New Blog!

Hi Fellow Bloggers:

I have started a new catering/meal preparation business called The Local Fork and decided to switch the blog over as well just to make things less confusing.

So now you can check me out on:

http://thelocalfork.blogspot.com/

or email me at: thelocalfork@gmail.com

Hope everyone had a nice long weekend!

a

More things to do with zucchini...

So here's yet another recipe for those zucchini that you may have started stockpiling.

• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 3 cup zucchini
• 1 cup shredded carrot
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 3 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt

Directions:

Preheart oven to 325.

Beat eggs until frothy. Add oil slowly and applesauce, mix to combine. Add sugar, zucchini and carrot. Set Aside.

In a seperate bowl, sift to combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

Add all the wet ingredients in three stages to the dry ingredients.

Pour mix into two greased loaf pans.

Bake for 55-60 min.

Corn Fritters

I think I can easily say that corn is something I look forward to from the very beginning of the growing season.

Seriously what is more fun than a corn roast? Nothing. Precisely.

But this recipe is one that I have to give full credit to Simon for. He loves them and makes them about three or four times while corn is in season and pretty much came up with the whole recipe himself with a few suggestions from me tucked in here and there (let's just say, giving up my kitchen is not one of my strengths).

So here's the recipe:

• 3 cobs corn
• 3 eggs
• 3 tbsp. flour
• 3 tbsp. cornmeal
• a little salt and pepper

Adjust the recipe to how many cobs of corn you have.

Throw everything into a bowl and mix it up.

Pan fry fritters in about a 1/2 inch vegetable oil until lightly browned on each side. About 2-3 min.

Serve with real maple syrup for dipping.

If you have these just once during corn season, you won't be disappointed!

Zucchini and Polenta Lasagna

So you can probably see a theme with my recipes these days. They all seem to have a good ol' zook in them. Zucchini's are in season right now and they're cheap so I am trying to develop as many recipe's with them as I can, plus I really really love them.

This recipe is low fat, for the dieters in the crowd, and relatively easy to make.

I start by making the polenta recipe that I posted back in July. With this polenta though, I omitted the cheese to be a little more cost effective. I also cut the recipe in half and had more than enough for 3-4 ppl.

While the polenta is cooling (at least 30 min) thinly slice a large zucchini and shred some cheese (about a cup).

Next in the bottom of a casserole pan pour 1/4 cup of tomato sauce in the bottom making sure to reach all corners. The add a layer of zucchini, followed by a sprinkling of cheese.

Now the polenta: Slice the cooled polenta into thin lasagna size strips and layer them on to the lasagna.

Follow this pattern until lasagna is complete.

Pasta Sauce - roughly 2-3 cups (depending how saucy you like it)
Zucchini - 1-2 thinly sliced
Mozzarella (1 cup)
Polenta

When done layering top with the remaining cheese.

Bake in a hot oven (350) for 30. I like to broil the top for the last 5 min just so its nice and crunchy.

**Most important thing: Let lasagna set on your counter for 10-15 min. after it comes out of the oven. This will make all the difference when you cut and serve it.

It all started with a tomato...

So I went to the farmers market yesterday with my lovely friend Alicia (who was an impeccable bag holder as I excitedly scooped up goods like a madwomen) and as we browsed, we came across the most lovely heirloom tomatoes. Now if you've never had an heirloom tomato I order you to go out and get one immediately. The are, hands down, the best part of summer.

For starters, they're absolutely stunning. Bright greens, yellows, orange and of course red. They are also oddly shaped and usually have some little wonderful imperfection that for some reason makes them so desirable. The taste you ask? impossible to describe. Perfect, fresh, clean, overwhelming, amazing, delicious, splendid, warm, healthy, really good. Maybe not so hard to describe after all.

Once you go heirloom, I promise, you will have a very hard time buying grocery store tomatoes from Mexico.

So anyway, from that tomato came the inspiration for a really good summer supper.

PIZZA:

Dough
1/2 cup light cider or lukewarm water
3/4 cup lukewarm water
1 1-1/2 tsp instant yeast
1 tbsp honey
2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp olive oil

Directions:

In a bowl, combine the cider, water, yeast and honey. Let stand until frothy, about 5 minutes.
In a different bowl, mix the flour, salt and oil. Stir with a wooden spoon. Add the yeast mixture and mix until a soft ball is obtained. Remove the dough from the bowl and knead a few minutes while flouring to avoid sticking.

Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a clean cloth. Let the dough rise for about 1 hour in a lukewarm area, away from drafts.
Using your hands divide the pizza dough into two equal parts.
Use the dough immediately or lightly oil before storing in a plastic bag. It can be refrigerated up to 12 hours or frozen.

Note: To activate yeast, the temperature of the cider and of all other liquids is important. The temperature must be between 41 and 46?C (105 and 115?F), which means that the cider must be heated a little. The liquids should not be too hot as this will kill the yeast and not too cold, as the dough will not rise.


Lightly oil a baking sheet with olive oil and a dusting of cornmeal. Roll out dough and drizzle a little olive oil and sprinkle of cornmeal.


I topped my pizza first with mozzarella, then basil leaves, finely sliced tomatoes and then a yellow patty pan zucchini (thinly sliced). Sprinkle with sea salt and fresh ground pepper.


Bake in a hot oven (425) for about 15 min. Until crust bakes up nice and brown.

Blueberry Bliss

I just recently went blueberry picking with my sister and nephews and was blown away by how enjoyable the whole experience was! I highly recommend it if you have the time. These blueberries were cultivated so it was pretty easy pickins.
I picked three 4 quart baskets in about an hour and half.

When I got home I just laid them out on baking sheets and froze them overnight. The next day I bagged 'em up in zip lock freezer bags and stored them away for those bleak fruitless winter months.

By lying them out on the baking sheet you can guarantee that you won't get a block of blueberries rather individual berries perfect for muffins, pancakes, oatmeal and of course blueberry pie. I freeze most berry like things this way including peas, corn and strawberries. Believe me, the extra work in the beginning really pays off in the end.

Here is a tried and true recipe for those little blue gems:

Blueberry Bread

INGREDIENTS
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup apple sauce
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups white sugar (you can also play around with 1/2 cup honey as opposed to just white sugar)
2 cups shredded zucchini (perfect and easy to find bc. its in season right now and also easy to save for the winter by simply shredding it, squeezing out access liquid, and freezing 2 cup portions in zip lock bags, I also do this for zucchini bread, lasagna and pasta)
3 cups all-purpose flour or 1 cup whole wheat 2 cups white
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cup fresh blueberries or frozen

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease 4 mini-loaf pans or two bread pans or a muffin pan.
In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, applesauce, vanilla, and sugar. Fold in the zucchini. Beat in the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Gently fold in the blueberries. Transfer to the prepared mini-loaf pans.
Bake 50 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted in the center of a loaf comes out clean (25 min for muffins). Cool 20 minutes in pans, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.

My Love of Tea Biscuits

This is a recipe I came across a couple of years ago that I just love. It is so simple and quick that you can make the whole mess from start to finish in about 2o min.

You can also make a lot of additions to these which is nice because you can suit them to breakfast, lunch or dinner.

2 cups all purpose flour

4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup milk

*1/2 cup blueberries, raspberries, cranberries, lemon/orange zest, cheddar, cooked bacon, herbs (rosemary, sage, chives, dill)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease a baking sheet.

Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Cut butter in until mixture has a fine crumb texture. Stir in milk with a fork to make a soft dough. *If adding extras, add them now. Knead 8-10 times and then pull off clumbs about the size of a golf ball. Shape them slightly and then let them rest on the pan for about 5 min.

Bake for about 10-12 min. Serve warm with honey, jam, butter or just the way they are.