Zucchini and Summer Squash Overload

Ahh the joys of a garden. There are so many lovely benefits of having one-as a stress reliever, a sense of gratitude and self satisfaction, a food source, and many more. That is until you come across the zucchini and summer squash plant. You know, the one that will not stop producing veggies no matter how hard you try to make it stop. Here's the scoop on the squash and how we evolved from loving the plant to wishing it would go into retirement.

Once upon a time Jack and I really wanted to start a successful garden. We purchased organic seeds from local areas and afar. We planted them inside, cultivated them as they grew nicely. Then when the weather was warm, we transplanted them. And killed most of them. We didn't know the first thing about gardening, especially the one essential rule- slowly introduce seedlings to the outside world. Take them outside during the day, and bring them inside at night for about 1 week. Well, most of our little guys went to plant heaven, and as a result, we went to our local farm to purchase ready to plant vegetable plants. The only criteria we had was that the plant had to be very difficult, if not impossible to kill. So we picked zucchinis, summer squash, cauliflower and eggplant. They were all about 3 inches tall in May. In July, the zucchini and squash have grown to take over the garden. Every other day Jack hauls inside another 10 or so. The fridge is loaded with them, and we are slowly running out of ideas to do with them.

I've done the zucchini bread (a fabulous low fat, whole grain recipe from my friend Laura), the grilled veggies, pickled zucchini, stuffed zucchini, and zucchini stir fry. And there are still at least 10 in the fridge. One recipe that I wanted to share though was a Summer Squash galette. The meal was pretty easy to put together, requires little hands on time, and is delicious. It was a perfect Friday night meal. The recipe was from Smitten Kitchen, and modified with a different cheese or 2, but will definitely be something that Jack and I make again.

If anyone has any zucchini recipes to share, please do. Chocolate Zuccchini bread and zucchini salsa (with fresh Mass peppers and tomatoes!) is on the very near horizon.



Zucchini and Summer Squash Galette
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

For the pastry:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, chilled in the freezer for 30 minutes
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces and chill again
1/4 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup ice water

Filling:
1 large or 2 small zucchinis, sliced into 1/4 inch thick rounds (We used a zucchini and summer squash combo)
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon olive oil
1 medium garlic clove, minced (about 1 teaspoon)
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup (about 1 ounce) grated Parmesan cheese (We used Romano)
1/4 cup (1 ounce) shredded mozzarella
1 tablespoon slivered basil leaves

Glaze:
1 egg yolk beaten with 1 teaspoon water

Make dough: Whisk together the flour and salt in a large bowl. Sprinkle bits of butter over dough and using a pastry blender, cut it in until the mixture resembles coarse meal, with the biggest pieces of butter the size of tiny peas. In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream, lemon juice and water and add this to the butter-flour mixture. With your fingertips or a wooden spoon, mix in the liquid until large lumps form. Pat the lumps into a ball; do not overwork the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Make filling: Spread the zucchini out over several layers of paper towels. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and let drain for 30 minutes; gently blot the tops of the zucchini dry with paper towels before using. In a small bowl, whisk the olive oil and the garlic together; set aside. In a separate bowl, mix the ricotta, Parmesan, mozzarella, and 1 teaspoon of the garlicky olive oil together and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Prepare galette: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a floured work surface, roll the dough out into a 12-inch round. Transfer to an ungreased baking sheet (though if you line it with parchment paper, it will be easier to transfer it to a plate later). Spread the ricotta mixture evenly over the bottom of the galette dough, leaving a 2-inch border. Shingle the zucchini attractively on top of the ricotta in concentric circles, starting at the outside edge. Drizzle the remaining tablespoon of the garlic and olive oil mixture evenly over the zucchini. Fold the border over the filling, pleating the edge to make it fit. The center will be open. Brush crust with egg yolk glaze.

Bake the galette until the cheese is puffed, the zucchini is slightly wilted and the galette is golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven, sprinkle with basil, let stand for 5 minutes, then slide the galette onto a serving plate. Cut into wedges and serve hot, warm or at room temperature.

Contemplations of Cooking

As I am standing here cooking a fairly new standby dinner of Chicken Milanese, braised radishes, and green beans, I am contemplating how much I have come to love cooking. Yesterday I was reading Real Simple magazine, and the July issue posed a question of readers-"If you were given one extra day off this summer, what would you do?" My mind immediately raced to all of the things I never have time to do, sleeping in, running to the post office, fitting in a good workout, but then I realized I wanted a little more time to contemplate before I jumped to a typical conclusion.

Today I was in front of my computer, working the 9-5, mind racing to solve the current problem at hand, when I stepped back for a second, and reflected on the question from Real Simple; what would I do with one additional free vacation day this summer? I thought about it, and decided to just free think, and determined my answer, from the heart. No exercise, no pleasing others but myself, enjoying and savoring every last moment of the things that I love. And here it is: I would wake up in the early morning to a cup of coffee with milk and a strawberry chocolate chip muffin. I would eat that glorious breakfast while reading a fascinating novel. After a relaxing breakfast I would head to the nearest farmer's market to buy ingredients and tools necessary to bake the latest on my to do list, and purchase foods for making a lovely dinner. After baking my recipe, I would head to the beach for a snooze and some more light reading. The beach would relax me, and give me some quality "Me" time. Finally, I would finish my day by cooking a delicious dinner for Jack and our friends. We would enjoy delectable, thoughtful food and wine, and end the night with some good conversation and plans for another tomorrow.
Cooking has made me appreciate a quality meal, but more importantly, it has taught me to be a cook for those I love, and to love to cook for those who care.

Three months or so ago when I started to really get into cooking, I never thought that it would become a passion of mine, and yet here I am. braised radish in left hand, blog on right hand, and a whole lotta love in the middle.

Speaking of love, here's a few pictures from my new love-Nice, France. Jack and I recently took a vacation here, and definitely want to go back. Think markets, wine, and beach. Life couldn't get much better...




The last picture is of "Socca" a traditional chickpea flour flatbread. Delicious!

CSA Weeks 3 & 4

The CSA season is in full swing, and every week brings a new vegetable accompanied by some of the same loot from prior weeks. This week we received a variety of lettuces, including some mustard lettuce. As Jack and I were getting ready to go on vacation, we tried extremely hard to use up most of the CSA box prior to leaving. That meant being inventive, and productive with the veggies. We made celery pesto, parsley pesto, and basil pesto. If you have never made a pesto, try it. IT is hands down the easiest recipe to make. Step one: get ingredients. Step two: put into food processor. Step three: eat. The pesto is can be easily frozen for later use, or paired right away with pasta, panini, or salads.



A dinner that we made that week, that was mocked off of one of my favorite restaurants in the Philadelphia suburbs, Zake’s Cakes, was pumpkin ravioli salad. The name sounds a little funny, but the result is delicious. We used some of the CSA box in the meal-romaine lettuce, scallions, and a touch of mustard greens for tanginess. We also used Vermont Creamery chevre, craisins, and Pumpkin ravioli that I had in the freezer from Venda Ravioli in Providence. When all of the ingredients are combined together, the salad becomes a warm, sweet mix of flavors that reminds one of both fall and spring with the mix of vegetable influences. The best part of this meal is that it comes together in 15 minutes, or as long as it takes to boil the ravioli.

If you are ever in need of a quick yet tasty (and healthy!) meal, try this out. You will not be disappointed.

Pumpkin Ravioli Salad- Inspired by Zake’s Cakes
Ingredients
Pumpkin Ravioli
Greens of your choice
Craisins
Chevre, or other soft cheese
Raspberry Vinaigrette

Directions:
Cook ravioli according to instructions. Meanwhile wash and prepare lettuce. Top with cheese, craisins, and cooked ravioli. Top with raspberry vinaigrette and serve with crusty bread.

Canning and Jamming

Two weeks ago I had the brilliant idea to pick my own strawberries. I used to do it as a child with my mom, brother and sister at Rohrbach's Orchards or Stahl's Farm in central Pennsylvania. Mind you, mom did most of the picking, while we all did most of the eating. I imagine we ended up eating exactly as many as we picked by the end of the day. I mention this story as I noticed a few kids in the field picking at the same time as I was, doing the same thing! The boy was trying to find the perfect strawberry, so at the end of 20 minutes, he still only had 3 picked. His middle sister was picking berries like a madwoman, and filled her container in the same amount of time. The youngest girl, well, she picked everything she ate so her basket was empty.



While watching the three work (or eat), I managed to pick about 10 pounds worth, naively thinking that would amount to about 10 Ball 8oz. Canning Jars. Then I brought them home, and realized how severely I had underestimated my loot. After two hours of de-stemming the berries, I had to call it quits for the night. I resumed two nights later for the canning process.



I had purchased a Ball Canning book to help guide me with Strawberry Jam, amongst all of the other veggies and fruit that I want to process over the summer. The book mentions that you need a canning pot, a tray for the jars for the pot, and other kinds of special equipment. Me, I'm cheap, so I used a 12qt stock pot and some tongs. It did the job just fine.



To make the jam, be prepared. It takes a lot of sugar. More than the eater cares to know. The recipe itself is simple. 10 cups of berries (when mashed, make 5 cups of berry/juice mixture), pectin, which is purchased in the Jello aisle of a supermarket, a bit of lemon juice, and a whole lot of sugar-7 cups worth!!!! The recipe calls for you to smash the berries, which tends to be quite a stress reliever, then boil with pectin and lemon juice, followed by adding sugar, boiling again, and then putting into the processed jars (jars that were in boiling water). Put the jam into the jar, add the lid and seal, and boil for 10 more minutes. Take the jars out and let them sit for 24 hours before moving. You will hear all of the lids pop. If they did not pop, they are not sterilized, and therefore you should eat immediately/put in fridge for current use.



The recipe makes about 8 8oz jars. My 10lbs of strawberries equated to 23 jars plus about 2 for current use. I have been eating the jam all week, and I must say, it is pretty darn delicious!

CSA Commences!

Two weeks ago our CSA began. I posted here about joining Kettle Pond Farm CSA in Southern Mass, and had been anxiously awaiting the arrival of the first basket. Finally, in the second week of June, it was time to begin the summer of abundance of farm fresh organic vegetables.

I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was thinking something along the lines of leafy greens and onions. When arriving on pick up day, I realized I was partially correct, as there was just so so much more! We received garlic scapes, green onions, lettuce, Swiss chard, bok choy, radishes, and arugula. It was a lot more than I was expecting, and definitely a rush to eat it all before it went bad.



In the next week, we received a box similar to the first week, but with the addition of mixed greens, parsley, and kale.

We are very lucky as we receive a weekly newsletter from the farm ahead of time so as to know what to expect. This allows for ample time to plan meals around what we will be receiving. For example, this week, Jack and I made a homemade kale pizza, parsley pesto, and a tofu and bok choy stir fry.

As the weeks go by I will continue to post about all of the great foods we receive in our CSA box, and what we make with them.

Birthday Love

Last weekend was yet another weekend filled with traveling to Pennsylvania, but for fun reasons! My baby brother was graduating high school, and my sister was celebrating her 22nd birthday. In my family, birthdays always equal cake, but because the weekend was so jam packed with activities, my mom didn't have time to bake for my sister, so I took on the task. I wanted to use one of my newer cookbooks, so I chose a recipe from Organic and Chic, by Sarah Magid, though none of my ingredients ended up being organic. Anyway, my sister requested a vanilla cake with chocolate frosting, so I used a "Blanca Cake" recipe with dark chocolate frosting and loads of rainbow sprinkles. The cake and frosting combination was delicious! The white cake was sweet and light with a hint of butter, and the sour cream in the chocolate frosting was the perfect offset for the sweet cake. I have since made this recipe again, but in cake form instead of cupcakes. It was a hit!




Be warned though, this cake takes a lot of egg whites!





Blanca Cake- adapted from Organic and Chic

2 cups organic APF
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 sticks (1 1/2 c) butter, softened
2 1/4 c sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 c whole milk
7 egg whites

Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter two 8-inch round cake pans.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside

In a standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat the butter, and 2 cups of sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy (3-4 minutes). Use a rubber spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl

In a small bowl, combine vanilla and milk and set aside.

With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in three parts, alternating with the milk/vanilla mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture.

In a clean bowl, use a handmixer or a clean standing mixer to beat the egg whites of low speed until they become foamy. Slowly pour in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and gradually increase the mixer speed to medium high. Beat until egg whites are shiny, with stiff glossy peaks. Be careful not to overbeat.

Using a rubber spatula, gently fold 1/3 of egg whites into cake batter. Then, in 2 additions, fold in the remaining whites just until the streaks are incorporated.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans, smoothing the tops with an offset spatula. Bake until the cakes are golden brown, about 35 minutes.

Cool for 20 minutes before taking out of pan.

First BBQ of the Season!

Memorial Day was so long ago, right? Well that was when Jack and I held our first BBQ of the season. Quite frankly I’ve been tied up in numerous graduations to even have a spare second to post about the fun time we had, with great food and drinks.

We hosted this grand ol’ affair in honor of a Monday off, and a goodbye to some good friends. The meal included grass fed beef burgers and brats, along with Sangria and Smore’s Brownies (another Joy the Baker recipe). The brownies were pretty good, all be it a little dry because I overcooked them. The Sangria however, was a hit, though not entirely homemade. This calls for a big shout out to Carlos Rossi and his $8 jug of sangria- along with some cut up oranges and grapes.  We all ate our first watermelon and corn on the cob of the season, and it was delicious! If this is how summer continues to be, it could quite possibly become the best ever.

I must say that while the meal was terrific, I was sad to see our friends leave for the armpit of the US called New Jersey. Thankfully they will be back next year, and we can have another wonderful Summer Feast.

Here is the recipe for Smore’s Brownies. Thank you Joy for your delicious recipe, but please note that brownies continue to cook when out of the oven, so do not overcook.

S’mores Brownies

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 5 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup graham cracker, roughly crushed with your hands
• 12 big marshmallows (I used a bunch of little marshmallows because I had them on hand)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 9×13-inch baking pan with 2-inch-high sides. Combine first 3 ingredients in small bowl. Stir butter and chocolate in a medium sized bowl over a heavy saucepan of simmering water.  Stir chocolate and butter in this double boiler until melted and smooth.

Beat eggs, sugar and vanilla in large bowl to blend. Stir in warm chocolate mixture, then dry ingredients. Fold in graham crackers.  Pour batter into prepared pan. Dot with 12 large marshmallows.  Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 30- 40 minutes.

Marshmallows will be browned and puffy but will deflate as the brownies cool.  Cool for at least 20 minutes than slice with a sharp knife, cleaning the knife with hot water if it gets too messy and sticky.  Serve or wrap individually in wax paper for storing.