Chiller Soup

The heat, as it always does this time of year in the South, has turned up. The air is heavy with warm water.

I am not a cold soup person. I’ve ordered gazpacho perhaps three times in my eating career. This past Mother’s Day, my godmother ordered a fabulous pink concoction from La Fourchette: a creamy chilled tomato rosemary soup. This was my attempt at recreating this, now legendary, soup.

The best part, aside from it’s refreshing yet creamy flavors, is you don’t have to turn on a single heat source.

Ingredients

- 2 ½ lbs tomatoes

- 2-3 roughly chopped shallots

- 3 tblsp Italian parsley

- salt

- 1 ½ tblsp honey

- ½ cup lowfat buttermilk

- ¼ cup olive oil

- 1 lime

Directions

Halve the tomatoes, squeezing the seeds out into a medium-grade sieve that you have place over a bowl to catch the tomato juice.

Core the tomatoes (remove the tough ends where the stems used to be) and chop roughly.

Roughly chop the shallots and parsley.

Place the tomatoes, tomato juice, Italian parsley, honey, buttermilk and lime juice into a blender. You may have to do this in batches considering the volume limits of your appliance.

With the blender running add the olive oil. Flavor with salt and pepper.

Place in the refrigerator until chilled.

Enjoy!

(How easy was that?)

As a side note, there are a lot of flavor variations that one can experiment with within the scope of this recipe. Tomatoes are incredibly versatile and pair well with so many herbs and spices you’re sure to find a version that’s just as good, if not better, than this one.

TV-Free Summer & The First 5 Books to Read

Remember the days when summer rolled around and we subsequently rolled our eyes at our assigned summer reading lists? Well, this is nothing like that. I’ve made a rule for myself this summer: no television during the week. Although, there are a few loopholes:

1.    Watching The Daily Show does not count.

2.   Watching breaking news does not count.

3.   Major sports games also do not count.

With that said, I’ve compiled a list of books I’d like to read by the end of August. It’s an amalgamation of recommendations, topics that simply interest me and I wish I knew more about, and writers I want to emulate. Here are the first five.

Sapphires and Garlic 

by Ruth Reichl

Ruth Reichl is one of the most famous food critics ever. She's written for Gourmet, the New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times. The woman is an expert at describing food and dining experiences that bring the reader into the narrative along with her. 

The Happiness Project

by Gretchen Rubin

As a long time fan of Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love it's a wonder I didn't come across this book sooner. It's been described as a mix between the Dalai Llama's The Art of Happiness and EPL-- a combination that makes me even more excited about this piece than its title.

The Stuff of Thought

by Steven Pinker

Ever wonder about the motivation behind our word choices? Pinker, a psycholinguist, examines how what words we choose tell us about the way we think.

In Other Words

C.J. Moore

In essence, this is a language lover's guide to words outside the realm of the English vocabulary. Different cultures have special and particular words for things we take sentences to describe. For example, amongst the people of Tierra del Fuego there exists a word, mamihlapinatapei, for the expressive, meaningful and romantic silence between two people. 

Freakonomics

by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubnet

This book was loaned to me months ago as a "must read." So far, the lender has been right about ever other book he's lent me (Outliers, Ahead of the Curve and What the Dog Saw) so I have no doubt I'll enjoy this oft-quoted work of economic nonfiction. It's actually number one on the list.






















Am I missing something? Is there a book I simply must read? If so, leave a comment! I'm always up for book suggestions.

The Perfect Summer Barbecue

You can’t call it a ‘barbecue’ if you’re not using indirect heat to cook something. Otherwise you’re just grilling and grilling with a crowd is called a cookout. Barbecues, like most good things, take a little bit more time than slapping a hunk of meat on the grill – although that’s pretty good, too.

The ‘Hoe Down and BBQ’ my family hosted on June 25^th had all the components of a perfect summer barbecue. Good friends and family were in attendance. It was hot but we didn’t care; we had a pool to dip into, homemade mojitos and ice-cold beers to assuage the swelter. The breeze picked up the scent of meat slowly roasting over hickory chips soaked in Corona and delivered them to our nose hairs—just for a second—feeding our growing appetites.

The menu that evening was simple and not a thing was cooked indoors except my mother’s blueberry pie:

• Grilled Hearts of Romaine with Pickled Red Onions and a Homemade Roasted Garlic, Chive and Scallion Buttermilk Dressing
•  Herbed Potato Salad (courtesy of Clay, a fabulous cook, friend and neighbor)
• Blueberry Slab Pie
• Barn Chicken (the most tender grilled chicken you’ve ever had—but the recipe will forever be a family secret)
• Hickory and Corona Barbecued Pork
• Grilled Corn with Lime Zest and Sea Salt Compound Butter
• Meryn’s Fruit Dip (aka cool whip and cream cheese whipped into submission accompanied by sliced seasonal fruit—gone in three seconds)

I was too busy running in between the grill and the guests to take photos. You know what? I take that as a good sign.

Grilled Lamb with Garden Herbs, Roasted Figs and Peach Lavender Bread Pudding

I have been a bad food blogger! I have not been in my rightful place: behind the stove! However, a visit from a dear friend this past Thursday prompted me to return to the heat of the kitchen. 

Tender and juicy (if cooked properly, of course) with the slightest hint of earthy flavor makes lamb one of my favorite proteins. During the summer months I prefer my lamb grilled. The direct high heat of the grill sears lamb beautifully intensifying its earthy qualities. Thursday's supper reminded me just how much I love baby sheep. The best part about this dish? The herbs and natural flavor of the lamb do all the work to make this dish so delicious.

Marinated Lamb Chops and Roasted Figs

6 lamb chops 
15 fresh figs
2 tbsp fresh marjoram
2 tbsp fresh rosemary
2 tbsp fresh thyme
2-3  tbsp olive oil
1 tsp sea salt

Chop the fresh herbs and combine with sea salt and olive oil in the bottom of a large plastic bag. Add lamb chops and coat lamb chops with marinade. Let marinade at room temperature for at least 3 hours or up to overnight.

Once the lamb has marinated to your liking, preheat oven to 450ºF.  Slice figs in half and place on a baking sheet. Drizzle olive oil over figs and sprinkle with any herb you like. I used dried thyme. Roast in oven for 10 minutes.

Grill lamb to desired doneness. I prefer medium rare, which is about 4-5 minutes on each side for a smaller lamb chop, about 6-7 minutes for a meatier piece. Make sure to heat enough so that your lamb sears on each side.

Peach-Lavender Bread Pudding

Everybody has their perfect comfort food. For my friend, Whitney, its mac 'n cheese. For my friend, Rachel, its sautéed mushrooms. For me it is undoubtedly bread pudding. It is one of those menu offerings that I will always order.

This bread pudding recipe was inspired by the Top Chef Quickfire cookbook given to me as a graduation gift from another dear friend (I know he reads this-- thank you!!).

6 eggs
2 cups of heavy cream
10 - 12 bakery hot dog buns (not the cheap ones with preservatives, freshly baked ones) you can also use challah or brioche bread here
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
3-4 peaches
1 tbsp dried lavender (fresh works, too)
4 tblsp honey
1 pint low fat frozen yogurt
2 tblsp chopped crystallized ginger
1 tblsp unsalted butter

*Note: make sure that the pan you use to bake the actual bread pudding in is able to be placed inside another. You'll be filling the larger pan with water for a water bath.

Preheat oven to 350ºF

Allow low fat yogurt to soften while you chop the crystallized ginger. Combine and replace yogurt in freezer.

Cut hot dog buns into 1 inch cubes. Place in the smaller of the two pans.

Mix the cream, eggs, cinnamon and ginger in a small bowl. Pour this mixture over the hot dog buns. The cream mixture should cover the hot dog buns completely. Let stand for 30 minutes. The bread will soak up all of the egg-cream mixture, so you'll need to make sure the amount of liquid is sufficient to make the hot dog buns soggy.

After 30 minutes place the bread mixture pan in second pan and pour water halfway up the side. Place carefully in the oven and bake until set, about 30 minutes. Remove carefully from the oven.

Chop peaches. Heat butter in a pan. Sauté peaches, add honey and lavender to the pan. Cook until soft.

Serve bread pudding with peach sauce and ice cream on top!