Summer corn salad with cilantro vinaigrette

This afternoon the Woodbury Farmer's Market hosted a corn recipe contest, judged by Dominic Polidoro, local chef-owner of The Spot. As mentioned in an earlier post, I have been eagerly awaiting this contest (especially since I originally thought it was scheduled for last Thursday).

It was a real challenge for me to develop a recipe I felt was good enough to impress the judge. At his restaurant, Chef Dominic uses seasonal ingredients to create a menu that is fresh and inviting. While I love some of the menu standards, I have found that it is hard to go wrong ordering one of the daily specials.

So, here it is. My award-winning (2nd place)...

Summer corn salad with cilantro lime vinaigrette
For the salad, mix together in a medium bowl:
3 ears corn, cooked and kernels removed
1 tomato, peeled, seeded and diced
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
1/4 red onion, diced and soaked in an ice water bath for 5 minutes, then drained
*Note: my original version also included 1/2 cup black beans. Add them if you like, I think it's a nice touch.

In a mini food processor, blend together for the dressing:
1/2 c. cilantro
3 Tbs. olive oil
1 Tbs. white wine vinegar
1 Tbs. fresh lime juice (approx. 1/2 lime)
1/4 c. sour cream
1 chili pepper (or less, depending on type of pepper and how much heat you like), ribs and seeds removed
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Add 1/4 cup of dressing to salad and toss. To serve, you will need 6 cleaned and dried butter lettuce leaves and 6 sprigs of chives. Wrap about 1/2 cup of salad in each leaf and tie with a chive sprig. Drizzle a little more dressing over the salad-filled lettuce wrap.

Two fun summer treats

I started this post thinking I would just write about my Auntie Janette's Zucchini Bread recipe, but on the same page of my recipe book is another fun summer treat, Pineapple Angel Food Cake. So, as I haven't posted for a few days, today we'll offer a two for one deal.

I suppose most of us have a family recipe for zucchini bread. Once this abundant veggie starts to ripen, you'd better have some plans in place for using it all. I like to add it to green salads and pasta sauce, but my favorite use is my Auntie Janette's Zucchini Bread. Toast up a nice thick slice and add a schmeer of cream cheese and you are talking about one tasty treat. And, it's a health food, isn't it?

So, if you have some zucchini sitting in your fridge and you're just not feeling inspired, try whipping up a loaf, or two, or three...

Auntie Janette's Zucchini Bread
Cream together:
3 eggs
1 c. oil
1 1/2 c. sugar (or less, depending how sweet you like your bread)
2 c. grated zucchini
2 tsp. vanilla

Add to above and mix well:
2 c. flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon

stir into above:
2 c. raisins
1 c. nuts

pour into loaf pans a bake at 350 deg. about one hour, or until done.

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The second recipe comes from my Weight Watcher days, but it's good and it's easy and I still enjoy it, though I'm no longer counting points.

Pineapple Angel Food Cake
1 pkg. of 1-step angel food cake mix
20 oz. can of crushed pineapple in it's own juice (do not drain)

Mix above and pour into non-greased 9x13 pan (glass pan works best). Bake at 350 deg. for 30-35 minutes. Cut into 12 servings. (for those of you counting, it is 3 points per serving).

Another variation is to make these as muffins, using cupcake papers. Mix together, as above, dividing between 36 muffins (1 point each) or 24 muffins (1.5 points each). bake at 350 deg. for 12-15 minutes.

The waiting game

It's that time of year. Jersey tomatoes are at the market, tempting me with their ruby color and sweet scent. Alas, those in my garden are still green. It feels like an eternity since I first saw those little beauties start to pop up on the vines. And still, no red fruit.

I'm already planning for a bountiful harvest (and really hoping they don't all ripen just in time for me to leave on vacation next weekend). Of course, freezing tomato sauce is an obvious choice. But I'm also thinking about experimenting with chili and gazpacho. I hope I still have some cucumbers left on the vine for making the later. That would be such a thrill for this first-time gardener to make gazpacho with tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers all from my own plot of land.

Really Yummy (and easy) Chocolate Cake

About a year ago, Mark brought home from work this recipe for chocolate cake. He said that one of the women he worked with made this cake on a regular basis and that it was guaranteed to result in a wonderful, moist, chocolate-y cake.

Now, I admit, I almost never make cake from scratch. Icing? Yes! Homemade icing is far superior to the stuff in a can. But, cake? Why bother? The box kind is consistently quite good.

So, a few months later, when it became clear to Mark that I was in no hurry to try his friend's cake recipe, he pulled out the ingredients and got to work. (Mark knows that if he wants dessert, he'd better make a specific request or make it himself, as I am not one to crave sweets.)

The result? Yummy! I now have several boxes of cake mix in the pantry that I look past in order to get out the ingredients for this delicious and easy cake.

Chocolate Cake
2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1/2 c. oil
1 c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
2 c. flour
3/4 c. cocoa (or 3 squares melted)

Mix together all ingredients. Add 1 cup boiling water. Mix and pour into greased and floured pan(s). Bake at 350 deg. until done (35 - 50 minutes, depending on type of pan you use). Let cool 10 minutes before removing from pans and cooling on rack. When completely cooled, add a dusting of powdered sugar or your favorite icing.

Noodle Night

At our pool club, Tuesday is Noodle Night. We find that it's a fun excuse to spend the evening at the pool. Earlier this season, Colleen announced that Noodle Night at the pool is a good reason to have noodle night at the dinner table. So, tonight we enjoyed spaghetti with sausage and peppers in homemade tomato sauce.

The sauce recipe (if you can call it that, as I have a habit of improvising based on what's in the pantry) is built upon the one used by my sister-in-law. Erin is a very good cook (and baker) in her own right, but this particular recipe is one she learned from watching her mother-in-law. I don't know where Janet came up with it, but I like to think she learned from watching yet another family member in the kitchen. It's comforting to know that we are connected through the generations by a simple bowl of spaghetti and sauce.

Basic Tomato Sauce
1 or 2 Tbs. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 or 3 cloves garlic, minced
2 large cans crushed tomatoes
1 large can diced tomatoes
1/4 to 1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped*
1/4 cup red wine (use a wine you would enjoy drinking with your dinner)
5 baby carrots
1 Tbs. sugar
A few sprigs fresh thyme, or 1 tsp. dried thyme
Salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

Saute onions for a few minutes until softened and starting to brown. Add garlic and continue to cook for another minute. Add remaining ingredients. Let come to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for several hours. Remove thyme sprigs and carrots before using with your favorite recipe.

Blue Ribbon Blues

I'm on a quest. The goal? My second blue ribbon for a corn recipe at the local farmer's market. Last year, the kids were quite impressed with my success (it doesn't really take much). Now I have 3 days to develop another prize-worthy recipe. I'm leaning towards a corn and bean salad with cilantro lime vinaigrette. I'll post back with my results.