Recipes Cherry Galette

Recipes

Cherry Galette

For the Crust
8 tablespoons of unsalted butter (1 stick)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
4 tablespoons ice water
1 egg, whisked for brushing
sugar for dusting

Cut the unsalted butter into 1/2 inch pieces, place on a plate and set in the freezer to harder for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, mix together the flours and salt in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl mix together apple cider vinegar and 4 tablespoons of water along with a few ice cubes to chill the liquid. Add half of the chilled butter into the flour and salt. Use your hands or a pastry cutter to work the butter into the flour. Break up the pieces until they are the size of small peas–the mixture will have the texture of cornmeal. Add in the remaining butter and repeat until all of the butter has been integrated into flour and salt. Slowly mix in apple cider vinegar and water, adding one tablespoon at a time. Use your hands to mix the dough, squeezing gently until the liquid has soaked up all of the flour. Add an additional tablespoon of water or two, if needed. Once a dough has formed, wrap it in plastic wrap and transfer to the refrigerator. Let the dough chill for at least 2 hours, but up to overnight.

For the Filling
1 1/2 pounds of cherries, destemmed and pitted
1/2 cup of sugar
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 tablespoon of flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt

Remove the stems and pits from the cherries. Mix together in a large bowl the cherries, sugar, zest and juice of one lemon, flour, and salt. Let sit for 5 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured work surface until it reaches 1/4 inch thickness. Transfer the dough to a parchment paper lined baking sheet. I think this is most easily accomplished by rolling the dough onto the rolling pin and using the pin as a transfer device.

Drain the excess liquid from the cherry filling using a sieve or a strainer. Place the cherry filling in the center of the rolled out dough then fold the sides of the dough toward the center. This doesn’t have to be pretty, and is arguably the prettiest when the edges are a bit rustic. Brush the crust with a whisked egg and sprinkle sugar on the top.

Bake for 35-40 minutes at 400 degrees until the crust is golden brown. The juice might spill out while baking, but it’s normal and a beautiful sight.

Recipes Refried Black Bean and Scorched Corn Tacos with Chipotle Crema

Recipes

Refried Black Bean and Scorched Corn Tacos with Chipotle Crema

There’s nothing particularly sexy about refried black beans, but I’m smitten and I’m not sorry about it. What they might lack in beauty they make up for in depth and texture. I make mine with dried beans, rinsed then cooked in a crock-pot on high heat for a few hours, checking every so often until the texture is right. I like that the process begins effortlessly and transitions to standing by the stove mashing cooked beans, onions and spices (the mashing part can be especially therapeutic) as the fragrant steam skims my face.

And when there’s a batch in the fridge, it doesn’t last long. Nachos, breakfast tostadas (put a fried egg on it), burritos, soup, tacos, and so on forever.

Refried Beans
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 small white or yellow onions, diced (about 3/4 of a cup)
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
black beans, 3 cups cooked from dried beans or 2 cans
1 cup vegetable stock (or bean-cooking liquid or water)

Dice the onion, seed and dice the jalapeno, and mince the garlic. Add these to an olive-oiled saute pan and cook over medium-high heat until soft, about 5 minutes. Season with chili powder, cumin, and salt. Stir and cook another minute. Add half of the cooked black beans and half of the vegetable stock (or bean-cooking liquid/water). Stir together and begin mashing with a potato masher. Mash until the stock boils away and the beans begin to thicken to a paste. This takes a little bit of time (5-10 minutes) so dance it and/or turn on something good to listen to. Once the liquid is gone, add in the remaining cooked black beans and vegetable stock and repeat the mashing/dancing process. Remove from heat and serve.

Chipotle Crema
1 cup Mexican creme or sour cream
1/2 of a lime, juiced
handful of cilantro, about 1/2 cup
1-2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, with 1 tablespoon of the sauce

Mix ingredients together in a food processor or blender until smooth. Like it spicy? Add in an extra chipotle pepper and/or another spoonful of adobo sauce.

Refried Black Bean and Scorched Corn Tacos
corn tortillas, set on the grill for a few seconds to heat
refried black beans
corn, grilled on the cob for 3-4 minutes on each side, then cut at the kernel
diced tomatoes
diced avocado
chipotle crema, applied generously
cilantro

Directions

Recipes Lavender Margarita

Recipes

Lavender Margarita

I made my first batch of lavender simple syrup last week and my only regret is not having done it sooner. It’s perfect for summer and an easy, delicious addition to iced coffee, lemonade and of course, cocktails.

This recipe calls for a single-serving margarita, shaking the ingredients together with cracked ice in a cocktail shaker to chill and dilute a bit. If you’re making this for a group, skip the cocktail shaker step and mix tequila, Cointreau, lime juice and lavender simple syrup in a pitcher.

Lavender Margarita
lavender salt, for rimming the glass*
1 ½ ounces tequila (100% agave)
1 ounce Cointreau
1 ounce lime juice, freshly squeezed (1 lime)
½ – 1 ounce lavender simple syrup**
ice, cracked or otherwise

Find your favorite rocks glass or any kind of small tumbler. Wet the rim with water (or lime juice) then salt the rim by dipping it into a small bowl of lavender salt. Fill the glass with ice and set aside.

Place tequila, Cointreau, lime juice and lavender simple syrup in cocktail shaker. Add ice until the shaker is half full. Shake for 30 seconds. Strain into prepared glass and ENJOY!

*Lavender Salt
½ course sea salt
1 tablespoon dried lavender buds
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Add sea salt, lavender buds and cayenne pepper to a small canning jar. Twist on the lid and shake together until everything is well integrated. This will make more than is needed for a single-serving margarita so save the rest for another occasion. Try it sprinkled on grilled vegetables (hello asparagus!) or in potato salad.

**Lavender Simple Syrup
1 ½ cups water
1 ½ cups sugar (demerara or granulated)
1 tablespoon dried lavender buds (If you’re using fresh lavender, triple the lavender)

Bring water, sugar and lavender buds to a boil over medium-high heat. Once the boil begins to roll, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and let steep for an additional 10 minutes. Strain out the lavender buds and store in an airtight container, refrigerated for up to one week.

Recipes Radish Cakes & Curry Dipping Sauce

Recipes

Radish Cakes & Curry Dipping Sauce

Last year we began receiving a weekly CSA share (Community Supported Agriculture) from our friends at Urban Roots Farm. It’s a thrill to pick up our beautiful bounty each week and start dreaming about what meals will come from it.

The challenge of you get what you get can be inspiring. It’s a lesson in resourcefulness, an opportunity to stretch creatively, a chance to work with new, unfamiliar ingredients. And for all of those reasons, it can be maddening, too. But this week, well this week was just fun.

Among the bounty was a handful of white radishes, also known as daikon, that quickly and without complaint were grated, pattied and pan-fried into crisp, golden cakes.

Radish Cakes & Curry Dipping Sauce
Makes 8 radish cakes and 1/3 cup sauce

Ingredients
For the cakes:
2 cups white radish, grated
½ teaspoon salt
1 Egg, whisked
1 Clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon scallion , roughly chopped
1 tablespoon cilantro, roughly chopped
½ teaspoon black pepper
1/3 cup panko bread crumbs

For the sauce:
¼ cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 Lime, juiced
1 teaspoon curry powder
Dash of Sriracha

Grate the white radish into a medium-sized bowl. Sprinkle the radish with salt and let sit for 20-30 minutes. The salt helps dry out the moisture in the radish, which makes frying easier. While the salt is at work, put together the curry dipping sauce.

Make the curry dipping sauce in a small bowl by whisking together the heavy cream, mayonnaise, lime juice, curry powder, and Sriracha. Chill in refrigerator until ready to use. The sauce will keep in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.

Mince the garlic, chop the scallion, chop the cilantro then set these aside. Return to the grated radish, squeeze out the excess moisture using your hands and discard the liquid. Pat dry with a cloth or paper and return it to the bowl. Add in a whisked egg, garlic, scallion and cilantro. Season with black pepper. Fold in panko bread crumbs.

Patty into small cakes, about 2-3 inches across. Grease your skillet and pan-fry each cake on medium heat, about 3 minutes on each side, until pan-fried brown. Serve warm and enjoy with the curry dipping sauce.

Recipes Apple Pancakes

Recipes

Apple Pancakes

I associate pancakes with slow-moving, weekend mornings that start calmly, leisurely. The mornings when the only place I need to get to is right where I’m already standing. It’s the morning to dial in new coffees and the morning to perfect my flow rate on when brewing a Chemex.

Slow food is for slow mornings and while pancakes can be a fairly quick and painless process, I love them best when I can take my time in the kitchen and take unhurried sips of coffee between the steps.

Apple Pancakes
Makes 10-12 small pancakes

Ingredients
2 cups flour, sifted
3 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 Granny Smith apples, cored, peeled, and sliced to ¼” slices
1 tablespoon maple syrup
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
2 eggs
8 tablespoons, melted (1 stick) butter plus 1 tablespoon unmelted for sautéing
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium sized bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Sauté apples over medium heat using 1 tablespoon of butter. Cook for 5 minutes, or until soft, and add maple syrup, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir and continue to sauté apples for 2-3 minutes, then remove from heat and set aside to cool.

Separate the eggs, then fold the egg yolks into the dry mixture. Beat the egg whites in a medium bowl for 2-3 minutes, until stiff, then add in melted butter, milk, and vanilla extract. Slowly stir in the dry ingredients, to remove lumps, but be careful not to over mix. Fold in sautéed apples.

Grease pan, turn heat to medium to medium-high, then once the pan is hot (you can test a droplet of water to see, and when it sizzles, it’s ready) pour ¼ cup of batter into the center of the pan. If you’d like, you can place a thin slice of the apple on the top of the cooking batter to make things even prettier.

Cook batter on each side for a 3-4 minutes, but you’ll know that it’s ready to be flipped when you see bubbles appear on the top and sides of the pancake.