CAPRESE Y'ALL

So little known fact the annual Beer Bourbon and BBQ festival was held on 8/6. What is this festival you ask? Well essentially you buy a ticket and then in beautiful Cary's Koka Booth Amphitheater you trot around in the 120 North Carolina heat and sample the best beers and bourbons around. You either get 3 oz of beer to try or 1 oz of bourbon. Now I am not a bourbon fan per say- but I don't mind it in small quantities. The key is to ice that sucker down and take small sips or you. will. burn. your. esophagus. Made that mistake in 2009. Never again.

So what's the point you ask? Well prior to the festival we decided to meet up with our friends who we were going with for a quick causal cookout.

I had some mozzarella left over from my stacks I made and we had JUST gotten our hydroponic basil so hmmm- what to make, what to make. A HA! CAPRESE SALAD Y'ALL!

What you'll need- EVOO, Tomatoes, Basil and fresh Mozzarella. 

Lessons from an accident inclined chica: how to cut basil.

Chiffonading zee basil
Or I call it cigar rolling.

Stack your basil leaves.

Roll in to a cigar shape.

(Notice my robins egg blue nails -aren't they fab?)

And slice with a sharp knife into strips.

Aren't they cute?

Ok done with that! Cube your fresh mozz.

Seed and cut your tomatoes into small cubes. 

Add to your cubed mozz and basil slabs.

Salt, pepper and add some EVOO.

Toss to mix. And Voila!

Fresh. Delcious. Refreashing. 

Turns a tomato hater into a lover. 

YUM.

PAULA DEEN DON'T HAVE A HEART ATTACK BUT I USED UP ALL MY BUTTER!

AH! Well making Friday's basil patty pan I used all my butter before I got an intense CRAVING for some peach cobbler! I had two HUGE peaches which smelled INSANE and were about to go bad. What better way to use them than in a cobbler? Plus- WTC causally noted earlier that day- hey I defrosted the whipped cream if you're going to bake anything sweet. Um what? DONE. Cobbler was getting made no matter what.

But what's this! All the butter is gone? I literally gasped and knew that somewhere in Savannah a little part of Paula Dean died that night.

Well- like I said those peaches were going to eat themselves. I googled Vegan Peach Cobbler and almost every recipe just subbed vegan butter for butter! I think that's cheating. I'm looking at you vegans!

I was growing restless when I thought- hey maybe a crumble instead! That needs butter too- but what if I used granola instead? Well hello gorgeous! Let's do this!

 So the closest thing we have to granola was this.

I am ashamed! WTC and I don't really eat cereal. WTC makes eggs almost everyday and I usually make a protein smoothie (with almond milk, Greek yogurt, and a fruit of some type).
I don't even know who this man is. 

Well whatever, this will have to do.

 Peel and chop your peaches and add to ~1/2 c crunchie cereal.

To this add some honey (I enjoy local honey fresh from the hive!) some cinnamon (~1/2 tsp), some pumpkin pie spice (~1 tsp) and about 1-2 tsp vanilla extract. I just dashed a bit here, slung some there- you know Rachel Ray esque baking. 

(I'm done with the food network references, I swear!)

Mix and add to a 8X8X2 baking pan.

I baked this at 350 (only because I had other things baking at that temp at the same time) for ~ 15 minutes (Basically I couldn't wait another minute). 

Take out of the oven and put some of that defrosted whipped cream on it! YUM. Not bad for a near crisis!

Also- I gave WTC a bite from a peach treat I whipped up last week and he recoiled in horror. I had no idea what his issue was- but he said, "The skins are still on this!" Apparently I am an absolute werido because I eat the skins on my peaches. WTC said he had never known anyone to do this- and I really don't eat them any other way. SO this recipe is sans skins but as you may have noticed my peach blueberry clobber was created with skins and had no complaints, just saying...

SO- who is the odd one. Me (SSC) who eats the peaches WITH skins- or WTC who insists on NO skins.

Leave a comment- tell me your thoughts on this manic Monday.

Patty Pan Patty Pan Bakers Man... errr?

So wrong rhyme but a yummy summer dish- basil butter patty pan squash. In our produce box last week we got some hydroponic basil and I wanted to use it all before it began to turn black and die. We also got a mixed squash variety which included two little patty pan squash! So google search and BAM- recipe time! Actually, fun fact this recipe came up with just the "patty pan squash" as the boolean- no basil included! What luck!

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Slice your patty pans (which I think look like space ships).

Artfully arrange in a pan in a single layer.

Cover with melted butter and fresh basil strips (you'll get my how-to next Tuesday- oooo a teaser- I'm so bad!).

Keep stacking repeating the butter and basil combo.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Yum! Tastes like summer!

Frankly Scallop, I Don't Give a Clam!

Brief hiatus and I am back with a vengeance! Miss me much?

Update- I finally got the go ahead from the ortho doc - one more week to wait for all ball sports but all systems are go for yoga! For my 3 week activity ban involving my fingers, I re-discovered deep water aerobics which I loved! Amazing core work out and I was actually sore the next day. AND I did a LOT of aerobics- and now (surprise surprise) I want to work to become an instructor. So put that on the back burner for now.

Here is you Thursday deliciousness- BAKED SCALLOPS.
These are OMG good and WTC ate the lot so you know they were tasty. I got the recipe here, so this is not an SSC original or adaptation on an ole fave- just a straight up jeez what am I going to do with these little guys!

Preheat to 400 degrees.

Put your bay scallops into a baking dish- we only have to feed two people so I bought 1/2 pound. Cover in 4 tbsp melted butter. 

Now- onto the mix!

Mix 1/2 c bread crumbs (I used panko), 1/2 parm cheese. Then spice this up a bit with 1/2 tsp each of dried parsley and paprika (I was surprised I had both these on hand) and 1 tsp each of onion and garlic powder.

Add in garlic (about 2 tbsp if you buy pre minced in a jar like I do or 3 gloves if you care to get out that mincer that is a chore to clean)

Cover your scallops with the mix and bake for 20 minutes.

Voila! A tasty and not so healthy protein for you to enjoy!

Knock Your Socks off Green Beans

 OK this is another one of Mama Shute's creations. I love this dish- it's easy and amazing. Also, when I served it to WTC he noted "well this just smells like it will be good!" And this is coming from someone who is not a crazed nut lover either.

First: Dry toast about 1/4 walnuts. You know they are done when they start to become fragrant. Keep em' moving and watch them so that they don't burn- nastiness.

 

Set these aside. Using the same pan add a little EVOO and add your green beans. 

These are fresh and we bought them at the store- no produce box here today. To get them ready for the pan I just tear off their ends and keep them long. 

Saute these under tender- about 5-7 minutes. Don't cook too long or they'll become limp- and no one likes a limp bean. 

 

Once they have reached that point- add some blue cheese crumbles. The amount you add is up to you. The cheese does melt and this is a pretty potent cheese so this is largely up to your own taste buds. 

 The cheese will start to melt- stir the beans to coat and add back in your walnuts.

ENJOY!

RANDOM MONDAY BREAK!

Here we have nurse Sir Rupert on alert. Notice that even when I take sick days I am still doing work. Can't stop. Won't stop. Actually this is false, it's more like: Can't stop. Because I would collapse under my ever expanding workload. Not as awesome of a phrase. (Note: I actually get more done AT home than I do at my desk- minus the whole seeing patient part).

Happy Monday every one!

Fiesta Fiesta Rice

I just want you to know when I wrote Fiesta Fiesta I immediately heard R Kelly and Jay Z in my head- 

After the show it's the after party, then after the party it's the hotel lobby and after the Belve then it's probably Cris and after the original it's probably this! 

And because I answer your hard hitting questions- no I have never tasted Cristal- but I have tried each kind of Andre and I can report you should skip the strawberry and go for the classic Brut. (You're welcome.)

So we're eating more brown rice in our household and this can get pretty boring pretty fast just as my tomatoes are rotting pretty fast- so let's combo the two!

If you're in a pinch (like I was) use a pre-cooked Seeds of Change or you can go ahead with dry rice and cook as specified on the package directions.

Add some lime and cilantro for zip and freshness.

Slice some ripe tomato- yum!

This corn is left over from when I had roasted some earlier this week. (To roast preheat your oven to 350 and roast in husk for 30-40 minutes- easy as that!) Cut straight off the hull and into the bowl.

Season liberally with salt and pepper. I tasted and thought it was missing a little something. So I made it pop with a little smoky cumin and a little spicy chili powder.

Mix and serve with your favorite protein! 

Stacks on Deck

Patron on ice....

Truth time. Saturday night I dreamed about mozzarella cheese. No joke. Straight up cheese dream. Anytime I see a diet where there is even a mention or thought of having to give up cheese I look away. Moderation my friend, no elimination. On a side note- extremes suck! Black or white- nope not me I am a diplomat through and through- gray areas are much more comfortable.

So I present to you the result of my cheese dream: eggplant tomato mozzarella stacks.

Gather your supplies: eggplants, ripe tomato, mozzarella cheese, salt and pepper.

Preheat your oven to 350.

Slice your eggplants and arrange on a baking sheet. Salt and pepper each side. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until they are soft (mine took 15 minutes).

While you're waiting go ahead and slice your tomatoes. Can we talk about how ripe these are?

One the eggplants are done cooking- create your stacks. Eggplant- tomato- eggplant- tomato.

Adorn each stack with a circle of mozzarella cheese- if you don't have fresh you could use shredded if in a pinch.

Bake for 20 additional minutes.

Look how melty and good!

I ate like 4 stacks for lunch. So good!