I Dairy^ou to Cook! Winners Announced

I bet you've been starving for some new dairy recipes - especially since my contest was announced and it's June Dairy Month! Well guess what? We've tested and tasted the entries and we've come up with some winners. I want to thank those that assisted in the judging process as well as the sponsors (listed below) who donated prizes for the winners and the contest entrants.

I hope you give all of these recipes a try as they are all unique and are tailored towards any skill level. Here they are (click on the recipe name for the actual recipe):

Appetizer

Smoked Salmon Avocado Salad

Hidemi Walsh of Plainfield, Indiana

Main Dish

Roasted Cauliflower Gruyere Soup

Elizabeth Olson of Alexandria, Minnesota

Dessert

Blueberry Delight

Jayne Hanna

{Contest Winner} Blueberry Delight

Love dessert? So do I. The recipe below is the winner from my I Dairy^ou to Cook! recipe contest. It's light, full of whipped cream and it's healthy - because there's lots of blueberries.

How does Jayne feel about dairy?

I love how dairy products taste so good, while they are good for you because they are rich in calcium, protein, and healthy vitamins!

Tell us about your recipe

I came up with this recipe when a friend gave us a recipe for a similar dessert, but we found that this version tasted just as delicious. Blueberry Delight has a buttery crust, a creamy filling, delicious blueberries, and a whipped topping. It is the most delicious dessert that you will ever find that takes such a short time to make. This dessert tastes wonderful with other types of berries, too!

Blueberry Delight

Recipe by Jayne Hanna - dessert category winner of the I Dairy^ou to Cook! recipe contest


Crust:
2 cups flour
2 sticks butter
1 cup chopped pecans

Filling:
8 ounces cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup whipped topping, store bought or homemade

Topping:
4 cups (1 quart) blueberries
2 cups whipped topping

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. To make crust, mix flour and butter together well. Add pecans. Press crust into a 13x9 pan or two pie pans. Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool crust.

2. Cream together ingredients for filling, and mix well. Spread filling on top of crust.

3. Spread blueberries on top of filling. Spread whipped topping on top of blueberries.

{Contest Winner} Roasted Cauliflower Gruyere Soup

This isn't just any soup. Seriously - it's dangerously good. You may feel ripped off when you see the amount it makes. But after one taste, you'll realize how rich and filling this recipe is. You won't be able to stop yourself. It'll serve 3-4 people.

How does Elizabeth feel about dairy?

What I love about cooking with dairy products is how, even after growing up on a dairy farm and eating far more than three servings a day of dairy for my 23 years of life, I can still find new ways to cook with dairy; There truly is a limitless amount of ways to use dairy in great recipes. Also, I love how dairy can be incorporated into a healthy diet without losing flavor or the integrity of the dish knowing that full flavor means full of nutrients, too.

Tell us about your recipe:

For the past couple years during the beautiful months of May and June, I traveled to and enjoyed all that Switzerland has to offer. One amazing thing about Switzerland was their out-of-this-world gruyere cheese. Another was their use of seasonal vegetables in knock-your-socks off ways. Together it was like heaven on earth. So I set out to create something similar for us yanks on state-side.

This soup brings Gruyere cheese, milk, and cauliflower into a delicious love triangle that is surprisingly healthy for you. Each helping contains roughly one serving of vegetables, one serving of dairy, and is gluten free. Plus, the taste is fresh yet rich, and subtle with a kick of cayenne pepper. Enjoy!

Roasted Cauliflower Gruyere Soup

Recipe by Elizabeth Olson of Alexandria, MN - Main Dish category winner of the I Dairy^ou to Cook! recipe contest

Gluten free

Ingredients:

1 head of cauliflower (cut into florets)
1 tsp. of salt
4 C. 2% milk
¼ C. cream
1 halved onion
3 halved leeks
Pinch of thyme leaves
½ tsp. cracked black pepper
½ C. Gruyere cheese
Pinch of cayenne pepper (more or less for personal taste)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit

2. Wash and cut head of cauliflower, remove stalks, salt raw florets, let sit for ten minutes

3. Bring milk, cream, halved onions, halved leeks, thyme, and black pepper to a slow boil in either a Dutch/French oven or soup pot over medium heat

4. Place cauliflower florets in a pan covered in tin foil, cook in preheated oven for 25 minutes or until slightly golden brown, shake pan every 5 minutes to avoid burning

5. Scoop onions and leeks out of milk mixture once they are nearly transparent

6. Put roasted cauliflower florets in milk mixture over medium heat, stir every couple minutes

7. Turn off heat once cauliflower has soaked up the milk (roughly 10 minutes)

8. Puree soup with a food processor wand or simply a food processor, soup will be slightly lumpy, add milk for desired thickness

9. Stir in gruyere cheese

10. Mix in cayenne pepper, I use three shakes

11. Serve and enjoy!

{Contest Winner} Smoked Salmon Avocado Salad

If you're looking for an appetizer to impress, this is it. It's simple, fresh and festive (see description below). I don't know about you, but I simply can't get enough smoked salmon. Seriously.

Why does Hidemi love dairy?

Low in calorie, lots of health benefits and light taste. 

Tell us about your creation:

I made this for Christmas dinner as an appetizer in the image of White Christmas. Green and red are Christmas colors and I used cottage cheese to make the dish look snow flake-like. Simply seasoned with olive oil, lemon juice and white wine vinegar.

Smoked Salmon Avocado Salad

Winning ‘I Dairy^ou to Cook!’ appetizer recipe by Hidemi Walsh of Plainfield, Indiana

(2 servings)

Ingredients:

0.5 lb Smoked Salmon pieces
1 Avocado
1/2 cup Cottage Cheese
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
2 tablespoons Lemon Juice
2 tablespoons White Wine Vinegar
6-8 Capers
Salt & Pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Make dressing. In a bowl, whisk together olive oil, lemon juice and white wine vinegar. Add salt and pepper to taste.

2. Halve avocado, remove seed, scoop avocado pulp and chop. Put into another bowl and stir in 1/3 of dressing.

3. In another bowl, combine smoked salmon pieces and 1/3 of dressing. Toss to coat.

4. In each serving plate, place mold pastry ring (3”x2”) (or your serving glass/dish) and put 1/2 of avocado, 1/2 smoked salmon pieces then 1/4 cup cottage cheese in the mold pastry ring. Make one more serving. Remove the mold pastry ring and pour the rest of dressing over the salad. Top with capers.

I used mold pastry ring but if it is not available, use your favorite glass or bowl and layer as the instructions.

Is the rhubarb ready?

I met my neighbor at the mailbox last week asking her the above question. 'Yes! Please, take some!' - was her response. Her mother planted rhubarb years ago in order to 'pay off' the road grater (we live on gravel roads) and other [useful] service folks. Now - there's enough to go around for the entire neighborhood. Luckily, I've grown fond of rhubarb and have learned of various ways to bake with it. The best recipe, being this one. It literally takes 6 minutes. In the microwave. No joke. Put it on a Biscoff cookie with some mascarpone... holy buckets. (Great - after going to the Biscoff site, I find that they're on sale. I'm doomed.)

Being it's June Dairy Month and me not in the mood to bake, I made some smoothies. My daughter loved it. So much that she sat in her highchair with her mouth open until I'd give her another slurp. I'll be honest though, I gave her the non-gingered-rhubarb-compote version to avoid giving her all of that extra sugar. I'm a nut case.

Smoothie for a Neighbor

Serves 4-5

1 large banana, peeled and cut into chunks,
6-7 large strawberries, hulled and cut in half
1 peach, pitted and quartered
1/4 cup gingered rhubarb compote (click for recipe)
12 oz Greek yogurt, any flavor
1/4 cup milk

In a blender, combine all ingredients. For a thicker smoothie, add less milk - for runny smoothies, add more milk (crazy how that works). Blend until fully combined and pour into a glass. Serve cold with sliced strawberries.

You can really add any fruit you'd like. Some people even add vegetables. Maybe I'll be daring and give that a try some day.