Polenta Rounds with Spinach Pesto and Garlic Shrimp

If you watched me while I was throwing a dinner party, you might get confused. You'd see me in the kitchen, back facing away from the crowd, while everyone else sat, drank and socialized.

You'd see me hold conversations that started these ways.

Can you dice up those onions?

Can you squeeze those last 10 lemons I didn't have time to squeeze for lemonade?

Can you slice that baguette, brush it with a bit of olive oil, run a clove of garlic across the top of each slice and then bake it for 5 or 6 minutes? Then can you take the bread off the baking sheet and put it on that cute white dish over there? Thanks.

You might get confused by my inability to hold an in-depth conversation, distracted by timers going off and pots boiling over on the stove. You'd wonder why I invited people over in the first place.

It's not that I want to be anti-social at my dinner parties. It's just that I need to have more realistic dinner party expectations. I can't, realistically, set out to make a homemade appetizer, entree, side dish and overly elaborate dessert on a weeknight.

I can't.

Please remind me of that the next time I try.

This appetizer is nowhere near as simple as the chickpea spread I gave you earlier this week. That was a less-than-five-minute, make way ahead dish.

These polenta rounds requires a bit more work, depending on how you do them. There's the much faster way to prepare them with store-bought pesto and store-bought tubed polenta.

Then there's the way I did it, which requires you to have some time the day before to make your own pesto, cook your own polenta and cut your own polenta rounds. Or if you just HAVE to make them the day of, adjust the rest of your menu accordingly.

You'll be happy whatever way you do it.

These little polenta rounds just look beautiful on the plate, and they're hard to resist. A seared polenta round forms the base. It's topped with a generous spread of spinach pesto, a single garlic shrimp, and some cherry tomato rounds.

It's a two or three bite appetizer, which is good because these fly off the plate.

PS. Blogger wants me to correct the spelling on polenta to tadpole. Really?

Camping, Rapids and the Best S'mores Ever

Welcome to the blogging world, Casey from Tiny Brooklyn Oven! Visit her blog, say hi, and marvel at her delicious dishes!

I think meals served while camping should be treated with the same love and respect as the meals you serve around your dinner table each night. They should be well planned, well balanced and delicious. Campfire Cookery: Adventuresome Recipes and Other Curiosities for the Great Outdoors took this idea to the extreme. They suggest a boeuf bourguignon for dinner and wild blueberry steamed pudding for dessert, among dozens of other delicious suggestions. While their ideas are charming, I tend to look for camping meals that are flavorful and special, but that don't require tons of special equipment.

Who wants to lug a dutch oven into their canoe? Or traverse through rapids with fragile teacups for a proper afternoon tea? They certainly won't survive if your canoeing partner purposefully steers you toward rocks.

We went on a canoeing trip recently to the Delaware River. Everyone had a job. I was in charge of the menu. I wanted our meals to keep us energized over 25 miles of water and rapids, but still be rustic, authentic camping meals. I planned a mostly vegetarian weekend, and then Alex went shopping with me and made sure I got plenty of meat.

Here are our meals from the trip last weekend, and some favorite meals I've had during recent camping trips in the Adirondacks.

Hobo Dinners (or Foil Dinners): These foil dinners are a delicious way to invest everyone in the cooking process. Build a fire and let coals gather at the bottom. Chop up any vegetables you enjoy into small pieces. We used potatoes, onions, carrots, red peppers, asparagus, green beans, mushrooms and garlic. We had baked tofu, as well as sausages and hot dogs (all precooked). Make some quick vegetarian brown gravy. Assemble your own dinner on a tinfoil square, and then top it with gravy and seasonings (We used pepper, salt, cayenne, Old Bay). Seal it up tightly, write your name on top in permanent marker, and put it in the fire. Flip the foil packets every 5 to 10 minutes. Ours were done after about 25 minutes.

Before Cooking

After Cooking

Tomatoes and Mozzarella: While these are not the easiest camping snacks since the tomatoes require really careful transportation, they were delicious on our recent canoe trip. Slice fresh tomatoes, top them with slices buffalo mozzarella, and top with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Enjoy. 

Homemade S'mores: These were the most delicious s'mores I've ever had in my life. They were made by Casey from Tiny Brooklyn Oven. The marshmallows were from Smitten Kitchen, and the graham crackers were from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook. The chocolate was just plain Hershey, but next time I'll go for a delicious dark chocolate with sea salt. A store-bought ingredient s'more will never taste the same again.

Breakfast Burritos with Scrambled Eggs and Hash Browns: These burritos are just perfect for a long day of canoeing or hiking. Grate pepper jack cheese and slice avocado. Heat up a can of black beans with a can of salsa. Make scrambled eggs, mixing in some pepper jack cheese and a splash of cayenne pepper. Assemble burritos to your liking. We also sauteed up some hash browns (with the leftover potatoes and onions from the hobo dinners) that were delicious in the burritos. 

Cold-brewed iced coffee: While it's not quite iced by day three of a camping trip, Smitten Kitchen's recipe for cold-brewed iced coffee is a winner. We in Brooklyn get used to having high-quality coffee at our fingertips, and it can be hard to do even a few days of Nestle's instant brew. I used paper towels to strain the coffee, but next time I will bring a fine mesh sieve to make the process easier and save quite a bit of time. Forget sugar? Just throw in a marshmallow to lighten and sweeten the coffee. 

Buckwheat with mushrooms and garlic: This recipe is simple and hearty. Boil packages of buckwheat in a covered pot over the stove. At the same time, saute garlic and mushrooms in olive oil. When the buckwheat is finished, combine the two mixtures. If you've got any freshly caught fish, saute it up to have on the side. 

Pizzas: Pizzas cooked over the fire are one of my favorite camping meals because they get everyone involved in the cooking. Wrap the grill grate with aluminum foil before starting the fire. We used garlic naan as the base of our pizzas (we learned after using tortillas last year that burned before the cheese could melt). Top the pizzas with your favorite toppings. Ours were simple with pizza sauce, shredded cheese and tomatoes. This summer, I think I'll bring some homemade pesto with me. 

Couscous with shrimp: Couscous is another one of those grains that cooks up ridiculously easily with little fuss. Boil water, add the couscous and set aside. In another pan, saute shrimp with garlic and top with a little lemon juice. Combine the two to serve. We added a nice, light salad to balance out the meal. 

Sunny-Side Up Eggs with Lox and Goat Cheese: This breakfast was certainly a splurge in terms of the time it took to make, but what else is there to do when you're up with the rising sun? We toasted baguettes lightly over the fire, topped them with goat cheese and lox, and fried up some eggs to finish them off. This was the best breakfast I had enjoyed in a long time, camping or not. 

 Middle Eastern Feast: We brought store-bought hummus and pita with us. We whipped up a batch of Fantastic Foods Falafel Mix, 10 oz., and we made Tabouli Mix (Casbah) 6oz (170g) to accompany it. The tabouli came together quickly, and we added spring onions and tomatoes for taste and texture. The falafel sauteed somewhat evenly in a large pan over the fire. This meal was full of protein, and the leftover falafel were great in sandwiches the next day. 

What's your favorite camping meal? I'd love more ideas for delicious meals this summer!