Belly of the Beest

Zucchini and Corn Salad

Welcome to summer! It is officially the hottest day of the year in Chicago since 1999!  I’m never a huge fan of crazy hot weather and now that I’m 7 months pregnant 100 degree temps and 110 heat indexes make me melt and swell at the same time. I feel like Veruca Salt from Charlie and the Chocolate factory, but at least I haven’t turned blue!

While I have been complaining about the heat, the summer veggies seem to be rejoicing in it.  This salad celebrates two of the best summer vegetables: Zucchini and sweet corn! For extra protein you can add some feta cheese and pine nuts (if you can find some that aren’t too pricey!) If you don’t want to go that extra mile, no problem, it is delicious as is.

This is a nice side salad that would go well with tacos or other Mexican food. Here is the recipe!

Warm Zucchini Corn Salad

4 Servings/1 pt. ea. (about 2/3 C)

1 1/2 cups whole kernel corn, boiled and cut from the cob.
2 1/2 cups diced or shredded zucchini
2 T green onion, chopped
1 t. olive oil
1 T lime juice
1/8 t. freshly ground pepper
1/2 t. salt
4 T fresh cilantro, chopped

Toss corn, zucchini and green onions with olive oil. Pour into large skillet, and cook, stirring frequently, until zucchini is fork-tender. Remove skillet from heat, and mix in lime juice, cilantro, salt and pepper.
 

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Edible Flower Salad

Our garden has been kicking ass and taking names this year! Our lettuce has supplied us with more than we could possibly eat; our nasturtiums are blooming like crazy and have a variety of tastes. Red is spiciest, orange is medium and yellow is fairly mild. I still have a hard time eating flowers though! I look at them and think, “I’m not suppose to eat this, it is too pretty!” But then, I remember how tasty they are and savor them, knowing that their season is fleeting and this is one thing you can’t just go get from the store. We made this salad for a barbecue we went to last Saturday. It looks sort of magical in the dusk light, doesn’t it? The salad was simple, lettuce and flowers from our garden, sliced strawberries from the store and a honey mustard dressing too. The dressing is so deceptive though! It is the color of avocados, has an avocado on the front and so I’ve been calling it “the avocado dressing” for years! I JUST discovered that there are NO avocados in it. They just tell you it is good on avocados. Boo. It is still really tasty though!

Here is our garden a few weeks ago!

Later this summer we are having an edible flower party so I’m hoping some of the blooms will still be around so I can use them in the dishes I decide to make. We also planted some little violas for eating too. They look so amazing next to the vivid warm colors in the nasturtiums.

We also had a good crop of radishes; peas and our first carrot emerged from the dirt yesterday! And our little alpine strawberries have been producing tiny delicious little berries for about 6 weeks now and how no signs of stopping. Those are amazing to munch on while weeding our little plot! It is so amazing how much you can fit into such a small space!

As we approach mid-summer I am already dreaming about the green beans, the basil and the ripe tomatoes. Our spring veggies have been great so I’m hoping our summer ones will be nice too!

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Quinoa Salad with Black Beans and Mango

When I get invited to a barbecue I immediately start going through my list of recipes: potato salad, macaroni salad, lentil-beet salad, tofu burgers, etc. I love all of these recipes, but they have to make room for one more because this spring I found a perfect picnic salad recipe in the Veganomicon—Quinoa Salad with Black Beans and Mango.

The wonderful thing about this recipe is how flexible and quick it is to make. You can use any left over grains, beans or fruit you have in the house. Lately we’ve been using a lot of quinoa though because I need the extra protein, but imagine Israeli couscous, bulgur or wheatberries would also be nice!

It is perfect for picnics because there is no dairy, it is fast and tastes better at room temperature than it does chilled.

And now the recipe!

1 mango, peeled and cut into small dice

1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced as small as you can get it

1 cup chopped scallions

1 cup chopped fresh cilantro

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

2 tbsp grapeseed oil

¼ tsp salt

2 cups cooked quinoa, cooled*

1 (15oz) can black beans drained and rinsed

Spinach

Combine the mango, bell pepper, scallion and cilantro in a mixing bowl. Add the red wine vinegar, grapeseed oil, and salt, and stir to combine. Add the quinoa and stir until everything is well incorporated. Fold in the black beans. You can serve immediately or let it sit for a bit for the flavors to meld.

We also added two handfuls of spinach just because we had it on hand. I think it is best to add the spinach right before you serve it so it doesn’t get too oily or wilted.

*if you don’t already have some cooked quinoa, don’t fret! It is very easy. Just bring 1 cup of dried quinoa and two cups of water to a boil in a small pot. Once it has started to boil, lower the heat so it is simmering and cook for about 15 minutes, until all the water has been absorbed. Then remove from the heat and fluff with a fork. Set it aside and let it cool while you prep the other ingredients for the recipe!

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Warm Balsamic Lima Bean Salad

I love Lima Beans. They are a much-maligned food and I can not for the life of me figure out why! I bought some after eating lima bean paste at a restaurant near our house. I wasn’t sure how to use them, but then I got the infrequent, but always welcome, email for quick weekday dinners from  “The Splendid Table.” This ‘Warm Balsamic Bean Salad’ is  easy, satisfying and simple to modify.

The original recipe calls for it to be served on a bed of greens, which would have been tasty, but I happened to have peas and asparagus on hand because in the spring I want to eat nothing else. So instead of lettuce, I briefly steamed the peas and the asparagus so they were just a little tender and then bought some amazing whole grain bread from Whole Foods. The addition of the bread creates the classic bean-grain duo that makes up a complete protein. Now that it is a little later in the growing season, I would add squash (yellow or zucchini) and peppers, instead of the asparagus and peas.

Warm Balsamic Bean Salad (originally from The Splendid Table)

Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients

Dressing:
1/3 cup good tasting extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium to large onion, thinly sliced
4-inch branch fresh rosemary, or a generous teaspoon dried whole leaf rosemary
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup water
4 large cloves garlic, diced
Pinch hot pepper flakes
1/4 cup wine or cider vinegar
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 14-ounce cans of cannellini, pinto beans, or lima beans, rinsed and drained (If you are using dried beans, this is about 4 cups of cooked beans)

Vegetables:

1-2 bunches of asparagus or two small summer squash

1 cup fresh peas or 1 medium pepper

Preparation

1. Heat oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onion, rosemary, salt and a generous amount of pepper. Saute 2 minutes, or until the onion is soft. Add the water, garlic, and hot pepper. Bring to a very gentle bubble, cover the pan and cook 3 minutes, or until garlic is soft. Don’t let it brown and be careful not to get spattered by the water. Stir in the vinegars and the beans, and set aside.2. Steam the asparagus and peas by starting with the asparagus for three minutes, then add the peas and steam for an additional 2 minutes or just until the asparagus is tender. If you are using summer vegetables, slice the squash into thin slices and cut the pepper into thin stripes and steam together for about 10 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender but not mushy.
2. Combine the beans and the vegetables in a dish and serve with whole grain bread. Enjoy!

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Curry Butternut Squash Soup

The squash dinner party was ridiculously delicious and I have posted as many photos as I could! Thanks to Steve and Carla for hosting and providing delicious beer as usual. I missed photographing a couple dishes, but I feel like I got most of them. Everyone really did a fantastic job this time and I can’t wait until the noodle party in January…I think the drink for that one will be hilarious. I’ve posted the recipes I have or provided links as often as I could, but please send me the recipe you used for the dinner and I’ll update the post as I get them!

Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy the photos!

Squash Gnocchi and pomegranate seeds

Acorn Squash Ravioli with Sage Brown Butter Sauce

This was my dish, it came from this site, but I changed a couple things. First, I used Acorn squash instead of butternut because it isn’t as sweet. Then, I only used 1 tbsp molasses instead of  2 tbsp, again, so it isn’t so sweet.

This pie was brought by Chris W. He made it from scratch, for real.

Chris made this amazing pie and it was perfect! Spiced well and made from pumpkins! Not Libby’s pumpkins, but real ones. I was impressed and as you can see in the photo below Sam was too. He ate a whole piece in one bite.

Sam eats a piece of pie in one bite

Nick blows out candles for his 28th birthday

These little cut outs were supposed to be this, but I broke the cake apart when I tried to get it out of the pan. I’ve made cakes like this before with success, but for some reason this one didn’t turn out. But these were super cute anyway and Nick and I got to eat the left overs for a few days after the party.

Squash Gnocchi

Carla made these little  guys and people just started eating them like popcorn. Very tasty and very pretty!

Spaghetti Squash Salad

I think Bill brought this salad. It is a spaghetti squash with loads of cilantro and I’m not sure what else, but it was very refreshing and cold. It was a wonderful counter to all the warm, sage filled dishes. He also brought a Thai inspired butternut squash soup with potato croutons. Also, very tasty.

Squash Pierogi with squash dipping sauce

Chris H and Anna brought these and I hope Anna will send the recipe because they were the best pierogis I’ve had! And here’s the recipe:

DOUGH:

4 ½ cups white whole wheat flour

2 tsp salt

2 tbsp butter, melted

1 cup Greek yogurt thinned with 1 cup milk

2 eggs

1 egg yolk

2 tbsp vegetable oil

In a large bowl, stir together the flour and salt. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the butter, yogurt/milk mixture, eggs, egg yolk, and oil. Stir the wet ingredients into the flour until well blended. Cover the bowl with a towel, and let stand for 15-20 minutes.

Separate the perogie dough into two balls. Roll out one piece at a time on a lightly floured surface until it is thin enough to work with, but not too thin so that it tears. Cut into circles using a cookie cutter, perogie cutter, or a glass. Brush a little water around the edges of the circles, and spoon some filling into the center. Fold the circles over into half-circles, and press to seal the edges. Place perogies on a cookie sheet, and freeze. Once frozen, transfer to freezer storage bags or containers.

To cook perogies: Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Drop perogies in one at a time. They are done when they float to the top. Do not boil too long, or they will be soggy! Remove with a slotted spoon. Then pan fry them.

FILLING: (as told by Chris Hutson)

I took a golden hubbard squash about the size of a toddler’s head but you could use whatever kind of squash, I bet.  and I roasted it real good, I think an hour at 350°f
then I scooped it out of the skin into a big bowl  sometimes the skin came with but that turned out to be OK and I mashed it up with a large blop of yogurt because we didn’t have sour cream and an approximately 1.5″ segment of butter off a stick and i thought it needed more so I poured in a little milk but that made it too wet so i stirred in corn flour til it stiffened back up you could probably omit the last two steps if you’d like
and I also stirred in: salt, pepper, paprika, nutmeg, dry mustard, celery seed, and toasted ground up pumpkin seeds and dried parsley, sage, and tarragon

I made too much so Anna thinned some down with more sage for a sauce.

deep fried butternut squash

Chris W also brought this dish and slaved over a hot cast-iron skillet. It was kind of funny because every time he’d put one down someone would snag it so it looked like he wasn’t actually making anything. With a little salt they were perfect. Other things that were eaten that I didn’t get to photograph were impressive and it is a testament to their tastiness that they were gone before I could photo them.

Woah! Mustache!

I think Kathy and Martin brought this one. Here’s the recipe, but more importantly, Martin has a mustache! These drinks were dangerously good. Once again, nice work on the drinks. Maybe some of these photos will inspire last minute additions or substitutions in your Thanksgiving meals. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and here’s the final recipe (for now.)

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Tomato Custard Pie

Last Sunday we had our Tomato Dinner Party. I think it was the best food we have had for awhile, the photos aren’t the best because it was at night so they are a little darker than I would like. I’m afraid I’ll have to start bringing a flash with me to these parties since it is getting dark so much earlier already.

Anyway, here are the recipes and the photos from the night!

Harvest Moon

Kathy and Martin made a drink. Officially it’s an “Heirloom Tomato Mojitonico” which originated at Chicago’s own Nacional 27, which based on their website does not look like someplace Martin wants to start hanging out anytime soon.  (In any event, we  prefer Nick’s suggested appellation for the drink.)  We made it as follows:

Says the NYT: “Rim a 16-ounce glass by moistening the edge with a lime wedge, then dipping the glass into a small plate filled with equal parts salt and pepper. Into the same glass add the tomatoes, herbs and lime sections, then muddle, gently, until the mixture is equal parts juice and solids. Add ice, stir, then add the gin, and stir again. Top with the tonic water.”  So that’s just what we did.

This whole drink-making exercise was basically an excuse to make adorable garnishes.  We garnished each Moon with a spike of pickled asparagus and a toothpick-skewer featuring a green olive, a tiny pickled okra, and a home-grown currant tomato, and capped with a ground cherry.  Classy!

(This is lifted directly from an email from Martin)

The drinks were enjoyed while we all ate pita with roasted tomato butter, outlined on my previous blog entry, here. We also had classic bruschetta, and a Caprese salad, both contributions from the Weiher brothers.

For the main dish we had a simple pasta made with sauce that I had canned a couple weeks before. This was a very peppery sauce. The recipe for pasta sauce is fluid and done to taste, but the basics are this:

saute onion and garlic until the onion is soft, add some salt and some pepper and a few fresh herbs like basil, oregano, and rosemary. Then add any tomato you like (brandywine, roma, whatever) just make sure you peel and seed them. Cook all this on low heat until it cooks down to a consistency you like. Add more fresh herbs and seasonings as you go. We topped this simple dish with toasted pine nuts and shredded cheese.

For dessert with had”Wee Italian-Style Puddin’ Banditos” (from Kathy and Martin) and a Tomato Custard Pie (from me and Nick). First, the Banditos:

Banditos and Tomato Custard Pie

WEE ITALIAN-SYLE PUDDIN’ BANDITOS

5 ounces softened cream cheese
1/3 cup sugar

13 ounces mascarpone cheese
3 eggs
1 3/4 tablespoons lemon juice
Finely grated zest of 1 1/2 oranges
Finely grated zest of 1/2 lemon

The original Oliveto recipe wanted us to make these in ramekins in a ban marie, but what, do we look like professional pastry chefs?  We are not professional pastry chefs.  But mostly we just don’t feel a need to own fifteen ramekins.

So.  Put like fifteen or so muffin/cupcake cups into muffin/cupcake molds.  Put a tiny cookie in the bottom of each.  (Finding an appropriately-sized cookie was a challenge.  Nilla wafers, Megan’s weapon of choice, are a little small; we wound up using some Kraš Albert biscuits to represent for Croatia; they were tasty, but slightly large, and therefore angled in the molds and gave the finished banditos a slight and not-unpleasing tilt evocative of a radio telescope.)

Then beat the cream cheese with a mixer till smooth. Add the sugar gradually; beat until blended. Add the mascarpone; beat till smooth. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each, scraping the sides of the bowl. Add the lemon juice and the orange and lemon zests. Pour into the muffin/cupcake cups over the tiny cookies. Bake relentlessly at 325° until set, 30-40 minutes. Chill through and through.

TOMATO COMPOTE

5 1/2 cups tiny tomatoes (we used some low-acid Sungolds as well as a few of our own currant tomatoes and Sweet 100s)
3/4 cup sugar
1 lemon, peeled, sliced paper thin and chopped
1 cup sultana raisins
Additional lemon juice and sugar, to taste

Preheat the oven to 325°. Set aside 1 1/2 cups of tomatoes. Cut the remaining tomatoes in half lengthwise. Place them with their cut sides up on a wire rack over a sheet pan. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of the sugar. Bake for 15 minutes, then sprinkle with the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and continue baking until mostly dry, 1-1 1/2 hours.  (We discovered that the Sungolds took rather longer to dry out, and some of our tomatoes crisped pretty quickly.)  Place the reserved tomatoes in a blender, and blend into 1
cup of thin puree.

Bring 1 cup of water along with the remaining sugar (6 tablespoons) to a boil and add the lemon. Let simmer for 10 minutes, then add the roasted tomatoes and raisins. Cook until everything is bubbly, then add the puree and cook another few minutes, taking care not to scorch the bottom.  Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature. Add more sugar to taste, and, if needed, a squeeze of lemon. Spoon with extreme prejudice over each bandito.

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Tomato Salad

The slow trickle of tomatoes has begun and it will soon be an overwhelming tide. So while I’m still excited about them, I wanted to make a dish that would highlight the brilliant taste of the first tomatoes of summer. I was thrilled when I found this amazing recipe for tomato salad. A recipe that didn’t require cooking was key, because I will be canning pasta sauce in a couple weeks and I didn’t want to use all my tomatoes for the same purpose. This recipe is perfect, both for it’s lack of cooked tomatoes and it’s simplicity. The dressing for the tomato salad enhances the tomatoes without overwhelming them. When making this tomato salad be sure to get the sweetest tomatoes you possibly can. Red currants are my current (ha!) favorite.

Here’s the recipe for Tomato Salad, from Nigella Lawson’s cookbook Forever Summer:

1/4 tsp mustard powder
1 heaping tbsp of all-purpose flour
1 tsp sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup plus 2 tbsp whole milk (use full fat or the dressing will be quite runny)
1 egg, beaten
4 tbsp cider vinegar
1 tbsp sunflower oil
A plate full of cherry tomatoes, halved
Chives for garnish

Half fill the sink with cold water.

Combine the mustard, flour and sugar, with about a teaspoon of salt and a generous amount of pepper, in a heavy-based saucepan. Add a little milk and stir to make a smooth paste, then put on a gentle heat and keep adding milk, slowly, and stir as you add.

Once the milk has been added, add the beaten egg and vinegar and keep whisking/stirring until it begins to thicken. When the mix has the texture of light cream, whisk in the oil then plunge the pan in the sink of cold water and keep stirring. When it is cool, cut the tomatoes in half and arrange them on a plate. Drizzle the dressing, not too much, over the tomatoes. Then throw a few chives on and you’re set! Hopefully you have a nice patio, backyard, or park near your house where you can enjoy the tomato salad outside on a nice warm summer day.

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A brief post on the eve of Chicago’s first heat wave of 2009. I’m still not convinced the thermometer will hit the 95+ they are calling for on Sunday….but it’s fun to think about it actually being hot for a couple days in August. My tomatoes need the heat!

I was thinking about all the produce we have right now and my cucumbers are getting lonely. I’ve been eating my share of cucumber sandwiches and I even pickled some earlier this week –more on that soon. But tonight I wanted something a little flashier than a sandwich, but didn’t really feel like baking anything so this recipe was perfect: Lemon Cucumber Tofu Salad! I even had the mung beans! Crazy, right? I didn’t have the avocado, but I don’t think it really needed it. I would however add some cheese, feta would probably be best, but a hard cheese might not be bad either.

Anyway, this little recipe comes from 101cookbooks. It was recently featured on her website, but I always find Heidi’s a little heavy handed with the olive oil and a little too lean on spices. So, with that in mind, I made this today and it was very simple to modify to perfection.

Lemon Cucumber Tofu Salad

2 lemon cucumbers, quartered then sliced into 1/4 inch thick slices
1 handful of fresh dill (about 2/3 cup loosely packed)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil –I would use 1/2 this amount
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice –increase this
2 big pinches of salt
8 ounces extra firm tofu
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/2 of a large, ripe avocado or cheese! (omit cheese if you want it to be vegan)

Toss the cucumbers, dill, olive oil, lemon juice and salt together in a medium bowl. Let sit for at least 20 minutes tossing gently once or twice along the way.

In the meantime, cook the tofu. Cook the tofu and a pinch of salt in a skillet over medium-high heat for a few minutes, until the pieces are browned on one side. Toss gently once or twice, then continue cooking for another minute or so, until the tofu is firm, golden, and bouncy. Set aside.

Just before serving cut the avocado into cubes.Or add your cheese

Spoon the cucumbers out of the lemon-olive oil mixture into a large salad bowl. Add half of the remaining dressing, the tofu, and half of the pine nuts. Gently toss. Taste. Add more dressing or salt if you like. Sprinkle the avocado across the top of the salad and gently toss once or twice to distribute it throughout the salad. Serve topped with the remaining pine nuts.

Serves 2 – 3.

Fresh Lime Soda

Now the drink. Nick and I were at Cafe Red Eye earlier this week and I ordered their Fresh Lime Soda. It was amazing! It was the most refreshing, sweet, but not too sweet, drink I’ve ever had. Perfect for a hot summer day. The ingredients are simple:

1 can lacroix water –plain, the cans are blue. Or you can use any seltzer water you like

2 shots of vanilla simple syrup (make this by heating 2 cups of water with 1 1/2 cups sugar until sugar is absorbed, then add 3/4 tsp of vanilla extract)

Finally add the juice from 1-2 freshly squeezed limes. Serve over ice. Perfection.

I hope everyone has a good weekend and enjoys the weather with their fresh lime sodas and Lemon cucumber tofu salads!

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Summer Zucchini Pasta

Every year around this time, the zucchini and summer squash gardens across the country start producing prolific amounts of beautiful squash. At first it is thrilling, knowing that a couple seeds produced so much delicious and nutrient rich food. But then, as the days go by and the squash starts stacking up, the thrill dissipates and the panic sets in. So much food! How do you use it quickly enough to make sure none of it goes to waste?

This is a recipe that will help use up some of those squash. I have already made it twice, once for Nick and myself and once with Aarti and Anu. It’s cooked in one pot, and is perfect on a hot summer night or served at room temperature.

The pasta used here doesn’t have to be penne, you can use whatever you’d like, but when you cut up the squash, cut them into pieces that are about the same size as the pasta you choose. I would suggest that you use a penne, rotini, or a chunkier pasta in this recipe because the “sauce” is very chunky. For a lighter, smoother sauce, you can and should use a more delicate pasta like angel hair. Anyway, here’s the recipe!

Summer Zucchini Pasta -- Mixing all the ingredients

Summer Zucchini Pasta

10 minutes prep time; 10 minutes stove time.
Serves 6 as a main dish.
The pasta could be served hot, or at room temperature.

• 5 quarts salted water in a 6-quart pot
• 1 pound small zucchini and summer squash, about 4 or 5
• 1 pound imported penne pasta
• 4 tablespoons good tasting extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon hot pepper flakes, and more to taste
• 4 large garlic cloves, coarse chopped
• 2 cups grape tomatoes halved, or 2 cups fresh tomatoes, add more if your tomatoes are coming in quickly as well
• 1 to 1-1/2 cups feta cheese, crumbled or a softer goat cheese(chevre!) so delicious, this melts more and coats the pasta nicely.
• 1/3 tight-packed cup fresh basil leaves, rough chopped
• I added cinnamon to the pasta because that’s what I do, it was a delicious idea.

1. Have the salted water boiling.

2. Trim off the ends of the zucchini. Cut the squash into matchsticks about the size of the penne.

3. Drop the pasta into the boiling water. In the last 3 minutes of boiling (check pasta package for timing), drop the zucchini into the pot. Boil, stirring often, until the penne are tender but still have a little bite. Scoop out 1 cup of the pasta water and reserve. Immediately drain the pasta and zucchini in a colander.

4. Return the pasta pot to the heat, turning it down to low. Film the bottom of the pot with the olive oil. Add the hot pepper flakes and garlic, and gently saute just until the garlic is fragrant, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add the cinnamon here if you plan to use it.

5. Remove the pot from the heat, add the drained pasta and zucchini, the tomatoes, feta, basil, and as much of the reserved pasta water as necessary to lightly coat the pasta. Gently toss, taste for seasoning, and serve!

Tomorrow, more veggies, not enough time.

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We had our cherry party a few weeks ago, but I’m just getting around to posting about the party now. We had a lot of adventures since the Cherry Party, thus, the delay. But now, without further delay, the photos and the recipes!

First, the drinks. Katie, Nick, Katie’s sister and her boyfriend, really out did themselves here. We had this party on a Sunday afternoon so we didn’t drink as much as we would have on say a Saturday, but one of these drinks was completely gone at the end of the party.

Sour Cherry Lemonade

Sour Cherry Lemonade
*Note from Katie: the lemon juice was not strained, giving the drink a pulpy orange juice consistency; straining the lemon juice would result in a lighter, fizzier drink.

2 lb fresh or thawed frozen sour cherries (1 qt), stemmed
1 cup fresh lemon juice
3/4 to 1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups vodka
2 to 3 cups chilled seltzer water

Blend cherries (including pits) in a blender at low speed until skins have broken down enough to brightly color liquid (some of pits will be coarsely chopped). Pour through a sieve into a 2-quart pitcher, pressing on and discarding solids. Add lemon juice and sugar (to taste), stirring until sugar is dissolved.

Top off with seltzer water.

The other drink was a massive punch bowl of Aviations.

1 part maraschino liqueur,
2 parts lemon juice,
3 parts gin

Note from Katie: In retrospect [the drink] was a bit overzealous for an afternoon gathering. Oh well. Hope you enjoyed your bowl of gin, Nick.

Black Cherry-Habanero Salsa

Aarti made a Black Cherry-Habanero Salsa that was absolutely perfect. It should also be noted that Aarti had to make quite an effort to find tortilla chips for the salsa because apparently, gas stations and convenient stores do not carry them. Weird, no?

Here’s the recipe:
24 fresh Bing cherries, pitted and chopped
1/2 to 1 fresh Habanero chili pepper seeds removed and minced
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice(about 1 large)
1/2 sweet red pepper, finely diced
12 tiny sweet tomatoes, halved and sliced
1/2 small Vidalia onion,chopped finely
1/2 cup loose pack Italian parsley leaves, minced
>1/2 cup loose pack fresh cilantro leaves, minced
1 clove fresh garlic, peeled and chopped
1/4 + teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper

The best way to make this salsa is to chop everything with a knife rather than in a food processor. Get all the ingredients prepped, then further smash the habanero and garlic with a mortar and pestle or the back of your chef’s knife. Combine all the ingredients, taste for salt and pepper and that’s it! Letting it macerate for an hour helps the flavors blend, and by the next day it will mellow in flavor, but also will be very balanced in sweetness, tartness and heat.

“Cherry Pork Wraps” = “Delicious”

Kathy and Martin made a delicious main dish. It was called “Cherry Pork Wraps.”

2 cups cooked brown rice (we used Lundberg Farms Jubilee blend)
1 pack seitan, cut into thin strips
2 Vidalia onions, chopped
1 Serrano pepper, thickly sliced
2 big cloves of red garlic, thinly sliced
a big pinch of dried basil
a fair amount of spicy smoked paprika
some garlic salt
some sea salt
some fresh-ground black pepper
3 cups pitted sour cherries from the now-defunct tree in our backyard
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger root
1 chopped Anaheim pepper
a bunch of shredded fresh basil
maybe 2 cups of shredded baby spinach
8 flour tortillas

We cooked the rice with some olive oil and a little veggie broth. While that transpired, we browned the seitan a little more oil, set it aside, and sautéed the onions till they were somewhat brown; then we added the garlic and Serrano pepper, then the salts and spices, and then we threw the seitan back in.

While all that was happening, we chopped 2 cups of the cherries in food processor. Once the flavors of the onion, seitan, et al. had, like, combined or whatever and the garlic had softened up, we threw the chopped and whole cherries in, along with most of their liquid. (The NW cherries wants you to not really cook the chopped cherries, but they’re using sweet cherries; our sour cherries were mostly juice, so we needed to cook some of that off.) Once the mix had thickened a little, we dumped in the cooked rice and the grated ginger and the Anaheim pepper cooked it awhile longer until the texture seemed pleasing.

Then we let everything sit overnight in some Tupperware. In the AM we warmed it up again and added the shredded basil. Immediately prior to serving, we wrapped the filling up in warmed and moistened (ick, nasty word) flour tortillas along with some of the shredded spinach. (The NW growers recommend shredded Romaine lettuce rather than spinach, which probably would’ve been better, but we had a bunch of spinach we needed to get rid of, so there you go.)

We had two awesome guests in from the Twin Cities for this party, thanks Sudha and Evan for coming! You guys made it even more fun.

I am simply including the link on these because the post is getting crazy long.

They made two salads:

Goat Cheese and Mesclun salad

and

Lentil and Rice Salad

Both salads were fantastic!

“Charlie’s Potato Trees”

Nick and I made these, though, they really didn’t turn out like trees. They would be super cute for Christmas.

2 1/2 lbs. potatoes
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup butter
2 Tbs. shredded onion
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. seasoned salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 cup dried tart cherries, chopped
1/ 4 cup Parmesan cheese
Yellow pepper, few dried cherries

Grease a large rimmed baking sheet.
Have ready a large pastry bag or zip top food bag fitted with a large star-piping tip.

Cook potatoes in large pot in water until tender. Drain well. Return to a large bowl. Add sour cream, butter, onion, salt, seasoned salt, pepper. Beat until smooth.Add egg and beat until well blended.Stir in dried cherries. Spoon potatoes into bag with piping tip. Pipe about 16 mounds on the baking sheet, each about 2 1/2 inches wide at the base and 3 inches high. Sprinkle with the cheese. Heat oven to 450º. Bake 15 minutes or until potatoes just begin to brown.Remove trees with a wide spatula to serving platter.Cut stars out of yellow pepper and top each potato tree with a star and add a couple of dried cherries around the star and top of potato.

These would be really really cute for Christmas. Our potatoes didn’t turn out like trees because the potatoes were not stiff enough. I’ll probably reduce the sour cream next time. They were tasty though!

Cherry Date Chutney

Our other dish was an awesome (if I may be so bold) Cherry Date Chutney.

1 tbs. olive oil
1 shallot or three green onions and some garlic
1 c. dried cherries
1c dried dates
1 tbs. apple cider vinegar
2 c. cherry wine—I used cherry brandy here because I had bought brandy for the pie.

Sauté chopped shallot in olive oil in deep frying pan or saucepan until shallot is softened. Add one cup of dried cherries. Add one cup of dried dates (chopped in half or quarters) Add 1 Tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. Sauté for one minute. Add 2 cups of cherry wine and simmer until liquid is evaporated (usually 30 minutes). Once the liquid is evaporated, it is ready to serve or store in the refrigerator.

We served it on sliced bread with goat cheese baked at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. It was a great appetizer.

Now for desserts!

Martin and Kathy with the Boy Bait, looking sad because the cherry tree died.

Kathy and Martin made a variation on Blueberry Boy Bait that can be found here. Kathy and Martin changed a few things. Here are the changes they made:

“You just sub in cherries for blueberries and use a whole cup plus a few more, instead of a half cup, and add a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg to the batter.”

It is also worth noting that the cherries used in this recipe were from the now dead cherry tree in Kathy and Martin’s apartment courtyard. I guess it was sick…It is a big loss, but at least they still have the raspberries!

Cherry, Cherry, Cherry Pie

Nick and I also made a dessert since no cherry party would be complete without a pie. This was an intimidating process as I have never made a pie crust before, but I think it turned out well. Maybe a little bit dry, but still good. Here’s the pie recipe. It smelled pretty boozy! I will write about the piecrust soon as it was a big process and fairly involved.

Cherry, Cherry, Cherry Pie *A cherry pie recipe using dark sweet cherries, tart cherries, cherry concentrate and cherry brandy won Sandy Barnes of Eastport 1st place in the Friske Orchards 6th annual cherry recipe contest.* And made me very happy we had an occasion to make said pie.

Double crust pie crust
12 oz dark sweet pitted cherries
12 oz tart cherries
1/2 cup dried cherries
1 1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon lemon juice, fresh squeezed
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
Pinch salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup cherry concentrate
1 oz cherry flavored brandy
2-tablespoon butter, cubed

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Prepare piecrust and roll out bottom crust, fit into a large pie dish. Chill. Mix all other ingredients exceptButter and pour into chilled piecrust. Dot with butter. Roll out top crust, cover pie, crimp edges and cut vents or make a lattice crust.

Bake for 15 minutes at 425 degrees. Decrease temperature to 375 degrees and bake for an additional 45-50 minutes.

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