For rainy summer days in Seattle. This pudding lights me up inside when its gray and miserable out- and even though its pouring, the peaches from the other side of the mountains are amaaaaaazing in August.
Best if accompanied by a hot back tea.
You will need:
1 cup whole or 2% milk. Don't use skim.
1 Egg
1/4 cup sugar
Half a small stale baguette, or a quarter of a large stale baguette. Chopped into large chunks.
1 Peach so ripe you can smell its lovelieness
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Ginger,
1/4 tsp Vanilla
Small pinch of salt
Butter
To make:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Butter a small oven-friendly baking dish, and put bread chunks in it. In a separate bowl, beat together milk, sugar, egg, and spices. Pour over bread. There should be a fair ammount of extra liquid for the bread to absorb. If there's not, add more milk up to 1/4 cup. If still dry you must have a very large baguette and you should mix up more of the egg/milk/sugar batter.
Cut peach in half, remove put, and chop one half into large chunks. Sprinkle these on top of the bread and milk. I eat the other half of the peach, but you are certainly welcome to throw it in. Sprinkle a little brown sugar on top of it all, if you have some.
Cover and bake for 35-45 min. Done when inflated and fork comes out cleanish.
Eat with a friend, your cat or someone equally comforting on a gray day.
xoxo
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Green Beans with Cumin and Ginger
I invented this dish one day in an attempt to get a small child to eat some green beans. Instead he refused them and I found out how amazing the skinny little guys are. If your new to green beans or just looking for something else to season them with, give this a shot.
Green Beans with Cumin and Ginger- Serves 2
1/2 lb fresh thin Green Beans, rinsed and trimmed
8-10 Cherry Tomatos, halved. Get yellow and red varieties for extra pretty.
1/4 to 1/2 tsp ground Cumin, depending on taste
1/8 to 1/4 tsp ground Ginger
1/8 tsp ground Chipotle
2-3 Tbs Olive Oil
Salt to taste
Place your skillet or pan over medium high heat to come up to temperature. Chop your green beans into 2 inch lengths. Once skillet is hot, add 1-2 tbs olive oil. If you cook on cast iron, you will need all of it, if you cook on teflon, take it easy. When oil is hot, add your green beans, cooking for a minute or two.
Add tomatos and spices, and turn heat to medium. Be sure not to let spices burn to bottom of the pan. It happens quickly and easily, and there is no worse smell than burnt cumin. Add more oil if you need to.
When beans are nicely seared and tender crisp, scoop into bowl and eat with bread and butter.
xoxo
Green Beans with Cumin and Ginger- Serves 2
1/2 lb fresh thin Green Beans, rinsed and trimmed
8-10 Cherry Tomatos, halved. Get yellow and red varieties for extra pretty.
1/4 to 1/2 tsp ground Cumin, depending on taste
1/8 to 1/4 tsp ground Ginger
1/8 tsp ground Chipotle
2-3 Tbs Olive Oil
Salt to taste
Place your skillet or pan over medium high heat to come up to temperature. Chop your green beans into 2 inch lengths. Once skillet is hot, add 1-2 tbs olive oil. If you cook on cast iron, you will need all of it, if you cook on teflon, take it easy. When oil is hot, add your green beans, cooking for a minute or two.
Add tomatos and spices, and turn heat to medium. Be sure not to let spices burn to bottom of the pan. It happens quickly and easily, and there is no worse smell than burnt cumin. Add more oil if you need to.
When beans are nicely seared and tender crisp, scoop into bowl and eat with bread and butter.
xoxo
Heirloom Eggplant Sandwiches
To me, summertime is when I can lay out piles of veggies, meat, cheese and some fresh bread on the table and call it dinner. Maybe some condiment like Hummus or Tzatziki if I'm feeling up to it. The point is something tasty, satisfying and easy to prepare.
These oh-so-satisfying sandwiches were the by product of one such dinner. I had grilled some eggplant steaks and made some Tzatziki for dinner, and the only logical conclusion was to stuff it in a pita and groan with delight.
I use heirloom eggplants because they are pretty, and their skin tends to be more delicate so you don't need to peel them. They also run smaller, so its easy to find one that fits your quantity needs. Check your local Farmers Market June through August.
For Sandwiches You Will Need:
Pita bread, 1 whole round per person. A round makes two sandwiches.
1-2 Large, very sweet tomato. Romas and orange-red Heirlooms recommended. Sliced.
1 .5lb Heirloom Eggplant per person. This translates to one small eggplant for one person, a medium eggplant for two people etc.
Salt
Olive Oil
Tzatziki (Recipe to follow)
First you must prepare your eggplant. Chop off the top and then slice it in 1/4 inch slabs from top to bottom. I discard the end pieces that are all peel and no meat. Place slabs in a bowl and sprinkle liberally with salt. Set aside for at least 10 minutes.
While the salt dries out your eggplant, place a griddle or skillet over med-high heat. Its hot enough when you sprinkle water on and it sizzles and pops.
Rinse your eggplant and pat dry.
Add 2 tsp. Olive oil to your hot skillet. Place eggplant slabs on skillet right away. Now don't touch it for at least 1 minute. If you do, the eggplant will not brown properly and will fall apart. Really, don't touch it. I almost always find this impossible to do.
After 1 minute, pry up a corner of an eggplant piece to see if it has browned. Should be a nice dark caramel color, or even slightly singed on the edges. If it is brown, flip it over and cook the other side. If it sticks, leave it for 30 more seconds. Remember, don't mess with it. After another minute or so on other side,and they should begin to look a bit translucent. Add a dash of salt and a drizzle of olive oil if they look dry, and place eggplant on a plate; or straight into a pita if your one of those cooks who's really on top of things. I like to warm my pitas up in the oven for 5-7 minutes at 350 degrees.
Add slices of tomato, liberal amounts of Tzatziki and a dash of Cayenne. Eat while the eggplant is still warm.
To Make Tzatziki:
I wish I could say I had some really cool Greek grandmother who taught me to make this when I was still crawling, but alas, such is not the case. I invented the recipe after getting sick of buying the stuff at Trader Joes. And yes, mine is better. Grating the Garlic I learned from my friend Neha.
1 Medium to large cucumber, peeled. Ish. If your into that sort of thing.
1/3 cup plain, full fat yogurt
1/2 lemon
2 Cloves garlic
1 tsp dry Dill
Salt
Dash or two of Cayenne
Quarter and de-seed your cucumber. Thinly slice quarters. Place in bowl. Peel garlic cloves and finely chop, or easier: grate them over the cucumber. Don't be tempted to go crazy with the garlic, its pretty hot when raw. Warning, this is a dish your honey must share with you, or they will never kiss you again.
Squeeze lemon half over the garlic and cucumbers. Always be sure to add the lemon first so that the yogurt does not curdle. Add dill and yogurt. Mix together. I add the yogurt in a spoon at a time so it doesn't get too soupy, but the end result should be decidedly saucy. Add more yogurt if this is not the case.
Add salt, cayenne and more dill to taste. Slather on anything remotely Mediterranean.
xoxo
These oh-so-satisfying sandwiches were the by product of one such dinner. I had grilled some eggplant steaks and made some Tzatziki for dinner, and the only logical conclusion was to stuff it in a pita and groan with delight.
I use heirloom eggplants because they are pretty, and their skin tends to be more delicate so you don't need to peel them. They also run smaller, so its easy to find one that fits your quantity needs. Check your local Farmers Market June through August.
For Sandwiches You Will Need:
Pita bread, 1 whole round per person. A round makes two sandwiches.
1-2 Large, very sweet tomato. Romas and orange-red Heirlooms recommended. Sliced.
1 .5lb Heirloom Eggplant per person. This translates to one small eggplant for one person, a medium eggplant for two people etc.
Salt
Olive Oil
Tzatziki (Recipe to follow)
First you must prepare your eggplant. Chop off the top and then slice it in 1/4 inch slabs from top to bottom. I discard the end pieces that are all peel and no meat. Place slabs in a bowl and sprinkle liberally with salt. Set aside for at least 10 minutes.
While the salt dries out your eggplant, place a griddle or skillet over med-high heat. Its hot enough when you sprinkle water on and it sizzles and pops.
Rinse your eggplant and pat dry.
Add 2 tsp. Olive oil to your hot skillet. Place eggplant slabs on skillet right away. Now don't touch it for at least 1 minute. If you do, the eggplant will not brown properly and will fall apart. Really, don't touch it. I almost always find this impossible to do.
After 1 minute, pry up a corner of an eggplant piece to see if it has browned. Should be a nice dark caramel color, or even slightly singed on the edges. If it is brown, flip it over and cook the other side. If it sticks, leave it for 30 more seconds. Remember, don't mess with it. After another minute or so on other side,and they should begin to look a bit translucent. Add a dash of salt and a drizzle of olive oil if they look dry, and place eggplant on a plate; or straight into a pita if your one of those cooks who's really on top of things. I like to warm my pitas up in the oven for 5-7 minutes at 350 degrees.
Add slices of tomato, liberal amounts of Tzatziki and a dash of Cayenne. Eat while the eggplant is still warm.
To Make Tzatziki:
I wish I could say I had some really cool Greek grandmother who taught me to make this when I was still crawling, but alas, such is not the case. I invented the recipe after getting sick of buying the stuff at Trader Joes. And yes, mine is better. Grating the Garlic I learned from my friend Neha.
1 Medium to large cucumber, peeled. Ish. If your into that sort of thing.
1/3 cup plain, full fat yogurt
1/2 lemon
2 Cloves garlic
1 tsp dry Dill
Salt
Dash or two of Cayenne
Quarter and de-seed your cucumber. Thinly slice quarters. Place in bowl. Peel garlic cloves and finely chop, or easier: grate them over the cucumber. Don't be tempted to go crazy with the garlic, its pretty hot when raw. Warning, this is a dish your honey must share with you, or they will never kiss you again.
Squeeze lemon half over the garlic and cucumbers. Always be sure to add the lemon first so that the yogurt does not curdle. Add dill and yogurt. Mix together. I add the yogurt in a spoon at a time so it doesn't get too soupy, but the end result should be decidedly saucy. Add more yogurt if this is not the case.
Add salt, cayenne and more dill to taste. Slather on anything remotely Mediterranean.
xoxo
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