Sunday, July 05, 2009

Summer Dishes

We waited a long time but now summer seams finally to have arrived with sudatory heat during the day and the occasional cooling thunderstorm towards the evening. We had no choice but to adapt our diet to the new conditions. Here are three summer dishes and a desert we enjoyed this weekend. All take no time to make so there remains sufficient time to enjoy the summer.

Refreshing Pasta



Make the best penne you can get (made solely of durum wheat semolina and water!). Finely chop a glove of garlic, fry it in a bit of olive oil. Add sliced cherry tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Fry for a few minutes and add chopped basil leafs. Mix everything to the penne and let it rest for a few minutes.
Wine: Castello San Sano, Chianti Classico, 2005

Rags Soup



The red and white radish and the cucumber are marinated in a vinaigrette. This makes them a bit floppy, and thus this salad is probably called Rags Soup. Add sufficiently aged Tilsiter cheese and serve it with boiled potatoes and you can't fail. Apparently this is a dish from the area where I grew up, but I don't think my mother ever made it. I like it anyway.
Wine: Raventós i Blanc, L'hereu riserva brut, 2006, Cava

Бутерброды со шпротами (open sprat sandwiches)



Татьяна's mother sent us some cans of sprat from Udmurtia in Russia (they were bought not caught in Udmurtia, since it's landlocked). We served them on Russian style cut bread, smetana, gherkins, cucumbers and tomatoes.
Wine: Kyperounda, Petritis, 2008.

Strawberries



Don't forget, strawberry season will soon be over. I like then freshly cut with some raspberry & strawberry ice cream by Mövenpick and a dash of port wine.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

We seem to have pretty much the same taste in food. :)
Pasta is great - no matter whether for breakfast, lunch or dinner (I eat them almost every second day, lol) and strawberries just the same.
Unfortunately, strawberry season is over far too quickly!

Mr. Urs said...

@Lunario... Pasta really is a cornerstone of my diet. Toño meanwhile knows that he should make it when I come back from abroad. Though my next trip might be to Rome and then, of course, it will not be required.

Suf n Steve said...

gomad darling!

i likes the refreshing paste. we normally have soup pasta serve with dry tomato and hard boiled egg.

the custom here, in NY is barbecue meat and sea based products

thank you for sharing the recipe.so now i have an excuse to try the new recipe.

Mickle in NZ said...

You lead such a tough life with a dear husband who works in the wine trade - and cooks, as do you.

Hope you're getting to sit out on the balconey to dine most days. How is the chilli crop getting on?

Tomorrow will be the second dry day here in a row, so I've loaded up the clothes line with laundry.