The Hungry Apple

The other night, I was famished but had a while to wait for dinner to be ready. Since I’m sort of magic, I whipped this up. It reminded me of a small plate I had at this restaurant once upon a time.

Fast and perfect for summer.

Ricotta and homemade peach jam

Butter your bread

Grill and spread with the ricotta

Sprinkle with salt and pepper then top with peach jam

Eat whole

Or slice and share

GRILLED BREAD WITH RICOTTA AND PEACH JAM

ingredients: 

4 large slices, farm bread

4 tablespoons butter, room temp

1 cup, room temperature ricotta (homemade is best but store bought is still yummy) that has been whipped with a whisk or stirred thoroughly

8 tablespoons peach jam (i’m sure any of your favorite jam would do)

sea salt and fresh pepper

instructions and directions: 

Heat grill or grill pan to medium.

Butter bread with 1/2 a tablespoon of each side. Grill each side about 1-2 minutes until lightly brown with grill marks. (Watch the bread! Don’t let it burn 🙂 )

Remove from grill and spread each piece on one side, with a thin layer of ricotta, about 2-3 heaping tablespoons. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and a small twist of pepper. “Dribble” each piece with about 2 tablespoons of peach jam.

Eat whole or slice into strips for sharing.

In the heart of  the wonderful summer heat and humidity, you are going to love this easy salad. It is sort of like a fruit and cheese tray, mixed up in salad form and let’s be honest, who wouldn’t love that.

I am not even a huge cantaloupe fan but all the flavors in this salad were so wonderful together.

Plus: you just cut the cantaloupe,

tear the prosciutto and mozzarella, then sprinkle the oil, vinegar, salt and pepper and the basil. It is really that simple.

Next time, I think I might go ahead and cut up the cantaloupe, so it is bite sized too.

CANTALOUPE PROSCIUTTO AND MOZZARELLA SALAD

serves 4 (first course) serves 2 (main course)

ingredients: 

1/2  a cantaloupe, cut into large bite sized pieces

8 ounces of fresh mozzarella, torn into pieces

12, very thin slices, prosciutto

4 large basil leaves, “ribboned” (recipe called for mint)

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons champagne vinegar

sea salt

freshly ground pepper

instructions and directions: 

divide cantaloupe, mozzarella and prosciutto amount plates. sprinkle with olive oil and vinegar, then with salt and pepper, to taste.

adapted from real simple

I had one hell of a weekend. The kind that was so jam packed with fun that you wish all day Monday, you were still there.

I had cousin company in town and we started it off by taking them to our favorite local winery for lunch.

We ate a picnic of BLT’s, my mom’s homemade pasta salad, fruit and brownies. And wine of course!  This time we had the Petite Noir, Firefly Rose and the Viognier. All delicious. It was perfect and the Tennessee weather couldn’t have been better.

That night, we had a cookout/southern feast. On the menu were ribs, beer chicken, mac and cheese, squash casserole, greens and peach cobbler. We were stuffed to say the very least.

Saturday the ladies went on a hike, complete with wildlife sightings!

While the fellas played golf.

Saturday night we had appetizers at Edleys, while we waited for The Pharmacy to call us. For those of you that are local, you know this is a long wait.

Two hours later we got in 🙂

The company is gone but the fun didn’t stop there. We grilled out again on Sunday and this time we were making hot dogs with Coney Sauce.

I’ve discovered some great new, natural hot dogs from Applegate Farms that won’t make you feel guilty about eating hot dogs, plus they taste better!

To me, there is nothing like a friendly grilled hot dog in the summer.

You start out by sauteing your ground beef with a small diced onion. Then you just add the seasonings.

This coney sauce doesn’t photograph very well, but it was easy to make. The hardest thing about it, is just letting it simmer for a long time, so that it continually gets better.

When the sauce is done, you just grill your dogs and cover them with your choice of toppings!

CONEY SAUCE

covers 6-8 dogs (recipe easily doubles)

ingredients: 

1 pound ground beef (i used 90/10)

Visiting These Two 🙂

Colorado Rockies Game

Hanging Out

Hiking

Farmers Market Eating

Eating Dinner Here

Dinner Here

Red Rocks. Avett Brothers. Old Crow.

Here are a few crowd pleasing ideas if you need help with your 4th of July menu!

Have a safe and happy holiday.

Appetizers and Salad

BLT Salad. Ripe tomatoes make this recipe the perfect way to start a meal!

Buffalo Chicken Dip. I’ve never met anyone who didn’t like this dip. Tortilla chips and celery sticks will have people crowded around the bowl.

Salami Crostini. You can pick them up with your hands and they are ready for your party in 10 minutes.

Burgers, Sandwiches and Sides

Pancetta Burgers with Beer Mustard. Nothing says summer like a big, spicy burger.

Slow Cooker BBQ. If you want bbq but you don’t know how to smoke a butt.

BLT Burger. When you need more than just the bacon.

Mac and Cheese. An all american classic.

A Little of This a Little of That

Prosciutto Flat Bread. Want a creative outdoor meal? Try Grilling this instead of baking!

Kraut and Kielbasa. If 4th of July isn’t the same to you without pickled cabbage.

Desserts

No Bake Cheesecake. Blueberries, Strawberries or Cherries would make this easy dessert a festive addition.

Sock It To Me Cake. A crowd favorite.

This weekend I spent some time with this guy, my dad, while my mom was out of town. We lounged by the pool with beers and good conversation, had dinner and a bunch of laughs.

Mid way through, we hopped over to Memphis for time with friends

we enjoyed brunch here

But, more importantly to spend time helping support our friend Camille, as she fights a spunky and undaunted battle against cancer. The people who put on the “Teal for Camille”  fundraiser, did a wonderful job and raised thousands of dollars to help her. It was an inspiring weekend that was a great reminder of the kindness of others!

(that’s Camille, in the teal 🙂 )

Then the craziest thing happened and July showed up.

Weeks with a holiday mid way through, always throw me for a loop. Salmon cakes are a light and easy and make meal time seamless.

Making the cakes is simple and they come together quickly

home made caper tarter is a delicious addition

these cakes are pan sauteed and use very little olive oil

i put mine on a bed of lettuce with a red wine vinaigrette

i also had a request for one to be on a burger and it was awesome with lettuce and red onion

Fresh Salmon Cakes with Caper Tarter 

ingredients: 

1/2 pound salmon filet, skin removed and cubed into 1/2 inch pieces

1/4 cup italian panko breadcrumbs, plus more for sprinkling

1/4 cup parsley, chopped (plus 1/2 a tablespoon)

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

egg

salt

pepper

olive oil for sauteing

1/4 cup olive oil mayo

1 tablespoon dijon mustard

1 heaping teaspoon of capers, rinsed

juice of half a lemon

salt

pepper

buns (if using)

lettuce

red onion

instructions and directions: 

place half of the salmon cubes in a food processor with breadcrumbs, 1/4 cup of parsley, garlic and egg. pulse the food processor until it has all blended together. Pour blended mixture into a medium sized bowl and add salmon cubes that were not blended. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 10 grinds of pepper. Add cayenne, if using.

With the mixture, make 2 large, 3 medium or 4 small patties. (I made large)

Meanwhile, mix together mayo, mustard, lemon juice, capers, 1/2 tablespoon of parsley, a pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper. Set aside.

Warm the olive oil in a skillet, over medium high heat. Sprinkle both sides of both cakes with additional bread crumbs and press on the cakes. Saute each cake about 4 minutes on both sides.

Serve on a burger with lettuce, red onion and caper tarter or on a salad.