Provencal Tomatoes Recipe

With the last of the Summer tomato harvest upon us, I wanted to do something very special.  I have all of Ina Garten’s cook books {yes, I am a huge fan}, so I went to them for inspiration and a delicious recipe that would show off the brilliant red tomatoes from our local CSA farm. 

This tomato recipe has it all; fresh herbs, garlic, bread crumbs and cheese.  Everything is so much more amazing when there is Gruyere cheese involved!  The bread crumb stuffing absorbs the amazing tomato juice that is drawn out through the cooking process, plus the melted cheese on top is the icing on the cake...or tomato. You won’t be disappointed with this delicious side dish.   

Recipe By Ina Gartin

Serves 6-8

6 ripe tomatoes (2 1/2 to 3-inches in diameter)

1 1/2 cups fresh white bread crumbs

1/4 cup minced scallions, white and green parts (2 scallions)

1/4 cup minced fresh basil leaves

2 tablespoons minced fresh flat-leaf parsley

2 teaspoons minced garlic (2 cloves)

1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

Salt and black pepper

1/2 cup grated Gruyere cheese

Good olive oil

Preheat the oven to 400^oF.

Cut the cores from the tomatoes, removing as little as possible. Cut them in half crosswise and, with your fingers, remove the seeds and juice. Place the tomato halves in a baking dish.

In a bowl, combine the bread crumbs, scallions, basil, parsley, garlic, thyme, and 1 teaspoon salt. Sprinkle the tomato halves generously with salt and pepper. With your hands, fill the cavities and cover the tops of the tomatoes with the bread crumb mixture.

Bake the tomatoes for 15 minutes, or until they're tender. Sprinkle with the cheese, drizzle with olive oil, and bake for 30 seconds more.

Enjoy!

Tips:

1)      Ina Garten’s original recipe suggests using fresh bread crumbs from 5 slices of white bread.  I just had panko on hand, so substituted the panko into the recipe. 

2)      If you don’t have or can’t find Gruyere cheese, substitute with Asiago, mozzarella or your favorite cheese.

3)      I used large tomatoes, but if you just have cherry or grape tomatoes, I think those would work fine too.  Just cut them in half and place them on the bottom of the casserole dish, then sprinkle the bread crumb mixture over top and sprinkle cheese. 

Provencal Tomatoes Recipe

Ground Cherry Muffins Recipe

Joining the CSA this Summer is a decision I am so happy with.  It presented so many different fruits and vegetables to us that I would have never purchased at the market on my own.  Some weeks it was a challenge sorting through our basket and trying to plan out the meals for the rest of the week, but looking back, it allowed us to explore numerous foods and try new recipes.   Plus, it was fun to share many of them with all of you!

Have you ever heard of or seen ground cherries?  These aren’t the typical red cherries that we are all familiar with ground into a paste.  They are a beautiful little yellow-orange round fruit, similar to a small tomato, but covered by a papery husk like a tomatillo.  They are sweet little berries, and have a pineapple-like flavor with a hint of tomato.  Sounds like a strange combo, I know, but they are surprisingly delicious! 

So, what to do with these ground cherries you ask?  Add them into a basic muffin recipe for a new twist.  These muffins are a fun way to start your day as a delicious breakfast treat.

Ground Cherry Muffins

Makes 12 Muffins

1 3/4 cup flour

1/3 cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp salt

1 egg

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup oil

3/4 cup ground cherries, halved

Preheat oven to 400^o.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg and salt in a large mixing bowl.  In a small bowl, combine egg, milk and oil.  Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients.  Stir everything together until well incorporated.  Add in the ground cherries. 

Line a muffin tin with paper liners or lightly grease with a cooking spray. Fill each muffin tin 3/4 full with the batter and back in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies Recipe

Whoopie pies are a fun dessert.  The cake-like cookies sandwiching a creamy filling makes everyone feel like a kid again.  Chocolate whoopie pies are a favorite for many, but it is always fun to take a classic and use seasonal flavors to create a new indulgence. 

My mother found this recipe a few years ago in a magazine and we all fell in love with them.  The little pumpkin cakes with a touch of cinnamon, surrounding the smooth cream cheese frosting are my kind of sandwich!  I recently made these for the Patriots tailgate and they were the perfect way to end our BBQ before heading into the stadium. 

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies Recipe

Recipe by Every Day with Rachael Ray

Makes about 2 dozen assembled whoopie pies (Depending on how large you make them)

1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, 1 stick melted, 1/2 stick softened

1 cup packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten

1 cup canned pure pumpkin puree

1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon plus 2 pinches salt

1-2/3 cups flour

4 ounces cream cheese, chilled

1 cup confectioners' sugar

Preheat the oven to 350°. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter and brown sugar until smooth. Whisk in the eggs, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, 1 teaspoon vanilla, the baking powder, the baking soda and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the flour.

Using a cookie scoop or tablespoon, drop mounds of batter, spaced evenly, onto each baking sheet. Try to make them all the same size.  Bake until springy to the touch, about 8-10 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Meanwhile, using an electric mixer, cream the softened butter with the cream cheese. Add the confectioners' sugar and the remaining 2 pinches salt and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla; mix on low speed until blended, then beat on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Spread the flat side of half cakes with the cream cheese frosting. Top each with another cake.

Tips:

1)      To ensure that the cookies are all the same, I used my 1 tablespoon cookie scooper.  This was a time saver, plus it created these adorable mini whoopie pies that were all the perfect size.

2)      I doubled my filling recipe.  I wanted there to be a thick layer of cream cheese frosting in each of the pies.  The frosting filling is my favorite part!  (1 stick of butter, 8 ounces of cream cheese, 2 cups confectioner’s sugar, 4 pinches of salt and 1 teaspoon of vanilla)

3)      These cakes sometimes get sticky.  So when I pack them up, I divide each layer with wax paper.

Roasted Vegetable Soup Recipe

Fall is my favorite season.  The air is crisp, the leaves are changing to warm colors, bright orange pumpkins grace front stoops, and soup makes a perfect meal. 

I wanted this vegetable soup to be filling, healthy and full of flavor.  I decided to roast the vegetables first to bring out an additional layer element by caramelizing them in their own natural sugars.  This step is essential to this soup and worth the extra time.  The roasting technique for the soup can be used on any hearty fall vegetables and not just the combination that I used below.  It was just what I had in my house at the time. 

Roasted Vegetable Soup Recipe

Serves 6-8

5 carrots

1 medium eggplant

3 tomatoes

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 can chicken stock

1/2 cup water

Salt

Pepper

Pre-heat oven to 425^o. Roughly chop the carrots, tomatoes and eggplant.  Place the vegetables on a roasting sheet and coat with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Roast the vegetables in the oven for 45 minutes.

Once the vegetables are roasted, move them into a food processor and puree.  I pulsed the vegetables a few times to leave some texture in the soup so it wouldn’t resemble baby food. 

In a large soup pot, heat up remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil and sauté onion and garlic.  Add in the pureed vegetables and slowly mix in the chicken stock.  Depending on the consistency you prefer in your soup, start adding a 1/2 cup of water to continue to thin out the soup.  Once the soup is at your desired thickness, serve soup topped with garlic croutons.

Tips:

1)      If you want to keep this recipe vegetarian, use vegetable stock instead of chicken stock

2)      This would also be delicious with butternut squash, turnip, celery root, etc.  Any hearty vegetable that roasts well.
3)      As I have mentioned before, I love to make larger batches of food and freeze them for later.  This is a huge time saver for those busy evenings, which provides a satisfying and healthy meal. 

Fried Squash Blossoms Recipe

Hello Everyone!  Sorry for the delay in sharing delicious recipes.  I was out of the country on vacation.  My husband and I celebrated our one year wedding anniversary in France!  It was an amazing two week taste through the country with lots of wine, cheese, bread, crepes, champagne, escargot, boeuf bourguignon, macaroons and lots more.  France is a true food blogger food haven.  I will share more on this food adventure in another post, but for now let’s get the main attraction, fried squash blossoms.

Even though we joined the CSA this summer, Bill and I wanted to test our green thumbs and plant a small vegetable garden with summer squash.  At the beginning of the crop we were getting beautiful, large orange squash blossoms.  I wanted to expand my culinary skills and try frying them stuffed with ricotta cheese like the pros do. 

These little fried flowers tasted as good as they looked.  The sweet ricotta stuffed into the delicate flowers, surrounded by the crispy batter was a surprisingly perfect combination.

Fried Squash Blossoms Recipe

10 Squash blossoms

1 cup ricotta cheese

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

1 egg white

Salt

Pepper

1 ½ cups flour

3/4 cup beer or sparkling mineral water

Remove the pistol from the blossoms and cut the stems to a desired length.  {I left mine on the longer side to give me a little handle to make it easier to dip them into the batter.}

Mix the ricotta, Parmesan cheese, egg white, salt and pepper in a small bowl.  Using a small spoon or a piping bag, fill each of the squash blossoms with the cheese filling.

In a separate bowl, mix the flour and beer until smooth.  You can adjust the consistency of the batter to how thick or thin you want the batter.  I left it thinner to keep the focus on the squash blossoms. 

Heat olive oil in a frying pan, do not bring oil to a smoking point.  Once oil is heated, dip each blossom into the batter.  Coat well and allow any excess to drip off before placing in the hot oil.  Cook until golden brown, remove from hot oil to a plate lined with paper towel to absorb any extra oil.  Serve hot.

Banana Whip "Ice Cream" Recipe

One of my favorite things about summer is ice cream!  I love how this velvety smooth indulgence pairs perfectly with beautiful, warm summer nights.  There is just nothing like it.  Going for an ice cream makes anyone smile. 

As much as I love ice cream, I try to eat it in moderation.  This is a difficult battle for me, as I crave this creamy luxury often.  When I heard that I could make ‘ice cream’ with only one {healthy} ingredient, I didn’t believe it.  I had to try it for myself and I was pleasantly surprised.

Who would have thought that whipping frozen bananas could create a soft, silky texture as ice cream?  Since discovering that amazing recipe I have added in peanut butter and cocoa powder to enhance the flavor of this snack.  I just love finding healthy and inexpensive substitutes for food!

I dare you to try this new recipe…you will be happy you did!



Before



After

Banana Whip “Ice Cream”  Recipe

Serves 2

3 ripe bananas

Peel and cut bananas into pieces.  Wrap the cut bananas and place them in the freezer for a few hours.  Once the bananas are frozen through, place them into a blender or food processor.  Blend on high until smooth and creamy.  The mixture will stick to the sides, so make sure to stop a few times to scrap down the bowl to blend everything smooth.

If you want to add in peanut butter or cocoa, you can do that at this time.  Continue to blend until fully incorporated.  The ice cream will be the texture of soft serve.  If you prefer, place the mixture in an air tight container to freeze a bit more for a hard ice cream.

Tips:

1)      As mentioned before, feel free to enhance the flavor of this ice cream with peanut butter (1 tablespoon), cocoa powder (1 teaspoon), honey (1 teaspoon), chocolate chips, crushed oreo cookies, chocolate syrup, pecans, etc. 

What did you add to your banana whip?  Share your suggestions. 

Zucchini Fritters Recipe

We are getting lots of zucchini in our CSA, and I am having fun finding different ways to cook it.  Zucchini fritters are delicate, fried nuggets of joy!  They have a nice crispy outside and a soft, sweet middle full of summer flavor.

These were so easy to make and are a great accompaniment to any meal.  My husband and I couldn’t get enough of these and I can’t wait to get a few more zucchini in our CSA basket to make them again!

Zucchini Fritters Recipe

Makes 12 Fritters

Recipe by Simply Recipes

1 lb of zucchini (about 2 medium sized), coarsely grated

Kosher salt

Ground black pepper

1 large egg

2 scallions, finely chopped

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup olive oil

 Salt the zucchini with about 1 teaspoon of salt. This salting will help to remove the excess moisture from the zucchini.  In addition to salting, make sure to squeeze out any additional liquid. 

Next, whisk egg in a large bowl.  Then add the zucchini, flour, scallions, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper.  Mix the ingredients well to combine. 

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.   Once the oil is hot, cook fritters in two batches to not crowd the pan and help the oil maintain its temperature.  Drop six mounds of batter {about 2 tablespoons each} into the oil.  Flatten the fritters slightly, turning once, until browned, 4-6 minutes on each side.

Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to help absorb any excess oil.  Sprinkle with salt. Repeat the cooking process with the remaining batter.  Serve immediately.

Tips:

1)      After I grated my zucchini, I put it in a colander over the sink with salt to start to strain the extra moisture while I worked on getting the other ingredients together.   

2)      I didn’t have any scallions, so I used some minced yellow onion.  Remember, you can always adapt a recipe to what you have in your kitchen.

3)      I served these fritters as is, but you could serve with sour cream or a Greek yogurt sauce if you want to get fancy.