French Fridays with Dorie - Cold Melon-Berry Soup with Grilled Shrimp

I've said this before about Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours, but I enjoy reading Dorie's introduction to each recipe as much as preparing the recipes themselves. When she mentions an unfamiliar region in France, restaurant, chef, or ingredient, my interest is always peaked and I start Googling! Since I've never been to France, I have much to learn.

For this week's French Fridays with Dorie recipe, Cold Melon-Berry Soup, Dorie tells us her inspiration came from a soup she enjoyed at renowned chef Alain Ducasse's former hilltop retreat, Ostapé ("in the shade of oak trees"), a 45 hectare estate located in the heart of the green Basque country, close to the village of Biddaray. The spacious guest rooms are located in the 17th-century manor house, or in five farmhouses that have been converted into traditional Basque-style villas. This looks like my kinda place!

The Navarrian restaurant serves regional cuisine using fresh, local products, including vegetables from its own garden. See the watermelon on table? Dorie says just about every restaurant has melon somewhere on the menu when they're in season.

The cold melon-berry soup is nothing more than pureed cantaloupe (or Cavaillon if you're in France), topped with melon balls and strawberries. The soup should be served in glasses, to show off its beautiful color.

I'm strawberry'ed out, so I went with raspberries. Actually, The Flavor Bible: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity, Based on the Wisdom of America's Most Imaginative Chefs, highlights raspberries with cantaloupe, and doesn't even list strawberries. Ginger, lime juice and sweet white wine, basil and mint are also recommended flavor pairings.

To the pureed melon, Dorie's recipe adds grated fresh ginger, fresh squeezed lime juice, and a pinch of sea salt.  To serve, top the soup with a little wine, a few melon balls and berries, and mint or basil chiffonade.  I used raspberries, basil, and Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand.

I had the chance to use my ginger grater I bought from our Little Italy Mercato. It works quite well, and you don't lose the ginger juice.

In an effort to make a light dinner out of the soup, I added grilled shrimp. These shrimp are from one of my newest cookbooks, Steven Raichlen's Planet Barbecue!: 309 Recipes, 60 Countries.  Grilled Shrimp Sprayed with Olive Oil and Wine is from the "archly innovative grill restaurant Etxebarri in Spain's Basque Country."  This also looks like my kinda place!

I nestled a melon ball in the curve of each shrimp, and threaded two shrimp per skewer. During grilling, the shrimp are lightly misted with olive oil and wine, and then finished with course sea salt.

Not too shabby, for a light, summer dinner on the patio.

French Fridays with Dorie is an online cooking group, dedicated to Dorie Greenspan‘s newest book Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours. As members of the group, we have purchased the cookbook and cook along as much as we can. There is a new recipe each week, and we post about that recipe on Friday. We are asked to refrain from posting the actual recipes on our blog. The book is filled with stunning photography, and personal stories about each recipe, which makes it that much more intriguing. I highly recommend adding it to your cookbook collection if you haven't already!

Coronado Concerts in the Park - New England Cuisine

We enjoyed a long, warm and glorious summer weekend in Mayberry. Tourists swarmed the island, parking was non-existent, and the only option was biking or walking to the next destination. Those, however, were also the safest options, with wine and sangria flowing freely at the Concert in the Park on Sunday, Bloody Marys galore at P & J's before the big Parade on Monday, and a new batch of sangrias and mimosas for sipping during the Parade.

Our culinary theme for Sunday's Concert was New England Cuisine.  I've spent a few days in Jamestown, RI, which reminded me of an east coast version of Coronado, and a quick in and out of Boston, MA, but I haven't had the pleasure of visiting any of the other New England states.

Renowned for its fresh seafood and down-to-earth regional ingredients, New England cuisine has been a staple of American cooking since the days of the Pilgrims, who wrote about the region’s bountiful “fruits of the sea.” Much of New England’s culinary traditions today can be traced back to the early English settlers, who began cooking with the ingredients found in the area’s fertile landscape. In the past 200 years, Italian Americans, Irish Americans, and coastal Portuguese have all left their mark on New England cuisine [The Culinary Institute of America].

Kai kicked off the celebration with Lobster Rolls. A traditional lobster roll contains the fresh cooked meat of a lobster, tossed with mayonnaise and served on a grilled hot dog bun or similar roll, so that the opening is on the top rather than on the side. The filling may also contain diced celery and/or scallion, or may use drawn butter instead of or in addition to mayonnaise. The sandwich may also contain lettuce, lemon juice, salt and black pepper. Traditional New England restaurants serve lobster rolls (made with butter, not mayonnaise) with potato chips or french fries on the side. Unfortunately, while I was busy grilling White Clam Pies, they disappeared before I could get my hands on one.

Alec and Nina sported patriotic tees, Alec in the Cape Cod one above, and Nina in this one.

Nina made this dark, slightly sweet, New England or Boston Brown Bread.  Slathered with a little butter...so good!

I did manage to swipe a few of Alec's Clams Casino, a dish originating in Narragansett, Rhode Island, before they disappeared.

Although I bitched and moaned quite a bit during the preparation of homemade pizza dough, my White Clam Pies turned out quite nice. Pepe's Pizzeria Napoletana, in New Haven, CT, opened in 1925, and, to this day, Pepe's premier pizza is its white clam pie. It's made without mozzarella, and is nothing but crust strewn with freshly-shucked littleneck clams, olive oil, garlic, oregano, and a dash of grated cheese.

I added some fresh mozzarella to mine, and a little arugula salad dressed with olive oil and lemon, on top. For the crust, I used Jim Lahey's No-Knead Pizza Dough, and I adapted Mario Batali's White Clam Pie and Food Network's White Clam Pizza recipes for the topping.

Mary and Geoff made it down from Del Mar to join us. Attempting to grill pizza in the park is challenging and fun, but I missed out on tasting many of the dishes in the process, including their scallop dish.

Geoff is looking rather tan and rested after their month-long vacation in Bali.  I am so ready to retire and travel to a few exotic destinations!

Jack and Sandra, just back from celebrating Sandra's birthday in Las Vegas, came bearing a large platter of sandwiches.

Nina wasn't kidding when she e-mailed me the week before the Concert, saying she couldn't decide between Lobster Pie, Brown Bread or Boston Cream Pie. She went with the Brown Bread and this lovely Boston Cream Pie. In 1996, the Boston Cream Pie was declared the official dessert of Massachusetts. It's not a pie, but a pudding and cake combination comprised of two layers of sponge cake filled with vanilla custard or crème pâtissière, and topped with chocolate ganache. Nina glammed hers up with fresh blueberries, raspberries, and mint sprigs. The late afternoon sun wreaked havoc on the ganache.

Mom set her sites on Thomas Keller's Blueberry Cobbler, from Ad Hoc at Home, and I was able to secure the most beautiful, plump blueberries from Little Italy's Farmers' Market.

Keller's cobbler has more of a cake-like topping to soak up all the juices. Here's the recipe.

The evening was peacefully winding down, our tummies were full, our sweet cravings satisfied, and Brad was settling back comfortably into his chair....

And then it happened. Thankfully, I didn't see the stalk, and then the pounce, as Bridezilla decided to intrude on our circle of friends, and continue in her harassment and immature behavior. It appears the honeymoon was short-lived and she was bored dancing with Cheapass-Jackass her new husband.

She pulled poor Bradley out of his chair, dragged him out to the dance floor, and then proceeded to bump and grind him to pieces. Jim appeared very distraught, even more than he was earlier in the evening when he told us he suffocated five dozen mussels the night before (see Safely Storing Oysters and Other Mulluscan Shellfish).

Everything spiraled downhill from there. A eucalyptus branch snapped and fell, hitting the crowd below...

And Sparks spilled her vodka tonic all over Kellee's beautiful French pedicure and gorgeous sandals...

Fortunately, we were all able to recover by the next morning and make it to Bob's prime parade viewing site for the Parade, mimosas, and more sangria.

Bradley was able to relax, once again.

For my album of Coronado's Fourth of July Parade photos, check out NewfFacebook.

Christening the Grill - Steak and Lobster with Spicy Herbed Compound Butter

I'm experiencing a little difficulty sliding back into my blogging groove after the move. My life feels out of sync, in transition, and up in the air, and it's disrupting the summer flow! Concerts in the Park are in full swing, the 4th of July holiday weekend is at my front door, and John's son, Alex, will be on a plane tomorrow for his summer visit.

John made it back from his business trip in time to join the tail-end of my Saturday afternoon photo shoot at Il Fornaio, for the Homemade Pasta Cooking Class. Chef Marco packed the house with his sexy Italian accent, warm smile, engaging conversation, and amazing pasta rolling expertise.

At one point, Marco had pasta draped over the arms of everyone around the entire table!

On Sunday morning, we gave Dooley a much-needed bath in his semi-private garden sanctuary. When those Newfs need a bath, they really need a bath!

And on Sunday evening, we made the short walk over to Spreckels Park to relax and listen to Althea & Company, a great Bonnie Raitt tribute band.

For concert fare, I prepared Baked Pork Loin with Fig-Citrus Stuffing, from Pig: King of the Southern Table.  If you're a lover of all things pork, this cookbook is a no-brainer.

The stuffing was incredibly moist and flavorful with the acid-sweet balance of the citrus and figs. The pork loin cooks on rack above some beer, too, for a little hoppy aroma.

On Monday night, John spoiled me rotten with steak and lobster, while he christened his new toy - a brand spankin new grill, with all the bells and whistles! Rather than simply melting butter for the succulent lobster, he whipped up Wolfgang Puck's Spicy Herbed Compound Butter.

Compound butters are mixtures of butter and flavoring ingredients, such as herbs, spices, zests, or aromatic liquids, used to enhance flavor in various dishes. After whipping together the butter and chosen add-ins, the butter is packed into a ramekin, or shaped into a log wrapped in plastic wrap or parchment paper, and chilled until it is firm enough to be sliced. These butters can be melted on top of seafood, meats and vegetables, used as a spread, or used to finish various sauces.

Our lobster received a generous slather of butter during the grilling process, and a dab more once he hit the plate.

Grilled Lobsters with Spicy Herbed Compound Butter
Adapted from Wolfgang Puck

1/2 pound unsalted butter, room temperature
4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1/2 red or green jalapeno, seeds and white membranes removed, chopped coarsely
1/4 cup coarsely chopped parsley (we used basil)
Zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tablespoons chopped chives
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Live lobsters

In a food processor, combine the butter, garlic, jalapeno, parsley, lemon zest and juice, and chives. Season with salt and pepper and process until well combined. Transfer enough butter for the lobsters to a small container (you will need about 4-6 tablespoons butter for each lobster you are grilling). Place the remaining butter on a sheet of parchment and roll into a log, twisting the ends to seal. Refrigerate for another use.

To prepare the lobsters, bring a large pot of water to a rapid boil. Place the lobsters in the boiling water and blanch just until the shells turn red, but the meat is not cooked through, about 3 minutes. Remove the lobsters and let cool slightly. Slice the lobsters in half lengthwise. Brush the meat and inside of the lobsters with some of the herbed butter, about 1 tablespoon per lobster half. Place the lobsters on the grill, flesh side down and cook until the meat has grill marks and starts to turn opaque and firm up, about 5 minutes.

Turn the lobsters over and grill an additional 3 to 4 minutes, brushing with more butter, if desired. Remove the lobsters to a large platter. If desired, serve with some of the reserved herbed butter.

As we sat outside in the courtyard, soaking up the last warming rays of the sun, sipping wine, and savoring every bite of this very special dinner, my life eased into the place it needs to be...with John by my side and Dooley snoozing comfortably at our feet.

Coronado Concerts in the Park - Make it Raw, Baby

We're already four concerts into the Coronado Concerts in the Park summer season, and I've only posted one short recap of the first one at the end of May.  Packing for the move turned everything upside down, then Dooley got sick, and now we're in the midst of unpacking and getting used to our new home. John left for a short business trip early Sunday morning, so I was left alone to create something "raw" for the culinary theme of the evening.

Nina, one of our core cooking friends, just started a blog called Fresh! On My Plate, a collective endeavour to inspire new enthusiasm for the art of designing what we eat, so we may derive full enjoyment and benefit from nature's bounty... We've loosely followed her June weekly themes for the concerts this month: Farm to Table, Cooking Clean, and Make it Raw.

Alec & Nina

Sashimi came to mind for Make it Raw, so I chose to recreate Hamachi Sashimi with Tangerine Vinaigrette, from The Fish Market's Top of the Market restaurant. I raved about it in my Where the Wild Things Are post back in May, and was able to purchase a beautiful piece of hamachi from The Fish Market's retail fish market yesterday.

Sous chef Johnny's hamachi is served with tangerine vinaigrette, macadamia nuts, and micro greens. I borrowed Bobby Flay's tangerine vinaigrette and spicy almonds from his Preserved Duck Salad with Tangerine Vinaigrette and Spicy Almonds for my version. I have about half of the vinaigrette left over, and just might have to do a repeat of my recent Salmon, Arugula and Couscous Salad to use it up. There's quite a few pieces of spicy almond brittle bits left for salads, or just nibbling.

Tangerine Vinaigrette

4 cups fresh tangerine juice
2 tablespoons aged sherry vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon honey
¼ teaspoon chile de arbol powder
½ cup pure olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper

In a saucepan over high heat, cook the tangerine juice until it is reduced to ¼ cup and becomes a syrup.  In a blender, combine the tangerine syrup, vinegar, mustard, honey and chili powder and blend for 30 seconds. With the motor running, slowly add the olive oil until the dressing emulsifies.  Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour into a plastic squeeze bottle. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Almond Brittle

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup lightly salted almonds
1 teaspoon chile de arbol powder

Lightly grease a baking sheet with oil or nonstick spray, set aside.  Combine the sugar and water in a medium nonreactive saucepan and cook over high heat until a dark amber color. Remove from the heat and stir in the almonds and chile powder. Carefully pour the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet and let harden at room temperature. Let harden and coarsely chop.

Hamachi

I purchased 1/2 pound of fresh, sashimi-grade hamachi, which yielded approximately 16 slices. I tossed the micro basil in tangerine vinaigrette, and also drizzled vinaigrette over the hamachi.  I garnished the plate with spicy almonds, micro basil leaves, tangerine supremes, and fleur de sel.

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We were also celebrating Father's Day at the park, and the father-daughter duo of Alec and Sonoma danced the night away...

I cheated a bit on the raw challenge - reducing the tangerine juice to a concentrated syrup, and simmering the sugar and water to a rich amber color, did require some heat.  Nina cheated as well, with her Ahi Poke on Crispy Won Tons.

Kai and Olivia made their way up to grassy dance floor surrounding the gazebo for a few of their own father-daughter dances...

Kai's Beef Carpaccio was amazing, with arugula, shaved Parmesan, and a drizzle of Dijon vinaigrette

Beef Carpaccio
Alton Brown, via Food Network

8 to 10 ounces beef tenderloin, from the tip end of the roast
4 handfuls arugula
Your favorite vinaigrette
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Shaved Parmesan

Wrap the tenderloin in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 2 hours.

After 2 hours, unwrap the tenderloin and thinly slice the beef into approximately into 1/8 to 1/4-inch pieces. Lay out sheets of plastic wrap and place each slice onto the plastic. Top with another piece of plastic and gently pound the meat with a meat mallet until paper thin. Repeat until all of the meat is sliced and pounded. Divide the meat evenly among 4 chilled plates. Serve with greens tossed with vinaigrette, salt, pepper and/or Parmesan.

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We're never short on desserts!  Carmen went raw with these stunning mini Cheesecakes, but I also spotted Olivia's Trifle and something chocolaty on the dessert table.

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I'm sensing some frustration with the raw menu...