2011 Wrap-up - June and July

We didn’t cook the entire month of June. Jim worked, we had two birthday weekends, one nephew graduated from high school and welcomed our nephew Drew.

Hello, Drew!

Two nephews born within a month - it was a great summer to be the aunt and uncle.

Abel on the left, Drew on the right.

The first couple of weeks in July we also were busy with the 4^th at a friend’s house - we did take Emeril’s potato salad, which Jim had made before - and our oldest son’s birthday. But, we managed to cook a couple of weekends.

　

07-17 Robin’s Shrimp Risotto and Salted Butter Tart

Shrimp Risotto with Peas

When I was still in school, my step mom and I made homemade toffee to add to the Christmas cookie tins. I was in love from the very first spoon lick. The rich and smooth butter that is highlighted with the salty bits, covered in sweet, silky chocolate … pure heaven. Salted caramel may surpass my love of chocolate. Combine them, and score! (or should I say Skor - one of my favorite candy bars to this day.) I love this so much, that both of my desserts in July were Salted Caramel based. The first a tart, the second Gravel Road Ice Cream - salted caramel with smoked almonds.

The Salted Butter Tart was my first venture in making caramel on my own. Whether you’re making a dry caramel with just sugar, or adding butter, caramelizing sugar requires patience. You have to heat the sugar at a low temperature until it liquefies and make sure you remove it before it burns. If it overcooks a little bit, it gives the sugar an almost mocha flavor that some people like, but another minute too long and it’s ruined. After caramelizing the sugar, add cream, which sizzles and pops and makes the caramel form hardened lumps. (No matter how slowly I pour the cream into the sugar, this always happens.) Then re-heat to get the lumps to liquefy again. Even though this takes a lot of time and patience, I find it worth every moment over the stove and every burn from sizzling caramel. All commercially made caramel now just tastes like an overly sweet sauce that barely tastes like caramel. The picture does not do this dessert justice.


Salted Butter Tart

07-24 Jim's Puerto Rican Beef & Plantain Pie, Spinach Salad (Emeril's Potluck) and Peanut Butter Fudge
The first time eating plantains. They're interesting - they look like bananas, but taste like potatoes.
We used what we call fake meat - a soy-based meat substitute.

Puerto Rican Beef & Plantain Pie

Spinach Salad with  Mandarin Oranges

Peanut Butter Fudge

07-31 Robin's Tempeh Sloppy Joes, Zucchini Fries and Gravel Road Ice Cream (Jeni's)
The sloppy joes were decent, but the zucchini fries were amazing, and because they're baked, probably a little healthy. I don't think kids would even notice they were good for them.

Thanks to Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Columbus’ North Market, I re-fell in love with Salted Caramel. As soon as her ice cream recipe book was available, I bought it, hoping her recipe for Gravel Road would be in there. It is. If you haven’t had Jeni’s Salted Caramel ice cream, take a trip to Columbus or Nashville, stop by the Green Dog Café in Cincinnati or order some online, and do so as quickly as possible.


Tempeh Sloppy Joes, Zucchini Fries and Mashed Potatoes