Vegetarian

Cookbook Club: Cinco de Mayo on the Water

May 6, 2015, posted by Gina – Yesterday, my Cookbook Club met for a Cinco de Mayo lunch. We are currently working our way through the Barefoot Contessa Cookbooks and you’ll find links for each recipe throughout this post. The hostess set up her boat house so that we could enjoy the day right on the water. It was quite a beautiful sunny day, not too hot, with a slight, pleasant breeze. Idyllic!

We started the festivities with margaritas and what I can only describe as the BEST GUACAMOLE I have ever had. For a start, the super fresh avocados and tomatoes had everything to do with setting it apart. It had a bit of a kick from the 8 dashes of Tabasco sauce and lemon juice, rather than lime juice, brightened it up. Combine all that with some minced red onions and garlic and you have the perfect guacamole.

After enjoying the appetizer, we served GAZPACHO topped with homemade parmesean croutons, ROASTED CHICKEN, ORZO with ROASTED VEGETABLES and ZUCCHINI with PARMESEAN. My favorite dish was the orzo with roasted vegetables; the dressing, the feta and the pine nuts married so well with the vegetables.

Gazpacho

Roasted Chicken

For dessert we had FROZEN KEY LIME PIE and CHOCOLATE GANACHE CAKE. The pie had a great flavor although I think I prefer a regular key lime pie. The ganache on the cake was delicious and while the cake was good, there are other chocolate cakes I like better.

Chocolate Ganache Cake with Sugared Flowers

The tables were set with brightly colored plates and napkins and pots of zinnias for centerpieces. The setting, the perfect weather, a delicious lunch and great company made this a very enjoyable day. Do you do anything special for Cinco de Mayo? Maybe you prepare an authentic meal or just head to your favorite Mexican restaurant for margaritas? Do you have a favorite spot on a lake or river where you can get away? We’d like to hear from you, so if you’d like to leave a comment, click on the title of this post and a comment form with unfurl for you at the end of the post.

Fresh Peas and a Word About Truffle Oil

May 6, 2015, posted by Michelle – This past Sunday at the farmers market I loaded up on a bunch of fresh peas while they are available (the season is just a few short weeks). Behold the sweet, brilliant green beauties:

I concocted a simple salad of peas and new potatoes with chives, dill and mayonnaise that was light and delicious.

Fresh Pea and New Potato Salad

1/2 lb. fresh peas, shelled
5 – 6 small new potatoes, halved
2 tsp. fresh dill, minced
2 tsp. fresh chives, minced
3 tsp mayonnaise (honestly, this is guess – you can add as much or as little mayo as you like)

Boil the potatoes about 15 minutes then add the peas and continue to boil together for another 5 – 7 minutes or until the peas are just tender. Strain in a colander and then transfer the peas and potatoes to a mixing bowl. Allow to cool a bit (15 minutes or so). Mix in the mayo and herbs and add salt and pepper to taste.

Now about apparently evil and disgusting truffle oil… My significant other (when I mention him from now on I’ll refer to him as Le Monsieur) came home from a business trip to Italy with several packages of truffle flavored pasta that, unfortunately, didn’t have much of a truffle taste. I thought maybe adding a little truffle oil would bring out the truffle flavor of the pasta. I had never used truffle oil before and so I did a little research to find out about it. Wow. It seems like everyone from Martha Stewart to Anthony Bourdain HATES and VILIFIES truffle oil. The reason is because 99% of commercially produced truffle oil has no truffles in it and chemically reproduces a one dimensional, overbearing truffle-like taste. The ingredients of this synthetic truffle oil include phrasing like “truffle essence” or “truffle aroma”. Read THIS ARTICLE to find out more about truffles, truffle oil and marketing manipulation. You can decide for yourself if truffle oil is a travesty or not.

Zucchini Pasta

Ingredients:

1 pound pasta, cooked (we used fettuccine), save about 3 cups of the pasta water to mix with final dish
6 thinly sliced zucchini, roast on 450° for 15 minutes (drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper first)
1/2 cup Kalamata olives
1 medium Vidalia onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
Zest of 1/2 lemon (more if you like)
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup bread crumbs
2 tablespoons butter

Directions:

While zucchini is roasting, saute onions and garlic in the tablespoon of olive oil. Add to cooked pasta along with the Parmesan cheese, olives, and lemon zest. In a small saucepan, melt the two tablespoons of butter. Take off heat and add the bread crumbs and combine. Add to pasta. Once the zucchini is roasted combine with the pasta. Stir all ingredients and serve. Add salt and more Parmesan to taste.