Darling Clementine

Get a little Tipsy this Thanksgiving! Sweet Potato Tipsy, that is, courtesy of Clementine Paddleford.

Although she was once considered the pioneer of American food writing, Ms. Paddleford is largely forgotten today. I first encountered her in the pages of Saveur magazine some years ago and among the other recipes featured in the article, I was particularly enamored with these creamy sweet potatoes shot with a solid dose of sherry. 

I like to celebrate her memory by serving Sweet Potato Tipsy over the holidays, and I think you’ll agree this wonderfully warming dish is perfectly suited to a Thanksgiving table.  

Below is a picture of Miss Paddleford’s cookbook How America Eats, peeking out from under a platter of her scrumptious ginger cookies. Bake a batch to keep the kids busy this season! Click here for the recipe and to learn more about the great Clementine Paddleford. 

P.S. If you would like to make further use of sweet potatoes, click here.

Sweet Potato Tipsy
Serves 6-8

Ingredients
8 medium sweet potatoes
2 pinches of salt
7 tbsp butter
1⁄2 cup half and half
1⁄4 cup dry sherry
3 tbsp brown sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Put 8 medium sweet potatoes into a large pot, cover with cold water, and add 2 generous pinches of salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to medium, and cook until soft when pierce, 30-40 minutes. Drain and set aside to cool.

2. Peel potatoes and transfer to a large bowl. Coarsely mash potatoes with the tines of a fork, then add 5 tbsp. softened butter, 1⁄2 cup half-and-half, 1⁄4 cup dry sherry, and 3 tbsp. brown sugar. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

3. Transfer sweet potato mixture to a buttered medium baking dish, dot with 2 tbsp. butter, and bake until top is golden brown, about 30 minutes.


First published in Saveur in Issue #62

 

Lentilles du Puy

Sometimes I feel lentils are the lost legumes because short of being stuffed in a veggie burger or hiding out in a hearty stew, lentils are difficult to find on a menu, shining on a plate of their own.

Café de Bruxelles in the West Village used to serve the most delicious grilled brook trout paired with a side of lentils and I have served them together at dinner parties as a result. I think it’s a great combo. Mercato further uptown currently serves luscious lentils lounging in a shallow pool of olive oil and anchovy paste to accompany table bread, but I have yet to experiment with that at home.

However, a dish of Lentilles du Puy needs no supporting cast—or indeed, even a plate! Sometimes I just spoon it right out of the roasting pan.

Instead of adding three cups of water to the lentils as in the recipe below, I suggest using two and a half cups stock (such as mushroom, vegetable, or chicken) and about half a cup of white wine.

Fresh is best, but canned or vacuum-sealed beets are fine to use in a pinch (and you don’t have the bother of peeling them). I’ve also added bacon, because why not? Fry three strips of bacon ahead of time, remove them from pan and sautée the carrots and beets in the bacon grease with a little butter instead of the suggested oil. Crumble the cooled bacon and toss into the mix at the end.

C’est magnifique!


Lentilles du Puy with Roasted Carrots and Beets
Adapted from Saveur, Issue #18
Serves 6 as a side dish

“This recipe was developed for the esteemed lentils from Le Puy (which have been granted an appellation d'origine contrôlée by the French government), but any French-style lentil will do.”

Ingredients
3 small beets, peeled and diced
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
4 shallots, peeled and halved
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 sprigs fresh parsley
2 sprigs fresh thyme
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3/4 lb. lentilles du Puy, or other French-style green lentils, picked over and rinsed
3 tbsp. sherry vinegar
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Method
1. Preheat oven to 400°. Place beets, carrots, shallots, and 1/2 cup oil in a medium roasting pan. Stir to coat vegetables evenly with oil. Add parsley and thyme, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring once, until vegetables begin to brown, about 20 minutes. Add lentils and 3 cups of water, stir, then cover pan with foil. Cook until lentils are tender and all water is absorbed, about 1 hour.

2. Remove pan from oven. Remove and discard herb sprigs, then dress lentils with vinegar and remaining oil. Allow to cool slightly, then stir in chopped parsley. Adjust seasoning and serve.

Variation—Different vegetables and dressings can be used for this salad. For instance, roast 2 cups peeled small pearl onions for 20 minutes as in step 1 above. Dice 4 celery stalks. Add celery and lentils to onions with 3 cups water, cover, and continue roasting. Meanwhile, mix 3 tbsp. fresh lemon juice with 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil in a small bowl. Stir in 1 minced peeled garlic clove and 2 tsp. finely chopped fresh thyme. When lentils are tender and liquid has been absorbed, toss with dressing. Adjust seasoning and serve.

COOKBOOK/A TABLE - Chicken Livers a la Française!

Bonjour! I love chicken livers, preferably with onions, and I love that it is such a simple and satisfying dish to make. For this adventure, I looked to Julia Child for inspiration, as I so often do, and The French Chef Cookbook (which features recipes from her show, by episode—Chicken Livers a la Française is The Eighteenth Show).

 

Julia’s recipe calls for sauteed mushrooms and ham, but I substituted sauteed onions for those and set to work. I also used a fine Amontillado we had lying around instead of Madeira (that we didn’t have). My version below is definitely less involved than Julia’s. You’ll work quickly, but your guests might think you’ve spent hours in the kitchen to prepare such a sumptuous, elegant meal in the French method. 

Serve on top of a molded ring of rice or a bed of spinach, and perhaps garnish with peas or asparagus tips!

Do enjoy!

Sauteed Chicken Livers

For 4 to 6 people
Ingredients
1 lb chicken livers, about two cups
Salt and pepper
½ cup flour in a plate
A large sieve
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon cooking oil
A heavy 10-inch enameled or no-stick skillet
1 cup onions, sauteed in butter until yellow and tender
Half cup beef stock or bullion
1/3 cup Amontillado (or Madeira, or a dry sherry)
One tablespoon fresh minced parsley

Method
Dry chicken livers on paper towels. Just before cooking, sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper, roll in flour, then shake in a sieve to remove excess flour.

Melt the butter and oil in the skillet over moderately high heat. When you see the butter foam begin to subside, add the chicken livers. Toss frequently for three to four minutes until livers are lightly browned; They are done and just springy to the touch of your finger. Do not overcook. Add onions, pour in the stock and the Amontillado, and simmer for one minute. Taste and correct seasoning. Reheat just before serving, then remove from heat and toss with parsley.

COOKBOOK/A TABLE - Quentin's Ghoulish Goulash

Anyone I’ve ever talked to about Dark Shadows (and the occasions have been many; the conversations long) has invariably told me how they used to race home after school to watch the 60’s Gothic soap opera in syndication. 

Certainly, I did. I kept a diary back then too (around the fourth grade) and when there wasn’t much to report about school, I filled in the pages with episode recaps!

For the uninitiated...the perpetually inclement, spectrally lit Dark Shadows was about Barnabus Collins, an elegantly creepy vampire with a soul, who actually suffered from guilt and had feelings for many of his victims. But there was also the true heroine of the show, Victoria Winters, who came as a governess to the great ancestral home of Collinwood, somewhere in the wilds of Maine, and was put through every trial imaginable (including an actual witch trial, when she was sent back to the year 1795 during a séance).

And of course, there was Quentin Collins, the werewolf who charmed hearts even as they were being torn from their host bodies.

So, with that appetizing prospect in mind, I wish you a wickedly wonderful Happy Hallowe’en! I hope you enjoy Quentin’s Ghoulish Goulash pulled from The Dark Shadows Cookbook. There are better goulashes out there (feel free to submit one here!), but this recipe is definitely among the more palatable ones found in the truly ghastly collection. Clam-Pourri, anyone? Beef and Olive Loaf? Enter if you dare!

The recipe calls for a pressure cooker, but I don’t have a pressure cooker—in the event that you don’t either, below I’ve added the simple method of using a Dutch oven instead. And oh yes, I add some paprika to the goulash and half a cup of beer to the gravy!

Quentin’s Ghoulish Goulash
Serves Four

Ingredients
Goulash
2 tablespoons margarine
1 1/2 lbs beef stewing meat, cubed
1onion, sliced

2 tablespoons paprika (my addition)
1 teaspoon parsley flakes (or fresh!)
Salt and pepper to taste
½ cup tomato juice
1 cup water
4 small potatoes, cut in half
4 small carrots, cut in half
1 cup tomatoes, drained
Paste
2 tablespoons flour
1/4 cup of water

Pressure Cooker Method
Heat pressure cooker, add margarine and brown meat. Add onion, salt, pepper, paprika, and parsley. Place potatoes, carrots and tomatoes over meat. Mix ½ cup tomato juice and half a cup of water and pour on top of combination. Cover securely and place pressure regulator on vent pipe. Cook 15 minutes at 15 lbs pressure. Cool cooker at once. This can be done by placing the cooker under cold running water in the sink. The hissing sound of pressure being released will stop and then the cover can be safely opened. Make a paste of flour and water. Stir into stew to thicken.

Dutch Oven Method
Heat the Dutch oven, add margarine and brown meat. Add onion, salt, paprika, and pepper. Place potatoes, carrots and tomatoes over meat. Mix ½ cup tomato juice and half a cup of water and pour on top of combination. Cover and simmer your goulash over a low flame for three hours. Add parsley. Then make the paste of flour and water and stir into stew.


Ghoulish Gravy
Makes 2 cups
Ingredients
2 cups liquid stock
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons enriched flour
½ cup beer

Method
Remove meat and vegetables from pan. Skim off fat from top of remaining liquid. In a measuring glass, put 1/4 cup cold water in 2 tablespoons of flour. Stir until smooth. Pour slowly into stew gravy, stirring constantly over medium heat until gravy bubbles. Add half a cup of beer to the gravy. Lower flame and cook 5 minutes or so until smooth, stirring occasionally.



Thanks to spendwithpennies.com for the photo.

BOOK/A TABLE - Napoleon House Muffulettas

 

Rereading a book is often a chance to revisit a time in your life when you first turned the pages; perhaps a reminder of where you were in the world and what you knew of it back then. For example, when I first read Anne Rice’s fantastically creepy The Witching Hour, I hadn’t yet been to New Orleans, San Francisco, or Marseilles as featured in her book. But she captures New Orleans so particularly well I felt I had been there even before experiencing for myself the murmuring Spanish moss under the shiver of rain, the iron-lace balconies and flickering flambeaux, as well as that sense of something quite magical in the air...

 
This sentence from The Witching Hour brought back a delicious memory: “We left Galatoire’s finally for a small, quiet Bourbon Street café and continued our conversation until well after 8:30 that evening.”

How well I got to know Bourbon Street over several visits! And how quickly I remembered a perfectly languid afternoon spent with a good friend in the enchanting back garden at Napoleon House in the French Quarter. After so many hours (witchy and otherwise!), our final bill included about a million Sazerac cocktails and a traditional muffuletta sandwich that we shared. 

Napoleon House is one of my all-time favorite places in the world that I know. I’m thrilled to share the recipe for a muffuletta here, made with simple deli meats and cheeses, olive salad, and the best bread you can find. I suggest a host of Sazeracs as an accompaniment as well, but they are entirely optional, of course.

Napoleon House Muffuletta
Yields: 2-4 servings
Ingredients
1 (9-inch-round) seeded muffuletta bun or Italian seeded bread, halved
Extra-virgin olive oil
4 slices ham
5 slices Genoa salami
2 slices pastrami
3 slices provolone cheese
3 slices Swiss cheese
⅔ cup Napoleon House Olive Salad (recipe follows)

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°.
Brush bottom and top half of bun lightly with oil. Layer ham, salami, pastrami, and cheeses on bottom half of bun. Top with Napoleon House Olive Salad, and cover with top half of bun. Wrap in foil.
Bake until thoroughly heated, about 20 minutes. Unwrap, and cut in half or quarters.

Napoleon House Olive Salad
Yields: 3 cups
Ingredients
1 cup pimiento-stuffed Spanish queen olives, chopped
½ cup canned chickpeas, drained and coarsely chopped
½ cup pickled vegetables,* drained and coarsely chopped
⅓ cup canned artichoke hearts, drained and coarsely chopped
¼ cup cocktail onions, drained and coarsely chopped
¼ cup green bell pepper, finely chopped
1 tablespoon capers, drained and chopped
½ teaspoon minced garlic
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions
In a large bowl, combine olives, chickpeas, pickled vegetables, artichoke hearts, onions, bell pepper, capers, and garlic. Add oil, vinegar, oregano, and pepper, stirring to combine. Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours. Will keep refrigerated for up to 1 week.

Notes
*We used giardiniera, a mixture of pickled carrot, cauliflower, celery, and green pepper.

Thanks to stripedspatula.com for the muffuletta photo!

BOOK/A TABLE - Chicken Pot Pie in a Pumpkin

Growing up in New England, a trip to Salem was part of the deal. I first visited with my cousin and aunt when I was in the fourth grade, already vividly obsessed with stories of Tituba, those fitful girls, and the riveting witch trials. Although the little town is more like an overwrought mall now, I’m still enamored with The House of the Seven Gables, that grand, mysterious edifice staring out onto the harbor (and featuring at least one hidden staircase).

As Nathaniel Hawthorne describes in his great Gothic tale, before the witchy Matthew Maule placed a curse on the Pyncheon family and that historic house with the seven gables, it was once a happier place, full of revelry and merriment...and food!

“The chimney of the new house, in short, belching forth its kitchen smoke, impregnated the whole air with the scent of meats, fowls, and fishes, spicily concocted with odoriferous herbs, had onions in abundance. The mere smell of such festivity, making its way to everybody’s nostrils, was at once an invitation and an appetite.”

Surely something as delicious as Chicken Pot Pie in a Pumpkin was also on the menu. Adapted from a recipe courtesy of Martha Stewart, I can hardly think of a better way to usher in the fall season than with this recipe guaranteed to bring the house down!

Chicken Pot Pie in a Pumpkin
Serves 6

Ingredients
6 sugar pumpkins - (about 2 lbs are the best)
5 tb butter
2 tb melted butter
2 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 lb pearl onions
5 tb all-purpose flour
9 oz peeled cubed potatoes
2 medium peeled sliced carrots
12 oz button mushrooms; quartered
2 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 c milk
4 1/2 c poached or roasted chicken
2 tb fresh thyme leaves
3 tb chopped parsley
2 tb chopped fresh sage
1 lg egg beaten with
1 tb heavy cream

Method
This recipe calls for pate brisee with thyme but spare yourself the trouble and work with a tube of Pillsbury dough instead and pound some thyme into it.

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. 

Slice the tops off the pumpkins. (Placing a pumpkin on a towel will help keep it from rolling around.) 

Scoop out the seeds, and discard them. Using a pastry brush, brush insides of pumpkins with 2 tablespoons melted butter. Season insides of pumpkins with 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg. Place pumpkins on a baking sheet; cover tightly with foil. Bake until tender, about 30 minutes.

Bring a medium saucepan of water to boil. Add pearl onions, and let simmer for 15 minutes. Drain; rinse under cold running water. Peel onions, and set aside. Melt 5 tablespoons butter in a large, high-sided skillet set over medium heat. Add potatoes and onions, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes begin to turn golden.

Add mushrooms and carrots, and cook 4 to 5 minutes more. Add flour, and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.

Add reduced chicken stock and milk, and bring to a simmer. Cook until thick and bubbly, stirring constantly, 2 to 3 minutes.

Stir in chicken, parsley, thyme, sage, remaining nutmeg, remaining 1-1/2 teaspoons salt, 3/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg, and 3/4 teaspoon pepper.

Remove from heat, and divide mixture among reserved pumpkin shells. Roll each piece of pate brisee to a thickness of 1/8 inch.

Pull center of dough upward to form a pumpkin-like stem. Place over the hollow of each filled pumpkin. Using the back of a small paring knife, mark the dough to simulate the lines of the pumpkin.

Brush top of dough with egg wash.

Bake until crust is golden, about 45 minutes.

 

BOOK/A TABLE - A Study in Scarlet...Punch?

 

In anticipation of Hallowe’en, I’ll be featuring a few frightening reads or recipes (or both!) all this month—kicking things off with a tribute to that celebrant of Gothic New England, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and his novel The Scarlet Letter (which features at least one witch, in the form of Mistress Hibbins).

I have to admit the bookseller looked at me kinda funny when I asked if he carried the book.

“Hawthorne?” he asked, arching an eyebrow. Not because he was unsure of the author, but rather he seemed to be asking, “Still?”

“I know...” I nodded, trailing off. “I haven’t read The Scarlet Letter since high school.” 

But I had been thinking about it because there was a recent question on Jeopardy asking which novel has a scene featuring a falling meteor? I don’t know how I remembered this at all, but I felt there was a meteor somewhere in The Scarlet Letter, wasn’t there? 

Turns out, Hawthorne’s novel wasn’t the answer Jeopardy was looking for (I think they wanted Paradise Lost), but re-reading it, sure enough there is a scene on the scaffolding where Arthur Dimmesdale and Hester Prynne clutch each other under a shooting meteor whose trail in the celestial skies may or may not resemble the letter A.

 

Anyway...I feel Hester didn’t get a fair shake in The Scarlet Letter. So let’s shake up a cocktail in tribute to the old gal, yes?

The Spooky Spiced Scarlet cocktail (or perhaps a Prynne Punch?) is a blood-red Halloween drink that combines Bacardi Gold rum with a homemade cinnamon spice syrup, fresh pomegranate juice, and cranberry juice. Created by Rich Hunt and Alba Huerta for Jamie’s World, the recipe involves stirring these ingredients with ice and garnishing with a lime wedge for a tart contrast.

Spooky Spiced Scarlet Cocktail

Ingredients
50 ml (about 1.7 oz) of Bacardi Gold Rum (or Ritual Zero Proof alcohol-free rum)
3 tablespoons of homemade cinnamon spice syrup
50 ml (about 1.7 oz) of fresh pomegranate juice
50 ml (about 1.7 oz) of cranberry juice
Ice cubes
Lime wedge for garnish

Instructions
In a cocktail shaker, combine the Bacardi Gold rum, homemade cinnamon spice syrup, fresh pomegranate juice, and cranberry juice.

Add ice cubes to the shaker.

Stir the mixture well until it is thoroughly combined and chilled.
Strain the cocktail into a glass filled with fresh ice.
Garnish with a lime wedge to add a splash of color and serve to your best...boo.

BOOK/A TABLE - This Applesauce Rules!

                   

A Prayer for Owen Meany* by John Irving was the first book that ever made me cry. Books had been making people cry for years, of course, but I never quite understood it growing up. Crying during a movie made more sense to me, the passivity of watching the drama unfold, you know? Reading is active—if distracted, you turn away, the reel jams, the celluloid melts, the story stops! Hardly a time for tears. Oh, the impatience of youth!

But when I read the extraordinary A Prayer for Owen Meany, I finally understood. Oh, the tears fell down like autumn windfall apples! 

I suppose it wasn’t surprising then that I cried again over Irving’s The Cider House Rules only a few months ago. The story centers on events surrounding an orphanage and hospital in the fictional town of St. Cloud’s in Maine (my homeland). There, women deliver unwanted babies (those ‘Princes of Maine’; those ‘Kings of New England’) or the women themselves are delivered from unwanted pregnancies. The book deliberately parallels David Copperfield as we follow Homer Wells’s journey—and indeed wonder whether or not this particular orphan will become the hero of his own life. 

There are also many pages devoted to apples, their cultivation (and rules of operating the cider house), as you might well imagine. But here, let’s start with the basics. Applesauce!

Following the loose instructions torn out of an old Bon Appétit, I have made Carla Lalli Music’s practically effortless recipe for perfect applesauce many times. She says, “As the apples transform, their skins surrender tannins and color to the sauce, and the fruit steams in its own juices, concentrating the flavors as the liquid simmers.” Doesn’t that sound just fantastic? 

And as Homer (our Prince of Maine and King of New England) observes, “...people will always eat apples...it must be a nice life.”

Applesauce
Adapted from a recipe by Carla Lalli Music, featured in Bon Appétit

Ingredients
A few apples; any kind that suits your fancy
A stick of cinnamon
Juice from 1 lemon
A scraped-out vanilla bean (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)

Method
Halve the apples and add them to sturdy pot (enamel Le Creuset pots are great) with all the ingredients on medium-low. Add a 1/4 cup of water and let them be. When the rich aromas begin filling the kitchen, stir your apples to make sure they aren’t sticking—if they are, add a little more water.

The total simmering time should be about 45 minutes to yield a rosy, tender flesh. Transfer your batch to a food mill to catch any seeds or stems.

Serve warm. Or chilled!

*(For a deeper dive into A Prayer for Owen Meany, check out Fifth Business by Robertson Davies—Irving based Owen Meany on it.)

COOKBOOK/A TABLE - Plant-Based Cornbread

In the 1989 Batman movie, Jack Nicholson’s Joker gleefully declared, “This town needs an enema!” As remakes often reflect the current climate of the culture, I can only imagine a new version of the film where The Joker might instead declare, “The entire world needs an enema!”

So think globally, but act locally, right? With that buoyant expression in mind, I offer a solution to our constipated world—a plant-based corn bread that I find to be most cleansing. (The recipe calls for jalapeños but I’m not going there.)

Jessica Murnane wrote the cookbook One Part Plant: A Simple Guide to Eating Real, One Meal at a Time to combat her chronic, painful endometriosis. After teaching herself how to cook, she changed her diet to incorporate whole plant-based meals into her daily life with life-changing results. The recipe for jalapeño cornbread is just one of many recipes resulting from her efforts in the kitchen while she created the book she wished she’d had during her personal struggle.

The struggle is real—everywhere. But don’t give up. In the meantime, this cornbread is delicious!

Jalapeño Cornbread
Adapted from One Part Plant by Jessica Murnane https://www.jessicamurnane.com/one-part-plant
Makes 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon flax meal
3 tablespoons water
1 cup medium grind cornmeal
Half cup almond meal
Half cup brown rice flour
2 teaspoons aluminum free baking powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup real Maple syrup
2 jalapeños seeded and diced
3 tablespoons olive oil
Raw honey or real maple syrup

Method
Preheat the oven to 400°. Grease an 8 inch square pan or line it with parchment paper.

Next line in a small bowl, combine the almond milk and apple cider vinegar. In another small bowl, make a flax egg: flax meal and water together. Set both the almond milk mixture and the flax egg aside and let them sit for at least 10 minutes.

Next line in a large bowl, mix the cornmeal, almond meal, rice flour, baking powder, installed together. Add the almond milk mixture, flax egg, maple syrup, and half of the jalapeño slices. Stir to combine, but do not over stir. Add the olive oil and give it a few more stirs.

Pour the batter into your prepared pan. Spread the remaining jalapeños on top. Bake for 20 minutes or until a fork or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let it cool for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

Thanks to jessicainthekitchen.com for the photo!

Like Buttah!

I had almost a full bottle of buttermilk left over after making my Fried Chicken Salad and still had butterbeans on my mind after my D.C. friend wrote me about the Brunswick Stew he had concocted. 

So, I searched keywords buttermilk and butterbeans, et voilà, I found this delightful recipe for Buttermilk White Beans with Eggs & Greens. 

As a shortcut, I opted for canned butterbeans, although I realize many folks would balk at the idea of not using dried. But it was a weeknight and I couldn’t linger as long in the kitchen as I might have liked, so what the hell—my creamy buttermilk butterbeans were quick and delicious. With the tender greens, a good, fruity olive oil and rich, liquid gold yolks it was all just like buttah, but I did feel the proposed preparation needed a little clarity: my comments below are in italics.

And I would be completely remiss if I didn’t mention my all-time favorite band The B-52’s and their paean to the virtues of the butterbean in the fabulously fun song, Butterbean! 

*BONUS* Click here for a recipe for Italian Style Soba Noodles that band member Fred Schneider was gracious enough to share on Evenings with Peter.

Buttermilk White Beans with Eggs & Greens
Food52.com
Ingredients
Extra-virgin olive oil (or unsalted butter). Use a really good oil for this.
5 sprigs thyme
1 yellow onion, sliced thinly
10 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 pound dried white beans (such as cannellini, gigante, or great northern) Or two 15.5 oz. cans of butterbeans!
2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
2 cups buttermilk
1 bunch (10 leaves) hearty greens (such as kale, chard, or rapini), cut into ribbons. Rainbow chard worked very nicely. To make ribbons, strip the leaves of their stems, roll up several stacked leaves like a cigar and slice them on the bias. 
1/4 teaspoon chile flakes (optional)
1/2 cup white wine
4 large eggs
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions
Step 1
In a medium to large saucepan, heat several glugs of olive oil or knobs of butter over medium heat. Add the thyme sprigs and fry until fragrant and the leaves have stopped making the popping sound, about 1 minute. Add the onion and half the garlic, then reduce the heat to low and sweat until tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the beans and enough water to cover by 2 to 3 inches. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook until the beans are completely tender and creamy, and the water is mostly absorbed. This should take 45 to 75 minutes, depending on the variety and age. This goes much quicker with canned beans, about 10-15 minutes—and don’t rinse; add bean juice to the pan.

Step 2
When they’re done, remove the beans from the heat and add the rest of the garlic, the salt, and buttermilk. Stir to combine, cover, transfer to the fridge, then allow the beans to cool in the buttermilk—at least 30 minutes, but ideally overnight.

Step 3
Before serving, remove the sprigs of thyme (don’t worry if some leaves break up into the broth) and gently warm the beans over low heat. When the beans are warm, taste and adjust the seasoning as desired. Remember the beans will take some time to warm up. Allow for that, then move on to Step 4, which goes very quickly.. 

Step 4
In a large frying pan, heat a glug of olive oil over high heat until almost smoking, then add the greens and a big pinch of salt. Sautée the greens until they are bright in color and starting to soften. Add the white wine and chile flakes (if using) and allow the wine to evaporate by half.

Step 5
Reduce the heat to medium and make four divots in the greens. Drizzle more olive oil into the greens and crack an egg into each divot. Season the eggs with salt and black pepper. Cover the pan with a lid to steam the eggs—5 to 6 minutes, checking frequently toward the end so they don’t overcook. Poke with spoon to check that the white are firm. 

Step 6
Dish the beans into serving bowls. Scoop a nest of greens and an egg from the pan and nestle on top of the beans. Drizzle with a bit more olive oil and serve on its own, or with a thick slice of toast.

A Friend Writes...Brunswick Stew!

 

In a fit of culinary pique laced with a dash of nostalgia, my D.C. correspondent (otherwise known as my old pal of 30 years) set to work in the kitchen and emailed me about his exploits!

“I’m making Brunswick Stew tonight and cornbread. (My Southern childhood came calling yesterday.) This dish used to confuse me growing up because we had a neighbor from Emporia, Virginia who made something similar called Chicken Muddle. Even though some folks also called it Brunswick Stew, our neighbor insisted that was something a little different—you eat Brunswick Stew with a spoon and Chicken Muddle with a fork.

“I looked at both of the recipes. They are not that different, just the thickness. Call it whatever you want—I’ve called it satisfying and delicious for years!”

So then, here’s a recipe for Brunswick Stew...or Virginia Chicken Muddle: 

Ingredients
1 whole chicken (around 3-4 lbs)
Several quarts water or enough to cover the chicken
1 quart butter beans, canned and drained (or fresh if in season)
1 quart canned whole or crushed tomatoes (plus their juices)
1 quart chopped potatoes
1 quart or 1 pint onions, chopped (depending on preference)
1 pint corn, canned or fresh
1 pound fatback or smoked meat (optional, for added flavor)
1-2 sleeves saltine crackers, crushed (for thickening)
Salt, pepper (black and red), and sugar to taste
Optional: Paprika, poultry seasoning, hot sauce

Instructions
Boil the Chicken: In a large iron pot, place the whole chicken and cover it with water. Boil until the chicken is tender and the meat easily separates from the bones.

Shred the Chicken: Remove the chicken from the pot and let it cool. Shred the meat, discarding the bones and skin.

Add Vegetables: To the pot with the broth, add the butter beans, tomatoes, chopped potatoes, and onions. If using fatback or smoked meat, fry it until the fat is rendered, cut it into pieces, and add it to the pot along with the fat.

Simmer and Stir: Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook for several hours, stirring frequently to prevent sticking and to ensure all ingredients break down and blend together. The goal is for the ingredients to almost melt into a thick, hearty stew.

Thicken and Season: When the muddle reaches the desired thickness, add the corn and stir. Add crushed crackers to thicken the stew further, if needed. Season generously with salt, black pepper, red pepper, and a little sugar to taste. You can also add other desired seasonings, like paprika or poultry seasoning, at this stage.

Serve: Serve the Virginia chicken muddle hot, with additional crackers and hot sauce on the side if desired.

Sea Bass with Cockles and Leek Broth

Summer may be nearing its end, but the good news is now that we’ve returned to ‘R’ months, we can at least resume our consumption of oysters, clams, and other shellfish with impunity (if you believe the old wives’ tale)!

This simply elegant dish is suitably summery enough to still share with friends on your patio, city rooftop oasis, or even as a fond farewell while closing up your vacation home. And although the original recipe called for springtime garlic scapes, I think most any allium-based broth would work this time of year, such as leeks or a mixture of garlic and scallion greens. If cockles aren’t readily available, see if your fishmonger can assist you in finding them—the sweet, briny devils are well worth the search.

And do enjoy!

Sea Bass with Cockles and Leek Broth
Ingredients
4-8 to 10 oz striped bass fillets or similar white fish
2 lbs cockles
One bunch scapes (or leeks), sliced
Half cup dry white wine
Half bunch asparagus
5 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper

Method
Prep your seafood: Rinse cockles in cold water to wash away any sand. Pat dry sea bass fillets with paper towels, cut in half, and season with salt and pepper.

Blanch asparagus in boiling salted water for 30 seconds. Drain and chill.

In the dutch oven or large sauté pan, over medium heat, add olive oil and scapes (or leeks). Sauté for a minute. Nestle fish in pan and add cockles. Pour the white wine into the pan and cover.

After a few minutes, turn heat down to low and simmer for a total of 10 minutes, shaking pan occasionally. Carefully fold in asparagus and allow to rest covered for a minute.

Remove fillets and place in a large serving platter. Arrange cockles and vegetables on platter and add broth from pan to the platter.

Steamed Sweet Potatoes with Tahini

I had the pleasure of discovering Zou Zou’s delicious roasted sweet potato with miso butter-tahini and Egyptian dukkah when I happened to stop by the chic Mediterranean restaurant for a quick bite. It was such a taste sensation, with exotic flavors bursting out of its skin. Although relegated to a side on the menu, I felt this uber root tuber creation could have been brought to the fore! 

When New York Times Cooking posted the following recipe for sweet potatoes with tahini butter, I hastened to make it straightaway—the list of ingredients brought me right back to my experience at Zou Zou. Carla Lalli Music, the creator of this dish, insists upon steaming the sweet potatoes however, instead of roasting them. She suggests that steaming imparts a flavor roasting can’t compete with and notes that the process also makes your sweet potatoes as fluffy as clouds.

Try the method, taste for yourself, and do enjoy!

Sweet Potatoes with Tahini Butter
Recipe from Carla Lalli Music
Adapted by Samin Nosrat

Ingredients
Yield:4 to 6 servings

2½ pounds sweet potatoes of any color (about 4 medium), washed
6 tablespoons unsalted butter (¾ stick), at room temperature
¼ cup well-stirred tahini
2 to 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice, plus lime wedges, for serving
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 clove garlic, finely grated or pounded smooth with a pinch of salt
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons white sesame seeds
Flaky sea salt, for serving

Preparation
Step 1
Bring a few inches of water to a boil in a medium pot fitted with a steamer basket or footed colander. Place sweet potatoes in the steamer. Cover, reduce heat to medium and steam until potatoes are completely tender, 35 to 40 minutes. (Use a skewer or paring knife to check for doneness; the potatoes should be soft all the way through.)

Step 2
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk butter, tahini, lime juice, soy sauce, sesame oil and garlic until smooth. It might seem as if the butter and liquids will never fully combine, but they will — just keep stirring! Taste, and adjust seasoning with salt, pepper and more lime juice as needed.

Step 3
Set a small pan over medium heat. Toast the sesame seeds, swirling the pan continuously, until seeds are golden. They’ll give off some oil and start to clump together, so if needed, stir with a wooden spoon to keep them moving so that they toast evenly. They’ll turn a nice deep-golden shade just as they dry off a bit, about 4 minutes. Transfer seeds to a small bowl to prevent them from overcooking.

Step 4
When the sweet potatoes are tender, use tongs to transfer them to a large plate or platter. When they are just cool enough to handle, split potatoes in half lengthwise, and season with flaky salt. Spread tahini butter generously onto the flesh, and top with sesame seeds. Serve immediately with lime wedges.

 

Ricotta Gnocchi with Roasted Tomato

It’s time for tomatoes! An August tomato is like a lover you’ve been waiting for all season to embrace you at last with a kiss as ripe as summer.

Take advantage of the bounty this month when tomatoes are at their ready-to-burst best. This recipe calls for plum tomatoes but I think you should seek out farmer’s markets for huge heirlooms in all their infinite shapes and glorious colors. Then roast them for a summer-sweet sauce to pour over your golden brown, plump and pillowy gnocchi. Use fresh ricotta, if available!

As a part of my summer rotation for years now, I love this dish from my head to-ma-toes.

 

Ricotta Gnocchi with Roasted Tomato

From epicurious.com
Makes 4 (main course) servings

Ingredients
2 lb plum tomatoes, trimmed and halved lengthwise
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
3 large eggs
1 (15-oz) container ricotta
1 cup all-purpose flour

Preparation
Roast tomatoes:
Preheat oven to 400°F.

Put tomatoes, cut sides up, in 1 layer in a 13- by 9-inch baking dish. Dot with 2 tablespoons butter and season well with salt and pepper. Roast in middle of oven until skins are wrinkled and beginning to brown, about 45 minutes. Cool in baking dish.

Make gnocchi while tomatoes roast:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

Beat together eggs and ricotta in a large bowl with an electric mixer until blended. Stir in flour, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper until combined. (Batter will be soft.)

Use 2 teaspoons (flatware, not measuring spoons) to form gnocchi: Scoop up a rounded teaspoon of batter, then use second spoon to scoop mixture off spoon and into boiling water. Make 9 more gnocchi.

Simmer briskly until gnocchi are just firm in center and cooked through, about 5 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a platter and cool, covered with damp paper towel. Continue making gnocchi in batches of 10.

Make sauce and sauté gnocchi:
When tomatoes are cool enough to handle, peel and seed them over roasting pan. Slice tomato flesh lengthwise 1/4 inch thick and put in a medium saucepan. Scrape skins, seeds, and any juices from roasting pan into a fine sieve set over saucepan with tomatoes and press on solids in sieve to extract juices. Discard skins and seeds.

Stir 1/4 cup water into tomatoes and bring to a low simmer over low heat. While tomatoes are coming to a simmer, melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderate heat, then cook gnocchi, turning gently, until heated through, 4 to 5 minutes.

Season gnocchi with salt and pepper and serve with warm tomatoes.

BOOK/A TABLE - Davey's Cheesecake

My fella had a birthday recently, but we’d been celebrating here and there with scattered presents (a backgammon set, a dan dan noodle kit!) and a few special dinners since June. We figured looking forward to a birthday celebration in August results in leaving the bulk of summer too swiftly behind. But you know what? The summer flew ferociously past us just the same.

I surprised David with a table at The View in Times Square’s Marriott Marquis, the only revolving restaurant in Manhattan. They reopened several months ago after undergoing extensive renovations and we felt as though we’d booked passage on a Cruise Ship Time Machine dialed back to the 1980’s. Now, we loved the retro-ness of all of that (and the food is decent, by the way), but the real surprise was that most of the other patrons seemed more interested in their cell phone screens than the view of the city landscape unfolding below.

We also went to D.C. for a long weekend where we caught up with old friends, visited Julia Child’s kitchen at the Smithsonian, and bent elbows at The Willard. 

And then we came home to cheesecake!

I’d been thinking of making a cheesecake for David’s birthday since the spring when I borrowed my mother’s copy of Murder By Cheesecake. It’s a cozy mystery by Rachel Ekstrom Courage based on The Golden Girls series. I prefer the television series frankly, but the recipe for cheesecake with a lingonberry drizzle (in honor of Norwegian Golden Girl Rose Nylund) in the back pages of the book is a sweet touch. It also served as a lovely finale for all our festivities.

“Then Rose spent the afternoon making enough cheesecake to feed an army. She’d invented a new recipe infused with the traditional flavors of her beloved hometown to celebrate the lovebirds. Saint Olaf’s Kiss was a creamy vanilla cheesecake surrounded by an almond-and-graham cracker crust and topped with a sweet lingonberry drizzle.”

There needn’t be any particular celebration in order to make this cheesecake, though—sitting down with a nice drizzled slice to watch an episode of The Golden Girls is reason enough!

Murder by Cheesecake with Lingonberry Drizzle
Recipe developed by Sandra Ekstrom and Rachel Ekstrom Courage

Crust:
2 c. graham crackers (about 12 full-size crackers), crushed
½ c. slivered almonds
½ c. melted butter
⅓ c. sugar

Filling:
4 8-oz. pkgs. cream cheese, room temperature
1 c. sugar
1 T. flour
1 t. vanilla extract
4 whole eggs, room temperature
1 egg yolk, room temperature
½ c. cream

Lingonberry Drizzle:
1 jar lingonberries
Water (as needed)
Sugar (as needed)

Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray or butter a 10-inch springform pan.

Crush graham crackers and almonds in a food processor until fine. Add melted butter and sugar, processing until combined. Press mixture evenly onto the bottom and up the sides of the prepared pan.

In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, flour, and vanilla until smooth. Gradually beat in eggs, egg yolk, and cream until fully combined. Pour filling into the crust. Bake for 15 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 250°F and bake for 1 hour.

Remove from oven and cool completely on a wire rack. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

To prepare the drizzle, slowly heat the jar of Lingonberries in a saucepan over low heat. Add water, one tablespoon at a time, to thin the sauce to the desired consistency. Add sugar, one teaspoon at a time, to achieve the desired sweetness. Gently spoon the sauce over the cooled cheesecake. Refrigerate to set.

To serve, dip a knife in water and wipe between cuts.

Enjoy your Murder by Cheesecake with a tangy and sweet lingonberry drizzle!

 

Pete's Dragon Bowl

Oh! How I used to love getting a Dragon Bowl from Angelica Kitchen! Chockablock full of vitamins, it wasn’t just a healthy meal after going for a run—it was also such a simple treasure to eat, rooting through all the tasty vegetables and seaweed dressed in a delicious tahini sauce.

Angelica closed some years ago, most unfortunately. While I realize that things must change, I nevertheless mourn the loss of my favorite Manhattan places (along with the memories they held), especially when they are replaced by something less memorable.

While the recipes for my beloved chimichangas from Bandito’s and Croque Monsieurs from Café de Bruxelles have been lost to time, I did find the recipe for the Dragon Bowl they used to serve at Angelica.

Be inventive and use your favorite greens, beans, and root vegetables to fill the bowl. I hope you enjoy this little time capsule! Per usual, my comments below are in italics.

Dragon Bowl

From the kitchen of Jules Dirsa originally adapted from a recipe in The Angelica Home Kitchen by Leslie McEachern.

Ingredients
1 bunch of steamed greens (ex: collard greens, mustard greens, kale, Swiss chard, or bok choy)
1 cup rice or other grains
1 cup beans or tofu (adzuki beans or garbanzo beans, pinto beans, etc.)
4 cups root vegetables or seasonal steamed vegetables (ex: carrots, beets, summer squash, rutabaga, parsnip, or zucchini)
1 oz or 1 cup sea vegetables (arame, sea palm, or hijiki, etc)
2 tbsp. tamari (wheat-free) or shoyu (brewed soy sauce)
1/3 cup julienned carrots
1/3 cup of onion sliced into thin crescents
4 cups of water

For the Dressing
1/2 cup firmly packed fresh parsley, washed, dried, and chopped
1 whole scallion/green onion, rinsed and sliced
1/4 cup tahini

1 tablespoon umeboshi paste (can be hard to find, also expensive; try subbing with brown rice vinegar or red wine vinegar with a dash of salt)
1/2 cup of water

Method
1. Prepare the rice and protein of choice, steam the greens and veggies. 

2. If using sea veggies: Soak for 30 minutes, then simmer in water for 25 minutes with julienned carrots, onion, and tamari. 

3. Assemble the bowl by layering each component into a colorful pile. 

4. Combine all the ingredients for the dressing in a blender and puree until smooth. 

5. Pour dressing on top of assembled dragon bowl.

BOOK/A TABLE - Hector's Chicken Enchiladas

In The Vile Village, the seventh book from Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, those woebegone Beaudelaire children encounter Hector, an enchilada-loving boy who wishes to make his favorite bubbling cheesy dish for them. He says, “How about chicken enchiladas? That’s a Mexican dish consisting of corn tortillas rolled around a chicken filling, covered with melted cheese and a special sauce I learned from my second-grade teacher.” 

Unlike Hector, I had no such teacher to inspire any sort of enchilada creation. Rather, I spied a recipe in The New York Times just the other day and set to work myself. I have little preamble here except to say that Rick Martinez’s gooey enchiladas were excellent enough to make Hector proud—and as proof, my husband asked that they be put on the list of must-make-agains.

Trader Joe’s helped with much of this: instead of buying a rotisserie chicken, we bought a package of roasted chicken strips and found our delicious, perfectly spicy enchilada sauce there, as well as our corn tortillas and vegetables. 

Although the recipe doesn’t suggest it, use any of the remaining tomato and onion mixture to top your enchiladas before serving!

Chicken Enchiladas
By Rick Martínez
Yield:6 servings

Ingredients
¼ cup vegetable oil

12 (6-inch) corn tortillas
½ medium white onion, chopped
1 medium poblano or green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 large tomatoes, cored and finely chopped
Kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
2 cups cooked shredded chicken (from a roast chicken or rotisserie chicken)
2 ½ cups enchilada sauce or from 2 (10-ounce) cans
12 ounces (3 cups) sharp cheddar, shredded
Pico de gallo, for serving (optional)

Preparation
Step 1
Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Using 2 tablespoons of the oil, lightly brush both sides of each tortilla. Heat a large skillet or griddle over medium-high and, working in batches, cook tortillas until lightly browned and just starting to crisp but still pliable, 45 seconds to 1 minute per side. (This will prevent the tortillas from completely falling apart while cooking.) Set aside.

Step 2
Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet over medium-high and cook onion, poblano, garlic, tomatoes and juices, and 1 teaspoon salt, stirring and scraping up any browned bits, until most of the liquid has evaporated and tomatoes begin to stick to the skillet, 9 to 11 minutes. Stir in chicken, ½ cup enchilada sauce and ½ teaspoon salt until combined and just warmed through; remove from heat. Taste and season with additional salt, if necessary.

Step 3
Pour ½ cup enchilada sauce into a 9-by-13-inch baking dish, spreading to cover the bottom. Working one at a time, arrange a scant ¼ cup of chicken down the center of the tortilla, roll to secure the filling and place seam side down in the baking dish. Repeat with remaining tortillas and chicken, making sure they’re nestled right up against each other.

Step 4
Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the tortillas, then scatter cheese on top. Bake until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese is just beginning to brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Serve warm topped with pico de gallo, if desired. For leftovers, divide remaining enchiladas into portions of 2 or 3; wrap each portion tightly in plastic wrap or place in a freezer bag, squeeze out the air, seal and freeze for up to 3 months.

 

The Corn is Great!

Wondering what to do with all that fresh summer corn? Got a grill? Neither do I. 

Here’s what to do instead: preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Line an oven-ready tray with heavy-duty tin foil and lay your corn, still in the husks, down upon it (probably four ears at most, at a time). Drizzle a good fruity olive over it and and use a brush to make sure your corn is thoroughly coated, turning as you brush. 

Wrap the foil around it and fold over the top to create a loose seal. Put the corn-lined tray in the oven and just leave it alone for about 45 minutes. 

Remove the tray (careful, contents will be very hot!) and let sit further for another five minutes. 

When the corn is ready to be handled, slowly and carefully pull back the husks to reveal the tender, soften golden beauties inside. 

Grab a seat, slather with butter and sprinkle with salt.

Thanks to Lancaster Farm Fresh for the gorgeous corn via Fresh Direct!

BOOK/A TABLE - The Bronx Cocktail

 

The Mondrian hotel in Miami Beach used to have a vending machine in their soaring lobby where, with the swipe of a credit card, you could readily purchase various sundries such as an engagement ring, an intimacy kit—or for somewhere around $75K, the keys to a brand new Jaguar or Porsche (I don’t remember exacty which)!

My dealings with that machine were of a more humble nature. I purchased an attractive copy of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s This Side of Paradise and brought it home where it then sat on a shelf for years along with my best intentions of reading it. I was so glad I finally did. It’s beautifully written, often stunningly so in its depiction of the callow Amory Blaine as he tries to sort out things (anything!) in the world of the Lost Generation. I’m guessing Holden Caufield might have found his roots here. 

It’s extraordinary to think that Fitzgerald was only 23 when he wrote this debut novel with such incredible inventiveness of the form—incorporating poems, playscripts, songs, and of course, a fair amount of liquor. 

In one late-night scene, Amory and a bunch of his friends ditch Princeton and head to the Jersey Shore. (None of them, by the way, have so much as a dime on them.)

“They strolled along the boardwalk to the most imposing hostelry in sight, and, entering the dining-room, scattered about a table.
‘Eight Bronxes,’ commanded Alec, ‘and a club sandwich and Juliennes. The food for one. Hand the rest around.’
Amory ate little, having seized a chair where he could watch the sea and feel the rock of it...”

Ever had a Bronx cocktail? Instructions below. Cheers then to a lovely sip for summer and the Great F. Scott!

Bronx Cocktail
Adapted from Liquor.com

Ingredients
2 ounces gin
1/4 ounce dry vermouth
1/4 ounce sweet vermouth
1 ounce orange juice, freshly squeezed
1 dash orange bitters (optional)

Steps
Add the gin, dry and sweet vermouths, orange juice and orange bitters into a shaker with ice and shake until well-chilled.
Double-strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

BOOK/A TABLE - Plum, Raspberry, and Tarragon Soup

I was fairly obsessed with the sheet of four perforated recipe cards included in each issue of Martha Stewart Living, back when the millennium was still new. These recipes could be made individually or used to compose a full meal, such as this dinner I made from a full sheet of recipe cards featuring chicory salad, chicken livers, polenta with bacon, and roasted pears.

Here I present a fine Plum, Raspberry, and Tarragon Soup pulled from one of the cards dating back to June of 2001—I don’t know what happened to the others that accompanied it, but we recently rounded out our dinner by pairing the soup with fresh corn and Shake ’n Bake pork chops!

Although I haven’t been able to find any good blueberries this summer, strawberries certainly have been fantastic and I hope you can find some juicy plums. Bailey White’s witty commentaries on NPR led to her charming debut novel Quite a Year for Plums, where she wrote of a peculiar cast of small town characters in south Georgia and a bumper plum crop...

“‘Quite a year for plums,’ everybody kept saying, but that didn’t begin to describe the plum crop of that early summer...in every household people were eating plums and baking cakes with plums, cooking up plum jam and plum jelly, or just raking up mounds and piles of rotten plums, and getting stung by yellow jackets.”

When making the recipe, try hybrid plums (such as golden plumcot or plumogranate plumcot varieties). The sweetness of the plums, tart raspberries, and added depth of flavor from tarragon all conspire to make this sprightly soup really come alive. I also recommend making it the day before you intend to serve, and let the ingredients get to know each other overnight in the fridge. 

My comments below in italics.

Plum, Raspberry, and Tarragon Soup

Adapted from marthastewart.com
Serves 4

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs (about 6) ripe red plums, plus one plum, skin on and cut into 1/4-inch dice for garnish
6 oz raspberries, plus more for garnish
1 cup white wine
6 tablespoons sugar (2 tablespoons should be plenty)
3 sprigs tarragon, plus more for garnish
2 tablespoons triple sec, Cointreau, or Grand Marnier (tthis is optional, but I used Grand Marnier. Perhaps try orange zest for something less sweet!)
1/4 cup water

Method
1.  Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add plums; blanch until skin begins to peel, 2 to 3 minutes. In the meantime, fill a large bowl (a metal mixing bowl witl help keep the water cold) with ice and water; set aside. Remove plums from boiling water; place in the ice bath until cooled. Once cool, remove plums from ice bath, reserving ice bath.

2. Peel plums, remove pits, cut into chunks, and place in a medium saucepan. Add the raspberries, wine, sugar, tarragon, triple sec (if using), and add 1/4 cup water and another 1/4 cup of the water used to blanch the plums to the saucepan; cover, and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce heat to medium low, and allow to simmer until plums are falling apart, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat, transfer to a clean bowl (again, using a metal mixing bowl will help with the chilling process), and place in the reserved ice bath, stirring occasionally, until cold.

3. Remove tarragon sprigs from cold mixture, and transfer mixture to a blender. Puree, working in batches if necessary. Strain mixture with a fine mesh strainer into a bowl to get rid of those pesky raspberry seeds. Serve (in your favorite soup bowls, glass mugs, or tall glasses) and garnish with diced plum, raspberries, and tarragon.

Sangria & Ceviche

Whether or not you actually do get a kick from Champagne, enjoy sippin’ on gin and juice, or simply prefer wasting away in Margaritaville, a good sangria full of ice and fresh fruit is perhaps the best way to drink up summer. Add a ceviche to the mix and you’ve got not only dinner and drinks, but a seasonal celebration of flavor as well.

The sangria recipe below is courtesy of Martha Stewart, but the ceviche comes from an Ecuadoran woman who works with my husband and often shares her delicious homemade dish with the office!

Sangria
Adapted from marthastewart.com
Serves 6-8

Ingredients
1 ripe Peach, pitted and sliced
1 red apricot, pitted and sliced
5 strawberries, sliced into thirds, new line 1 seedless orange, sliced in rounds
1/4 cup brandy, Grand Marnier, or Cointreau
Pinch of granulated sugar
1 bottle dry red or white wine, such as Spanish Rioja or Bordeaux
2 tablespoons superfine sugar
2 cups freshly squeezed orange juice

Method

Macerate the fruit: soak peach, apricot, strawberries, and orange in brandy, Grand Marnier, or Cointreau and a pinch of sugar for up to one hour. And a pitcher with some ice combine the macerated fruit and liqueur with the remaining ingredients. Mix well, and serve.  


Shrimp Ceviche
Ingredients
1 lb shrimp
1 red onion
1 green onion
4 to 5 lemons
1 orange
Cilantro
1 tomato
1 teaspoon each cumin and oregano
1 celery stalk
Extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups water
Pinch of salt

Method
1. Cut off the shrimp heads and put them to boil with the water. After they boil, add cumin and oregano into the water with a little bit of salt. Cut up cilantro and green onion and add this to the boiling water as well.

2. Proceed to clean the rest of the shrimp with lemon. Devein shrimp by cutting down the middle of the shrimp’s backs and put the clean shrimp to the side.

3. Take off the heads of the shrimp and add the clean shrimp into the boiling water for 10 seconds and quickly take out before they overcook. Leave these to the side.

4. Turn off the heat for the boiling water and add the water to a blender and add the shrimp heads only as well. Pulse this until everything is just liquefied. After, strain the mixture into a bowl, only liquid in the bowl.

5. Afterwards, cut the red onion in fine slices and tomatoes and squares. Put it in a large bowl and add your pinch of salt and lemon juice and the strained mixture from the previous step. Mix these all together well.

6. Once mixed, add in a little bit of orange juice to the mixture. Lastly, add your shrimp into the mixture and mix until well combined.

7. Serve with rice to enjoy (or any side dish you wish to accompany) and—this is essential—top with corn nuts!