Category Archives: summer

Zucchini in bloom?

Posted on July 22, 2010 | Leave a comment

I like my vegetables, but I by no means have a green thumb.  Prior to shopping more frequently at farmer’s markets I was fairly accustomed to seeing my produce displayed at Whole Foods, wrapped in plastic, or dare I say it in the frozen foods aisle.  Yikes!  

Anyway, the joy of the market is getting to see all parts of the produce at their peak.  Let me introduce you to the part of the zucchini most people never meet: 
Image by Galina Stepanoff-Dargery, via Virtual Gourmet
I’ve always heard of these prepared battered and fried (like a very delicate onion ring) or stuffed with a ricotta based filling.  After walking the Bloomingdale Farmer’s Market with my Italian born mother-in-law we brainstormed on how to best use these little flowers.  She made a risotto, and I made up my own, crispy, light recipe – and if you can still find these guys, it’s worth taking 10 minutes to make.

First you have to rinse and dry the flowers, and remove the pistil.  I am sure there is anatomy lesson somewhere here, but I am not going to bother.  Basically picture the flower like the colored Christmas lights – you are going to cut off what on the light is the black part and pull out the bulb (or the pistil).  If this analogy hasn’t confused you enough onto step 2.

The ingredients for this impromptu experiment could not be more simple.
I was trying to keep it light so I splashed some Extra Virgin Olive Oil and then dipped in a mix of Italian bread crumbs, Parmigiano-Reggiano, salt and pepper.  
Then I put the lightly coated flowers in a shallow pan with olive oil over medium heat.  I really just aimed to brown them slightly and crisp them up.  Because I did not use a traditional batter, when they were “done” was more of a personal estimation.
When they were all done I patted them with paper towels to remove any excess oil and sprinkled on freshly grated cheese.  Again, bread crumbs, oil and cheese are hard to screw up so any extra cheese just means it’s extra amazing.

And, what do you know – all gone!

The zucchini flowers probably taste more authentic when eaten on an authentic Deruta table, special thanks to my mother-in-law again!

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Posted in Appetizer, Her Kitchen, Seasonal, Snacks, summer

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Everything is sweeter when small

Posted on July 19, 2010 | 4 comments

These are cutie pies. Pies are pretty much my favorite thing. Small things also rank pretty high on the list of favorites.

I’ll share some Joey Tribiani logic with you,
Pie = butter + flour + sugar = delicious
Small = handheld + portable + more fun – plates = cute

Small + pies = cutie pies = good

I didn’t always get in “A” in Math class, but I am pretty confident with that equation.

So the key to any good pie is good dough.  I told you I preferred to make my own dough, so I am glad I was able to share this with you on such a cute, summer, recipe.  I learned this recipe at Smitten Kitchen.
Pie Dough – makes two doughs or approximately 10 cutie pies with lattice tops.
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (8 ounces, 16 tablespoons or 1 cup) unsalted butter, very cold
*With a naturally sweet filling like peaches I might add just a touch more salt.


So, you could make this dough with a food processor, but then you can’t really control the texture, or with a pastry cutter, but I can’t find mine, or with two butter knives, or forks…

Then I put my hands in there and really work it through.  If I remember I take my rings off first – I rarely remember – that’s a good thing.  I shaped it into a nice, big, buttery ball.

The magic with pie dough is all in keeping the butter cold so that when it’s rolled and then baked the crust is rich, flaky and amazing.  Now that the dough is a pretty smooth ball I divided it and wrapped in plastic (or parchment/wax paper) and stored it in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

For the filling I followed my intuition – that often seems to work.  
Peach Filling for 6 Cutie Pies:
5 Peaches
1.5 tbsps granulated sugar
2 – 3 shakes of cinnamon
1/2 tsp of corn starch
**I probably ate a peaches worth of cut up peaches after making the pies…

To remove the fuzzy skin – I boiled a small pot of water and dunked the peaches in the boiling water on the stove for about 15 seconds.  After their spa experience they all get dunked in a bowl of ice cold water so that they don’t continue cooking.  At this point the skin peels right off.

For Cutie Pies I like the fruit pieces to be a bit on the smaller side, since the container is smaller too. Once everything is chopped I sprinkled in the sugar/cinnamon/corn starch and just let it hang out for a little while.  The fruit loves the sugar – it doesn’t need much but, when they’re together they make some really delicious things happen. 


Time to get rolling…
So, you caught me.  I don’t own a rolling pin.  I love pie and I don’t own a rolling pin.  We used to live in a considerably smaller home, with a significantly smaller kitchen and therefore I have grown accustomed to using a Chopan Vodka Martini mixing bottle as a rolling pin.   It’s a bit silly, but it works.

Anyway, throw down some flour on the work surface and keep some handy for the bottle/can/rolling pin/whatever.

I use a muffin tin as the pie pan and a juice glass to cut out the circles.  The pan doesn’t need any additional grease as the dough is already pretty deliciously buttery. 

I put in generous servings of fruit – it makes it more fun to get a sweet bite of peach in every, single, juicy bite.

With the excess dough I cut out little strips and made a mini lattice for the tops.  With my fingers I rubbed a bit of skim milk, but you could use an egg wash or water in a pinch, and sprinkled some raw sugar on top. 

I forgot to mention… you’ll want to bake these at 350 for about 20 minutes.  Due to the small size, and the sensitivity of different ovens – keep an eye on these babies.  Also, if you’re not into cleaning ovens, (and really who is?) try layering the muffin tin on a cookie sheet so that any extra bubbly juices land on the sheet and not the oven or racks.


And then it’s time to eat.  And eat we did! 

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Posted in Baking, Dessert, Her Kitchen, summer

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What a peach!

Posted on July 9, 2010 | 1 comment

Last Sunday we went to the Farmer’s Market in our new neighborhood – ahh! yes, we have a farmer’s market!!! – and picked up a variety of fresh produce, some zucchini flowers, blueberries, eggs, lettuce greens, gelato (that somehow never made it beyond noon on Sunday) and peaches.

Peaches were not a fruit I grew up loving, I was more of a basic kind of girl, apple, banana, orange, grapes, but after visiting enough Farmer’s Market and seeing and smelling the ripe little fruits they were hard to resist. Sometimes I’ll cut up the peaches with oatmeal for breakfast, or grill them with yogurt for dessert but this week I made them the main event for a dinner I am calling, “What Spices do I have in my new Kitchen Peaches and Chicken?”

Bon appetito!

Ingredients:
Two bone-in chicken breasts, with the skin on
Peaches (3)
1 large onion
1/2 lemon
Garlic
Butter for the pan and chicken
Olive oil for the pan and chicken
Splash of balsamic vinegar
Salt
Pepper
Old Bay seasoning
A sprinkle of brown sugar
**You might notice there is a jar of jam (apricot) I never used it. Also the bag of slivered almonds was used for the spinach – yum!
 
I don’t like to clean up a lot of pots and pans so I did everything in an oven-safe pan. Okay butter in the pan, and I rubbed a bit of butter on the skin and sprinkled on a generous amount of Kosher salt, fresh pepper and Old Bay.While this is lightly browning on the stove, it’s time to get chopping…


I chop my onions to be a pretty decent size, so that they are a part of the dish, not just for flavoring. Next everything goes right in the chicken pan and into the oven. I also put a bit of chopped garlic under the skin of the chicken just for flavoring.On a whim I decided to throw in a splash of balsamic vinegar for color and a little more tart rich flavor. This baked at 400 with the top on for about 30 minutes. (My oven is a little finicky right now, so I kept checking, and I wouldn’t swear by that time or temperature.) With about 10 minutes left in the baking, I sprinkled on a teeny bit of brown sugar on the skin- for an extra sweet surprise.

While this was baking away and making a sweet, and hearty sauce I prepared the spinach. So simple and satisfying. I heated up a little butter and slivered almonds for a light golden color and then replaced the almonds in the pan with sliced garlic. When the garlic was also nice and golden I added frozen spinach (I know, frozen!). When everything was nice and combined I added the almonds again and prepared to serve.
Bon appetito!

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Posted in dinner, healthy, summer

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Life gives you Lemon Meringue Pie

Posted on June 21, 2010 | Leave a comment

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Two things to know about me:

  1. If I am going to someone’s home I will always offer to bring something
  2. I am a pie girl, I take the buttery, fruity, chocolatey, sweet, savory type over cake on nearly any day.

Okay, back to present, last Sunday an invite for Father’s Day and my sister-in-law’s mom’s birthday linner is sent out. It turns out my sister-in-law’s mom’s favorite dessert is Lemon Meringue Pie. Full disclosure, I have never made a meringue, I have never made a lemon pie, and I have actually never tasted a lemon meringue pie. Sounds good, I can do this. By Thursday the above mentioned really starts to sink in. By Friday I am actively looking for recipes (thank you http://www.epicurious.com). By Saturday I am grocery shopping, and by Saturday evening a panic is starting to settle in.

Sunday I bake.


Ingredients: Pie crust, you’ll get this recipe at another time. Because of the doubt I was feeling about the filling and the topping I went with a store bought. Homemade or store bought you’ll want to use pie weights (rice, beans, pie beads) and pierce the dough with a fork – like you might have done with a frozen tv dinner’s plastic wrap as a kid.

Filling
1 cup sugar

5 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup water
1/2 cup milk
4 large egg yolks
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tsp fresh lemon zest

Meringue
4 large egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 cup of sugar

Recipe from Gourmet Magazine, 1995

Make filling:
In a heavy saucepan whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and salt and gradually whisk in water and milk, whisking until cornstarch is dissolved.
In a bowl whisk together egg yolks. Cook milk mixture over moderate heat, whisking, until it comes to a boil, this happens all of a sudden and the mixture is surprisingly thick.
Take the pan off the stovetop and gradually mix into the egg yolks, whisking all the while so that your eggs aren’t scrambled. Return egg and cornstarch+milk mix to the stove. Simmer mixture, whisking, 3 minutes.
Remove pan from heat and whisk in butter, lemon juice, and zest until butter is melted. Cover surface of filling with plastic wrap.
Make meringue:
In a large glass or metal bowl with an electric mixer beat egg whites with cream of tartar and a pinch of salt until they hold soft peaks. Beat in sugar in a slow stream, beating until meringue just holds stiff peaks.
Pour filling into shell and spread meringue on top, covering filling completely, sealing it to pastry. I found it worked best to allow the meringue to lap up onto the baked pie crust. Draw meringue up into peaks and bake pie in middle of oven at 350 until meringue is golden, about 15 minutes.


Somewhere along these steps the first pie crust that I blind baked shrunk in the pan, do not forget to pierce the dough! So as I continued to mix, blend and whisk I snacked along the way on shrunken pie crust – it tastes just as good as you’d imagine, very.

The meringue was definitely the most intimidating, it’s very humid in DC (not good for flully egg whites) and after watching many episodes of Alton Brown I imagined it would be something you would have to learn how to make only from practice. Hah! Alton is such a good teacher, it worked! I just kept looking for the peaks. That’s them in picture #3.

Success! The pie was delicious, the meringue did shrink up a little bit and slide across the filling. So, while it didn’t look as picture perfect upon delivery as it did on the counter, it did get good reviews for taste. Things I would do differently next time: Put the meringue directly on the warm filling, this helps to set the egg whites; not drive 2+ hours before it gets served, this allowed the meringue to ride a slip and slide all the way there.

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Posted in Baking, Dessert, Her Kitchen, summer

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