August is...

An email advertisement from eatingwell.com has recently alerted me that August is apparently National Olive Month. As it happens I have half a jar of Kalamata olives sitting in my fridge, awaiting their grand purpose (I used the other half in a delicious hearty Mediterranean vegetable pasta sauce I made a while back, I am hoping to wait for more hearty-pasta type weather before posting that one; who wants "hearty" when the humidity is at 75%?) and so I decided- why not observe national olive month like any patriotic American should?

As I thought about national olive month, I started to wonder what other grand and important holidays take place in the month of August that most of us have never heard of. A quick search through the interwebs informs me that August is also National Water Quality Month, Panini Month, Catfish Month, and Immunization Awareness Month. So in short, be sure this month to make the following recipe for an olive panino (yes, apparently the singular for panini, please correct me if I'm wrong), make sure to filter your water, perhaps go catfishing, and of course get up to date with your vaccines!

Some individual holidays that take place in August which may be worth noting include "Kiss and make up day" (August 25) "wiggle your toes day" (August 6th), "bad poetry day" (August 18) and "sneak some zucchini onto your neighbor's porch day" (August 8th). I plan to observe as many of these important holidays as I can, though I may need to bend some rules on "sneak some zucchini onto your neighbor's porch" day, as I live in an apartment building and my neighbors mostly do not have porches. That being said, to all my friends in the neighborhood: don't be surprised when a zucchini appears unexpectedly on August 8th on your porch/stoop/hallway/desk etc... Also, might as well go ahead and start bracing yourself for the bad poetry bound to be created (and perhaps read in public?) by yours truly on the 18th.



Summer Vegetable Panini with Homemade Olive Tapenade
Ingredients:  (for one sandwich)
2 slices of your favorite hearty sandwich bread (I used Trader Joe's San Francisco multigrain sourdough)
1 to 2 tablespoons olive tapanade (recipe to follow)
2 thick slices of eggplant
2 flat slices of red or yellow bell pepper (one quarter of pepper each, seeds, ribs, and core removed)
1 ounce fresh soft goat cheese
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

note: There are tons of fun variations you could do here. The possibilities are endless, really. I will probably be eating panini with eggplant and olive tapenade all week, i have enough of the basic ingredients. Variations I plan to try include eggplant, olive, argula and grape tomatoes, and olive, eggplant and mozzarella. Have an idea for a combination that sounds good with these flavors? Tell me in the comments!

Homemade Olive Tapenade:
2.5 ounces pitted black kalamata olives
1 teaspoon capers
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

To make the tapenade: combine all ingredients in a food processor (or in a small sturdy bowl if you plan to use a hand blender) pulse until ingredients form a thick paste.

To make the panini:
Grill or roast the eggplant and bell pepper slices. Use the olive oil to lightly coat the vegetables before cooking. I did not have access to a grill, so I cooked them over high heat on a grill pan.

Spread the two slices of bread with first a thin layer of goat cheese and then a thin layer of tapenade. layer the eggplant and red pepper onto one slice and top to construct the sandwich. cook on the grill, in a panini press, or like I did on the grill pan weighted with an iron grill press for a few minutes until the bread is browned.

Happy August Everyone! How will you celebrate?

Stuffed Turkey Sliders and Blueberry Spritzers

My roommate Sam and I made this quick summery meal on the 4th of July before hurrying out to see the fireworks, and I decided it was so good it was worth recreating and posting. Besides the ground turkey meat and buns, we had all of the ingredients on hand, the blueberries in the spritzers were leftover from my Cherry-Blueberry Tart, the feta was bought for the Watermelon & Herb Summer Salad, and who doesn't have an onion, a couple cloves of garlic, a couple lemons, and a bottle of seltzer on hand? And even if you don't have those things on hand, wouldn't it be worth a trip to the store if a light, flavorful, summery dinner and refreshing fruity drink were at stake?


I served these with corn & black bean salad with cilantro and lime, a family favorite.

Stuffed Turkey Sliders:
serves 3-4 people (makes approximately  8 mini sliders)
1 lb ground turkey meat
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon garlic powder

Filling options:
1 medium onion, 2 cloves of garlic, 2 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup fresh mozzarella,  loose 1/2 cup fresh basil
1 medium onion, 1 cup sliced mushrooms, thyme or oregano

8 small dinner rolls

First, prepare the stuffing. I had a few options of what to use so people could choose their preference if they wished- from caramelized onions and mushrooms to fresh basil and mozzerella, to onion, garlic and feta; let your imagination run, it's hard to go wrong, just keep the texture and moisture of the filling in mind, you don't want something that will drip right out of the burger, or make it soggy.

I cooked up one onion, chopped in olive oil until brown, then added 2 cloves of garlic and cooked for 2 more minutes. Then, once this was removed from heat added any cheese and fresh herbs desired. Set aside.

Next, prepare the meat: I placed the ground meat in a large bowl, and added the soy sauce and garlic powder than mashed it together with my hands until mixed in. I then assembled the burgers, keeping them smaller than the palm of my hand, and the approximate size of the dinner rolls (I used sourdough) which I had sliced and toasted. I put less than a tablespoon of filling into each, to do this neatly I started with half the meat i would need, pressed flat in the same diameter of the burger I planned to make. I spooned some filling on top of this and then topped it  with another spoonful of meat which i pressed into place making sure the sides were sealed.

Onto a heated grill (or if you are stuck cooking indoors like I was, a griddle or foreman style grill.) cook for 2 minutes/side or until done to your liking. Garnish with your favorite condiments, excess filling etc. Enjoy!

A quick disclosure here: I do not like turkey. I don't. At thanksgiving I may take a tiny sliver from the bird just to be polite, but mostly my plate gets filled with sides (of which there are so many!). Turkey cold cuts are something I would eat only if it was really the only food available. Something about the flavor of turkey I just don't care for. That being said, I decided to give ground turkey a try (perhaps with some pressure from my health conscious roommate) because I keep hearing that it is so much leaner and better for you than beef. And actually, all that being said, I LOVE these burgers. They miss out on nothing in my opinion from the exchange in terms of flavor and texture. The only thing I found myself missing was the rich pink-brown coloring of a beef burger. Really, even if you, like me, are hesitant to replace beef with turkey in such a quintessential beef dinner as the all American burger, I urge you to give this a try.



 
Now, on to the Blueberry Spritzers I mentioned-  and aren't you thirsty by now?

Blueberry Spritzers
makes 1 pitcher of spritzer
1.5 lbs of blueberries
2 lemons
1 liter seltzer or sparkling wine
2 tablespoons Simple Syrup

Depending how much lemon you use this can vary from a very mellow blueberry softdrink to sparkling lemonade with a hint of blueberry and a gorgeous purple color. Use 3 lemons for the more lemonade side of the spectrum.

1. Puree the blueberries. I did this with a hand blender, but a traditional blender or food processor should work just as well. Add a couple tablespoons of water as needed to aid in blending.
2. Strain the blueberry puree to remove the skins. Pour strained puree into a pitcher or punch bowl.
3. Juice the lemons and add the juice to the pitcher/punch bowl. add the simple syrup and mix.
4. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
5. When ready to serve, add the seltzer or sparkling wine. I also suggest garnishing this with chopped fruit such as banana and apple, which will absorb the juice and taste delicious!

Note: this spritzer (made with seltzer, not sparkling wine) also makes a great cocktail with a little vodka or other alcohol of your choice.

Cherry Blueberry Tart - And How To Salavage A Bad Day

I made this tart with the 4th of July in mind- red cherries, blueberries, and pastry cream seemed like a pretty patriotic combination (though I will admit, the egg yolks, vanilla and liqueur in the pastry cream turned it a bit yellowy/tan rather than white) and since I have been trying to make desserts inspired by holidays this year (my green st. patty's day cake was a hit) I decided to make this to continue the theme.

As it happens, the day I made this was shaping up to be JUST NOT A VERY GOOD DAY. Things were not going my way, and I felt angry and hurt by a series of events that morning. I was hesitant to start a project while feeling that way, worried that I would not be able to concentrate and put my best effort in. After some convincing from my favorite (and only) sister, I ended up discovering that making this tart was in fact just what my day needed. I turned on London Calling (which makes for great "I'm angry and I'm gonna bake things!" music), threw on my apron, and sang along while I worked. And I may have danced a bit. I am sure I looked like a fool, but by the time the tart was done, not only did I have a delicious dessert to show for it, my bad mood had been magically repaired. And I knew how to make pastry cream.



The components of this recipe were gathered from a few different sources, the pastry cream is from this recipe at joyofbaking.com as is the apricot glaze. The crust was a basic graham crust from The New Best Recipe which I added a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg to for interest.

Basic Graham Crust
Adapted from The New Best Recipe by the publishers of Cook's Illustrated
9 graham crackers (1 package)
5 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 315F
2. Melt the butter in and set in a medium sized mixing bowl
3. Break the graham crackers into pieces and place in a food processor. Process until it is the consistency of cornmeal and no large pieces remain.
4. Add the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg and pulse to combine.
5. Pour the mixture into the bowl with the butter, combine until all pieces are evenly coated with butter.
6. pour into a greased tart pan, and press into the bottom of the pan and around the sides using the bottom of a cup measure or small bowl.
7. Place on the middle shelf in the oven and cook for 15-18 minutes.
8. Let cool.

Pastry cream
from joyofbaking.com

1 1/4 cups milk (I used heavy cream as I had it on hand)

1/2 vanilla  bean, split lengthwise- (or substitute 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract if needed, it's what I did...)

3 large egg yolks

1/4 cup granulated white sugar

1/8 cup  all-purpose flour (I ended up using whole wheat flour, again, what I had on hand!)

2 tablespoons cornstarch

3/4 tablespoons liqueur (I used Grand Marnier) 

Directions:  (I cut and pasted these from the original source, joyofbaking.com as it is rather complicated and I didn't want any of the steps to get lost in translation, though I did cut out a few side notes they had included and reformatted it as I found the previous format a bit confusing to the eye, but feel free to check the link above to view the original if what I have done here is confusing.)  

1.  In a medium-sized stainless steel bowl, mix the sugar and egg yolks together with a spoon. (Never let the mixture sit too long or you will get pieces of egg forming.) Sift the flour and cornstarch together and then add to the egg mixture, mixing until you get a smooth paste.  Set aside.
2. Meanwhile, in a saucepan combine the milk and split vanilla bean on medium heat until boiling. (The milk will foam up to the top of pan when done, so watch carefully.)
3. Remove from heat and add slowly to egg mixture, whisking constantly to prevent curdling. (If you get a few pieces of egg (curdling) in the mixture, pour through a strainer.) 
4. Remove vanilla bean, scrape out seeds, and add the seeds to the egg mixture.  
5. Place the egg mixture back into a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat until boiling, whisking constantly. When it boils, whisk mixture constantly for another 30 - 60 seconds until it becomes very thick and it is hard to stir.   
6. Remove from heat and immediately whisk in the liqueur. Pour into a clean bowl and immediately cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a crust from forming. Cool. If not using right away refrigerate until needed, up to 3 days. Beat before using to get rid of any lumps that may have formed.

Apricot Glaze

Adapted from joyofbaking.com

1/4 cup apricot Jam

1/2 Tablespoon Grand Mariner

1/4 Tablespoon water 

1. Heat the apricot jam and water in a small sauce pan over medium heat until liquid
2. Remove from heat and add the liqueur, stir
3. If needed, strain to remove any lumps
4. allow to cool.

Then, to bring it all together:

 The last step of course, was to cut the fruit (I left the blueberries whole, but cut the cherries in half and removed the pits) and then assemble:

Into the cooled crust: smooth the pastry cream into an even coat at the bottom, layer the fruit on top of it in concentric circles, then paint on the glaze over the fruit with a pastry brush. Refrigerate. Happy Belated 4th of July!