Squash!

There's a lot of squashing going on in the fields these days. Kira of Evolutionary Organics (at Union Square every Wednesday) graciously let me have a whole bunch of beautiful squash to take up to the NY Botanical Gardens so we could make Summer Squash Muffins. We mixed Italian zucchini, striped summer squash, and mini zukes. Here's our recipe:

Summer Fresh Squash Bread
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups mixed really exciting & healthy flour (like amaranth flour or whole wheat flour mixed with oats)
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 cups fresh grated summer squash, salted and squeezed (to remove extra water)
3 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
2 very ripe bananas or 1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
optional:
1 cup chopped nuts (peanuts or walnuts are good)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
grated zest of one large orange


Directions
1. Sift together dry ingredients
2. In a large bowl, beat eggs until light and fluffy. Add sugar and blend well. Stir in banana (or oil), vanilla, zucchini, nuts, chocolate chips, and orange zest. Blend in dry ingredietns. Turn batter into two greasoned 9x5" loaf pans.
3. Bake at 350*F for 50 minutes, or until toothpick comes out of the center of the loaf clean. Remove loaves from pan, and set on their sides until cool. Chill for easier slicing.

Steamed Kohlrabi

Kohlrabi, broccoli's UFO-looking cousin, is all over the markets these days--Kira's selling it at her Union Square Stand, Evolutionary Organics. Because it's a brassica, it gains sweetness with cool temperatures--which means it can only get better, come November! The swollen stem, peeled and sliced, tastes delicious raw (when fresh) or cooked in stir-fry. I have a few in my garden, and here's what I whipped up.

Simple Steamed Kohlrabi

1. Remove leaves, root and skin of purple or white kohlrabi. Slice.
2. In a pan, saute some onions. Add 1" of water with vegetable stock cube, or, if you have it, just add 1" of veggie stock. Add kohlrabi slices. Let steam until just tender (but not mushy).
3. Drain water. You can eat it as is, or season with your favorite steamed-veggie sauce (nama shoyu or braggs, for example).


Don't the leaves look like Red Russian kale? Yes, they're cousins, too! The taste of kohlrabi is sweeter than kale, however--and certainly nothing like brussel sprouts, another family member.

Summer Peas and Pasta

You can't say no to fresh summer peas. Ask Tim and Kevin of Windfall Farms. They can't. They tried and they just can't.

Summer Peas and Belly Button Pasta

4 large fresh shallots, minced (greens and bulb)
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 cup (or more) mixed snow peas (whole) and sugar snaps (hulled)
1/2 cup pea blossoms (sold at Windfall Farm stand...how convienient...)
grated zest of 1 organic orange
grated zest of 1 organic lemon
1 bunch fresh mint leaves
1 small bunch basil
12 ounces shell or "belly button" pasta
salt and pepper, to taste
freshly grated Parmesan cheese, to taste

Preparation

Wash your hands and all your fruits vegetables--save the pea blossoms, which will bruise. Scrub the citrus fruits especially well, as you are eating the peels.

Prepare the pasta according to cooking instructions. In the meantime, dice the shallots (we used scissors), mince the garlic, toss the mint and basil. If the leaves are large, cut to bite-sized. Set aside.

When the pasta is cooked, drain and toss with peas, cheese, salt and pepper. Add lemon and orange zest, and toss again. Add fresh herbs and toss more gently. Garnish with pea blossoms.

Fried Zucchini Blossoms

Squash plants grow gendered flowers. When pollination is complete, and little zucchini appear at the base of the female flower, the male flowers can be harvested and cooked (hurrah!). A few nights ago my upstairs neighbors (this is Mariah) helped me invent this delish dish.

Fried Zucchini Blossoms

1. Gently open each flower and remove the pistil with pollen.
2. In a bowl, mix a cup of ricotta cheese, a handful of pinenuts, a sprinkling of nutmeg and/or cinnamon, and a peach each of salt and pepper.
3. In a second bowl, wisk together three eggs.
4. In a third and final bowl, pour about 3/4 cup of bread crumbs.
5. In a large frying pan, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil. Stuff the zucchini blossoms with as much ricotta as they can hold without bursting (about 1 tablespoon or less), and twist the petals shut. They will not hold perfectly, but they should be tacky enough to keep closed.
6. Dip each flower in the egg mixture, and then roll in breadcrumbs. Fry about 1-2 minutes on each side, or until just browned.

They are bested served hot. We ate ours with a little hot sauce.

Summer Corn&Peach Salsa

Tomoates, peaches and corn are perfect locally-grown summer treats. We're eating sweet, beautiful sungold cherry tomatoes in our garden, and peaches and corn from the New York City Greenmarket--a gracious gift from Toigo Farms, who sell on Sundays at Tompkins Square (on 9th and Avenue A). The best part of this salsa is the color, which is a good indication of how many vitamins it has!

Ingredients
2 ears fresh corn, husked
1 cup (or more) fresh sungold cherry tomatoes
1 large red onion, chopped
1 large fresh peach (or more), chopped
2 fresh colorful bell peppers, deseeded
1-2 garlic cloves, to taste
salt and pepper, if desired
(optional) 1 small green chile pepper, seeds removed

Instructions
1. If your corn is particularly farm-fresh, you can just cut it off the cob and set the kernals aside. If not, bring water to a boil, cook five minutes, drain & cool, and remove kernals.
2. Wash the sungold tomatoes and cut them into quarters. Set aside with corn.
3. In a food processor, pulse tomatoes, peach, bell peppers, garlic cloves, and optional chile pepper.
4. Mix in with corn and sungold tomatoes. Add salt and pepper to serve.

This dish will keep up to a week in the fridge, but keep your eye on how soft the fruit is getting--this salsa can "turn" quickly! I like having it fresh, so I'd rather "halve" the recipe for smaller portions than trying to save it.

The World's Largest Zucchini

What do you do with world's largest zucchini? I don't know, yet, but I'm thinking baked...or fritters...or sliced and grilled...or soup...if you have ideas, email 'em in. I'll post a recipe as soon as the cooking happens. So far it's been on a world tour of 140 blocks, from the farmers' market up to my house. It's quite a saavy squash.

Vegetable Tartlets

This past week, I harvested my first eggplant of the summer. It wasn't very big, but in the company of all the other ingredients in this amazingly easy (and yet so fancy-pants looking!) recipe, it made a great dinner.

Vegetable Tarts in Blue Cornflour Crust

For the crust:

2 cups flour, plus more for dusting
1/2 cup blue cornmeal
1 teaspoon sugar (I used brown sugar--honey might taste nice: I have to experiment)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup ice water

For the Filling:

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium zucchini, thinly diced
1 medium eggplant, thinly diced
2 small yellow onions, quartered and seperated
1 bunch kale, cut into ribbons
1 package vegetable broth mix, stirred into about 1/2 a cup of water
6 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1 bunch basil (about 1 cup), cut into ribbons
feta cheese, to "garnish"

1. Make the crust. Pulse flour, cornmeal, sugar and salt in a food processor (we used our vitamix). Add butter; process until mixture resembles coarse meal. With machine running, add ice water in a slow, steady stream; process just until dough holds together. Divide dough in half, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate 1 hour or up to three days.
2. Preheat oven to 350*F. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/8 thick. Cut out rounds to suit the size of your tartlet pans--I used muffin tins, so I cut mine to the size of a quart-container lid and then folded them into the muffin cup space (after greasing it lightly). Put the finished tins or muffin tray into the fridge for 1/2 hour.
3. Make the filling. Heat up the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add zucchini, squash, eggplant, and onion, stirring--about 2 minutes to cook. Add water and vegetable broth mix; season with salt and pepper. As soon as the liquid has mostly evaporated, add kale and cover until wilted, about 3 minutes more. Remove from heat. Stir in basil and red-pepper flakes.
4. Spoon veggie mix into pastry shells. Top each with 1/2 tomato. Bake 40-50 minutes. Top each tart with feta cheese to serve.
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I had leftover dough. I'm planning on experimenting for breakfast tomorrow--zucchini strips with pine nuts, raisins and feta? Mixing in pesto, whole basil ribbons, and loose corn? The versatility of this recipe, once made once, is pretty awesome. I'm exited to have such an easy dough on hand for future combinations. Wait until fall, when you can stuff it with squash and sage....or pumpkin and nutmeg...or mushrooms and thyme...mmmm....