BB: Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomatoes

While I was soaking up the Tuscan sun last month, I secretly missed my blogging activity, especially since I had to miss the June recipes. Our first recipe for July was Pasta with Sundried Tomatoes, selected by Cat from Delta Whiskey. Even though we just spent 16-consecutive days eating pastas, pizza, gelato, and everything Italian, I decided to go ahead and make this since not only all of the ingredients are simple... Ina's recipe rarely fails me!


I did not plan to make any substitutions in this recipe, but I ended up doing some, because I was too lazy to go out and pick out the remaining ingredients. I used cherub tomatoes instead of regular tomatoes and I actually welcomed the sweet addition to the salad (and it wasn't a whole pound as the recipe called for, it was almost a half pound). I also used regular canned black olives, my fave, and I think this was why my pasta salad turned out to be very colorful (not a bad thing!)

I did use a very good olive oil, which I picked up during my trip to Italy, so it was perfect use for this salad. Overall, I was very surprised how light but satisfying this recipe was. This was a perfect summer dish. I want to thank Cat for such a great selection! We paired this salad with our pizza, using up the leftover grilled meat that we had!! Another great Ina's recipe, which I know that I will make again before the summer ends!

Carpet Picnic. Part 1.

Red and I missed our Valentine's Day Dinner. He was just getting home from his business trip in France, and I had a little house's mishap back at the ranch when he was away. So we thought that we would do our own version of Valentine's Day dinner by having a carpet picnic, with these fun summer dishes: oven fried chickens, broccoli salad, and ice-cream sundaes with homemade caramel sauce.

Oven Fried Chickens
Courtesy of Barefoot Contessa

Ingredients

• 2 chickens (3 pounds each), cut in 8 serving pieces
• 1 quart buttermilk
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
• Vegetable oil or vegetable shortening

Directions

Place the chicken pieces in a large bowl and pour the buttermilk over them. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the flour, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Take the chicken out of the buttermilk and coat each piece thoroughly with the flour mixture. Pour the oil into a large heavy-bottomed stockpot to a depth of 1-inch and heat to 360 degrees F on a thermometer.

Working in batches, carefully place several pieces of chicken in the oil and fry for about 3 minutes on each side until the coating is a light golden brown (it will continue to brown in the oven). Don't crowd the pieces. Remove the chicken from the oil and place each piece on a metal baking rack set on a sheet pan. Allow the oil to return to 360 degrees F before frying the next batch. When all the chicken is fried, bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is no longer pink inside. Serve hot.

Broccoli Salad
Courtesy of Paula Deen




Ingredients

1 head broccoli
6 to 8 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup raisins, optional
8 ounces sharp Cheddar, cut into very small chunks
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup halved cherry tomatoesSalt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Trim off the large leaves from the broccoli stem.
Remove the tough stalk at the end and wash broccoli head thoroughly.
Cut the head into flowerets and the stem into bite-size pieces.
Place in a large bowl.
Add the crumbled bacon, onion, raisins if using, and cheese.
In a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients, stirring well.
Add to broccoli mixture and toss gently.

Overnight Fruit Salad

I first saw a recipe in my mom's Taste of Home magazine when I was in High School, and it soon became my mom's favorite. I would go home during college breaks and made this just for my mom.
Overnight Fruit Salad

Ingredients
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup vinegar
3 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 cups green grapes
2 cups miniature marshmallows
1 (20 ounce) can pineapple chunks, drained
1 (15 ounce) can mandarin oranges, drained
2 medium firm bananas. sliced
2 cups whipping cream, whipped
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions
In a double boiler over medium heat, cook and stir eggs, sugar and vinegar until mixture is thickened and reaches 160 degrees F.
Remove from the heat; stir in butter. Cool.
In a large serving bowl, combine grapes, marshmallows, pineapple, oranges and bananas; add cooled dressing and stir to coat.
Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
Just before serving, fold in whipped cream and pecans.