Coronado Concerts in the Park - Cheese, Charcuterie and Accompaniments

We choose a simple culinary theme for Father's Day so all the dads in our group could enjoy the day with their families and not have to worry about cooking. We had a huge group and an abundant array of cheese, charcuterie and accompaniments. I didn't expect anything homemade, but was pleasantly surprised by Kai's cured salmon, Holli's ricotta and hummus, and mom's focaccia. I made chutney.

Kai cured his salmon with sugar, salt and vodka and served it with toast points, horseradish sauce, capers and red onion. Holli's homemade ricotta was accompanied by sliced baguette, succulent peaches, gorgeous figs, and honey. She paired her hummus with lavash bread, lightly toasted tableside with her culinary torch. Mom's focaccia featured local strawberries, caramelized onions with balsamic vinegar and maple syrup, basil, and fleur de sel, accompanied by goat cheese (I will be dedicating a separate blog post to this fabulous focaccia).

I've always wanted to try Ina Garten's Cheddar & Chutney on Brioche from The Barefoot Contessa cookbook. She uses Major Grey's Chutney, but I opted for homemade Major Grey's Chutney from Saveur magazine. The lengthy list of ingredients includes mango, onion, sugar, ginger, raisins, apple cider vinegar, garlic, lemon juice and spices, all simmered for a few hours until reduced and thickened.

In addition to the above, we had various cheeses, olives, fruit, pâté, salad, crackers and bread, Champagne and wine. It was a gorgeous and sunny evening, the park was jam-packed, and the music by BETAMAXX, a high energy 80's tribute band, had everyone on their feet.

Ultimate picnic fare

Kai's Cured Salmon

Holli's Ricotta

Drizzle of honey

Veuve Clicquot - no glass required

Mom's Strawberry Focaccia with Maple Balsamic Onions

Ashley & Max

Holli's Hummus

Toasting the lavash

Les Trois Petits Cochon Mousse Truffee

Aged Irish Cheddar, Chutney & Broiche

Bread & Honey

Nina's lovely fruit and cheese platter

More bread and honey with extra bread under the chin!

Pammy's Sini Fulvi Sottocenere w/ Truffles

Baby Brie

Salad, bread and another beautiful platter

Sparks & Jackie

Betamaxx lead vocalist Breanne Arrigo

We're super excited about next week's U2 tribute band - Zoo2! We had fun with our Rolling Stones culinary theme but went a different angle on this one. We considered Irish food or things that grow on trees (Joshua Tree) and then decided on requiring the name of the dish to contain the letter U. This morning, Holli and I were able to come up with too many dishes and decided to make it a bit more challenging - the name of the dish must contain two letter Us - and that goes better with U2...

Cheers!

French Fridays with Dorie: Purple Haze Goat Cheese, Strawberry & Balsamic Tartine

I'm a couple days late on this post, but thankfully I didn't let this week's French Fridays with Dorie recipe pass me up! These Goat Cheese and Strawberry Tartines prove, once again, that extraordinary doesn't need to be complicated. I know what I'll be nibbling on when I get to the park early to set up for Concert in the Park this evening...a couple of these babies with a glass of chilled white wine.

The star ingredients: La Brea Bakery French Demi Baguette; Cypress Grove Purple Haze Goat Cheese, with a subtle hint of fennel pollen and lavender; organic strawberries; freshly ground pepper; and the most decadent aged balsamic vinegar.

Thinly slice the baguette on the diagonal into 1/3-inch thick slices. Lightly brush one side of the slices with extra virgin olive oil and grill them in a grill pan for a minute or two. Allow to cool, spread the goat cheese over the bread, and top each tartine with one or two strawberry slices. Finish with a grind of black pepper and a few drops of syrupy aged balsamic vinegar. Dorie says the balsamic is truly unnecessary and truly good. I say it's most definitely necessary to take these over the top.

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French Fridays with Dorie is an online cooking group, dedicated to Dorie Greenspan‘s 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!

Strawberry Fields Forever

"We are bound by a small, sometimes magical fruit called the strawberry. This fruit has the power to make tears dry up, make friends with enemies, make sick people feel better, make the elderly feel younger by bringing back pleasant memories of days gone by, make acquaintances of strangers, and above all make little children smile. What other fruit has that power?"

-Marvin Brown

We spent the morning at Suzie's Farm last Saturday for the annual Strawberry Jam, a family friendly, pick-your-own strawberry festival. A visit to the farm has been on our list for quite some time, and we knew it would be a great photography opportunity!

The strawberry fields were picked clean in just a few hours, but Suzie's Farm promised to plant at least five acres for next year's event. The Green Truck was also on site with a special strawberry-infused menu for the day. My Strawberry Jam Burger featured a 1/3 lb. grass-fed beef patty, smoked gouda, strawberry jam (made with Suzie's Farm strawberries, of course), Suzie's Farm arugula, and house bun. John had the Roasted Broccoli Grilled Cheese Sandwich, with Suzie's Farm broccoli, aged cheddar, goat's milk feta, garlic spread, and local multigrain bread. We shared an order of Sweet Potato Fries, made with hand-cut California garnet yams.

With the strawberries that made it home, we sliced up a few, drizzled them with a touch of thick, syrupy balsamic vinegar, and spooned them over strawberry cheesecake ice cream.  I also used some in the salad below, which I created with baby arugula, fregola, toasted almonds, fresh basil, and lavender honey goat cheese, all lightly tossed in a balsamic, olive oil and tangerine juice vinaigrette. Fregola, a type of pasta from Sardinia, and similar to Israeli couscous, added a nice flavor and texture to the salad.

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Here are a few more strawberry recipes you might like....

Burrata, Tomato and Roasted Strawberry Salad

Strawberry Summer Cake

Bouchon's Almond Cake with Strawberry-Rhubarb Compote

Strawberry Shortcake on a Stick