Strung out on Strawberries

I've been having a blast hanging with some rad local-to-CLT foodbloggers over the past month. For lots of reasons.

One, it's a myriad of walks - teachers, photographers, personal chefs, fitness-minded-ers, food writers,  well...maybe we're not all THAT different, but diverse enough that the conversation's pretty awesome. I like to pick brains, and everyone's been AOK with that.

Two, I have no pals, save a couple, that do their own bloggy thang, so I can make nerdy, trite blogger jokes about basements and pajamas and get at LEAST an annoyed eye-roll.

Three, the potlucks we've had so far have been AMAZING, because everyone knows what they're doing in the kitchen x infiniti. And even more awesomely - they're cool with the couple of us that don't eats the meats, and have been schleping vegan and near vegan nosh to the park so that we can all partake.

 
And since I know that several of the CLTFBs are pretty into bacon and bar-b-que, it's pretty sweet of 'em. At this particular shindig, there were 7 of us and neon-nikon Crosby.

Strawberry Salsa. Hulllll-ooooo. This simple, fresh treatment was my fav of the day (and there were some serious contenders, believe you me). Brought to my mouth via Allison aka WishUponAChef. So good - lime, cilantro, jalapenos and sweet, sweet strawberries. Fantastic.

Check this mother out:

Yes. That's a sicknasty, huge, strawberry cream pie. And yes, I eschewed my summer veganism and had a messy, awesome slice. Thanks Julie!

VEGAN ARTICHOKE DIP ALERT - this was a close second to my stoked tongue. Cheezy, gooey, awesome. Maybe if you're stupendously sweet to Ensley, she'll share the recipe. Maybe she already has! We're talking about doing some super awesome guest posting this summer. Stay tuned, daaahlings.

And then of course Mr. Mathis (sounds like a spy name, amirite?) brought something awesome - sweet potato salad. Hulllll-oooo again, delicious.

(and seriously, I ate the weight of my arm in fresh cherries, thanks to Crosby) 

Friggin awesome fignewtonbrownies - yup -

(Katie, you're a goddess)

And let's not forget the lovely Diana, rockin' some cous cous tabbouleh. Yes. I ate lots.

So why all the 'berries, you ask? A couple of Sundays back was National Strawberry Picking Day - and to commemorate that Holy Day by staining our hands and straining our backs (I know I sound like a cranky old lady here, which I secretly am) we all converged on Miller Farm just over the state line in SC. Place was a bit picked over, but who cares.

6 years? 7? since I last PYO threwdown on some berries. Tomatoes are more my jam, and they're on their way in now. I'll be back.

Still, we got a friggin' gallon of the little, misshapen, tumorous, leftover suckers:

(alright not ALL of them were tumorous, there were a few primo specimens that we'd pick, get all excited over, and show off to each other)

Here's awesomefignewtonbrownie Katie with her haul:

And Julie, rockin' the smaller box and some shade:

Random sky panorama, was a lovely day:

There was no way those little red orbuses were going to last until I cookeried them on Saturday, so I saved a few for fresh noshing and froze the rest. Sunday morning rolls around and I, bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, strawberry crazed, went to town on the gallon or so frosty in the freezer. Two things happened:

Strawberry Balsamic Sorbet. Simple, tart, a little watery, but interesting. I basically followed this recipe and tripled the balsamic - next time, I might just double it, as the tartness was almost overwhelming.

More excitingly - check this tart out. She's a looker.

The idea was to do a caprese tart, only with 'berries rather than 'maters. It was pretty awesome. Maybe even very.

Topped with balsamic reduction and some arugula, the feeling was that you we're noshing on your old pals mozz, tomato, basil, garlic, vinegar, greens - and then the strawberry would pop through and surprise!

Neat.


Strawberry Caprese Tart

sliced, serves 6-8

1 batch garlic-basil pastry for crust (I used this recipe to a T, gotta love Ezra!)
8 ozs fresh mozz, sliced thin
8 fresh or 12 frozen strawberries, sliced thin
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
Large handful fresh arugula

Easy peasy. Set your vinegar assimering in a non-reactive saucepan while you make your pastry - 10 minutes on medium heat should get it nice and syrupy.

Make your pastry - Mr. Poundcake did his in the food processor (GASP) so I did too. Doing it by hand will yield a flakier crust - it's up to you.

Butter a tart pan and roll out your (chilled! an hour! trust me!) dough thin - 1/8 inch or thereabouts. Carefully lift the dough onto the pan, press down, and let the pan cut the edge nicely (mine is sharp enough to do this, and reminds me of that fact every time my fingers get too fiesty with pastry-edge-pressing).

Lay your sliced mozz over your pastry, then your sliced strawberries. The correct term is scattering, I'm told.  Bake for about 30 minutes in a 375f oven, until your cheese is a little browned.

Cool your tart for about 20 minutes before attempting to remove it from your pan. Run a butter knife, gently, around any problem spots, and invert over a large, flat plate. Should loosen easily.

Drizzle that sucker with balsamic and plop a big ol' handful of fresh arugula in the center, and serve.

See you next year, Strawberry Mania! See you next month, HUGE PIG AWWWWWR.

oink.

GF pastry - it CAN be done!

...but only with a mix of butter and shortening, according to my several failed attempts. Not so healthy.

You know me - not the biggest sweettooth. So, these little crusties are getting filled with cheese and egg. Oh so delicious. And look how well-behaved they are! All staying intact, folding into the cupcake tin, flexible and buttery and ready to go. Awesome.

They even brown up well, almost regular pastry-like. And they're flaky and light. Success!!


Gluten Free Pie Pastry for Quiche, etc.

1 cup GF all-purpose flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
3 tablespoons vegetable shortening
3 tablespoons cold butter, chopped
1 tsp xantham gum
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
Dash sugar
1.5 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
1/4-1/2 cup milk or water

The process is identical to regular pastry. Process the dry ingredients in a food processor, add your shortening and butter, and pulse 3-4 times, quickly, just until the mixture resembles chunky breadcrumbs. Then add your egg and 1/4 cup milk - pulse until the dough balls up. Add additional milk as needed to make the dough gather.

You MUST chill this dough for at least an hour before using it - or you can even freeze it at this point. Wrap it in plastic wrap and put it in the freezer for 45 minutes and then the fridge for the last 15.

Dust a cutting board or large surface and rolling pin with GF all-purpose flour and go at it - either roll a large pie crust out, or make mini-crusts as I did (I cut them out using a 2 inch biscuit cutter). Carefully move the dough to a greased pie plate or cupcake pan (I used vegetable oil to grease) and fill as desired. If you're doing a fruit pie, pre-bake the crust for 10 minutes at 425 before proceeding.

I cheated on a couple of the quiches and just grabbed a ball of dough and pressed it into the tin to make a crust - no rolling. And even THOSE came out well. So this, thankfully, is a non-cranky dough. Yay.

Anyways! If you're making quiche:

6 eggs
1/2 cup cream or milk
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated

Put about a tablespoon of cheese into each crust. Mix your egg, milk, salt and pepper in a bowl with a spout. Carefully fill each crust to just below the top of the crust. Bake in a 375f oven for 20 minutes, until each quiche is puffy in the middle. Remove them from the pan to cool - slide a butter knife around the side of each mini-quiche and they should pop out easy-peasy.

Makes 12 cupcake-sized quiches. Enjoy!

Nyerd alert - stenciling with Tomato Powder!

I previously mentioned this new, silly trick I've been pulling occasionally - grabbing a doily, or some cool cut-out placemat and dusting savory things with tomato powder.

I took it to the next level for a friend of mine's going away party. She was moving to NYC, so I purloined Glaser's lovely logo, cut it out of a thick piece of paper, and went to town on a Crepe Cake glazed with a thick bechamel:

Yeah, that's what I thought to myself when I finished. "Wow. I'm a nerd."

Was thinking it, as I shot an in-process shot:

Still thinking it, when I took multiple views, for posterity:

It was a hit for the 6 seconds people stared at the thing before devouring it like a pack of wild, crepe-starved werewolves. Good times.

I found some spinach powder the other day, from the same source as the 'mater dust. If you'd like to try your own food stenciling, Frontier sells stuff online. Cheers!

50 mile meal, take 10! French Onion/Mushroom Stew, Open-faced Croque Madame

I discovered this cheese maker a couple of weeks back, and had a hunk of the Appalachian Tomme in my cheese drawer. It was gradually getting whittled down by late-night wine-snacking, so I figured I needed to get it in a dish, fast. And since fall's coming... and French Onion Soup is totally my "welcome, autumn!!" meal, and Nova's makes a great french loaf, well, the stars aligned, and we ate them all.

Yeah, I left the lightbox up since last I shot. Lazy, fo sho.

French Mushroom Soup with Sammich

For the stew:

1/2 pound wild mushrooms, or 1 large portabello cap, thinly sliced
1 medium sweet onion, sliced into thin rings
1/4 small head red cabbage, sliced thin
3 tablespoons butter
6 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon honey
2 springs fresh Tarragon
1/2 cup bourbon
3 cups good quality vegetable stock or water
Salt to taste

Melt your butter in a deep saucepan or dutch oven over medium heat. Turn heat to low and add onions and cabbage, and garlic. Toss to coat with butter, cover, and simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, until veggies are super soft and have tiny brown bits.

Add your mushrooms, toss to coat again, simmer another 10 minutes.

Turn heat to high, add your bourbon, toss veggies, and simmer until the alcohol has burned off. Add your stock, tarragon, honey, turn heat to low, simmer another 30 minutes.

Taste for salt and adjust. Set aside.

For ze Croque Madame:

1 thick slice french bread, smeared with butter or mayonaisse
2 slices homemade seitan, quick-seared in smoked paprika and oil, or a couple slabs of tempeh bacon, pan-fried
1 large farmstead egg
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup coarsely-grated Appalachian Tomme or Gruyere cheese

Fry your egg in the butter until set on the bottom and somewhat set on top. Put your bread on a pizza pan or baking pan. On top of the bread, place bacon, egg, then sprinkle the entire 1/2 cup of cheese over the top, letting some fall over the sides. Broil 5 minutes until cheese is bubbling and starting to brown.

With a ladle, spoon 3 spoonfuls of stew onto a plate, spreading the stew to the edges with the back of the ladle. With a spatula, carefully lift your sammich, including melty-cheese, and place it in the middle of the stew.

We munched this 50-miler with a simple salad: spicy salad greens, 1/2 peach thinly sliced, 1/2 cup toasted pecans, and some sliced cukes. A pal had passed along a small jar of his homemade honey mustard dressing. Perfect!

Hard cheeses are hard to find in our state because the milk laws are rather restrictive. This cheese was really complex, very earthy. Contrasted well with the smokiness of the bourbon and mushrooms. Ya!

How to Win Friends and Impress People (with Brunch)

Brunch. The best meal of the day.

Is it because it's early, usually on the weekends, that it can so easily become a mind-blowingly special meal? You haven't quite cleaned the Saturday Night Fever out of your eyes, your tummy's still mulling over the myriad of beverages you've consumed, but lo-and-behold, someone sets a pile of perfect Eggs Florentine in front of you, and you look around, wondering if this is as perfect as your life will ever be. I mean, how did someone poach an egg this early in the day? Amazing.

I happened across this recipe on that classiest of all recipe websites, Recipelink. Based on a Cordon Bleu feat from (obviously) the 80's, it calls for a pile of crepes, tomato-paprika concasse, and a mushroom-bacon reduction. I've altered the fillings and finishing glaze, and it is one of those amazing make-ahead dishes that shouldn't be make-ahead. It's also delicious.

Savory Crepe Cake

You'll need:

18-24 Crepes (I like this recipe - but if you have one you rely on, use it)
10 tomatoes, plum, sliced in half lengthwise
8 oz asparagus, frozen or fresh, minced
Pile of chives, chopped
Brie, one smallish hunk, cubed
Emmenthaler, approx 10 oz or 1.5 cups shredded
Parmesan, 1 cup shredded
Butter, 4 tablespoons
Flour, 4 tablespoons
Milk, 1.5 cups
2 eggs, separated

Do eeet:

Preheat your oven to 350f. Place the tomatoes, cut side up, on a pizza pan or baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 1.5 hours.

As your 'maters are caramelizing, make your crepes. You can just pile them on a plate as you finish - they'll be ok. If you're nervous about sticking, you can separate them with parchment paper, but I've yet to have this issue.

Make the asparagus filling:

Saute your asparagus until it's soft and add a handful of chives. Continue cooking until the asparagus has a bit of brown on it. In a small saucepan, melt two tablespoons of butter, then add 2 tablespoons flour, and stir until the flour cooks to a light tan. Take the pan off the heat, pour in 3/4 cup of milk, return pan to heat, and whisk until the sauce thickens a bit. Add 1/2 cup Emmenthaler, the cubed brie, and stir until cheese melts. Add your asparagus mixture. Salt and pepper to taste. Cover and set aside.

Make the cheese glaze:

Melt two tablespoons of butter in another small saucepan. Add 2 tablespoons flour. Stir until the flour cooks to a light tan. Take the pan off the heat, pour in 3/4 cup of milk, return pan to heat, and whisk until the sauce thickens a bit. Add 3/4 cup Emmenthaler, 1/2 - 3/4 cup Parmesan, and stir until cheese melts. Take pan off heat and stir egg yolks in. Cover and set aside until ready to use, just before serving.

Make the roasted tomato filling:

Carefully chop your roasted tomatoes, removing some seeds but saving as much liquid goodness as possible. Season with salt, and if you so desire, about 1/2 tablespoon smoked paprika. Set aside.

Assembly:

Butter a large baking dish with a cover (you want a dish that leaves about 1-2 inches on all sides of the crepe stack, to facilitate slicing and serving). Lay a crepe in the middle of the dish. Carefully spread 1 tablespoon of tomato filling to the near-edges of the crepe (it'll be thin, and that's ok). Cover with another crepe. Spread 2 tablespoons of asparagus filling over the crepe, and lay another crepe on top. Repeat until crepes and filling are gone (occasionally, I have leftover crepes - which is no problemo - because then it's crepesnacktime).

If you're cooling this to serve later, cover the crepe stack and stick it in the fridge, along with your separated egg whites and cheese glaze. You can make the stack and glaze up to 4 days in advance to delectable results.

Finishing:

Warm the Crepe Stack in a 350f oven for 45 minutes, take it out, and increase the the oven's heat to 400f. Gently warm your cheese glaze in the microwave or a small saucepan until it has the consistency of a thick dip. Stir in egg whites. Using a large spoon, spoon the glaze over the crepe stack, spreading it, until it starts to drip over the edge. Top with remaining 1/4 cup Emmanthaler and 1/4 cup Parmesan. Bake, uncovered, for 15 minutes, or until the glaze has turned a golden brown.Let sit 5 minutes before slicing.

The end result is very cake-like: the golden exterior reveals layers of color when sliced. Serve with a fruit or savory salad (as pictured) as this is a heavy meal. Easily feeds six, 8 at a stretch. I'd love to figure out how to serve this from a cake stand one day, just for kicks. That would be pretty hot.