» summer

Sweet September

When I turned on my phone the other day and it said “September 1”, I was pretty sure there had been a mistake. Some silly data mix-up that was feeding my phone nonsense information. Turns out it is true—September is here to stay, it seems. Where has the year gone! And let me add that there is nothing wrong with September, I think it is likely my favorite month of the year. There are so many good things packed into this month. Some of my favorite people have birthdays in September. The cooling temperatures along with the beautiful light make it a great time of year to be outside. And it is also a prime month for travel, especially when it is a non-stop flight to Paris. Sigh…

It certainly does not hurt to welcome in a new month with a long weekend. Since I am a bit of a list maker, I had a few goals that I wanted to get to over the weekend. I didn’t bother with trivial cleaning and ordering tasks. I had big plans, like picking out a birthday cake recipe for the birthday boy. He’ll be three years old this week! After a few discussions, I think he has finally made up his mind on a chocolate cake. I still feel like I can take a few creative licenses with his cake, so I think we’ll be going with some kind of chocolate layer cake. I did do a wee bit of organizing as I cleaned out his shoe box though, so we could share with friends. The collection of those shoes is making me a bit nostalgic.

I’ve also been working on a little bit of late summer preserving. I don’t get too carried away like I have in years past, but I can’t help but think I’m doing my family a bit of a favor with a few jars of beautiful peaches (my first effort on my own). They are joining the apricots that I already stashed away and will soon be followed by a whole lot of tomatoes, which are easily my favorite fall preserve. So perfect for winter soups, baked beans or some of the best sauces anyone could ask for.
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The other thing that has been most welcome around here is a Mexican-inspired meal. A month of so ago, Saveur sent out their Mexico issue. I would tell you I’ve been cooking my way through it, but that wouldn’t be quite accurate. I got stuck on a few dishes, especially the recipe for sopa seca. This may not be the dish that speaks the loudest of all that is Mexican cuisine, but it is delicious. I’ve been making it once a week! Just go easy on the chipotle peppers!

And while September might be here, this picnic season is far from over. September has room for some of the best picnicking weather anyone could ask for. We’ve been trying to fit in a picnic dinner most weeks. The unexpected surprise of a portable dinner with not much clean up (bonus!) is something that cannot be overlooked in the last days of summer. Mark Bittman’s recent article highlighting the four main food groups in his picnic basket inspired me to be a little more thoughtful of my approach. With great organization comes plenty of room for creativity. So pack up a picnic and get out there!

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A summer galette

Late summer leaves me with too much fruit. Truth be told, I am a bit of a hoarder when it comes to fruit. I just can’t seem to pass up the peaches and the nectarines and the plums. But by the time I bring home my delicious finds, someone always reminds me that I may have purchased a few more things than I can reasonably eat! When that moment arrives, I make galettes!

I’ve always been a little afraid of pastry dough. It seems finicky and technical with all of its talk of ice water and cold butter. I haven’t really felt like I’m missing much, as pies have never been a favorite. But now I realize that pastry is not just for pie crusts and it seems like I’d better learn to get along with my pastry blender. But really, there is nothing mysterious, especially with this recipe. It thrives on a rustic appearance which leaves me plenty of room for practice!

When it comes to fruit, anything goes. Some days I’ll use a bruised peach, the last of the apricots or the black berries that won’t stop growing over the fence. Combine flavors or let something delicious go solo. This recipe allows for total control over added sugar, which I am loving right now, so add just what you need based on the fruit you are using.

This recipe feels more complicated than it really is, so don’t be daunted by the longish set of instructions. Just remember to read on through to the end! The added bonus is that it makes enough dough for two galettes. The dough keeps perfectly in the fridge for a few days, which makes for a wonderful weeknight treat. And while the galette lends itself so beautifully to summer fruit, it could also work equally well with a savory filling—tomatoes and Gruyère, anyone?

Summer galette

Adapted from Baking with Julia

1 cup flour

1/4 cup course yellow corn meal

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

7 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

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1/3 cup (approximately) ice water

To make the dough, combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt and butter pieces in a bowl. With a pastry blender, work the butter into the flour mixture until the butter pieces range in size from small crumbs to small peas. Sprinkle the sour cream on top of the flour mixture 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with a fork to mix in. Begin adding the ice water 1 tablespoon at a time, until a soft dough forms. The dough should be moist enough to stick together when pressed. Gently gather the dough and press it into a large ball.

Turn the dough out of the bowl and divide in half. Place each ball on a piece of plastic wrap and flatten into a disk. Wrap in plastic and place in the fridge to chill for at least 2 hours. It will keep like this for several days.

Filling and cooking the galette:

1/2 recipe galette dough, chilled

Generous 1 1/2 cups fruit

Sugar

Minute tapioca (optional)

Place baking rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 400º. Prepare a baking sheet, covering it with parchment paper.

Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface or Silpat and roll into a thin circle, about 10 inches across. Since the dough is soft, you’ll need to work carefully, using a little flour to keep the dough moving around. Transfer the dough to a prepared baking sheet.

Spread prepared fruit on the dough, leaving a 2-inch border. If your fruit it quite ripe and juicy, consider adding a teaspoon or two of tapioca to the very bottom layer of fruit. It will help keep the jammy juices inside the galette. Depending on the sweetness of the fruit, sprinkle with a tablespoon or so of sugar. Fold the border of dough up and onto the fruit, allowing it to pleat naturally. Sprinkle the dough with a teaspoon or so of sugar, if desired.

Bake the galette for about 35 minutes, or until the pastry crust is golden and crisp. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

The galette is best enjoyed the day it is made.

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Time for tapas

I’ve been working up to this moment for over a year now. Everyone needs something to work toward, right? See, it was about one year ago when I went out to dinner at this lovely little restaurant. And while everything I ate was amazing, it all started out with the most delicious appetizer ever. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that it was the appetizer that stole my heart that evening.

Really it was the simplest thing ever—a pile of flash fried Padron peppers, dressed in a generous sprinkle of crunchy sea salt and served up piping hot. The only reasonable thing to do was dig in, which I did with little hesitation, leaving poor seconds for my dining companion! I’d never had Padron peppers before, only heard little mentions here and there on food blogs. But I knew enough to order them up just as soon as I saw them. Since then, I’ve been trying to figure out how to get my hands on my own supply of peppers.

The dead of winter doesn’t really seem like the most promising time to be thinking about peppers. But when you’re trying to track down seeds for something unusual like Padron peppers, you do what you have to do. Online searching, researching and ordering got me the seeds I needed and long before the first signs of spring began to show themselves outside, I started my own little indoor pepper garden. Fast forward to July and the plants began to stagger over the green beans in the garden, ladened with peppers. That’s when things really got tasty out in the garden!

At least once a week, there are enough peppers to feed the three of us. In fact, regular picking is important so things don’t get too spicy. It’s become a bit of an event, the evening we pick the peppers and have some tapas in the garden before I head back into the kitchen to finish up with dinner prep. It is a nice change of pace and I think I’ve shared my love of the peppers with a certain little boy!

In the only way I know how to cook the peppers, I heat a large skillet with a slick of oil on high heat. When it’s gathered enough heat, I throw in the peppers and slap down a lid to contain the splattering and hissing that immediately begins. Don’t crowd the peppers or they will just steam. You don’t want that. With enough room, they fry up nicely. Toss or shake the pan occasionally, but don’t be afraid of developing a little bit of a scorch of some sides of the peppers. Once the peppers puff up and some nice color developes, about 5 to 7 minutes, remove the peppers from the pan. Arrange them on a serving platter and sprinkle generosly with sea salt. Serve immediately, preferably with a glass of cava.

Two notes to finish things up:

  • Once you’ve bothered to heat up a frying pan on a hot summer evening, consider finishing up some other dinner item in the pan once the peppers are done. Last night I threw in a few ears of cut corn kernels, which blackened up nicely in just a minute or two. Before that, I sautéed a few handfuls of green beans. Yummy!
  • I know you are wondering about my beautiful towel featured in these pictures. My awesome sister MADE them for me! You know you want some, and now you know how to get them!

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I’ll be in the garden

In honor of Julia Child’s birthday, I wanted to make something fabulous. All French and full of delicious flavors. But time got away from me and since it seemed to be gougères or nothing for me, I decided to forgo the fancy cooking and instead make something a little simpler to enjoy in the garden. This recipe totally fit the bill.

And instead of telling you all about the lovely tian that I made with Julia’s recipe, I thought I’d tell you about the garden, where it seems I’m spending every moment that I’m not in the kitchen.

The garden is an honorary room in our house throughout the summer months. And in the winter months, I can still be found dreaming of that space! In the middle of two raised beds, I managed to fit a little table and chairs, which makes it the perfect spot for al fresco living. Meals and conversations are often carried out to the garden where we balance little plates and glasses in the growing shade of the tomato and dahlia plants. And at this time of year, something on our plates has likely very recently come from garden. Once 5 p.m. rolls around, there is no better place to be than in the garden.

Of course, the garden isn’t just a place to lounge in the shade. In fact, the early morning hours might just be my favorite time of day in the garden. In the cool stillness, I trim away at the tomatoes, pick handfuls of purple romano beans and collect greens for hardy summer salads. I think the greens are at their best in the early mornings. And even though my greens are transitioning to a more hardy fall mix, they still get a little wilted once they’ve spent a few hours basking in the sun.

The other things I try to pick early in the day are the dahlias. I don’t know why that is—likely some old plant wisdom or maybe even a bit of folklore. But any flower picking that happens is kept to those hours when the sun is not overhead. And now that I mention it, maybe there is an element of self-preservation in there as well!

So a man who wants to soft tabs viagra you can try these out, but who also wants to make sure that the drug that definitely needs to be taken with the consent of sexologists Unlike other sexual drugs, levitra will stay in the body and start to show their effects within 20-30 minutes of their consumption and work by enhancing the blood circulation in the penile region. canadian viagra generic Also increasing or decreasing of the medicine should not be allowed to resistour marital happiness any more. As you should make efforts to maintain balance and keep cialis sildenafil you right, the bike also helps to strengthen the muscles of the trunk. You’re likely to have some control over exactly how your site is hyperlinked to its affiliate parent, so it’s wise to plan a tempting route viagra price http://www.glacialridgebyway.com/windows/Kerkhoven%20Heritage%20Room.html through the store for your visitors. These days, the dahlias are finally starting to come into their own. It’s been a rough year for them—it all got off to a messy start when my lovely dog dug up each and every dahlia bulb in the midnight darkness, just to try and lick the bone meal off of the bulbs. I know he ate more dirt than anything, but it sure did make a mess of my plants. When I finally got around to planting the sad remains of the bulbs, I knew chances were good that some of my plants just wouldn’t make it. But the ones that pulled through and survived the midnight raid have been a splendid surprise each time new blooms open! So I’ll leave you with a slice of what’s blooming while I raise a little toast to Julia.

 

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I scream…

Hot weather begs for ice cream, don’t you think? And if you find yourself in the camp that cannot say no to trying every flavor you find in your freezer, then this recipe is going to be right up your alley.

Sometime last year, I found this ridiculously easy recipe for an ice cream cake. The premise was simple—find three ice cream flavors you like, smoosh them into a loaf pan and freeze them all together. Then, weather demanding, cut thick slices and try to devour before the heat takes you over. Suddenly, my mind started running wild with possibilities. See, I am that person who has to taste all of the ice cream flavors, even if I cannot commit to adding them to my bowl. And soon it was not just what flavors to pair, but what textures—ice cream and sorbet? Gelato and frozen yogurt? Start to do the math and you’ll see how quickly someone could get out of control with this scenario. The only thing holding me back was a size of my freezer.

But this summer, all of that has changed. I have a separate freezer that has a growing selection of flavors. And as the temperature began to climb, I couldn’t think of anything better to do with my growing supply than to make an ice cream cake. Over the course of a few attempts, my recipe has branched out to include a little bit of what I might have on hand—a leftover piece of cake, an overripe peach, the remaining tablespoons of caramel sauce. These are not problems, these are tasty additions to an ice cream cake.

Of course, there are consideration to be made for texture. If you end up adding too many things that will freeze solid, your cake is not going to be a joy to slice through. So keep your non-ice cream ingredients sliced thin and well-sandwiched between ice cream layers. If you choose to use fresh fruit, mash the berries or chop the fruit into small pieces. And don’t shy away from little flavor layers, chocolate and caramel sauce, especially homemade versions, are especially delicious in these cakes. For my cake, I used a layer of a crème fraîche gelato, along with a lemon custard ice cream. In addition, I added a layer of fresh peaches, a thin slice of leftover raspberry cake, as well as a few mashed raspberries.

And while it seems hard to imagine anything but some fresh fruit combination in the summer, I can’t help thinking about make my own slice of Blizzard heaven with some heavy dose of chocolate or candy. Maybe it is a caramel swirl ice cream and Skor bar bits, or chocolate and a layer of crushed Oreos. And I can’t help but think a thin layer of airy chocolate cake would freeze into something fudgy when layered with ice cream. Go on, tell me I’m crazy!

So without further ado, I leave you with a few ideas of how to put together your own magnificent ice cream cake. Just remember, there is no right and wrong in this recipe—just the flavor combination that speaks to you!

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Summer Ice Cream Slice

3 pints ice cream, your choice

Fresh fruit, optional

Chocolate or caramel sauce, option

Prepare a loaf pan by lining it with plastic wrap. Leave a bit of overhang so you can wrap the cake up once it is complete.

Soften ice cream for the bottom layer. Let sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes, or until it just starts to melt. Cut away the carton and slice the ice cream into three equal slices. Lay the ice cream in the pan and press to smooth it into an even layer. Return the pan to the freezer for about 15 minutes before starting on the next layer.

Repeat with the remaining layers, or add in additional toppings as you wish. Let the cake freeze for about 2 hours or overnight before serving.

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A few simple things…

We’re in the thick of summer here. Sunshine and blue skies followed by long, warm evenings, perfect for stargazing from the hammock. The daylight is starting to change a little with a golden hue that reminds me that we are in the midst of a fleeting season. Along with all of this goodness, the garden is starting to come together. Things are growing and beginning to tangle just a bit—the beans wandering into the peppers, the tall cavolo nero shading the little seedlings and the tomatoes, oh, the tomatoes. They can hardly contain themselves, arching over the beds and shading the pathway from six feet up.

It’s easy to get wrapped up with the fresh harvest with most meals. Oftentimes, all I can muster for dinner is a giant bowl of salad, plucked fresh from the garden or toted home from a market adventure. But sometimes in the midst of all this freshness, I crave a change of pace with something savory and cooked. And not just a little swish in the frying pan or bath of salty steam. This craving calls for an hour of gentle simmering on the back corner of the stove.

Actually, this dish is perfect for those late summer meals where you might have other things going on in the kitchen, but still want dinner. Since it requires little prep work, it pairs perfectly with a canner of peaches bubbling away or a small pot of apricot jam, just to name a few. This is one of those recipes that makes the most of precious little—quality ingredients and a little time. Mixed together, they yield the most delicious results.

Beans with tomato sauce

Adapted from Canal House, An Italian Summer

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1/2 pound, or 8 oz.,  fresh green beans, washed and trimmed

About 2 cups strained canned tomatoes, juice reserved

Two or three sprigs of fresh basil

1/4 cup olive oil, or thereabouts

Salt and pepper, to taste

Wash the green beans and the basil. Combine the tomatoes, beans, basil and olive oil in a medium pot with a tight fitting lid. Bring to a gentle boil before turning heat down to a simmer. Cover tightly and allow to cook for about one hour, stirring occasionally and adding the reserved tomato juice if the mixture begins to look to dry, you want it to be nice and saucy! Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve the beans, along with plenty of sauce. They are a perfect topping for pasta or go well alongside most anything else you might be serving.

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Patience…

Patience is a virtue that I do not have when all things baking are concerned.

Thru the years there seems to be one, maybe two things that I keep being told but some how do not learn. One, always read the recipe from start to finish before you start making it and secondly, be patient and follow the directions. For one reason or another I have had a really hard time coming to terms with these basic principles. And there have been numerous times when I have frantically texted Ginger shortly before midnight in a major panic because I just realized that the recipe called for 2 hours of chilling time before baking and I just didn’t have the luxury of time. Of course at this point Ginger always graciously asks “Did you not read the recipe before you started to make it?”

This is basically how the scenario played out with the apricot tart. As per usual I had signed myself up for to many evening activities, I was tired from… well a gruelling Monday in the office and of course I had some baking to do.

Over the weekend we were lucky enough to have my parents visiting. It was a late birthday celebration for me and when they come up from the Okanagan for my birthday they always bring me fruit. Okanagan fruit always seem to taste better to me. This weekend they arrived with a bunch of freshly pick cherries and a box of apricots. So it seem appropriate to do a little something with apricots this week.

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Now I did make a few of my own adaptations here, I didn’t have a tart pan so I had to make do with one of my other pans and when I pictured my tart in my mind, the tart featured halved apricots. So I ran with that notion. That is until I got to the point in the recipe where it stated that the crust needed to chill for at least 2 hours! How do I always do this to myself?

 

Not one to be shut down by these sorts of complications, I forged ahead. Briefly chilling the dough while I prepped up the fruit, rolled it and shaped it into a “rustic” tart. Honestly, rustic is a kind way to put it. And after a solid 50 minutes of baking my rustic tart was finished! The tart was still lovely even without all the chilling. That is likely the reason why I will never learn to read the recipe before I start baking. Some how, things always still seem to turn out.

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A sweet fruit cake…

It all started when I stumbled on the first raspberries of the season at the farmers market—little baskets of portable summertime. When I first sniffed at them, I was quite sure that I had just identified then next “it” scent. I grabbed a few baskets and carefully brought them home. Sometimes that is no easy task with a bike and a basket of market findings, but I do what I have to do! I had no specific plans, but sometimes you don’t need a plan with a few fresh berries. And when my afternoon of magazine browsing brought me to a certain raspberry cake recipe, everything came together.

Since then, I’ve made this cake a few times. One time with a mix of raspberries and tayberries, one time to share with friends and another time to with my boy. If there is an occasion for a summertime cake, this is the recipe to look to. And while I’ve been tweaking the recipe here and there, it is always a hit. I do expect that it could handle some improvising on the type of fruit added—blueberries, raspberries, blackberries—I think they’d all work just fine. And the little burst of citrus with the berries can do no wrong.

Raspberry Cake

From Sunset’s June 2012 issue

Don’t worry too much if you don’t have the lemon curd on hand. Replacing it with an equal amount of plain yogurt seems to do the trick!

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

3 large eggs

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

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1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup lemon curd

Zest of one lemon

2 1/2 cups flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

4 3/4 cups raspberries (about 18 oz.)

Powdered sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 325°. Butter a 9- by 13- inch baking pan. In a large bowl, beat butter and granulated sugar until fluffy with a mixer. Beat in eggs, salt, vanilla, yogurt, milk, lemon curd and zest of one lemon, until mostly blended.

Add flour, baking soda and baking powder to bowl and beat until smooth. Spread half of batter in pan and top with half of the raspberries. Carefully spread the remaining batter and top with the rest of berries.

Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 1 hour. Mine took a few more minutes, but keep calm! If the cake begins to brown too quickly, tent with foil. Let the cake cool on a cooling rack for about 1 hour, then dust lightly with powdered sugar. Serve with a little whip cream or ice cream and fresh berries!

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