no matter how simple

When fruit is ripe and in season, there’s really not much that needs to be done to it, since baking it with just a bit of sugar and some kind of topping, be it a crisp, crumble or cobbler, makes it sweet, gooey and delicious.



This is the perfect dessert to make if you’re having friends over for dinner and you don’t want to try anything too fussy. Just double the amounts here. You can make it before you even start your dinner prep and have it ready to go after you eat. Toss it in the oven while you relax with the rest of your wine on the back porch. A homemade dessert no matter how simple is guaranteed to impress.



EASIEST STONE FRUIT CRISP/CRUMBLE
(yields: 3 servings)

2 ripe peaches, peeled and cut into chunks
1 ripe nectarine, peeled and cut into chunks
Equal parts brown sugar and wheat germ
(I wager I used a scant ¼ cup of each)
About ¼ cup Quaker oats
Butter (about 2 tablespoons and more for the baking dish)

Sugar
Cinnamon



Slice and peel your fruit over a cutting board or bowl, so that you can add any accumulated juices to your baking dish. Butter a small oven safe baking dish. Toss the sliced fruit with a sprinkle of sugar and a pinch of cinnamon right in the buttered dish. In a small bowl combine equal parts wheat germ and brown sugar with some oats, add another pinch of cinnamon; mix together and spoon on top of the fruit. Cut your butter into small cubes and dot the top with it. Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 30-40 minutes, or until the butter is completely melted, the top slightly browned and you can see the fruit juices bubbling. Serve with ice cream to balance out the fact that you included something as crunchy granola as wheat germ in a dessert; save leftovers to heat up and spoon over Greek yogurt in the morning. SO yum.



I’m off for vacation! Our plans for this weekend have been slightly derailed by the incoming hurricane. Damn you Irene! But we have a whole TEN days off through Labor Day. I am so excited to disconnect myself from both of my jobs and the internet/computer/facebook. I’m going to hopefully catch a few more rays of summer sun, read a couple books, spend some QT with the Squeeze and eat a lot of fried sea creatures and clam chowder, because that’s what you do when you’re down the Cape. Have a great Labor Day and I’ll see you in September!

banner days

I'm terrible at conveying big news sometimes. I totally space out and forget and then I'll be like {GIANT GASP} "oh my god I FORGOT to tell you!" and whomever I'm talking to will think I just injured myself severely. So last Friday was like, the biggest bit of blog news in a while and I totally failed and neglected to share it here. If you're friends with me on facebook or a blood relative though, I trust you got my WAAAAAAAA!!!! WEEEEEEEE!!! posts and emails related to this.



A few months back I submitted my kitchen for a kitchen tour over on thekitchn.com. Which is, let me just say, probably my very favorite recipe source and online community for home cooks. After some delays, because they were doing their annual Small Cool Kitchens contest and posting contributor's kitchens, they ran my full Kitchen Tour on Friday! See it HERE.



So the Porky kitchen, in its full glory, as photographed by myself and my bosomest bud, Aja Amontea, was full blown featured on my very favorite blog. I'm not going to lie, I cried a little bit. Faith's write up about why I love my kitchen was so poignant and right on and because being in that space, cooking for myself and the people I love is so very important to me, it seriously made me ferclempt.



So check out our tour. I hope you enjoy it 1/100th as much as I did!



Also, speaking of people I love and good news on Fridays, two Fridays ago, actually for the whole length of the weekend, was the EP release celebration of Paul's band's second EP, Something Evil Something Something Bananas (I know. They are a stone cold pack of weirdos and I love them so much).



This music was something I heard from the beginning as Paul would come home from the practice space on Saturday afternoons and share with me an edit of the latest track and then when I heard it in full, I was so so proud of him, of them and what they had produced.



The boys came up with an insanely clever marketing plan for the release of their EP. They knew they didn't want to press a bunch of CDs because these days, who really buys CDs anymore? Tom, the guitarist, works at this really cool tavern up in Charlestown and as a result has become pretty tight with the two guys that run Fisherman's Brewery, which is in Gloucester.



Together with the Tavern, and the fellows from the brewery, Paul and the boys decided that they would release the EP as a special brew and put a download code on the side of each bottle. So in other words, this latest release is drinkable. You can drink your beer and then use your smartphone or computer to go to band camp and enter the code to download the album. Rock and roll in the digital age. What WILL they think of next?! I thought the whole thing was pretty rad, myself. Here is the link, if you're so inclined.



It's a very special thing to watch the person you love do the thing that they love and watching the shows to celebrate last Friday and Saturday night was the most fun I've had in a long time.



I promise next time we have two banner weeks, twice in a row, that I won't sleep on sharing the details here.

take advantage

I think I’m pretty sure every meal I’ve eaten in the past two weeks has had corn or tomatoes in it, or both. Except for those meals where I’ve forsaken vegetables all together (like the mountain of fried seafood I had on Friday night). It’s my most favorite time of year to be eating. When "cooking" adds up to just assembling delicious things together and adding a little bit of seasoning. When I feel like I owe it to myself to eat as many tomatoes and kernels of fresh local corn as I can possibly take before they, and the summer, leave me for another year. You should do it too. Take advantage.



PESTO CHICKEN and HEIRLOOM TOMATO SALAD
with PESTO VINAIGRETTE

1 head Boston lettuce
2 tomatoes, chopped (heirloom or beefsteak)
3 slices thick cut pancetta or bacon, cooked and crumbled
2-3 tbs. toasted pine nuts
Fresh mozzarella torn or chopped into bite sized pieces
Grilled pesto chicken breasts, or boneless thighs

One container pesto, homemade or store bought
Salt, pepper
Olive oil
Juice from half a lemon



I made this for dinner last night. When I told my squeeze I was making salad for dinner he was kinda like “really, just a salad?” and then he saw me dumping crumbled pancetta and chunks of fresh mozzarella in the bowl and he was like “oh it's like a GOOD kind of salad.” I kept thinking of Manwich, the “sandwich that eats like a meal.” This is a salad that eats like a meal. Just add a slice of crusty bread on the side for sopping up tomato juice and dressing at the bottom of the bowl.

This, by the way, is how I feel about heirloom tomatoes:



Salt and pepper each side of your chicken and pound out to an even width. Rub with just a bit of olive oil and set over a grill on medium heat. Cook chicken through, spooning pesto on each side as you get closer to the end of the cooking process. Set chicken aside until you’re ready to eat. Feel free to add a little more pesto to the chicken when it’s all done.



Combine lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, pancetta, pine nuts and chicken in a salad bowl. In a separate bowl whisk together a few heaping tablespoons of pesto with some olive oil and the juice from half a lemon. Add salt and pepper to the dressing and the salad. Toss together; remembering to just use just a little dressing to start, you can always add more. Serve. Eat seconds, maybe thirds, definitely dessert. This salad would also be delicious if you omitted the chicken and added sliced avocado; or if you don’t have mozzarella, it would be great with gorgonzola or feta cheese.



SUMMER SQUASH and FIRE ROASTED CORN FLATBREAD

Thin crust pizza shell or flatbread
1 small summer squash
1 ear of corn on the cob
1 4 oz. package goat cheese
Juice from one lemon

Shredded or grated parmesan
Salt, pepper
Basil leaves, torn
Olive oil



You could surely make your own pizza dough here, but I must be honest, I used a Top This!* shell that I purchased at the store. It was totally overpriced, but I had a lot of things to do before getting dinner ready and sometimes the idea of saving money and being a stellar homemaker gets bulldozed by the idea of actually just doing the easiest thing possible when it comes to dinner.



The inspiration for this particular pizza comes two fold from one of my favorite food blogs, Smitten Kitchen. Last year (I think, wait maybe two years ago) she made this delicious, light, summery goat cheese-based pizza, which I promptly recreated. Last week, or say two weeks ago, she made these charred corn tacos which inspired me to make like a South American street vendor and drop my corn directly onto a flame. Preparation is so simple and the end result is light, tangy and so summery. This is the perfect topping for a super thin crust pizza, because you don’t want to over-top these particular pizza shells, or they end result will be a crispy edge and a very soggy center.



Peel your ear of corn and set it directly over the flame of a gas burner on medium high heat. Using heat-safe tongs turn and move the cob often, getting a nice char in spots, shifting it around periodically to cook all sides (Warning: it will spit and sizzle a little, but it’s not really that scary. Also, make sure your windows are open, since you will just be letting a gas burner burn in an open kitchen for upwards of a couple minutes). Let cool and then slice the kernels off the cob and set aside. While your corn cools, using a knife or (preferably) a mandolin slicer on the thinnest setting, slice your squash into whisper thin rounds.



In a small to medium bowl, mash your entire package of goat cheese with the lemon juice (a fork works perfect) and spread this as your base onto the pizza shell. Arrange the squash slices in a thin layer, overlapping the edges slightly until the pizza is completely covered. Scatter the corn over, and then a light layer of grated parmesan and some salt and pepper. Cook in a 450 degree oven for about 8-9 minutes. Or, if you are making your own pizza crust, maybe longer, at least until the crust is brown and the parmesan has melted. Scatter torn basil over, and serve immediately.



I made this variation and a standard margarita pizza for my friend when she came over for dinner. The pizza shells are so thin that this ends up being a fairly light dinner perfect for two people. Yes, that works out to a pizza each. Judge not.



*which I always want to call Top That! I can’t even type those words without thinking of this classic gem. You’re welcome.

the kind of thing that I'm into

Most people, when they have 15 minutes to kill at their house would pick up a magazine, clean up a bit or watch a little tube, I pickle onions, because that’s the kind of thing that I’m into. These bad boys come together quick and they taste amazing. I must admit I underestimated them at first blush. I have been putting them on sandwiches all week and last night I draped a layer on my pizza. Mine aren’t all that brightly colored because the onions I got were pretty young, oblong shaped, purple onions that were essentially just white on the inside, but it you use darker red or purple onions expect your end result to be hot pink. Tangy and pretty. We like it.





PICKLED RED ONIONS
(from the New Moosewood Cookbook*)

4 medium red onions, very thinly sliced
1 cup cider vinegar
1 cup water
3 tbs. brown sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. whole peppercorns (I used black and pink)



Fill a tea kettle with water and bring to a boil. While the water is boiling thinly slice your onions. If you have a mandolin slicer this is an opportune time to use it (I used the thinnest setting possible). Place the sliced onions in a colander and pour all of the boiling water over, let drain completely.



Combine water, vinegar, sugar, salt and peppercorns in a bowl; add onions. Transfer the onions and pickling liquid to a large jar, or two medium sized jars. You can let them sit at room temperature for a few hours to “quick” pickle them if you want to use them that day, or store in the fridge until use. Delicious in sandwiches, on a burger, in salads, on pizza, or with a cheese and cracker spread.





*I can’t BELIEVE this is the first thing I’m making from this cookbook. I bought it in May and I spent the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend reading the whole thing like some chicks devour a Twilight book, excitedly dog earring along the way and taking time to read aloud certain recipes to my sister over the phone. Paul was like “I don’t understand how a person can read a cookbook like it’s a novel, you haven’t put that thing down all day.” I was like, “there’s a lot a things you don’t understand, Buster, and if you’ve got any smarts in your brain you’ll stop talking about my new favorite thing in that tone of voice.” I know the Moosewood is old news, but it’s seriously amazing. I mean it practically makes me violent. I adore it and I’ll be cooking from it for a long, long time. If you are into vegetables or a vegetarian you owe it to yourself to own this thing.

we are wimps

A few weeks ago we were gifted with a few pounds of the freshest tuna you can get your hands on. It’s not every day that someone gives me a hunk of fish they caught themselves (for free!) so as you can imagine I was a little bit pumped. I had a few days to figure out what to do with it (tuna has to “bleed out” so that it doesn’t taste metallic and/or fishy). I was planning on tuna tartare, because it’s so delicious. I found an Asian style recipe of Ina Garten’s that looked great. I picked up some sesame oil and wasabi powder and headed home on Saturday afternoon to prepare it. We were heading to our friends, Trish and Steve’s to grill out for the evening and when I had told her of our unexpected seafood bounty she was all “BRING THE TUNA.”



Except I was… scared. I’ve never prepared or served people raw fish before. I inspected and sniffed at the fish like a crazy person. I paced back and forth and glanced at the recipe over and over, convinced that I would miss some crucial step that would definitely kill us and our friends, or at the very least confine us to the bathroom for the remainder of the weekend.



I called Paul to ask his opinion and he echoed my hesitation. We both agreed that while we would have no problem eating tuna tartare if someone else brought it to the party; we just weren’t comfortable being the raw fish purveyors in charge of everyone’s gastrointestinal well being. In short: we wimped out. We are wimps. Big time.



I decided on a much safer option: slicing the fish into thick steaks and marinating them. Though we would, to honor the fish as it should be prepared, merely be searing the tuna on the outside and leaving it rare in the middle, just the act of cooking the outside made me feel considerably less scared about it. Also, since I wasn’t grilling, it would be Steve’s fault if everyone was poisoned and their life ruined, right? I believe they call this “passing the buck.”



With the buck successfully passed I relaxed. The resulting tuna steaks were dynamite I’m quite sure they were so good because they were expertly grilled by our gracious host, but most everybody gave credit to me for the marinade, so I took that buck right back and basked in the compliments. I’m totally good at that. This marinade is ideal on tuna steaks but would also be great on portobello mushrooms, chicken, shrimp or steak.

WASABI SOY MARINADE

Soy sauce
Juice and zest from 1 lime
Toasted sesame oil
Olive oil
3-4 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
1-2 tsp. ground ginger (use fresh grated if you have it)
½-1 tsp wasabi powder
4-6 scallions, minced



I sliced the tuna into somewhat equal sized steaks and placed them in a Ziploc, to which I added all of the above listed things. You’re going to want about twice as much soy sauce as you have sesame and olive oil, but essentially, all you want to do is make enough liquid to cover your steaks. The soy sauce, olive oil and lime juice will make up the bulk of your liquid, with just a small drizzle of toasted sesame. The garlic, ginger, scallions and wasabi will infuse the liquid and it really is all just delicious. Soy sauce is my marinade secret weapon. If you’re watching your sodium, there are plenty of lower sodium choices out there that you can use.



Due to the fact I made a last minute recipe change up, I had 4 super ripe avocados that needed to be used as well. Instead of making my usual guacamole recipe, I decided to stick with the Japanese “flavor profiles”- as the top chefs say- and try and make an Asian style guacamole. We called it gucamori, so that it sounded kind of Japanese. It was no greater or less than regular guacamole. In my opinion, if you mash up some avocados, that business is gonna be good, so if you like scallions and sesame seeds, try the guacamori, we had no complaints. If that sounds wack to you, stick with the traditional cilantro and onions or try my favorite party guacamole.



GUACAMORI

4 ripe avocados
1 jalapeno seeded and finely minced
2 scallions, minced
Juice from one lime
1-2 tbs. soy sauce
½ tsp wasabi powder
Salt, pepper
Sriracha Thai chili sauce to taste
Toasted sesame seeds (optional)



Combine jalapeno, scallion, lime juice, soy sauce and wasabi in a bowl. Scoop avocados in, mash with fork to desired consistency. Salt, pepper and Sriracha (or hot sauce) to taste. Serve with homemade pita chips.





Old wives tale or awesome tip? I read recently that if you want to keep your guacamole from turning brown en route to your dinner party or wherever you may be traveling with guacamole (bat mitzvah, pajama party, aerobics class) keep one of the avocado pits in the bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap (so that the plastic is actually squished onto the top of the guacamole, not simply stretched tight across the top of your bowl). Paul said he thought this sounded like an urban legend. But how many urban legends do you know about avocados? Alls I know is mine stayed pretty green. Not sure how this technique would pan out over the course of several hours, since I made mine right before we left the house, but, give it a try.