Archive for September, 2009
Summer Plate: Warm Beet Salad
Here is the last of the recipes for my recent late-summer dinner plate. Albeit, it is now officially fall. But I’m a bit slow in posting these days, immersed is many other creative projects. My mind’s constantly going in twenty different directions, concerned at one moment with arranging flowers for a wedding, at another moment with blending herbal teas from my garden harvests, at another with re-designing the perennial plantings in my front yard, and at yet another with knitting up some fun and funky wrist warmers. I’m a woman with too many hobbies, I think.
But one creative passion is always ticking away in the back of my head. Recipe development is an interest and skill that’s been honed over these past several years of food blogging. I now find myself caught up in thought in the middle of my garden while harvesting, deeply considering the merits of roasting versus boiling as well as flavor pairings and contrasting textures. I know that this entire blog is based on the inspiration of freshly harvested produce for its simple and beautiful preparations, but some days I’m still blown away by how rousingly handsome handfuls of fresh vegetables are. Beets are among the most precious jewels in this capacity.
Beets, so rich in vitamins and earthy flavor, are surprisingly versatile in the kitchen. Tuck them into a popular chocolate cake to sneak them by those that might protest the deliciousness of these roots if you will, but I love them best when they are front and center in a simple salad. Beets are just coming back into their prime here in autumn, being sweetened by the chilly nights and approaching frost that cause the plant to put all its sugar reserves into its roots in an attempt to survive the cold months ahead. The beets I used for this salad happen to actually be some of the last I’ve had stored all summer from my spring crop, proof that this vegetable has staying power. Is it any wonder that I have hundreds more planted in my garden currently to put in the cellar for winter dining delights?
Warm Beet Salad with Roasted Garlic Dressing is the perfect foray into fall, taking advantage of the rich flavors and warmth of roasting that contrast so pleasingly with the cool and fresh taste of tender lettuce leaves that are also once again at their best in the cooler weather. You’ll not miss the warm weather or tomatoes when you take a bite of this luscious autumnal recipe.
Summer Plate: Grilled Corn Coins
I’d better hurry up and post this recipe for Grilled Basil Garlic Corn Coins. I realize the last days of fresh-picked local corn on the cob are upon us, at least for this season. This second dish on my recently full summer plate is the perfect way to savor those last few ears that show up at the farmers market. Because the grilling imparts a smokey and more savory flavor to the corn, it’s a good preparation for corn that’s reached its end and may not be as sweet as it once was when the season was young. Plus it just looks beautiful cut into coins like this, doesn’t it? Good way to impress your dinner guests.
I spent the weekend with my family at the farm and enjoyed plenty of funny moments watching my young niece and nephew cover their faces in corn as they raced to eat their ears like typewriters. There was also a race to eat the most watermelon the fastest. I won that one, of course. Spending time there at the farm, immersed in nature and family, is always rejuvenating for my soul. Most weekends, D can attest to my groans come Sunday evening, when I rather predictably mutter something to the effect that the weekend went way to fast. While I was visiting with my family, enjoying working alongside my mom on some projects, picking the tail end of the garden harvests with my dad, and taking sun-kissed walks with the family dog, I was amazed at how long the days felt, stretching on for hours in the best way possible. Something about the beauty of wide open fields and the low light of autumn that slows the clock’s hands.
Summer Plate: Fried Potatoes
This past weekend I took the autumnal blue skies in stride and made a trip to the Headhouse Farmers Market to pick up some long-anticipated Asian pears and other specialty bits that I’m not growing myself. I love farmers markets any time of the year, but strolling the stalls in fall is an extra special experience. When September rolls around, fields are in their peak of production as they hold on to the last of the summer crops and start to churn out harvests from the fall crops too. Peppers mingle with pears, butternut squash cohabitates with tomatillos, apples stand shoulder-to-shoulder with white peaches, and heirloom tomatoes keep stride with freshly dug potatoes.
After loading up on the coveted Asian pears from North Star Orchard, gala and honey crisp apples from Ben at Three Springs Fruit Farm, new fingerling potatoes from Yoder Heirlooms, and some plums from Beechwood Orchards, I decided it was time to truck it all back to the kitchen and make a delicious all-local meal for D and I to eat out on the deck in the cool autumn-kissed twilight. There’s something about seeing one plate piled with nothing but locally-sourced ingredients, be it from an atmospheric farmers market, the vegetable garden, or just containers on the deck, that seems utterly poetic to me. Am I alone in this sentiment?
I decided to make a mini-series out of the three recipes I used to create this end-of-summer-beginning-of-autumn dinner, though the plate full of food reminded me more of summer still. I think it was the grilled corn coins that kept the flavors of warm days at the forefront of my mind, despite the chill in the air.
I’m starting off with the potatoes because they have so many memories associated with them from my childhood days. We grew potatoes on the farm and planting and digging them were big family affairs – my grandparents would come down from their house on the hill above ours, my brothers would all be there, my parents of course, and occasionally even some cousins and aunts. Sometime I’ll spin the tale of all that went into growing those potatoes – suffice to say that as a very Irish family, we planted plenty and celebrated their harvest with heaps of young tender baby potatoes fried up just as I have here in today’s post. I always loved getting the extra crispy little bits hot out of the oil. Originally my mom would fry these in lard – hello Pennsylvania Dutch heritage – but I can’t bring myself to do that so vegetable or canola oil are good choices instead, though the flavor just isn’t quite the same.
While we only grew your basic white potatoes when I was a kid, the adult me now enjoys having a mix of potatoes in this fry. The sweet potatoes are almost a must as they make the platter memorable. They do fry faster than the other potatoes though so watch them closely or put them in separately.
Come back soon to load up your plate with the recipes for Warm Beet Salad with Roasted Garlic Dressing and Grill Basil Garlic Corn Coins!
Tomato Pie
As the growing season winds down, I’m trying my best to savor some of the flavors of summer that I’ll soon be missing when the cold weather comes. Tomatoes are always quintessential to summer dining. Unfortunately it was a bad year around here for locally grown tomatoes with that nasty blight wiping them out, including those in my vegetable garden. My salvation has been the two potted tomatoes on my deck, which have been producing a bumper crop despite being confined to a container. With compost mixed into the potting soil and a weekly soaking with an organic solution of compost tea, they have been real troopers. I’m growing ‘Super Bush’ from Renee’s Garden Seeds because this variety has been bred to handle containers with gusto. While they can’t begin to compare to a juicy flavorful heirloom tomato, these Super Bush have surprised me with their longevity and the truly outstanding sauce they make.
So to celebrate this bumper crop of a summery favorite, I decided to make another local seasonal favorite – tomato pie. Now, I realize when some of you read “tomato pie” you’re expecting something like this that Elise made. As delicious as her recipe looks, tomato pie can only be one thing in my house: a version of pizza topped simply with fresh homemade tomato sauce. Around Philadelphia, this Sicilian-inspired pizza pie is a staple in any respectable pizzeria or Italian bakery. It’s always prepared in a rectangular shape and usually served cold or at room temperature with a light dusting of grated parmesan just before it’s boxed up or dished out.
Since there are no gooey cheeses or droves of toppings, the seasoning of the sauce is crucial to a good tomato pie. I put heaps of basil and oregano in mine, along with plenty of garlic. I also like to use a red onion instead of yellow because it tempers the acidity of the tomatoes, adding greater complexity to the flavors. And finally, my secret ingredient is a carrot! By adding a chopped up carrot to the sauce as it simmers, a hint of sweetness comes into its undertones that is a perfect complement to the yeasty sweetness of the crunchy crust.
As with any pizza, working with the dough can be intimidating for anyone just getting started with homemade tomato pie. I try to take a very relaxed and zen approach to it. I never aim for perfection when rolling it and shaping it, though getting it as thin as possible is always the goal. Over many years of failures and successes, I’ve learned that the real trick to a good crust is the oven. You don’t need a fancy wood-fired oven (though if you have one can I be your new best friend?), but you do need a hot regular old oven. Make sure you pre-heat your oven at its hottest possible temperature and also pre-heat your pan or stone at the same time. When the dough hits that hot surface in that hot chamber, it has no choice but to puff up and get airy and crisp. Just be sure to watch your pizza/pie closely as it will go from “perfect golden and crunchy” to “charred inedible slab” in just a few minutes.
Oh, and when cutting a tomato pie, you must make square slices. It’s the rule. Don’t know why. It just is. While my personal preference is to snack on cold slices in the afternoon, it’s fun to serve tomato pie at parties or for dinner with other types of pizza. One of my Italian-American friends loves to grill slices at his big summer picnic, and it’s very tasty with just the bottom of the crust warmed up and a little bit charred. Mmmmmmm.
Summer Chowder
What to do with the end of summer surplus? Too many big honkin’ squash in your garden? Too many ears of sweet corn in your CSA box these past few weeks and now you’ve got a surplus taking up too much room in the back of your fridge? In the mood for one last summer swan song of a recipe before diving into the autumn treasures of root vegetables, antique apples, and juicy pears? A little chilly suddenly with the coming of September and in the mood for soup?
If you answered “yes” to one or more of the questions above, then I’ve got the perfect recipe for you! Even if you didn’t answer “yes” to any of those questions (what’s wrong with you?!), you’ll still benefit from a large scrumptious bowl of this Summer Chowder. It’s light enough to still pass as summery supping, but luscious and warming in a perfect prelude to fall fare.
Notice how this recipe features a beautiful pair of summer squash (“pattypans” to be exact). You might remember that I lamented in the last post about my serious lack of summer squash this season. Low and behold, one of my sad-looking squash vines in the garden is putting on a heroic show of late summer determination, producing once again after I’d done everything but pronounce it dead and held a less-than-ceremonious funeral for it at the compost pile. I gave it a big gulp of compost tea yesterday and hope that it will churn out a few more squash for me before the weather gets too cool for this tropical plant. Alas, it still doesn’t help me with my zucchini bread stash as this type of summer squash isn’t adaptable for baked goods.
A lovely reader wrote me a few weeks ago, asking for recipes that might use up sweet corn that had been sitting around too long. (Hope the move went well, Sara!) While sweet corn will look good for quite some time if stored in its husk in a plastic bag in the fridge, it does quickly loose its best flavor as the natural sugars in the corn kernels immediately begin to deplete once the cob is removed from its mother stalk. Because of this sugar breakdown, just-picked corn you buy at that farmers market or get in your CSA share is almost assuredly going to taste better than anything you’d ever get in the supermarket where the corn was probably picked at least a week before it ever made it to the produce section. The best corn you’ll ever have is that which has just been shucked off the stalk in your own garden and immediately boiled and eaten.
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