A couple of weeks ago, a friend told me she had checked out Canal House Cooks Every Day from the library and described it as the loveliest cookbook she had seen in a long time.
Middle child that I am, afraid to miss out on any fun, I immediately followed suit. That night by the light of my itty bitty book lamp, I poured through every chapter, making mental notes of ingredients to purchase and recipes to try, feeling more wound up with every page I turned, finally closing my eyes to a photo of a sheet pan lined with chocolate chip cookies, the last beautiful image in the book.
The following morning, before even thinking about coffee, I set butter out to soften and turned to the recipe, credited to Katherine Yang, a New York City pastry chef. When the Canal House ladies sought Yang’s guidance for the best chocolate chip cookie recipe ever, Yang passed along this one, a thin and crisp variety, one that perfectly balances that irresistible salty-sweet dynamic — there’s no need to top these off with any flakes of fancy sea salt.
Crisp on the edges, chewy in the center, buttery with chocolate chunks throughout, these delicate cookies are enough to convert the thick-and-chewy-chocolate-chip-cookie lover in me forever. They are delectable. Even Ben, who never does any heavy lifting in the dessert department, eats them by the half dozen and swears he could eat them by the whole. I wouldn’t put it past him.
While I know the last thing many of you need is another cookbook, I am confident none of you would regret this addition to your libraries. And while these chocolate chip cookies, as simple and classic and timeless as they are, in some ways perfectly capture the spirit of the Canal House cooks , they aren’t perhaps the best reflection of the cookbook.
With chapters organized by the months of the year, the book’s recipes are driven by the seasons, not only its produce gems — peas and favas in the spring, squash and apples in the fall — but also its preparations — grilled salmon in the summer, braised brisket in the winter.
Be warned: If you acquire it soon, it will make you seriously regret having not visited more pick-your-own strawberry farms this past May and might make you feel you squandered asparagus season entirely. But don’t despair: you will redeem yourself soon, vowing to make every tomato recipe in the August chapter.
The book is inspiring to say the least. It will make you want to hang your pots and pans from the rafters and tie up your apron with pride every time you set to work. It will make you covet your mother-in-law’s china collection and make you want to scour flea markets (or have a field day at Fish’s Eddy ) for vintage serving platters. It might inspire you to clear off your kitchen table and break out your pasta roller. It might make you a pickler, a poacher, a preserver.
As you read the vignettes, you’ll find yourself daydreaming about how you might get into mushroom foraging this fall, and although you’ve felt quite lazy in recent months, you think you might even consider peeling — yes, stalk by stalk — your asparagus next spring. And if your pleasure reading gets interrupted one more time, perhaps by a disagreeable toddler throwing himself at your feet, you might find yourself wishing to be nothing more than a duck floating along the canal ready to snatch up bread and any other nuggets tossed out the Canal House studio’s open French doors. Ahhh, where would we be without our dreams?
Description
Adapted from Canal House Cooks Every Day
Notes: For best results, make this batter and store it in the fridge at least 24 hours prior to baking and up to 1 week in advance.
I like to weigh (so anal, sorry) my cookie balls before baking and find that 1 oz (28 g) is a nice size for these cookies.
Also, if you like thick-and-chewy chocolate chip cookies, try these .
- 10 ounces room temperature high-fat butter, such as Kerrygold
- 1¼ cups ( 298 g ) dark brown sugar
- ¾ cup ( 149g ) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste or extract
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt*
- 2 large eggs
- 1¾ cups plus 2 tablespoons ( 265g ) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 8 ounces chocolate chips
*It seems like a lot, but go for it…I even use salted butter, and the cookies are not too salty.
- Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, vanilla bean paste, and salt in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until light, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs and mix on medium speed until blended, about 2 minutes.
- Whisk the flour and baking soda together, then add to the dough, continuing to mix on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in the chocolate chips. Using a spatula, quickly mix the dough, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Remove the bowl from the mixer. Portion the dough into balls weighing about 1 oz (28 g) each. For best results, store the dough balls in the fridge for at least 24 hours prior to baking and up to 1 week in advance.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Once heated, place the balls, about 4 inches apart, onto the parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until golden brown, 10–11 minutes. Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 11 minutes
- Category: Cookie
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
A couple of weeks ago, a friend told me she had checked out Canal House Cooks Every Day from the library and described it as the loveliest cookbook she had seen in a long time.
Middle child that I am, afraid to miss out on any fun, I immediately followed suit. That night by the light of my itty bitty book lamp, I poured through every chapter, making mental notes of ingredients to purchase and recipes to try, feeling more wound up with every page I turned, finally closing my eyes to a photo of a sheet pan lined with chocolate chip cookies, the last beautiful image in the book.
The following morning, before even thinking about coffee, I set butter out to soften and turned to the recipe, credited to Katherine Yang, a New York City pastry chef. When the Canal House ladies sought Yang’s guidance for the best chocolate chip cookie recipe ever, Yang passed along this one, a thin and crisp variety, one that perfectly balances that irresistible salty-sweet dynamic — there’s no need to top these off with any flakes of fancy sea salt.
Crisp on the edges, chewy in the center, buttery with chocolate chunks throughout, these delicate cookies are enough to convert the thick-and-chewy-chocolate-chip-cookie lover in me forever. They are delectable. Even Ben, who never does any heavy lifting in the dessert department, eats them by the half dozen and swears he could eat them by the whole. I wouldn’t put it past him.
While I know the last thing many of you need is another cookbook, I am confident none of you would regret this addition to your libraries. And while these chocolate chip cookies, as simple and classic and timeless as they are, in some ways perfectly capture the spirit of the Canal House cooks , they aren’t perhaps the best reflection of the cookbook.
With chapters organized by the months of the year, the book’s recipes are driven by the seasons, not only its produce gems — peas and favas in the spring, squash and apples in the fall — but also its preparations — grilled salmon in the summer, braised brisket in the winter.
Be warned: If you acquire it soon, it will make you seriously regret having not visited more pick-your-own strawberry farms this past May and might make you feel you squandered asparagus season entirely. But don’t despair: you will redeem yourself soon, vowing to make every tomato recipe in the August chapter.
The book is inspiring to say the least. It will make you want to hang your pots and pans from the rafters and tie up your apron with pride every time you set to work. It will make you covet your mother-in-law’s china collection and make you want to scour flea markets (or have a field day at Fish’s Eddy ) for vintage serving platters. It might inspire you to clear off your kitchen table and break out your pasta roller. It might make you a pickler, a poacher, a preserver.
As you read the vignettes, you’ll find yourself daydreaming about how you might get into mushroom foraging this fall, and although you’ve felt quite lazy in recent months, you think you might even consider peeling — yes, stalk by stalk — your asparagus next spring. And if your pleasure reading gets interrupted one more time, perhaps by a disagreeable toddler throwing himself at your feet, you might find yourself wishing to be nothing more than a duck floating along the canal ready to snatch up bread and any other nuggets tossed out the Canal House studio’s open French doors. Ahhh, where would we be without our dreams?
Description
Adapted from Canal House Cooks Every Day
Notes: For best results, make this batter and store it in the fridge at least 24 hours prior to baking and up to 1 week in advance.
I like to weigh (so anal, sorry) my cookie balls before baking and find that 1 oz (28 g) is a nice size for these cookies.
Also, if you like thick-and-chewy chocolate chip cookies, try these .
- 10 ounces room temperature high-fat butter, such as Kerrygold
- 1¼ cups ( 298 g ) dark brown sugar
- ¾ cup ( 149g ) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste or extract
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt*
- 2 large eggs
- 1¾ cups plus 2 tablespoons ( 265g ) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 8 ounces chocolate chips
*It seems like a lot, but go for it…I even use salted butter, and the cookies are not too salty.
- Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, vanilla bean paste, and salt in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until light, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs and mix on medium speed until blended, about 2 minutes.
- Whisk the flour and baking soda together, then add to the dough, continuing to mix on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in the chocolate chips. Using a spatula, quickly mix the dough, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Remove the bowl from the mixer. Portion the dough into balls weighing about 1 oz (28 g) each. For best results, store the dough balls in the fridge for at least 24 hours prior to baking and up to 1 week in advance.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Once heated, place the balls, about 4 inches apart, onto the parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until golden brown, 10–11 minutes. Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 11 minutes
- Category: Cookie
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
A couple of weeks ago, a friend told me she had checked out Canal House Cooks Every Day from the library and described it as the loveliest cookbook she had seen in a long time.
Middle child that I am, afraid to miss out on any fun, I immediately followed suit. That night by the light of my itty bitty book lamp, I poured through every chapter, making mental notes of ingredients to purchase and recipes to try, feeling more wound up with every page I turned, finally closing my eyes to a photo of a sheet pan lined with chocolate chip cookies, the last beautiful image in the book.
The following morning, before even thinking about coffee, I set butter out to soften and turned to the recipe, credited to Katherine Yang, a New York City pastry chef. When the Canal House ladies sought Yang’s guidance for the best chocolate chip cookie recipe ever, Yang passed along this one, a thin and crisp variety, one that perfectly balances that irresistible salty-sweet dynamic — there’s no need to top these off with any flakes of fancy sea salt.
Crisp on the edges, chewy in the center, buttery with chocolate chunks throughout, these delicate cookies are enough to convert the thick-and-chewy-chocolate-chip-cookie lover in me forever. They are delectable. Even Ben, who never does any heavy lifting in the dessert department, eats them by the half dozen and swears he could eat them by the whole. I wouldn’t put it past him.
While I know the last thing many of you need is another cookbook, I am confident none of you would regret this addition to your libraries. And while these chocolate chip cookies, as simple and classic and timeless as they are, in some ways perfectly capture the spirit of the Canal House cooks , they aren’t perhaps the best reflection of the cookbook.
With chapters organized by the months of the year, the book’s recipes are driven by the seasons, not only its produce gems — peas and favas in the spring, squash and apples in the fall — but also its preparations — grilled salmon in the summer, braised brisket in the winter.
Be warned: If you acquire it soon, it will make you seriously regret having not visited more pick-your-own strawberry farms this past May and might make you feel you squandered asparagus season entirely. But don’t despair: you will redeem yourself soon, vowing to make every tomato recipe in the August chapter.
The book is inspiring to say the least. It will make you want to hang your pots and pans from the rafters and tie up your apron with pride every time you set to work. It will make you covet your mother-in-law’s china collection and make you want to scour flea markets (or have a field day at Fish’s Eddy ) for vintage serving platters. It might inspire you to clear off your kitchen table and break out your pasta roller. It might make you a pickler, a poacher, a preserver.
As you read the vignettes, you’ll find yourself daydreaming about how you might get into mushroom foraging this fall, and although you’ve felt quite lazy in recent months, you think you might even consider peeling — yes, stalk by stalk — your asparagus next spring. And if your pleasure reading gets interrupted one more time, perhaps by a disagreeable toddler throwing himself at your feet, you might find yourself wishing to be nothing more than a duck floating along the canal ready to snatch up bread and any other nuggets tossed out the Canal House studio’s open French doors. Ahhh, where would we be without our dreams?
Description
Adapted from Canal House Cooks Every Day
Notes: For best results, make this batter and store it in the fridge at least 24 hours prior to baking and up to 1 week in advance.
I like to weigh (so anal, sorry) my cookie balls before baking and find that 1 oz (28 g) is a nice size for these cookies.
Also, if you like thick-and-chewy chocolate chip cookies, try these .
- 10 ounces room temperature high-fat butter, such as Kerrygold
- 1¼ cups ( 298 g ) dark brown sugar
- ¾ cup ( 149g ) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste or extract
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt*
- 2 large eggs
- 1¾ cups plus 2 tablespoons ( 265g ) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 8 ounces chocolate chips
*It seems like a lot, but go for it…I even use salted butter, and the cookies are not too salty.
- Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, vanilla bean paste, and salt in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until light, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs and mix on medium speed until blended, about 2 minutes.
- Whisk the flour and baking soda together, then add to the dough, continuing to mix on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in the chocolate chips. Using a spatula, quickly mix the dough, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Remove the bowl from the mixer. Portion the dough into balls weighing about 1 oz (28 g) each. For best results, store the dough balls in the fridge for at least 24 hours prior to baking and up to 1 week in advance.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Once heated, place the balls, about 4 inches apart, onto the parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until golden brown, 10–11 minutes. Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 11 minutes
- Category: Cookie
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
A couple of weeks ago, a friend told me she had checked out Canal House Cooks Every Day from the library and described it as the loveliest cookbook she had seen in a long time.
Middle child that I am, afraid to miss out on any fun, I immediately followed suit. That night by the light of my itty bitty book lamp, I poured through every chapter, making mental notes of ingredients to purchase and recipes to try, feeling more wound up with every page I turned, finally closing my eyes to a photo of a sheet pan lined with chocolate chip cookies, the last beautiful image in the book.
The following morning, before even thinking about coffee, I set butter out to soften and turned to the recipe, credited to Katherine Yang, a New York City pastry chef. When the Canal House ladies sought Yang’s guidance for the best chocolate chip cookie recipe ever, Yang passed along this one, a thin and crisp variety, one that perfectly balances that irresistible salty-sweet dynamic — there’s no need to top these off with any flakes of fancy sea salt.
Crisp on the edges, chewy in the center, buttery with chocolate chunks throughout, these delicate cookies are enough to convert the thick-and-chewy-chocolate-chip-cookie lover in me forever. They are delectable. Even Ben, who never does any heavy lifting in the dessert department, eats them by the half dozen and swears he could eat them by the whole. I wouldn’t put it past him.
While I know the last thing many of you need is another cookbook, I am confident none of you would regret this addition to your libraries. And while these chocolate chip cookies, as simple and classic and timeless as they are, in some ways perfectly capture the spirit of the Canal House cooks , they aren’t perhaps the best reflection of the cookbook.
With chapters organized by the months of the year, the book’s recipes are driven by the seasons, not only its produce gems — peas and favas in the spring, squash and apples in the fall — but also its preparations — grilled salmon in the summer, braised brisket in the winter.
Be warned: If you acquire it soon, it will make you seriously regret having not visited more pick-your-own strawberry farms this past May and might make you feel you squandered asparagus season entirely. But don’t despair: you will redeem yourself soon, vowing to make every tomato recipe in the August chapter.
The book is inspiring to say the least. It will make you want to hang your pots and pans from the rafters and tie up your apron with pride every time you set to work. It will make you covet your mother-in-law’s china collection and make you want to scour flea markets (or have a field day at Fish’s Eddy ) for vintage serving platters. It might inspire you to clear off your kitchen table and break out your pasta roller. It might make you a pickler, a poacher, a preserver.
As you read the vignettes, you’ll find yourself daydreaming about how you might get into mushroom foraging this fall, and although you’ve felt quite lazy in recent months, you think you might even consider peeling — yes, stalk by stalk — your asparagus next spring. And if your pleasure reading gets interrupted one more time, perhaps by a disagreeable toddler throwing himself at your feet, you might find yourself wishing to be nothing more than a duck floating along the canal ready to snatch up bread and any other nuggets tossed out the Canal House studio’s open French doors. Ahhh, where would we be without our dreams?
Description
Adapted from Canal House Cooks Every Day
Notes: For best results, make this batter and store it in the fridge at least 24 hours prior to baking and up to 1 week in advance.
I like to weigh (so anal, sorry) my cookie balls before baking and find that 1 oz (28 g) is a nice size for these cookies.
Also, if you like thick-and-chewy chocolate chip cookies, try these .
- 10 ounces room temperature high-fat butter, such as Kerrygold
- 1¼ cups ( 298 g ) dark brown sugar
- ¾ cup ( 149g ) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste or extract
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt*
- 2 large eggs
- 1¾ cups plus 2 tablespoons ( 265g ) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 8 ounces chocolate chips
*It seems like a lot, but go for it…I even use salted butter, and the cookies are not too salty.
- Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, vanilla bean paste, and salt in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until light, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs and mix on medium speed until blended, about 2 minutes.
- Whisk the flour and baking soda together, then add to the dough, continuing to mix on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in the chocolate chips. Using a spatula, quickly mix the dough, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Remove the bowl from the mixer. Portion the dough into balls weighing about 1 oz (28 g) each. For best results, store the dough balls in the fridge for at least 24 hours prior to baking and up to 1 week in advance.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Once heated, place the balls, about 4 inches apart, onto the parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until golden brown, 10–11 minutes. Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 11 minutes
- Category: Cookie
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
Adapted from Canal House Cooks Every Day
Notes: For best results, make this batter and store it in the fridge at least 24 hours prior to baking and up to 1 week in advance.
I like to weigh (so anal, sorry) my cookie balls before baking and find that 1 oz (28 g) is a nice size for these cookies.
Also, if you like thick-and-chewy chocolate chip cookies, try these .
- 10 ounces room temperature high-fat butter, such as Kerrygold
- 1¼ cups ( 298 g ) dark brown sugar
- ¾ cup ( 149g ) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste or extract
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt*
- 2 large eggs
- 1¾ cups plus 2 tablespoons ( 265g ) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 8 ounces chocolate chips
*It seems like a lot, but go for it…I even use salted butter, and the cookies are not too salty.
- Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, vanilla bean paste, and salt in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until light, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs and mix on medium speed until blended, about 2 minutes.
- Whisk the flour and baking soda together, then add to the dough, continuing to mix on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir in the chocolate chips. Using a spatula, quickly mix the dough, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Remove the bowl from the mixer. Portion the dough into balls weighing about 1 oz (28 g) each. For best results, store the dough balls in the fridge for at least 24 hours prior to baking and up to 1 week in advance.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Once heated, place the balls, about 4 inches apart, onto the parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until golden brown, 10–11 minutes. Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 11 minutes
- Category: Cookie
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Find it online : https://alexandracooks.com/2013/07/10/canal-house-chocolate-chip-cookies/
I arrived at the Albany airport to find my auntie Marcy waiting at baggage claim ready to snatch Wren from my arms and to feed me, as always, immediately.
She led me to her car, and before I could even buckle my seatbelt, she had pulled a ball jar filled with cucumber and green grape gazpacho — one of my favorites — from a cooler and handed me a Lifefactory water bottle — I want one! — filled with ginger-mint-and-orange-flavored water.
Feeling nourished and ready to face the task of the day — find me a place to live — we zoomed off in Marcy’s mobile spa, equipped with coolers holding bowls of quinoa and mango salad, a brown paper bag sheathing a loaf of Shelburne Farms chili cheese ciabatta, and a little baggy holding rice crispy treats for dessert. My auntie spoils me.
I returned home to a heat wave craving nothing more than this cool summery meal. As I mentioned, this white gazpacho, loaded with dill, is one of my favorites. I find nothing more refreshing this time of year, and had I not been so worried about disappointing some of you, I would have shared this recipe ages ago. You see, some of you may be turned off by the zing of the raw garlic. One clove imparts an amazing amount of bite, and while you certainly could leave it out, I fear something would be lost without it. While variations of white gazpacho can be found all over Spain (so I’m told), raw garlic (along with the stale bread) seems to be a constant. This soup makes a wonderful first course, especially when every sip is accompanied by slivers of toasted almonds and sweet grapes.
I have few worries about this quinoa salad, seasoned with fresh ginger and lime, a mixture of slivered snap peas, toasted cashews, minced serranos, diced mango, and sliced scallions. This spicy-crunchy-sweet combination benefits from a brief rest in the fridge, which helps the ginger permeate the salad, and if you feel like being extra fussy, I suggest folding in the diced mango just before serving to keep the salad as crisp and bright as possible.
Friends, the weekend in the Albany area proved a success. I found a house owned by a botanist who, over the years, has managed to grow a peach tree, a pear tree, an apple tree, and rhubarb all in her backyard. I returned home unable to answer any questions about the house itself — Number of bedrooms or bathrooms? Was there a dishwasher? A place for tools? Bathtub for the children? — responding to every question with: “But it has a peach tree in the backyard.” How could I possibly have passed it up? Hmmm, I’m not sure I’m the one who should have been tasked with the house-hunting, but we’ll make it work, right? Hope you all are staying cool.
Breadcrumbs soaking in water:
This was my first go with red quinoa — I love it. It’s got a nice crunch and lovely nutty flavor:
Slivered snap peas:
Grated ginger:
Peeling the mango:
Description
Note: An essential piece of equipment for cooking quinoa is a fine-meshed sieve. You need this piece of gear for both rinsing the quinoa before you cook it and for draining the quinoa after you cook it.
Also: More on cooking quinoa properly and a few notes on Fair Trade quinoa can be found here .
- 1 cup quinoa (I like red quinoa, Alter Eco brand, if you can find it)
- 1 cup snap peas, stem removed
- 1/2 cup cashews, (roasted unsalted)
- 4 to 5 scallions or spring onions, rinsed and trimmed
- 2 mangoes, peeled
- 1 – 2 serrano chilies (or Thai bird chilies or jalapenos — whatever hot chilies you like best)
- an inch-long (or slightly bigger) knob of ginger, peeled
- kosher salt and pepper to taste
- 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 to 2 limes, juiced
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Meanwhile, place quinoa in a fine-meshed sieve and rinse under cold water. When the water comes to a boil, add the quinoa and simmer for 9 minutes. Drain in a fine-meshed sieve and run under cold water until cool. Set aside to dry.
- Meanwhile, prepare the remaining ingredients: Slice the snap peas on a bias and set aside. Roughly chop the cashews. Slice the scallions (white and light green portions) thinly. Slice down around the pit of the mango to remove, then dice the flesh. Remove the seeds from the chilies, then finely dice. Grate the ginger on a box grater or finely dice with a knife or purée in a food processor. You need about a tablespoon (or more or less to taste) of minced ginger flesh/juice.
- Place the drained and dried quinoa into a large mixing bowl. Season all over with salt (I used one teaspoon kosher salt to start) and pepper to taste. Add the snap peas, cashews, scallions, chilies, mangoes (or not if you have time to let the salad marinate in the fridge for a bit), minced ginger, olive oil and about two tablespoons of lime juice to the bowl. Toss and taste. Adjust seasoning as necessary. I added two more tablespoons of lime juice and a pinch more salt. Let salad marinate in the fridge for an hour (if you have the time). Fold in mangoes just before serving.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
Description
Note: If you like cool summer soups, another favorite of mine is this watermelon gazpacho
- 1/2 lb. plus a handful for garnish seedless white (green) grapes, rinsed
- 2 slices white sandwich bread
- 1/3 cup sliced almonds
- 1 seedless cucumber*
- 2 scallions (white and light green parts)
- 1 clove garlic**
- 3 Tbs. fresh dill (or more)
- 2 Tbs. cream cheese (I used mascarp one because I had it on hand.)
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 to 2 Tbs. white-wine vinegar (I used 3 tablespoons of white balsamic vinegar.)
- 2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
- kosher salt and freshly ground pepper *The half English cucumber that I used measured about 6-inches in length. **Some people find even just one clove of garlic to be too biting. So, you might want to start with 1/2 a clove or omit it altogether if you are garlic averse. Update: July 19th: Made a batch this morning without the garlic — I don’t think anything was really lost without it, and Ben actually preferred it without the garlic. I don’t mind the bite of the raw garlic, but if I were serving this to company, I would probably omit it to be safe. I’m also dying to try adding a minced hot chili to this soup…will report back.
- Place grapes in a bowl and put it in the freezer. Tear the bread into chunks and chop it in a food processor until it’s reduced to fine crumbs. Put the crumbs in a small bowl, stir in 1/3 cup cool water, and set aside. Toast the almonds in a dry skillet over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until deep golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a plate to cool.
- Meanwhile, prepare the other ingredients: Cut off and discard the cucumber ends. Thickly slice the cucumber. Roughly chop the scallions, garlic and dill.
- In a food processor, chop the garlic and 1/4 cup of the almonds until very fine. Add the breadcrumbs and cream cheese and process until well blended. Add the cucumber, scallions, dill, milk, vinegar, and the grapes from the freezer. Process until puréed as finely as possible, 1 to 2 minutes. With the machine running, pour in the oil. Taste and season with salt and pepper. I ended up adding a teaspoon of kosher salt and an extra tablespoon of white balsamic vinegar. Chill until ready to serve.
- Garnish with a few halved grapes and the remaining toasted almonds.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
