I accidentally forgot to take pictures of the food -- three amazing Summer recipes you will LOVE that looked absolutely bellissima -- so you are getting pictures of the flower arrangements instead.
For the first year in a long time I don't have tomato plants, but I found these adorable baby tomatoes on a vine at the Farmer's Market. Check out how cool they look nestled in with flowers! It's OK to snack on these arrangements!
The recipes I tried were super easy other than chopping, which I happen to love to do and cleaning shrimp, which you can have done for you. If you don't have time to wait as I didn't, you can just use it as a Zen meditation and/or sit in front of a movie. It was very meditative to do while I listened to "The Women" (the original, of course),a movie I've seen a lot so I could look up from the deveining and shelling from time to time.
I have never pickled nectarines before. YUM! And, with Burrata? You've got to be kidding! The first two recipes were due to a miraculous find at the gym. Bon Appetit Magazine August 2013 issue was miraculously laying around so I found these two during my bike ride:
I have never pickled nectarines before. YUM! And, with Burrata? You've got to be kidding!
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Pickled-Nectarine-Salad-with-Burrata-51178630
Super duper easy and brilliantly inspired recipe. I grilled ahead of time on an open fire with a grill over it to give extra smoky flavor and to have the grilling DONE before guests arrived:
http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2013/08/grilled-harissa-shrimp
A friend made this recipe recently for a dinner party I attended. Just amazing. I couldn't find currents so I chopped dried blueberries and cranberries up together. Really great substitution. Also I forgot Pecorino cheese so I used SHAVED parmesan. I would not use grated cheese on this recipe, just because I'm not a fan of grated cheese on raw greens, but that's me. Genius recipe with just the right amount of heat.
http://abc.go.com/shows/the-chew/recipes/King-Greens-Salad-Daphne-Oz
Then I grilled corn also on the grill on the fire. I left the fire going so I could throw them on right before serving to warm them up too. If you aren't slightly retarded like I am you won't drop any in the fire!
I made herbed butter to slather on warmed grilled corn:
1 stick butter at room temperature
Course Salt
Cayenne Pepper
About 3/4 cup chopped cilantro
Do the salt and cayenne to taste, but it wasn't too warm.
All in all a very pretty dinner plate with all the colors: Greens, Reds, Purples, Oranges...oh my!
Buon Summer Appetito to all!