Cilantro Corn Salad

Here's a quick corn salad that tastes great warm or cold. Fresh corn, roasted chile peppers, and onions add crunch, butter adds silkiness, and plenty of clinatro provides a fresh, herby taste. This salad was a collaboration between my brother-in-law and me, and we were quite happy with the results! We also had leftover corn salad the following morning with eggs and tomatoes.

Two Types of Pickles

Pickles. Tart, sour, garlicky, sweet, and spicy are all flavors that I enjoy when eating pickles. I really love almost any type of pickle that is passed my way. The exception is a pickle swimming in neon yellow-green juice and a soggy pickle. No thank you, not worth it, and what makes the juice in those pickles that color, anyway???

Grilled Summer Bounty

Since we were headed out of town this weekend, I decided to grill up almost any vegetable that was still hanging around our kitchen. The simply grilled veggies made a great, easy dinner, and the kitchen remained cool and almost mess-free. I served this with some chicken, marinated in lemon juice and olive oil and grilled, and bread, toasted on the grll, with a melted farmhouse cheddar on top. A perfect meal for a hot evening, served best at room-temperature, and leftovers will not be frowned upon. (Grilled veggie omlets, anyone? Sandwiches with goat cheese and grilled vegetables? The list could go on and on.

Goat Cheese-Stuffed Zucchini with a Tomato Reduction

We've made this recipe twice this summer, and it's quite tasty. Served with a simple green salad and a piece of grilled chicken or shrimp, it's decadent-tasting, but not too bad for you! The recipe is inspired by a recipe in Paul Gayler's A Passion for Vegetables, but definitely changed to reflect what was in our refridgerator at the time. Plus, we cut back significantly on usage of cheese and olive oil in order to slim it down a bit. One of Mr. Gayler's tips is that this stuffing would be wonderful in other vegetables, such as tomatoes and eggplants, or used as a ravioli stuffing. I would certainly try this, but I'd probably add in even more vegetables, like carrots and mushrooms. The sauce in this recipe is a reduction of sorts. The balsamic vinegar, diced tomatoes, and fresh basil all infuse one another with flavor. Combined with the other fresh herbs and goat cheese, this is quite a flavorful and rich dish.

Bye-Bye Babies

Our CSA newsletters for the past few weeks have included paragraphs lamenting the Phytopythora infestans that has been destroying tomato crops in the Northeast regions. There will be very little, if any, tomatoes from the farm this year, and for anyone who's grown their own tomatoes, or who's enjoyed the fruits fresh from a farmstand or local section in the grocery store, this is a major letdown. I had planned on using the tomatoes that I received from the farm to make jars of homemade salsa and tomato sauce. I purchased six lovely tomato plants from an organic vendor at the Northampton Farmer's Market, which I planted in my gardens and had expected to have a bountiful harvest of tomatoes for eating fresh...

On Sunday afternoon, we returned home from a weekend away to discover that the tomatoes in my garden had begun to succumb to the evil late blight. David removed two half-ripened tomatoes that had the markings of the disease; brown, dent-like splotches. Ripe tomatoes that I had picked prior to going away were also beginning to show signs. Eating the affected fruits are not harmful to humans, but the marks do make the tomatoes quite unattractive, and they rot very fast.

I've been keeping up with the information posted on the UMass Extension website, as well as information published by Cornell University. Once gardeners discover the disease on their plants, the whole plant must be destroyed, and NOT placed in the compost pile. The spores from the infected plants travel with the wind, and composting would actually help the bacteria grow; a very bad thing. The spores travel to other gardens and farms, miles and miles away!

On Tuesday, I removed 2 of my 6 tomato plants from the garden, ripping them right out of the ground, and losing the precious tomatoes that I had been caring for these past few months. I bagged the diseased plants, and they will be put out with the trash this week. It was tough to do, but knowing that farms throughout the Northeast, like my CSA farm, have had to destroy full crops of tomatoes, made me feel as if it was my duty to destroy just a little bit of the mean late blight.

I'll enjoy the nine tomatoes I harvested from my garden for as long as I can. And I've plucked a few healthy-looking green tomatoes for pan-frying (which I'd normally do in the late fall, before the frost sets in). And I'll be waiting patiently for next summer, when I hope that the sun will shine brighter and the tomatoes will be plentiful.

For more information on late blight, visit the UMass Vegetable Program. If you suspect your plants are diseased, there are contact numbers on the UMass website for you to call to confirm the diagnosis.

Sangria!

As promised, I am providing you with my friend Corrie’s red sangria recipe. Although this has nothing to do with produce received from the CSA or anything plucked from my garden, I wanted to share it. Corrie developed an extremely drinkable sangria, that is flavorful but not too sweet. I’m including her recipe below, but she also has it posted on her site, where she writes about all things current, stylish, and interesting. QuietInTheBack Check it out!

Recipe: Quiet In The Back Sangria Red

(1) 1.5L bottle of red wine (shiraz, montepulciano, etc)
*Mei’s reco: Hunter’s Hill Reserve Selection 2006 Shiraz – Australia
(1) 750ml bottle of red wine
*Mei’s reco: Terrazzo Sangiovese 60% Montepulciano 40% Esino Rosso 2008 – Italy
1/3 cup unflavored seltzer
3 tablespoons of brandy
*I used Paul Mason Grande Amber Brandy
1/3 cup orange juice
1/2 grapefruit sliced in triangle cubes
2 small oranges thinly sliced rounds
1/2 lemon thinly sliced rounds
2 cinnamon sticks

Combine wine, brandy, orange juice, fruit and cinnamon sticks in a pot/bowl and chill overnight or for at least 6 hours (so I was told). Before serving, remove cinnamon sticks and add seltzer. It goes without saying that sangria should be served in a festive pitcher and fun glassware to enhance the presentation and tasting anticipation! FYI-the marinated fruit packs a real punch, be warned! This recipe fills 2 pitchers worth of sangria or approximately 22-24 glasses.

FYI, Mei is one of the owners of Artisan Wine Shop in Beacon, NY.
Photo courtesy of CB, QuietInTheBack.

T.W. Food, A Review

I just wanted to write a quick little ditty about the amazing birthday dinner I had last week in Cambridge, MA. David was on restaurant-detail, and he called upon a friend's expertise on Boston area restaurants for help in scouting out a special, but not superfancy, restaurant. She gave him a handful of recommendations and we visited each website so we could make an educated decision for the birthday dinner.

I knew T.W. Food was "the one" as soon as I viewed the website. The simplicity of the site and food photographs on the main page drew me in. The discovery that the menu changes daily, the fact that EVERYTHING is house-made, and the information about the husband and wife team that run the restaurant solidified my decision. We made an early reservation...3 1/2 hours after we arrived at the restaurant, we left feeling happy and full (but not in a bad way!)

The food, wine, and atmosphere was wonderful. We invited along another couple, and we all chose the Prix Fixe option. (I tried to convince everyone that we should go for the Grand Tasting, a six-course meal with option of a wine pairing, but no one seemed up to the challenge.) Some of us could not make up our minds on what to order, so we supplemented the three courses with more food. Hey, it was my birthday, right?!

The meal began with an amuse bouche of mushroom ice cream....seriously rich, and not something I'll be craving in the future, but certainly an intriguing start to what proved to be an amazing meal. We dined on house cured meats, country pates, homemade pickled turnips, pork jowl, and I even tried the blood sausage. That was the first course. Then, there was the swiss and rainbow chard gratin (which I'd like to recreate somehow), a creamy and rich fresh garlic soup, a beef tartare, and a farmer's salad. For entrees, I don't remember exactly what everyone ordered, but I selected a fish dish that was tasty, although I was starting to feep pretty full, and needed to save room for dessert! I had the chocolate budino, which is like a thick mousse, topped with olive oil, sea salt, and hazelnuts. The hit of the evening was the dessert that the gentlemen at our table ordered...Scotch and Cigars...the description on the menu reads "dark chocolate mousse, tobacco infused crème anglaise, balvenie 12 year single malt scotch syrup". The next time I go to T.W. Food, you can bet I'll be getting my own Scotch and Cigars! It was one of the best desserts I've ever tasted.

If you're in the Boston area and have not yet checked out this restaurant, you must. And if you live far away, you should plan a weekend getaway to Boston and make this part of your itinerary.

Oh, and check out our friend and trusty Boston restaurant "guide"! Her name is Leah, and she's the Boston Sustainable Food Examiner. Thanks for the recommendation, Leah!

Crabapple Liqueur

When we moved into our home a few years ago, we were excited to discover that four of the trees in our yard were fruit bearing. We have three pear trees, but unfortunately the fruit is totally inedible. Pears fall too early from the trees each summer, littering the lawn and attracting birds; when they begin to sweeten and then rot, we’ve got bees and wasps. Eventually, we plan on removing these trees and planting something else in our backyard. We decided to plant two more fruit trees this spring on our property. Our front yard is now home to a sour cherry tree and a White Lady peach tree, and we are looking forward to using these fruits for jams, crisps, and fresh-fruit eating!

Quick Tip: Fresh Tomato, Eggplant, and Basil Stacks

Here's a quick meal or easy appetizer that really tastes as good as this picture looks. David and I ate this for dinner on the evening that I made 4 trays of my eggplant parmesan. We used the first tomato from our garden, a few rounds of fried eggplant, a slice or two of mozzarella (fresh is really the best option, if you can get it), freshly picked basil, and a drizzle of an amazing balsamic vinegar that my parents brought back from their recent trip to Italy. It was spectacular and satisfying. I will be making this for the rest of the summer, but I'll be grilling the eggplant or perhaps zucchini, for a healthier option.

P.S. David took that photo. Isn't it gorgeous? (Click on it to enlarge, but try not to drool all over your keyboard.)

Eggplant Parmesan with a Garden Vegetable Sauce

I am half Italian and half German. If pressed to choose which side I identify with more, I'd say the Italian. My maiden name ends in an "o," my family tends to be pretty boisterous and loud, and every Sunday growing up was "macaroni day." My mom or dad would start making a sauce early in the morning; waking up, I'd always smell the onion and garlic browning, or the meatballs frying. Sometimes "macaroni day" meant spaghetti and meatballs, ravoli and sauce, or eggplant parmesan. On special occasions, such as Christmas, there would be (and still is) anything from chicken marsala to homemade manicotti, fettucine alfredo, or lasagna. I assume that my dad learned to make many of the above recipes from my grandmother Josephine, although I'm not sure (and this is a reminder for me to ask).

Carrot Cupcakes with a Lemon Cream Cheese Icing

Preface: Sorry about this past week and the lack of posts. Life happens. Let's move on, shall we?


Last weekend, we attended a Summer Soiree at the apartment of our friends, Corrie and John. Corrie and John will be married this October, and they decided to throw a little party to introduce their closest friends to one another prior to the big day.