My Favorite Time Of Year

Well, it's my favorite time of year except for the heat. I still have not taken the time for a nap on the porch, but I figure if I keep the hammock looking enticing, one day I'll fall into it and have a nice, long nap. It's on my list of things to do.

It's the fresh vegetables that make it my favorite time of year. I've been really enjoying my CSA boxes....I get them from Moore Farms in Alabama.

I usually get their "farmer's pick" box, which means whatever is fresh and ready to pick that week, that's what you get in your box. I like the surprise each week. Everything has been really delicious...fresh lettuces, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, kale, fennel....love it!

The recent box also included kohlrabi and beets that I need to cook this weekend. Kohlrabi I'm not really familiar with and beets are not my favorite. But I'm definitely going to cook both this weekend. I think I'll use some of the kohlrabi raw in a slaw and cook the rest, as an experiment. The beets I plan to roast. Beets are not my favorite but honestly, I've never had fresh beets. So my challenge this weekend is to try these two new-to-me vegetables.
I'm so glad the season is upon us. And I'm trying to stick with my plan of eating what's in season, when things are at their peak. I've also been visiting local weekend farmer's markets and plan to try new ones this summer, branching out from my usual in-town markets. Can't wait!

Lavender Tea Cakes

I have a healthy lavender plant among my herbs and wanted to try cooking with lavender. Most of the recipes I found used the flower, but since I only had one lovely flower, I searched till I found a recipe that used the leaves.

So glad I was persistent because I came upon this lovely recipe for Lavender Tea Cakes!


I have this great mold that a friend gave me a while back (thanks, Lisa!) and I decided to use this instead of the loaf pan the recipe called for. I mixed up the batter ingredients, poured into the mold and baked for about 30 minutes. Then, I doubled the glaze recipe and added it to both the top and bottom of the cakes. I also added more lavender leaves into the glaze.



These cakes were delicious....moist and very flavorful. I'll definitely make these again and really glad I found a use for my lavender plant.


I changed the original recipe a little, so below is my adapted version....enjoy!

Lavender Tea Cakes

For the Cake:
1 cup granulated sugar
5 tbsp softened butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg plus 1 egg white
1 3/4 cups AP flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup plain fat-free yogurt (I used Greek yogurt)
2 tbsp fresh lavender leaves, finely chopped

For the Glaze:
1/3 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 tsp water
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh lavender leaves

Preheat oven to 350. Spray mold with cooking spray.

Beat sugar, butter and 1/2 tsp vanilla until well blended, about 5 minutes. Add egg and egg white one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

Add flour mixture to sugar mixture alternately with yogurt, beginning and ending with flour. Stir in lavender. Pour into molds and bake about 30 minutes.

Remove cakes from oven and spread with glaze. When cakes are cool enough to remove from mold, spread more glaze on top.

And Now, Raspberry Jam

I was at my local Kroger store on Monday afternoon and I guess someone had over-bought raspberries but they were selling them for 50 cents a carton. They are normally about $2.99 each so this was a real bargain. I bought 20 cartons Monday and returned yesterday and bought 20 more. At the normal price of raspberries, making jam would be expensive, almost prohibitive since each 1/2 pint jar of jam uses one carton of raspberries. But at 50 cents each, why not?


Monday afternoon I got to work making jam. I used 8 cartons per batch. I got my lids boiling, crushed the berries, added the pectin then sugar, filled and sealed the jars, and had beautiful jam.



I got about 30 jars of jam and have a few cartons of raspberries left over....today I'm going to figure out something to do with them and take to our monthly book club meeting tomorrow night. Raspberry tart anyone?

Strawberry Jam

It's that time of year again!
Last week I picked four gallons of strawberries and got busy making jam. I also made a Strawberry/Mango version that turned out great and I'm glad I decided to do.



The strawberries were delicious and we ate a lot just as they were. The flavor is very far removed from any you get at the grocery store. But since they are so ripe and just picked, I had to make sure I got them all put away the same day so they wouldn't go bad.

After picking strawberries in the morning, I worked for the rest of the afternoon and got about 35 jars of strawberry jam and 25 jars of strawberry/mango jam. But now that's done for the year and on to the next crop that comes in fresh....peaches in July?

In between I'll be shelling peas and beans and canning green beans. I don't know why it took me so long to learn this, but eating in season is the best way. We ate strawberries for a week but they were delicious because they're in season and just picked. When cantaloupes, watermelons and tomatoes are ready, we'll eat that till we've had our fill. Then we'll wait till next year and do it all again. Such a fun time of the year, when fresh food taste best.

Key Lime Pie

Last week I made a key lime pie and took it as our dessert for our monthly knitting night. I bought a bag of Key Limes at the Buford Highway Farmers market....the whole bag was only .99 Cents! I found a recipe by Emeril Lagasse and it was very easy and very delicious. I needed one cup of lime juice for the pie and I got that much from the bag and had about 4 limes left over.

You make a basic graham cracker crust and the pie filling is just lime juice, eggs and sweetened condensed milk. The most time-consuming part is squeezing all the juice but it's well worth it because the tartness of the key limes combined with the sweetness of the milk is divine.

Mix it all up, pour it in and bake.

For the topping, the recipe suggests sour cream. I had this Mexican sour cream on hand and used that. This sour cream is really, really good. It has a slightly thicker, creamier texture than regular sour cream and has great flavor.

Enjoy! Here's the full recipe:
Key Lime Pie

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 tbsp (1/2 stick) butter, melted
2 (14-ounce) cans sweetened condensed milk
1 cup key lime or regular lime juice
2 whole eggs
1 cup sour cream
2 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tbsp lime zest for garnish

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar and butter. Press mixture into 9-inch pie pan and bake until brown, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and cool.

Lower oven temperature to 325 degrees.
Combine milk, lime juice and eggs. Whisk until well blended and pour into cooled pie shell. Bake for 15 minutes, then chill in fridge for at least 2 hours. Once chilled, combine sour cream and powdered sugar and spread over top. Decorate with lime zest.

Grilled Pork Chops

Last week, I tried a Mario Batali recipe from the April issue of Bon Appetit. The flavors were really great and I used ingredients I don't use very often: cipolline onions, cherry peppers and aged balsamic.

I shopped at the Buford Highway Farmers market and found these pickled peppers and this yummy balsamic glaze. Both are quite flavorful and a good find! The peppers have a slight heat to them and the balsamic has a deep, rich taste. I find that I shop more and more at the Buford Hwy Farmers market and have been quite pleased with the huge variety of products they carry. Give it a try!

This recipe packs a huge flavor punch and gives you good vegetables too. I served it with roasted
asparagus.

Here's the full recipe:

Grilled Pork Chops with Cherry Peppers, Cipolline Onions and Balsamic Vinegar

1/2 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup sugar
(4) 8-oz pork chops with rib bone
1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 bell peppers, one red, one yellow
1 small red onion, finely chopped
1/2 tsp dried crushed red pepper
8 pickled cherry peppers, sliced thin
Aged balsamic vinegar


Brine pork chops overnight in 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup kosher salt. Grill chops till done throughout.

Blanch cipolline onions in large saucepan of boiling water, then peel. Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in large heavy skillet, brown cipolline onions, 8-10 minutes. Remove.

Add bell peppers and red onion, saute till softened, about 5 minutes. Add crushed red pepper. Reduce to low and simmer til vegetables are softened. Stir in cipolline onions and sliced cherry peppers.

Place grilled pork chop on plate and top with vegetables. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar.

Enjoy!

Cooking With Fava Beans

I've been trying new recipes lately. This one is from the April 2011 issue of Bon Appetit, page 14. Although I did switch it up a little (the ** are changes/additions I made to the recipe).

Their original title is Garganelli with Asparagus, Artichokes, Favas and Peas. This recipe is a great Springtime recipe and uses a ton of green vegetables. And is very yummy!

I had corkscrew pasta on hand so I used that. I also did not use fresh artichokes, I used marinated in a jar instead. Saved a lot of time. I also had green peas in the freezer and used those instead of fresh.




Here's my version of the recipe:

**1 small jar marinated artichokes, chopped in large chunks
3/4 pound fresh fava beans, shelled (I got them at the Buford Hwy Farmers Market)
8 medium asparagus spears
1 pound pasta
**1 1/2 cups frozen green peas, thawed
3/4 cups loosely packed fresh tarragon leaes
**1 large clove galic, peeled
6 tbsp butter, cut into pieces
2 cups packed fresh spinach
grated parmesan
**1/4 cup toasted pine nuts

Bring large saucepan of water to boil. Add fava beans and asparagus. Cook until asparagus is crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Remove to ice water bath to stop cooking, then drain and pat dry. Peel fava beans to remove outer layer.

Cook pasta as directed on package. Drain, reserving liquid.

Put peas in food processor and puree. Add tarragon, garlic and 3/4 cup pasta water to processor and blend with peas. Season with salt/pepper.

Bring butter and 1/2 cup pasta water to simmer. Add artichokes, fava beans, asparagus and spinach. Toss until spinach wilts and vegetables are heated through, about 2 minutes. Add pasta and peas and toss to coat. Add grated parmesan to taste and toasted pine nuts.

Enjoy!