capturing summer

​Recently I received more tomatoes and peaches in my Dreyer Farm CSA box. In my search on the NYT Cooking app, I found a recipe by Alexa Weibel for Tomato and Peach Salad with Whipped Goat Cheese.
 
As crazy as the combination sounded, it was outstanding and perfect for a summer lunch, starter salad or as a bruschetta on top of grilled Italian or sourdough bread. For the recipe you’ll need extra virgin olive oil, sherry vinegar, whole-grain mustard, fresh lemon juice, lemon zest, kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, small red onion, goat or feta cheese (I used goat cheese), heavy cream, 2 large heirloom tomatoes, 2 medium peaches, and, optionally, mâche or watercress. If you can’t find either, you can substitute arugula or baby spinach. 

The whipped goat cheese is flavored with olive oil, vinegar, mustard, lemon juice and salt and pepper. To the dressing you’ll add 1/4 of a thinly sliced red onion. Using a food processor add crumbled goat cheese and whip until creamy. To finish, add heavy cream, lemon zest and whirl. Remove to a bowl and season to taste with salt.
 
Using a platter, spread the goat cheese evenly on the platter. Just before serving, add tomato and peach wedges (and optional salad greens) and coat with dressing. Place the mixture on top of the whipped goat cheese and serve at once. Such liveliness from the ingredients. Although the combination sounded odd, the sensation in the mouth was fantastic. My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed this unique summer salad and you will too.
 
I also had heirloom cherry tomatoes in my CSA box. Again, I went to my favorite source, NYT Cooking and found a recipe by Martha Rose Shulman for Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes and Arugula. For the recipe you’ll need a pint of cherry tomatoes, a clove of garlic, kosher salt, balsamic vinegar, 1 cup arugula leaves, fresh basil, extra virgin olive oil, fusilli (or farfalle or orecchiette) pasta, freshly grated ricotta salata or Parmesan cheese.
 
The tomatoes are halved and marinated in a mixture of garlic, salt, balsamic vinegar, arugula basil and olive oil. Cook the pasta in generously salted water per the box instructions until al dente. Before draining, I suggest saving a cup of the pasta water. Once the pasta is done, drain, add the tomatoes and cheese and toss. If the pasta seems too dry, add a little bit of the pasta water at a time. Wow, what a wonderful dish. The heirloom grape tomatoes had a delightful flavor and mixed with the other ingredients, added a nice complexity to this simple sauce. My husband and I couldn’t get over how light the pasta tasted…a great meal!
 
Before Jersey corn loses its sweetness, I suggest you literally run and buy 10 ears of corn to make Chef Joe Papach’s Summer’s End Sweet Corn Soup. Besides the corn you’ll need olive oil, 1/2 cup Vidalia onion, kosher salt, one cup chicken stock and either chives or scallions for garnishing.
 
To start, slice the kernels off the cobs. Afterwards, I recommend scraping the cobs with the back of the knife to add more flavor to your soup. Using my KitchenAid K400 blender, I puréed the kernels. In a medium pot, add oil and diced onion, season with salt and cooked until translucent. Next, the puréed corn and chicken stock are added, brought to a boil so the flavors can meld. Take the corn mixture in batches from the pot and purée again in the blender.
 
Wow, what a delicious and flavorful soup. The sweetness of the corn really shone through, it was creamy without the addition of any cream or thickener. If you’re a corn lover, you’ll love this soup.
 
My oldest granddaughter started first grade this week. She’s in a new school this year having completed kindergarten at a private school. To celebrate this new adventure, I made one of her favorite snacks, vanilla scones. I used Mark Bittman’s recipe from The New York Times column, “Here to Help,” a recipe for Classic Scones. For the recipe you’ll need cake flour, salt, baking powder, granulated sugar, butter, an egg and heavy cream. I also added a teaspoon of vanilla.
 
I was familiar with scone baking as I worked in a tea room for several years. I knew that you only needed enough liquid to hold the dough together. Although the scones could be made in a food processor, I decided to make by hand and to also use a box grater to shave frozen butter for the recipe. I wanted to get as much lift as possible from the dough. Instead of using a biscuit cutter or glass, I shaped the dough into a 3/4-inch-thick circle to cut 8 wedges. I also chilled the dough for 15 minutes, again, this was to get as much lift in the scones as possible. As the butter bakes, it releases steam thereby creating a more tender cake.
 
To serve, I made a simple confectioners glaze with milk and a tiny splash of vanilla to drive home the vanilla flavor. What a great job I did, the scones rose nice and tall, had a tender crumb and were scrumptious. My granddaughter concurred that Nana did a good job. 

---

​Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes and Arugula
By Martha Rose Shulman
New Times Cooking website/app
 
Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 4
 
Ingredients
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved if small, quartered if large
1 plump garlic clove, minced or put through a press (more to taste)
Salt to taste (I like to use a very good coarse sea salt or fleur de sel for this)
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar (optional)
1 cup arugula leaves, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon slivered or chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
¾ pound fusilli, farfalle, or orecchiette
¼ cup freshly grated ricotta salata or Parmesan (more to taste)
 
PREPARATION

1. Combine the cherry tomatoes, garlic, salt, balsamic vinegar, arugula, basil, and olive oil in a wide bowl. Let sit for 15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings.
2. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Add a generous amount of salt and the pasta. Cook al dente, until the pasta is firm to the bite. Drain, toss with the tomatoes, sprinkle on the cheese, and serve.

pasta_with_cherry_tomatoes_and_arugula.pdf
File Size:	43 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

---

---

​Tomato and Peach Salad with Whipped Goat Cheese
By Alexa Weibel
The New York Times
 
Time: 15 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
 
Ingredients
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard, preferably Maille brand
½ teaspoon fresh lemon zest, plus 2 teaspoons juice
Kosher salt and black pepper
¼ small red onion, very thinly sliced
4 ounces soft goat cheese or feta
6 tablespoons heavy cream
2 large heirloom tomatoes (about 14 ounces total), cored and cut into 1-inch wedges
2 medium peaches (about 12 ounces), halved, pitted and cut into ½-inch wedges
1 packed cup torn purslane, mâche or watercress (optional)
 
PREPARATION

1. In a large bowl, whisk the olive oil, vinegar, mustard and lemon juice. Season generously with salt and pepper, stir in the red onion and set aside.

 

1. Crumble the goat cheese into the bowl of a food processor and whip until creamy, scraping down the sides of the work bowl as needed, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the heavy cream and lemon zest and whip just until fluffy, about 1 minute, scraping the bowl as needed. Transfer to a bowl and season to taste with salt.

 

1. Spread the whipped goat cheese on a large serving platter or in shallow bowl, distributing it evenly using the back of a spoon. Add the tomato wedges, peach wedges and purslane to the dressing and toss to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Place on top of the whipped goat cheese and serve immediately.

tomato_and_peach_salad_with_whipped_goat_cheese.pdf
File Size:	44 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

---

---

Sweet Corn Soup
Recipe by Joe Papach
The Harvey House Restaurant, Madison Wisconsin
From The Wall Street Journal, September 25-26, 2021
“Slow Food Fast,” by Kitty Greenwald

Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients
10 ears of corn, shucked, plus 1 cup freshly cut corn kernels
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup diced Vidalia onion 
1 cup chicken stock
Chives or scallions, thinly sliced, to garnish

Preparation

1. Slice kernels off cobs and transfer to a blender. Purée corn to form a liquid, 1-2 minutes or more, depending on how powerful your blender is.
2. In a medium pot, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onions and sweat until translucent, about 2 minutes.
3. Add 1 cup corn kernels and continue to cook until corn softens, but onion take on no color, about 2 minutes.
4. Pour in juiced corn and stock. Bring to a boil and simmer, stirring occasionally, until liquid thickens and flavors meld, about 6-8 minutes.
5. Carefully transfer hot contents with lid and wrap top in kitchen towel to avoid splashing. (Work in batches if necessary.) Purée until soup is completely smooth, about 2 minutes. Ladle soup, warm or chilled, into bowls garnish with chives. 

summers_end_sweet_corn_soup.pdf
File Size:	30 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

---

---

Classic Scones
By Mark Bittman
The New York Times
July 20, 2020

Time: 20 minutes
Yield 8 to 10 scones

Ingredients
2 cups cake flour, plus more as needed
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
5 tablespoon cold butter, cut into pieces
1 egg
1/2 to 3/4 cup heavy cream, plus more for brushing

Directions

• Heat oven to 450°. Put the flour, salt, baking powder, and tablespoons of the sugar in a food processor and pulse to combine. Add butter and pulse until the mixture resembles cornmeal.
• Add the egg and just enough cream to form a slightly sticky dough. If it’s too sticky, add a little flour, but very little; it should still stick a little to your fingers. 
• Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead once or twice, then press it into a 3/4-inch thick circle and cut into 2-inch rounds with a biscuit cutter or glass. Put the rounds on an untreated cookie sheet. Gently reshape the leftover dough and cut again. Brush the top of each scone with a little bit of cream and sprinkle with a little of the remaining sugar.
• Bake 9 to 11 minutes, or until the scones are a beautiful golden brown. Serve immediately.  ​

classic_scones.pdf
File Size:	44 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

---