Summer’s bounty of produce comes together in a classic French stew.
I have made more than my fair share of ratatouille this year. In fact, I’ve made the recipe that follows almost weekly as both my wife and I love it. I also make a ton of it and the good news is that it freezes well so you can bring it out during winter when the weather has turned and you are pining for some of the great produce from the summer months. I made this dish in culinary school as it is a classic French preparation. As you can imagine, it can get a little finicky in school as you had to peel and seed all the vegetables. I usually peel the tomatoes when I cook this at home but I don’t all of the time. For home cooking purposes, I really think you can get as fancy or as ‘rustic’ as you prefer. So, if you want to peel and seed everything, that’s great. If you prefer to skip all of that entirely, go for it. As I mentioned, I fall in the middle of that, preferring to peel the tomatoes and seed the squash. Otherwise, I simply chop the veggies to decent bite sized pieces and sauté them until golden. From there, you simply combine all of the ingredients and allow them to stew for at least 30 minutes up to several hours. To finish add a mix of fresh herbs and a touch of olive oil and a splash of wine vinegar. It’s really a quintessential way to use all the fresh tomatoes, peppers, squash, eggplant, and onions we have here in New Jersey in one dish and celebrate the bounty of this season while it lasts…can you believe we are almost to September!?! Recipe follows after the jump. Continue reading →
Sweet Corn and coconut combine to create an ice cream inspired by a classic Latin American pudding recipe.
Sweet Corn and Coconut Ice Cream:
It is hot out and as such ice cream sounds pretty good! This ice cream was inspired by a classic Latin American pudding recipe containing the same main ingredients. To impart a strong corn flavor the corn is removed from the husks and later used as an ingredient in the ice cream. The husks are retained and steeped in warm milk, which helps impart a strong corn flavor. I like this recipe because we have such great corn here in New Jersey and right now it both tastes great and is a real bargain.
In this recipe, I kept the corn kernels whole. If you prefer a more smoothly textured ice cream, feel free to puree it. If you go this route, you should use approximately 1 cup of the corn puree. Process it in the same manner you would the whole kernels as indicated. Recipe follows after the jump… Continue reading →
Hi. As most of you know, I write a regular weekly column for TapInto.net that is picked up by various towns around the area. Much like here, the column focuses on new recipes. However, I do like to visit restaurants and try different things. As such, TapInto.net Berkeley Heights is hosting a Taste Around Berkeley Heights with lots of different specials at many of the restaurants around our town.
Restaurants range from fairly inexpensive to some of the pricier local choices. So, if you are looking for a nice night out, this is a great time to sample our local fare. The specials run for a couple of weeks and if you participate you even have a chance to win/earn prizes. Here is the link with the details of the program as well as the specifics on the specials offered at each restaurant. I hope everyone who is local takes advantage of the specials and supports our local restaurants…there are good deals to be enjoyed (and everyone needs a break from the kitchen every once in a while, right?).
Enjoy this summer salad as a starter or as a side dish.
Use the freshest ingredients you can find at the height of the summer vegetable and fruit season. Substitute out one ingredient for another feeling free to use both fruits and vegetables together.
As I’m sure you’ve noticed, it’s really hot out and it seems that the heat is going to continue for a few more days. During this type of heat, creating things that require quick cooking techniques allows me to keep ovens and burners off and, consequently, not get so hot in the kitchen. Better yet, salads and side dishes that require no heat provide a respite from the heat and given how great the New Jersey produce is right now, you really can’t go wrong. This salad is simple with just a few ingredients that are fully in season and truly tasty. The best thing to do when good quality produce is readily available is to celebrate just how great it tastes by getting out of its way and simply allowing the ingredients to shine.
Here, I used red, green, and yellow tomatoes and paired them with a touch of shaved red onion, a touch of green onion tops that I sliced thinly, a couple different mild peppers, and a mix of fresh mint and fresh Italian parsley. I seasoned it all very simply with flaky sea salt and a simple drizzle of good quality olive oil and a good quality vinegar (I used sherry but please just use the best quality vinegar you have). You can certainly substitute out ingredients here and if you prefer more or different herbs, feel free to use those. As long as you keep it simple so that the fresh, summer produce you choose is able to shine. This dish can certainly serve as a first course or if you prefer, it would certainly shine as a side dish.
As an aside, if you feel your onions taste too strong, simply place them in a bowl and squeeze some lemon juice and a bit of water over them and allow the onions to sit for 10-20 minutes. This will mellow the strong onion flavor. Be sure, however, to dry the onions prior to using them in the salad so that the extra moisture doesn’t take away from the natural juices created by the tomato and olive oil and vinegar. Recipe follows after the jump…
Ingredients:
2-4 Tomatoes using a mix of colors and sizes
2-3 Cherry tomatoes
¼ Red onion, sliced very thinly
1 Green onion, thinly sliced on a bias.
2 Mild peppers, each with different colors. Different varieties would be ideal. I used cubanelle and shishito.
1 Tablespoon fresh mint, coarsely chopped (use more to taste if desired)
1 Tablespoon fresh Italian parsley, coarsely chopped (use more to taste if desired)
Good quality extra virgin olive oil
Good quality vinegar (I used sherry vinegar)
Flaky sea salt such as fleur de sel, gray salt, or Maldon salt (I used gray salt).
Freshly cracked black pepper or red pepper flakes if desired
Instructions:
Cut the tomatoes into quarters or eighths depending on the size of the tomato. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half. Place the tomato wedges in a large bowl.
Then prepare the onions by thinly slicing the red onion and thinly slicing the green onion on a bias. Then add them to the bowl with the tomatoes.
Cut the peppers into different shapes, keeping them coarsely chopped. If you prefer, remove the seeds from the peppers. I chose not to do that. Place in bowl.
Add a couple tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and a drizzle of good quality vinegar over the top of the vegetables. Add a sprinkle of flaky sea salt over the top of that and then gently toss the vegetables ensuring that they all are coated with the oil and vinegar. You will know if they are as they will have a shine and sheen to them.
Allow the vegetables to sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes. This will allow the tomatoes to release liquid, thus creating a nice, loose, natural dressing.
After the resting time has expired, add the mint and parsley and gently toss the vegetables again. Taste and adjust seasoning by adding more salt, pepper, olive oil, or vinegar as necessary to suit your taste.
Place the vegetables on a plate, ensuring all the different types and colors of tomatoes are part of each serving. Add more per plate if you are serving this as a salad or less if you are using this as a side dish. Using a tablespoon, carefully drizzle some of the accumulated liquid from the vegetable bowl over the top of the plated vegetables. Serve immediately while cool.
Enjoy this hearty dish as a starter or as a main course. Like the best of Italian dishes, this dish is simple and complex at the same time!
Roast the asparagus. I layered the asparagus spears with grated Parmesan cheese.
You know, there are a lot of great cookbooks released every day and most of them contain updates and new approaches to classic dishes and/or new flavor combinations that are both interesting and exciting. However, there is something to be said for the timelessness of classic cookbooks. So, from time to time, I’m going to highlight recipes that may have fallen out of fashion or slipped through the cracks from cookbooks past. Marcella Hazan’s classic cookbook, The Classic Italian Cookbook is a great place to start. I love the fact that the tagline beneath the title of this cookbook is: The art of Italian cooking and the Italian art of eating. Somehow lost in the various mounds of recipes we forget that eating and enjoyment of food is an art in and of itself but that wasn’t lost on Marcella Hazan.
This dish presents the best of Italian cooking in that it celebrates seasonality and simplicity while at the same time combining those simple flavors into something much bigger than its’ individual components. This dish is traditionally served as a starter but certainly could suffice as a main course. The book suggests serving two eggs per person as a main or one egg as a starter. In my copy of the book the exact recipe can be found on pages 356-357. The recipe below deviates from the recipe as written just slightly as she suggest to use an asparagus steamer and I skipped that step. Also, I reduced the amount of butter used to fry the eggs. I also reduced the roasting temperature from 450 degrees to 425 as I didn’t steam the vegetable prior to roasting so it needed a bit more time in the oven. At 450 degrees, the cheese would have melted very quickly and burned before the asparagus was cooked through. Other than that, everything else remained the same. Recipe follows after the jump… Continue reading →
Delicate squash blossoms are tossed in raw at the very end allowing the residual heat from the cooked pasta to lightly wilt them.
Gently toss the squash blossoms into the pasta as they will tear and break very easily.
It’s been a while…I hope you are well. I’m kicking things off with this very summery pasta dish that happens to be both beautiful and simple to make. It’s pretty delicious as well! Stay tuned as there’s lots more ahead…I’ve been cooking a lot and am way behind on writing the recipes up for publishing. I hope to correct that very soon with a slew of new things to keep you busy! I apologize for the delay.
Squash blossoms are available in markets and farmer’s markets but you have to look for them. If you go to a farmer’s market, you will likely have to arrive early to find them as they usually go quickly. As implied by the name, they are simply blossoms found on the plants of summer squash. They have a delicate squash flavor and are really beautiful. Unfortunately, as they are delicate, they have a tendency to go bad rather quickly so it’s best to use them the same day you buy them. Since they do have a more subtle flavor they can take on various flavors rather quickly and can easily be overpowered. Traditionally, they are often served stuffed with ricotta and delicate, lightly flavored herbs such as parsley and chives. Sometimes they are steamed or flash sautéed with just a touch of olive oil. Another very popular thing to do is stuff them as above but then lightly bread them and serve them fried. I love stuffed squash blossoms but sometimes they are small and since they are delicate, they can fall apart rather easily while attempting to stuff them. So this is a great recipe to use if you find yourself with small blossoms. Further, if you are like me, and you just want to make it easy on yourself sometimes, skip stuffing them and simply toss them in some pasta with the same flavor profiles used when stuffing. This is a fast and easy pasta dish that is great either for a weekday meal or for a more special occasion because no matter how you serve them, they really are striking in their presentation. Recipe follows after the jump… Continue reading →
Continuing on with the holiday baking…I had a number of parsnips from the farm and was looking for something to do with them. About a month ago or so, I remembered skimming over a recipe for a parsnip cake, so I thought that sounded like a good idea given the holidays. I googled several recipes and landed one this one. The cake turned out great with a combination of earthiness from the parsnips and pecans along with the sweetness of apples, warm cooking spices such as ground ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg, and orange juice and zest. The filling is a simple mascarpone filling that serves a similar purpose as say a cream cheese frosting on a carrot cake. Enjoy!
More holiday baking…this time from Sienna, Italy. Panforte is a fruitcake made mainly in the Sienna area of Italy. It’s made of mainly nuts and candied fruits such as candied citron and lemon/orange peel. Unlike traditional fruitcakes we have in U.S., this cake is complex with fruits, toasted nuts, black pepper, chili powder, and cocoa powder. It’s moist on the inside but has a hardened, crusty exterior. Surprisingly, this cake is pretty easy to make and the ingredients are fairly easy to find. The only challenge might be a spring form pan as you will definitely need one for this recipe. If you don’t have one, perhaps it’s worth the investment as you can make a lot of different things with spring form pans. You can find a rather inexpensive spring form pan at Michael’s (Whilton brand). At any rate, I used David Lebovitz’s recipe. Like most of David Lebovitz’s recipes, it doesn’t disappoint. In fact, I love his blog and his cookbooks!
P.S. as an extra bonus with this cake, you don’t have to refrigerate it. Rather, since it contains neither dairy nor eggs, it can sit on the counter, covered (I use wax paper) for several months without spoiling!
Well…that was fast! Garden of Eden, after agreeing to stay open last week after announcing they were closing, announced they are closing again on July 31st. I think anyone who shopped there regularly and stopped by over the last week, definitely should have seen this coming as GoE didn’t really bother restocking much of their original merchandise. Further, I tried to buy some produce there several times and found a lot of it was either moldy or on its way there quickly. IF they were serious about staying open and giving it a go, they really didn’t do much to prove it.
I think it goes without saying (but I’m gonna say it anyway) that they have made several missteps here. First, and foremost, remaining open for one week is not giving the market a fair shot! I don’t even think they really ever really tried with this market and giving it less than a week after four months or so total time proves that point. GoE squandered a great opportunity to drive business to the store with the festival that was held here in Berkeley Heights last week. There was a ton more foot and drive-by traffic around the store over a five day period and they did nothing to encourage passers-by into coming into the store. They did place a small sign advertising a few produce specials outside the store but they could have really capitalized on the festival and news that they were staying open with a modicum of effort. Had they done anything such as extending hours, offering festival specials on prepared food, or anything at all, I think they would have been happy with the results of that effort.
Second, and maybe worse, they attempted to rebrand themselves as a store that can support ‘one stop shopping’. They mentioned this over and over again in their emails and communication with customers after they announced they were giving it another go. This simply isn’t and wasn’t the case. GoE does not have the inventory to compete with or even approach the variety of items found at Stop N Shop, Kings, Target, Costco, etc. Did they have some paper towels and some baggies? Yes, they did and that’s great for convenience in a pinch. However, who is really going to buy one package of two paper towel rolls here in the suburbs? Who, in the suburbs, doesn’t buy multiple roll packs or purchase in bulk at Costco or Target? They simply can’t compete on that level and they were kidding themselves if they thought they could or, worse, they were kidding their customers by saying they could offer that! They are a gourmet grocery store that sells gourmet prepared foods as well. C’on GoE, embrace who you are!
At any rate, last week I was disappointed they were closing. This time around, I’m over it! I’ll gladly go back to shopping at Stop N Shop, Kings, the Farmer’s markets, and the meat markets around the area and augment all of that with the occasional on-line order. They are offering 20% off everything right now. Who knows if they will offer deeper discounts as the days pass. I’m unsure I’ll go back to find out…
Garden of Eden, we hardly knew you. My wife and I were super excited that you opened late last spring and it seems that you are closing way, way too soon. Sadly, though, Garden of Eden in Berkeley Heights has announced that they are closing after only a few months of being open. They shutter their doors on Sunday the 12th and between now and then they are offering 20% off across the store…so go and stock up! Sad, sad, sad…not to be judgmental, but how can a business that opens not be prepared to weather the storm of opening in a new area for at least six months to a year? I just don’t really understand.
culinary flights of fancy 