According to The Old Farmer’s Almanac and who doesn’t have a copy of that hanging out on the kitchen counter, if you’re superstitious, be wary.
Tomato, Peach & Arugula Panzanella
COOKtheBOOKFRIDAYS, the thirteenth of September and a Harvest Moon are in spooky sync. In America we haven’t had a nationwide Friday the 13th full moon since October 13, 2000. Take a long look, Readers, because it won’t happen again until August 13, 2049.
BOO.
PALINDROME WEEK
Let’s forget scary and segue from astronomy to celebrate pure mathematics. It’s Palindrome Week, a week when each date can be read the same backward and forward. Try it backward: 9-13-19. The next 6 days are all neatly reversible. Enjoy Palindrome Week because it’s the last of the century.
A PANZANELLA PAMPHLET for PALINDROME WEEK
(Indulge my silliness. I just had to do that.)
Mise en Place – the ingredients needed for PANZANELLA
This week’s CooktheBookFridays recipe choice welcomes adaptions while also guaranteeing a big jolt of deliciousness. Who ever knew stale bread could be so magical?
Panzanella is basically an Italian salad buoyed by chunks of dry/toasted bread, tomatoes tossed or marinated in a vinaigrette and topped with chopped basil. Using that as a thrifty framework, Dorie threw together a delicious Tomato and Peach Panzanella. Among the many variations she suggests is to add ‘assertive greens like arugula’ which I did. When have I ever turned my back on being assertive?
Unlike baking when it’s necessary to follow a recipe precisely, the panzanella recipe below is simply a blueprint, do this, takeaway that, add what’s available and toss in the kitchen sink if you’re so inclined. It’s hard to wreck panzanella. That’s why we’re buddies.
TOMATO and PEACH PANZANELLA by Dorie Greenspan, Everyday Dorie, The Way I Cook
Six Servings
According to Dorie: You can serve the salad as a starter or as a lunch or light dinner, in which case you might want to add assertive greens, such as kale or arugula and perhaps some shrimp; or, if dinner, as a side dish to something light.
Juicy Tomatoes and Peaches
INGREDIENTS:
1 baguette or other sturdy loaf (about 7 ounces), preferably stale
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, or more to taste
Fine sea salt or fleur de sel and freshly ground pepper
1 pound ripe tomatoes
2 peaches or nectarines (or watermelon, plums or cherries)
1 lemon
1⁄2 small red onion or more to taste, thinly sliced, rinsed and patted dry
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar, or more to taste
Shredded fresh basil leaves or other herb(s)
Stale Baguette Pieces, Nicely Browned
DIRECTIONS:
Center a rack in the oven and preheat it to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
Tear the bread into pieces just a little bigger than bite-sized, or cut it — often easier when the bread is stale. Spread the pieces out on the baking sheet, drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the oil, season with salt and pepper and toss. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, turning the bread once or twice, until the cubes are dry and lightly toasted.
Meanwhile, core the tomatoes and cut into chunks. Halve and pit the peaches or nectarines and cut into similar-sized chunks, catching as much of the juice as you can. Toss the tomatoes, fruit and juice into a large serving bowl.
When the bread is toasted, stir it into the bowl. Grate the zest of the lemon over, squeeze over the lemon juice and stir again. Mix in the onion. Let the salad rest for 5 to 10 minutes (or for up to 1 hour).
Add the remaining 2 tablespoons oil and the vinegar to the salad and season with salt and pepper. Let the salad sit for a couple of minutes again, then taste it for oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Scatter over the herb(s) and serve.
S T O R I N G: Even though this salad is meant to be soft, it’s best shortly after it’s assembled.
I am able to post this recipe because Dorie Greenspan has put it on her own blog.
Is stale bread is an issue for you? Do you obsess over wasting it? Here’s another link from a Food&Wine, 2018 issue to help: 18 Panzanella Recipes That Show Bread Salad in All Its Glory
CooktheBookFridays is an international group of food bloggers who are cooking virtually through Everyday Dorie, The Way I Cook by Dorie Greenspan. See what our group is posting here. Join us, if you wish. Or, just cook along with us and send us photos of your efforts.
It needs to be said. Summer arrived, lingered a bit and in the blink of an eye, vamoosed. Or, so it seems. I’ve spent the last week dealing with that. And, you?
We’re all cutting our herbs and flowers before the first frost. Statice, Basil and Rosemary – gifts from friends
For me it’s September Spa & Self-care month, something I invented ten or so years ago. Honestly I’ve never observed SS&S for the full thirty days. It’s like a diet. Good intentions but bad follow-through. But to my mind, a week or two devoted to self-care is better than none at all.
Squash blossom. Garden of Karen Kribs.
First, let’s say this. Self-care is NOT selfish. Believe me or believe psychologist Dr. Maria Baratta who calls self care ‘an armor to protect the energy needed to survive and thrive.’
Every week I drive downvalley to Rock Bottom Ranch, an 113-acre wildlife preserve and educational farm, to buy eggs. The Ranch is owned and managed by the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies. When I arrived the gals were moving goats and sheep to greener pastures.
Self-care is also not limited to those in the work force. Moms and Dads need self-care. Caregivers need self-care. Students need self-care. And, yes, even aging retirees need self-care. As I’ve written before, as an older person living alone, the most important thing I do is to take care of myself so others don’t have to.
Hanging out together like the newly-famous Waffles, the miniature horse, and Hemingway, the goose.
SS&S month is not just taking a break and stepping away from that glass of wine each night or losing 2-3 pounds or finding time for your 10,000 brisk steps a day. Here’s the Self-care List* that I try to follow…..at least for 30 days:
Eggs. Rock Bottom Ranch. Basalt, Colorado
Self care means knowing who you are and your limits;
Self care means getting 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night; (According to a 2018 American Psychological Association survey 45% of the women in this country report laying awake at night due to stress.)
Self care means making sure you’re well fed.
Self care means finding ways to decompress throughout your day. (Besides your brain needing rest at night, it also needs to pause during the day.).
Self-care means if something isn’t working, rethink how to do it differently.
Self care means identifying what you enjoy doing, what’s fun for you and finding time to do it.
Self care means taking time to like and be proud of who you are.
Kale. Community Garden
WELL FED, LET’S DO IT
Apricots. Leelee Harriman’s orchard
Taking the well fed-suggestion to heart, using apricots from a neighbor’s tree and inspired by Dorie Greenspan’s Dimply Plum Cake in BAKING, From My Home to Yours, I whipped up this phenomenal apricot cake.
Note how the batter takes on a satiny sheen.
Although Dorie’s award-winning cookbook was published in 2006, I came to it late – in 2010. It’s made me a better, more confident baker. Each recipe has a “Playing Around” section which provided me the confidence to improvise with a large sack of plump apricots. This is billed as a brown sugar-based coffee cake for breakfast, brunch or a snack. That’s silly. This is also dessert, served plain or dolled up with home-made vanilla ice cream, whipped cream or crème fraîche.
You can change up this recipe by swapping the apricots for other soft, juicy fruits and using a different spice or citrus zest in the cake. Dorie’s favorite combos are: plums with orange zest and a pinch of cardamon; peaches with lemon zest and a little finely chopped fresh basil; nectarines with orange zest; cherries with lime zest or blackberries (combined with raspberries if you wish) with lemon, lime or orange zest.
AMAZING APRICOT CAKE adapted from Dorie Greenspan, BAKING, from My Home to Yours
8 Wedges
INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (Living at 8000’, I always use King Arthur or Hungarian high-altitude flour for baking)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/3 cup flavorless oil, such as canola or sunflower
Grated zest of 1 orange
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
5 plump apricots, halved and pitted
This recipe calls for two eggs.
DIRECTIONS:
Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 350°F. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan or 8-inch round springform pan. Dust the inside with flour, tap out the excess and put the pan on a baking sheet. (You can, of course, use Joy, a butter and flour spray but spray the pan just before adding your mixed batter so the spray doesn’t “glob” at the bottom.)
Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl.
Working with a mixer, beat the butter at medium speed until it’s soft and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the sugar and beat for another 2-3 minutes. Then add the eggs, ONE at a time, and beat for a minute after each egg goes in.
Still working on medium speed, beat in the oil, zest and vanilla. The batter will look smooth and creamy, almost satiny. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing only until they are incorporated.
Run a rubber spatula around the bowl and under the batter, just to make sure there are no dry spots. Scrape the batter into the pan and smooth the top. Arrange the apricots cut side up in the batter. Jiggle the apricots so they are comfortably settled in the batter and tap (do not whack) the pan on the counter twice.
Bake for about 40 minutes or until the top is honey brown and puffed around the apricots and a thin knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
Transfer the cake to a rack to cool for 15 minutes before unmolding the cake. Invert and cool right side up.
You can wrap the cake and keep it at room temperature for up to 2 days during which time it will get softer and more moist.
My favorite recipes from the cookbook, BAKING from my home to yours are: Parisian Apple Tartlet, p. 319 All-in-One Holiday Bundt Cake, p.187 Classic Banana Bundt Cake, p. 190 Double-Crusted Blueberry Pie, p. 361 French Pear Tart, p. 368 Honey Peach Ice Cream, p. 437
*Thanks to Dr. Maria Baratta for helping with my Self-care List.
Next week for COOK THE BOOK FRIDAYS we’re making Tomato and Peach Panzanella.
Writing today’s post makes me happy and quite nostalgic. This summer marks six years since returning to Aspen to this comfy Gant condo where, I assured the front office executives, I would live ‘a year or two.’
Funny how that happens, isn’t it?
CINNAMON BABKA, MADE AT THE WOMEN’S INNER CIRCLE BAKING CLASS AT THE CHABAD JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER IN ASPEN
SUMMER’S SLIP, SLIP, SLIPPING AWAY
By Labor Day Aspen will seem lighter. The last music concert for the 70th season was Wednesday. Its eight weeks’ run featured a staggering 400 events. Nearly 700 students from 40 U.S. states/34 countries came to play in five orchestras, sing, conduct, compose and study with 200 esteemed artist-faculty members. Today begins a 3-day sale to sell the 150 Steinway-designed pianos used for the Festival. Mic drop.
WHITE-TAILED PTARMIGAN, BUCKSKIN TRAIL, ASPEN Here’s a fantastic photo of this Alpine bird, a member of the grouse family and difficult to spot as it blends into the landscape. In the winter Ptarmigans are pure white. JUDY WENDER PHOTO, SUMMER 2019
The theatre tent goes dark, Aspen’s Santa Fe Ballet, Jazz Aspen and the Aspen Institute scale back their programming while local organizations shift out of hustle/bustle gear. Smokey Bear, however, is allowed no downtime. He’s too busy shepherding wayward bears, prepping for hibernation and in search of easy pickin’s, out of Aspen. Our Colorado black bears are usually harmless but clever and a nuisance right now. In a single day this week the police answered 18 bear calls.
This week along with eight other volunteer Rangers, I joined a geology class sponsored by the Forest Conservancy and taught by my colleagues, Master Naturalist Donna Grauer (binoculars) and Geologist Shauna Young. (Lotsa volunteer Ranger Brainpower in our Forest Conservancy!) Crater Lake Trail, Maroon Bells
Our Valley’s next stunning show begins with the arrival after Labor Day of Leaf Peepers. Mother Nature grabs our attention with her slow rollout of Aspen trees with their shimmering yellow leaves. Every day until the snow flies will be a costume change.
THE BABKE BAKE: Deb and I love the baking classes at the Chabad Jewish Community Center and a part of the Women’s Inner Circle program. This is our third class. We have mastered successfully (kinda) challah bread, honey cake and babka.
LET IT RISE.
MY FALL MENU
As I wrote in my last blog post, our CookTheBookFridays group is now cooking (virtually) through Dorie Greenspan’s“The Way I Cook, her newest, award-winning cookbook. We’ll post on the 2nd and 4th Fridays. I’ll announce our recipe choices the first of every month. Don’t have a blog but are cooking along with us? Send me photos. I’ll post them.
We’re making Tomato and Peach Panzanella (99) on September 13, and on September 27, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies (246). If you are a blogger and want to join our group, link to https://cookthebookfridays.wordpress.com/
Realizing summer is in decline and we weren’t seeing enough of our friends, the Grauers tried to make amends by inviting me and two others for dinner. If dinner parties can be both delicious and hilarious this one was. Grilled Branzino was on the menu.
This is at the Fall 2018 Opening of Eataly in Las Vegas. You picked out your fish, watched it being grilled and then carried it to your table for a delicious meal.
Donna (L), an adventurous cook, had never served branzino before. On arrival she mentioned we were going to watch a How To-video on grilling these fish! Three of us voted Not Interested but Cathy (R), always the good sport and team player who unknown to us had made branzino several times, indulged Donna. Cathy’s expression translates to “I’ve Got This.” (And, she did. )
On alternating Fridays I’ll make recipes from home cooks, those food bloggers who have not published cookbooks but are extraordinarily creative in the kitchen. For the past 10 years I’ve made their recipes, often adapted to my own tastes. These women are not household names, Liz Berg, Andrea Mohr or Chris Scheuer, nor anyone you know. But you will …..
THAT SKINNY CHICK CAN BAKE, Liz Berg
A recent Indianapolis magazine featuring Liz Berg and her blog.
I first met Liz ten years ago through our FrenchFridayswithDorie group. We both joined FF’s in 2010 and made the 350 recipes from Around my French Table every Friday for the next five years. About a year into our cooking odyssey together, we discovered her youngest sister, Maddy, and my oldest daughter, Melissa, had been seniors at Ames High School together. Her family and ours lived two blocks apart. Missy knew Maddy, of course, and as a grad student at Iowa State I knew of Liz’s dad who was a well-considered ISU physics professor. Because her dad was affiliated with the Aspen Center for Physics, her family spent many summer days in Aspen.
What are the chances?
About 20 French Friday gals attended a 2013 food blogging convention in Seattle where Dorie was the keynote speaker. Liz is 3rd from (L)
The 4 Weber sisters and their families visited Aspen to relive old memories and included me in a lovely evening.
I learned to love the recipes she developed and featured on her blog everyday. I am not alone. Today Liz has thousands of followers, 145,000-Facebook, 75,000-Pinterest and 18,000-Instagram. Countless others like me subscribe to her blog. Cross out the hobby in ‘full-time hobby,’ as she calls it, and insert job.
Among my favorite recipes of hers which you can find on her website are:
HERB CRUSTED RACK OF LAMB;
WHITE CHOCOLATE MONSTER MUNCH (HALLOWEEN CHEX MIX);
KAHLUA BUNDT CAKE;
ROASTED VEGETABLE SALAD WITH ORZO, MOZZARELLA & BASIL;
Since I wanted to take advantage of our peach season, I picked Liz’s quick bread to bake. Check out her website for her important TIPS for making quick breads …..emphasis on making sure its fully baked throughout.
PALISADES PEACH QUICK BREAD
A sweet, dense quick bread chock full of sweet Colorado peaches.
Mini-loaves are nice hostess and house gifts. The tins are about 3×51/2″ and each recipe makes 4 loaves.
by Liz Berg, This Skinny Chick Can Bake blog
Seves 16
INGREDIENTS
2–3 teaspoons softened butter 1 tablespoon sugar 2 cups flour (I used High Altitude flour, Hungarian or King Arthur 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 cup dark brown sugar 1/4 teaspoon allspice 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 2 eggs, room temperature 3/4 cup vegetable oil 1/4 cup whole milk 1 1/2 cups peeled and diced peaches (drain if using canned peaches)
DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Grease a 9 x 5-inch bread pan with butter, then dust with sugar or flour. Set aside. (TIP: I always put parchment paper on the pan’s bottom and grease that also.)
Whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, brown sugar, allspice, nutmeg and cinnamon in a large bowl. Set aside.
Whisk together the eggs, oil and milk. Stir into dry ingredients. Do not over mix. Fold in the peaches after draining away any liquid.
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Level batter with a spatula.
Bake for 60-70 or more minutes or until toothpick inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean. (Bake the mini-loaves for 30-40 minutes.)
Let cool on wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and let finish cooling before slicing.
The doughnut peach, also called the flat or Saturn peach, is a variety of peach with pale yellow fruit that is oblate in shape. It’s currently in our Farmers Market and is delicious.
When it’s vacation time or if visiting an unfamiliar area, I’m hoping you go all Dora (or, Dick)-the-Explorer. Whether it’s eating, drinking, sightseeing or finding lodging to fit the coins in your pocket, there’s expectation in getting it right. In fact quite often a trip is as successful as the research and planning that go into it.
Since the time I’ve had memories, I’ve been a planner, organizer, list maker, researcher, scheduler, investigator and obnoxiously curious. Which translates into my being a Tourist Extraordinaire. Drop me off anywhere. I will be able to amuse myself. There’s a downside to that, of course, the inability to chill, settle back or hang loose.
Plein Air-Aspen Style, Red Brick Center for the Arts
During Colorado’s winter months I cede my condo to skiers, escaping to parts unknown. You Readers already know I spend several of those weeks in Paris where, admittedly, I am a woman possessed. For any sane person, tasting, seeing and doing it all in Paris is simply not possible. I’ll just leave it there.
Saturday Farmers Market, Aspen
For at least the past 20-some years, there has been a private summer party with costumed bikers. These partygoers didn’t want to miss buying their weekly market stash.
The other eight months I’m in Aspen where we moved in 1988. You want truth? There is so much about my hometown of 31-years I don’t know. This summer I resolved to become a Tourist Extraordinaire here. Although when I visit major international cities I always search out Walking Tours, I’d never joined one of the many offered in Aspen. This summer I’m knocking many of them off.
This is the first Free Library Box-on-a-post located in Aspen’s West End that I have spotted. The homeowners, who I know, put this up on their property. Thank you.
I walk by our fire station daily, rely on them to keep me safe, but have never popped into the Aspen Volunteer Fire Department Museum which opened in November 2017. The potato chips at the Music Tent’s food stand which are legend? Nope, not even one. Nor, shame on me, have I ever attended a summer opera. Got a ticket for Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro next week. And, on and on.
Actress and former Crystal Palace veteran Nina Gabianelli led a Historical Society Bauhaus Architectural Walking Tour. This is the 100th anniversary of Bauhaus, a modernist art school established in 1919 in Germany by Walter Gropius.
“Anaconda” a sculpture created by Bauhaus designer Herbert Bayer in 1978 was installed on the Aspen Institute campus last year. It is 32-feet-long, seven-pieces and is made of Carrera marble.
Now I’m no slacker. I’ve packed my days full over the years with all the many Aspen and High Country opportunities. My point is that everyplace and anyplace, especially your hometown, have more to offer if you look. Again, I’ll just leave it there.
California Congressman Adam Schiff was in Aspen for the Aspen Security Forum and gave a public talk one evening. I am quite sure he is saying, “Oh, look, there is Mary Hirsch.”
COOK-THE-BOOK-FRIDAYS WITH DORIE
This week our recipe choice from Everyday Dorie, The Way I Cook is a savory Fresh-Off-the-Cob Chowder. Being Iowa born-and-bred and considering myself an authority on corn, I will admit to being curious about Dorie’s chowder. It’s delicious. (Note to Self: Never be a Dorie-skeptic.)
A chowder is a type of soup that most often has a creamy base and is chunky in texture. Although this chowder makes the most of fresh corn including the cobs, our season is short. Your taste for this chowder will not be short-lived but you can substitute frozen corn. Vegetarian? This chowder can work for you. Best of all, you can do the work-intensive part of the recipe the day before.
RECIPES:
Just out of the oven, Peach-Jalapeno Cornbread baked in 8″ Springform Pan
PEACH-JALAPENO CORNBREAD
Cornbread is perfect with this chowder. Adding 2 peaches and 1/3-1/2 cup chopped jalapeños makes it even more perfect. When fresh peaches are gone, use canned, drained of syrup. If you’re like me, you’ll all about simple. I’m doing simple by using two 8.5 oz. boxed mixes. I prefer Original Jiffy Cornbread mix. Make the mix according to package instructions. Carefully stir in the peeled, sliced peaches and chopped jalapeños. Pour into a buttered 8-cup pan (I used a springform pan). Cook for 45-50 minutes at 400 degrees. Check for doneness and cook longer, if necessary. Cool.
Ready for some alone time in the oven at 400 degrees for 45-55 minutes or to doneness.
FRESH OFF-THE-COBB CORN CHOWDER by Dorie Greenspan, Everyday Dorie, The Way I Cook
Makes about 4 servings
INGREDIENTS:
4 large ears corn, husked 2 celery stalks, trimmed and finely chopped 1 large sweet onion, such as Vidalia, finely chopped 1 to 2 garlic cloves, germ removed, and minced 1 tablespoon olive oil fine sea salt and freshly ground pepper 2 sprigs fresh rosemary 2 sprigs fresh thyme 1 bay leaf 5 cups water AND 1 tablespoon chicken or vegetable bouillon base, or 1 bouillon cube 3⁄4 pound potatoes, peeled, quartered if large, halved if smaller 4 slices bacon 2 tablespoons white wine
1⁄2 cup half-and-half (optional to pour on top when serving soup)
Sprinkle minced fresh herbs, such as chives, parsley and/or basil over soup
DIRECTIONS:
Set two large bowls on the counter. Cut the corn kernels off the cobs and put half of the corn in each bowl; reserve the cobs. Divide the celery, onion and garlic between the bowls; cover the second bowl and set aside. (By separating the vegetables and later dividing the potatoes, you’ll get a soup with great textures.)
Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven or large saucepan over medium heat.
When it’s warm, add the vegetables from the first bowl, season with salt and pepper, lower the heat and cook, stirring, just until they soften, about 10 minutes. Toss in the herbs and the reserved cobs. Pour in the water and add the bouillon base or cube. Drop in the potatoes.
Turn the heat up, bring the liquid to a boil and season with more salt and pepper. Lower the heat, partially cover the pot and simmer for 20 minutes until the potato is . Test the potato pierced easily with the tip of knife.
5.Remove from the heat.Using a slotted spoon, scoop half of the potatoes out of the soup and onto a cutting board, and cut them into small cubes. Set them aside for now. Remove and discard the corn cobs, the bay leaf and any stringy or woody herbs you can see.
Cobs with no Corn, for broth
(YOU CAN MAKE THE SOUP UP TO THIS POINT A DAY AHEAD AND REFRIGERATE IT. )
Working in batches if necessary, puree the soup in a blender, food processor, or handheld immersion blender. Whatever you use, try to get the soup as smooth as possible.
Rinse out the pot if there’s anything stuck to the bottom, then pour in the puree, cover and bring to a simmer over low heat; keep at a gentle simmer while you cook the bacon and the remaining vegetables.
Place the bacon strips in a heavy skillet and cook slowly until crisp, turning as needed. Transfer the bacon to a double thickness of paper towels and cover with more paper towels to remove excess fat (leave the fat in the skillet). Cut the bacon into 1⁄2-inch pieces.
Put the skillet over medium heat and, when the fat is warm, add the vegetables from the second bowl (not the cubed potatoes). Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring, for about 6 minutes, until barely tender. Pour in the wine, raise the heat and cook until it almost evaporates.
Add the skillet vegetables, bacon and potato cubes to the soup and cook at a simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, until everything is piping hot. Taste for salt and pepper.
Ladle the chowder into bowls and, if you’d like, drizzle with half-and-half and scatter fresh herbs.
STORING:
Leftover soup can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Bring to a boil and then simmer gently for about 10 minutes before serving. Because of the potatoes, the soup will thicken when chilled. If you’d like it thinner after reheating, add water or broth.
TIPS:
The soup lends itself to lots of add-ins and swaps. If you don’t want bacon, sauté the reserved vegetables in a tablespoon of olive oil. If you opt out of the half-and-half but still want something extra, try a drizzle of chive or even chili oil, a little pesto or some grated Parmesan. You can sub small cubes of ham for the bacon or add chunks of cooked shrimp, lobster or thinly sliced raw scallops. The heat of the soup will cook them perfectly.
Last evening, after suffering through an horrendous week with most other Americans, I attended the “English in Action” Dinner to benefit this 25-year old organization that provides an integrated language learning program that prepares non-English speaking adults for work and academic success. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who was an immigrant herself, had a conversation with Pulitzer Prize winning journalist David Sanger. Nice.
Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. Ferris Bueller
Competing against some of the food world’s heavy hitters and a department store, Deb Perelman’s Best Blueberry Muffins emerged the Winner. What sold me on these muffins? One bowl. Only one dirty bowl.
GOING for GLORY, IT’S SUMMER:
We’ve sprinted into August. If your past two months haven’t included Joy, Mirth and Gaiety, take these next two months and try again. Go for Glory.
While taking a Forest Conservancy-sponsored butterfly class in nearby Ashcroft, I came upon clumps of these matured fruits, remains of the Prairie Smoke wildflower.
We all expect dumpy days. It’s not that I haven’t escaped my own ‘take a deep breath’ moments lately. When your new, well-considered dermatologist pats you on the shoulder, saying, “We’re going to be seeing a lot of each other,” that’s not good. Who knew Johnson’s Baby Oil, Iodine and Florida State’s sunshiny days were a lethal combo?
After nine years, Lady Lexus and I parted company. For me, losing that car was traumatic. We shared 155,000 miles of memories together.
Before you grimace, a few kind words about our Turkey Vultures. We could not successfully survive without vultures who are scavengers and feed almost exclusively on discarded and decaying carrion. They clean up what we don’t!
These luscious window boxes (below) are no more. Our resident pine squirrels have enjoyed nibbling the flowers. A mini-flash hail storm in mid-July pummeled the foliage. And, a week ago I finally put up my 4th of July decorations. God Bless America.
GLORIOUSLY COOKIN’ UP A STORM with …..
Let’s get back to the Glory theme. Our Cook-the-Book-Fridays group is officially digging into Everyday Dorie, the Way I Cook bycooking through her 300+ recipes. Since October we’ve posted teasers including My Newest Gougères, Mushroom-Bacon Galette, Green-as-Spring Soup. No one just no one walks you through a recipe like Dorie.
Melissa flew in last week-end to visit Mom. Best time ever.
We’ll blog her recipes the second and fourth Fridays every month. Next Friday it’s Fresh-off-the-Cob Chowder and August 22, Shrimp Tacos. Why not grab your book (your library has one also) and cook along, no blogging required.
Colorado Corn from our local Farmers Market for Fresh-Off-The-Cob Chowder.
On alternate Fridays I’ll post recipes I’ve adapted from the superstar home cooks I follow on line. There are arguably 31.2 million food bloggers in America but these women who cook/post from their own kitchens, draw a crowd.
Although you’ll learn more about these women as I spotlight their recipes, here’s the Cliff Notes version:
Liz, Andrea and I met through French Fridays with Dorie, our five-year romp through 350 recipes in the Around My French Table cookbook. Liz and I enjoy a wacky, midwestern Six Degrees of Separation connection.
Nobody does European food markets like the Kitchen Lioness. When I was in Paris, I met Andrea in Antwerp and we did just that. Andrea loves Yotam Ottolenghi’s recipes as do I.
More than any blogger, Chris Scheuer has inspired the most Keepers, those emergency recipes stuck in your back pocket. Quinoa & Black Bean Salad with Lemon-Vinaigrette. Herbes de Provence Pork Tenderloinwith Braised Lentils. My Go-To’s.
The hilarious Deb Perelman, with two tots and cookbooks to her credit, rose to foodie fame through her imaginative Smitten Kitchen blog. Here’s her Best Blueberry Muffins recipe. Anyone who competes against Ina, Martha and Jordan Marsh (American department store that ceased operations in 1996) and emerges unscathed with the Crown, I want to know better.
Alice Waters spoke at the Aspen Institute about her foundation, Edible Schoolyard, which advocates for free school lunches and sustainable food curriculum in every public school.
(according to Kitchn’s recent blog contest) by Deb Perelman, the Smitten Kitchen
(Caveat: No recipe is totally new. Adaptions happen. Ingredients change. Location. Location. Location. (I live at high altitude, 8,000’.) Although this recipe no longer resembles its humble beginnings at Cook’s Illustrated, Deb credits CI and suggestions from Stella Parks at Serious Eats and Blythe Danner for its success.)
Serving: 9 standard muffins
INGREDIENTS:
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold is fine
1/2 cup sugar
Finely grated zest from 1/2 a large lemon or all, if small
3/4 cup plain unsweetened sour cream (yogurt, if desired)
1 large egg, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon fine sea or table salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I use high altitude flour)
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen (no need to defrost)
3 tablespoons Turbinado sugar (raw sugar) (BUY A BOX if you don’t have.)
DIRECTIONS:
Heat oven to 375°F. Line a muffin tin with 9 paper liners or spray each cup with a nonstick spray.
Using ONE large bowl, melt butter in the bottom of it. (If no microwave, melt on stove.) Whisk in sugar, zest, sour cream and egg until smooth. Whisk in baking powder, baking soda and salt until fully combined. Lightly fold in flour and berries.
The batter is thick, like cookie dough.
3. With batter that is very thick, like a cookie dough, divide between prepared 9 muffin cups. Sprinkle each with 1 teaspoon Turbinado sugar. (DO NOT SKIMP.) for a perfect crunchy lid.
4. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until tops are golden and a tester inserted into the center of muffins comes out clean (except for blueberry goo). Let cool in pan for 10 minutes then on a rack.
Although these are best served the day they are made, I just popped the cooled muffins, bagged separately, into the freezer to pull out when needed. Deb suggests if you run them split open under a broiler with a pat of salted butter, it’s heavenly also.
An Apricot/Blueberry Galette is a sweet and tasty treat which looks spectacular any way you fold it.
Summer in Aspen is a perennial Mad Dash surrounded by an undeniably extraordinary setting. With its intangible quality of art, cultural and intellectual pursuits mixed with multiple sports opportunities, no one, just no one, can do it all. As evidenced by the plethora of minutiae displayed below, I still try:
Our CookTheBookFridays first summer recipe, a Mushroom, Bacon, Leek and Walnut Galette from Dorie Greenspan’s newest cookbook, Everyday Dorie, The Way I Cook.
In mid-June five semi-trailer trucks pulled into the parking lot at the Aspen Music Festival and School to unload 144 Steinway pianos. At the end of the summer the pianos will be sold.
Although the birding is excellent at the Music School’s Bucksbaum campus, I saw this beautiful Cooper’s Hawk fly in and perch, searching for prey, downvalley near Rock Bottom Ranch in Basalt.
NFL Atlanta Falcon Quarterback Matt Ryan says that for peak performance he needs 10 hours of sleep a night. (Time enough for sweet Super Bowl dreams.)
Since our colleague, Jane, can’t be with us this summer we recently patrolled in her honor on her favorite trail . The winding Cooper Creek Trail passes by the Lindley Hut located at the foot of Star Peak in the Ashcroft Valley. With volunteer Ranger Deb Overeynder.
Yale University professor David Blight who won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for his biography, Frederick Douglas, Prophet of Freedom, must have a toothpick in his mouth when he writes.
During a birding field trip to the Crystal River Valley near Redstone with Birder Rebecca Weiss and photographer Mark Fuller, they found this precious hummingbird sitting on her nest. Kudos to Jeff Finesilver, the only photographer who got a spectacular photo (and, shared it).
MFA Grad student Julia Marsh, School of Visual Arts in NYC, just completed a remarkable thesis which she presented at the Aspen Institute’s Ideas Festival showing how to replace single-use plastics with sustainable seaweed-based packaging she’s named SWAY. (8.8 million tons of plastic spill into the oceans a year)
Chef Nick Kunitz flew in early before Aspen’s Food & Wine Classic to dazzle the locals with small plates at my friend’s cocktail party. His real work was catering events for the Lodi Winegrape Commission & the Lodi wineries participating in the Classic.
Anointed by Snoop Dog as America’s Cool Weed Grandma, Martha Stewart, attending her first Aspen Food & Wine Classic in June, announced she is consulting with Canopy Growth, Canada’s largest marijuana producer, to develop hemp-derived CBD health products for animals.
We loved his Chickpea Panisse, Pea Panna Cotta, Spiced Lamb Crostini, Green Garlic Fry Bread and Pastrami Spiced Short Rib on Rye. But we could not get enough of his Strawberry Rhubarb Shortcake. Chef Nick with our hostess, Karen Kribs.
Author Susan Orlean, a staff writer for The New Yorker, resolved to never write another book after publishing Rin Tin Tin in 2011. Then her son, a first-grader, interviewed a Los Angeles city employee for a class assignment. His choice of questioning a librarian inspired Orleans to write her latest best-seller, The Library Book.
This proud Grandma spent a week in California last month to celebrate our Emma’s graduation from high school. She won academic honors, scholarships and prizes and is off to Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego next fall. A perfect choice.
Aspen has gone all blue, green, red, orange and yellow to join the international celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Bauhaus this year. During the 30-years that designer Herbert Bayer, a Bauhaus master teacher, lived in Aspen, his lasting impact turned Aspen into ‘one of the greatest examples of a Bauhaus total environment that exists in the world.’
A Herbert Bayer-inspired Black Forest and olive oil cake with caramel mousse by Pastry Chef Aleece Alexander, a shared dessert last week at Plato’s, the Aspen Meadow’s restaurant at the Aspen Institute. (Apologies to you, Chef Aleece, for my dis-arranging the Bauhaus blocks!)
————————————————————————————————-
GALETTE – A free-form tart.
Our first summer CooktheBookFridays recipe is a Mushroom, Bacon, Leek & Walnut Galette from Everyday Dorie, The Way I Cook. By a fortunate stroke of serendipity, I was searching for some effortless summer recipes. Dorie’s savory galette, was almost too perfect a fit. Later in the week I found my first plump apricots at a fruit stand at the Roaring Fork Valley Coop in Carbondale. Just stopping for gas but ended up with the makings of a fruit galette, the perfect bookend to my savory galette.
Galettes. Sweet or Savory. Exactly what Summer should look like.
———————————————————————————————
Below are my two recipes for savory and sweet (fruit) galettes. Since a galette-fail is almost an impossibility, let the next visit to your farmer’s market “speak” to you. When using other ingredient combinations in galettes, use these same recipes, adjust and follow my Tips.
2. Add other flavors to the fillings if you wish. Lemon zest, spices and even fresh herbs work.
3. Because you can’t par-bake a galette crust, prevent fruit juices from making the crust soggy by brushing the galette crust with egg white or spread a layer of crushed graham cracker or cookie crumbs (I use Keebler’s Sandies) or brush on jam thinned with water.
When I made my fruit tart, I rolled my pastry to an 11″ diameter and then spread crushed Keebler Sandies , leaving two inches for folding.
4. Before baking, brush the crust with an egg wash. For sweet galettes sprinkle with turbinado (raw sugar)
5. Search through the Internet to find countless filling suggestions for savory or sweet galettes and interesting add-ins to crusts whether homemade or store-bought. Dorie likes to add custards to her fruit galettes. Check out her Baking, From My Home to Yours from your library to see those recipes.
MUSHROOM, BACON, LEEKS, WALNUTS GALETTE by Dorie Greenspan, Everyday Dorie, The Way I Cook
Serves Six
INGREDIENTS:
FILLING:
4 slices bacon
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1/2 pound trimmed and coarsely chopped mushrooms, white, cremini, wild, or a mix
2 leeks, white and light green parts only, split, washed and thinly sliced, or 1 large sweet onion, such as Vidalia, thinly sliced, rinsed and patted dry
1 finely chopped garlic clove
Fine sea salt
3 tablespoons dry white wine
2 tablespoons heavy cream
3 tablespoons chopped walnuts
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan
2 sprigs fresh thyme
Freshly ground black pepper
DIRECTIONS:
1.The Dough: Put your homemade or store-bought dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper and roll it, occasionally turning and lifting the paper to prevent sticking until you have an 11-inch circle. Slide the rolled-out dough, still between the sheets of paper, onto a baking sheet or cutting board and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or freeze for 1 hour or (well-wrapped) for up to 3 days. When you’re ready to use the dough, leave it on the counter for a few minutes just so that it’s pliable enough to lift and fold without cracking.
2. The filling: lay the bacon strips out in a heavy skillet and cook over medium heat, turning occasionally, until crispy and golden brown on both sides. Transfer the bacon to a paper towel–lined plate, cover with more towels and pat dry. Set aside one tablespoon of bacon fat. When the bacon is cool, finely chop or cut it into slender strips.
3. Center a rack in the oven and preheat it to 400°F. Leave the dough on the counter for about 10 minutes while the oven preheats. You need the dough to be pliable; very cold dough will crack when you work with it.
I used Leeks rather than onions for my galette. Your choice.
Assorted Mushrooms
4. Pour the olive oil into the skillet with the bacon fat and return the pan to medium heat. Toss in the mushrooms, leeks or onion, and garlic, season lightly with salt and cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes, or until the vegetables are softened—the mushrooms will release liquid and then, as you continue to cook, take it up again.
5. Add the white wine and cook, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan, until it evaporates, 1 to 2 minutes. Pour in the cream and cook, stirring, until it’s mostly absorbed. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the bacon, walnuts, 2 tablespoons of the Parmesan, the thyme and pepper.
6. To assemble the galette, peel the top piece of paper off the dough but leave on the bottom sheet of parchment and keep it on the baking sheet. Scrape the filling onto the crust and use a spatula to spread it into a circle that’s about 9 inches in diameter. Lift the bare border of dough and fold it over the filling. As you fold, the dough will pleat on itself, and that’s what you want; don’t worry about being neat or about getting everything even. If you tear the dough, just use a little cold water to glue it back together. You can refrigerate the galette for a few hours before baking and bake it straight from the fridge.
Needing some alone time in the oven.
7. Bake the galette for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the crust is deeply golden and the filling hot. Transfer the baking sheet to a rack and sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons Parmesan over the top of the galette — and, if you’d like, the crust. A drizzle of olive oil is also nice. Let the galette cool for 10 minutes before serving with a small green salad and glass of wine.
APRICOT BLUEBERRY GALETTE
Serves Six INGREDIENTS:
FILLING & TOPPING
7 to 8 apricots, cut in half or quarters (your choice, but make all pieces the same)
1 cup, fresh blueberries
zest and juice from 1/2 small lemon
1/4 cup turbinado or granulated sugar
flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 egg
pinch of salt
1-2 TBSP. turbinado sugar
DIRECTIONS:
The Dough: Put your homemade or store-bought dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper and roll it, occasionally turning and lifting the paper to prevent sticking until you have an 11-inch circle. Slide the rolled-out dough, still between the sheets of paper, onto a baking sheet or cutting board and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or freeze for 1 hour or (well-wrapped) for up to 3 days. When you’re ready to use the dough, leave it on the counter for a few minutes just so that it’s pliable enough to lift and fold without cracking.
2. Halve or quarter the apricots and remove the pits and place in a bowl with the blueberries. Toss with the lemon zest, juice, sugar (adjust to sweetness of fruit), cinnamon and nutmeg. Pile the fruit on top of the dough into a mound, leaving a 2” border around the edges. Fold the dough over the fruit and press gently to seal. If the dough tears, glue it together with a little water.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Whisk together the egg with a pinch of salt in a small bowl. Brush the edges with the egg wash, then sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
Bake until golden brown, about 35-40 minutes. Let cool, then serve with vanilla ice cream.
————————————————————————————————-
https://cookthebookfridays.wordpress.com/ is an international group cooking virtually through Everyday Dorie, The Way I Cook by Dorie Greenspan. To join the group or to see what my colleagues are making, click our link.
