Gooseberries and Red Currants

Gooseberries and Red Currants in the CSA share.
Friends coming for dinner.
Too hot to bake.

Solution: Gooseberry Fool adapted with some Red Currant Puree.


Only a small pint of gooseberries, so I added some raspberries and some of the red currant puree....
I also tried the red currant vinaigrette. The jury's still out on that.
But the Fool was yummy....

3 week of CSA....

and what to do with Mustard Greens?

I started with this epicurious recipe for Simmered Greens with Cornmeal Dumplings.

Instead of slab bacon, I used about 3 slices...sauteed with onions and garlic...and then added some water and proceeded as written.


I made the dumplings as the recipe was written....and they came out scrumptious! Comfort food for a cool spring night.

a cool day in June

and I'm looking for two things:

• Something to warm me up (it's 66 degrees here, but feels cooler)
• And a way to use the mustard greens that came in our first CSA share this week

Both accomplished with Simmered Greens with Cornmeal Dumplings!

With a few adaptations!

I used 3 strips of thick cut bacon, 1 large vidalia onion, and 2 crushed cloves of garlic and a sprinkling of cayenne pepper. Sauteed and then added 2 cups of water. Right now it simmering on the stove, waiting for the greens.


I'll chop the greens and add them after about an hour of simmering the 'pot likker'...and cook them about 30 minutes more. Then do the dumplings!

Hope it's as good as it sounds to me right now.
Will report back later.
I'm off to get a sweater!

cooking day

Caught up on soap?? That hardly ever happens....but what an opportunity to cook all afternoon.

I was out last night and the hostess served a delectable Irish Soda Bread with dinner. Just happened to have all of the ingredients so started with this. Don't even bother with a recipe that doesn't have buttermilk. Then made Turkey Scaloppine for tonight's dinner. I did adapt this recipe a bit....no allspice or thyme...just salt and pepper. Don't think I'll add extra calories with cheese. Maybe I could call it Turkey in Wine Mushroom Sauce.And finally....cooked chicken to make my recipe for tomorrow night's pot luck at my house. It will be a chicken and brown rice casserole....eventually.
The bread is out of the oven and cooling...and I'm about ready for a cup of tea and a sample!

Easter Menu

...from Sarah

Roast Leg of Lamb with Tarragon-Mint Butter

Golden Potatoes with Caper Brown-Butter Crumbs

Pea Salad with Radishes and Feta Cheese

Ramp and Buttermilk Biscuits with Cracked Coriander

Buttermilk Spice Cake with Pear Compote

I'm working on all of the above...with my own adaptations....no orange peel in slits in the lamb....I like garlic.

No pears for a compote, I have raspberries and red currants in the freezer from the CSA last summer...I'll make a compote with those.

Sarah's arriving with the pea shoots and fresh radishes. (my store only had radishes in a plastic bag)

It'll all come together sometime later this evening! Photos to follow.

Happy Easter to all!

Macaroons

for Passover:

I made these to take to a Seder earlier this week. Recipe here. They were pretty easy once you got past the 12 minutes of cooking and stirring. Don't skimp on that. I think it was really important.

Yes, they're shaped like pyramids.....and some I dipped in chocolate.

Sweet Red Peppers and Hummus....

I love this for lunch....can't understand why Pentti doesn't.

here it is...

The Finnish Cheesecake: Rahkapiirakka (its really like a breakfast cheese bun)


The Sweet Yeast Dough.
The night before, get out your bread machine and dump in the following:

2 1/2 cups flour
1 pkg. yeast
1/4 c. sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 c. soft butter
1 egg
3/4 c. hot water

I usually mix the flour, sugar salt and yeast before adding the hot water to protect the yeast a bit. Put it on the mix/rise cycle and when it's done, put the dough in a greased bowl, turn the grease side up, cover with saran and put in the fridge until the next morning. It will rise again a little overnight in the fridge.

The in the morning....make the filling:

8 oz. cream cheese
1 T. butter
2 T. cream
2 T. sugar
1/4 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
1/4 cup dried currants (you can use raisins if you must)

Mix this with a beater and spread on the dough which you have spread on a greased baking sheet.

Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes.

Make lots of fresh coffee and dig in!

Roasting rutabaga

Last weeks food section of the times.

Farro Salad with Roasted Rutabaga, Ricotta Salata and Hazelnuts.

My adjustments: No Farro: used barley. I like Feta so I used that instead of Ricotta Salata.

Quick to prepare for a delicious supper!! (and the leftovers were yummy, too)

Return to cooking without turkey

2 lovely porkchops from the Lewis Waite Farm,
Rosemary sprigs left from Thanksgiving's marinated olives (thanks, Sarah)


and a recipe from the Times for Braised Pork Chops with Tomatoes, (Anchovies) and Rosemary led to this.

No anchovies....but it was tasty anyway....with cheesy polenta and broccoli. PS. I used canned small dice tomatoes....instead of fresh plum. I had to make do.

a minimilast dessert

From Mark Bittman a Maple Pear Upside-Down Cake.

Slice pears over the syrup base.


make a simple butter cake batter to spread on top.


Bake and then invert on a large plate.


Voila! My friends last night enjoyed it.

Cottage Cheese Pie

Why did folks start making pie out of cottage cheese? Did they have a surplus?
In my family we made it. I don't know why. But think how healthy it must be.

I had a small frozen bit of pie crust and an abundance of cottage cheese. It was 3 / $5 at the store the other day..and I like cottage cheese. I often eat it for breakfast with fruit.

So, off to make the pie.

here's the stuff you need:

1. 2T. flour
2. 3/4 c. sugar
3. 1 tsp. cinnamon
4. 2 eggs
5. 1 cup cottage cheese
6. 2/3 c. milk
7. 2 T. melted butter or cream
8. 1 unbaked pie shell
9. nutmeg

And here's what I do. In a 4 cup glass measure I mix 1, 2, and 3. Add # 4 and beat it all up.
Stir in # 5, 6 and 7. Pour into #8 and sprinkle with #9.

Bake as a custard pie. How's that? I put it in a 350 oven and check it after 30 min.
If a knife comes out clean, it's done. Cool and enjoy! Photos later.

What to do with Collards??

Collards came in the CSA share yesterday.

I've never made them. In searching the internet I found an article by Melissa Clark called Southern Comfort. Not only does this recipe use collards...but beans, too. And we got dried beans in the share also.
Research tell me these are cranberry beans. They came in their pods and when I shelled them I got about 1 1/2 cups. After shelling, they need to be sorted and washed.

The recipe doesn't call for soaking them, but I will soak them overnight and cook up a pot of collards tomorrow.

fancy dessert

Yesterday was my birthday. I'm now a very young 61!

It was a good day.

Tomorrow Sarah and Eric are coming for dinner and I'm making a fancy dessert with Seckle Pears from the CSA. I started it today, but it hasn't been easy. I wish there was a picture accompanying the Epicurious recipe!

Small Pear and Almond Cakes

It started well:

Peeling those little babies and removing the core from the bottom.

I found my melon baller was too big....so I used the 1/8 teaspoon measure.

Then I poached them in Muscat wine and lemon juice. So far so good. It said 10 -20 minutes, but I thought that was too long, so stopped at 10 minutes.

Then the trouble began.....I had to reduce the poaching liquid to a syrup...all of a sudden it looked like this. I thought I had burned it. Luckily I cooled it a bit and tasted. Just like a raisin syrup. So, I guess it's OK. Don't know what its supposed to look like.

When the syrup cooled, I poured it over the pears and let them cool. I think they should have been cooked even less. Tomorrow each one gets baked into the top of a little almond cake. Stay tuned. Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting could be a good back up.

Make the chicken. You'll love it!

I've been a delinquent blogger. Trying to make a ton of soap prepare for holiday orders.
Also getting ready for a trip that will take me away from soap for almost 3 weeks....longer than I've ever left Saipua! More about that later.

But, tonight I had the time to make the recipe that follows. I wish I had a photo for you...but it was so delicious that it's all gone! Trust me, if you like spicy food....you'll love this.
I order it in Italian restaurants when I see it there. This is the first time I've made it. I found recipes with out the potatoes...I think they're critical. I didn't use the flour....thought it didn't need to be thickened. Some places make it with chicken breast...or cutlets. Don't.
You can make it ahead and reheat. That works really well....


Chicken Scarpariello

• 2-3 T. olive oil
• 1 ½ - 2 lbs chicken, cut into small serving pieces
o (I used thighs, cut in half with the skin removed. On the bone is important! )
• 1 lb Italian sausage, links (sweet or hot or both)
• 1 small red bell pepper, julienned
• 2 garlic cloves, minced and crushed
• 6 hot cherry peppers, sliced (bottled in vinegar)
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves, crushed
• 1 cup chicken broth (canned or fresh)
• 1/2 cup dry white wine (such as Pinot Grigio)
• 2 or 3 potatoes, peeled and diced small
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour


Directions
1. In a skillet, heat oil. Add chicken and sausage in batches; brown on all sides. removing pieces to a plate as they brown. Cut sausage into slices after it is cooked.

2. Discard all but 2 tablespoons drippings from pan. To hot drippings, red bell peppers, sliced cherry peppers, onion, potatoes, and garlic; saute until tender.

3. Return chicken and sausage to skillet. Add salt, black pepper, the rosemary , the broth, and the wine. Bring to a boil; lower heat and simmer, covered, until chicken is tender, about 25 minutes.

4. Remove chicken and sausage from skillet; arrange on warm serving platter.

5. Skim fat from mixture in skillet.

6. In a small glass measure, mix flour with 1/4 cup water until blended. Stir into liquid in skillet. bring to boiling, stirring constantly; boil for 1 minute, stirring, until mixture thickens.

Succotash.....

I got these edamame in the CSA this week. I've never cooked them before...but steamed the pods, squeezed them out and turned them into this:
















Edamame Succotash with Shrimp.

I could have done without the shrimp.....the succotash alone was addicting.

The corn, by the way, was frozen from last year...and is so sweet it tastes like it was sugared.

The edamame were small and tender and delish!

Salt Potatoes

New potatoes came in the CSA share this week.

In upstate New York, we make salt potatoes.

Read this backstory here.

See the white dusting on the skin....yummmmm salty and served with butter!

Summer fruits

I finally found a use for the raspberries I picked and froze last summer:

Raspberry Cream Scones!

Yummmmm. Especially with the clotted cream I brought home from Harney's last week. We were in Millerton, NY and had lunch in their tea room. If you get by that way don't miss it. Not just great tea...but great lunches, too!

Reclaiming the porch!

We're back on the screened in porch! What a treat after the winter to have a late breakfast al fresco! And what a gorgeous day!

I have some recipes for ya'll....some of you requested them. I'm finally getting around to writing them up. I don't know how to make a link to them, so I'll just put them here in their entirety.... ENJOY!

For An:

AUSTRIAN LINZER COOKIES

Note: most linzer cookies are a round cookie bottom with a top cookies with a hole cutout...then jam in between. I've been making this recipe for years and it's a bar cookie.....with a lattice top. You won't be disappointed. The ground almonds are a must!)

1 ½ c. flour
¼ c. sugar
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. cinnamon

Sift above together.

Stir in :

½ c. brown sugar

Cut in:

½ c. (1 stick) butter

Add:

1 slightly beaten egg
1/3 cup ground almonds

Mix well with hands.
Divide dough and use a bit more than ½ to pat into the bottom of an 8x8x2 inch pan.
Spread dough with ½ cup raspberry jam. (stir jam a bit to smooth out any lumps)

Roll remaining dough out on lightly floured surface. Cut into strips about ¼ inch wide.
Lay in a lattice pattern across surface of jam. Don’t be too fussy if they break…just patch them up. Baking will make them look fine.
Brush surface with 1 slightly beaten egg yolk mixed with 1 tsp. water.

Bake at 375 for 25 minutes. Cool, cut and enjoy!!



Hot Cross Buns (See here for a photo) (Scroll down)

Scald 1 ¼ cup milk. Add ½ cup sugar, ½ tsp. salt, and ½ cup (1 stick) butter. Cool to lukewarm.

In large mixer bowl, mix 2 cups flour, ½ t. cinnamon, 1 pkg. yeast (about 2 tsp. if you don’t use the pre-measured pkts.)
Pour in the milk mixture and beat to combine. Beat in 2 eggs and then beat on high speed for 2 minutes. Scrape sides of bowl as mixing.

Stir in 1 c. currants (you can use raisins, but I like currants) and ½ c. chopped candied fruit and 2 ¼ - 2 ½ cups additional flour to make a soft dough. Stir vigorously by hand.

Place in a greased bowl and turn to bring greased side to top. Let rise in a warm spot until doubled.

Shape into 18 buns and place in a 9 x 13 inch greased baking pan.

You could let them rise again now and then bake, but I lightly oil the tops of the buns and cover them with saran wrap and put them in the refrigerator. The next morning…tatke them out, uncover, place a clean dish towel over them and let them warm up a bit….
Then bake at 375 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes.

When the buns are cool, make a confectioners sugar frosting and pipe a cross on the top of each bun.

What could be better than

rice pudding?

The creamy, top of the stove, slow cooked kind....you know total comfort food.

I read the article about this recipe in Bon Appetite, but now you can find the recipe on Epi.

I took this to my Friday night pot luck....I added a dish of sliced strawberries on the side for those who would adulterate such food from the gods....