Cook’s Corner: Summertime dishes ahead of the Fourth

This week I have three new recipes that I have made or been served recently…two cool and summertime dishes and the third an old favorite that I made for neighbors. This first recipe is just right with any meat, especially barbecue. 

Blue Cheese Apple Walnut Cabbage Slaw

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup sour cream

1 cup blue cheese, crumbled, plus 1/4 cup more of the same

2 t. garlic powder

2 t. salt

2 t. black pepper

1 cup chopped Granny Smith apple

2/3 cup candied walnuts, chopped

1 (8 1/2 oz.) bag shredded red and green cabbage and carrot coleslaw mix

In a mixing bowl, combine mayonnaise, sour cream, 1 cup blue cheese, and seasonings (to taste), stirring until creamy. Stir in chopped apple. Place slaw mix in a large bowl. Pour mayonnaise mixture over, stirring until well-coated.

Cover and refrigerate overnight. Sprinkle walnuts and remaining 1/4 cup blue cheese over slaw before serving. Note: original recipe calls for less blue cheese…just use to your own taste. Serves four. Cindy Posey.

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Last week, I made dinner and this quiche for next-day breakfast for my neighbors in thanks for a big favor they’d done me. I hadn’t made the quiche in years, but had sausage on hand, so decided to make that. Aside from just browning the sausage, it is so easy to put together and freezes beautifully. I love quiche, too, because you can cut a slice and nuke it for a minute or so and it comes out just right. As always, I used a red box Pillsbury roll-out pie dough and it never disappoints.

Laurie’s Sausage Quiche

1 (9 inch) pie crust, unbaked

1 lb. pork sausage, like Jimmy Dean

1/4-1/2 cup chopped green onion

5 eggs

3/4 cup whole milk

1/8 t. nutmeg

2 cups grated Swiss cheese

2 cups grated Cheddar cheese

1 t. Parmesan cheese

1 t. paprika

Brown sausage in skillet, breaking it up with a wooden spoon or using a potato masher, until it is well-cooked. Drain on paper towels. In a bowl, whisk eggs with milk and nutmeg. Put half of the sausage in the pie shell, followed by half of the cheeses. Repeat layers one more time. Pour egg mixture over all. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Sprinkle with Parmesan and paprika and bake for another 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned and firm. Baking on the bottom rack of the oven helps the bottom of the crust brown as well. Let sit for 10 minutes before cutting. Serves 6-8.

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Finally today, here is a new recipe that I tried when Collin and family were here a few weeks ago. I love the combination of chocolate and mint, and this tasted so fresh and cool that it is a new favorite. Collin and Reagan thought it would have been better with maybe 3/4 cup mint instead of a full cup, but I liked it with the stronger mint flavor. Either way, delicious! The recipe calls for a chocolate wafer cookie crust, but I prefer a regular pie pastry so that’s how I made it. Your choice!

Fresh Mint Chocolate Pie

Crust:

1 (9 oz.) pkg. chocolate wafer cookies (such as Nabisco famous), finely crushed

5 T. unsalted butter, melted

3 T. sugar

Pie Filling:

2 1/2 cups whole milk

1 cup (or less, to taste) packed mint sprigs

5 large egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

3 T. cornstarch

1/8 t. kosher salt

4 T. unsalted butter, cut into 1 T. pieces

4 oz.. semisweet chocolate candy bar (such as Ghirardelli), chopped 

1 (1 oz.) unsweetened chocolate baking square, chopped

2 t. vanilla extract

Topping:

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1/3-1/2 cup powdered sugar

Heat oven to 350 degrees. If making a cookie crust, stir together crushed cookies, melted butter and sugar. Firmly press mixture into bottom and up sides of a 9-inch pie plate. Bake until just set, about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack, about 20 minutes. (If using regular pie crust, fit dough pastry into pie plate and flute edges. Prick all over with a fork and let sit on the counter for 30 minutes. Bake at 425 degrees until browned, about 7 minutes, but watch it carefully. Cool on wire rack.)

For filling, heat milk in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat until it just comes to a simmer. Stir in mint sprigs and remove from heat. Cover and let steep for 15 minutes. Remove and discard the mint.

In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch and salt. Very slowly whisk half of the steeped milk into the egg mixture. Whisk this tempered egg mixture back into the remaining steeped milk in the saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, whisking constantly. Cook in this way until thickened and bubbly, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low; stir in butter. Add both chocolates and vanilla, stirring until melted. Remove from heat.

Pour or spoon filling into the cooled crust. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 4 hours. 

Beat whipping cream with whisk attachment until almost stiff. Add powdered sugar and beat on high until stiff peaks form. Top pie with whipped cream. You may garnish with mint leaves and chocolate shavings if you like. Serves eight.

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I’d love to have you share your favorite recipes for lighter, cooler dishes if you have a favorite or two that fit that bill! Just email me at laurienowjung@gmail.com! Thanks to Cindy for sharing today. Stay as cool as you can!

Laurie Locke was born and raised in Georgetown, and has written her “Cook's Corner” column for the Sun since the early 1980s. Her lifelong interest in cooking grew into owning Laurie's, a specialty food and catering business, from 1994-2000.