Turkey Hummus Sandwiches with Black Pepper Honey

Yep, this is definitely my Summer of the Sandwich.  And not just any sandwich...the open-faced sandwich. And not just any open-faced sandwich...open-faced sandwiches made with bread that has been toasted on the grill for that fabulous, just a tiny bit charred taste.  For some reason I've gotten fixated on them and they are showing up on my supper menu almost once a week. Not only is there the whole grilled bread thing going on, but there's nothing like the feeling of walking in the door at the end of the day and getting that merry Sandwiches-For-Dinner feeling...oh yes!

And in this particular case, it was another excuse to whirl up the millionth batch of that Five Minute Hummus I am also fixated on lately.  Hey, there could be worse vices to have, right?  And if you are not the hummus-whirling-up type, your favorite supermarket brand will work just fine.

So, once you have walked in the door and are all in a good mood due to it being Sandwich Night, here's the drill.  Slice up some nice thick slices of whatever hearty bread you like.  I like the sourdough bread at Panera...it's fresh and has that scrumptious sourdough tang to it.  Brush your bread with a little olive oil and pop it on the grilled just long enough to get those delicious char marks going.

Once it has cooled a little, slather on some hummus.  Don't be shy, slather it on thick.  Now drape some thin-sliced deli turkey on top...and here comes the best part, the part that takes this from regular sandwich status to Superstar Sandwich Status.  Put about 2 tablespoons of honey in a microwavable measuring cup and nuke just until it is melted - this probably won't take more than 10 seconds.  Now grind a generous amount of black pepper into it, swirl it around, and then drizzle it over your turkey sandwich.  The sweetness of the honey and the snap of the black pepper are going to make beautiful music with the rest of this sandwich.

Sandwich Night!  It makes you feel this good:



Almost, anyway!  Here's the recipe.

Turkey Hummus Sandwiches with Black Pepper Honey

• 4 slices hearty bread, your choice
• Olive oil
• 1 cup hummus
• 1/2 pound thin sliced turkey
• 2 tablespoons honey
• Fresh ground black pepper

1. Heat grill to medium high.  Brush both sides of bread with olive oil and grill until both sides are toasted to your liking.  Remove and cool slightly.

2. Spread each slice of bread with 1/4 cup hummus.  Divide turkey among sandwiches and lay on top of hummus.

3. Heat honey in microwavable measuring cup until liquid, about 10 seconds.  Grind a generous portion of black pepper into honey and swirl to mix.  Drizzle over sandwiches and serve.

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Grilled Chive Potatoes

I think this just might be the easiest way I've ever cooked potatoes, and with the possible exception of Aligot Potatoes (which are so insanely good there aren't even words to describe), these also might be the most scrumptious.  It almost doesn't seem fair, but it's true.

This is a great side dish to make when you have the grill cranked up anyway...say because you are making Grilled Steak with Chimichurri Sauce....but it's also well worth firing up the grill even if whatever you are making to go with these babies is not something grilled.  They are that good.

Here's the scoop: you boil up some nice red-skinned potatoes.  Pick medium sized ones for this, not those teeny baby ones, because you don't want a single one to fall through the grill grates.  Boil for a 25 minutes or so, until they are tender.  Scoop them out of the water and cut them in half, and then brush them with a concoction of melted butter, chopped fresh chives and lemon peel.  Now pop them on the grill, cut side down, for about 10 minutes or until you get those gorgeous char marks. 

Now all you have left to do is drizzle the rest of that butter mixture over your potatoes and dig in.   You might forget to eat whatever else is on the plate due to the grilled chive potato goodness.  Here's the recipe!

Grilled Chive Potatoes, adapted from Epicurious

• 6 red-skinned potatoes, scrubbed
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
• 6 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel

1. Cook potatoes in large pot of boiling salted water until tender, 25 to 30 minutes. Drain. Cut potatoes in half; place cut side up on rimmed baking sheet.
2. Stir butter, chives, and lemon peel in medium saucepan over medium heat until butter melts. Season with salt and pepper. Brush some chive butter over potatoes.
3. Grill potatoes over medium high heat, cut side down, until cut side is crisp and brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Rewarm remaining chive butter. Transfer potatoes, cut side up, to platter. Drizzle with warm chive butter.

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Pasta with Mozzarella Tomatoes

Just about this time of year, you start thinking...what am I going to do with all that basil in my garden?  And what I am going to do with all those gorgeous local tomatoes?

I think I have the answer.  First step: find a big hunk of the best mozzarella cheese you can get your hands on.  The softer and creamier the cheese, the more deliriously happy you are going to be...it's a direct connection.  Creamy cheesiness = happiness.  Next, go get yourself a few of those nice tomatoes...



...and some of that basil.  I have some if you need any!



Okay, here we go.  Cook up some spaghetti, and while it is boiling away, get your tomatoes ready.  Slice them up in nice thick slices, and season them with a little salt and pepper.  Place them on a baking sheet and cover them with some slices of that great mozzarella you found, along with a little parmesan. 

Meanwhile, heat up some olive oil with some chopped garlic and red pepper for a couple minutes...don't let the garlic get too brown.  As soon as it starts smelling like garlic heaven, you're good.  When the pasta has about 2 minutes to go, pop those tomatoes into the broiler until the cheese starts getting gorgeously brown and bubbly. 

Now it's time to put it all together.  Toss the pasta with that delicious garlic oil, some chopped basil, a little more salt and pepper, and then slide those cheesy tomatoes on top.  A few more basil leaves and Parmesan just to send you completely over the edge, and you are all set.  Tomato season, I adore you!

 Pasta with Mozzarella Tomatoes, from Real Simple

• 12 ounces spaghetti
• 3 large beefsteak tomatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds), each cut into 4 thick slices
• 1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for the baking sheet
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 8 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan (1 ounce), plus more, shaved, for serving
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 3/4 cup torn fresh basil leaves, plus more for serving

1. Heat broiler. Cook the pasta according to the package directions; drain and return it to the pot.

2. Meanwhile, arrange the tomato slices in a single layer on a lightly oiled rimmed baking sheet. Season with ¼ teaspoon each salt and black pepper. Dividing evenly, cover the slices with the mozzarella and Parmesan. Broil until the cheese is bubbly and golden, 3 to 5 minutes.

3. In a small saucepan, warm the oil with the garlic and red pepper over medium heat until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes.

4. Add the garlic oil, basil, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper to the pasta and toss to combine. Serve topped with the tomatoes, additional basil, and shaved Parmesan.

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Banana Parfait

I've noticed over the course of writing over the past few years about this, that and the other ingredient that there are a few things that folks have a particular love and devotion for.   One of those things is bananas.  We do love our bananas!  And what's not to love - they are the perfect, scrumptious, portable, non-sticky/drippy/messy fruit.  (Not that I don't sometimes love peach juice running down my chin.)

 

And one of the others is chocolate.  Duh.  So when I run into a recipe that has both chocolate and bananas, I know that soon I'm going to be digging into something good.  It happened to me with the Banana Bites that are still one of my most popular posts EVER, and here we go again...and this time with some angel food cake, a few almonds, some mascarpone cheese, all in a dessert that will take you, oh, about 15 minutes to assemble, and that's if you are going really slow.

Here's the scoop.  Find some pretty wine glasses, the rounder the better.  Now take some angel food cake (the kind you can buy in the bakery section of your supermarket is perfectly fine) and slice it up.  You want the initial slices to be about an inch high, and then trim those into whatever shape will fit nicely into your wine glasses. Don't worry too much about making them pretty and precise, because they are going to be drowned in this.

That's my mind-blowingly good favorite chocolate sauce from the mind-blowingly good Stonewall Kitchen, but you use whatever your favorite is.

Next you are going to whip up a mixture of mascarpone cheese (which is like a sweet cream cheese, and you can find it in the supermarket either in the cheese section or sometimes right near the cream cheese), some sugar, a little cream and if you are feeling frisky, a little amaretto.  And here we go!  Drop a piece of cake in the wineglass.  Add in some banana slices, a spoonful of the cheese mixture, some chocolate sauce and a few sliced almonds.  Repeat the layers, ending with the almonds.

The perfect, perfect ending to that special dinner party.  Or you can go ahead and have it on a regular Tuesday night.  Or both!

Banana Parfaits, adapted from Bon Appetit

• Your favorite chocolate sauce
• 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream, divided
• 3/4 cup mascarpone cheese
• 3 tablespoons amaretto
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 8 1/2-inch-thick angel food cake slices
• 24 1/3-inch-thick diagonal banana slices (from about 3 bananas)
• 1/3 cup (about) sliced almonds, toasted

1. Whisk mascarpone, amaretto, sugar, and 2 tablespoons cream in medium bowl until blended.
2. Using 2 1/2-inch-diameter cookie cutter, cut out round from each angel food cake slice, or just cut into irregular pieces - either is fine. Place 1 cake round in each of 4 wine goblets or old-fashioned glasses. 

3. Top each cake round with 3 banana slices, 1 heaping tablespoon mascarpone mixture, bittersweet chocolate sauce, and sprinkling of almonds. Repeat parfait layering 1 more time and serve.

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Creamy Pasta with Roasted Zucchini, Almonds and Basil

We are now in the wonderful midst of the lazy, hazy, wonderful days of summer, and that means the best local veggies of the year.  Fresh local vegetable season is over before you know it, and so I throw them into everything I can think of these days.  This week our local farmers market had a giant mountain of zucchini that was still warm from the sunny field, and that was all the excuse I needed to make this one....and it had the extra added advantage of also needing some basil, which I have about 100 acres of at the moment.

Now this DOES involve turning on your oven, which is usually against the rules in my house during the months of July and August unless Absolutely Necessary, but let me tell you that the delicious roasted crispy edges of the zucchini make it Absolutely Necessary.    Once it is done, it gets tossed with a quick little cream sauce that includes lemon zest (yum!) and a few tablespoons of your favorite goat cheese.  My favorite goat cheese comes from these guys:

And if you want to know the full story behind those adorable faces, please click here.  Otherwise, please proceed with making this fabulous pasta dish, while the zucchini is in full swing.

Creamy Pasta with Roasted Zucchini, Almonds and Basil, from The New York Times

• 2 medium zucchini, cut into
• 1/2-inch cubes (about 3 cups)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• Pepper, to taste
• 2 tablespoons slivered almonds
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 1 sprig basil, with leaves and stem
• 3 tablespoons goat cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
• 6 ounces whole-wheat spaghetti or linguine.

1. Heat oven to 500 degrees. Toss the zucchini and oil with 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. Arrange zucchini on a baking sheet in a single layer. Roast, tossing occasionally, until golden and tender, 20 to 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, toast the almonds in a skillet over medium heat until golden, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl.
3. Simmer the cream and basil sprig in a small saucepan over medium heat until reduced to 1/4 cup, about 7 minutes. Whisk in the goat cheese until the sauce is smooth. Remove from heat; stir in lemon zest and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cover and keep warm.
4. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain well. Toss the pasta with the cream sauce. Serve topped with the zucchini and almonds.

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Chocolate Merlot Tarragon Truffles

Someone I hold near and dear recently commented that I talk about some, well, strange food combinations on this blog, and I know he's sitting out there somewhere looking at the title of this recipe and shaking his head.  Because it is not every day that you run into a combination of chocolate and merlot in the same truffle, not to mention the tarragon.  I'll get to the tarragon in a sec, but this gives me yet another opportunity to mention my favorite merlot...Red Bicyclette.

It's a little hard to track down, but if you ever spot it and you are a merlot-lover like me, give it a try.  Yum.  Meanwhile, back at the tarragon...I know you might be thinking, why on earth would I toss some herbs into a mixture of perfectly good chocolate?  Merlot maybe, but tarragon?  But be brave and do it...tarragon gives these babies just a teeny hint of that anise flavor that cuts the sweetness just the right amount.  That and rolling the truffles in a nice coating of unsweetened cocoa powder.

I'm pretty much in love with this recipe, and I think it has all kinds of possibilities.  Next time (and there WILL be a next time) I might swap out the tarragon for a little bit of cayenne pepper to get a sweet and spicy thing going on.

Fun fact: this recipe was created by Giada de Laurentiis, who made them for Prince William and his new bride when they visited the States.  I'm guessing that once they had a bite of these, they started planning their return trip.  :)

Chocolate Merlot Tarragon Truffles, from Giada de Laurentiis

• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 1 12-ounce bag semi-sweet chocolate chips, such as Ghirardelli
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh tarragon leaves
• 3 tablespoons Merlot wine
• 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

Place the cream and chocolate in a medium bowl and place over a pan of barely simmering water. Stir until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth, which takes about six minutes.

Stir in the tarragon, wine and salt until smooth.

Refrigerate for two hours until firm. Let the mixture stand at room temperature until moldable, which takes about 45 minutes.

Using a melon scoop, scoop level amounts of the truffle mixture on to the prepared baking sheet. Roll into 1/2-inch balls.

Place the cocoa powder in a small bowl. Roll the truffles in the cocoa powder until coated.

Arrange on a platter and serve or refrigerate in an airtight container.

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Ham and Parmesan Sandwiches with Raspberry Jam

Things that are good to have:

1. Friends who go to Italy and bring you back giant pieces of incredible parmigiana cheese.  You know who you are, and I love you madly.

2. Jars of Stonewall Kitchen jam.  We've been over this before in previous posts, but it bears repeating.

If you have both of these things, you are halfway to a fabulous sandwich.  And while cheese that has been personally carried through Customs is the best-tasting of all, you can also get a lovely chunk of it at your local deli and it will be almost as good, and then you are still very close to the previously-mentioned fabulous sandwich.

Okay, now that we have that straight, here's what comes next.  Get a nice pile of very thin-sliced ham, and a loaf of sourdough bread.  Lately I have been sending the Southern husband to our local Panera, because let's face it, they make an AWESOME sourdough baguette, and I'm all about the path of least resistance on a Wednesday night.  Slice it on the diagonal in 1/2 inch slices (so that you get nice big slices), and brush both sides with olive oil.  Now comes one of the most critical parts of this sandwich, which is The Grilling Of The Bread.  Every summer I get completely fixated on something grill-wise (last year it was grilled buttermilk rosemary chicken and the summer before it was grilled pizza), and this summer, I am all about grilling bread.  There's something about that slightly charred grill taste that just makes my heart beat faster.  You ARE going to have that moment where you think, is this really worth turning on the grill?  Just to grill a few pieces of bread?

Trust me.  It is.

Once you have your bread all nice and crusty, you are five minutes from heaven.  Slather on some raspberry jam (or cherry, or strawberry.  Anything red is pretty much perfect.)  Layer on some thin-sliced ham, and then some parmesan that you have shaved with your handy vegetable peeler.  Hold it up to your nose and inhale deeply...sweet and salty and slightly grill-smelling, and then open wide and take a crunchy/salty/sweet bite.

My work is done here.  :)

Ham and Parmesan Sandwiches with Raspberry Jam

• Sourdough or other hearty bread, sliced 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick
• Olive oil
• Raspberry jam (cherry and strawberry would also work fine!)
• Thin-sliced ham
• Parmesan cheese, shaved into thin pieces with a vegetable peeler

1. Heat grill to medium high.  Brush both sides of bread with olive oil and grill on both sides until slightly charred.
2. Spread bread with jam, and then layer on ham and shaved cheese.
3. Enjoy!!

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Clemson Gazpacho

We've been seeing a lot of orange pop up around our house lately, ever since the teenager got her acceptance to Clemson University.  (Note: apologies to all my readers who are affiliated in any way with the University of South Carolina.  I still love you, and I hope you still love me after you get to the end of this Clemson-fest, but I gotta represent my baby.)

Anyway, we have lately been drinking out of these...

And wearing a lot of this...

All members of the family are participating in the Clemson-apparel-wearing.  

So I figured I should jump on the bandwagon and start whipping up some orange food.  When I ran across this recipe in Cooks Illustrated (which just for the record is actually called Creamy Gazpacho Andaluz), I was not expecting it to be orange...I was anticipating the typical red, tomato-y look of traditional gazpacho.

But lo and behold, because this is a creamy gazpacho, made with some pureed fresh bread and emulsified with olive oil, it turned out to be, well, orange.  I decided it was a sign, and so I re-named it.  Because even though I am a proud graduate of Georgetown University (go Hoyas!), I have a feeling the whole family is going to be rooting for the Tigers for the next few years.

So even if you are a South Carolina fan, if you are looking for a gazpacho that is smooth and spicy and creamy and a little bit different, this might be for you.  Orange and all.

Clemson Gazpacho, renamed and adapted from Cooks Illustrated

• 3 pounds (about 6 medium) ripe tomatoes, cored
• 1 small cucumber, peeled, halved, and seeded
• 1 small red onion, peeled and halved
• 2 medium garlic cloves, peeled and quartered
• 1 small jalapeno chile, stemmed and halved lengthwise
• Kosher salt
• 1 slice high-quality white sandwich bread, crust removed, torn into 1-inch pieces
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for serving
• 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar, plus extra for serving 
• 2 tablespoons finely minced parsley, chives, or basil leaves
• Ground black pepper
• Crumbled tortilla chips 

1.  Roughly chop 2 pounds of tomatoes, half of cucumber, and half of onion and place in large bowl. Add garlic, chile, and 1½ teaspoons salt; toss until well combined. Set aside.
2. Cut remaining tomatoes and cucumber into ¼-inch dice; place vegetables in medium bowl. Mince remaining onion and add to diced vegetables. Toss with ½ teaspoon salt and transfer to fine-mesh strainer set over medium bowl. Set aside 1 hour.
3. Transfer drained diced vegetables to medium bowl and set aside. Add bread pieces to exuded liquid (there should be about ¼ cup) and soak 1 minute. Add soaked bread and any remaining liquid to roughly chopped vegetables and toss thoroughly to combine.
4. Transfer half of vegetable-bread mixture to blender and process 30 seconds. With blender running, slowly drizzle in ¼ cup oil and continue to blend until completely smooth, about 2 minutes. Strain soup through fine-mesh strainer into large bowl, using back of ladle or rubber spatula to press soup through strainer. Repeat with remaining vegetable-bread mixture and 1/4 cup olive oil.
5. Stir vinegar, minced herb, and half of diced vegetables into soup and season to taste with salt and black pepper. Cover and refrigerate overnight or for at least 2 hours to chill completely and develop flavors. Serve, passing remaining diced vegetables, olive oil, sherry vinegar, crumbled chips and black pepper separately as garnishes.

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Pasta with Sweet Yellow Tomatoes

Every summer I look forward to the Return of the Tomato.  I do love the classic red ones, and have about one million recipes that call for them, but I'm also crazy about the green ones (fried green tomatoes!) and the sweetest ones of all, which are the yellow ones.  It has something to do with less tannic acid (or maybe more...I'm a little fuzzy on the technicalities) but they have a sweet, perfect taste that makes you want to bite into them like they were a peach or an apple.  As a matter of fact, you might want to buy a couple of extras just to do that.

And after you've gotten that out of your system, you need to make this scrumptious pasta, which not only tastes like summer but looks like it too.  Yellow tomatoes, fresh basil, all mixed up with a light pan sauce made with garlic and Parmesan cheese and a teeny hint of red pepper.

All topped with toasted breadcrumbs.  Do not be tempted to skip the toasted breadcrumb part...it gives this dish the perfect crunchy touch.  Hurray for yellow tomatoes!

Pasta with Sweet Yellow Tomatoes, from Bon Appetit's fabulous article on How To make Perfect Pasta!

4 slices white bread, stale or lightly toasted
4 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
8 oz. Sun Gold or cherry tomatoes
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
Kosher salt
6 oz. capellini, spaghetti, or bucatini
3/4 cup finely grated Pecorino or Parmesan
8 medium fresh basil leaves, torn into pieces



Tear bread slices into small pieces. Process in a food processor until coarse crumbs form. Bake in a 350° oven, stirring occasionally, until browned and dry, then transfer hot breadcrumbs to a large bowl. Drizzle with 1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, season, and toss to coat.

Heat 3 Tbsp. oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add tomatoes, garlic, and red pepper flakes, season with salt, and cook, covered slightly and swirling pan often, until tomatoes blister and burst, 10-12 minutes. Press down on tomatoes to release their juices. Remove pan from heat and set aside.

Meanwhile, bring 3 quarts water to a boil in a 5-qt. pot. Season with salt; add pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until about 2 minutes before tender. Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup pasta cooking water.

Transfer pasta to skillet with tomatoes; set over high heat. Add 1/2 cup pasta water. Cook, stirring and tossing often, until sauce thickens and begins to coat the pasta, about 1 minute. Stir in remaining oil, cheese, and half the basil and toss until sauce coats pasta and pasta is al dente. (Add more pasta water if sauce seems dry.) Add remaining basil, season with salt, and serve with breadcrumbs.

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BLT Benedict!

Bacon.  Poached Eggs.  Avocado.  Fresh, sweet, summer cherry tomatoes.  Tender baby lettuce.  Sliced sourdough bread that has been brushed with olive oil and toasted outside on the grill until it is just the right amount of charred.

You're with me, right?  Yes, this is Eggs Benedict meets BLT meets Guacamole...it's the perfect mash-up of some of my favorite comfort foods, all on one lucky plate.  You want to soft cook the poached eggs so they are just the right amount of runny, because they are going to take the place of the million calorie and tricky to make hollandaise sauce that usually goes on Eggs Benedict.

Meantime, you are going to marinate those gorgeous baby tomatoes and the avocado in a little dressing of garlic, fresh chopped basil, olive oil and a teeny bit of wine vinegar.  That's where you get just a little of the guacamole taste...not exactly the real thing, but a close cousin.

Now send someone reliable out to the grill to toast up the sourdough bread...or any other substantial bread that you have on hand.  One slice per person, because this is an open-faced sandwich.  (I'm going through an open-faced sandwich phase this summer.  I love them.)

You cook up the bacon and the poached egg in the meantime.  Or do it in any order you like - one of the great things about this sandwich is that you can make the other stuff ahead of time and have it at room temperature and save cooking the egg for the very end.

Now the assembly: spread a little mayo on the grilled bread, then layer on some some lettuce, then the bacon, then some of the tomato mixture.  Pop an egg on top and break it just enough for the yolk to spread over the whole thing.  Drop a few more tomatoes on top.   It's going to be the one of the best things you ever tasted, I promise.  Almost as good as a practically empty jar of peanut butter.

Almost. 

Here's the recipe!

BLT Benedict! adapted from My Recipes via Southern Living

• 1 cup halved grape tomatoes
• 1 avocado, diced
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, divided
• 6 large eggs
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 6 slices sourdough or other hearty sandwich bread, brushed with olive oil and grilled until toasted (or if you MUST, you can put them in the toaster!)
• 3 cups baby lettuce
• 12 thick bacon slices, cooked

1. Combine tomatoes and next five ingredients and 2 1/2 tsp. red wine vinegar in a small bowl.
2. Add water to depth of 3 inches in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and maintain at a light simmer. Add remaining 1/2 tsp. red wine vinegar. Break eggs, and slip into water, 1 at a time, as close as possible to surface. Simmer 3 to 5 minutes or to desired degree of doneness (but the runnier the better for this recipe!). Remove with a slotted spoon.
3. Spread mayonnaise on one side of each bread slice. Layer each with 1/2 cup lettuce, 2 bacon slices, some of the tomato mixture and one egg. Top with remaining tomato mixture.

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Spiced Peaches with Ham and Basil

There are a few things that say to me, it is completely, totally, no doubt about it summer.  The day we flip the switch on the ceiling fans and don't turn it off again until October.  The day it is actually hot enough for me to put on my bathing suit In Public.  The day my basil gets so rampant that I start figuring out if I can work it into a breakfast recipe along with lunch and dinner.  And the day that the REAL peaches hit the farmer's market.  Not the rock hard ones that have been flown in during the winter, but the sweet-smelling, velvety, juicy peaches that are just begging to be bitten into.  Yep, peach juice on your chin - you know what I'm talking about!

This great little recipe takes both peaches and basil and turns them into a sweet and spicy appetizer (or lunch!) that just sings of summer.  You need nice firm peaches for this one...slice them into wedges, and then mix them up in a little slurry of sugar, sherry vinegar and cumin.  This is going to cut the sweetness with just a tiny little bite.  Then wrap each peach with a strip of serrano ham and skewer it on a toothpick with a basil leaf.

I served up mine on my beloved Verterra plates.  If you haven't run into these plates yet, they are made from fallen palm leaves and are both beautiful AND natural.  Just like those summer peaches!

Happy summer, everyone.

Spiced Peaches with Ham and Basil, from Epicurious

• 3 peaches, each cut into 8 wedges
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon Sherry vinegar
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 pound thinly sliced serrrano ham
• 24 small basil leaves

1. Toss together peaches, sugar, vinegar, and cumin and let stand 10 minutes.
2. Cut ham slices in half lengthwise, then wrap each piece around a wedge of peach. Top with a basil leaf and secure with a wooden or metal pick.

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Chocolate Espresso Cookies

So, most of the time I'm not sure the teenager even remembers that I write this blog.  Sure, she sees me tapping away on the laptop, and stretched out flat on my stomach on the grass taking yet another close-up of a peach or a bowl of spaghetti, but most of the time her mind is on all the other things that swirl through teenage minds.  Taylor Swift.  The next episode of Pretty Little Liars.  The best approach for stretching out her curfew (asking Daddy is always the best bet.)

So I was a little surprised to have this conversation last week:

Teenager:  So Mom, where is the blog post about my prom?

Me: Huh?

Teenager: You know...the prom!  You haven't blogged about my prom yet.

Me: Honey, you remember that it's a food blog, right?  Not a prom blog?

Teenager: Mom!  You always figure out how to work pictures of my major life events into the blog.  You aren't going to skip talking about my PROM, are you????

And she does have a point.  As a matter of fact, I remembered that I did a whole long recap of the junior prom last year, so I started scratching my head about how I could connect some recent recipe with my sweet teenager in her pretty senior prom dress.

It would have to be something delicious and sweet, just like her.  

Something special and a little extraordinary and a tiny bit sassy, just like her.

Something CHOCOLATE.  And in this case, chocolate with a little hit of espresso, just enough to give it a little kick of wonderfulness.  A perfect cookie, dusted with a little bit of powdered sugar.  Sweet and special and pretty as a picture.

So here they are, some espresso cookies that are just the right amount of sweet comfort as you watch your baby go off to the prom.  Stay tuned for graduation...now THAT will involve some comfort food.  Sniffle.

 Chocolate Espresso Cookies. from Bake or Break

• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons espresso powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• confectioner’s sugar, for garnishing

1. Place chopped chocolate and butter in microwave-safe bowl. Microwave until melted, stirring every 30 seconds. Set aside to cool slightly.
2. Beat brown sugar and chocolate on high speed of an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Set aside.
3. in a separate bowl, combine flour, espresso powder, baking powder, and salt. Turn mixer on low speed and gradually add flour mixture to chocolate mixture. Beat until smooth. Stir in chocolate chips. Wrap dough in plastic wrap. Refrigerate about 4 hours.
4. Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners.
5. Roll dough into 1-inch balls. Place two inches apart on baking sheets. Bake 9-10 minutes, or until browned around the edges. Cool cookies on wire racks. Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar.

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Tuna Cobb Salad Sandwiches

This quick and scrumptious recipe is an ode to three things.  Here they are, in no particular order.

1.  Cobb Salad.  I am SUCH a sucker for Cobb Salad. It's not like it is a rarity or anything - it's actually a frequent player on a lot of menus, but there is something about the combo of blue cheese, avocado, bacon (of course), chopped egg and lettuce that sings some kind of siren song to me.  I love it, and that's all there is to it.

2. Open-faced sandwiches.  I mean, for so many things, this is just such a logical thing.  Why spend your time putting the top of your sandwich over some deliciously messy filling only to have it spill out on to your plate with the first bite?  Open-faced sandwiches, people!  It's the only sensible way to go.

3. Sandwich Night.  Is there anything happier than Sandwich Night, especially on a Monday?  You walk into the kitchen at the end of the day and suddenly you feel wonderfully free!

Okay, now that I have gotten all THAT out of my system, let's get down to it.  This is a quick and different version of cobb salad with a special guest star, and that is tuna fish.  And a surprise twist, which is that that blue cheese is not actual blue cheese (which I sometimes find can take over a cobb salad with it's super-strong taste), but blue cheese salad dressing.  Splurge and use one of the nice ones you can usually find in the refrigerated section of your supermarket - it's worth it for this recipe, and you can always use the leftover as a nice dip.  The tuna and the dressing get mixed up with the usual cast of characters from cobb salad - avocado, chopped egg and (yes!) bacon.  But instead of tossing it all together with lettuce, you lightly toast a couple of English muffins, lay on some chopped lettuce and a slice or two of tomato, and then top with the tuna mixture.

A little ground pepper, and you have a Sandwich Night to be proud of.

 Tuna Cobb Salad Sandwiches, adapted from Betty Crocker's Smart Cook : The Essential Everyday Cookbook 

• 
  
• One 6.5 ounce can tuna, drained
• 4-6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 2 chopped hard-boiled eggs
• 1 avocado, peeled and cut into small cubes
• 1/3 cup good quality blue cheese dressing
• Shredded lettuce
• 2 medium tomatoes
• 2 English muffins, split and toasted
• Fresh ground pepper

1. Mix tuna, bacon, eggs, avocado and dressing.
2.  Place tomato and lettuce on each muffin and top with tuna mixture.  Grind some fresh pepper on top.

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