprinkle with granulated sugar (extra fine is best), and allow the peel to absorb the sugar.  Repeat this process until the peel is dusted  with a light, but dry sugar coat.  Allow to rest on the pan until completely cool and dry.
• You may decide to dip one end of the orange peel slices into melted dark chocolate – YUM.
• Dicing some into small square will get you ready to try baking some Florentines.  But that’s a blog post for another day.

Enjoy!

The chocolate cake that the bride requested was prepared by the Bakery at Sullivan University, and stacked and garnished with fresh raspberries and mint by yours truly. The filling was an orange buttercream and the cake was enrobed with chocolate ganache.  How bad could it have been?

The groom’s cake, in a departure from the usual chocolate, (and since that base was already covered) was a cheesecake lightly scented with orange and vanilla and topped with a dried fruit compote.  I usually serve this compote atop vanilla ice cream or even Brie or goat cheese, but I decided it would be a great fall-ish topping for the second dessert.

So, again I go for ‘Flexible Food’.  Something that can span the range of menu items from appetizer to entree to dessert.  Imagine a pork roast or even grilled lamb chops with a bit of this syrupy glaze spooned over.  It would certainly fit the bill on the Thanksgiving table snuggled up next to the stuffing and roasted bird.

A wheel or wedge of Brie (the cheese, not the dog) with a generous topping of the compote served with crisp crackers is welcome at either end of a special dinner.  Served with a dessert wine or port, it would replace the customary ‘dessert course’ and give your meal a certain Continental flair.

Another of the many positive attributes of this dish is the fact that you can make it and keep it stored in the fridge for weeks; really handy with the holidays nearing.  I had planned to prepare this a few weeks ago when I was shopping and picked up some Calmyrna figs, dried plums (yep, prunes), dried cherries and dried cranberries.  I had a stash of dried mission figs in the pantry. Apricots and dates work too – use what you have or buy your favorites.

The liquid called for here is flexible too.  I began making this a few years ago with port, and have used both tawny and ruby.  I have used sweet wines like muscadet.  Yesterday I had none of the above, but did have some Sauvignon Blanc and a bottle of a nice Muscat dessert wine.  And so, I began.

Dried Fruit Compote

Dried Fruit Compote

• 5 cups of mixed dried fruits, large pieces diced
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups white wine or port
• 1 cup sweet wine or port
• 1-3″ cinnamon stick
• 1 vanilla bean, split
• 2-3 whole cloves or a 1″ piece of fresh ginger
• 2 Tbls cornstarch
• 2 Tbls red wine vinegar or lemon juice

In a shallow 3 quart pan, place the fruit, sugar, and all the wine except 1/4 cup.  Stir together, add the vanilla bean, cinnamon stick and cloves and/or ginger,  and heat to a simmer.  In a small measuring cup or bowl, stir the cornstarch, lemon juice and remaining wine together to smooth out the lumps. When the fruit has simmered enough to soften slightly (about 5 minutes), stir in the cornstarch mixture and return to a simmer.  Cook until thickened slightly and the liquid has turned from cloudy to clear.  Remove from heat and cool.

Move the mixture to small glass jars or to one large storage container.  Keep chilled.  The compote will keep for 3-4 weeks.

Enjoy!

I’ve begun my scout of all the wine shops in town to find a variety of Italian wines – yes, I am a geek.  I fully intend to milk every drop of my Italian enthusiasm for as long as it lasts.  Perhaps until next October when I return to Italy.  That aside, I picked up a bottle of white wine from the Orvieto region, called Salviano.  This was a lucky choice.  I felt like last night was the right time to crack this open, hopefully a good match to the parmesan.  I was right (and lucky).  The wine is a blend of the typical Trebbiano grape, 30%; Gechetto, 30%; Chardonnay, 20% and Sauvingnon Blanc, 20%.

Now, don’t expect much of an analysis and professional sounding review of the wine. I haven’t reached a point where I feel confident about describing and remembering the nuances of the bottle.  But, just thinking that I should makes me want to go back and get another bottle.  Yeah, that’s it!

What I can tell you is that the wine was a great cocktail white, smooth enough just to sip, but acidic enough to match up with the creamy, salty Parmesan.  I’ve come to know that you don’t need to put anything with Parmesan Reggiano  to make the perfect appetizer.  Just lay out a chunk and a fork and let your guests break off little bits.

The cheese was like heaven in our mouths, creamy upon the chew and grainy with salt that comes from a bath in a salt water brine that the cheese receives.  We were fortunate enough to get to see much of the Parmesan making process when in Italy’s food valley about 11 days ago.  In one day, we watched Parmigiano Reggiano made, had lunch, visited a Prosciutto plant,  and were given a tour of a Balsamic Vinegar operation in Modena.  You’re jealous, aren’t you?

Italian experts making Parmigiano Reggiano

The curd is processed in these huge copper kettles.  You can see the steam rising off the cheese.  These guys make two huge wheels of Parmigiano in each of the 6 kettles daily.  This plant producing 12 wheels per day.

To be called Parmigiano Reggiano, a consortium watches over the operations of all the plants.  Milk from cows raised in this one area is used to make the cheese.  By products make also butter (which we had – yum!) and other cheeses are also made here, but only a certain process and materials make Parmigiano Reggiano.  Every wheel is stamped with the plants information and you can actually track which manufacturer processed the cheese.

We sampled cheese that was 12, 24, and 36 months of age.  The brothers who own and operate this particular manufacturing plant, Spaccio & Rocco broke open a wheel for us to sample and had a number of other cheeses available for us to try.

A wheel of Parmigiano cracked open just for us!

So while I was in the shop (as did others in the group), I bought my kilo of Parmigiano, some other cheeses and some souvenir PR cheese knives to take home to friends as gifts.  On  our next to last night in Italy, we had a gathering where most everyone brought a little something to the table:  cheese, butter, breadsticks (glorious rosemary breadsticks), biscotti, wine, etc.  We used the knives to cut up and serve the cheeses.

When the party was over and we headed to the restaurant for dinner, I bundled up the knives and hid them in Tony’s sportcoat pocket, still with cheese clinging to them.  Packing up to head back to Louisville a few days later, I absentmindedly placed the bundle in my carry on, not really noticing what they were, just souvenirs.

Security pulls me and my bag aside, and when they unwrapped my little bundle, they confiscated the knives (still crusty with cheese) and copied down my passport information.  I suppose I’ll be on file now as a possible terrorist, having 4 Parmigiano Reggiano knives (all of 2 1/2″) in my bag, ready to hand to other cell members to assist in my taking over the plane.  America’s most wanted, here I come.

Ciao!

I’d also never traveled with a group other than my family.  I was unprepared and a bit anxious about what could happen in Italy, for 8 days,  with a large group whose happiness and satisfaction I was taking responsibility for.  Now, don’t get me wrong.  They weren’t making me responsible, it was just me.  My desire to make people happy.  Little did I know that my peeps would blossom into full fledged swans of travel.

I should have known, I guess.  Every pre-tour get together grew more raucous and fun.  Looking back now I can see that we were forming the perfect Italian family.  Multiple and simultaneous conversations, everyone speaking at a pitch sure to be heard.  Lots of laughter, lots of wine, hugs, kisses and concern for each other.

Oh, and food, we ate plenty before we left for Italy.  And it was good, no doubt.  But no meal could have prepared us for what lay before us in Italy.  We drank a bit of wine, too. Yeah, right!  We didn’t foresee  the Italian free flowing river of wine that our group consumed while in Italy.  So, I was thinking how could I begin to tell the tale of our travel – the sites, the food, the people and the drink.  Where would I begin?

In writing classes over the years, one of the most impressive concepts that I learned was this: tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you told them. That being said, I feel I should start out with a summary, filling in the details over time.

My overall experience in Italy was beyond belief, beyond words and well beyond expectations.  We managed to pull off an extraordinary trip filled with extraordinary people, sites, food and drink.  Inspirational, really.  I am inspired to cook, shop, eat and drink Italy.  So much so that the focus of my cooking classes over the next few months will be as much Italian based as possible.  I’m even going to do an Italian Thanksgiving class.  But what about you?  What about my readers ?  Either the ones who traveled with us, or those that didn’t.  What would you like to know?

I have put together my thoughts on what it takes to have an awe inspiring Italian trip, and I thought that I would share these thoughts with you.  If you are planning a trip to Italy, perhaps these points may lead you to have a better trip.  If you’ve been to Italy, they might remind you of pleasantries you have already experienced.  Those of you who have no interest have already hit the red X button in the top, right hand corner.  Arrivederci!

So, hear we go.  Mary’s top 10, sure fire ways to put together an Italian trip that will leave you breathless!

Number 1 – Choose a hardworking, dedicated Travel Agent who has contacts in Italy and is not afraid to make the phone calls and emails necessary to get you the perfect trip.  Our trip was honed to perfection over the course of months of meetings, conversations and arrangements with my travel agent.  Kathy Collins did a dynamic job of keeping up with all the details and communicating tirelessly with our Italian contacts.  Kathy’s email is kcollins@cruisepanners.com .

Giuseppe

Number 2 – Insist on a native speaking tour director for your travel throughout Italy.  If you are fortunate enough to have one with personality, charm, a sense of humor and wit, so much the better.  Young, single and good looking – Score!

Number 3 – Balance your trip with a variety of topics.  My focus was food and wine, but Kathy and Giuseppe were seasoned enough not to make the trip linear.  We had a wide range of food, wine, winery tours, cooking classes, world class meals and other ‘real’ Italian experiences.  Sprinkled with history, culture, art and the antic dotes of real Italian life made the trip diverse and appealing to everyone.

Number 4 – Select a group of fun, like minded travel mates.  Our group was a perfect blend of wonderful, beautiful (inside and out) women and “thoughtful, intelligent” men.  These were words  we heard in toasts on one of our last gatherings in Italy.  We really couldn’t have been any more fortunate for the group members!  Everyone was fabulous and added their own particular facet to our experience.  Without their interest and faith in our team, our trip wouldn’t have become a reality.

Our Group at Castello de Verranzzano

Number 5 – Get to know your travel mates.  We did this by scheduling an event every month for the 8 months leading up to departure.  Travelers were very comfortable with each other, mingling and mixing throughout the tour.  I believe everyone felt included and cared for.

Number 6 – Have a support system in place.  My brother and his fiance offered their condo to do two of the events which helped to change things up and give people a chance to see another  part of town.  Bob and Julie, as far more experienced travelers than I, offered great advice on travel, packing, money, electronic devices, etc.  Julie even took everyone’s picture and put together a cheat sheet to make face/name connections a breeze. Our travel group began making plans for follow up parties at their homes before our third day in Italy.  (Steve and Doris & David and Karen – I can’t wait to get started!)

Number 7 – Ask the experts for help.  One of my goals was to learn as much and share as much about Italy BEFORE we left as I could make possible.  Getting my traveling buddies things they needed was important too.  My mother, Jackie, put our group in touch with her employer, Taylor Trunk, for luggage wisdom and discounts.  Blu Italian Grille was host to an early Italian meal.  Gemelli Wines and Spirits gave us an education on Tuscan and Umbrian wines.  We savored gelato at Gelato Gilberto in Norton Commons.  Add a style show with packable clothes from JockeyPerson2Person, jewelry from Sara Simpson Designs and accessories from Bliss Gallery and Gifts, and you’ve got the makings of nearly a year of activities.  If you are lucky enough to have a member in the group that makes home-brew Limoncello – (Bring it on Betty!) take full advantage!

A meandering street in Orvieto

Number 8 – Get ready to walk.  No matter where you go in Italy, you are going to walk.  Bring comfortable shoes and lots of Aleve (or drug of choice).  The streets are sure to be either uphill or down.  I’m sure we walked 2-5 miles per day.  It was worth every step.  At every corner in every small town, the vistas were marvelous.

Number 9 – Take a good camera.  My only regret!  I should have invested in or borrowed a camera.  Mine just didn’t take the range of pictures that I would have loved to have kept.  Fortunately, there were 28 others on the trip with cameras and we have vowed to share.  I’d estimate that we took at least 10,000 pictures in total and I won’t be surprised if the total were double!

Number 10 – Come back home just long enough to make enough money to go back again, and again.  We’re already planning another trip.  Let me know if you’d like to join us.

Ciao!

Spending time with a dear friend tonight, I can see that this week gave me opportunities to understand people that I passed on.  To hear people needing help that I chose to ignore.  To react when I should have reflected, and to learn when I chose to  be heard.  Who has a friend who will put in velvet terms what you need to hear?  I do.

Blink, and you’ll miss the point.  Think selfishly and you’ll need to wait until another opportunity to learn the same lesson comes  ’round.

Philosophical?  Yes, I am feeling that way this evening.  I came out of a SERIOUS wine education course this week securing the bounty of a dozen bottles with about 1 glass of wine left in them to savor.  After a few of those, and the charge of cooking dinner for a dozen women enjoying a ‘girls’ night out’, I am feeling quite philosophical.  And lucky!

I made a huge platter of seafood risotto, laden with lobster, sea scallops and shrimp.  The risotto was enhanced with a lovely Pinot Gris, off dry and full of character.  I seasoned the risotto simply with fresh tarragon and parsley and a very conservative dose of heavy cream.  Just enough to enrich the broth of the seafood, but not so much to make the dish heavy.  Served with oven roasted asparagus, the dish got rave reviews.

I came home to a quiet house, a crossword puzzle and time to relax before I head off to bed.  Just a few more days and I’ll be dozing over the Atlantic on my way to a Tuscan vacation that books and movies are based upon.  My Life.  How lucky am I?  Very.

More soon.  M

For a business meeting at my home, I prepared a BLT salad. Complete with colorful greens, heirloom tomatoes and a simple dressing, it was sort of a play on the sandwich of the same name, but made much ‘dressier’ presentation.

BLT salad

Another rendition of the classic ‘Caprese’ salad was included in my dinner with friends last night.  A base of fresh, baby arugula topped with a collection of my neighbor’s tomatoes and some from my yard too.  The bright yellow and green tomato taking center stage is the ‘Green Zebra’ plucked right from the vine yesterday afternoon.  ‘Juliet’, ‘Sungold’ and a handful of tiny red grape tomatoes rounded out the mix.  Normally, I would serve a balsamic vinaigrette (Cook With Mary brand of course), but last night, I opted for the ultra simple 18 year old balsamic vinegar and a bottle of walnut oil that I received recently as a gift.  Wow!  What a flavor combination.  I topped the salad with some fresh Feta cheese rather than the usual fresh mozzarella.  It is amazing to me how such a simple salad can have such a wide range of tastes just by changing up the  cheese and dressing choices.

Caprese Salad

Let me know what your favorite version of a classic summer tomato dish might be.

BLT Salad Dressing

• 2/3 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 Tbls vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste
• chopped fresh herbs: chives, parsley, tarragon – to taste

Mix all ingredients together and serve with a platter full of lettuce leaves, sliced fresh tomatoes and crisp bacon.  Bread is optional!

Enjoy!