Kitchen Gadget Girl Cooks

Corn on the Cob

In the tradition of many a San Francisco restaurant, I wanted to experiment with Corn on the Cob three ways; grilled, microwaved and traditional 2-minute boil method. I was curious to see which was actually the best way, best being a combination of time + effort.

Grilled: The most time consuming of the three methods, grilling also provides the most depth of flavor. To prepare the ears of corn, peel back the husks, but do not remove. Remove all the silks and then pull the husks back up, covering the corn. Soak in a bowl of water for about 10-15 minutes, while you prepare the grill. Grill over moderate heat for about 15-20 minutes, until the husks are brown and crispy. Remove the cobs, shuck the corn and serve with butter. Alternate method – shuck corn completely and wrap in foil. Grill as above, until corn is hot. Peel off foil and serve.

Microwave: The easiest of the three methods, all you need to do it stick the whole ear of corn in the microwave, husks and all, and cook for 1-2 minutes on high. Remove (carefully!) and peel off husks and silks, which will come off quite easily. Even with the speed of preparation, this was not my favorite method, as the corn ended up a little on the chewy side. I like mine nice and crisp.

Boiling: This is the method I was raised on, which probably gives me a slight bias. Shuck the corn and remove the silks. Break cobs in half, if desired. Boil a pot of water, and drop the cobs in. Cook for 2 minutes, not a moment longer (some purists think 1 minute is sufficient). Remove with tongs, serve with butter. Kernels stay crisp and tasty and this is the way I like my corn!

I also experimented with smoked paprika and chili powder as additions with the butter, but I think my favorite is butter and salt.

How do you like your corn on the cob?

Our last weekly TGIF block party was last Friday, and I brought three seasonal (sort of) appetizers to share:

Salad on a stick

• Cherry tomatoes (from the garden)
• Basil leaf (from the garden)
• Cucumber
• Feta or Mozzarella Cheese
• Kalamata Olive (pitted)

Skewer in any combination you desire. Drizzle with a lemony vinaigrette. Next time, I will use smaller toothpicks and make them more one-bite, with just tomatoes, basil and mozzarella cheese.

Goat Cheese and Nectarines

Spread goat cheese on crackers or crostini. Top with a slice of Nectarine (from our Frog Hollow Farms CSA box) and a sprig of mint (from the garden). Use local goat cheese for the best flavor – Harley Farms from Pescadero is excellent.

Deviled Eggs

Not truly from my garden, but by next spring, I plan to be able to make Deviled Eggs with eggs from our own chickens.

• 12 eggs, boiled and cooled. Cut in half, saving 18 halves for presentation. Place all egg yolks in a bowl
• 1/4 cup light mayonnaise
• 1 tsp mustard powder
• 1 tsp white wine vinegar
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• Salt and pepper

Mash and mix everything together. All ingredients can be adjusted, taste as you go along. To fill the egg halves, put mixture into a pastry bag or Ziploc with a fluted tip. Chill, and before serving, dust with more smoked paprika.

This post serves as my entry into the Grow Your Own Roundup, hosted by Andrea at Andrea’s Recipes.

A certain someone (who shall remain nameless) had a birthday recently and requested ribs, macaroni salad and carrot slaw for dinner. I was only too happy to oblige, seeing as how I show love through food. Plus, the Macaroni salad will also serve as my entry in this month’s Grow Your Own blogging event, which I am hosting! That would be a two-fer in my book.

Macaroni Salad

Macaroni Salad

Inspired by Simple Recipes, Mom’s Macaroni Salad

• 1 pound elbow macaroni, cooked using instructions on package, rinsed in cold water and drained
• 1/2 cup chopped bread and butter pickles
• 1/4 cup pimentos (can substitute roasted red peppers)
• 1/4 cup red onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
• 1 TBS lemon juice
• 1/2-3/4 cup of light mayonnaise
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 TBS Dijon mustard
• Salt and pepper to taste

Mix macaroni, pickles, pimento, red onion, and parsley in large bowl. In a small bowl, mix together mayonnaise, lemon juice, paprika and Dijon mustard. Pour over macaroni mixture and toss well. Add salt and pepper. Chill until ready to serve.

Note: I made this the night before, and the day I was going to serve it, I noticed that the salad was kind of dry. The pasta seemed to have soaked up all of the mayo I added! I added more until a creamy consistency was achieved.

This salad is posted as part of the Grow Your Own blogging event, as the red onions came from my garden this winter, parsley growing on my porch, and a batch of bread and butter pickles I made last summer.

Last week I was invited to play tennis with the ladies, and unfortunately, managed to smack two of them with my serve during our match. The rule is, if you hit someone with a tennis ball, you have to buy them a drink. So I invited the tennis group over for our Friday TGIF and served:

Tennis Ball Cocktail with Vodka and Midori

The Tennis Ball

• 1 ounce Midori
• 2 ounces Vodka (I used citrus flavored, plain would be good too)
• 2-3 ounces Fresca (to taste)

Shake the Midori and Vodka together in cocktail shaker with ice. Pour into a highball glass with ice, and add Fresca to taste. Serve.

Sweet Cheese Ball with Pecans and Coconut

Sweet Cheese Ball

Savory cheese balls are common in our neck of the woods, especially for 50’s-themed cocktail parties. For this event, I wanted something that would pair well with (green-tinted) coconut, so I found a few recipes for sweet cheese balls and came up with this variation. Next time, I would try pineapple bits instead of maraschino cherries.

• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 3 drops green food coloring, plus 2 TBS water
• 2 packages cream cheese, 8 ounces each, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup pecans, chopped fine
• 10 maraschino cherries, chopped fine

In a medium bowl, mix food coloring with water. Add in coconut and stir until color is uniform. Spread out on a tray with paper towels to dry.

Beat cream cheese until light, then add sugar and continue to beat until smooth. Using a spoon or flexible spatula, mix in pecans and cherries.

Gather up the cheese mixture and form into a ball. Place in the middle of the coconut tray, and pat coconut all around the ball. It may seem messy and difficult to do, but the coconut sticks really well and the cheese ball will keep its shape. Once you have it coated with as much coconut as you want, put it on a serving plate and stick the cheese ball in the fridge for 1 hour, or until serving. Decorate to resemble a tennis ball, if desired.

Serve with apples or other fresh fruit, pretzels, crackers or anything else that works well with sweet cheese. Bagels, perhaps?

Homemade Pickle Plate

Last weekend, I was honored to host a baby shower for a good friend, Dena. It was over 90F outside, but we managed to have a lovely lunch in the garden. The actual party was not a problem, but I found myself very worried about the games. Fortunately, Dena absolved me of this responsibility, declaring that games were unneccessary. Yippee!

Once I could focus on the food, the menu came together quickly:

Baby Shower Lunch Menu

• Farro Salad with Artichokes, Garbanzo Beans and Sun-dried Tomatoes
• White Bean and Tuna Salad
• Sliced salumi
• Italian cheese
• Fresh bread and butter
• Cantaloupe and strawberries
• Prossecco, lemonade and ice tea

Blueberry Slab Pie

For dessert, I made Blueberry Slab Pie, which was very easy to make and tasted great. I was slightly disappointed that I could not use local blueberries, but since the recipe called for 8 cups, I decided that my budget would be much happier with frozen wild blueberries.

Farro Salad

Farro Salad with Chickpeas and Marinated Artichoke Hearts
from Whole Grains for Busy People, by Lorna Sass

For the salad
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 TBS balsamic vinegar
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups semi-pearled farro
12 ounces marinated artichoke hearts, drained and quartered
1 1/2 cups chickpeas (canned or fresh cooked), drained and rinsed
1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil (chopped, or look for julienned in the jar)

For the dressing
3 TBS oil from the sun-dried tomatoes
3 TBS grated Romano cheese
1 TBS lemon zest
3 TBS lemon juice
1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Salt & pepper

Pour balsamic vinegar over onion in small bowl. Set aside.

Bring 2 1/2 cups water and salt to a boil; add farro and cook for 20-25 minutes, until tender. Drain.

Combine artichoke hearts, chickpeas and sun dried tomatoes in medium bowl. Toss in farro and onion with any unabsorbed vinegar.

To make the dressing, whisk olive oil, cheese, lemon zest, lemon juice and parsley. Toss with remaining ingredients. Taste and adjust seasonings. Chill until ready to use.

Note: This salad kept very well, and could be made a day ahead of your party.

Tuna Salad

White Bean and Tuna Salad
from Mediterranean Light, by Martha Rose Shulman

1 red onion, thinly sliced
3-4 TBS red wine vinegar
2 cups cooked white beans (I used canned here, not enough time to cook my own)
1- 6 1/2 ounce jar water-packed tuna (I went for the nicest tuna I could find)
2 tomatoes, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
Juice of 1 lemon (3-4 TBS)
3-4 TBS flat-leaf parsley, chopped (can also use basil)
2 TBS olive oil
1 TBS plain, lowfat yogurt
1 TBS capers, rinsed
Salt & pepper
Tomato wedges to garnish

Toss onion with 2 TBS vinegar and add water to cover. Let soak 30 minutes and drain.

Toss together remaining ingredients (except tomato wedges). Taste and correct seasonings. Chill until ready to serve. To serve, line a serving bowl with lettuce, mound salad in the middle, and garnish with tomato wedges.

Check out this lemonade stand! Isn’t it just the cutest? We won it this weekend at the auction to benefit our kids’ schools, and I could not be happier. Love the design, the vintage lemon pictures and the basket of goodies that came with. Very creative and the kids will have a great time this summer!

Lemonade stand

The basket of goodies included cups, napkins, straws, lemon dishtowel, three containers of lemonade mix, a plastic lemon pitcher and matching cups, and a money jar and chalkboard. A recipe for lemonade was also included, which I will share here – after our abundant winter crop of lemons, I have loads of frozen juice ready to go this summer. And this looks like a great recipe for the kids to tackle themselves, with help at the stove.

Perfect “Old Fashioned” Lemonade
originally posted on Simply Recipes*

• 1 cup superfine or baking sugar
• 1 cup lemon juice (about 4-6 lemons)
• 3 to 4 cups cold water

Combine sugar and 1 cup water in saucepan over low heat, stirring until sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and cool.

In a large pitcher, mix sugar syrup and lemon juice. Add cold water to taste. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Garnish with lemon slices and mint sprigs, if desired.

* Imagine my surprise when I went to search out other lemonade recipes and found that Elise’s recipe for Perfect Lemonade was the one provided with our Lemonade Stand! She has a series of “Perfect” recipes that I love including Perfect Popcorn, Perfect Pie Crust, and Perfect Hard-boiled Eggs.

Last September, we overhauled the front yard and planted lots of food-type items. Blueberries, Fuyu persimmons, Blenheim apricots, rhubarb, herbs and more. Many times, I thought about taking a photo or two, but alas, it never happened. Fortunately, all the plants have overwintered well and spring is bringing up all sorts of treasures. One of my favorites are the 5 artichoke plants.

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This week, I harvested my first artichoke and decided that grilling would be the right preparation. And since Inger just taught me how to grill artichokes, I thought I would pass the recipe onto you!

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Grilled Artichokes

• Large, globe artichokes, enough for at least 1/2 per person
• Olive oil

To prepare the artichokes, cut off the stem and snap off the bottom few leaves. Using a serrated knife, cut off the tops of the artichokes. Cut the artichoke in half, through the stem, and using a paring knife, clean out the choke (the fuzzy stuff) and some of the inner leaves.

If you are preparing more than one artichoke, fix a bowl of acidulated water. Squeeze the juice of one lemon, then add the two halves to a bowl of water. When you have fininshed removing the chokes from each artichoke, add them to the water until ready to cook. The lemon juice will keep them from turning a yucky brown color.

In a large pot over medium heat, bring about 8 cups of water to a boil. Add the artichokes and cook until the stems are fork tender, 15-20 minutes depending on the size of the artichokes. Remove artichokes and drain. Artichokes can be prepared to this point and set aside until ready to grill.

Prepare your grill to medium-hot. Rub the artichokes with a little olive oil and place cut-side down on the grill. Roast until nice grill marks appear, about 5-9 minutes.

Normally I like to serve artichokes with an aioli (flavored mayo, examples here, here and here) but this artichoke was so good with drizzled olive oil that it needed no additional accouterments, making it a nice, healthy, appetizer.

How do you prepare your artichokes? What is your favorite accompaniment?

I made this last week for our first TGIF block party, using the Butternut Squash that came in our weekly box from Two Small Farms, and it was a great success. Very easy, and the butternut squash made the hummus sweet and tasty. My kids enjoyed it as an after-school snack with pita chips and sugar snap peas.

Butternut squash hummus

Butternut Squash Hummus
recipe from Two Small Farms, based on a dish by Lebanese chef Anissa Helou

• 2 pounds butternut squash, halved lengthwise and seeded
• 1/2 cup tahini paste
• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp sweet paprika
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

Preheat oven to 400F. Rub cut sides of squash with olive oil and place cut-side down on a baking sheet. Roast for 30 minutes, until soft. When cool, scoop flesh into the container of a blender.

Add tahini, lemon juice, garlic, salt, paprika, cumin and black pepper. Pulse until smooth and creamy. Taste and adjust seasonings. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

After reading My Life in France, by Julia Child, and to a lesser degree, The Sharper Your Knife, The Less you Cry, by Kathleen Flinn, I became very interested in taking a class at the Cordon Bleu in Paris. Not a full regimen of courses to become a certified chef, just a class to see what the whole place was like.

During our visit in Paris last month, only one class was offered for “food enthusiasts” – Les Croustillants Sucrés, or Crispy Desserts. The three-hour class promised us almost nothing, the description being decidedly not descriptive. Nevertheless we were thrilled to sign up, at 90€ a pop, for the chance to be in the actual building where Julia Child made her culinary breakthroughs.

Classroom at CB

Upon arrival, we were whisked upstairs to a working classroom and met our instructor for the day, Chef Patrick Caals. His translator, Chef Ben Preston, was also on hand to ensure our understanding of the technique and instruction. Our class was made up of other Americans, a woman from Japan and a college student studying in Paris for the year. Unfortunately, because we were moving so quickly, I did not get a chance to chit-chat much with the others, except the college student, who said she takes classes at the Cordon Bleu whenever she can.

Chefs

Our dessert for the day was an Apricot and Almond Cream in a Crisp Pastry. The crisp pastry turned out to be phyllo dough, something I have worked with before. I was hoping (although not realistically, given the short class time) that we would learn how to make puff pastry. Oh well.

After washing our hands, we prepared the apricots for roasting in the oven. This mostly involved putting them in a pan, brushing copious amounts of melted vanilla-enhanced butter over the top, and roasting in the oven. We did not actually put anything in the oven, but we were able to watch the cooking assistants do that.

The phyllo dough was into 4″x6″ rectangles (approximately) which we then laid out, piece by piece, each one brushed with butter and stacked upon the pile, to create a sort of large squarish-type layered mass of phyllo. Then the phyllo dough was draped into the pastry rings, and more butter was brushed over. Did I tell you the nickname for Le Cordon Bleu is Le Cordon Buerre?

Phyllo dough in molds

Almond Cream was next, made very easily with equal amounts butter, sugar and ground almonds and one egg. We piped it into the bottom of the pastry rings and arranged the apricots neatly atop. More butter. More sugar. Then fold the edges over and in the oven you go.

Filled pastries

While waiting around for our pastries to bake, Chef Caals whipped together a little rum and orange drink, which was more than my darling stomach could handle. Champagne would have been nice, next time I will sneak in a bottle.

Baking

The class was over and done with in two hours, an hour short of the scheduled time, and at some points, a little too fast. The entire experience was memorable, and while I was sort of nervous at the beginning, I really enjoyed myself toward the end. The class did not teach me anything new, but I really enjoyed being in the classroom, in the Cordon Bleu and learning more about French food and culture.

Finished pastry

Green Garlic Soup

Green Garlic Soup with Potatoes

I made this easy soup last week for dinner, adding grocery-store roast chicken, although the soup as written stands on its own very well. The original recipe from Two Small Farms called for mashing and pureeing the soup, but I decided to leave things whole. And because I had it, I used a combination of bean broth and chicken broth. If you needed a vegetarian soup, vegetarian or bean broth alone would work well.

• 1 pound green garlic
• 1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes
• 4 TBS butter
• 1 1/2 quarts chicken or vegetable broth
• salt & pepper

Using just the pale green and white parts of the green garlic, cut in half lengthwise, then dice. Melt butter in large pot, and add garlic. Sauté for 5 minutes, until soft.

Add potatoes and salt and pepper to taste. Add broth and bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 20-30 minutes. Adjust seasonings and serve.