Simple Food

Summer is synonymous with simple food. Dinners lately have been centered around produce. Green beans sauteed with bacon heaped on a platter with fresh corn on the cob rubbed with butter, grilled slices of baguette drizzled with olive oil and chopped fresh tomatoes tossed with pesto. Fresh cherry tomatoes tossed with angel hair pasta, drizzled with olive oil, and topped with grated Parmesan cheese and cracked black pepper. Breakfast this morning was beautiful. Ripe Turkish figs served alongside a scoop of ricotta cheese that had been sprinkled with cinnamon and drizzled with a delicate honey. Meals do not have be complicated, especially in the summer.

Dinner for Emily

My sweet friend Emily went on a trip to Italy this past Spring and dutifully documented everything she ate just for me. She even brought back pesto and cheese for me, but there was a catch. She said I could only have them if I cooked Italian food for her, a deal that seemed to be completely in my favor. Last night we had a great time eating ravioli with a ricotta garlic filling in a chicken stock reduction, bruschetta with pesto, tomatoes, and asiago cheese, and peche bianche con panna di mandorla, which translated means white peaches with almond cream. This dinner was the perfect excuse to buy a manual pasta roller. Rolling out the dough was so much easier. I am thankful that I didn't buy the ravioli attachment however because I think it is more fun to use my ravioli rolling pin and cutter. Here's the photographic process (since I posted the recipe several months ago:

Filling the well with the egg/water/oil mixture

What the dough looks like when all liquid has been incorporated

Dough after kneading for 5 minutes

Spreading the ricotta filling on the pasta

Cutting the ravioli

Drying out the ravioli on a pan with semolina

I have been waiting to make this dessert since 2005. Bryant bought me an Under the Tuscan Sun day planner that year and it was filled with great Italian recipes. This dessert has always looked delicious, and it is truly amazing. I didn't take a photo of my dessert because I had to use yellow peaches (I couldn't find any white ones that were ripe enough) and these were a bit too ripe so they didn't hold their form as well after poaching. I would also reduce the amount of cookie crumbs because it made the mixture a bit too dark, but the taste was still incredible. The Amaretti cookies are expensive, but lovely. Even the packaging is fabulous.

Here is a close up of the photo from the page I saved from my day planner. It is easy and very, very good.

***If you aren't a fan of the almond flavor you could simply use vanilla extract or add lemon zest. You could find a vanilla cookie to crumble instead. The Amaretti cookies are delicious and worth a try.

Pesche Bianche Con Panna Di Mandorla

1 c mascarpone

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1/4 c heavy cream

1/4 c superfine sugar

1/2 c sliced almonds, toasted and cooled

1 1/2 c crushed almond cookie crumbs, such as Amaretti (I would reduce this to 1 cup)

6 large white peaches, ripe but not soft

1 c ginger ale or sparkling apple cider (poaching liquid)

Mix all filling ingredients and chill for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, peal the peaches and halve them removing the pit. Bring the poaching liquid to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add the peach halves and poach for 3 to 4 minutes, spooning liquid over the halves. Remove peaches from the liquid and cool. Spoon a mound of mascarpone mixture into the center of the peach. Serve, garnished with almonds and mint leaves.

Serves 6

Recipes for Melissa & then some

Melissa - I am so sorry that it has taken me so long to post these recipes! Hopefully it isn't too late. This scone recipe is one that I've adapted from the American Heart Association Cookbook on page 515. The original recipe calls for pineapple juice but my mom substituted orange juice one day and that was the beginning of our mutual love for this great recipe. It can be easily adapted to whatever ingredients you have on hand. Some of our favorite combinations include lemon poppy seed, orange poppy seed, and orange lavender. Feel free to play around with the flavor combinations. The original recipe also calls for 1/2 c dried cranberries which I always omit, but you can add them or any other dried fruit that sounds tasty.

Scones
2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c rolled oats
1/2 c sugar
1 Tbs poppy seeds (optional, sometimes I substitute 1/2 tsp lavender buds or orange zest)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbs butter
1/2 c dried cranberries (optional)
1/2 c orange juice
1 egg, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.

In a large bowl combine flour, oatmeal, sugar, poppy seeds, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Cut butter into flour mixture until crumbly. Stir in cranberries (if using) and make a well in the center of mixture. Pour in juice and egg and stir until just combined. Don't over mix!

With floured hands divide the dough in half. Shape into 2 balls and place on baking sheet 4 to inches apart. Flatten each into a 6-inch disk. Cut each into 8 wedges with a sharp knife, but do not separate.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Let cool for at least 5 minutes on a cooling rack.

***I like to drizzle these with a simple icing made with powdered sugar and orange juice. Sometimes I mix lavender buds with the sugar in my coffee grinder. Sometimes I add orange or lemon zest. Play around with the flavors. These are delicious and easy.

You also asked for a recipe for white bread. I am assuming you want the normal white loaf sandwich bread, and this is the only recipe I've tried. Bryant & I are in love with this bread, it is delicious. Again, this only makes one loaf. There is a basic white bread recipe in the American Heart Association cookbook (pg 463) but I haven't tried it yet, and it makes two loaves. This recipe is from the Wednesday Chef blog.

Maple White Bread (Makes 1 large loaf)
1 cup milk (whole milk is best, but any kind will do)
1/4 cup maple syrup (use real maple syrup, not the fake stuff)
4 tablespoons sweet butter (unsalted)
1 teaspoon salt
1 package active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (about 110 degrees)
1 teaspoon sugar or maple sugar
1 egg beaten
4 cups (approximately) unbleached all-purpose flour

1. Place milk, maple syrup, butter and salt in a saucepan and scald. Allow to cool to lukewarm.
2. Dissolve yeast in warm water along with the sugar. Set aside for five minutes until the mixture becomes frothy. Transfer the milk mixture to a large bowl, stir in the yeast mixture and then stir in the egg.
3. Stir in two cups of the flour. Then add more flour about one-half cup at a time until a ball of dough forms. Turn the dough out onto a floured board and knead for about eight minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic, adding more flour as necessary to keep the dough from sticking. Place dough in an oiled bowl, turn the dough to oil on all sides, cover lightly and set aside to rise until doubled, about an hour.
4. Punch down dough, turn onto a lightly floured board and knead for another minute or so. Roll dough into a rectangle about nine by 12 inches, then roll tightly, jellyroll fashion, starting from the narrow side. Pinch the seam and ends closed. Fit the dough seam side down into a greased 9-by-5-by-3-inch baking pan.
5. Cover and set in a warm place to rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.
6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place bread in the oven and bake about 45 minutes, until well browned. Remove from pan and allow to cool freely on a rack before slicing.

To read the original post go to http://www.thewednesdaychef.com/the_wednesday_chef/2009/02/maple-white-bread.html

I have taken a cooking hiatus this past month because I was sick for half of it and out of town for the other half. Last Saturday I cooked dinner for 40 people. It was a lot of work, a lot of fun, and a great learning experience. I will share my recipes and experience soon. I am finally getting back into the swing of things now that I am feeling better, and one thing that really helped me this week was prepping all of my produce in one day. On Monday I went grocery shopping and bought yellow squash, zucchini, onion, yams, corn, and carrots. I diced the squash, yams, zucchini, and onion and put in separate containers in the fridge. I removed the kernels from the corn and shredded the carrots and gave each of them their own containers. Then I cooked a big batch of brown rice (which turned out perfect for once thank to this great advice) and separated it into 1 cup servings. Cooking has been a breeze. I've made vegetarian burritos by sauteing all of the veggies with the rice and black beans, then folding them up in a whole wheat tortilla and serving with sour cream. I made egg fried rice by again sauteing the veggies (except for the corn), adding rice and then 3 lightly beaten eggs. Dessert has been fresh fruit including strawberries, figs, and black grapes. Tonight I am cooking for friends and planning on making ricotta ravioli with a reduced chicken stock sauce, crostini with pesto and thinly sliced tomatoes, and a special dessert that I saved from an old day planner - poached pears filled with a sweet mascarpone mixture and topped with toasted almonds and crushed amaretti cookies. It should be good. I will try to take photos before devouring the food.

It was that good.

I honestly thought there would be at least one remaining slice, but we all decided that seconds were a must, so this is the best I can do photograph-wise. One of the benefits of having people over for dinner is that it frees up a few extra dollars to make something extra special to eat. Our friends simply asked us to bring dessert which made it possible for me to splurge a bit. And it was worth it. I have a love/hate relationship with berry desserts because my healthy self feels like berries really don't need any additional calories, they are already delicious and should be enjoyed as is. My sweet-tooth self (who is getting larger by the day) can't deny that sugar and butter simply make things better, end of story. This recipe satisfies both by perfectly complimenting the berries in a healthy-ish way. It is the best fruit tart I have ever eaten. Each bite contains a perfectly ripe raspberry nestled in the most delicate vanilla/orange creamy filling and ends with the perfectly balanced salty/sweet layer of crust. Don't be intimidated by the lengthy instructions, this is very quick in terms of prep work, just make sure you leave plenty of time for freezing/cooling/chilling. The original recipe is from the July 09 issue of Vegetarian Times.

Crust
1/4 c almonds
1/4 c pecans
1/4 c hazelnuts
1/4 c sugar
3/4 c whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp salt
6 Tbs chilled unsalted butter, diced
1 large egg yolk

Toast nuts on a baking sheet in a 350 degree oven for 12 to 15 minutes, or until browned, shaking periodically. Pulse nuts, flour, sugar, and salt in food processor until nuts are ground to a powder. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add egg yolk and pulse until moist clumps form. Press dough into bottom and sides of prepared pan, about 1/4-inch thick, and pierce with a fork. Freeze for 30 minutes. Adjust oven to 400 degrees and bake crust for 12 to 14 minutes, or until golden. Cool.

Filling:
1/2 c light sour cream
1/2 c nonfat plain Greek yogurt (use Fage brand)
2 Tbs brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Zest of 1 orange
2 c raspberries (or whatever mixture of berries you prefer)
1 Tbs orange juice

Whisk together sour cream, yogurt, brown sugar, vanilla, and orange zest. Spread filling in crust. Toss berries with orange juice and gently spoon over top of filling until evenly covered. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes before serving.

Cavatappi and Chard

This has been a pasta week. We started it off with pumpkin ravioli in a caramelized shallot and butter sauce, followed by this fabulous dish, and ended with the eggplant pasta mentioned earlier. All three dishes were so completely different that the repetition of pasta was inconsequential. Swiss Chard is in season and I love it in this dish. I am including a link to the original recipe but this is how I make this dish. Don't be put off by the raisins - they make this dish. A few words of advice: I use about half stems and half leaves. I'll post another recipe that will use up the remaining leaves. Six cups of stems is just way too much, and I like the color contrast that the leaves provide. You can use any kind of Swiss Chard - rainbow, green, or red, but do realize that if you use the rainbow or red you will end up with a pink sauce. Not necessarily a bad thing, but I've found that the green chard just looks better. The recipe calls for golden raisins, but they are not naturally golden. Use what you feel comfortable with, but I did find a golden raisin called Himalayan Monukka raisins which are delicious but contain seeds. I ended up halving and seeding all of the raisins. This dish tastes fantastic.


1/4 c pine nuts (I don't toast pine nuts, you can, I just don't want to go to the effort for this dish)
2 Tbs olive oil
3 large shallots, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbs apple cider vinegar
1 tsp ground cumin
6 c swiss chard stems and leaves cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 can evaporated milk, not reduced fat
1/2 c golden raisins
16 oz cavatappi pasta (or any pasta with ridges that will hold the sauce)
***the last time I made this dish I was out of broth and hard cheese, so I omitted both and simply increased the evaporated milk. You can use cream as well, but I always have evaporated milk on hand.


Heat oil in a large skilled over medium heat. Add shallots and cook until golden brown, about 5minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more. Remove from heat and add the vinegar and cumin. Let vinegar evaporate 20 seconds, then return skillet to heat. Add 1/3 c water and bring to a simmer. Stir in chard stems and reduce heat to medium low. Simmer for 12 minutes or until tender. Stir in chard leaves, milk, and raisins and simmer 10 more minutes. Cook pasta according to directions, drain, and add to chard mixture. Transfer to a serving bowl and top with pine nuts. Enjoy!

Challah

Oh Kathy, I do not understand why it has taken me so long to post this recipe. I found a great bread book at the library several months ago titled Secrets of Jewish Baker. I've only tried this challah recipe, but it is good enough to convince me that I cannot live without this book. Challah makes the best toast, and the best french toast. The only tricky part is the braiding, but it is forgiving and you can braid and unbraid several times until you get it right. I prefer to not use seeds on the top, but I am sure it would be lovely either way. Make this bread and prepare to become addicted. Toasting it is the key!

Wow.

You must make this pasta dish because it will blow your mind. It is an excellent introduction to eggplant. My only changes include using crushed tomatoes (28 oz can) and peeling the eggplant. Make sure you use only fresh eggplant - one that is firm, heavy for its size, shiny, and wrinkle free. Trust me, make this dish. You will be amazed.