Another week of summer gone, and we've had more rain again. Not only is it really depressing, it is also totally ruining my usual summer menu choices. Who wants to eat salads and lighter dishes all the time when it is cold and dark and drizzly out?
Take last night, for example. I didn't make my grilled steak and peach salad on Friday as I'd planned last week, but instead made them last night for dinner. It was a lovely salad, hearty enough to be dinner, but light and full of flavors. We sat together as a family to enjoy our salads, but not outside in the sun on our deck. Instead we sat inside at the kitchen table, while the sky was dark and the rain kept coming down. I don't know about everyone else, but I find it depressing to eat salad in the dark of a rain storm. Rain storms call for comfort foods, like Mac & Cheese or something.
So if some things seem out of place on my menu plan for this week, not very summer like, the rain has gotten to me.
Be sure to check out all the other menu plans at Menu Plan Monday.
Sunday: Grilled Steak, Peach and Lime salad. This was supposed to be Friday's dinner, but neither the hubby or I felt like eating that night, so the kids wolfed down hamburgers and hot dogs while running through the mazes at Saunder's Farm that night, for their first ever Mazes in the Dark event. (I was with the boys, and those mazes are alot of fun in the dark, and even the simple ones, like the Spiral maze, seem completely different in the dark.)
Monday: Sheppard's pie. My oldest has asked to learn how to make this, so here is his chance.
Tuesday: Chili dogs with fries and coleslaw.
Wednesday: Something with shrimp. Not only is it on sale this week, my youngest has begged me to make something with shrimp for him. I just don't know what yet.
Thursday: Chicken with POM glaze.
Friday: I'm keeping this open, as well as Saturday. Saturday is my birthday and my hubby is going to take me out for dinner, however I'm still working on who all is coming and have not yet made reservations.
Don't forget to get your Monthly Mingle entry to me by the end of day today (your day, my day, whichever is fine with me). It is a Mexican Fiesta, but you are welcome to make a main dish, or a drink. Or a dessert. Or a side. Anything at all really! Just be sure to post about your selection and then send me an email at allthingsedible (at) gmail (dot) com with the subject line Monthly Mingle.
And stay tuned later today for my main dish choice for this mingle. The pictures aren't amazing but it was yummy!
Menu Plan Monday: Last day to submit your Monthly Mingle Fiesta dish
TFF: A sweet little dessert
Before I get into my selection for this week's Tyler Florence Friday, did you see who "won" last week and was featured on Tyler's very own blog? It was me!!!
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I could not have done it without Tyler's lovely recipe, some good shrimp, and most of all, my family! I love you all! Hehehehe (Is that really how award speeches go? I never watch awards, so I was being silly in winging it, so seriously? Is that really the kind of thing people say when they receive an award?)
Okay that was fun, now back to the seriously stuff: dessert!
How about Tyler's Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Bars? While blueberries aren't quite in season yet, they freeze fabulously, so good berries are always available to make this tasty little bar. Okay, it is really a cheesecake baked square and cut into bars, but it's still tasty!
The only change I made was to use lower fat cheesecake instead of a full fat (I think I've said before that I like the extra tang you get from the lower fat version). Otherwise I followed it faithfully. I even cut it into the recommended number of bars. I didn't cut it evenly or well, but I did get the same number of pieces that Tyler told me I would.
Be sure to head over and check out some of the recipes Tyler has posted on his blog. There is quite the selection available.
Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Bars
by Tyler Florence, as found on Food Network
For the base:
Butter, for greasing
2 tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
9 graham crackers
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
For the filling:
16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
2 eggs
2 lemons, zested and juiced
About 1/2 cup sugar, eyeball it
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
Powdered sugar, for dusting
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
For the base:
Grease the bottom of a 9 by 9-inch baking pan with butter. Then place parchment paper over the top, pressing down at the corners. In a food processor, process the sugar, cinnamon and graham crackers until you have the texture of bread crumbs. Add the melted butter and pulse a couple of times to fully incorporate. Pour into the lined baking pan and gently pat down with the base of a glass. Bake in the oven for 12 minutes until golden. When done set aside to cool.
For the filling:
Add cream cheese, eggs, lemon zest, lemon juice and sugar to the food processor and mix until well combined. It should have a smooth consistency. Pour onto the cooled base and then cover with blueberries. They will sink slightly but should still be half exposed -- as the cake bakes they will sink a little more and break down.
Bake in the oven for 35 minutes or until the center only slightly jiggles. Remove from the oven and cool completely before refrigerating for at least 3 hours. Once set, remove from pan using the parchment lining and slice into 10 rectangular bars. Dust with powdered sugar.
Let's get this Fiesta started!
Since I'm the host of this month's Monthly Mingle, the Mexican Fiesta, it seems only fair that I kick things off before our July 13th finale date.
So pull up a seat and enjoy some of this lovely Mexican inspired salad that I threw together for Canada Day last week. It has an very non-Mexican base, Israeli Couscous. Interesting way to start my Fiesta, isn't it?
Don't be fooled by the couscous though. This bowl of yummy is full of flavor: lime zest and juice, cilantro, cumin, and a touch of Ancho chili powder. Along with some deliciously flavored pieces of roasted sweet potato, green onion and some red pepper.
This make ahead, healthy salad is a great side dish. Served cold, and best after resting in the fridge for a few hours, it frees up some of the cooks time at dinner, with no last minute fussing or prepping needed. It was very well suited with my main Mexican dish (which I will reveal closer to the 13th), and was well received by everyone but the children. Fortunately, that night, six adults outvoted four children, so I call it a success!
I can't really include a recipe as I didn't follow one or write one down. I simply threw together a few things that I had on hand, tasted it, added abit more cumin, then left to do Canada Day type things with family and friends. 
Hopefully my little salad has provided a bit of inspiration to those of you out there who were on the edge, thinking of joining in on the Mingle, but unsure. "Come on in, the water's great!" as the saying goes. Everyone is welcome!
Just be sure to send me your recipe link before July 13th, then I will be able to include you in the round up. The address is allthingsedible (at) gmail (dot) com.
Can't wait to see what everyone brings!
Happy 37th Birthday to Peabody
If you are a food blogger, you aren't asking who Peabody is right now. You know. You've been to her site and drooled over the pictures. You learned very quickly to not be eating or drinking while reading her posts, unless you like cleaning things up or are interested in buying a new computer.
How about if you aren't a food blogger? Well, have you ever heard of Refund Muffins? Those are Peabody's muffins.
What? You've never heard of Refund Muffins?
Oh my goodness. (Quick, follow the link and go read about them! Remember the warning about food or drink while reading her blog.)
Better now? Good.
Well, last week (yes, I know I'm late,) was Peabody's 37th birthday, which Elle proposed we help her celebrate in true food blogging fashion - by cooking for her! The twist was that we were to cook a recipe of Peabody's, from her blog.
Sure, I could have made Refund Muffins. It would likely have made my kids happy, but I wanted something different, something summery, even if we aren't really experiencing summer conditions. I wanted ice cream.
To heck with the lack of summer, I made ice cream, and really good ice cream. Homemade ice cream that made use of a local fruit and was still smooth and creamy and fabulous 4 days after I froze it (we got side tracked by other events and desserts, how else would ice cream stay in my freezer for so long?)
Raspberry Honey Ice Cream
1 quart raspberries
1/3 cup raspberry honey(or any honey will do, I use a regular honey)
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup half and half (I didn't have any, so used half regular milk and half heavy cream in its place)
1 tsp lemon juice
1- 1 ½ cups sugar(depending on how sweet your berries are)
3 egg yolks
¼ tsp salt
Add the yolks,sugar and honey to a medium-size bowl. Whisk together and then set aside.
Using a double boiler over medium-low heat, add the half and half, cream, raspberries and salt. Regularly whisk the mixture, heating until the temperature reaches approximately 145F. The mixture should begin to turn purple.
Once the cream mixture has reached the desired temperature, slowly add about half of the mixture to the eggs and sugar while whisking vigorously. This will prevent the eggs from curdling. Once the eggs and cream have been thoroughly integrated, pour back the egg mix into the remaining cream.
Whisk constantly and slowly as the mix rises in temperature. Once the temperature has reached 165-170F — or when the mix evenly coats th
e back of a spoon — remove from heat and add the lime juice and vanilla. Whisk them in completely and run through a sieve to remove any raspberries seeds. Move to a new container to cool. The mix can be placed in the freezer for 2 to 3 hours or, preferably, into the refrigerator overnight.
Churn according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. After churning, place in freezer to firm up. I recommend placing a seal of plastic wrap tight against the ice cream after making it to prevent a skin from forming on the ice cream’s surface. Serve once firm enough.
Happy Birthday Peabody! I hope 37 is everything you hoped it would be!
Menu Plan Monday: Still tweeking it
Is it really Monday already? Wow, that weekend was fast. We didn't really do anything or go anywhere, but wow, is it really Monday already?
I'm making a plan for this week, but I'm staying very flexible with it. Just in case. A menu plan can be a great stress reliever, knowing in advance what you need to take out and defrost, pick up at the store, and plan ahead for. But it can also cause alot of stress if you are locked into it, refusing to make anything else because that is what is written on your plan.
Have I ever mentioned I write my plan in pencil?
I've sort of written this one, just broke my pencil doing it actually, but like I said, I'm being flexible. Because you never know when you will need to change things up or scrap them entirely.
(And don't forget to go check out Menu Plan Monday, hosted by I'm an Organizing Junkie, for more menu ideas. I got a lovely muffin recipe from another blogger who menu plans just last week. Think I'll go have one of those muffins now, while I still have any left.)
Sunday: Butter chicken with rice, Naan bread, asparagus and carrots. An old favorite.
Monday: No idea yet. Seriously. If I can't figure something out this morning, without having to run to a store, we are having penee pasta with tomatoes, garlic and chili's.
Tuesday: By hubby request, chili.
Wednesday: Sandwich bar with fruit salad. Because we will all be eating at different times.
Thursday: Stuffed baked potatoes with sausages.
Friday: Grilled steak and peach salad.
Don't forget, you still have time to join me in this month's Monthly Mingle, the Mexican Fiesta! You can read all about how to join here, then head off to cook something fabulous for this event. Everyone is welcome, blogger or not, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what everyone has for the party.
Btw, need to do a "toot my own horn" announcement and invite you all to head over to Tyler Florence's blog today to see my very own post, chosen as last week's pick for Tyler Florence Fridays. I was so excited, so excited! (And I admit, seeing it makes me want to make more shrimp too.) ** NOTE ** As of 10:52 am EST, it isn't up yet, but I'm sure it will be today.
Daring Bakers: Bakewell Tart, better late than not at all
The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England.
I know I said it wasn't likely I was going to make the June Challenge, but BC disagreed with me and was determined we were both going to get it in, even if it was a little late.
My family gathered at her house this week with most of her family, for a wonderfully tasty meal (BC, what did you do with those beans? I loved them!) And while out kids played together, she and I got baking, making a gluten free version of the Bakewell Tart.
I admit (and I'm sorry Jasmine!), this challenge did not appeal to me at all. I'm not a huge almond fan, unless there is toffee involved, and jam desserts don't do a thing for me either. Which is why I had put it off and put it off, and then family and life happened, and I ran out of time. I'm really glad that BC made me do it though, cause this was actually quite good. Not at all what I expected.
We made a gluten free version and blind baked the pastry abit, but otherwise left the recipe alone. We could have put a bit more jam in it, but I take responsibility for this as I was doing the jam while BC measured the almond meal up, and I could have been a bit more generous with it. And better at making it smooth.
As a mark of how this was enjoyed, this was my plate. But could easily have been one of the kids, from either family. At least one kid asked for more.
Many thanks to our hostesses for this challenge, which proved to be a challenge of a different direction, as well as to BC for helping me get through it.
Want to know more about the Daring Baker's Challenges? Head on over to the Daring Kitchen where you will see alot more than Bakewell Tarts.
TFF: Why I like Tyler
Do I really need to say more than that?
Look at that plate, the golden, crispy shrimp. With more crunch added from pieces of scallion and ginger and garlic. Isn't it beautiful to look at? Doesn't it make your mouth water?
And it should, it tasted FABULOUS!!!
I admit, I had to fight off my six year old on this - he loves shrimp and would happily have eaten twice as much of it that he did. I had to limit him, though, as his father and I still had to eat.
I paired the shrimp, Tyler's Salt and Pepper Shrimp, with a cold noodle salad that I'd thrown together: soba noodles, seasame oil, green onions, a touch of chili sauce, lime juice and toasted seasame seeds on top. A great accompaniment, the cold of the noodles, with the slight crunch of the seeds, with the crunch and warmth of the salt and pepper shrimp. Wonderful.
It was so good, I'm sharing it this week with all the lovely contributors of Tyler Florence Fridays. Go check it out, and don't forget to offer congrats to Natashya, who's post about Cuban Mojitos, won her a spotlight on Tyler's own blog. I don't drink much in alcohol and I admit, those Mojitos looked very good.
Salt and Pepper Shrimp
by Tyler Florence, as found on Food Network
2 quarts peanut oil (I used vegetable)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 cups all-purpose flour, plus 2 cups for dredging
2 pounds large prawns, shelled and deveined, with tail attached
4 egg yolks
4 cups chilled soda water
2 tablespoons shaved garlic
2 tablespoons shredded ginger
1 bunch green onions, sliced on a bias angle
1 jalepeno pepper, sliced into rounds (skipped this, wanted the kids to eat it)
Serving suggestion: fresh lemon wedges (also skipped this, didn't need it)
In a large wok, heat the oil over medium-high to 370 degrees F.
Meanwhile, season 2 cups of the flour with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Dredge the shrimp in the seasoned flour.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk the remaining 4 cups of flour with the egg yolks and soda water. Hold the shrimp by their tails dip them into the batter.
Working in batches, fry the shrimp in the hot oil, turning them once, until they are golden brown, about 3 minutes per batch (I found it took closer to 6 minutes per batch). Remove the shrimp from the oil and drain them on paper towels. While they are still hot, sprinkle the shrimp generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Transfer the shrimp to a serving tray.
When the shrimp are cooked, carefully pour off all but 1/2 cup of the oil. Add the garlic, ginger, green onions and jalapeno and fry until crispy. Spoon the seasoning over the shrimp and serve immediately accompanied by lemon wedges.
