peach pie

Behold a peach pie, hot from the oven in my hot little kitchen. This pie is rustic, not a lot of finesse .

Those ripe peaches needed to be used. And I had lard in the fridge. Used half lard, half butter in the crust. Did not use quite enough flour, so the crust was a bit tender, kind of patched together. No matter.

I did not peel the peaches. The skins lent a lovely rose color to the juice in the baked pie. Added a splash of good bourbon. It rounded out the sweetness of the peaches and sugars.

Pie making should be a common and natural thing. Not rare, not fussy, not anxious. As they say, easy as pie.

A Fine Mess

I have a rather fine mess in a bowl on my old wooden chopping block right now. Our eggplants are coming in and our heirloom black plum tomatoes are at peak season I think. On several days this week I’ve roasted and puréed tomatoes for the freezer. They make a wonderful sauce base in the fall and winter. Many eggplants have been blanched and frozen in slices for lasagnas or roasting later on.

I picked the remaining small eggplants today and decided to skin, dice and cook them in olive oil til golden on several sides. I dumped the browned eggplant into a bowl and I added some skinned and roasted black plum tomatoes to them. Then I cooked a chopped yellow onion til gold in the pan and added to the other veg. The rich, sweet tomatoes complemented the lush eggplant, the onion added a little texture.

This mess has such potential as a sauce: reheat as is and serve on pasta, add some kalamata or other interesting olives or add some capers and/or some anchovies, or fresh basil or all of the above! Or puréed til smooth, on a pizza or pasta.

Or as a spread much like a caponata (minus the celery), chilled and chopped more finely with capers on rounds of good bread.

Versatile.

Neglect and a new start

I have been quite remiss in not posting many of the cooking adventures I've had since late last year. I had such strong opinions about holiday food! I'll gather these thoughts and share as we get closer to the holidays this year. Anyway, it is now summer and the garden is starting to do good things for us.

I tried a new zucchini in our garden this year: Tender Grey. The seed came from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange in Va. Their heirloom varieties are well tested in our hot, humid South, and the catalog is great fun to read, as well being very informative. My zucchinis are coming in nicely. I had bought some good looking Brandywine tomatoes from our local Sat. farmer’s market.

It seemed right to put them together. In an oiled gratin pan, I layered them with a little chopped basil and some finely chopped garlic. I added a couple of finely sliced shallots as well. I topped with some panko dotted with very good butter and grated fresh parmigiano reggiano over the whole thing. Baked in oven at 350 until bubbly and brown.

I did not take a picture when it came out of oven, but here it is: left over from our dinner with friends. I wish you could smell it. Even cold it is redolent with garden goodness.

Monday soup

There is little that is as satisfying as the moment all the flavors come together harmoniously in something I am cooking. Last night I roasted a chicken with some tarragon, lemon and some garlic inside. Today I discarded those flavorings and tossed the bony remains into a pot, covered them with water and added a half of a medium onion and some sea salt. As the broth cooked the tarragon flavor became very bossy, demanding alot of attention.

After chilling, straining and de-greasing the broth, I assembled the soup: a little celery, diced small. the chicken meat, some carrot slivers, and a good amount of sliced baby portabellas. I plucked a few woody stems of thyme and I added a generous grinding of black pepper and a sploosh of sauvignon blanc. After awhile I tasted. I added more salt. The flavors were balanced: It was rich and delicious. The tarragon had taken a step back and had allowed the other flavors to emerge. Nice tarragon, playing well with others.

At the end, I added one third of a cup of Israeli couscous. I'd intended to use rice and was disappointed to find none around. But, the big pearly couscous added a good texture and contrast to the small veg and meat pieces.

A good soup.

Soup for Today

My sister sent me this recipe. I made it today and it is positively addictive. I also added a chopped jalapeno, one of the last in the garden.

Nayana Desai's Mung Bean Soup

I c. mung beans washed
5 cups water
If cooking beans in pressure cooker it takes about 15 minutes
Otherwise soak for a couple hours and then cook til quite soft- 40min or so
( FF note: I did a little research and mung beans do not need to be pre-soaked, they are more like a lentil
in that regard.. of course you'll have to cook them longer to attain desired falling apart stage in the soup)

In small frying pan heat 3 T safflower or soy oil
Add
1 t. whole cumin seed
When they start to brown slightly add
1t. turmeric
Then add this stuff to the beans

Add remaining ingredients:
3T lemon juice
1/2 t. curry powder.
2t. cilantro
1 T. chopped fresh ginger
2T. sugar
2T. tomato sauce (you can give a squeeze
of catsup instead of the last two ingredients.)
2 t. unsweeted grated coconut if you have it.

Add water to desired consistency-
(I like it watery and makes a couple qts for me.)
Cook 1/2 hour over medium heat.

fall-lite

So it is Saturday. And it's a little cool and could rain but has been oddly warm this week, the moist tropical air making us all discombobulated.

I want to eat something sort of fall-ish, but not totally fall: no pork, no apples, no roasted cauliflower.

So here is what I am doing. I am chopping some kale and some beat up garden tomatoes, and some onion and a medium sweet potato. And I'll cook the onions and sweet potato til golden in a little olive oil, then add the tomatoes and kale and a teeny bit of water. After awhile, I'll add two or three garlic cloves, smashed and chopped Then, as it all comes together and the kale is softening, I'll add some fresh thyme and some fresh oregano. Then I may have to add a little more water and turn the heat down to medium low and cover. I'll add a little butter at the very end. My theory is that the sweet potato will add sweetness to the bitter kale and will create body in the sauce. I will serve this on cheese mezzaluna ravioli.

Could be good.

after dinner postscript: it was very good.

breakfast

Poach an egg. Chop up a ripe tomato from your garden, or your neighbor's garden, or your favorite farmer's market. Toast a piece of bread.( I used pumpernickel). Cut up the toast into little squares. Put all this in a colorful or pretty bowl. Shave a little parmesan or whatever hard cheese you have on top.

good morning.