Late Summer in the Garden and Peach Tart

I never want to wish summer away, because I love so much about these sultry, sunny days, with brilliant flowers in bloom (top) and friendly green visitors in the pond (above). Plus I remember oh too well, the frigid white Ohio winter expanses of ice and snow, when I would longingly look out at my patio and remember summer days, watching the fish in the pond, the sun on the flowers, the doggie (Rio, below) at my feet. It has been, however, an incredibly hot and humid season, and I'm happily thinking welcome thoughts of fall. Autumn has, actually, always been my favorite. Crisp, clear days. Blue skies. Brilliant reds and oranges and yellows. The crunch of leaves underfoot. Fires in the firepit. Football. New theatre season. Bubbling soups on the stove.

And I'm suddenly seeing signs of a changing season everywhere. The sweet corn is not quite so good. Fields of corn and soybeans are slowly turning yellow. My morning glories are this close to blooming (finally). Black walnuts are dropping off my neighbor's tree (onto my roof in the middle of the night, ker-plunk). Mums are breaking out in bloom. The stars look brighter. Boys are donning cleats and pads and heading out on the football field. And all you see are "back to school" sales everywhere.

But last night Barista and Chip and I celebrated the end of summer with two fabulous things -- summer pasta (see previous post for recipe) which I made with some amazing yellow heirloom tomatoes (soooo good!) and an Ohio peach tart with a gluten-free sugar cookie crust. Hooo baby, it was great. We gobbled it all up and then went to see an old favorite band (that I grew up with in the '70s) outdoors called McGuffey Lane. Pretty nice late summer day if I do say so!

Here's the tart recipe:

Peach Tart with Gluten Free Sugar Cookie Crust

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cup gluten free flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

Cream butter and sugar together. Add egg and vanilla and blend well. Add flour and salt. Form into a disk, wrap in waxed paper and chill in fridge for at least a half hour. Remove, roll out between sheets of waxed paper, about 1/4 inch thick. Place dough in glass 9-inch pie plate.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake dough for 10-12 minutes until beginning to set.

Meanwhile, boil a pot of water. Plop 3-4 fresh Ohio peaches in water for 30 seconds or so. Remove with slotted spoon and slip skins off the peaches.

Slice peaches. Toss with 2 tablespoons sugar, a squirt of fresh lemon juice, and a dash of cinnamon and dash of nutmeg.

When dough is beginning to set, remove from oven. Pour peaches into crust. Return to oven for 15-20 minutes or until crust is golden and completely cooked, and peaches are bubbling. Remove from oven. Let cool slightly. Serve with vanilla frozen yogurt.

Picture Day and Salmon Tacos

Take one gorgeous late-summer day (with much lower humidity thank you very much) and add to it dozens of strapping young men in their new football uniforms, and you have a picture-perfect combo. Today was "photo day" for the football team -- they're looking really tough, above, and a little more relaxed below. I was fortunate enough to be able to pop out of work for an hour to take a few photos for facebooking and blogging. . . and ultimately scrapbooking. Hear me loud and clear, I am not a scrapbooker. I find even the rows and rows of scrap-b supplies in stores to be annoying. But I've decided to create a simple scrapbook for Chip's senior year of high school, so I'm already starting to collect stuff to put in it. (This is primarily fueled by guilt for not creating some sort of memory book tracking his entire high school career.) Oh well.

After such an exhausting afternoon, Barista and I made a simple but incredibly good dinner -- grilled salmon tacos. Using a "grill pan" -- a pan with holes in it that you place on top of your charcoal grill -- you quickly grill spice-rubbed salmon, red and green peppers and onions, and nestle them in charred corn tortillas.

Gluten Free Grilled Salmon Tacos

1 salmon fillet, skin removed, sliced into 1 x 3 inch pieces
1/2 green pepper, sliced
1/2 red pepper, sliced
1/2 onion sliced

1 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon cumin
Dash of garlic salt
Dash of lemon pepper
2 teaspoons brown sugar
drizzle of balsamic vinegar and olive oil

4 corn tortillas, each drizzled with a little bit of olive oil
Fresh salsa and sour cream

Place salmon and vegetables in shallow dish. Sprinkle with spices and brown sugar; drizzle with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Let marinate in fridge for 1/2 hour or so.

Prepare charcoal grill. When coals are hot, place grill pan (sprayed with Pam) on grill. Add salmon mixture. Stir fry salmon over coals until fish is cooked and peppers and onions are slightly charred. Remove to platter.

Remove grill pan. Place corn tortillas directly on hot grill. When beginning to char, flip and heat the other side. Remove.

Fill tortillas with the salmon mixture. Top with fresh salsa and sour cream if desired.

First Moonflower, Fiery Sunset, Boys of Fall....

There's a change coming, I can feel it. There's a shift ahead. Something's different in the air. Not sure I'm up for it. Yes I am. Noooo, I'm not! Yes, yes, yes. OK. OK.

For one thing, today my moonflower finally bloomed -- a sure signal that late summer is upon us, and fall is just around the corner. The gorgeous, snow-white flower popped out (unrolled actually) in about a 15-minute stretch while I was doing a 45-minute "strength" yoga workout on my screened porch. I kept glancing out at the moonflower vine, and sure enough, there it was -- the first, pearly white bloom!

Add to that, my niece is leaving for college on Tuesday. Barista and I ran into her last evening in a parking lot at the bistro at the bottom of our hill. . . under an unbelievable, fiery orange sky (top photo). I'm going to miss Queen J a lot when she heads to Marshall in just 2 short days, so it was only fitting that mother nature provided a heck of a setting for a serendipituous encounter with our girl.

And that was on the heels of yet another ya-ya moment -- a family picnic that kicked off the football season. Chip is a senior on the football team (after missing his entire junior season due to a torn ACL), and they've just wrapped up two weeks of "2-a-days" in this oppressive heat. (See all the senior boys above, and below being cheesy at the dinner table.) The event last night was a great splash for "The Boys of Fall" (check out that Kenny Chesney video on youtube -- be sure to have a kleenex handy). Around here football isn't just a sport, it's not just a game. It's a religion. It gets in your blood. And for the boys on the team, it's something they will live and breathe, they'll play their hearts out for this, their senior season. They'll mentor their younger "brothers." They know it's their last year together, before they head off to all sorts of different places, different colleges. But for now, it's all about their moment on the field.

And furthermore, Barista and I went up to see my parents today (Grandpa and Barista, below) -- always great to hang out with my mom and dad, as this is the year they both turn 80! A few burgers on the grill, and my green bean salad and a nice visit on a gorgeous Sunday -- that's what it's all about!

So all of this is great stuff, right? But . . . I am slightly melancholy. Lots of changes, goodbyes and final-football-seasons are on our doorstep. The whole of it could make anyone want some comfort food, right? Or maybe a stiff drink. So, here's recipe for a Minted Vodka Lemonade to ease your mind, comfort your soul. And use up some of the gangly mint in your garden:

Minted Vodka Lemonade

1 cup packed mint leaves, chopped
2/3 cup sugar
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 1/2 cups vodka

Combine mint and sugar in large bowl. Stir in lemon juice and vodka. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes. Strain mixture into pitcher. Fill six glasses with crushed ice. Pour vodka mixture over. Place a stem of mint and a slice of lemon in each glass. Enjoy!

Do You See What I See?

See what's hiding in my flower pot? Take a close look. Guess he likes the cool, shady spot next to the pond. . . and maybe he thinks the doggie won't find him there and nudge him into the water (and she doesn't). Cool shade and refreshing pond water must have felt good today -- it is hot, hot, hot here in Ohio and OMG so humid you can hardly stand it. Forget hairstyles; it's frizz weather. I've been doing a great yoga workout (downloaded on my iPhone) on my screened porch in the late afternoons after work -- it's an awesome workout. . . but talk about hot yoga!

Tonight Chip was with some football buddies after 2-a-days so Barista and I made one of our favorite dishes -- Summer Pasta! It's the quintessential summer-time recipe (thanks to my friend Loretta) -- fresh Ohio tomatoes, fresh garlic, olive oil and fresh herbs served over pasta with a sprinkling of shaved parm. Here's what you do:

Summer Pasta

4 oz gluten free pasta (I use Le Veneziene corn pasta)

4 fresh Ohio tomatoes, diced
2 T olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
large handful of fresh herbs (basil, mint, parsley, rosemary), choppped
Salt and pepper to taste

shaved parmesan

Combine tomatoes, olive oil, garlic and herbs; add salt and pepper. Let sit at room temperature while you prepare the rest of the dish.

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain. Place in large bowl. Pour tomato mixture over pasta. Place on serving dishes and sprinkle with shaved parmesan cheese.

Queen J Send-Off and Grilled Shrimp and Polenta, Grilled Peaches over Frozen Yogurt

My niece, Queen J, (that's her above, right) is heading to Marshall University in a few weeks. Our little families (she and her mom, me and Barista and sometimes son Chip) have a Sunday night tradition of ending-the-weekend-and-getting-ready-for-a-new-week. During the "school year" -- starting when J was in middle school! -- we watched Desperate Housewives and Brothers and Sisters. During summers we've found other excuses to hang out -- one sultry summer, for instance, was a whole series of '80s movies, including St Elmo's Fire (oh, that girl loves Rob Lowe), Dirty Dancing and Footloose. Other times we'll just sit around the firepit and talk and eat caramel ice cream. Tonight we gave J a little send-off before she heads to West Virginia and Barista heads back to Ohio University. She's going to love college, but I know Chip will miss her at the high school (she was homecoming queen and he was class president) . . . and I'll really miss our Sunday nights!

So, I made garlicky shrimp and polenta on the grill, topped with a bruschetta-like topping of tomatoes, garlic, olive oil and herbs. Truly yummy; even Chip liked it and he's not a gigantic shrimp fan. For dessert, I grilled juicy peaches with amaretto and brown sugar and served it over vanilla frozen yogurt. The whole meal just yelled, "It's summertime!"

Grilled Shrimp and Polenta with Bruschetta Topping

Shrimp:
1 lb raw jumbo shrimp (or tiger prawns), peeled and deveined
juice of 1 lemon
2 T olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 t chili powder

Mix together and let marinate at least 1/2 hour in fridge.

Polenta:
1 tube refrigerated polenta, sliced into 1/2 inch slices
olive oil

Lightly coat polenta slices with olive oil.

Bruschetta topping:
2 tomatoes, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 T olive oil
several handfuls of fresh herbs, particularly basil and mint, maybe a little rosemary, chopped

Parmesan cheese (shredded, not grated)

Combine tomatoes, garlic, oil and herbs and let stand in bowl at room temp.

Prepare charcoal grill. Spray grill thingy with Pam.

Thread shrimp on metal skewers. When grill is hot, place polenta rounds on grill. Cover. Flip when they start charring, which could take about 5 min. Once you've flipped the polenta, place the shrimp skewers on the grill. Grill for 2 min, brush with marinade, flip and grill for another 2 min, or until shrimp are pink and done. When polenta is slightly charred on the second side, remove all to platter.

On serving plates, place 2 polenta rounds, 4 shrimp and a spoonful or more of bruschetta topping. Sprinkle with a little shredded parmesan. Enjoy!


Grilled Peaches and Amaretto over Frozen Yogurt

Take 5-6 ripe peaches from your farmers' market and plunk them in boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove with slotted spoon, rub off peel, cut in half, remove pit and slice.

In large bowl, place peach slices, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1 T amaretto, 1 T lemon juice, dash of cinnamon. Toss well. Layer 3 large sheets of alum foil (or if you were smart, you'd buy the heavy duty foil). Place peach mixture in foil and seal well. Really well because you don't want the juice to leak out on the hot coals, meaning you'd lose out on that lovely carmel-y juice on your ice cream!

Place packet on your hot grill (after you've eaten the shrimp) and cover grill. Let cook for 5-10 min or until you think it's bubbly. Remove from heat and empty foil packet in bowl. When peachers are slightly cooled (warm not boiling!) serve over vanilla frozen yogurt. Mmmmm.

Summer and Fresh Mint Ice Cream

What does summer mean to you? To my little family it means trips to the farmers market, long sunny days outdoors, fresh basil and tomatoes, home-made ice cream. . . and most of all our annual trip to northern Michigan. We rent a 1920s-era log house (that's the view from the dock, above) and meet up with a whole host of extended family members at a beautiful lake not far from the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. There are cousins and parents and kids and uncles and siblings to total about 25 of us in several houses around the lake.

We meet up on boats, by jet ski (like the teenage cousins, above) or around a big campfire at night, where we inevitably play charades or a game called Hollywood. As the sun slips down beyond the lake on the horizon, the parents sip wine and the teenagers (see them, below) make s'mores and go for an evening swim, perhaps piling into cars to head for the 1950s-ish drive-in movie theatre, the Cherry Bowl, to catch a late night show. It is perhaps the perfect week of the whole summer.

Now that we're back home in Ohio, I captured a little bit of summer magic by making home-made mint chocolate chip ice cream with mint plucked from my little herb garden by my pond. It's gluten free and summery-good!

Fresh mint chocolate chip ice cream

3 cups fresh mint leaves, rinsed and dried on paper towels
1 cup milk
2 cups heavy cream (divided)
2/3 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
5 egg yolks
6 ounces semisweet chocolate or dark chocolate, chopped fine

Put the mint leaves in a heavy saucepan with 1 cup of milk and 1 cup of cream. Heat until steaming but don't boil. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, pour the remaining 1 cup of cream into a medium size bowl, set in a larger bowl filled with ice.

Strain the milk / mint mixture into a separate bowl, pressing the mint leaves to get the most liquid out of them. Return the mixture to the saucepan. Add sugar and salt. Heat until steaming, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat.

Whisk egg yolks in a medium bowl. Slowly pour the heated milk cream mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly so as not to cook the eggs. Return to saucepan.

Stir this mixture over medium heat until the mixture thickens and coats the back of the spoon, about 10 min. You should be able to run your finger across the back of the spoon and leave a trail in the custard.

Remove from heat, and pour through a sieve into the cold cream (over the ice bath) to stop the cooking.

Chill mixture for a couple of hours. Freeze in your ice cream maker. Fold in chopped chocolate. Place in your freezer in air-tight container until firm. Enjoy!

Farmers Market Lasagna with Basil Lemon Sauce

Rio the Dog has become a frog hunter. She stealthily patrols the tiny pond next to our patio, sniffing out the two small bullfrogs that call it home. Once spotted, she pounces and joyfully watches them leap into the water.

Tonight Barista and I made a gluten free farmers market lasagna -- a beautiful, summery dish with a lemony basil sauce. It was the perfect follow-up to our trip to the cheap movie house -- Letters to Juliet for $1.50 each!

Farmers Market Lasagna

6 gluten free lasagna noodles

1 zucchini, sliced
1 yellow squash, sliced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
2 Italian chicken sausage links, sliced
2 tomatoes, sliced

8 oz part skim ricotta cheese
1/2 box frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry.

1 cup mozzarella cheese

Juice from 2 lemons
3 T olive oil
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Cook gluten free lasagna noodles, drain and set aside. Saute zucchini, yellow squash and red bell pepper; set aside. Saute chicken sausage; set aside. Mix ricotta and spinach together; season with salt and pepper and a dash of nutmeg.

In blender, combine lemon juice, olive oil, basil, garlic and parmesan cheese.

In gresed, 9-inch square baking dish, place 1 T of basil sauce in bottom. Layer 3 lasagna noodles, 1/2 of spinach mixture, 1/2 of sauteed vegetables, 1/2 of sausage, 1/2 of tomato slices, half of basil sauce, 1/2 cheese. Repeat layers. Bake 30 min at 350 degrees or until hot and bubbly.

Perfect Summer Day. . . and Unbelievable Chili Sweet Corn

Oh, it's a bit warm here in Central Ohio -- in the mid-90s. But as they say, it's not the heat it's the humidity. Muggy it is. Really muggy. Like all-you-can-do-is-sweat-while-your-hair-frizzes muggy.

Nevertheless, it was a brilliant day around here. Son Chip had a 7 on 7 football "passing" scrimmy for 6 hours. I doused him with sunscreen, filled a huge canteen with ice water and packed him lunch before he headed to a local college with his high school team and about 14 other schools. He is annoyed with how many times I reminded him to DRINK LOTS OF WATER! Barista and I watched him for awhile from the shade of a tiny tree, and then headed out to do some pre-apartment shopping for her senior year of college. Serendipitously we parked near a mom-and-daughter garage sale on the weekend before they moved to Massachusetts. We lucked out on: a checkered mother-of-pearl bathroom set for Barista. I bought a little metallic hall table that looks fabulous in my foyer AND a pair of Italian suede boots with rabbit fur cuffs (for $5 !!!!). Who cares if it's hotter than blazes, I can imagine those boots at a winter cabin in the snow!

We also hit the local farmers market, snaring some really nice sweet corn, tomatoes, green peppers and grass-fed hamburger patties. Our gluten free dinner menu? Grilled hamburgers with cream cheese/jalapeno (from my garden) topping on buns (my kids) and gluten free Udi whole grain bread (me). And the best corn on the cob I've ever had. Seriously. My whole life I've enjoyed fresh Ohio corn that's been boiled and plopped on a plate, ready to be doused in butter and salt. Barista tried something different tonight -- brined sweet corn that's char-grilled and topped with a chili/cumin butter. All I can say is OMG.

Here's the instructions:

Husk 4 ears of sweet corn (or more, just adjust other ingreds). Fill a large pot or bowl half way with water. Add 1/4 cup salt and 1/4 cup sugar; stir until dissolved. Add corn and let sit for a half hour or more.

Prep charcoal grill. Remove corn from brine, place on grill rack above hot coals. Cover grill, but uncover about every minute or two to turn the corn (it chars easily). Continue cooking for about 10-12 minutes until corn is tender and lightly charred. Serve with chili-cumin butter:

Bring 3 tablespoons of butter to room temp. Fold in 1/2 teaspoon of Mexican hot chili powder and 1/4 teaspoon of cumin.

First CSA Box and Garlic Scapes!

Last Wednesday I got my first CSA box from Wayward Seed Farm! This is the first year I've signed up for the weekly surprise box of produce, and feel smugly good about doing my part to support a local farm. The box (actually it was a nice canvas bag with Wayward's logo inked on the side) contained: fresh (gorgeous) strawberries, tarragon, lettuce, a big bag of fresh peas still in their pods. . . and some twisty green things the farmer told me were Garlic Scapes. He said they're young garlic shoots and taste a little like a garlicky green bean.

I went out on my patio in the heavy Ohio humidity and shelled the peas, nestled so nicely in their green pods, under the watchful eye of the little bullfrog in my tiny pond. I decided to try a spring-y gluten free risotto with the peas and garlic scapes, along with some pencil-thin asparagus I got from the handsome farmer at our local farmers market:

Spring Risotto with Peas, Asparagus and Mint

1 cup fresh shelled peas
1 bunch thin asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 garlic scapes, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 cup Arborio rice
3 T white wine
32 oz box chicken broth

1/3 cup chopped fresh mint and/or basil
1/3 cup parmesan cheese

In 1 T olive oil, sauté vegetables until slightly tender (don't overcook). Set aside. In large skillet, heat 1 T olive oil, add rice and stir to coat. Add wine and let sizzle. Add chicken broth, about a half cup at a time, stirring frequently, until broth is absorbed. Keep repeating with broth until rice is almost tender (15 min?). Add vegetables to rice, cook with more broth until tender and liquid is mostly absorbed. Add mint and basil. Add parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

Memorial Day Brunch

What a glorious weekend! Daughter Barista is home from college and we packed in a bunch of summer-like activities -- our town's Saturday farmer's market, the annual salmon roast at a local shop, even laying out in the sunny backyard only to watch our freckles pop out across our noses and for some odd reason, on my knees. But Sunday morning was all about brunch. My family came for a noon-ish outdoor brunch, with daisies on the tables and the happy dog wandering around looking for hand-outs. The menu? A garden vegetable crustless (and gluten free) quiche, ham and asparagus bundles cooked on the grill, English muffins toasted on the grill, sliced fruit, and cherry-chicken sausage bought from a farmer at the market. Coffee, iced tea and mimosas rounded out the yummy meal. Here's the recipe for the crustless quiche. . . which is really not a quiche at all but more like a breakfast casserole. I made it the night before and popped it in the oven in the morning.

Garden Vegetable Crustless Quiche

9 eggs
1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup gluten free flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 16-oz carton low fat cottage cheese
4 cups sliced zucchini
2 cups frozen potato with onion (O'Brien potatoes), thawed
1 cup diced red bell pepper
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 tomatoes, thinly sliced

Heat 1 T olive oil in non-stick skillet. Add zucchini, potato, red bell pepper and mushrooms and saute for 5 min or until tender. Remove from heat and let cool. In large bowl, beat eggs, milk, flour, salt and baking powder. Add cottage cheese, 3/4 cup pepper jack and 3/4 cup cheddar cheese. Add vegetables to eggs. Stir in parsley. Pour mixture into greased 9 x 11 glass pan. top with remaining cheese and tomatoes. Refrigerate over night. In the morning heat oven to 400. Bake for 15 min and turn oven down to 350. Bake for 35 min until lightly browned and set. Let cool for 10 min and serve.

Gluten Free Chicken Divan

Yes, my New Year's resolution is to post more frequently on this blog o' mine! Daughter Barista was home from college for a few weeks over the holidays and she and I and son Chip had a great time together. I wanted to make a lot of her favorite foods while she was home -- from salmon patties and pancakes to sesame noodles, meatloaf and chicken divan. But.....how do you make a great chicken divan with no gluten? Unfortunately Campbell's cream of chicken soup contains wheat. So, one day at the store, I bought a can of Amy's organic cream of mushroom soup, thinking that her soups were all gluten free. Ready to put together our dinner, I saw a note on the can, "Contains Wheat." What to do???

I punted. I created a chicken divan using a cream of chicken mixture I whipped up myself. And, gotta say, it was great. Chip even loved it . . . and usually he's not a big "divan" fan. Here's the secret:
Gluten Free Chicken Divan

3-4 cups cut up cooked chicken (or leftover turkey)
1 large bag frozen broccoli florets (trader joe's)
1T butter
2T potato starch
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup 2 percent evaporated milk
½ cup light mayonnaise
½ lemon, juiced
¼ cup white wine
dash garlic salt
pepper
½ teaspoon red curry powder
1 cup cheddar cheese
crushed baked potato chips

Cook and drain broccoli. Place in greased 13x9 dish. Put chicken on top of broccoli. In saucepan, melt butter. Whisk in potato starch and cook for a minute. Add broth and bring to slow boil. Add evaporated milk and simmer, then turn off heat. Add mayo, lemon juice, wine, spices and cheddar. Stir to melt cheddar a little bit. Pour over chicken mixture, top with potato chips. Bake at 350 for ½ hour or until bubbly.