Am I a Southerner? And a Hippie?

In response to my husband digging around the kitchen the other night looking for snacks, I decided to make some homemade snack food. I was inspired by a lunch box snack posting on Apartment Therapy's The Kitchn. The hippie in me decided on homemade granola bars and the Southerner in my opted for cheese straws.

Roughly following the recipe for granola bars, I warmed the moist ingredients: cashew butter, brown rice syrup, honey, vanilla, and brown sugar. Meanwhile, in a bowl I combined puffed rice, oats, some Grape Nuts-like cereal, dried cherries, pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds. I sprinkled cinnamon over everything and then poured on the warmed sweet gooey mixture. I mixed everything up until it was all coated and sticky. I turned it out on a parchment paper lined pan and cooked it for 25 minutes at 325. After I took the tray out, I pressed down on the top and then let them cool. When cooled, I cut it up to make about 10 bars.

Next up the savory snack was cheese straws, which remind me of my grandmother. I am not sure she ever made them in the straw form but she definitely used a similar dough to make little round crackers. Tastiness!

I combined the room temperature butter (1 stick) with the cheddar cheese (8 ounces, grated) using a hand mixer. In another bowl, I sifted flour (1 2/3C) with dry mustard (1 1/4t), cayenne (1/4t), and salt (1t). I added the dry ingredients about 1/3 at a time to the cheese and butter continuing to blend with the hand mixer. I added 2T water to finish off the dough. I rolled it out and chilled it for about 20 minutes.

Then I sliced 1/2 inch strips and tried to twist them, which didn't work very well. I put them on a cookie sheet and baked them for about 12 minutes. I discovered you don't want them to brown at all but just look like golden cheesy goodness. They look lovely standing up in a pint glass for a little snack.

Gazpacho

Last night I sat out on the porch with my husband mulling over whether or not to cook dinner. Guilt over the 1/2 loaf of stale bread from the farmer's market this past Saturday led me to trying my hand at a batch of gazpacho. I did some internet searching and couldn't find quite the recipe I had developing in my head. I called my mom and explained that I wasn't leaving the house for any additional ingredients and gave her the list of what I had. I mostly took her advice, except I added onion when she said not to. I'll probably regret that when I try the leftovers today and the onion will have become more potent!

First, I sliced about 4 or 5 thick slices from the middle of the stale 1/2 loaf. I roughly chopped those into large hunks and put them in a bowl with about 1/2C water, 1-2T olive oil, and 1 diced clove of garlic. I set that aside to let the bread soak up the liquid and thinking that maybe the liquid would also take the edge off the raw garlic.

Meanwhile, I peeled 3 tomatoes and quartered them. I peeled and roughly chopped 1 and 1/2 cucumbers. I added about 2T chopped red onion, counter to my mom's advice. My husband brought in 2 small jalapenos from the garden which I deseeded and chopped. I tossed those vegetables into the food processor with 1T sherry vinegar, 1T olive oil, and black pepper. (You could add more raw garlic at this point.)

Next, I added the bread to the vegetable mix in the food processor. I mixed until there were no longer large chunks of bread. The result was quite tasty and I didn't even have to adjust any seasonings. I let it sit in the refrigerator while the swiss chard and ricotta pie (recipe from July 10th) finished baking. The two were a good dinner combination!

Pickles!

Over the weekend I made 9 pints of pickles. On Saturday, I went cucumber picking at one of the three farms that produce our weekly farm share. I hadn't been to that particular farm yet and I took a friend on the adventure. I missed the turn several times and then we wandered around the field for a bit before we found the plants. The cucumbers seemed to be at the end of their season so many of the cucumbers were quite large. I brought them home and sampled one and it was tasty and not tough, as I'd feared.

I made two varieties: dill and bread & butter. I used the recipe in The Vegetarian Epicure: Book 2 for the dill pickles and one from Simply Recipes for the bread and butter pickles. The bread and butter chips wanted to be chilled for a few hours before canning so I prepared them first. I sliced up about 2 1/2 lbs. of cucumbers with 1 lb. of onion and tossed them with 1/4 Kosher salt. I layered ice on top of the mixture, covered it with a towel, and put it in the fridge for about 4 hours. Meanwhile, I made the dill spears. I sliced up the cucumbers, made the brine, and sterilized the jars. I put fresh heads of dill in each of 6 pint jars and then put in the spears. I filled the jars with the hot brine to within 1/2 inch of the rim, sealed them, and put them in a water bath for 20 minutes.

Then I finished the bread and butter chips. I mixed up the brine, put in the chips 'til just boiling, and then filled the jars. First, I filled the jars with the pickles and then I filled the jars with the brine to within 1/2 inch of the top. Finally, I put the jars in a water bath. I can't wait to try them!

More Jam: peach and plum

In our fruit share this week we got blueberries, peaches, and red plums. I also got an extra 1/2 peck of peaches. I had the intention of making peach butter but I think I need even more peaches for that adventure. I think after the hours and hours of cooking, I think my 1/2 peck of peaches may result in a spoonful of peach butter. Not really, but for all that effort I think I need to start with a bit more fruit. So what is plan B? Jam, of course!12 peaches + 1 1/2C sugar + 2T lemon juice + 25 minutes of boiling = JAM!

I was thinking of experimenting with some spices or some fresh ginger but I wanted to try straight up peach jam first. I think it is a bit runny but pretty tasty! (Almost as good as clotted cream on my scone!)

19 red plums (1 1/2 lbs) + 1 1/2C sugar + 1/2 a lemon = JAM!

I cooked the half a lemon with the plums in hopes that it would help the jam set better.

I think it worked out as I think the plum jam is more jammy than the peach.

And the blueberries, well they are tasty by the handful and on a bowl of cereal if they make it that far!

Scones

This morning I made currant scones. I love scones. I wish I had clotted cream to go with them, but nonetheless, I love scones. I am fond of the cream scone recipe in The Vegetarian Epicure by Anna Thomas. There is a new edition of this cookbook called The New Vegetarian Epicure published in 1996 and I don't know if the recipe is in that edition or not. I use a copy I found in a used book store a few years ago with the publication date of 1972.

Cream Scones

1C buttermilk

1 egg

2T sugar

3 1/2C flour

2t baking powder

1t baking soda

1/2t salt

1/2C melted butter

1/3C currants

Preheat the oven to 400. Whisk the first three ingredients in a bowl. Sift together the dry ingredients. Add 2/3 of the dry mixture to the wet and stir to fully incorporate. Add in the melted butter about 1/3 at a time until fully combined. Add the remaining dry ingredients and the currants. (I used the currants I dried about a month ago and they are delicious. They actually taste like currants instead of the dried currants I've used in the past.) Turn the dough out on a floured surface and knead it for a few minutes. Add more flour if the dough is too sticky. Separate the dough into three equal parts. Pat out each ball into thick circles about 4 inches across and use a sharp knife to cut these into quarters. Place these on a buttered baking sheet and bake at 400 for 20 minutes. Eat warm plain, with butter, jam, or clotted cream if you are lucky! Keep them in an airtight container for a couple days.

Tomato Pie

It doesn't quite seem right to post a tomato recipe in the midst of this blight affecting the Northeast (check out this article on Civil Eats for some more information). The three farms that produce our farmshare haven't been hit, which is wonderful! They only have greenhouse tomatoes so far this season and we've only gotten one tomato per week. The tomatoes I used were grown in Pennsylvania, which has been hit but not as hard as areas of NY and CT.

Tomato Pie! (And I don't mean the Sicilian style of pizza often called a tomato pie.) I am not sure where the tomato pie comes from. Is it British? Is it Southern? My first awareness of tomato pie can be traced to southwestern Massachusetts and northwestern CT. A few years ago when my parents were planning to build a house they briefly hired an architect who lived in CT. He mentioned the tomato pie at a tea shop in CT. My mom and I went to that tea shop and as memory serves we had some tasty tomato pie but it is overshadowed in my memory by a delicious rhubarb dessert. Following that tomato pie experience, my parents and I had lunch at the architect's house. We were served a tomato pie. I don't remember either of those pies well enough to know if what I made last night was similar or not. But what I concocted was so yummy we only have one little piece left (and we didn't have any guests for dinner)!

Recipe from Simply Recipes:

1 pie shell (I used the store brand refrigerated prepared shell.)

3 tomatoes

1/2 to a whole onion (I used a Vidalia)

1/4C basil leaves, chopped

1 1/2-2C grated cheese (I used sharp cheddar and Monterey Jack)

3/4C mayonnaise

1t hot sauce

pepper

I pre-baked my pie shell at 350 for 8 minutes. It didn't work out so well as it collapsed down the sides and I had to pull the edges back up to hold the filling. The recipe says if you make a homemade shell to freeze it before baking, maybe I should have done that even with the store bought shell. The recipe calls for 1/2 a raw onion but mentions that you could caramelize it. I can't pass up a caramelized onion so I sliced the whole onion up in half rings and put them in a pan at high heat with 1/2 olive oil and 1/2 butter.

Once the onions had browned I piled them up in the center of the pan, lowered the heat, and let them cook. Meanwhile, I halved the tomatoes and squeezed out some of the moisture. I then roughly chopped the tomatoes. I piled all the basil leaves up together, rolled them up, and sliced to make thin strips of basil. In a bowl, I combined the cheese, mayo, hot sauce (I used Louisiana), and pepper. The recipe says it should be the consistency of a gooey snow ball, which is a lovely description but I am not quite sure what it means. Mine looked like shredded cheese coated in mayo.

After reconstructing my pie shell, I spread the onions across the bottom, layered the tomatoes on top, and sprinkled the chopped basil on top. Then I spread the cheese mixture across the top. I baked this at 350 for about 35 minutes. The recipe says to bake for 25 to 45 minutes. At 25 minutes my pie looked almost done but at 35 minutes it was bubbling in many places around the edge and the topping was getting nicely browned. We let it cool and dove right in. Yum!

Ratatouille

I just finished reading A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg, which I loved! The author began writing about food on her blog: Orangette. Each chapter of the book includes a recipe and last night I tried her recipe for Roasted Eggplant Ratatouille.

1 lb. eggplant, sliced crosswise into 1-in thick rounds

Olive oil

1 lb. zucchini, halved, sliced into 1/2-in thick half moons

1 medium yellow onion, sliced thin

1 large red bell pepper, chopped

4 large cloves of garlic, sliced thin

5 Roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped

3/4t salt

3 sprigs fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

1/4C finely chopped fresh basil

To begin she suggests roasting the eggplant in the oven rather

than cooking it in a pan. Take note that these are thick slices of eggplant; I got 6 out of a regular size eggplant. I lightly salted the slices and let them release some moisture on paper towels for about 10 minutes. Then brush or spray them with oil on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes (flipping once) at 400. Remove from oven and allow them to cool. Cut the slices into 1-in cubes.

Meanwhile, cook the zucchini (I used yellow squash) in ~2T olive oil for 10-12 minutes at med-high until the pieces are browning but not soggy. Remove these from the pan leaving any remaining oil and set aside. If no oil, add 1T to the pan, reduce heat to medium, and cook the onion for ~5 minutes.

Add the garlic (sliced not minced) and red pepper and cook for another ~5 minutes but don't let the garlic brown. Add the tomatoes, salt (I used less than called for because I had salted the eggplant), thyme, and bay leaf. Reduce the heat to low (I had to use med-low to get any action), cover, and cook for ~5 minutes. Add the eggplant and zucchini, stir, cover, and cook over low (med-low) for 15-20 minutes until everything is tender. Turn off heat and stir in basil.

Calabacitas

Calabacitas: squash, onions, corn, and chiles; yummy side dish or taco filling.

4-5 squash (any combination of yellow squash and zucchini will work), sliced into 1/4 inch thick medallions

1 sweet onion, halved and sliced

Corn (1 can or 3 ears)

1 can green chiles (I often get Ortega or Casa Fiesta, but don't use canned jalapenos unless you want SPICY)

4-5 strips of bacon, chopped into 1 inch pieces

In a cast iron or large non-stick skillet, cook bacon over med-high heat until done but not crispy. Add onions to pan and cook until translucent or even lightly browned (6-8 minutes). Reduce heat to medium and add squash in batches, about 1/3 at a time, to make sure it gets its fair share of bacon grease and direct exposure to the hot pan. Add corn and chiles and cook over med-low heat until everything is warm through. This dish can be prepared first and sit while the rest of the meal is cooking.

At the beach last week we used canned corn and only a few chiles because I accidently picked up canned jalapenos and we didn't want to make everyone wince and cry in pain from the heat. On Monday night when we made calabacitas to go with our tacos, we used leftover grilled corn from the night before. We had about 2 1/2 ears left and I scraped the kernels right off the cobs and tossed it in instead of canned corn. Delicious if you have the corn left over but not necessary.

Return from the beach

I hope you didn't miss my posts too much over the past week. I was at the beach with my family for the week. It is a 25+ year tradition and we've got it down to a science now. The food and the drinks are the main focus of our trip with a couple daily swims in the ocean tossed in. OH, I can't forget to mention my annual quest for East Carolina BBQ, which is my favorite form of BBQ in the world!

The first night of food, which we walked into late so I may not have the items quite right, included pesto pasta, tomato salad (tomatoes, oil, and garlic), mixed greens with apple, nuts, and blue cheese, and shrimp sauteed with wine and garlic. Sunday was my husband's and my night to cook. He whipped up 20+ chile rellenos, which is a crazy sort of roasting, peeling, stuffing, and deep frying process. We also had calabacitas (recipe in the next post), shrimp with a spicy dry rub, and a green salad with a salsa buttermilk dressing. Monday night arrived with a paella prepared by my uncle (and a host of support chefs and fire tenders) on a charcoal grill beneath the beach house with only the ocean breeze to combat. Accompanying the paella we had shrimp (see the pattern: shrimp, shrimp, shrimp) and my aunt's aioli. Tuesday night my brother and his wife prepared pulled pork bbq using a pork butt from a pig raised by friends of theirs. Along with the pork we had cole slaw, corn muffins, and sweet potatoes. Don't be alarmed, we had plenty of shrimp for appetizers! Wednesday night we had a pasta and bean dish served over greens with beautiful grape tomatoes. And the shrimp that night was jerked by my sister! Thursday welcomed another paella-like production for the fideau, which is pasta instead of rice prepared like a paella. With that we had a tomato salad, hoisin shrimp, aioli and bread to soak it all up. And Friday night we intended to eat leftovers but my husband made batter for shrimp cakes and cheddar bay biscuits (think Red Lobster but BETTER!). And my aunt added gambas al ajillo and lentil salad to the menu. What a delicious end to a wonderful week of eating!

And lest anyone worry that we weren't eating other meals there was a daily breakfast spread of eggs, bacon/sausage, potatoes, tomatoes, and muffins. Lunch usually involved leftovers or a trip out for BBQ. And appetizers included shrimp with their shells on grilled in a hot, dry skillet for a few minutes each side 'til just done and served with cocktail sauce and on one lucky night we get my aunt's beer battered shrimp, which we have little battles over no matter how many she prepares!