Getting back to normal. Beginning with baby steps, then a community poolside breakfast followed by a daily experience of dining out, museum tours, walks in heralded gardens, exploring ancient Indian trails, two intimate family gatherings and a return to church services. June dining encourages casual food and lighter wines. Wild flowers, Hummingbirds and all God’s children thrive in a gentle environment.
Chef Art Smith’s Ice Box Summer Salad
1 tomato chopped
4 cucumbers sliced
1 green pepper chopped
2 cups of watermelon cubes
1/4 cup of red onion chopped
6 radishes
1/4 cup of Italian dressing, you can make it or buy it. Toss and marinate. Eat right away or the next day. Simple, delicious, and the watermelon adds sweetness.
Mussels in White Wine Sauce
Dockeroo- A Jazz Café
Ingredients:
2 pounds mussels, scrubbed clean under running water
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup minced shallots
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons flour (optional, omit for gluten-free version)
1/4 cup minced parsley
Preparation:
Put the mussels in a bowl of salted water (1 tablespoon salt per quart of water) for 10-15 minutes. Throw out that are wide open or refuse to close when you handle them as these ones are likely dead.
Looking over the closed mussels, see if any still have their beards (long hairy byssal threads which help anchor the mussel to surfaces) and pull them out, pulling slowly and strongly towards the hinge of the shell.
Remove cooked mussels, save the cooking liquid.
Once the mussels are cooked, carefully remove them from the pot to a bowl, one-by-one using tongs, including those that have broken loose from their shells. Do not discard the liquid in the pot.
Let the water in the pot settle for a minute. Any grit will settle to the bottom. Gently pour out the cooking water into a measuring cup, leaving the grit in the pot to discard of later. If the water you’ve measured out is still a little gritty, filter out the grit using a sieve.
Sauté shallots and garlic:
Melt the butter in a medium-sized saucepan. Add the shallots and cook a couple minutes until translucent. Add the garlic and cook a minute more. If you want your sauce to be a little thick, add a teaspoon or two of flour to the pan, stir to combine. (Otherwise skip the flour.)
Add mussel cooking water:
Slowly add about a cup of the filtered mussel cooking water to the saucepan, stirring to create a smooth sauce. Add the minced parsley to the sauce.Pour sauce over mussels to serve:
Place mussels in serving bowls. Pour some sauce over each bowl of mussels.
Serve immediately. Serve with crusty bread for dipping in the sauce.
Soft Shell Crab Sandwich
Jubal’s Seaside Shack
Ingredients:
For the sauce-
4 Tablespoons Hellman’s mayonnaise
2 Tablespoons bread and butter pickles, chopped
2 Teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/4-1/2 Teaspoons Old Bay depending on your taste
1 Tablespoon yellow onion, finely chopped (optional)
For the crabs-
1/3 cup White Lilly flour
1/3 cup corn flour
1/4 Teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 Teaspoon Old Bay
1/8 Teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 Teaspoon pepper
1-2 Tablespoons butter
2 Soft shell crabs
Brioche Buns, warmed
Ripe Hierloom Tomato, thickly sliced
Romaine lettuce
Instructions:
Mix all of the ingredients for the sauce together in a bowl. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Make the crabs. Whisk the flour, old bay, garlic powder, salt and pepper together on a plate. Dredge each crab in the flour mixture and shake off the excess. Heat the oil and butter in a large pan and add the crabs, top side down. Cook for 3 minutes, flip, and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes until crabs are red and coating is golden and crispy.
Assemble the sandwiches with the buns, sauce, lettuce, tomato and crab.
Sir Verde’s Wine Suggestion: A warm weather delight from Oregon. King Estate Pinot Gris, Willamette Valley 2019.
Be happy. Bonne dégustation. Love one another.
