it got cold. and rainy. I want soup.

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Was it not just two days ago that it was like 80 degrees? And now it's freezing on the east coast.  And drizzly.  And just has that fall chill settling into your bones. I love fall (cause hi, knitting, but no snow to shovel) and so I'm not complaining.  Or rather, I wouldn't be complaining if I could find my damn slippers so my feet weren't cold.  But still. 

So on this cold and rainy day, I present soup. Specifically, leek and potato soup.

No pictures because I haven't made it yet, but I will this evening.  And if I do say so myself, my leek and potato soup is freaking badass.  And easy!  Save for the peeling of the potatoes, which isn't hard, just annoying as hell.

Ok, I lied when I said no pictures.  Maybe no current pictures? This is of a dinner last winter. Please to note the wine, and buttered toast as garnishes.

Methods are key here, amounts less so.  I mean, it's soup.  Just wing it a bit, how bad will it turn out? I like my leek and potato soup pureed, because yum.  But if you want it chunky, skip the pureeing part at the end and just smash it up some more. 

So Ingredients:

  • Start off with some leeks, or one leek plus a few onions and/or shallots.   Leeks make for a milder soup and are more traditional, but an onion isn't going to hurt anything.  If you don't have enough leeks, fill in with onions, they're cheaper.
  • Then potatoes.  Russets are stellar here, but white or red potatoes work fine, as do yukon golds. In my experience you just need to cook the white/red/yukon golds a bit more as they don't break down quite as easily as the russets.  Maybe one or two pounds of potatoes for 4-6 quart soup?  I like a potatoey soup though. 
  • Liquids.  Stock (chicken or veg) is great if you have it, which most folks don't.  Water plus a few boullion cubes is my go-to.  I use a mix of chicken and veg, depending on what I have on hand.  A bit of white wine or dry vermouth comes in handy.  Your traditional vichyssoise is generally made with water, so it's not a problem if that's all you have. 
  • Garnish.  I like dairy, cream, half and half, milk, full fat yogurt, sour cream--they all work on the individual serving level.  I rarely add any to the big pot. Got something green? Chives or basil or something like that?  Fine chop a bit.  
  • Fat.  Butter, duh.  Also olive oil, or a mix of the two.  But come on, BUTTER. Also, if you're not vegetarian, bacon! Chop some up relatively fine, but not fussily so. 
  • Salt and pepper.  I mean, what are you, a heathen?

So how do you make it?

Cut your aromatics. If you're using onions or shallots, peel and slice them relatively thinly.   Start with the leeks: Take a thin slice off the root end of your leeks, and trim some of the tough green parts away from the opposite end.  Then, take your knife and slice lengthwise down the leek shaft, to make two half-cylinders. Give both sliced lengths a good rinse in running water to get most of the grit out.  Then slice relatively thinly into half moons.  Dump those half moons into a bowl and cover with water.  Swish around for a bit to let the remaining grit sink to the bottom.  The half moons will float. 

Grab a pot that holds about as much soup as you want to make. (I warned you it was a loose thing.) For me, I'll probably do a 4 qt pot with a few pounds of potatoes, 2 smallish leeks and an onion or two. Any more than that and I'd bust out the dutch oven instead.

If you're using bacon, chop it fine-ish, and cook on med high heat until the fat renders out.  Otherwise, melt in a chunk of butter and a swirl of olive oil--about 2 tbsp butter at least? Once the foam has subsided, throw in the sliced onion and/or shallot if using.  Using your hands, lift the leek half moons out of the water, and throw them in as well. Don't drain with a colander unless you want to dump your grit back over your veg or pick little itty bitty slices of leek out of the holes.   Give the leeks/onions/shallots a big ass pinch of kosher salt--nearly 1/2 a teaspoon please--and a hearty stir.  Lower the heat to med-low and let cook until translucent, stiffing occasionally, and maybe slightly starting to turn color.

Traditionally you're not supposed to let your aromatics color for this kind of soup. But for me? Color equals flavor so I let 'em brown a bit, depending on how impatient I am and how closely I've been paying attention to the pot.

While they're cooking, peel and cube your potatoes.  You don't need to be neat about the cubes, but smaller pieces cook faster.  So keep that in mind.

Are your aromatics aromatic and soft?  Good.  Crank the heat a bit, and throw in a glug of white wine or dry vermouth, and give a stir. Let it bubble and reduce a bit. Think you want some more of it? Throw in some more. Just let it bubble and reduce and you'll be fine.

Next, put in your cubed potatoes.  Then add your stock or water to hit just about the level of soup you want to make.  Pro tip: don't do what I do nearly every time and add the water then the potatoes, and nearly have overflowing soup.  Throw in your bouillon cubes--I use maybe 6 for a 4 quart pot? And add a bit more salt.  Even with bouillon cubes, you've got potatoes in there. They NEED salt. 

Bring to a low boil, then reduce heat so it is simmering (more for overflow purposes than for burning things).  Cook until the potatoes are falling apart tender, anywhere from 15 to 30 min.  I mean, it's soup, you're not going to overcook the damn things. 

Remove from the heat and puree.  I use a stick blender (affiliate link) because holy crap is that thing awesome and easy to use.  Whizz the soup up, and done.  You can also pour a bit of the soup into a regular blender whizz that, then do some more, etc etc.  Or just spend the $35 at Bed Bath and Beyond and get a stick blender and never look back. 

Taste for seasoning, add salt and pepper as needed. Serve.  

I like mine topped with a plop of sour cream or yogurt and then some chives.  Or some basil oil (whizz olive oil with basil leaves with your stick blender).  Or a glug of half and half and a ton of pepper.  Or some crispy fried shallot rings (or French's deep fried onion rings from the can, don't be proud, those things kick ass). Oh, and buttered toast.  Yum.

The soup keeps well in the fridge, and will pretty much gel into a potato-y sludge when cool, because hi potato starch.  It loosens as it heats up though.  It tends to separate when frozen, which means when you defrost it you need to stir the shit out of it.  And don't freeze if you've added dairy to the whole batch.  It get nasty. 

 

The apple (and pear) cake to end all apple cakes

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Man, I really have to get better at this blogging more than once a week thing.  I blame fall, with it's cooler weather not making the world feel like march through the desert and therefore making me want to, you know, do stuff.

But then also fall brings pretty good blog fodder, like the best ever apple cake you will ever have (that is also a GREAT way to use up the ton of apples you seem to have acquired through various methods, hopefully legal, but whatever, I don't know your life).

Every year, we are inundated with apples in the CSA, apples and pears, actually.  This is not really a problem for me, as I love apples and apple pie and apple crisp and all things apple.  However, we have already discussed the fact that my darling husband is not a fan of cooked fruit (because he's wrong, that's why), and so rather than bake an apple pie and then be the only one to eat it, I set out to find out what cooked fruit he WILL eat.

Results? Applesauce (boring),  and this apple cake.  

The cake is essentially a traditional Jewish apple cake, and, this one is a variation of the Smitten Kitchen recipe (SHOCKER). I do a few things differently.  First, I load that thing up with as much fruit as it will hold.  None of this 2 or 3 apples bullshit--we are talking 4 pears and 5 apples.  I like my fruit desserts to have FRUIT.   Second, I've tweaked sugar levels and a bit of methodology to adjust to the massive amounts of fruit I pack in this sucker. 

pears 'n' apples in bowls.  Look how still-life-y it is! I think I may have left one or two apples out, but jammed those pears in the cake. 

I made this nearly every week last year, and am already on track to do the same this fall.  One forewarning--the recipe makes a massive cake.  It calls for a tube pan, which is huge, for a reason.  I've done it in a bundt pan (and had near overflow twice), and I've split it into two loaf pans as well, but it's not quite the same.  If you can, go for the tube pan. 

Also, I have yet to meet anyone who does not like this cake (or my friends are all very kind people and don't want to tell me to my face that it's awful, which is also just fine by me.  I enjoy living my delusions), and routinely give enormous slices away to folks.  I have it on good authority that if you are say, having renovations done on your house, it makes a fine bribe/encouragement/thank you to the folks doing the hard work. And having lived through renos, you really really want those dudes on your side.

Empty bowl, full bowl.  Peeled pears and apples.  Not quite as pretty as the first picture. 

First step, peel your apples and pears.  I can't be the only one who changed her apple-peeling method after seeing Sleepless in Seattle and hearing about how Tom Hanks' wife used to peel the apples in one long curly unbroken string of peel, can I?  That up there, under the pile of pear peels? Are six long, curly, unbroken strings of apple peel. 20 years of practicing right there. 

cinnamonny fruit and vanilla sugar. as you do.

Smitten Kitchen chunks her fruit up, but I'm not a fan of chunks.  I like myself a hearty slice of apple, not too thin, not too thick.  If my apple peeler whizmo worked better on butcher block countertops, this would be the perfect application for that thing--peel, core and slice all in one then just cut the spirally apple into quarters and voila.  Instead, I slice these babies by hand, but I've gotten pretty fast at it by now.

Then you toss the fruit with 1 tablespoon of cinnamon and 5 tablespoons of sugar.  When using pears, I usually grate in a bit of nutmeg, because nutmeg. And of course, I use the vanilla sugar here, because der.  Toss that stuff all together and set aside for later so it gets all nice and juicy.

all the ingredients ready to go.  note please the 4 cup measuring cup used as bowl, because why wash more than you need to?  That sucker has the oil, oj, sugar, eggs and vanilla in there. 

I prefer my cakes to be of the one-bowl variety, because I am lazy.  But barring that, I try to minimize the dishes I can when I can.  And so the flour is weighed, then the baking powder and salt are on top of that.  And I use the 4-cup measuring cup as a bowl, and measure first the oil, then the oj, then add in the sugar (which almost always goes with the wet ingredients), and last the 4 eggs and vanilla.  Beat the crap out of that with a fork and then dump into the drys and stir.

I've cut down the sugar a bit here from 2 cups in the original recipe to 1 1/2, mostly because I use a shit ton of fruit in this cake. If the apples or pears are a bit tart, you can go up a bit.  I've also swapped out half the sugar for brown sugar or maple sugar for a bit of variety.

One last thing about the OJ--it's a great flavor and traditional in this kind of cake, but still somewhat unexpected for something so apple-y.  But if you don't have oj, try cider, apple juice, lemon juice, or anything else relatively flavorful. Booze might be a bit much, but why not try it?

Mixed!

See? One bowl, one measuring cup (and we'll just pretend the apples and pears aren't in another bowl).

The prepped pan.  I like the coconut oil spray from trader joes. 

Spray or butter the tube pan, otherwise it'll be a bitch to get out. Ask me how I know!

first layer of batter + sugared fruit.

In the original method, you pour in about half the batter, layer on half the fruit, then top with the rest of the batter, and then the rest of the fruit.  But I like my fruit scattered throughout, so there are a few ways to do that.  

The first way, and the one I wind up doing the most, is to add more layers.  Spread a little batter, scatter some fruit (including the sugary juices!).  Do it again, spreading the batter a bit with a spatula before adding the fruit.  Keep doing it, adding layers until you run out, but be sure to finish up with the last of the fruit. 

Alternately, pour a bit of batter in the bottom, then dump most of the fruit into the remaining batter, reserving a few handfuls,  and give a stir.  Pour that mixture into the pan, and top with the remaining fruit.  I don't love how the sugary cinnamony juices incorporate into the batter, leaving it somewhat homogeneous and not streaking the final cake with delicious streaks of sugar and cinnamon, so I don't usually go this route.

three more layers later... ready for the oven. 

This pan right here? Weighs about a ton.  

an hour and a 40 minutes later (seriously, it's a big cake).

And then the sucker bakes in a 350 degree oven for--no joke--an hour and a half.  And frankly, longer.  The more fruit you add, the longer it will take to fully set, so don't be shy with a cake tester (or toothpick, or skewer, or sharp knife) and poke that cake to see when the tester comes out dry. Because of the amount of fruit you've packed in there, it's very hard to overbake this cake and have it come out dry. 

mmm cake. 

The cake keeps exceptionally well for several days, also because of the amount of fruit you've packed in there. It only gets better and more moist.  Which is good because it is MASSIVE.

Here's the recipe!

Jewish Apple (and Pear) Cake

  •  6 to 8 (to 10) apples and/or pears, peeled and sliced
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar, plus 5 tbsp, divided
  • 1 tbsp cinnamon
  • 1 cup oil (sunflower, canola, melted coconut oil, melted butter etc)
  • 1/4 cup oj
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 4 large eggs
  • 2 3/4 cups flour (345 grams)
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp table salt (or 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt, give or take)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and spray a large tube pan (or bundt pan, or two loaf pans) with non-stick spray. Set aside.

Toss the peeled and sliced apples and pears with 5 tbsp of sugar and 1 tbsp of cinnamon. Set aside.

Mix the oil, oj, vanilla, remaining 1 1/2 cups sugar, and eggs until well combined. 

Stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Dump in the wet ingredients and mix until well combined.

Assemble the cake: spread a bit of batter into the bottom of the pan, add a layer of apples and their juices.  Spread a bit more batter on top, layer on more apples.  Repeat until all batter and apples have been used up, ending with a layer of apples.  Alternately, pour a bit of batter into the bottom of the pan, stir most of the apples into the remaining batter, reserving some for topping, and spread into pan. Top with remaining apples.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 and 1/2 hours to 1 hr 45 min, or until a cake tester inserted into the cake comes out clean. 

Let cool, then remove from pan.  Keeps very well in an airtight container, and is better second and third days. 

 

tomato risotto

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We're nearing the end of the CSA tomato season, which is a bummer.  I mean, hi, New Jersey tomatoes are the best tomatoes, no if ands or buts.  But it can still be a struggle to keep up, and at the end of the season, not get beat down by the abundance.

oh hi, cracked paint on my windowsill.  Lovely to see you. 

Last week, the day before CSA pick up, I decided to make Smitten Kitchen's stuffed tomatoes with rice,  because I realized that I still had a few tomatoes left from the week prior, and I also had arborio rice on hand.  As I was making the filling, which is essentially rice cooked in the tomato innards whizzed up with a stick blender, I realized I'd made too much rice to stuff in all the tomatoes (that's what happens when you eyeball amounts when cutting down a recipe).  As the stuffed tomatoes finished in the oven, I finished the leftover rice stuffing on the stove, and dumped a bunch of cheese in it.

The stuffed tomatoes were excellent, as nearly all Smitten Kitchen recipes are, but I realized that I far preferred the leftover rice that was finished on the stove to the stuffed tomatoes.  I always like the idea of stuffed veg--tomatoes, peppers, squash--but I never actually am all that pleased with the end result.  There's something about the veg holder-of-stuffing that bugs me, and I am always happier just picking the sausage stuffing out of the mushrooms in the end.

But that's when I realized that for this recipe, the stuffing alone was already a dish in itself--risotto. Why bother with sticking the good stuff into the tomato when I could just eat the good stuff as is, but you know with cheese and butter thrown in?

So this week, when the tomato bounty came due, I made tomato risotto, and immediately wondered why the hell I hadn't done this before. 

Because I wasn't going to stuff anything, I didn't bother keeping the tomatoes intact, but instead buzzed them all with a stick blender in a glass jar.  (BTW, love these tall wide mouth glass ball jars for everything from impromptu blending to snack storage to water glass. ) I did peel the tomatoes though, but since they were ripe-to-overripe the peels just pulled right off and I didn't bother with ye old "score the bottom with a knife and drop into boiling water for a second" tomato peeling trick.  Also, I didn't care if they looked pretty or not because hi, blending. 

mmm, salt. 

I added a shit-ton of salt and pepper to the buzzed tomatoes.  I got a head start on the recipe and did this around lunchtime, and so I popped a lid on the jar and stuck it in the fridge to wait for dinnertime. Since it was going to be a while, I threw in a smashed garlic clove, because hey, garlic.  All told, I had about 2 cups of seasoned tomato goop.

Finally, dinnertime rolled around and for the life of me I could not remember "proper" risotto proportions, so I did what anyone would do: googled it.  (It's 1 cup rice, to about 4 cups liquid, by the by. )

I still winged it though, because hi, I'm lazy and while precision is necessary for baked goods, just say fuck it when it comes to the savory side of things.  It'll be fine, just err on the side of slightly less cause you can always add more liquid if need be. 

I've made risotto before, the truly traditional way, where the liquid is stock that's simmering on the stove beside the risotto pan--which is always tall--and you stir stir stir stir after each addition until it's absorbed and yadda yadda yadda.  I get it.  It works that way, but it also doesn't need to be so damn involved.

supermarket arborio rice. cause we fancy.

America's Test Kitchen has tested it, and so has Kenji Lopez-Alt, of the damn fine The Food Lab at Serious Eats (he also has a cookbook, just out, The Food Lab--affiliate link--which I just got for JBB for his birthday and it is AWESOME).  If you're into it, check out Kenji's post on risotto methodology which is a quick and interesting read. 

So along their lines, but nowhere near as methodical, I did my own lazy girl's risotto method.  First, I used my beloved saucier.  The best pot in the kitchen, for sure--wide sloping sides that curve into a flat bottom, perfect for things to be stirred.  

butter and olive oil.  That's probably more than 2 tbsp of butter come to think of it...

I melted a chunk of butter and a solid glug of olive oil in the saucier, while I chopped a small onion.  I sauteed the onion with a big pinch of salt, then a few smashed cloves of garlic, and then dumped in a cup of arborio rice and gave it a good stir to coat with the oil and aromatics, and turned the heat to low to let it toast a bit.

toasted rice in butter and oil. Oh and I threw some thyme in there as well.  Did I not mention that?

While the rice was toasting, I threw the glass jar of tomato goop into the microwave for a few seconds to take the chill off it.  Don't judge, it's FINE. Room temp liquid worked just as well, and one less pot to wash.

first addition of liquid--tomato goo!

Once the rice had the pale edge taken off it, and it smelled a bit toasty but didn't have much if any color, I poured in about a cup or so of wine--whatever was open in the fridge, in my case some rose.  Give a stir, let that simmer a bit on very low until the rice absorbed most of the liquid.  Then I added about 3/4 of the tomato goop, gave a stir, let it simmer.  I topped off my jar of goop with some water, and threw in two decent bouillon cubes since I didn't have any stock on hand.   If you want a truly vegetarian main, use veg bouillon.  I used chicken, cause that's what I had.  

This is about the level of soupy-ness I like. Nearly there...

Once the rice has sucked up the liquid in the pot, but isn't totally dry, give a good scrape on the bottom, and dump in some more liquid and stir again.  I did the rest at this point, cause why not.  I came back and stirred every once in a while, just to keep the rice from sticking on the bottom, but also to test the texture of the risotto. I like a fairly stiff risotto, not too soupy, but I don't play with any kind of crunchiness of the rice at all.  

there's butter hidden under that cheese.

see? Butter. 

When all was said and done, the risotto was done at about 20-25 minutes on the stove.  The real key to good risotto isn't the cooking method, per se, but all in how you finish it.  Me? I took it off heat, threw in a good sized lump of cold butter and grated a shit ton of parmesan on top with a microplane.  Top that with a ton of black pepper, and a good stir, and you have successfully "mounted" your risotto, and it's ready to serve. 

I ate my bowl of it too fast to bother with the toasted breadcrumbs I'd thought about but not actually made.  Ah well, next time. 

All this, plus a thumbs up from the peanut gallery, even the non-tomato fan.  (I am not stupid.  I did not tell him it had any tomatoes in it.)

If I had gotten my act together and remembered, this would also be topped with crunchy buttered breadcrumbs.  But I didn't. And it was still delicious.

Tomato Risotto

inspired by Smitten Kitchen's rice stuffed tomatoes

  • 4-6 medium tomatoes, peeled

  • 1 tsp salt, plus more to taste
  • 4 cloves garlic, divided.  1 smashed, 3 chopped (or garlic pressed, I won't tell)
  • 4 tbsp butter, divided (2 tbsp for finishing)
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped (or a big shallot if you have one)
  • 1 cup arborio rice
  • 1 cup wine
  • 1-2 cups water or stock (or water plus bouillon cube)
  • 1-2 oz grated parmesan (for finishing)
  • 1/2 cup breadcrumbs, plus 1 tbsp butter (optional)

Blend the tomatoes into a puree with a stick blender or a regular blender. Add 1 tsp salt, and one smashed garlic clove. Set aside.

In a saucier, wide saucepan, or deep skillet, melt 2 tbsp butter with 2 tbsp olive oil on medium heat.  Saute the chopped onion or shallot until translucent; add the garlic and saute just until fragrant. Add rice, and stir to coat.  Cook gently on low heat, stirring occasionally until rice is fragrant and just toasted.

Add in wine, stir, and cook on a bare simmer until wine is mostly absorbed. Add in tomato liquid, stir, and cook until mostly absorbed.  Add in half the water or stock, stir and cook until mostly absorbed.  Test rice for doneness by tasting it. If it's not done, add the rest of the water or stock, stir and cook until mostly absorbed. Check texture of risotto, if too loose for your taste, cook a bit longer.  If too stiff, add a bit more liquid. 

When risotto is your desired texture, remove the pan from the heat, and stir in the remaining 2 tbsp of butter and the grated parm.  Taste for seasoning and salt and pepper to taste.  

If desired, melt a tbsp of butter in a skillet, and toast the breadcrumbs, stirring often, until golden brown.  Top risotto with breadcrumbs.

fancy pants pastry!

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Yeah, this is right before I ate it without a fork.  Who needs forks?

Actually, I should be more accurate: this looks fancy pants but isn't really.  And it's no secret that the way to get "fancy" food things that are really dead easy is to just go to Trader Joes.  I mean, that's what their frozen aisle is for, right?

In this case, I'm falling back on a favorite trick of mine for summer cooking: their frozen puff pastry (all butter, yo!).  It's the quickest, easiest way to make a fancy veg tart, or fruit tart, or food-item-on-top-of-flaky-butter-pastry-for-me-to-eat. Just defrost, unroll, top with something, and bake.

They just come off the mandoline like this! please to note, the safety dohickeys that keep you from slicing off fingers.

Because we were on the dredges of the zucchini and yellow squash from the last few weeks of CSA boxes, and I only had one sad little overripe tomato left, I decided against making my summer standby with puff pastry, a tomato tart.  Instead I went fancier! and busted out the mandoline to slice the zucchini and squash into thin little rounds.

A note on mandolines: I freaking love them. Mine is awesome, though a pain in the ass to store (affiliate link to a very similar one as mine from the same brand. Mine is a decade old, and this new one looks easier to store, actually).  But I prefer it to the smaller hand-held ones, because I am less likely to slice off my hand since it has not just a stand, but also a slider guard thing and a holder guard thing.  Plus it makes satisfying little piles of veg. 

I cut the tomato by hand because it was seriously overripe and so so soft.  I used the handy dandy serrated paring knife--which for real is the best $10 I've spent in ages (affiliate link. Mine's yellow).  Serrated knives are great for slicing things that are firmer on the outside than they are on the inside--like, say, tomatoes and bread.  And this knife is a major workhorse in my kitchen because hi, tomatoes and bread.  

the unrolled sheet of pastry.  mmm . . . pastry.

I defrosted the frozen puff pastry by leaving it out on the counter for a few hours, though if you plan ahead better than I do, you can also just leave it in the fridge overnight.  I really like the Trader Joes brand because not only is it all butter and therefore tastes way better, but the rolls of pastry are individually wrapped.  This way, you can open the box (which generally contains two rolls), and not have your unused roll dry out on you when you forget about it in the freezer for two weeks. Ahem. Not that that's happened ever.

Cause I like crust, I cut the pastry into a few smaller pieces to make smaller tarts (using scissors, but a sharp knife works well too), and popped them onto a baking sheet. I've also just unrolled the whole thing onto a baking sheet and used that for a larger tart (works well with tomatoes).  Using the back of a paring knife, I gently scored a line about 3/4 inch inside the edge--this not only gives you a visual guide of where to put the toppings, but also helps the edges of the tart puff up a bit more evenly.

 

cream cheese, doctored up.

For an all tomato tart, I generally just lay on the tomatoes, with no base layer.  But I wasn't sure how well the zucchini and squash would do with that, so I added a thin layer of cheese.  We were all out of goat cheese, so I grabbed some cream cheese (maybe a tablespoon or two?), doctored it up with salt, pepper, a glug of olive oil and grated a clove of garlic into the mix.  Had I thought about it for more than a second, I probably could have added some chives and parmesan, too.  Alas, next time.

 

I spread a thin layer of the cream cheese mix onto the dough with the back of a spoon, and then layered the slices all pretty-like.  I started in the lower left, and going clockwise, you can see how the pretty-like devolved as I went along. The cheese helps keep the slices in place.  Give each tart a giant sprinkle of kosher salt, a ton of ground black pepper, and a little drizzle of olive oil, and you're nearly ready to go.

 

 

see the salt and pepper? Don't forget that.

Half the time I do anything with puff pastry, I forget to do the egg wash, which makes the pastry all shiny and pretty.  Sometimes if I remember, I do a halfhearted wash with some milk or half and half, which isn't a bad second option.  But this time, THIS TIME, I remembered!  I beat the shit out of an egg with a splash of water, and used a wee little silicone pastry brush (from sur la table, love this thing), to brush it on the pastry before baking.

 

 

The tarts cooked at 400 degrees for about 30-35 minutes, until dark golden brown.  Don't skimp on the cooking time.  Light brown is bullshit.  Go for the dark golden brown like a boss.

mmm pastry.

Eat warm, or room temp. Both are good. But do it quick: the only caveat for these savory zucchini/tomato/squash tarts is that they don't keep well.  They're a eat right now and don't wait until tomorrow kind of thing.  The pastry gets soggy and chewy after a stay in the fridge.  But that's ok, because honestly, if you can not eat all of them in one sitting, you are a far better person than me.  (And also crazy, just saying.)

squarsh

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SQUARSH! (which is what my dad always says, and I totally just realized now that it's him doing a bad Philly accent while saying it. Der.)

We have a lot of it right now, mostly because while the CSA keeps on a coming with summer squash and zucchini we are slacking hard at keeping up.  Mostly because no one in my house loves squarsh the way some people love squarsh.  I mean, it's fine, but it's certainly not my go to summer veg for anything.  Which means that the lovely squashes and zucchinis lie waiting in the crisper drawer until they turn gross and go to live with Jesus in the compost pile. 

Though because of this, I've got three solid options for ways to use up a ton of zucchini or summer squash!  Two are tried and true by yours truly, and one is a Julia Child recipe and never doubt the Julia, my friends. NEVER.

First?

Zucchini Spread

AKA CRACK.  This is the shit, yo.  It's so so good, and so so simple.  Essentially, slow poach zucchini and/or squash in butter and oil with garlic.  Then eat it all on crusty bread or crackers. Or on toasted multigrain bread with tomato and salt and pepper with a plop of fresh ricotta.  Crap, now I'm hungry.

  • 3-5 zucchini or squash, or a mix thereof, washed and cubed
  • 4-6 smashed garlic cloves
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • pepper

Place a medium heavy saucepan on medium heat, and melt the olive oil and butter together.  Before it starts to sizzle, throw in the garlic and zucchini/squash cubes.  Give a stir, cover and cook on medium low for about 15 minutes or until the zucchini has started to soften.

Reduce the heat to very very low, and continue to cook, stirring pretty often.  You want to melt the zucchini into a spread by cooking out most of the liquid without creating mush.  If it starts to brown, add a bit of water (or white wine).  It should take about an hour to essentially make the zucchini butter.

Can eat it warm, room temp or cold. It'll keep for about a week in the fridge, but also freezes really well.  Can also use it as a tart filling, by spreading on defrosted puff pastry, and folding over the edges, then baking.  

Next up? 

Corn and Zucchini Saute

I grabbed this from a Fine Cooking article years ago, and never looked back.  They had some other options for sautes in there, but this was by far the tastiest. I've tweaked it a bit as I've gone along to better suit my tastes.  While the recipe calls for raw corn cut off the cob, I've also used leftover grilled or steamed corn (cut off the cob), and in a pinch frozen corn. It scales up easily as well, so I've often doubled the amount of zucchini with no problems.

  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1-1/2 cups small-diced sweet onion, (or half a large onion). Regular onion is also fine
  • 1 tsp. kosher salt; more to taste
  • 1-1/4 cups small-diced zucchini (or more--anywhere from 1 medium on up)
  • 2 slightly heaping cups fresh corn kernels (from 4 medium ears), or from leftover cooked on the cob
  • 2 tsp. minced garlic
  • Scant 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
  • Scant 1/2 tsp. ground coriander
  • 2 to 3 Tbs. chopped fresh mint (optional, I never have it)
  • One-quarter lemon, or splash of lemon juice
  • Freshly ground black pepper

Melt 1 tbsp butter with the olive oil in a large straight sided saute pan or dutch oven over medium low. Add the onions and 1/2 tsp of the salt and cook, stirring occasionally until the onions are soft and translucent--abt 5 minutes. Crank the heat a bit and cook a little longer until the onions are light gold and shrunken.

Add the other 1 tbsp butter and the zucchini.  Cook over medium, stirring occasionally until the zucchini is also slightly shrunken and nearly tender (abt 3 minutes).  Add the corn, the garlic and the rest of the salt.  Cook, stirring frequently, and scraping up the bottom of the pan until corn is tender.  Add in the cumin and coriander and cook for another 30 seconds or so. 

Off heat, add mint, if using, pepper, and a solid squeeze of lemon juice.  Give it another stir and let sit for a few minutes for the moisture of the veg to soften the brown stuff on the bottom of the pan.  Scrape it up and stir again, taste for salt/pepper/lemon.  

And third, via Food52 is

Julia Child's Zucchini Tian.

  • 2 to 2 1/2 pounds zucchini
  • 1/2 cup plain, raw, untreated white rice
  • 1 cup minced onions
  • 3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 large cloves garlic, mashed or finely minced
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • About 2 1/2 cups warm liquid: zucchini juices plus milk, heated gently in a pan so as not to curdle
  • About 2/3 cups grated Parmesan cheese (save 2 tablespoons for later)
  • Salt and pepper
  • A heavily buttered 6- to 8-cup, flameproof baking and serving dish about 1 1/2 inches deep
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

coarsely grate the zucchini or squash, and place in a colander set over a bowl. For each pound/2 cups of grated squash, toss with 1 tsp of salt.  Let the squash drain for 3-4 minutes--do not throw out the veg water!

Just before cooking squeeze a handful dry over the bowl and taste. If it's too salty, give it a quick rinse and taste again.  Squeeze gently by handfuls, letting the juice run back into the bowl. Dry on paper towels.

Drop the rice into boiling salted water, and boil exactly 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.

In a large frying pan, cook the onions in oil about 8-10 minutes until tender and translucent. Raise the heat slightly and stir until lightly browned.  Stir in the grated and dried zucchini and garlic. Toss until almost tender.  Sprinkle in the flour and stir over moderate heat about 2 minutes.  Take off heat.

Gradually stir in 2 1/2 c. warm liquid (zucchini juice plus milk).  Make sure the flour is well blended and smooth.

Return to med high heat and bring to the simmer, stirring.  Remove from the heat and stir in the blanched rice and all but 2 tbsp of the cheese.  Taste for seasoning and turn into a buttered baking dish. Scatter the rest of the cheese on top, and drizzle the olive oil over the cheese.  

Bake at 425 degrees until it bubbles and the top is nicely browned.  The rice should absorb all the liquid.

the only way to make vanilla extract

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Once upon a time, I promised you more info on how to make your own vanilla extract.  And so it shall be.

There are a billion different posts on Pinterest and the like about making your own vanilla extract.  And I'm here to tell you that they are straight up bullshit.  Not because it's hard to do--it isn't.  Or because the ingredients are super expensive--they aren't. Or because the end result is not as good as commercial extracts--it's WAY BETTER.

They're all essentially the same concept: pour vodka or a neutral spirit (grain) over a split vanilla bean. The problem is that they claim you can make decent extract with one piddly little vanilla bean.  You can't. One vanilla bean in a little bottle of booze does jack all.  (I lie: it makes a meh vanilla vodka. Throw in three, and you have a much better vanilla vodka.)

And here, dear reader is the true secret: what you need are a half pound of vanilla beans and a big ass jar. 

actually, this is in dire need of some topping off. 

Yes, vanilla beans are expensive. When you buy them at Williams-Sonoma or specialty cooking stores and buy the itty bitty canister of two premium beans. But I get mine from Ebay.  Because honestly, I'm making vanilla extract, and I'm not putting the beans on display.  I don't need pretty, fat grade A beans that come at a premium price.  I just need good flavor and bulk.  You can get a half pound of beans from Ebay sellers for about $30.  

Get yer beans, a big ass jar (I got one of the biggest ones with a locking bail at the container store--similar to this one [affiliate link], but any wide mouth, glass, airtight jar will work), and a bottle or two of cheap (but not trashy burny hurty) vodka.  

Take your sharp paring knife, split each bean in half, the long way, and pack in the jar.  You don't need to bother scraping out the seeds.  Top with the vodka, and seal.  Keep in a cool dark place for at least two weeks (longer is better) before decanting the liquid into smaller containers. 

I originally made my jar to make Christmas gifts in 2008.  I decanted a bunch of extract into smaller bottles, including one split bean for decoration, and then just left the big jar in the pantry.  I refilled my own bottle (and my mom's) from the stash, and when the liquid level gets low in the big jar, I just top it off with more vodka and let it chill. I have not replaced the beans, and as they're covered with booze they are just fine.  

Every so often, I steal a bean from the big jar, let it dry out, and bury it in a canister of regular old sugar. Give it a shake, and after a week or so, voila: vanilla sugar. Which is KILLER in baked goods. And coffee. And also makes a fantastic gift in a mason jar. When the sugar level gets low, just top it off.  When the vanilla starts to fade, steal another bean from your jar of extract and repeat.

Adventures in the CSA! Cauliflower

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I know I am not the first, nor will I be the last, to write about the magic of roasted cauliflower.  Why? Because it is the SHIT, man.  I could eat a whole head of roasted cauliflower and make myself ill (knowledge born from experience, my friends)--it's crunchy and savory and so so much better than any other form of cooking the veg.

My CSA delivered a great looking cauliflower head, with tinges of purple.  Not too big, thankfully saving myself from myself.

I snapped the leaves off the head, then sliced the florets off the stalk.  Then I sliced the florets themselves into thin-ish slices/crumbly pieces, dumped all of that onto a sheet pan, and doused with a hearty douse of olive oil.  Normally, I would have peeled a few cloves of garlic, left them whole and dropped them in there too. Several BIG sprinkles of kosher salt later and a good toss later, voila:

purply cauliflower about to be delicious purply cauliflower

You want the veg in a single layer, for the most part. Technically, the picture above is a bit crowded, but the cauliflower shrinks substantially as it roasts so I wasn't too worried.  If you get the pan too crowded, or the veg not in a single layer, everything will steam and not brown the way you want it too.  Which is a bummer to say the least.  

Pop it into a 450 degree oven for 30-40 minutes or so, stirring things up every 10 to 15 minutes, or until you get this:

mmm, roasty. (also, see what I mean about shrinkage?)

See that brown? The color on the cauliflower? That's the minimum of what you want.  Honestly, I could leave that pan in the oven for another 5 minutes or so and still be just fine.  (DO AS I SAY NOT AS I DO--need I remind you of the clafoutis?)

If after 30-35 minutes your cauliflower is only slightly golden brown, give it another stir, and LEAVE IT IN THE OVEN.  Roasted vegetables aren't just "cooked through" to be edible, they're browned and nutty and delicious when they're dark brown (but not burnt!). Also, don't forget the salt.  It's not just flavor, it helps draw the moisture out of the veg, which evaporates in the hot oven and speeds up the caramelization and browning.  Plus it's salt.

It is SO GOOD, you guys. SO GOOD.  I ate about half of it before I finished up the rest of the dish (caramelized onions--in the background there--sauteed zucchini noodles, goat cheese, roasted cauliflower, and butter).

Also, this is a default cooking method for veg for me, and has been for years.  Carrots are CRACK cooked like this. CRACK.