white bean salad with olives, scallions, and herbs

It has been freezing out here in Minnesota - the kind of frigid that makes you cough when you go outside for a walk, take a breath, then run for the warmth of home.  But, 1)  the New England Patriots are in town, and 2) I am totally sick of homemade soups and brats, which are REALLY big out here, and I must say, are really good.

I wanted desperately to make Tuscan Bean salad, but was lacking fresh cherry tomatoes and/or sun-dried tomatoes, thus, the substitution of black olives, bottled.  And all I had were canned Great Northern beans, instead of the hours long soaking of small white beans, which then required a long simmer.  But, I did have some very good Kalamata olives from Trader Joe's, bottled in good olive oil - and a fresh bunch of scallions, fresh lemons for juice,  and Italian parsley.  Wonderful!  It certainly brightened up my day and taste buds!

To make 2-3 servings:

In a medium bowl toss:
1 15.8 canned Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed at least two times
4 scallions (green onions) washed, trimmed, and sliced
1/2 cup black pitted,  Kalamata olives, drained

If you have halved cherry tomatoes, or a half cup sliced dried tomatoes,  they are a wonderful addition!

Mix in a small bowl:

2 teaspoons freshly pressed lemon juice
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons good olive oil
1 large clove garlic, peeled and pressed
2 tablespoons minced Italian parsley, washed, dried, and sliced
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon dried parsley, or 2 tablespoons fresh
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4th teaspoon thyme

Mix well and pour over the bean/scallions/olives mixture, toss gently, and divide between two bowls or plates.

Possible sides might be sauteed chicken livers on good French bread and unsalted butter
or French bread with unsalted butter and pesto.

A lovely snowstorm recently left a foot of dry, fluffy snow on the ground - a nice welcome for the New England Patriots!

moving troubles, and happy December!

Boy, it's been a while!  Apologies, and just as frustrating for me as it is for you.  

The 3rd move in two and a half years has been wonderful in some ways (I have a full size electric stove!) but huge troubles with Photo and iphone pictures which refuse to transfer from Photos to Blogger with my new Internet provider, and I think something called pix may have complicated things even more.  The neighbor I had hoped would fix it is away, so I wait and wait and this post will probably naked of pictures.  (Amazing - Stuart Little showed up on a old, random photo file!)

But I've been happily baking again - a birthday cake for my neighbor today, and one a week ago for my daughter in law, both lemon cakes with the cream cheese frosting from the carrot cake everyone likes so much - those were hard to give away!  

A few rounds of Spice cookies, especially nice when the weather turns chilly.  Today and yesterday was sweater weather, can you believe it?  Lots of soups - leek and potato, Tuscan tomato, and my favorite Spinach soup. Omelets oozing with brie, melons with a splash of lemon or lime, all good.

And now unpacking the Christmas ornaments - Stuart Little in his canoe was the first out of the box!  I thought I'd lost him in the last move, but there he was -  Happy December!  

golden beet salad with zucchini and cider dressing

Oh, how I love golden beets !  I like them much more than red beets - the flavor is sweet (but not too sweet), and has an earthy mineral flavor, at least to my tastebuds.  

Since I also had bought a slim medium sized zucchini at the market, the two came together in my thinking as a nice little individual salad or side, with an apple cider and olive oil dressing, then sprinkled with fresh sage and Italian parsley - perfect autumn pairings!

As it was coming together in my mind, I also remembered that both vegetables should be very briefly cooked, which really brings out the flavor, so I set a saucepan of water simmering on the stove, while I grated the beets and sliced the zucchini almost paper thin.  A very quick dip into the simmering water, then quickly into a sieve to drain.  The dressing was equally quick and true to the season:  apple cider (or apple cider vinegar), olive oil, and fresh sage from the garden.

The recipe :

a saucepan of simmering water

1 medium golden beet per person, peeled and grated

1 small, slim zucchini per person, sliced thinly on a mandoline (watch your fingers!)

Very briefly place sliced zucchini in boiling water - I counted to ten and then removed the zucchini with a slotted spoon to a small bowl.

Quickly place the shredded beets in the simmering water, count to ten, and scoop out to cool and drain.

Arrange zucchini slices and beets on individual plates, drizzle a teaspoon or two of dressing over, sprinkle with the sage and parsley and serve.

The dressing:

Equal parts apple cider and olive oil

kosher salt to taste

ground pepper

slivered fresh sage

chopped Italian parsley, optional

You can serve this warm or at room temperature.

The geese have been honking and flying overhead for the last few weeks, I always wave to them and wish them a good journey:)  The wild turkeys are back, walking up and down the city sidewalks, which never fails to make me laugh - quite a change from the wild country turkeys in New Hampshire!  

pastry cream pudding

Well, THAT was exhausting!  Between using both my iphone and my camera (and figuring out how to edit the pictures) and puzzling over the change to edit and insert the photos, many, many days have flown by.  I'm not complaining over having to make (and eat) these delicious, creamy puddings, no indeed!  As I'm not really a chocolate lover, I usually prefer lemon or vanilla flavors - and puddings are right at the top when I want a sweet dessert.  My sister always called them "nursery food" - and I wonder which of my parents and stepparents made them for us.

The recipe comes from The Silver Palate cookbook, which must be their first one, and it's intended to be used in a flaky puff pastry tart.  Who needs puff pastry when you can just dive into this creamy, nutmeg, vanilla, and cinnamon "pudding"?


Sweet Pastry Cream pudding

You will need one large heavy saucepan, and one medium saucepan for this - and one large stainless steel mixing bowl.

Add water about halfway up the medium saucepan and heat til almost boiling, then set aside.

2 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
4 tablespoons King Arthur unbleached flour
2 extra large egg yolks
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
pinch of salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  I grated a tiny bit of whole nutmeg right into the bowl.

Scald the milk in a heavy saucepan (do not boil).
While milk is heating, whisk the sugar and flour in the large mixing bowl.
Add the hot milk slowly, whisking constantly.

Put the hot water back on a burner and set to a simmer.  Place stainless steel bowl on top of the simmering water, and stir or whisk for about ten minutes, or until the back of a spoon is lightly coated.  Then add the egg yolks and , using a whisk, stir until the mixture thickens even more - about ten minutes - until a spoon is thickly coated when dipped into the mixture.

Remove from heat, and add butter, vanilla, and spices and stir well.  Pour into small dessert dishes or pots and chill - though I admit, I eat it while it's still warm , often straight from the bowl.

Goodbye, summer!

Ah, summer was grand, and no sooner was I back from visiting my son and family near the ocean in New Hampshire,  it was off to visit some of the lakes in the Minneapolis area.

After days of rain in August, Lake Nokomis overflowed onto the broad swaths of brilliantly green grass - which attracted at least a hundred wild ducks, all shoveling up mud and weeds, worms and grass.

And a visit to the beautiful Lake Harriet on Frankie's birthday was simply stunning.  The water sparkled and rippled on a very mild September afternoon , and a charming regatta silently circled the center of the lake .  The grandkids leaped gleefully into the water .  

October has been wonderful walking weather, and my light fleece jacket has only finally come out of the closet in the last week - bliss!  Finally unpacked, I'm itching to get back to baking and cooking.  Moving always leaves me discombobulated for at least a month !

             I moved back to Minneapolis at the end of July - and I have a real kitchen!

smashed avocado & fresh pea sandwiches

Eureka!  We have a post!  Not quite up to normal after iphoto disappeared suddenly, but I'll take it.  

There is a very good food writer  (Beth Dooley) in one of the Twin Cities newspapers ( the Star Tribune), and I've been delighted to find such delightful, fresh, recipes. This open faced sandwich was inspired by her post on Thursday, though her recipe involves vinaigrette, chevre, radishes, and olive oil, which mine does not.  I thought mashed avocado would be a perfect addition ( I'm on an avocado kick these days, so my fruit bowl still had three avocados, just ripe).

Bursting with fresh flavors, this made a wonderful lunch - the peas, though frozen, were quickly dipped in simmering water, until they were just about to pop, and the mashed avocado was silky and mild.  The fresh sugar snaps a crunchy delight, and I loved the breeze of slivered mint.  I think this is the first sandwich I ever made with peas, and it was wonderful.

To make:

2 slices rye bread

two tablespoons homemade boursin

1/2 an avocado, peeled and mashed

1/2 cup frozen peas, quickly cooked for a minute in simmering water and drained 

3/4 cup fresh sugar snap peas, washed and sliced in 1 inch pieces

several mint leaves, washed and sliced into slivers

1 tablespoon or so of fresh lemon juice over all

sea salt

freshly cracked pepper

hot sauce if you wish

Spread the bread with the boursin.  Add the peas and sugar snaps gently, sprinkle with mint leaves, lemon juice, and salt and pepper and the optional hot sauce.  A few flakes of good parmesan would also be a treat.

Serves two.

I hope your summer is blossoming and full of joy !

Vacation

I've been on vacation visiting family on the New Hampshire seacoast .  First meeting with my 10 month old granddaughter and my grandson is almost two years older than when I last saw him.  Bliss, bliss, bliss.

A friend came to visit on a rainy day and whisked me off to a beautiful garden center that specializes in roses, (among many other varieties) - I took this video, if you want a breath of sea air!  

And sad to say, many things changed on my computer while I was away - no more iphoto means getting pictures onto the blog is very complicated, so I doubt I will be posting in the future.  Such a shame - I really enjoyed it.

Wishing you a happy summer!