Beach Day and Updated BLT's

I spent the morning at the beach. By myself. Just thinking. Staring out into the waves.

When the sun got too warm I went for a swim to cool off. The waves were gentle swells that lifted me up and down, up and down. The water temperature was "walk in perfect". The air temperature hovered around 90 with no humidity.

Every now and then I like to spend the day by myself; alone with my thoughts, just keeping myself company. It is rejuvenating getting reacquainted with oneself. What do you do to get back in touch with you?

Updated BLT's: makes 2 sandwiches

With tomatoes now ripening in droves it is time to update a summertime classic. I used fresh mozzarella, basil, prosciutto and avocado to give the classic BLT a face lift.

6 pieces of bread, toasted
2 ripe tomatoes (preferably home grown)
6 slices prosciutto
4 leaves romaine lettuce
4 slices fresh mozzarella
10 leaves fresh basil, washed and dried
1 ripe avocado, peeled and sliced

Slice tomatoes and place in a shallow pan. Add mozzarella slices, basil and avocado. Sprinkle with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Drizzle with olive oil. Set aside.

Wash romaine and place on a plate. Set aside.

Pan fry prosciutto until slightly crisp. You may need to spray the pan to add a smidgen of oil. Drain on paper towel.

Toast bread.

To assemble:

Lay one piece of toast in front of you. Add 2 slices of mozzarella, top with tomato and basil. Top with 2nd. piece of toast. Top with prosciutto and lettuce. Smash avocado slices into last piece of toast, place on sandwich. Slice down the middle. Repeat to make other sandwiches.

I served the sandwiches with fresh picked corn on the cob and ice cold beer.

You can build the sandwich in any sequence - the flavors will all come through no matter the order.

Busy and Fresh Pasta Sauce Two Ways

My posting has been a bit sporadic lately. This is all due to one thing:

My garden has exploded. 

Everyday, she (yes, my garden is a she) presents me with baskets full of tomatoes, eggplant, cucumbers, yellow squash and zucchini. 

You would think that I would be overjoyed at these gifts. After months of seed coaxing, seedling planting, staking, weeding and watering, the fruits of my labor are now on my table... everyday:

 

But the sad truth is, I can't keep up. I have given away, frozen, canned, eaten, mashed and blanched myself into a dither. 

It doesn't help that I also have a habit of visiting every farm stand within a 50 mile radius of my home. I can't help it. I'm a sucker for any locally grown fruit and vegetable. Peaches, blueberries, corn, melons... oh my! 

I know the way Mother Nature works though. Just when I'm about to say "uncle".. my garden will stop producing. The road side stands will fill up with apples and pumpkins and then slowly close their doors until next year. 

So for now, I hole up in my kitchen, in 95 degree weather and can and freeze and blanche and cook and eat my way through this glorious season of plenty. 

Fresh Tomato Sauce Two Ways (one for eating, one for freezing)

Recipe #1

4 to 5 ripe tomatoes (I used plum and yellow because that's what I had)

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 cup shredded zucchini (optional)

1/4 cup fresh basil, sliced (chiffonade)

1/4 cup freshly grated (very small) parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons tomato paste

salt and pepper

olive oil

Blanch the tomatoes in boiling, salted water until the skins split (about 2 minutes) Remove to a bowl to cool enough to handle. 

Working over a large bowl to catch the juices, slip the skins off. Using a small paring knife, dice the tomatoes, throwing away the seeds. Squeeze the tomatoes with your hands to slightly crush. 

In a large pot, drizzle in some olive oil and saute the garlic just until fragrant. Add the crushed, diced tomatoes and zucchini* and bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer. Add tomato paste, basil, parmesan cheese and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for another 5 minutes or so. 

This simple sauce is ready to eat right now on some pasta. Leave it chunky and serve hot. Pass crusty bread on the side. 

Recipe#2:

Follow all of the steps above. After simmering, spoon the sauce (in batches) into a blender, puree. Be careful to put a kitchen towel over the top of the blender and hold the lid down. Don't fill it more than 1/3 full. Blend in batches until smooth. 

Pack into very clean, hot mason jars, allow to cool, put lids on and freeze. Remember to give your jars at least 3/4 inch head room. The sauce will expand when frozen and you don't want any broken jars in your freezer. You can also let the sauce cool and freeze in ziploc bags or any container you wish. 

When you defrost this sauce around January, you will get a taste of summer that will have you browsing seed catalogs all over again. 

Anyone out there having the same "problem"? I'd love to hear what you are doing with your excess garden output.. 

Don't have a garden? Don't forget your local farmers. They work all year to bring you the very best from their fields... why not pick up a bushel of tomatoes and make this sauce? I guarantee come January and February, you'll be glad you did! 

* A Cook's Notes: I like to sneak a little zucchini in my sauce. No one will be the wiser, you'll get the extra nutrient kick AND use up some of those squashes that seem to grow overnight! 

By The Sweat of My Brow - Cucumber Salad

I garden. 

Therefore I eat. 

If I were in charge of the world (someday, someday) I would make everyone grow at least one thing to eat.  It would do everyone much good to grow just one thing that nourished them.

Over the years my garden has taught me many things. 

Patience

Wonder

Frustration

Humility

Awe

Hunger

Joy

Courage

Fear 

Every year, before the first hint of spring, I start thinking about what I'm going to grow for the coming season. Now let me make this clear. I do not like digging, bending, yanking, back aches, bug bites, sweating, getting really dirty. Well, okay, I kind of don't mind getting dirty. 

It is the joy of the growing and the triumph of the harvest that keep drawing me back to the dirt. 

When you start the garden, it is cold. The earth is muddy and ungiving. It is only a good imagination that allows the gardener to "see" the garden. 

So you dig

And you plant

And you water

It helps if you have one of these:

A rain barrel collects all that spring melt and up coming rains. Plus it looks pretty cool in your yard.

So after a few weeks of looking at what appears to be pitiful wilted green things lounging around in the mud, one day you go outside to pull yet one more weed and you find something like this:

It's the hint of a cucumber. Not even big enough to be a gherkin.. a veritable Vlasic reject, a kosher pickle wannabe - but just big enough to spur you to bend over and  pull one more weed, one more time. 

A few weeks, some rain and sunshine later and you find that the little patch of cucumbers and squash, look like this:

By now your heart is racing because under these leaves you know (you hope) you are going to find what you've been waiting for, hoping for, sweating for:

Cucumber Salad with Yogurt and Mint: (serves 5)

4 large cucumbers, preferably home grown, thinly sliced.

1 cup greek style 0% fat yogurt 

1 tablespoon honey

2 tablespoons fresh mint, chopped fine

Sea Salt and freshly ground pepper

Whisk together the yogurt, honey, salt and pepper.

Toss the cucumbers with the mint. 

Stir in yogurt dressing and serve chilled. 

This goes great with lamb. Or simple grilled chicken. 

I just spotted this today - be still my pounding heart,  the cherry tomatoes are getting ripe, the eggplants are growing...
Time to weed... to bend, to sweat a little more. Hush my aching back...

A Lovely Lunch for One - Spaghetti Squash

I love spaghetti squash.

Sadly, no one else in my family does. 

If the rest of the people who live here DID like it, I would grow it by the bushel - that is how much I like it. 

"What's not to like?" I ask them. They always give me some vague, non-answer that can't even begin to explain their obvious lack of good taste. Humph. 

I've made it a hundred different ways for them - with sauce, just like spaghetti. 

With butter and salt and pepper - just like pasta.

With butter and parmesan cheese.

With meatballs.

With creamy cheese sauce.

Nothing - nada - zip. They won't eat it. 

Today, just for me, I made spaghetti squash with fresh herbs, tomatoes and feta cheese. 

When the aroma hits the air I'll have my revenge... as each and everyone one of my finicky eaters follow their noses to the kitchen I'll reveal the source of the smell and savor each and every mouthful... Let them eat cake. 

 

Sometimes a cook just has to please one person - themselves. 

Steamed Spaghetti Squash with herbs, tomatoes and feta cheese (serves 1)

1 small spaghetti squash, cut in half. Seeds removed.

One plum or a handful of grape tomatoes, sliced and diced. 

2 tablespoons fat free feta

2 tablespoons fresh herbs of choice

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

Place spaghetti squash in microwavable casserole with 1 inch water. Wave for 10 to 15 minutes, covered. OR bake, cut side down on a greased cookie sheet in 375  degree oven for 45 minutes. (who has patience for that??)

With a fork, pull all of the fruit out of the shells of the squash. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil 

Combine sliced tomatoes, herbs, feta and vinegar. Stir to combine.

Top squash with tomato / cheese mixture. Enjoy. 

Going Camping and Summer Pizza

We are getting ready to meet my son, daughter-in-law and the littles for a weekend of camping. 

Tent camping to be specific. 

According to my oldest KidAdult I have been whimping out over the years as our camping escapades involved some 25ft. of metal that housed pretty much the contents of my entire house plus air conditioning. 

He said when he was small we roughed it. In a tent. That statement makes me laugh. He sounds like an old man. Like, When I was boy we didn't have no RV... we did it the hard way, in a tent, barefoot. And we had to walk 100 miles in a thunderstorm to get to pitch it. And we had to hunt our food... LOL.

Anyway. The Best Husband In The World reluctantly agreed with me and we agreed with KidAdult #1 to meet him and the girls and camp. The old way. 

So we're off to the great outdoors. I am in charge of Saturday night dinner. 

Actually I love to cook outdoors. Food always tastes so good cooked over charcoal or an open camp fire, especially after a day spent swimming and sailing on the lake. 

So all this planning and talking and prepping and packing reminded me of something my dad used to make on a summer's evening. He always made this for a snack, not a meal and it was always a delicious surprise when my mom would call us in from catching fireflies or playing flashlight tag with a gaggle of neighborhood kids. 

We'd come roaring up the stoop all barefoot and dirty, just as the streetlights came on and the smell of Summer Pizza would hit us full in our happy faces. 

I've updated this a little bit - but the taste still takes me back to the warm summer nights of my youth. 

Summer Pizza: 

1 pizza shell (store bought, pizzeria bought or home made*)

2-3 fresh tomatoes, sliced

10-12 slices fresh mozzarella

2 tablespoons fresh ricotta cheese (optional)

10-12 fresh bay leaves

drizzle of olive oil

Optional: mushrooms and artichoke hearts (quartered) tuck these under the cheese (hey, my tastes have matured!)

Preheat grill to medium low.

Drizzle one side of pizza dough with olive oil and using your hand, smear it all around. Place this side down on the grill. Close cover and grill 3-5 minutes until JUST done on one side. 

Place dough ungrilled side down on floured board. On grilled side place sliced fresh tomatoes, top with bay leaves, then mozzarella, drop fresh ricotta randomly by teaspoon full on top. 

Carefully slide dough back onto grill. Grill until dough is puffed and cheese is melted. 

Serve with Kool-Aid and we're back in the 60's. 

*Your neighborhood pizzeria is usually happy to sell you a pizza dough. It will cost you about $2.00 to $3.00 and will always be expertly made. But if you're ambitious, try this:

Pizza Dough:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 package active dry yeast

1/2 cup warm water (105-115 degrees F) this is important - use your meat thermometer to test temp. Too hot - kills the yeast, too cold - won't grow.

1 tablespoon olive oil

Combine the flour and salt and set aside. Dissolve yeast in the warm water, let sit for 5 minutes. Add the oil. Stir in the flour / salt mixture. Turn out on lightly floured baord and knead until smooth and elastic. 

Lightly grease a medium bowl and place the dough in the bowl. cover and let rise in a warm place until double in bulk (about an hour)

When the dough has doubled, punch down and turn out on floured surface. Let rest for 10 minutes, then "toss" if you're good or roll out to a round.

If you make this right after dinner it will be raised enough just when the fireflies come out and the street lights come on. 

Gardening and Eggplants and Tomatoes

I like to grow things but I hate to garden. Every spring and fall I go through the backbreaking ritual of planting stuff. It's hard work all that digging and bending and yanking. I tell myself that I am being one with nature. Me and Mother Nature working hand in hand. blah blah blah. The truth is I hate to garden but love to grow and cook with things I've grown.

All my daffodils that I planted in the fall are now blooming. They look positively happy with their bright yellow heads swaying in the spring breeze. They make me smile every time I saunter out my front door. There they are all lined up in the garden next to the driveway. Next to bloom will be the tulips interspersed among the daffs. Years ago I had my husband rip out a 50 year old hedge that was growing in this space. It was backbreaking work but he did it for me. In place of the hedge he put in a white picket fence - I really wanted a white picket fence (I was in my June Cleaver stage). I still like the fence.

When the daffodils and tulips die down all the perennials that I've planted over the years will take over this space and the wisteria over the arbor will bloom. It has gotten so big it is breaking the arbor - but I like that too. It makes my house look lived in. Like I had planned that all along.

Beyond the wisteria arbor are my roses - all pink and yellow and white. They are a dangerous trio; always snagging my clothes if I happen down the path under the arbor between the garage to the back yard. I like that too. They are like two year olds, grabbing at me for attention.

Inside the garden gate entrance to my backyard is my herb plot. Mint, thyme, sage, parsley and rosemary are already coming back from their winter sleep. Yesterday I noticed the puppy nosing around the mint. Do dogs like mint? I think she was just enjoying a new scent. I grow it specifically for ice tea and Mojitos. Okay, mostly Mojitos.

Beyond the herb garden is the pond. The koi have come out of their fish cave and I'm anxious to see if the water lilies made it again this year. The lilies bloom cream and yellow and the bright orange koi like to dart around their graceful underwater stems.

To the left of the pond is my vegetable patch. Soon I'll have to plant the tomatoes and eggplants that we eat from July to October. I'll plant some basil among the tomatoes because that's the way you do it. Marigolds will go around the perimeter to keep the bugs away. I'm thinking about planting pumpkins in an empty patch around the other side of the house. Not because I'll eat them - but because they are outrageous the way they grow. Everyday a foot or two of growth like they are taking over the world.

All this thinking about my garden has made me hungry for eggplant and tomatoes. I think I'll get a jump start on summer and make this simple dish today:

Eggplant with Parmesan Cheese and Tomatoes:

1 eggplant (select a firm eggplant with green top)

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup panko crumbs (or regular unseasoned)

Salt & Pepper

1 egg, beaten

2 plum tomatoes

1 clove garlic

1 T balsamic vinegar

A small handful of fresh basil

Olive Oil

Peel the eggplant and slice into 1/2 inch rounds. Salt (use kosher salt) the rounds and place in colander in sink for 15 minutes. Rinse and pat dry.

Dip eggplant in beaten egg seasoned with salt and pepper

Press into panko / cheese mixture

Put breaded eggplant rounds on a rimmed cookie sheet and refrigerate for 15 to 30 minutes.

In the meantime, dice the tomatoes, mince the garlic. Place in small bowl and sprinkle with balsamic vinegar. Chiffonade the basil (that means roll it up like a cigar and slice)

Preheat oven to 400.

Pour enough olive oil into bottom of another rimmed cookie sheet to coat the bottom. Place in hot oven for 5 minutes. Move eggplant rounds from refrigerated cookie sheet to hot oiled cookie sheet - be careful not to burn yourself.

Bake for 10 minutes, flip eggplants on other side. Bake for 10 more minutes until crisp on both sides and golden brown.

Plate. Drizzle with a teaspoon or so of the tomato/garlic/vinegar mixture. Sprinkle with basil. Enjoy hot.

This won't be as good today as it will be in July and August when both tomatoes and eggplants come sun warm from the garden - that's a truth. It will inspire me though to get back out and dig and plant and yank and water. So I guess I'll break my back for one more year.