Pear Clafoutis

You can use just about any fruit here. I would just suggest that the harder the fruit, the thinner it be sliced. Cherries are traditional.


4 ripe pears, preferably bartlett
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup milk
3 eggs

Preheat oven to 425F.

Peel pears. Slice in half and remove cores and stems. Slice crosswise every 1/4-1/8 inch and fan around a 10 inch round baking dish, stem ends facing into the center. Sprinkle with 1 tbsp sugar.
Whisk together all remaining ingredients until smooth, about 20 seconds. Pour mixture on top of pears.
Bake for 15 minutes at 425F. Turn oven down to 350F and bake an additional 20-25 minutes, until clafoutis is golden brown and a tester comes out clean.
Serves 8.

The clafoutis will fall a little bit as it cools.

Braised Romano Beans

CSA box- Onions, Carrots, Romano Beans, Garlic, Tomatoes, Rosemary



Romano beans are wonderful and I look forward to them each year. They were late arriving in the box this year ( just this week!) so I bought some yellow beans at the Tilth Harvest Fair earlier this month and made a wonderful braise, lifted from the Craft of Cooking book. I love, love this recipe. So much so that I sub-consciously stole Ruth's share of beans this week. Oops.
First, you have to make a sofrito base to cook the beans in. I make a large batch and then freeze it in one cup portions. It has many uses besides this recipe.

Take a few pounds of yellow or white onions and chop very fine, best to cut by hand so as not to make mush of them in the food processor. But, if you are very, very careful.....
Divide how many onions you are using by two and use that much carrot and that much celery, also cut very fine (this ratio of ingredients is called Mirepoix 2:1:1). Processors helpful here.
Add about 1 cup of olive oil to a large pan. Warm over medium heat. Add all the onions, carrots and celery, some salt and pepper to taste and cook gently until veggies are extremely soft and straw colored. CAn take upwards of an hour or more. Cook slowly so it doesn't burn.

To make the braised beans, use a cup or so of the sofrito base, a few small chopped tomatoes or a spoonful of tomato paste, 1/2 cup of water, a large sprig of rosemary, 3 cloves of garlic, and a pound of romano beans. Bring it all up to a boil and then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for about 40 to 50 minutes or until beans are really tender.

Forever Roasted Pork from Chiarello

Once again, Michael does not disappoint. We love every recipe we have ever tried from his cookbooks. This was delicious and got rave reviews from our guests. We will cut back on the amount of fennel next time as it is powerful. Matt is working on a revise that we think we will like even more. I served this pork with a Italian Prune Chutney, made from our own plums. We estimate we harvested about 50 or 60 pounds of fruit this year from our one tree.




2 medium onions, peeled
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Gray salt and freshly ground pepper
1-1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh sage
1/2 cup water
4 pounds pork leg or shoulder, at room temperature
About 1/4 cup Toasted Spice Rub , recipe follows

Thinly slice the onions. Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat until hot. Add the onions and a pinch of salt and pepper. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for about 1 minute. Add the sage and cook until the onions cease throwing off water, about 3 minutes. Add the water, cover, and cook until the onions are very tender, about 10 minutes. Uncover and saute until the onions are very soft and the pan is dry again, about 2 minutes. Season well with salt and pepper.

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees. Peel back the pork skin and spread the onions directly on the fat layer.( or butterfly the pork shoulder and spread onions inside) Fold the skin back over the onions and tie closed with kitchen string. Season well all over with the fennel spice.

Arrange the meat on a rack or a bed of halved onions, whole carrots (3) and celery ribs (4) in a roasting pan and cook until the meat is very tender, 6 to 8 hours. It is ready when it pulls away easily if picked at with a pair of tongs. It is often easiest to cook the meat overnight, or put it in the oven in the morning and let it cook all day. It does not need to be attended.


Variations: This dish can be simplified or made more elaborate depending on your taste. You can omit the onions and simply season the meat with the fennel spice. You can roast aromatic vegetables until caramelized and add them to the bottom of the roasting pan. Or you can add another layer of flavor to the onions: mince fresh rosemary and fruits such as oranges, kumquats, Meyer lemons, apples, pears, or quince, and cook with the onions, or make a paste of garlic and fresh or dried chilies and add to the onions.

Toasted Spice Rub
1/4 cup fennel seeds

1 tablespoon coriander seeds

1 tablespoon black peppercorns

1 1/2 teaspoons red pepper flakes

1/4 cup pure california chili powder (1 ounce)

2 tablespoons kosher salt

2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

Read this recipe all the way through before beginning, get your spices and equipment (skillet, plate, blender, alternate method grinder, and storing container) ready.
In a small, heavy skillet over medium heat, toast the fennel, coriander, and peppercorns.
Watch carefully, because when the fennel turns a light brown you’re going to work quickly: turn on the hood exhaust fan on your stove, then add the red pepper flakes an stir well for 30 seconds.
Turn the mixture onto a plate to cool.
When cool, place mixture in a blender together with the chili powder, salt, and cinnamon; blend until all are evenly ground.
(Alternately, you can use a spice mill/coffee grinder/mortar and pestle to grind the fennel, coriander, peppercorns, and chili flakes, then toss resultant powder with the remaining ingredients).
Transfer the spice rub into a glass jar and store in a cool, dry place; you can also freeze the mixture.
Note: if you prefer a mixture that is less spicy-hot, make sure you use mild California chili powder and/or begin with fewer red pepper flakes, then add to your preference; California chiles in powder are generally less hot and more sweet.
On chicken: sear a chicken in a little olive oil, let cool, pat the rub generously over the bird, then roast it.
Use as dry rub or dry marinade: rub into meat or poultry, refrigerate 4 hours, bring to room temperature, then roast, pan-sear, or grill.
Finishing rub: blend with just enough olive oil to make a paste, then use as a marinade or to finish grilled steaks and seafood.
Other uses: toss with vegetables before pan-roasting, or add to soups and stews.
√

Best Ever French Toast

Our friend, Shel, brought a loaf of Challah ( an egg bread) to our potluck and swore the leftovers made the best French toast. He was right- it was the best I've ever had. Here is a recipe from "the Best Recipe" by the editors of Cook's Illustrated Magazine. I don't like a bunch of flavorings in my french toast so I omitted the vanilla, but did use vanilla sugar.

1 large egg
2 Tb. unsalted butter, melted, plus some for frying the bread
3/4 c. milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 Tb. sugar
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
4-5 slices day old challah, 3/4 inch thick

Heat a 10 or 12 inch skillet over medium heat for about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, beat egg lightly in a shallow pan or pie plate, whisk in melted butter, then milk and vanilla, and finally the sugar, flour and salt. Whisk until smooth.
Soak bread, but do not over saturate, about 40 seconds per side. Pick up bread ( use those handy tongs I love so much!) and let excess batter run off. Swirl some butter in a the skillet and add bread. Cook 1 minutes 45 seconds on the first side and about 1 minute on the second side. Serve immediately.

Tomato and Bread Gratin

CSA Box-Parsley, Tomatoes, garlic
Thank you, Jaques Pepin, for a simple, delicious recipe.


1 ¼ lb Cherry tomatoes -- 3+ 1/2 Cups, we used "Jelly Beans" from our garden and "Sungold" from the CSA box
3 oz Day old bread , preferably from a French baguette, cut into 1 inch cubes
6 Cloves garlic -- peeled and thinly sliced
½ c. Parsley -- coarsely chopped
½ tsp. Black pepper -- freshly ground
2 Tb. Extra virgin olive oil
½ tsp. Salt
¼ c. Grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Wash the tomatoes and remove and discard any stems. Place the tomatoes in a bowl and mix in the remainder of the ingredients. Transfer the mixture to a 6-cup gratin dish. Bake at 375 degress for 40 minutes. Serve immediately.

Geez, have I been fasting for over a week?

No, of course not, you sillys.
We went to Buzzards Peak over the Labor Day weekend. Vern came over on Saturday and gave us a wonderful firepit. So we fired up some alder ( tree down!) and cooked us some Bratwurst from PCC. It was so good, flavored with the smoke. Cooking over a real wood fire beats the heck out of propane.
I like my brats with grainy mustard and my homemade zucchini relish.
We had a great salad made from fresh corn, scarlett runner beans and lentils. A little onion, some jelly bean tomatoes from our garden. Some fresh dill and chives, and a bit of cumin.
After dinner we gazed at the fire until the stars came out. Vern and I stayed up to watch for meteors. We saw a couple but saw more satellites.
Before dawn we were visited by a VERY LOUD hoo hoo WHOO hoo hoo. Annoying, yet exciting to be in nature. If I had to pick between that and a garbage truck, well.....
We later determind that it was a mourning dove. Must have had big lungs.

Jake enjoys the view from Buzzards Peak

Stevia

In the last few months I have been experimenting with using Stevia instead of sugar in some recipes. Stevia is an herbal sweetener that is hundreds of times sweeter than sugar. The FDA has not approved it for food use and considers it a supplement, although you can find it in many stores in the aisle with sugar and sugar substitutes.
I have found that it is really great in ice tea and in things like Fruit crisps, crumbles and gratins. I have only baked with it once, replacing half the amount of sugar that was called for in the recipe with Stevia. 1/2 cup of sugar was replaced by 1 tsp. of Stevia Blend Powder. The blend is Stevia mixed with a soluble fiber. I suppose to provide some bulk- otherwise you are dealing with extremely minute amounts of the Stevia.
anyway, it turned out great!
I have fed Stevia to Matt many times and he always comments "You would never know the difference".
Sometimes I think I can detect an aftertaste, but I think it is when I have used too much- the sweet is then overwhelming. also, I am really searching around the old palate for any hint of aftertaste. I guess if I have to work that hard at it, it's nothing major.
I am going to continue to experiment with the baking part of it. Since sugar is considered a liquid, i would guess that I'll need to adjust for the smaller amount.
Stevia does not caramelize like sugar, either, so is not good where you need browning, melting, caramelizing. Still I can see where it will have many uses in my kitchen.
It seems expensive but a little goes a loooooong way.
Cheapest I've found is amazon.com grocery dept.
Order other stuff and qualify for super saver shipping. I bought Carnation Chocolate Malted Milk for Matt because we can't get it locally.
Surprise, Steven! Picked up a four pack for you, too. Will give to you in October to lug back to the island.


For more info on Stevia visit this site