Archives for category: Meals

Panzanella (Tomato and Bread Salad)

July 31, 2014 //

Panzanella (Tomato and Bread Salad)

I have wanted to try this salad for a long time and this summer I dove head first. I tried a few different recipes, but, as I usually do, I ended up tweaking them and turning them into my own. Here’s what I did:

3 tomatoes, chopped
1 cucumber, chopped
½ red onion, thinly sliced
2 cups of stale Italian bread, cubed
6-8 kalamata olives, halved
1 TB. capers
2 TB. red wine vinegar
4 TB. extra virgin olive oil
salt & pepper

Mix all of the ingredients together and let sit for about 20 minutes. Add more vinegar, oil, salt or pepper to taste.

Tags bread, capers, cucumber, olives, red onion, salad, tomatoes

Categories Meals

Cucumber Salad

July 31, 2014 //

There is nothing easier than cucumber salad. I usually make it with red wine vinegar; but my Dad makes a killer mayonnaise version that he calls Combination Salad – does this sound familiar to any of my upstate NY readers? I was messing around on Pinterest recently and came across this recipe from Saveur. It reminds me of the cucumber salad you get at a good BBQ place. In a twist from my usual recipe it uses apple cider vinegar, which I think is one of the unsung heroes of our kitchens. My variation is below:

Cucumber Salad

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 TB. sugar
1/2 ts. salt
2-4 cucumbers (depending on size), peeled every 1/2 inch of so around and sliced thin
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
ground black pepper, to taste

In a large bowl, whisk together vinegar, sugar and salt. Add cucumber and red onion and toss. Season with salt and pepper and chill.

Tags apple cider vinegar, cucumber, red onion

Categories Meals

Zucchini Fritters

July 31, 2014 //

Zucchini never quite conjures lust the way corn or tomatoes do. And of course, it is the one vegetable that gardeners and farmers inevitably end up with too much of. In fact, just this week my friend Nora posted a photo of her zucchini plants covered with flowers ensuring that she’ll be swimming in squash for weeks. Also, it is a strange vegetable to put away. You don’t really hear of people freezing or pickling zucchini very much. So, what do we do with all of that squash?!

You fry it, that’s what. Sure you could do zucchini fries, but these fritters are so much better. Once again Jack Bishop’s Vegetables Every Day comes to the rescue with the most delicious fritters you’ve ever tasted.

Zucchini Fritters

1 lb. zucchini, trimmed and shredded with a cheese grater or with the shredding disk of a food processor
1 large garlic clove, minced
3/4 ts. salt
1/4 ts. ground black pepper
1 large egg
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
4 TB. extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon, cut into wedges

Wrap shredded zucchini in several layers of paper towels or a cloth towel and squeeze gently. Continue squeezing, using new towels if necessary, until the zucchini is dry.

Place the shredded zucchini in a large bowl. Add garlic, salt, pepper and egg and mix well. Stir in the flour.

Heat 2 TB. of oil in a medium, nonstick skillet over medium heat. Fill a 1/4 cup measure with the zucchini batter. Turn the batter into the hot pan and use the back of the spoon to shape the batter into a 2-3 inch patty. Quickly repeat until the pan is full but not crowded. Saute until the fritters are nicely browned on the bottom, 2 to 3 minutes. Turn the fritters and continue to cook until they are nicely browned on the second side, 2 to 3 minutes longer. Transfer fritters to a platter lined with a paper towel to drain. Keep hot.

Briefly heat the remaining 2 TB. of oil in the empty skillet. Add the remaining batter as directed above.

Serve the fritters hot with the lemon wedges.

Tags zucchini

Categories Meals

Watermelon, Tomato and Feta Salad

July 31, 2014 //

Patrick is allergic to watermelon so I only make this salad when I’m cooking for a bunch of people. It is all over restaurant menus, but I don’t care. The sweet of the melon and the salt of the feta cheese is great together. It is incredibly versatile too. You can add or substitute with kalamata olives, basil, cucumber or mozzarella, to name a few.

1/4 wedge of watermelon, cut into 1-inch chunks
1/2 pint of cherry tomatoes, halved
1 hunk of feta cheese, crumbled
several mint leaves, torn up
2 TB. olive oil
1 TB. lime juice
salt and pepper, to taste

Mix all of the ingredients together and taste. You may want more lime juice or olive oil, but remember you can always add but you can’t take away, so go lightly.

Tags feta cheese, tomato, watermelon

Categories Meals

Pork Tenderloin with Plums and Red Onion and Corn on the Cob

July 24, 2014 //

Pork Tenderloin with Plums and Red Onion

I posted this recipe in the winter using apples instead of plums and apple cider vinegar instead of red wine vinegar. Here’s the original. As you can see, this recipe is wonderful because you can adapt it (are you sensing a theme here?) and even use a combination of peaches and plums, or just peaches.

Note 1: If you are serving this dish for four people I would probably use 1 1/2 to 2 lb. of pork (probably two tenderloins). One pound for four adults doesn’t seem like enough.

Note 2: I think that 2 TB. of vinegar is plenty. Remember, you can always add more but you can’t take it away!

Corn on the cob

Boil water in a pot, put shucked corn in the water, turn off the heat and put a lid on your pot. Wait 10 minutes or so. Eat with lots of butter, salt and pepper.

Tags corn, plums, pork, red onion

Categories Meals

Summer Pasta with Fresh Tomato Sauce and Mozzarella

July 24, 2014 //

Summer Pasta with Fresh Tomato Sauce and Mozzarella

This is such a great dish for showcasing summer’s greatest gift to us – the tomato – and prep is so fast. You can’t eat this any other time of the year because tomatoes aren’t good enough to eat raw. I used to make this recipe without marinating the tomatoes (see below), but once I learned this trick from Jamie Oliver I never went back – it really makes them taste incredible.

¾ lb. pasta (I like penne or rigatoni)
3-4 tomatoes, chopped
salt
2 garlic cloves, minced
Handful of basil, torn up
olive oil, to taste
1/2 lb. fresh mozzarella – cubed

Boil water for pasta, when boiling add pasta and follow directions on the box.

Chop tomatoes, add them to a colander placed over a large bowl or in the sink, and toss them with a decent amount of salt (maybe 2 teaspoons?) and let sit at least 15 minutes while you prep the rest of the your ingredients. Mince garlic and cube mozzarella.

When the pasta is ready, toss tomatoes into your serving bowl and drain the pasta in the colander you used for the tomatoes (the juice that comes out of the tomatoes should be thrown out). Add garlic, mozzarella, basil, olive oil, salt and pepper to the tomatoes and mix. Add pasta and toss.

Tags basil, mozzarella, Pasta, tomatoes

Categories Meals

Grilled Sausages and Summer Beans with Herbs, Tomatoes and Caramelized Onions

July 23, 2014 //

Grilled Sausages and Summer Beans with Herbs, Tomatoes and Caramelized Onions

This New York Times recipe is so easy and delicious. Since I don’t have a grill I broil my sausages for about 5-7 minutes and they are great.

2 lb. your favorite sausages
3 TB. olive oil
1 large red onion, thinly sliced
4 fresh thyme sprigs
salt and pepper
pinch of sugar
1 cup of cherry tomatoes, halved
1 lb. green and/or wax beans, trimmed
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 cup chopped mixed fresh herbs, such as basil and parsley

Prepare grill or preheat broiler. Grill or broil sausages until browned and blistered and cooked all the way through, 5 to 7 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare beans. Heat oil in a large skillet with a cover until shimmering. Add onion, thyme sprigs and a pinch each of salt, pepper and sugar. Saute over medium-high heat until onions are golden in spots and browned around the edges, about 7 minutes.

Add tomatoes and saute until they start to release their juices, 2 minutes. Add beans and white wine and toss everything in pan. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook 3 minutes. Uncover pan, add herbs and continue to cook. Toss beans occasionally, until liquid evaporates and beans are done to taste, 5 to 15 minutes, adding water to the pan if it dries out. Garnish with coarse salt if you like and serve hot or at room temperature, with sausages.

Tags beans, onions, sausages, tomatoes, white wine

Categories Meals

Fish Fillets with Tomatoes, Squash, and Basil and Corn on the Cob

July 22, 2014 //

Fish Fillets with Tomatoes, Squash, and Basil

I LOVE this recipe, especially in the summer. It is so healthy and fresh-tasting and lets the best of summer’s produce shine. Some variations:

I’ve made this with halibut, cod, salmon and arctic char. You can really use any fish, although I’d probably stick to something on the thicker side so that it holds up.
Cooking time varies depending on the fish, so check it after 10 minutes, and plan for it needing a few more minutes if the fish is thick.
As you know, I don’t have a grill so I always do this in the oven, but I still use foil and it is fine.
If you don’t have white wine on hand you can substitute some lemon juice.

Corn on the Cob

My Mom taught me this method and it is tried and true. Please, no microwaves…

Boil water in a pot, put shucked corn in the water, turn off the heat and put a lid on your pot. Wait 10 minutes or so. Eat with lots of butter, salt and pepper.

Tags basil, corn, fish, shallots, squash, tomatoes, white wine

Categories Meals

Leek, Bacon and Pea Risotto

June 28, 2014 //

Leek, Bacon and Pea Risotto

I love risotto but after a few disastrous attempts at making it at home I basically gave up. I’d follow a recipe line by line but instead of 20-30 minutes of stirring to cook the rice al dente it took over an hour. And frankly, as good as risotto is it wasn’t worth carpal tunnel syndrome. But, one day I was talking to someone (I can’t remember who, sorry!) about my bad luck with risotto and they suggested that perhaps the abrorio rice that I was using was old and that was why it wasn’t absorbing the liquid. Genius! So, now instead of buying a large or even medium sized bag of rice I try to only buy what I need for that recipe or at least get the smallest bag I can find and use it up quickly.

Anyway, this recipe is relatively simple and delicious and makes a lovely spring meal, especially with a glass of rose!

Tags bacon, leeks, peas, rice, risotto

Categories Meals

Fava Bean Puree

June 24, 2014 //

Fava Bean Puree

This recipe is from one of my favorite cookbooks, Vegetables Every Day by Jack Bishop. Each chapter is devoted to a different vegetable and features basic and unusual recipes and preparation techniques for each. It is a perfect cookbook for this time of year when you just buy whatever looks good at the farmers market and worry about what you’ll do with it later.

I’ve been making this recipe ever since I bought my first fava bean. Admittedly, fava beans are not available everywhere, but if you are lucky enough to have access to them in late spring/early summer buy them! Just make sure that you sort through each bean pod by hand, only picking the ones who have plump beans within. Yes, favas take awhile to prepare, but they are so worth it – especially this recipe which you just want to slather on anything you can find. Crostini really work best though.

2 lbs. fresh fava beans, shelled – approx. 2 cups
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
2 medium shallots, minced
salt

Bring several quarts of water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add the shelled fava beans and simmer for two minutes. Drain and refresh in a bowl of cold water. Drain again and then use your fingers to scrap away part of the outer light green skin on each fava. Squeeze the skin to pop out the dark green bean. Set the peeled favas aside.

Shucked favas before they are peeled

Heat the oil in a medium saute pan. Add the shallots and saute over medium heat until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add the fava beans and salt to taste. Cook, stirring well to coat the favas with the oil. Add 1/4 cup of water, reduce the heat to medium-low, and cover the pan. Cook, stirring only once or twice, until the beans are tender but not mushy, 3-6 minutes depending on their age.

Place the contents of the pan in a food processor. Pulse, adding more oil as necessary until the favas form a chunky puree. Adjust the seasonings.

The puree can be refrigerated in an airtight container for several days.

Tags fava beans, shallots

Categories Meals

Panzanella (Tomato and Bread Salad)