Gnocchi with Summer Vegetables

We had some homemade gnocchi in the freezer, and I found this recipe for gnocchi with zucchini, yellow summer squash, and tomatoes in one of my old Everyday Food magazines.  It looked just right for this week.

I had read somewhere that you could freeze uncooked gnocchi.  At first I thought it wasn't turning out well, some of them seemed to be falling apart.  But in the end I think they turned out well and it is worth making a large batch of gnocchi to freeze half for another time. 

Gnocchi can be found frozen and sometimes even dried I think, but these vegetables would be good just tossed with some pasta as well. 

Gnocchi with Summer Vegetables Recipe

adapted from Martha Stewart

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 zucchini, quartered and sliced
1 summer squash, quartered and sliced (or 2 of either squash)
1 garlic clove, minced

1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
gnocchi (I had about 3 cups frozen)
fresh basil, chopped chiffonade
grated Pecorino Romano, or parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon butter
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Coarse salt and ground pepper 

 In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Add squash and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until squash is crisp-tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until juicy, about 2 minutes.

 Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling salted water, cook gnocchi. Reserving 1/2 cup cooking liquid, drain gnocchi and transfer to skillet. Toss gnocchi with vegetables.  Remove from heat and stir in basil, butter, and lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper if needed (my gnocchi was salty enough from the boiling water).  If you want it to be more saucy add some of the reserved cooking liquid. Grate some fresh cheese on top. Serve

Apple Cobbler

Nothing says "All-American" like a nice dutch oven apple cobbler on the Fourth of July--right? 

That's what I told myself at least.  I slightly modified the cobbler topping of Baked Bree, and used delicious apples from our recent field trip to Grandma Hoerners

Apple Cobbler Topping Recipe

1 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon baking powder
6 Tablespoons cold butter
1/4 cup cold water

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugars, salt, and baking powder. Cut in the butter using a pastry cutter or a fork. Pour in 1/4 cup cold water. Mix until combined.

Put apples in a dutch oven  (Mine was pre-made, but I would use 4-6 cups of apples, 1-2 T lemon juice, 1/4-1/2 cup of sugar, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, and 1 T starch.) Spread the apples in a dutch oven
Drop cobbler batter on top of apples by the spoonful to resemble cobbles.

Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 25 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the apples are bubbly. Or put lid on dutch oven and bake outside with hot coals until golden brown and bubbly. 

Honey Wheat Zucchinni Muffins

I tried a recipe from Me and My Pink Mixer for honey wheat zucchini muffins.  I chose her recipe, though it looked almost exactly the same as another, because hers used 3/4 instead of a full cup of honey.  (I'm trying to wean us from the need for everything to be super sweet--a little sweet is enough)

This recipe is made with 100% whole wheat flour.  Because muffins use chemical leaveners to rise, instead of yeast and gluten, there's no reason to use anything but the wheat.

Honey Wheat Zucchini Muffins

3 cups whole wheat flour

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 cups shredded zucchini

1/2 cup butter, melted

3/4 cup honey

2 eggs

In a large mixing bowl combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and baking powder.  Stir and then add zucchini and toss together.  In a separate bowl, melt butter, stir in honey and eggs.  Make a well in the dry ingredients, pour in the wet, and mix just until moistened. Scoop dough into paper-lined muffin tins. Bake at 400 degrees for 16-20 minutes.

This recipe made 1 dozen muffins plus 1 dozen mini muffins.   We cooked the minis for 10 minutes and the regular for 16 min. 

Pesto Crescents

I had a party here the other night and made these pesto crescents. They are really easy. I used prepared crescent roll dough since that is one skill I haven't mastered making at home! (I've heard Martha Stewart has a good recipe though--maybe I'll have to try it sometime when I have three days to do it.) 

The roll dough comes out in little triangles--I cut each triangle in half length-wise to make it a skinny triangle. Spread it with pesto and roll them up into little rolls.

350* oven for about 10 minutes, or until they get puffed up and golden brown.

These are delicious, and cutting the rolls in half before rolling and baking makes them a perfect 2-3 bite size for parties.

Toasted Marshmallow Ice Cream

 Labor day gave us occasion for the bi-annual church picnic and dessert contest.  This time it was a homemade ice cream contest.  I decided to try and come up with a s'mores ice cream recipe.

My first thought was using marshmallow cream.  When I looked on the internet for inspiration I found two different methods for marshmallow ice cream, and both started with actual marshmallows.  One version melted them with milk, and the other version put them in a blender with milk.  I opted for the melting type--it seemed more "s'morey."

 I used the recipe for marshmallow ice cream here, but toasted the marshmallows first like this custard-style recipe to add to the fire-cooked s'mores flavor.  

The marshmallows are then melted into the milk mixture before churning.

In the end the marshmallow ice cream tasted pretty good, I used whole milk and cream--2 cups of each, but I really felt like the marshmallow flavor didn't come through as much as I would have liked.  Next time I would lower the amount of cream to one cup.  Then it would be the same proportions of milk and cream in our Lemon Basil Ice Cream  (which was the other entry we took to the picnic) then hopefully there would be a less-diluted marshmallow flavor. 

 The other important elements of a s'more are the graham cracker, and the chocolate.  So I thought I would put in crumbled graham crackers, and then either chocolate chips or fudge or both!  But then my mom noted that the graham crackers would get soggy--drat.

I realized that dipping the graham crackers in chocolatewould create a sogg-proof protection for the crackers.  I just melted some chocolate chips in a bowl and stirred in the crackers and spread them out on a sheet. 

 The boys oversaw Jeremy and the ice cream churn.  The marshmallow milk mixture had set up again in the fridge so it was in a more frothy marshmallow top layer and a milk later underneath.  We just dumped it all in and assumed it would get mixed up fine in the 30 minutes of churning. 

 The chilled chocolate-coated-graham-crackers waited.

We folded them into the finished marshmallow ice cream and hardened the whole batch in the freezer. 

I had a lot of fun tinkering with the idea and coming up with a delicious final product.  Jeremy and my ice creams both brought home awards.  Afterwards Jeremy said he doesn't think we should enter the contest next time because we always win and get attention for our sometimes "out there" entries.

So I kind-of see his point, but at the same time I LOVE this kind of thing.  I was scheming for the three weeks after they announced the contest until the picnic day.  And it's not like Jeremy and I are professionals or anything, we're just food enthusiasts.   

So what do you think?  Keep at it, or "let the other girls have a chance to exhibit!"?

Melonade

We bought a honeydew melon that wasn't super sweet, so we decided to turn the rest of it into melonade.  I love the bright green color that it is.  It would be perfect for some goblin green drinks.  I might have to go buy another honeydew and freeze the juice for Halloween. It's pretty viscous as well so Jeremy wants to try floating some of those giant tapioca pearls in it--to make it look more creepy.

We just made up the recipe but here it is if you want to try.


Melonade Recipe:

1/2 large honeydew melon, seeded
3 large lemons
1/4 cup sugar (more or less to taste)

Slice honeydew into chunks and place in blender, or use an immersion blender.  Puree until smooth.  Squeeze lemons into the melon juice.  Pour through a strainer to remove fibers and lemon seeds (it takes a little while).  Chill in fridge.   Serve cold.

Cool and Creamy Cucumber Salad

A month ago we planted herbs in a pot on the front porch.  They've filled out so much that it was time to start cooking with them.   Our front porch kitchen garden pot includes rosemary dill and sage.  It's visually interesting to plant herbs with different textures next to each other--these three fit the bill.

Dill is an herb I had to reintroduce myself to when I became an adult.  I remember not particularly liking it (more specifically: what was made with it--probably more specifically: potato salad).  I'm happy to have a number of recipes now in which I really like the dill.  The first is what I like to call:

Cool and Creamy Cucumber Salad

2 cucumbers
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons fresh chopped dill
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar

Peel cucumbers (at least partially--I usually just peel a few strips off leaving it with circus stripes of green--then you get some added fiber an nutrients from the peel but it's not too scratchy in the mouth) slice thin and set aside.  Stir all remaining ingredients together in a medium bowl.  Add the cucumbers and stir until the cucumbers are completely covered.  Serve cold immediately or store the dressing in the fridge and toss with cucumbers right before serving. 

We really enjoy this cool summer salad.  I didn't take a picture of the cucumber salad before we ate it--but since I only had one cucumber we had leftover dressing.  We used it to dip fresh vegetables in and it was delicious.

When I served the cucumber salad.  Owen asked me, "Mom, is there grass in this?"  I told him "No, it's fresh dill from our herb garden."  To which he replied, "OK," and then proceeded to eat his salad.

Homemade California Rolls Sushi

"Wouldn't it be fun to try and make. . ." That's how conversations in our kitchen often begin.  And most of the time it is fun to try and make whatever thing we came up with.  Though I'll admit homemade sushi was Jeremy's idea and the number of times we've had it have been solely as a product of Jeremy's home industry--I have enjoyed the result.  I used to think I wasn't a big fish fan (I've now discovered I'm simply a fish snob--I only like quality fish) but I've always liked crab.  

One of the guests invited to Wyatt's party is our friend who is allergic to dairy and eggs.  So sushi is a great thing to serve for allergic or lactose-intolerant guests (especially since the other menu items--cake and ice cream--were definitely out!).

We use Alton Brown's recipe for sushi rice.We've used it a couple of times and think it turns out well.


Sushi Rice:

* 2 cups sushi, or short grain, rice
* 2 cups water, plus extra for rinsing rice
* 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
* 2 tablespoons sugar
* 1 tablespoon kosher salt

Place the rice into a mixing bowl and cover with cool water. Swirl the rice in the water, pour off and repeat 2 to 3 times or until the water is clear.

Place the rice and 2 cups of water into a medium saucepan and place over high heat. Bring to a boil, uncovered. Once it begins to boil, reduce the heat to the lowest setting and cover. Cook for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand, covered, for 10 minutes.

Combine the rice vinegar, sugar and salt in a small bowl and heat in the microwave on high for 30 to 45 seconds. Transfer the rice into a large wooden or glass mixing bowl and add the vinegar mixture. Fold thoroughly to combine and coat each grain of rice with the mixture. Allow to cool to room temperature before using to make sushi or sashimi.

Yield: 4 cups

We always reference the video of Alton demonstrating the assembly of the California rolls to remember the rolling technique.  Jeremy says the trick to working with the rice is to keep your hands damp so it doesn't stick to you.  We don't have a sushi mat--we just use our Silpat and it works great.

The other ingredients are:
Nori (seaweed)
sesame seeds
immitation crab (It's actually fish not crab, but works best for these purposes.)
avocado, sliced thinly
carrots, sliced into matchsticks
cucumber, sliced into matchsticks

Spread rice thinly on the nori.  Sprinkle with sesame seeds.  Flip over so rice is on the bottom (For a true California roll, but sometimes we don't bother to do this).lay out a thin row of vegetables and roll up.  Slice into bite-size peices with a sharp knife dipped in warm water.

Serve with pickled ginger and wasabi paste. 

Peach Vanilla Syrup

Peaches were on sale the other day. So I went and bought a ton to bring home and can. . . until I got home and decided that sounded really boring.

I wanted to do something fun and fulfilling.  So I made a batch of delicious fresh peach vanilla syrup for pancakes and waffles, and canned that. 

(It's also delicious on ice cream--just sayin'.)

I decided for the next batch I will use less vanilla than the original recipe.  It just had a definite boozy hint to it--which I'm sure some people love- but we'd rather let more of the peach flavor shine through. 

This can be frozen, or canned in a waterbath if you are familiar with that process.

Peach-Vanilla Syrup



5 cups peach puree (peeled, pitted, and whirred with a blender)
2 cups sugar
2 Tbls lemon juice (this is important for the acidity and color)
1 tsp vanilla

Yield = 3 pints

Over medium heat in a heavy pot, combine the peach puree, sugar, and lemon juice. Heat to boiling then reduce to a simmer. Simmer, stirring frequently for five minutes. Remove from the heat and add the vanilla.

Pour into the sterilized jars, leaving 1/4″ headspace at the top of each jar. Wipe all the rims with a clean cloth and center the lids. Add the bands and tighten to finger tight

Process in a boiling water bath for 20 minutes. Remove the jars and allow to cool undisturbed for 24 hours. Check seal before storing.

Pizza Margherita

The garden is producing.

And we are eating.

Pizza Margherita

Shape pizza dough.
Drizzle with olive oil.
Arrange chopped tomatoes and fresh basil.
Top with Mozzarella cheese, covering the basil to keep it from burning.
Bake hot and fast.

Tomato Basil Soup

Tomato Basil Soup Recipe

4 tomatoes peeled,seeded, and diced
4 cups tomato juice
14 leaves fresh basil
1 cup heavy cream
Salt and pepper to taste

Put tomatos and juice in a stock pot over medium heat. Simmer for 30 minutes. Puree the tomato mixture along with the basil leaves. (Use an immersion blender. Cheap ones are only $20 bucks and I use mine all the time--they are great for smoothies too.)

Over medium heat stir in the cream, do not boil. Season with any salt an pepper desired. (I find that canned tomato juice is usually salty enough.) Serve hot with crusty bread and pesto.

Lemon Basil Ice Cream

Basil is one of the fragrant joys of summer time. When I saw this recipe for lemon basil ice cream I was intrigued,and knew I had to find the opportunity to make it.

The ice cream did not disappoint, with clean crisp flavors, and creamy texture. It's a new favorite.

2 c. milk
1 bunch basil
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup heavy cream
2 lemons (zest only)

Simmer the milk with the basil over low heat until the basil leaves wilt and turn brown. Remove from heat and strain the milk removing the basil. Mix in the sugar while the milk is still warm and then refrigerate this mixture for 2 hours, or until chilled.

Put the milk and cream in the freezer for about 10 minutes so it will be ice cold for freezing. Zest the two lemons and mix with the basil-infused milk and the creamt. Pour the mixture into the bowl of the ice cream maker. Freeze according to your machine's directions.

Raw Corn and Zucchini Salad

Well, it's summertime again. Which means I'm having my season-change reshuffling of meal-plan ideas. A new group of seasonal vegetable recipes--in! Anything that involves turning the oven on--out!

I was really excited to get my June issue of Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine and find this recipe for a raw corn and zucchini salad. They are seasonal vegetables, it's a really crisp, fresh-tasting salad, and it only takes like two minutes to put together.

We had it a few weeks ago and loved it. I've got everything to make it again tonight, and I can't wait!


Raw corn and Zucchini Salad

3 ears of corn
2 small zucchini
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp coarsely chopped cilantro
salt and pepper

Stand corn on end and slice kernels off. Thinly slice zucchini. Add to a bowl with corn kernels. Season with coarse salt and ground pepper. Toss with remaining ingredients.

(We made it with two cobs of corn and one zucchini- then went just a little scant on the other ingredients and that was the perfect amount for our family.)

Watermelon Basil Lemonade

I've been planning Fourth of July food for weeks. I have binders and piles and stashes of recipes I have clipped from magazines. There's a number of things I've been waiting for the "right occasion" to try.

Be it good or bad for us as a whole, most holiday celebrations in our society center closely around food. Thus the traditional 4th of July barbecue was the occasion I'd been waiting for. I went grocery shopping Monday and bought all the food supplies I needed. Mid-week we were at Target and found some bright red paper lanterns on clearance--perfect for a patriotic celebration. By the end of the week I realized we had a party planned with no guest list. So I made a few invitations to friends not thrown-off by a last minute invitation.


One big hit was the watermelon-basil lemonade. We served it with frozen watermelon chunk "ice cubes".

We sat around for hours. Talking, letting the kids run around and play, and watching Jeremy singe his fingertips entertaining us with fireworks. I haven't had that much fun in a long time.

And Sunday morning as we showed up for church poor little Jonas looked like he'd been through a crazy night of partying, his right eye swollen shut from the effects of an unfortunately positioned mosquito bite.

Ah, summer!

Watermelon-Basil Lemonade

1/4 C Basil Leaves
1/2 -3/4 C Sugar
4-5 Lemons
3 Cups pureed watermelon

Place basil leaves in a heat-proof pitcher. Bruise the leaves with the back of a wooden spoon. Pour in Sugar and add 4 cups boiling water. Juice lemons to make 1 cup of juice, reserve rinds. Add lemon juice along with pureed watermelon and lemon rinds to the pitcher. Chill in the fridge for 3 hours. Strain and serve garnished with fresh watermelon slices.

Mexican Chicken Soup

Ingredients:
4 Cups Chicken Broth
1 Can (15 oz) diced tomatoes (or 2-4 whole tomatoes diced)

½ Cup Rice, uncooked
1 Can (1 2/3 Cups) Black Beans
1 Cup Corn
1 Cup Chicken
2 T. Salsa
1 T. Fresh Cilantro or Parsley
¼ t. Cumin
¼ t. Salt/Pepper

Directions:
Bring broth, tomatoes, and rice to a boil, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and cook, uncovered for 10 more minutes.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream and warm tortillas.

Notes: This soup was alt least 3X better than I expected it to be the first time I tried it--it really is good. I'll be freezing portions of this for my freezer-meal swapping group this month. I think it's a great candidate for freezing.