Remember when I said I was constantly trying to come up with new salad combinations to take the monotony out of summer meals? Well, this isn’t one of them.
Meaning this, like the family potato salad, is the same recipe I’ve been using for over 15 years. And this, like the family potato salad, is classically delicious.
I never get to watch TV anymore. There always seems to be something, or someone, that needs tending to. Long gone are the days of sitting around on the couch in sweatpants, watching Food Network all morning. So, I relish the moments when Chonker and Picky Eater both happen to be asleep at the same time (which is pretty much never) and I get to indulge in a few hours of “food porn.”
The idea for this week’s two-fer is the brainchild of one such indulgent occasion. I was watching an episode of Kelsey’s Essentials on the Cooking Channel and she happened to be making fried “cakes” with a lemon garlic risotto. I was mesmerized. The wheels automatically started turning and I completely forgot about the six loads of laundry I was trying to fold before afternoon chaos ensued. (I paid for that later when the six loads somehow became eight. Funny how that happens.)
Anyhow, I digress… Wheels were turning and this is what happened next:
Butternut Squash, Sage & Thyme Pureé AND Butternut Squash & Pancetta Risotto Cakes.
I grew up in Upstate New York, where rhubarb grew rampant in our backyard like a weed. All summer long we would feast on homemade treats like rhubarb preserves, rhubarb crumble and rhubarb custard pies. I have very fond memories of my mom tricking me into trying it raw, then laughing her ass off at my sour-puss face.
Oh mom, you’re a real piece of work.
Seriously though, she would make the most delicious things with the stuff. Unfortunately, now that I live in Arizona, I have to track it down and stockpile the goods when rhubarb is in season. And by ‘in season’ I mean, one week out of the year. Sigh.
Seems extreme, I know. But then I bust out a gem like this strawberry rhubarb pie and the hours of trekking from store to store, farmers market to farmers market, become a distant memory.
I mean, come on. Look at this thing.
