Menu 18: Summer at Its Best

This is a really wonderful summertime menu. Spicy Shrimp with Garlic and Oil, a loaf of crusty bread, your favorite salad or the Cherry Tomato, Mozzarella, and Corn Salad on my June 27, 2009 blog, with a delicious Berry Crumble for dessert. If you want to fancy it up a bit, you could add a first course of cold Yogurt and Cucumber Soup from my August 3, 2009 blog. Happy eating.

Spicy Shrimp with Garlic and Oil
I love the ease of cooking shrimp in their shells. Peeling and deveining shrimp is not one of my favorite kitchen activities. But I also love sucking the juices off the shrimp before peeling them at the table. And the peeling them myself slows me down and makes me anticipate and then fully appreciate their luscious flavor.

1 pound large or medium shrimp, in their shells
1/3 cup olive oil
6 cloves garlic or more if you are a garlic lover, slivered
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
¼ teaspoon crushed red peppers or ½ teaspoon smoky hot paprika
½ teaspoon salt or to taste
2 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley

1. Rinse the shrimp and pat them dry.
2. In a skillet large enough to hold all the shrimp in a single layer, heat the oil over moderately high heat. When the oil is hot but not smoking, add the garlic, thyme, crushed red peppers or paprika, salt and shrimp. Toss to coat with oil, cook, stirring occasionally, just until the shrimp are pink, 4 to 5 minutes.
3. Remove the pan from the heat, and with a slotted spoon, transfer the shrimp to a warmed serving platter or to warmed individual plates. Pour the sauce over the shrimp, sprinkle lightly with the parsley. Serve immediately with paper napkins and plenty of bread to sop up the sauce.

3-4 servings for dinner
Adapted from Patricia Wells’ Trattoria

Individual Blackberry Crumbles
I wanted to include this recipe before berries left the Farmers' Markets around the country. Right now in Sonoma, blackberries from Andrea Davis' stand at the Friday market are at their prime but she's worried that the cold weather we've been having may slow down the ripening and sweetening. You'll remember her from my October 8, 2009 blog about her Quarter Acre Farm. Let's hope we have a spell of hot weather so those berries continue to thrive. And the tomatoes.

3 cups blackberries or comparable amount of blueberries or raspberries or a mix of all three
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup flour plus 1 tablespoon
½ cup firmly-packed brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons oats (quick-cooking or regular)
2 tablespoons chopped candied ginger
6 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
Serve with vanilla ice cream, lightly sweetened whipped cream, crème fraiche or mascarpone mixed with a little sugar and milk or cream.

1. Place the berries, sugar and 1 tablespoon flour in a bowl and stir to mix. Divide the berries into four shallow ovenproof bowls.
2. Place the brown sugar, baking powder, salt, oats, and remaining flour in a bowl (you can use the same berry bowl) and mix well. Add the butter, rubbing it in with your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. You can also use a pastry cutter.
3. Sprinkle the berries with this mixture. Bake at 400ºF. for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and bubbling. Serve warm with one of the suggested toppings.
You can make this in one larger container, such as a gratin dish, without any changes.

4 servings
Adapted from Bill Granger’s Sydney Food