Monthly Recipe - July

I don’t know even how or why I know this, but, July 28 commemorates the birthday of Beatrix Potter, the purveyor and storyteller of bunny tales galore. I must have run across this fact while researching different energies attached to all the different days of this month, but, still, it’s a pretty obscure little piece of information, even for me. That is, until I decided to make the connection between Potter’s Peter and his tales and something summery and nibblicious for us to eat in July. And so she wrote about her pointy-eared protagonist as he sat grazing in the garden:

“First he ate some lettuces and some French beans; and then he ate some radishes.”

SHRIMP CANAPES WITH RADISH GARNI
Makes 20 canapes

Ingredients
10 slices white bread, crusts cut off
2 teaspoons salted butter
½ teaspoon thyme leaves
1 8-oz package of frozen shelled, deveined shrimp, cooked and finely chopped
1/3 cup mayonnaise
½ cup shredded Swiss cheese
½ teaspoons sea salt
Fresh arugula for garnish
Fresh radish, thinly sliced, for garnish
Capers for garnish

One hour prior to serving, preheat broiler. Using a two inch rounded cookie cutter, cut circles from the bread slices. Cut remaining bread into triangles and 1 inch pieces. In a processor or blender, blend the crusts/trimmings to make ½ cup of fresh crumbs.

In a one quart saucepan, melt the butter and the herb together. With a pastry brush, brush the melted herb butter onto the bread cutouts and place on a cookie sheet. Broil for two minutes or until toasted and brown.

Mix the shrimp, bread crumbs, cheese, mayonnaise and sea salt together and spread a bit on each of the toasted cutouts. Broil the canapés at 450 degrees for 8 – 10 minutes. Garnish with the arugula, radish slices and capers.

Happy Birthday to Beatrix Potter! And thanks for the fluffy, tall tales!