Pickles

My friend Marc sent me this story that I really enjoyed. I think my favorite pickles in the Boston area are the homemade ones at the East Coast Grill. I wish I could eat them every day.

Tempeh salad

Katy was visiting last week, all the way from Oregon. I was craving tempeh, maybe because Katy and I used to live and eat in co-ops together. We made a salad with tempeh strips, apples, cucumber, arugula, and herbs. The dressing was made with a spoonfull of miso, white wine vinegar, chives, s&p.

Sweet potato and stuffed pear

I loved baked sweet potatos, just plain, or with a little butter and salt. I baked two a few night ago, and had one for dinner, and took one for lunch.

I also made baked pears, stuffed with raisins and pecans, and sprinkled with some brown sugar and grated nutmeg. It was a random experiment, but turned out well. I halved the pears, scooped out the seeds, and stuffed the core, and baked them at 350 or 375 for about 30 minutes. I recommend covering the dish with foil - my raisins were sort of burnt by the end without the foil. I poured fresh milk over one of the pears to eat with my sweet potato. It was kind of a fall dinner, but edible just the same, even in summer.

Summer dinner in Maine (guest chef Julia!)

I visited my friends in Maine recently, and these trips tend to revolve around food and bodies of water. This trip was no exception. We went swimming at a covered bridge outside of Portland, and on the way home stopped at a farm stand with local meats and produce for sale. Julia made amazing dinner with the best potato salad ever (I know it has mustard and tarragon - Julia, can you post the recipe?), a salad with lemon dressing, and steak. Definitely edible.

For dessert, Julia introduced me and Lindsay to the best combination: Fresh strawberries dipped in sour cream and brown sugar. I have told people about this, thinking it was completely novel and brand new, but I guess it is a known thing. Have you heard of it? I never had. So good!

Lemon Cuke

Terri gave me a lemon cucumber from the garden at her farm... which I immediately dropped on the floor. It split open, and Jess and I split the it on the spot. Henry-dog ate the tough rind, so all three of us crunched in unison. This is the first lemon cuke I have tasted - delicious!

Yogurt with Strawberries

I have a serious milk surplus, and I have been overdue for some yogurt making. Last night I finally got down to business. It is really easy, so there is no excuse for my recent laziness. There were some strawberries in my fridge that were not looking so hot, and I decided to makes these into a simple jam for fruit on the bottom yogurt.

I just sliced the strawberries into a pan and put a handful of vanilla-sugar over them, and turned the heat on medium. That's it, although I did occasionally give the pan a shake. The sugar and the juices formed a delicious syrup, and i turned off the heat when it looked thick and sticky.



I remember reading somewhere that yogurt should always be flavored after it is finished, not during the process, but I didn't really think a spoonful of the strawberries on the bottom could hurt anything. There were enough berries for half the yogurt cups, and that seemed like a good test anyhow.



This morning I popped the post-incubated yogurts in the fridge, and ate a strawberry one on my way out of the house. I think what I read was correct - the top was great, but where the yogurt was touching the strawberries, it had kind of a curds and whey gross texture. The strawberries were so delicious that I didn't really care. Next time I will add the berry jam on top at the very end.

One last interesting note - to make yogurt, the milk has to be heated up to about 180, and then cooled to 112 (then add the starter). I was skeptical of this, thinking that it was just to kill something in the milk that I didn't really care about killing. So I looked it up in trusty old Harold McGee's book, On Food and Cooking. It is actually important to heat and cool the milk because it changes the physical property of the milk, and makes it more elastic, more viscous, and less likely to separate to a curds and whey texture.

Basically, I learned from that and the jam thing that I should follow the directions and not be so skeptical. But directions make more sense with some explination!

note 11 June: Kelly had a strawberry yogurt today, she stirred it up - no gross texture! maybe it just needed to chill longer

Cold brew fever

I read this article in the NYT a couple of weeks ago. (sorry, it is only on Times Select now, but maybe you subscribe?) I immediately alerted Carla, who replied, "mine is already brewing!" So I decided to make my own finally last night. The straining method of sandwiching a coffee filter between two strainers worked really well. What did not work well was the amount of coffee I used - I needed probably about twice as much. So I just drank the coffee this morning straight up, I did not dilute it like Carla's nectar, or as the article recommends.

Also, I am missing something from my kitchen - a pitcher! I used the coffee carafe, and then strained it into a bowl and poured it back into the carafe for keeping in the fridge.

I think the second time will be the charm, but this round is totally imbibable.

Guest Chef Carla: Cold brew coffee!

From loyal reader Carla:

"Fight Global Warming, Make Cold Brewed Coffee!

As the weather and the Earth heat up it is important to stay cool while also reducing your carbon footprint. I have discovered the answer to our Global Warming problem… cold brew coffee! This coffee will cool both you and the earth down. Unplugged your coffee maker, turn off your kettle, just some cold water and ground coffee is enough to quench your summer caffeine craving and no electricity is needed! Unplugged your AC, this coffee is enough to keep you cool.

Simply combine in a pitcher or other similar container, 12 oz of ground coffee and 2.5 quarts of water. Stir it up and let it sit for at least 12 hours. Then double strain the coffee. I do this by using a strainer with a coffee filter in it and then pouring the coffee through the top of my drip coffee maker. This ensures that I get every single ground out. All of this essentially creates a coffee concentrate, so when you want to have a glass just put half of the coffee concentrate with half water and of course lots of ice. The coffee lasts more than a week in the refrigerator. (Maybe longer, I just haven't had the opportunity to test it longer than that, because I always drink it up). Also, unlike coffee you brew hot and then chill, this isn't bitter at all. "

Thanks, Carla! I copied you, but should have followed your recipe. See the next post