Ottolenghi's Delicious Dinner Recipe

I really can’t believe summer is nearly over. I haven’t baked or cooked as much as I had hoped. I am going to blame it on our air conditioning being broken from May to early August.

 But I have cooked Ottolenghi’s One Pot Puttanesca recently, from his Flavor cookbook, and it didn’t disappoint.

 

3 T Olive Oil

6 cloves of garlic, minced

One 15 ounce can of chickpeas, drained, rinsed and dried

2 t paprika

2 t cumin (ground)

2 t tomato paste

Salt

2 cups parsley, roughly chopped

2 t lemon zest

3 T capers

¾ cup green olives – roughly chopped, pits removed

9 oz cherry tomatoes

2 t sugar

1 t caraway seeds

9 oz orecchiette pasta (I used bow tie)

2 c vegetable stock

¾ c plus t @ water

Black pepper

Directions

In a large sauté pan (that has a lid), combine 3 T of the olive oil, the garlic, chickpeas, paprika, cumin, tomato paste and ½ t salt. Cook over medium heat. Cook for 12 minutes uncovered, stirring occasionally. Remove 1/3 of the chickpeas for later.

In a small bowl, combine the parsley, lemon zest, capers and olives. Add 2/3 of this mixture to the sauté pan, along with the cherry tomatoes, sugar and caraway seeds and cook for 2 minutes over medium high heat, stirring often. Add the pasta, stock, water and ½ t salt, and bring to a summer. Decrease heat to medium, cover and cook for 13 minutes or until the pasta is al dente.

Stir in the remaining parsley mixture and garnish with reserved chickpeas.

Add salt and pepper and serve.

 

Tomatoes with herbed ricotta

I love the days of fresh grown tomatoes in New England.  Of course, I have NO talent growing a garden, so I rely on the local community farms.  Early August is here and so are the tomatoes!

2 cups fresh ricotta

3 T minced scallions (about two)

2 T minced fresh dill

1 T minced fresh chives

Kosher salt

pepper

2 pints assorted tomatoes

1 t minced garlic

1 T olive oil

1/2 julienned fresh basil leaves

Fluer de sel

In a medium bowl, mix the ricotta, scallions, dill, chives, salt and pepper.

Cut the tomatoes in wedges and place in another bowl with the garlic, olive oil. 1 t salt and pepper.

When ready to serve, add the basil to the tomatoes and mix.  Put the ricotta in a small glass bowl on a platter, and surround the bowl with the tomatoes, discarding the liquid.  Sprinkle with salt and serve.

Chilled Spanish White Gazpacho

CHILLED SPANISH WHITE GAZPACHO

Flour Baker – Joanne Chang

Adam really liked this.  I like my classic red gazpacho, but this was a nice change.

Serves 4 to 6

2 pounds seedless green grapes, stemmed

½ cup whole blanched almonds

2 garlic cloves

6 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro

3 tablespoons good-quality sherry vinegar

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

1¼ teaspoons kosher salt

2 English cucumbers, cut crosswise into 1- to 2-inch pieces

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus

1½ to 2 tablespoons for finishing

Working in batches, combine the grapes, almonds, garlic, cilantro, vinegar, lime juice, and salt in a blender and pulse until the almonds and garlic are chopped but not too finely. Add the cucumbers and pulse again until the cucumbers are blended. Do not overblend; you want the soup to have some texture. Using a spatula or wooden spoon, stir in the 3 tablespoons of oil.

Refrigerate for at least 1 hour to chill the soup and to allow the flavors to blend. Taste and add salt, if necessary. Ladle into bowls and drizzle each with about 1 teaspoon oil before serving. The soup will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Maple Ice Cream

A very tasty dessert for the summer!

A recipe by Bruce Weinstein

6 large egg yolks
1 cup maple syrup (the real stuff)  AND I used grade B which I love
2 t flour
1/2 t salt
1 cup half and half
1 1/2 cups of light cream
1 t vanilla

In my mixer, I beat the egg yolks, maple syrup, flour and salt.

Bring the half and half to a simmer in a heavy saucepan.  Slowly beat the hot half and half into the egg mixture.  Return to the saucepan and heat on low.  Stir until the mixture thickens.

Pour the mixture into a bowl.  Put in the fridge for an hour.  Add the light cream and vanilla and stir.  Let sit overnight in the fridge.

Pour into your ice cream maker and mix for 20 minutes.  Place ice cream into the freezer and wait 24 hours to eat.

Summer Update

Summer is going well. Mark is loving camp, and I am loving that he is exhausted when he comes home. (BONUS) Naomi is enjoying summer also. Over the Fourth of July, we went to Marblehead - my brother was in town. The four kids really enjoy each other. They had a great time at the JCC pool and on the Marblehead Festival of Arts Trolley. I really enjoyed the church's lobsta' roll (best one EVER). We went to the Newton Fireworks, and all had a blast. Naomi fell asleep on the car ride home. Mark stayed up to watch the Boston Fireworks on TV.

Next week Mark will be doing a tennis clinic after camp, so he should come home extra sweaty and extra tired.