Playing in the Kitchen

This weekend has been extremely relaxed at our house, and what a blessing that has been. I have had some time to engage in pursuits that I find enjoyable, including cooking. Saturday morning we took off as we usually do if we are in town to the Dane County Farmers Market, and picked up some fresh vegetables. As soon as we were home from the market, I started making a batch of pesto. I was so excited about it, that I went looking for a recipe to use it in, and in searching through my Moosewood Cookbook I came across a recipe for "Trenette al Pesto". It was out of the norm for the type of dish I gravitate toward cooking, so I felt challenged to make it. Here's what it looked like:


Trenette al Pesto

 I actually used the recipe as more of a guide. I included all of the ingredients listed, but changed the quantities to suit my preferences. I also cooked the potatoes and green beans a bit longer than the recipe stated. If you want to try it, here's my recipe:

Trenette al Pesto

1 1/2 lbs potatoes ( I used small new potatoes that I cut in half)
1/2 lb fresh green beans
1/2 lb spaghetti noodles, broken into short segments
1/2 C pesto (use your favorite recipe)

Boil the potatoes in enough water to cover. Add 1/4 t. salt to the water.  After 10 minutes, add the green beans.  Ten minutes later, add the pasta. Cook for 10 more minutes (for a total of 30 minutes). Remove the potatoes, green beans, and pasta from the cooking water. Reserve the cooking water. Add about one cup of the cooking water to the pesto. Add the pesto/cooking water combination to the potatoes, green beans, and pasta and stir to coat. The combination of pesto and cooking water is supposed to thoroughly moisten the potatoes, green beans, and pasta, but not make it soupy. If needed, add more of the cooking water to achieve desired result. The combination of potatoes and pasta was unusual to me, but the end result was delicious! The recipe said it made six servings, but it qualified as pig-out food at my house!

One thing I enjoy about Sunday mornings in August is that we don't have Sunday School at our church. While I love Sunday School, and especially teaching my class of 3rd through 6th graders, it is also nice to have one month of more leisurely Sunday mornings. This particular Sunday I took advantage of the opportunity to experiment with an idea I had for a frittata. Here is the end result, along with the recipe if you would like to try it.



Summer Vegetable Frittata



Summer Vegetable Frittata

2 T Olive Oil

1/4 C chopped onion

1/2 large tomato, diced

8 zucchini rounds from a medium-sized zucchini

Salt, pepper, dried basil, and granulated garlic to taste

7 eggs

3 drops worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons water

1/2 C grated chedder cheese

Preheat oven to 400°. Using a 10 1/2 inch cast iron frying pan or any non-stick frying pan that can go from the stove top to the oven, begin sauteing onion. Add diced tomatoes and seasonings. Add zucchini rounds, evenly spacing them over tomato and onions. Season lightly a second time, but do NOT stir. Cover and simmer while whisking the eggs, water, salt and pepper and worcestershire sauce. When zucchini begins to turn translucent, pour egg mixture over vegetables. Tilt pan slightly to distribute eggs but - and this is VERY important - DO NOT STIR! Cover and cook for about 2 minutes to set the eggs on the bottom. Remove cover, top with grated cheese, and move pan to preheated oven. Bake for 5 - 10 minutes, until cheese is melted and eggs are no longer glossy. Cut into pie-shaped wedges and serve. Entire cooking time is about 30 minutes. Serves 6. Enjoy!

Serendipity

It started a couple of weeks ago when my SECOND batch of home-made chicken stock got away from me before I could take care of it. I told my sweet darling, Norm, that I needed to cook the chicken on Friday so I would have time on Saturday to take care of it – strain the bones out, package, and freeze. That may not appear to be a lot of effort, but when life is moving forward at the speed of a freight train, it seemed like plenty. So, I planned it, and put the chicken in the crockpot yesterday morning before leaving for work, using a variation of this recipe. Then, last week when we were headed to the Dane County Farmers Market, Norm put in a request for one of his favorite foods that his Mom used to make. Now, you must understand, Norm’s parents were both of German heritage, and this dish is distinctly German. It is creamed lettuce on boiled potatoes. Since we were headed to the Farmers Market, I made sure to get the lettuce and the potatoes – couldn’t have timed it better, as one of the vendors had German butter potatoes. How totally appropriate for the dish I intended to use them for. It was a gamble to get them, though, as I knew nothing about the cooking properties of German butter potatoes. As it happened, they turned out to be perfect for boiled potatoes. Since asparagus is in season and we love it, we bought some of that, too. So, here we were with all the fixings for a “down-on-the-Farm” meal, and just the two of us to eat it. Hmmm – must be time to invite company. Then Norm’s buddy, Tom, called him on Thursday about getting together. How perfect is that? So we invited Tom and his lovely wife, Lesa, to join us, and getting into the spirit, they brought home-made corn muffins, honey from the bee’s that Tom keeps, and a marvelous rhubarb crunch and ice cream for dessert. It isn’t often that circumstances come together in such a way but what a joy and blessing when they do. Thanks, Tom and Lesa for a fun evening of mutual camaraderie! Hope we can do it again soon! Now I’d better go and take care of my THIRD batch of chicken stock!

Doesn't this look like a meal you'd like to sit down to? [the creamed lettuce is mid-right]

Check the “In the Kitchen” page for recipes for the chicken and creamed lettuce. You’ll also find a picture of the turkey on the gardening page.

Bowtie Primevera

Sunday was a busy day as Norm and I worked on the garden, so I was looking to put together a quick meal. Having been to the Farmers Market the day before, there were plenty of options available. Since I was in the mood for pasta, this is what I came up with:

Bowtie Primevera
1 C. Bowtie pasta, cooked according to package directions
6 stalks asparagus, broken or cut in pieces
1 medium-sized fresh tomato, diced
1 T. dried basil
1/4 C. heavy cream
2 T. romano cheese
Garlic powder, salt, and pepper to taste
Half a fresh cucumber, cut into wedges for garnish
Leaf lettuce, enough to cover 2 serving plates

Cook the bowtie pasta according to package directions. A couple of minutes before it reaches al dente, add the asparagus to cook lightly. While pasta is cooking, arrange leaf lettuce on two dinner plates. When pasta is cooked and asparagus is bright green, drain. Return pasta and asparagus to pan. Add the diced tomato, dried basil, heavy cream, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Stir until slightly thick. Divide into two portions and serve on a bed of leaf lettuce. Garnish with cucumber wedges. Eat! Serves 2. Prep time: half hour or less

Verdict: this was a perfect spring meal, something warm, but still had the flavors of the fresh spring vegetables and went together quickly. This would be good with diced chicken or shrimp in it.