By the way, you guys were so very forthcoming about Bridget's hair possibilities! Love it! Thanks for chiming in, that was fun! We'll see what she decides 🙂
{The following is not about our Fourth of July grilling experience, which was yummy but unphotographed. However, we did have a pie identical to the one above since I accidentally put in twice as much sugar as I should have when making this one, necessitating doubling the recipe. Two pies, one froze perfectly to be brought out Monday night. That was a little bit of awesomeness that I can recommend!}
These days have been mad rushes to fill every precious summer hour with vine-wrestling (favorite sport of people in over their heads, landscaping-wise; not to mention never-ending mowing), sewing; and, well, everything but actually making supper!
Snow peas. |
Left: Swiss chard, beets. Right: Broccoli. Middle: Zinnias. Early vegetables help round out a salad… |
This is a mostly pictures-and-recipes post, and if you plow through you will get a little-known secret tailor made for those of us who do not like to throw things, particularly food-type things, away!
Guacamole
After many years of looking at recipes and tasting others' guacamole, I've come to the conclusion that this is a matter of taste, not one particular recipe. (Maybe my Mexican friends can chime in — as someone who knows Arabic food, it kills me when people seem to think they know what something Arabic should taste like. I would hate to make the same mistake with a dish from another country!)
Here's how I like it best:
Two avocados (Not too mushy. Avocados are rarely good when bought already ripe, as they bruise really easily. Even handling them roughly when they are firm will bruise them, so I buy them firm and treat them carefully on the way home. Often the baggers think they can throw them in there…. Also, want to know why avocado turns brown? It's the cold. Never put avocados in the fridge. Just eat them!)
The juice of a lime
Some finely diced red onion
1/2 tsp. ground coriander or, if not in the company of cilantro haters, as much cilantro as you can chop up and put in there, because it's fabulous (and did you know that cilantro will re-seed itself in your garden but isn't too invasive? love…)
salt
a little ground chili pepper or a few drops of Tabasco (you know I can't take things spicy-hot)
Cut each avocado in half and while it's still in the skin use a spoon to cut up the flesh each way and then scoop out. Personally I like little dice of avocado in my guacs, rather than have it all sort of pureed. I find that it gets to the right consistency if you let the mixing in of the other ingredients complete the process.
Mix in other ingredients. Serve with tortilla chips.
Secret: If you don't have a lot of avocado but are needing to serve a bunch of guacamole (you know how it is, you NEED to), try dicing up a cucumber really small and mixing that in. The cucumber gives a nice flavor and texture to the dip.
Spring Salad
When you are low on lettuce, it's helpful to think of French “salades composées” — which is no more than using lightly cooked vegetables as salad ingredients! In this case, I had leftover corn and snow peas from the garden, lightly steamed. A few beet and Swiss chard greens rounded out my meagre lettuce supply, brought about by my state of denial in the store (“I have lettuce in the garden! I don't need to buy it! Oh, right, it's only an inch high!”).
Dressing:
2/3 cups extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup vinegar (or a mix of vinegar and lemon juice)
1 egg yolk
1 tsp mustard, dry or prepared
1/2 tsp. salt
1 clove garlic
pepper
anchovies if you have them, maybe two or three
Using your immersion blender, blend all the ingredients until creamy. If you don't have one, put it on your birthday list and whisk the ingredients with a whisk — it just won't be as satisfyingly emulsified. (You will recognize this as a classic Caesar salad dressing.) Toss on just enough to coat your salad.
Now we begin grilling!
Slice up some mushrooms and Vidalia onions. Toss with a little oil and throw into one of those grilling baskets.
Grilled mushrooms and Vidalia onions. |
You know I'm all over the Eggplant Obsession!
I'm liking slicing the eggplant thick these days after having had a really tasty grilled eggplant sandwich in which the taste shone through, the eggplanty taste. Torn between that and more grilled tahini/honey surface area.
Steak tips with marinade sauce, a secret for the frugal foodie!
Steak tips
Marinade:
Enough to cover your quantity of meat in these proportions:
1 cup red wine vinegar (combined with red wine if you like and have some handy you don't mind sacrificing for this)
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tbsp. (or more, this isn't rocket science) Grey Poupon mustard
Dried basil if you have it handy
Dried or fresh thyme if you have it handy
Dried or fresh garlic, 1 tsp. or two cloves, respectively
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
Not for the marinade but for the subsequent sauce:
Some good barbeque sauce from a bottle (by which I mean it should have cane sugar, not high fructose corn syrup — I like Stubb's because I can find it in the grocery store and don't always have time to make my own. The only bad thing is, it does have “natural flavor” and “spices” which are code for MSG — yes, really! — but since I'm super diligent about this normally, I do make an exception occasionally. But you could make your own if you want. Just remember, if you are putting ketchup or Worcestershire sauce in it, you are adding MSG. I know. Stinky.)
Marinate the meat for as long as you can, up to a day. Even an hour is good, although if you truly don't have much time, use less liquid and more mustard, which amounts to a coating, not a marinade, but adds wonderful flavor.
Grill the meat.
Now, don't you hate throwing away your marinade?
Well! While the meat is grilling, boil what has remained in your container (marinade mixed with meat juices) in a small saucepan until it reduces just a little. This kills the bacteria and makes the base for your sauce.Whisk in some barbeque sauce until you have a nice consistency and flavor. Serve with the meat and use with any leftovers for hot bbq sandwiches!
(This works with any marinade. Just boil and serve as is or add whatever flavor element you'd like — a little honey or apricot jam could be lovely…. If it's very thin, before you heat it, mix in enough cornstarch to give it body.)
Stash bread in the freezer for a supper on a day you can't bake. Nothing rounds out a meal like a homemade loaf. |
Strawberry-rhubarb pie recipe of delightfulness. |
See you tomorrow for {pretty, happy, funny, real}!
Barbara says
Just don't let that cilantro send up seed shoots too soon, or it will be done for the season (I make this mistake every year and thus am awful at growing cilantro). Also — thawed frozen green peas (pureed before adding) make a great guacamole extender (just don't tell the kids).
_Leila says
Funny, Barbara, I would think that kids would mind more if you extended your peas with your guacamole 😉
Barbara says
My kids inhale guacamole. Peas, um, not so much. 🙂 My daughter would eat an entire avocado, naked.
Kathryn says
It all looks delicious and I wlll be copying those recipes – thank you!
Mary says
I will definitely try boiling my marinade to make a sauce! What a great simple idea. I hate throwing I away, too.
Jessica says
Until yesterday I did not know that you can freeze an already-baked pie. Why did I not know this? There are only two of us and we try to keep our added sugar intake low, but I refuse to throw food away so we always end up eating the whole pie within a week. Now I can freeze portions and bring them out for a special weekend dessert! 🙂
Emily says
What a lovely meal!
Milkmaid says
Looks so yummy! I want the leftovers 😉 Thanks for all the tips.
bobbi says
Looks delicious! (Suddenly the cold cereal I am eating while reading this seems very unappetizing.) I make our guacamole the same way (including lots of cilantro) except I also add a dash of olive oil. 🙂
Karen says
your guacamole is just about there 😀 you only forgot one thing….garlic.
avocado
garlic
lime juice
salt
cilantro (unless you are one of those deluded people who think it tastes like soap 😀 )
and if you want heat a little cayenne or finely chopped pepper like serrano or jalapeno. FINELY chopped. a dash of cumin is acceptable.
I'm as white a white girl as you can find but live in S. Texas 😀 We take a few things seriously around here….boots, patriotism and food.
Kate says
I'll have to try the guacamole recipe. The funny thing is no one in our family likes avocados except perhaps in guac. The ironic thing is one of my sisters is surrounded by an avocado orchard and she always offers us free avocados when we visit. And I always have to remind her that we DON”T LIKE AVOCADOS. Perhaps she assumes that no one could really mean that. My mother, oddly, likes her avocados with milk and sugar.
Speaking of what foreign foods should taste like reminds me of eating experiences in New England during the early years of marriage. We read a favorable review of a newly opened Mexican restaurant, so being native Californians we had to try it. Great was our dissappointment when the salsa arrived. This wasn't salsa! This was tomato sauce! We never found a really great Mexican restaurant there. On the other hand, the local pizza was always terrific. And my husband still compares every bagel he eats to those he ate in CT.
Anitra says
A friend of mine who grew up in Cali has told me that he could find only 2 “good” Mexican restaurants in the whole state of Massachusetts. (One in central, and one in eastern MA.) I'll stick with my corrupted Tex-Mex that is easy to find. 🙂
Jeannie says
Ok, I have to chime in because I am a California girl that grew up eating Mexican food amongst other things. It took me awhile of tinkering with my guacamole recipe to try to mimic the guacamole from El Tepeyac restaurant in Boyle Heights/Lincoln Heights area
of Los Angeles, which is where I will sometimes venture out to if I am in major need of a chicken taquito!
My grandmother never uses garlic in her guacamole and I am sure it varies to taste but here is what I now do:
Hass Avocados
Kosher or sea salt
FInely chopped green onion or Mexican Green onions(they have bigger bulby white parts for lack of a better description)
Lemon or Lime (I have been loving lemon for the past few years, plus they grow like crazy in everyone's backyards over here)
Finely diced tomato(if you like)
Some chopped cilantro
Dash of Tapatio(that is for my dad, I myself like no spice)
I was told that the lemon and running the avocado under cold water will help prevent discoloration because of the chlorine in our tap water.
I have GOT to try your eggplant this year. I love eggplant!
Your table is lovely, too.
Margo says
Actually, my grocery guy told me if the avocado is ripe before you want it, just refrigerate and it will hold until you're ready for it. I've tried this and it does work. I keep it from getting brown after it's peeled by mixing it with lemon or lime juice. My guac is avocado, onions, olive oil, lemon juice, lots of salt and pepper. A very pure taste. The preferred Saturday lunch with tortilla chips before the kids were born. Can't remember why that faded out of fashion. . .
I love the marinade secret! Clever.
_Leila says
Margo, I have lost too many avocados that way, I just have to say. Sometimes it works, but I'm thinking it was because my fridge wasn't all that cold or they were in a protected spot!
I think that the top shelf of the fridge will usually work, and that's where I keep any remaining guac.
In the winter, when the fridge is really cooking along, so to speak, is when they get all brown and flat tasting. So I try to keep them on the counter….
PNG says
Fabulous, fabulous! I HAVE GOT to make a strawberry/rhubarb pie before the season is over. Here in Minnesota that's a must.:) I saw a set of grilling baskets at Costco and wondered if I should get those. I love grilled veggies, but we usually end up just doing them inside on the range. Now I think I'll go pick up those baskets!:)
Ann Marie says
Avocados the size of coconuts, lemon trees in the backyard? *sigh*. Us east coasters are jealous!
Deirdre says
Looks delish and perfectly summery!!
Rebekah says
My guacamole is even simpler– avocado, salt and pepper, a splash of lime juice, a pinch of cumin and coriander. The end! I am an avocado freak so I think that the less you do to it, the better 🙂
I am bookmarking your marinade for sure. We love to grill, so I'll try it soon.
crafty P says
that steak marinade (and the sauce that it becomes mixed with BBQ) is OUT OF THIS WORLD yumminess. I'm making it for the second time tonight. Now, what are steak tips? I could not find anything by that name and realize it could be a regional thing… I know they have oodles of different names for the same kinda meat and that just makes me crazy! I'm using flank steak again. THank you Auntie Leila!
_Leila says
Okay, Crafty P, the question of what constitutes steak tips is a tricky one.
We also have steak strips, which taste very similar. Some people think they are just any steak, cut up, but that's not true!
They have to have the texture of the sort of strands of meat and enough fat to counteract the somewhat chewier texture. The looseness of the muscle is what makes marinating so successful with this cut.
Something like a sirloin steak just cut up would not be this!
The flavor is the best, very meaty, and the texture isn't tough at all, just chewier than a loin cut, which is fine with me.
Flank steak is close, and if you look at this graphic, you will see how the flank is close to the bottom sirloin, which is where the \”steak tips\” come from, as far as I can tell:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beef#Cuts
We have trouble finding flank steak here, and when we do, it's expensive! Which is silly… I wonder if sometimes they don't cut that up for \”tips\” — I wish they wouldn't always, if that's what they do.
Natasha, my dear DIL, I want to take that meat-cutting course with you!!!
_Leila says
Okay, Crafty P, the question of what constitutes steak tips is a tricky one.
We also have steak strips, which taste very similar. Some people think they are just any steak, cut up, but that's not true!
They have to have the texture of the sort of strands of meat and enough fat to counteract the somewhat chewier texture. The looseness of the muscle is what makes marinating so successful with this cut.
Something like a sirloin steak just cut up would not be this!
The flavor is the best, very meaty, and the texture isn't tough at all, just chewier than a loin cut, which is fine with me.
Flank steak is close, and if you look at this graphic, you will see how the flank is close to the bottom sirloin, which is where the “steak tips” come from, as far as I can tell: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beef#Cuts
We have trouble finding flank steak here, and when we do, it's expensive! Which is silly… I wonder if sometimes they don't cut that up for “tips” — I wish they wouldn't always, if that's what they do.
Natasha, my dear DIL, I want to take that meat-cutting course with you!!!