Tomato, Mozzarella, and Basil Bruschetta

Someone has deemed it locavore month in Rochester, so here's a recipe that takes advantage of the season's wonderful tomatoes and basil, which came from my own garden. This recipe is only good when tomatoes are in season locally -- winter supermarket tomatoes just don't cut it.

This recipe is from Mario Batali, although my friend Melissa makes something almost identical. If you have a grill going, you can grill the bread. I usually just brush the breads with some olive oil and sprinkle with a little salt & pepper, then bake the breads at 400 degrees for about 5 minutes. Either way tastes great.

Tomato, Mozzarella, and Basil Bruschetta
Recipe adapted from Mario Batali Italian Grill 

1 pound ripe tomatoes, cut into ¼-inch dice
4 ounces fresh mozzarella, cut into ¼-inch dice
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced (next time I'd blanch these to temper the raw garlic flavor)
1 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled (I used fresh)
12 medium fresh basil leaves, cut into chiffonade (thin slivers)
1 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt (or table salt)
Eight ¾-inch-thick slices Italian peasant bread (I used slices of Wegmans baguette)
Coarse sea salt

Serves 4

Preheat a gas grill or prepare a fire in a charcoal grill (or preheat oven to 400 degrees).

In a medium bowl, combine the tomatoes, mozzarella, garlic, oregano, basil, red pepper flakes, and oil and toss or stir gently to mix. Season lightly with salt and mix gently again. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed. Set aside.

Grill the bread until dark golden brown lines form on the first side, 1 to 2 minutes, then turn over and repeat on the second side. (Or brush bread with olive oil, salt & pepper and bake at 400 until light golden brown.)

Arrange the grilled bread on a platter, top with the tomato mixture, and sprinkle with coarse salt. Serve immediately.

Mixed Greens and Nectarine Salad with Walnut Oil Vinaigrette

 

This simple salad highlights the sweet, juicy nectarines that are so wonderful this time of year. I've made a few variations -- I've made it with peaches, added pecans, added goat cheese, added grilled chicken -- and it's great every time.

It calls for walnut oil, which is an ingredient that always elicits a guffaw from my husband, Tom. Here's why.

Shortly after my husband and I were married (almost 20 years ago), we invited another couple, Karin and Steve, over for dinner. They were the first "couple" friends we had made together, and we enjoyed spending time with them. I admired Karin's cooking, which seemed so much more sophisticated than mine. She never used things like canned cream-of-something soup or bottled salad dressings, both of which were integral items in my culinary repertoire. And she very rarely followed a recipe exactly -- a practice that was foreign to me.

For my menu, I turned to a wedding gift, The New Basics Cookbook -- a cookbook from the Silver Palate series. (I still use it regularly.) I prepared an autumn-themed dinner, and the salad was Pear and Blue Cheese Salad, which was served with a walnut oil vinaigrette.

I sent Tom to Wegmans with a long list of ingredients, and he returned home with most of the ingredients, but said that he asked a few different Wegmans employees where the walnut oil was, and they all  looked at him like he had two heads. After lots of searching, he concluded that walnut oil was nowhere to be found.

At that point, I was in no condition to change my menu and I, unlike Karin, followed each recipe to a tee. So I sent my poor new husband on a wild goose chase all over the Rochester area to find walnut oil. Hours later, he returned home with the prized walnut oil. He had found it at a gourmet food shop in Pittsford, Cook's World (it's still in the same location, and looks pretty much the same as it did then). I was shocked that the oil cost $12!

So we served the salad and Tom, of course, regaled them with the story of the hunt for the walnut oil. Karin laughed and said, "you could have just substituted olive oil." That truly had never occurred to me! Luckily, Karin and Steve loved the salad -- so much so that they served it at Christmastime that year (although I don't know whether she used walnut oil). Tom, on the other hand, took a few tentative bites and said, "I'm sorry, but these flavors just don't go together." To be honest, I was somewhere in the middle -- didn't love it, didn't hate it.

Almost 20 years later, Wegmans now carries walnut oil, so I use it in this recipe, with fond memories of the times we had with Karin and Steve.

Mixed Greens and Nectarine Salad (with some variations)
(Adapted from this Cooking Light recipe)

4 cups salad greens (I used green leaf and red leaf lettuce)
2 cups thinly sliced nectarines (about 2)

Walnut Oil Vinaigrette Ingredients:
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons minced shallots
2 tablespoons walnut oil
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Combine all vinaigrette ingredients, stirring with a whisk. Store in refrigerator for up to 1 week. Yield: 2/3 cup (serving size: about 1 tablespoon)

Place greens and nectarines in a large bowl. Drizzle sparingly with Walnut Oil Vinaigrette; toss gently to coat. You will not need very much vinaigrette.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: about 1 cup)

Variations I've tried:
- use peaches instead of nectarines
- Add nuts, goat cheese and/or

Delicious Salads to Beat the Heat

With the heat we've been having, who wants to cook? I sure don't, but I love all the fresh produce that's in season right now. That's why it was so perfect that our most recent Cooking Light Group dinner had a "beat the heat" theme. Three of the dishes were refreshing summer salads that I truly enjoyed.

The main dish grilled chicken salad combined grilled chicken, sweet nectarines (peaches would be good too), goat cheese and pecans. The next time we grill chicken, I'll make extra so that we can have this salad the next day. Nancy, our hostess, served it on a gorgeous square platter, which made it even more appetizing. Jackie's colorful crunchy corn medley was downright addictive -- I gobbled it up for lunch the next morning. And Chrissy's celery and feta cheese salad benefited from using very good ingredients, including an excellent Greek feta cheese.

Grilled Chicken and Nectarine Salad
Adapted from Sunset Magazine

2/3 cup pecan halves
2 quarts salad greens (8 oz.), rinsed and crisped
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup walnut oil (or more vegetable oil; see
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
4 boned chicken breast halves with skin (2 lb. total), rinsed, patted dry, and fat trimmed
Salt and pepper
2 firm-ripe nectarines (12 oz. total), rinsed, pitted, and thinly sliced
5 ounces fresh chèvre (goat cheese), crumbled

Preheat oven to 350°. Spread pecans in a baking pan and bake until golden under skins, about 10 minutes. Let cool, then coarsely chop.

In a small bowl, stir vegetable oil, walnut oil, and vinegar to blend. Set aside.

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Lay on a lightly oiled barbecue grill over a solid bed of medium-hot coals or medium-high heat on a gas grill (you can hold your hand at grill level only 3 to 4 seconds); close lid on gas grill. Cook chicken, turning occasionally, until meat is no longer pink in center of thickest part (cut to test), about 15 minutes total. Transfer chicken to a cutting board. Remove skin if desired.

Mound salad greens on a large platter. Slice chicken across the grain 1/2 inch thick; arrange over greens. Tuck nectarine around chicken. Scatter goat cheese and pecans over the top. Stir dressing; pour over salads. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Crunchy Corn Medley
Of course you can substitute fresh for canned, but the canned sure is easy! She reduced the amount of salad dressing from the published recipe in a magazine.

2 cups frozen peas, thawed
1 can (15-1/4 oz.) yellow corn, drained
1 can (15-1/4 oz.) white or shoepeg corn, drained
1 can (8 oz) water chestnuts, drained and chopped
1 jar (4 oz) pimientos, drained and diced
8 green onions, thinly sliced
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 medium green bell pepper, chopped

Dressing:
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 cup vegetable oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. ground pepper

Mix altogether. Chill for at least 3 hours. Stir before serving.

Celery Salad with Feta and Mint

Combine 6 large stalks of celery, cut into 1/2 inch slices, and 1/4 small red onion, thinly sliced. Add 2 tbsp each extra virgin olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice. season with coarse salt and ground pepper. sprinkle with 1/3 cup crumbled feta and 3 tbsp thinly sliced fresh mint leaves.

serves 4 102 cals, 9 g fat, 2 g protein, 3 g carbs, 1 g fiber for those of you who count these things

I'm at Frosting for the Cause Today

 

This is my son's Easy Crumb Cake - so delicious. Read all about it at Frosting for the Cause today!

Creamsicle Cupcakes

A few weeks ago, as I was preparing for my good friend's 50th birthday party, my Mom and I were chatting about the party plans. I mentioned that I had spent a few hours making three different kinds of cupcakes for dessert.

"I don't know why you spent so much time on dessert," she said. "Nobody ever eats dessert."

My Mom and I clearly travel in different social circles.

These Creamsicle cupcakes in particular were a hit. One guest took a cupcake home (with my blessing) and hid it from her husband. I got emails the day after the party asking for the recipe. So here it is -- my own creation. It's my favorite yellow cupcake recipe (from Cooks Illustrated), with a cream filling and orange icing. The orange icing is something I created by adding ingredients until I got a taste to my liking. I'm sure you could achieve a similar result with fewer ingredients, but that's what I did.

And, for the record, I'll continue to spend time making desserts for get-togethers. Hey, if people don't eat them, at least I can enjoy the leftovers from my favorite part of the meal.

CREAMSICLE CUPCAKES

Makes 24 cupcakes

One-Bowl Yellow Cupcakes (adapted from Cooks Illustrated)

3 cups (13 oz/375 grams) all purpose flour
2 cups (14 oz/400 grams) granulated white sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature (cut into pieces)
3 large eggs, room temperature
2 large egg yolks, room temperature
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and lightly butter or line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt on low speed to combine. Add the butter, eggs, egg yolks, vanilla extract, and sour cream. Beat at medium speed until the batter is smooth and satiny, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. If necessary, stir the batter with a rubber spatula until the flour is fully incorporated.

Evenly fill the muffin cups with the batter (I used the largest Pampered Chef scoop) and bake for about 20 - 25 minutes or until pale gold and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

To assemble the Creamsicle cupcakes, I used the small end of a melon baller to scoop a hole in the cupcakes, then piped cream filling in the hole. Then I frosted with the orange frosting.

Cream Filling 
Fills 24+ cupcakes

2 tsp very hot water
1/4 tsp salt
1 (7 oz) jar marshmallow cream
1/2 cup shortening
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

Dissolve the salt in the hot water and allow to cool. Whip the marshmallow cream, shortening, powdered sugar, and vanilla until it begins to get fluffy. Add the salty water and whip well. You will have some filling left over after filling the cupcakes. It's great as a fruit dip or a dip for cinnamon graham cracker sticks.


Orange Frosting
(Rah Cha Chow recipe)
Frosts 24 cupcakes

1 cup butter, room temperature
4 cups (500 grams) powdered sugar
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-3 teaspoons orange extract (I used about 3)
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
2 Tablespoons orange juice
2 teaspoons lemon juice
Yellow and red food coloring (to make an orange colored frosting)

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter at medium-high speed until creamy. Add the rest of the ingredients and beat until combined. You may want to start with 2 teaspoons orange extract and then taste – add more if you think it needs it. Also add yellow and red food coloring until it’s the color you like.

See more sweets in:

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Picture this: it's my friend's 50th birthday party, held in my back yard around the in-ground pool. It's a beautiful evening, with good music and fun people. We've had a nice dinner and I bring out platters of cupcakes. The guests gather round and sing an enthusiastic chorus of  "Happy Birthday." To everyone's amusement, the balmy breeze keeps blowing out the candle for the guest of honor. Amid oohs and ahhs, the guests eagerly reach to snatch a cupcake and ...

"WAIT! I forgot to take pictures of the cupcakes!"

Everyone freezes as I snap a quick shot of my cupcakes. Welcome to a party thrown by a food blogger.

In the end, the picture above was the only picture I got of some of my cupcakes. Guess I won't be submitting this post to Tastespotting.

So on to the Chocolate Peanut Butter cupcakes in the foreground. They were inspired by my recent visit to local cupcake shop, Sugar Mountain Bake Shoppe. I loved the way their chocolate peanut butter cupcakes looked but thought the peanut butter frosting and filling overwhelmed the flavor of the chocolate cupcake. My version: my favorite chocolate cupcake recipe (which I got from the awesome Julie) topped with a generous amount of peanut butter buttercream. No filling.

Well, guess what?

The peanut butter frosting, which was divine, still overwhelmed the chocolate flavor of the cupcake. I was surprised because those cupcakes were really chocolatey. Next time I may devise a chocolate filling to really bring out the chocolate flavor.

All in all, the party goers were very happy with them. I even caught one person licking the wrapper. But the party favorite will come next.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes
Makes 36 cupcakes

1 1/2 cups hot strong coffee
1/3 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
3 large eggs
3/4 cup canola oil
3 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 (313 grams) cups flour
1 ½ (138 grams) cups cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
Peanut Butter Buttercream, below
Mini peanut butter cups, cut in half.

Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Line cupcake cups with paper liners.

Mix the hot coffee with the chopped chocolate, stirring occasionally until the mixture is smooth.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs until they are slightly thickened, about 3 minutes. Slowly add the canola oil, and mix at medium speed for 1 minute. Gradually add the sugar, mixing until well combined. Slowly add the buttermilk, coffee mixture and vanilla, and mix until blended.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the batter in three additions on low speed, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary. The batter will be liquidy.

Divide the batter among the prepared pans and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center emerges clean, 18-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center emerges clean.

When completely cooled, frost with peanut butter buttercream (for 36 cupcakes you'll need to multiply the recipe by 1 1/2). I used a Wilton 6B decorating tip to pipe on the frosting. Garnish with a half of a mini peanut butter cup.

Peanut Butter Buttercream
Frosts about 24 cupcakes

1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup creamy peanut butter
5 cups (250 grams) powdered sugar
3 Tablespoons milk

Beat butter and vanilla with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add peanut butter and mix until combined. Add powdered sugar in one cup increments. Add milk and beat until fluffy.