One minute we were dining alfresco. The next, I was alone-o.
That’s what happens when your friends dine & dash on you on a Fire & Wine night.
(For those of you who are new, Fire & Wine is our weekly girls’ night cooking event wherein I try to create something new without burning down the kitchen. )
To be fair, everyone had a legitimate reason to cut out early this week. And they told me in advance.
What I loved about this week’s Fire & Wine creation is that the fire risk was very low. In fact, had I managed to start a kitchen fire on this dish, we would probably have to ban me from ever stepping a toe in any kitchen again.
And that would be a sad thing.
Kind of like when your friends leave you after dinner.
I kid. I kid.
Back to the meal. I decided to try my hand at Salade Niçoise. I love nicoise salad. I’m pretty sure I first tried it in Germany when my folks lived there. It’s really much more than a salad. It’s quite the meal. And it’s nice and refreshing in the summer.
I served it family style, but you could plate it in individual portions.
I started looking in some of my cookbooks , but then I saw Elise at Simply Recipes had one. It was kind of over then, because if Elise has tried it, then it’s going to work and be delicious. It’s just that simple.
So I went with the Simply Recipes Nicoise Salad. And it was perfect. The only modification I made was a little extra Dijon in the dressing because I love Dijon. Also, do to a unfortunate incident, I only had five eggs.
But wait! You think I’m done yet?
In a unprecedented Fire & Wine occurence, I made dessert!
The perfect dessert for a summer meal. I’m pretty sure it will be a regular in future Quirky household meals.
Behold: raspberry sherbet.
Sherbet is something I’d never considered making because I don’t have any of that high fangled ice cream machinery.
This is not a statement of complaint. I don’t have room for any more gadgets, gizmos or processors in my kitchen.
But when I was searching for a salad recipe, I found myself reading one of my first cookbooks. Remember Anne from the bra party? (Don’t forget- special custom bra offer for Queen of Quirky readers!) Years ago, her mom introduced my mom to this fantastic cookbook gem out of Kansas City.
Image courtesy of Amazon.com where you can still buy it used
It’s called Beyond Parsley and it was published in 1984 by the Junior League of Kansas City. I call it a cookbook gem because it is really rather remarkable – both in the recipes and the photography.
When I got married the first time, Anne’s mom gave me my own copy of the book. It’s moved all over the country with me, but rarely been used. I wasn’t much of a cook in my first marriage. (My ex-husband would snort if he read that. But seriously. He was a picky pants and cooking just wasn’t fun with him. Mr. Quirky loves to try my food — even foods he historically hasn’t liked. He encourages me all the time, even in my mistakes. He’s kind of Mr. Amazing Quirky.)
So the cookbook was really just waiting for me to find myself in the kitchen. I’m so glad I did.
I’m also glad I tried the raspberry sherbet recipe. I’m even more glad I doubled it. You are going to freak out when you see how easy it is.
Ingredients
1 10 oz bag frozen raspberries, thawed
1 scant cup sugar (I love saying “scant cup.” My recipes never sound so fancy.)
1 cup of sour cream (I used light)
1/2 tsp of vanilla
Directions
Mash berries (I used a potato masher.) Combine ingredients. Stir well. Freeze.
You should really make this for your Fourth of July gathering. But be sure to double it because this only serves four, and I don’t know what kind of portion size they were thinking because my doubled recipe served five of us and there isn’t very much left.
Enjoy and keep it quirky this weekend!
A very quirky Independence Day