Late Summer Yummy Things

My August has flown by. Like, wtf August? Where'd you go in such a hurry? Fortunately I can document my month by the food I eat! It's a tantalizing, edible history! I look back on the dishes I created for my friends and family and remember what a delicious month I just went through.

As we move into September, we still have plenty of warm, late summer days ahead of us. Ya hear that Autumn, back on up. And these recipes feature those late summer dishes that I love. So tuck in! Pig out! Eat up! Chow down! Whatever direction you prefer!


My first recipe is like...the best gazpacho I've ever made. Featured in my awesome Dinner and a Movie night - Jaws followed up with 'Sharknado' - I served my dark red soup with some charred swordfish skewers. (Get it? Cause we watched Jaws, it's kinda like chum and shark bait) Anyhoo, here's the recipe for Gazpacho I used, adapted from a recipe I saw on epicurious.com...

I didn't get a good pic of the gazpacho, so here's a pic of my brother's dog dressed like a shark!

Gazpacho
Serves 8(ish)

ingredients
3 cups chopped heirloom tomatoes (Thanks Half Pint Farms)
2 cups finely diced cucumbers, peeled and seeded
1 1/4 cups finely diced red onion
1 cup finely diced red bell pepper
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp minced fresh herbs (tarragon, thyme, or parsley)*I just used parsley
3 cups canned vegetable juice
1/4 cup red wine vinegar, or as needed
Juice of 1/2 lemon, or as needed
Several dashes of hot sauce (Crystal hot sauce was my choice)and several dashes of Worcestershire Sauce.
1 tsp salt, or as needed
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper

preparation
1. Reserve 1/2 cup each of the tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, and pepper for the garnish.
2. Puree the remaining tomato, cucumber, onion, and pepper in a food processor or blender along with the garlic, olive oil, and herbs until fairly smooth but with some texture remaining.
3. Transfer the puree to a mixing bowl. Stir in the tomato juice, the red wine vinegar, and lemon juice, hot sauce, worcestershire, and reserved diced veggies. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and chill thoroughly, at least 3 hours but preferably overnight.
4. After chilling, check the seasoning and adjust as needed. Serve in chilled bowls.



Next up, I had an abundance of peaches in my CSA and since I don't really love to bake, I wanted to get all savory with them. Grilled pork chops with grilled peach salsa happened. They were really good. Here's the recipe I used.

Grilled Pork Chops with Grilled Peach Salsa
Serves 4

ingredients
Peach salsa:
1/2 red onion, diced
2 peaches, halved, pitted, grilled until you get nice marks, then diced
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro leaves
Pinch kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Pork chops:
4 bone-in pork chops
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons cumin
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

preparation
Salsa:
In a bowl toss all of the salsa ingredients together and set aside.

Pork chops:
1. Heat an outdoor grill or grill pan over medium-high heat.
2. Brush the pork chops with the oil. In a small bowl combine the cumin, salt and pepper. Generously sprinkle the rub over both sides of each pork chop. Grill the chops until cooked through, about 4 to 6 minutes per side. Arrange the chops on a serving platter and let rest 5 minutes before serving.
3. Serve the chops with the peach salsa.



My favorite thing that I made this month was also insanely simple, but doesn't sound like it will be. Smoked chicken. No, I don't have a smoker, I used my grill and it was perfect. Also, according to some reviews of this recipe (from The Neely's on foodnetwork.com) you can do this in your oven too, if you don't have a grill. Though judging on how deliciously smoky my garage was for like a full week after making this dish, that could be a risk you run doing this inside.

Smoked Chicken
Serves 2 (with ample leftovers for smoked chicken salad!)

ingredients
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 whole chicken, halved
Hickory chips for smoking, as needed (Applewood is nice too)

preparation
1. In a medium size bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. Rub the seasoning over the both halves of the chicken. Cover the chicken with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
2. Place wood chips in the smoking tray of the grill. If you don't have this option you can make a packet out of aluminum foil and punch a few holes in the top of it with a fork and place directly on the hot coals.
3. Place the chicken on a hot grill over medium-heat with the meat side down. Grill over the wood chips for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Cover, this will keep in the smoke and to prevent oxygen from igniting the smoking wood. After 30 minutes turn the chicken to its opposite side. The juices near the bone should run clear.


Unfortunately I can't give you my chicken salad recipe. Because their isn't one. I just totally eye-ball and use what I have on hand. So basically, dice or shred cooked chicken, put in large bowl, mix in any or all of the following (celery, red onion, cucumber, dill, tarragon, parsley, scallion...you get the idea) and mix in however much mayonnaise you like and some S&P, done.

Enjoy!