Cedar Plank Salmon

Technically, grilling season is almost over. But I’m not ready to start cooking inside just yet…you’ve never been in my kitchen in the summer. It is just too hot! So I spent a lot of the summer in the yard cooking. I figured out that meat and chicken aren’t the only thing you can cook on the grill. I decided to change it up a little and make some salmon using cedar planks I picked up from Whole Foods. I’ve never actually eaten plank salmon, and I don’t really like strong smokey flavors…talk about an impulse buy. But since I bought the planks, I had to try it. Turns out, the salmon was great! It wasn’t too smokey, but definitely tasted different and stronger than if it was just cooked in the oven. There was no fishy flavor, and the simple topping imparted the perfect amount of spicy sweetness. I’m definitely going to be using these planks a lot this grilling season.

Sour Cream Cake

I never knew that sour cream was such a good baking ingredient! Apparently this is common knowledge, though. So I can’t really say I discovered it, but it is something new that I learned, and I’m happy to have a way to use up extra sour cream from Mexican-themed dinners.

I found this recipe in a wonderful cookbook I received as a wedding gift (thanks, Ethel!). It was the first thing I tried from this book, and I’m looking forward to sharing more of its recipes with you.

Engagement Cake

I mean, chocolate cake with marshmallow frosting!

Happy wedding day Helen and Joe!

This is the cake we made for their engagement party, our first ever attempt at a tiered cake. Helen requested chocolate, so when we found a recipe for deeply chocolate cake with marshmallow frosting, we knew we had to try it. Of course, since it was such a special occasion, a simple layered cake was not enough. We decided to make it tiered, with a flowery cake topper and everything.

Soba Noodles with Vegetables

This was served as the side dish with my broiled tofu, which Martha Stewart suggested as a meal. Well, I will always listen to Martha, because this was a great meal! Maybe I would have considered this the main dish and the tofu the side dish, but I served them on the same plate at the same time, so whatever. It’s delicious nonetheless.

Broiled Black Pepper Tofu with Ginger Lemon Dipping Sauce

Soooo remember when I was freaking out about that almost-exploding tofu package? I had been preparing to make this meal. And I made it anyway, but I bought a new package of tofu, because I didn’t want to risk anything.

Think you don’t like tofu? That’s probably not true; you just have to cook it the right way. I’ve made a slimy tofu before, but you just have to cook it the right way and it’s great! And it’s as easy as broiling it for less than 10 minutes.

Mushroom Risotto

Risotto has a reputation of being impossible to make. You have to sit there and stir constantly, your arm tired and burning over the hot stove. Well, I’m here to tell you that this is not the case! Making risotto can be easy, and doesn’t take so long. I thought I was taking on a much harder project than it turned out to be.

Meatless Monday: Roasted Corn Salad

Summer corn is here! That means that we eat lots of corn and get it stuck in our teeth. Yuck! This corn salad is a better way to eat that same corn without getting anything stuck in your teeth!

Blueberry Ice Cream

It’s blueberry season! Even though I can eat whole pints of these plain, I love to experiment with them and see what great desserts I can make. This time, I decided on ice cream. I love strawberry ice cream, so why not try to use blueberries instead? This would be amazing over a summer peach tart.

Spicy Tuna Tacos

I have been wanting to make fish tacos for a long time; it’s always what we order at Mexican restaurants! We often have Mexican-style dinners at home, but they’re usually either chopped meat-based or bean/vegetarian tacos. This recipe was slightly more work than our typical taco night, but was much more fun and delicious. Plus, I had been meaning to use the frozen tuna steaks I bought at Trader Joe’s.

The fun in this meal is that you put all of the taco components on the table and then you build your own dinner.

Sugarplum Cobbler

I never ate a sugar plum before this weekend, but when I saw them at the Greenmarket on Friday I decided to be brave and try something new instead of going with something I knew I loved, like blueberries. I like plums, after all, and sugar plums seemed to me like they were just cute, sweet plums.

Well, that’s basically what they are, but I didn’t finish the whole basket and after sitting on the counter ripening (I probably should have stored them in the fridge) they became rather mushy. So I decided to turn them into a cobbler and whipped up an easy biscuit recipe to spread on top.