One of my favorite things about the summer months are BBQ's. I mean, what's not to love? Growing up my dad was the King of the BBQ, Master of the Grill. Actually, he still is! From steak to chicken to corn to squash (that's right squash) he can throw it on the BBQ and the result is a feast of delicious goodness.
Since I don't have a BBQ (thank you, apartment management company regulations) and my skills are relatively limited my role in most BBQs is to eat a lot. Oh, and to bring a side dish of sorts. The latest BBQ side dish I found is courtesy of The Pioneer Woman. My friend Colin introduced me to her blog and I'm pretty sure I owe my love of all things food blog to him for it. Her site is full of beautiful pictures, delicious recipes and honest, funny commentary that makes cooking along with her even more fun.
These no-cook skewers are simple to make, but incredibly tasty and garnered lots of compliments when I brought them to a 4th of July BBQ. They only sat on the rosemary sticks for about two hours, but it was enough time to allow the rosemary flavor to seep into the cheese and meat, creating a burst of fresh herb flavor in every single bite. I'm pretty sure I ate about 20 of them, they were so tasty.
Super simple, lots of flavor and no oven necessary? Sign me up!The Recipe:No-cook Rosemary Skewers (as adapted from The Pioneer Woman)
This month has been exceptionally busy. There's been travel, softball, dinner parties, happy hours, gym time, girls nights... you name it, it's been keeping me out until 10pm (or later!) on any given night. I have several new recipes to share, but sadly can't seem to find the time to share them. After this weekend I will be in Seattle for almost five full weeks and will have lots more time to catch you all up on my cooking adventures!
Happy summer!
Vicki
I just got back from spending 5 days and 4 nights in Vegas, which means two things. It means (1) I have a tan that looks slightly unnatural in the Pacific Northwest, where sun is a rarity and it's barely been above 75 this year and (2) I'm on a complete physical detox.
While I won’t be eating risotto for a while, before I left I made this dish and it turned out so tasty! I love mushrooms. Love, love, love mushrooms. I have a hard time understanding how anyone (including my two brothers) don't like them. They are delicious. I tend to stick primarily with your standard store varietals - button, portabella, shitake, and the occasional dried wild mushroom mix - but on my recent shopping spree at Uwajimaya, picked up a small package of morels.
If you're not familiar with morels, they are pricey ($18-$30 a pound), weird looking fungi that have a strong mushroom-y taste. You can stuff them, make pastas with them, sauces, etc. They're out of my price range but good for a treat every now and then.
And the risotto? Outstanding. After doing extensive research on morels, I discovered that asparagus is a common pairing, so through that into the mix for a nice summer taste. The goat cheese kept the creamy texture that risotto is so well known for, almost giving the dish the feeling of mac and cheese (without the grease) and was subtle without overpowering the mushrooms or asparagus. Overall, this is definitely a recipe that could be made again for dinner parties... or as a post-detox celebration.
