Julia Child’s Poached Salmon with Cucumber Sauce for #SundaySupper and #CookForJulia

If Julia Child were alive today, the Grande Dame of French cuisine would have been 100 this month. To honor this, Sunday Supper is teaming up with PBS to cook for Julia today. I’ve made a number of her recipes before, but more than anything it has been her words that have inspired me. Her memoir, My Life in France, is witty and humble, a love story between herself and her husband Paul, as well as her discovery of the joy of cooking. Julia Child’s personality always comes through in her cookbooks in a way that is rare and enviable. In her directions for poaching fish she says, “Fish that is resistant and flaky is overdone – too bad!”

Julia Child's Poached Salmon with Cucumber Sauce

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Classic Daiquiri for #SundaySupper

The theme of this week’s #SundaySupper is Beat the Heat – and I don’t know about you, but when I think about cooling off in summer a cold, refreshing cocktail is one of the first things that comes to mind. This classic daiquiri recipe fits the bill. With only three ingredients (rum, lime juice, and simple syrup) it’s clean and fresh, and oh so simple to make.

If you’re looking for a sugary, frozen, flavored concoction then this is not the drink for you. This is a daiquiri in its purest form, favored by luminaries like Hemingway. It is believed to have been concocted in the late 19th century in a Cuban mining town.. According to Rob Chirico on Chow.com, “Although the locals had probably been knocking back rum and lime for years, in 1886 an American engineer, James Cox, and a Cuban engineer named Pagliuchi refined the rum and lime drink by adding cane sugar. When Admiral Lucius Johnson introduced the recipe to the Army Navy Club in DC, in 1909, the daiquiri was becoming one of the world’s most popular drinks.”

Daiquiri Recipe from KatherineMartinelli.com

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Roasted (or Grilled!) Asparagus for #SundaySupper

With Independence day on Wednesday, this week’s Sunday Supper is appropriately themed “4th of July cookout fun! Could be favorite foods on the grill, salads or desserts.” While my cheese-stuffed burgers would make the perfect entree, I could easily eat an entire platter of roasted asparagus and by just as happy. As I’ve said time and again, roasting is one of my favorite methods for cooking vegetables as it brings out beautiful flavor in them. As usual, I prefer simplicity: just some olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Once they’re done, sprinkle on some freshly grated parmesan and you have yourself an incredible side for just about any meal. I usually roast them, but they are beautiful on the grill as well and make an awesome addition to any barbecue.

Roasted Asparagus from KatherineMartinelli.com

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Spaghetti Carbonara for #SundaySupper

The theme for this week’s #SundaySupper is “Celebrate Your Heritage” and, in case my last name didn’t give it away, I am Italian-American (and Hungarian, and other stuff too, but mostly Italian). Although my family hails from the South of the boot, I couldn’t resist bringing Spaghetti Carbonara – a decidedly Roman dish – to the table. Although I didn’t grow up eating it, a family trip to Rome my senior year of high school was the beginning of a lifelong love affair. Today it’s something my husband and I make often if we have the ingredients on hand. It’s actually a specialty of my husband’s, and a dish I would venture to say he makes better than I.

Family Photos
My Italian great grandmother in the kitchen, and my Italian family gathered around the table

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Pesto Pasta for #SundaySupper

I am very excited to be participating in a new group this week – the #SundaySupper movement! After seeing that some of my favorite bloggers were involved, I was of course intrigued. “Our Mission,” according to founder Isabel “Foodie”, “is to Bring back Sunday Supper Around the Family Table in every home. The Family Table can be anywhere as long as the main ingredient is Love.” Cheers to that!

Pesto Pasta

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