Chilled Cucumber Tarragon Soup

I don't often have buttermilk in the fridge but the other day a recipe called for just a wee bit. At the store they were out of the small cartons and I was forced to purchase a quart of buttermilk-eek, what now? Cucumbers and Parade Magazine to the rescue. I just happened to see this recipe in the Sunday paper and it turns out to be a pretty good chilled soup. Although the corn is just a garnish, it's important-don't omit.

3 cups low fat buttermilk
2 English cucumbers, peeled and chopped
1/4 cup fresh tarragon
salt
1 cup frozen sweet corn, thawed
a few basil leaves, sliced

In a blender or processor, whirl up the buttermilk, cucumber, tarragon and about a t of salt. Transfer to bowl and chill several hours. To serve, garnish with some corn and fresh basil. Makes a nice light first course of a summer night :-)

Fresh Feta, Beet and Shrimp Salad

We recently have had the good fortune to acquire some outstanding chevre and feta from Lucky Penny Creamery in Kent, Ohio. It's a long story about our connection, but suffice it to say, their products are top quality and we have been thoroughly enjoying them. This dish is just a simple salad of baby romaine, arugula, thinly sliced radish, sweet onion, sliced beets, sautéed shrimp and Lucky Penny Fresh Feta. I tossed it all with a simple lemon/olive oil dressing and added a corn muffin. I've included their website if you'd like to learn more about them:

http://www.luckypennyfarm.com/

Mustard-Horseradish Sauce

I don't always serve a sauce with grilled flank steak, but decided to do so since I had some fresh tarragon in the fridge. This sauce worked well with beef but would be good with salmon, shrimp or chicken.

2/3 cup sour cream
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
2 T chopped fresh tarragon
2 T olive oil
2 T prepared white horseradish

Mix all together and chill well.

Cauliflower Crack!

We love roasted cauliflower but this dish was even better than regular-always-good cauliflower. I often roast at a higher temp but this dish was roasted for 1 and 1/2 hours at 325. The slow roasting allows the cauliflower to caramelize and for the spices to really bloom. Total yum!

Preheat 325
1 large head of cauliflower, broken into flowerets
1 T ancho chili powder
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 t dried red pepper
1 t cumin
4 T olive oil
1/2 fresh lime, juiced
salt

Put cauliflower in bowl and add chili powder, red pepper, garlic, cumin, salt to taste, and olive oil. Mix well. Transfer cauliflower to shallow baking dish and bake for 1 1/2 hours. Sprinkle with lime juice.

Be Gone, Vampires!

If, according to folklore, garlic can keep away evil spirits, then we are good to go for quite a while here at our house.

When I made this shrimp and clam pasta and I happened to use a package of pasta that I had picked up in the TJ Maxx food section. I love roaming the isles of my local TJ's (both Trader Joes and TJ Maxx). This particular pasta was a garlic and parsley linguine. A more cautious person, would have cut back on the garlic in the sauce, but not me. We loved this dish but it is not for the "garlic" fainthearted.

 8 oz of linguine (whatever kind you like)
16 shrimp peeled
1 can of minced clams, drained (save the juice)
handful fresh parsley
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup white wine
1 cup chicken broth
salt and pepper
1 t red pepper flakes
butter and olive oil

In a large deep skillet, melt a T of butter and T of olive oil. Quickly sauté the shrimp just until they turn pink and remove to bowl. Add another T of butter and olive oil and quickly sauté garlic and red pepper--don't let garlic burn. Add the wine, the clam juice, and broth and bring to a boil-add the pasta and submerge it letting it cook until the pasta is tender and has absorbed most of the liquid. Add the shrimp and clams and stir around. Add the parsley. Pass Parmesan cheese.