Summer Squash, Chard and Leek Tian

The hot, humid, seemingly unbearable cloud of oppressive summer weather makes us seek simple and light vegetarian dishes that use seasonal produce and minimize effort.  Mostly, there are fruits, salads and chilled foods on our table these days but other than grilling, an occasional simple baked dish seems just right.

 I have a penchant for vegetarian dishes made with eggs, milk and sometimes cheese, as they are nutritious, delicious, pretty quick, and adaptable to whatever you have on hand. For me, this is a technique and not a formula since I use a proportional model. This particular go-round uses non-fat lactose milk with the gorgeous eggs from a local organic farm but cream or regular milk would work.  Also, the vegetables could vary widely. And you could add bread or rice to make a more substantial meal. But for me, summertime begs for simplicity …and seasonal flavor.

Summer Squash, Chard and Leek Tian

2 medium leeks, cleaned and thinly sliced

Olive or vegetable oil, or butter

1 stalk green garlic or 1-2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1 yellow zucchini or summer squash, thinly sliced

1 lb chard cuttings, green part only, washed and drained (reserve stems for another use)

1-2 tbsp snipped herbs (such as dill, lovage, or parsley)

2 extra large eggs

½ c milk or cream (lactose-free and nonfat milk are fine)

Optional: ¼ c grated cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Sauté the leeks slowly in oil or butter until tender. If using green garlic stalks (as I did), sauté them with the leeks. Otherwise, add the sliced garlic cloves at the end of the leek cooking cycle. Set aside to cool.

In the same pan, with additional oil or butter as needed, sauté the squash until lightly browned and set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, cook the chard in a small amount of water until tender and remove to a colander to drain. When cool, squeeze to remove excess water and chop finely.

Lightly beat the eggs, add the milk, reserved vegetables, herbs, optional cheese, and salt and pepper. Pour into a baking dish that has been buttered or oiled.

Bake for 30-40 minutes until set but not dry. Let sit for 5 minutes before serving.

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Improved Gluten-free Dairy-free Pumpkin Pie

With a great tip from Mark Bittman of The New York Times, I improved the gluten-free, dairy-free pumpkin pie that I made for Thanksgiving a year ago. Last year, the pat-in crust, made from purchased gluten-free ginger snaps, was really ugly. This year, I added unsweetened coconut to the ginger snaps and it worked much better. I also liked the fact that the coconut in the crust complemented the coconut milk in the filling.

Gluten-free Ginger Snap and Coconut Crust

Ginger snaps, ground in a food processor (1 ½ c)

¼ c unsweetened coconut

6 tbsp vegan spread (Earth Balance), melted

Mix all ingredients and pat into 8-inch pie pan. Chill. Prebake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Cool before adding filling and finishing pie.

Pumpkin Pie Filling with Coconut Milk

1 c precooked pumpkin (from a can or roasted mashed from a pie pumpkin

1 c coconut milk

¼ c brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1tsp ground ginger

¼ tsp ground nutmeg

1/8 tsp ground cloves or allspice

Pinch of salt

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

Mix all ingredients together and pour into partially baked crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes or until set.

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Pantry Potato Salad with Tomatillo Sauce

A couple of months ago, not long after this blog began, I posted a series on tomatillos. See November. I wish I knew how to link to those stories like other blogs that say “here” and “here,” sending visitors back in time to their own musings or into somebody else’s world. No, here you’ll have to figure it out yourself, if you care. (Can I get some help here?)

Stung by the (still-mourned) dearth of tomatoes last summer, I put my energies into canning their plentiful cousins, which I harvested myself from our CSA farm.  The canned version is tangy, beautiful and great served on its own as dip for tortilla chips or as a sauce for other ingredients. I made lots and everyone who received a jar for Christmas raved.

Here, now, in the dead of winter, I made a spunky potato salad sauced with canned tomatillos and crisped with the addition of celery, cucumbers, scallions and cilantro. It was amazing. And it felt as fine in winter as it does during the season, before the tomatillos hit the pantry.

Potato Salad Dressed with Tomatillo Sauce (2-4 servings)

4 potatoes (I used red waxy ones)

½ cucumber

1 small stalk celery

¼ cup more or less of tomatillo sauce

1 scallion, minced

1 tbsp cilantro leaves

Peel the potatoes, slice them, and steam until tender. Set aside, sprinkle with a little tomatillo sauce (or white wine vinegar and salt) and let cool. Meanwhile, peel the cucumber in stripes, leaving some of the green skin intact, for texture and flavor. String the celery and slice thinly, on the diagonal.  When the potatoes are cool, toss with the tomatillo sauce, cucumber and celery. Garnish with minced scallion and cilantro.

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January P.S. — Kumquat Sorbet

At Christmas we typically have a bowlful of kumquats decorated with Satsuma tangerines or other citrus with leaves, as a reminder of sunnier places. Citrus in the early to mid 19^th century (not so long ago, really) used to be so rare and precious that getting a gift of a tangerine or orange was like gold. It was a Christmas tradition.

The Dad likes eating whole kumquats raw and but this year we had a bowlful left over. In early January, I thought I would poach them in syrup, with a little ginger added, and can them. However, no matter how I made them – poached in light simple syrup for a short time until translucent or parboiled, left to sit and then cooked in a heavy syrup slowly and forever – they looked perfect and plump until I touched them. Then, like a mummy who shrivels when the tomb is opened and air rushes in, they puckered and shrunk. Whoa. The odd thing was that some stayed plump, some were semi-soft, and others were like deadly dabs of melted plastic.

Baffled after the first batch, I decided that the problem must be that my supermarket purchase of pre-packaged kumquats was to blame, since the fruits were of different sizes and degrees of ripeness. So when our health food store had organic kumquats that were beautiful, unblemished and uniform, I tried this experiment again, with similar results. Hmmm.

However, the good news was that I ended up with a couple of jars of canned kumquats and kumquat syrup. So I made kumquat sorbet using my non-dairy coconut milk method (see post of November 14, 2009). I substituted kumquat syrup for the water and sugar and added pureed kumquats from the canned jar, picking only the ones that were plump and de-seeding them. The finished sorbet was delicious. After the flavors got acquainted, the sorbet tasted like a Creamsicle with a kick. Really, really good.

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OK Paris: A Correspondence Course 3 – Pipérade

OK Paris is an ongoing exchange of culinary encounters and yearnings during OK’s half-year relocation to Paris.

Here again we have a delicious and versatile dish that is often eaten in France. It’s easy to make and keeps well, so making a batch that’s only partially consumed leaves some for a quick meal another day. Hailing from the Basque region, pipérade is basically a combination of peppers and onions, slowly braised and bound with a few tomatoes. Traditionally, it is spiced with powdered Espelette pepper (“pimenton d’espelette”), a Basque red chili pepper named after a town in the region. I was happy to have a little tin of that wonderful ingredient on hand, but a combination of sweet paprika and a little cayenne would work. I added chopped garlic to this mix, and I have sometimes added a little smoked ham, which I believe is traditional. Topped with a poached egg and sprinkled with a pinch of red pepper, it makes a wonderful supper. It also makes a great appetizer on small toasts or crackers, a filling for crepes or omelets, or the vegetable component of a frittata.

Pipérade for two

1 yellow onion, sliced vertically into moon-shaped slivers

Olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1 green pepper, sliced vertically in thin strips

1 red pepper, sliced vertically in thin strips

2 small tomatoes, sliced vertically in 6-8 pieces (or use canned whole tomatoes)

½ tsp pimenton d’espelette (or ½ tsp paprika and a pinch of cayenne)

Sauté the onion slowly in olive oil for about 6 minutes, until it is just about to brown slightly, add the garlic and cook for a minute or two. Add the peppers and continue to cook, covered, for about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and pimenton d’espelette, and continue to cook until the tomatoes are soft and the ingredients are well combined. This can be eaten right away or put aside for another day, as the flavors improve with time.

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Gluten-free Dairy-free Cornbread Stuffing for a Turkey

The first year that we decided to be gluten-free and dairy-free for Thanksgiving, I gave up my longstanding tradition of making bread stuffing for the turkey and moved over to a more Southern approach based on cornbread. I had been researching gluten-free baking, so I knew cornbread would be a good option. I used the typical ingredients of celery, onion, thyme, sage, salt and liberal amounts of black pepper, and also added browned sausage. It was bound together by turkey stock that I had made a few days earlier from necks and backs. Some of the stuffing was cooked inside the bird and the rest in its own pan in the oven.  One of the tricks I discovered this year was to mix the stuffing a couple of hours in advance and let it sit, which allows the flavors to get acquainted. (Refrigerate it if the time’s lengthy.)

Gluten-free Dairy-free Cornbread Stuffing

12 cups dried cubed gluten-free dairy-free cornbread (see below)

1 ½ pounds mild or spicy bulk pork or turkey sausage

Olive oil and vegan spread (like Earth Balance, which has no dairy or gluten)

2 cups chopped onion

2 cups chopped celery

½-3/4 cup chopped celery leaves

½ cup chopped parsley

2 tbsp or more dried sage (leafy, not ground)

1 tbsp or more dried thyme

2 tsp or more ground black pepper

Salt to taste

1-2 cups turkey stock

Make the corn bread a day or so in advance so that it dries out. Cut it into 1-inch cubes and dry them in a low (275-degree) oven for 20-30 minutes or until quite dry and almost brittle. Break up the sausage into 1-inch chunks and sauté over medium high heat (so that it browns slightly) until cooked through. Remove and drain off excess fat. Melt some vegan spread with olive oil and sauté the onions and celery until softened.

Combine the cornbread, sausage and vegetables in a large mixing bowl, add the celery leaves, parsley, sage, thyme, salt and pepper. Add turkey broth, a little at a time, until the mixture is moist but not soggy, being careful not to break up the cornbread too much (some will crumble, but you will want some cubes to stay whole). Taste and add more seasonings if needed. Let sit for a couple of hours before stuffing the turkey.

This made enough to stuff a 15-pound turkey and to fill a 7-inch shallow baking dish. I added extra turkey stock to the dish (since it wouldn’t get the basting from the turkey) and baked it at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

Gluten-free Dairy-free Cornbread (based on a recipe by Gluten-free Girl)

¼ cup sorghum flour

¼ cup tapioca flour

¼ cup potato starch

¼ cup sweet rice flour

4 tsp aluminum-free baking powder

1 tsp xanthan gum

1 tsp salt

¼ cup sugar (omit if making it for stuffing)

¼ cup vegan spread (like Earth Balance, or use Crisco)

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 cup lactose-free milk (or use rice milk)

1 cup fine yellow cornmeal

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Grease a 7 x 10 ½-inch (or 9×9-inch) pan. Sift the dry ingredients (other than cornmeal) so combine them well. Cut in the shortening like you were making a pie, until it reaches a sandy texture. Combine the slightly beaten eggs and milk and pour into the dry ingredients, stirring just until combined. Then quickly stir in cornmeal and pour into prepared pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

One recipe makes about 8 cups of cubed cornbread. I made two of these, one with sugar and one without and reserved half of the one with sugar for another use.

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Gluten-free Dairy-free Pumpkin Pie, so who said it had to be pretty too

Figuring out how to make a pumpkin pie dairy-free is not hard, given the possibility of using soymilk or unsweetened coconut milk as a substitute for cream or half-and-half. Figuring out a compatible crust is harder. The piecrust that I made last Thanksgiving emulated a whole-wheat crust but was crumbly to the point where I felt it belonged on the beach. It tasted like that too. I was about to repeat the mistake this year when, in the midst of baking the apple pie that was to precede Mr. Pumpkin in the oven, E reminded me that I had had aspirations to make a gluten-free gingersnap crust. So she ran out to the only open grocery store and picked up a bag of gluten-free cookies. We tossed together the new crust and pre-baked it, not losing much oven time on a busy day. It wasn’t the prettiest of pies, but it was good, and a good start for future experiments. Next time, I will think ahead and make my own gingersnaps.

As for the pumpkin, I used a good quality organic canned pumpkin puree. The sugar pumpkin that I had on hand would have been watery despite roasting it to concentrate the flavors. The other alternative would have been to roast a cheese pumpkin or sweet potatoes, both of which have more body. That too will wait until next time. The cheese pumpkin on our counter is just too gorgeous to give up.

Gluten-free Dairy-free Pumpkin Pie

1 ½ cups pumpkin puree (1 15 oz can)

½ cup brown sugar or ¾ cup granulated white sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

½ tsp ground allspice

¼ tsp ground cloves

Fresh grated nutmeg

1 tsp salt

1 cup unsweetened coconut milk (not light)

3 large eggs

1 pre-baked gingersnap piecrust (see below)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Stir the sugar, spices and salt into the pumpkin puree.  Stir the coconut milk thoroughly to eliminate any lumps and combine with the pumpkin. Slightly beat the eggs and add to the puree, until just combined. Pour into the pre-baked and cooled piecrust and bake for approximately 50 minutes.  The edges should be set and the center somewhat jiggly. It will set up as it cools.

Gingersnap Pie Crust

8 oz gingersnaps, or about 30 small cookies, 2 cups when pulverized

2 tbsp white sugar

1/3 cup dairy-free shortening (I used Earth Balance)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pulverize the gingersnaps in a food processor, to yield 2 cups. Add sugar and shortening and process until the mixture holds together and is clumpy. Pat the mixture evenly into a 9-inch pie pan and bake for 8-10 minutes until set but not overly brown. Set aside to cool before filling and baking.

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