Milestone Birthday

My mom's birthday was Sunday, we started the celebration with great meal (prepared by me and the folks at Everett and Jones BB-Q) and will finish it next weekend with dinner at Chez Panisse. Here's what I prepared:

Flatbread with Oven-Dried Figs, Caramelized Onions and Blue Cheese

1 green basket bursting with figs
1 tablespoon of olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 F. Cut figs length-wise into quarters, toss with olive oil and spread onto a baking sheet in a single layer. Roast, stirring occasionally for about 45 minutes until the figs have cooked down and "jammed" up a bit. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

2 3/4 cups four, divided
2 1/4 teaspoons dry yeast
1 teaspoon of honey
1 cup warm water, divided
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 -2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons of salt, divided

Combine 1/2 cup of flour and yeast in a large bowl. Whisk in 1/2 cup of warm water and honey, let stand 30 minutes. Add remaining 2 cups of flour, olive oil, remaining 1/2 cup of water, rosemary and salt. Stir until a soft dough forms. Turn out onto a lightly, floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (5- 8 minutes), adding enough flout to prevent dough from sticking.
Allow dough to rise in oiled bowl, in a warm place for about an hour (until its doubled in bulk). While the dough rises work on the toppings:

1 large onion
1 tablespoon of olive oil

In a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat, add olive oil. Add onion cook 15 minutes or until very brown, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Preheat oven to 425 F.
Punch down dough, forming into a disc. Roll into a large rectangle (dough should be 1/4" think) and transfer to a baking sheet dusted with cornmeal to prevent sticking.

1/4 cup of walnuts
1/2 cup of crumbled blue cheese

Arrange onions, walnuts and figs evenly over dough, leave a border for easier eating. Sprinkle with blue cheese and press toppings into dough to adhere. Bake at 425 for 20 minutes until flat bread is golden brown and the cheese melts.

Yields: 12 - 14 appetizer sized slices

From Cooking Light


Zucchini Gratin

1 lb smallish zucchini, thinly grated/sliced on the diagonal into small chunks
1 teaspoon+ salt, to taste
2 tablespoons of cream or milk
2/3 cup Gruyere cheese, shredded
1/3 cup of chopped walnuts
Dash of nutmeg
3/4 cup of Panko bread crumbs
2 tablespoons of butter

Place grated zucchini in a colander over a bowl or in the sink and add 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Allow to macerate 20-40 minutes, rinse and allow to drain. Squeeze as dry as possible.

Heat oven to 375°. Spray a shallow gratin dish with nonstick spray. Combine zucchini, cream, walnuts and Gruyere in gratin dish. Season to taste with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Combine the Panko and Parmesan in a small bowl. Add the butter and rub into Panko until it forms large crumbs and spread on top of zucchini. Bake on middle rack of oven until bubbly and golden brown, about 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

Yields: 4 servings

From: San Francisco Chronicle

Fresh Corn Johnnycakes with Green Onion-Herb Sauce

Sauce
Whirl around in blender, or food processor:

4-5 green onions, white and green sliced
1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons of mayo
2 tablespoons of sour cream
1 tablespoon of Dijon-style mustard

Cover and chill until cakes are ready.

Cakes
Combine in a bowl:

1 cup of cornmeal
2 table-spoons of flour
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
Dash of salt
Dash of red pepper flakes

Add
1 1/4 cups of buttermilk
1 egg
Stir until well combined.

Gently fold in
1 cup of fresh corn kernels (cut from 2 large ears)

Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat with olive or canola oil. Spoon batter by heaping tablespoons onto hot pan (2 - 3 cakes should fit in the pan at a time). Cook until there are many bubbles in the middle of the cake and the edges seem to hold together (3 minutes or so). Flip and cook and additional 2-3 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from pan, cover and keep in a warm oven until ready to serve. Repeat with additional oil, if necessary and additional batter. Serve warm with sauce.

Yields: 8 - 12 cakes

From: Cooking Light

Turnip and Potato Patties

I searched my favorite food blogs for turnips and this is what I had for dinner tonight (on a bed of lettuce greens). Heavily adapted from this recipe at Simply Recipes. I think they would be great as a breakfast potato substitute.

Turnip and Potato Patties

1/2 pound turnips, cut into 1/4-inch cubes (about 1 1/3 cups)
6 oz potato cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 1 cup)
2 medium sized carrots, grated
2 green onions, chopped
1 egg, beaten lightly
1/4 cup all-purpose white-wheat flour
Grapeseed oil, peanut oil, or canola oil (high smoke point vegetable oils)
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon of curry powder or gram masala

In a large saucepan of boiling salted water, cook the turnip and potato cubes for 12 to 15 minutes, until they are tender, and drain them. In a bowl, mash them with a fork and stir in the scallions, the carrots, the egg, flour, and curry powder, salt and pepper to taste.

Coat the bottom of a large, heavy bottomed skillet with about 1/4-inch of the oil. Heat the pan on medium high heat until the surface of the oil begins to shimmer, but not smoke. Spoon 1/4-cup mounds of the turnip potato batter into the pan, flattening them into 1/2-inch thick patties with the back of a spatula. Fry the patties until they are golden, turning them once, about 4 minutes on each side. Transfer the patties to paper towels to drain off excess oil.

Yields: Six patties

Time: 1/2 - 3/4 hour

Recipe adapted from Gourmet Magazine, January 1985.

Ps. I think Andy took the memory card reader to Italy (I need to check at his house to be sure). It that's the case, no photos for a while (I am taking them I just can't get them off my camera easily). You'll have to imagine and I'll add them in a month or so....

AB's Unbirthday Cake

So.... a certain someone left for Italy today....for a MONTH. His birthday is next week while he's away so I made this unbirthday cake for him early and we ate it during a fierce game of twelve-letter Scrabble last night.

I combined two recipes into:

Chocolate Mint Ice Cream Sandwiches
from Fresh Mint Ice Cream via Orangette
This ice cream is the best mint ice cream you have ever had. Very minty without being artificial in any way. I described it as "floral", Andy said "it's just goood".

1 cup 2 % milk
¾ cup sugar
2 cups heavy cream
Pinch of salt
2 cups lightly packed fresh mint leaves
4 large egg yolks

Warm the milk, sugar, 1 cup of the cream, and salt in a small saucepan. Over low heat, warm until small wisps of steam are visible but not bubbles in the liquid. You do not want the liquid to come anywhere near a boil. So, go slow. Once steam is seen, turn off the heat and add the mint leaves. Stir until they’re immersed in the liquid. Cover and let steep at room temperature for about 1 hour.

Strain the mint-infused mixture through a mesh strainer into a medium saucepan. Press on the mint leaves to extract as much of the flavor as possible, then discard the mint leaves. Pour the remaining 1 cup heavy cream into a large bowl, and set the strainer on top.

Rewarm the mint-infused mixture. Again go slow with the heat. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly add the warm mint liquid into the egg yolks about 1/4 cup at a time, whisking constantly; then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

Stir the mixture constantly over low-medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. You do not want to scramble the egg mixture so its essential to go low on the heat and constantly stir. It’s done when your finger leaves a definite trail that doesn’t flow back together. Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the remaining cream. Stir until cool over an ice bath.

Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. In the last 2 minutes in the ice cream maker I added a 1/2 cup of chopped semi-sweet chocolate chips.

AND

Chocolate Sandwich Cookies
from Chocolate Sandwich Cookies with Vanilla Cream filling via Nosheteria

1 1/4 cups all-purpose white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) room- temperature, unsalted butter
1 large egg

Set rack in the middle of oven and pre-heat to 375 F.

In a bowl of an electric mixer, thoroughly mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar. On low speed, add the butter, and then the egg. Continue mixing until dough comes together in a mass. (I was skeptical that the dough would come together but it did perfectly without any finessing)

Roll small round teaspoons of dough between your palms and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet approximately 2 inches apart. With palm, slightly flatten the dough. (The cookies will spread a lot. Even for ice cream sandwiches make the initial balls slightly smaller than a ping-pong ball.) Bake for 9 minutes, rotating once for even baking. Due to the dark nature of chocolate cookies be careful not to burn the edges. Check quite frequently if you add any minutes to the baking. Set baking sheets on a rack to cool. Wait a few minutes to let cookies set before removing from sheet.

ASSEMBLY
Once the two component have been made and respectively frozen and cooled. Remove the ice-cream from the freezer and allow to soften for about ten minutes on the counter, assemble into sandwiches and re-freeze.


Pictures... you ask?? We ate them too quick!

Eatwell Farms

I am sure many of you are not only aware of the Community Supported Agriculture (commonly referred to as CSA) movement but are active participants. A direct partnership between eater and farmer this movement supports smaller often organic family farms, lowers oil/gas consumption of transit and improves the tastiness of dinner. If you are not, I encourage you to look for such an operation that appeals to you in your neighborhood.

This week I picked-up my first delivery of produce from Eatwell Farms. I could not have been more impressed with my share. In my first box, I received:

• Bing cherries
• Strawberries
• Lettuce
• Garlic (for drying)
• Onions
• Summer squash
• Green beans
• Yukon Gold Potatoes
• Turnips
• Carrots
• Mint

Let me tell you the strawberries were the best I have had this summer AND we have them growing in our own backyard; the mint is brewing right now for a tasty tea in the morning and the carrots are just the cutest carrots you have ever seen and super crisp and sweet. Eatwell also has organic eggs available. I did get a 1/2 a dozen but haven't tried them yet, can't wait for an opportunity.

Seriously, I am swimming in produce. It's great!

Ps. Does anyone know what to do with turnips?? I have never had them let alone cooked them.

Caesar Salad Dressing

Into a food processor goes:
2 egg yolks
4 cloves of smashed garlic
3 T of Dijon mustard
1/4 cup of lemon juice (juice of approx. 1 1/2 large lemons)
zest of 1 lemon
2 T red wine vinegar
1 T of Worcestershire sauce
Whorl around until very well blended. Then add:
1 can of chopped up anchovies (but not the oil they are packed in)
Whorl just a few seconds. Slowly drizzle in:
1 cup of olive oil

Voila! Caesar salad dressing.

Time: 10 minutes
Yields: 1 1/2 cups of dressing, enough for 2 large salads
Due to the raw egg yolk the dressing should be used or tossed in a few days, and always refrigerated.

I make Caesar salad with 2 chopped romaine hearts, a generous cup of garlic croutons and 1/4 cup of shredded Parmesan. You can always add grilled chicken breasts or shrimp for a full meal.