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Thursday

17

July 2014

How To Dry Tomatoes

Written by Rachel, Posted in Canning, Condiments, Dairy-Free, Fruit, Gluten Free, Herbs, Roasting, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian

Tomatoes are such a great fruit. It’s weird that we use them like a vegetable when they’re not one.

I’m ok with that.

They go with so much, they can be used in so many different ways.

The possibilities are pretty endless.

Around here, the growing season for local tomatoes is pretty long. We’ve been getting them in our Abundant Harvest Organics box for about two months now.

We’re very fortunate.

But, that doesn’t mean we don’t need to preserve them and make them last as long as possible.

I opted to dry the tomatoes by slow roasting them in the oven at a low temperature.

I love the intense flavor that roasting brings.

I’ve always called this type of tomato a “sun-dried tomato”. But, since I did not dry them in the sun, I didn’t want to lie.

Also, if I’d tried to dry them in the sun I have a feeling that a curious dog might have enjoyed a snack. They are safer in the oven.

It’s simple: tomatoes, olive oil, and salt.

Tomatoes are sliced thin, but not too thin. No thinner than a quarter of an inch please.

Trust me.

They will burn.

But, the dog will be happy because he will get a treat.

Dried tomatoes are just perfection. A fabulous way to make summer tomatoes last a little longer.

Or, in our case, a fun new way to enjoy them. As they will soon be eaten.

Since the base recipe is simple, it leaves so many options for flavoring the oil they are stored in.

I opted to make a jar of simple Italian-style, with basil, oregano, and garlic.

Other yummy options would be:

Red pepper flakes, garlic, and rosemary.

Cilantro, oregano, and jalapeño (dry the jalapeños the same way as the tomatoes).

Rosemary and garlic.

Bay leaf, garlic, and rosemary.

Dill, lemon thyme, and garlic.

Fennel seeds, garlic, and basil.

Thyme, rosemary, and oregano.

Lemon zest, basil, and garlic.

I want to make them all!

I’ve stored them in the fridge and plan to use them quickly, on bruschetta, in pasta, and on pizza.

The olive oil, which will become a delicious flavored oil, will be used as well.

We don’t waste food around here if we can help it. 😉

Happy Eating!

Kitchen Basics: Drying Tomatoes

Recipe Type: Condiment, Preserving, Roasting, Drying, Vegetarian, Fruit

Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine

Preserve summer’s beautiful tomatoes by drying them and storing them in olive oil.

Ingredients

2 tomatoes, sliced 1/4″ thick (no thinner, or they will burn)
1-2 T olive oil
to taste salt
1 T dried basil
1 T dried oregano
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 to 3/4 C olive oil

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 250F.
Line a baking sheet with a silpat or parchment paper. Place tomatoes in a single layer on the silpat or parchment paper. Drizzle generously with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt.
Bake for 3 hours, turning occasionally, until tomatoes are nicely dried.
Cool completely and combine in a half pint jar with herbs, garlic, and olive oil. Store in the refrigerator.

Notes

Yields: one half pint, including the oil.

3.2.1303

Monday

14

July 2014

Apricot and Black Pepper Galette

Written by Rachel, Posted in Baking, Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert, Eggs, Fruit, Lunch, Vegetarian

Remember that time when my blog was broken… for like two months… and then Tim and some friends fixed it?

Yeah, they fixed it just because they’re nice people.

So I made them a galette.

Sometimes thank you needs to be said in the form of food.

David, Andy, Vic, and of course Tim, thank you. I can cook the food, take the pictures, and type some letters in here. But, when something breaks, it takes brains like yours to know how to make things better. I am grateful.

So grateful that I’m sharing our stone fruit. Sharing it and converting it into a thank you treat.

We had some over-ripe apricots in the fridge. You know, the ones that are kinda wrinkly and you think they might be good for nothing? Instead, you find that they’re super soft and sweet. Just perfect for a galette.

Nectarines, peaches, plums, apriums, and pluots could all be substituted. You know, use what you have on hand.

Lemon zest. It needed to be a part of this dish. I just can’t get enough. It’s an essential part of my pantry, so I try to have lemons on hand no matter what the season. They brighten almost any dish.

Apricots are combined with a bit of butter, some honey, and maple syrup.

Aaaand black pepper.

Don’t skip this. Black pepper goes really well with stone fruit.

Seriously!

I made a pie crust. I used Alana’s recipe from her cookbook, which is one of my favorites, called The Homemade Pantry (it’s on page 150). It was super easy and I really liked how it turned out. Sooo yeah, I’ll be making that again (along with her Maple Popcorn which I’ve made twice and can’t stop stuffing into my face).

Alana suggests folding the crust in half and then in half again to move it from the counter to the pan. I did this. It worked well.

Winner.

All that sweet filling is plomped in the center of the crust.

I think this is gonna be good.

The filling is sprinkled with chopped almonds. For crunch. Walnuts would be great too. Or if you’re not nuts about nuts (sorry, I couldn’t resist), leave ’em out.

To make the crust all shiny and pretty I whisked an egg and brushed it onto the crust. You don’t have to do this, but it’s an easy way to make your galette go from pretty to spectacular.

I was all proud of myself for making a crust that held together and didn’t have any holes for the filling to leak out of.

Wrong.

It leaked all over the place. (This happened the first time I made a galette too.)

The good thing is that it turns into candy.

Accidental candy.

I ate most of it.

The rest I scraped off the pan and drizzled over the galette.

Yep, now the galette has caramel sauce on it.

Super fancy.

(If your galette doesn’t leak, pat yourself on the back and then email me to tell me how you did it. Ok? Ok.)

The whole process took me a while, from pie crust start to drizzling finish. But, it’s not all that complicated or difficult. And it’s so worth it.

Make this ahead of time and then invite your favorite people to join you for dinner. I would like to eat this outside, under a nice shade tree, after some barbecue and potato salad. And the leftovers, if there are any, might get a dollop of Greek yogurt and turn into breakfast.

That’s how we roll at our house.

Happy Eating!

Apricot and Black Pepper Galette

Recipe Type: Dessert, Fruit, Summer

Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine

Prep time: 75 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Total time: 1 hour 45 mins

Serves: 6

Ingredients

1 pie crust
1/8 to 1/4 C honey
1/8 to 1/4 C maple syrup
1 t lemon zest
1 T lemon juice
pinch salt
1/4 t freshly ground black pepper
3 C super ripe apricots (plums, peaches, nectarines, pluots, apriums could be substituted or added)
1 T butter, cut into small pieces
butter, for baking
flour, for baking
2 T almonds, chopped
1 egg, whisked

Instructions

Prepare pie crust and chill for an hour. Remove from fridge 15 minutes before rolling out.
Pre-heat the oven to 375F.
Whisk together honey through pepper. Add apricots and butter, tossing gently to combine.
Butter and lightly flour a piece of parchment paper, that’s on a baking sheet.
Roll out pie crust to be about 12-14″ in diameter. Gently fold in half and in half again, and pick it up to place on the parchment paper. Unfold.
Scoop the apricot mixture into the center of the crust. Sprinkle with almonds. Gently fold the crust up and around the filling, leaving the center open. Make sure there are no cracks, or the liquid will run. Brush crust with egg and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the crust is golden and flaky.
If any sauce leaks out, scrape off the pan with a spoon and drizzle over the galette (it will be like a caramel).
Let cool completely before serving.

Notes

Prep time includes pie crust preparation.

3.2.1303

Thursday

10

July 2014

0

COMMENTS

How To: Fun Drinks with Summer Herbs

Written by Rachel, Posted in Cocktails, Drinks, Fruit, Gluten Free, Herbs, How To, Quick and Easy, Vegetarian

Oh summer herbs.

Right?!

I mean, I can’t get enough of basil and mint right now. So much so that I’ve planted some in my home garden, since I always seem to run out.

And then there’s lavender. I love the smell, have heard that people enjoy it in food and drinks, so I gave it a try too. (Admittedly, it’s not my very favorite thing to eat. But, I think it adds a nice hint in a drink, when strained… I left things in the drinks for the sake of the photos.)

Not only do these drinks use some of my favorite summer herbs, but some of my favorite summer fruits.

Herbs, honey, and fruit are muddled together. You know, when you smuush it and bruise the herbs and smash the lemon.

Muddle muddle muddle. Kinda fun to say.

Now for the parade of drinks.

Lemon Basil (or Mint) Spritzer

1 slice lemon + 4 leaves basil or mint + 1 t honey + 1 t lemon juice + soda water

Muddle lemon, basil or mint, honey, and juice. Add soda water. Strain through a sieve (if desired) and serve over ice with a slice of lemon..

Lavender Lemon Spritzer

1 slice lemon + pinch lavender + 1 t honey + 1 t lemon juice + soda water

Muddle lemon, lavender, honey, and juice. Add soda water. Strain through a sieve and serve over ice with a slice of lemon.

Strawberry Ginger Lemonade

1 slice lemon + 4-5 basil leaves + pinch dried ginger + 2 t honey + 2 frozen strawberries + juice from 1 lemon + soda water

Muddle lemon, basil, ginger, and honey. Strain through a sieve (if desired). Add strawberries, lemon juice, and soda water.

Blueberry Ginger Lemonade

1 slice lemon + 4-5 basil leaves + pinch dried ginger + 2 t honey + 10 frozen blueberries + juice from 1 lemon + soda water

Muddle lemon, basil, ginger, and honey. Strain through a sieve (if desired). Add blueberries, lemon juice, and soda water.

Lavender Lemonade

1 slice lemon + pinch lavender + 2 t honey + 10 frozen blueberries + juice from 1 lemon + soda water

Muddle lemon, lavender, and honey. Strain through a sieve. Add blueberries, lemon juice, and soda water.

Blueberry Basil (or Mint) Mojito

1 slice lemon + 4-5 basil or mint leaves + 1 t honey + 10 frozen blueberries + splash of rum (optional) + soda water

Muddle lemon, basil/mint, and honey. Strain through a sieve (if desired). Add blueberries, rum, and soda water. Serve over ice with a slice of lemon.

Strawberry Basil (or Mint) Mojito

1 slice lemon + 4-5 basil or mint leaves + 1 t honey + 2 frozen strawberries + splash of rum (optional) + soda water

Muddle lemon, basil/mint, and honey. Strain through a sieve (if desired). Add strawberries, rum, and soda water. Serve over ice with a slice of lemon.

Lavender Cream

pinch lavender + dash vanilla extract + 1 t honey + splash milk or cream + soda water

Muddle lavender, vanilla, and honey. Strain through a sieve. Add milk/cream and soda water. Serve over ice.

Peaches and Cream

4-5 basil or mint leaves + few slices of peach + 1 t honey + splash milk or cream + soda water

Muddle basil/mint, peach, and honey. Strain through a sieve. Add milk/cream and soda water. Serve over ice.

Lavender Strawberry Vin

pinch lavender + 1 t balsamic vinegar + 1 t honey + 2 frozen strawberries + soda water

Muddle lavender, vinegar, and honey. Strain through a sieve. Add strawberries and soda water.

Lavender Blueberry Vin

pinch lavender + 1 t balsamic vinegar + 1 t honey + 10 frozen blueberries + soda water

Muddle lavender, vinegar, and honey. Strain through a sieve. Add blueberries and soda water.

I didn’t really need to drink all eleven drinks, so I mixed some (the first seven) of them into one drink and saved it for later.

Note: making eleven different drinks, in eleven different cups, without a dishwasher, means washing and drying eleven different cups. Riiiight. Now I know. 😉

Happy Drinking!

Monday

7

July 2014

0

COMMENTS

Fresh Fruit and Basil Stuffed French Toast

Written by Rachel, Posted in Bread, Breakfast, Brunch, Dinner, Eggs, Fruit, Herbs, Kid-Friendly, Lunch, Quick and Easy, Sandwiches, Vegetarian

So far, summer has found me kinda obsessed with lemon zest and basil with summer fruit. I love summer produce! (Ahem, lemons are one of the few fruits/veggies that I will buy out of season – I need lemons all the time!)

I just can’t get enough.

I made two different meals today that included them and have more planned for later in the week.

Since it’s summer and all, (even though it’s felt like summer for two months now!) we’re eating all things warm weather inspired. Drinks are summery… salads are, well, in and of themselves summery, so they don’t really need any help there… and French toast is a perfect summer lunch (or breakfast or dinner… you choose).

I made this for one, feel free to double or quadruple the recipe, and share with friends and family. Since it was for one, I just needed a single egg. You can kinda play with the egg mixture depending on how soggy you want the bread to be when it goes into the pan. For my taste, this was just perfect. (Any extra eggs when you’re done: scramble and serve alongside the French toast).

If you don’t like peanut butter, any nut butter will do.

If you don’t like nut butters, can’t eat them, don’t feel like it, you can totally omit this step.

For those that do (me me me!), it’s going on the inside of the stuffed toast… It’s gon’ be good!

The PB is topped with whatever seasonal fruit you have on hand. I used blueberries and peaches. You could use plums, apricots, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries… or in the winter, mix it up and do apples, pears, persimmons… this is a flexible dish.

Lemon zest and basil are sprinkled over the peanut buttery fruited bread that’s still soaking up the egg. Be careful when you flip it over to let the other side soak too, if you left it for too long it may be pretty soggy (cough cough, I did that).

I stood by the window and cooked this up in some coconut oil while I watched the tree branches sway in the summer breeze.

This picture, with the light from the window streaming in, makes me happy.

If you like maple syrup, glug it on. Mmmm syrup.

I squeezed a lemon slice over top. I wanted a bit more citrus. With the basil, berries, peaches, and zest, this French Toast is so bright, light, and cheerful. I just love it!

I didn’t save you any. I’m sorry. You’ll have to make your own. 😉

Happy Eating!

Fresh Fruit and Basil Stuffed French Toast

Recipe Type: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Main Dish, Quick and Easy, Fruit, Eggs, Vegetarian, Herbs

Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine

Serves: 1

Ingredients

1 egg
1 T milk
pinch salt
1 T peanut butter
2 slices bread
1/4 C peach, thinly sliced, divided
1/4 C blueberries, divided
1/4 t lemon zest, divided
1/2 t fresh basil, chopped, divided
1 T coconut oil
maple syrup, for topping
lemon slice, for topping

Instructions

In a shallow bowl, whisk egg with milk and salt.
Spread peanut butter onto one piece of bread. Place un-peanut buttered side down into the egg mixture and top with some of the peach, blueberry, lemon zest, and basil. Top with the second slice of bread. Squish down and flip, so second slice absorbs remaining egg.
Heat skillet. Add coconut oil. When oil is hot, add eggy bread. Cover and cook over medium-low heat for 3-4 minutes. Flip and cook for 3-5 minutes more, or until it’s done.
Serve topped with remaining peaches, blueberries, zest, basil, a drizzle of maple syrup, and a squeeze of lemon juice.

3.2.1303

Thursday

3

July 2014

0

COMMENTS

Honey and Maple Syrup Sweetened Berry Jam

Written by Rachel, Posted in Breakfast, Brunch, Canning, Condiments, Dairy-Free, Dessert, Fruit, Gluten Free, Kid-Friendly, Vegetarian

One of my favorite things about summer is the fruit. The nectarines are amazing, the plums are incredible, and the berries… they are the best!

We had raspberries in the garden growing up, so they are my emotional favorite. Tim’s family has blackberries, so they’re a favorite too. But there’s just something about blueberries and strawberries… I love ’em.

I’m always so sad when their season ends (as it is ending now). I’m thankful for the others, don’t get me wrong. But, I want berry season to last as long as possible.

There are plenty of ways to preserve these summer treasures. You can freeze washed berries, pitted cherries, and halved stone fruit on a baking sheet, and then pop them into a bag. You can make tons of crisps and cobblers and wrap them up really well and freeze them for November. You can make sauces and smoothies to be pulled out when the weather has turned cold.

And, you can make jam.

Last summer I decided that I would try. Surprisingly, it turned out. The catch was that I wanted to make it sans pectin and sugar. I didn’t know if you could, but I wanted to.

And I did.

I made three kinds: cherry, strawberry, and blueberry.

We ran out a few months ago. This year, I don’t intend to run out. So I made a ton. First strawberry (which follows the same recipe), then blueberry.

Before you start, make sure you have clean jars and lids (the lid is the flat piece, and is not re-useable if you want them to seal, the band is the part that wraps around the jar and screws into place).

I don’t have a dishwasher, so I used a pot of boiling water and boiled for about ten minutes.

I love lemon zest, so I opted to add a bunch for a hint of brightness, instead of only using lemon juice.

In general, if possible, any time I use a lemon, I zest it first. Why waste such goodness?! If there’s any extra, it goes into the freezer.

Strawberry jam is a bit more of a process than blueberry. There’s hulling and chopping involved.

It’s gonna be messy.

But it’s worth it.

When I was making the strawberry, I forgot how much the stuff bubbles up. I had to move it to two pots, since the one was a bit too small.

I was wiser with the blueberries.

It’s not going to be thick thick, like jam made with pectin. But, it will thicken up a bit. Cook it until it’s as thick as you want it (you can test it by putting a plate in the freezer and putting a dollop of jam on it so it will cool quickly, then test to see how runny it is), even if that’s longer than the time listed in the recipe.

Jars are filled and left to cool on the counter for a bit. You should hear the lids popping as they seal. Sealed or not, I like to store them in the freezer (after fully cooling in the fridge), even after they’re opened. (There are different opinions on how long properly canned homemade jam will last unrefrigerated. (1) Since I didn’t pressure cook or process the jam in boiling water after adding it to the jars, I opted to be extra safe and keep them in the freezer, even if they did seal. In my experience, they have lasted as long as it took to consume them – less than a year, in the freezer. I hope that this summer’s batch will last more than a year, stored in the freezer. Once opened, stored in the fridge, they usually are fine for a month or two, maybe more. Just keep an eye out for mold. Jams with less sugar and that aren’t commercially prepared tend to have a shorter shelf life. (1) So be mindful of that, and whether or not you have pressure cooked them, when deciding where to store them.)

This jam is perfect for the usual toast or English muffin, to top ice cream, or to be eaten by the spoonful by a hungry food blogger.

Happy Eating!

Blueberry or Strawberry Jam

Recipe Type: Condiment, Fruit, Preserving, Canning

Author: Rachel Oberg – De Ma Cuisine

Ingredients

12 C blueberries or strawberries (strawberries: hulled and chopped)
4 C honey
1 C maple syrup
3 T lemon zest
3/4 C lemon juice

Instructions

Bring berries through lemon zest to a boil. Mash with a potato masher. Once it comes to a rapid boil, cook for 3-5 minutes.
Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes.
Remove from heat, stir in lemon juice, and let stand for 5 minutes.
Ladle into jars, leaving about 1/2″ of space at the top. Cover with the lid and let stand for 15-30 minutes.
Store at room temperature if they’ve sealed, or in the freezer if they haven’t (or if you just want to).
Makes about 6 pints (or 12 half pints).

Notes

To sanitize jars, place in a large pot and cover with water (about 1 inch over the top of jars). Bring to a boil and boil for about 10 minutes.

3.2.1303

(1) I have referenced this site for information on the shelf life of jam.

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Vegetarian Archive

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How To Dry Tomatoes

14

1

Apricot and Black Pepper Galette

Happy Eating!

10

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How To: Fun Drinks with Summer Herbs

Happy Drinking!

7

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Fresh Fruit and Basil Stuffed French Toast

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3

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Honey and Maple Syrup Sweetened Berry Jam

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