La Festa al Fresco: Fresh Plum Kuchen

Plums, I think, are severely underrated.
This kuchen showcases some of the plums which are in-season around here. I couldn't resist them at the market - they looked better than the peaches and nectarines alongside, and their bluish-black skins evoked memories of the tart-sweet taste. The kuchen is a great seasonal in-between for fruit desserts: lighter than a cake, a bit heavier than a crumble, and plenty flavorful with the slices of plums tucked between the two. The recipe's a combination from the Joy of Cooking and How to Be a Domestic Goddess, two of my baking favorites.

FRESH PLUM KUCHEN

batter
1 c flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1 stick/8 Tbsp unsalted butter
3/4 c sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp each vanilla and lemon extracts
2 large sliced plums
topping
1/2 c flour
1/4 c light brown sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 stick/4 Tbsp unsalted butter, diced
1 c pecan pieces

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Lightly grease a 9x2 round pan.
Whisk together thoroughly the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a stand mixer beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and then the extracts.
Stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture until just all combined. Scrape the batter into the pan and spread as evenly as you can. Lay the plum slices over the top.
To make the topping, in a small bowl mix together the flour, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon. Add the butter and mix with your fingers or cut in until you have pea-sized clumps. Add the pecan pieces and mix together. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the fruit and batter.
Bake until the topping is slightly brown (you may wish to cover with foil if it goes too quickly) and a tester inserted comes out clean of batter, about 35 to 40 minutes.

Lunchbox: Turkey Calzones

Ground turkey is fantastic. It's cheap, it's lean, it's protein. But there are perpetually two problems I have with it. One is the fact that when I think ground meat, I think: loaf, chili, balls, or burgers, and then I'm fairly stymied as to what other form you could put it in. The second problem is that turkey seems dry, although I think this is more or less based upon one unfortunate turkey burger recipe I got growing up and I really shouldn't generalize, as I had some luck with it recently.
There are, in my opinion, some really awful endless variations in an attempt to make the four possibilities more interesting and appetizing. However, this recipe was just different enough to give it a spin, and I'll have you know the lunchbox this week is attracting co-worker envy.

TURKEY CALZONES
adapted from eatturkey.com

1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 Vidalia onion, finely chopped
~ 1/2 lb ground lean turkey
2 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella
1 tsp each dried oregano, parsely, and basil
3/4 tsp salt
fresh ground black pepper
1 3/4 lbs pizza dough
egg wash, made with 1 large egg and 1 Tbsp water

Preheat the oven to 450 F. In a skillet, saute the onion in the olive oil until beginning to soften, about five minutes. Add the ground turkey and break up with a wooden spoon. Cook the turkey through and drain.
Transfer the onion and turkey into a large bowl. Add the tomatooes, herbs, and seasonings and combine well. Once cooled a bit, add in the mozzarella cheese and stir well.
On a large surface sprinkled with flour (I used a silicone pastry mat) divide the pizza dough into balls of about 3 1/2 - 4 oz. Roll or stretch and pat each ball into a 6-inch round.
Place about 3 heaped Tbsp or so turkey filling in the middle of each round. Fold in half so the filling is covered. Seal the edges, then fold over and pinch closed again (the filling wants to leak out). Brush the tops of each calzone with some egg wash and arrange on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake at 450 for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with marinara sauce on the side.

Lamb Is A Four-Letter Word

I had my first taste of lamb the summer after my senior year in high school, at someone else's family backyard cookout. They called them spiedies, these lamb-chunk and vegetable laden skewers, after the particular marinade/sauce that went with them. While I’ve never been particularly neophobic, novel animal meats more so than novel vegetables and fruits cause the most reluctance in people asked to try new foods. I nibbled, cautiously, but there was no hesitation soon after: the meat was tender, gently seasoned and roasted, and eaten fresh from the grill in the summer sunshine of New York, lamb opened me to a whole new player in the butcher case.

My parents have never understood my liking for lamb, teasingly treating it much the same way as they have my recent enjoyment of football (“who are you? What have you done with Emily? Where, oh where, did we go wrong?” It was my father who told me it’s a four-letter word – that’s probably my favorite of the bunch). They said they could never stand the smell of cooking lamb, memories of their childhood of mutton. Back in the day, they let me indulge if they would be out of town for several days, and if I promised to keep the windows wide open. They are not keen on trying it again, despite their well-developed palates and the availability of better-quality younger lambs, and no amount of coaxing or cajoling on my part has convinced them. This is a very good example of how pervasive and persistent both odor memory and taste aversions can be. From a psychological standpoint, it’s both sensible and fascinating; from a culinary perspective, I keep thinking, come on – just once.

I don’t understand it. Lamb, to me, has a mild but rich-promising aroma and the meat seems to be less brash, smoother than beef, and with a hint of gaminess perhaps in its flavor that makes it more interesting to cook with. If lamb isn’t your cut of meat, however, this can be made with another lean ground meat instead.

LAMB AND COUSCOUS WITH LIGHT DILL TZATZIKI
adapted from Cuisine at Home magazine, August 2004

3 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 large Vidalia onion, diced small
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb ground lamb
1 red bell pepper, diced small
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 c scallions, chopped
4 oz lemon and herb feta cheese, crumbled
1 c large (Israeli) couscous
1 1/4 c chicken broth
tztaziki
6 oz plain non-fat yogurt
8 oz light sour cream
1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
1 1/2 tsp dill
1 tsp garlic powder
3/4 tsp salt
ground black pepper

In a saucepan, start the chicken broth boiling for the couscous. When the broth boils, add the couscous. Reduce the heat to maintain a simmer and cover. Cook for ten minutes. Remove from heat and keep covered.
Meanwhile, heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and saute onion 3 minutes. Add the garlic and saute an additional minute. Stir in the ground lamb, breaking up the pieces, and cook 5 minutes or until browned. Add the bell pepper, lemon juice, and seasonings; cook 1 minute.
Remove the lamb mixture from heat and spoon off any excess fat. Stir in the couscous and cool 5 minutes. Stir in the scallions and feta.
To make the tzatziki: let the cucumber drain in a colander to remove any excess water. Open the yogurt and sour cream containers and skim off any liquid at the top. In a medium bowl, mix together the yogurt, sour cream, cucumber and seasonings.
Serve the lamb and couscous with tzatziki on top or alongside.

Lunchbox: Spinach and Chickpea Salad

A local radio station by me currently is running “Zero Brain Cell Trivia” that I catch on the way to work. It’s so much more entertaining than simply being caller number nine, and feels better because it’s not just sheer random luck - the person (sort of) had to do something in order to win. Someone gets on the air, and the DJ asks a question that contains the answer (yesterday’s: the Teen Choice Awards aired last night. In what demographic range are the voters?), and of course they get it right and there’s a lot of mock cheering for intelligence before they announce whatever prize the person’s won. I love it.

The lunchbox this week falls under the category, then, of "Zero Brain Cell Recipes": I could have come up with it on my own, but since there's a recipe, I don't have to. I've sort of done something, but with about as little effort as possible to produce what passes as a meal. Thank you, Rachael Ray.


SPINACH AND CHICKPEA SALAD
adapted from Rachael Ray via the Food Network

shopping list:
2 5-oz. containers baby spinach
1 15-16 oz can chickpeas/garbanzo beans
1 bunch scallions
sliced or slivered honey-roasted almonds

per salad:
Take a large double handful (about 2-3 oz.) spinach leaves. Add about 1/4 - 1/3 c chickpeas. Slice over 2 scallions. For a super-simple vinagrette, pour 2 tsp balsamic vinegar into a small bowl. Whisk in 2 tsp olive oil. Just before serving, add the dressing and top with sliced almonds.

Stir-Fry, Despite the Possessed Stove

We had a great weekend – Saturday we drove into Reading to see the PostSecret display at the museum and took a side trip for the pagoda, which affords a view over the city. Sunday, of course, was Snakes on a Plane. Surprisingly well-developed plot and entertaining.

Meals, however, were of another matter.

Rob’s stove has taken an immediate dislike to me, apparently – we had trouble with it a previous time we attempted to make dinner, and maintenance came and fiddled with it and it had been fine. Until we tried to make dinner Friday night. Rob and I were all set – I came bearing a microplaner and zester, and he had fresh ingredients. We happily chopped and grated and marinated. The stove was having none of it though, and not a thing – not even the oven, with which we managed before – would produce heat. After another call to maintenance, we stowed our stir-fry efforts in the fridge and ended up at Liki for gorgeous sushi (sadly no pictures this time, though a new one – the Angel Maki, a warm crab-topped scallop roll and possibly beating out my previous favorite Lemonade, is indeed a work of art).

Saturday night, in between dashes in and out, we tested the range quickly and it heated up. Excellent. After coming home, we put some broth on to boil for rice and waited. And waited. The burner kept steady for a while, and then would turn itself on and off without rhyme or reason. Dinner took nearly two and a half hours and most of our patience to make. After some experimenting, it seems you need to turn the oven up to 400 F and let it heat with the door open, then you can close it and turn on the stove, at which point the oven heat can be reduced. If the burner stops working, you turn the oven up and you hit the back of the stove. I cannot explain the utter aggravation – if it were my kitchen, I’d probably cry. Val, the landlady next door, has advised him to just break it entirely so he can get a new range, and I’m thinking that’s a great idea.
For all the stove's efforts, we managed quite a good stir-fry. The chicken was silkily tender after its 24-hour marinade, though according to the original recipe it can be tossed together about five minutes before you put it in the pan. With a normal stove, the cooking time shouldn't be much more than about fifteen minutes or so, more if you're making a side of rice also.

CHICKEN AND SNAP PEAS WITH ORANGE SAUCE
adapted from Williams-Sonoma Kitchen Library: Stir-Fry

sauce
1/2 c orange juice
zest of one orange
1 Tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp peeled grated fresh ginger
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 onion, finely chopped
2 tsp honey
1 tsp Dijon mustard
marinade
1 egg white
1 Tbsp white wine
2 tsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp cornstarch

1 lb boneless skinless chicken tenders, cut into 1 1/2 inch chunks
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
8 oz fresh or frozen sugar snap peas
1 c canned sliced water chestnuts, drained

To make the sauce: combine all sauce ingredients in a small bowl and mix well. Set aside.
To make the marinade: combine marinade ingredients in a bowl and stir to dissolve the cornstarch. Add the chicken pieces and toss to coat evenly. Set aside.
In a frying pan over high heat, warm 1 Tbsp of the oil, swirling to coat the pan. Add the peas (careful if they're frozen) and stir and toss until just tender, about 2-3 minutes. Add the water chestnuts and stir and toss for 1 minute longer. Transfer to a dish and set aside.
Reduce the heat to medium-high and add the remaining 1 Tbsp oil. Add the chicken pieces and stir and toss until firm and no trace of pink remains, about 4-5 minutes. Stir the reserved orange suace and add to the pan. Bring to a simmer and stir and toss until the sauce thickens slightly, 1-2 minutes. Return the snap peas and water chestnuts to the pan and toss to coat with the sauce. Cook for 1 minute longer.

Brownies (gasp!) from a box

Mindy, if you’re reading, the credit goes to you on this one for alerting me to your raspberry brownies.

I’ve been told that most people actually generally make brownies from a box mix, rather from scratch, and don’t feel ashamed of this but in fact see it as being normal. I seriously want to believe that scratch is unquestionably better, but I know enough people who swear Betty Crocker just is the way to go and that they don’t actually even like homemade brownies. I promised to bring brownies once to a party and ended up not having motivation to bake so I picked up a box of mix and figured people would forgive me. I accidentally left out an egg, and people totally raved about them. One wanted the recipe. Kind of reminded me on Friends when Phoebe swears her grandmother makes these secret-recipe awesome chocolate chip cookies, and Monica being the food snob we can all relate to goes through dozens of different batches fiddling with cardamom and cinnamon trying to replicate the cookie Phoebe gave her. Punch line is it’s the Toll House cookie recipe on the back of the bag. You can feel her pain.

But Sandra Lee has a made a career out of doing it, and these are seriously good eats and much cheaper than a homemade batch of brownies will set you back.

IRISH PECAN BROWNIES

1 c chopped pecans

1 box dark chocolate brownie mix

2 eggs

½ c oil

2 tsp vanilla

3 Tbsp Irish Cream liqueur

scant Tbsp water or another Tbsp Irish Cream (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spread the pecans in the bottom of an 8x8 baking pan. Toast the pecans in the oven about 7 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and turn the heat down to 325 F.

Dump the brownie mix into a large bowl and make a well in the center. In a mixing cup whisk together the eggs, oil, vanilla, and Irish Cream. Pour the mixture into the well and stir well to combine using a spoonula. Add the water or additional Tbsp Irish Cream if the brownie mixture is not smooth after the requisite 20 to 30 strokes. Add the toasted pecans and mix to combine. Pour the batter into the pan and smooth over the top; tap the pan on the counter to eliminate any air bubbles trapped in the batter. Bake at 325 F for 50 to 55 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Let cool and cut carefully into pieces. These taste good (sadly) still warm, at room temperature, or even partially thawed from the freezer.

Bye Bye, Basil

I started this blog with a few plants and a lot of hope. And as of today, no more. I am giving up on apartment gardening. I am trying to put a positive spin on this and think that it’s not really so much that I’m bad at keeping plants alive, as it is that I’m just that much more phenomenal at keeping little crawling things alive, but it’s not consoling me too much at the moment. In the absence of anything else living in my apartment, I’d actually grown rather attached to my plants, in a large part for the culinary aspect, but also because they made it look more homey and pretty. I kind of miss them, and I’m kind of worried on how this bears on me (if you cant keep a freaking plant alive, can I expect to be doomed if I ever get a puppy?). There have always been two things I really wanted for a superkitchen, an herb garden and a wine cellar, and I think clearly this is a sign of in which direction to focus my efforts.

Back in July, the boss brought me back a Key lime tree seedling as a souvenir of Florida – SSIB was there this year, and funding never made it through for me to go and present the poster with the prof. Let me tell you: I was excited. I’d seen them on Amazon and always sort of half wanted one, in that wow that’s exotic and would be nifty but is clearly not a necessity and therefore cannot be in the least bit justified sort of way. So you’re supposed to take this little seedling tree and repot him, water and feed him, and he’ll grow and possibly even bear you little Key limes. So off I went, gathered myself a pot for him, and another one for the cayenne plant (the cilantro, at this point, had long since joined the garden invisible) because it was straining its confines. I planted them and put them by the patio for the sun and watered them.

One week later, I go and water them. And I notice that there are little funny webby things on my cayenne plant. And the webby things have little tiny yellow specks. That are moving. And my plant leaves are drooping and brittle. While I promptly began freaking out about little things getting all over my carpet, Rob did some googling and found that I had spider mites. And they’re really hard to kill and more prolific than bunnies. Out went the cayenne plant. Upon close inspection, there were three little mites running around the edge of the Key lime tree, so after deliberation out it went. The tomatillo plant also landed in the dumpster for the sake of being thorough and because to be honest it hadn’t ever done much of anything anyways. We threw a baking soda solution on the carpet, because baking soda is awesome and does just about everything, vacuumed it up, and I sprayed some anti-bug stuff around to make me feel better.

And then there were two. After close inspection, they seemed fine – the Thai basil had a few little black spots on its leaves for the first time, but they weren’t moving and there were no webs, and the plant had been absolutely thriving. I swear they punished me for going away. I come back, and I see there are more little black specks. On webs. And yesterday some of the black specks started moving, and I’m calling it quits. I can’t prevent the mites, and I won’t keep a plant if I’m not going to eat it. I don’t know whether it’s something in the pot that happened when I replanted the cayenne and Key lime, or maybe it’s something by my window that landed on the basils. I bought all the pots at different times, and the mites are different colors so it doesn’t appear to have crossed over, but whatever - I’ve got a layer of baking soda on my windowsill to prevent anything around there (we found actually some very good tips from a cannabis growers’ site – those people are passionate about protecting their plants and are therefore highly dedicated to eradicating mites) but the plants are in the dumpster.
The basils were my favorites. I think my current plan is to get a large package of fresh leaves from TJ's and see if I can chop and freeze them without totally destroying the color and flavor. The Thai basil I really loved, in part for its novelty but also for its heady perfume, and rice would simply not be the same without it. So I did the only thing I could do, which was to get immediately onto importfood.com and order myself up a mess of Thai basil leaves, along with some Kaffir lime leaves (for all you skeptics, these ARE necessities), and look up how to freeze them. Wish me better luck.

Jason Perlow Is A Genius

Just found through sautewednesday: foodie motivational posters. While all of them really are rather amusing, I have to say Mimosa and Jersey Tomatoes win it for me.
Ha-freakin-larious.

Best. Marinade. Ever. Or at least my favorite.

I've written previously about the dangers of grocery shopping sales as a single girl, and despite all sorts of attempts I'm still making a valiant effort to use up the ginormous amount of pork that is in my freezer. I think there's only one package left to go now. I am so superexcited to see what next week's circulars will hold so I can stock up . . . kidding. Kind of.
Luckily, I have the world's most awesome marinade (or at least I think so) that will make even the umpteenth meal of pork delectable. I really, really like it with pork tenderloins, but cooked in the oven with the loin starts the marinade into a sort of sauce for the pork slices. This, I have learned, is completely key when you cook a pound of anything all at once to be consumed in lots of leftovers throughout the week.
I'm also currently addicted to this orange muscat champagne vinegar I found at Trader Joe's. It is completely obnoxious to type out its name, but it deserves the full title even as pompous as it sounds. It's kind of sweet, kind of orange-y, definitely vinegar, and this beautiful pale sunrise color that just makes me want to put it in absolutely everything that could call for a touch of vinegar. The marinade doesn't need it, I've made it times before without, but I do kind of like how it mixes with the onion for the sauce.

PORK WITH WHITE WINE MARINADE/SAUCE
adapted from the all-new Joy of Cooking

1/4 c white wine (whatever you've got lying around will do)
1/4 c vegetable oil
1/2 large Vidalia onion, finely chopped
~ 1/4 tsp each of whatever herbs you feel like throwing in (I like thyme best, but savory, marjoram and tarragon all work, plus a bit of parsley and basil)
1/4 tsp salt
generous grinding black pepper
1 Tbsp orange muscat champagne vinegar (optional)
1 lb pork loin
1/4 c chicken broth

Mix together the wine, oil, onion, herbs, salt and pepper and vinegar well. Let stand at room temperature one hour before using. Whisk together well again.
Place the pork loin, well-trimmed, into a large Ziploc bag. Pour the marinade over the pork. Press the air out of the bag and seal. Marinade the pork in the refrigerator for at least an hour, preferably more.
Preheat the oven to 450 F. Place the pork in an ovenproof skillet (about 10 inches should do) and pour the marinade over the pork. Use a spoon to position some of the onions directly on the loin. Roast the loin at 450 for about 10 minutes. Turn the oven down to 250 F and roast for an additional 15-20 minutes. Remove the pork to a warm platter to rest.
Place the skillet with the marinade over medium heat and add the chicken broth. Gently scrape the bottom of the pan to loosen any browned bits. Bring the marinade to a boil and let boil for 2-3 minutes or until it thickens. Slice the pork and serve with the white wine sauce spooned over.

Lunchbox: Spicy Turkey Meatballs

I've learned skipping meals and me don't really mix. I am one of those unfortunates whose stomach seems to be stuck in a five-year-old mentality, where if it doesn't get fed every few hours it starts throwing a tantrum. My family used to call them snits when I was younger, and now that I'm all growed up and on my own they throw around terms like blood sugar - I'm still awful snitty when I don't get fed, but slightly more dignified in advertising the fact. I've never understood the people who forget to eat, or simply don't care enough to stop for lunch, or can just take it or leave it. There's this great line in Jennifer Weiner's Good In Bed (I happen to think she's an excellent author; I picked up In Her Shoes after I cried through the movie, and moved on to Goodnight Nobody which is a wonderful suburban mystery and really rather witty especially in that there are not a lot of female characters in murder mysteries with children and it was refreshingly different, and then Good In Bed though not what I expected and halfway through I started disliking it, but loved it again by the end - but I digress) about how she - she being the main - didn't understand her best friend who could take or leave meals, because she could almost always take them, and then her friend's too. That's fairly apt.
So lunches are clearly not to be missed under any circumstances. Lunches, in fact, are often one of the high points of the work day. I try to take lunches to work with me not only because I figure no matter what I bring with me, it's definitely cheaper than eating out, and I've been making a sort-of effort to make things that at least in theory sound healthy. (Part of it's the whole wanting to be healthful bit, and a large part of it, bad as this may be, also is that obesity has been a hot seminar topic for discussion. I am so not about to be caught with, for instance, a cheesesteak and fries going into an obesity seminar.)
In deference this week to my post-Kentucky wallet, meals have been inspired by what I can use that's already in my kitchen or what's in sale - this week, it was lean ground turkey. That doesn't always excite me, as turkey burgers and turkey meatballs can turn out really kind of dry and I don't know, unappetizingly grey, but at 4 bucks for 1.3 lbs it worked for me. After scrounging around the cupboard, I'm actually pretty darn pleased with this version - they've got a slight kick to them, a color change, and are moist on the inside, a bit of grit on the outside. I have found them somewhat addictive, and paired with some tomato rice (boil yourself a cup and a half of brown or white rice with chicken broth, add some diced really ripe tomato or one can petite diced tomatoes with their juices, and stir it together well) it's substantial enough to last even me through an afternoon slump.
SPICY TURKEY MEATBALLS
adapted from the all-new Joy of Cooking

1/2 large Vidalia onion, finely chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
3 Tbsp olive oil
1.3 lbs lean ground turkey (97%/3%)
1 large egg
3 Tbsp grated Parmesan
2 Tbsp milk
3 Tbsp dry breadcrumbs
1-2 Tbsp tomato paste
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp cilantro
1 - 1 1/2 tsp cumin
2 tsp salt
~ 1/4 - 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes to taste
cornmeal

In a medium skillet, heat 1 Tbsp of the olive oil until fragrant. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring, until the onion is tender but not browned, about 7 minutes.
In a large bowl, mix together the turkey, egg, Parmesan, milk, breadcrumbs, tomato paste, and seasonings until well combined. Add the onion and garlic and mix together well until evenly distributed. Shape the mixture into 1 - 1 1/2 inch size balls and roll in cornmeal to coat. Gently shake or toss the meatball between your hands to shed excess cornmeal.
Add the remaining 2 Tbsp olive oil to the skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs without crowding. Brown on all sides, about 10 minutes or so total.

And Back Again

The blog has been away this past week, pulling maid-of-honor duties for the best friend down in Lexington, Kentucky. I would not have missed it for the world. It was excellent. Berry Hill Mansion was an absolutely beautiful backdrop to an absolutely beautiful wedding. I cried a lot. I miss them both already.
Foodie-wise, there's not a lot to report - Kentucky itself is really really pretty and though we didn't get to do all the tourist stops in the area, Lina and I swung out to Woodford Reserve Distillery. High points for me included the bourbon balls and peach tea and the barrels signed by Julia Child and Wolfgang Puck. I'm not really actually a bourbon fan, and indeed it's probably good because of the rye allergy, but to my knowledge there aren't a lot of distilleries round these parts of Jersey. I also had fried green tomatoes followed later by Derby pie at the rehearsal dinner, which tastes like a warm chocolate chip but gooier and with whipped cream, and am now a total convert to both.
Blogging should be back to normal this week after the brief hiatus. There are some catch-up entries below that with all the packing I never got in before I left, but the muffins in particular are worth the wait to share.

One personal soap-box PSA for anyone who might be flying in or out of Philadelphia International Airport: if you're needing a car service to transport you to or from, I highly recommend against using AA Direct TownCar/Aspire Limo Service. They were the only downside to my trip. Despite the company calling me for directions the morning thereof, and using a GPS navigation system, the driver got lost along the way and arrived twenty-five minutes late for pickup. Upon choosing a lane at the Walt Whitman bridge, he announced in the manner of a bad blind date that he had forgotten his wallet and asked me to come up with the cash to pay the toll. He told me that it's standard company policy to have customers pay for tolls. At the return trip (though I called a different driver, I got the same one), he was fifteen minutes unapologetically late in picking up at the airport. Drove about fifty feet and was stopped by a police officer, who informed him that he had run the stop sign, indicated that he'd spoken to him before about this, and that this was his last warning before a fine. We went about another fifty yards before he ran the next stop sign. If I pay extra for a company that has already shown no respect for my time and itinerary, shame on me. I'm too nice, I should know better than to give a crap company a second chance. But if you show a blatant disregard for safety by completely ignoring traffic laws - shame on you. I'm sure everyone's a bit lax in getting out of airports, a bit more aggressive than they should be, but that isn't an excuse to drive poorly and in particular with a passenger - you just don't do things like that. I was completely thrown by the unprofessionalism of the driver - who then asked me to sign a credit slip before writing in the charge, and wanted to give himself twenty percent and another three dollars for the toll back into Philadelphia. Jerk.
End bitching.

Super Fancy Celebrations

It's very exciting: I've been published. My very first journal article ever, co-author, from all the rat caffeine work senior year, all wrapped up beautifully in twelve pages in Physiology and Behavior. I think I've got about one sentence in there, but even if my writing didn't make it in I know a lot of the grunt work and basis for the experiments did, and that's really really nifty. I've been supremely lucky in my psych background so far, and as I go on with further designs for grad school I'm hoping the publication will kick my applications up a notch in the eyes of admissions.
So this was decidedly a step worth celebrating, and I take any excuse I can to pretend to be impressive in the kitchen.
First up: salad with baked goat cheese rounds. Rob has become a master of salads, taking them to the next level, and it's been difficult for me to keep up as he finds a niche in the kitchen. He was duly amazed by these - my father used to sear breaded goat cheese for New Year's dinner salads, and I was always impressed - but quickly learned that they really are superbly easy. This means now I need to find a new parlor trick, as he's already adopted them into his repertoire as well.
SALAD WITH BAKED GOAT CHEESE
adapted from the all-new Joy of Cooking

~ 4 oz log herbed goat cheese
breadcrumbs
two large-ish portions baby salad greens
3 Tbsp olive oil
2-3 Tbsp orange muscat champagne vinegar
Sunkist Almond Accents roasted Caesar flavored almonds

Preheat an oven to 4oo F. Spray a small oven-proof plate or baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
Cut the goat cheese log into rounds about 1/2 inch thick. Pour 1 Tbsp olive oil onto a small plate. On another plate pour out some breadcrumbs. Coat each round of cheese with olive oil and then gently roll to coat in breadcrumbs. Place on the prepared plate. Bake in the oven for about 6 minutes, turning carefully after 3 minutes.
Meanwhile, divide the salad greens between two bowls. In a small bowl place the vinegar. Pour the olive oil into the vineger slowly, mixing well to combine. Taste and adjust for preference, adding salt and pepper if you like. Pour half the vinagrette over each salad and toss some of the sliced almonds over the top. Carefully slide two rounds of baked goat cheese onto each salad and serve quickly before the cheese cools.
Yield: two salads.

Next: there is nothing like saffron for feeling important. Originally I hadn't planned on blogging this, as it seems kind of easy, but Rob pointed out that anything with saffron is bloggable. I think it's a pretty good rule.
SHRIMP IN TOMATO-WINE SCAMPI SAUCE

2 Tbsp each butter and truffle oil (thank you, Sara!)
1 medium Vidalia onion, chopped
3 large garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 lb black tiger shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 c white wine
2 Tbsp lemon juice
large pinch saffron threads
2-3 large Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced small
1 Tbsp minced fresh basil
1 tsp minced fresh parsley

In a medium to large skillet, melt the butter with the olive oil over low heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook for about six minutes or so, until they start to soften but are not browned. Add the shrimp and cook until just pink on one side. Turn the shrimp over. Add the white wine, lemon juice, saffron and tomatoes and increase the heat to medium-high. Let the wine mixture come to a simmer and cook until the shrimp are pink on both sides and the wine sauce has thickened a bit. Remove from heat and add the herbs and toss to combine. Serve with hot with freshly cooked angel hair pasta.

A Muffin Full of Summer

I'd sworn off the oven after the ridiculous heat produced by weekend cooking, but we all knew it couldn't last.
These gorgeous little guys came from a link off the Williams-Sonoma website, which kindly sends me automatic updates every single time something new comes along just in case I have a really big moment of weakness and decide that I absolutely need to buy out Le Creuset's new line. I haven't yet, but they maintain a sense of hope.
Barring chickpea flour, which I couldn't find around by me, this is fairly standard summer pantry items, so these are a good quasi-instant gratification for weeknight baking. They're a bit dry when cool, so I recommend eating straight from the oven. Either way, the muffins are superflavorful and have the power to convert the nonbelievers in savory muffins.

TOMATO AND GOAT CHEESE MUFFINS
adapted from Williams-Sonoma

6 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 bunch scallions inc ~ 1 inch of the white, finely chopped
2 Tbsp minced fresh basil
2 1/2 c flour
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 scant tsp sugar
1 1/4 c milk
2 eggs
~ 4 oz herbed goat cheese, cut into 10 rounds
2 large plum tomatoes, cut lengthwise and then cut into largeish chunks

Preheat an oven to 400 F. Spray 10 wells of a regular muffin pan with nonstick cook spray; fill the other two cups partially full with water.
In a small saute pan melt the butter. Add the scallions and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the basil and remove from the heat.
In a lager bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. In a separate bowl whisk together the milk and eggs. Make a well in the flour mixture and pour in the milk mixture and the buttery scallion mixture. Stir together until just evenly moistened, being careful not to overmix.
Spoon batter into prepared muffin wells, filling each well just shy of half full. Place a round of goat cheese in the middle of each cup and press into the batter slightly. Place two or three tomato chunks on top of the goat cheese. Cover cheese and tomato with batter until filled to the rim of the cup. You may want to smooth over each top gently with a small spatala to seal batter at the sides.
Bake until the muffins are dry and golden at the top, 18 to 22 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let sit for five minutes before unmolding. Serve warm. To reheat muffins, set on a baking sheet and rewarm at 350 F for about five minutes.
Yield: 10 muffins.

A Pocket Full of Summer

Just for the record: those potatoes in the background aren't burned - they're purple. It was simply necessary to get them because I had never before eaten a purple potato. You know how it is.

Tomato and basil recipes are springing up all over the place, it seems, and as this one’s been on my list to try for a while now it just made sense to jump on the bandwagon. It’s a mere twist on a basic tomato salad by using it as a filling for the chicken. While I have this squeamish thing about touching raw chicken, it is a necessary evil and I just love the way that stuffed chicken looks all prissy and elegant, like maybe somehow in another life I could give it a fancy title and charge ridiculous amounts for it and get it without question, and therefore I happily stuffed away. The filling, I think, either needs less lemon juice or a less moist/more crumbly feta, as I thought it was just shy of being a bit more runny than one would like it, and I'd remember that for the inevitable next time. Typing the recipe up, I just realized I also goofed on the buerre blanc, having used only and left out a 1/2 c butter, which would explain why it seemed not quite like the picture . . . To be honest, not knowing any better, it seemed tasty enough with just the half cup, though thin, and I had (until now) simply attributed it to using half-and-half instead of heavy cream to stabilize the sauce. But overall it's one I'm pleased with - but how can you really go wrong with fresh tomatoes and basil?

SUMMER STUFFED CHICKEN BREASTS WITH LEMON HERB BUERRE BLANC
adapted from Cuisine At Home magazine, August 2003

for the chicken
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 c feta cheese, crumbled
3/4 c Roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1/4 c total mix of chopped fresh basil and parsley
1/4 c lemon juice
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 Tbsp garlic, minced or pressed
salt and pepper to taste
nonstick cook spray
for the buerre blanc
~ 1/2 c white wine
2 Tbsp or so orange muscat champagne vinegar
1 1/2 Tbsp half-and-half
1 c cold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon size pieces
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp minced fresh parsley
2 tsp minced fresh chives

Prepare the chicken: Place your hand on the thickest part of the chicken breast and insert a boning or other thin knife into the chicken, making sure that the knife stays parallel with your cutting surface. Slowly move the knife in back and forth, side to side to make a pocket that takes up 1/2 to 3/4 of the length of the breast, leaving a small portion uncut at the end. There should be enough room to fit either a spoon or one to two fingers inside. Use your fingers to feel the inside of the pocket, widening it a bit, and breaking apart any layers the knife may have missed.
Once you've got the chicken ready for stuffing: in a bowl combine the feta, tomatoes, herbs, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, and salt and pepper. Stuff each breast with about 1/4 c filling, making sure you tamp it in either with your fingers or the spoon. Mist both sides of the chicken with nonstick cook spray and season with salt and pepper.
Preheat an indoor open grill to high (or a regular grill to medium-high - oil the grates before cooking). Grill the chicken about 12-15 minutes per side until the chicken has cooked through.
While the chicken is cooking on the second side, make the buerre blanc: reduce the wine and vinegar over medium-high heat in a small saucepan until the liquid is reduced by half or so, about four-five minutes. Add the half-and-half and simmer again until reduced by half, a minute or two. Off heat, whisk in the butter, 2 Tbsp at a time, until melted. Stir in the lemon juice and the herbs. Serve over the chicken.

If You Can Stand the Heat

Note to self: Turning on the oven to roast corn in one’s apartment, since one does not have an actual grill or space outside to do it, is brilliant in that it smells lovely and makes one feel as though she is doing Some Very Important Cooking by being able to use ‘oven-roasted’ as a modifier. However, particularly in the middle of a Jersey heat wave, while you are roasting corn, the oven is roasting the entire apartment, and the oven will not particularly care that the air conditioner is working hard to combat the already-existing hot air, or that your whole family is coming over and you are trying to be impressive, or that your recipe requires it be in there for one of the longest half-hours of your life, and it will continue chugging merrily away, producing heat like an evil hell’s minion to the point where you will be cursing you and your brilliant ideas and food snobbery and why didn’t you just stick to frozen corn like it says, but no, not you.
Darn you, farm market, and your seductively fresh, irresistibly sweet corn – do you see the trouble you get me into? I blame you entirely.
Perversely, I bet this is awesome in winter months, when you want the oven started up with its satisfying little flare of the gas going on and the comfort of a simmered soup, but I doubt there will be fresh corn then. And admittedly, this is great stuff – I had this really really excellent recipe for corn chowder with poblanos from the NYTimes Magazine maybe ten, a dozen years ago, and somewhere along the line I lost it and have been lamenting it since, and this isn’t it but I might like it almost as much – but as to what possessed me to turn on both the oven and stove on a blistering Saturday, well, I’ve got nothing. It also leaves the satisfaction of the hot pot theory, in that if you are eating spicy warm or hot foods in really hot weather, this will leave you with at least an illusion of coolness.
Incidentally - if you’ve got a good way to roast corn in the absence of a grill, or at least some alternative to regular boiling – for instance, anyone try indoor grills? Cast-iron skillets? Long, slow, low oven roasting like for tomatoes? – I am seeking your comments.

CORN CHOWDER
adapted from Bon Appetit via Epicurious

for the roasted corn
7 ears sweet white corn on the cob
olive oil, salt and pepper
for the chowder
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 Tbsp flour
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 stalks celery, finely chopped
2-3 Tbsp finely chopped drained jarred jalapeño slices
2 15-oz cans cream style corn
the roasted corn and cobs from above
2 1/2 c chicken broth
1 to 1 1/2 c half-and-half
2 tsp sugar
2-3 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

Preheat your oven to 400 F. Take the ears of corn and remove the husks and silks (I've heard it helps if you use a wet paper towel, but I have my doubts). Place in a baking pan and drizzle over some olive oil and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place in the oven and roast for 30 minutes, turning the corn after 15. Remove and let sit until cool enough to handle. When the corn has cooled, remove the kernels from the cobs and reserve both.
Melt 2 Tbsp butter and mix with the flour in a small bowl; set aside. Melt the remaining 2 Tbsp butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the celery, onion, and jalapeño mixture and sauté until soft, 5-6 minutes. Add the creamed corn, the corn kernels, the chicken broth, half-and-half and sugar. Mix together well. If you have room in the pot for the corn cobs, add them as well, and bring the mixture to a boil. Whisk in the butter-flour mixture and let simmer 15 minutes. Add the cilantro and mix in well, simmer an additional five minutes.
The soup can be cooled to warm, somewhat above room-temperature, rather than hot to be served if you prefer.