It’s hot! I dare say it’s even too hot to cook. A couple of weeks ago, July 4th to be exact, I thought it would be fun to test some new recipes for my catering menu. By using my oven during the middle of the day, I succeeded in raising the temperature of the entire house to a toasty 77 degrees. The outside temperature was roughly 95 degrees in the shade at the time. My poor air conditioner struggled and ran and blew and the temperature would not go down – not even one degree. So, I’m stuck on a holiday that also happened to land on a weekend with the fear, (terror!) that my two sweet tabby cats and I were going to melt before I could schedule a service call on the following Monday. Long hot story cut short, Eric Swanson saved the day by immediately responding to my panicked text and directing me to turn off the A/C while leaving the fan running for 30 minutes. It worked like a charm. Much like a computer, turning off your air conditioner and giving it a reset is the thing to do. What does this have to do with cooking you might ask? Well, ever since my Independence Day weekend hot box experience, I’ve been consciously trying to keep my stove use to a minimum on the very hottest days. A crockpot is a wonderful resource for cooking meat. So is an outdoor grill. Using the oven for short periods of time, in the early morning or late evening hours, helps a bunch too. Salads and other refrigerated offerings make great side dishes. This week’s recipes will help keep your home as cool as a cucumber. Hang in there, y’all. We’ve still got a couple more hot months ahead. Stay cool.
Summer Corn Salad with Lime Vinaigrette
For the vinaigrette:
¼ cup fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ cup olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate any unused vinaigrette.
For the salad:
3 ears fresh corn, cooked and removed from cobbs
2 baby cucumbers, sliced
¾ cup diced grape tomatoes
2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley
Zest of one lime
Place all ingredients in a salad bowl; toss gently to combine. Drizzle with desired amount of lime vinaigrette and garnish with fresh lime zest. Serves 3 to 4.
Crockpot Short Ribs
Beef short ribs are flavorful, well-marbled cuts from the chuck, plate, or rib sections of a cow. They earn their name because they contain short pieces of bone and thick, rich meat. Because they are dense with fat and connective tissue, they are perfect for slow cooking.
1¼ – 2 pounds beef short ribs
Salt and pepper
¾ cup BBQ sauce
⅓ cup steak sauce
¼ cup vinegar and pepper BBQ sauce
Season ribs with salt and pepper and place in crock pot. Add BBQ sauce, steak sauce and vinegar and pepper BBQ sauce. Cover and cook on high for 4 to 6 hours or until tender. Serves 3 to 4. *I used Sweet Baby Rays BBQ Sauce, Heinz 57 Steak Sauce, and Scott’s BBQ Sauce from Goldsboro, NC.
Peach Galette
A galette is a rustic, open-faced pie. It’s made by rolling out a single layer of pastry dough, topping the center with fresh fruit tossed with sugar and spices, and folding over the exposed edges of the dough to hold it all together. You can use this same recipe with strawberries, blueberries, apples – almost every type of fruit will work.
1 refrigerated pie crust
4 medium peaches, unpeeled and sliced
¼ cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch
Pinch of cinnamon
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cold salted butter, cut into small pieces
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Carefully unroll pie crust on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Place peach slices in a bowl. Add brown sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon. Toss gently with a spoon until peaches are well coated. Arrange peaches on pie crust in a circle about 2 inches from the edge. Fold the outer edge of the crust over the peaches, crimping when necessary. Brush the crust with beaten egg. Sprinkle entire galette, including the crust, with granulated sugar. Dot the peach filling with pieces of cold butter. Bake for 30 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Cool galette on a wire baking rack for 5 minutes before serving. Serves 6.
The writer owns Catering by Debbi Covington and is the author of three cookbooks, Celebrate Beaufort, Celebrate Everything! and Dining Under the Carolina Moon. Debbi’s website address is www.cateringbydebbicovington.com. She may be reached at 843-525-0350 or by email at debbicovington@gmail.com.
