My plans include the Blue Hill Farmer’s market, lobster, Allagash White, garden tomatoes, dilly beans and hopefully lots of sunshine.  I would like to take a moment to politely request that Hurricane Earl stay offshore.

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While at the Harold McGee Lectures series at the French Culinary Institute in November of 2009, I was given print outs of many of the Curious Cook columns Mr. McGee writes for the New York Times. One of the many wonderful articles was about tomato leaves in cooking. Now, yes it is thought that they are poisonous, but it turns out that this has never actually been proven. To read the article click here.

I will freeze a few leaves too and see if in the heart of winter I can evoke some summer aromas into my tomato sauce.  I tried putting tomato leaves in jarred pasta sauce and also in homemade.  The results were nice. Overall the Paul Bertolli recipe wins.

To try that recipe click here. You can also put a few of your leaves into pesto. For Harold McGee’s procedure for this click here.

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Basically this roulade is a flat, filled souffle. You can fill it with anything you like, but I feel that less is more with a roulade.

This one was filled with drained ricotta cheese and pesto and the topped with a very simple salsa of fresh vine ripened tomatoes, some fresh chopped garlic and basil, a little EVVO and salt and pepper. Served alongside chard (stay tuned for recipe) and Israeli couscous with peas, our group of 12 had plenty to feast on.

For the Roulade:

10 eggs at room temperature
5 cups of milk
1/2 tsp nutmeg
8 Tbsp. butter
1/3 cup flour
1 cup grated parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Put a few dabs of butter on the pan to help anchor the paper in. Lightly butter and flour the paper, knocking off any excess flour.

Separate the yolks and the whites; lighty beat the yolks and set them aside. Heat the milk and make the roux by melting the butter, add the flour, and, stirring cook for 1 to  2 minutes over medium heat until the roux is lightly colored.

Add the heated milk, and cook for another 3 minutes, stirring constantly; then remove from the heat and season with 1 teaspoon salt and the nutmeg. Gradually whisk some of the hot mixture into the yolks to warm them; then return to the pan and combine with the rest of the roux.

In a large bowl, whisk or beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until smooth firm peaks form. Stir about a quarter of the whites and half the grated cheese and the milk-egg yolk mixture; then gently fold in the rest of the whites. Pour the whole mixture onto the baking sheet, spread it to fill all the comers, and sprinkle rest of the cheese over the surface. Bake until the top is nicely browned and puffed, about 15 minutes.

Remove the souffle from the oven and let it cool. Carefully turn it out onto a large flat cutting board, with a tea towel on it, by turning over the pan. Remove the paper. It is now ready to be filled and rolled.

Filling: If you’d like an extra punch of basil, scatter a few whole leaves over the ricotta mixture before rolling the roulade.

1 lb. tub plus 1/2 cup ricotta cheese, drained
1 cup prepared pesto (or Marcela Hazan’s tried and true pesto)
salt and pepper to taste

Place the drained ricotta into a bowl and stir in the pesto. Season with salt and pepper.

Assembling the Roulade:

With the long side of the roulade facing you, spread the ricotta/pesto mixture across 2/3 of the roulade. Using the towel gently guide the the roulade into a log form. If possible, take the whole cutting board and place it into your refrigerator and let the roulade sit for about 20 minutes.

Otherwise, you can cut the roulade in half and place it on to 2 smaller plates and refrigerate. You can assemble the salsa a this point. Remove the roulade from the refrigerator and slice into 1/2 inch pieces. Arrange on a serving platter or directly onto your dinner plates, top with the salsa and enjoy!

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To vote, simply click on the link below and give the video a thumbs-up like vote.  The finalist with the most like votes wins a $500 Williams and Sonoma Gift Card and to quote my precious Vincenzo "I waaaaannntt it."  so please help us win it.

Link to Contest

Many, many thanks and many wishes for a happy weeekend

There will be more summer sips coming for the weekend.

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A Royal Jubilee (recipe below) uses lemon and mint to accent the classic, French elixir creating a cocktail that is so sippable and so refreshing.

2 oz Royal Combier
4 chunks fresh lemon (1/2 lemon)
6-8 minT leaves

Muddle mint leaves and lemon wedges in mixing glass. Add Royal Combier and ice and shake hard. Strain over ice in a rocks glass and garnish with a fresh mint sprig.

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I know that garden tomatoes are bountiful right now and you certainly could use homemade tomato sauce if you have it on hand, but the idea behind this recipe was ease.  Many folks in the south and west have already headed back to school; with only six ingredients, this recipe can be cooked up in about the time it takes to cook and drain the pasta.  Love it!

Grilled Eggplant Parmesan Pasta
adapted from Hannaford fresh magazine, July-August 2009

1 lb. dry rigatoni
1 (24-oz.) jar favorite pasta sauce
1 eggplant, about 1 lb, peeled
8 oz. fresh mozzarella, diced
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoon finely chopped parsley

Preheat grill. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Add pasta and stir well. Cook 10 to 12 minutes,stirring occasionally, until just tenderor al dente. Drain and return to pot.  While pasta cooks, warm sauce in a saucepan over medium heat. When sauce is simmering, reduce heat to low.

While sauce heats, cut eggplant lengthwise into 1-inch-thick slices. Lightly spray both sides with cooking spray. Grill eggplant until well marked on both sides, 4 to5 minutes per side. Roughly chop grilled eggplant.

Add eggplant and sauce to cooked pasta. Toss well.  For each serving, start with sauced pasta then add a portion of fresh mozzarella, top with more sauced pasta, Parmesan and parsley.  Serve immediately.

Alternatively, the pasta, sauce and cheeses can be layered into a serving bowl and served family-style.

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While searching the web for information on steam canning, I was surprised to find that there are some groups that suggest it isn’t adequate for preserving high acid foods. I find this hard to believe as I’ve been canning preserves with it for many years now and have had no issues.

This weekend I harvested our rhubarb and made a lovely strawberry rhubarb preserve. I also purchased 15 lbs of apricots and made enough apricot preserves for 2 years!

On the strawberry rhubarb I used the technique of sugaring the rhubarb and allowing it to macerate for a few hours before cooking them down. I did the same for the strawberries and then added them to the rhubarb after about 1/2 an hour of cooking the rhubarb.

I don’t use a lot of sugar when I make preserves. In fact for the 15 Lbs of apricots I used about 5 cups of sugar. For the 4 quarts of strawberries I used a cup of sugar and 1 1/2 cups of sugar on the 4 lbs of rhubarb.

Canning is a lot of work but if I consider how much a single jar of preserves costs at the farmer’s market ($7.00 for Plum!) for 1 rainy afternoon of prepping and canning, my yield was significant.

Granted I’ve been doing this for a few years so I’ve got the method down: Prepping the fruit one day ahead and then reheating it to can the next day (make sure you reheat it to boiling) and then placing all the canning jars in the dishwasher and running them on the sanitize cycle and keeping them hot just before filling, and keeping a pot of boiling water on the stove for all the lids.

If you’ve never canned before, try and find someone who has to get the method down. After all canning historically was a community event. With homesteading on the rise, some local cooking schools are offering classes on canning techniques.

In Boulder the Culinary School of the Rockies is offering a class on August 14, with a wonderful chef and urban homesteading guru Teresa Brown. Get your homesteading on and reap the rewards all winter long!

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If you are looking for straightforward simplicity and utter ease in the kitchen, go with the classic French version.  Looking for something a bit more upscale with bright flavors and the added nutrition of walnuts?  Try Dorie Greenspan’s version.

Today’s recipe comes via The Wednesday Chef and Smitten Kitchen.  It is the boldest version of the three.  A warm dressing is made with garlic, spices and harissa; then something magical happens as you toss this spicy, lemony dressing with crunchy carrots.  The flavor magic continues when you add fresh herbs and seal the deal with crumbled feta.

This salad is brilliant.  For Meatless Monday, we paired it with grilled pitas, hummus, babaganoush and sliced cukes.  This salad held up really well to refrigeration, just be sure to let it come to room temperature before eating.

The toasted spices and harissa are the ingredients that make this salad special.  There is no substitute for harissa, a Tunisian condiment made from roasted chili peppers.  Last fall, Barr posted Kirk Warner’s recipe for harissa and it is indeed an excellent recipe.  Additionally, you can buy canned harissa at Whole Foods and harissa in tubes is available at some middle eastern markets or on Amazon.

The original recipe called for ground caraway seeds.  I thought I had them in the pantry but I didn’t.  I proceeded without them, the salad lacked nothing.

Carrot Salad with Harissa, Mint and Feta
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

1 lb. carrots, peeled and cut into thin strips (julienned) or coarsely grated
1/3 cup olive oil
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. ground cumin
3/4 tsp. sweet or smoked paprika
1 tsp. harissa, more to taste for added spiciness
1/2 tsp. ground caraway seeds (optional)
1 tsp. sugar or honey
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
generous pinch of kosher salt
3 Tbsp. finely chopped flat leaf parsley
3 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh mint
6 oz. crumbled feta

In a small frying pan, warm the olive oil.  When hot, add the garlic, cumin, paprika and harissa.  Cook and stir until quite fragrant, about 2 minutes.

Stir in the sugar, lemon juice and salt.  Pour the warm dressing over the carrots and toss well.  Add the herbs and toss again until the carrots are evenly coated with all the seasonings.

Allow the dressed salad to sit for about 1 hour.  (The salad really does improve in flavor as the dressing cools and the carrots absorb all the flavors.).  Top with the crumbled feta and serve.

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The recipe in Saveur magazine a few years back but when I pulled the recipe from my stack of recipes to post, I realized to my horror that there was no date or issue reference on the page! Luckily they have an amazing website and low and behold the recipe was right there.

For the original recipe click here.

I added 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips to the recipe which I highly recommend.  Dusted with powdered sugar and served with lightly sweetened whipped cream and fresh berries is a great way to enjoy this as a dressed up dessert.

Otherwise it a great snacking cake. A simple glaze of chocolate ganache would also be lovely. My kids snarfed up this cake and had no idea there was zucchini in it.

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The coleslaw recipe is adapted from Cook’s Illustrated.  The key here is to salt the cabbage and let sit in a colander for 1 to 4 hours. It makes a huge difference. I really enjoyed this recipe as it is not heavily laden with mayonnaise and is quite refreshing just as coleslaw should be.

Marinade for Vegetable Skewers
Makes 1 Cup, enough for 4 skewers

4 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup EVOO
1 tsp. granulated garlic
1/2 tsp. each salt and pepper
1 Tbsp. Dijon Mustard
1/2 tsp. thyme

Whisk all ingredients together. You can use any vegetables you want.

I like the combination of yellow squash, red onion, portobelllo mushrooms, red bell peppers and green bell peppers. Marinate the mushrooms for at least 8 hours or as long as overnight.  Place a colander over a bowl.  Drain the mushrooms reserving the marinade.

Transfer the marinade to a sauce pan and bring to a simmer.  Allow the mixture to cool slightly.  Marinate the remaining vegetables and marinate for 1 hour, at room temperature.  Drain the vegetables

Skewer the marinated vegetables with the portobello mushrooms. Grill the skwers over medium to low heat for 5 minutes per side.

Buttermilk Coleslaw adapted from Cook’s Illustrated

1 pound cabbage, shredded and salted
   (see instructions for salting below) with 1 tsp salt
2 medium carrots, shredded
1 fennel bulb, shredded
5 Tbsp. minced chives or 3 green onions, chopped fine
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 Tbsp. mayonnaise
2 Tbsp. sour cream
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. cider vinegar
2 shallots, minced (or 2 Tbsp. freeze-dried)
1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard

Garnish
1/2 cup fresh parsley leaves, rough chop or just whole leaves

To salt the cabbage, toss the cabbage and salt together in a colander.  Set the colander over a bowl or in a sink and let it drain for 1 to 4 hours. Wrap the cabbage in a large kitchen towel and dry slightly. Place into a large mixing bowl and add the carrots, fennel, chives and shallots. Save the parsley until just before serving.

Mix together the remaining ingredients to make the dressing, whisk them well and pour over the vegetables. Allow to marinate in the refrigerator for at least 45 minutes so that it gets nice and cold.

Just before serving, add the parsley and toss well.  Season to taste with salt and pepper. Coleslaw will be good for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.

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