Easy Gazpacho with Goat Cheese Croutons; Tomato Crostini with Whipped Feta; Avocado and Grapefruit Salad

When Philippe picks the menu, he tends to set him self up for a lot of work and Julia's 27th birthday dinner was no exception. This post is a "little" late, but Philippe finally found the time to write it one Sunday afternoon while working in Suzhou, China.  Apologies to everyone reading this in December, as we know it's not very relevant.

Given the summer heat wave in LA back in June and the 90+ temps in our apartment, turning on the stove or oven seemed like a non-starter. The result was a menu that required minimal cooking but a healthy amount of prep work and use of the food processor. 

Starting the birthday girl off with a chilled drink, Philippe served a variation of Kir Royale, prosecco poured over Chambord raspberry liqueur and fresh raspberries. For the first course of dinner, he made a fresh, chilled gazpacho with goat cheese toasts. This particular recipe had a bit of kick to it thanks to the red pepper flakes and we'll definitely make it again in the summer.

For the second course, Philippe served toasted baguette topped with whipped feta, a cherry tomato and shallot mix, julienned basil, and toasted pine nuts. The whipped feta was made in the food processor with garlic, lemon juice, and cream cheese and was very flavorful, making this our favorite dish of the meal.

For a final course, Philippe served an avocado grapefruit salad with a lemon-mustard vinagrette. The unusual pairing of avocado and grapefruit go together very nicely and was very light and refreshing.

Dessert was a selection from Magnolia Bakery; a cup cake, banana pudding, and a chocolate chunk blondie. There were only crumbs left by the time we picked the camera up, so no pictures.

Recipes:
Easy Gazpacho & Goat Cheese Croutons Recipe
Tomato Crostini with Whipped Feta Recipe
Avocado and Grapefruit Salad Recipe

Seared Scallops with Potato-Celery Root Puree, Campari Orange Spritzer, and Balsamic Strawberries

With a new cookbook always comes lots of new recipes to try! We recently picked up Barefoot Contessa's "Back to Basics" and this recipe for scallops with a celery root puree caught our eye. Valentines Day was the first occasion to try something a little fancier and it seemed perfect for the occasion.

A gourmet Valentines day. Doesn't hurt that champagne goes well with scallops.

While dinner was cooking, we started things off with a refreshing Campari orange spritzer. (pink of course)

A light aperitif with Campari, OJ, and seltzer 

Everything prepped for cooking. The puree includes potatoes, celery root, and leeks

The potatoes, celery root, leeks, and cream slowly cooking before going into the food processor

The dish in our fancy new dinnerware!

Prior to cooking the main course, Philippe had prepped strawberries and set them to soak in balsamic vinegar for dessert. One of Philippe's classic childhood desserts quickly became a new favorite of Julia's :)

Balsamic-soaked strawberries topped with vanilla ice cream and lemon zest

Recipes:
Campari Orange Spritzer
Seared Scallops and Potato-Celery Root Puree
Strawberries with Balsamic Vinegar


Later that weekend, we rented mountain bikes from Topanga Creek Bicycles (Julia's Christmas present for Philippe) and had a great time exploring Topanga Creek (and our limits). Though certainly a bit rocky and perilous at times, the 15 mile ride proved to be quite a bit more exciting than your typical hike. We may find ourselves with another pair of bikes soon.

If it's not obvious from our helmet hair... yes mom, we did wear our helmets.