Provençal Summer Menu
Well, summer is in full swing! The days have been so toasty, but the evenings have been cooling down just enough that hopefully you have been able to sit outside and enjoy the beautiful summer sky.
To keep the house cool, we do a lot of grilling. I love the charcoal flavor that grilling gives your food. During the week, we normally use a gas grill so it is a fast & easy way to cook. I usually serve sides and desserts that I have made ahead, so the meal comes together quickly and keeps the kitchen cool. Just perfect for entertaining family and friends!
So, what are we cooking?
Ratatouille
Ratatouille is a French Provencal Vegetable dish that is usually made in the summer with onions, eggplant, peppers, zucchini, and herbs. It’s a great way to use that abundance of veggies you may have in your garden, or that you bought at the farmer’s market. It takes a little while for it to cook, but you will be so rewarded! It’s a dish that is good the day it is made but only improves with time, giving all the flavors have a chance to mellow. It is so versatile because of the many ways you can serve it. It’s the perfect side dish served warm alongside grilled meats and fish. Or, you can serve it cold as a salad or add it to a sandwich. You can top a crostini with it and you have a quick appetizer. I love it so much that I double the recipe! I put some in my freezer for later in the season and have a container of it in my fridge all summer long.
Perfectly Grilled Steak with Bleu Cheese Butter
Nothing says summer like a steak on the grill! These beautiful New York steaks are perfectly grilled, then topped with bleu cheese butter that, once it is placed on top of the hot steaks, melts and creates this beautiful, cheesy buttery sauce. The combination of the bleu cheese and the grilled meat is just heavenly. The butter can be made ahead and kept at the ready and can be used on a variety of other dishes. Slice a piece and put it on top of the chicken, fish, or in a baked potato. It freezes well too.
Apricot Galette
A galette is a French term for a free-form dessert in which the pastry is rolled out into a large circle, then it is topped with fruits, and the edges of the pastry are gathered around the fruit giving it an elegant, but rustic appearance, making each galette unique and special, The Italian’s call this dessert a crostata. The pastry is foolproof, easy to make, and freezes well. Today we’re filling the galette with apricots that are then tucked into that beautiful pastry, topped with a little sugar, and baked until brown and bubbling. The pastry is crisp and flaky, and the apricots are sweet caramelized gems. Topped with ice cream, this is a sublime way to end a summer day!
July 2018