I cut this out of one of the spring issues of Bon Appetit - the article was focused on spring vegetables and specifically morels for this one. I used dried ones that I had soaked in water and they were really good - probably not as good as fresh but I can't get them here. The morels have ridges that soak up the wonderful sauce. I also substituted baby vidalia onions (they look like huge scallions) for the leeks which worked great.

Spring Vegetable Fricassee with Saffron Cream

4 servings

2 cups baby carrots
1 cup shelled fresh peas or frozen peas thawed

1 Tbls. olive oil
1 small onion, thinly sliced
2 shallots, thinly sliced
1 leek (white part only) halved, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp. saffron threads
3/4 cup fresh morel mushrooms
1 tsp. chopped fresh thyme
1/2 cup white wine
2/3 cup vegetable broth
1 1/3 cups whipping cream
1/2 lb. asparagus
4 cups baby spinach leaves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter 1 quart baking dish. Cook carrots in a large pot of boiling salted water 2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer carrots to medium bowl.

Heat oil in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion; saute 1 minute. Add shallots; saute 1 minute. Add leek and saute until vegetables are soft, about 4 minutes longer (do not brown). Stir in saffron. Add carrots, mushrooms and thyme. Season with salt and pepper. Add wine and simmer until almost dry, about 3 minutes. Add broth and simmer 4 minutes. Add cream and bring to simmer. Stir in peas, asparagus, and spinach. Transfer to prepared baking dish and bake until edges are bubbling and top begins to brown, about 30 minutes.

I still had left over Guava paste so I found this recipe on Food & Wine - it's from Steven Raichlen who has a few grilling cookbooks. The BBQ sauce is alot less sweet than the last one we tried. Both are good but very different. The chinese spice rub on this would also be good by itself on ribs or even pork tenderloin.

Rub the ribs with the spice mixture and cook like you would normally cook ribs. At the end of the cooking time, brush the ribs with the guava BBQ sauce.

Chinese Style Ribs with Guava Barbecue Sauce

Spice Rub

2 Tbls. sugar
1 Tbls. salt
1 Tbls. dry mustard
1 tsp. Chinese five spice powder
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves

Guava BBQ Sauce

8 ounces canned guava paste
1/3 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup dark rum
3 Tbls. tomato paste
3 Tbls. lime juice
1 Tbls. soy sauce
1 Tbls. Worcestershire sauce
2 tsps. minced fresh ginger
1 scallion, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup water
Salt and pepper

Bring all of the ingredients to a boil. Simmer over low heat, until reduced to 1 1/4 cups, about 15 minutes.

I'm still on my grilled vegetable kick. We're going to a family dinner and they've requested that I bring this salad - they've seen it before. It's basically pasta with any grilled vegetables with a baked garlic dressing. The recipe below is exactly as I made it this last time but I vary it alot.

Pasta Salad with Grilled Vegetables

Serves 8 to 10

1 box pasta (I used the tri-color curly ones)
3 zucchinis, cut lengthwise into 1/3 inch pieces
1 red onion, cut into 1/3 inch pieces
1 eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 yellow bell peppers
2 heads of garlic
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper
olive oil and balsamic vinegar for basting on the grill

Cut off the tops of the garlic heads, put them in foil, drizzle with olive oil, wrap them up and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. When cool, squeeze the garlic cloves into a food processor. Add the 1/2 cup olive oil and 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar to the garlic and process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. You may want to add some more olive oil - it depends on the size of your garlic heads.

Cook the pasta per the directions, drain and put in a large bowl.

Cook the bell peppers on a baking sheet in a 400 degree oven until they are charred - about 25 minutes. Let cool and then peel and seed and cut into bite size pieces and add them to the bowl.

Grill the zucchini, onion and eggplant basting them with a mixture of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. They should be soft but still hole their shape. Cut them into bite size pieces and add them to the bowl.

Add the dressing to the bowl and toss.

This is the other veggie grilling recipe I tried from this months Bon Appetit. It called for adding 1 Tbls. chopped summer savory but I wasn't sure what it would add.

BBQ Onion Steaks with Honey-Mustard Sauce

4 to 6 servings

1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbls. butter, melted
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup honey
1 1/2 tsps. Worcestershire sauce

2 large sweet onions, peeled, cut horizontally into 1/2 inch thick slices.

Prepare barbecue for medium-high heat. Whisk oil and butter in a small bowl. Whisk mustard, honey and worcestershire sauce in a small bowl.

Skewer the onions so they stay together while cooking. Brush both sides of the onion slices with oil mixture. Grill until beginning to char, turning and brushing often with the oil mixture, about 11 minutes. Brush top side of onions with mustard mixture and cook until mixture begins to bubble, about 2 minutes. Turn onions; brush with mustard mixture and grill until beginning to caramelize, about 1 minute longer. Transfer onions to plate and brush one more time with the mustard mixture.

I love grilling vegetables all year long - I have an indoor electric one that I use when I don't want to stand over a hot fire. Last night I tried this recipe from Bon Appetit's July issue along with the next grilled onion recipe - both were really good for a change since I usually just baste them with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Scoring the zucchini was something I had never tried and it worked well to get the basting flavors all over. We also had the honey mustard baste on some salmon - yummy.

Grilled Zucchini with Garlic and Lemon Butter Baste

8 servings

8 medium zucchini, trimmed, and halved lengthwise
1/2 cup butter
2 Tbls. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. lemon pepper seasoning
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. curry powder

Preheat the barbecue to medium heat. Score the cut side of the zucchini halves diagonally about 1/4 inch deep at 1 inch intervals.

Melt the butter with lemon juice, lemon-pepper seasoning, garlic powder, oregano, and curry powder in a heavy small saucepan. Season with salt and pepper. Brush seasoned butter on cut side of zucchini. Place zucchini on grill and cook until charred on all sides and just beginning to soften, about 12 minutes. Transfer zucchini to platter.