I’m sure you’ve heard it everywhere by now; Summer is over, caput, gone.

See you next year, I shout as I watch it walk away, in flip flops, with a suitcase packed full of mismatched bathing suits, sunscreen, cocktail umbrellas, vacation days, grilled corn and sea shells…but wait, while dear Summer departs, your old friend Fall arrives, with a bag full of apples, boots clacking, a cool new scarf and a crisp breeze. Hey, you love time of year, remember? Though,  if you’re lucky, there’s a brief period when Summer and Fall overlap a little, what could be better? Two of your favorites getting to hang out over a glass of white wine, and of course you ask them to stay for a snack so the moment will last a little longer. ..And this is what you should serve them, a little something for everyone - Ode to Summer and Welcome to Fall - Crostini. 

Ode to Summer Crostini (or basil-mint ricotta crostini with fresh zucchini and tomatoes)                         PRINT RECIPE
[Prep:  20 mins / Cook: 10 mins / Total: 20mins]
[Serving size: about 16 or half a baguette]

• 1 zucchini washed and peeled into long slices
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, washed, quartered, marinated in olive oil and salt
• 1 cup basil, washed and stemmed (about 1 large bunch)
• 1/3 cup mint, washed and stemmed (about 1 small bunch)
• 1 tablespoon pine nuts
• Zest from 1 lemon and juice from 1/2
• 3 cloves garlic peeled and cut in half
• ricotta cheese
• ricotta salata or parmesan, grated as topping
• olive oil
• salt
• pepper
• 1/2 baguette, cut into 1/4 slices

Welcome to Fall Crostini (or balsamic raisins with sauteed olives and almonds crostini)
[Prep:  15 mins / Cook: 15 mins / Total: 30mins]
[Serving size: about 16 or half a baguette]

• 1/2 cup kalamata olives, pitted and quartered
• 1 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/3 cup raisins, golden or regular
• 1/3 cup  roasted unsalted almonds, silvered
• 1 clove garlic peeled and cut in half
• ricotta cheese
• ricotta salata or parmesan, grated as topping
• olive oil
• salt
• pepper
• 1/2 baguette, cut into 1/4 slices

Let's start with the Ode to Summer Crostini:

Preheat your oven to 350° slice baguette into 1/4” thick slices, transfer to a large cookie sheet and brush with olive oil and lightly salt. (Note: If you are only making the summer crostini you should pop the bread slices into the oven as soon as it is hot and let them bake for 10 minutes. If you are making both summer and fall crostini you should wait until you are simmering the balsamic reduction to put the bread into the oven)

With a vegetable peeler take your zucchini and peel away - I rotated the zucchini 3 times, while peeling it, stopping on each side when I reached the seeds, so that I was left with a core. You can discard the core and now you have a nice fresh pile of zucchini strips. Transfer them to a small mixing bowl, lightly salt and toss with the lemon juice and zest. Quarter your cherry tomatoes and transfer to another small mixing bowl, add 1 tablespoon olive oil and a dash of salt and let sit.

In a blender or small food processor add the mint, basil, pine nuts, 2 garlic cloves and salt. Blend until smooth. Add the ricotta cheese and blend again until incorporated.

If you are only making the summer crostini, then remove baguette slices from the oven, let them cool for 1 minute, then rub them with the raw garlic clove. Add tablespoon of the basil-mint ricotta mixture, a strip of zucchini, some cherry tomatoes and some freshly grated ricotta salata. Enjoy!

For the Welcome to Fall Crostini:

Pour the balsamic vinegar and honey into a small skillet and cook over high heat until it begins to bubble/boil. Lower the heat and let the mixture simmer for 5 minutes, add the raisins and let simmer until the mixture has reduced to half of its volume and is thick enough to coat a spoon, this should take about 5 more minutes.

Put baguette slices in the oven and set timer to 10 minutes (Don't forget to lightly coat them in olive oil and a little salt if you haven't already!)

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a small skillet over med-high heat. After 1 minute add the olive slices and almond slivers, cooking for 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.

In a small mixing bowl whip the ricotta cheese with a little olive oil, salt and pepper.

Remove baguette slices – now crostini – from the oven and rub them with the raw garlic.

To create the fall crostini, add 1 tablespoon of the simple whipped ricotta, a little bit of the olive-almond mixture and top off with some freshly grated ricotta salata and finish with a drizzle of the raison balsamic reduction.

This is how you enjoy two seasons at once!

We all have those cringe-worthy holiday family traditions - great Aunt Bethany’s jello molds at Christmas or being forced by your parents to wear lederhosen in family photos. Sometimes they are founded in fact or history, many times they remain shrouded in mystery…yet we still accept them. Why? Because it’s tradition! As children we sighed and stomped and tried to run away from them, not taking part because it was our moral obligation not to. But then we realized that we miss these silly rituals, we no longer live at home or no one makes the effort anymore because we are all adults…and soon you fear they may be forgotten. Of course some people may never even consider this, but being the nostalgic sucker that I am, I do. In fact I am the unrelenting family member encouraging a constant stream of new traditions; the few days before Christmas have become the felt decoration making time [well it happened one year]. Making cocktails with my sister and mother, any time we see each other – yes let’s turn that into tradition too!

So I guess I should get to the point. When I was a little girl, my sister and I would go with my mother to Stockholm in the summer. We were visiting her sister and would get to experience the awesomeness that is Midsummer, or Midsommar as they say. It happens all over Sweden on the third Friday of June, the eve of Midsummer’s Day…whole towns of towheads in traditional Folk dress, flowers in hair, jumping dancing running around a green leafy maypole, while singing in a language I still don’t know that well – never quite understanding what was going on, but wanting to be a part of the celebration, this is Midsummer to me. It is a celebration of light, of the longest, sunniest day of the year. For Swedes it is a magical day filled with wild flowers, aquavit, herring and fresh picked strawberries – a weekend long celebration really. But no, this was not really my tradition growing up, but it was my mother’s and so by proxy over the years I have taken it on. So when my good friend and fellow foodie said she wanted to have a summer solstice party – I said, Yes! Midsommar!

It happened and it was awesome. We sang Swedish drinking songs and sipped caraway flavored Aquavit, poked at Swedish meatballs with Swedish flag toothpicks. We ate pickled herring and snacked on knäckebrot with jarlsberg cheese. Why did everyone join me so wholeheartedly? Well, because it’s tradition.

 
Just a few links in case you're curious...

Swedish Midsummer Traditions
A Midsummer Night's Feast at The Tasting Table
Nordstjernan -  Most popular Swedish Drinking Song
Helan Går
NYTimes 36 Hours in Stockholm

I was on the road a lot this spring but now I’m ready to relax and settle into summer. Relax into morning iced teas and late night ice creams, into sun hats and flip flops and smelling like sunscreen. Relax into the poolside beers and dinner parties where the sun refuses to go down. So I though I would share a good potluck dish that tastes like summer, but is so easy to make it doesn’t keep you from enjoying it!

Remember how I said that summer begins and ends with basil pesto…well, enter summer! I know it’s not official, we have a little over a week to go, but I decided to bring out the basil pesto. It’s a little different than the one I made for you guys before; it’s still a no cook, delicious the next day, pasta salad. Cue, sweet peas and grape tomatoes, more summer staples, then throw in some parsley, lemon and top it off with chives and you’ve got something special.  

The sweet pea herb ricotta sauce – a non traditional take on a pesto – is still a simple blender sauce, which is good because it leaves more time for you to make a little something extra like…a sweetly tart honey balsamic reduction that makes this dish a little fancy. A good looking well dressed pasta salad is always welcome at any party.

Sweet Peas are made of these…

Sweet Pea and Ricotta Pasta Salad                                                                                                                            PRINT RECIPE
[Prep: 15 mins / Cook: 10 mins / TOTAL: 25 mins
[Serving size: 4 dinner sized portions]

• 3/4 cup sweet peas, fresh or frozen
• 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, washed, sliced and marinated in 1/2 tablespoon olive oil and a dash of salt
• 2/3 cup ricotta
• 3 tablespoons crumbled feta
• 1/2 cup packed parsley, washed
• 1/2 cup packed basil, washed
• lemon juice from 1 lemon
• lemon zest from 1 lemon
• 3-4 garlic cloves
• 2 tablespoons chives, washed and chopped
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons honey
• salt
• fresh ground black pepper
• 1 box farfalle [bowtie] pasta

If using frozen peas make sure to take them out ahead of time so that they can defrost. If using fresh peas give yourself a little extra time to shell them.

Fill up a large pot with about 5 quarts of water - or until water is about 3 inches from the top. Salt generously - at least 1 tablespoon - cover and set heat to high.

Wash tomatoes and slice thinly. Marinate the tomato slices in 1/2 tablespoon olive oil and a pinch of salt.

Wash and stem the basil and parsley, zest and juice 1 lemon, and peel 3-4 gloves of garlic [I like a lot of garlic, but it is used raw here so it gives a lot of kick, so use less if you want the flavor to be milder]. Chop the feta into small pieces and mince the chives. The feta, lemon zest and chives will be used as a topping, you can put them aside to use at the end.

In a small food processor combine the ricotta, sweet peas, washed and stemmed basil and parsley, lemon juice, 2 tablespoons olive oil, garlic cloves, a few pinches of salt and a few grind of fresh cracked black pepper. Blend until all ingredients are incorporated and the texture is smooth. Let sit in the food processor.

When water begins to bowl add the pasta and set timer to 8 minutes.

Pour the balsamic vinegar and honey into a small skillet and cook over high heat until it begins to bubble/boil. Lower the heat and let the mixture simmer until it has reduced to half of its volume and is thick enough to coat a spoon, about 10 minutes.

When pasta is done cooking, reserve 1/3 cup pasta water before draining. Transfer pasta to a serving bowl and toss with a splash of the pasta water and a tablespoon of olive oil, mix well.

Add the reserved pasta water to the sweet pea ricotta sauce and blend – this will help to thin out the sauce a little. Toss the pasta as well as the marinated tomatoes and the sweet pea ricotta sauce. Top the pasta with feta, lemon zest and chives, drizzle the balsamic reduction over the top.

Enjoy!

While I love to cook and play around with recipes for you all, I also love to talk to other people about food and check out what they are cooking and feeling inspired by. So I wanted to start a feature series, where every now and then I’ll head over to a friend’s kitchen, poke around and take some notes. Last time I featured Kaspar, by other, sweet-toothed, half on our camping trip, this time…my mom!

Two weeks ago I was home in New York visiting my parents. I have a mom to whom I feel pretty indebted for my gastronomic passion and interest. While I may have started out as a frozen pea girl, my tasted buds have luckily developed past this naive phase. It is tradition that when I go home, my mom asks me what we should cook. This past trip I was lucky enough to be treated to some fresh soft shell crabs. These crabs have recently cast off their hard shell or “molted” it and are in season Spring through late Summer. When lightly pan-fried with the right amount of seasoning they are a little bit of heaven…crisp and salty, tangy from lemon and sprinkled with some fresh herbs.

But enough, lets get my mom’s perspective...

So here's how it all began...

When your father asked me one spring day, a long time ago, "are the soft shell crabs in yet ?" I stared at him in confusion, not having a clue what these crabs were, nor that they were considered a seasonal delicacy.

So I went down the avenue to 92 street to Holland Court Meat and Fish Market to find out. I came home with 4 small crabs, minus the heads, and didn't have any idea what to do with them.

This was 1971. In those days there was no Internet, no Google , no Food TV - only cook books !  And I took down my fat as bricks 2 volume set of  " The Gourmet Cookbook " , so handsome with their burgundy covers with gold scroll…sure enough - I found inspiration there.

I learned how to soak them in a mixture of milk, garlic, onions and herbs, then drain them and dredge in flour and sauté them in butter [and learned fast to use a mesh screen - the crabs pop with a cheerful sound and get juices all over!].

To finish them off, I would melt butter, add lemon juice and parsley [this was my father's go-to for all sautéed fish] and pour it over them - and I was sold! The legs were crunchy and delicious and the body fleshy and moist - truly a seasonal delicacy!! I taught myself how to cook in that bright simple little kitchen... and all these years later I still make the soft shell crabs this way and your father and I look forward to that first bite of the season.

Soft Shell Crab                                                                                                                                                              PRINT RECIPE
[Prep: 30mins / Cook: 8mins / TOTAL: 38mins]
[Serving size about 1 crab per person, earlier in the season the crabs are smaller so you may want to get 2 per person]

• 4 soft shell crabs
• 2 cups whole milk
• 3 tablespoons Wondra flour [the crabs need to be lightly dusted with flour, adjust tbsp amount if you are cooking more]
• 1/2 cup parsley, washed and chopped
• 3 tablespoons chives, washed and chopped
• 1 tablespoon chopped onion
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 4 tablespoons lemon juice, about 2-3 lemons
• 2 tablespoons butter, separated
• 1/4 cup white wine
• salt
• fresh ground black pepper

Optional sides:

Green beans or haricôt vert: washed and ends trimmed, blanched ahead of time for about 2 minutes with just enough water to cover them.  Tossed in ice bath and set out to dry for a few minutes.  Then quickly sautéed in olive oil with slivered garlic and red pepper flakes

Roasted asparagus with parmesan cheese: washed and ends snapped off, lightly tossed in olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper, evenly spread out on baking sheet. Cooked in oven at 400° for about 10-15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the asparagus. Remove from oven, turn on broiler and grate enough parmesan to lightly cover the asparagus, return to oven for 30 seconds under the broiler.

Boiled small potatoes lightly pan fried with fresh herbs and butter: bring potatoes to a boil over high heat in a deep skillet with just enough water to cover them – you’ll want most of the potatoes touching the bottom of the skillet. Let boil for about 10 minutes. Drain potatoes and turn the heat down to a simmer, add 1 tablespoon butter and toss with herbs of choice. Let them lightly pan fry while you finish cooking the soft shell crabs.

Mixed green salad tossed with lemon and olive oil. You can serve the crab on a bed of this salad – makes for a pretty presentation!


Most seafood stores will have already cleaned and prepped the soft shell crabs before you bring them home - keep them in the fridge until you are ready to cook them.

Pour the milk into a shallow bowl and add 1/4 cup parsley, 1 tablespoon chives, onion, garlic, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, a few dashes salt and a few grinds fresh black pepper. Add the crabs and let soak for about 25 minutes. There should be enough milk to cover the crabs, if not then adjust amount.

If you are making side dishes you should prep/cook them now. 

Remove the crabs from the milk mixture and pat dry. Dust entire crab with flour.

Place large cast iron skillet over med-high heat and add 1 1/2 tablespoons butter. When butter begins to foam add the soft shell crabs bottoms down first, evenly spread out and let cook for about 3-4 minutes, or until golden brown - make sure to have a splatter screen ready, you will need it! Flip the crabs and finish cooking top side down for 3-4 more minutes, also until they are golden brown. Remove them from the skillet and add 1 tablespoon butter, scraping up all the browned bits and add a few pinches parsley and chives [leaving a little of both for garnish] the remaining lemon juice and white wine. Stir well and let cook down for 1-2 minutes.

Evenly disperse the white wine sauce over the plated soft shell crabs and serve with your sides. Enjoy!

Sorry for the long absence, life's been a little bit busy - in the good way.  In early May Kaspar and I took a road/camping trip tour of New Mexico. We encountered a little snow, saw some amazing skies, dipped in a few natural hot springs and ate some good food along the way.

We try not to let camping sacrifice the taste or quality of our food. Though it can be a bit tricky when you are out in the mountains for days at a time, there is always some way to spruce up a boxed soup or spice up a package of ramen noodle soup - mac and cheese has always been a go to for us. In fact I usually start to anticipate the bright orange meal days before we head out on our trip. Food that honestly wouldn’t be on our radar at the supermarket takes on a new significance – simply because you cant make everything from scratch when you are camping, it just isn’t practical. Along with  pre-packaged food you can take a lot of good ingredients along with you – a sort of semi home made situation. You'll need a cooler and should try to cook the most perishable items first. Overall, it takes a fair amount of planning, but then when you’re out there in the wild or just car camping you already have your meals planned and there’s no stressing about what’s for dinner. Prepping and cooking becomes a matter of efficiency and waste becomes next to nil.

It’s an interesting phenomenon – when I go camping with Kaspar, I get to relax [!] and let him take the culinary reigns. So I’ve decided to feature him in this post. He’s been camping for longer than I, and I thought we could learn a few tricks from him and enjoy his wisdom. From here on out this post is brought to by Kaspar, photos and all. Enjoy!

[Disclaimer.. we wrote our entries separately - so any similarities is not meant to be redundant, just a coincidence. Perhaps its just evidence that we finally have camping routines down, we've been doing this for almost 8 years now!]

The great thing about cooking in the backcountry is that it is the only thing other than making sure you have shelter that matters.  Nothing else even needs to enter your mind; you know all you need is food, water and a place to sleep.  The reality is that those three things are all we ever really need, but we tend to over complicate things. 

When it comes to camping I get to handle the cooking and show off my domestic side.  I do it all, the meal planning, cooking and cleaning.  I think it blows Ali's mind that when we are in the outdoors all of a sudden I decide to be neat and tidy with the dishes and fastidious about the food. 

We have some "go to" meals we like to cook, but ultimately you really have to be able to freestyle when you get to the bottom of the food bag.

Breakfast:

Coffee or tea is a must-there are quality camping French presses out there, we've been using the GSI Coffee Press for a few years now, Make sure to pack sugar and powdered milk!

Sweet: Instant oatmeal base - Optional additions: homemade granola, fruit (sometime you can find wild blueberries or strawberries).  This is a great way to wake you up and make sure you do your business at the beginning of the day so you don't have to worry about it once you hit the trail.

Savory: Bacon Egg and Cheese on toast - Optional additions: avocado or leftover grilled veggies from the night before.  This is the best protein bomb you can make to repair your legs. Tip-we’ve been liking One Bun for a bread option.

Lunch is usually on the go, a granola bar, trail mix or piece of fruit.

Dinner:

Sausage and Vegetables - Optional additions: spicy mustard, horse radish, onions, carrots, broccoli and peppers will all keep for a few days without refrigeration so chop up what you got and toss it in. Tip-don't forget to pack spices for seasoning. Pre-mix them at home and store them in mini zip-lock bags.

Mac and Cheese, Ramen or Boxed Soup - Be sure to get a good mac and cheese like Annie's - Optional additons: peppers, garlic, onion. Tip – when boiling water for the noodles or shells you can place the skillet with sautéed veggies on top of the water, this keeps the veggies warm and act as a lid to speed up the boiling process.

Don’t forget your flask with your liquor of choice. Ours this time was some home made moonshine that we infused with strawberries to make it into the camping version of a desert liquor.

Please submit any questions you have about food and camping! Also to see more photos from our trip find me [Ali] on instagram @borninaford.

Hands down, my two favorite dishes to have when the weather starts to feel like summer are basil pesto and grilled clams. I could alternate these meals and eat them for days…I mean I would try, have tried…You could probably cook the clams in a cast iron skillet or in an oven, but there’s something about grilling, right? Nearly everyone has a fond childhood memory or two of eating corn, bbq chicken, ribs, or skewered veggies hot off the grill with friends and family nearby. Things can get messy, but the food always tastes great.

So when I was recently invited over to my friend Marin’s house to grill, I piped in, “I’ll bring the clams!” My exclamation was received positively with perhaps a little bit of doubt. Down here in Texas I’ve had some dreamy grilled meats, from falling off the bone ribs to buttery brisket, to hot links and perfectly seasoned burgers – but what I'm always thinking in the back of my my mind is...where's the grilled seafood. Spending summers out on the east end of Long Island I grew accustomed to a normal (constant) intake of super fresh summer seafood. Softshell crabs fried in butter (sigh), seared sweet bay scallops, salty oysters, big plump blackened shrimp, and stuffed clams. To be honest it pains me to reminisce…but I’ve traded one tradition for another. I wish I could bring the smoky salty brisket with a perfect bark back for my parents to experience.

Anyways, I’m getting off track and sort of hungry…The point is that I always want to grill clams when given the chance and was excited that I was going to share my simple recipe with a group of newbies. So where was I? Oh yes,  last week I found myself at Marin’s – a true Kentucky lady at heart – urban farm. She has managed to turn her back yard into a little country oasis. With chickens waddling around, a sweet sweet dog name Bear soliciting butt scratches, and a kitty named Kitty sleeping through it all. I was immediately happy and at ease. There were raised garden beds and a made from scratch chicken coop – the only thing missing was, of course, the teepee that hadn’t been waterproofed yet. Herbs sat happy, young and fresh in assorted crates and old planters, the aloe was nearly exploding out of its container. I loved it all. Food is good enough on it own, but when enjoyed in such a perfect place, well let’s just say I was a happy camper. The clams went over spectacularly, claiming their rightful place next to the ribs and sliders.

[warning

Grilled Clams with Parsley Caper Butter                                                                                                                   PRINT RECIPE
[Prep: 5mins / Cook: 20 / TOTAL: 25mins
[*Serving size about 5 clams per person = 5 people]

• 25 clams, rinsed and scrubbed**
• 1 small bunch parsley – about 2 tablespoons, rinsed and minced
• 1 tablespoon capers, drained and finely chopped
• 1 small shallot, peeled and minced
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup dry white wine [Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio will work]
• 1 teaspoon salt
• A few grind fresh black pepper
• ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

Depending on what kind of grill you have you may want to start heating up the coals/turn on the gas so you won’t have to wait around for it to get nice and hot.

When you are ready to start prepping the meal take the clams out and fill a bowl with cold fresh water. Let them sit for 20 minutes. This will cause them to spit out any sand or grit that they have inside their shells. Most clams won't come covered in barnacles so they just need a good rinse with a firm brush right before they're cooked. [Does this sound familiar? Check out my Summertime Clam Pasta for more deets on cooking with clams:o)]

Peel and mince both the garlic and shallot. Rinse the parsley, drain the capers and mince both. Once all the prep is finished, melt the butter in small skillet over med high heat. Once the butter is bubbling lightly add the minced shallots and minced garlic, let sauté for about 2 minutes, stirring often. Add the ¼ cup white wine and let it cook off for 1 minute. Add the capers, parsley, salt, pepper and hot pepper flakes. Lower the heat and let simmer for 2-3 minutes before removing from the heat. Transfer to a small serving bowl.

If the grill is ready, then the throw the clams on. Spread them out so that they do not crowd each other and close the grill. After 5 minutes start checking for open clams. Make sure to have a serving platter ready next to the grill. As they open remove them from the heat right away. Some clams may take a little longer, just give them a tap or two and keep the grill closed as you wait.

The clams can be eaten right away – but watch out, they can be hot! Make sure to give each one a good splash of the parlsey caper butter sauce!


*This serving size is based on the clams being a starter or passed appetizer. They go fast so feel free to grill more, especially if they are the main course! The volume of parsley caper butter sauce will go far. I usually have a little leftover and will freeze it and use it as a starter for a seafood pasta sauce.
**I used little necks, but cherrystones – a bigger meatier kind – are really good on the grill.

There are few things that I enjoy more then when random food I have hanging out in my fridge becomes an honest to goodness meal. My mom calls this catch it and pull it. I do this quite often but recently this chance encounter of ingredients worked together so well, that I made it again within a week.

The culprit was spaghetti squash. I know it’s not really the season for it, spaghetti squash is more of a winter vegetable but it was hanging around in the supermarket sort of like how winter has been hanging around even thought it’s technically Spring now. I then had the squash sitting at home for days not knowing what to use it with, but I wanted to use it before it went bad. Now, my mother and I have had an ongoing conversation about the best way to caramelize whole shallots and I’d recently come across a few recipes that caramelized them on the stovetop and then roasted them in the oven. I happened to have a few shallots, and I wanted to try out one of the recipes, so those were quickly added to the list of ingredients.

It really wasn’t until the [buttery sugary] shallots were roasted in the oven along with the spaghetti squash that I picked out a few other things to perk up the dish. Whatever greens I had in my fridge were rinsed, chopped and then quickly sautéed – just to the point of wilting. A little feta saltiness to counteract the sweetness of the shallots and then some mint. Mint because…well just because it adds a surprising flavor to savory dishes and works more often than not.

So even though this is more of a Fall/Winter recipe I couldn’t wait to share it. I had it as a main course, because as I mentioned I was rooting around in my fridge for ingredients and hadn’t really planned it all out. If I did it again I’d maybe have it as a side with some sort of fish. Cod or sole would go great…or maybe some scallops…

Roasted Spaghetti Squash with Caramelized Shallots                                                                                           PRINT RECIPE
[Prep: 10mins / Cook: 45mins / TOTAL: 55mins
[2 dinner servings, 4 side servings]

• 1 spaghetti squash, cut in half lengthwise and cleaned out
• 3 large shallots peeled and cut in half lengthwise
• 1/2 cup spinach, washed and roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup kale, washed, stemmed and roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup feta, crumbled or chopped into small cubes
• 3-4 sprigs fresh mint
• 2 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

Preheat oven to 400°.

Cut the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise and clean out the seeds and pulp with a spoon. Transfer the 2 halves on a baking sheet and spread 1 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil over the surface of the squash and season with a few dashes of salt and some freshly ground pepper. Put in the oven and set the timer to 30 minutes.

Peel the shallots and cut in half lengthwise. Put a small skillet over med-high heat and melt the 3 tablespoons of butter. Once melted add the shallots to the butter and let them sit for 1 minute, spooning the butter over the tops of the shallot halves. After letting them sit, flip over and add the sugar. The shallots will start to brown and caramelize faster with the help of the added sugar. Let sauté for 8 minutes longer, about 10 minutes total, stirring often, the shallots will begin to fall apart. Season with a few dashes of salt and some fresh ground pepper. Remove the shallots from the heat and add the red wine vinegar. Return to the heat and stir vigorously, scraping up all the bits stuck to the bottom of the skillet. The shallots will start to break down even more and the vinegar will deglaze the skillet. Turn off the heat.

When the 30-minute timer goes off you’ll want to add the shallot mixture to the oven. Transfer the shallots to a small ovenproof platter. Set the timer for 15 minutes.

Rinse both the spinach and kale. Stem the kale and roughly chop both of the greens. Using the same skillet [no need to clean it, the skillet is well seasoned by the shallots] turn the heat to medium and add 1 tablespoon olive oil. After 1 minute, add the greens, stirring often. You just want to wilt the spinach and kale a little, sauté for amount 3 minutes, then remove from heat.

Once the spaghetti squash is ready, after 45 minutes or so of roasting – it should be fork tender, remove it from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Removed the shallots from the oven as well. Shred the squash with a fork, it will break up into spaghetti like segments, so that all you have left is the skin. Transfer the “spaghetti”  to a bowl and incorporate the wilted greens. Add 1/2 of the shallots, crumbled feta and torn mint leaves. Mix well.

When you are ready to plate the dish incorporate the rest of the shallot mixture, feta, and mint as a topping on eat serving and finish with some fresh ground pepper.

This dish is best when served warm, but it’s also great the next day right out of the fridge.

If you didn’t know already, I live in Texas, and it’s taken some time [about 3 years] but I really like it [come on, I’m a New Yorker, it’s bound to take some time to adjust]. While I like to eat healthy I’ve learned that there’s something really special about freshly made fried food [stick with me here]. They do it all down here, especially around the time of the State Fair of Texas, held right here in Dallas. It’s held in the fall and you can pretty much get anything deep-fried. Oreos, butter, sandwiches, beer, burgers. You can also get a real huge turkey leg and walk around chomping on it like it’s no big deal. It’s a lovely lovely time usually followed by a detox.

Anyways a little fried food never hurt anyone, especially when it’s homemade. So basically what I’m saying is that while I used to look at vegetable and think, hmmm, I bet I could roast or caramelize that, now I think, I bet I can fry that. Fried avocado, now that is good. Fried portabella’s – yum!

Recently I was in Austin visiting a friend and came across fried beets. I was mesmerized. Beets? I’d come to love beets as an adult, but beets are for salads or for the hot pink risotto I make once a year around Valentine’s Day…Fried beets seemed…so weird, I had to try them immediately. They were so freaking good! And I have to admit, taking such a powerfully nutritious vegetable and turning it into a fried food felt sort of wicked, I loved it. It’s like when parents trick their kids into eating broccoli by smothering it in cheese…devious yes, but sometimes you’ve gotta go the distance to make a person eat a veggie.

Fried Beets with Minty Thyme Aioli                                                                                                                           PRINT RECIPE
[Prep: 10mins / Cook: 55mins / TOTAL: 1hr5mins
[8 appetizer size servings]

• 2-3 large beets, red or yellow, washed, peeled, and cut into ½ thick pieces
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• few grinds fresh pepper
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups seltzer

Minty Thyme Aioli
[Total: 5mins]
[1 cup]

• 1 egg yolk
• juice from 1 lemon, about 2 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 sprigs dried thyme (can use fresh)
• 8 leave dried mint (can use fresh)
• few grinds fresh pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Start out by rinsing and peeling the beets. Your hands may turn a little (or a lot) pink, but it’s worth it. Chop the beets into large slices about 1/2 inch thick. Place them in a large skillet, toss with the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and a few grinds of fresh pepper. Add 1/2 cup water, cover and bring to a boil over med-high heat. Let boil for about 5 minutes, then lower heat to a simmer and cook until all the liquid has evaporated, about 35 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While the beets are cooking you can make the minty thyme aioli. I usually do this in a small food processor, but you can also do it by hand…it just takes a little more patience and time. Roughly chop up the mint and remove the thyme leaves from their stems, mix together in the food processor with the lemon juice, red wine vinegar, egg yolk, salt and pepper. Slowly incorporate the oil a little at a time. The mixture should slowly emulsify. Refrigerate.

Once the beets are done cooking [you can test them with a fork, they should pierce easily and slide off] remove them from the skillet, and let cool for about 5 minutes [until they are cool enough to handle].

While the beets are cooling off, rinse out the large skillet you were just using, making sure to wipe it dry, add 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil and put over med-high heat. In a medium bowl combine the flour and seltzer, salt, pepper and cayenne. The consistency should be like sour cream, if it’s too thin add a little more flour, if it’s too thick, a little more seltzer. The thicker the better it coats the beets. Prepare a plate covered in paper towels or newspaper. Add a few beats to the mixture making sure they are all evenly coated. When the oil it ready, you can [carefully] flick a little water and see if it sizzles – or to be extra sure you can use a "test" beet and see if the batter turns golden when added to the oil. Transfer beets to the oil in a slotted spoon. Repeat until skillet is full with beets, wait 1 minute and then start to flip them. Beets are finished when the batter has turned golden brown. Transfer to platter and let paper soak up some of the oil. Repeat until all beets are finished. Serve on a fresh platter with aioli. Enjoy!

Hey so I’m back! I’m not quite sure who out there is following me yet, but to those who are, I am sorry I left you hanging…Amidst post holiday fatigue, a baby shower, cleaning out my childhood apartment (sniff) so they can be sold, travelling to see family (see two previous items mentioned), a rockin’ ladies weekend in Memphis, and a stronger desire to eat food instead of holding on a sec and documenting it…I haven’t been a good friend to you all.

It’s also been super cold, no wait it was springtime last weekend…annnnnd now it’s cold again. So I haven’t been quite sure what I wanted to make for you. So finally I decided on this: tuna salad with raisins and hard-boiled eggs! I call it Eggy Tuna Salad. I have a feeling your first reaction isn’t going to be all that great, its ok I’ll wait. Sound good yet? No? Well it may never actually sound good, but it tastes good and that’s all that matters.

Come to think of though, I’ve had this one in the back of my mind for a while. Ever since I first tasted this combination, tuna salad with hard-boiled egg on raisin grain bread, I’ve been a bit perplexed. It was a few years ago now and having put some space between that sandwich and my palette I can quite remember the seasoning, but I thought I’d give it a try and put my spin on it. Oh and I used to think a boiled eggs was just you know…a boiled egg. But check out this diddy from Bon Appetite if you what to know what’s what about cooking an egg.

Eggy Tuna Salad                                                                                                                                                                PRINT RECIPE
[Prep: 20min / Cook: 5min / TOTAL: 25min
[4 small servings]

• 3 eggs, hard boiled, peeled, and roughly chopped
• 2 cans of tuna – in water or oil, your preference – drained
• 2 tablespoons raisins
• 1 small bunch scallions, rinsed, roots and tops cut off and thinly chopped
• 1/3 cup, a few sprigs, of fresh parsley, rinsed and stemmed
• 6 large romaine leaves, rinsed and roughly chopped
• 6 kale leaves, rinsed, stemmed and finely chopped
• 1 small bunch spinach, about 1 cup packed, rinsed, stems picked off and roughly chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon cracked black pepper
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 3 tablespoons water
• A few slices of bread, I used 1 slice per serving, toasted and cut in half

Place eggs in a pot, add enough water to cover the eggs, cover and set over high heat. You want to let the water come to a boil, when this happens, wait one minute, then remove from heat and let sit covered for 10 more minutes. After this they will be hard-boiled but not overcooked or dried out. Before peeling you can put them in a cold-water bath so they will be cool enough to handle.

After the eggs have been boiled and are resting you can make the salad dressing. Using a mini food processor (you can do this by hand but you’ll need to mince or press the garlic and finely chop up the parsley first) add parsley, olive oil, lemon juice, water and spices. Pulse until parsley leaves are broken down.

Now onto the salad greens. After they have all been rinsed and stemmed where needed (only the stem of the kale really needs to be taken out), roughly chop up the spinach and romaine, finely chop the kale and thinly slice up the scallions. Add all, reserving about half of the sliced scallions, to a large mixing bowl and incorporate a few tablespoons of the salad dressing. Toss until well mixed.

In a small mixing bowl, incorporate the tuna, raisins, remaining scallions, 2 tablespoons of the salad dressing, a dash of salt, pepper, cayenne and curry powder. Mix well.

Put your toast into the oven/toaster and get started with peeling the cooled eggs. Once peeled chop them up into big chunks.

To assemble the salad, place the lightly dressed greens on the bottom of your serving platter, next the hard boiled eggs, and finished it off with the tuna salad. Drizzle the remaining dressing over the Eggy Tuna Salad. Slice up your toasted bread and enjoy!

I was trying to put together a menu for this weeks post when a close friend of mine called me and said, “I’ve made a huge batch of pimento cheese last night, I’ll bring you over some after work.” I politely declined and said, “I’m not a fan.” She responded with something like, “phsht, oh come on. Have you ever even tried pimento cheese?” No, I hadn’t and was ashamed to admit that I’d said no to something I’d never tasted. “You’ll like it,” she promised.

So I’ll admit I had to look up pimento cheese the first time I heard about it. Growing up in the northeast it wasn’t one of the comfort foods that I had become familiar with. Actually when I finally I figured out what it was, I thought pimento cheese sounded perfectly awful. Mayo? American cheese? Jarred peppers? Why would I want to eat that? It was a southern tradition that I was fine to miss out on. Except that it kept popping up, at restaurants, in conversations and cocktail parties… I remained skeptical even when a friend ordered it at a diner in the grilled cheese fashion, and enjoyed it. It really took one of my best friends – originally from Mississippi – making a homemade batch, for me to try it. I trusted her not to steer me wrong, but I still told her no thanks the first time she offered. She persisted. I finally gave in and said, “What!? This is what I’ve been missing?” It was good. Really really good. Since then I’ve had pimento cheese with sliced apples, crackers, warmed up on toast as she suggested. I was a convert. What I learned is that like any dip, spread or sauce, there’s a supermarket processed version, and then there’s homemade. There are so many possibilities with pimento cheese, you could add pickles or garlic, mix different kinds of cheeses, or spice up your mayo.

So Basically I’ve learned to shut my mouth, open my mind and try anything once. Especially when it’s homemade. I think I’ve made my southern friends very happy.

Smoked Gouda Pimento Cheese Sandwich                                                                                                             PRINT RECIPE
[Prep: 25min / Cook: 5min / TOTAL: 30min]
[6 servings]

• 4oz of Smoked Gouda, shredded
• 1 6oz container plain greek yogurt
• 3 tablespoons mayo
• 1 4oz container pimento peppers, strained
• 1 bunch scallions, washed and finely chopped
• 2 jalapenos, washed and finely chopped
• Few springs fresh parsley, washed and finely chopped
• Few sprigs dill or fennel fronds, washed and finely chopped
• Sliced sourdough or bread of your choice

Homemade Mayo
[~3/4 cup]

• 1 cup vegetable oil, canola oil, or oil of your choice
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar, tarragon vinegar, or light vinegar of your choice
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• salt and pepper to taste

The hardest part of this recipe is making your homemade mayo – which of course is totally optional. While I’d like to say that I whipped it all up by hand, I recently got a mini food processor and really wanted to try it out. So first I added all of the ingredients for the mayo – except the oil – together in the mini food processor and pulsed it a few times. Then I slowly added the oil bit by bit until the ingredients started to come together, thicken, and become mayo. It really is that easy, and it tastes delicious. You should experiment with herbs and spices to make “fancy” mayo, a good way impress any dinner guest.

To make the pimento cheese spread start by shredding the smoked gouda, you can do this by hand or in a larger food processor that has a part for shredding cheese. In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine the cheese, yogurt, mayo, and pimento peppers. Finely chop up the rest of the herbs and veggies, incorporate and mix well. There you have it! Pimento Cheese.

This type of cheese spread can be served many different ways, with crackers or veggie sticks, but I think the best way is the grilled cheese way. Basically just pile as much pimento cheese onto a slice of bread as you can handle, top it off with another slice and “grill” on a well-oiled cast iron skillet over med heat. Flip after one side is browned and toasted, about 3 minutes and cover, waiting about 1 more minute.