Roasted potato salad, cucumber cilantro salad, dilly beans

I do so love picnics, and this was a lovely day for one. We found a nice shaded spot far away enough from the trail to be reasonably civilized. Just wish those concrete picnic tables were more comfortable for napping afterward.

Roasted potato salad with sour cream and shallots
Adapted from Saveur. Note that you'll want to make this shortly before serving. I finished right before we lit out for our picnic.

Ingredients
2 pounds small Yukon gold potatoes, quartered or cut into eighth depending on size (you're looking for bite-size pieces)
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 shallots, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
1/3 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Method
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place potatoes on a rimmed baking sheet. Toss with 2 tablespoons olive oil, some coarse salt and pepper. Roast until golden and tender, stirring about half way through, 25-35 minutes depending on your oven (I did 25 minutes on convection setting). Let cool slightly.

Meanwhile in remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil sprinkled with some salt, cook shallots over low heat until softened. Add garlic and cook another minute or two. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix sour cream, mustard and vinegar. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and mix well. Toss with slightly cooled potatoes. Mix in fresh parsley and serve warm or at room temperature.

Rating: I liked roasted potatoes, and I like nearly all potato salads, and this is the logical outcome of blending the two. Nicely deepened flavors on the potatoes, and the sour cream dressing works. Might be interesting to try it with an different herb such as dill or tarragon. Very easy to fix and viable repeater. Very nice change of pace from those cubes drenched in yellowy cream sauce found in tubs in some grocery stores. Serves maybe 4ish.

 

Cucumber salad with red onion and cilantro
Inspired by a couple of recipes, including this one from Laylita.com, which I was congratulating myself on still being able to read it all these years past college Spanish, and this one from thefoodcharlatan.com.

Ingredients
3 small cucumbers, very thinly sliced (mandolin thin)

½ small onion, thinly sliced

3 tablespoons olive oil

Juice of 1 lime

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

¼ teaspoon cumin

 
Method
Combine cucumbers and onion in a bowl. Combine olive oil, lime juice, cilantro and cumin in a small bowl. Mix well and season to taste with salt and pepper. Toss with cucumber mixture and chill unless serving immediately.

Rating: Refreshing counterpoint to the creamy potato salad. Comes together very quickly, and it's a good picnic candidate since the ingredients won't spoil quickly. Probably serves about 3.



Dilly beans
Adapted from "Put 'Em Up," by Sherri Brooks Vinton

Ingredients
1 pound green beans, ends snapped
2 garlic cloves, sliced
3 tablespoons dill weed
½ tablespoon dill seed
12 black peppercorns
1 cup white vinegar
½ cup water
1 tablespoon sugar
½ tablespoon salt

Method
Blanch beans for 1 minute in boiling water. Put in an ice bath to stop cooking or else stash them temporarily the freezer. Drain well. Pack beans vertically into two pint canning jars. Divide garlic, dill weed and seed and peppercorns among the jars.

Heat vinegar, water, sugar and salt to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Pour over beans and top with canning lids. Let cool to room temperature and refrigerate until ready to use.

Note: In the original recipe you skip the blanching, use hot sterilized jars and process the sealed jars in a hot water bath. I've modified some of the ingredients from the original, so don't try to make it and process it in a water bath, since the proportions have been altered and it's always best to do any actual canning with a recipe exactly as written since it's been tested for food safety.  Since I just had a small amount of beans left on hand (not the 4 pounds the original recipe called for), I was just opting for a quick refrigerator pickling route.

Rating: A good use of green beans when you've got a lot to use up and want to make something that will keep for a bit. A nice spot of crunch. Satisfies the all-important pickle/relish component on the picnic plate.




We rounded out the meal with some fresh berries. Still need that nap.

Blueberry margarita and 5 other delightful uses for blueberries

 

It's blueberry season, and this year I have what passes for a bumper crop in my yard: Three small bowlfuls so far, with more coming ripe. That plus the fabulous bounty from Hazelwood Creek Farm available at the farmers market makes me happy to be in a blue mood.

Midnight Blue Margarita

From drinkoftheweek.com

Ingredients

1½ ounces tequila

½ ounce blue curacao

¾ ounce blueberry syrup*

½ ounce lemon juice

Blueberries for garnish, optional

Method

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake well and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with blueberries if desired.

*For blueberry syrup, combine ½ cup water, ½ cup sugar and ½ cup blueberries in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Cool, then strain out blueberries.

Rating: You definitely taste the blueberries -- and the tequila. Not that it's a bad thing. Always better to be reminded of why you shouldn't have a second one even though you might be tempted because the first one goes down so easily.

Five other ways I'll be using up the bounty:
 

Blueberry bran muffins, very scarfable:

Whole wheat blueberry scones

Blueberry cream cheese ice cream
















Blueberry turnovers




Blueberry cream cheese baked French toast

Smoked trout and apple appetizers

I tried this dish first as an appetizer, and then with plenty of remaining filling decided it would make a fine sandwich, open-face or otherwise.

Smoked Trout and Apple Crostini
Adapted from Real Food, Fall 2008 (the magazine you can pick up free at Lunds)

Ingredients

¼ cup chopped pecans, toasted
4 ounces smoked trout, skinned, boned and flaked
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
1½ teaspoons horseradish

3 tablespoons Calvados (or applejack)
1 medium baguette, thinly sliced and toasted (or 1 Belgian endive, separated into leaves)
½ a red apple, cored and very thinly sliced

1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives



Method
Combine pecans, trout, cream cheese and horseradish in a bowl. Mix well and blend in Calvados. Spread mixture on crostini, or place about a round tablespoon's worth on each endive leaf. Wedge a few apple slices into the mixture on top of each one. Garnish with chives.

Rating: Tasty, repeatable. The smoky flavors pair well with the horseradish and Calvados. (And with the horseradish vodka we chose to drink with it.) I opted for the endive leaves as a base, and it worked fine, although it would probably be less fussy to make for a larger gathering using crostini and make them more secure finger food. The leftovers made a great sandwich the next day with more thinly sliced apples and some arugula in between slices of whole grain bread.

Note: The original recipe suggests it serves 6 to 8, which is probably a good guess, particularly if using crostini as the base. If you're using it for a sandwich filling, I'd guess it would fill 6 to 8 sandwiches depending on how thickly you like it spread.

Strawberry ginger mocktail

This recipe is from a delightful source of tasty breakfasts. It's a mocktail designed to give some variety from mimosas and such. But it also worked really well at the end of a rather suddenly sweltering sort of day. Happy Fourth of July.

Berry refresher
Adapted from "James McNair's Breakfasts"

Ingredients
4 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and halved
2 cups fresh orange juice or apple juice
¼ cup fresh lemon or lime juice
Simple syrup or sugar to taste (I used ginger simple syrup)*
Fresh strawberries for garnish

Method
Puree strawberries in a blender. Add orange juice and lemon juice and mix well. Add sugar or simple syrup to taste. Strain and chill well or serve over crushed ice in a cocktail glass. Garnish rim with a strawberry.

Rating: It is indeed very refreshing. If you want this more smoothie-esque and healthful, you can skip the sugar altogether. I tried it that way first, and it is indeed refreshing, but a good splash of ginger simple syrup really brought it around to glass-licking good. Certainly something to consider offering at the next brunch opportunity.

* For ginger simple syrup, which I had leftover from this recipe:

Heat 1/8 cup water to a simmer. Add 1/8 cup sugar and ½-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced. Stir until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Remove ginger. Store in refrigerator.

And if you ever get a hold of this cookbook, I highly recommend the Dutch babies and blueberry cornmeal pancakes.