Roasted Zucchini: another thing to do with all that summer squash.

I know this is the season for those midnight zucchini drops on your neighbors doorstep.
I love summer squash in all its shapes and sizes. And yes you can share any extra you have with me. I usually don't grow it myself ;-)

Here is one of my favorite ways to preserve all that bounty. Just freezing squash leaves you with a spongy mess, even blanching it first doesn't make much difference, it has so much water in it. That's why roasting it works so well.

Roasted Summer Squash with Onions and Garlic

Cover a baking pan or large cookie sheet with foil. Preheat your oven to 400 F.
For two large zucchini, I used one onion and four cloves of garlic. You can do this in large batches if you like.
Chop your squash in large chunks, peel and chop the onions also in large chunks.
Remove the skin from the garlic cloves with the side of the knife, chop it once or twice leaving large pieces.

Toss all the veggies into the pan with a tablespoon olive oil and some salt and pepper.

Bake for 20 minutes, stir the mixture around with a spatula or wooden spoon. Bake 20 more minutes, stir again. Bake for another 10 to 15 minutes. You want it to be cooked but not too brown.

Once it has cooled, you can measure it into freezer bags by the cup. It can be used for lasagna, pizza topping, enchiladas, soups, any kind of baked casserole, it is so versatile !!

Freezing fruit and other things.

Freezing fruits and veggies when they are in their peak season is one of  the best ways to take advantage of good deals at your farmer's market, process your own garden bonanzas and stock up on your favorites for later.

We try to eat only the fruits and veggies that are in season in our area. To help expand our menus during the leaner months we do a lot of freezing this time of year. We do have a dedicated freezer in our garage. It's the size a washing machine and well worth the initial expense.

Here is my favorite trick: freeze your fruit, veggies, whatever, flat on a waxed paper lined cookie sheet or baking pan. This way each berry freezes individually.

 When they have completely frozen, transfer them into labeled and dated freezer bags.

We keep a list of everything in our back freezer and check off what we take out, no mystery items for us !!

Recently Bob discovered he could freeze his wild boar sausage patties this way. My brother uses it to freeze his snow peas and sugar peas. With veggies like that it's usually a good idea to blanch them first in boiling water. With some fruit like peaches, pears and apples, use lemon juice or vitamin C to prevent them from turning brown.

I loved roasted bell peppers, so when they are very inexpensive at my farmer's market, I roast large batches of them, freeze then individually on the cookie sheet. This makes them so easy to use in soup, stews, casseroles. The same goes for fresh tomatoes, I core and peel them, then freeze them whole. It's nice to be able to use one or two rather than a whole jar of canned tomatoes.

CamemBob makes it debut.

As you may know we have gotten into making cheese. This last weekend we got to taste Bob's first attempt at a Camembert type cheese.

I have to admit I was skeptical, so was he, I think. We started our cheese making with the simple fresh cheese.

This kind of cheese is so easy, I posted about it earlier on this blog.
We even made 30 minute mozzarella, which turned out great. I plan to make more of this cheese when tomatoes are in season.

After those two cheeses Bob the Cheesemaker was ready for something much more difficult: Camembert. We used the recipe from our cheese book for the first attempt. It turns out there were some steps that were assumed by the authors of the book that were not spelled out in the recipe. Long story made short, only one the cheeses set up at all, that was the one that debuted this last weekend. While it had the tradition rind and was very tasty, as you can see the first photo it is a little runny.
In the meantime Bob the Cheesemaker did a whole lot more research, spent one whole day on the internet taking notes and searching sites. His second attempt looks much more promising.

Those two white block are not tofu but Camembob try # 2.

Batch #2 is coming along nicely and we will be sampling it in another 10 days. I'll let you know how they turn out.

Goat Cheese with Fresh Lavender and Honey

When our latest attempt at fresh goat cheese turned into goat buttermilk, I remember this recipe and will serve it at a barbecue this weekend with some homemade bread.


I first got this idea from a visit to the tasting room at Harley Farms: http://www.harleyfarms.com/
They sell a lovely version of this goat cheese. I liked it so much I decided to try to make it myself, of course ;-). It turned out to be so easy !!

Start with a plain soft goat cheese, a small amount for fresh lavender and a tablespoon of honey.

Unwrap the goat cheese and place it on some waxed paper. Slice it in half. Crumble the fresh lavender ( you can use rosemary if you prefer), it only takes a very small amount, dried would work too. Drizzle about a tablespoon of honey, half on each section.

Carefully put the cheese log back together.

Wrap in the wax paper and refrigerate for a couple of hours before serving.

If you are not a fan of lavender, try it with fresh rosemary, oregano, or mint.
And if you don't like the goat cheese, you can make this with any soft white cheese.

Before I got into making my own cheese, I would take room temperature cream cheese and whiz it up with fresh garlic and herbs in the food processor. It makes a great simple appetizer with bread, crackers or fresh veggies.

Strawberry Cake

A friend posted this recipe on Facebook, I had to make my own changes, of course. It was a big hit at a recent party. I made it again today for another party. I plan to try it with raspberries next.
If you want to see the "original" check this link: http://smittenkitchen.com/2011/05/strawberry-summer-cake/ Her recipe was modified from one by Martha Stewart ;-)

Ingredients.
6 tablespoons  butter, at room temperature, plus extra for pie plate
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons almond meal

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 large egg

1/2 cup  milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 to 1 1/2  baskets of strawberries, hulled and halved ( about 1 pound)

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Butter a 10-inch pie pan or 9-inch deep-dish pie pan.
Whisk flour, almond meal, baking powder and salt together in a small bowl.

In a larger bowl, beat butter and 1 cup sugar until pale and fluffy with an electric mixer, about 3 minutes.

Mix in egg. Now add milk and vanilla until just combined.
Add dry mixture gradually, mixing until just smooth.

 

Pour and spread into buttered pie plate. 

Arrange strawberries, cut side down, on top of batter, as closely as possible in a single layer.

 Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons sugar over berries.

Bake cake for 10 minutes then reduce oven temperature to 325°F and bake cake until golden brown and a tester comes out free of wet batter, about 50 minutes to 60 minutes.

Let cool in pan on a rack. Cut into wedges. Serve with lightly whipped cream.

Granola

Just the smell while baking makes making your own granola well worth it, it also allows you to customize it to fit your own tastes. My family does not like dried fruit in their granola, which to some seems crazy... I love to eat it straight from the tray soon after it comes out of the oven, yum !!

Preheat the oven to 350F.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

You can use a wide variety of nuts, grains and other stuff to make your granola tasty and healthy. Choose honey or maple syrup depending on the flavor you like. I found that adding a little brown sugar helps it to brown and adds to the flavor. You can leave it out and add a bit more honey or maple syrup. Don't worry if you don't have everything on this list, or if you don't like something, use what you have and what you like. You can double this recipe and use the slightly longer cooking time.

Mix together in a bowl:
2 cups rolled oats ( not the instant ones)
1/4 cup oat bran
1/4 cup wheat germ
1/4 cup flax seed meal
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup chopped or whole almonds
1/2 cup chopped or whole walnuts
1/2 cup chopped or whole pecans
2 tablespoons brown sugar

In a measuring cup mix together: 1/3 cup honey or maple syrup and 1/3 cup canola oil. Drizzle this mixture over the dry ingredients and combine well to coat the oats and nuts.


  

If the honey is very thick, heat it briefly( 20 seconds) with the oil in the microwave.

Spread thinly onto the baking sheet and place in the oven.
After 15 minutes, remove from the oven to stir the granola around, back into the oven for 5 more minutes if you are making a single batch, 10 more minutes for a double batch.
Watch it carefully in the last few minutes, this is when it can burn, a little darkness is OK though.

Once the granola has cooled add all your favorite dried fruits: apples, raisins, cranberries, cherries, currants, apricots, etc...
Use your granola to top your plain yogurt, add to your corn flakes or grapenuts, use it to top a fruit crisp or coffee cake, or eat it plain from the container as a snack !!
Store in an airtight container.

Easy jamming.

With summer fruit season well in swing I want to share this secret, making jam is easy!
You don't need to slave away in a hot kitchen over a huge canning kettle for hours with lots of specialized equipment to make great fruit jam.

All you need is a small amount of fresh fruit, sugar, a pan and a jar with a lid. You won't be canning this jam, just making enough for you and your family to enjoy for the next few months.
If it lasts that long ;-)

Here's the basic recipe one cup fruit to one half cup sugar. If you are using fruit that oxidizes add a teaspoon or so of lemon juice. Depending on your tastes you can add more or less sugar. Sugar does several things besides making the jam sweet, it helps it to jell and helps to preserve it.

Place your fruit and sugar in a sauce pan, you can mash the fruit a bit first to release the juices. On the stove turn the burner to medium high and begin to stir the mixture. Keep stirring until it comes to  boil you can't stir down. For a one cup of fruit recipe you only need it to boil 1 or 2 minutes. Berry jams are very quick, other fruit may need a minute of two more. Pour the jam into any recycled jar with a lid and refrigerate.

That's it, yes you have just made jam !! It's that simple. Feel free to combine fruits, berry combinations are great like strawberry/raspberry or blueberry/blackberry. Or try one of my favorites: plum and boysenberry. Peaches are fun to mix with berries...you get the idea. Use it on ice cream, plain yogurt, with glazes, cake filling or just on toast.

 Your homemade jam should store for at least 3 to 4 months in the fridge.