Tag Archives: summer

Watermelon, Cucumber, and Feta Salad with Mint

16 Jul

This might be the ultimate summer salad. I know, I know—how can someone say something so definitive about a salad when the salad in question contains only one single vegetable? In a season of garden abundance, can such a simple salad really be labeled as representative of the entire season? Well, yes.

That is, if the salad in question contains fresh, juicy chunks of watermelon, crisp slices of cucumber, cool hits of fresh mint, and tiny little squares of salty, flavorful feta cheese. On a hot day, I can’t think of anything better to eat, really. Well, aside from a nonstop conveyor belt delivery of popsicles, but if you’re looking for something with a bit more nutrition and heft, you might consider this salad.

The thing is, perfect as I think this salad is, while I was making it I kept on dreaming up other things I could do to it. I held back—mainly because I was going to be serving this salad to a crowd that contained children, and I didn’t want to completely repel anyone (though pairing watermelon with cheese certainly won me a few suspicious looks from the under-12 crowd)—but while writing down the recipe for this salad, my mind kept wandering over to thoughts of adding a diced jalapeno or serrano pepper, or maybe a light dusting of cayenne over each serving. I also think adding a bit of crumbled chèvre in lieu of the feta would be just lovely. If your garden is bursting with basil right now, a combination of basil and mint would pair nicely in here, or maybe forget the mint all together and just go with the basil. I know I just said this salad was perfect (and it really is, I swear), but I like to think that perfection doesn’t limit itself to one single incarnation. So try this salad as is, in all it’s glory, or maybe go in a slightly different direction and spice it up a bit. You can’t go wrong.

Last Year: Cherry Almond Strudel–so many flaky layers!

Watermelon, Cucumber, and Feta Salad with Mint Recipe

4 cups cubed watermelon

1 large cucumber, peeled, cut in half lengthwise, seeded, then sliced into half-moons

juice of ½ a lime

1/3 cup fresh mint leaves, stacked on top of one another then cut into ribbons

4 ounces feta cheese, cut into tiny cubes

pinch of black pepper or cayenne pepper

Combine watermelon cubes and cucumber slices in a colander set over a large bowl. Refrigerate and allow watermelon to drain for at least 30 minutes. At this point, you can leave the draining watermelon and cucumber in the refrigerator for several hours if you want to prep the salad ahead of time.

Remove drained watermelon and cucumber to a serving bowl. (You can either reserve the drained watermelon juice for another purpose, or just go ahead and do what I did: drink it, because it is so very delicious.) Squeeze the lime juice over the mixture, then sprinkle on the mint, feta, and pepper. Toss gently with a large spoon. Serve immediately.

Serves 6 to 10 people.

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Lime Pecan Bars

12 Jul

Does anyone here have a single favorite cookbook? This is something I think about often. Most likely because, when asked the question myself, I tend to freeze up and stammer about categories of cookbooks, eras of cookbooks, and whether or not “favorite” can mean the same thing as “most utilized,” etc. It’s not that I have commitment issues with my cookbooks, it’s just that, when the word favorite is used, I never really know how to distill all the elements of a great cookbook into one choice. Maybe there’s an algorithm somewhere that can help me figure this one out. Something like number of recipes I’ve made more than once from a certain cookbook, divided by number of changes I’ve had to make in each recipe to make it work, plus number of food splatter stains adorning each page, multiplied by number of times I have had actual dreams about certain foods in each cookbook. Surely someone can figure this one out for me.

I’ll go ahead and submit a cookbook for mathematical consideration: Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts. This cookbook contains several recipes I’ve visited more than once, nearly all of which I have tinkered with in order to really make them noteworthy, and is patterned with numerous stains and splatters. I have yet to have any actual dreams about the desserts in this book, but, worry not, there is still time.

My only complaint about this cookbook lies with element number two of the equation. Most of the recipes in this book sound absolutely delicious, but lack the sort of punch they need to really make them shine. The problem, of course, could be entirely mine, considering the fact that this cookbook was obviously not made to please my personal palette alone, but I still find myself adding and subtracting from each recipe whenever I endeavor to make something from the book. These lime pecan bars, in particular, have been a sticking point for me. The recipe printed in the book, though passable, has never been what I might consider to be a solid, go-to recipe. I’ve worked my way with it over the years, but no matter what I did, the final texture of the bars always seemed a little off—a tad too gummy for my tastes, and never as tart as I think a citrus bar should be.

However, I am proud to say that, after a few years of off-and-on experimentation, I think I have finally cracked the code of this treat. I upped the lime juice quotient by almost 30%, changed the ratio of eggs to flour, reduced the sugar percentage accordingly, pinched in some sea salt, and tinkered with the baking time. It only took me a half dozen batches or so over the course of a few years (two batches in this week alone), but I think I have done it. A creamy custard baked atop a crisp and slightly nutty base, it is a dessert both pleasingly tart and satisfyingly sweet, without falling too much in the category of either. It is very nearly perfect, and I can say with certainly that this recipe, at least, is now one I can call a favorite.

Last Year: Nectarine and Raspberry Galette in a Cornmeal Crust, and Roasted Asparagus and Lemon Chèvre Galette . What can I say? I like a nice galette.

Lime Pecan Bars Recipe

Adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts

Base:

½ cup pecans

¼ cup lightly packed light brown sugar

¾ cup unbleached all-purpose flour

¼ cup unsalted butter, melted

pinch of fine grain sea salt

Topping:

3 large eggs

1 large egg yolk

¾ cup sugar

1/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

2/3 cup freshly squeezed lime juice

1 teaspoon very finely grated or chopped lime zest

pinch of fine grain sea salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly butter the bottom and sides of an 8” by 8” square baking pan.

In the bowl of a food processor, or by hand, finely chop the pecans. Add the sugar, flour, melted butter, and sea salt, and process or blend with a fork to form a crumbly mixture. Press the crust into the buttered pan, coaxing the crust about ¼ of an inch up the sides and pressing it into place. Bake the crust in the center of the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until it is golden brown.

While the crust is baking, prepare the filling by whisking together the eggs, egg yolk, and sugar. Whisk in the flour, lime juice, lime zest, and salt. As soon as the crust is done baking, remove it from the oven, pour in the lime mixture, and return the pan to the oven. Bake for 17 to 20 minutes, until the center is no longer wobbly and the top of the bars are only slightly firm to the touch (a finger touched in the center of the bars should leave only a slight indentation.

Remove the bars from the oven and cool at room temperature for 1 hour.

Bars can be cut into 12 medium-sized rectangles, or 16 smaller squares.

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Blueberry Cream Pie in a Gingersnap Crust

2 Jul

Some good friends of mine had a baby recently.  Actually, a few good friends of mine have had babies recently, which is rather exciting. In addition to being able to visit and squeeze all the new babies (cheeks!  Thighs!  Chubby arm folds!), I am also able to test out some new recipes on my ravenous and more-than-a-little exhausted friends and their families.

Wait.  That came out wrong, like I am testing out recipes on unsuspecting new parents.  I don’t mean it that way.  I’ve been known to bring newly developed recipes to potlucks, brunches, and the occasional Thanksgiving dinner, so introducing new dishes to many people at a time is old hat to me.  I swear that I only do this sort of thing when I am positive that the recipe is a good one, and that I would never, ever spring a suspicious new dish on people.  Nobody wants to be served something revolting, and I certainly don’t want to serve anyone anything that might be categorized as such.

Which is why, when I wanted to come up with a new way to make a blueberry dessert, I decided that the best way to present the blueberries would be in a medium with which I am decidedly familiar: a pie.  Specifically, a pie lined with what has become my favorite crumb crust, made with spicy gingersnap cookies in lieu of graham crackers.  Topping the pie is a middle layer of cool vanilla custard, and on top of that is a full 3 cups of fresh, plump blueberries.  That doesn’t sound like an experiment that could ever go wrong, does it?  Of course not.  And it didn’t, as I heard from the pie’s recipients just a day after I dropped it off.  The last slice of pie had just been happily consumed, the new mother getting the honors of the last bite.  As it should be, I think.

Blueberry Cream Pie in a Gingersnap Crust Recipe

Gingersnap Crust

9 ounces gingersnap cookies

4 tablespoons melted unsalted butter

pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.  Arrange an oven rack to the middle position.

In the bowl of a food processor, process cookies until they are pulverized into small crumbs.  Alternately, if you don’t have a food processor, you can crush the cookies in a plastic bag, using a rolling pin or a meat tenderizer.  When cookies are crushed, slowly drizzle in melted butter, pulsing the food processor as you drizzle.  If not using a food processor, transfer the crumbs to a medium bowl and drizzle in the butter while stirring with a spatula.  Add pinch of salt and process or stir until crumbs start to cling together.

Pour the crumb mixture into a 9-inch pie pan.  Using a spoon or a small metal measuring cup, press the crumbs into the pan, covering the bottom, then pressing the crumbs evenly up the sides of the pan.  Bake the crust for 8 to 9 minutes, until the edges of the crust are just beginning to color.  Remove crust from oven and set aside to cool slightly.

Blueberry Cream Pie

¼ cup cornstarch

1/3 cup sugar

pinch of salt

2 cups milk

3 large egg yolks, lightly beaten

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

3 cups fresh blueberries

In a medium saucepan set over medium low heat, whisk together cornstarch, sugar, and pinch of salt.  Slowly pour in milk while steadily whisking, making sure the cornstarch mixture does not clump up. Whisk in the egg yolks.  Reduce heat to medium low and slowly whisk the mixture for 7 to 8 minutes, until it becomes quite thick.  Remove from the heat and immediately whisk in vanilla.

Pour the custard into the baked gingersnap crust.  Pile blueberries on top of custard.  Place pie in refrigerator for at least 2 hours, until custard has set and pie is thoroughly chilled.

Serves 6 to 8 people.

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