With mid-summer gardens revving up, we've gathered together our favorite recipes that use up those cucumbers, tomatoes, squash, eggplant, green beans...
With this year's not-quite-so-hot summer, gardeners everywhere are seeing red. That is, finally, tomatoes are ripening on vines and the impending surge of them means that family kitchens everywhere must be prepared for preservation and preparation.
As a longtime fan and grower of tomatoes, Amanda Haar, from Hoosick Falls, N.Y., welcomes such problems. Her gardens are full of tomatoes, both pasters and cherry — she is ready for both.
"We grow a lot of pasters," Haar said. "When they're ready, we wash and chop them in quarters or halves, and boil them down and then run them through a food mill to separate the seeds and skins from the juicy, good stuff. We then reheat that to boil off the liquid. Sometimes we'll season with garlic, basil, etcetera, but usually just leave it naked."
Once that's cool, Haar continued, she pours it into freezer-friendly quart-sized bags, making sure to squeeze or suck out as much air as possible then lay on their sides in the freezer.
"All winter long we have frozen bricks of ready-to-go tomato sauce that still has its bright, summer flavor," she said.
Most of the resulting sauces she makes when thawing out bags in winter are spur-of-the-moment, which allows for creativity in the kitchen, as well as the convenience of quick preparation for small or large groups.
Convenience is not only on the mind of the home gardener, but also the professional.
Natasha Littrell of Bennington, Vt., former owner of Crazy Russian Girls Bakery and Café, started writing down a recipe for her pasta sauce made with fresh tomatoes within seconds of being asked.
"When I have a lot of tomatoes, this is my quick go-to sauce," Littrell said. "I love lots of brightly colored chunks of tomato and tons of basil. Again, it's quick. It only simmers for a few minutes. It should never come to a boil or the tomatoes will become darker and, I think, taste more bitter."
If the fresh tomatoes taste too acidic, Littrell advised, one can add a pinch of sugar to balance it.
"With all that bright color, it makes a great party dish tossed with penne or rigatoni, and topped with shredded parmesan and more fresh basil," Littrell said. "Also, leftover sauce freezes great or can be turned into an awesome soup by adding a bit of water and cream."
But the professional chef also preserves. Littrell said that when she picks out tomatoes at the farm stand, she "blanches them quickly, slip their skins off, chop them roughly, and freeze then in gallon-sized Ziplock bags, which is a very simple solution."
Still, when faced with a deluge of tomatoes as the growing season comes to harvest, Littrell said the most pleasing approach to tomatoes is a classic go-to.
"My all-time favorite thing to do with a really great tomato is make an old-fashioned country tomato sandwich," she said. "All it takes is white bread, mayo, thick slices of tomato, and salt and pepper. Then just bite down, and enjoy!"
— Reach award-winning freelance journalist Telly Halkias at tchalkias@aol.com or on Twitter: @TellyHalkias
Wing-it All-Purpose Tomato Sauce
(Courtesy of Amanda Haar)
INGREDIENTS:
2-3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
3 to 4 four cloves of garlic, crushed
1 small to medium onion, diced
Fresh basil to taste, diced
Fresh or dried oregano to taste,
Crushed red pepper to taste
One quart bag of thawed sauce
(Optional: For a hearty tasting sauce, add a 1/4 cup red wine to pot when pouring in sauce).
DIRECTIONS:
Warm the olive oil on medium-low heat.
Add garlic and onion and cook until they begin to release flavors.
Stir in basil and oregano. Heat for 2 minutes.
Pour in sauce and cook on medium heat. After 10 minutes, taste sauce and adjust seasonings to taste.
Heat for another 5 minutes
Enjoy with anything that can use it!
Crazy Russian tomato concasse with prosciutto and artichoke hearts
(Courtesy Natasha Littrell)
INGREDIENTS:
2 medium onions, diced
4-5 garlic cloves, minced
Fresh basil, cut into ribbons
6 to 8 fresh tomatoes
1-2 slices of prosciutto, diced
2 small jars of marinated artichoke hearts, drained and diced
Shredded parmesan
DIRECTIONS:
Slip skins off the fresh tomatoes by dipping in a saucepan of boiling water.
Remove the tomatoes after a few minutes.
Dip the tomatoes in a bowl of cold water. You should notice the skin starting to peel. You should be able to peel the skins off easily by hand. Dice the tomatoes and set aside.
In a large saucepan, sauté the onion, garlic, and prosciutto on medium heat until transparent.
Add the diced tomatoes, chopped artichoke hearts, and fresh basil to taste.
Add salt and black pepper to taste.
For a little heat, add a bit of red pepper flakes if you choose.
Serve over pasta with parmesan.
Blended family tomato ciabatta
(Courtesy of Nancy Tortorice)
DIRECTIONS:
Fresh ciabatta rolls, slice in half for sandwiches.
Spread fresh pesto on bread
Place thinly sliced, fresh tomato on rolls
Salt, pepper to taste.
Top with sliced mozzarella
Wrap in aluminum foil
Place in preheated 350 degree oven, 10 to 12 minutes or until cheese is melted.
In the early days of August, when the cherry tomatoes begin to ripen and you can pluck them off the vine and eat them, still warm from the sun with the grit of dirt felt on your tongue, it feels like there aren't enough fresh tomatoes to feed your summer hunger.
But then you turn around, take your eyes off of the garden for one day, and suddenly, you've got more tomatoes than your largest sauce pot can hold.
There is nothing I love more than a fresh tomato sandwich on white or sour dough bread with a slather of mayonnaise and a sprinkling of Kosher salt and fresh black pepper. And I always freeze a few gallon bags of quartered tomatoes to be used for homemade sauce in the early fall, when I start to miss my grandmother and the smells of her kitchen from meatballs simmering in a giant pot of fresh sauce all day.
But in the early days of quarantine, I planted a lot of tomatoes. I mean, a lot. And then, I miraculously had tomato plants pop up in the middle of my herbs and cucumber plants, from seeds that must have been buried last year and never emerged. We're only two weeks into August and my family is growing tired of my quick sautéed tomatoes and zucchini with olive oil over anything — pasta, rice, Quinoa or salad greens.
My tomato game needed a little spice, a little shakeup for our evening barbecue dinner on the deck. Dare I say, a little drama off the vine.
Enter my newest obsession: anything baked in tart form. Call it a galette, a tart or a "fancy pie" as my 5-year-old son does, no matter what it's a delicious vehicle for any ingredient you're trying to use up. I found a recipe for a Caramelized Tomato Tarte Tatin by Melissa Clark that calls for making a briny, caramel topping that holds fresh cherry tomatoes together in a blanket of savory flavor over a puff pastry. Her original recipe called for fresh thyme and to just load it up with fresh tomatoes halved. But, my garden is also bursting with basil and after reading the comments I realized this recipe, while it appears to be a fussy show-stopper of a summer dish, is infinitely adaptable to whatever you have, or like to serve with your tomatoes.
A few tips: Tomatoes are naturally juicy, so making this without getting out some of the juices will result in a messy tart that won't give the puff pastry a fighting chance of holding the flavors in. Take the extra step and roast your tomatoes beforehand to let some of the juices escape and to give them a rich, more concentrated flavor. Also, to help reduce moisture, I sprinkled about a tablespoon of dry cornmeal on the mixture before putting the puff pastry on to help absorb more juices. Don't worry, even with all these extra precautions, the tomatoes are anything but dry. Instead, they meld with the brine of the olives and vinegar and caramelized onions to create a jammy, slightly sweet yet savory topping that is a slice of summer heaven on a puff pastry.
This dish also has a big reveal wow-factor moment. After letting it rest for 5 to 10 minutes, call your family in to watch you flip it over onto a plate, revealing the caramelized topping that was hiding under the pastry in the oven. Don't worry if a few tomatoes stick to the pan, just plop them back on top, or eat them before anyone can see you do it. You won't want to leave a single, jammy orb of this tomato goodness behind.
TOMATO TARTE TATIN
Ingredients:
One 14-ounce package puff pastry
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 red onions, halved and thinly sliced
1/4 cup plus a pinch of sugar
1/2 teaspoon sherry vinegar
1/4 cup chopped pitted Kalamata olives
1 1/2 pint (about 1 pound) cherry or grape tomatoes
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
Kosher salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 teaspoon cornmeal
1 tablespoon Dijon Mustard
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 F. Slice cherry tomatoes in half and roast in the oven with drizzle of olive oil and salt and pepper for about 30 minutes, until tomatoes have begun to burst and juices are escaping the tomatoes. Set aside to cool once done roasting.
Unfold puff pastry sheet and cut into a 10-inch round; chill, covered, until ready to use.
Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and a pinch of sugar and cook, stirring, until onions are golden and caramelized, 15 to 20 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons water, or white wine, and let cook off, scraping brown bits from bottom of pan. Transfer onions to a bowl.
Preheat oven to 425 F.
In a clean, ovenproof 9-inch skillet, combine 1/4 cup sugar and 3 tablespoons water. Cook over medium heat, swirling pan gently (do not stir) until sugar melts and turns amber, 5 to 10 minutes. Be careful not to burn the caramel, it can happen quickly. Add vinegar and swirl gently.
Sprinkle olives over caramel. Scatter tomatoes over olives, then sprinkle onions on and then the fresh basil. Season with salt and pepper. Then sprinkle cornmeal all over the mixture to help absorb liquids while baking. Take the puff pastry out of the fridge and brush 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard on the side that will go down on top of the tomato mixture. Top the mixture (with Dijon mustard down) with puff pastry round, tucking edges into pan. Cut several long vents in top of pastry.
Bake tart until crust is puffed and golden, about 30 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes, then run a knife around pastry to loosen it from pan, and flip tart out onto a serving platter. Cut into wedges and serve immediately.
Make it your own: Add in any herbs you'd like, or maybe some soft goat cheese or crumbled bacon to the layers before baking.
Quick-cooking and delicately flavored, yellow summer squash and zucchini are favorites in Mediterranean cuisines and perfect for a light side dish. To create a fresh, simple recipe, we started with very thinly sliced squash, using a peeler to make even "ribbons" and discarding the waterlogged seeds.
The ultra-thin ribbons browned and cooked so quickly that they didn't have time to break down and release their liquid, eliminating the need to salt them before cooking.
The cooked squash needed little embellishment; a quick, tangy vinaigrette of extra-virgin olive oil, garlic, and lemon and a sprinkle of fresh parsley rounded out the flavors.
We like a mix of yellow summer squash and zucchini, but you can use just one or the other. The thickness of the squash ribbons may vary depending on the peeler used; we developed this recipe with a peeler that produces ribbons that are 1/32 inch thick.
Steeping the minced garlic in lemon juice mellows the garlic's bite; do not skip this step. To avoid overcooking the squash, start checking for doneness at the lower end of the cooking time.
Sautéed zucchini ribbons
Servings: 4-6
Start to finish: 20 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
1 small garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest plus 1 tablespoon juice
4 (6- to 8-ounce) zucchini or yellow summer squash, trimmed
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
DIRECTIONS:
Combine garlic and lemon juice in large bowl and set aside for at least 10 minutes. Using vegetable peeler, shave off 3 ribbons from 1 side of summer squash, then turn squash 90 degrees and shave off 3 more ribbons. Continue to turn and shave ribbons until you reach seeds; discard core. Repeat with remaining squash.
Whisk 2 tablespoons oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper, and lemon zest into garlic-lemon juice mixture.
Heat remaining 1 teaspoon oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add summer squash and cook, tossing occasionally with tongs, until squash has softened and is translucent, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer squash to bowl with dressing, add parsley, and gently toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve.
Nutrition information per serving: 132 calories; 83 calories from fat; 9 g fat ( 1 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 0 mg cholesterol; 318 mg sodium; 11 g carbohydrate; 3 g fiber; 7 g sugar; 4 g protein.
For more recipes, cooking tips and ingredient and product reviews, visit https://www.americastestkitchen.com . Find more recipes like Sautéed Zucchini Ribbons in "The Complete Mediterranean Cookbook ."
In a recent column about my staycation in July, during which I primarily floated in the pool and read, and thought about times and people gone by, I mentioned a dessert my now-late friend, Silvia Durant, used to make all the time — lemon lush — and gave the recipe, fully intending to make it for myself later that week, which I didn't.
The Sunday after the column appeared, my doorbell rang shortly after I had arrived home from a shift at the supermarket. A neighbor and fellow former Drury High School football mom, Connie Tatro, was standing on my stoop, holding a plastic container of — you guessed it, lemon lush. I've been negligent in telling her what a surprise it was and how good it was — and also negligent in returning her container! I savored the lemon lush for several days, each bite reminding me of Silvia and her husband, Russ, who passed away a few years after Silvia, and all the good times we had. And now when I make it, I'll also think of Connie, how she understood what I had written and felt, and how much her gesture touched me.
The recent hot spells have made my eating habits even worse than usual. A typical it's-too-darn-hot-to-cook supper for me is a bowl of cereal or a sub picked up on the way home from The Eagle. I'll even admit to a pint of Ben and Jerry's ice cream being the main course one night. With a plethora of tomatoes coming from the garden on a daily basis — both cherry and regular — I've been eating BLTs, Caprese salad and simply tomatoes sprinkled with a little salt.
I found this recipe for tomato basil hummus stuck in a book I read last summer and it seemed ideal for that night's supper. I had everything on hand except pita bread or pita bread chips, which involved a quick run to the store. As a nod to a Caprese salad, I grated some mozzarella cheese and sprinkled it on top of the drizzle of olive oil. It was so good, and there was plenty for the next night!
FRESH TOMATO BASIL HUMMUS
Makes 2 cups
INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups chickpeas, soaked and cooked or rinsed and drained from a can
1 garlic clove
1/3 cup tahini
10 to 12 fresh basil leaves
1/4 teaspoon salt
10 to 12 cherry tomatoes
1 tablespoon olive oil, optional
Fresh cracked pepper, optional
DIRECTIONS:
Place chickpeas, garlic, tahini, basil, salt and tomatoes in a food processor and pulse until smooth. If it is too thick, add water 1/2 tablespoon at a time. If too runny, add more chickpeas or tahini.
Transfer tomato hummus to a bowl, drizzle with olive oil and add fresh cracked pepper, if desired.
Serve hummus with crackers, pita bread or veggies. Store tomato hummus in refrigerator for up to four days, covered.
Just a few weeks away from tomato glut, I'm looking to cut down the amount of work I'll have to do later. I'm getting a jump start on my tomato harvest and eating them now, green, to avoid having to find ways to use them up when they ripen, seemingly all at once.
It's a good idea to have a few green tomato recipes on hand. Grab those green tomatoes off the vine just before the first frost, or if you're struggling with garden pests, pick them early and deprive neighborhood deer, squirrels and birds from their purloined bounty. Green tomatoes are tart and tangy and can be used in recipes, both sweet and savory. Get picking!
GREEN TOMATO GRATIN WITH PARMESAN
Recipe courtesy of Fine Cooking
This dish really showcases how lovely green tomatoes can be. It's light and fresh, a little tarter than you get when cooking with ripe tomatoes, and with a crunchy breadcrumb layer that keeps it from being too soft. Use real Parmesan, not the stuff you get in a shaker. You could also make this with a nice sharp cheddar, if that's your preference. I used turkey bacon, and found that though bacon got a little lost, the dish didn't suffer for it. So, vegetarians, feel free to leave it out.
Ingredients:
1/4 lb. bacon, chopped
1 large red onion, thinly sliced
5 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan
5 tablespoons breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 green tomatoes (about 1/2 lb. each), sliced 1/4 inch thick
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
Directions:
Lightly brown the bacon in a skillet over medium heat, about 4 minutes. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the fat. Add the onion and cook over low heat until caramelized, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the Parmesan, breadcrumbs, and oil and set aside.
Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
On one side of a round or oval shallow baking dish, arrange 4 or 5 tomato slices, overlapping them slightly. Spoon some of the bacon-onion mixture on the lower half of each tomato slice, and then lay another row of tomatoes across the first row. Layer the tomatoes at a slight angle against one another, topping each slice with the bacon-onion mixture. Repeat until the dish is full. Sprinkle with the salt, pepper, fresh thyme, and the cheese-breadcrumb mixture.
Cover the dish with foil and cook for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and continue cooking until the tomatoes are very tender and the top of the gratin is browned, about another 30 minutes.
GREEN TOMATO SOUP WITH HERBED OIL
Recipe courtesy of With Food and Love
This sharp and tangy tomato soup works best as a side, paired with a nice crusty bread or a grilled cheese.
Ingredients:
For the soup:
2 pounds green tomatoes, quartered
2 medium onions, quartered
5 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 cups kale, chopped
1 cup broth
For the oil:
1/2 cup fresh parsley
1/2 cup basil leaves
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 cup olive oil
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
Spread the tomatoes out on a sheet pan with the onions and garlic cloves. Drizzle on the olive oil and sprinkle them with the salt and pepper. Roast for 10 minutes and flip. Roast for 10 minutes more or until browned and caramelized.
Meanwhile, over low-medium heat, simmer together the broth and greens while covered with a lid for 10 minutes.
When the tomatoes and onions are done roasting combine them in a blender with the broth and greens and process until smooth. Taste and season with more salt and pepper if desired and set aside.
Blanch the parsley and basil for 30 seconds and cool them in an ice bath. Remove the herbs from the water and squeeze the excess water out using your hands.
Place the blanched herbs in a blender with the salt and olive oil and process until smooth. Strain the oil through a fine sieve. Serve the soup warm with a healthy drizzle of the oil. Oil can be store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
GREEN TOMATO PIE
Courtesy of the Fannie Farmer Baking Book
What can you say about this pie? It's a solid, almost- apple pie that will help you get rid of some of that tomato excess and kick-start fall early. There's a few different variations on a green tomato pie, so you can enjoy a sweeter or slightly more savory treat, each wonderful. If, like me, you are particularly dismayed by tomato skins in food, slice more thinly and eat it hot.
Ingredients:
2 Cornmeal Dough pie crusts
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
6 large green tomatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick.
1/2 cup golden raisins
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Line a pie plate with one crust.
Mix sugar, flour, salt, cloves, cinnamon and red pepper together. Toss tomatoes in the sugar mixture to coat, spread them into bottom of the pie plate.
Sprinkle raisins and leftover sugar mixture on top, then drizzle with vinegar and dot with butter before adding top crust and cutting vents. (Alternative: Make a lattice top.)
Bake for 40 minutes or until crust is lightly covered.
Option: Use a basic pie dough, 1 1/2 cups sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and keep the cloves, vinegar, and 1/4 cup flour.
My recipe box is like a photo album to me. If I want to remember someone or a special time in my life, I go in the box and look at the recipe cards.
I have recipes from people who were my co-workers at the North Adams Transcript — they all wrote their favorite recipes on index cards for me when I got married. I have recipes from friends, neighbors, acquaintances and even some from readers of my column.
My latest addition comes from Connie Barton, who reads my column in The Brattleboro Reformer. She wrote after my recent column on overripe cucumbers:
"Hello, Margaret! First, I want to tell you how much I enjoy your column in The Brattleboro Reformer. Your writing style makes the reading so much fun, as do your humor and zest for life. And, of course, the recipes are super. Today's topic — overripe cukes — made me decide to reach out to you. My husband's mother made the most amazing pickles with the HUGE, yellow ones that most farmers fed to their pigs unless they lived in my neck of the woods and saved them for me! I wonder if you'd be interested in the recipe? They're called "tongue pickles" and, yes, they do look like human tongues. She began making them in the 1930s as a young bride and possibly got the recipe from her mom. That, I don't know. I'm in my 80s and have made them many times and can never tire of the aroma in the house as the cukes sit in salt overnight, then give off the wonderful pickling-spice smell. If you have any interest in the recipe, I'd love to share it with you! Keep writing!"
— Connie (Barton)
We exchanged a few emails, including one with the recipe. Connie prefaced the recipe by saying:
"I'm feeling inspired to make some now — the perfect time of year to do it. I lost my husband last summer and couldn't bring myself to make them, but they deserve another chance! Here you go:
GRAMMIE BARTON'S FABULOUS PICKLES
INGREDIENTS:
About 30 large, overripe cucumbers (bushel basket 3/4 full). Or fewer!
1 quart vinegar
4 pounds brown sugar
Pickling spices
DIRECTIONS:
Peel the cucumbers and slice lengthwise. Scoop the seeds out and quarter the cucumbers. Put in dish and sprinkle with salt. Repeat until you've done this to all of the cucumbers. Let stand overnight.
Wash, drain well. Lay out on towel after tapping to remove water.
Make a cheesecloth bag filled with pickling spices and tie closed. Put bag, sugar and vinegar in large canning pot. Bring to a boil for a few minutes and skim off top several times. Add cukes. Cook until tender. Stir. Put in jar with syrup covering the pickles. Seal immediately.
"Enjoy!!" Connie said.
As this is an article appearing in the Food section, the ratatouille I'm referring to is the French vegetable dish, not the movie. I did have a good laugh though while researching when I came across an article that felt the need to debunk the notion the dish was made up for the Disney movie. It was a nice movie, but really?!
Ratatouille originated in the area around Nice, France as a summer harvest peasant dish using vegetables in the style of Provencal cuisine. The name refers to a coarse or "motley" stew. It's the first time I'd heard of a stew being referred to as "motley"; however, I can attest to the fact that it's been prepared by a motley crew!
Especially because it's a peasant dish, there are countless preparations. Virtually all preparations include tomatoes, onions, garlic, summer squash, eggplant, bell peppers and fresh herbs, although the inclusion of fennel, olives and beans is not uncommon. It's a very versatile dish as it can be served as a side dish or as part of, or entirely as, a main dish, either hot or cold. It can be prepared ahead and heated mixed with pasta or served over rice or couscous as a quick, healthy and satisfying weekday meal.
My history with ratatouille dates to my earliest days in the restaurant business, when I was working as the sous chef for my friends, David and Mary Bolton, at Mary's Restaurant in Bristol, Vt., in the mid 1970s. We would make it in relatively large batches and bake it over chicken breasts topped with mozzarella cheese or as a filling for crepes.
Mary's became a hub of sorts for artists, musicians and those of us doing our best to find a better way during those days in the '70s, which rivaled the divisiveness of our present social situation. We prepared inexpensive, interesting and nourishing food at Mary's Restaurant primarily for like-minded souls and Middlebury College students.
All the food at Mary's was prepared to order to the music of Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys, Dave Van Ronk, Van Morrison and the like. Everything from the bread to the desserts was made in-house by the three of us. I believe Mary's would still be relevant today, although none of us have the slightest inclination, nor the ability anymore I might add, to return to the restaurant business some 40-plus years later. My almost four years spent with the Boltons was a culinary awakening for me, and I have David and Mary to thank for it.
OVEN ROASTED RATATOUILLE
I've experimented with a number of ways of preparing ratatouille and I particularly like this version for its ease of preparation and depth of flavor that roasting the vegetables provides. I'm a firm believer in ingredients, so excellent quality fresh vegetables and herbs are a must, as well as top-quality balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil to finish the ratatouille.
INGREDIENTS:
1 medium zucchini
1 medium yellow summer squash
I medium eggplant, peeled
1 medium red bell pepper
All the above vegetables cut in 3/4- 1 inch dice. Taken together, they should total about 6 cups
1/2 large Spanish onion, peeled and cut in quarters lengthwise
4 large cloves of garlic, peeled and cut in chunks
Approximately 1/2 cup everyday olive oil to coat the vegetables for roasting
2 medium beefy tomatoes cut in 1/2-inch dice
1/2 cup thinly sliced basil leaves
1/2 cup thinly sliced flat leaf parsley
1/4 cup top-quality extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon top-quality balsamic vinegar
Salt (preferably Maldon salt) and freshly ground pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS:
Separate the oven racks so that the lower rack is second from the lowest rack and the upper rack is second from the top and preheat oven the to 450 degrees. Coat the onion quarters in the everyday olive oil and stand them cut side up on a small sheet pan or roasting plate lined with foil or parchment. I use a separate pan for the onion as I don't toss them halfway through as I do the other vegetables.
Combine the garlic, zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant and red bell pepper, coat them with everyday olive oil and spread on a 11-by-17-inch sheet pan lined with foil or parchment or on pans with sufficient room to spread the vegetables in a single layer. Place the pan with the onion on the lower rack of the oven and the other vegetables on the upper rack and roast for 15 minutes.
Leaving the onion in the oven, remove the pan with the rest of the vegetables from the oven and carefully turn them with a spatula.
Meanwhile, combine the herbs, diced tomato, top-quality olive oil and balsamic vinegar in a metal bowl large enough to toss all the vegetables together when the vegetables finish roasting. Roast the vegetables for an additional 10 minutes, for a total of 25 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven and slice the onion in large slices, discarding any overly blackened and dry layers from the bottom of the onion. While the roasted vegetables are still hot, combine all the vegetables in the bowl, stir gently, add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste and serve.
I can attest that there is truth in the adage "you eat with your eyes first," as I feasted on the tantalizing array of picture-perfect fruits and vegetables beautifully displayed at a farm stand set up outside Berkshire Medical Center on Thursday afternoon.
Every Thursday from 1:30 to 5 p.m. throughout the harvest season, you'll find Forthill Farm selling its own vegetables, fruits, flowers and eggs just outside the BMC cafeteria on Wahconah Street.
Over the past few years, when traveling over Fort Hill Avenue, I always took notice as a spot of acreage slowly transformed into a viable farm culminating with a newly erected farm store. I don't know why I've driven by many times and admired the farm, but I've never stopped to check out the wares.
Well, I won't fail to stop ever again after shopping at the farm stand last Thursday. The produce was the best I've ever seen. I bought way too much!
I brought home meaty tomatoes, purple and white striated eggplant, a basket of new potatoes, summer squash, peppers, onions, a fragrant sweet melon, blueberries, strawberries, two dozen eggs that have rich, golden-yellow yolks, and way too many string beans!
I did over do it, but I promptly made good use of everything I brought home. The tomatoes, squash, onions, peppers and eggplant were sliced and layered with plenty of garlic, fresh basil, olive oil, mozzarella and Parmesan then baked into a luscious vegetable gratin.
The melon and berries were spot-on ripe and sweet. No need to embellish, so I've enjoyed just snacking on the fruit.
The eggs I bought made the creamiest scrambled eggs and leftover gratin made a nice filling for an omelet.
It's not often that I find potatoes that have just been harvested, but when I do, I like them boiled with the skins on until just tender, buttered and seasoned with salt and pepper.
But now, what do I do with two pounds of green beans?!
GREEN BEANS GRATIN
INGREDIENTS:
2 pounds fresh green beans
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 cup shredded mozzarella
2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus more for garnish
Salt and pepper
1 cup panko bread crumbs
2 tablespoons olive oil
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash and trim ends of green beans and arrange in a shallow baking dish. Scatter garlic and lemon zest over the beans then pour cream over all. Season with salt and pepper. Cover tightly with foil and bake 20 minutes or until beans are just tender. Remove foil, sprinkle with mozzarella and Parmesan. Combine panko and olive oil with a pinch of salt and sprinkle over the beans. Return to oven, uncovered, and bake until cheese is melted and crumbs are golden brown, about 5 minutes.
Kudos to Forthill Farm and all the farms throughout the Berkshires and Southern Vermont. Fresh produce, organic meats, cheeses, butter, milk, cream, honey, maple syrup and glorious flowers — we have it all! Thanks to our farmers!
Pickling isn't just for your grandmother any more.
These days, most of us have some kind of garden thanks to a resurgence in the time-honored tradition of growing your own food fueled by extra time at home and the need to lessen trips to the grocery store. What is one to do with all those tomatoes, cucumbers and extra green beans suddenly sprouting up? Grab some mason jars.
Now, before you go panicking, breaking out in a garden-frenzy sweat over botulism and whatever canning horror stories you've heard in the past, know that canning can be has complicated, or as easy, as you'd like to be. For beginners, small batch, quick pickles are the way to dip your feet into the boiling canning waters.
All you need is some fresh vegetables, vinegar, water and spices and refrigerator space.
The basics
To pickle something, you need to soak the vegetables in a vinegar brine and your choice of spices. If you're a beginner, quick-pickling, or refrigerator pickles are the way to go. You simply pour your brine and spices over your vegetable of choice and pop them in the fridge to be eaten after a few hours of soaking; the longer you let it sit, the better it will taste! These can last up to a month or so in your refrigerator. If you're looking for shelf-stable pickling, that will require the process of boiling your mason jars to create a seal.
What can I pickle?
Pretty much any hardy vegetable that you don't mind eating once they get a little soft. The most popular are cucumbers, green beans and tomatoes. Zucchini, onions or bell peppers are also great choices. You'll want to cut your vegetables into thin spears, or thinly slice them, and peel carrots before pickling.
The brine
The base of all pickling is the brine, which is a mixture of vinegar, water, and salt (sometimes sugar, too). For quick pickles, a basic brine is equal parts vinegar and water, along with the salt or sugar, per the recipe, boiled in a saucepan over medium-high heat until the salt/sugar has dissolved. You don't have to boil your brine, but it will help the flavors meld together. Then, pour the warm brine over the vegetables. You can use any kind of vinegar you like, though white distilled vinegar is the often the most common called for in pickling. Apple cider vinegar works well also.
Spice it up
This is a great time to use up some of your fresh herbs in the garden, such as rosemary, dill or thyme, which hold up well in pickling solution. You can also use dry herbs and whole cloves of garlic. If you like extra heat with your pickles, don't be afraid to add some red pepper flakes into the mixture.
Think outside the pickle
Quick pickling doesn't have to be just about cucumbers — though, they are a delicious summer staple. Think about pickling some thinly sliced red onions with brine made of apple cider vinegar, salt and sugar for an extra special topping for taco night. Or, instead of eating pickles straight of the jar, chop them up and add them to any summer side salad you're bringing to your next socially-distant picnic. Remember, if anything smells funny, or you notice fermentation, it's time to throw out your pickles and make more.
QUICK-PICKLES
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup water
1/3 cup vinegar (apple cider, white, and rice wine are all good)
2 tablespoons sugar (optional)
1 to 2 teaspoons salt
sliced garden cucumbers (about 2 cups)
sliced onion or green onion (about 1/2 cup)
DIRECTIONS:
In a small bowl add water, vinegar, sugar and salt. Stir to combine and until the sugar and salt have dissolved. Add the cucumber and onion. Taste and adjust the ingredients to your liking.
All the cucumbers should be covered in the brine, if you have lots of cucumber or are making a big batch, make more brine.
Let the mixture rest in the fridge until you are ready to eat.
POTATO AND PICKLE SALAD
(Recipe Courtesy of "Food in Jars" by Marisa McClellan)
Use up some of your homemade pickles in this pickle-heavy potato salad that is also great for the dairy-free picnic goers. The crunchier the pickles, the better!
INGREDIENTS:
2 1/2 pounds small red or Yukon gold potatoes
2 teaspoons fine sea salt, plus more for salting potato water
1/4 cup cider vinegar
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 1/2 cups well-drained chopped pickles
2 large celery ribs, trimmed and chopped
1/2 cup minced, fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup minced fresh chives
DIRECTIONS:
Cut potatoes into bite-sized pieces, no need to peel them. Place them in a large pot with salted water and boil until the potatoes are fork-tender, 15 to 18 minutes. Drain the potatoes into a colander then return to the hot pot. Return the pot to the stove top and let the potatoes steam, uncovered over low heat for 1 to 2 minutes, then pour in vinegar. Once all the visible vinegar has evaporated, drizzle with olive oil and toss the potatoes to coat. Remove the pot from the heat and add the salt and pepper. Add pickles, celery, parsley and chive and stir to combine. Adjust seasoning as necessary. Sometimes, adding a splash of the pickle brine helps intensify the flavor.
As a music lover and someone who has made his living producing food, I've always been interested in the parallels in producing music and food for a living. I've had discussions with some of my professional musician friends on this subject, and we tend to agree there are a number of similarities.
First of all, musicians and chefs tend to travel in the same social circles, as we're generally working when the rest of the world is at leisure. I was a chef on Cape Cod for over 15 years. I really couldn't tell you a whole lot about what others would describe as the Cape Cod experience in the summer, as I spent most of my summers inside of a kitchen. I did, however, hear some great jazz and had some memorable after-hour conversations with musicians in our restaurant's lounge after service was over. Not many of us can immediately put the brakes on after putting our hearts and souls into our craft in an evening.
Producing music and food for a living are performing arts. As we refine our chops, so to speak, we start moving the needle from craft to art. Performing arts are all ephemeral, never to be repeated exactly the same. It's what differentiates a painter or sculptor from a musician or a chef. As Joni Mitchell once noted when discussing the difference between being a painter and the performing arts, "Nobody ever said to Van Gogh, 'Paint a Starry Night' again, man!"
Whether it's aurally or gastronomically, a musician or chef is producing a consumable product providing pleasure. We're in the pleasure business. It's the almost instant feedback from the audience and the energy it produces that can provide satisfaction for both the audience and the chef or musician.
I'm not sure why I felt the need to go down the road of discussing the similarities of chef and musician, but while considering picnicking at Tanglewood, it worked itself into my consciousness. It's a subject I've considered for a long time, and I guess it was time to organize those thoughts. As a former chef, I hope you enjoyed it!
I've described picnicking at Tanglewood as my go-to in the summer, so I'd like to provide you a recipe for tabouli, my go-to salad for Tanglewood.
You say tabbouleh, I say tabouli; let's make it the way you like! I want to emphasize that, yes, I measured all the ingredients when putting together this version, so I can assure you it works for me, however, I Googled "tabouli salad recipes" and stopped counting after 100. I'm more jazz musician while making food, so I rarely actually measure anything. I look to recipes for ideas I may not have considered. I've been doing this for a long time, though, and for someone less sure of the interactions of ingredients, try making it as written and take it from there. There are, after all, over 25,000 recordings of the song, "Summertime."
TABOULI
This version is more reflective of a traditional Lebanese tabouli in which parsley dominates; cucumber, however, is not traditional. I really like parsley dominating the salad, but cucumber adds a refreshing crunch and a bit of a break from all that parsley. The best bulgur to use is the very fine No. 1-size bulgur, which requires no cooking, as after about a half-hour it softens by soaking up the oil and liquids in the salad. This salad holds well for hours and can still be good the next day.
INGREDIENTS:
3 cups (about 2 bunches) flat leaf parsley, washed thoroughly, stemmed and finely chopped
4 scallions, cut on the bias
1 cup grape tomatoes (1 pint), cut in eighths or 1 cup small diced seeded tomatoes
1 European cucumber with skin, small diced to approximately the same size as the tomatoes
1/2 cup mint, stemmed and finely chopped
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp allspice
1/2 cup No. 1 very fine bulgur
Salt and pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS:
Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, some salt and pepper and the allspice. Add bulgur to the oil and lemon mixture and pour over the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl. Blend ingredients thoroughly and refrigerate. After about a half-hour to allow the bulgur to soften, adjust salt and pepper and enjoy!
Traditional recipes seem to be part of a collective conscience of sorts, and eggplant caponata is no exception. All around Italy (and the world), chefs and grandmothers and uncles are making a variation of this sweet and sour eggplant dish. And while each region and family has its own variation on method and ingredients, the same overall idea prevails.
In the simplest of terms, eggplant caponata is cooked eggplant and other ingredients in a sweet and sour sauce. Those "other ingredients" can be a number of things, but most commonly include peppers, onions, garlic, raisins, and capers. The beauty of caponata is that it can be made in advance and served at room temperature and it's a perfect accompaniment to meat or fish or on top of crostini.
In Italian cooking, the combination of sweet and sour flavors is known as agrodolce. It typically refers to a cooked mixture of vinegar and sugar or other sweetener, and can be served over roasted meats, on toasted panini, or as an ingredient in a composed pasta dish. In eggplant caponata, it is the sauce that binds the other ingredients together, giving the dish its characteristic sweet and sour qualities.
In this version, the vegetables are tossed with vinegar and tomatoes, then roasted in a single layer until they are soft and caramelized. Because eggplant holds so much moisture, it is often salted and drained before cooking. Excess moisture in an ingredient can keep it from browning, but will also make the overall dish soggy and less flavorful. Salting the eggplant will help ensure the caramelization that puts the "dolce" in agrodolce.
Eggplant caponata
Makes 10 servings (about 6 cups)
Start to finish: 1 hour 45 minutes (Active time: 15 minutes)
INGREDIENTS:
1 eggplant (about 1 pound), peeled and cut into small dice
2 tablespoons salt
1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into small dice
3/4 cup minced onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cups canned diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons basil chiffonade
1 teaspoon minced marjoram
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup finely grated Parmesan
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 250 F.
Place the eggplant in a large bowl and sprinkle with the salt, tossing evenly to distribute. Place the salted eggplant in a colander and allow to drain for 20 minutes.
Quickly rinse the eggplant under cool water, then place on paper towels to absorb excess moisture.
In a large bowl, combine the eggplant with the bell pepper, onion, garlic, and oil and toss to combine. Add the tomatoes and tomato paste and toss to thoroughly combine.
Spread the vegetable mixture evenly on a baking sheet and roast for about 45 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender and lightly browned.
Remove the pan from the oven and add the basil, marjoram, and vinegar. Gently fold the ingredients together.
Transfer the caponata to a glass or stainless steel container with a lid. Let cool to room temperature, then stir in the cheese. Refrigerate the caponata in a covered glass or stainless steel container for up to a week. The flavor will improve if the caponata is allowed to rest for at least 24 hours before use.
Nutrition information per serving: 114 calories; 56 calories from fat; 6 g fat (1 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 2 mg cholesterol; 527 mg sodium; 13 g carbohydrate; 3 g fiber; 7 g sugar; 2 g protein.
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This article was provided to The Associated Press by The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York.
A combination of pasta and summer squash results in a light, flavorful dish that's full of color.
We decided against peeling the squash, as the skin helped to keep the pieces intact throughout the cooking process. Because summer squash contains so much liquid, we salted and drained it to keep our sauce from ending up watery and bland.
The salted squash also browned beautifully; just 5 minutes in a hot skillet gave a light char to each batch. To accompany the squash, we chose halved grape tomatoes, fresh basil, and pine nuts.
We finished the sauce with balsamic vinegar to give it a kick and paired the sauce with farfalle, since its nooks and crannies easily trapped the flavor-packed ingredients. A combination of zucchini and summer squash makes for a more colorful dish, but either may be used exclusively if desired. Cherry tomatoes can be substituted for the grape tomatoes.
If farfalle is unavailable, campanelle and fusilli are good substitutes. We prefer using kosher salt because residual grains can be easily wiped away from the squash; if using table salt, be sure to reduce all of the salt amounts in the recipe by half.
FARFALLE WITH ZUCCHINI, TOMATOES AND PINE NUTS
Servings: 6
Start to finish: 1 hour
INGREDIENTS:
2 pounds zucchini and/or summer squash, halved lengthwise and sliced 1/2-inch thick
Kosher salt and pepper
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 pound farfalle
12 ounces grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Grated Parmesan cheese
DIRECTIONS:
Toss squash with 1 tablespoon salt and let drain in colander for 30 minutes. Pat squash dry with paper towels and carefully wipe away any residual salt.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over high heat until just smoking. Add half of squash and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and slightly charred, 5 to 7 minutes, reducing heat if skillet begins to scorch; transfer to large plate. Repeat with 1 tablespoon oil and remaining squash; transfer to plate.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in now-empty skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add garlic and pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in squash and cook until heated through, about 30 seconds.
Meanwhile, bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot. Add pasta and 1 tablespoon salt and cook, stirring often, until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup cooking water, then drain pasta and return it to pot. Add squash mixture, tomatoes, basil, pine nuts, vinegar, and remaining 2 tablespoons oil and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste and adjust consistency with reserved cooking water as needed. Serve with Parmesan.
Nutrition information per serving: 463 calories; 154 calories from fat; 17 g fat (2 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 0 mg cholesterol; 177 mg sodium; 65 g carbohydrate; 5 g fiber; 9 g sugar; 13 g protein.
For more recipes, cooking tips and ingredient and product reviews, visit https://www.americastestkitchen.com . Find more recipes like Farfalle with Zucchini in "The Complete Mediterranean Cookbook ."
What do you do when you pick 12 pounds of blueberries? Make muffins, a pie, and maybe a few dozen more muffins.
Last week, my family and I trekked to Mountain View Farm in Lanesborough for a socially-distant, safe outdoor activity that would help us kill a few hours of my 5-year-old son's limitless energy. Armed with masks, sunscreen and two large cardboard boxes we started picking with the promise that we "wouldn't get too many." Famous last words of hungry foragers.
Outside, overlooking the beautiful mountains, with a breeze and countless ripe blueberries all around you, 12 pounds doesn't look like that much. But once I got home and started washing the berries, weeding out the shriveled or hard, under-ripe ones that sneaked in, I started to worry, "What am I going to do with all of these berries?"
First, I took the advice of the very helpful woman running the farm's cashier hut, who suggested the best way to freeze the berries for future use is to flash freeze them in a single layer on a flat baking sheet so the berries freeze individually. Then, put them all in a freezer-safe container or plastic bag and freeze again. This way, you won't have one big blue block of blueberry mush when you pull them out in a few months.
OK, that left me with about 8 pounds of blueberries after freezing. Next up, I tried a blueberry pie recipe suggested to me by Calendar Editor and resident baker extraordinaire Meggie Baker. For the pie, you simply combine 5 to 6 cups of fresh berries, 4 tablespoons of flour, 1 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. You pour the berry mixture into your favorite unbaked pie-crust lined dish and dot with two pats of butter. Then, cover with the top pie crust using a lattice, so the juices have space to bubble up. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes at 425 degrees F, then bake another 20 to 25 minutes at 350 degrees F. Let cool before slicing so the juices have time to set.
This blueberry pie was so delicious, my family polished it off in three days and requested I make another. In an effort to show some restraint, I did make another, but froze it before baking so it can be enjoyed at another time.
So that left me with another, 4 pounds, give or take a few berries, for me to use up. (I told you, I have a lot of blueberries in my house right now ...)
Time for a muffin bake-off!
After some Internet research and suggestions from friends, I decided on two popular muffin recipes, each with a promise of a slightly different, yet delicious outcome. Smitten Kitchen's Perfect Blueberry Muffins are wonderfully moist, with a hint of fresh lemon and get better with age if you don't eat them all in one day. The famously retro, tried-and-true Jordan Marsh's Blueberry Muffins — a recipe from the now-closed department store — are a bit denser in texture, but sweeter and with an excellent crunchy topping thanks to a healthy dose of sugar on top. You simply can't go wrong with either, as I learned.
But now, what to do with the last 2 pounds of blueberries?
Perfect Blueberry Muffins
Recipe courtesy of Smitten Kitchen
INGREDIENTS:
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
Finely grated zest from 1/2 a lemon
3/4 cup plain unsweetened yogurt or sour cream
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon fine sea or table salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups blueberries
3 tablespoons turbinado (sugar in the raw) sugar
DIRECTIONS:
Heat oven to 375 F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners or spray each cup with a nonstick spray. Melt butter in the bottom of a large bowl and whisk in sugar, zest, yogurt and egg until smooth. Whisk in baking powder, baking soda and salt until fully combined, then lightly fold in flour and berries. The batter will be thick. Divide between prepared muffin cups and sprinkle each with 1 teaspoon turbinado sugar. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until tops are golden and a tester inserted into the center of muffins comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes then the rest of the way on a rack.
Jordan Marsh's Blueberry Muffins
Recipe courtesy of The New York Times
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup softened butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup milk
2 cups blueberries, washed
3 teaspoons sugar
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 375 F. Cream the butter and 1 1/4 cups sugar until light. Then, add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla.
Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder, and add to the creamed mixture alternately with the milk.
Crush 1/2 cup blueberries with a fork, and mix into the batter. Fold in the remaining whole berries.
Line a 12-cup standard muffin tin with cupcake liners, and fill with batter. Sprinkle the 3 teaspoons sugar over the tops of the muffins, and bake for 30 to 35 minutes.
Remove muffins from tin and cool at least 30 minutes. Store, uncovered, or the muffins will become too moist the second day.
A swim in the lake and a tall glass of icy cold lemonade, enjoyed in the shade of a big old tree, is usually enough to refresh the body and soul on a warm summer day, but steamy temperatures well into the 90s, day after day, leave most of us in a limp stupor from which there was little relief.
When it's hot, I crave cucumbers, especially cucumber sandwiches. My version starts with a good sandwich bread, like Pepperidge Farm. One slice is spread with a a bit of softened butter and another with mayonnaise, then thin slices of cucumber seasoned generously with salt and pepper are layered in between.
Cucumbers are abundant in gardens and local farmers markets, so I'd like to share some unexpected ways to enjoy cucumbers aside from the usual salads and crudité platters.
Here's a surprise: Did you know cucumbers are delicious cooked? Sautéed in butter until just barely tender and seasoned with fresh dill, they are a perfect accompaniment to fish or chicken.
SAUTEED CUCUMBERS
INGREDIENTS:
2 medium cucumbers
3 tablespoons butter
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon minced fresh dill
DIRECTIONS:
Peel cucumbers, cut in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Cut each half again lengthwise and slice into 1/2" pieces. Melt butter in a skillet over medium high heat, add cucumbers and quickly sauté until just barely tender with still a bit of crunch. The cucumbers should not brown, so lower temperature if necessary. Season with salt and pepper to taste and dill. Serve immediately.
I'm not a fan of cold soup, but this recipe is a game changer for me.
COLD CUCUMBER AND AVOCADO SOUP
INGREDIENTS:
2 medium cucumbers, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 ripe avocado, pitted and flesh scooped out
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1 tbsp. fresh basil or dill, minced
salt and white pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS:
Puree cucumbers, avocado, garlic, buttermilk, yogurt and lemon rind in a food processor. Stir in basil or dill, salt and pepper to taste. Chill before serving.
Cucumbers for dessert? You bet!
CUCUMBER, HONEYDEW, AND PINEAPPLE POPSICLES
INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups cubed cucumber
1 1/2 cups cubed honeydew melon
1 1/2 cups cubed fresh pineapple
1/3 cup fresh mint
juice of one lime
2 tablespoons honey
DIRECTIONS:
Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into popsicle molds and freeze until solid.
So refreshing and so enjoyed whenever served at summer soirees I catered, cucumber water is astoundingly delicious and refreshing. Drinking cucumber water is a healthy way to stay hydrated during these hot summer days, so keep a big pitcher full chilling in the refrigerator at all times.
Simply cut a cucumber into 1/4-inch slices and put into a pitcher or carafe. Add two quarts spring water and chill for hour and serve over ice.
Stay cool everyone!
In my day job as a Latin teacher, we spend some time on well-known Latin sayings, among them "De gustibus non est disputandum," which translates to, “In matters of taste, it must not be argued.” Or, as my father used to say, “That’s what makes horse races.” While certainly it is true that everyone has their own preferences, and such matters are indeed subjective, I have come to learn that one's tastes truly can change, even in matters of food!
Today’s recipe includes two ingredients that I used to detest. For many years I could not tolerate olives. I remember once, when I was in college and spending the summer working on an archeology dig in France, there was a farmer at the weekly market in town with barrels and barrels of different olives. He offered us some to taste, and I declined, saying I didn’t like olives. He smiled, selected a single olive on a spoon, and held it out to me. I tasted, and I shrugged. My friends were mortified that I hadn’t at least pretended to like what was surely his most prized variety of olive! Eventually, I learned to like olives.
Up until recently I would pass over any item on a menu that included fennel. I just didn’t like the licorice flavor at all. For some reason, though, I became intrigued by a recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi with chicken, fennel, and orange, and discovered that again my tastes had changed, and I started experimenting with different ways to enjoy fennel. Here’s one of my favorites!
PASTA WITH PAN-ROASTED FENNEL
Serves 2
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup plain bread crumbs, homemade if possible
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
4 anchovy fillets, see below for preparation, omit for vegan
1 large garlic clove, sliced
1 medium bulb fennel, tops removed*, bulb trimmed, halved through the root end, and cut into thin wedges
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste if not using anchovies
8 ounces pasta, preferably a strand
2 tablespoons capers, drained if in brine, rinsed and patted dry if salted
2 tablespoons pitted, chopped olives, green or black
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup golden raisins
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Toss the bread crumbs in 2 tablespoons olive oil and spread on a foil-lined pan. Place in the oven, and turn off the heat after 5 minutes. Leave the bread crumbs in the oven to keep toasting.
Start a pot of salted water for the pasta.
If you are using salted anchovies, you will need two whole anchovies, Be sure to rinse, fillet and pat them dry. If the anchovies are packed in brine, just pat them dry. If packed in oil, you can just use four fillets right from the tin, saving any leftovers in a small container in the refrigerator covered with oil.
Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat until shimmering and fragrant. Add the sliced garlic, anchovies (if using), and fennel wedges, making sure that a flat side of each piece of fennel touches the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, or more to taste if not using anchovies. Sometimes, the anchovies can cause the oil to splatter, so have a lid ready if needed until the anchovies have dissolved and stop splattering.
Cook the fennel gently for 10 minutes, turning frequently until the cut edges begin to caramelize and the fennel becomes tender.
When the water has come to a boil, add the pasta. At the same time, add the capers and olives to the sauté pan. When the pasta has about 5 minutes left, add the raisins and pine nuts to the sauté pan, and stir to combine, watching to make sure they don’t burn.
When the pasta is done, turn the heat up under the fennel to medium-high heat. Move the pasta pot right next to the sauté pan, and, using tongs, remove the pasta directly from the pot into the pan with the fennel. Reserve some pasta water. Mix the pasta gently to combine with the fennel and other items in the pan. If the pasta mixture becomes too dry, add some pasta water, a few tablespoons at a time. Remove from the heat and drizzle the lemon juice over the pasta.
Divide the pasta between two dinner plates and garnish with the toasted bread crumbs.
*You can freeze the tops and use them another time in a brine for chicken or pork chops.
Through the many, many years of my life, I have adopted some personal "rules" that I live by. Some were passed down by my mother; others I adopted on my own.
Rule 1: Always use the bathroom before leaving home — or any place you're at. Public bathrooms aren't that easy to find and bladders can be tricky. One minute it's happy, the next insisting it's going to burst.
Rule 2: (Along the same lines as Rule 1) When using a public restroom, check and make sure there is toilet paper in the stall before you proceed. Just saying.
Rule 3: Always bring a book to an appointment, be it the doctor, dentist or hair dresser. With few exceptions, you'll be waiting awhile and the magazines provided will be three years old or non-existent.
Rule 4: Make sure you're wearing clean, not ripped, underwear. This comes from my mom, who would add, "You never know when you'll be in an accident." Hasn't happened yet, but she's right ... you never know and I'm not tempting fate.
Rule 5: Never go to the supermarket without a list. I've gone home more than once without the items I originally went in for — and 20 items I didn't need or really want.
Rule 6: Don't sweat the small stuff; pick and choose your battles. This one got me through my son's rebellious stage when he was 4 and again during his teen years. Was fighting over his refusal to eat green beans, or broccoli, or basically any vegetable really worth ruining dinner every night? No.
Rule 7: Always have spare change in the console of your car or the bottom of your pocketbook. This springs from my youth, when there weren't any cell phones and you used a pay phone to call your parents when you needed a ride home. These days, it's to ensure I have money for parking meters — a quarter beats a $5 parking violation.
Rule 8: Always have a safety pin in your purse or pinned to a piece of clothing you're wearing. You never know when the zipper on your jeans is going to split or a strategic button is going to pop off.
Rule 9: It's just as easy to be nice as it is to be hateful to people — an adage from my late husband. This rule is sometimes tough to stick to ...
Rule 10: If life gives you a lemon, make lemonade. Or, as I've grown older, if you buy a bottle of wine you don't like, add lemonade and make sangria.
Life currently isn't giving me lemons, it's giving me what is going to be a plethora of zucchini. I've never grown it before and thought three plants would yield me a few squashes. If the blossoms are any indication of the harvest, I'm in big trouble! Just to be prepared, I rifled through my recipe box for my zucchini bread recipe ...
ZUCCHINI BREAD
INGREDIENTS:
3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
2 cups shredded zucchini
3 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup walnuts
DIRECTIONS:
Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Mix the remaining ingredients in another bowl and add to the dry mixture. Bake in two greased loaf pans. Bake at 325 F for an hour.
Eggplant shines in this dish, where its melt-in-your mouth consistency and ability to soak up a flavor-packed sauce are on full display. But its excess moisture can be a serious liability, leading many recipes to require time-consuming salting, draining and drying.
We wanted to use our Dutch oven to bring this versatile vegetable to its full potential without all the extra work. By cutting the eggplant into cubes and cooking it in two batches, we found we could take advantage of the Dutch oven's heat to drive away moisture and brown the eggplant at the same time.
To complement its earthy flavor, we also added sweet red bell peppers to the pot, along with a generous dose of aromatic garlic and ginger. A bold Thai-style sauce, flavored with potent ingredients like fish sauce, brown sugar, lime, and red pepper flakes, completed the dish. Basil and scallions added freshness and a pop of color.
Do not peel the eggplant; leaving the skin on helps it hold together during cooking.
Eggplant with garlic and basil sauce
Servings: 6
Start to finish: 1 hour
INGREDIENTS:
Sauce:
1 cup water
1/3 cup fish sauce
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
4 teaspoons grated lime zest plus 1 tablespoon juice (2 limes)
4 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Vegetables:
7 tablespoons vegetable oil
12 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
2 pounds eggplant, cut into 3/4 inch pieces
2 red bell peppers, stemmed, seeded, and cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1 cup fresh basil leaves, torn into rough
1/2 inch pieces
4 scallions, sliced thin
DIRECTIONS:
For the sauce: Whisk all ingredients together in bowl.
For the vegetables: Combine 1 tablespoon oil, garlic and ginger in bowl; set aside. Heat 3 tablespoons oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add half of eggplant and half of bell peppers and cook, stirring often and scraping bottom of pan to loosen any browned bits, until tender, about 12 minutes; transfer to separate bowl. Repeat with remaining 3 tablespoons oil, eggplant and bell pepper; transfer to bowl.
Scrape away any remaining browned bits from now-empty pot. Return cooked vegetables to pot and push to sides. Add garlic mixture to center and cook over medium-high heat until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir garlic mixture into vegetables. Whisk sauce to recombine, then add to pot. Cook, stirring constantly, until sauce is thickened, about 1 minute. Off heat, stir in basil and scallions. Serve.
Nutrition information per serving: 261 calories; 145 calories from fat; 16 g fat (1 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 0 mg cholesterol; 1268 mg sodium; 28 g carbohydrate; 6 g fiber; 17 g sugar; 4 g protein.
For more recipes, cooking tips and ingredient and product reviews, visit https://www.americastestkitchen.com. Find more recipes like Eggplant with Garlic Sauce in "Cook it in Your Dutch Oven ."
I love our local sweet corn, but it comes with a complicated history. The season now lasts from mid-July until past the middle of September. I find the best corn is generally found from the end of July until the first week of September. It's during this period our local corn fully develops its savory flavor, becoming more nuanced while maintaining its characteristic sweetness and tenderness. Later in the season, the sugars convert to starch and the kernels become tougher.
Corn or maize, as it's known below our southern border, was first cultivated by indigenous people in southern Mexico as early as 10,000 years ago from a grass called teosinte. The earliest ears of maize were just inches long and bore little resemblance to our sweet corn of today. Maize's cultivation spread first south into South America and the Andes about 6,000 years ago, before beginning to spread significantly northward about 4,500 years ago.
Corn cultivation didn't reach New England until about 1,000 years ago as Native Americans slowly developed strains that could mature in the shorter northern growing seasons. The development of corn cultivation, and the ability of corn to be dried and stored, was a major driving force for many of our Native American tribes to eschew a transient lifestyle following food sources with the seasons and begin adopting a less nomadic lifestyle, eventually forming permanent settlements. As cultivation became more prevalent, corn became a staple of many of our Native American peoples. Corn was dried before the winter and was either reconstituted into hominy or ground into corn meal for any number of uses. Dried corn was essential for planting the following spring.
By the time the Pilgrims landed almost 400 years ago in November 1620 as the first Europeans to arrive in New England, the cultivation of corn had become well established among the Native American peoples of the area. Cultivation of corn played a major role in the survival of the Pilgrims of Plimouth Plantation; however, discovery by the Pilgrims of dried corn on Cape Cod was their first aggressive act committed against Native American peoples.
Native Americans had learned to store a winter cache of dried corn underground in corn husk baskets lined with grass to prevent mold and mildew. It took less than four days after the Pilgrims' first landed in Provincetown harbor after 66 days at sea for the Pilgrims to discover and pilfer a buried cache of dried corn while exploring the shores of Cape Cod. That cache on Corn Hill in Truro belonged to the Pamet tribe of the Wampanoag nation. The Pilgrims quickly moved on from the area, so there's no accurate record of how the Pamet tribe fared that winter without the stolen corn; however, we do know the Pilgrims used some of that corn to plant their first crop the following spring.
Today, there are several unresolved debates regarding sweet corn. The first debate is how to eat it off the cob. This is, of course, an extremely serious question that can reveal enormous amounts of information regarding your personality. Are you a neat freak and eat the corn in rows, moving along the cob as an old-fashioned manual typewriter? Are you an artistic right-brainer and eat around the cob circularly turning it like a rolling pin? Maybe you belong in the rabid squirrel category and take random bites off the cob? Finally, do you dispense with the whole eating off the cob thing and strip the cob of its kernels before eating?
My method is to eat it in rows, which probably has a lot to do with when my brother and I were kids watching Looney Tunes. One of those early exaggerated cartoon characters would wildly chomp to the end of each row of corn and a ding from a manual typewriter would sound as he joyously flailed through each row of corn. My brother and I thought it was hilarious and would mimic that character as we ate our corn, dinging as we finished each row. I'm sure our parents were not quite so thrilled.
The next debate is how to cook corn on the cob or whether to even cook it all. People swear by whatever method they use and will stick their chins out defiantly if challenged. The cooking methods include boiling, steaming, poaching, grilling or roasting — with or without the husk — and microwaving. Once again, there are pluses and minuses to each method and may have a lot more to do with what you're serving it with, how many ears you're cooking, the recipe you may be using and personal taste.
Whatever method you use, the most important considerations are to make sure the corn is as local and fresh as possible and that it's not overcooked. Once corn has been picked, it begins a slow steady process of having its natural sugars convert to starch. I say slow, because it was once believed to enjoy sweet corn a pot needed to be put on to boil before picking the corn. Hybridization has significantly slowed the sugar conversion process, but as fresh and local as possible still stands. The other thing that stands is to eat as much corn as possible during its six- to seven-week peak. Once it's over, it's over.
As far as I'm concerned, nothing beats slathering the corn with a quality butter and a good sprinkling of salt, but I encourage you to use a specific salt. If you've never used Maldon salt, start using it on corn on the cob. From England, it is flaked, crunchy, mild and not at all bitter with a distinctive purity.
Lastly, what to do with leftover corn on the cob? If you're like me and buy ears of corn by the half dozen for the two of us, you'll probably have corn left over. Here's a recipe I've been making for years. One tip I will add about stripping leftover corn on the cob of its kernels is it's far less messy to strip them when the ears are cold.
CURRIED CORN AND SHRIMP SALAD
The basic method for this corn salad, mixing cold corn from the cob with a bit of oil, something acidic and other vegetables and herbs, has countless permutations. Try experimenting with tomato, black beans, avocado and lime. Corn with summer vegetables and basil with lemon yogurt dressing is another. For right now, if you enjoy curried dishes as much as I do, this recipe works for me.
INGREDIENTS:
For the shrimp:
8 cups water
2 tablespoons Patak's Mild Curry Paste
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 lemon
1 pound 31-40 EZ peel raw shrimp
For the salad:
1 cup julienned red bell pepper
2 cups corn off the cob
1 tablespoon vegetable or grapeseed oil
1 tablespoon seasoned rice vinegar
1/4 cup Patek's Mild Curry Paste
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup mint, chopped
DIRECTIONS:
For the shrimp: Mix 2 tablespoons curry paste, salt and lemon with the water and bring to a boil. Have a bowl with ice water ready for the cooked shrimp. Add the shrimp and cook for 3 minutes. Drain shrimp and plunge the shrimp into the ice water to stop the cooking process. Peel and dry the shrimp once they are thoroughly chilled.
For the salad: Combine the shrimp with the salad ingredients and blend thoroughly. Serve chilled.
To make grilled cauliflower with a tender interior and a flavorful, nicely browned exterior, we first microwaved it until it was cooked through and then briefly grilled it to pick up color and flavor.
To ensure that the cauliflower held up on the grill without falling through the grate and to provide sufficient surface area for browning, we cut the head into wedges.
Dunking the cauliflower in a salt and sugar solution before microwaving seasoned it all over, even in the nooks and crannies. Look for cauliflower with densely packed florets that feels heavy for its size.
Using tongs or a thin metal spatula to gently flip the wedges helps keep them intact. This dish stands well on its own, but to dress it up, serve it sprinkled with 1 tablespoon of almond, raisin and caper relish (recipe follows).
Grilled cauliflower
Servings: 4-6
Start to finish: 35 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
1/4 cup salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 head cauliflower (2 pounds), cut into 6 equal wedges
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon minced fresh chives
1 tablespoon topping (recipe follows)
Lemon wedges
DIRECTIONS:
Whisk 2 cups water, salt, and sugar in medium bowl until salt and sugar dissolve. Holding wedges by core, gently dunk in salt-sugar mixture until evenly moistened (do not dry — residual water will help cauliflower steam). Transfer wedges, rounded side down, to large plate and cover with inverted large bowl. Microwave until cauliflower is translucent and tender and paring knife slips easily in and out of thickest stem of florets (not core), 14 to 16 minutes.
Carefully (bowl and cauliflower will be very hot) transfer cauliflower to paper towel-lined plate and pat dry with paper towels. Brush cut sides of wedges with 1 tablespoon oil.
For a charcoal grill: Open bottom vent completely. Light large chimney starter three-quarters filled with charcoal briquettes (4 1/2 quarts). When top coals are partially covered with ash, pour evenly over grill. Set cooking grate in place, cover, and open lid vent completely. Heat grill until hot, about 5 minutes.
For a gas grill: Turn all burners to high, cover, and heat grill until hot, about 15 minutes. Turn all burners to medium-high.
Clean and oil cooking grate. Place cauliflower, cut side down, on grill and cook, covered, until well browned with spots of charring, 3 to 4 minutes. Using tongs or thin metal spatula, flip cauliflower and cook second cut side until well browned with spots of charring, 3 to 4 minutes. Flip again so cauliflower is sitting on rounded edge and cook until browned, 1 to 2 minutes.
Transfer cauliflower to serving platter. Drizzle with remaining 1 tablespoon oil, sprinkle with chives and topping, and serve with lemon wedges.
Almond, raisin, and caper relish
Makes about 1/2 cup
Golden raisins plus briny capers, crunchy almonds, and white wine vinegar make for a sweet, salty, and tangy topping. Champagne vinegar can be used in place of white wine vinegar and regular raisins in place of golden raisins, if desired.
INGREDIENTS:
2 tablespoons golden raisins
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted and chopped fine
1 tablespoon capers, rinsed and chopped fine
1 teaspoon minced fresh parsley
Pinch red pepper flakes
3-4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
DIRECTIONS:
Combine raisins and 2 tablespoons hot water in small bowl and let stand for 5 minutes. Drain raisins and chop fine. Toss raisins and vinegar in bowl, then stir in almonds, capers, parsley, and pepper flakes. Stir in 3 tablespoons oil; mixture should be well moistened. If still dry, add remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Nutrition information per serving: 233 calories; 145 calories from fat; 16 g fat (2 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 0 mg cholesterol; 1021 mg sodium; 18 g carbohydrate; 6 g fiber; 10 g sugar; 6 g protein.
For more recipes, cooking tips and ingredient and product reviews, visit https://www.americastestkitchen.com . Find more recipes like Grilled Cauliflower in "Vegetables Illustrated ."
Highlighting the fresh flavors of Provencal cuisine, soupe au pistou is a classic French soup composed of seasonal vegetables, creamy white beans and fragrant herbs.
Celebrating colorful, early-summer produce, this soup needed to be chock-full of vegetables and simple to prepare. Leeks, green beans, and zucchini all made the cut; we liked their summery flavors and varying shades of green.
Traditional recipes use water for the base, but supplementing the water with vegetable broth promised a more rounded, flavorful base; we cooked orecchiette directly in the broth so that the starch from the pasta would give it more body.
Canned white beans tasted great and were far more convenient than long-soaking dried beans. This soup is always served with a dollop of pistou, France's answer to pesto, and to make ours we simply whirled basil, Parmesan, olive oil, and garlic in a food processor.
If you cannot find haricots verts (thin green beans), substitute regular green beans and cook them for an extra minute or two. You can substitute small shells or ditalini for the orecchiette (the cooking times may vary slightly). Serve with crusty bread.
Provencal vegetable soup
Servings: 6
Start to finish: 45 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
Pistou:
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
1 ounce Parmesan cheese, grated ( cup)
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
Soup:
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 leek, white and light green parts only, halved lengthwise, sliced inch thick, and washed thoroughly
1 celery rib, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 carrot, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick
Salt and pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups vegetable broth
3 cups water
1/2 cup orecchiette
8 ounces haricots verts, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch lengths
1 (15-ounce) can cannellini or navy beans, rinsed
1 small zucchini, halved lengthwise, seeded, and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1 large tomato, cored, seeded, and chopped
For the pistou: Process all ingredients in food processor until smooth, about 15 seconds, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. (Pistou can be refrigerated for up to 4 hours.)
For the soup: Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add leek, celery, carrot, and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook until vegetables are softened, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in broth and water and bring to simmer.
Stir in pasta and simmer until slightly softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in haricots verts and simmer until bright green but still crunchy, about 3 minutes. Stir in cannellini beans, zucchini, and tomato and simmer until pasta and vegetables are tender, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve, topping individual portions with pistou.
Nutrition information per serving: 288 calories; 153 calories from fat; 17 g fat (3 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 4 mg cholesterol; 396 mg sodium; 27 g carbohydrate; 6 g fiber; 6 g sugar; 8 g protein.
For more recipes, cooking tips and ingredient and product reviews, visit https://www.americastestkitchen.com. Find more recipes like Provencal Vegetable Soup in "Complete Mediterranean ."
This time of year, I could live on tomato sandwiches. But it's hard to make a sandwich out of cherry tomatoes, and I have loads of cherry tomatoes. I don't know what it is, but I can't resist buying them when I see them at the farmer's market. If you are like me and have a glut of cherry tomatoes, this recipe is for you.
Often, I make a simple fresh tomato sauce with cherry tomatoes, but this week, on a rainy day, I was craving summertime comfort food. There is nothing more comforting than homemade biscuits and I had all those cherry tomatoes. so I decided to combine them and make a biscuit-topped cobbler. Just the idea of it, hit the spot. To be honest, I had never made a tomato cobbler or even tasted one, but it made so much sense. Once I decided to make the savory cobbler, I thought of one of my favorite childhood sandwiches; a hot open-face pimento cheese and tomato and so, pimento-cheese biscuits it would be!
I wanted the cobbler to be simple and showcase the fresh vine-ripened local tomatoes, so I kept it to basically two ingredients, leeks and tomatoes. I sweated three leeks with olive oil, salt and white pepper, but you could use about half as many shallots instead. Once they were soft and fragrant, I de-glazed the pan with balsamic vinegar which would be the "tang" in the cobbler. I gently mixed in the clean whole cherry tomatoes and seasoned them with salt and granulated garlic — not wanting to add any more "wet" ingredients. Finally, I added some corn starch to thicken the juices. I wanted the cherry tomatoes to cook in a similar manner to a berry cobbler.
Since the filling was so simple, I decided to up the ante on the biscuit topping. When I make a sweet cobbler, I make sweet cream biscuits but since the tomato cobbler was savory, I decided to make my "Praise the Lard" biscuits and add pimento cheese, turning the biscuit topping into pimento-cheese biscuits.
Depending on the size of your biscuit cutter and your pan, you may need to cut some of the biscuits in half to fit. You want the biscuits to be close together, but leave a little room for rising. Make sure to bake the cobbler long enough so that the biscuits are cooked all the way through. If you have any extra dough, you can make extra biscuits on the side while you are baking the cobbler — but remember that the biscuit will only take about 10-15 minutes to bake.
After nearly an hour in the oven, I was more than rewarded. Although the ingredients were few, the combination of the leeks, farm-fresh cherry tomatoes and the balsamic vinegar baked into a luscious complex filling that was perfectly accented by the flaky pimento-cheese studded biscuits. I may never eat cherry tomatoes any other way — this is one dish that I am going to have on rotation until the vines run out of cherry tomatoes!
Tomato cobbler with pimento-cheese biscuits
Servings: 6-8
Start to finish: 1 1/2 hours
INGREDIENTS:
5 to 6 cups cherry tomatoes, any variety
Extra-virgin olive oil, about 2 tablespoons
3 leeks, chopped
1 teaspoon Kosher salt, divided
1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons cup corn starch
1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic
For the biscuits:
2 1/4 cups self-rising flour, divided
1/2 (generous) cup favorite pimento cheese, preferably homemade (see my Classic Pimento Cheese recipe below)
1/4 pound cold (1 stick) lard (or cold butter that you grate with a box grater in a pinch)
1/2-3/4 cup real buttermilk such as Kate's
1/2 stick salted butter, melted
DIRECTIONS:
Heat oven to 375 F. Place parchment paper in cookie sheet or half- sheet pan.
Pick the stems off of the cherry tomatoes and rinse them under running water. Do not cut the cherry tomatoes — you want to keep them whole so they cook and collapse on themselves but do not become a liquid-y sauce.
Warm the olive oil in a heavy-duty skillet over medium-high heat. When warm, add the leeks and about 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Sauté until the leeks are very soft and tender, at least 10 minutes, add the balsamic vinegar and stir. Turn off the heat.
Meanwhile, mix the cornstarch, remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt and granulated garlic together. Add the corn starch mixture to the leeks and mix well. Add the cherry tomatoes to the hot leeks. Stir gently until the leek mixture is evenly mixed with the tomatoes. Let sit for an hour. Pour the cooled leek-tomato mixture into a square baker and set aside.
To prepare biscuits: place 2 cups of flour in large bowl. Add the pimento cheese. Cut in shortening, using a pastry blender or blending fork (or pulling 2 table knives through ingredients in opposite directions), until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add 1/2 cup of buttermilk; stir with fork until soft dough forms and mixture begins to pull away from sides of bowl. If the dough is too wet, add the extra 1/4 cup of flour, little by little. If it is too dry, add the extra 1/4 cup of buttermilk, little by little.
On lightly floured surface, knead dough 1-2 times, or just until smooth. Do not over-work the dough. Roll out dough to about 1/3-inch thickness. Cut straight down with a floured biscuit cutter (2-3-inch round cutter)_do not twist the cutter. You will need 7-9 biscuits to cover the top of the baking pan, depending if you use an 8 x 8 or a 9 x 9 baking pan and how big your biscuit cutter is. Bake the extra biscuit dough to serve on the side.
Place the biscuits over the tomatoes. You may need to cut some of the biscuits in half to fit the pan. Brush the biscuits with a little melted butter. Place the baking pan on the sheet pan to catch drips, and then transfer to the pre-heated oven.
Bake for 50-60 minutes, until the tomatoes are very bubbly and the tops of the biscuits are nicely browned. When the cobbler comes out of the oven, brush tops again with the melted salted butter. Transfer from sheet pan to a cooling rack and let the cobbler rest for at least 15 minutes before eating.
Classic pimento cheese
INGREDIENTS:
1 8-ounce block of extra-sharp yellow cheddar cheese
1 8-ounce block of extra-sharp white cheddar cheese
1 4-ounce jar of Dromedary pimientos with liquid
2 to 3 generous tablespoons of real mayonnaise, such as Hellmann's or Duke's
Fresh ground black pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS:
Grate cheese into a deep bowl using the largest holes on your grater. Pour the entire jar of chopped pimentos on the cheese. Scoop 2 generous tablespoons of mayonnaise out of the jar and stir everything together with a fork, mashing the cheese and pimentos together.
If it is too dry, add more mayonnaise. Grind 2-3 coarse rotations of fresh black pepper on the pimento cheese and mix well. Taste for seasoning and adjust with pepper or mayonnaise as needed. I find that the cheese and mayonnaise are salty enough and you will not need to add any salt.
Spoon pimento cheese into a glass jar with a fitted lid. I like to use a wide mouth mason jar which then makes a nice serving dish as well. The pimento cheese good immediately but is even better the next day.
Nutrition information per serving: 453 calories; 263 calories from fat; 29 g fat (13 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 45 mg cholesterol; 874 mg sodium; 39 g carbohydrate; 3 g fiber; 6 g sugar; 9 g protein.
Elizabeth Karmel is a barbecue and Southern foods expert. She is the chef and pit master at online retailer CarolinaCueToGo.com and the author of three books, including "Taming the Flame."
Sometimes I just crave a big serving of green beans. You too, right?
Hear me out. Green beans make one of my favorite veggie-based meals. They are loaded with vitamins, particularly C, A and harder-to-get K, and have only 30 calories a serving. But here is the real reason why I love green beans: They are a particularly filling vegetable, thanks to high fiber and a few grams of protein.
So that means that my kids can load up on green beans and add a couple of ounces of rotisserie chicken on the side for a quick dinner that doesn't have them hungry again in an hour.
We'll eat green beans tossed in a little olive oil, salt and pepper and roasted for 15 minutes at 400 F, or even simply steamed with a little salt and pepper as a side dish.
But if the beans are the star of the show for a meatless meal, I like a little more fanfare, and do a simple glazed vegetable dish: Cook veggies and aromatics (such as onion, garlic, spices, or ginger) in a little oil in a large sauté pan, add a little liquid — soy sauce, broth, or fruit juice work well — and cover the pan to steam for a couple of minutes, and then uncover to allow the liquid to evaporate into a glaze that coats the veggies.
The strategy works for all sorts of veggies, but start with my crave-worthy Garlic Green Beans to get the hang of it. Serve this bean dish with some quinoa or brown rice and you really may not miss the meat. But if you want, add small cubes of chicken or tofu to the sauté pan first to cook through, or just add some leftover cooked chicken at the end.
Either way, I'll bet you'll be craving green beans too.
Garlic green beans
Servings: 4
Start to finish: 15 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
3 cups green beans, trimmed
1 tablespoon olive oil (or half olive oil and half sesame oil)
1/4 cup minced shallot
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (more or less according to spice preference)
2 tablespoons fresh minced ginger
6 cloves garlic, minced (about 2 tablespoons)
3 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons honey
DIRECTIONS:
Heat a large sauté pan, heat the oil over high heat. Meanwhile, place the minced shallot, sesame seed and red pepper flakes in a small bowl, and have the ginger and garlic prepped and ready (separately), too. Add the shallot, sesame seeds and red pepper flakes to the pan and cook until fragrant and sesame seeds are golden brown, about two minutes, stirring frequently with wooden spoon.
Lower heat to medium high and add the minced garlic and cook another minute. Add the green beans and the ginger and sauté for two minutes. Add the soy sauce, honey and 2 tablespoons of water and cover to allow to steam for 2 minutes (or longer if you want softer green beans). Uncover the pan, and cook until the liquid reduces down to a glaze, coating the beans. Serve.
Nutrition information per serving: 106 calories; 45 calories from fat; 5 g fat (1 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 0 mg cholesterol; 444 mg sodium; 13 g carbohydrate; 3 g fiber; 6 g sugar; 3 g protein.
Online: http://www.melissadarabian.net
Humble, bumpy, rough carrots. We peel and slice them into sticks and stuff them in lunchboxes, or put them out with a dip when company comes. We chop them and use them in soups and stews, but rarely do we let them star on their own.
This bisque-like soup changes that thinking. Pretty and lush, this creamy bowl of deliciousness gives carrots their due respect.
And it's worth pausing to shake your head at how cheap carrots usually are; you can do a lot with a pound or two of carrots, and they won't make much of a dent in your food budget. Carrots are also seriously nutritious — tons of vitamin A and antioxidants, and an assortment of other vitamins and minerals.
But once you start eating, you will not be thinking, "Boy, this sure is healthy!" Just surrender to the velvety texture and round flavor of the soup.
The addition of a small amount of white rice simply serves to thicken the soup once it's pureed, which lets the carrots and other supporting vegetables hold the spotlight. However, I did try this recipe with jasmine rice once, and liked the faint aromatic flavor that it lent to the mix.
And it's always amazing to me how a small amount of cream added to a soup adds such voluptuousness and rounds out the flavor. Skip it only if someone has a lactose problem (and in that case, ladle out their portion and add a bit of cream to the rest). Don't tell them what they are missing.
Cream of carrot soup
Serves 8
Start to finish: 1 hour (at least 30 minutes hands off)
INGREDIENTS:
4 slices bacon
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 pounds carrots, peeled and chopped
1 red onion, chopped
2 shallots, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1/4 cup uncooked white rice
6 cups less-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
To serve (optional):
Crumbled cooked bacon
Crumbled feta, goat cheese or blue cheese
Chopped fresh parsley
DIRECTIONS:
In a large pot or a Dutch oven, sauté the bacon until it is crisp, over medium high heat. Transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate, let cool and drain, and crumble the bacon. Set aside.
Pour off all the bacon fat from the pot, and then melt the butter over medium heat. Add the carrots, onion, shallots and garlic, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes, until the carrots have started to become tender.
Add the rice and the chicken broth, turn the heat to high, and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat and simmer the soup, covered, for 30 to 40 minutes, until the vegetables are completely tender and the rice is very soft. Puree the soup in batches in a blender or a food processor, or use an immersion blender to puree it in the pot, until very smooth. Stir in the cream and heat through.
Serve the soup hot, topped with the bacon, a crumble of whatever cheese you like, and some parsley. Give it a final sprinkle of pepper if desired.
Katie Workman has written two cookbooks focused on easy, family-friendly cooking, "Dinner Solved!" and "The Mom 100 Cookbook." She blogs at http://www.themom100.com/about-katie-workman. She can be reached at Katie@themom100.com.
Summer, summer, summer. The word is fat and round and breezy and rolls around nicely on the tongue. And we want our food to be breezy, too.
If you have basil and tomatoes growing in your garden, make this. If you have a farmers' market near you, make this. And if you have leftover pesto hanging around, even store-bought, you can still make this.
You'll cook the pasta and make the pesto in the time it takes to roast the little tomatoes. The amount of oil in the dish is flexible; a bit is added to the roasting tomatoes, a bit to the cooked pasta, and the rest goes into the pesto. The pesto is intentionally a bit thick, as it will distribute itself nicely over the pasta and tomatoes when tossed, but you can always add a little more oil if you want a more fluid pesto.
By no means do you have to use cavatappi — it was the pasta I grabbed at the moment, and I do love its compact, chewy, twisted little shape.
Another thing to love is the fact that this can be served hot, warm or at room temperature. It's a great make-ahead dish, hanging out happily for a day in the fridge before being brought to room temperature and served. It's very portable.
And it's not too hard on the eyes either. Yellow tomatoes are a nice burst of sunny color, but you can use red too, or a mix of colors.
Cavatappi with roasted cherry tomatoes and pesto
Serves 6
Start to finish: 35 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
2 pints cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
5 sprigs fresh thyme
about cup olive oil, divided
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup packed basil leaves
3 tablespoons finely grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1 pound cavatappi or other chunky pasta
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 300 F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and coat it with nonstick cooking spray. Place the tomatoes and thyme sprigs on the baking sheet and toss them with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Roast for about 30 minutes, until they are wrinkly and slightly collapsed.
While the tomatoes are roasting, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. While the water is coming to a boil, make the pesto. Place the garlic and basil in a food processor or blender and pulse until everything is roughly chopped. Add 1/3 cup of the olive oil, a bit of salt and pepper and process, scraping down the sides part way through until everything is well blended. If it is very thick, add a bit more olive oil. Add the cheese and pulse until blended in. Taste and adjust seasonings.
Cook the cavatappi according to package directions. Reserve cup of the cooking water, and drain the pasta. Toss the pasta with the cooking water, the remaining 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil (more if it seems dry) and the roasted tomatoes (discard the thyme sprigs), and transfer to a serving bowl. Dollop the pesto on top, and toss. Serve hot, warm or cold.
Nutrition information per serving: 560 calories; 227 calories from fat; 26 g fat (6 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 20 mg cholesterol; 406 mg sodium; 60 g carbohydrate; 4 g fiber; 5 g sugar; 18 g protein.
Katie Workman has written two cookbooks focused on easy, family-friendly cooking, "Dinner Solved!" and "The Mom 100 Cookbook." She blogs at http://www.themom100.com/about-katie-workman
It may be a cliché, but if the man in your life is like the ones we know, you're not allowed to handle the steaks. That still leaves you with maybe the most important job of all (don't tell him we said that): the sides!
Choosing a side dish often comes down to a gut feeling: do these items "go together?" When pairing sides with a main course, students at The Culinary Institute of America are taught to consider the balance of the overall menu.
This pairing process helps prevent that feeling we've all had after a plate of beef brisket, macaroni and cheese, and potato salad — and explains why the sour, briny pickles are so welcomed on that same plate. Rich, fatty proteins are especially well-suited to bright flavors like vinegar and citrus juice, because they help clean your palate of the heavy mouthfeel that can exhaust you before you've taken your third bite.
The Culinary Institute of America's recipe for Mexican-style Corn Salad is a play on elote, a popular Mexican street food. Elote is grilled corn smothered in Mexican crema, cotija cheese, chili powder, and a squeeze of lime. You can find this treat all over Mexico and in much of the southwestern United States, both on the cob or served in a cup.
This version is less rich than the dish that inspires it, subbing crema for a tangy mix of olive oil and fresh lime juice. With the addition of crisp vegetables, this cold salad is the perfect accompaniment to grilled ribeye or tender pulled pork.
On the other side of the spectrum, our Warm Vegetable Noodle Salad celebrates the noodle vegetable trend. Though this recipe doesn't require a noodle maker, you can certainly use one, or buy pre-noodled veggies for a fun presentation. Tossed quickly in your sauté pan, this dish takes the best of summer's bounty and transforms it into a warm salad that is a no-brainer with chicken kabobs or lightly charred shrimp.
Probably the most desirable quality of a grilling side is convenience. Grilling for a crowd can be stressful, since most of the work happens right at the last minute, and make-ahead side dishes are the key to getting everything on the table at the same time.
Make the Mexican-style Corn Salad the day ahead, or prepare the ingredients and grill the corn day-of. For the Warm Vegetable Noodle Salad, julienne your veggies the day before, and then throw them in the pan for a quick sauté while your grill is preheating. If you've got the space, you can even cook it in a cast-iron skillet on the grill.
Start to finish for both salads: 45 minutes
Mexican-style corn salad
Servings: 10
INGREDIENTS:
5 ears corn, husk attached
1 small yellow onion, small dice
1 green bell pepper, small dice
1 red bell pepper, small dice
1 scallion, sliced
1 watermelon radish, small dice
1 Roma tomato, small dice
4 ounces cotija cheese, crumbled
6 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
DIRECTIONS:
Prepare a grill for medium-heat cooking. Peel back the husk from the corn, but do not remove outer leaves. Use a dry towel to remove the corn silk, then replace the husk to cover the corn kernels. Soak in cold water for about 10 minutes.
Grill the corn, turning occasionally, until the husks begin to char, about 5 minutes. Remove from the grill and set aside to cool. Once cool, remove the charred husks and slice the kernels from the cob and transfer to a medium mixing bowl.
Add the onion, bell peppers, scallion, radish, tomato, and cheese, and mix to combine. Add the lime juice and olive oil, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the cilantro and toss to combine. Refrigerate until serving.
Chef's Note: This salad can be served in a large serving bowl or individually, as pictured. For the grilled onion cups, cut the top 1/3 from 10 yellow onions. Grill cut-side down until lightly charred, about 2 minutes. Cool slightly before removing the interior of the onion, leaving the 3 outside layers intact. Trim the bottom of each onion to make a level surface before filling with salad and serving.
Warm vegetable noodle salad
Servings: 10
INGREDIENTS:
1 pound green beans, trimmed
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter
1/2 cup sliced yellow onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 pound carrots, julienned
1 pound savoy cabbage, thinly sliced
1 pound zucchini, julienned
1 pound yellow squash, julienned
2 teaspoons sugar
Kosher salt, as needed
Freshly ground black pepper, as needed
1 tablespoons sherry vinegar
1 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley
DIRECTIONS:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the green beans and cook until the beans are vibrant in color and just tender, about 1 minute. Transfer to an ice water bath to cool. Drain and cut the beans in half, lengthwise. Set aside.
Melt the butter in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until translucent, about 7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Add carrots, cabbage, zucchini, and yellow squash, and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Add green beans and sugar, and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Remove from the heat, add the vinegar and parsley, and stir to combine. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Nutrition information per serving of corn salad: 125 calories; 68 calories from fat; 8 g fat (2 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 11 mg cholesterol; 210 mg sodium; 13 g carbohydrate; 2 g fiber; 4 g sugar; 5 g protein.
Nutrition information per serving of noodle salad: 93 calories; 46 calories from fat; 5 g fat (3 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 12 mg cholesterol; 72 mg sodium; 10 g carbohydrate; 4 g fiber; 5 g sugar; 3 g protein.
Right now at your farmers market, you'll find mid-summer fruit and vegetables next to later-season stuff like corn, all sorts of peppers, potatoes, and so on. It's serious cornucopia time and, in my opinion, it's the best time of year to be cooking at home. Your local farmers market is the best it's going to be right now — make sure to go and get interesting new things to cook before the leaves really turn.
It's also peak tomato season, which is where our attention turns for this column. Fresh garden tomatoes are jewels in the calendar. I'm a big heirloom grower — I usually have at least five or six different varieties ranging from Big Rainbow to Black Krim. I look forward to them all year long, dreaming about all kinds of complicated recipes, and then I usually just eat them minimally dressed to enjoy their amazing flavor, texture and glowing colors.
My favorite thing to do as of late has been to marinate them in olive oil, salt, pepper and other ingredients, depending on what vibe I'm going for. Over the weekend, I used tomato and cucumber marinated in this olive oil mix plus harissa powder on a garlic naan wrap with turkey meatballs and herby yogurt. It was fresh, bright and exactly the kind of thing to be eating right now, easy prep and easy assembly. The full recipe for that is below, but if you're only going to cook one thing, make it these tomatoes.
Marinated tomatoes (and cukes!) for everyone
INGREDIENTS:
1 pound or more of fresh garden tomatoes, plus other garden bounty like cucumbers, peppers, etc.
Ample salt and pepper — at least 1 teaspoon (you need the salt to make the magic happen)
A glug of olive oil
Your own cool seasonings! Try some of these templates:
- Classic — chopped up basil and oregano (add truffle powder as well for heaven on earth)
- Middle Eastern — some coriander and harissa powders
- Salsa — a dash of cumin and chopped cilantro
- Herb medley — whatever you got (try to avoid "sticky" herbs like rosemary, which may impart too much flavor)
DIRECTIONS:
Chop tomatoes and veggies and place into large bowl with salt, pepper, olive oil and anything else you want to add. Stir well, then cover and let sit at room temperature (not refrigerated) at least 30 minutes and up to two hours. Enjoy on its own, as a garnish or side salad, with a fried egg, with fresh slices of mozzarella, stuffed into a pita — you get the idea.
Spiced turkey meatballs
INGREDIENTS:
1 pound ground turkey
1 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
Ample salt — one good pinch or around 3/4 teaspoon
1/4 cup Panko bread crumbs
1 egg
DIRECTIONS:
Mix spices, egg, and bread crumbs with turkey until homogenous. Form into 12 meatballs, then chill 30 minutes to an hour.
To cook, heat a large saucepan with a cover to medium-high. Add grapeseed or other neutral oil. When oil is hot, place meatballs in, then cover pan for 5 minutes. When meatballs loosen easily, flip over, cover and cook for another 5 minutes. Finish with the top off for two minutes or so to get excess water out of pan.
Savory yogurts
Where was I without this ultimate condiment? I've been making this all summer in many ways.
DIRECTIONS:
Take one container of plain Greek yogurt and add a small handful of chopped herbs, salt and pepper, a little lemon zest, or 1 teaspoon interesting spices (harissa, za'atar, etc), a splash of sesame or olive oil or tahini, and mix thoroughly.
You can also dilute this to your preference — use water or milk instead of oil to cut the fat and keep this as a light, cool accent to whatever you're serving.
My friend, Lisa, once told me she will not embark upon a recipe that requires her to cook something first before getting started on the recipe itself. Although I love to cook so much this will not necessarily deter me, I do understand her view. I preview a lot of cookbooks from the library, and there have been many stunning volumes that I have decided not to buy because almost every recipe has at least one sub-recipe, and often more!
But what if what you cook could be your side dish one night with enough left over to incorporate into another side dish the next night?
When my sons were young, a frequent vegetable on the dinner table was roasted cauliflower. And because cauliflower is usually priced by the head, I would try to pick the largest one I could find so it would last for more than one meal.
For the second meal, I like to use the cauliflower in a pasta dish. Like so many of my go-to recipes, it’s entirely adaptable depending on what you have in the house. Raisins and pine nuts, often featured in Sicilian cooking, provide the inspiration for this version.
If I can only impress upon you one thing, please take the pasta directly from the water and place it into the sauté pan, using tongs for pasta strands or a spider for shapes. The starchy pasta water will help build the sauce and keep the dish moist.
Here I’ve used some pancetta, but anchovies will also add flavor for pescatarians. Or omit both and it will still be great. For a vegan version, you can omit the cream and use some additional pasta water and olive oil instead.
ROASTED CAULIFLOWER
Serves 2 to 4 as a side
INGREDIENTS:
1 large head cauliflower, cored and cut into florets
4 garlic cloves, halved lengthwise
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons water
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 400 F.
In a large baking dish or roasting pan, spread the florets into a single layer. It’s fine if they are snug, or even if some florets are in a second layer, but most should fit in one layer. Sprinkle with salt, then drizzle with olive oil and water.
Roast for 45 minutes, shaking the pan once or twice during the cooking process, until the cauliflower begins to caramelize on the edges.
Set aside 2 to 3 cups of cauliflower before serving, if making the recipe below.
Note: If you are cooking something else in the oven at a different temperature, anywhere between 350 to 425 F, this method will work with the cooking time adjusted.
CAULIFLOWER PASTA WITH RAISINS AND PINE NUTS
Serves 2 as a main dish or 4 as a side
INGREDIENTS:
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more if needed
1 ounce pancetta, chopped into 1/4-inch cubes or 2 to 3 anchovy fillets; omit entirely for vegan
1/2 small onion, chopped
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
8 ounces dried pasta
1/4 cup golden raisins
2 tablespoons pine nuts
2 to 3 cups roasted cauliflower, loosely packed
1/3 cup heavy cream
Grated Parmesan for serving
DIRECTIONS:
Bring a pot of salted water to boil for the pasta.
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat until shimmering and fragrant. Add the pancetta or anchovy fillets, if using, and allow the pancetta to begin to render its fat, or the anchovies to begin to dissolve. Add the onion, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper and continue to sauté until the onion softens and begins to brown.
Add the pasta to the boiling water while you are sautéing the previous ingredients, according to the package directions for timing. When there are 5 minutes remaining on the pasta, add the raisins, pine nuts, and cauliflower to the sauté pan and cook, stirring occasionally to make sure the pine nuts don’t burn. Lower the heat if necessary.
If you have lowered the heat under the sauté pan, turn the heat back up to medium, and move the pasta pot right next to the sauté pan. Remove the pasta directly from the water into the sauté pan, using tongs for a strand pasta, or a spider or strainer for a shape. It is important that some water cling to the pasta as that helps build the sauce. Add the heavy cream and stir to combine everything. If making a vegan version or if it seems too dry, add some more pasta water or additional olive oil and mix again. Serve immediately with grated Parmesan.
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