Summer Food Photos: Happy Solstice

Happy Solstice.

Enjoy the longest day of the year and all that beautiful food !!

Yellow plums and strawberries went into a fruit crisp I made last weekend.

Bob did a great job with this slow smoked salmon.

I love that our hens eggs are all different shades of brown.

Nothing says summer like strawberries, raspberries and blueberries.

Summer fruit tarts are so fun to make.

Lots of yellow plums !!

My friend, Susan B, came by the other day with two grocery bags half full of these cute little yellow plums. She rescued them from a tree that was being cut down in her neighborhood. She knew I would find something to do with them. And she was hoping to get mentioned in this blog ;-)

After sampling a half dozen, Bob and I determined that while sweet and juicy, their flavor was not complex. I needed to add something to the jam I was planning to make with some of them. Strawberries or raspberries would be too strong, apricots might have been OK but instead I decided to go with a lemon theme.

First I needed to get out the pits, this often stops folks from dealing with these smaller stone fruits. The pits are not easy to remove without making a mushy mess. I use what I call the mango method of pitting.
When I lived on Maui for a year, we had a mango tree in our back yard. A local showed me the best way to remove the seed.

First you need to find the seam.

Then cut on either side, slicing to make two clean sections.

Yes, I know there is all that flesh around the pit. With a mango you can just gnaw around the seed and cover your face in mango juice. With the plums, you are just plum out of luck, sorry.

We fed the pits to our hens, you can compost them too. Trust me this is the easiest and quickest way to pit these little plums.

Now back to the lemon theme...I decided to use lemon peel, lemon juice and a sprig of lemon verbena.

I was originally going to make this into a jam. As I cooked it the plum skins didn't look very appetizing and I was concerned they would be tough or stringy. I ended up straining the jam and making it into jelly instead.

I did save the skins and found they were fine on toast. 

Laurie's Lemon Plum Jelly

Ingredients

8 cups pitted yellow plums

8 cups cane sugar

juice and peel of one lemon

one sprig lemon verbena

1) Mix all the ingredients into a large pot. Leave to infuse overnight if possible.

2) Bring to a boil over medium heat. 

3) Stir frequently as it gets very foamy.

4) Remove the lemon verbena and continue to cook until the foaming slows down, about 5 to 8 minutes.

5) Strain the mixture, return to the pot and bring back up to a boil.

6) Pour into sterilized canning jars, seal and process in a hot water bath for 5 minutes.

I ended up with seven half pint jars of jelly.

I was going to make a batch of chutney with rest of my plums but Bob is lobbying for more of the jelly instead. I may be swayed that way since I am not sure how the skins would be in a chutney. We shall see.

I do plan to make a plum clafouti.

Thanks again, Susan, for all those plums, I have a jar of jelly waiting for you !!

A book recommendation: Cooked !!

I know that I usually stick with recipes or travel logs, but....

I have been reading this book, "Cooked" by Michael Pollen.

The subtitle is " A Natural History of Transformation".

I could wax poetic, gush and review it, but I won't.

If you cook, read this book !!

Asian Peanut Slaw

 The other day I was shopping at Trader Joe's, the "taste of the day" was this Asian peanut slaw, of course it used all kinds of pre-packaged veggies and sauce. It was tasty but I knew I could make it better !! I was lucky enough to have my very favorite sous-chef around to help with this creation.

Laurie's Asian Peanut Slaw

Ingredients

Slaw

8 cups finely chopped or shredded cabbage ( about 1 medium size cabbage)
2 cup grated carrots ( 4 medium size carrots)
1 1/2 cups peanuts
1 cup dried cranberries or golden raisins( my sous-chef hates raisins)
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro ( optional but recommended).

Dressing*

1/2 cup peanut sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1/4 cup canola oil
1 clove finely minced garlic
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper ( more if you want it very spicy)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

*Note: I made my own. You can use 1 cup of Trader Joe's Spicy Peanut Vinaigrette or something similar.

1) Finely chop or shred the 8 cups of cabbage.

2) Grate the carrots.

3) Mix the cabbage, carrots, peanuts and cranberries together in a bowl .

4) Finely mince the garlic and grate the ginger for the dressing.

5) In a small bowl add the rest of the ingredients for the dressing.

6) Toss the salad with the dressing and serve.

My extremely talented sous-chef pronounced this salad even better the next day when we served it with roll you own sushi.

Soy Citrus Dipping Sauce or Marinade

Here is the tofu I am marinating in this soy citrus sauce. 

This is a very simple dipping sauce/ marinade that you can use for a multitude of dishes.
It's great with fresh spring rolls, on rice or to marinate tofu, fish, chicken or beef. Add more oil and it make a great Asian salad dressing.

Soy Citrus Sauce

Ingredients
3 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
2/3 cups soy sauce
1/3 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon finely grated ginger root
1 teaspoon orange zest
1 tablespoon honey.

Note: It might be fun to use a tablespoon or two of marmalade in place of the honey !!

1) Grate the ginger ( freeze your fresh ginger root to keep it longer and make it very easy to grate) and orange zest into a bowl. I prefer to use a micro-plane or micro-grater to grate the ginger and orange peel.

2) Add soy sauce, sesame oil, orange juice and honey, mix well.

3) Store in the fridge.

My weekend through food...

This last weekend Bob's aunt celebrated her 80th birthday in style. 

We were lucky enough to be invited. 

Calistoga was the center of all the activities, most of which revolved around food. 

 Here is the quiche, smoked salmon and raw veggies, I served for picnic lunch on the drive up.

 Here was the view from that picnic lunch at Land's End in SF.

 We didn't eat here but I liked the sign...

We did eat here, on the main drag in Calistoga.

 Carl and Marty enjoy a superb seafood chowder...

 with tentacles.

 Amazing Asian salad with avo.

Another great salad...

This was a seafood cocktail.

We were too busy eating out main courses to document them. 

I shared the slow roasted pork ribs with Bob, they were to die for, very moist and flavorful !!

The next morning after watching some members of our crew floating about...

we had a champagne brunch at Solage resort.

This was some kind of huevos ranchos spin-off.

I enjoyed this cute version of pain perdu ( French toast) with a creme anglaise dipping sauce.

Tra vigne was our dinner destination in St. Helena.

Freshly made mozzarella was one of the appetizers.

This was some of the best grilled steak I have ever eaten !!

A flounder.

Pork tenderloin.

To top it all off The Birthday Cake !!

With a yummy orange layer and caramel cream cheese frosting, all homemade by two of the guest !!

Roasted Curried Chicken

This curried chicken dish has become a favorite around our house. I made it for company a while back, it was a big hit. I even made it ahead of time and took it on a recent camping trip. It lends itself to all kinds of situations. It is simple to make and can be adorned with many food toys.

You can even leave out the chicken and use the same recipe as part of a vegan feast.

There are two secrets to this recipe, of course they won't be secrets once I tell you...
First if at all possible make your own curry powder. It's simple once you have the ingredients.
You can make up a batch and store in a closed container for several months. 
It is so much more pungent and flavorful !!
If that just doesn't work for you this recipe will still be great with a mixture you buy in bulk from the store. The stuff in cans or bottles is pretty useless.
The second secret is the longer slower cooking. I cook the chicken for two plus hours at 350 F.
You can also try it in the slow cooker, my daughter did it that way, adding more liquid and it came out great.

The Curry Powder
This recipe will make enough for several dishes.

Ingredients 

• 2 tablespoons whole cumin seeds, toasted
• 2 tablespoons whole cardamom seeds, toasted
• 2 tablespoons whole coriander seeds, toasted
• 1/4 cup ground turmeric
• 1 tablespoon dry mustard
• 1 teaspoon cayenne

1) Place the whole seeds in a cast iron or other heavy bottom pan, one that will allow the seeds to be in a thin layer.

2) Toast the seeds over medium low heat, shaking the pan often until they turn color and smell good, 10 to 12 minutes.

3) Allow the seeds to cool.

4) Using a small coffee grinder or mini food processor, grind the seeds into a fine powder.

5) In a bowl add the ground seeds to the turmeric, dry mustard and cayenne, mix well.

Laurie's Roasted Curried Chicken

Ingredients
1 whole chicken cut into parts or an assortment of chicken parts, bone in, skin on.
2-3 tablespoons fresh curry powder
1 teaspoon salt
1-2 tablespoon olive or sesame oil
potatoes, carrots, squash, onions ( optional).

1) Preheat the oven to 350 F.

2) In a small bowl mix together the curry powder, salt and the oil to form a paste. 
You can also do this as a dry rub, just leave out the oil.

3) Place your rinsed and dried chicken parts in a lightly oiled glass baking dish. Smear or dust with the curry powder. Be very generous with the curry.

4) Add small potatoes ( large chunks of carrots, onions and winter squash are good too).

5) Cover  tightly with foil and bake for at least two hours. The chicken should fall off the bone.

6) You can serve it with rice, couscous, quinoa or flatbread. 

7) For condiments offer yogurt, peanut sauce, chutneys, fresh mint, soy sauce, lime slices...

Note: If you plan to try this in a slow cooker, add 1 cup water or coconut milk. Start it on the highest setting for several hours, them turn it to low for several more. You want it to fall off the bone just like in the baked version.

Here's Bob's comment on this recipe !!