Beet Hummus

I know it looks VERY pink, it is however, soooo tasty.
I had this beet hummus at a friend's party, as a beet lover I was so excited to find that lovely earthy taste in this hummus.

When I got home from the party I realized that I had some already cooked beets in my fridge.
I immediately set to work on this recipe.

Beet Hummus

Ingredients

2 cooked beets

1 clove garlic

2 tablespoons tahini

3/4 cup garbanzo beans

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

1) My beet were already cooked and had some vinegar on them so they were ready to go.

2) Chop one clove of garlic in the food processor.

3) Add the beets, 3/4 cup garbanzo beans, lemon juice, and tahini, blend until smooth.

4) Add the olive oil, salt and pepper, blend some more.

5) Taste and adjust seasonings.

This spread pairs very well with carrot ginger soup !!

Laurie's Very Simple Carrot Ginger Soup

This recipe is dedicated to a dear friend whose birthday is this week. She was the first person to send me a recipe for carrot ginger soup, it helped her to recover from chemotherapy many years ago. (Ginger is very settling to the stomach.)Thankfully she is still around to celebrate her birthday :-)

I had a version of this soup recently when I lunched at Green's, that inspired me to make it myself. I have become quite the pureed soup aficionado since that first recipe crossed my path.

This version is so creamy and full of ginger flavor.

Laurie's Very Simple Carrot Ginger Soup

Ingredients

1 large onion
1 tablespoon olive oil
6-8 large carrots
fresh ginger ( about an inch long)
soup stock or water

1) Chop and saute your onion until it begins to caramelize.

I just threw the onion in the pot, it has not started to cook yet.

2) Chop the carrots into large coins.

 3) Slice about an inch of fresh ginger into thin slices.

4) Once the onion has cooked to your satisfaction, add the carrots, ginger and enough water or soup stock to cover the carrots.

5) Simmer until the carrots are soft and mushy.

6) Once it has cooled down, remove most of the ginger before you puree the mixture, otherwise it will be too strong, you can always add it back in. I ended up with 3 or 4 slices of ginger. Add salt and pepper to taste. You can also add more liquid if it is too thick.

7) Reheat gently to serve and top with a teaspoon of yogurt and sprinkle of paprika.

Cape Gooseberries, Husk Cherries and Strawberries, a fruity post.

A while back a friend of ours had a fruiting plant in her yard we had never heard of. Of course we were very curious, she plucked a funny paper lantern from the plant. She removed the paper to reveal a small orange yellow fruit that resembled a small cherry tomato. I tasted it and immediately fell in love with that cape gooseberry. We took some cuttings and after a few failed attempts we had our very own huge vine growing in the corner of the backyard.

When I describe this strange fruit, I liken it to a tomatillo that married a cherry tomato.

The flowers give it away as a nightshade.

To harvest them, you wait until they are ready to fall off the plant. I collected this bowl of them the other day.

I have used them in salads, mostly I just eat them out of hand. I did make a jam, it was surprising to find some many recipes on line for cape gooseberry jam. It was seedy but fun.

I made another rendition with cinnamon, clove and allspice which I strained. That one was amazing, it was patterned after a cherry tomato condiment I tasted at Green's.

We have never seen cape gooseberries for sale...until last Sunday. We were at the Live Oak farmer's market where we saw something that looked just like our funny fruit except they were smaller. The sign called them husk cherries or golden-berries and claimed they tasted tropical. We were offered a taste...that sold us.

In this photo the new fruit is on the right, smaller and lighter in color. THE FLAVOR IS AMAZING!!
It is quite different from our cape gooseberry, tropical is a good description.

You locals can buy these great treats at the Lonely Mountain stand at the farmer's market!!

Now for a rant about strawberries.

Strawberries grow in abundance in our area, the plants last for about two years and then must be replaced. As with other fruit, growers often choose varieties more for the ease of growing and shipping than for the flavor. We have noticed this to be true even with our local farmer's market berries.

As strawberry connoisseurs we prefer the Seascape and Chandler varieties for their flavor and soft texture. The current Albions grown by a lot of farmers are tougher and less flavorful. Locally you can get Seascapes at Windmill Farms at the farmer's markets. I have heard rumors that Swanton has Chandlers, we will check it out.

When you go to buy strawberries at your local farmer's market or store ask about the variety and let them know which ones you prefer.

Laurie's Potatoes

That's what Bob said I should call my latest creation. It's a play off my brother's dish which we call Taylor's potatoes.

This is a super simple, easy to adapt roasted potato dish that works well as a dinner side dish or main course or as great breakfast potatoes.

Laurie's Potatoes

Ingredients

4-6 large yukon gold or other interesting potatoes, use more if they are small
1 red bell pepper
1 red or yellow onion
1 zucchini
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

1) Preheat the oven to 400 F. Cover a large baking sheet with foil or parchment paper, spray or brush lightly with olive oil.

2) Chop all the vegetables into small size chunks.

3) Toss together in a bowl with a tablespoon olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste.

4) Spread evenly on the prepared baking sheet.

5) Bake at 400 F for 35 to 50 minutes, until the vegetables start to brown on the edges. I like to stir them around every 15 minutes or so to prevent sticking. The time with vary with the size of your chunks and how crispy you like them.

6) Serve immediately and hope you made enough for leftover !!

I served them with grilled salmon and my favorite preserved lemon yogurt sauce.

Feel free to add any vegetable you have on hand, add fresh herbs, garnish with fresh tomatoes and black olives or sour cream.

Lunch at Green's

Today I went to the famous Green's Restaurant in San Francisco to have lunch with my friend (and fellow food blogger) and the delightful women in her family. It was a birthday lunch for her.
We were greeted by this beautiful huge bouquet.

To drink we had the black currant lemonade, not too sweet, but also not a lot of black currant flavor.

I began with the carrot ginger soup, lovely and rich, the chives on top were a nice touch.

My friend started with the fresh spring rolls. They must have a machine to slice some many vegetable in that julienne strip !! She pronounced them crisp and tasty.

My main course was another appetizer, two pupusas stuffed with squash blossom and cheese.

Here's what the rest of our table had:

Everyone was happy with their choices and we all had room for dessert.

We were lucky enough to have table by the window, with amazing views of the huge America's Cup boats and the Golden Gate Bridge.

After lunch we strolled over the Reader's Bookstore  run by the Friend's of San Francisco Public Libraries. We all donated to the cause !!!

Rustic summer fruit tart, so easy !!

Recently my brother was here for a quick visit, he loves desserts. I had some very ripe Santa Rosa plums and lots of puff pastry in my freezer. Time for this very simple fresh fruit tart.

The hardest part of this recipe is finding frozen puff pastry in the summer. For some reason Trader Joe's thinks that puff pastry is a seasonal item. Well, I fooled them and stocked up in December. I am guessing that other stores may have different ideas about seasonality. Plus my brother claims puff pastry is not that hard to make, but for now find the frozen stuff.

I prefer to defrost puff pastry in the fridge overnight. You can also do it straight from the freezer to your kitchen counter. The box should give you tell you how long it will take.
You will want to have everything ready to work with before you unwrap the puff pastry. If it gets too warm it is hard to work with. Just chill it for a few minutes in the fridge.

Rustic Fruit Tart

Ingredients

1 sheet defrosted puff pastry
12-14 plums ( peaches, nectarines and other stone fruit work well too)
2-4 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 egg (for the egg wash)

1) Preheat oven to 400 F. Get a large baking sheet and a piece of parchment to fit it.
2) Prepare the plums, cutting slices on either side of the pit. (I describe this technique in my post about yellow plums.)
3) Make the egg wash by beating one whole egg.
4) Remove the puff pastry from the package and place it on the parchment.
5) Roll out the pastry, fold the edges.

 6)  Brush with the egg wash.

7) Sprinkle with 1-2 tablespoons sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon.

8) Place the plums on the pastry, cut side up. Use a fork to press the edges down.

9) Sprinkle on the remaining sugar.

10) Bake at 400 F for 25 to 30 minutes.

This is best served warm and fresh from the oven. The pastry will get soft if you save it and reheat it.

This make a great breakfast served with yogurt or a not too sweet dessert served with whipped cream or  ice cream.

Basil, it's not just about pesto...

It is officially basil season with huge, leafy bunches showing up for cheap at local farmer's markets.
When most people think of basil, they think pesto, this garlicky pasta sauce is certainly a staple in our home.

Since basil is so abundant right now, let's think outside the sauce...

I used almost a whole bunch the other day when I made a variation of our favorite green soup, what a great addition. That big basil flavor went well with the other greens giving them a great summer taste.

Here are two more recipes that highlight this leafy herb: caprese salad and basil ice cream ( yes I did say basil ice cream, don't knock it until you try it !!).

Basil leaves are also great in sandwiches, on burgers, on pizzas, in fresh spring rolls and green or kale salads.

Capreses Salad
As the tomatoes show up at the farmer's market I get a craving for caprese salad.
"Caprese" means in the style of Capri, a very cool island off the coast of Italy. I remember swimming in a grotto there as a teenager, the water was an amazing color of turquoise, but I digress.

Caprese salad is simply fresh mozzarella slices, fresh tomato slices and basil, at least that is the basic recipe.

Here's how I made my caprese salad recently for a dinner with my brother.
Ingredients
4 large lettuce leaves
2 large balls, fresh mozzarella
1 clove finely chopped garlic
10 small tomatoes or 5 large ones
1-2 tablespoons good olive oil
1-2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar


1) I started with a bed of lettuce on a large plate.

2) Then I washed about 10 nice big basil leave and coarsely chopped them.
3) I sliced 10 small tomatoes from my brother's garden.
4) I finely chopped on clove of garlic
5) Sliced 2 big balls of fresh mozzarella.

6) I arranged all the ingredients on the bed of lettuce : mozzarella, tomatoes, garlic then basil.

7) I sprinkled the olive oil and balsamic vinegar over the top.

Here's my brother ready to dive into that caprese salad.

Basil Ice Cream with Balsamic Boysenberry Sauce

I was intrigued when a friend mentioned she had made basil ice cream. I asked for the recipe, changed it to suit my tastes and voila !!

Ingredients

For the ice cream*

2 cup milk
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
2- 4 egg yolks ( depending on how rich you want it)
1 tablespoon vanilla
15-20 basil leaves

* Feel free to use your favorite basic ice cream recipe and infuse it with the basil leaves.

For the topping

2 cups boysenberries ( raspberries, blackberries or strawberries will work too.)
2-3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar.


1) Place the milk and cream in a pot on the stove at medium heat. Bring to just under a boil.

2) Add the basil leaves, stir, cover and allow to steep for 20 minutes. I would recommend tying the basil leave together with a bit of string, I found them difficult to fish out. Remove the basil leaves from the milk/cream mixture.

3) While the mixture is steeping, beat together in a bowl, the egg yolks, sugar and vanilla extract.

4) Heat the milk/cream mixture up slightly over low heat.

5) Add a tablespoon( up to four tablespoons) at a time to the egg mixture, beat in well each time.

6) Slowly pour the egg mixture into the milk/cream with the heat on low. Stir constantly.

7) Once all the yolk mixture is added cook for several minutes until it clings to the spoon and thickens. This usually take a few minutes.

8) Remove from stove, cool a bit before storing in the fridge until completely chilled.

Boysenberry Balsamic Topping

2 cups boysenberries ( raspberries, blackberries or strawberries will work too.)
2-3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar.

1) Place all three ingredients into a bowl.

2) Toss gently and allow to sit for 20 minutes.


Make the ice cream, allow to firm up in the freezer, then scoop and serve with the topping.

You will be amazed at how good this is !!