Dennys Food and Recipes: Summer Food: Easy Blueberry Heaven Trifle

  The Advocate photo/HEATHER MCCLELLAND

                                             
Dennys Food and Recipes: Summer Food: Easy Blueberry Heaven Trifle: From Denny:   Could this week get any hotter?  With 100 degree highs and a 115 degree heat index this summer is turning out to be a real scorcher.  It brings to mind a Downton Abbey episode when Lord Grantham was arm-twisted by the women of the family to quit drinking for six months until his health issue was confirmed or denied: "Good God, man! Steady on!"  Any time we don't like something or want to complain at our house that's our new go-to phrase for laughs.

Cooling summer desserts come to mind when the weather is uncooperatively too hot.  In fact, before the age of air conditioning it was custom to never eat a hot meal.  The vegetables were as cold as the meats on the plate.  You still see some of that mindset in places like Greece where the concept of a hot vegetable is considered strange.  They boil their vegetables and then chill them before even considering offering them to a guest or family.  With this kind of outrageous weather the idea sounds good!  It certainly takes the stress off the body for getting too hot.

What?! You've heard enough about the ridiculous hot weather and Greek culture?  How about this easy recipe that is kid friendly too that the family could help with this one.  This one is easy to assemble as it involves a purchased angel food cake torn into chunks, cream cheese (whipped or not), sweetened condensed milk, a box of Jell-O vanilla pudding, whipping cream, toasted pecans (Louisiana pecans, if you can get them, because they sure are wonderful) and a honking huge quart of fresh blueberries.  Remember, this trifle does serve 10 to 12 people.  Enjoy!...

Dennys Food and Recipes: Summer Food: Easy Blueberry Heaven Trifle

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Dennys Food and Recipes: Summer Food: Blueberry Lemonade To Beat The Heat

                                     The Advocate photo: HEATHER MCCLELLAND 


Dennys Food and Recipes: Summer Food: Blueberry Lemonade To Beat The Heat: From Denny:  Blue food.  It's pretty to look at and cooling in this summer heat.  Blueberries are the very essence of summer.  Did you know the silvery bloom on blueberries is a naturally protective waxy coating?

Most people don't wash them until just when ready to eat.  Well, that doesn't work in our house so I pour a large bowl of water, add about 2 Tablespoons of white vinegar and let the entire plastic box and blueberries soak for about 5 minutes to kill bacteria.  Drain the entire box well, dry off a bit with a towel and throw back into the fridge.  Usually, a reputable grocery store - and even from the farm - they give the berries a quick vinegar wash to brush off leaves and bugs.

We all like to dine on blueberries by the handfuls as snacks, toss them on to the breakfast cereal or yogurt and make breakfast muffins. Here's a new twist: how about blueberries in your homemade lemonade?

This interesting recipe (from our local newspaper food writer) combines two fruit syrups:  a blueberry syrup and a lemon syrup.  You only use the blueberry syrup to color the lemonade to your preference.  The remaining blueberry syrup can be used on pancakes, waffles, toast or even in salad dressings.  OK, you got me, this lemonade is so doggone pretty!  Great idea for summer entertaining...


Dennys Food and Recipes: Summer Food: Blueberry Lemonade To Beat The Heat

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Dennys Food and Recipes: BBQ Grilling: 3 Tasty Compound Butters To Compliment Your Recipes

Dennys Food and Recipes: BBQ Grilling: 3 Tasty Compound Butters To Compliment Your Recipes: From Denny:  Whether you are grilling or baking in the oven specially infused butters offer wonderful flavor choices to celebrate your food!  Chef Sara Moulton is known for easy recipes that can be done at home with a minimum of fuss.  She's also one of my favorite food teachers as she is so relaxed, giving even the novice cook a boost of confidence.

Her first recipe is for an herb butter.  Do you have some favorite herbs that you just can't cook without?  This recipe is all about your favorite combination of herbs, though she does suggest a few to get you started.  While you could substitute a Vidalia sweet onion in place of shallots, well, shallots are that much sweeter, and, oh, so wonderfully flavorful so try to find them in your area.  Shallots, a favorite of classically trained chefs, are usually in plentiful supply in the spring and summer months, often into autumn.

Are you more in the mood for a citrus butter?  Chef Moulton combines the zest and juice of lemons and limes for a sublime summer taste that everyone will enjoy.

How about something more substantial for those manly men who enjoy a great grilled steak?  Oh, this recipe is for you!  Combine this steak butter with Dijon mustard, a fresh finely minced garlic clove and Worchestershire sauce (we prefer Lea & Perrins at our house though you could use the brand you like),

If you can't grill outside just use a grill pan on the stovetop to get those prized grill marks, turn it over and place it in the oven to finish.  When ready to plate make sure the steak plate has been heating in the oven. Place a large slice of this steak butter onto the plate and then place the steak on top of the butter.  Talk about awesome taste as the butter melts on the very hot plate, spilling out like a gravy for your steak!  That's the method all the old steakhouses of the 1940's and 1950's used before restaurants went to open charcoal or wood fired grilling.

The beauty of all these butters is that all you have to do is roll them into logs and wrap in plastic wrap and aluminum foil and freeze until ready to use.  Just slice off the amount you need and return it to the freezer.  How simple is that?  You can make these up way ahead of when you will need them...

Dennys Food and Recipes: BBQ Grilling: 3 Tasty Compound Butters To Compliment Your Recipes

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