August 22, 2014

Fresh Sauce

August 22, 2014/ Margaret Lunetta

This is a Mama Lunetta classic, right here. Not like my pseudo mom classic of stuffed zucchini. I messed with that.

You don’t mess with the fresh sauce.

The fresh sauce is quintessentially summer for me. This sauce means my mama had so many tomatoes in the garden that we were willing to sacrifice eating them raw to melting them down into a silky, steamy sauce.

This isn’t a red sauce. This is a fresh sauce. It’s not the type you spend all day cooking and coaxing to become the most mind-blowing deliciousness you’ve ever put into your mouth. That is best left for winter. Red sauce is best left for snow. It’s summer! This is fresh sauce. From start to finish this sauce should only take around 30 minutes. You don’t wanna cook these perfect summer tomatoes to death, you want them to still taste fresh. This is how I save summer.

Since beginning my seasonal eating journey, I’ve really learned to appreciate and respect the seasons. And man oh man do I not want to see summer go. The berries, stone fruits, and tomatoes along with it. So in several desperate attempts to preserve it, I’ve been stuffing my freezer with berry filled treats, stone fruit compotes and crisps, and this sauce. Just so that when winter is here and seeming never-ending, I can sneak a little bit of summer out and into my kitchen.

P.s. Of course after I photographed this recipe I learned all sorts of things about tomatoes today and discovered I typically make this sauce with the “wrong” type of tomatoes. But listen, the farmer’s market totally had tomato “seconds” and they were half price. They were just a little ugly, that’s all. But they tasted wonderful. That’s all ya really need. Really good in season tomatoes. I wouldn’t try and do this with canned. Just sayin’.

So where was I, oh yes. Apparently Romas would be best. But sauce is sauce dude. August tomatoes are still August tomatoes. Use what you have. I don’t discriminate. I mean even if it’s a little watery all that means is that when you finish your bowl of whatever you dumped the sauce on, at the end there will be this lovely, soupy tablespoon or so of cheese tomato water and I mean, you totally just drink that, right? Like you put down your fork and you put the bowl to your mouth and tip back and you drink it. I won’t tell if you do, because that’s definitely, definitely what I do. Shhh….

Fresh Sauce

Ingredients:

2 pounds fresh tomatoes

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tablespoon grass fed butter

scant ¼ cup of grated parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Start by bringing water to a boil in a large sauce pot.

Using a knife make a small “X” mark on the bottom of each of your tomatoes.

When the water is boiling drop your tomatoes in and watch for the skin to begin to split. This should only take 30 seconds to a minute to happen. Scoop the tomatoes out with a slotted spoon one by one as they start to split and gently place onto a flat surface to cool.

Once cool enough to handle, peel the skin of the tomatoes off. ***

Give your naked tomatoes a rough chop. They'll be super juicy! Save as much as that juice as you can to put into pot with tomatoes!

In a large sauce pot over a medium heat dump in your roughly chopped tomatoes. Create a small space in the middle of the tomatoes and dump in the minced garlic. Stir the garlic into the tomatoes. Let the sauce come to a boil then lower heat to a simmer. Stir occasionally and use the back of a wooden spoon to break up any large chunks of tomato. The sauce should take about 20 to 30 minutes to breakdown. Around 30 minutes in, add in your tablespoon of butter and ¼ cup of parmesan. Stir into sauce. Turn off heat. Taste for salt and pepper. Add as needed.

Yield: about 1 quart

***Note: I’ve totally done this lazily and not taken the skins off. You can absolutely skip this part if you wouldn’t mind the skin. Just start at the rough chop part and move on!

August 19, 2014

Roasted Strawberry Balsamic Glaze

August 19, 2014/ Margaret Lunetta

There was a point this summer where I was up to my damn eyeballs in strawberries.

My mother and I went strawberry picking at a local farm in Connecticut and we picked 30 pounds of berries. 30 POUNDS! Oops!

We made a ton of jam, we made loads of shortcake, and we gave a bunch away to friends. And we still had strawberries.

The thing with strawberries though is, they last all of two seconds, and then they start to wither and wrinkle and generally mold over. Especially the kind you freshly pick. They’re just not built to withstand cross country shipping like their sturdier grocery store counterparts.

So we had to start thinking of creative ways to use them.

This recipe is one I came up with that weekend I was buried in berries.

It’s an interesting thing cooking with the seasons. I was sad since I didn’t have my shit together enough in June to get many strawberry recipes in and up on this here blog thing. But, I’m posting it now, since I’ve realized that you can still get strawberries locally here and there at the markets. Even if they’re suspicious ones.

This glaze is ridiculously easy to do, I feel bad even calling it a recipe. But my mother and a friend could not get over how much they enjoyed it.

Please don’t judge me and my lack of steak cooking skills. I’m not big on the whole “rare” steak thing and I’m sure this is a touch overcooked for many steak connoisseurs. None the less, this glaze was tasty and that’s what I’m really selling here. So cook those steaks (or chicken, or pork or whatever!) to perfection and then smother it in this sauce. I hope you won’t be disappointed. We definitely weren’t.

Roasted Strawberry Balsamic Glaze

Ingredients:

1 cup strawberries, halved

1 cup balsamic vinegar

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Place vinegar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and let vinegar reduce by half, until thick and syrupy. About 30 to 40 minutes.

While vinegar is reducing, spread out the halved strawberries on a sheet pan. Roast at 350 until soft and juicy. Approximately 20 to 30 minutes.

Transfer your cooked berries to a bowl and then either mash them well with a fork or for a super smooth sauce ---- use a blender, food processor, or an emulsifier.

Depending on the timing, your balsamic vinegar should be reduced by now.

Take off the heat and pour into a serving bowl if you wish or just leave in pan. Take your berry sauce and mix into vinegar reduction.

Use as a glaze for any meat. I used it with steak!

Yield: approximately 1 cup of sauce

August 18, 2014

Butter and Dill Carrots

August 18, 2014/ Margaret Lunetta

Every summer I get to spend a long weekend in the beautiful state of Maine visiting family. It’s the kind of place where there’s a mile between all the houses and you don’t hear anything but sounds of nature all day long. They live in the dead middle of the state and their house is surrounded by nothing but trees and open skies.

My cousin Evelyn cultivates a huge, beautiful garden. This year’s bean stalks were taller than me and there were tomatoes for days.

Late one morning she harvested a few pounds of baby carrots and barely ten minutes later they were simmering on the stove top destined for lunch.

What she served us was so simple and also just so good. The combination of flavors was something I’ve never encountered before. It felt both fresh and rich at the same time. It was so different from anything I've ever had that I asked for permission to share it on here.

The dill and carrots pictured are her gorgeous produce. I mean look at those cute little "tails"!

Butter and Dill Carrots

Evelyn’s Recipe

Ingredients

1 pound fresh carrots, cleaned and trimmed of their tops - ideally the type just recently yanked out of the ground, and on the smaller side if possible. Halve or quarter bigger carrots so they cook through equally

1 tablespoon grass fed butter

1 heaping tablespoon chopped fresh dill

salt to taste

Directions

Bring water to a boil in a 1 quart sauce pot.

Once the water is boiling drop in your carrots. Cook them until just fork tender, about 6 to 7 minutes. This could take longer depending on the size of your carrots.

Strain the water from the carrots and place in serving bowl. While the carrots are still warm stir in butter and dill until the butter has melted and the dill has evenly distributed.

Salt to taste and serve.

Serves 4 as a side

August 18, 2014

Monday Market Haul - 8/18/2014

August 18, 2014/ Margaret Lunetta

Guys. It’s August. AUGUST!

How is summer practically over already?! I’m already mourning it’s end and it hasn’t even happened yet. All I can do is scoop up and make the best of the summer’s bounty --- which I’ve been doing obsessively. I’ve been buying and inhaling blueberries by the pints and snapping up suspicious strawberries with no concern for the cost.

I dragged home a few pounds of tomatoes because of all the things that summer brings, they seem to be the most precious of them all. It’s all I can do to not eat them all in tomato sandwich form.

Here’s my dilemma -- the end seems so near and I’m feeling the need to somehow have these short lived summer gems live forever! (Or as long as physically possible.) So while I could just eat everything in it’s truest form, berries plucked straight from the pint container or tomatoes just sprinkled lightly with salt, I’ve been tucking sweet, sweet berries into muffins and biscuits, and making lots of sauce.

So that hopefully, one day, in the encroaching, dismal, frozen future, when the polar vortex is paying the Northeast a visit, I can dip into my freezer and pull out just a little bit of summer.

If you'd like, check back here later today. My Cousin Evelyn is a whiz with the vegetables and she fed us something so simple yet so completely satisfying that I asked permission to share it. Also later this week, I'll be sharing my way of capturing summer for later. Thanks for stoppin' by all!

August 15, 2014

Slightly Spicy Slaw

August 15, 2014/ Margaret Lunetta

So I went to Whole Foods one day after the green market for cat food although I was super hungry and me and grocery shopping while hungry never ends in a good way. Believe me, I could’ve made it home for food. Really. But I snuck past the food bar and of course lost my resolve. Now, mistake? Or kismet? I’ve decided on definitely meant to be because I stumbled across something that I’ve probably thought about once a day since. It was called “Firecracker Slaw.” If there’s one thing I adore in life, it’s slaw. I’m that gross person who always eats the tiny cup of half warm coleslaw sent along with that pickle at the diner. As of recently I’ve also started to gravitate towards more vinegar-based dressings and have discovered a whole new world of slaw making.

This Firecracker Slaw was the stuff of my dreams. Not sure if anybody’s noticing a pattern going on, but I like things spicy around here. It was beautifully colored - the red of the cabbage, there were red, yellow and orange bell peppers thrown in, and there they were, slivers of jalapeno. My recreation does not taste exactly like the wholefoods version, but it’s close and it’s GOOD.

Hey, little side note, you’ll notice there’s something called kohlrabi in this. Kohlrabi? Kohlrabi anyone? I received three kohlrabi in my farmshare and was like….what the f….are these?? Since learning more about them, they’ve all gone into slaws and I couldn’t of been more pleased. If you don’t have any kohlrabi lying around or haven’t a clue what it even is (been there girl) just sub in a ½ head of green cabbage instead. Kohlrabi are in the same family as cabbage and broccoli.

Hmmm…..broccoli slaw….

Slightly Spicy Slaw

inspired by Whole Foods’ “Firecracker Slaw”

Ingredients:

Slaw

½ head of red cabbage, cored and sliced into long thin strips

1 bell pepper, orange, yellow, or red for color, sliced into long thin strips

½ cucumber, sliced into matchsticks

½ red onion, sliced thinly

1 kohlrabi, peeled and shredded

3 carrots, shredded

1 jalapeno pepper, de-ribbed and de-seeded (or leave in for more heat), sliced into super thin matchsticks

Dressing

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 ½ tablespoons Red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon dijon mustard

2 teaspoons honey

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Take all your prepped vegetables and toss them together in a large bowl.

Combine dressing ingredients together in a small bowl and then pour over your slaw. Toss slaw again to distribute dressing.

You can eat it right away, but I always find slaw better when it’s sat a bit and had time to meld it’s flavors and wilt a little.

August 13, 2014

Stuffed Zucchini

August 13, 2014/ Margaret Lunetta

Do you have zucchinis around that are the size of a limb or a small child? Are you overwhelmed, maybe not in size but in quantity? It’s about that time of year where the zukes start taking over the garden. You go down there, and WHOA! Monster zucchinis everywhere! I swear they weren’t that big the last time I was down here! What my mother would do with these giants was stuff them silly and cover them in melted cheese and call it dinner. I have fond, fond memories of zukes the size of me. I’m currently no where near a garden and I’m still overwhelmed with zucchini. My CSA is hurling them at me and a co-worker brought me in one, that I swear to you, was the size of my leg.

So it was about time for me to whip this childhood classic out. This isn’t quite my mom’s recipe, but it was one of those summer comfort foods I had to figure out how to recreate. Her's involves stovetop brand stuffing, which is, SO good. But I wanted to up the protein and avoid the grains. So this version uses ground beef, a ton of vegetables, and some of the seed pulp that you scoop out at the beginning of the process.

I’ve played around with other meats too, like Italian sausage and chorizo and thrown in different veggies. The kale ended up in here just because I had some hanging out in the crisper. This is one of those recipes that has endless ways you can change it up - meat, spice, or veg-wise. Get creative. I don’t think it could taste bad! Use what you got!

I like to serve mine with a fresh tomato salad on the side and maybe even a little sour cream if I’m feeling saucy.

Don’t hate on the one tablespoon of tomato paste, I know, annoying, but it really adds body. Here’s what I do when I only use a little bit from the can: scoop it out onto a square of saran wrap and fold it up into a little square. Then throw into the freezer. Next time you need some tomato paste just hack off a bit from your frozen square.

Stuffed Zucchini

Ingredients:

1 large zucchini (or 4 small-medium ones) halved, with seeds scooped out (reserve 1 cup of seed pulp)

1 lb ground beef

1 medium onion, chopped

1 Italian pepper, diced

1 cup shredded kale

1 cup of reserved zucchini seed pulp (from above)

1 tablespoon tomato paste

½ teaspoon oregano

½ teaspoon cumin

½ teaspoon paprika

1 tablespoon chili powder

salt and pepper

1 cup quartered baby tomatoes (or diced regular tomatoes)

Optional: cheese for melting (a hard pecorino or parmesan would work ((what I did)) but so would a cheddar or mozzarella – the theme of this recipe is pretty much anything goes)

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees

Take your scooped out zucchini halves and place them on a sheet pan or in a baking dish. Lightly salt them. Pour about 3 cups of water in the bottom of your baking pan, there should be about an inch of water in the pan around the squash. (This can be easier to do when the pan is already inside of the oven.) Bake squash in oven for about 30 minutes or until squash is tender when pierced with a fork.

While the zucchini is baking, brown your ground beef. When the meat is browned, remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside on a plate. Using the rendered fat from the meat, begin to sauté your onions and peppers over a medium heat. When the onions and peppers have softened, throw in your kale, and reserved seed pulp. Wait until your kale has wilted and then add back in your browned meat. At this point also add in your tomato paste, oregano, cumin, paprika, and chili powder. Stir everything together to combine well and then salt and pepper to taste. Let cook and meld together for about 5 minutes. Lastly add in your tomatoes and cook just until wrinkly.

Now it’s time to fill those oven tender squash. If you’re melting cheese on top, feel free to use the same pan - most of the water has probably evaporated but if not, move the zucchini off and pour out lingering water and then lay squash back down. Fill each half equally with your meat-veg mix and then sprinkle your cheese on top, if using. Throw back into oven until cheese is golden and bubbly.

If you’re not using the cheese then stuff your squash and serve!

August 10, 2014

Kale, Garlic scape, and Feta Frittata

August 10, 2014/ Margaret Lunetta

Wait! Don’t go!

I know that is the most burnt, unappealing looking frittata ever but don’t lose hope in me yet! I’m just easily distracted.

Here’s what you’re gonna do when you make this --- you’re gonna take it out about 5 mins earlier than I did, and you won’t be disappointed. As a general rule, it’s a good idea to keep an eye on anything that’s under the broiler. Noob move here. What I wouldn’t give to have a window in my oven door. But seriously, underneath that blackened exterior was the most luscious, well flavored eggy concotion I’ve ever thrown together.

I mean the moment I saw I had burnt the thing beyond saving, I was like, well there goes posting that. But I was also half starved and needed lunch, so I decided to see if it was still edible. And my goodness, yes it was! The flavor! The yum! The ahhh - I have to tell everyone about this! Screw the top!

So are garlic scapes still a thing? Real talk, I made this frittata a bit ago when I had a pound of them from my farm share. I’m not so sure they are still available but if they are, find ‘em and do it! My CSA gave me so many that they went into EVERYTHING and it was the best. Assuming they are long gone from farmstand, garlic would be just fine here, I’d say 1 clove minced should do the trick

Obviously I could have redone this attempt. But sometimes there’s something endearing about a total screw up...yea? Life’s beauty is in the imperfections, right????

(I’m just tryin’ to make myself feel better about burning my frittata.)

Kale, garlic scape, and feta frittata

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter (or other cooking fat)

1 bunch kale, destemmed and torn into bite size pieces (I used lacinato)

½ medium size onion, sliced

3 garlic scapes, diced (or 1 clove of garlic minced)

pinch of red pepper flake (if desired)

6 eggs beaten

½ cup grassfed heavy cream

salt & pepper

⅓ cup feta cheese

sprinkle of shredded pecorino or parmesan (optional)

Directions:

Heat 1 tablespoon of butter in a 10-inch cast iron skillet over medium heat. Once melted, add kale, onion, garlic scapes, and red pepper flake to pan. Cook until onions are transculent and kale is soft and wilted.

While veggies are cooking down, beat 6 eggs with heavy cream, salt and pepper. Once fully beaten, stir feta in.

Add in second tablespoon of butter and allow to melt into vegetables. Pour eggs over the sauteed vegetables and stir in quickly to incorporate. Now leave to set over medium heat for approximately 10 minutes. Turn on your broiler. Right before placing under broiler sprinkle a bit of shredded pecorino or parmesan, if desired. Broil for approximately 10 minutes, but keep a watchful eye, remove once top of frittata is puffy and becomes a delightful golden brown.

August 09, 2014

Roasted Peach Strawberry Chunk Popsicles

August 09, 2014/ Margaret Lunetta

Remember those cute bitty strawberries I told y’all about last week? The suspicious ones? Welp, I learned more about them this past farmer’s market visit. They’re called tristar strawberries and they have a much more flexible growing season. So my little suspicious strawbs, are definitely local, totally seasonal, and um, er, wut...oh the organic front? Yea….the jury’s still out. I had already bought them with my eyes before my wallet made it out of my bag and I was afraid to know the answer. So I still don’t know the answer, but the strawberries are little nuggets of summer heaven so I’m surely okay living in denial about them.

I ended up mixing some of them up into something "cool" with the other stars of summer, some sweet local peaches.