Mystic Wedding

This weekend we attended a beautiful wedding in Mystic, CT for Derek's friends Soren and Carrie.

First, I made a quick and easy pasta on Friday night. I simmered a large chopped tomato with garlic and shallots in the oil from my slow roasted tomatoes. Then I tossed in all that was left in the slow roasted tomato jar to make a tasty sauce.



I tossed 2 small zucchinis that I had sliced in my spiralizer, then added spaghetti and topped it with toasted slivered almonds.

I also squeezed some lemon juice over the whole thing. The acid was nice with the sweet tomatoes.

Saturday morning I was supposed to go on an 8 mile run, but misjudged my loop and ended up running 7.25. Still a pretty good run though! We headed down to Mystic for the wedding in the afternoon. The ceremony and reception were beautiful and they really lucked out on the weather. The whole thing was very fun and casual, but still lovely and very personal.

The ceremony was held in the old Mystic seaport by the water, with beautiful boats and houses in the background. The groom's sister officiated.



The bride and groom read their own vows. For Carrie's she re-enacted a series of emails between her and her maid of honor before and after her and Soren's first date.


It was totally adorable. Soren followed up by inviting some of his musician friends up to perform a song as part of his vows.


Equally adorable. Then the happy bride and groom headed back down the makeshift aisle to the tunes of a fun brass band.



The band also provided the music for the reception, which was near by in an old boat house.


Dinner was a seaside barbecue with clam chowder, corn on the cob, grilled veggies, and grilled catfish, chicken, and steak. All the food was very good - but unfortunately I didn't get any pictures because the light was a little too low at that point. And I totally missed the pastry tray that was brought out for dessert along with watermelon slices. I'm still pouting about that one.
But other than that - it was an amazing wedding and very fun! Derek and I both agreed that if we were actually having a wedding, we'd definitely want something along these lines.

Sunday we headed back home - a bit worse for wear. I made a special batch of cookies that I'm contributing to Caitlin's bake sale at next weekend's Healthy Living Summit.

Recipe to follow after they've been sold - but trust me, they're delicious!

Sunday night dinner was partially inspired by watching Rick Bayless on Top Chef Masters. While drooling over his amazing Mexican-inspired creations on the show, Derek commented that I should make more Mexican food. I love the Mexican "flavor profile" (as they say on Top Chef), so I didn't think that was a bad idea.

I started with Mexican-inspired crab and lobster cakes.





I also cooked some black beans with kale, cumin, garlic, and lime juice. I just simmered it all together until it was soft.



And when I was shopping I came across an ingredient that I'd always wanted to try working with but never had the guts to - plantains! These plantains were pretty ripe but not all the way black. I halved and then thinly sliced them and fried them in peanut oil until they were golden.

They were pretty delicious and so easy. I don't know why I never made these before!


Using our CSA tomatoes, I whipped up some fresh salsa to top the crab cakes. An amazing Bayless-inspired meal!


Mexican Crab and Lobster Cakes with Salsa Fresca

makes 5 - 6 crab cakes
5 oz jumbo lump crab meat, picked over

5 oz lobster meat, picked over (I used claw and knuckle meat)

1 ear of corn, kernels cut from cob

4 Tbls fresh chopped cilantro, divided

1 jalapeno pepper, finely diced

3 chopped green onions, divided

1/4 cup fresh bread crumbs

2 Tbls mayonnaise

1 large tomato, diced

juice of 1/2 lime

peanut oil for frying

• In a medium bowl, stir together crab and lobster meat, corn kernels. 2 Tbls cilantro, 1/2 diced jalapeno, and 1/2 chopped green onions.  Add bread crumbs and stir to combine.  Add mayonnaise and stir to combine.  Add more mayonnaise if mixture seems dry.
• Form into 5 - 6 patties and lay on plate lined with parchment paper. Chill in fridge for about 30 minutes
• Meanwhile, combine the remaining cilantro, jalapeno, and green onion in a small bowl with diced tomato and lime juice.  Set aside to allow flavors to blend.
• Heat about 1 inch of peanut oil in a large skillet (preferably with a splatter screen) over medium heat until very hot but not smoking
• Add crab and lobster cakes to skillet and cook until golden, about 4 minutes, then flip and cook until golden on both sides
• Remove from pan and lay on paper towels to drain
• Top cakes with salsa fresca to serve

Poached

I've been a bad blogger this week. I've been busy, which is a good thing. But I should be reprimanded for neglecting my blogger duties.

Tuesday night Lucy and I went with some of my friends from work to see a free show of Shakespeare's "Comedy of Errors" on Boston Common. Lucy and I were actually in the play in high school, so it was fun to see it again and have all the lines come back to us. I packed a little picnic for us that included the blueberry cupcakes and lots of fancy cheese and bread. I also put together a pesto potato salad. It started with 3 different kinds of potatoes from our CSA, including some pretty purple ones.



I boiled these for about 10 minutes then added some green beans, cut into 1 inch pieces.


Those cooked a few minutes more, then were drained and tossed with an arugula pesto. In the food processor, I blended a big bunch of arugula with 4 cloves of roasted garlic, the juice of half a lemon, a couple splashes of champagne vinegar, and a handful of grated parmesan. Then slowly added a drizzle of EVOO until it was saucy. The big batch of salad has lasted me all week. It was delicious with some salmon - but we'll get to that later.


First I want to tell you about an amazing discovery I made, that was also part of the picnic - slow roasted tomatoes! I got this recipe from Molly Wizenberg's book, but adapted it to plump little cherry tomatoes. It could not be easier and the results are sweet, tangy, indulgent little bites that I cannot get enough of.

Slow Roasted Tomatoes

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

EVOO

ground coriander

salt & pepper

• preheat oven to 250º
• lay tomato halves, cut side up, on a large baking sheet lined with parchment
• brush tomatoes with a light coating of EVOO, the sprinkle with coriander, salt, and pepper
• roast for about 3 hours, until shriveled but not completely dried
  

Store in a jar and cover with good olive oil. Will be good in the fridge for about a week, if they last that long.


Now on to poaching. This month's Cooking Light magazine has a story about all different ways to cook fish. And I also just happened to read a fish poaching recipe in Amanda Hesser's book Cooking for Mr. Latte. I've never tried this method before - and I cook a lot of fish - so I was intrigued. I decided to try it out with a nice piece of wild salmon. I started by filling a big saute pan with a mixture of white wine, water, lemon juice, sliced shallots, a handful of fennel fronds and salt and pepper.

I put this on a low simmer for about 10 minutes. It smelled amazing! Then I tipped the salmon fillet into the pan.

I returned the liquid to a low simmer and after about 12 minutes removed the salmon and patted it dry. It was perfectly cooked - just barely cooked through and still a little pinker in the middle. I topped it with a sauce of yogurt, creme fraiche, whole grain mustard, lemon juice, and chives.

This is great way to cook fish. Super easy, you get lots of flavor from the poaching liquid, and its very healthy because you're not adding any additional fat in the cooking process. Unless, of course, you add a creme fraiche sauce on top.

But a little creme fraiche never hurt anybody, right?

A Little Slab of Heaven

We had quite a busy weekend of celebrating! Friday night we celebrated Derek's birthday at Delux, then ended up back at our apartment with a bunch of friends after they kicked us out (and had a minor incident with a car alarm). I cleaned out the liquor cabinet to make cocktails for everyone.

I used Myer's Rum and ginger beer to make (sort of) Dark & Stormies. And mixed up pretty martinis with vodka, tripe sec, pomegranate juice, lime juice, and a little more ginger beer. They were very tasty but I didn't even come close to finishing mine. We all stayed up until the wee hours of the morning placing bets on the circumference of each other's heads. A very late night for us.

Needless to say, we were not in the best shape to spend our whole Saturday attending parties. I cooked us a restorative breakfast of french toast made with challah bread, which helped.


First on the agenda was my soon-to-be-nephew's 4th birthday party. It was a spiderman theme - complete with pinata that seemed to be the highlight of Justin's day.

Derek also got to spend some time with his other nephew and namesake.

Baby Derek is a very good eater.

For the event, I decided to try making my first slab pie. A slab pie is basically a pie baked in a large baking sheet. Its perfect for feeding a crowd. And this one went fast!

I filled it with local peaches and raspberries and topped it with icing. It looked good on a spidy plate.

I switched off the vodka crust for this recipe and went back to an all butter crust. This crust is just a no-fail for me. The slab pie idea came from Smitten Kitchen - and this post gives great instructions on making flaky pie crust. I used a food processor this time, but I like the pastry cutter method to. It really is so easy and takes seconds! If you've never tried crust from scratch, I highly recommend giving it a shot. Its so worth it.

Peach Raspberry Slab Pie

for crust:

3 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1.5 Tbls sugar

1.5 tsps salt

3 sticks unsalted butter, frozen and cut into 1/2 inch pieces

3/4 to 1 cup ice water

for filling:

2 - 2 1/2 lbs ripe peaches (about 10 medium) pitted and sliced

1 cup raspberries

1 cup sugar

juice of 1 lemon

1/4 cornstarch

for icing:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 Tbl milk and 1 tsp vanilla extract

OR

1 Tbl lemon juice

• 
  
• Pulse flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor until just blended
• Add frozen butter pieces to processor, and pulse until mixture resembles a course meal. You should have pea-sized bits of butter throughout the flour
• Turn the flour mixture into a large bowl. Sprinkle 3/4 cup ice water over the flour, and stir dough with a wooden spoon until it starts to stick together. Add a little more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, if its not sticking. Dough is the right consistency when it holds together when you squeeze it, but is still a little crumbly.
• Divided dough in 2 parts, one slightly larger than the other. Pat each part into a small rectangle, wrap each in saran wrap, and chill for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 days. Can also be frozen for up to a month
• Combine peaches, raspberries, sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch in a large bowl. Stir to combine and set aside
• Preheat oven to 375º
• Grease a 9" x 13" baking pan and line with parchment paper
• Flour a large work service or cutting board
• Roll out larger piece of dough, adding flour to surface to keep from sticking, until it fits in pan with some overlap
• Roll dough around rolling pin, lay the end over the edge of pan, and unroll into prepared pan
• Add filling to pan on top of pie dough
• Roll out second piece of dough and lay over top of pan
• Fold over edges and crimp with fork to seal
• Prick with fork all over top of crust to vent
• Bake 45 - 50 minutes, until crust is golden and filling is bubbling
• Stir together powdered sugar and milk and vanilla or lemon juice in small bowl. Add a little more liquid if icing is too thick
• Let pie cool, then drizzle icing all over the top

After the birthday celebration, we headed to a party to celebrate my friend Allison's recent marriage. Allison and her husband eloped a few months ago, so her parent's threw them a lovely cocktail party at their house to celebrate. We took a photo of all the high school girls...

Me, Allison (in white obviously), Maria, and Lucy. Allison is actually a professional food photographer. She has a great blog of all her work. I love her style!

Sunday ended up being a pretty lazy day. We picked up the CSA and stopped by the South End Open Market for a little more produce. I had planned to run 6 miles this weekend, but that was just not happening. Instead - I baked.

If I haven't introduced you to my best friend in the kitchen, let me take a moment to do that. Please meet, my KitchenAid Professional Stand Mixer.

She helped me whip up a delicious batch of blueberry cupcakes.





These cupcakes were made with a basic vanilla buttermilk base, with ripe, sweet blueberries folded into the batter.

I thought these would be the perfect treat to bring to Shakespeare in the park tomorrow night.





Blueberry Cupcakes

Makes about 16 cupcakes

2 cups, plus 2 Tbls all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

zest of 1 lemon (optional - I forgot to add it!)

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 cup buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 - 1 1/2 cups blueberries

1 cup powdered sugar

1 Tbl lemon juice

• Preheat oven to 350º
• Line 12 cup muffin pan with paper liners
• Whisk together 2 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter until light and fluffy
• Slowly add sugar and beat until combined
• Reduce speed to low, and add 1/3 of flour mixture.  Beat until flour just disappears
• Add half of buttermilk and beat until combined.  Continue adding flour and buttermilk in this manner, alternating between the 2 and ending with flour.
• Beat in vanilla extract
• Toss blueberries in small bowl with remaining 2 Tbls flour
• Remove bowl of batter from mixer and gently fold in blueberries
• Fill muffin liners about 3/4 full
• Bake until tops are just golden and a toothpick inserted in center of cupcake comes out clean (except for some blueberry splotches)
• Cool cupcakes for 5 minutes in pan, then remove from pan and cool on wire rack
• Cook additional cupcakes in the same manner if you have more batter
• Once cupcakes are cooled completely, whisk together powdered sugar and lemon juice
• drizzle icing over cupcakes and allow to set

This seems to be the summer of pies, tarts, quiches, and casseroles. Putting fresh veggies in a dish and baking them with milk, cheese, and some butter is such a great way to turn a humble vegetable into an impressive main course. Last night I continued on that theme and baked a Tomato Corn Pie with our CSA loot. This recipe is a classic. Simple layers of tomato and corn, topped with sharp cheddar cheese and baked in a fluffy biscuit crust.

Derek thought it was so good it just seemed wrong. But what can be bad about eating pie for dinner?

Birthday Boy Dinner

Today celebrates the 109th anniversary of the birth of my betrothed!

**photo credit Scooter**

Looks good for his age, doesn't he?

For his birthday dinner he requested one of his favorites - Moules Frites!

I added some CSA fennel to my usual recipe - delicious! I also served the frites with some garlic bread for sopping up the mussel juices. Derek topped the frites with some of his ketchup.


The mussels were perfectly cooked - plump and juicy!

Dessert was a little bit of an experiment. Instead of making a whole pie (the birthday boy prefers pie to cake), I made 2 individual peach raspberry pies. I lined 2 8oz ramekins with pie crust, then filled them with chopped peaches and raspberries tossed with a little lemon juice, sugar, and a sprinkle of corn starch. THEN I topped the fruit of with 1 egg beaten with 1/2 cup milk and a little more sugar. So it was sort of a custard in a pie.

It was quite a successful experiment. Got a little messy, but it sure tasted good. Especially topped with vanilla ice cream.


Also worth noting...a few nights ago I tired to make a dent in our surplus of beets with this yummy pasta dish.

Steamy! I tossed some roasted golden beets with sauteed beet greens, goat cheese, toasted pecans and whole wheat pasta. Beets...its what's for dinner.

Tonight we'll be celebrating the birthday with friends.  It also happens to by Harry Potter's birthday today.  Appropriate, since my fiance is truly magical....