Strawberry Tarts

Strawberry-almond tarts to be more exact. I went the route of baking the strawberries into the tarts instead of adding fresh ones after. The strawberries develop a more jam-like flavor once cooked. 

Favorites

I'm one of those people who can't decide on favorites but if I had to choose my very last meal on earth this would be one of the (many)contenders. 

Seared sweet scallops on a bed of mushroom risotto. 

Summer Meal

Caprese, figs with goat cheese and candied walnuts, Israeli couscous salad with grilled vegetables, and an ice cold beer. Perfection. 

Plum Upside Down Cake

We've been feasting on stone fruits the past two weeks over here. Whoever thought of the upside down cake should be given the Nobel prize. I halved this fantastic recipe to make the one pictured above. I used a regular pie pan since we must have lost our cake pans in the move...it turned out just as perfectly with a thin layer of cake and sticky sweet topping. 

Roasted Beet Soup

Roasted Beet Soup (inspired by my new favorite book: The River Cottage Cookbook)
ingredients:
2-3 large beets(about the size of a baseball), chopped in 2 inch pieces
3-4 medium sized carrots, chopped in 2 inch pieces
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt & pepper
2 cups hot beef stock
water as needed
garnish: crumbled feta and arugula

directions:
preheat oven to 400 degrees.
on a baking sheet lined with foil toss chopped beets, carrots, olive oil, and a good amount of salt and pepper until veg are coated.
roast in the oven until soft and edges begin to brown.
throw veg into a large blender and add hot stock. blend until completely smooth. don't let it explode on you.
add water until you reach your desired consistency. season with more salt and pepper as needed.
garnish with feta and arugula. serve.

summer peach tarts

 Make-shift rolling pin. I suggest not using a champagne bottle since you'll probably regret all the rolling you did when you pop that bad boy open. 

 

1: roll dough

2: place in pan

3: frangipane

4: peaches

5: blueberry 

 Ready to go.

Bake. 375 until golden.  

Indulge.

Fava Beans

We got a huge bag of fresh fava beans in our farm fresh box a few weeks ago. Luckily, the next day at work I saw chef behind the line, shucking a huge mound himself. So I asked what the heck does one do with them? To my amusement, he went on about all the ways to prepare them just like Bubba would about shrimp. Blanching, tossed in a salad, smashed on a crostini, pureed...

Walking away laughing to myself, I decided I'd take his advice and blanch them. He told me they needed to be shucked, blanched, and peeled of their outer later. 

I enlisted my sister as the official bean shucker...as payment for living with us for a couple weeks. :) 

 I then quickly blanched them in salty water for about a minute-minute and a half. pulled them out, immediately shocked them in icy water, and peeled the outer skin of the beans off. This is what we ended up with after that huge pile. A small ramekin full of cooked beans. 

We tossed them with some orecchiette, good olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. 

And finished with a healthy grate of parmesan. The beans are similar to soy beans in texture but have a bit more flavor. Give them a try the next time you see them at the market, you won't be disappointed. 

Bounty

This is what came in our farmfreshtoyou box this week. All organic produce from local farms...you seriously need to get on this bandwagon and support sustainable farming practices.

Corn, carrots, radishes, strawberries, a grapefruit, broccoli, butter lettuce, & bok choy. We made a lovely salad with half of it and this strawberry cake. 

May was a crazy month...hence the lack of posting. I've also got a 50 hr a week schedule nowadays so we'll see where this blog goes.