Grilled Peaches

I love sweets. Ice cream, cake, pie, you name it I love it. My waistline does not like sweets and reminds me by swelling each time I indulge.

It was hot and I did not want to heat up the house by turning on the oven. I live in the dark ages and don't have central air, crazy I know! We had peaches so I figured why not do something with them. I had made drunkin peaches last Sunday so I couldn't do that. Grilled peaches was it.

I cut them in half, removing their pits. I brushed the fleshy side with vegetable oil, no need to use olive oil here. I got the grill good and hot and put the peaches, flesh side down. How long you leave them on the grill will depend on their ripeness. Once they had grill marks I turned them onto their skin side. I put a bit of honey in the center of each peach. The possibilities of what you could put in the center of the peach are endless, cointreau, butter & brown sugar, really anything you would like. As the skin began to pull away from the flesh of the peach I took them off the heat. I did serve these with ice cream, but I ate only the peach.

Insalata Caprese

Doesn't that sound fancy? Insalata Caprese. All it really is, is a salad made up of fresh tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, olive oil, salt and pepper. I have said it in many posts and I'm sure you have heard it elsewhere. For something like this you want to use the best, freshest ingredients you can get your hands on.

For the Caprese on the right I sliced tomatoes, fresh mozzarella (from Costco) into about 1/4 inch slices, alternating the tomato and the mozzarella. (Use a serrated knife to slice the fresh mozzarella.) I scattered a chiffonade of basil over the top of the tomato and mozzarella. Right before I served it I added salt, pepper, and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

You can make this in indivdual servings as well. If you stack the tomato and cheese that would be a cool effect. You can also make it on skewers. Use grape tomatoes and the tiny balls of fresh mozzarella. In between stick pieces of fresh basil. When you are ready to serve you can drizzle with extra virgin loive oil and dust with salt and pepper. However you decide to serve it besure for each piece of tomato you have enough cheese to go with it. This is a simple, yummy dish. Enjoy!

Broccoli Rabe with Sausage and Orecchetti

This is such a simple and delicious dish. Don't forget, use the best ingredients you can get your hands on.

You want to start a large pot of water put on to boil with a palmful of salt. This way you can drop your pasta once your broccoli rabe and sausage are ready. The orecchetti is the last thing you add in this dish.

Next heat some olive oil in your pan. Remove your sausage from the casing and roll into balls or cut into chunks, totally up to you. I used sweet sausage here, though I myself do not eat sausage for the fear of "chunkers". You want to cook the sausage until it is browned on both sides. It doesn't have to be cooked through, just browned on both sides.

Next chop up your broccoli rabe into bite sized pieces. As you can see in photo I used the stems as well. Broccoli rabe can be bitter if you don't cook it long enough. Some blanch it before they cook it with the oil and garlic. I did not blanch it this time, I sauteed it in the pan until it was a bit softer than al dente.

Carefully slice the garlic and toss into the oil. If you would like a little heat add some red pepper flakes. Once you can smell the garlic toss in your chopped broccoli rabe. You want to saute this until it is cooked to your liking, I prefer it just past al dente. You want to drop your pasta when you have about 10 minutes left on your broccoli rabe. When the pasta is done toss it with the sausage and broccoli rabe. You may want to add a splash of the pasta cooking water. Salt and pepper.

INGREDIENTS
1/2 lb of Orecchetti
1 bunch of broccoli rabe
2 links of sausage
2 cloves of garlic sliced
1/2-1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes

Bruschetta

I love apps!!! I get board easily and having a mass of different items to nosh on thoroughly amuse me. Bruschetta can vary in preparation. The base of most bruschetta is toasted bread rubbed with a clove of garlic, then drizzled with extra virgin olive oil. When I say bruschetta I mean all of the above with tomato, salt and pepper. Sometimes I go crazy and add basil, balsamic vinegar, or mozzarella; my 'rents like to add prosciutto.

If I am feeling chef-like I will prepare a plate of bruschetta like you see in the photo. Other times I will make roll-your-own-bruschetta; toasting the bread, rubbing it with a clove of garlic, leaving the adornments to my cohorts. Most times the adornments are made up of tomatoes, being a masochist the tomatoes are usually peeled and seeded, some extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper and at times a splash of balsamic vinegar.

To have yummy bruschetta you must start with good ingredients. Great bread is a must, I like the Chabaso ciabatta bread from Costco. I am sure if I got it directly from the bakery it would be even better, but I digress. I slice the tiny loaves and toast them right on the rack in the oven. This is not the time to whip out the squishy sandwich bread, you need good, crusty, chewy bread, something with a backbone.

Once the bread is toasted I rub it with a clove of garlic, then drizzle it with extra virgin olive oil. Again good extra virgin olive oil, not cheap oil! I salt and pepper the bread here as well. I top this with either sliced tomatoes or the afore mentioned peeled, seeded and diced tomato. Another light sprinkling of of salt and pepper. If you have any of those "fancy" salts use those. I need to do some more experimenting with the different salts, but that is another post. The key to good bruschetta is good quality ingredients.

Prosciutto & Melon

This is one of my many favorite dishes . During the summer it is the perfect light lunch to enjoy by the pool. The most important part of this dish is to have good ingredients. If your melon is not ripe it will not give the flavor you want. If do not get good quality prosciutto the flavors will not meld as they should. Cantaloupe is my melon of choice for this. The flesh of the melon has a smooth mouth feel and a great sweetness.

The melon in the photo is a galia melon. The galia melon is similar to a cantaloupe in mouth feel, it is not as sweet as a cantaloupe. Some people like honeydew for this dish. I am not a big fan of honeydew melon. I find it to have a grainy mouth feel and not very flavorful.

You can really plate this anyway you like. In the photo a piece of prosciutto is simply wrapped around the piece of melon. Anyway you plate it, it is a great dish!

Cowboy Caviar by Finny

I was lucky to attend a birthday party for a 1 year old. The birthday boy's mom, Irish, did a great job as hostess and chef! One of the apps she had out was a corn and black bean "caviar". I could not get the chips loaded with this salsa in my mouth fast enough. I am sure people were watching in horror as I stuffed my face. It turns out she got the recipe from Finny, another friend. Finny went on to tell me it was a Weight Watchers recipe so I figured I could finish off the bowl of the "caviar"!

There are many different variations of this "caviar". You can really add what you like and leave out what you don't like. I would recommend getting the GOYA brand of black beans. I bought the Stop & Shop brand figuring it wouldn't make a difference. It does. The S&S brand beans are a bit "muddy" and color the "caviar". Don't forget to rinse your beans before you add them to the mix. I happen to like a higher ratio of corn to black beans.

INGREDIENTS

2- 16 oz cans black beans rinsed & drained

1- 16 oz can of corn

1- 11 oz can of corn

about 1 cup of red onion

1 bunch of chopped cilantro (or to taste)

1/2-3/4 cup of ranch dressing

juice of 1 lime

Mix everything together, taste for seasoning and chill. Serve with chips.