Potato and Zucchini Salad with Dill

Last week while in Marksbury Farm Market, I saw some local zucchini begging me to buy it.  Strange since I'm not zucchini's biggest fan.  It must have known that I needed to branch out and continue trying it, and somehow it ended up in my shopping bag.  When I got home, however, I wasn't really sure what to do with it.  We had decided to grill that night, and I just love potato salad when grilling, so I thought I'd throw together what I had on hand into a potato and zucchini salad.  It was a hit...even with my potato-salad-averse husband.  This salad is really very simple and could be extremely versatile.  You could try throwing in some other veggies, but if you get a talking zucchini like I did, it might get a little envious.  ;-)

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As a side note, I wanted to let you know about a fun culinary event happening in Louisville, Kentucky tomorrow (May 2nd).  Chefs Cat Cora and Anthony Lamas (of Seviche in Louisville) will be doing a cooking demonstration at Macy's Oxmoor.  RSVPs are requested, so jump on over to the website to find out more info!

Potato and Zucchini Salad with Dill
Serves 6

4-5 medium gold or red potatoes, chopped
1 small zucchini, trimmed, halved lengthwise and sliced thinly
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions, both white and green parts
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
3-4 teaspoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon fresh dill, minced
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Boil the potatoes in salted water until fork tender.  Drain and cool on a cookie sheet.

Place cooled potatoes, zucchini, and onions in a bowl.  Mix sour cream, mayonnaise, 3 teaspoons lemon juice, dill, salt and pepper in a small bowl.  Taste and add more lemon juice and/or salt to taste.  Mix the dressing in with the vegetables gently.  Refrigerate for at least two hours before serving.

Serve cold.

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Kentucky Food Bloggers Tasting Event in Danville, Kentucky

Recently, I've been involved in organizing a Kentucky Food Bloggers Association along with several other bloggers.  It all started when I met Lori at Fake Food Free while she was living in Brazil and I in France.  When we moved back to the States, we found that we lived about 15 minutes from each other in Central Kentucky!  We started hearing about other Kentucky food bloggers, and the group was born.  We have a Facebook fan page and will have a website soon, but we're still in our infancy.

We were lucky enough, though, to have our first event in my little city of Danville, which is 45 minutes away from the center of Lexington and is a great place to live.  It's safe and affordable and, as of a little over a year ago, we can buy alcohol.  This sounds a little crazy (especially to my friends and family in California), but before May 2010, we didn't have liquor stores, and alcohol could only be bought by the glass at restaurants serving over 100 people.  Today we can buy it in several shops, and as a result of the change in law, we have several new restaurants and stores that have opened.  I love to frequent small, locally owned businesses, so this change really made a difference in my life here.

When Adam at the Danville/Boyle County Convention and Visitors Bureau heard about our fledgling Kentucky bloggers group, he quickly invited us to come tour downtown and what it had to offer.  We had a group of nine bloggers attend, and we all had a great time!  As one of the two locals in the group, I was lucky enough to have visited all of the establishments before.  So, as an "insider," I'm going to give you my "Best-in-Danville List."  (***Fair warning: This is a long post, but worth the read!)

Favorite Place to Stock Your Wine Cellar or Buy Goodies for a Party: V-the Market

V-the Market is a beautiful little shop stocked to the gills with wines, hard-to-find beers, bourbon, liqueurs, cheese, prosciutto and artisan chocolates.  I just ordered a case of one of my favorite French rosés to start what I'm calling my wine cellar (but is actually a corner of my basement!).  Besides stocking my delusional cellar,  I frequent V whenever I need to bring drinks or cheeses to a party.  Mary Robin, the owner, has never steered me wrong, and I trust her taste in wines.  She also special orders German and Austrian beer for my German-professor husband.

The group was treated to tastings of beer, cheese and prosciutto.  We tasted the Harbourne Blue, a goat blue cheese.  Now, I'm not usually a fan of blue cheese, but this was delicious!  We also tried the Lincolnshire Poacher, which is similar to a hard cheddar (but much, much tastier, in my opinion).  Mary Robin talked to us about the products she stocks, how she sources her products and about beer, cheeses, and prosciutto in general.  If you need something special for your next party, this is the place to go!

Favorite Place for Drinks and Dessert: Mermaids

When we arrived at Mermaids, we were handed a glass of "Mermaid Punch," and when we were finished with that, the glass was replaced with another of "Porch Punch."  I love to meet my friends for drinks here--it's a classy, yet laid-back restaurant with touches of the modern mixed with the traditional.  The last two times I've been to Mermaids, I haven't been able to resist their homemade ice cream sandwiches, although I've heard great things about the tableside s'mores.

To stave off complete tipsiness, we were served a sampler plate of local filet, shrimp wrapped in prosciutto, and an Ahi tuna wrapped with greens in a slice of cucumber--all delicious! 

And when possible, Mermaids serves Kentucky Proud ingredients:

Here are some of the Kentucky bloggers enjoying themselves at the blue-lit bar:

Kelly is one of the owners and spent some time with us talking about the restaurant--he is hilarious, and you'll always leave Mermaids with a smile.

Best Place to Play Pool and Drink with your Friends: 303W

303W is one of those beautiful spaces that just makes you feel comfortable.  There's plenty of space to dine, to hang out, and to play pool.  The lovely brick and warm colors always makes you feel warm and cozy.

The food is tasty too!  We were treated to plates and plates of their appetizers.  Now, I often skip appetizers, but I have to tell you that my favorite was their barbeque wings, and I'll definitely be ordering them next time I go to play pool!

Best Pizza in Town (and Most Family-Friendly): Bluegrass Pizza & Pub

Bluegrass Pizza & Pub is my go-to restaurant in town.  The pizza is delicious with its homemade crust, homemade sauce and quality toppings.  My family has a favorite--the "Wilson Special"--pepperoni, pepperoncini and garlic.  (Just FYI, we are the Wilsons, so you won't find this on the menu!)  But during the blogger event, we were served the Mediterranean Pizza with chicken, red onions, artichoke hearts, basil, green olives and feta.  I'm not usually crazy about chicken on pizza, but I absolutely loved this one!  We were also served bread sticks and cheese sticks (my daughter's favorite).  I love bringing my family here because of the laid-back, family-friendly atmosphere.  They even remember that my daughter loves to have Ranch dressing with her cheese sticks...now, that's service!

Best Place to Hang Out after a Concert: Beer Engine

Beer Engine is one of those small bars where everyone really does know your name.  I walked in and was immediately distracted by a friend sitting there having a drink.  Once I finally rejoined the bloggers, we were served plenty of beer samples.  I'm not a huge fan of beer, so I didn't sample those, but I found out that they had Woodpecker Cider on tap, and they were generous enough to allow me a sample (or two) of that.  This is the only place in Danville that serves cider at all, so I was ecstatic!  I've been to Beer Engine before--the most memorable time was after the Girl Talk concert back in the spring.  It's a great place to go for craft and locally-brewed beers!

Best Place for Coffee and a Chat: The Hub Coffee House & Cafe

We ended our whirlwind tour at The Hub Coffee House & Cafe.  They were closing down, but were generous enough to let us wind down and talk to Adam, our host from the CVB.  The Hub is where I go for work and lunch meetings.  It's a comfortable place to have lunch and be able to chat--they offer coffees, teas, sandwiches and even crepes.

Best Candy: Karamel Kreations

At The Hub, we were presented with goodie bags from a couple of places, including Karamel Kreations, Danville's newest candy shop.  We got to take the caramel candies home to sample, and my family loved it!  My favorite was the little caramel square, which was buttery and flavorful, but if you have kids, they'll love the little Karamel Klubs--my daughter couldn't get over the fact that they looked like little chicken drumsticks!

Best Bakery: Burke's Bakery and Delicatessen

Now everyone in Danville knows about Burke's Bakery--the little bakery that sells doughnuts, cookies, cakes, pies and more!  It's a quaint little shop that doesn't fuss over its delicious desserts, and they were nice enough to give us a sampler as well.  The cookies are bite-sized, and the pies are like the ones your grandmother made.  And the prices are about what your grandmother paid, too!  We love to take our daughter on Saturday mornings for some doughnuts...and when she's lucky, they throw in a handful of doughnut holes, her favorites, just to make a little girl happy.

Best Cupcakes: The Twisted Sifter

We rounded out our evening with lovely cupcakes from The Twisted Sifter (as if we needed more food at this point!).  We were treated to champagne and pumpkin spice cupcakes.  The Twisted Sifter is only a couple of years old, but everyone in town knows that this is the place to go for fancy cupcakes and lovely special occasion cakes.  They have daily specials, and if you'll be in town and you'd like to find out what those are, you can join their group on Facebook.

All in all, this was a fabulous first event for the Kentucky Food Bloggers Association.  We had a great time, and truly learned that it really is "Better in Danville!"


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Nutella Challenge: Nutella and Hazelnut Praline Ice Cream

I love Nutella. I learned about the jar that is hazelnut and chocolaty goodness when I lived in Spain after college. Up until now, though, I've only used it to spread on bread like peanut butter (which is absolutely amazing, by the way), but when Paula at Bell'Alimento asked if I'd like to join in her Nutella challenge, I jumped at the chance to improve my Nutella repertoire.

One thing I missed while living in Europe was my ice cream maker. I decided that it's debut would be something to do with the Nutella challenge, and I will definitely be making this again. I knew the base would be the pure creaminess of a sweet cream ice cream with a ribbon of Nutella, but I wanted something more. That something came in the form of chopped hazelnuts (the only type of hazelnut I could find in the local Kroger). Thus, my Nutella and Hazelnut Praline Ice Cream was born. My taste testers were torn--either add more Nutella or leave it as is. My vote was to leave it as is, but you can add as much or as little Nutella as you'd like.

Nutella and Hazelnut Praline Ice Cream
Ice Cream Recipe from Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream and Dessert Book

1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts
1/4 cup sugar

2 cups heavy cream
2/3 cups half and half
3/4 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla

2-3 heaping Tablespoons Nutella

Toast the hazelnuts lightly. While they are toasting, lightly oil a baking sheet. Place the sugar in a dry saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring with a fork until melted. Swirl the pan (without stirring) until the sugar is a lovely golden brown. Add the hazelnuts and stir until completely coated. Spread on the baking sheet and let cool. Once cool, break into pieces and let cool even more in the refrigerator.

Whisk the cream, half and half sugar and vanilla in a bowl until the sugar dissolves. Pour the mixture into your ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer's directions to make your ice cream. About 2 minutes before the ice cream is done, add the praline pieces. When those are fully incorporated, stop the ice cream maker, and with a small spatula or spoon, carefully swirl the Nutella in one tablespoon at a time. (Don't over stir--just stir enough to create swirls in the ice cream.)

Transfer to a freezer-proof container with lid and freeze for at least an hour, but up to a day. (This ice cream recipe is best eaten within a day.)

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Monday Mouthful--Flammekueche Roundup and Next Week's Challenge

This week's Monday Mouthful challenge was Flammekueche, and I was pleasantly surprised at how it turned out. I was a little fearful because although the recipe came from a trustworthy source, I had never made it before. I decided to go the traditional route because 1) I like traditional Flammekueche and 2) I forgot to get the fruit to make the dessert one! Good thing, though that I forgot the fruit because the entire two "pies" were eaten up at dinner. I did make one minor change and used red onions instead of the typical yellow onions--because I used up all the yellow ones the night before! I think I prefer yellow onions, but this was still tasty and very close to what I've had in restaurants here in Strasbourg. The only changes I'd make would be to roll out the crust a little more and season the crème fraiche a little more heavily for added flavor. If you weren't able to participate, I encourage you to try this...it's a great and easy alternative to pizza and would make some fabulous hors d'oeuvres.


Thanks to the other bloggers who participated this week! Please take a look at their takes on the traditional Alsatian dish--their submissions all had me drooling!

The Daily Spud--True to form, The Daily Spud made a lovely potato Flammekueche, which elicited an excited, "Wow! That looks good!" from my husband.

ChefE at CookAppeal--ChefE, as always, took the recipe a couple of steps further and added some beer to the crust and asparagus to both her "pie" and to her Flammekueche calzones...yummm!

And ChefE has announced next week's French challenge...Champignons de Paris! This challenge will be left open to your imagination, so we're looking for dishes (hopefully French ones!) that use mushrooms or are served with a mushroom sauce. If you haven't had a chance to join us yet, please feel free to jump in whenever! As always, if you participate, please email your link to me at mindysmouthful(at)gmail(dot)com or ChefE at elizabeth(at)cookappeal(dot)com! We'll post our results, your links, and the next challenge on Monday.

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Food Challenges and Adopt-a-Blogger #3

I meant to mention this a while back, but Lori over at Fake Food Free is hosting a "Mango Recipe Challenge," so head on over and check it out! (But don't enter because I want that basket of Brazilian goodies all to myself! ;-) Just kidding...) Lori has a great blog that focuses on healthy eating and her experience with food while living abroad. Go check it out!


The second food challenge is mine (but I don't have a snazzy button like Lori does...maybe I'll have to make one!) As mentioned previously, ChefE at CookAppeal and I are hosting a French/German recipe challenge. While we don't have any special goodies to give away, we'd love for you to join in the fun and try some (hopefully) new recipes from French and German cultures. We'll be doing this for the next few weeks, so feel free to join in one or all Monday Mouthfuls! We'll be posting our results of our Flammekueche attempts this Monday, so email me at mindysmouthful(at)gmail(dot)com or ChefE at elizabeth(at)cookappeal(dot)com with a link to your blog post (or pictures and story if you don't have a blog).

And finally, I've been adopted! That is, through Dine and Dish's Adopt-a-Blogger program. As a newbie food blogger, I've been matched with Kathy over at Panini Happy and Cooking on the Side. I'm so excited because I've already been following both of Kathy's blogs and love them! Go check them out...


Thanks to Kristen over at Dine and Dish for organizing this--she has an incredible 114 bloggers participating in this event!

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