June Supper Club - BBQ

June Supper Club - BBQ

In June, we met at Katharina's house for a BBQ. We had some wonderful dishes prepared on the grill.

For a starter, Lauren prepared grilled polenta slices with onions, goat cheese and honey:

We also enjoyed a very sweet water melon that Christiane brought:

For our main course, Katharina made chicken and bell pepper skewers with a garlic dip as well as baked potatoes:

Sara brought a Caprese salad:

Kim grilled some summer squash and made them into a salad:

Grilled Summer Squash with Blue Cheese and Pecans

For grilled squash with a uniformly crisp texture, chef Vivian Howard of Chef & the Farmer in North Carolina cuts her squash lengthwise into quarters and then removes the seedy interior.  This gorgeous summer squash salad is tossed with a bright, lemony dressing.

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup pecan halves

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

Kosher salt

Pepper

2 pounds mixed zucchini, summer squash and pattypan squash

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest 

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon thyme leaves

2 ounces blue cheese, crumbled

Grilled bread, for serving

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 375°. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the pecans with the butter and 1/2 teaspoon of salt and roast until fragrant and browned, about 10 minutes. Let cool completely,

then coarsely chop.

2. Quarter the zucchini and summer squash lengthwise and cut off the soft, seedy center. Cut any large pattypans in half lengthwise —You'll want all of the pieces to be roughly the same size. In a

large bowl, toss all of the squash with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Thread the pattypan squash onto metal skewers for easy grilling.

3. Light a grill. Grill all of the squash over moderately high heat, turning once, until lightly charred and tender, about 10 minutes. Cut the zucchini and summer squash into 2-inch lengths; transfer

to a large bowl. Remove the pattypans from the skewers and add to the bowl.

4. In a small bowl, whisk the lemon zest and juice with the honey, thyme and the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil; season with salt and pepper. Add the lemon vinaigrette to the grilled squash

and toss. Transfer to a serving bowl and top with the crumbled blue cheese and toasted pecans. Serve with grilled bread.

recipe by Vivian Howard, Food & Wine June 2016

For dessert, we enjoyed Rebecca's vanilla buttermilk pound cake with grilled nectarines and yogurt-cream topping and a glass of champage brought by Christiane:

Vanilla Buttermilk Pound Cake (from Cooking Light):

13.5 ounces all-purpose flour (about 3 cups)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups sugar

3/4 cup butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 large eggs

1 1/3 cups low-fat buttermilk

Cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flour and next 3 ingredients (through salt); stir with a whisk. Place sugar, butter, and vanilla in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture and buttermilk to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
3. Spoon batter into 2 (8.5" x 4") loaf pans coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350°F for 45-50 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes on a wire rack. Remove from pans. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Grilled Nectarines:

Cut ripe nectarines in half and remove pits.
Brush each half with a little canola oil.
Grill, cut side down, until the nectarines are warm and have light grill marks.

Yogurt Whip Cream:

Combine 1/4 cup 2% plain Greek Yogurt. 1 Tbsp. vanilla bean paste (or extract) and 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream in a cold bowl.  Whip until soft peaks form.  Keep chilled until ready to use.

To serve:

Slice the pound cake and either serve as is or grill it to lightly toast the cake before putting it on the plate.  Set a nectarine on the plate and fill the hollow with vanilla cream.