Marla and I took on the side dishes and dessert portion of the meal. Below is a cold avocado and cucumber gazpacho, with fresh english peas, tomato caviar, and a seared scallop. The recipe will follow at the end of this blog, and then it will self destruct.
I couldn't resist grilling some chicken to go with our ribs and brisket. Especially since Marla doesn't eat ribs or brisket, this was a no brainer. Woman cannot live on corn alone.
Speaking of corn, here is the grilled corn with jalapeno and lime butter. I mashed a stick of room temp butter with finely diced jalapeno and the juice of half a lime. This is amazingly versatile. The scallop in the soup was cooked in this butter. It is great melted and drizzled on anything.
For dessert I made a classic french dish named Cherry Clafouti. Basically a baked egg custard flavored with vanilla and whole cherries. Supposedly the cherry pits contribute to the flavor. I will post the recipe for this dish at a later date. 
Recipe for Avocado and Cucumber Gazpacho.3 small-medium ripe avocados, skinned and pitted
1 cucumber peeled, seeded and diced
1/2 of a yellow onion
1/2 of a yellow onion
Lemon juice and salt to taste
Dice all of the veggies and place in a blender. Blend in batches if needed. Add salt and lemon juice to taste. Puree until smooth and creamy. You may need to add some water as needed to thin to desired consistency. Add two tablespoons at a time. You can always add more water, but you can't take it away.
After the soup has been chilled for at least 1 hour, spoon into bowls and decorate. This is the fun part of the soup. You can add whatever you want/have to the soup to make it beautiful. I added a simply cooked scallop, some fresh peas that I had on hand, and some tomato seeds. The tomato seeds look great, and you feel so fancy eating "tomato caviar." Add whatever, crab, white fish, sliced cucumber, shredded carrot, diced red onion. Go for flavor and color. The possibilities are endless.
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