Monthly Archives: August 2017

Entertaining: What’s Cooking Labor Day Weekend!

If you are like me, you are finding it very hard to believe that September and Labor Day Weekend are here!  But with that we like to celebrate Labor Day Weekend with friends and family. Here are a few of the recipes I’ll be using to entertaining this weekend!

Part of my holiday weekend will be filling the house with some sunflowers, while I still can. Nothing says late summer more to me than sunflowers! In addition, I’ll be using the best of the produce from the farm stands this weekend and corn is still at it’s peak! I’ll be making some corn hummus with corn leftover from another meal. You need just four extra ears.  This recipe calls for roasting the corn in the oven at 425 for 45 minutes wrapped in foil. I’ve been making my corn like this all summer, it’s easy to prep in advance and really easy to serve a crowd of people. I prep it before anyone arrives, leave it on a tray in the oven and just turn the oven on an hour before I want to serve it warm. Delicious!! so make a few extra and also make Roasted Sweet Corn Hummus

Another favorite meal that is an easy meal for a crowd that is delicious and super simple to make is Brisket with Cola Barbecue Sauce. You’ll love the flavor using your favorite NON-DIET Cola in your sauce!

Wondering what to serve along side this dish , you definitely need some fresh coleslaw. I like to make my Grandma’s Coleslaw with Warm Dressing.  Definitely, a comforting complement to the brisket!

The perfect dessert for a crowd is a crumble and this crumble mixes blueberries and plums for a slightly sweet and spicy dish. You will love my Blueberry Plum Crumble!

If you need a breakfast brunch idea for the weekend, one of my favorite dishes is Vanilla Bourbon Soaked French Toast. I use big thick slices of brioche soaked in vanilla and bourbon. Bourbon? Why not it’s a holiday weekend and the french toast is topped with a  yummy mixed berry and plum compote!

I will definitely try to bake some cookies this weekend to have around the house and in celebration of sunflowers I think I’ll be baking sugar cookies topped with sanding sugar to look like my beautiful sunflowers! Use my Favorite Sugar Cookie recipe!

From by the bay, make great friends and family food memories this weekend!

Maryann

 

Roasted Sweet Corn Hummus

Brisket with Cola Barbecue Sauce

Grandma’s Coleslaw with Warm Dressing

Blueberry Plum Crumble

Vanilla Bourbon Soaked French Toast

Favorite Sugar Cookie

Cold Cucumber and Buttermilk Soup

Cool and refreshing, this simple cold soup uses only four ingredients. Don’t let the simplicity deceive your perception of this recipe, the taste is delicious!  This is definitely one of my favorite soups to enjoy over and over again this summer. I use whatever cucumbers I have around and it’s especially a good way to use cucumbers that are a few days old and not at peak.

From by the bay, wishing you cool and refreshing food memories!

Maryann

 

Cold Cucumber and Buttermilk Soup

Serves 4

Ingredients

  • 1 pound cucumbers, peeled, halved and seeded
  • 2 teaspoons jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
  • 2 cups buttermilk ( whole if available)
  • 2 teaspoons fine sea salt
  • optional: diced cucumber to garnish and coarse sea salt such as Maldon

Directions

Coarsely chop the cucumbers. Place cucumber along with the remaining ingredients in a food processor. Blend until smooth, about 1 minute. Place in a container and refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours before serving.  To serve, garnish with diced cucumber and a little coarse sea salt.

Roasted Sweet Corn Hummus

Inspired by my quest to enjoy the sweet corn this summer which is really at it’s height of flavor I’ve continued to explore using corn in different recipes. This roasted sweet corn hummus has become an instant favorite. It’s also the perfect way to use any leftover corn you might have after a meal, that said don’t wait for leftovers, this recipe is one you will want to try immediately! I was looking for the perfect balance of corn, chickpeas and tahini … 4 ears of corn is perfect to achieve a strong taste of corn in every bite – but the recipe is forgiving so feel free to adjust based on the amount of corn you might have available.

From by the bay, wishing you sweet corn food memories!

Maryann

 

Roasted Sweet Corn Hummus

Ingredients

4 ears of fresh corn, shucked

15 ounces ready to eat chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1/2 cup tahini

6 tablespoons water

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1 1/2  teaspoons fine sea salt

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Optional: additional olive oil and coarse sea salt ( such as Maldon)

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  Wrap corn in a piece on aluminum foil , place on a baking sheet and in the oven for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and take corn out of the foil and place directly on the rack in the oven for another 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool. Cut kernels off the cob and place half of the corn, into a food processor. Add remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the fresh corn kernels and place remaining corn into the food processor. Blend until corn is not quite smooth, so there is some texture to the hummus. Place in a covered container and chill for two hours before serving. To serve place in the shallow bowl. Drizzle hummus with olive oil, sprinkle remaining corn kernels and a touch of coarse sea salt.