Summer Entertaining

Last weekend we had a wonderful dinner party with high school friends of Karen. We started the evening with a walk around our urban garden, pick and tasting some of the fun little herbs I have planted: Shiso, Stevia, Thai Basil. Of course, all the standard herbs are peaking right now as well. We also have 12 different heirloom tomatoes planted so it was fun talking about how each are different. We peaked at peppers and picked fresh strawberries. So, We ended up making a dinner together with a menu of:
Smoked Indiana Trout on toast points
Zucchini Carpaccio
Sous Vide grass fed strip loin that was finished on Hickory coals, Horseradish mashed sweet and red potatoes, Sauteed Swiss Chard
Chocolate mousse pie with Peanut Butter Sauce and House Made Sparkling Concord Grape Juice

Below are a few of the recipes:

Squash Carpaccio

Zucchini and/or Yellow Squash, thinly sliced with knife or mandolin
Kosher Salt
Cashews or pine nuts, chopped
Olive Oil

Slice vegetables. Sprinkle with kosher salt. Let stand 30 minutes. Meanwhile, toast nuts in a 375 degree oven for 5-7 minutes or until lightly toasted. Drizzle salted vegetables with olive oil. Sprinkle with nuts. Serve.


Horseradish Mashed Potatoes

Sweet Potatoes, peeled and cubed
White potatoes, cubed
4 T. butter
Kosher salt
Heavy Cream
Black Pepper
Prepared Horseradish

Boil potatoes until fork tender. Stir in butter and cream. Mash by hand until they reach desired consistency. Add more cream if needed. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Stir in horseradish to taste. Taste and adjust seasonings and horseradish to your desired level.


Swiss Chard

Bunches of Swiss Chard
Bacon Fat or Olive Oil
Kosher salt & pepper

Heat fat over medium high heat. When melted, add Swiss chard. Sauté until completely wilted. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Serve."

Phat Wrappers

Can't you picture us tooling around Midwestern farms with dark shades and bling?

Last week we visited Skillington Farms, located in Lebanon, IN. Stan and Laura Skillington hosted the Slow Food Indy (www.slowfoodindy.com) members and guests at their farm for a Hoedown Showdown on Father's day. There were almost 150 people camping out on their front lawn enjoying fresh fried chicken (cast iron skillet, lard and all!).

The Skillington's raise chickens, turkeys; as well as sell cows, pigs and lamb. We toured the farm and learned that Stan does all of this in addition to working full-time at AT&T! We traveled through the life of a baby chick on the farm on through farm "graduation." The farm was so clean, and the family truly has it down to a science (pun intended)! The most surprising part was learning how much better they fare from a sanitation perspective than their industrial farming competitors.

Let's get down to the real dish, though - Karen's vegan lettuce wraps she entered in the side dish competition. Karen is notorious for opening the refrigerator and cooking something...........anything............innovative. This time her experimentation earned first place in the side dish competition! The real challenge has been getting her to sit still long enough to write down the recipe so all of you can enjoy it!

The great news is the lettuce wraps use lots of local ingredients! You can modify this recipe to include whatever vegetables are fresh at the time (i.e. squash, zucchini, onions and cabbage in July/August).

Early Summer Vegan Lettuce Wraps
4 T. olive oil
4 c. seasonal vegetables, small dice (the award winning version included fresh, local asparagus, green onions, sugar snap peas, shitake mushrooms)
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 T. fresh ginger, peeled and minced
6 Thai Basil leaves, chiffonade
3 stems Parsley (leaves removed from stems), chopped
Small handful chives, chopped
2 c. prepared rice or quinoa (prepared according to package directions using water or vegetable stock)
2 T. prepared mustard (available at Indianapolis area farmers' markets)
4 T. soy sauce
1 T. Worcestershire Sauce
1/4 c. nutritional yeast (available at Good Earth and Whole Foods)
1 head leafy lettuce or iceberg lettuce (washed and separated into individual leaves)

Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add vegetables, and sauté six to eight minutes, until al dente. Add garlic and ginger, and sauté another 30 seconds. Add fresh herbs, and stir to combine. Add rice or quinoa, and stir. Let cook until rice or quinoa is heated through. Add mustard, soy sauce and Worcestershire. Continue to cook until liquid is absorbed. Stir in nutritional yeast. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve filling warm or room temperature with cold lettuce leaves.