saturday night dinner with the in laws

1. gazpacho with cheese toast points 

2. salad: quinoa mix with garden greens and orange segments 

3. pasta fresh by jenny: olive, yellow tomatoes, minced/ onion & garlic, basil, cheese 

4. beef (skirt & try tip)

5. orange almond flourless cake

recipes:

1. watermelon gazpacho 

1 medium watermelon - peeled and cut 

8 medium ripe tomatoes

1 medium cucumber 

2 red bell pepper 

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

3 tablespoons cider vinegar 

1 lemon juiced

1/2  onion minced

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

3/4 teaspoon salt

I cut all veggies into manageable pieces and put each veg/fruit into blender in small batches & pulsed. 

once I had everything lightly minced and added to the same pitcher I started to add the gazpacho back into the blender to liquefy the soup more - about half or to the consistency desired.  I also adjusted acids here - more vinegar and salt. 

2. salad: quinoa mix with garden greens and orange segments 

bunch baby fresh arugula (summer garden)

bunch baby fresh mustard greens (summer garden)

2 oranges - segmented 

1 cup quinoa (or prepped quinoa salad-  had made quinoa salad previously and reused it with the greens)

orange vinaigrette ( cider vinegar, olive oil, juice of fresh orange, s&p) 

Right before serving dress the greens and assemble the salad. 

3. pasta fresh by jenny: olive oil, yellow tomatoes, minced to paste garlic, basil, pecorino  cheese 

Fresh pasta -  

3 eggs

1/2 cup water 

Flour (2-3 cups?)

I beat the eggs with the water and then start mixing in the flour till I get a wet but firm consistency. 

Then I knead it for five minutes. We have a kitchen aide and I use the dough hook to do the kneading.

Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for at least one hour. I have kept the dough in the fridge for several days and used it for different pasta dishes. 

Once the dough has rested bring it out to the pasta cutting device - we use the pasta attachment on the kitchen aide. 

I like my pasta thin in height and wide in noodle, I pass through the machine five thickness thin (the 5 on my machine - other machines numbers might be opposite so figure out your own thickness on your machine)

 

sauce:

1 cup olive oil

1 cup yellow cherry tomatoes 

1 cup basil

5 cloves garlic smashed to paste 

Pecorino cheese 

on a low heat for a long time pour oil in a sauté pan or cast iron (my preferred pan) add the garlic/tomatoes/basil. 

the point of this sauce is to infuse the oil and cure the veg so the lowest heat on the stove for one to two hours. I start the sauce while making the pasta so both can be done around the same time. 

Once the pasta has been cut & boiled add the pasta to the olive oil sauce with more fresh basil - toss & place in serving bowl. Add a handful of pecorino. Eat/enjoy

4. Picanha - tri tip

 

My husband, the brasilario, makes this. 

This is less about the spices and more about the butchering. 

He does smoke the meat - non traditional- for 1 1/2 hours before he grills it. The only seasoning is course salt & pepper. 

5. orange almond cake - GF/dairy free 

Please refer to The cake recipe in a past post.