Rosie's Pasta Salad - The Best Of Summer In A Bowl

 

In the summertime, I’m looking for light and refreshing meals. And my piquantly perfect pasta salad fits that bill impeccably. Each bite has a different texture and flavor – from soft and creamy to crunchy and crisp, and from salty and tangy to acidic and herbally delicious. And it’s all garden fresh!

 

This dish combines tender pasta with a medley of additions. The pasta is but a quiet backdrop to all the other ingredients that come to the party to play.  As usual with my recipes, you have options.  First, you pick the pasta.  I went with elbow pasta, but orzo would be nice here or orecchiette, or even little shells.  Just remember you want small pieces of pasta to complement the additions we’re putting in, all of which will be at the height of freshness, whether from your own garden or from a farmers market.  The whole is then tossed with a light and zesty, lemon-based dressing.  I’ll be adding a combination of vegetables of my choosing, but you can certainly adjust and tailor the ingredients to your own tastes.  I started out with 1 cup of elbow pasta and, after adding all the rest of the ingredients and making a citrusy dressing, I had a huge bowl of pasta salad – perfect for a main meal, a side dish, or for taking to a picnic to celebrate the final days of summer.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rosie’s Summer Pasta Salad

1 cup dried pasta

1 small squash

1 small zucchini

4 cup fresh spinach

1 English cucumber

1 medium red onion

3-4 cups cherry or grape tomatoes, assorted colors

6 oz. Kalamata olives

8 oz. feta cheese

1 cup fresh parsley

⅓ cup fresh basil

 For the salad fixin’s:

Cook pasta in boiling salted water according to package directions, until al dente.  I saved the pasta water to use for blanching the squash and zucchini.  Drain and rinse pasta under cold water to stop cooking. After draining, pour pasta into large bowl and set aside.

 Prepare squash and zucchini. Coarse-peel the vegetables and dice.  Using the pasta water, since I don’t like to waste anything, bring it back to a boil, maybe add a bit more salt, and drop in the diced squash and zucchini and cook for about 30 seconds.  Immediately drain the vegetables and plunge into ice water to stop the cooking and allow the vegetables to remain crisp-tender.  When cooled, drain.

 Stem and coarse chop spinach. Coarsely peel cucumber and dice.  Dice red onion and feta and slice tomatoes and olives.  Add all to cooled pasta. Sprinkle in chopped parsley and basil. Gently toss to combine ingredients evenly.

 

Dressing:

 3 lemons, juiced

¼ cup red wine vinegar

½ cup extra virgin olive oil (I used Corto Truly Extra Virgin Olive Oil, but you can go with whatever olive oil you really like.)

2 garlic cloves, minced

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

(Makes about 1 cup dressing.)

 

In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, red wine vinegar, and minced garlic. Gradually drizzle in olive oil, whisking constantly.  Season to taste with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.

 

Slowly drizzle the dressing mixture over the pasta and vegetables, tossing gently to coat.  Cover and refrigerate a couple hours to let flavors get all friendly with each other.

 

 

This is a lovely salad and so easy to prepare.  It’s colorful with the tender green spinach leaves and the vibrant and vivid vegetables.  And the bright and tangy lemon vinaigrette is perfectly balanced, bringing it all together in a delightful mix of flavors and textures.

Plus, it’s all so fresh. It’s truly the best of summer in a bowl.

  

 

Enjoy.

 

Rosie Makes A Banana Pecan Cake.

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Rosie always has bananas - either aging ungracefully on the counter or frozen solid in the freezer.    Time to make a Banana Bundt Cake.

 

   

Banana Bundt Cake

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 stick unsalted butter (1/2 cup), softened

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

2 eggs, room temperature

1 TB vanilla

1 1/2 cups mashed bananas

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt

1 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Heat oven to 350°.

Grease and flour a Bundt pan. 

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

In a large bowl, beat butter, oil, and brown sugar until smooth and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, and mix well.  Stir in vanilla, bananas, and yogurt until fully combined.  Add in dry ingredients until just mixed.  Fold in gently.  Do not overmix; it causes cake to become dense.  Gentle mixing keeps the cake tender.  Fold in pecans.

Bake at 350° for about 60 minutes or until toothpick comes out with moist crumbs on it.  Cool in pan 15 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool completely before frosting.

I’m using a simple powdered sugar glaze, but a cream cheese frosting or a brown butter glaze would both work nicely with this cake.

For the icing, I used 2 cups powdered sugar, the juice and zest of 1 small Mandarin orange, 1 tsp vanilla, enough cream to make a pourable glaze (1-2 TB), and a pinch of salt.  When you get the consistency you like, drizzle the icing over top.

 

 

Here's the batter.  Do not over mix.  Gently fold in the ingredients.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pour batter into buttered and floured Bundt pan, smoothing the top.

And bake.  Cool in pan for about 15 minutes, then cool completely on wire rack before frosting.

I wanted a bit of orange flavor in the frosting, so I'm squeezing Mandarin orange juice into my powdered sugar.  

I have found that a pinch of salt added to the powdered sugar mixture takes away that slight bitterness that I can taste otherwise. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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  If you like, grate some of the orange zest into the glaze.

And pour the glaze over the cake.

More zest over the

Add some pecans over top too.

Enjoy.

What To Do With A Pound Of Crabmeat? Lots Of Things!

 

Crabilicious Offerings For Your Dining Pleasure

 

 

Callinectus sapidus, or “beautiful savory swimmer,” is in season now. That would be the blue crab to you and me.  And I’m taking full advantage of this delectable crustacean. A couple months ago, I wrote about the soft shells; this month I’m turning my attention towards the hard shells.  I’ll be making a basic crabmeat dip and offering a few tangents for you to explore for an array of tantalizing appetizers. In addition, I have another crabmeat mixture which will go into fried crab balls.

I’m starting off with a pound of claw meat.  If you’re not picking your own crabs, I recommend choosing the claw meat.  It’s not as expensive as lump or backfin and it features a richer flavor which holds up very well in sauced dishes and dips.  Half the crabmeat is going into a basic dip that will produce a medley of appetizers; the other half-pound will be going into fried crab balls.

I’m giving you five suggestions for using the basic dip, but feel free to use your own imagination and get creative.

 

Rosie’s Crabmeat Dip

 2 oz. unsalted butter

 2 oz. cream cheese

 2 oz. brie cheese

 8 oz. crabmeat  (As I said, I use claw meat.  It’s less expensive than the jumbo lump, the taste is a bit more robust, and you still have good-sized chunks throughout.)

 Juice of 1 lemon

 1 TB sherry or white wine (optional)

Melt, butter, cream cheese, and brie over low heat.  I don’t bother to remove the rind from the brie; go ahead and melt that too.  Whisk until smooth, then stir in juice of one lemon.  Gently fold crab meat into cream mixture, trying not to break up the meat.  Heat through.  Stir in the optional splash of sherry or wine. 

 

For the simplest appetizers, simply top a cracker with the dip.  Ritz and Triscuits are my personal favorites, but you do you.  Optional add-ons could be sliced green onions, minced green, yellow, orange, and/or red peppers, chopped parsley, and sprinklings of Old Bay seasoning and/or cayenne pepper.

 

 

Now let’s explore a few options for additional presentations of the crab dip.

 

 

Crabmeat-Filled Wonton Cups

Take individual wonton wrappers and press into muffin tins.  Lightly brush with butter and bake at 350° for about 8 minutes, or until golden.  Fill with warm crabmeat mixture.  Top with sliced scallions and minced roasted red peppers.

 

 

 

Crabmeat-Filled Phyllo Shells

Place phyllo shells on a baking sheet and bake at 350° about 5 minutes or until golden brown.  Fill with crabmeat mixture and sprinkle sliced scallions and chopped parsley over top.

 

 

Next, I’ll be stuffing mushrooms with the crab dip, adding some grated Parmesan cheese, and then running them under the broiler.  Perfect for an appetizer or a side dish to accompany a seafood meal.

 

Crab-Stuffed Mushroom Caps

Rosie’s Crab Meat Dip

1 package of mushrooms, stems removed ( You can use button mushrooms, bellas, shiitakes, creminis – whatever has a bowl-like cap for stuffing.)

 1 garlic clove, minced

 Sherry, splash or two

 Grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

 Bread crumbs and/or crumbled Ritz crackers

 

In a medium skillet over medium heat, heat about a tablespoon of oil to around 350° then add in a pat of butter.  When the butter melts, place in the mushrooms, facing down so the caps can release their moisture and not collect it inside the caps.  After a few minutes, turn the caps over, add in the garlic, and let mushrooms get golden brown on the cap-side, just another minute or so.  Add in the splash or two of sherry, stirring, and let it sizzle, steam, and reduce a bit.

Place mushroom caps in a foil-lined pan, pouring any remaining sherry around the caps.  Spoon the crab meat mixture into the caps, rounding the mixture.  Sprinkle grated cheese and bread crumbs and/or Ritz crackers over top and place pan under broiler for about 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted and golden brown. 

 

  I like to sprinkle some sliced green onions, minced peppers, and chopped parsley over top.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another favorite crab preparation is fried crabmeat-filled wontons.

 

 

Lay a wonton wrapper on your work surface and place a heaping teaspoonful of the crabmeat mixture in the center, being careful not to overfill.  Brush the edges with soy or tamari sauce, fold the wonton over to form a triangle, and press the edges with a fork to crimp and seal.  Fry the stuffed wontons at 350° for a minute or so on each side until golden brown.  Drain on a rack.  Sprinkle with sliced scallions and toasted sesame seeds and serve with dipping sauce.

 

Dipping sauce for Crab Wontons:

¼ cup tamari or soy sauce

 2 TB mirin

 2 TB rice vinegar

 1 tsp sugar

 1 tsp sriracha sauce

 1 minced garlic clove

 Juice from 1-inch knob of frozen ginger (See Rosie Note below for ginger juice instructions.)

 1 TB toasted sesame seeds

 Mix all ingredients.

 Rosie Note:  For ginger juice, know that you simply can’t get juice out of fresh ginger root.  Whenever I buy ginger root, I cut it into 1-inch cubes, then bag and freeze it.  This way I always have ginger on hand, plus, as an added bonus, I can get ginger juice from frozen ginger.  Simply place a ginger cube in a small bowl and nuke it for about 20-25 seconds.  Squeeze with your fingers; the juice comes out readily.  If you like, you can take the juiced chunk and run it through a garlic press, scraping the extruded pulp off with a knife and adding it to the mix for more intense ginger flavor.

 

My final offering is Fried Crab Balls with two dipping sauces – a more conventional Tartar Sauce and a savory Asian Sauce.  Take your pick or use both.  

 

Rosie’s Crab Balls

(Makes 15.)

8 oz. crab meat

 1 TB minced red onion

 1 TB minced red pepper

 1 TB minced celery

 1 TB chopped parsley

 2 TB lemon juice

 1 egg, beaten

 ½ tsp kosher salt

 ¼ cup crushed Ritz crackers (about 6 crackers)

Add all ingredients to crab meat, folding in gently so as not to break up any large lumps.  Roll into balls.   Place on parchment-lined tray, cover, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

 When ready to fry, roll balls in a mixture of:

 1 cup bread crumbs

 2 TB cornstarch

 Place balls in hot oil (350° - 375°) and fry, turning when brown, after about 1 ½ - 2 minutes.  Don’t crowd the pan.  Fry in batches.  About 3-4 minutes each batch.  Drain on rack.

       Serve with either Tartar Sauce or my Asian-Inspired Sauce.  Or both.

 Rosie’s Tartar Sauce

 ¼ cup mayonnaise

 1 TB coarse grained mustard

 1 TB minced red onion

 1 TB minced celery

 1 TB sweet relish

 1 tsp capers

 Mix all until well-blended.

 

 Rosie’s Asian-Inspired Sauce

 1 TB ginger juice

 1 garlic clove, minced

 2 TB Tamari sauce

 1 TB mirin

Combine all.

 

 

 

Here’s another thought:

As I was making the Asian Sauce, I noticed my pot of Thai basil sitting pretty on the deck, so I picked a few leaves and added that too.  Regular basil would have been good, but Thai basil has a different flavor profile than its Italian counterpart.  While Italian basil is sweeter, more black peppery and clove-like, Thai basil is spicier, more robust, and more licorice-y or anise-like.  Thai basil ups your game a bit.  Try it.

 

Happy Crab Season and enjoy.