figs, beautiful figs

while shopping at whole foods

i saw figs advertisied for 4.99.

i don't know what "fig season" is
though i do remember my elderly neighbor,
Miss Laura, offering me my fill of figs
from her tree....i think it was summer.

i never took her up on her offer,
partly because i didn't know if i liked the taste,
and also because i didn't really know
what to do with them.

so when i picked up the container at
whole foods and placed it in my basket,
i was committed to finding a use for the fruit.

without doing a lot of research,
i decided to slice them open, shoot lots of photos,
and serve them with goat cheese, walnuts,
 drizzled with honey.

yummy!!!

patio tomatoes

the patio tomatoes are beginning to ripen

with many green tomatoes just waiting....

two more and i will make 

tomato bread pudding

AUNT MYRTLE'S TOMATO PUDDING

1 c. brown sugar 1/2 c. butter 1 c. tomato puree or sauce (in summer, use fresh tomatoes, diced and juiced) 1 pinch of baking soda 2 c. toasted cubed bread (7 slices) Put bread cubes in buttered casserole. Melt sugar and butter until smooth, add puree. Bring to a boil. Add a pinch of baking soda. Remove from heat. Pour tomato mixture over bread. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Very good for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, with turkey or ham. This recipe is at least 100 years old.

gazpacho recipe

it was so stinking HOT yesterday that i couldn't even think about cooking.
with the summer sizzling, heat indexes 115+, and no relief in sight,
i started thinking about puerto rico, and the wonderful gazpacho i had there,
the BEST gazpacho i have EVER had...three times, and each time it was still the best.
the soup was melon colored, in fact, as i tried to identify the sweetness to it,
i remember thinking that perhaps it was made with cantaloupe.

i just happened to look at the Moosewood Restaurant cookbook, and found a recipe that
sounded like it could be similar...a golden gazpacho which had mango, orange juice and cantaloupe as ingredients.

Golden Gazpacho
3 yellow or orange tomatoes
1 cup vegetable stock
1/2 fresh chile, finely minced, (seeds and membrane removed)
1/2 cup fresh lime juice with pulp
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1/4 tsp. salt
2 cups orange juice
1 ripe mango, diced
1/4 ripe cantaloupe, diced
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced
2 T. extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup finely sliced scallions
1 T. minced fresh cilantro (optional)
salt and ground black pepper to taste

a few fresh cilantro leaves
sliced scallions
lime wedges

Peel and chop one of the tomatoes.  In a blender, puree the tomato, stock, chile, lime juice, turmeric, salt, orange juice, 3/4 cup of the diced mango, and 3/4 cup of the diced cantaloupe for about 30 seconds, or until smooth but not frothy.  Pour the mixture into a nonreactive soup pot or soup tureen.

Dice the remaining tomatoes and stir them into the soup with the rest of the mango and cantaouple.  Add the bell peppers, cucumbers, olive oil, and scallions, and the cilantro, if using.  Season with salt and black pepper to taste.  Cover and chill for at least 30 minutes.

Serve the gazpacho cold and garnished with cilantro or scallions.  For extra zing, serve with a wedge of lime.

note: i could not find yellow tomatoes, so i used heirloom tomatoes and some yellow grape tomatoes.

chinese chicken salad

i used to make this for my kids.....they LOVED it! CHINESE CHICKEN SALAD

2 each meaty chicken breasts, shredded 1 head iceberg lettuce 2 to 3 stalks green onion 3 tbsp. sliced almonds, toasted 1/4 c. cilantro, coarsely chopped (optional) 1 tbsp. toasted sesame seeds, optional 1/4 pkg. maifun (rice stick noodles) OR 1 can fried Chinese noodles (ex. Chun King) DRESSING: 1/8 c. sesame oil 1/8 c. salad oil 2 tbsp. sugar 3 tbsp. rice vinegar (if white vinegar, can use less) 1/2 tsp. salt 1/8 tsp. pepper The secret is in the chicken and the lettuce.  Bake the chicken breasts for about 45 minutes in a preheated oven (400 degrees) After it's cooled a bit, tear apart the meat with your fingers into small, thin strips. That way, there's chicken in every bite. The lettuce should be cut (not torn) into 1/4 inch strips. If they're too long to eat gracefully (after all, this isn't spaghetti), cut them into two or three pieces.Slice the green onion (the green and white part, on the diagonal for a true Japanese cut); toast the sliced almonds (if you're in a hurry, just throw them in); clean, pick and chop the cilantro; toast the sesame seeds until they turn golden brown and start popping (you can do them together with the almonds if you want). For authentic noodles, deep fry the maifun rice noodles. Use a small saucepan to use less oil but make more batches, or use a large saucepan to make fewer batches but use a lot more oil. Heat the oil; throw in a few noodles to test the temperature, the noodle should puff up immediately. Break up the noodles and put in a little bunch at a time because it puffs up to more than five times its size. Combine all ingredients for the dressing in a bottle that you can shake well. Just before serving, mix the dressing with the salad ingredients, then fold in the rice noodles carefully. If you pour the dressing on the noodles, it will get soggy immediately.

strawberry picking

the strawberry fields are in bloom and the berries will soon be ready for picking.

i can't wait to make this recipe


Panna Cotta with Balsamic strawberries
from Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa)

Ingredients
1/2 packet (1 teaspoon) unflavored gelatin powder
1 1/2 tablespoons cold water
1 1/2 cups heavy cream, divided
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
1/3 cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
2 pints (4 cups) sliced fresh strawberries
2 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Freshly grated lemon zest, for serving
Directions
In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin on 1 1/2 tablespoons of cold water. Stir and set aside for 10 minutes to allow the gelatin to dissolve.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together 3/4 cup of the cream, the yogurt, vanilla extract, and vanilla bean seeds. Heat the remaining 3/4 cup of cream and the 1/3 cup of sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Off the heat, add the softened gelatin to the hot cream and stir to dissolve. Pour the hot cream-gelatin mixture into the cold cream-yogurt mixture and stir to combine. Pour into 4 (6 to 8-ounce) ramekins or custard cups and refrigerate uncovered until cold. When the panna cottas are thoroughly chilled, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Combine the strawberries, balsamic vinegar, 1 tablespoon sugar, and pepper 30 minutes to 1 hour before serving. Set aside at room temperature.

To serve, run a small knife around each dessert in the ramkein and dip the bottom of each ramekin quickly in a bowl of hot tap water. Invert each ramekin onto a dessert plate and surround the panna cotta with strawberries. Dust lightly with freshly grated lemon zest and serve.

a passover treat

the barefoot contessa
had an easy recipe for macaroons.

a favorite at Passover

Ingredients

• 14 ounces sweetened shredded coconut
• 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 extra-large egg whites, at room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Combine the coconut, condensed milk, and vanilla in a large bowl. Whip the egg whites and salt on high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until they make medium-firm peaks. Carefully fold the egg whites into the coconut mixture.

Drop the batter onto sheet pans lined with parchment paper using either a 1 3/4-inch diameter ice cream scoop, or 2 teaspoons. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown. Cool and serve.

Momma's potato salad

some recipes must be preserved:

Momma's Potato Salad

4# yukon gold or red potatoes

boil, peel and cube (1" pieces)

while still hot, 

pour a mixture of 1/3 cup red wine vinegar

1Tbsp. Splenda

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

over the cubed potatoes

let sit for at least 1 hour

add: 1 cup finely chopped celery

1 cup finely chopped green bell pepper (1 pepper)

1 1/2 cup Hellman's mayonnaise

1 Tbsp. celery seed

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

2 hard boiled eggs chopped (optional)

mix together and chill

serve cold

oatmeal cookies

snowed in
with 12+ inches
found some boots
gloves, and
a hooded jacket....

out in the early
morning to
clean off
the rental car
but still can't
get out on
the street....waiting
for the snow plow.

snowed in...
so we are baking
chocolate chip
and oatmeal raisin
cookies with
Grandma's recipe.

2 C. brown sugar
1 1/2 C. butter
2 eggs
2 C. Oatmeal
salt
2 C. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. cloves
1/2 tsp baking powder
raisins optional

grease pans and
bake for 13 minutes
at 350 degrees

the scalloped potato bowl

You know how at Thanksgiving or Christmas
there is a certain bowl or dish that is always served?
In our family, it is scalloped potatoes in my grandmother's
red pyrex bowl.
Although i'm sure it was used for other things,
I can only remember that bowl being used for
scalloped potatoes.
Whether it was Sunday dinner (every Sunday we
went to Grandma's for dinner), Easter, Thanksgiving
or Christmas, the red bowl was set on the table
and when the lid was removed....there were the
scalloped potatoes, all hot and bubbly, the edges
brown/black with burned and scalded milk.  (to this day,
I have always hated it when it was my turn to do the dishes...
scrubbing off all of those spatters and burnt crust
of starch and milk....easier just to soak it)
50 years later, my sister is in charge of making
the scalloped potatoes for any family gathering.
They are still baked in my grandmother's red lidded pyrex dish and
placed in the center of the table.
We all know what is inside.

scalloped potatoes

4 large potatoes
2 T. Butter
2 T. flour
1 cup milk
salt and pepper to taste

Thinly slice potatoes, rinse, and arrange in dish.
Melt the butter in a saucepan, stir flour into
melted butter. Whisk in the milk and stir constantly
until the mixture thickens.
Pour the milk mixture over the layered potatoes.
Bake for approximately 1 hour in a 375 degree F oven.