Pasta with Eggplant and Pancetta

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What’s in your frig?  Make pasta for a cool fall evening.  Pancetta helps.

We lived for four years in Dayton, Ohio.  How at home I felt there.  The flora and fauna welcomed me warmly (and coldly) as, indeed, the atmosphere felt just like northern Illinois where I grew up.  The summers were wilting (and our air conditioning never worked right) and the winters were damned cold.  Gray.  A long period of waiting for spring was how some approached it.  I felt differently.  I adore late fall; Thanksgiving is my favorite season.  I’m entranced with Advent and greet it positively every year, knowing my walk to the stable will be a new one.  Again.

But, in Ohio, summer seemed to disappear without a trace one wet day in October.  It happened in such a way that a week or two later, you wondered what had happened.  There were weeks of cool, sunny times and God’s great leaves flying.  Lovely Saturdays at the farm watching cider being pressed.  Nights on hayrides with bonfires later for hot dogs.  A morning you dug out the sweaters.  Any time, though, an 80 degree day could still pop up.  Really.  And then, one day on the way to work, you knew that day wasn’t appearing.  At all.  Anymore.  It had been raining for a week or two, getting colder all the time.  It just rained itself right into winter.  And gray it was.

We’re on the edge of that here.  Mostly the days are still perfect.  A light sweater or short jacket needed sometimes.  Flowers still in bloom—somewhat.  The yard is drooping mightily, though, and the window boxes have definitely seen better days.  I broke down and bought mums and pansies, but haven’t gotten them all out yet.  And, truthfully, taking care of the yard (and watering) is beginning to seem like yesterday’s diapers.  But today it’s rainy and there’s no sun.  At all.  Gabby still has her head hanging out by the window in case that German Shepherd or Black Lab has the nerve to walk by on the sidewalk.  But soon she gives up and puts her head down on the rug near my chair.  The other doggies are staying home more these days.

The oven can stay on for bread now.

What will I do with these?

Why does it have to rain, Mom?

Droop.

 A bunch of green tomatoes appeared on the back porch from the gardening neighbor.  We won’t have enough sun or heat to ripen them.   I go around turning lights on during the day.  Think of making a big pot of beef vegetable soup.  Planned activities are a girls’ night at Scusi and then out to a movie.  Not a picnic or outdoor concert or backyard cook-out.  This morning I ordered a long down coat and tall, warm boots.  I’m looking for a freezer so I can make Christmas cookies ahead for Drop in and Decorate.  We’re getting our floors redone before snow flies.  That’s what time it is.

 

Oh, we’re not at the point of storing the patio furniture.   Or of skipping Saturday breakfast on the porch.  But it’s coming.  And I’ve just woken up to it.  I still get up and put on capris and flip flops.  Sometimes I change.  Not always.

Last night, it was cold enough for a filling and warm dinner of whatever’s in frig for pasta.  I occasionally blog these instant meals (and lately I’m doing it often) because that’s how so many of us have to eat.  If we can even get THAT much cooked.  I have friends who are happy to have time to pull out cheese, apples, and crackers because that’s all there’s time or energy for.  But listen, 15-20 minutes will give you this admirable and filling meal.  You’ll be busy the whole time, but you can put on Vivaldi while you do it and you’ll definitely have time to set the table in a welcoming way.
 

Well maybe not quite like this, but why not set an attractive table?

 If you must (and who knows?), throw all of the vegetables in the food processor (except the tomatoes) and get it done even faster.  (Note:  I keep chopped pancetta on my freezer door all of the time.  There’s almost nothing it won’t do.  And, yes, a bit of American bacon will work.)

As this is more a method than a recipe, I write it in steps.  Read it through to understand the process and then make it yourself.  Boil the pasta, fry the pancetta (or bacon or ham), add vegetables, garlic and herbs, put it together and serve with cheese.  So there.  Maybe you need read no further.  But go on.

Pasta with Eggplant and Pancetta  serves 2  generously with a bit leftover for someone’s lunch

1.  Put a covered 10 quart stockpot 3/4 full of salted and peppered water on to boil. Sprinkle with a pinch of crushed red pepper and dried oregano.  Add  1/2 # whole wheat pasta when the water is boiling and cook about 10-11 minutes until al dente.  Drain and reserve.
2.  Meantime, in a large, deep skillet, brown about 1/4 cup of chopped pancetta or bacon.  When it’s crisp, remove it to a plate lined with paper towels.   Leave fat from pancetta in the pan.
3.  Into that same pan, add 1 large chopped onion, 1 large chopped carrot, 1 chopped medium yellow squash or zucchini, 1/2 cup chopped, peeled eggplant, 1/2 sliced or whole fresh spinach leaves,  and 1/2 cup chopped red or yellow pepper.  Sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt (or more to taste) and 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.  Vegetables can be changed to suit what’s in your crisper.  I do think you need onions, garlic, something for bulk like squash or eggplant, and fresh herbs of some sort.
4.  Cook vegetables until they’re softened and add 3 cloves garlic, minced.  Stir and cook for 1-2 minutes.  Add 2 chopped ripe tomatoes (or a cup of cherry tomatoes) and 1/4 cup chopped parsley and/or basil.  Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon dried oregano and 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper.  Return pancetta to the pan and stir well. 
5. Add drained pasta to skillet.  Mix and toss well, using tongs, and taste for seasoning.
6. Serve in pasta bowls with grated  Parmesan or Romano cheese at the table.

Wine:  We had a little Barbera leftover from burgers on the grill, so we drank that.  A big Chardonnay would work, as would Zinfandel or even a Cabernet Sauvignon.  While we think of big reds as the province of big meats, they stand up and support a hearty, vegetable-filled pasta–especially if it’s topped with a strong cheese like Parmesan or flavored with a warm, deep meat like pancetta.

Two-Dog Kitchen and Around the ‘Hood

The singing fellowship:

Choir came to lunch Saturday.  Chicken chili, sangria, brownies.

Good bud Kim all but moved in to the kitchen to keep things going.  Love you, Kim!

Nope, we didn’t sing.  Just visited and ate.  Rested our pipes.

Fall–Time for Grooming.   Didn’t much like it.  But they looked good for the choir.

Exhausted after their baths and trims.  What did we have to do that for? And what’s with the bandanas?

 My life is currently full of playing catch-up at work.  Reading all the fall lectionary texts so I can choose appropriate music.  Off and on for a couple of weeks, the dining room table is full of music, bibles, notes, computer, etc.  I run back and forth trying to familiarize myself with the music library at church.  What’s there?  What’s possible to learn (and do well) with only two rehearsals?  Listening to anthems online. Listening to the choir.  Attending one lectionary study at Cabrini Catholic church  and one Bible Study with the neighborhood women.  Praying for a co-worker, who had to undergo emergency surgery.  Looking at a choir retreat in November.  Dreaming of the cantata much later than I typically do.  And I’m sooo excited and…

 I’m so busy …  Being grateful, grateful, grateful for the opportunity.  Thanks, God.

Sing a new song,
Alyce

Instant Supper or Why I love Eggs, Honey

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There are days when you just don’t want to put that book down.
Remember those?  As a kid, my mom would not argue with me at suppertime if I was under a tree on a blanket with my nose in a book.  I try to do the same for myself nowadays on occasion.

This day, I just watched the dogs.  No time to cook.

 Or there are times you’ve stayed on the phone too long with your sister.
Your best friend.
Your boss.
If you’re a piano player, your butt might have been stuck to the bench, right?

Here’s someone I’ve spent hours talking with.  Thanks, God.

 Or maybe you’re just tired.  Somebody burned up your brain online and you keep waking up at 4 and your cousin’s in an awful personal jam and work’s a mess and your dog got a thorn in his paw and you had to have a tooth pulled (like I did Friday) and … well… and..

Maybe you taught a piano student to make chocolate mousse that afternoon.

 Perhaps you broke down and spent the cash to go see a movie and got home at 7.

And then you just thank God for scrambled eggs.  Maybe scrambled eggs and tomatoes, if it’s summer.

From my garden

Could be scrambled eggs and toast.  Or asparagus.  Even a few fried potatoes (if you microwave them first, it’s even faster), eh?

In this case:  in under five minutes, you can cook up some grated summer squash with a tish of onion or garlic, add your eggs, stir, plate, and top with salsa.

There’s nothing magical about it.  Except that it tastes very good, is quite filling, and takes no time away from the weird novel your neighbor left on your porch.  Or from listening to a Charpentier Christmas Cantata or David Russell’s guitar music.  From playing with the dog.  Chatting with your husband.  Try it:

Scrambled Eggs with Grated Squash and Salsa– Serves 1; doubles or quadruples easily

   Into a small skillet heated over medium heat, measure 1-2 teaspoons olive oil.  Grate 1/2 cup summer squash (yellow, zucchini, etc.) and chop 1-2 teaspoons of onion or 1/2 teaspoon of garlic.  Place vegetables in the skillet and cook for a couple of minutes until softened.  If you like, throw in a teaspoon or two of the fresh herb of your choice here; I like basil. Meantime, whisk (or fork) together two eggs and a teaspoon of water and pour over the squash.  Season well with salt and pepper.  Let eggs cook until about half-way set and stir briefly.  Remove from pan while still tender.  Top with salsa and serve with sliced tomatoes or toast.  Et voila.  Dinner is served.

Two-Dog Kitchen or Around the ‘Hood

Whenever I start a new job, my brain is full.  So goes it these last two weeks. Lots to dream of in this lovely worship space where God engages my heart…

Prospect Park United Methodist, Minneapolis, MN

The beautiful thing is, I told Gabby and Tucker (who must wait at home when I’m gone),

is that I’m so very aware of the change-the transition–, once more, from writer-cook and pianist to  church choral director.  And while it isn’t easy in many lives, it is a truth that we are called to be together.  And together singing–however it happens–is fun indeed.  On 9-11, I’m so very grateful to be alive to share my voice.  Thanks to all the singers in my life.  And thanks, God!

Sing a new song,
Alyce

Chicken, Chicken, Chicken or It’s Still Hot Around Here

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Don’t know what to do with chicken?  How about cook it?

I simply don’t know how to do anything without doing it with all my heart.  In fact, I don’t.  Unless it’s washing sheets (yes, I’ll do it today), cleaning the stairs (twice a week with golden retrievers), driving through construction (not on googlemaps, of course), going to the DMV, shopping for a pair of black pants at Macy’s (How many places could black pants be and how much should I pay?), or picking up the trash folks leave in my yard (the price for living in the city.)  I mean, boredom or even half-heartedness is not interesting and I don’t learn or grow from it.  Thriving on change is a good way to live.  Especially since change is the way things are.  The new normal.  Change, in fact, is the status quo.  Hmm.

So when I look at the stack of chickens in my freezer (Book club friend’s husband has a tie to great organic, free-range poultry and the order just came a couple of weeks ago.) and go, “Oh, no!” I rear my head in disappointment at myself and begin dreaming chicken.

With tomatoes
With pasta
In the oven
On the grill
On potatoes
Poulet au vin blanc (chicken with white wine)
In soup
Con poblanos  (with green chiles)
Next to asparagus
For sandwiches
TACOS!!
In the crock pot
Snuggled up in noodles, celery, and onions

In a world where the hungry numbered 925 million in 2010, I am embarrassed that how I cook chicken is even a topic.  I do indulge myself on this blog, however, and go on after breathing deeply.

The other night, I just couldn’t come up with anything terribly new and entertaining for chicken (in the summer) and just began throwing the parts into the pan.  They’d get done, wouldn’t they?  We’d eat, wouldn’t we?  But, wait:  first the parts should be seasoned very well with salt and pepper.  (Leaving out an entrancing snout-full of pepper is what people often do with chicken.  And it’s pale and insipid and oh, you fill in the blank.  Same for salt.  Poultry HAS to be well-seasoned, whatever you choose to do it with.  Particularly if you’re eating it as is or the poultry is of the very inexpensive sort.)   And, oh, let’s roll into the pan some fragrant olive oil if we’re just cooking it any which old way.

As this what-the-hell supper began to cook, here’s what it looked like:

You know the drill; you have the picture.   Well, I don’t know what you do with yours, but I’m not standing there watching chicken cook.  I had other fish to fry.  (Right.)  After it browned well on both sides (a good 5-7 minutes each side over medium-high heat), I threw that sucker in the oven to finish cooking for another 20-25 minutes or so:

And wondered what else was for dinner.  Just like you.  A quick bang of the pantry and frig doors showed pasta, rice, capers, carrots, yellow squash, celery, lemon, and feta.  On the counter were onions and garlic because in Alyce’s kitchen, God (and a gardening neighbor) is good and those things are always there.  A glass full of basil sat at the sink.  Mint’s in a pot next to the tub of rosemary (that needed water so badly it looked like a Christmas tree in January) outside my backdoor.  And because there’s a difference between eating and enjoying the meal with my husband, I began to grab pots, knives, cutting board, and so on.  It soon appeared that an orzo salad was coming together as orzo cooks quickly and is a great home for savory and piquant additions.  And oh how I love olives! with orzo and feta.  No olives, though, more’s the pity.  Capers would have to suffice unless I wanted to sprint to the store during rush hour.  Probably not.  Before the chicken was done, the salad was ready:

So you have the idea of the chicken.   Season well, brown throughly on both sides, and finish in a moderate (350 F) oven until quite browned and juices run clear or thermometer registers 165 F.  Unsure about temperatures, read the USDA guidelines–very simple.  While the chicken is in the oven, cook the orzo and chop the veg and cheese.  While this chicken with an orzo salad isn’t an instant meal, it’s fairly quick and hits the major food groups in a tasty way.  And, hey!   There would be leftovers for lunch.  Yum leftovers.  Who isn’t, after all that, glad to reach in the frig and pull out a piece of chicken come noon?

Take the time to season this baby (the orzo salad) lovingly.  It takes a bit of thought, and trial/error, but you can go from “Yeah, that’s ok” to “Wow!” with attention, care, and a bit of knowledge.  Generally the wow factor comes from one of these:

The best ingredients you can find
Thorough, but not over-seasoning
Not over-cooking
Use fresh herbs (usually at the very end before serving)
Appropriate addition of acid (in this case lemon juice)

If you’re unsure, take a small portion, add the questionable ingredient and try it.  See if that’s going to make the difference.  Take three small portions and try three techniques…which do you like?  You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by this process. So here’s how I did it this time:

Alyce’s Orzo Salad on That Day (amounts are approximate)   Serves 4 (as does a whole chicken)

1 cup uncooked orzo
1/2 cup each chopped finely diced carrots or cucumber,  and yellow squash
1/4 cup chopped celery 
2 cloves garlic smashed and finely minced (or more to taste)
2T minced red onion
2T ea chopped fresh mint and basil
1/4 c chopped fresh parsley
Pinch of oregano
1T capers (or a small handful of chopped kalamata olives)
1/2 t grated lemon zest
Kosher salt and pepper to taste (try just a bit of salt at first as capers and feta are salty)
Big pinch of crushed red pepper
1T white or red wine vinegar
3T extra virgin olive oil, divided (You’ll use some to flavor the hot orzo and some later for dressing.)
Juice of half a lemon
Optional:  Top with 1/2 cup chopped tomatoes and a sprinkle of pine nuts or toasted chopped walnuts

Directions:

  1. Cook orzo according to package directions and drain well.  Pour the orzo into a mixing bowl and stir in 1 T of the olive oil.  Sprinkle with just a pinch of salt and pepper.
  2. Add vegetables (including garlic and onions), feta, herbs, oregano, capers or olives, and lemon zest.  Stir well.
  3. Add salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper.  Taste and reseason.
  4. Sprinkle with vinegar and stir. Drizzle in other two tablespoons of olive oil and stir again.  Add tomatoes and nuts, if using.  Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.
  5. Squeeze lemon over all.
  6. Serve warm, at room temperature, or cold.  Store leftovers in refrigerator, tightly covered, for 2-3 days.

Another cook might have added finely chopped fennel, marinated artichokes, green peppers, jicama….and so on.  

Two-Dog Kitchen and Around the ‘Hood

 
It isn’t quite the last rose of summer (above), but there are moments, despite the heat, that I want to run to each flower and smell each one up close while I can.  I bravely planted some new things last week near the perennial hibiscus in my corner garden.  I’ll show you when they bloom.  (Please bloom.)

What else I’m cooking: 

       I’m considering some new recipes for those who are in the healing process or need softer meals:
  

A lovely butternut (and other) squash soup with thyme for garnish.

 A healthier, chock-full of stuff zucchini bread is in the works and you’ll read about it here first.

Whole wheat zucchini bread with dried cherries, raisins, nuts and bits of dark chocolate for your heart.

 About the house:

And will it look like this again?  Guess so.

  I am finally getting my house to make sense nearly three months after the moving truck arrived.  While the kitchen, bedrooms and dining room quickly fell into place (though bedding and tablecloths still seem to be in short supply), the living room defied taming.  A small, but pleasant light teal room that has a 3-season porch attached and boasts a bright, clean piano window (Thanks to my friend, Chris Brown:), it just made me shake my head (read that want to puke) whenever I took the time to look at it.  Now my living room, unlike some, is in constant use.  I often work at home and am at the piano or on the couch (with the good lamp) reading and studying.  I run between the pots in the kitchen to the hymnal on the stand to the computer to write and I need that room to not only be comfortable, but to be feng shuied mighty fine.  I nurse a glass of wine in there while enjoying the  Sunday New York Times sometimes in the evening.   (I never get it done on Sundays.)  I sit and read while Dave naps with his head on my lap.  The dogs have their favorite spot on the wool rug.  To say nothing of sharing a cup of coffee with a friend.   But the room had its own ideas about itself and it wanted to be tilted in the direction of what appeared to be a huge (it is) piano and a squeezed in sofa with two chairs nearly on top of one another in the corner with a beautiful table that cried, “Get rid of me.  I’m too crowded.”  It made my lip curl like Elvis and my brow crease like Bruce Willis when he’s in a real tight place.  I said nasty stuff about my furniture.  Talked about paying designers.  Wrote friends who WERE designers. Hemmed and hawed.  (What is hemmed and hawed?)

They aren’t concerned about what color the walls are; they just want to be together.  Rightly so.  Love dogs!

 Our physical selves often mimic our emotional or spiritual circumstances and, in this case, it was exactly so.  (Thanks to old friend Rev. Virginia Memmott for knowing that.)  As long as I hithered and thithered and dithered about the move, living in Minnesota , the hot summer, our Colorado house, the need for a job, etc, I couldn’t settle down enough to “see” how things had to be.

Living room the day the truck arrived

 One day last week, after receiving word of my new choir director job at Prospect Park United Methodist (Come sing!), I just walked in there, started moving stuff, called Dave down to pound nails in the walls for artwork, and found a way for that room to be arranged that not only made sense, but was downright charming.  After a day or so, I also saw that the light had changed.  The walls were more awake and you could read more easily as the sun was now in its late August position.   No more cave feeling.  And I like it.  And so there, room.  And, while it’s still hot outdoors, my eyes fall upon space that is welcoming, comfortable, and full of the things I love.  I didn’t have to go buy all new furniture or consign the art; I just had to give myself time to breathe and want the space to work.  Thanks, God.

A bit more welcoming, huh?

 Below:  Late hostas blooming on the east side of the house.  In other places, leaves are falling and the acorns crunch underfoot.  The acorns are even falling on the patio table that sits below a maple tree.  Now there IS an oak tree in the yard next door.  And somehow the acorns are moving from the oak to the maple and falling on us during dinner. 
  

 

Sing a new song,
Alyce

Bacon Caprese or Make Cheese While the Sun Shines

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While food trends wax and wane (Remember cupcakes?), I never-ha!-fall into the kitschy traps other foodies do.  I did make gingerbread cupcakes for Super Bowl a couple of years ago, but I would have done that anyway.  And you aren’t reading about pork belly here, though I’ve nothing against it.  But I fall off the wagon a bit about bacon.  While I am definitely NOT a bacon fanatic (and it’s on menus in quite odd places), my husband definitely IS.  But he has been a bacon fanatic since Eisenhower was president.
His favorite movie moment is in “Grumpier Old Men,”

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Pesto, Pistou — Presto!

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Whirr, whirr, done.  Talk about no cook.  It’s done PRESTO!

If it’s mid – late summer, I’m gunning for basil.  (If it’s earlier, I’m planting it and watering it.)  I’ve got pots full myself, but I also have to hit the farmer’s market for more.  At a buck for a big bunch, I get arm fulls.

My piano teacher and I hit the farmer’s market.

Here it is taking a bath in my kitchen sink with the Japanese eggplant and yellow zucchini I’m cleaning for the ratatouille I blogged on the  Dinner Place blog (The Solo Cook.)  They really like to get in the tub together.  I loved looking at this gorgeous mix of veg.  Could the colors get any better?

What is pesto?  Lots of you DO know.  But!  If you don’t:
Take the basil, whirr it in the food processor (traditionally mortar and pestle) with lots of garlic, pine nuts and/or walnuts, olive oil, Parmesan, and you have saucy green love.  In Italy, it’s pesto.  In France, pistou.  And it’s Presto! (Very quick, indeed, in the language of music) wherever you make it.

When I decided to blog pesto, I almost didn’t.  Pesto isn’t something new.  It may be four hundred years old in Europe and it’s certainly no culinary upstart in the United States.

The first time I ran across pesto was in the late ’70s in THE SILVER PALATE COOKBOOK (by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins with Michael McLaughlin.  Workman, 1979; 362p).  This was a life-changing cookbook not only for me, but for women everywhere who cooked.  If you want to know why, check out the cookbooks that were written and printed before this one.  It’s so important in my life that I have nearly worn out my paperback copy and, while I still use it, bought a hardback copy for a back-up and for my kids later on.

The more I thought about it, the more I decided to just go ahead and put pesto on my roster of blog posts.  How could something I love so much not be here?

I still basically make pesto from that recipe, though I use others, too–the one from THE GOURMET COOKBOOK (edited by Ruth Reichl and published in 2004 by Houghlin Mifflin) comes to mind.  By this time, I’ve adjusted any and all of them to my own tastes (as should you) and am purely and simply summer-happy whenever it’s time to use all that basil. 

Pasta with Pesto….the most popular use, I’ll guess:

Here with 365 (Whole Foods brand) whole wheat pasta

  Other ways to use pesto:

  •  on/in an omelet
  • as a veggie dip
  • on grilled chops
  • as a sauce for fish or chicken
  • on pizza
  • with crackers
  • on grilled vegetables
  • topping lamb chops
  • gracing grilled baguette
  • dribbled on sliced tomatoes or sliced tomatoes and sliced mozzerella in place of basil leaves.

 Or…  well, you go next.  How about in a spoon in your mouth– or mine?

In Italy,  pesto often has cheese in it; in France, not so often.  The French version, pistou, is often used as a condiment at table to, well, to create a different or simply more engaging vegetable soup.  A simple bowl of fresh vegetable soup and a big bowl of pistou on the table.  Everyone helps themselves and no one would deny the pistou makes the meal.  Some folks want a teensy bit and others want a big dollop.  Just for fun, here’s a recipe for Wolfgang Puck’s Soupe au Pistou; this one happens to have tomatoes in the pistou, which also sounds lovely.

By the way, there are those even in the Italian mode that leave the cheese out of the pesto (to keep it bright green) and grate it on top.  There are other purists who only make the pesto from tiny, fresh basil plants with just six or so leaves and use much less basil.  Si place; do as you like! (I use the big plants that I love to grow in the garden all summer.)  The addition of pine nuts to Italian pesto is a fairly new thing; people couldn’t afford them in years past and used walnuts–as did many Americans.  I use a combination of the two as pine nuts are nearly $30. a pound.

No matter how you make it or with what (and you can make it with all kinds of herbs or greens besides basil), enjoy the bounty.  And, by the way, pesto freezes.  So, if you can, buy extra basil, make copious amounts of pesto (freeze lots) and take some out for New Year’s Day for a quick whiff of summer.

By the way, you can buy ready-made pesto.  It’s pricey, though, and it’s not as good.  Nor does it keep.  So if you buy a quart at Costco, you better plan on eating a quart right quick.  Better to make it. Yourself.  In July or August.  And be….happy.  Here’s how:

Pesto a la Alyce, The Silver Palate, and The Gourmet Cookbook makes 2 cups

2 cups fresh basil leaves, clean and very dry  (pat carefully with light weight cotton or paper towels)
5-6 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 c walnuts, chopped
1/2 c pine nuts
1 cup extra virgin olive oil (use the good stuff)
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Combine the basil, garlic, and nuts in the bowl of a food processor (if using a blender, do half at a time) and pulse til well chopped and combined.  With the machine running, drizzle in the olive oil.   Shut the machine off and add the cheese.  Stir well.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Stir again.

I never told you this:  if the pesto seems a tad tame, dot in a few drops of Tabasco or other hot sauce, but don’t tell anyone.  Definitely not in the regular pesto regime. Don’t over do it; just give it a bit of body.

Keeps in frig (cover with plastic wrap right on the surface of the pesto) 2-3 days if not using immediately.  Freeze for up to six months.

Two-Dog Kitchen and Around the ‘Hood

Long beans grown by our local farmers:  saute or use in stir fry.

The babies.

Above:  Minnesota summer wildflowers.

Coming up soon….ratatouille a la Minnesota

Sing a new song, Alyce

Fried Cheese-Snake Squash Salad or I’m Sure This Has a Better Name

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 Last Friday night was a use-what’s-on-hand night:

  • The first of the Minnesota corn (very tiny kernels, but yummy)
  • One of the pork tenderloins I’d gotten on sale at Kowalski’s (froze 4 of them in April)
  • Salad makings that wouldn’t be good the next day. I sautéed the greens with garlic and lots of fresh herbs:
My own garden herbs:  marjoram, sage, chives, tarragon, basil, and thyme.

I added raisins and chopped cashews to the sautéed greens.

The first of our tomatoes went in at the end.

 Despite heat and humidity that all Minnesota is ready to get rid of, we ate outdoors under our big maple tree that reaches toward the house and garage, creating a canopy to cover the patio.  That soft, shady spot is often the coolest place anywhere and you can bet I’ve looked.  Along with everyone else on Wheeler Street.

Next night, a quick look-see in the frig assured me I had enough to throw together some sort of salad as I had a snake squash (can’t find right name) from my victory garden neighbor:

Tastes like a cross between a mild zucchini and yellow (summer) squash.

Some asparagus (now out of season, but still my favorite) was sagging in there and a little bit of the pork tenderloin called me.  What really appealed was the rest of my fresh cheese (blogged at Dinner Place), which I knew would fry.   Could there be anything bad about fried cheese?
 

Alyce’s 2-1 cheese

 What about a salad of greens, sautéed squash and asparagus, with avocado, blueberries, and thinly sliced pork tenderloin topped with fried cheese?  With a perky, ramped up orange vinaigrette?  I was sold.  Moral of story:  make up your salad as you go along.

I cooked the squash and asparagus in a bit of oil, salt and pepper, and set that aside.

Sliced up my avocado.  Creamy and fatty, it would be a good foil for my spicy greens.

Blueberries for color, texture, contrast of taste, and sweetness.

About 3-4 oz cooked pork tenderloin–or how much of whatever meat you have.

My homemade cheese fried in olive oil and black pepper.  Dave was so excited.

Et voila–

 Fried Cheese Snake Squash Salad with Orange Vinaigrette

MAKE YOUR VINAIGRETTE FIRST:

Place the following ingredients in a small jam jar, close tightly with lid, and shake well until emulsified. I like to do this to “America” from West Side Story:  Shake to this rhythm..123,123, 1—2—3—. (Thanks, Leonard Bernstein.) Set aside while you make the salad.

  • 1T fresh orange juice
  • 1/4t kosher salt
  • 1/8 t freshly ground pepper
  • pinch crushed red pepper
  • 1/2 t honey
  • 1/2-1 t minced shallot (or garlic)
  • 2T extra virgin olive oil.

MAKE THE SALAD:

  •  2 T olive oil, divided
  • 1 cup each:  sliced zucchini (or snake or summer squash) and  chopped asparagus (or green beans)
  • Kernels from 1 ear of fresh cooked corn (you can cook it in unshucked in the microwave.)
  • 1 avocado, peeled, pitted, and sliced
  • 6-8 cups baby greens, your choice
  • 1/4 cup fresh herbs of your choice, optional
  • 1/2 cup fresh blueberries
  • 1/4 cup toasted walnuts chopped
  • 2-4 ounces sliced, cooked pork tenderloin, steak or chicken
  • 2T fresh lemon juice
  • Kosher salt and Freshly ground pepper
  • 6-8 small pieces fresh cheese
  • Orange vinaigrette (above)
  1. In a large skillet, sauté squash and asparagus in oil over medium heat for five minutes.  Dust with salt and pepper.
  2. Remove veggies from pan and place in a large bowl.  (Keep pan out; you’ll use it for the cheese)
  3. To the squash and asparagus, add the corn, chopped avocado, blueberries, walnuts and pork, keeping the ingredients at the center of the bowl.
  4. Around the pile of veggies and meat, place the salad greens and fresh herbs.
  5. Set aside or in refrigerator.
  6. In the skillet, pour another tablespoon of olive oil and heat over medium heat once more. Grind some black pepper into the oil as the pan heats.  Place the cheese slices in the pan and cook a few minutes or until nicely browned.  Turn carefully with a spatula and let the other side brown.
  7. Take the salad and drizzle with the lemon juice.  Dust the whole thing with some salt and pepper.  
  8. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and top with the browned cheese. 
  9. Eat immediately.  Won’t keep.
  10. Take downstairs and watch movies.   
Wine:  The Wine Thief  (2 doors west of me on St. Clair)  has a lovely, palepalepale rosé called “Whispering Angel.  Drink it.
  

Two-Dog Kitchen and Around the ‘Hood

Fern garden.
On the wall ladies’ room in restaurant The Angry Trout
In our south garden

Heavy, heavy hydrangeas after rain– next to drive

As my mom would say, “Morning, Glory.”
This incredible flower showed up in my corner garden yesterday.
My pharmacist’s assistant tells me this is a perennial hibiscus.

I’ve been making blueberry jam, actually blueberry-orange conserve.
Miss Gab

Tucky-Bucky

Hot and muggy.  Lots of storms and rain.  Tomatoes are coming. The first ones weren’t so good.  Wonder if it’s like pancakes–throw out the first ones?

Sing a new song; enjoy August,
Alyce

Peaches and Cream (and Cake) Two Ways or Have Your Cake and Eat it Two

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 I don’t want to live in a world without peaches.  Really.  And I only like canned peaches pureed into Bellini Soup (is there such a thing?) or on top of cottage cheese for lunch in the winter if I’m just desperate and out of time and am feeling tres fat.  And while, “Sorry don’t get it done, Dude,” is one of the more famous John Wayne quotes, I often remember him in front of a campfire, “Open me up a can of those peaches.”  Poor cowboys.  They didn’t have fresh peaches.  Just cooked, peeled, old canned things.

In St. Paul, we’ve had peaches from several places for a few weeks.  And some of them have been glorious.  We’re still waiting for Colorado western-slope, but that’s as it should be.  Having lived in Colorado for years, I’m not addicted to those peaches.  In fact, I like peaches from other states better.  (These are fighting words, I know.  Sorry, Colorado.)  There’s just not enough rain in Colorado for fruit trees.  Around Penrose,  (south of Colorado Springs) there are some apple orchards that nearly bite the dust every few years despite large-scale irrigation.

Here are some of my favorite ways with peaches:

Unadorned and sweetly loved

Into a salsa for fish or pork or chicken or as a salad all alone with avocado .

 Here’s the link for the salsa recipe here at More Time at the Table.

Grilled with a little fresh cheese, thyme and a squiggle of honey

Here’s the salsa served with a grilled pork chop and my mustard tarragon green bean salad.

 This year, I’ve been baking in the wee, small hours of the morning. (Don’t you love that song?)  It’s the only way to get something in and out of the oven without adding to the heat index.  I tried Peaches, Cream, and Cake in two varieties, taking each to friends’ houses for dinner.  I can always be counted on to bring dessert.  Besides, it transports easily.

First off was Peach Shortcake and I recommend it highly if only because the shortcakes bake quickly and you could even do them in a counter top oven should you be blessed enough to have one.  I am not.  Second was Elvis Presley’s Favorite Cake with Peaches and (homemade) Ginger Ice Cream.  For some reason (not wanting to appear the forever blogger at dinner)–I only have a pic of the cake.  But you’ll get the idea.

Peach-Ginger Shortcake with Vanilla Ice Cream

First make the shortcakes, which are much like biscuits, but a tad sweeter:

Use a light hand with the dough.  Don’t pat or reform too much.

I like to bake them in a glass pie dish so you can see the bottoms.  You want them barely done.

Slice them in half and layer with the peaches.

 Fluffy Shortcakes from THE FANNY FARMER BAKING BOOK by Marion Cunningham
(Don’t bother to reinvent Marion Cunningham’s wheel.–That book is out of print, I think, but you might find a used one.  There is nothing like it.  It’s a veritable, perfect baking bible without any froofroo. BTW, her biscuit recipe is love in a bite and comes from years of testing/working with James Beard.)

2 cups cake flour (I’ve used all-purpose flour for years..just noticed she said “cake”)
1/2 tsp salt
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
3T sugar
8T (1 stick or 1/2 cup) butter
1 egg, well beaten
1/3 milk or cream, plus droplets more if needed

1.Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  Get out two 8 or 9″ cake pans or a large baking sheet, but do not grease.  (I like glass pie pans for these and for biscuits, too.)
2.  Combine the cake flour, salt, baking powder, cream of tartar, and sugar in a mixing bowl, and stir and toss them together with a fork or wire whisk.  Cut the butter into bits and add it to the dry ingredients.  Then, using two knives or a pastry blender, or your fingertips (Dorie Greenspan would approve), work the butter into the dry ingredients until you have a mixture of fine, irregular crumbs that resemble fresh bread crumbs.  (I do this all in the food processor and have for years.)
3.  Add the beaten egg and the milk all at once, and stir with a fork just until the dough holds together.
4.  Turn out (it will probably be very sticky) onto a smooth, well-floured surface, and knead 12-14 times.  Pat into a rectangle (I do a circle) 1/2″ thick .  Cut the dough into squares or rectangles (I do circles), using a knife or into rounds with a 2″ cookie cutter. (Like I said.)  Place the biscuits, touching each other in the pans or on the baking sheet.
4.  Bake 15-20 minutes, or until very lightly browned.  (Do not overbake.)   makes 16

Minced fresh ginger mm

  For the peaches and ginger (1 peach per serving)

Peel and slice about one ripe, but firm peach per person.  To easily peel peaches, gently drop them in boiling water for 30 seconds, retrieve using a slotted spoon, cool a bit and the peel will slide right off when coaxed with a sharp knife.  If not, put the peach back in the water for another 10 seconds or so.  You could use an ice bath to cool the peaches, but I don’t think it’s absolutely necessary.

Add about 1tsp freshly minced ginger for each 4 peaches.  Stir together.
Squeeze the juice from half a lemon over all and stir again.  Set aside until needed or refrigerate if not using within an hour or so.  (The lemon will keep the peaches from turning brown so quickly.) 

To assemble:
  For each serving:  Slice a shortcake in half.  Place bottom half in a small bowl and top with  gingered peaches.   Add the top half and spoon the rest of the peaches on top. You’ll use  about 3/4-1 c of peaches (1 large peach) per person.  If you’re flush with peaches, slice and use more!

Scoop up some great vanilla ice cream (I like Haagen Dazs 5 or make your own) and nestle it to the side or on top of the peaches and shortcake.  Whipped cream would be nice if you had some.  Not needed, though, unless you skip the ice cream.

 
Elvis Presley’s Favorite Pound Cake with Peaches and Ginger Ice Cream
 1.  Make the cake up to 2 days ahead…. Does this look like something you’d call someone’s favorite (pound) cake?  I don’t think it does, but it is.  The recipe is NOT an urban legend, but is on epicurious.com and is so fattening and so tender and so scrumptious that you should even make it at Thanksgiving and top it with a cranberry conserve and gingered whipped cream!
Cool thing:  this serves about 12 so it’s a great thing to take to a picnic.  I won’t put the recipe in this blog, but you can just click here for it. It also is a good deal for camping, etc. as it keeps at room temperature for several days.  I loved making this great big buttery cake with its tender crumb. 
2.  Make homemade ice cream the day you’re serving this dessert.  I used this recipe for homemade ginger ice cream from an old (1998) GOURMET, but it’s on epicurious.com now and you can click here for it.  You can make whatever kind of ice cream you like, but this was yum.  In a pinch, buy some best-quality ice cream.  Don’t scrimp here.
3.  Slice up a dozen peeled peaches and squeeze the juice of a lemon over all; stir.  (See directions above for peeling peaches.)
4.  To assemble, slice cake into 12 pieces and place each piece in a serving bowl.  Top with a big spoonful of peaches and a scoop of ginger ice cream.  
5.  Say, “AH, summer; I love thee!”
 ——————————————————————–
Two-Dog Kitchen and Around the ‘Hood
We’ve been up on Devil Track Lake (just west of Grand Marais, MN and Lake Superior) cooking and grinning this last week.

Grilled lake trout filet salad at The Angry Trout

   We made simple things like bacon and leek pasta, grilled chops and steaks, and of course blueberry pancakes and eggs in the hole.  We ate a few restaurant meals, but not many.  Didn’t even have cell service.  For restaurants, I’d recommend The Angry Trout (sit outside) and Chez Jude right on the main drag of Grand Marais.  Of course you’d better visit:
P.S.  As a Blogger Against Hunger, I receive a lot of information about starving people.  The situation in Somalia is so critical, I ask you to take a look at sending just a small amount of money to the World Food Programme to help.  One woman walked for days looking for food; three of her children died as she searched.  Meantime, I’m writing about peaches and cream.  Read about it?
Sing a new song and live summer!
Alyce

Golden Beet Ricotta Salad with Fresh Cherries and Carmelized Shallots or What’s in a Name?

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Could this have a better name?  How about “Delicious?”
 

I know.  This sounds like something off a froofroo menu, right?  I couldn’t think of another name for it that said what it was. When you’re naming a recipe, it must

  • catch the ear
  • catch the eye
  • represent the dish accurately in a thrice (or right away, you might say)
  • not be too long (ha)
  • end up in the right place in the index (or..today on google)

Of those things, the most important one for me is that you know what you’re making just by the name. There’s no sense being halfway through making something and saying, “Geez, this is full of walnuts!” with your jaw dropped.  On the other hand, I’m sometimes taken in by coy, cute, or gimmicky recipe titles like

  • Funny Bones
  • Babysitter’s Spaghetti Casserole (You can google either of the first two; they’re real.)
  • Chocolate Nut Heavens  (This one being my own; I held a contest for the name on fb.)

I mean, think of it.  Sally Lunn Cake.  Anadama Bread.  Brunswick Chicken.  Pagliacci’s Cheesecake. And I make those.  How about Anzac Biscuits?  Slippery Soup?

To say nothing of Pasta Puttanesca, Grandma Clark’s Soda Bread, Sabayon, Pavlova, Mother’s Pie, Ruffled Ham, Oysters Ernie, Rose D’s Mushroom Monterey, Hot Toddy, Chatham Artillery Punch, and so on.

Compare those to:

  • Chicken and Potatoes
  • Fried Clams with Tomato Sauce
  • Scallop and Artichoke Soup
  • Cheese Omelet

If you see “Chicken and Potatoes,” you know what you’re getting.  If you see “Mystery Soup,” in the index, it’ a mystery.  (Heat, mixing well, 2 cans beef broth and 1 8 oz package cream cheese.  —That’s the entire recipe from THE EASTERN JUNIOR LEAGUE COOKBOOK.)

To some of us (who grew up in the mid west, for example)  Quahog Chowder sounds like something out of Star Trek.  We didn’t know from clams. We probably weren’t picking that name out of the index.

Two friends  this week kindly invited us to a  potluck for a group that typically meets once a month to try a new restaurant.  Somehow, backyards, mosquitoes, and vegetable gardens beckoned an outdoor summer gathering and a homemade potluck was the July event.  Because summer fruit is coming on and I love a reason to fix a big dessert, I brought (more than a) pound cake with sliced fresh peaches and homemade ginger ice cream.  (Ok, come over; I’ll make it for you, too.)  The cake, I kid you not, was called “Elvis Presley’s Favorite Cake.”  Would you have jumped to the conclusion that this was a regular old, if delish and huge, pound cake?

Elvis Presley’s Favorite Cake

The recipe’s on epicurious.com, and probably in other places as well.  And if your berries are in, get up early and make this baby.  Invite the neighbors; it’ll serve 12-14.

Ah, well–back to today’s salad with it’s apropos name.  A trip to the farmer’s market blessed us with a big mess of still-dirty greens, tiny zucchini, spring and summer onions, fresh garlic, golden and red beets, and the first of the string (green) beans and tomatoes.  Running into Whole Foods for a small Friday list, I came out with two pounds of cherries @ $2.99 per pound.  That’s $4 off per pound.  A bowl of shallots (still dirty in their skins, too)  I grabbed a couple of weeks ago from the downtown market caught my eye when I returned and that was the start of the salad.

dirty shallots

 

clean beets

Pencil for scale and memories.

I’ve just started making cheese this week after saying I’d do it forever.  That’s another post, but I’ll share one pic:

Just add great honey and black pepper.

Colorful, lovely, fresh foods simply yelled to be together last night.  Leftover whole milk whimpered, “Make more cheese.”  The result:

Golden Beet Ricotta Salad with Fresh Cherries and Carmelized Shallots 
serves 2-4 (2 as a main course, 4 for a first course)
    ingredients:

  • 6-8 cups fresh greens, chilled or not
  • 6 small-medium gold beets, roasted in the microwave*
  • 1/2 cup fresh, sweet cherries stemmed and pitted 
  • 6 small shallots, sliced and carmelized**
  • 1/2 c fresh ricotta (You can sometimes find fresh ricotta at a good cheese shop; it’s dear.  You can use regular store-bought or -last resort fresh goat cheese or  good cottage cheese- in a pinch.)
  • 1tsp finely grated orange rind
  • 1T fresh lemon juice
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 2 T crushed, toasted hazelnuts or almonds, optional

Dressing ingredients:  1T sherry vinegar, generous pinch sea salt and freshly ground pepper, 1/2 t finely minced garlic, 1/2 t honey, 3T extra virgin olive oil.  Whisk (or use a fork) together all but olive oil.  Then drizzle in the oil one tablespoon at a time, making sure all of the oil is incorporated before adding the next tablespoon.   Two hints: Let the salt dissolve in the vinegar and don’t over beat the dressing.

directions:

  1. Make sure greens are clean and free of water.  Use a salad spinner if necessary.  I don’t mind room temperature greens, but you might like them chilled.  Place them in a large bowl.
  2. Sprinkle in cooked shallots and toss lightly with your hands.
  3. Scatter the beets evenly on top of the salad and mound the cherries in the center.
  4. Add 2-3 small scoops of fresh cheese around the cherries.
  5. Add orange rind and sprinkle lemon juice evenly.  Dust with salt and pepper, making sure each pile of cheese gets an extra smack of pepper,
  6. Add dressing to taste and toss quite well to distribute the soft cheese evenly.  Sprinkle with nuts, if using.
  7. Serve immediately.  Does not keep.  Eat it all!

*To “roast” beets in microwave:  Clean, scrub, and trim the roots off the beets, leaving about an inch of greens on each. Rub in a little olive oil over each beet.  Place beets in a microwave-safe casserole, cover, and cook on high for 10 minutes.  Carefully (HOT!) uncover and pierce with small, sharp knife to make sure they’re tender.  Let cool a few minutes and rub skins off with paper towels.  Slice off greens and a bit of the top of the beet and then slice into 1/4″ pieces.  copyright Alyce Morgan, 2011

**To carmelize shallots:  Peel shallots and slice thinly.  Place in a small-medium skillet with 1T olive oil and heat to low-medium low.  Let cook slowly 20-25 minutes until soft and browned.  Stir occasionally, but keep a good eye on them.  You don’t want them crispy or fried; turn down if you see that happening.

Two-Dog Kitchen and Around the ‘Hood:

We enjoyed the long Fourth of July weekend at home, working a bit on the house and yard, taking long walks, having a meal or two with friends, and generally breathing.  It’s too hot to do much cooking or baking except in the early morning, but we’ve been grilling (see my bbq bison ribs on examiner.com) or just cleaning, chopping, and eating.

Move over, Fred and Barney

 I’m working on music and practicing my conducting for a church job audition, which is a wonderful thing.  I covet your prayers there.  But I’m also spending some time on piano bar type music with vocals just for grins.  We have tickets to the Minnesota Symphony for Sunday night; it’s chamber music!  They have lovely summer programs that include coming early and having dinner on the plaza downtown.  Of course there’s live music for the meal, too.  Love that.

I’m reading THE PIANO TUNER by Daniel Mason (a bit late, I know) and also Diana Butler Bass’  A PEOPLE’S HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY:  THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STORY- a little late there, too, but my bedside table is always piled high. 

This week, our family room couch arrives on Tuesday.  Four months without a couch!  We did have a tv (though the regular one just got mounted last week), but had outside chairs or one borrowed rocker down there.  What a baby, but I’m so excited to do something like watch a movie!!  We’ll be all cozy for winter now.   We looked in six stores and all over the internet to find the ONLY couch (we did find one small sectional, too) that will fit down our stairway.  That’s the couch we bought.  Hundred-year-old houses.

Also this week is our 37th wedding anniversary and we’re taking a week and going to Devil Track Lake, where we’ve rented a house and will paddle around the lake with the doggies.  Can’t wait.  Devil Track is just west of Lake Superior, off the north shore near Grand Marais.  I’m working on how to take a week’s worth of groceries in one cooler.  The stores there have little and that little isn’t so good.  This is good for me…kind of upscale camping.

If I haven’t nathered on enough, you can call me.
Sing a new song,
Alyce

Pagliacci’s New York Cheesecake

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Pagliacci’s New York Cheesecake–Made and photographed this year in St. Paul

I don’t double blog.  Or if I do, I do it rarely.

This cake, however, belongs on both blogs.  I’ve made it for Dave’s birthday since l984 and for lots of other occasions since.  In different reincarnations.  Chocolate, pumpkin, toffee, cranberry compote.  You get the idea.

Pagliacci’s New York Cheesecake  (adapted by More Time at the Table)

Crust

  • 1 1/4 cups graham wafer crumbs (I prefer vanilla wafer crumbs)
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup butter, melted

Filling

                                                           Directions:
First:  Mix crumbs, 1/4 cup sugar and butter and press into a 10″ spring form pan. Refrigerate until ready to use.
  1.  Preheat oven to 500º.  Make sure your oven is clean before you start!
  2.  Beat cream cheese with electric mixer in large bowl until very smooth. Blend in lemon juice and vanilla. Sift sugar, flour and salt together and gradually beat into cheese. Beat until creamy, smooth and light, about 5 minutes. Beat in eggs and yolks one at a time, being careful to not over beat. Blend in cream. Pour into crust.  Place filled pan on a  baking sheet lined with parchment paper or foil.  
  3.  Bake 12 minutes.
  4.  Reduce oven temperature to 300º. Continue baking for 45-55 minutes or until firm around outside, but still a little jiggly at center.
  5.  Run a sharp knife around the edge of the pan. Cool cake completely, wrap loosely, and refrigerate at least 24 hours before serving.
 …
…

Note:  In July, 2016 Dave and I took a week-long Alaskan cruise and our last night was in Victoria, British Columbia. You know where we went for dinner:

IMG_4020The meal was lovely, the service attentive, and the cheesecake divine. Dave said it wasn’t as good as mine. But he would say that, wouldn’t he?
Bake on,
alyce