thai salad with peanut lemon dressing

Back in the City and gearing up for the new school year. We are starting a new school and I am full of apprehension about the great unknown. Certainly it will all work out but the waiting and unknowing is tough.


So, crispy tofu. Weird concept, right? I mean why are we trying to make something the consistency of a marshmallow all crunchy and crusty on the outside while still creamy warm on the inside... don't answer that.


This recipe was a success. I was able to get those little wobbly cubes into some form of tasty crispy meal - with flavor like you wouldn't believe. But then, you really can't go wrong with Thai flavors - basil, lime, red chili paste... these are the things dreams are made of.


Or, if you're my son, a time machine that takes you to the Time of the Dinosaurs is.


Thai Salad with Marinated Tofu
Adapted from Shutterbean

Salad Ingredients

• 1 16 oz. package extra firm tofu, drained
• 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for broiling
• 2 tablespoons Thai red chili paste
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 heaping cups cubed cucumbers
• 2 cups green beans, chopped in quarters
• 2 cups halved cherry tomatoes
• 1/4 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves, plus more for garnish
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh Thai Basil leaves, plus more for garnish
• 1 medium head

Peanut Lemon Dressing

Adapted from Little Spice Jar

Dressing Ingredients

• ¼ cup almond butter
• 2 and ½ tablespoons rice vinegar
• ½ teaspoon sesame oil
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 and ½ tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons honey
• ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic

Instructions

1. Place the tofu on a plate and weigh it down with another heavy plate on top. Set aside to press for 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, to make the marinade, in a medium bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, olive oil, red chili paste, and sugar until smooth. When the tofu is ready, dry it with a paper towel and cut into 1-inch cubes. Add to the bowl with the marinade and toss gently to coat making sure that all tofu is in one layer in the bowl. Cover, chill and allow to marinate for at least 1 hour, or overnight.
3. Preheat the broiler. Arrange the tofu in a single layer on a lightly oiled, small baking sheet, discarding the marinade. Broil about 6 inches from the flame for 15 to 18 minutes, turning every 3 minutes or so, until deeply browned. Make sure to toss lightly so as not to cut into the cubes.
4. While the tofu broils, make the dressing. Whisk all ingredients in a small bowl.
5. Assemble salad, add tofu and dressing and enjoy.

plum clafoutis

So yeah, you got me. While my husband is headed full throttle into autumn, I am still holding on to summer. Just a little longer, please. I am not ready to give up short sleeved shirts, running through the grass barefoot, and fruit fruit fruit. What about you? Have you embraced the drop in temperature and shorter days?

I've been meaning to try this dish. It is a wonderful custardy treat. Perfect for breakfast or dessert. We gobbled it up in one sitting. I changed the recipe a bit - substituted almond flour for the regular flour, making it gluten free - and changing cherries for plums, since that is what is still in season. Technically speaking, clafoutis is only clafoutis if you use cherries. It was pretty good none-the-less. I love how easy this recipe is - bu everything in the blender and push the button. Now that's the kind of recipe I can embrace.

Plum Clafoutis
Serves 2-8. Adapted from Saveur's Recipe: Cherry Clafoutis

1 tbsp. unsalted vegan butter, softened
1 ¼ cups almond milk
6 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
6 eggs
Kosher salt, to taste
¾ cup almond flour
3 cups prune plums, pitted and sliced

 1. Heat oven to 425°. Grease a 9″ cast-iron skillet or baking dish with butter; set aside. Combine milk, sugar, kirsch, vanilla, eggs, and salt in a blender. Blend for a few seconds to mix ingredients, then add flour and blend until smooth, about 1 minute.

2. Pour batter into buttered skillet, then distribute cherries evenly over top. Bake until a skewer inserted into batter comes out clean and a golden brown crust has formed on top and bottom of clafoutis, about 30 minutes (mine took another 15-20 minutes to solidify- but my oven is hunpredictable).

peach and feta tartine

You know summer is over when your son has his last day of preschool and gets ready for Pre-K.

I was so nervous about switching schools; my little baby moving into the big elementary school. But we visited it yesterday and the classrooms were large and inviting, the teachers friendly and warm, and he didn't want to leave. What a relief.

For the last days of summer grab as many peaches as you can fit into your mouth. Passionately, eat them like there's no tomorrow. Because there is no tomorrow. Not any more. Time marches on.

Peach and Feta Tartine
One slice hearty bread of your choice
One peach, sliced
A handful of feta
A drizzle of honey

1. Assemble as you will. Make it your own. And have a wonderful weekend!

pie day at spring glen woods

Our Second Annual Pie Day at Spring Glen Woods was a huge success. About 50 people joined in the eating, both savory and sweet. Everything from pizza pie to quiche, triple citrus meringue (made by June at Fancy Pies) to raspberry-chocolate pudding. There was even cake and salad. It was quite a spread.

I made the two top pies pictured, a broccoli-onion frittata and an inside-outside Mounds pie. Both were gone by the end of the afternoon. We ended the festivities with our annual pie-in-the-face extravaganza. I got some whipped cream on my face too. For tradition's sake.

Inside-Outside Mounds Pie
From Mark Bittman's Food Matters Cook Book
2 cups shredded, unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs, separated
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped {or in chip form}
1 cup coconut milk {light is fine}

1. Heat the oven to 375°F. Combine the shredded coconut, sugar, egg whites, vanilla, and salt in a bowl. Press the mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch tart pan. Bake until the tart shell is firm and lightly toasted, 10 to 15 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, combine the chocolate, egg yolks, and coconut milk in a saucepan over low heat. Cook, whisking almost continuously, until the chocolate is completely melted and stteaming, but don't let the mixture boil and separate.

3. When the tart shell comes out of the oven, spread the chocolate mixture in it. Let the tart cool and become firm before cutting into wedges and serving. The tart will keep, covered and refrigerated, for a day or two {but I don't suppose it will last that long}.


Broccoli-Onion Frittata
By Sandra Meadows
2 tablespoons canola oil
One large yellow onion, sliced
2 cups steamed broccoli
8 eggs, mixed
1/4 cup goat cheese
Salt and pepper

1. Heat oil in an 8 inch saucepan. Add onion and cook on medium heat until wilted but not browned. Add broccoli, cheese, salt and pepper to eggs and pour into saucepan and let sit over flame. Cook until mostly firm. Finish off in the broiler to set and brown the top. Serve warm.

plum popsicles

Sad, but true, it appears that summer is over! Gasp!

And my son was just getting the hang of swimming in the outdoor pool. Now we'll need to enroll him in a class. Or wait until next season (sigh).

I hope I am wrong and we have a huge surge of warmth blow over the region adding a few more lazy hazy days to this season upstate. I mean, I've just begun to get into my popsicle groove and it is almost too cold to eat the darn things!

I made some delicious plum ones this past weekend (and some mint-peach yogurt ones too - but those got eaten before I could get any pictures). So easy to make and so pleasing for the little ones. I used the molds you see in the pictures - a throwback from when I was a child. I bought these vintage Tupperware molds on Etsy. They are the perfect size for a quick midday snack, but any mold will do.

Oh, and word on the street is that it is Popsicle Week! Who knew??

Plum Popsicles
Makes 6 smallish popsicles
5-8 plums (depending on the size - 5 large ones, 8 smaller ones), pitted and sliced
2 cups water
1 cup honey or 1/2 cup sugar

1. Place all ingredients in a sauce pan and boil. I didn't skin the plums which added a tartness. You can peel them first if you like, or pull them off after they cool. Let cool. Pour into popsicle molds. Freeze.

zucchini-basil soup

I discovered a lovely thing and I want to share it with all of you marvelous people. If you buy basil on the root it keeps as if it were planted in the ground... indefinitely. Just place it in a vase of water and you can have fresh basil every night for weeks!

Another wonderful discovery for me is this insanely simple, and equally delicious zucchini soup. I found it over at Epicurious and was so stunned by the meager list of ingredients I had to make it.

All you need to make a wonderfully spicy, flavorful soup is... five ingredients (plus a few spices thrown in for good measure):

zucchini
basil
garlic
onion
water

I kid you not. You end up with a creamy, but textured soup (the texture depends on how finely you blend the ingredients), with no cream anywhere in sight. I added a pinch of cayenne powder, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder and a bunch of freshly ground pepper.

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I am entering this dish in Souper Sunday over at Kaihakai Kitchen. Check out the other entries.

rosemary-peach galette

Peaches are in season. I have been trying to make a peach dish ever since those fuzzy little critters splashed on the Green Market scene but things keep getting in my way. Mostly, they are just too tempting all on their own. By the time I've decided on a dish and assembled the ingredients they're gone from the fruit bowl.

This time I was prepared. I had everything I needed and made this galette as soon as I got home with them. Only problem is I had only one cup of flour left. So I roughly halved the recipe.

The rosemary-honey is so good. I ate it on toast. You can mix it into cream cheese, or any other thing for a wonderful sweet spread.

Rosemary-Peach Galette
Serves 1-2. Adapted from Food 52's White Peach and Lemon Thyme Galette

1/4 cup honey
2 sprig rosemary
3 peaches, peeled and sliced into wedges
1 cup, plus 1 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons vegan butter

1. bring honey and rosemary to boil, take off heat and set aside. Put flour in the freezer for 15 minutes.

2. Mix 1 tablespoon flour with peaches until covered. Mix in 2 tablespoons honey.

3. Mix flour, sugar and salt together. Place in a food processor and add butter. Mix until a clumpy sandy mixture. At this point the original recipe says to add ice water until the dough comes together. My dough was already very wet so I skipped the water. Roll out into a rough circle. Place on pie tray. Place peaches in center and fold the edges up around the peaches, going in a circle. Leave a little peach showing in the center.

4. Bake at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

spring glen woods in the ny times

This past weekend The New York Times came to our little summer community and shot some pictures for an article they're running on bungalow colonies, due on the news stand this coming Sunday.

The photographer took tons of pictures but we have no idea what they will use. If you're curious, check out the Metro Section on Sunday August 4th.

strawberry-mint yogurt pops

Tis the season for frozen treats and I finally got my act together to make some homemade ones. After my success with a blueberry-basil combination I was feeling like plain old strawberry just wouldn't do so I added some mint, even though my son doesn't particularly like the herb. Luckily, when mixed with fresh strawberries and greek yogurt he is just fine with it. In fact, he loved this combo.

Strawberry-Mint Yogurt Popsicles
Makes about 5 popsicles, depending on their size

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup strawberries, hulled and sliced
6-8 mint leaves
1 cup Greek yogurt

1. Heat sugar, water strawberries and mint in a saucepan until sugar has dissolved and strawberries and mint have softened. Let cool. Remove mint leaves.

2. Place heated ingredients into a food processor or blender with yogurt. Blend until smooth. Pour into popsicle molds. Freeze.

Side note: These popsicle molds are really ingenious. They have a straw that allows you to sip out the melted popsicle, keeping the whole thing drip free. I bought them at Duane Reade.

summer goat cheese frittata

I am a city girl. I grew up in Manhattan, on the 18th floor. I didn't see a lot of home grown produce growing up (of course this has changed -  people have all kinds of roof and balcony gardens) and always dreamed of having a rose garden. But not so badly that I'd leave the city.

This is why I am so thrilled to be using my own herbs in dishes all the time while upstate (the basil in this dish), and why I am so very excited about my first successful tomato. And there are more coming!

Summer Goat Cheese Frittata
Serves 6-8

2 tablespoons olive oil
6 eggs, beaten
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
1 zucchini, sliced and quartered
3/4 cup goat cheese
Salt and pepper
6-10 basil leaves, chiffonaded

1. Heat oil in a large skillet and add onions until wilted and fragrant. Add zucchini and some salt and pepper and cook until they release their water and then dry up a bit, about 10 minutes.

2. Crumble goat cheese and add salt and pepper to beaten eggs. Mix and pour into skillet and add basil. Leave untouched until eggs set on the edges and in towards the center. Finish the top in the broiler for a few minutes. Serve hot or cold.

orange walnut salad with orange-basil dressing

If you're like me summer time is full of salads. No cooking, watery fresh, perfect for hot, hot days.

If you're also like me you usually do the same old salad, bland romaine lettuce and balsamic vinegar every time. Laziness? Yes, summer makes me lazy. It is a good stand by but a bit boring.

Why not brighten up your salad with some sunny fruit? Add a little goat cheese (nothing isn't better with goat cheese on it) and some walnuts and you have a festive treat. On a weekday. You can't beat that.

Orange Walnut Salad
Serves 2-4

1 Romaine lettuce heart, chopped
1/2 seedless cucumber, sliced and quartered
1 orange, peeled and chopped
Goat cheese, crumbled


Orange-Basil Dressing
Adapted from Pib & Ebby

In a small bowl, whisk together:
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Juice from 1/2 of a blood orange (substitution: Juice from 1/4 of a regular orange)
1 tablespoon dijon mustard (mine had those cute little seeds I love)
4-6 basil leaves, chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

I am entering this in Kahakai Kitchen for Souper Sunday. Check out the other entries here.

strawberry-basil on toast

Is it like that for you? Do you get really excited about a project and then about half way in, when all the work just doesn't seem to be paying off and you are about to ditch the whole shabang you are thrown a bone? A glimmer of light that makes you think, Yes, this is worth doing?

More often for me I don't get that bone and my projects die in the water.

But not this time.

You see, I have been offered a free pizza making class. Free. Pizza. Making. Class. Everything about this has me dancing in my seat. I am too excited to stand it.

You see, I've been trying (unsuccessfully) to make pizza for a while now. Half-hearted, I do admit, which comes with the territory when you're a working mom, but trying none-the-less. And now I will learn how it is done.

I will spill all the details once the class has taken place. Suffice it to say, this couldn't have come at a better time.

So, am I the last person on the face of the food blogging earth to make this dish? I am so sorry I waited so long. It incorporates all of my favorites: toast with goat cheese, strawberries, balsamic vinegar, and basil. Can't go wrong. And on a ridiculously hot day, (I mean 98 degrees? Come on!) what could better (except ice cream tart - coming soon, so stay tuned)??


Strawberry-Basil on Toast
Serves as many pieces of bread you toast

Your favorite bread, sliced and toasted (I used Bread Alone's Cranberry Nut Bread)
Strawberries, sliced (I happened into Whole Food this morning to be happily assaulted by the sweet
                       smell of a wall of ripe organic strawberries on sale for $1.99 a large box)
Basil leaves
Goat cheese
Balsamic vinegar

1. Spread cheese on toast, add sliced strawberries. Drizzle the vinegar over them. Add basil leaves. Enjoy.

harissa chili with chicken leftovers

I am a hopeful shopper. I walk the aisles looking for inspiration. Sometimes something I've been seeing around the cooking blogs, but know nothing about, will catch my eye. I bought a jar of harissa sauce this way, being completely clueless as to what it was. Do you do that too?

The jar has been sitting on my shelf for a month now waiting to be used. Some leftover chicken and the perennial, What are we doing for dinner? prompted me to search for a way to use it.

Harissa is a Tunisian hot chili sauce made form various hot peppers, garlic, and spices. I could have made it myself but it was infinitely easier to grab the jar and spoon out what I needed. It is spicy but also slightly sweet, with fishy undertones, perhaps due to the olives in my version.

I found this recipe, Chicken in Harissa Sauce by Belinda Hulin on netplaces.com. I used a yellow pepper instead of green and canned plum tomatoes instead of fresh. I garnished with thyme since I didn't have parsley. It came out really nice.

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