Hot and Humid, Yuck!

This Wednesday, prior to my volleyball playoff games, Randi came over for dinner. I had great plans on making stuffed eggplant from a recipe my mother used to make growing up. However, by the time Randi came over there was only one thing on my mind "I am hot...ewwww..." As you guys may remember, Wednesday was hot and humid and totally disgusting. Not exactly the most inviting weather to spend sauteing and baking. After much hemming and hawing, we decided that yes, we needed to eat dinner, but we would make something else. Another thing that inspired us to get out of my house was that the grocery store had AIR CONDITIONING!!!

Although my house is sometimes painfully empty of groceries, we happened to have some leftover delicious feta cheese from the chicken dish and basil from the garden, perfect for bruschetta. I had also recently read a recipe for cold Cucumber Avocado Soup in Gourmet Magazine. Our heat addled minds decided that these dishes were simple enough to prepare for a light dinner.

Cucumber Avocado Soup
Recipe Courtesy of Gourmet Magazine
yields 4 servings


Ingredients:

1 chilled cucumber
1 avocado
2 scallions, chopped
1/4 cup mint leaves, chopped
1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1 1/2 cups cold water

Directions:

1) Cut cucumber into 3 equal pieces, then coarsely chop 2 of the cucumber pieces. Coarsely chop half of the avocado.

2) Blend together the chopped cucumber and avocado and the mint leaves, scallions, buttermilk, water and one teaspoon of salt until smooth.

3) Chill soup, uncovered, 15 minutes.

4) Cut remaining cucumber and avocado in 1/4 inch pieces and stir into soup.

Summer Feta Bruschetta

Ingredients:

Feta, crumbled
Fresh basil, chopped coarsely
Tomato, chopped
Sliced bread (we used a Tuscan style - sourdough would be good too)
Olive oil
Sea salt
Pepper

Directions:

1) Combine the feta, basil, tomato in a bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

2) Brush bread with olive oil and put in oven on Broil for a few minutes - until toasted.

3) Spoon mixture onto bread.

In my opinion, the soup was slightly too "oniony," so maybe I would cut out the scallions next time. The bruschetta was absolutely amazing and I could have eaten much, much more of it. So simple, yet so good. Here are Randi's comments:

Hey all, while Georgia, I think, was biased against this soup a bit from the start (complaining before and in the grocery store about hating scallions), I was more unsure about the cucumbers. I'm normally not a big fan of them, but in this soup they were light and refreshing. The extra chopped pieces of avocado in this soup were AWESOME, making it very creamy. And the added cucumbers added a nice crunch. I don't know what GA was saying about the oniony thing, I barely noticed them and they probably added some flavor. So unless you're weird about onions or scallions, I would say leave them in there. The thing that seriously made the bruschetta was the special sheep's milk feta Georgia found - amazing. Also, using Roma tomatoes didn't hurt either ;). I would say this is a solid light summer dinner or lunch... not necessarily perfect for groups, but good for one or two people.

Scream For Ice Cream

In an effort to become a real food blogger, I am trying to take steps to join the "foodie" community! Meeta over at What's For Lunch, Honey? has organized what she calls Monthly Mingles. These are basically virtual pot-lucks, where bloggers from all over the world add their recipes on a given topic.

This month's Monthly Mingle's theme is "Scream For Ice Cream." Randi and I will be enthusiastically joining and hoping to get in our recipe by the deadline of July 4th.

Please cast your vote for what flavor you think we should try. The poll is on the sidebar to the right!!

Post-Climbing Dinner

Tuesdays have become my night of the week to cook after John, Carolyn and I go rock climbing at the Doylestown Rock Gym. By the way, for whomever cares, the ankle is doing much better and I did some high climbs tonight. I had to climb in my sneakers, because my ankle is still too swollen to fit into my climbing shoe :( Anyway, I cook other nights of the week as well, but the three of us have sort of a group dinner schedule. In addition, like most things involving John, this has become a small competition. He cooks for us on Wednesday, and has "upped the ante" with his cooking skills, trying to show us up. So, in due form, we try to show him up. Last week, the dessert category was added to these meals (he is actually a decent cook, one of these days he will post a blog - when his recipes have reached "perfection" so he says) when John made us a homemade apple pie - it even had a lattice crust! Fancy.

After scouring the internet, I found the following two recipes - Pineapple Upside-Down Cake (my mom always used to make it when I was growing up, so it has some fond memories attached) and Lemony Herb Chicken. Perfect!

The gym is not air conditioned, so after getting all hot and sweaty, we went to Luke's again (see blueberry post) this time for dinner and swimming. Luke is a vegetarian, so he could not eat the chicken and Carolyn brought him some leftover manicotti...mmmm....We sipped on some Smirnoff Peach Raw Teas and chatted while we cooked. We were pretty hungry so ate the cake first - hey why not?? This recipe is from Epicurious.com and turned out really well. When getting recipes from online sources, I always check the readers comments, very helpful!

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

Recipe Courtesy of: Epicurious.com
yields 8-10 slices

Ingredients:

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 fresh pineapple, halved lengthwise, cored, and peeled
1 stick butter, softened
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2/3 cup well-shaken buttermilk

Directions:

1) Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.

2) Sift together flour, baking powder and soda, and salt into a bowl. Cut pineapple crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick wedges.

3) Grease (I used cooking spray) a 9-inch round cake pan (2 inches deep) lightly on side and generously on bottom of pan using butter (I just put a few little clumps of butter in the bottom). Sprinkle all of brown sugar evenly over bottom and arrange pineapple over it, starting in center of pan and overlapping slices slightly.

4) Beat together remaining stick butter, granulated sugar, and vanilla with an electric mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, then add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture alternately with buttermilk in batches, beginning and ending with flour and mixing just until batter is smooth.

5) Spread batter evenly over pineapple and bake until a wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Cool 15 minutes in pan on a rack, then invert cake onto a plate and remove pan. Cool to room temperature.

Besides the greasing method, I followed this recipe pretty closely and it was Awesome! The cake was moist and dense and pineapples were sweet and gooey. I will definitely be making this again. It was so easy and turned out very very well.

Round two of dinner was provided by Cara of Cara's Cravings. She had blogged a few weeks ago on this dish and I knew it was something I wanted to try. Although, she uses basil, rosemary, oregano and thyme, I used different herbs based on what I had in my garden and kitchen (basil, cilantro and fresh parsley). I also just made this dish in the oven on a baking sheet, not on the grill like she did. I also used some "good" Feta, which I got from Whole Foods. It was not the run of the mill crumbled feta, but some sheep's milk feta from France! It was actually not too expensive - $4.00 for 1/2 pound. Sheep's milk feta is far superior to cow's milk. Next time you see it, pick some up!

Lemony-Herb Chicken

Recipe Courtesy of: Cara's Cravings
yields 3 generous servings

Ingredients:

3 chicken breasts, rinsed and trimmed
handful of fresh herbs of your choice (I used basil, cilantro and fresh parsley)
2 clove garlic
2 oz feta
1/2 of a small tomato, sliced thin
salt & pepper
1 small lemon, sliced

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mince together the herbs and garlic, and crumble in the cheese, stirring to combine (I also squeezed in some lemon juice).

2) Using a small paring knife, carefully cut a pocket into the side of each breast, without going all the way through.

3) Place a few tomato slices in each pocket and divide the herb stuffing mixture evenly between the breasts. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and cover with a few lemon slices.

4) Place on a greased baking sheet and cook for approximately 25 minutes or until lemons and chicken turn golden brown.

We served the chicken with corn on the cob and steamed broccoli. It was fabulous! The chicken was moist and flavorful, but not overwhelmed by the different ingredients. The dinner got high praise from all who attended. Try it out and let me know how it works for you, I'd be surprised if you didn't really like this meal. This is also very impressive to have in your repertoire for guests. It looks and tastes far more complicated than it actually is.

Lastly, I think I am making great strides on my photography. Thanks "E" for the tip on the micro-setting, it worked really well. Also, if you have gotten this far, please LEAVE A COMMENT!!! I am starting to feel quite unloved. Come on people...

Violet, You're Violet!

In case you did not get the title, it is a quote from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - when Violet turns into a blueberry. Because, it seems that whenever I think of blueberries, an image of that scene pops into my head. I'm slightly strange, what can I say??

Anyway, for all my small complaints about Pennsylvania (mostly the PA drivers), I actually really love it here. Forget all the other reasons - mainly my friends/activities - PA is a great state. Growing up in Connecticut, I knew a few people with gardens and farm-like properties (mostly horse related), but mostly in CT a yard is for one thing - Decoration. Although my mom did atypical CT activities with us growing up, such as canning jams and pickles and making fresh bread, our property was not conducive to this lifestyle. And, as you have probably picked up from earlier posts, I want nothing more than to live off of my land (at least a little).

Here, in PA, I have the friends with all sorts of crazy barns and gardens and fruit crops. One of my friend's father has a corn field. Another has chickens. Another has blueberry bushes. And that, dear readers, brings me to the subject of this here post. BLUEBERRIES!

A friend of ours, Luke, lives on a great property with an old barn, fruit trees and blueberry bushes. He invited us over this weekend to pick some of the crop. Unfortunately, although we had visions of quarts and quarts of the delicious berries, due to time constraints, we only picked one quart (plus stuffed handfuls into our mouths). In case you have never eaten blueberries straight off of the bush, you are missing out. They are firm, tart and sweet at the same time.

Erin Lou of Live, Love and Healthy Cooking had posted a recipe for blackberry scones last week that I was dying to try. I figured that blueberries would be just as good! We visited Luke on Saturday and promised that we would be back the next day with scones in hand. In return, we got to swim in his pool - who says the way to a guy's heart is not his stomach?? For that matter, I truly believe that the way to ANY ONE'S heart is through their stomach :)

But, I digress...I did tweak the recipe a little bit, but the basics are the same. These scones are not sweet, they have more of a biscuit quality, but we all liked them a lot. The oatmeal makes them slightly heartier and although I usually am in the "more berries the better" camp, I may cut back next time.

Blueberry Scones
yields 16

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour
2 cups oats
2 T baking powder
1 t salt
1 stick butter
4 egg whites
1 cup of half and half
6T sugar
2 1/2 cups blueberries
2 t lemon zest

Directions:

1) Mix together the first four ingredients. Divide the butter into small chunks and cut into the flour mixture with either two knives, a pastry blender, or your hands (my preferred method!). This should turn into a mealy looking blend. Fold in the berries.

2) In a separate bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients and whisk. Add this mixture to the flour mixture and stir until mix is barely wet. Turn out onto a floured surface and pat into a circle. Cut into wedges and place on baking sheet. Don't over mix!!!

3) Bake at 375 for about 25 minutes until nice and golden.


YUM!

Like I mentioned, next time - less blueberries - but other than that, very good. A great summer breakfast.

On a separate note, I am kind of frustrated with my photography skills. I want pretty pictures that get readers drooling. I worked a little with depth to field and manual focus with mixed results. I will keep at it though and hopefully some of my dad's photography skills are hiding in me. If you have any tips - let me know! Here are a few examples of my "success" with non-food items:

UPDATE

Just tried out some of my new "tricks" at Cafe America (super excellent food btw, you should check it out - maybe I will post about them one of these days):

Tuscan Inspiration

Recipe Courtesy of: Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes

I have just finished reading Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes. YES, this is the book that the chick flick was based on (and yes, I totally loved the movie), but the book is very different. The amazon.com summary is as follows:

In this memoir of her buying, renovating, and living in an abandoned villa in Tuscany, Frances Mayes reveals the sensual pleasure she found living in rural Italy, and the generous spirit she brought with her. She revels in the sunlight and the color, the long view of her valley, the warm homey architecture, the languor of the slow paced days, the vigor of working her garden, and the intimacy of her dealings with the locals. Cooking, gardening, tiling and painting are never chores, but skills to be learned, arts to be practiced, and above all to be enjoyed. At the same time Mayes brings a literary and intellectual mind to bear on the experience, adding depth to this account of her enticing rural idyll.

Needless to say, I finished this book in about 6 hours - the time I spent flying from Phoenix to Philly - and as soon as I got home went to check the market for Tuscan farm houses. It just got to me, the amazing food, people and the ability to live off of your land. What more could a person want?? In two sections of the book she also lists a bunch of recipes (one for summer, one for winter) that were provided to her by local friends. Many of them look amazing! I'm sure that they would be even better if you had access to the produce that she does, but I think that Whole Foods / Farmers Markets may compete at least a little.

This is the recipe I decided to make:

Baked Peppers with Ricotta and Basil


The real recipe calls for a half cup of green onions, but as one of the people I was cooking for does not like onions, I nixed them and added the lemon element. I did not really add too many pictures of the final product, because although these tasted great, the presentation left something to be desired (see above pic). At the end of the recipe I will comment on ways to improve this.

Ingredients:

3 large peppers (I used one green, red and yellow)
Olive Oil
1/2 cup chopped basil
1/2 cup chopped parsley
2 eggs
2 cups ricotta
S&P
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Cooking Instructions:

1) Singe peppers over gas flame. DON'T cook so long they turn limp (oops).

2) Cool in plastic bag and peel off the skin.
3) Drizzle with olive oil.

4) In a bowl, mix the remainder of the ingredients.

5) Fill peppers and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

OK, so the results were mixed. Like I mentioned, they tasted GREAT! However, they ultimately resembled ricotta pepper pancakes, not stuffed peppers. I think I cooked the peppers too long so that they lost their structure. Also, the peppers were too small. In the future, I will not de-skin the peppers, just cut them in half and let the oven do the work. Pepper skin is really not that bad. I think that would really solve the only problem as I see it. Also, I just stirred the ricotta mixture, not beat it, so maybe that would be better also. Of note, the basil was fresh from my garden and the ricotta was a small farm produced variety, not mass produced. We served these with some lemon/chicken pasta thingies and the following salad:

Summer Salad (Tuscan Inspired)

Ingredients:

Handful of basil
Salad greens
2 medium tomatoes
Handful strawberries sliced
3 oz fresh mozzarella cubed
Balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Cooking Instructions:

1) Mix together. Done, simple, DE-licious!

I could eat this salad any day of the week, it is one of my absolute favorite things to make. Tomato + Basil + Mozzarella is the best combo on earth....

Well, this menu really brought some Tuscany to Doylestown. We had Yuengling, but I think wine would have been more appropriate. Oh well. It was delicious and after spending about 2 hours in the emergency room because I sprained my ankle, tasted even better. I will try some of the other recipes in her book and get back to you. Next is some semolina gnocchi I think.

Ciao.

Exercise your right to vote!! (on cupcake flavors)

I've suddenly become very remiss about posting--why? Well, I've had a lot going on including some serious cupcake baking. This past weekend I whipped up three dozen vegan cupcakes as a "thank you" to coworkers who opened their hearts and wallets in support of my AIDS walk team. Coming up I'm going to be doing all of the baking for a massive cupcake eating contest too..

Since cupcakes are my current forte and passion I thought I'd post some more recipes...however I now have way way too many to choose from!

So, please faithful bloggies, post a vote (by commenting)...what recipe should I post next? (crappy camera phone photos to accompany).

Recipes I've recently worked through/tried out/am about to experiment with include:

Chai tea cupcakes
Chocolate chip orange
Carrot cake
Lemon-berry
Lady-grey (black tea + citrus)
Banana chocolate
Pistachio
bog-standard boring old vanilla...

GO!