Seafood spread

So, as most of you know, I did a lot of research looking for stuff that would be tasty and refreshing and different to eat on a picnic this week while I am on vacation.  This is a recipe that adapted from The Barefoot Contessa on the Food Network. 

Here is the basic recipe:

• 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh dill
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 8 ounces imitation crab, minced

Mix everything except the fish with a blender, and blend until smooth.  Make sure that the crab is chopped finely and fold it into the mixture.  Serve with crackers, crusty bread or raw vegetables.  Refrigerate leftovers.

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Ok, so you can substitute smoked salmon or almost any other kind of fish for the crab, and  prepared horseradish(drained) for the garlic.  I don't care for things that are really spicy, so I didn't want to use horseradish.  Salmon usually has a strong fishy flavor to me, so I avoid it. I have discovered that I don't care fore pink fish, I prefer white!  You can aso use dried dill from the spice section if you don't want to buy fresh, but fresh has a more delicate flavor. 

You also want to make sure that the cream cheese is room temperature or it is going to be hard to blend.  It really is worth the time it takes for it to come to room temp.  The sour cream will add an extra creaminess to the spread, and you can substitute fat free cream cheese and sour cream for the full fat varieties. 

Nectarine Berry Salad

Another recipe I found on the interwebs while looking for yummy picnic food.  I tweaked this one a little too, but it is SO delicious I had to share it too!  I will get a picture of it in the morning before we go to the water park so I have one to post!

2 tablespoon(s) finely chopped crystallized ginger

1 tablespoon(s) sugar

2 pound(s) (6 medium) nectarines, pitted and chopped

1 half-pint blackberries

1 half-pint raspberries

Directions

1. In large bowl, stir lime juice, ginger, and sugar until sugar dissolves. Add nectarines and berries, and toss until coated. Makes 8 1/2 cups. Spoon into storage container with tight-fitting lid. Can be refrigerated up to 4 hours.

If you want to make this up ahead of time, just cut your fruit and put it into a large bowl, and mix the sugar and lime juice in a small jar and leave separated.  You can add in the ginger when you put it together.  If you mix it up completely for  more than 4 hours before it's going to be served, the fruit will all maserate and get mushy, turning it into more of a fruit soup.

 

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Orecchiette Salad with roast beef

I can't remember which website I found this recipe on, but it is delicious and I thought I would share it with you all!  I did make a few substitutions:  provolone instead of mozzarella, basil instead of mint, little gem lettuce instead of arugula.  Wonderful Mediteranean flavor and filling and light at the same time!

• Kosher salt
• 8 ounces orecchiette pasta
• 1 cup bocconcini (small mozzarella balls), halved
• 1 cup marinated artichoke hearts, quartered
• 8 small sweet marinated peppers (such as Peppadew), quartered
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint or basil
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• Freshly ground pepper
• 4 cups baby arugula
• 6 ounces deli-sliced roast beef, cut into strips

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook as the label directs; drain but don't rinse.

Meanwhile, combine the bocconcini, artichokes, marinated peppers and mint in a serving bowl. Add the olive oil, lemon zest and juice, and salt and pepper to taste and toss. Add the pasta and toss again.

Just before serving, stir in the arugula and roast beef. Season the salad with pepper.

This is wonderful summer fare, and I hope you like it as much as I do!

Barbeque Sauce

Most of my life, I thought barbeque was this fancy sauce that required a lot of time and a lot of ingredients to make well.  Boy was I ever wrong!  barbeque sauce is very simple to make and can be as varied as you are!  The only thing limiting the complexity of your BBQ is what's in your fridge and spice cabinet!

So here is the most basic that I can break down BBQ:

1/2 cupketchup
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp yellow mustard
2 drops tobasco sauce

Mix it all together and coat what ever your heart desires with it. 

With that said, if you desire to make a higher quality BBQ, you might want to read the following tips and ingredient suggestions!  I no longer use ketchup as the base for my sauce.  I don't need the extra sugar and I find it's more cost efficient to buy cans of tomato sauce.  I also have a handy little tool that I use for multiple things in my kitchen called an immersion blender (I will discuss a little at the end of this entry).  It generally comes with a graduated cylinder to mix things in, but if you are making a large batch of sauce, you will want a bigger vessel, a mixing bowl works fine. 

I generally make a good sized batch of BBQ at once and using 2 medium siz cans of tomato sauce it makes about a quart and a half.  I find that I make the best sauce when I put the tomato sauce in the bowl, add a squirt of mustard and a scoop of brown sugar, blend and then go exploring my fridge and spice cabinet.  You can substitute spicy brown mustard for plain yellow mustard, though I have never used the stone ground mustard, I imagine that it would work too. 

Here are a few of the things that usually make it in to my sauce: liquid smoke, garlic (I prefer minced), Shae's hot pepper mix, black pepper, vinegar.  I am also going to list a bunch of things that you can put in your sauce.  The best suggestion is to taste the sauce, see what you think it is lacking and add a little.  Taste again and repeat until you are happy with the result. 


Some things to try in your sauce:
cumin
paprika
onion
onion powder
ginger
chili powder
honey
lemon juice
molasses
White wine


Now mix it up, taste it and enjoy it!  You will notice that I did not list any salt.  Canned tomato products have an obscene amount of sodium in them already.  I try to stay away from adding more to them when I can.  If you feel it must have more salt, then add it sparingly, your blood pressure will thank you for it.

                                                                       

Now a note on immersion blenders.  You will find that an immersion blender is a handy tool for your kitchen if you make a lot of sauces, soups or gravies.  It is the funny looking thing on a stick type handle that you just put down in the bowl or pot with what ever you are making.  I find it adds creaminess to most gravies and it tends to chop up  pieces of things to make the sauce smoother.  You can blend to your content and make the smoothest gravy ever with the aid of this handy item.  Check them out at your local department store, it should be relatively inexpensive and worth it to add to your array of gadgets!