Gerry had been wanting to get Paul and his wife, Gina, to dinner. What better excuse to enjoy their company and try out some great new recipes! We started with this Provincal White Bean Dip that Gerry had found on Serious Eats. We increased the salt and oil a touch. We served it with rounds of a French baguette, brushed with olive oil and Tuscan seasoning and baked/broiled until they were crisp.We eat cucumbers like crazy in our house when they are prepared this way with fresh cilantro, sliced spring onions, freshly-ground sea salt and pepper and rice vinegar. Sometimes we use the large or small European type. This time we used the everyday cucs. We slice them paper-thin on our mandolin and use lots of cilantro and onions and salt and pepper. Then we douse them with rice vinegar. We keep them this way in the refrigerator to top our salads or eat them by the forkful.
The Crab Chowder with Corn and Celery was published in the Boston Globe Magazine June 12, 2011. "Down East Delicious" included recipes from the new cookbook, Maine Classics by Mark Gaier and Clark Frasier with Rachel Forest. This adapted recipe was delicious and we halved it due to the fact that we didn't want THAT much cream and fat hanging around the house all week.
The bread is my favorite recipe adapted from my favorite bread baking book, The Bread Machine Book by Marjie Lambert. The Ricotta Braid is moist and flavorful and I bake it in the oven after letting it rise and then brushing on a beaten egg yolk and sprinkling generously with sesame seeds until it is a golden brown. Sometimes I make the bread into small braids or rolls. It's best as a large braid, however, with moistness in all the nooks and crannies.
Baby Red Potatoes with Radishes was adapted from the Adam Reid's Boston Globe Magazine, "Pep Squad" June 5, 2011. We already had lobster and crab on the menu so we left out the shrimp in Adam's recipe, Potato Salad with Radishes and Shrimp. We also halved this recipe.
The last recipe for the Fresh Strawberry and Ricotta Tart was a bit challenging. I had made a photocopy of the recipe from Rustic Fruit Desserts by Cory Schreiber. I remembered to copy the Short Dough recipe on page 152 but left off the baking directions. Big mistake.
Had I realized that my baking instructions were missing, I might not have started the recipe. I am a librarian, after all, and had access to the recipe at work on Monday. However, I had made the filling AND the dough before I realized it.
Because I was on a deadline (starting much later that afternoon that I should have) I was a bit panicky when I realized that I had no idea how long to cook the crust. I make breakfast and dessert tarts all the time with a recipe that I rely on. Unfortunately, I was a bit unsure about this one because the liquid cream cheese filling would be placed on top of the cooked crust.
I went online and Googled "Rustic Fruit Desserts Strawberry and Ricotta Tart" and came across the recipe online. Unfortunately, I think that the blogwriter got the time in the oven (35-40 min) wrong so I've included my own timing after I threw out one batch of crust. Instinct told me to bake the crust 20 min. and that is what I did in the end, with success. The tart was delicious! The crust will get soggy if you save it, even in the frig. Don't make it too far ahead and make sure you finish every morsel within about 24 hours.
