Eggplant Panini with summer tomato and herb dipping sauce…a little late

This recipe is awfully late, but a few things have delayed blogging these days. But alas, I am sitting here reflecting on our summer garden, which may have been small, but she was mighty…well at least in the eggplant department. Also, not in the true sense of productivity, but rather, we felt passionately productive when we could harvest any bounty from our 4×4 urban, shady plot…for which I am grateful.  We plucked a red strawberry here and there, some jalapenos, and plenty of summer herbs.  Things just seem to taste different when you grow them yourself, and I seem to handle them with much more care in the kitchen.  I let our Japanese eggplants sit on the vine, went and visited them just about every day, and all the while thought about how I could best prepare those beautiful fruit.  I needed them to be the stars. I had a flash feeling of myself embodying one of those horrible beauty pageant stage mothers, trying to best display her eggplant babies for their big show.  Not quite, but you know what I mean.  So, I came up with this beautiful eggplant Parmesan panini with a summer tomato and herb dip.  This dish just screamed summer, and my oh my was that eggplant tender. She also won in the beauty category as well. 

Eggplant Panini with summer tomato and herb dipping sauce…

sandwich:

sliced cracked wheat bread

garlic

olive oil

1 Japanese eggplant, thinly sliced

organic breadcrumbs (Trader Joe’s has a nice consistency) or make your own

ground parmesan cheese

fresh mozzarella cheese

salt and pepper

1 tbs ground flaxseed and ¼ cup water (substitute for egg)

Combine ground flax seed and water, stir and let sit. 

Combine organic breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper, and spread on a plate. 

Then in a pan, heat olive oil over medium heat.  Begin dipping eggplant slices into water/flaxseed mixture, then into breadcrumb mixture, and then into frying pan.  Cook until crispy and then flip and repeat. 

Lightly toast slices of bread in a panini press (or in a pan with a heatproof, weighted, pan on top to flatten the bread). Rub a garlic clove onto the bread, giving it a bit of flavor.  Then assemble bread, eggplant, cheese, and some fresh herbs.  Place back into the panini press until bread is crispy and cheese is melted. 

 

tomato sauce:

tomatoes

fresh parsley

fresh basil

salt and pepper

If you have an abundance of tomatoes in your garden, slice in half, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Oven roast until just wilted and most of their water has been evaporated.  Then in a food processor puree, add salt, pepper, and herbs.  Blend until smooth in consistency. 

If you do not have garden tomatoes you can use a can of San Marzano crushed tomatoes.

 

Serve along side sandwich for dipping. 

Eat together, toast to each other, and share!

Mini coconut animal crackers…

Animal cracker, cookie, biscuits…whatever your preferred nomenclature, all seem to jostle the same memories of shoving a chubby, little hand into a circus box of deliciousness, and then toting them around in their neatly assembled stringed box.  These stringed boxes were originally manufactured as a Christmas gimmick to hang on the tree and open and eat on Christmas morning, but the cookies became so popular that they became a regular, and now standard production.  I love the idea of classic childhood snacks, but I also believe in the quality of calories consumed.  I began experimenting with coconut flour and coconut oil, high in fiber and rich in essential fats, and after many recipe flops came up with these beauties.  They are fun to make, the kiddos love stamping the cookie cutters. Depending on the size of the cutters you use, this recipe makes a ton. Use half the dough and freeze the other half for a rainy day, or bake them all off at once for party/play-date snacks.  Little hands will enjoy with ripe, sweet, summer berries!

 

Mini coconut animal crackers…

 

1 ½ whole wheat flour

¼ cup coconut flour

¼ cup rolled oats, coarsely ground in food processor

¼ tsp salt

½ tsp baking powder

¾ cup unrefined coconut oil

1/3 cup (or less) organic cane sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg

2 tbs apple sauce (chunky homemade if possible)

*Make sure wet ingredients are all room temperature or the coconut oil with seize.

 

Sift together dry ingredients, except sugar.  Then blend sugar with wet ingredients. Then slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, stirring by hand.  Then kneed a couple times and form in to a small round disk.  Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to overnight.  Portion dough as you like.  Roll out dough to 1/8” thickness and stamp with cookie cutters of choice.  Bake at 350 degrees for 7-10 minutes depending on size of cookies.  Let cool, and serve.

 

Eat together, toast to each other, and share!

Simple summer salad with a harissa vinaigrette…

Everything about life has been on vacation mode until this week.  We have been slow to rise, late to bed, seeing the world, tasting the world, beach time, pool time, splash time, snuggle time, books, and baking.  Recently we have been spending a lot of time in our new garden, tending to our seedlings, but mostly just watering and staring at our plants.  We have been pruning our herb garden in hopes of bigger, thicker bushes…and I am hoping “green thumbing” runs in the blood. My father is a plant whisperer.  I have many memories of walking through my hometown woods with my father as a kid. He pointed to plants and gave me both their botanical and common names, taught me how to identify poison oak in all four seasons, and explained the differences between lichen and moss.  We have beautiful oak trees dripping in Spanish Moss (which is neither a moss nor a lichen) of an almost earthy teal if that makes any sense, and a salty fog that feels like home in those woods.  So…I am hoping that gardening, like cooking, and be heritable.  Happy bleated father’s day dad, I love you so.

This salad is dressed with the herbs from our garden, and I will hopefully make it again with our own peppers and cucumbers.  It is super easy to make and tastes like summer.  I might add this tastes super with a cold, Mexican beer out of the bottle.

I apologize for the quick phone photos!

Simple summer salad with a harissa dressing…

Salad

1 cup dried black beans, soaked overnight and cooked until tender (or 1 can of black beans, rinsed)

two ears corn, grilled and kernels removed (or Trader Joes sells a nice frozen roasted corn)

2 cups dry quinoa, cooked and tossed

1 cup toasted pepitas

2 vine ripened tomatoes, diced

1 large red pepper, diced

two small cucumbers, diced

handful of fresh cilantro, minced

handful of fresh parsley, minced

cumin, to taste

salt and pepper, to taste

Combine all ingredients together.

dressing

equal parts olive oil and lime juice, amount will vary, just go little by little.

Harissa (homemade or bought) or harissa powder (you can also use a mixture of Cayenne Pepper and chili powder if you don’t have easy access to harissa)

Salt and pepper

Whisk ingredients together adjusting the spices as you like, and pour over salad, and toss. 

Serve salad with some crumbled queso fresco over the top.

Eat together, toast to each other, and share!

Swedish almond cake…

So much good news! So little time!  So many babies coming, so many milestones, so many careers changing, so many creative projects moving forward, so many birthdays. I feel so lucky to be able to share in all these moments with the people who move and shape my world.  What I really wish however, is to be able to sit down with every, single, person…over coffee and cake…and just listen to their voice and hear the excitement and nervous energy…moving and shining forward. On this fantasy day we would probably start with a stroll along the sea because walking and talking are soul mates, then maybe we would dust our way through some antiques because…well…treasure hunting is about the journey. Finally, we would rest in the afternoon glow and through twilight and chat over strong Swedish coffee and some almond cake…then maybe switch to wine…because these moments are friendship.  I am missing your faces and selfishly want you all near all the time.  Cannot wait to welcome some new humans and and meet those who are already here, and mostly to share in your process.  Love! Congrats!

Swedish almond cake…

preheat oven to 350 degrees

1 ¼ cup flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

sift together and set aside

¾ cup organic cane sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ tsp bitter almond extract*

1/3 cup almond paste (recipe follows)

1/2 cup melted butter, room temperature (I used salted)

cream ingredients together

Add dry ingredients to wet and mix until just combined.  Pour batter into a round 8” greased cake pan.  Bake until toothpick comes out clean, approximately 30 minutes.  Serve to friends over coffee or tea…and don’t forget to smile and gossip.

almond paste:

1 cup sliced, blanched almonds (skin on is fine)

¾ cup powdered sugar

½ tsp bitter almond extract

1 egg white

pinch of salt

combine all ingredients in a food processor until a smooth paste is formed, similar to an organic peanut butter texture.  Add more almonds as necessary to thicken up.

*The extract I use is a Swedish extract called Bitter-mandel, it is very strong and you only need a few drops. You will need more if you use regular almond extract.

Eat together, toast to each other, and share!

Saimin with glass noodles and grilled veggies…

Our adventures on the Big Island- Hawai’i this past week falls somewhere between magical and breathtaking.  We hiked to volcanoes, across black lava flow, bathed in the sun on empty palmed beaches, and felt the mist of waterfalls on our faces.  We also ate without regret.  We ate at local fare restaurants and shopped at farmer’s markets. Beyond the plethora of fruit and veggies we found locally made goat cheese, local beer, and of course seafood.  Hawai’i understandably has a mission to grow and eat locally and minimize consumption of imported goods, you appreciate the effort of getting goods to these islands when standing on their shores, they are geographically truly remote.  With the diversity of micro-climates they grow very successfully and with bounty, and the markets leave you wanting for little.

One meal stands out in particular. It happened to fall on the last day of our vacation. As we headed to the airport with that little pang in our stomachs-already missing our vacation-we found comfort in this rustic little restaurant called The Red Water Café, in Waimea.  My husband had the local catch sandwich and I had the saimin. Saimin is a traditional Hawaiian soup that finds its base and roots in Asia. Full of eclectic flavor, yet hearty and comforting at the same time. Another perk, The Red Water Café makes all their broth from scratch,  and they use local, organic produce.  Take that.  So here is my effort to recreate this soup. This attempt was mostly a selfish effort to help our little family soothe the island withdraw, and ease back into mainland reality. Enjoy this little piece of island heaven.

Saimin with glass noodles and grilled veggies…

marinate (at least 1 hour):

½ package organic, firm tofu, cubed (keep separate)

½ Kobacha squash, cut in half through the equator, then cut into thin moons (really any hard squash you have works fine or even sweet potatoes/yams)

8-10 crimini mushrooms, quartered

in:

Soy sauce to cover the goods

Then about 2 tsp toasted sesame oil

Then cook on grill either indoor or outdoor until nice grill marks appear and the squash tenderizes.

make broth:

8-10 cups vegetable broth (homemade if you can)

2 tbs miso paste

1 large clove garlic, shredded (microplane)

1 tbs fresh ginger, shredded (microplane)

2 tbs soy sauce

let simmer on low heat to bring out all the flavors

then add:

1 package of Asian glass noodles, hydrate per the package instructions first, rinse, then add to broth.

1 organic bok choy, roughly chopped

2 heaping handfuls of bean sprouts

marinated and grilled squash and mushrooms

marinated tofu

Let simmer to infuse all flavors.  Then add salt and more shredded ginger to taste.  At this point I used a specialty smoked sea salt for an extra dimension of flavor.  Williams and Sonoma sells one that is pretty nice.

Serve with a spoon and chopsticks.

Eat together, toast to each other, and share!

FoodNotes…

This marinated feta is actually a Greek spin on an Eastern European pub snack. It generates some nice memories of my travels through that area.  I remember being in the Czech Republic, snacking on some spicy marinated cheeses while sipping on a cool pilsner. Those flavors have such a nice balance, creamy vs. bright…with some effervescence to wash everything down.  Marinated feta cheese can go quite the distance when entertaining.  It looks and makes people feel special.  I like to serve this marinated feta with olives, marinated mushrooms, and maybe some hummus and pita as an appetizer for when we have company.  It is also great over pasta with some roasted seasonable vegetables or on salads.

Marinated feta cheese…

First, find a container that you like and think is pretty, and consider the size.

Measure olive oil into about 3/4 the volume of the container. The cheese will displace some of the volume.

Then over VERY low heat, warm the olive oil and add any dried herbs that you love, some thinly sliced garlic, and peppercorns. The goal is to cook the garlic ever so slightly, and let the flavor infuse into the oil. This only takes minutes.  Then set aside to cool.   While cooling, cube feta and place in your container.  Then, pour the olive oil over the cheese once cooled.  Keep refrigerated.

Eat together, toast to each other, and share!

Cassoulet for two…with a pretzel bread crust…

This French, succulent, stew made with white beans as a fundamental, is a one pot rustic dinner that will have you + one = swooning.  The dish gets its name from the pot in which it is cooked, the cassole, a cone shaped earthenware dish.  The shape of the dish helps to ensure a nice crunchy and luscious crust on the top.  So, traditionalists…close your eyes and cover your ears…well maybe to be safe, just stop reading now.  I did not make this dish in a cassole, nor did I use meat, not even a mirepoix involved in this recipe.  However, I was still seduced by this dish and its deep flavor and we had a simmering romance over the stove.  I made my own broth for this dish, it worked out perfect, wasting nothing.  Just throw in the scraps from the peeled vegetables and onions that you will use for the cassoulet into a pot with water, some pepper corns, a bay leaf and herbs, olive oil, some kosher salt, and let simmer to your desired depth of flavor.  The pretzel bread crust is just…well…just the unpredictable crispy balance to the earthy anchor of the stew.  Thank you honey, for being my anchor.

Cassoulet for two…with a pretzel bread crust…

1 ½ cup dried great northern white beans 

***In preparation you will need to soak your beans overnight.

water for the soak, just enough to cover the top of the beans.

1 large leek, rinsed and sliced

3 carrots, peeled and cubed

2 small Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cubed.

¼ yellow onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 bouquet garni (again, no need to be super traditional use what herbs you have, but I would encourage the rosemary)

4-8 cups broth

salt and pepper

olive oil

pretzel bread baguette

canned whole tomatoes (I was fortunate to have a small jar of tomatoes that were canned this summer from my mother in law’s garden)…skip the tomatoes if you do not have a good version. You can add a touch of good quality tomato paste for flavor, and you may require more broth. 

*** This dish was made in a 2qt round dutch oven.

In olive oil, sauté leeks, onion and garlic over low heat until translucent.  Then add carrots, potatoes, and tomatoes. Let simmer for a couple minutes, stirring regularly.   

Add beans and 3-4 cups of broth (enough to cover beans and vegetables), salt, pepper, and the bouquet garni.  Let simmer on low heat mixing regularly until beans and vegetables are tender.  You may need to add broth throughout this process little by little.  Just ladle it in as necessary. You will have a thick stew in the end. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Slice pretzel bread baguette into thin coins.  Toast lightly.  Once the beans and vegetables are tender, form pretzel bread into concentric circles over the top of the dish and place in oven until set, crunchy, and lightly browned.  Garnish with a little fresh herbs. Serve right in the pot with two spoons.

Eat together, toast to each other, and share!

Homemade garden burgers…

So hitting rock bottom can be an intimidating but exhilarating place to be.  I found myself sitting on the floor in sweats, eating a frozen, microwaveable, garden burger…rubbery patches and all.  No bun, just the burger and some melted cheese.   My little daughter came toddling over and said “bite?”, and my heart sank  as I shook my head and went scrambling for something worthy for her to eat.  Shameful performance mom. But… I will never cheat on good food again.   My instincts reminded me that I should not be eating food that I do want my daughter eating. I began to see my kitchen in a whole new way, why buy granola bars, I’ll make my own! crackers, those too!  So these garden burgers are not only delicious and healthy, but they can save you when you are in a cooking depressive state…or just in a pinch.  The recipe makes about 15 burgers and they freeze well, and don’t crumble apart when you cook them.   We toasted ciabatta bread and adorned the burgers with grain mustard, Havarti cheese, cornichon pickles, and crunchy lettuce.  Swoon.

 

Homemade garden burgers…

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup rolled oats processed into flour

2 cups breadcrumbs

½ cup sliced almonds

½ cup pepitas, toasted

3 large carrots, shredded

1 ½ cup black beans, smashed (dried preferably)

¾ cup dried cherries, chopped

1 small onion, diced and caramelized

1 tbs harissa powder

1 tsp gram masala

for the binder:

1 ½ cup water mixed with 3 tbs flax meal

Prepare the binder by mixing ingredients together and set aside.  Over medium-low heat, caramelize onions in olive oil.  Add all ingredients together and mix.  Then add the binder at the end and mix again until evenly combined.  Using your hands, scoop out palm sized portions and roll and flatten into paddies.  Reserve a few for dinner, and then freeze the rest. We fried ours on a pan with a little olive oil, but you can grill them or bake them at 350 in the oven on a baking sheet for 10-15 minutes- flipping in the middle. 

Eat together, toast to each other, and share!

Honey preserved lemons…

Over Thanksgiving we made a little road trip to see some family for some good eats and company over the holiday.  It is pretty amazing what one can grow and keep in Southern California. Pumpkins, zucchini, varieties of squash, herbs, lettuce, kale, orchards of lime and lemon trees, and soon to be persimmon trees, avocado trees, oh…and a handful of chickens, some playful cats, and the ever fetching pup. Their citrus trees were so heavy with fruit, the branches were literally breaking, so they spoiled us and sent us home with a trunk full of lemons and limes.  Now what to do with a mountain of citrus other than give some away and freeze the juices? Well, this little darling of a recipe is proving to come in more and more handy as we creep closer to winter.  A snotty nose here, cough there, sneezing here, fevers and chills there.  All of these little bugs are making the rounds and making us want to curl up on our couches with a hot cup of tea and a blanket.  These lemons are amazing in tea, minced in yogurt, on toast with herbed goat cheese, as a preserve in breads. I’m sure preserving tangerines, clementines, or oranges..oooh or blood oranges…would prove equally delectable and delightful. Raw honey has some amazing antimicrobial properties to it created by an enzyme left by our friends the bees, so the lemons will keep refrigerated for up to 3 months…if they hang around that long.  Also, let me know if you turn this into an adult libation, warm scotch or bourbon anyone?

Honey preserved lemons…

6-8 Meyer lemons, cut horizontally into rings (any variety will do, but I like the floral essence of Meyers)

1 cup raw honey

½ cup organic cane sugar

6-8 whole cloves

a cinnamon stick, just for fun

water

*You will also need sterilized jars any size.

 

In a medium saucepan, bring 1 cup of water, honey, sugar, and cloves to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat and slowly add the lemons. Simmer for about 10 minutes.   Remove from heat and let steep covered, for 8 hours. Re-heat mixture to a low simmer, then slowly transfer to your jars.  Let cool to room temperature, then seal and refrigerate for a week before using. 

Eat together, toast to each other, and share!

Roasted root vegetable pot pies…

Sometimes I have this fantasy that I live on real working farm.   I feel like I should be able to go outside and pick my herbs, churn my butter, gather eggs from my chickens, and march down to my root cellar and gather a couple of potatoes all in the name of dinner.  I have never understood what there is not to love about cooking and preparing with your hands.  This is the message that was passed down to me anyway from my grandmother to my mother, from my mother to me, and hopefully I will manage to pass this message on to my daughter. The stories about the women in my family have been slow waltzing around in my mind, and most of my memories lead back to this central theme: in cooking, less is more and it is all in the wrist.  When I fully understand all the choreography and meaning of the stories about these women, hopefully I will be able to share.  What I imagine is a story about Europe, family, connection, and food. None of us lived on farms, but all of us boast a do-it-yourself attitude about food…and life in general…my 15 month old included.

This recipe requires a little care and elbow grease. I have made the crust with a food processor, but I have to say, I missed the large streaks of marbled butter in the dough. Whatever you choose, in the end you will feel the comfort and satisfaction of the two pieces of art cooling on your counter top as you dust the flour off your hands and apron.

 

Roasted root vegetable pot pies…

(makes 2)

filling:

1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed

1 bunch mini carrots, peeled and cubed

1 turnip, peeled and cubed

8-10 cremini mushrooms, quartered

1 ½ cups frozen peas

thyme

salt and pepper

olive oil

béchamel sauce (recipe follows)

one pie crust  per serving(recipe follows)

pie crust:

1 cup flour

½ cup (1stick) unsalted butter

1 tsp kosher salt

ice water

1 egg, for wash

béchamel sauce:

½ yellow onion

3 tbs unsalted butter

3 tbs flour

1 ½ cups milk

kosher salt

pinch of nutmeg

Prepare pie crust by mixing together flour and salt. Then cut butter into the flour either by hand or food processor until fully incorporated. Make sure butter is cold.  Then, slowly add ice water 1 tbs at a time, until mixture forms a ball.  Shape, cover, and put in the refrigerator to chill for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. While the crust is chilling, peel and cube the root vegetables, cover with olive oil, thyme, salt, and pepper and place in oven. Roast until tender, about 15-20 minutes, tossing often.  In a saucepan over medium heat, sauté mushrooms in 2-3 tbs of olive oil, salt and pepper until just tender. Then, in a bowl, combine root vegetables, mushrooms, and peas.  Salt and pepper to taste. Add a pinch more of thyme. Set aside.

To make the béchamel sauce, begin by sautéing onions on low heat in butter until tender and translucent.  Then incorporate flour making a roux.  Slowly add milk little by little, whisking. Let simmer on low heat, whisking frequently. The sauce will begin to thicken.  Add salt to taste. Add a pinch of nutmeg.

To assemble, pour béchamel over the vegetable mixture and combine evenly.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Then pour into large ramekins or other serving dishes that are oven safe.  Roll out crusts on a floured surface to ¼ inch thick.  Place over the dishes and secure to the sides by crimping.  Cut a hole in the crust for venting.  For the egg wash beat egg and add a dash of water.  Brush wash over the assembled pies.  Then sprinkle tops with kosher salt.

Bake at 350 degrees until crust is golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Eat together, toast to each other, and share!