New Recipes of Summer

My goodness, summer went quickly! It was a season of delicious cooking and eating. Here is what I made, and also two recommendations for places to find new recipes to try.

1. If you're not a follower of the Woks of Life food blog, I highly recommend it! One of my favourite things I made this summer was their Asian Shrimp Salad. If you love cucumber, as I do, this will probably be to your taste (and the cucumber-averse could probably substitute peppers or another crunchy, watery vegetable). The recipe calls for using raw red onion, but I dislike raw onions in my salads, so I changed it by sauteing the onions, aromatics, and shrimp in the oil (rather than the just the shrimp, as instructed). I'd recommend making this change to the recipe.
2.  A small section of my cookbook collection is devoted to food from the United States, especially from New England. Erin French's two cookbooks are my favourites out of all of them. Her food often has an usual technique or combination ingredients--like a sweet cake made with parsnips and frosted with apricot-jam sweetened marscapone; or the Brown Sugar & Maple Glazed Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Fruit, which my mom and I made twice in quick succession when I was home. I will remember it as something to make for future dinner parties. Fruit and meat are not a combination I often use and it tasted wonderful. The instructions for the glaze don't work as written--at least on parents' gas stove, it didn't need to boil for nearly as hard or as long as the instructions said. Provided you keep a sharp eye on the glaze, it's a pretty perfect recipe.
   

July

• Shiitake, Kimchi, and Pineapple Fried Rice from Stir Crazy by Ching He Huang
• Edamame Mapo Tofu from Stir Crazy by Ching He Huang
• Beef and Kimchi Water Chestnuts from Stir Crazy by Ching He Huang
• Leek, Chard, and Corn Flatbread from Smitten Kitchen by Deb Perelman

 August

• Asian Shrimp Salad from Woks of Life
• Sabzi per eedu (Parsi-style eggs on vegetables) from Masala by Mallika Basu
  
• Brown Sugar & Maple Glazed Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Fruit from Big Heart, Little Stove by Erin French
• Lauryn's Hot-Sugar-Crust Peach Cake from Bake Smart by Samantha Seneviratne  

September

• Three Cup Tofu from Woks of Life
• Creamy Tomato Masala from Smitten Kitchen Keepers by Deb Perelman 
• Süddeutsche Lauchtore from Classic German Baking by Luisa Weiss
• Chicken Teriyaki with Green Peppers from Stir Crazy by Ching He Huang
• White Bean and Garlic Soup, from Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant