eat make read

For some reason I’d never tried a plum until this weekend. Weird, I know, but I had some preconception that I just wouldn’t like them. Then I spotted these lovely yellow and red ones and the Union Square Greenmarket and couldn’t resist. Good move.

I tried one when I got home and it was pretty good. But then I asked a friend what I should do with the rest of them and she suggested I make a cobbler. So off I went to make my first plum cobbler, and let me tell you this was a great way to start. I found this recipe for Plum Cobbler with Cinnamon Biscuits and it kind of rocked my world. The plums were a little tart, so the soft, cinnamon biscuits provided a great contrast to the juicy plums.

Whether you’ve tried plums or not, now’s the time to use them up with this gem of a recipe.

A little Monday inspiration. There was a great article in the Times Magazine yesterday about women who farm. Give it a look and learn something new.

Welcome back! I hope you had a great weekend. I kind of needed some time to digest the undertaking that was market week. I’ve compiled a little overview of the weeks meals and my thoughts:

Sunday: Honey Roasted Chicken with Potatoes and Green Beans
This was super delicious and I’ll definitely be making it again. Provided enough meat for leftovers on Tuesday.

Monday: Gazpacho
A refreshing meal. Provided enough for a for another meal. Maybe next time I’ll pair it with some great homemade rosemary bread.

Tuesday: Quesdadillas
This was my least favorite meal of the week. It just needed more pizazz… like guacamole.

Popscicles
Again, they were ok, but they needed a little something. I think I’m going to take a stab at yogurt pops.

Wednesday: Hamburgers
Delicious! I’m usually a cheeseburger kind of gal, but this meat is so awesome it doesn’t need the cheese. I did jazz them up with some carmelized onions that were a perfect touch.

Raspberry Ice Cream
When is ice cream not good? This recipe has a creamy and pure raspberry flavor. I think I’ll be trying it out with some other fruits too.

Thursday: Potato, Squash & Sausage torte
This was my favorite meal of the week. Just a simple layered dish, but full of flavor. Although I did realized that my version’s not really a torte, but more like a big mess of goodness.

Cherry Margaritas
Not the quickest margarita around, but a nice way to mix it up.

Friday: Sausage & Onion Pizza
A quick crust topped with a bunch of sausage, some onions, garlic and pepper. A nice way to use up the last of the groceries.

Overall, I’m really happy with everything I made… for the most part it was pretty easy. The hardest part came when trying to cook it in time to get enough sunlight for the photos. Haha! I only deviated from the market a few times… using store-bought buns because my bread went bad by wednesday (bummer!) and I had to squeak a little parmesan in the torte.

I found that planning my meals at the beginning of the week really helped when it came to dinnertime during the week. I didn’t have to worry about last-minute trips to the store or worrying about finding a recipe. It was all done and put my mind at ease. I must say I did miss going out to dinner. I’m not quite sure I’m ready to give up my dinner’s out.

I strongly urge you to check out your local farmer’s market. There are really great products and people that I’m sure you’ll be happy to find. Maybe you’ll even be inspired to try something new.

Oh sweet happy hour, how I love you. I had about half a container of sour cherries left over by the end of the week and decided that I’d take a stab at a cherry margarita of sorts. I pitted the cherries, then squished them through a strainer to get all the juice out. Then I got out my tequila and cointreau to add to the juice. I put that in a my shaker and got it all nice and mixed up. Before I poured it I dipped the rim of my glass in a mixture of sugar and salt to add a little pizazz. I poured the margarita, topped it off with a few mint leaves just for pretty’s sake and took a sip. Ahh yes, it hit the spot like a margarita always does.

I’m planning on one more market week meal that I’ll probably post Monday with an overview of the results of my little experiment. I hope you have a great weekend!

Cheers!

Last night’s meal might have best the best surprise of the week. I found a recipe for a summer squash and potato torte and used it as a rough guide. Now, I’ve never made a torte nor have I ever cooked squash, so I was a little nervous that it was going to be one of those meals that I put a bunch of work into then it comes time to eat and it’s disappointing. But oh contraire my friend.

The recipe takes a bit of time because you have to slice a bunch of stuff, then do a little mixing, but it’s definitely worth it. I also cooked up some sausage so at least there’d be something I’d like and I think it really helped to add flavor. Once you have everything prepped, you just build layers and pop it in the oven for a bit. The smell that fills your house is worth the work… I kept taking deep breaths just to take in the waft. The end result was so dang good. I mean, go-back-for-seconds good. The texture is awesome between the crispiness of the outside of the sliced goodness, while everything kept a soft interior and the sausage added a nice contrast. Try this… you won’t be disappointed.

potato, squash & sausage torte
based on this recipe from bon appetit
1 red onion, chopped
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup semi-firm cheese
1 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

4-6 new potatoes, thinly sliced
2 small summer squash, thinly sliced
1/4 lb sausage (or about 2 links)
2 teaspoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 375°F.

1
Butter 9-inch baking dish. Toss cheese, flour, thyme, salt and pepper in medium bowl to blend.
2
Layer half the potatoes in rows in bottom of 1 prepared pan, overlapping slightly. Layer half the squash in rows atop potatoes. Drizzle with 1 teaspoon oil. Sprinkle with half the cheese mixture. Add all the sausage and repeat potato, squash and cheese layer.
3
Sprinkle onions over top and cover with foil. Bake about 40 minutes. Remove foil; bake uncovered until tortes begin to brown and potatoes are tender, about 25 minutes longer. (Can be made 6 hours ahead. Cool. Cover with foil and chill. Rewarm, covered with foil, in 350°F oven until heated through, about 30 minutes.)

After being so good about making dinner, we treated ourselves when we got home to a nice serving of homemade ice cream that I made over the weekend. I picked up this lovely basket of raspberries and thought it would make the perfect ice cream. A quick whizz in the food processor and then a run through a fine sieve and the raspberries are ready to go. I used ronnybrook cream and milk along with Tello eggs to form a custard. Once the custard cooled a bit, I added the raspberry juice and stuck the whole shebang in the fridge to cool a bit. A few hours later I ran it through the ice cream maker and then stuck it in the freezer to await the first taste.

Oh sweet goodness! The ice cream was perfectly creamy and sweet with raspberry flavor. I’ve had a problem with my homemade ice cream having a bit of a filmy aftertaste, but this only left traces of raspberry in your mouth. It’s really a great way to end a summer meal. I bet it would be just a notch better in a warm waffle cone…

Raspberry Ice Cream
from Williams Sonoma

1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
3 large egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups fresh raspberries

1
In heavy saucepan, combine milk and 1/2 cup of the cream. Cook over medium heat until bubbles form around the edges, about 5 minutes.
2
Meanwhile, combine the egg yolks, 1/2 cup of the sugar and remaining 1/2 cup cream. Whisk until the mixture is smooth and sugar dissolved.
3
Remove milk mixture from heat. Gradually whist about 1/2 cup of hot milk mixture into the egg mixture until smooth.
3
Slowly pour egg mixture into saucepan while whisking. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon and keeping the custard at a low simmer, until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and leaves a clear trail when a finger is drawn through it, 4-6 minutes. Do not let the custard boil.
4
Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl.
5
Place the bowl in a larger bowl filled with an ice bath. Stir occasionally until cool.
6
Put the raspberries and remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a food processor until smooth. Strain the berries through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean bowl, gently pushing on the berries with the back of a spoon. Discard the raspberry pulp and seed.
7
Add the juice to the custard and stir to combine. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly to the surface to prevent a skin from forming.
8
Refrigerate until chilled, at least 3 hours or up to 24 hours.
9
Pour custard into ice cream maker and follow manufacturers directions.

Last night was a real test. Normally I certainly would have eaten out because we had an outdoor concert to go to (woohoo!), but I diligently came home and got dinner started. I wanted to make something portable that I could take with us, so I made hamburgers with carmelized onions and sweet potatoes with thyme. The meat from the market is so good, it hardly needs any dressing, but I couldn’t resist using some of my red onions to make a simple but super delicious topping. For the potatoes I just thinly sliced a sweet potato and sauteed it until it had a nice brown crispiness to it.

After everything was done, I pulled out my tin foil and wrapped it up to take to the show. Excellent plan! Even after a 30 minute walk the meal was a warm and delightful backdrop to the lovely melodies of Feist. I think I need more picnics in my life.

I just can’t resist picking up berries at the market. They’re so dang pretty! I pitted a handful of sour cherries along with a few blueberries from last week’s market and tossed them in the food processor. I gave them a quick strain, then divided the juice in two containers. I added milk and cream to one bowl of juice for a creamier popscicle. Then I just added some seltzer water to the other juice for a fruitier treat.

I let them freeze for a day or so and brought them out as dessert after our quesadillas. I tried a creamy one while Aaron tasted the fruity one. Both were pretty good, but I wasn’t completely satisfied with them. I think I would add more fruit juice to them next time for a stronger flavor. I thought the creamy one was going to be like ice cream on a stick, but it had more of an icy texture than I expected. I think I need to use yogurt next time. Whatever the case, they were a tasty, cool treat.

Leftovers came in handy for last night’s meal. I used chicken from Sunday’s roast and the gazpacho from Monday to make delicious quesadillas. I have to admit, I didn’t buy the tortillas at the market, buuuuut they are made locally by Hot Bread Kitchen, a company that employs immigrant women to bake their native breads. All I did was lay down a tortilla, sprinkled some Cato Corner Cheese, then some chicken, gazpacho, another layer of cheese and another tortilla. I gently laid it on an already warmed frying pan and let it heat for a few minutes on each side. Five minutes later, dinner was served.

The quesadillas were pretty tasty, although both Aaron and I wished there was a little more spice going on. But other than that, the chicken still had great flavor, the gazpacho added a nice freshness and the cheese held it all together. Good stuff for a meal that took less than ten minutes.

Growing up picky, I usually turned up my nose at anything that included vegetables, let alone a whole soup made of them, but recently I’ve been intrigued by gazpacho. I picked up the proper vegetables at the market, all in glorious form, and chopped away while watching one of my favorite shows, CBS Sunday Morning. I soon found out that chopping into tiny pieces was for the birds, so I roughly chopped everything and then threw it in the food processor. I tossed everything into a big jar, added some water, a little oil and let it be.

My gazpacho came in perfect use last night after I forgot we’d signed up for a cheese class at Murray’s. Now I love cheese, but after tasting 7 cheeses, I almost needed to be rolled out of class, and I certainly needed some vegetables in my belly. So we came home, poured ourselves some gazpacho and it did just the trick. It’s a great blend of tomato, garlic, peppers and cucumbers, with none of them standing out, but all melding together to create a nice balance of refreshing goodness. And lucky for us, we’ve got leftovers.

Gazpacho
I roughly followed this recipe, cut in half

1 garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large tomatoes, seeded
1 green bell pepper, seeded
1 hot pepper, seeded
1/2 red onion
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded
1 cup cold water
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Mash garlic and salt in mortar with pestle until paste forms. Transfer to large bowl. Finely chop tomatoes, peppers, onion and cucumber and add to bowl. Add 2 cups cold water and 1 tablespoons oil. Stir in chopped cilantro. Season with pepper. Cover soup and refrigerate until cold, about 3 hours.