Greek Panzanella

It is time for another Ina Garten recipe with the Barefoot Bloggers! Greek Panzanella was chosen to be able to use all the great fresh ingredients that are available to all of us right now! I knew I was going to love this dish, with all the fresh vegetables, cheese, olives and French Bread...yum I served this as a meatless meal for dinner! Perfect dinner for a hot summer night.

Cucumber, red pepper, yellow pepper, tomatoes, red onion, feta cheese, and olives waiting to be mixed in with the yummy toasted bread cubes!

Bread cubes almost done....

Everything all mixed up and ready to eat!

Ingredients
Good olive oil
1 small French bread or boule, cut into 1-inch cubes (6 cups)
Kosher salt
1 hothouse cucumber, unpeeled, seeded, and sliced 1/4-inch thick
1 red bell pepper, large diced
1 yellow bell pepper, large diced
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 red onion, sliced in half rounds
1/2 pound feta cheese, cut in 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup calamata olives, pitted

For the vinaigrette

2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup good red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup good olive oil

Directions
Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large saute pan. Add the bread cubes and sprinkle with salt; cook over low to medium heat, tossing frequently, for 5 to 10 minutes, until nicely browned. Add more olive oil as needed.
Place the cucumber, red pepper, yellow pepper, tomatoes and red onion in a large bowl.
For the vinaigrette, whisk together the garlic, oregano, mustard, vinegar, 1 teaspoon salt and the pepper in a small bowl. While still whisking, add the olive oil and make an emulsion. Pour the vinaigrette over the vegetables. Add the feta, olives and bread cubes and mix together lightly. Set aside for 30 minutes for the flavors to blend. Serve at room temperature.

Easy Refrigerator Pickles

We love pickles at our house!! This was a new recipe for me, and we loved them. I like that you don't add sugar to them. Many refrigerator pickles are sweet, these are not. You get great flavor from the pickling spices!

Easy Refrigerator Pickles
12 4" long Cucumbers
1 sliced White Onion
2-3 tbsp Pickling Salt
3/4 cup Vinegar
2-3 tbsp Pickling Spices
2 1/2 cups Water
2 Cloves of Garlic (crushed)

Clean and halve cucumbers. In a sauce pan, boil water, pickling salt, pickling spices and vinegar. Put the cucumbers, onion and crushed garlic into a large crock. Pour the boiled brine over the cucumbers. Weigh down cucumbers with a plate so they are completely covered with the brine water.

Let marinate in the refrigerator for at least a week...or longer. The flavors need time to season. Pickles will keep for weeks.

Clean and halve the cucumbers.

Boil water, pickling salt, pickling spices and vinegar.

I love my crock with the bird :)

Cucumbers, onion, and crushed garlic in the crock.

Weigh down the cucumbers with a plate so they are completely covered with the brine water.

~Enjoy ~

Meeting Eddie Ross

I just got back from a buying trip at the Atlanta Gift Mart for my gift store. Whew...we were there four days looking, buying, and we even got to have a little fun!! Eddie Ross gave a seminar on Entertaining Essentials. Eddie Ross is the former Martha Stewart Living and House Beautiful editor. Eddie shared with us 15 stylist's secrets to easy entertaining.

Stylist's Secrets:

1. Plan It


2. Think in Color


3. Mix & Match (New & Old)


4. Light it Up (Never use candles before 5:00 p.m.)


5. Multi Use pieces


6. Play with scale


7. Use Garden Elements


8. Flowers & Vessels


9. All in the details


10. Pretty with Paper


11. Stack it


12. Serve it individual


13. Let guests help themselves


14. Party favors


15. HAVE FUN!!

Eddie's seminar was fun and full of great information. Make sure you look at his blog http://eddieross.com/ !

Peaches Wrapped in Prosciutto

This is a EASY salad to make during the week when you want to add a gourmet touch to your meal! This recipe came from a Donna Hay cookbook. If you are not familiar with Donna Hay she is from Australia. I love her style -- her recipes usually have a handful of ingredients and she turns them into a tasty gourmet treat!

Balsamic vinegar and brown sugar boiling until thickened.

Peaches Wrapped in Prosciutto
Serves 4

Ingredients
2 peaches
6 slices prosciutto, halved
Arugula
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
cracked black pepper

Cut each peach into six wedges and wrap in the prosciutto. Place on serving plates with the arugula. Place the vinegar and sugar into a non-stick frying pan over high heat and boil until thickened. Cool slightly, spoon over the peaches, sprinkle the pepper and serve.

I am joining Michael at http://www.designsbygollum.blogspot.com/ for FOODIE FRIDAY. Stop by her blog for some great recipes and inspiration!

Shrimp and Deviled-Egg Salad Rolls

These rolls are the Lowcountry cousin to lobster rolls - those decadent sandwiches of lobster dressed with mayonnaise, lemon juice, and diced celery! These "rolls" are very tasty deviled-egg salad with chopped shrimp folded in, loaded into a hot-dog bun, then garnished with bacon pieces and scallions! A perfect hot summer night meal!

Shrimp after it's boiled and chopped.

Pressing the yolks through a mesh strainer.

Enjoy and have a Safe and Happy 4th of July!

Ingredients:

2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 pound large shell-on-shrimp

6 large eggs

2 strips thick-cut bacon, finely diced

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoon mayonnaise

1 tablespoon Tabasco

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

Freshly ground black pepper

Butter Lettuce

Top-loading hot-dog buns

2 scallions (white and green parts), finely sliced

1. Fill a large stockpot with about 2 quarts water and 2 teaspoons of the salt, and bring to a boil over high heat. Remove the pot from the heat, add the shrimp, and cook (off the heat) for 1 to 2 minutes, until the shrimp are pink-orange and slightly firm. Using a slotted spoon or a skimmer, transfer the shrimp to a colander. Rinse them under cold water until they are cool enough to handle.
2. Return the shrimp water to a boil, and then reduce the heat to low so the water simmers calmly. Add the eggs gently, lowering them to the bottom, two at a time, with a large ladle. Let the eggs cook at a simmer for exactly 14 minutes.
3. While the eggs cook, peel and chop the shrimp and put them in large bowl. Saute the bacon in a skillet over medium-high heat until it is firm and just turning golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer the bacon to a paper towel to drain.
4. When the eggs are done, transfer them to a strainer and rinse under cold water until they're cool enough to handle. Peel the eggs and cut them in half lengthwise. Separate the whites from the yolks. Coarsely chop the egg whites, and add them to the bowl with the chopped shrimp. Press the yolks through a mesh strainer into a medium bowl. Add the mayonnaise, hot sauce, mustard, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt to the yolks and whisk until the mixture has the consistency of cake batter, about 1 minute.
5. Using a rubber spatula, fold the yolk mixture into the shrimp mixture until the shrimp and egg whites are evenly coated with the deviled-egg dressing. Season with salt and pepper, and toss again.
6. To serve, add the lettuce into each of the top loading buns, and spread 3/4 to 1 cup of the shrimp and deviled-egg salad into each roll. Garnish each roll liberally with the reserved diced bacon and the scallions.