Italian Sausage and Kale Soup

It's going to be hot again next week, but for the last few days it's been in the upper 70s and on Monday night it rained! Fall is coming...my favorite time of year. The sound of the rain on the barn roof was soothing, which was a good thing since I'm still having a reaction to the vaccines taken on Friday. Almost normal today, but have had a headache since Friday, which I'm not equipped to handle well since I rarely have headaches. Anyway, the rain was a lovely thing to hear Monday evening and it also rained on Tuesday in the wee hours, so I didn't need to water my garden.

Today I celebrated the slightly cooler weather by making soup. I love soup, but don't often think to make it. It's pretty easy once you round up the ingredients and this one includes some of those veggies I've been growing in the garden. The amounts are pretty variable, depending on how much you have of things, particularly the veggies. You can use the amount that seems right to you. No veggie garden? You can, of course, use veggies from the farmers market or regular grocery store and celebrate the coming season. I like this way better than putting up Halloween decorations in September!

Italian Sausage and Kale Soup (with lots of other veggies)
Makes a big pot

1/2 - 1 pound Italian Sausage
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chopped yellow onion
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped carrots
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup water
2 cans (about 15 oz each) chicken broth or vegetable broth
1 can cannellini (white) beans, rinsed
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 - 1 cup fresh tomatoes, cored and diced
1/2 - 1 cup zucchini, quartered, then sliced 1/2-inch thick slices
1 - 2 cups fresh green beans, snapped into bite sized pieces
2 - 3 cups fresh kale

In a large heavy bottomed pot, brown the Italian sausage in the olive oil. My sausage came as a slab, so I used a spatula to divide it into large chunks and browned them so they were almost like meatballs, but you can break yours up to be smaller if you like. Once browned, remove the sausage as set aside.

If needed, add a little more olive oil, but you may find, as I did, that the sausage gave off enough fat to cook the veggies. Cook the onions over medium-high heat, stirring often, until almost translucent about 3-4 minutes. Add the celery, carrots and garlic and continue cooking another minute or two, making sure not to burn the garlic. Add the cup of water and stir to loosen any brown bits. Add the broth, beans, pepper, oregano and add the sausage back to the pot. Stir to combine and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the diced tomatoes, green beans and kale and stir to combine with the rest of the ingredients in the pot. Cover, turn heat to low and simmer for at least 15 minutes and up to an hour.

Taste and adjust seasonings, if needed. Ladle into soup bowls and serve hot. May be garnished with grated Parmesan cheese if desired.

Truly Tomato Time

Every year we wait for the harvest, especially the tomato harvest. I start the seeds indoors some years. Did that this February. I was optimistic that the weather would be good, so I planted seeds for three kinds of tomatoes and three kinds of cherry tomatoes, plus three kinds of summer squash for good measure...or because I'm bonkers. This year I also grew Cucumbers, Golden Beets and two kinds of Green Beans, plus two kinds of potatoes (and I never grew potatoes before...so really bonkers!)

The zucchini were producing by June although only a few. By July we were overrun with zucchini, but the tomatoes were still green. None of the plants had been planted out until later than usual because our spring was long and chilly. Great for enjoying tulips and later iris, but the soil needs to warm up if heat loving plants like squash and tomatoes are going to do well.

Now we have lots and lots of gorgeous heirloom tomatoes! Our favorite is the Black Krim (far left in photo above), which isn't black, but is a darker red than most tomatoes, almost a brown, and there are often bits of pink and bright yellow-green  at the stem end. The flavor is truly tomato and they are big enough to be enjoyed sliced. We often eat them sliced, with a sprinkle of garlic salt and pepper, a drizzle of olive oil and a few dashes of a good balsamic vinegar. Heaven!

Another great tomato this year is the Costeluto, a deeply lobed bright red tomato that is sort of flat-ish. It makes a great slicing tomato, too, and is also great cut into wedges in a salad.

The third one I grew this year is a yellow tomato. I forget the name, but it has a slightly elongated oval shape and a milder tomato flavor. It slices well, too, and is great in cooked dishes where it doesn't overwhelm other flavors.

The cherry tomatoes are variations of yellow/orange, red, and purple-ish sort of striped, round small tomatoes.

All of these are planted near each other, so there has been some cross-pollination. The Costeluto seems to be most susceptible to that. We've had a deeply lobed and large yellow tomato or two, some bright red but round ones and one that was sort of lobed and had the Black Krim color.

Mostly we have been eating these with very little done to them because they taste delightful as is or with just a little balsamic. I did, however, bake a tomato tart tonight that turned out very well, so I'll share the recipe in case you have lots of tomatoes yourself.

Tomato Puff Pastry Tart
Serves 6 - 8 as an appetizer

1 sheet puff pastry... I use Pepperidge Farm, thawed if frozen
2-3 large great-tasting tomatoes
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1 small to medium egg
2 tablespoons fresh basil, finely cut or chopped
1/4 cup grated Parmesan...if possible use the real thing (but Costco has a nice container of it)
ground pepper for sprinkling
olive oil for drizzling

On a large piece of parchment that will fit in your sheet pan, roll the puff pastry to a 10 x 14 rectangle.

Turn the edges in an inch on each side, to make a rim. Press down lightly on the rim. Place in the sheet pan and chill while you make the filling.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Thinly slice the tomatoes and place the slices on a sheet of paper towel and let drain while you work with the ricotta.

In a small bowl combine the ricotta, egg, basil and Parmesan. Stir until it is well mixed.

Remove the pastry in it's baking sheet from the fridge. Pour the filling in the middle and use a spatula to spread it until it is close to but not touching the edges of the puff pastry. Make sure it is even.

Place the tomato slices in a pattern on top of the ricotta filling.
Sprinkle lightly with ground pepper. Drizzle lightly with olive oil, being sure to drizzle over the tomato slices and the edge of the pastry.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until the pastry is browned.

Serve at once.

Getting Pickled

I planted the cucumbers and string beans later than the veggie starts, but they are producing quite well now...well enough to pickle some of the harvest.

Pickled Cucumber Spears are delicious and mine have kept their crunch in the past. Haven't tried the ones that I pickled about 5 days ago, but hope to try them this weekend. The Dilly Beans that I made this year use the same brine as the cucumber spears and should be equally delicious. The brine is pretty simple; water, apple cider vinegar, sea salt and a bit of sugar, boiled together until the salt and sugar dissolve. Probably the most difficult part is picking all those beans, and a little difficult is dipping the glass jars and the lids in boiling water and then draining them, before adding the produce, dill and peppercorns. This time the most difficult thing was finding the right sized jars and their lids! Pint sized canning jars with a wide mouth work best, but you can use other sizes, too. I had a jar I'd save that was just as tall, but thinner. It held fewer beans, but will make a nice gift. 

Remember, these are refrigerator pickles, so they don't last forever. If you're gifting them, give them after you have shaken them daily for about 5-7 days.

If you can harvest or purchase really fresh pickling cucumbers and long, thin string beans, do try this recipe. It's a great way to add some nice pickles to your meals, plus it keeps the harvest. That's a good thing when your veggies produce a lot, all at once!

Dill Pickle Spears

Fresh pickling cucumbers, washed under cold water and drained
fresh dill
a few black peppercorns, whole
brine

For the brine:
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon sea salt
1 teaspoon granulated sugar 

Trim the ends off the cucumbers and cut into spears by cutting in half lengthwise, then cutting each half in half lengthwise.

In a clean quart jar place the quartered cucumbers, standing on a cut end, packing them in tight. I used three fairly long cucumbers. Push pieces of the fresh dill down among the quarters and add a few black whole peppercorns to the jar. They will end up at the bottom. That's OK.

In a small pot bring the apple cider vinegar, water, sea salt and sugar to a boil and stir until mixture is boiling and the salt and sugar are dissolved. Pour over the cucumbers in the jar. If liquid doesn't come up to cover the tops of the cucumbers, add enough boiling water to do so.

Let mixture cool. Tap the jar lightly on the counter to dislodge any air bubbles. Once almost room temperature, Seal jar with a tight lid and put into the refrigerator. Every day shake the jar. Keep in the fridge for six or seven days, then open the jar and taste to see if it's pickled enough for you. Jar can be kept in the fridge, tightly closed, for up to three months.

Dilly Beans

The pickled beans are fairly easy to make, but canning is one of those activities where keeping everything clean is essential. I washed the jars and lids in hot soapy water, rinsed them, then put them into boiling water, too, before draining them and then filling the jars with the trimmed beans, dill, and whole peppercorns. The vinegar solution was boiling so I used a metal cup measure to fill the jars with that mixture, then dipped the lids in the boiling water before putting them on top of the jars.

Per Jar: 
3 dill sprigs or 1 dill head
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns
fresh green beans, young ones preferred

Bring the vinegars, water and salt to a boil in a medium nonreactive pot. Stir to dissolve the salt.

Place dill, garlic, mustard seeds, and peppercorns in each hot jar. (I dipped each clean jar into the boiling water & then drained it right before filling it. Pint canning jars with a two part wide mouth lid is the best.) Trim the ends off the beans and rinse them. Pack the beans into the jars tightly. Make sure there is a half inch headroom and trim the beans so that they will be covered with the brining solution.

Pour boiling brine over the beans. Tap a few times on the counter to dislodge air bubbles, wipe the rims, and seal with the screw bands. Let cool to room temperature, then put in the refrigerator. Shake the jars daily for about a week. Then enjoy. Store in the fridge.

Potatoes

 

When Sweetie had his birthday in March one of the unusual gifts was a seed potato for a Bodega Red potato, an heirloom variety that was grown in the pioneer days at Bodega Bay.

I'd never grown potatoes before so I waited until when I usually plant things, with the warmer soil, to plant the  Bodega Red potatoes and a Idaho that had started sprouting vigorously in the potato bin. I looked up how to prep them for planting on You Tube and just followed what they said to do. I planted them in a very large grow bag I got on sale at the end of the season last year. It's about the size of a small kids wading pool. My neighbor who has animals gave me some straw to top the bed with and as the leaves came up I added more soil, which I think is called 'hilling up'.

A few weeks ago the Idaho variety started having yellow leaves and basically dying back, so Sweetie and I dug up those spuds. Exciting harvest for someone who wasn't at all sure that the potatoes would grow well. We had some of the potatoes cut into chunks and boiled, then topped with butter, salt and pepper. Yum!

Now the Bodega Red plants are dying back so we are beginning to harvest them, too. Thank you Jan for your great gift!

Happy Birthday Max

On the 12th day of August in the early 1980s our son Max was born. We were lucky to have had a great many fun birthdays before he passed. Yesterday we decided that pie was just as good as cake for a birthday celebration, so Raine and I made a coconut cream pie from scratch. Raine had never had that flavor before, so it was great to see him enjoy his piece when we served it up. Sweetie, of course, really enjoyed his because it was his request that it be a cream pie. The recipe can be found HERE.

Happy Birthday Max!

Must Be Time For Berry Pie

We are enjoying the time with Raine and he seems to be enjoying the conversations, being on our 'farm' and the cooking and baking I'm doing with him, plus the woodworking that Sweetie is doing with him.

Yesterday he picked some more blackberries so that we could make a pie for dinner using the Food Processor Pie Crust dough we made the day before. To those blackberries we added some frozen raspberries and a few blueberries for a three berry delight.

Raine and I have baked freeform pies like galettes before, but this was our first pie in a pie pan together. He easily rolled out the dough for the pie bottom, seeming to know instinctively to keep the thickness even across the circle. He used a small knife to even out the overhang after I showed him how to fold the circle into quarters and then unfold that in the pie pan. Then, forgetting that we were planning to do a two crust pie, I showed him how to form the edge by folding the excess under, sort of rolling it, then fixing it to the edge and making it decorative with his fingers. By that time I remembered the two crust notion, so we changed course and decided to top it with streusel instead. Fortunately the book we're using for the pie recipe also has one for streusel.

The pie turned out pretty well. Because the frozen raspberries had a lot of juice, the filling was a bit loose, even with both flour and cornstarch added before baking, but it was still delicious and the pastry was excellent. I liked the streusel crunch as an contrast to the soft filling. We all agreed that the filling was nicely tart, even with the sweet streusel.

Triple Berry Pie with Streusel Top Crust

based on recipe from Art of the Pie by Kate McDermott

1 recipe Food Processor Pie Dough (see below), using half the recipe - reserve the other half for another use

6 cups (680-900 grams), about one and a half pounds, equal parts blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, fresh picked or unthawed-frozen (We used about 3 3/4 cups frozen raspberries,1/4 cup fresh blueberries and 2 cups fresh blackberries)

3/4 cup (150 grams) sugar

Small grating fresh nutmeg (OK to use a pinch of ground nutmeg instead)

1 teaspoon (5 grams) fresh lemon juice and a few gratings of lemon zest

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (73 grams) all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon cornstarch 

1 recipe Streusel topping for pie (see below)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).

Roll out the half recipe of pie dough, fit it in the pie pan (9-inch, deep dish), fold under excess dough to create a raised edge, then flute. Place pie pan in the freezer while you make the filling.

Put the berries, sugar, nutmeg, lemon juice, zest, salt, flour and cornstarch into a bowl and mix just to combine. If there are few juices, mash slightly with a wooden spoon to create a small amount of juices.

If not already done, make the Streusel to top the pie with.

Pour the filling into the chilled pie dough lined pan. Gently smooth with the back of the wooden spoon to make level. Filling should come up to about 1/2 inch BELOW the edge of the pie.

Top the filling evenly with the Streusel (Crumble Topping).

Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and bake for another 25-35 minutes. Check after 15 minutes and cover streusel with aluminum foil, loosely, if topping is looking too brown. Pie is done when the filling at the edges of the streusel is bubbling and the pie crust is golden brown.

Set the pie on a cooling rack and cool to room temperature before serving so that the fruit filling can set up.

Food Processor Pie Crust from Martha Stewart Test Kitchen

makes 2 disks

2 sticks unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces, divided
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup ice water

Freeze 3/4 of the butter pieces in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet until hard, at least 30 minutes. Refrigerate the other 1/4 of the pieces. The frozen pieces stay chunky after being pulsed, creating steam pockets when baked (the key to flakiness) and the refrigerated bits get worked into the pastry, giving it a tender texture.

Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor work bowl. Add refrigerated butter (the smaller amount of the butter bits). Pulse to combine, about 10 times. Add frozen butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal, with some blueberry-sized clumps.

With the processor off, add the ice water. Immediately pulse until water is just incorporated, about 10 times. Squeeze a small amount of dough to make sure it holds together. Pulse a few times more if needed. When you squeeze the dough it should remain crumbly, but come together. Don't pulse it so long that it forms a ball. Adding water while the processor is running  and over-pulsing are bad ideas... could lead to tough dough.

Lay out 2 pieces of plastic wrap. Empty half the dough onto each piece. Bring edges of wrap together to gather dough and form a round mass. Press the dough this way to form a rough round mass, and press on top of the wrap to form a disk. The processed dough should resemble uneven crumbs. When you empty the mixture from the processor bowl out onto the plastic wrap, some pieces will be tiny, others will be in clumps. That is perfect! The gathered plastic wrap method of forming the disk simultaneously has you gathering the crumbs into a cohesive dough and shaping it.

Roll out disks, still wrapped in plastic, to 1/2 inch thick rounds, about 8 inches in diameter. Rounds this size will chill more quickly that hockey-puck sized ones and will soften more uniformly when removed from the refrigerator.

Refrigerate at least 45 minutes and up to 2 days. Dough can be frozen up to 1 month. 

Streusel (Crumble Topping)

1/2 cup (110 grams) brown sugar, packed

1/4 teaspoon salt (a pinch)

1/2 cup (73 grams) all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups (144 grams) whole oats, rolled

8 tablespoons (112 grams) unsalted butter

1/2 cup (60 grams) chopped nuts, optional - We used walnuts, but pecans are great, too

Put the brown sugar, salt, flour, and oats in a bowl and stir to mix.

Dice the chilled butter into small dice and scatter in the bowl. Cut the butter in with a pastry tool or two crossed knives, or use you fingers to smear the butter into the dry ingredients.  When you are done, the mixture should look crumbly. Take about a 1/4 cup in a clean hand and squeeze - it should stick together. If that works, add the nuts and mix in. If it doesn't stick together when squeezed, add another tablespoon or so of butter and work that in, then add the nuts.

Pour the mixture into a bowl or plastic bag and chill in the freezer while you make the filling.

Garden Update

Even though we had a relatively cool July, There wasn't a whole lot of baking going on. There was, however, a fair amount going on in the garden. I planted green beans and cucumbers and more beets and those plants are all getting bigger. Started to see the beans start to flower a few days ago since they have climbed to the top of their supports, and then some!

The cucumbers and beet plants get bigger every day and are thriving. I planted a few zinnia seeds, too, so there should be a bit of color in a few weeks in that planter barrel. In the last few days I've seen some yellow flowers in the cucumbers patch, too, so they should set some fruit soon.

We've been getting zucchini for a few weeks and this week had enough to give away a few. There are actually people who welcome the gift. The baby butternut squash have set fruit, too, about three so far. I had to help pollinate some of them. You can't really see them, but they are at the bottom of the planter box in the photo below, near the orange plastic front of the watering can. The bees seem to be more drawn to the flowering sage than to the squash. Ants actually help pollinate the zucchini.

The potatoes are starting to turn yellow, a sure sign that I'll be able to dig them up soon! It's probably just one variety with the second one still pretty green, but I won't know until I dig - Sweetie moved the planter after I planted, so the plants are not arranged as I planted them.

The big news for August will be the tomatoes. I  harvested the first grape tomatoes today (see photo at the top) and there should be some larger ones a few days. After a slow start, the tomato plants have set a lot of fruit and are still doing that, so the harvest will likely go on into October. Yum! Here is a photo showing the almost done poppies, the tomatoes with underplanting of marigolds, and some of the squash plants. 

Have also been picking blackberries down the driveway and managed to step on a windfall Gravenstein apple hidden by leaves and almost fall. Caught myself, but managed to roll my right foot. Off the the doctor late last week. X-rays taken and PT ordered. Sigh. This is going to cut back on both garden and baking time since both require some standing, which is not a great look for me right now.

On the cooking front I did use some zucchini and ground turkey for chili (first time using zucchini and it was great!) which is gone and no photos taken, and for some spaghetti sauce like the recipe HERE.

Had some calzone last night that used some of the spaghetti sauce. Our grandson Raine is visiting and he helped make the dough for the calzone and the calzone too. He's a natural in the kitchen.

Welcome to August! Will be as busy as my foot allows with visiting grandson. Hope to have some new posts for you. Probably one on a pie Raine and I made today, 

plus one on some croissants we are making together.

Strawberry Shortcake for a Crowd

It may be past strawberry season where you live, but we are still enjoying fresh strawberries from the Hwy. 12 stand. No strawberries? Try this with blackberries, which are in season right now many places.

This is based on an idea on the King Arthur Baking website and has probably also been on their blog. You bake a large (9 x 13-inch) cake then top it with lots of freshly whipped cream, making dips and valleys and higher spots with the cream as you spread it out, then top with  juicy fruit (could probably also use peaches or plums!). The juices pool in the dips and valleys. Cut into squares and serve!  It's a bit messy but soooo good. 

I made a double recipe of the Vanilla Warm Buttermilk Cake for this. The recipe for the single recipe can be found HERE. Just double it. I tried splitting it and putting strawberries in the middle, but it was really difficult because the cake is not sturdy enough for that method and partially fell apart. The photo of the slice shows it that way, but I recommend not splitting the cake, so whole cake, whipped cream, fruit should work better! If you hull and slice the strawberries in the morning, sprinkle them with sugar and let sit and marinate until dinner time, you should have lots of juice. Didn't do it this way, but you might think about poking the cake with a skewer all over before putting on the cream and that way some of the juices will soak into the cake...I think.

Let's Hear It for the Chocolate Version

 

Sweetie isn't usually a cake person, but he really liked the Warm Buttermilk Vanilla Cake that I made in May and then again, in a larger version, in June. Monday night we had guests for dinner and we also had some raspberries from the Hwy 12 farm stand, so I decided to see if I could make the same cake in a chocolate version. A square of the chocolate cake, some whipped cream, a handful of fresh raspberries and another dollop of whipped cream not only looked pretty, but it was delicious! Now I want to share that chocolate version with you so that you, too, can try a yummy, moist chocolate cake that is easy to make. On Wednesday I made the same dessert, but used a cherry compote I made, plus ripe, sweet, pitted dark red cherries. I liked that version better. 

Probably the most unusual thing about this recipe, in either the vanilla or the chocolate versions, is that you melt some butter and then add buttermilk to that. The buttermilk combines with the butter and also gets warm.  I does mean that you have a pot to clean along with the mixing bowl and beater(s), but the results are worth the extra effort...you'll see.

I was planning on serving this cake with some fresh cherries on Monday, but ran out of time, so the raspberries worked well. The only thing that I wished I had done was to have a sauce...or even some raspberry syrup...to add along with the berries and cream. It would have tied it all together and added some extra juiciness. Good without, but probably better with. Next time!

The cherry version (which I took photos of...but no photos of the raspberry version...sorry) benefited by the cherry compote being added. It not only offset the slightly dry chocolate cake, but it really carried the cherry flavor throughout the dessert.

To make this dessert place a square of cake on a plate or in a shallow bowl. Top with the warm Cherry Compote (about 1/4 cup per serving if serving 4), top the compote with a large dollop of whipped cream, then top the whipped cream with about 1/2 cup of the fresh cherries. It's fine that the cherries fall off the cake and down to the plate or bowl. Serve at once.

Warm Buttermilk Chocolate Cake
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup cake flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

!/4 cup dark cocoa powder
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk

In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs, sugar and vanilla on high until thick and lemon-colored, about 4 minutes. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder and sift together twice; add flour mixture to egg mixture. Beat on low just until combined. Melt butter in a small saucepan until butter melts. Remove from heat and stir in the buttermilk. Add to batter; beat thoroughly (the batter will be thin). Pour into a greased 9-in. square baking pan. Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F oven for 20-25 minutes or until cake tests done. If top browns too quickly, tent with foil. Cool 5 minutes in the pan, then turn out on a wire rack to cool completely. Cut into 9 squares.   

Warm Cherry Compote

1 cup cherries (I used about 1/4 Rainier cherries and 3/4 Bing cherries), pitted and cut into quarters
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/4 cup water

In a small pot combine all the ingredients, stirring well so that all the cornstarch is mixed in. Place the pot over very low heat, cover, and cook for 1 minute. Uncover, stir, cover and cook for 3 minutes. Uncover, stir, and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens and cherries are warmed through. It is now ready to serve or store until needed. Rewarm over low heat to bring out the cherry flavor and to have the sauce be more liquid.

Whipped Cream

In a chilled mixer bowl pour 1 pint heavy whipping cream. Attach the whisk attachment. Start on low and gradually increase speed to highest setting. Beat until the cream is thick enough to dollop. Use at once.

Cherries

Pit and chunk 2 cups of fresh ripe Bing cherries. Use at once on top of the dessert.

Zuccanoes and an Aioli Feast

Many, many moons ago a very artistic cook wrote...actually hand-lettered...and hand illustrated (no photos) an amazing cookbook called the Moosewood Cookbook. The recipes are vegetarian but you won't miss the meat because they are soo good. 

Once the zucchini in my garden start producing a few every day, I almost always remember how much I love the Zuccanoes, which are actually stuffed zucchini. This is an especially good recipe if you've missed one of the squash which was hiding under one of those big leaves and it got to be 7 or 8 inches long...or longer! You slice it in half long wise and scoop out some of the inner part. If the zucchini has gotten more than a day or two old, you may be scooping out a lot of seeds...that's O.K. I sometimes just discard the seedy part that I remove. Below is the photo of the finished zuccanoe. Looks a bit like a canoe made out of a half of a zucchini, right? Love the melty cheese on top!

Now comes the fun part. You get to make a filling. The recipe calls for mushrooms, onions, garlic and sunflower seeds. Sometimes I do it that way and sometimes I make my own combination. A few days ago I combined some leftover brown rice (about a cup), some onion (1/4 of a large one) that I had cooked in a bit of olive oil for a few minutes, four or five cherry tomatoes, diced, some frozen corn (about 1/3 cup) that I defrosted in the microwave, a lone steamed and peeled golden beet that I found in the fridge, and some seasonings like salt, pepper and Italian herb mix. All of that went into the scooped out part of the two zucchini halves, then I put a three cheese mixture on top (equal parts Parmesan, shredded mozzarella and shredded cheddar) and then baked them in a small baking dish at 350 until tender, about 18-20 minutes. Delicious and I used up two leftovers! There was more filling, so I heated that up completely in a small skillet and served it along side the zuccanoes.

Yesterday for dinner I decided to make an aioli feast. Aioli is basically garlic mayo and you make it in a blender. It's another recipe from the Moosewood Cookbook and it's home territory is the south of France. You serve that wonderful sauce with warm and cool veggies and you can throw in leftovers if you don't care if you are authentic. The photo at the top of the post shows my version last night.

I served mine with steamed green beans, small chunks of red potatoes that I'd boiled until tender and then drained, a yellow zucchini that I sliced and then browned in a skillet, cherry tomatoes, and warmed leftover grilled chicken and sausage. It was delicious and I still have aioli in the fridge for another meal...and I had garlic breath! Other veggies that work well include broccoli, cauliflower, carrot sticks, mushrooms, and steamed beets. Hard cooked eggs are nice, too.

Here is the recipe for the Aioli found in the Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen. This garlic-mayonnaise sauce is on the thin side, but fully flavored.

Combine in a blender and blend well:
1/4 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
 1/2 teaspoon tamari
2 medium cloves crushed garlic
1 whole egg
2 egg yolks

After those are well blended at high speed, take off the cap so that you can pour into the blender. Turn the speed down to medium. Measure 1 cup oil...all or part olive oil...in a measuring cup that pours well.

Very gradually, drizzle in the oil a little at a time. After a few tablespoons have been drizzled in, gradually dribble in the rest of the oil in a slow, thin stream until all the oil is entered. The mixture should be fairly thick. Once it's thick, turn off the blender...if you beat too much it will get thin again which is not what you want.

Transfer to a covered jar or bowl and put in the fridge until ready to use if it's not already meal time. Be generous with this sauce for dipping those warm  and cool veggies (and protein if you like). It makes a nice topping for fish, too.

Fresh Apricot Cake

Recently we purchased a bag of beautiful, ripe, fresh apricots at the farm stand on Hwy 12, just outside of Sebastopol to the east. I didn't really know what I wanted to do with them, but the next day I processed them by dipping briefly in boiling water, then putting them into cold water. That way the skin slips off easily and they are ready to slice and to have the pit removed. I ended up with a good sized container of ready-to-use fresh apricot slices. A few slices were used over the next couple of days in cereal and other dishes, but they were getting nearer to the end of time to use them, so I needed a recipe that could take a lot of them. 

I needed something to bring to a potluck on the 4th of July. What better way to use the fresh apricots than in a picnic cake. I wanted a cake that was moist so that it didn't need any icing or other embellishment, one that would be easy to transport to the picnic, and one that would not be too sweet because the hostess prefers sweets with a tang and not very sweet. I found the perfect recipe in Dorie Greenspan's cookbook Around My French Table. In her book the cake is made with apples, but I knew that I could make it work with my fresh apricots.

Of course there were changes to be made. First off, I don't own an 8-inch springform pan, so I had to adjust for a 9-inch springform pan. Then I found that the freshly laid eggs that were a gift from a neighbor were on the small side. As it turned out that worked well. I used three small eggs instead of two large, increased the flour and baking powder a bit to both absorb the extra egg and to make the batter work in the larger pan. I kept the butter the same knowing that the apricots would have more moisture than the apples so there would be sufficient moisture. I added 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract since almond is a great flavor with apricots. I also put in 3 tablespoons of run, another great flavor with fruit. The sliced almonds on top were also my addition, both for looks and to keep the almond theme going.  As you can see, there were so many changes that this is truly a variation of the original recipe. Even, so, I'm going to give the recipe for the 8-inch springform pan since  I didn't write down the amounts of the changes I made.

Do try this yourself! Everyone at the picnic who tried a slice really, really liked it. It's moist, tender, buttery, has that unbeatable fresh apricot flavor and is delicious!

Fresh Apricot Cake

a variation of Marie-Helene's Apple Cake in Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table 

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
4 cups fresh apricots that have been peeled, pitted, and sliced into 1/2-inch slices
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons dark rum
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 tablespoon sliced almonds

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and center a rack in the oven. Generously butter an 8-inch springform pan. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicon baking mat. Put the springform pan on it.

In a small bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.

In a medium bowl beat the eggs with a whisk until they're foamy. (I used my Kitchen Aid mixer and the whisk attachment.

Pour in the sugar and whisk for a minute or so to blend. Whisk in the rum, vanilla, and almond extract.

Whisk in half the flour, and, when it's incorporated, whisk in half the melted and cooled butter. Scrape the bowl, then whisk in the rest of the flour, followed by the rest of the melted butter, mixing gently after each addition. Scrape the bowl and whisk for a few seconds to incorporate the scrapings. You should have a batter that is smooth and rather thick. Switch to a rubber or silicon spatula and fold in the apricots, turning the fruit so that it's coated with the batter and fairly evenly distributed in the batter.

Scrape the batter into the prepared springform pan. Smooth it with the spatula so that it is pretty evenish. Sprinkle evenly with the sliced almonds.

Slide the pan into the oven and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until the top of the cake is golden brown and a knife inserted deep into the center comes out clean. The cake may pull away from the sides of the pan. That's OK. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool for 5 minutes.

Carefully run a blunt knife around the sides of the pan and remove the sides of the springform pan carefully. Use the blunt knife to loosen any apricots sticking to the sides before opening the sides fully.

Allow the cake to cool until it's just slightly warm or is at room temperature, then run a long spatula between the cake and the pan bottom, cover the top of the cake with a piece of parchment or wax paper, invert onto a rack, carefully remove the bottom of the pan, and turn the cake over onto a serving dish. Remove the parchment or wax paper and you are ready to serve.

If taking to a picnic, let cool completely, then wrap in plastic wrap for transport.

This cake will keep for about 2 days at room temperature. Don't cover, just let sit at room temperature with a piece of plastic wrap or waxed paper up against any cut surfaces.

Buttermilk Waffles

 Considering the space it takes up, it's kind of amazing that the waffle iron doesn't get much use. The truth is that Sweetie likes to eat out for breakfast more than he likes to eat out lunch or dinner, so celebratory breakfasts like waffles or pancakes or French Toast don't happen that often. He often just has a protein drink and I'm happy with shredded wheat and bran cereal with some fruit in it.

Of course, every now and then...like, four or five times a year...we do have waffles or pancakes or French Toast made at home. For Father's Day this year it was waffles. I love a waffle that is tender on the inside...and fluffy...but golden and crisp on the outside. I have the perfect recipe for that if you have buttermilk in the house. I also love the recipe for Amazing Overnight Waffles where you start the yeast batter the night before you bake them. These are the recipes that make it worth it to have a good waffle iron on hand.

This time we went with the buttermilk recipe and it was delicious! We enjoyed them with seasonal berries, butter, and some warm maple syrup. Decadent and delightful. The recipe gives directions for keeping the waffles warm while you cook the full amount of batter, but my waffle iron bakes two at once, so I skipped that and served one to Sweetie and one to myself. We enjoyed them, crisp and hot, while the next two were cooking in the waffle iron.

Buttermilk Waffles
Press Democrat and Washington Post by Becky Krystal

Makes 5 servings (five 7-inch round waffles)

2 1/4 cups (280 grams) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 large eggs,
2 cps (480 ml) buttermilk (whole or low-fat)
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick/57 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus more for optional topping 
Note: May substitute some or all with neutral oil)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Neutral oil, for brushing the waffle iron
1/4-1/2 cup each seasonal berries (optional)
Maple syrup and butter, for serving (optional)

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Have a large baking sheet ready.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder. 
In a separate medium bowl whisk the eggs until lightly beaten. Whisk in the buttermilk, butter and vanilla until combined.

Stir the egg mixture into the flour mixture gently until it forms a smooth, thick batter...any lumps should be fruit.

Brush a waffle iron with oil or spray with nonstick spray, and preheat it according to the manufacturer's directions. Ladle enough of the batter to cover three-fourths  of the surface of the iron...roughly 1/2 to 3/4 cups (120-180 ml) of batter per waffle. Close the waffle iron and cook for 3-5 minutes, or until the iron alerts you the waffle is done. You will be looking for the waffle to be crisp and golden brown.

Repeat with the remaining batter, placing finished waffles on the baking sheet in the oven to keep warm, if desired.

Serve with seasonal berries, maple syrup, pats of butter or other toppings as desired.