Today we were very ambitious as far as cooking.
Menu:
Dry-rubbed Grilled Flank Steak
Provencal Egg Salad
Deviled Eggs
Vietnamese Coleslaw
Chocolate Cream cheese Brownies
Watermelon
The flank steak was rubbed with a mixture of salt, sugar, lime zest, cumin, chili powder and cilantro. It sat for an hour before being broiled in a hot skillet. The Provencal egg salad consisted of garlic aoli, shallots, capers and of course, hard boiled eggs. The deviled eggs were made with mayonnaise, dijon mustard, shallots, cirachi, salt, pepper and vinegar. The Vietnamese was my (ESB) pride. It has cabbage, carrots and cilantro and was dressed with lime juice, fish sauce, oil and garlic. The brownies are still cooling, but they are GLUTEN FREE!!!!! And boy am I going to enjoy them. They are made from a Bob's Red Mill mix. We did the cream cheese variation, which is a mixture of cream cheese, eggs and sugar layered between the blankets of chocolate brownie. I have not had a whole one yet, but I snatched a little piece off the edge, and it was delicious. I have a feeling I will be making quite a few of these. Can anyone say Holden Beach? You've got to have brownies at the beach!
We had so much good food this weekend. I finally found gluten-free pizza crust that passes the taste test. My gluten eating hubby and firiends enjoyed the pizza as much as I did. It's from Whole Foods Market. We put pesto, roasted red peppers, marinated artichokes, sauteed onions, feta and manchego cheese on it. It was fabulous.
Of course the hardshells were great, as was the corn, pepper encrusted tuna, blueberry pancakes, black sesame rice crackers, brie, red wine and garlic chicken nuggets, roasted spicy potatoes, green beans and garlic aoli. Oh yes, and the ginger molasses gluten free cookies from Whole Foods are tasty too.
This weekend was great. The cottage is always relaxing and pleasant, even if it is hot as anything out on the end of the dock when the sun's a-baking and there is no breeze to evaporate your sweat. I saw tons of fish jumping, their silvery white skin slapping the water, birds of prey skimming the water for brunch, toads and tons of boats. I'm always torn between the words on the pages of the book I'm reading and the poetry of what's going on around me.
It was a fantastic holiday weekend - even if I did have to share my hubby with World Cup soccer. :-) But it only happens once every four years; so I think I can live with it.
