Capturing Summer

It's something I've been wondering for a while now, well, at least since the first signs of fall a couple weeks ago--how can I make summer last as long as possible? Is it through farmer's market produce? Fresh brewed sun tea? The perfect cheeseburger?


I tried these methods, but sadly it just isn't working for me. I suppose the incoming rain and cooling temperatures are just going to require a change in mindset. It's the season for soups, stews, perhaps endless cookies and...pumpkin lattes?

I ran across a recipe for these [pumpkin spice lattes] a few days back and can't get enough! I've never tried the "authentic" Starbucks one, but its like drinking a mild pumpkin pie, and super easy to make with a bit of canned pumpkin. An espresso machine whips this up in a hurry (just steam the ingredients), otherwise the method listed on the site works just as well.

Pin It

broiled tomato and eggplant

I made broiled tomatoes to go with breakfast the other day; a quick, simple, and perhaps non-traditional breakfast food that comes together VERY quickly. It's also a great way to use up summer tomatoes. Depending on your individual preference, you may wish to broil the tomatoes for a few minutes for a cooked tomato texture.

Broiled Tomatoes

Ripe tomatoes, cored and halved
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

1. Set the oven to broil, 500 degrees.
2. Place the tomatoes cut side up on a baking sheet.
3. Drizzle with olive oil and season liberally with salt and pepper.
4. Broil tomatoes for 1 minute.

I am by no means an expert on Japanese cuisine. I do know they have a delicious miso eggplant side dish, though the Japanese eggplant is often cooked until soft (and slightly mushy). Until I find a real recipe for this dish, I'll continue to play around with different combinations for the miso sauce. This is my latest version; I like the combination of sweet and salty:

Broiled Japanese Eggplant

Japanese eggplant, in 1/2 inch lengthwise slices
1 tbsp white miso
1 tbsp mirin
1/2 tsp honey

1. Set the oven to broil, 500 degrees.
2. In a small bowl, combine the miso, mirin, and honey and stir until combined.
3. Place eggplant slices onto a baking sheet, then brush the miso sauce over each eggplant slice.
4. Broil for 2-3 minutes, until slightly browned. At this point, the eggplant should still have a bit of firmness to it.

Pin It

Farmer's Market Orzo Salad

I used fresh from the garden vegetables to throw together this pasta salad: zucchini and yellow squash. These plants yield huge quantities so it's always good to have a few more recipes in your summertime arsenal. I love this salad for its fresh color and all the cheese; I think its a great way to spice up some summer vegetables that become a bit bland and boring by the end of the summer.

Farmer's Market Orzo Salad

Ingredients

• 1/2 box orzo pasta (about 4 servings)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, pressed
• 1 small zucchini, cubed
• 1 yellow squash, cubed
• 3-5 sprigs of thyme leaves
• 1 1/2 cups Parmesan cheese, grated

Method

1. In a large saucepan, cook the orzo in boiling water for about 9 minutes until cooked. Drain and set aside.
2. Using the same pan, heat the oil over medium low. Add the onion and garlic, stirring occasionally until caramelized, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Meanwhile, prepare the vegetables and grate the cheese. When onions are ready, add the vegetables and thyme and stir, sauteing for three minutes, until the squash and zucchini are slightly cooked but still firm.
4. Add the cheese, then the pasta, and stir until combined. Season once more with salt and pepper to taste.
5. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Pin It

Sparkling Jelly Dessert

Another day, another Japanese recipe. Jelly seems to be popular in Japan, and by jelly, I mean gelatinous liquid. From coffee jelly in espresso drinks and desserts to tomato jelly in pasta, nothing is off limits. I think jelly is cool and refreshing, perfect for summer. This recipe is from 大人のお菓子, which I will try to call "Sophisticated Snacks" or something like that going forward. The original recipe uses sparkling wine, but I tried making it with sparkling juice as well and it was just as tasty. Use whatever sparkling beverage strikes your fancy; for sweetened beverages, like soda, omit the sugar.


Sparkling Jelly

5g gelatin, or about 1 packet
2 tbsp water (to soften gelatin)
50mL water
30g sugar
250mL sparkling wine, or other sparkling beverage

1. In a small bowl, combine the gelatin and 2 tbsp water. Set aside.
2. Using the microwave or stovetop, combine the sugar (if using) and water and boil until the sugar is dissolved. Transfer liquid into a bowl; this bowl will later be used to chill the gelatin until ready to serve.
3. Add the gelatin to the hot water, stirring to combine. Gently pour in the sparkling wine.
4. Set aside 50mL of this mixture at room temperature for later. Cover the surface of the remaining liquid with plastic wrap. Place into an ice water bath and refrigerate.
5. Before serving, whisk the room temperature liquid until foamy. Spoon the chilled jelly into small serving glasses and top with a spoonful of foamed gelatin.

If you run out of foamed jelly, you can take a bit of your chilled gelatin, heat it up to get it back to liquid state, and then froth away.

Pin It

Japanese Style Cheesecake

This recipe comes from a Japanese cookbook, 大人のお菓子. If you've ever had Japanese desserts, they are complete different from anything else--light, perfectly proportioned, not too sweet, and absolutely delicious!

After five failed attempts to make this cheesecake properly, cheesecake #6 turned out perfectly. Tenacity pays off, my friends.

Japanese Style Cheesecake

*This recipe is yields one 6" round cheesecake. If you use a larger pan, you may need to double or even triple the crust recipe to accommodate.

Ingredients

Crust:

• 50g graham cracker, crushed to bits (1/4 C)
• 20g butter, melted (1.5 tbsp)

Filling:

• 200g cream cheese, softened (7 oz)
• 90g creme fraiche or sour cream (1/2 C)
• 80g sugar (1/3 C)
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp cream
• 10g cake flour (2 1/4 tsp)
• 1" vanilla bean, split and seeds removed (or 2 tsp vanilla extract)

Method

To make the crust:

1. Crush the graham crackers into pieces in a plastic bag.
2. Combine and mix with butter until well blended. Press into the bottom of the baking dish to form the crust.
3. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes while you prepare the filling.

To make the filling:

1. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg white and remaining sugar until stiff peaks form (this may take a few minutes with an electric mixer, be warned).
2. Gently fold 1/3 of the cream cheese mixture into the egg whites until just blended. Fold in remaining cream cheese.

To finish the cheesecake:

1. Carefully pour the cream cheese filling over the prepared crust, smoothing the top.
2. Place cheesecake on the middle rack of a preheated, 340 degree oven. On the lower rack, place a baking dish filled with a few inches of water to provide moisture.
3. Bake for about 40 minutes at 340 degrees, then reduce the heat to 320 and bake for an additional 20 minutes. At this point, the cheesecake should be cracked on top and slightly "jiggly".
4. Remove cheesecake and allow to cool on a rack.

The cake is perfect by itself, but add a spoonful of berry jam or sauce (try blueberry lemon or strawberry black pepper!) for a real treat :)

Pin It

the joys of the scale

I've become a bit...unstoppable, we'll say, since recently purchasing a kitchen scale. Before, I was a bit annoyed when recipes were in grams. Now, I just roll with it and dare I say prefer this kind of measuring. No bothering with measuring cups and spoons! After buying an absolutely gorgeous glass top kitchen scale for a wedding gift, I had to get in on the action and bought a black and stainless steel one.

I am most excited about this purchase because it allows me to more easily cook from my Japanese snack/sweets cookbook, 大人のお菓子, literally "adult sweets". The book contains sophisticated cookies, cakes, and desserts and I am having great fun translating and trying out the recipes (no need to sloppily convert grams to cups with my new scale). I will admit, I have one huge translation issue, resulting in 5 less than perfect items. Clearly I don't give up easily.

Pin It

Rosewater-White Chocolate Flavored Coffee

Really, this is just a slightly jazzed up cup of coffee. I am not generally a coffee fan, though I will drink sweetened espresso drinks on occasion. Somehow, paying $4 for a cup of milk with coffee just doesn't appeal to me. I came up with the idea for a drink like this; who doesn't have a pot of coffee in their kitchen at home or at the office? Adding milk/cream and syrup makes that plain brown water into something special.

I like the idea of rosewater because it adds a nice floral scent and delicate flavor that lingers. This would also be fantastic as a white chocolate mocha, just substitute the white chocolate simple syrup for a white chocolate syrup. Both are available at standard grocery stores.

Rosewater-White Chocolate Flavored Coffee

Ingredients

• 1 scoop ground coffee
• 8 oz boiling water
• 4 oz milk, hot
• 1 oz white chocolate flavored simple syrup
• 1/2 oz rosewater

Method

1. Prepare coffee in a french press, brewing for 1 minute.
2. Combine all liquids into a mug and serve.

Pin It

New York Cheesecake (ニューヨークチーズケーキ)

I'm getting adventurous...Inspired by a recent trip to Japan, I perused the Kinokuniya bookstore for Japanese cookbooks before settling on one for desserts and snacks. 大人のお菓子 translates to "adult sweets" and is filled with a variety of recipes, all of which look pretty simple. This is before translation of Japanese to English and measurement conversion. I've tackled recipe conversion once the other way around; it turned out okay, not perfect, but okay.

I've settled on ニューヨークチーズケーキ, "New York Cheesecake", a classic. The proof is in the pudding though, so we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

See the cheesecake recipe here.

Pin It

Blueberry, Lemon, and Chili Pepper Jam

I'm not going to lie...I went back to pick even more blueberries--for this recipe! It just didn't seem right to dig into my freezer stash to make this.

I made a blueberry, lemon, chili pepper jam the other day and had to have more. I was expecting it to be spicy, with the jalapeno and habenero peppers, but the peppers just add a bit of heat (not spiciness). It's really good! I think it would be good with cornbread or biscuits, you know, served up in a bowl...

Blueberry, Lemon, Chili Pepper Jam

Ingredients

• 3 pints blueberries
• 2 1/4 cups demerara sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick, toasted
• 1 lemon rind, sliced into thin strips
• 1 tbsp jalapeno, minced
• 1/2 tsp habenero, minced
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 2 tbsp cilantro, sliced

Method

1. If using, prepare the canning pot, jars, lids, bands, etc.
2. In a large pot, add the blueberries and sugar; mash berries and blend well with the sugar. Add the cinnamon stick, lemon zest, peppers, and salt.
3. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer for 30 minutes, stirring often. Jam should thicken slightly.
4. Stir in the cilantro and cook for about 1 minute. Remove cinnamon stick.
5. Fill into jars or container. If canning, process for 10 minutes, then sit at room temperature for 24 hours; refrigerate any jars that do not seal. Otherwise, refrigerate until ready for use.

Pin It

Blueberry Rhubarb Crisp

Continuing the blueberry theme...this is the best blueberry dessert I have EVER eaten. I'm already freezing blueberries and rhubarb so I can make this all year. The best part is the simplicity of it; you mix up some crumble topping, toss the fruit with some standard pantry items, throw into the pan, and bake!



Blueberry Rhubarb Crisp
Bob's Red Mill Baking Book

Topping
¼ cup unbleached white flour
¼ cup soy flour
½ cup brown sugar, packed
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground nutmeg
5 tbsp butter, chilled and diced

Filling
1/3 cup sugar
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp whole wheat flour
2 cups rhubarb, diced into ½ inch pieces
2 cups blueberries

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and grease a 9x9 inch baking dish.
2. For the topping, combine the flours, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a small bowl. Add the butter and work it into the flour mixture until crumbly. Refrigerate while making the filling.
3. In a small bowl, stir together the sugar, cinnamon, and flour. Add the rhubarb and blueberries, tossing well.
4. Spread the mixture in a prepared baking dish. Sprinkle topping over the fruit and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the topping is brown and the fruit is bubbling. Serve warm.

Pin It