Make your basil last

As fall starts, I begin to think of ways to freeze the best fresh goodies of summer. I learned a great way to make your basil last from my good friend and a great cook, LA. She makes pesto and freezes it in small containers. It defrosts quite well to eat on it’s own or with pasta, but also adds the best kick of flavor to any winter soups. YUM!

1. Gather fresh basil, garlic, parmesan cheese, and nuts
I used sliced almonds because that’s what I had. Pine nuts are the usual nut of choice, though I like walnuts the best. You’ll have to adjust your olive oil quantity based on how oily your nuts are. I had to add much more oil with the almonds than I have in the past. 

2. Puree with olive oil
You’ll have to adjust your olive oil quantity based on how oily your nuts are. I had to add much more oil with the almonds than I have in the past. You want to be able puree until smooth, so you need a fair amount of moisture to make sure the mixture moves well with the blades.

 

3. Eat and/or store

I take the small jam and honey jars from hotels and use them to freeze small quantities of my goods! 

End of summer tomatoes

I try to buy flats of tomatoes and find ways to extend their lifespan…

Roasting them is top of my list. Thanks to smittenkitchen for this how to!

Slow Roasted Tomatoes (via smitten kitchen)

I know what you’re going to say: “You want me to turn on my oven in the middle of the summer for three freakin’ hours? Are you insane?” And all I can say is, well, yes, but also the oven is so low that I swear it won’t heat up your apartment in any noticeable or annoying way.

Cherry, grape or small Roma tomatoes
Whole gloves of garlic, unpeeled
Olive oil
Herbs such as thyme or rosemary (optional)

Preheat oven to 225°F. Halve each cherry or grape tomato crosswise, or Roma tomato lengthwise and arrange on a parchment-lined baking sheet along with the cloves of garlic. Drizzle with olive oil, just enough to make the tomatoes glisten. Sprinkle herbs on, if you are using them, and salt and pepper, though go easily on these because the finished product will be so flavorful you’ll need very little to help it along.

Bake the tomatoes in the oven for about three hours. You want the tomatoes to be shriveled and dry, but with a little juice left inside–this could take more or less time depending on the size of your tomatoes.

Either use them right away or let them cool, cover them with some extra olive oil and keep them in the fridge for the best summer condiment, ever. And for snacking.

The story behind Herriott Grace and their stunning kitchenware.

Beautiful hand crafted kitchenware

I love the story of Herriott Grace. Nikole Herriott convinced her father his skill and craft were worthy of sharing with others. Their partnership produced a touching video (see later post) and continues to produce stunning hand crafted items. 

Listen to your asparagus

Ever gotten to the bottom of an asparagus spear and found it too stringy to eat? It’s easy to avoid.

Simply bend the bottom of the spear and it will naturally break in exactly the right spot. You be left with the well hydrated portion and enjoy every bite of your asparagus.

FYI only works with fresh asparagus. If your asparagus is flimsy, the stems wont break at all. 

How to use your yolks

I made an angle food cake for a great friend this week. After we scarfed it down, I realized I was left with 12 beautiful unused yolks. 

Here are my top five ways to use extra egg yolks:
Vanilla custard
 
(via taste.com) 

Gold Cake (calls for all 12 of my yolks!)
 
(via allrecipies.com) 

Lemon Curd
 
(via joy of baking)

Flan

(via cafe munchkin) 

Avgolemono Soup (Greek lemon chicken soup) Great savory use of your yolks!

 
(via simply recipes)

Berry peach cake

This cake didn’t last long.

The fruit was center stage and the dough had a nice cornmeal texture with out tasting like it. It’s a versatile cake, it served as one nights dessert and the next morning’s breakfast. 

1. Cream the butter and the sugar

2. Stir eggs and rind into the creamed sugar

 

3. Mix in the dry ingredients

4. Select the best fresh fruit and dice

5. Pour batter into a skillet and drop in the fruit

6. Bake and enjoy! 

Ingredients:

¼ cup (1/2 stick) butter
grated zest of one lemon
1 cup flour
2 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 pinch salt
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
2 cups diced fruit
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Cream the butter and the sugar. Add the grated lemon zest. Add the eggs, and vanilla, stirring each to combine. In a separate bowl combine the flour, salt, and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir to combine. Pour the batter into a cast iron skillet. Top with the fruit. Sprinkle some sugar on top of the fruit. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the top is browned.

Thanks to design sponge and Lena Corwin for this one. Check out my earlier reference to the cake here.

The beauty of the bolt

Sometimes letting your plants bolt and go to flower is a beautiful thing.

I love these chive flowers I picked from my garden yesterday.

 

Purslane, the weed you should love to eat

I’ve wanted to try purslane for awhile now. It has incredible nutritional qualities and looks a bit like a succulent. Thanks to Tama Matsuoka author of Foraged Flavor for turning me on to it.

According to Prairieland CSA: Purslane has more beta-carotene than spinach, as well as high levels of magnesium and potassium. Historically it has been used as a remedy for arthritis and inflammation by European cultures. Chinese herbalists found similar benefits, using it in respiratory and circulatory function. It’s been found that purslane has alpha linolenic acid, a type of omega-3 fatty acid. Researchers see evidence that these substances lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels as well as make the blood less likely to form clots. 

Chicken with purslane and summer veggies

This was a super easy dinner that took advantage of the farmer’s market’s best: fresh corn and dry farm tomatoes!

1. Wash and chop the purslane

2. Cover chicken breasts in olive oil, salt and pepper and bake for 35 mins at 350 (or until done)
 

3. Cut the raw kernels off the cob

4. Cut tomatoes and defrost frozen peas (I used dry farm tomatoes as they taste the best)

5. Sautee the veggie mix in butter. They sauté the purslane. 

6. Plate, serve and enjoy!
 

 

The true meaning of color

Pantone didn’t know how beautiful color could be until Griottes added food.

I love. 

Gussy up your pies

Thanks Martha for these tips. They look great, I wonder if they are as easy as the images look. If you try some, let me know!

Braided Edge

Presentation matters

I almost don’t care how these tastes, they looks beautiful. Every year when I was growing up, my mom would decorate my cake with local season berries. This reminded me of that, so I suppose there’s a sentimental piece too. 

Regardless…stunning!! 

(via apollinas)

(via mimithorisson)

Freeze the taste of summer

I love my fresh herbs, but I don’t use them enough as I should in the summer and I miss them in the winter. This great post from the kitchn shows you how easy it is to freeze your herbs. Freezing them in oil prevents them from browning and freezer burn, but better than that… it infuses their flavors into the oil. Double win!

8 Steps for Freezing Herbs in Oil

1. Choose firm, fresh herbs, ideally from the market or your own garden.
2. If you wish, you can chop them fine. Or leave them in larger sprigs and leaves. Here I froze a combination of finely-chopped and whole herbs such as rosemary, fennel stalk, sage, and oregano.
3. Pack the wells of ice cube trays about 2/3 full of herbs.
4. You can mix up the herbs, too; think about freezing a bouquet garni of sage, thyme, and rosemary to add to winter roast chickens and potatoes!
5. Pour extra-virgin olive oil or melted, unsalted butter over the herbs.
6. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and freeze overnight.
7. Remove the frozen cubes and store in freezer containers or small bags.
8. Don’t forget to label each container or bag with the type of herb (and oil) inside!

Oh come on! This is brilliant. 

Padron peppers are summer’s specialty

Bright green and delicious, padron peppers need nothing more than oil and salt to please a crowd. They are savory and a little sweet and addictive. One in 10 is hot, but the heat is not too much to handle. Be warned they don’t last long! 

Sautee them with some olive oil until they are soft and browned. Don’t worry about them getting blackened, they soften when taken off the heat and are perfect. Sprinkle with sea salt and server. (Or, as my fellow kitchen experimenter AB says, with blue cheese for a truly decadent treat.)
 

When they are ready to serve they’ll look like the above photo, but likely you’ll just see the image below.