Salads, cocktails will help your Eagle County summer gathering shine
kdriscoll@summitdaily.com
Jessica Smith / jsmith@summitdaily.com |
Tropical spinach salad with raspberry-poppy seed dressing
These salad recipes are courtesy of local PBS chef and author Christy Rost. For more tips on summer entertaining and additional recipes, visit http://www.christyrost.com.
1 bunch fresh spinach, washed, dried and stemmed
1 bunch salad greens
2 mangos, peeled and sliced
2 papaya, peeled and sliced
1 cup canned or fresh pineapple
½ cup jicama, cut into julienne
Dressing
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon dry mustard
½ teaspoon coarse salt
¼ cup red raspberry vinegar
1 ¼ tablespoons sweet onion, diced
¾ cup canola oil
1 teaspoon poppy seeds
On a large platter or individual salad plates, arrange fresh spinach, salad greens, mango, papaya, pineapple and jicama.
In a blender, combine the sugar, dry mustard, salt, raspberry vinegar and onion. Cover, and mix on low speed until just blended. With the blender on low speed, add the canola oil slowly in a steady stream until the dressing is thick and emulsified. Add the poppy seeds, and pulse several times to mix.
Spoon the dressing over the salad. Extra dressing may be poured into a jar, covered and stored in the refrigerator for several weeks.
Makes 4 to 6 servings.
White beans, arugula and dill with tarragon dressing
2 (15-ounce) cans Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
3 sprigs fresh dill, chopped
1 small bunch fresh arugula, stemmed and chopped
½ cup onion, diced
Dressing
2 tablespoons tarragon vinegar
2 to 3 drops white wine Worcestershire sauce
1 large clove garlic, peeled
½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
¼ cup olive oil
In a large mixing bowl, gently stir together the beans, dill, arugula and onion. Set aside.
In the bowl of a mini food processor, combine the tarragon vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, Dijon mustard, salt and pepper. Process until the mixture is smooth. Add the olive oil, and process until the dressing is creamy. Taste and adjust the seasoning, if necessary. Pour the dressing over the beans. Toss well, transfer the salad to a serving bowl, and serve. If desired, cover and chill 2 hours until cold.
Makes 6 servings.
Troy’s Old Fashioned
2 orange quarters
2 Luxardo cherries
1/2 ounce agave nectar
3 dashes angostura bitters
2 ouces Troy & Sons Oak Reserve Moonshine
Muddle fruit with agave, and then add liquor. Shake vigorously, and top with soda water. Recipe from Asheville Distilling Co. Find more recipes at http://www.ashevilledistilling.com.
Breckenridge Hurricane Colada
1½ ounces Breckenridge Bourbon
½ ounce Breckenridge Sipping Bitters
¼ ounce creme de banana
2 ounces cream of coconut
2 ounces pineapple juice
2 ounces passion fruit juice
Combine ingredients, and shake. Serve over ice, and top with whipped cream, toasted coconut and a drizzle of Dude Sweet Chocolate (bourbon-infused chocolate sauce). Recipe from Billie Keithley, Breckenridge Distillery. Find more recipes at http://www.breckenridgedistillery.com
The bluebird days of summer demand a lighter touch for entertaining. Cast away the heavy flavors of winter in favor of crisp salads, memorable cocktails and a laid-back ambiance.
“First of all, keep it casual,” said Christy Rost, Summit County PBS chef and author. “Be flexible because of the weather. An outdoor gathering may need to be transformed into an indoor gathering in a hurry. Stay relaxed about it — that’s OK. It doesn’t matter if you have to grab everything and move inside or if you are all set up outside and realize it might not be the best idea. It is the summertime; it is the mountains, a place where people come to relax. Approach things that way.”
Use local ingredients
To make any occasion noteworthy, start by featuring local ingredients.
Support Local Journalism
“They are so flavorful, so beautiful in color and texture, and to embrace that and encompass those fresh ingredients into your menus, I think it’s just the perfect way to approach entertaining,” Rost said. “Fresh flavors that everybody loves should be prepared simply. The flavor of a beautiful tomato or a peach from the Palisade area — it’s already that prefect peach or that perfect tomato, you don’t really need to do anything to it; it’s enjoyable by itself.”
Slice tomatoes and serve them with fresh greens from the farmers market or your own garden, garnished only with balsamic vinegar, extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, Rost said. Use a light hand with sauces, dressings and other rich ingredients to keep your menu in tune with the season.
“With winter menus, we tend to go for real hearty, robust flavors and foods that warm us up, make us feel warm and cozy,” Rost said. “Summer menus should make us feel fresh and free and relaxed and light. Nobody wants to go biking on a real heavy stomach. If you keep the menus light and easy and definitely fun, then I really think that’s the best way to approach summer menus.
“That’s why people love to grill in the summer so much. It allows you to be outdoors and some great chicken or ribs or bison, things like that, to just put on the grill, even burgers, and enjoy the process. And certainly whenever you host gatherings, people tend to hang out around the grill anyway and that becomes part of the entertainment factor.”
Make a splash
All of Summit County’s breweries offer summer-inspired beers, from an effervescent and refreshing lager or helles that pairs perfectly with fruits and vegetables to a slightly spicy wheat or pale ale that will stand up to grilled meats. Grab a growler or bomber to adorn your table, or pick up a liquor or liqueur from Colorado’s growing craft spirits industry and try your hand at mixology.
“If I’m going to go the spirits route, I like to have a signature cocktail, as opposed to just putting out a variety of things,” Rost said. “I like a signature cocktail because it infuses the gathering with a fun element. Very often, people will remember the gathering because of the signature cocktail.
“Use fun glassware and garnishes and then something that says, OK, this gathering is special and this is the cocktail du jour, whether that’s a margarita, straight up, or something that you use fruit in, maybe a watermelon margarita, a strawberry daiquiri — it looks pretty, and it’s delicious, it’s fun, people like that.”
Rost added that it’s also important for her get-togethers that the dining table looks pretty.
“I always spend a little bit of time on the table setting and that, too, makes the gathering,” she said. “Bright colors, lanterns for lighting in the evening, candles set into tall glass hurricane glasses — anything so it won’t blow out. For flowers, I either depend on something from the super market that I gather into casual containers or plants from the garden center that I can then put into the garden afterwards.
“I always believe that things don’t have to match on the table, so whether you’re here on vacation or you live in Summit County all the time, just pull the pretty colors and shapes and sizes together; it doesn’t all have to match.”
Rost said her favorite thing about summer entertaining is being outdoors, soaking up the High Country sunshine or basking in the cool evening breeze.
“I love hosting dinners or lunches on the veranda, where we can enjoy the view, enjoy the cool air, feel the breeze and delight in the smells of Colorado, smell that pine, smell the freshness,” she said. “I love that.”
