Green Tomato Soup

Friday morning I woke up to find that the previous night's storm had not only blown off a few shingles, it had also trashed the remaining plants in my garden. It was officially time to prepare the beds for a long winter's nap. I pulled the wind blown stakes out of the ground and sorted them for storage. I trimmed the last of the oregano, thinned out the rainbow chard, and loaded the composter full of fresh garden shrapnel. Snuggled between a thick patch of arugula and a meandering cucumber vine, I found several rogue tomato plants, hiding their unripened fruit. Recipe research ensued. I found everything from fried green tomatoes to green tomato cake, but one idea kept coming to mind - green tomato soup. I read a few recipes to gather the basics and then I hit the kitchen. The result was a deliciously sweet and spicy soup topped with crunchy parmesan croutons (a subtle nod to the grilled cheese, if you will). It was the perfect remedy for my fall garden blues. Had it not been for the damaging storm, I would have missed these little green beauties and subsequently missed out on green tomato goodness. I guess everything does happen for a reason...

Green Tomato Soup

4 C chopped green tomatoes

3 fuji apples, peeled and chopped

1 small yellow onion

1 jalapeno - DESEEDED

1 yellow bell pepper

3 large cloves of garlic, minced

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp red pepper flake

1/4 tsp cumin

almond milk

Warm olive oil in a saucepan and add garlic and onion. Saute on medium heat until onions are soft, taking care not to burn garlic. Add tomatoes, apples, bell pepper, and jalapeno. Season with salt, pepper, cumin, and red pepper flake, adjust to taste. Cover with half water, half almond milk and simmer until apples are soft. Puree mixture and run through a sieve to remove large pieces. Take the pieces left in the sieve and return them to the food processor. Pulse again until smooth. Add half of that mixture back into the strained soup. Simmer. Using a slurry of almond milk and whole wheat flour, thicken the soup to desired consistency. Top with croutons and parmesan cheese...broil to melt cheese.

Sweet Gnocchi Lullaby

As a stylist, I spend countless hours perusing blogs, magazines, and any other eye candy I can get my hands on in order to feed the creative machine. Today, as I drank my coffee and sought inspiration, I stumbled upon a recipe for butternut gnocchi on bonappetit.com. The recipe sounded good but I wanted something different than the brown butter sauce they were suggesting. Unsure if I was actually going to follow through with this recipe plan, I headed out to the store to see what I could find. I decided to pick up a variety of fall ingredients which included honeycrisp apples, fresh sage, and a butternut squash. With the intermittent rain and a dreary gray sky, it was the perfect day to get caught up in a culinary escapade so I began my gnocchi production. After rolling and cutting these delicate little pillows, I tossed them in a pot of salted, boiling water and waited for them to pop up to the top. After being scooped out of the water, they landed on a lined baking sheet where they awaited their second act. Opting to forgo the original bon appetit brown butter sauce, I began formulating my own plan to accompany the sweet squash. While the gnocchi sat patiently on the parchment, I chopped a fresh honeycrisp apple and a small red onion that I then sauteed in a skillet with some butter that had been steeping with garlic and sage. Once the onion and apple had softened, in went the gnocchi. A few minutes later the gnocchi had a crispy golden shell. They were sufficiently coated in the sweet and savory mixture and were ready to be devoured. I happily obliged, which lead to the need for a nap. Wake me when it's spring again....

Dessert For Breakfast

Chickpea flour is my latest muse in the kitchen. Originally purchased for some experimental pasta making, it has turned out to be a versatile, go-to ingredient. One of my favorite recipes, so far, is eggless chocolate french toast. To be perfectly honest, it's a dessert disguised as a breakfast item. A nod to those who believe "life is uncertain, eat your dessert first", it is a delicious mixture of french toast texture and brownie decadence. A pinch of cardamom in the recipe adds a unique taste and the warm strawberry drizzle takes it over the top. Go ahead... eat your dessert first. I won't judge.

French Toast Batter:

1/2 C chickpea flour

1/2 C cocoa powder

1/4 C sugar

1/2 C almond milk or water

1/4 tsp vanilla

pinch of salt

pinch of cardamom

sliced bread of your choice ( I used nine grain for a hearty taste )

In a bowl, sift together dry ingredients. Stir in wet ingredients to create the batter. Heat oiled griddle or skillet to medium. Coat bread slices in batter. Cook slices until crispy on each side. Drizzle with warm strawberry jam.

Peachy Keen

There's nothing like a sweet, juicy peach on a lazy summer afternoon. If it's not dripping down your face as you devour it, start over. Wonderful as a ripe peach may be, the perfect sidecar is a healthy dose of fresh ginger. Throw in some cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom and an ideal flavor combination is created. Using a muffin tin, I enclosed this tasty mixture in a flaky pie crust and created individual peach pastries... curing the long standing problem of a deflated slice of pie that has unfortunately lost it's filling to a previous cut. No one should have to endure an imbalanced crust to filling ratio! Buttery and sweet with a hint of spice, these tiny treats were gone almost as quickly as they were created...ephemeral like the days of summer.

Summer Satisfaction

Oh the spoils of summer... fresh juicy tomatoes, tender zucchini, and rows of spicy arugula abound. It's a short lived treat here in Michigan, so I am savoring every second of it. Call me crazy, but I am not interested in canning or saving these tasty little morsels for the dreary winter months, despite the abundance. Indulging now in the backyard harvest serves to build my anticipation over the winter. I need that proverbial carrot. That being said, I do grow more than I can eat and as a way of dealing with the overflow, I share. Not only does this feed my friends, it feeds my soul and nothing is more satisfying than that.

Zucchini Tomato Stack

Slice 1 zucchini and 1 tomato. Brush zucchini slices with oil (I used roasted garlic oil) and roast on a baking sheet about 5-7 minutes at 450 degrees. Sprinkle tomato slices with sea salt and layer with roasted zucchini in a stack on top of vidalia onion dressing. Finish with fresh arugula leaves.

Sweet Corn Granita

From carefully selecting each ear to shucking, prepping and consuming it, the entire process of eating sweet corn is a sentimental experience for me. It immediately transports me to the summers of my childhood. I can easily imagine the precise sound of the husk as it's torn away from the cob and recollect the feeling of the silky threads clinging to my fingers as I shucked ear after ear. Despite this undying passion, a steaming ear of corn has not sounded the least bit appetizing this summer due to the "hotter than Hades" temperatures we've been experiencing. To satisfy my corn craving while refreshing my wilted disposition, I decided to make a sweet corn granita, layered with vanilla pudding. Imagine the sweetness of summer corn, laced with cinnamon, orange, and vanilla. Mmm mmm mmm....... delightful. Creamy pudding plus sweet icy goodness equals one happy blogger.

Granita:

3 ears of corn, steamed

1/3 C brown sugar simple syrup*

3 Tbsp almond milk

1/4 tsp vanilla

1/8 tsp cinnamon

prepared vanilla pudding

orange zest

*Brown sugar simple syrup:

Mix 1/2 C brown sugar with 1 C water and simmer until sugar is thoroughly dissolved. Cool before using.

After steaming the corn, cut all kernels off the cob and pulse in food processor. Place the pureed kernels in a sieve over a bowl and press through with a spatula to separate out the solids. 3 ears of corn should yield about 1 C of smooth corn puree. (This is a tedious but worthwhile step.) Combine simple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon and almond milk with the smooth corn puree and pour into a chilled glass container and place in freezer. Scrape the mixture every 20 minutes with a fork until there is no more liquid in the granita. Spoon granita over vanilla pudding and top with orange zest. Enjoy!

Stop and Eat the Couscous

The past two weeks have slipped by in a blur of travel, work, travel, work. I am only just now catching up with my life outside of the office. Somewhere between Boston and Seattle, I concocted this quirky little salad, which was a happy accident of what I could find in the kitchen. (My pantry has been neglected, along with my blog.) The melange of couscous, cherry tomatoes, black beans, green onions, cucumbers, and pineapple, was quite tasty and extremely refreshing. Packed in a mason jar, it traveled beautifully to the beach. I sat quietly and enjoyed my strange medley as I caught my breath and soaked up the solitude... if only for a minute. It's good to be home.