This may be a long post (sorry! )- I’m going to include the last five recipes from the book club feast and hopefully be able to move on to July’s cooking -finally!

So we have two salads, ham and green onion biscuits, a  crustless quiche and a coconut cake… here’s the first:

Spring Mix Salad with Mint, Raspberries and Pecans

• 8 to 10 cups of the freshest spring mix baby greens you can find- washed , spun dry, dry , dry and held in a bowl with paper towels or a clean tea towel in your fridge. If you don’t grow your own and you buy the prewashed kind- wash and dry them anyway to refresh and make sure they’re clean, clean, clean!
• 2 cups fresh mint leaves, roughly torn
• 2 cups fresh raspberries
• 2 cups spiced pecans (make extra from previous recipe)
• small handful of shelled pinenuts
• handful of freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
•  1 large shallot, minced
• 4 Tablespoons White Balsamic Raspberry Blush Vinegar
• 1/2 cup walnut oil or olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

In the bottom of your salad bowl put the minced shallot and whisk in the Dijon mustard and a little salt and freshly ground black pepper, add the vinegar and then slowly whisk in the oil to make a dressing. Add the other ingredients to the bowl and then gently turn them in the dressing when it is time to serve.  Note: Brianna’s Blush Wine Vinaigrette Dressing  works great as a salad dressing for this if you don’t feel like  making your own.

 

Garden Rice Salad with Tomatoes, Peas and Herbs

This makes a huge salad for a party feel free to halve it and you’ll still have a lot of salad.

• 2 Cups Wild rice blend cooked covered with 4 Cups water (or chicken stock if you’re not feeding vegetarians) and a little salt, just until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is al dente (about 45 minutes) a rice cooker works well here.
• 2 cups marinated artichoke hearts, coarsely chopped
• reserve 4 Tablespoons of the marinade the artichoke hearts come in
• 2 cups new spring peas, fresh or frozen cooked and chilled
• 1 large green bell pepper, chopped
• 2 bunches of green onions, washed well, trimmed and chopped
• 2 pints of grape or cherry tomatoes, washed well and halved
• 1 cup combined fresh Oregano, Marjoram and Garlic Chives, minced
• 1 cup toasted almonds
• Dressing
• 1 cup of good flavoured olive oil
• 1/2 cup of Champagne Vinegar or White Wine Vinegar
• 1/2 Cup of freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon celery seed
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 2 cloves minced garlic

Mix all of the dressing ingredients together in a pint glass jar, shake well and then store in the fridge until ready to use. Mix the cooked rice, artichoke hearts plus their marinade, peas, green pepper, green onion and tomatoes and herbs in a large bowl. Add the dressing and toss gently. Top with the toasted almonds.

Green Onion Buttermilk Biscuits with Bourbon Glazed Ham

Biscuits

• 2 green onions, minced

• 2 Tablespoons Butter

• 2 Cups all purpose flour

• 3 teaspoons baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 8 Tablespoons (1 stick) COLD butter

• 3/4 Cup Buttermilk

Cook the green onions in 2 Tablespoons of butter until they are soft, set aside to cool. Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt  together in a medium sized mixing bowl. Cut in the cold butter until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs with a few pea sized pieces left. Make a well in the center and add the cold buttermilk and the cooled green onions. Mix just until a rough dough forms then turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly just until it comes together enough to pat into a 1/2 thick square. Cut into 8 or 16 squares depending on how big you want your biscuits to be. Place them on a parchment lined baking sheet and brush each with a little buttermilk  and put into a preheated 425F oven for anywher from 12- 20 minutes depending on how big you cut the biscuits. They should be lightly golden brown and well risen.

Bourbon Glazed Ham

• Spiral Cut and Smoked half ham, about 7 pounds

• 1/2 cup good quality Bourbon

• 1/2 cup brown sugar

• 1 teaspoon dry mustard powder

I didn’t feel like heating my oven but you can do this in the oven or on the barbecue grill. For the grill wrap the ham in two thicknesses of heavy duty aluminum foil and place on a preheated grill that has been turned to low heat or on the low side of the coals. Cover and bake for about an hour and a half or until the internal temperature is 140F. Mix together the Bourbon, brown sugar and mustard and open the foil a bit on top to glaze the ham. Bake for another 20 minutes  and then remove and let rest in the foil. Place thin sliced between  a split green onion biscuit. You’ll have lots of ham left over for other meals.Mmmm.

Crustless Fresh Crab and Green Chile Quiche

• 6 eggs

• 8 ounces cream cheese

• 1  (24) ounce carton small curd cottage cheese

• 1/2 cup softened butter

• 1/2 all purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• freshly ground black pepper to taste

• 1 Cup milk

• 3 Cups grated Cheese- I use cheddar, mozzarella, Swiss and provolone mixed

• 1 pound fresh lump crab such as Phillips from the refrigerated section, picked over for shell and cartilage or pick your own fresh crab lots of work though 🙂

• 1/2 cup minced green onion

• 2 small cans minced green chiles, drained well

Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a glass 9 x13 baking dish, set aside. In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a mixing bowl with a hand mixer, beat the eggs. Mix in the cream cheese, cottage cheese and butter until fairly smooth. In a separate bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and pepper. Add to the egg mixture and blend well. Add milk  and beat for a minute or two. Pour into the prepared baking dish and sprinkle the crab meat, cheese, green onions and chiles over the top. Bake for about and hour and a half or until set through to the center.

Coconut Cake with Brambleberry Jam and Candied Violets

• 1/2 cup softened butter

• 1-1/2 Cups granulated sugar

• 1 cup of good quality canned coconut milk

• 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract

• 2-1/4 Cups cake flour

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 4 egg whites

• Frosting, recipe below

• 1 jar brambleberry or seedless blackberry or raspberry jam

• about 2-3 cups of shredded coconut ( I like Bob’s Red Mill large unsweetened shredded coconut)

• Candied Violets for decoration or other edible sugared flowers see how to make in my previous post here.

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease, flour and place a parchment circle in the bottom of three 9 inch round cake pans. Cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Slowly add the coconut milk and beat in well. Add the vanilla and mix well. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt, add all at once to the creamed mixture. Beat until combined. Add the egg whites and beat just until smooth. Do not overbeat. divide the batter evenly to the three cake pans. Bake for 25 minutes or until a tester in the center comes out clean. Cool for five minutes in the pan, then remove to a rack and cool completely before frosting.

Frosting

• 3 Tablespoons all purpose flour

• 1 cup milk

• 1 cup butter, softened

• 1 cup granulated sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla extract

• 1/2 teaspoon coconut or lemon extract, depending on what flavour you like

Cook the flour and milk together over medium low heat, stirring constantly until thickened. Let cool. When cool Beat the remaining ingredients in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle mix in the cooled flour/milk  mixture and beat for about fifteen minutes or until fluffy.

To assemble cake, place a layer on your serving plate or a cardboard cake round and top with 1/2 cup of jam then frosting, repeat with second round, top with third round and then frost top and sides with remaining frosting, press shredded coconut into the frosting all around and then top with a  ring of  candied violets. Served with Spotted Dog Creamery Huckleberry Chip Ice Cream. Mmmm.

Spotted Dog Creamery is my favourite locally owned, small batch artisan ice cream maker. John, the chef/owner, is passionate about his product (and many other good causes) He is fighting for shelf space with the huge industrial ice cream giants. So go local- support small business and be sure to try his marvelous creations anywhere and anytime you can find them AND  be sure to ask for them at your local market if you’re in the area.

So that’s it- the last of the book club feast for this year and I’m on to July and my birthday tomorrow 🙂

We’re going to the Salt Lake Bees baseball game tonight -they’re playing the Sacramento Rivercats -go Bees! Rick is making my birthday cake as usual  (thanks sweetie!)- this year I picked a Mexican Chocolate Pecan Cake can’t wait….

xoxo