Pasta with raw tomato sauce -- chopped tomatoes fresh from the garden, basil ditto, a little olive oil -- maybe fresh mozzarella, parmigiano reggiano -- maybe toasted pine nuts.
This is a fun mouth-watering thread...
We have a casual BBQ every Fourth of July: grilled burgers and teriyaki or tikka chicken (on a charcoal grill, which sets the mood), sesame noodles, ice-cold beer, deviled eggs, caprese salad, flash-boiled NJ corn-on-the-cob, watermelon, brownies, ice cream, strawberries.... and friends always bring great salads or wine... we set out three long tables into one very long table and pull up every chair we own... it is really the best day of summer. Then we walk down to the fireworks in Narberth, PA.
So many things - many listed here already. Also if by the shore, steamers, lobster rolls, fried clams, fritto misto. If anywhere, melon or figs with prosciutto, salade nicoise (with good canned tuna in olive oil,) fresh raspberries, peach, plum or blueberry tart/cobbler/pie with homemade ice cream, a glass of rose, prosecco or vinho verde...
But for me the quintessential is probably a perfect BLT, made with great thick cut bacon, just picked ripe tomatoes and homemade mayo. No need to get cute with newfangled additions. That and a glass of cold rose and I'm a happy girl.
Fried zucchini flowers stuffed with fresh ricotta and goat cheese. In June, fresh local spot prawns, barely cooked; later in the summer, grilled wild salmon or halibut Just picked produce from my garden, especially fresh basil, arugula and tomatoes. To finish, anything made with local blueberries or raspberries or strawberries AND homemade ice cream.
Greens and tomatoes from my garden with a light basil dressing, a goat cheese with lavender spread, corn on the cob, grilled shrimp with a chilled New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. For dessert fresh strawberries and watermelon. This is to be eaten out of doors.
Paella, which is traditionally cooked outside over a WOOD fire, no briquettes. In fact I just did that last night with local spot prawns and chicken thighs (surf and turf). Favorite summer meal.
A large platter of antipasto - cheeses, prosciutto, salami, roasted veg, olives, prawns, tuna, anchovies, butter beans, sun dried tomato, etc etc and bread sticks and baguette. Let everyone pick and choose with a nice glass or two or three of chianti.
Corn--when it's fresh, I can easily make a meal out of it--grilled with cultured butter or in the Mexican style; corn fritters; sautéed corn and jalapeños; even raw with sea salt. And then tomatoes with good olive oil, salt, and pepper. Add a cold beer and a grilled peach stuffed with goat cheese and you have summer.
Everything grilled and anything involving fresh tomatoes and/or corn. Oh, and making open faced sandwiches from a big bowl of shrimp, crusty bread, mayo, lemon, and dill, with lots of chilled white wine or rose to accompany.
Lobster and fried clams on vacation, grilled vegetables with good olive oil and salt, my husband's famous ribs, hotdogs at ball games, tomato-blue cheese-red onion salad, ice cream (ok I eat that year round).
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We have a casual BBQ every Fourth of July: grilled burgers and teriyaki or tikka chicken (on a charcoal grill, which sets the mood), sesame noodles, ice-cold beer, deviled eggs, caprese salad, flash-boiled NJ corn-on-the-cob, watermelon, brownies, ice cream, strawberries.... and friends always bring great salads or wine... we set out three long tables into one very long table and pull up every chair we own... it is really the best day of summer. Then we walk down to the fireworks in Narberth, PA.
But for me the quintessential is probably a perfect BLT, made with great thick cut bacon, just picked ripe tomatoes and homemade mayo. No need to get cute with newfangled additions. That and a glass of cold rose and I'm a happy girl.
Peaches any way for dessert.
I like a glass of chilled vinho verde, sautéed corn, sliced tomatoes or a panzanella, and some grilled sausages and vegetables.
Let everyone pick and choose with a nice glass or two or three of chianti.
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