Tag Archives: cooking

Grilled Lemon-Herb Pattypan Squash (no paring or peeling!)

26 Aug

At this time of year, everyone wants to know what to do with pattypan squash — sometimes called sunburst squash – the one that really does look a bit like a squashed mini-pumpkin, or a hat for a Scottish maiden. So first off, let me say DON”T PEEL IT. You can cook it with the rind on and you can eat the whole thing.

Pattypans and zucchini together! Not much difference when they are sliced....

Pattypans and zucchini together! Not much difference when they are sliced….

Pattypan squash can be treated pretty much the same as zucchini or any other soft-skinned summer squash. Usually I roast it/stuff it, but this week we decided to grill it along with some other vegetables. Honestly I don’t think anyone at our celebrate-the-neighborhood BBQ realized they weren’t the regular yellow squash. And when I went to snack on them at the end of the long night of festivities, there were none left, which is perhaps the best indication that these babies are goooood on the grill! Happy Late Summer, everyone!

Goodness from the grill

Goodness from the grill

Grilled Pattypan Squash

3 -4 pattypan squash, rinsed

4 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

1 Tbs fresh-squeezed lemon juice

1 Tbs fresh oregano or other mixed Mediterranean herbs (thyme, rosemary, basil), chopped

2 -3 cloves garlic, minced

¼ tsp salt

Slice off the stem of each pattypan. Then cut into ¼ – ½” slices, depending on how you like them.

In a separate container (preferably a recloseable one in which you can marinate the vegetables), whisk together the olive oil and lemon juice until emulsified. Add the herbs, garlic and salt and stir to combine. Add the squash and stir to coat (or use your hands!). Cover (or seal) and refrigerate for at least a half hour and up to two hours. If you can, let them come back to room temperature while the grill heats up. Then cook – about three minutes each side – until you reach desired temperature and char. Sprinkle with finishing salt if desired and serve.

You may also like:

Roasted Pattypan Squash (very simple)

Stuffed and Roasted Pattypan Squash (very dramatic)

Finally! A Summer Alternative to Roasting: Tender and Crunchy Grilled Beets

29 Jul

We are awash in beets in the summer and while roasted beets are fantastic, the recent heat wave has not made me (or anyone else) eager to run the oven at all!

Vinny buying the beets at the Greenport Farmstand...Vinny might make a better blogger than me...he was very insistent that I photograph everything!

Vinny buying the beets at the Greenport Farmstand…Vinny might make a better blogger than me…he was very insistent that I photograph everything!

So, thanks again to the Macchiroles, I learned a new technique for an old favorite. it was great at theirs and then this week my dad gave it a try and they were sublime.

Capturing Vinny's every move

Capturing Vinny’s every move

So, without further ado, here is the recipe (this is a very busy week of kid stuff — all good, but more in-depth posts will not be happening for a while!)

These are simple and delicious...beet sweetness

These are simple and delicious…beet sweetness

That caramelization balances the saltiness!

That caramelization balances the saltiness!

Grilled Beets

As many beets (the root part) as you’ve got

Olive oil

Pepper and salt (or Adobo seasoning)          

Top, tail and peel your beets (Note: Vinny does not peel, his but scrubs them well. It’s up to you!). Slice into ¼ inch rounds. Rub with olive oil until evenly covered and add salt and pepper or Adobo to taste. Alternately, you can marinate them for a while in the olive oil and seasonings while you do other things.

Lay rounds on a hot grill and cook, turning after about four minutes. Check after eight minutes. They won’t get soft like roasted or boiled beets, but they will be tooth-tender. Serve as a side to any summer dish!

You may also like:

Roasted Beets with Feta and Walnuts

Roasted Beets with Feta and Walnuts

El amor entra por los ojos -- This dish is love at first sight!

Roasted beets with orange and beet greens!

Three Deliciously Sweet Blueberry Baking Ideas

14 Jul

Blueberries are in at Restoration Farm, our C.S.A.! We pick our own, each family picking as much as seems reasonable, given that we share with a lot of people, but keeping in mind that these berries won’t stay ripe forever.

Blueberries are one of those power foods, loaded with anti-oxidants, which may or may not counter the aging process. We just know they are powerfully delicious! The good news is they don’t seems to lose that phytonutrient power when frozen. They are also native to North America, which makes it positively patriotic if you are from around these parts.  The bad news is that even domestically-grown blueberries are high in pesticide residue, according to the Environmental Working Group. So use their freezeability to your advantage. Buy them organic while in season and freeze them for later use!

Here are three of our favorite blueberry recipes — should you be brave enough to turn on the oven in the middle of a hot summer. Or, store these recipes when you store your blueberries in the freezer, and pull them out for a burst of summer in your baking in the middle of winter!

Blueberry-Strawberry Muffins

We like mini-muffins because you get so many you can share them around!

We like mini-muffins because you get so many you can share them around!

Blueberry Pound Cake

Blueberry pound cake is rich and tart and sweet

Blueberry pound cake is rich and tart and sweet

Blueberry-Lingonberry Muffins

A favorite for tea, lunchbox or thoughtful treat for neighbors, caregivers and friends

A favorite for tea, lunchbox or thoughtful treat for neighbors, caregivers and friends

Easy Summer-Squash Slaw (remoulade of zucchini and yellow squash)

3 Jul

Summer squashes are starting to appear in farmer’s markets (and, in the case of zucchini/courgettes, in my garden!) …so…since they tend to be very prolific and an integral part of weekly farm shares all summer long and are also cheap in supermarkets at this time of year — it is time to start getting good recipes together!

Summer squashes — which include yellow squash, also called marrow; yellow crookneck squash; and zucchini, also called courgettes — are pretty good for you according to Self.com, are delicious, and lend themselves to many great dishes, So there is no reason to be sick of them by August or to refuse your neighbors’ offers of extra bounty when they get overwhelmed with what they’ve grown.

Don't peel the squashes; part of the appeel (sic) of this salad is the hint of color!

Don’t peel the squashes; part of the appeel (sic) of this salad is the hint of color!

Mind you, I may have fewer than anticipated…some critter, which may or may not be the cutworm, sliced off several of my zucchini flowers before they could produce the magic green wands….grrrrrrr.

Some of the recipes I have offered before for these garden giants are Zucchini Corn Fritters, Zucchini Fritters with Manchego and Rosemary, and Sauteed Summer Squash with Oregano and Lemon,

Today I went for something different – a quickie slaw alternative called remoulade, like the French classic Celeriac remoulade. This one integrates the garden vegetables that most lend themselves to grating. You can mix and match them however you like!

The Perfect Summer Side

The Perfect Summer Side

Easy Summer Squash Remoulade

(makes side salad for 2; multiply recipe for a crowd!)

2 Cups mix and match: zucchini/yellow squash/hakurai turnip/mild radish, grated with a large hole grater.

Squeeze of lemon*

1 Tbs grated red onion

1-2 Tbs prepared mayonnaise

1 tsp your preferred smooth mustard

Generous pinch salt

Pinch of freshly grated black pepper, if desired

Mix all ingredients in a medium bowl. Adjust seasoning to taste and serve as an alternative to cole slaw.

*If there will be a lag between grating the vegetables and making the remoulade, add lemon juice to the waiting vegetables to prevent browning.

Seven Sweet and Spectacular Strawberry Recipes

18 Jun

As strawberry season is in full swing, I’ve collected for you some spectacularly simple recipes that take advantage of the season (and help salvage berries that have passed their prime!). This has been updated from six to seven!

We like mini-muffins because you get so many you can share them around!

Strawberry-Blueberry Mini-Muffins (click on image for recipe)

Summer fruit!

Berry Crisp – sweet and crunchy! (click image for recipe)

We're jammin'. we're jammin', hope you like jammin' too

Strawberry Rhubarb Jam with no pectin and no preserving. A Hot, Cheap & Easy Top Five (click on image for recipe)

Strawberry Shortcake...a crowd pleaser!

Strawberry Shortcake…a crowd pleaser! (click on image for recipe)

Saving Sad Strawberries - by Roasting! Delicious jammy results

Saving Sad Strawberries – by Roasting! Delicious jammy results (click on image for recipe)

And of course, the most refreshing sangrías include sliced strawberries!

Two of the three sangría recipes include strawberries!

Two of the three sangría recipes include strawberries! (click on image for recipes)

Chocolate Mini-Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

16 Jun

I caved. Yes, I did.

Driven by the fear of being “that mom” who rains on every party and won’t let kids enjoy their sugar fix and makes others feel guilty or annoyed by my holier-than-thou eating habits…and because my son asked very nicely to have a special treat…for Leandro’s birthday celebration at school, we made cupcakes. Chocolate Cupcakes. With Buttercream Frosting. Go big, or go home.

Mini-muffin before frosting

Mini-muffin before frosting

In my feeble defense, I also made fruit kebabs (which went over as well as, if not better than, the cupcakes) and we actually went little, making mini-cupcakes so that they were  a tiny treat rather than an exercise in excess, but BE IT KNOWN: I am not immune to peer pressure and I am not a complete whole food Nazi.

Mind you, making it all homemade is also a form of penitence for sins of sugar and spice. I put a lot of time and effort into it and was not always thinking gracious thoughts. Particularly about the moms who just pick up a box of Dunkin’ Munchkins for class celebrations and call it a day and don’t give that much thought to what children consume or what maniacs like myself choose to do with our precious time, but who are not going to waste their precious time making desserts for five-and-six year olds, when kids are just as happy with a Dunkin’ drive-by.

That buttercream frosting is NAUGHTY! and nice....

That buttercream frosting is NAUGHTY! and nice….

It’s that same grim satisfaction some of us get from pointedly and conscientiously using our directional when driving, as if anyone would care to learn from our example, or as if there was some direct HOV lane to heaven for courteous and law-abiding drivers. Underneath it all, I know no one gives a rat’s posterior. But the girl can’t help it. Continue reading

Tasty, Beautiful, Healthy: Grilled Veggie Kebabs

11 Jun

More from our recent camping trip…veggie kebabs are crunchy and fresh accompaniments to all that heavy meat you are throwing on the grill. They are fun to make and fun to eat and look beautiful on a picnic table. The marinade has just five ingredients…the taste of summer produce shines through!

Bright and beautiful, these kebabs are sure to be a favorite of campers and grill-lovers!

Bright and beautiful, these kebabs are sure to be a favorite of campers and grill-lovers!

VEGGIE KEBABS

Dozen wooden skewers, soaked in water for 20 minutes (soak them as you cut vegetables)

MARINADE

3 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1 generous tsp oregano

2-3 tsps fresh lemon juice

2 generous pinches salt

VEGGIES

About 2 lbs quick-cooking mixed vegetables such as

1 Cup grape or cherry tomatoes (whole)

1 Cup green/red/yellow/orange peppers, cut into 1” squares

1 medium zucchini, sliced into rounds

1 medium yellow squash, sliced into rounds

8 oz. button mushrooms, wiped cleaned, stems trimmed and cut in half top to stem

(eggplant is not recommended for a mixed kebab as it takes much longer to cook; in general, stay away from dense vegetables for this)

Whisk together all marinade ingredients and place in a resealable 1-gallon plastic storage bag (or put them in the bag, seal, and shake vigorously until combined). Put all the vegetables in the bag, seal and shake to coat thoroughly. Let marinate at least 20 minutes. Get the grill going.

Now for the messy part. Spear mixed veggies onto the skewer in whichever order seems right to you (this is a great job for kids). Don’t  squeeze them together (you want them to have surface area between to cook quickly and evenly) and leave ample space for hands to hold them. Figure on 5-7 vegetables per skewer.

Lay on medium hot grill and cook for 5 minutes, turn, and cook more. They should be completely done in 15 minutes or so, depending on your grill. You are looking for blistering, even charring, skin on the tomatoes and peppers for doneness. You can move them about to different temperature areas on the grill as needed. Serve!

You May Also Like:

Spanish-style Tortilla (modified for camp stoves)

Take your omelette to a new level....

Take your omelette to a new level….

Spider Dogs

Hurray!!

Hurray!!

Crunchy Creamy Zucchini Corn Fritters

8 Jun

Just because we are camping, doesn’t mean Natalia is eternally rubbing sticks together to make fire and provide for her family, caveman-style.  I mean, it is a vacation, isn’t it? And a vacation to me means a judicious blend of rustic roughing-it at the campsite and delightful forays into civilization, where other people — preferably terrific local chefs — bring me my food and provide me with cloth napkins in exchange for my credit card.

Corn fritters with zucchini and onion

Corn fritters with zucchini and onion

So while camping at Hither Hills State Park last week we forayed to fishbar, where executive chef Jennifer Meadows (click here to learn about her and her experience on Chopped) serves up local goodness in clean and inventive ways. When we arrived –late of course — my parents — who always get a cottage of some sort nearby the campsite and were therefore bathed, fragrant, well-dressed and on-time — were already there, noshing on some corn fritters (because they knew it would be a while before we turned up). We all loved those fritters.

I wish I had a better photo of the fish tacos. They were love-ly!

I wish I had a better photo of the fish tacos. They were love-ly!

I could have probably asked for the recipe, but that would be too easy, wouldn’t it? So here is my take on corn fritters — which helped use up a couple of  cooked ears of corn and half a zucchini and a few other items in my fridge that needed gainful employment. Continue reading

Big Bang Burgers: Four Ingredients, Deliciously Juicy

7 Jun

Do you buy frozen beef patties for summer grilling? Really? Please tell me you don’t. Or at least, please tell me that you have done it for the last time! When you see how easy it is to make tasty, juicy burgers that are infinitely superior to those tasteless wooden slabs, and only use four ingredients, I know you will make your own next time. And your family and guests will be glad you did.

Destined for the freezer

Destined for the freezer

We certainly were. Several days before our recent beach camping trip to Hither Hills State Park here on the East End of Long Island, I made about a dozen burgers (which took all of five minutes, even with Leandro doing the burger formation), cooked a couple for dinner, then wrapped and froze the rest. Ours are a variety of sizes, as a certain almost-six-year-old was in charge of forming the patties. I like having many sizes actually, because it suits different appetities. Adjust cooking times accordingly.

Here's one we ate at home

Here’s one we ate at home

Continue reading

Guest Post from a Ghost Writer: Crostini with Fig Spread, Caramelized Onions and Gorgonzola

5 Jun

Kerriann Flanagan Brosky puts the normal in paranormal. Seriously…when I say she’s a ghost writer, I’m not kidding!

Kerriann is today’s guest blogger sharing a great recipe for crostini, but I simply must give you the back story before we get to that.

Many of us who love food lead double lives. I grow, cook and write about food, but in my other life I am a full-time college professor. Look around the food blogging world and you’ll find fulltime parents, home renovators, artists, poets, and more. But my fellow contributor at Edible Long Island, Kerriann Flanagan Brosky, a cookbook author, writer and photographer, sent my eyebrows to the ceiling and my jaw to the floor with her other profession: she is a serious ghost investigator!

Kerriann and Sal, co-writers of Delectable Italian Dishes

Kerriann and Sal, co-writers of Delectable Italian Dishes

Continue reading