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If spring has sprung for you anything like it has in San Francisco, I would recommend calling up your friends and having an impromptu dinner party tonight! And maybe have platters around for lettuce wraps.
This version is a simple adaptation of an old Gourmet recipe, Cellophane-Noodle Salad with Roast Pork. I first made it a few years ago, and when ripe mangos popped up in the market here, I knew it needed to be on the menu again soon.
This time, I used brown rice noodles instead of the cellophane (or mung bean) and loved the change. A mandoline makes quick work of all the chopping, but I have done it by hand as well, and it’s really not too bad. Also, to fit the warm weather, I grilled the pork this time — and didn’t miss turning on the oven.
The sweet, spicy, crunchy and cool combo is just perfect – and the hands on makes for a fun presentation. It also goes particualrly well with a few cold beers!
Hope you have a great weekend and there is some sunshine your way!
In a shocking turn of events, I went to Napa and bypassed all wine tastings. That is not to mean that I skipped the wine-drinking, but rather I didn’t do any actual tastings at wineries.
We were up in the valley for a family wedding, and the only time in my schedule that would’ve allowed for winery stops was Saturday afternoon before the wedding. And not wanting to show up too-tipsy, we passed on the outing.
Instead, we had a lovely afternoon bike ride and al fresco picnic. My dad, aunt, cousin and I rented bikes in Yountville, picked up snacks and vino at Oakville Grocery and had a lovely afternoon under the oak trees near the vines.
So in that spirit, here’s to a long weekend of bike rides with friends and/or family, impromptu picnics and celebrating the end of summer!
Everyone needs friends who are comfortable inviting themselves over. I mean it. I have definitely done it on {way} more than one occasion and love when it is done in return.
So when San Francisco had some serious summer weather, finally, I was thrilled that B’s friend Mike sent a text that said, “Drinks, your roof, 8:00.” It was the perfect call, and if he wouldn’t have sent that text, we all may have missed out on margaritas on a perfect balmy night.
And even though I love me a tequila evening, I knew we would need some sort of sustenance as well. With all the heat, I was craving a ceviche, but since I was only heading to the little corner market, I knew fish was out of equation.
Boy – I have really made this linger. I didn’t mean to, I promise, but sometimes that’s just what happens, ya know?
When we first started thinking about the dinner, I knew that we wanted to have a menu that was super simple. Things that required little to no cooking so we could really just enjoy being up at the lake for the weekend and not spending the whole day in the kitchen. Even so, dinner for 20, no matter how simple, takes at least a bit of time.
Thankfully we have awesome friends (who are great in the kitchen & out) and everything came together by committee.
What I was undoubtedly most excited for were the tomatoes. I had seen a few fun posts on Style Notes focusing on summer tomatoes (a tomato tasting from Martha Stewart and a tomato bar during cocktail hour at a wedding) and knew right away lots of heirlooms would be key for a low-stress summer dinner.
I thought it would be fun to highlight the different varieties will a plethora of salts and oils. Sometimes cool salts can be pricy, but when purchased in bulk (and without fancy-schmancy packaging) you can get some great finds at even better prices. We loaded all the salts (plus local crushed chiles and freshly cracked black pepper) in the little dishes from Chinatown and set them out in little grouping among the table for everyone to sample.
We had:
Because who doesn’t like pictures of a good table? I thought I would share with you some snapshots and details from Saturday’s (rained out) dinner.
Tables, chairs, dishes, glasses & flatware – collected from the house – which gave for a nice mix & match look.
Flowers and vases – Flowers were bought at the Tahoe City Farmer’s market on Thursday (and kept in a bucket of water until Saturday) and then arranged that afternoon. If you can call it arranging. Really the stems were cut short and plopped into these great little svalka cups from Ikea.
Napkins – my favorite dishtowel napkins, tekla, also from Ikea.
Menus, place-cards, salt labels & oil tags – For the menus, I used paper that I had leftover from backing the invites (Paper Source A7 notecards in papaya). The place-cards were also from Paper Source (in night) and for the salt labels and flavored oil tags, I just cut down extra place cards. All of the writing was done with white calligraphy ink.
Salt dishes – picked them up in Chinatown for a song.
Serving dishes – was finally able to break out some of our wedding gifts and put them to good use. Most of the bowls and trays were Vietri Incanto and Mary Jurek.
Water pitchers & decanters – my favorites (and also wedding gifts) from CB2, the beaker glass pitcher and the botella decanter.
Tablecloth – actually just 8 yards of a heavy, but inexpensive fabric from Walmart (a surprisingly great stop for good-priced fabric, especially when you are in a place where you aren’t sure where the nearest fabric store is). It was perfect for this dinner because it covered 3 tables and when it got stained from the bleeding paper in the rain, it didn’t matter.
Tiki torches – picked up last minute from CVS for a little added light.
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I think that is about it. Up next - the food … and after the rain!
Images taken by B as I was finishing in the kitchen with friends. I think we may have a new house photographer on our hands.
Not much to say. It is too nice to be writing or typing or reading. Blue summer skies are for doing and being. (Hopefully outside).
But occasionally we need to eat.
Fast. Fresh. Cool. Easy.
And since summer provides an abundance of zucchini, this simple salad is {another} one of my favorites. It embodies fast, fresh, cool, easy.
Thinly slice raw zucchini (use a mandoline if you have one to get tissue-paper-thin cuts, otherwise slice as thinly as possible with a razor-sharp knife). You can also add other summer squashes to the mix if you’d like. Salt and let sit for a few minutes. Drain.
Toss with lemon juice & zest and herbs of your choice (I particularly love basil and/or mint). Drizzle in a touch (or more) of olive oil.
Add a bit of cheese – goat, ricotta salata, shavings of parmigano (this version had creamy and mild but tangy farmers cheese), whatever you love {or have on hand}.
Enjoy. Quickly. Or slowly. Standing in the kitchen as a quick snack. At the dining room table as part of a lazy summer feast. Outside with good friends and cold drink. Or however you like to taken in the season.
All seasons.
Enjoy.
I am pretty sure that the Fourth of July is my favorite holiday. I may say that about Thanksgiving too, but I really mean it about both. Probably because they both involve crazy amounts of good food. But the 4th has sunshine! And fireworks! And summer cocktails! And oodles of friends. And well…lots of lovelies (which may account to why I am just know getting to post about it).
I must say that my first 4th in San Francisco was quite wonderful. We gathered with a big group of friends and spent the day grazing and toasting under the Golden Gate Bridge with almost enough sunshine to keep me happy.
And I’ve gotta tell you, our friends pulled out all the stops on the food. Everyone brought something(s) and I made sure to sample it all. Farro with corn, avocado and bacon. Panzanella with fresh peas and asparagus. Radish and mint tabbouleh. Out of this world caponata (currently trying to wrangle a copy of this family recipe). Spinach salad with blueberries. Watermelon salad with feta and mint. And burgers and steaks and sausages. And the desserts, whew, flag cake and lemon blueberry cheesecake bars and chocolate fudge cookies with salted caramel ice cream. Hopefully we can get some guest posts on these things because I want them all to reoccur this summer.
But to start if off, I brought gazpacho with roasted shrimp and croutons. A little something to sip on while the coals heated up and the salads were still chilling out.
Gazpacho is a summer favorite for a reason – it is cold, quick and makes use of one of the season’s greatest gifts – the tomato!
And as much as I have always loved the Spanish soup, I didn’t have a go-to receipe on hand. My friend Audra makes a version that is legendary (from her Basque sister-in-law, I believe), but she was already gone for the weekend, and so I couldn’t get much from her. Thankfully, I did get a text that said “lots of onion and garlic, not blended too much, better if it can sit overnight.”
And that, plus (more than) a little help from José Andrés, set me off it the right direction. I am happy to say I now have a go-to gazpacho.
With the Fourth right and the corner and everyone caught up in World Cup (and Winbledon) fever, I thought we should plan for this year’s BBQ to involve some games.
Whether you plan on celebrating at home, at a park, beach or just about anywhere, here are a few additions to give your celebration a worldly and sporty flair.
The more active among us may vote for a game of volleyball, while I will stick to croquet or bocce – as they are games best played with Pimm’s Cup in hand.
And for those who find even these activities too much – have them man the tunes on the portable record player.
If you still aren’t quite sure where you will be come Sunday, the table in a bag and compact lil’ grill mean you can take your party anywhere.
As long as you remember the prizes for the winners!
Resources:
With summer now (officially) in full swing, we can look forward to a few months of food prepared primarily two ways: grilled or not cooked at all. At least that is how I would like things to be. But alas, there is no grill (or outdoor space) here at Casa Dentino and so we have have to improvise. A grill pan works great for many things but for one of summer’s true pleasures, I turn to the oven.
I love corn and can’t get enough of it in the summer. Grilled and slathered Cafe Habana style is my favorite, and I throw back all sorts of corn salads, but sometimes simple and unadorned is all you want or need.
Growing up, I remember that corn on the cob was often done on the stove, in a huge pot of boiling water, with a pinch of sugar or splash of milk. But now, I don’t dream of boiling corn (or many other veggies for that matter) and if I don’t have a grill handy, I simply roast the corn in their husks in the oven.
Say 30 minutes at 350ºF or until the kernels are just soft. I maybe underdo it just a touch – I like the sweet startchiness of fresh summer corn. And a pat of butter if you must, but I go for a squeeze of lime. Then pull back the husks like a handle (notice that the silks peel off much easier on cooked corn) and devour!
Besides pies, this may be the only thing worth turning your oven on for all season long.
Remember when I posted a quick shoot of the Moon Safari from The Breslin? Well it has been included in Lottie + Doof‘s Drink of Summer 2010 Challenge!
And even better, they took the time to master the recipe (which was more of a commitment than I could handle in those last few cocktail-swilling weeks in Manhattan).
So head over there to check out the recipe, oogle the pics and vote for the Drink of the Summer.
My money’s on the Moon Safari, but they all look pretty damn good … and may make appearances here all summer. (You may notice another strawberry/black pepper drink – I think a trend may be upon us).
Thanks Tim and Bryan for putting this together – what a great way to kick of the sunny season!
Image via Lottie + Doof
