Gal Two Reports - July

July's menu was a home run! Way to go Gal One! I enjoyed making and eating every dish. Even my picky Mr. Two liked 99% of this months menu.

So on to the fun part, all the food prep details!

The first thing I made was the dessert. Since the dough had to chill and I needed the oven for dinner, I decided to make this ahead (earlier in the day). I only made one batch of pastry though; my food processor isn't big enough to handle that entire recipe, and my freezer isn't big enough to fit one more thing inside! But the pastry was EASY to make.

Then came the filling. Note- I missed the part about needed the food processor again, so I just used an old fashioned pastry cutter to mix the topping. But if you don't want to do that, keep yours handy! The filling was also easy to make, just a bit tedious due to all the cutting, and particularly, peeling the peaches. But it's worth it! I also LOVED the fresh orange juice called for and drank what I didn't use. YUM!

So after about 1.5 hours I took the dough out of the fridge and rolled it (immediately) into an 11 inch circle. Another note  - Roll it out a bit larger because there is a LOT of topping and mine barely fit! However, I did get everything heaped together and it baked without any issues or leaks.

Last note- the directions tell you to move the whole giant thing after cooling for 5 minutes with 2 large spatulas ... yeah right!! I moved it with the parchment paper and then slid the parchment paper right out from under it once on the cooling rack. Quite easy and much less dangerous!

It smells fabulous! Here are the pictures:  

Closer to dinner (but still a bit ahead) I washed and cut my broccoli and assembled the ingredients for that dish. I also toasted the pine nuts. Note - pine nuts are NOT optional, they were so good in that dish! I did not use cheese due to Mr. Two, but didn't miss it. I cut the recipe in half here, but not the sauce and then I just added as much sauce as I wanted at the end.

I started my pasta dish a bit too soon when dinner time came. I forgot all about having to rest the salmon... but it all worked out in the end! Beware of the lemon; if you don't love it you might want to cut back a bit because you can definitely taste it in the pasta! Like a whole lot. And that's coming from a lemon lover.

I also decided to put together the sauce for the fish a little ahead of time. Good thing! I found myself googl-ing how to cut scallions and how to use ginger, etc. These ingredients were all very unfamiliar and a little intimidating to work with. That said, it wasn't a hard process, just new. Still glad I wasn't trying to assemble that last minute. I cut the sauce in half since I wasn't using as much fish and it made more than enough!

I used frozen salmon due to cost issues! I made sure to totally thaw it, then it went back in the fridge until I was ready. I had issues keeping the panko on the fish while pouring the remaining sauce over top. But again, it worked out and I baked it exactly as directed (the shorter time) and rested it under foil for 10 minutes. Perfectly done fish! My only issue was that it was quite salty. (And I used low sodium soy sauce). Just beware. I also cut back on the chili paste, which I was glad I did. Overall the flavor was delicious!

The tomato salad was another hit. Very light, a bit sweet and perfect with the fish! I got to use fresh basil from my little herb garden. We obviously didn't make the entire recipe for 2 people, but it was really EASY and FAST and GOOD.

The final dinner was great! Even cutting all the recipes in half left us with tons of food and very full. The dishes went really well together; the salmon is so strong and flavorful that the lighter, fresh pasta and tomato salads were just the perfect thing! An excellent menu; very fresh and summery. I think I'll make this again for sure!

Last, but not least, dessert was AMAZING!! I sliced my fruit really thin and I think that is a must since it doesn't bake long. The crust was crunchy and buttery and the filling was soft and yummy, but not overly sweet. Perfect with ice cream! And also quite good for breakfast the following day ... :)