I feel like it has been a very long while since I last posted here, and although only a little over a week has passed I feel I owe an apology! Not that anyone hangs on my words here or anything, but I aim to keep up at least a two-posts-per-week rhythm. As you know, I’ve been moving into temporary housing (cough)myparentshouse(cough) and am bracing for a second move, into our new apartment, in three weeks. The stress of moving and of living out of cardboard boxes has been great – far greater than I imagined – but that did not prevent me from spending a wonderful time with my family over Memorial Day weekend (note the champagne!) or from getting in some bite-sized cooking for a baby shower this past Sunday.
Below I share some photos from these various events and the occasional short-hand recipe, for the summer is too wonderful and too fleeting to waste with your eyes glued to a cookbook. Summertime is the perfect season for impromptu cookouts and improvised menus, spontaneous salads and kitchen-sink side dishes. I cannot wait for the first call alerting us to fresh tuna on the dock, or the first bite of sweet August corn. In the meantime, enjoy the below and share your summer creations in the comments.
First up was our Memorial Day weekend cookout at my father-in-law’s house. He wrapped scallops in raw bacon and secured them with toothpicks (don’t forget to soak the toothpicks in water for a couple hours before so they don’t burn), then cooked them in a small disposable aluminum tray on the grill, just to render the fat, followed by a few minutes directly on the grill to get the charred marks and flavor. These were followed by kebabs of swordfish and beef tips with mixed vegetables.
For the baby shower I attended I brought three dishes: an appetizer of caramelized fennel and onion goat cheese tarts, an artichoke-spinach-leek quiche, and mini cheesecake bites.
For the appetizer I sliced a large fennel bulb and a large red onion very thinly. In a pan I melted 3/4 stick of butter over med-low heat and then added the fennel and onion as well as about a tsp. of kosher salt (or more to taste). Stirring occasionally, I let the vegetables soften then start to caramelize. When they reached the color brown I was looking for (about 45 minutes later), I stirred in a tsp. of herbes de provence and let that cook for a minute or two before taking the pan off of the heat. I did this part well ahead of time so that all I had to do on the day of the party was warm up the caramelized vegetables and assemble the tarts. To assemble, I placed two packages of Athens mini “fillo” shells on a baking sheet and put a teaspoon or so of goat cheese in each shell (supermarket brand Chevron, shaped like a pyramid, worked great since it is so soft). Then I topped each tartlette with the caramelized fennel/onion mixture and a couple of fresh thyme leaves and put them in the oven for about 8 minutes at 350 degrees Farenheit. They came out perfectly and were a huge hit.
Those phyllo shells are also great for desserts. With an electric mixer, I blended one package of room-temperature cream cheese (I used low-fat but you don’t have to) with 1/4 cup sugar and a 1/4 tsp. of vanilla. Then I mixed in one egg. Fill the phyllo shells with the cheesecake batter then cook at 325 degrees for about 15 minutes or just until the filling sets. After they cool to room temperature, I top the mini cheesecakes with fresh berries, chocolate sauce, or individual cherries from a can of cherry pie filling (gimme a break, okay?). One warning – if these go into a refrigerator for any length of time the shells lose their crunchiness.
Finally the quiche. Again I used this recipe for both the pie crust and the leeks – it’s a winner. Then I mixed into the hot leeks about a 1/2 lb. of shredded baby spinach and a drained can of quartered artichoke hearts, stirring gently until the spinach had fully wilted. I let the vegetable mixture cool while I mixed 5 eggs and 1 cup of half and half in a big bowl, then added about a cup of shredded parmesan cheese, some salt and some pepper. I dumped the veggies into the egg mixture, making sure they were well blended, then poured it all into my prepared pie crust. I baked the quiche at 400 degrees for about 50 minutes, slightly overcooking the quiche. To avoid this, I would recommend doing what I did with the remainder of the quiche batter that didn’t make it into the crust — cook your quiche (crust or no) for about 40 minutes at 375 degrees or until the quiche is only slightly jiggly in the middle.
Buttermilk Panna Cotta, adapted slightly from 
Meanwhile, bring cream and scant 1/2 cup sugar to a boil. Add to gelatin mixture. Place over simmering water; whisk until gelatin dissolves, 5 minutes. Stir in remaining cup buttermilk. Pass mixture through a cheesecloth-lined strainer. Divide among 6 four-ounce ramekins or small bowls on a baking sheet. Cover; refrigerate until set, 4 hours.
Unmold by dipping ramekins briefly into hot water and running tip of a knife around edges; invert onto plates, and serve with strawberries and their juice.
In my experience, Mother’s Day has always included some sort of breakfast celebration – a fancy brunch in the city, a decadent spread at home, and usually a mimosa or two. I don’t know why we associate Mother’s Day with breakfasts — perhaps because it falls always on a Sunday, or because we want to celebrate our mother first thing in the morning. Maybe it is because on regular mornings she is usually the first one awake, making everyone’s coffee and eggs, and on this special day we want to beat her to the punch and treat her for a change.
Prosciutto-wrapped and parmesan-coated roasted asparagus spears;
to this:
The dough was extraordinarily stiff at this point, which worried me, but I haven’t yet gotten to the adding tons and tons of butter stage, so stiffness is to be expected. The dough rested like this for 8 hours until I took up the butter. As it turns out, I did not do all of my homework ahead of time, and found out I was a half-stick short of the needed unsalted butter, so I substituted some salted butter (the yellower, softer stuff on the bottom). I also was out of parchment paper, so used two of my non-stick plastic cutting board mats to pound the sliced butter into a proper butter square:
The above is a picture of me “waking up the dough”, whereby I tried desperately to roll the dough out as long as possible, without widening it too much. The only counter in my kitchen long enough to accommodate this ‘wakened’ dough was the bar-height counter that passes over from the kitchen to the dining room. So I was standing on tip-toes and twisting my upper body in strange directions to complete this step! Finally, however, I was able to reach the required length, and then I cut notches to divide the dough for the croissants (please ignore the messy dining room table!!):
I rolled up the croissants as directed, and set them on baking sheets lined (again) with my non-stick plastic cutting board mats, since I still had not had a chance to get to the store for parchment paper. No matter, these babies needed to proof for 2 hours:
Once the croissants had expanded and seemed ready to go, I baked them for the required time, switching the trays from top rack to bottom rack and vice versa, once in the middle of the cooking time. I made chocolate ones:
and some ham and cheddar ones, just to see what they’d be like:
The results were quite impressive! Flaky with butter, and a browned exterior that rivaled the products of the finest French pastry chefs! So, I cannot believe I did it – three days, and a couple of strained biceps, later, I had a slew of fresh croissants that I made all by myself.
I CANNOT BELIEVE I DID THAT!!!
Yes – I put the plastic sheets in the oven, completely forgetting that I had used them to proof the croissants, and that I had not replaced them with parchment paper. Needless to say, we didn’t actually get to enjoy these bad boys. I sampled a bite or two of pastry off the top, but ended up so afraid that I would kill myself and my husband if we ate the melted plastic that I eventually threw them all out. Sad… But don’t let this stop you from giving this recipe a go! For some great tips, check out 
From My Table...to Yours 