Grandma's Diary and Canning Peaches

The glorious Colorado peaches are in and unlike the iffy peaches from other places, they are really juicy, sweet and taste like the peaches of my childhood memories. If you are old enough you can remember when all the peaches were like that. I love them so that when I had an opportunity to buy in bulk I bought four crates.

What to do with four crates of peaches (and one of pears, I might add)? Well, something had to be done because they don’t last too long—they were pretty close to ripe when I took delivery. Unlike pears, peaches lend themselves very well to freezing, so that was my plan. I froze 2 ½ crates—choosing the ripest ones to process first and leaving the harder ones to ripen for a day or two. No way could I run the inn and freeze four crates of peaches in one day.

Then we took a trip to Minneapolis to visit my 90-year-old Dad. He surprised me with a diary written by his mother (and added to once a week by his dad) of their first year of marriage. The diary was started on January 1, 1917 and led up to their wedding on April 2, 1917. It ended on December 31, 1917. Perhaps the only way I can explain the effect it had on me is to quote from a few passages.

First to set the scene: Grandma lost her mother when she was 9 years old. Her father was an itinerant preacher and musician, so he parked his daughter in the farm home of a family named Mitchell near Dodgeville, Wisconsin. There she grew up as the hired girl for her keep, but ultimately became like a member of the family. I can remember visiting my grandparents and having “Grandma and Grandpa Mitchell” come for a visit. When Harry Dean left Magnolia, Minnesota (down in the southwestern part of the state, near Luverne), to earn his way, he ended up working the Mitchell farm one summer. There he met young Mamie Richards (Grandma). He came back for two more summers to work and also, I gather, to court Mamie. Then he signed on for year-round work on the farm.

January 1, 1917

Weather fine. 16 above. Windy. South wind. Washed clothes and cleaned upstairs. At Baileys for supper. Had roast chicken and spent the evening. Had a fine time. Kissed Harry goodnight and he kissed me and we both kissed together. Time: 10:30.

January 5,

Weather warm. North wind. I ironed today. Harry worked at wood all day. Kissed me before he went to work. I was home alone this afternoon. Harry wrote to his mother tonite. We sat up a little while this evening. Talked about matromoney (sic). Time 10:00.

January 7

Sunday. Weather cold and windy. West wind. We went to Sunday school this morning. No company today. Sat up this eve. Time: 10:00. One of my happiest days.

February 27

Weather warm and clear. Thawed. Harry hauled a load of furnature (sic) for Les Cutler to take up north. I washed clothes and cleaned kitchen floor. We figured up our accounts tonite. Time: 9 o’clock.


March 5

I went to town today and got my wedding garments. Folks all went in too and had their family picture taken. Harry stayed home alone and tended to things. I don’t know how much work he did because I forgot to ask him. We went to Literary practice tonite. Time: 10:20.

April 2 (Harry’s writing)

Big day. Place now Simons Hotel. Time 10 to Nine. Madison. Just got home from picture show. Arrived here about 5, had supper, then found room. We left home about 10 this morning. Was married at 12. Then had dinner at Mrs. Williams. Marie and Lino stood up with us. David was there. Had pictures taken at Fletchers, then walked to Williams. Chas. took us up to train. He and Dave riced us and here we are in our room ready to roost.

Harry, Mamie and Children
Burdette, Richard and Vernon

April 3. (Mamie)

Second day of our marriage. We spent the day roaming around in Madison. Are at Simons Hotel again tonite. Have had just a grand day. We went to movies tonite. They were good, only too sad. Going to bed now. Time 9 o’clock.


From that point on, the diary is a litany of the work they did. A few examples:

April 21

Harry cut and planted potatoes today. I baked cake, pies and bread, scrubbed floor and cement, planted lettuce, radishes and peppercress and helped make chicken pen. Harry and I went up after the mail tonite. Beautiful evening. I took a bath and Harry is taking one now. Time 9 o’clock.

April 24 (Harry)

Cloudy, quite cool with rain this eve. I plowed all day, Chas dragged. Mamie ironed, cleaned floor, ground horseradish. Time: 8:30, retiring. Everything is war. [World War I]

August: (various entries):

Harry threshed again today. I cleaned and scrubbed. Picked over beans,

Washed, baked bread, picked cucumbers and put some corn to dry. Harry soled 3 shoes and threshed today.

It goes on and on in the same way, threshing, baking, cleaning, making fences, cleaning the granary, hoeing, cultivating, scrubbing, and canning.

What does all this have to do with peaches? Well, Grandma was tragically killed in a car accident when she was 62 and I was 13. But I spent many summers of my childhood at their home in Magnolia. And one of the things that I remember best is being sent down cellar to get something for Grandma. First, the cellar was just that—wooden stairs leading down to a cement block and cement floor basement—all painted in gray marine paint—and clean enough to make her German ancestors proud. And shelves and shelves of gleaming jars filled with beans, peas, carrots, beets, cucumber pickles of all kinds, tomatoes, peaches and pears. I am sure there were other things as well.

After reading the diary, I was inspired to start canning peaches. And I discovered that I am my Grandmother’s granddaughter—I loved it! The procedure seems old-fashioned and I guess it is, but it is also rewarding in a way few things are. My rows of pickles (from last week’s column), peaches and pears—then pickled green beans, are lined up on my kitchen counter. I am enjoying looking at them there too much to put them away. Who knows what I will can next?

Here is how it’s done:

Wash sound, ripe, firm peaches. Be careful not to bruise them. Dip in boiling water till skins slip easily, about 1 minute. Or put peaches in large Dutch oven. Cover with water. Set to boil. When water has come to a slow boil, remove from heat and run cold water over all peaches in pan. Slip skins.



Halve peeled peaches (or slice, if you wish), and drop into a large bowl of water to which you have added lemon juice—or, use lemonade mix, adding about 4 Tbsp. per gallon of water.



Pack peaches carefully into hot, sterilized quart jars, using a wooden spoon handle to gently urge them into the jar, sunny-side-up. Leave ½ inch head space at top of each jar.



Make a light syrup: 2 cups sugar to 4 cups water. Yield 5 cups. Cover peaches with hot syrup, but keep the head space at the top. Use a table knife to chase out bubbles. Wipe jar tops with clean, damp cloth. Put lids on jars; screw down with bands.



Lower the jars of peaches into hot water in a large canner. It should come an inch over the jar tops. Cover canner. When water boils, start counting the processing time, 30 minutes for quarts of peaches. When the time is up take out the jars and set them on a folded towel. Let jars cool overnight. Test the seal. Label with the name of the produce and the date. Store the jars of peaches in a cool, dry place. Enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Women Are Wonderful

Women are wonderful! Oh, don’t get me wrong, I like men a lot, too—but there is something about getting together with women friends that is just a treat. Last weekend I went to a lake cabin retreat with seven other women who have played bridge together for about 25 years. We meet once a month in the winter but suspend our monthly meetings in summer and, instead, gather at one woman’s cabin on Ottertail Lake (near Fergus Falls) and have a great time playing cards, swimming, dancing to oldies, drinking a bit, and just enjoying the ambience of old friends. Oh yes, we also eat.


And these gals can cook, too. Boy, can they cook. I so look forward to bringing home at least two or three new recipes for my file and unfortunately, usually two or three extra pounds. But they’re worth it! This year everyone outdid themselves and I have a whole new collection of recipes. But since space is limited, I am going to share a couple that really stood out.

Everyone is taking advantage of the fabulous produce that is available now—our hostess has a garden full of her own. So, along with the main courses and salads, we had plenty of ripe juicy Minnesota-grown tomatoes, fragrant bunches of basil and as many cukes and zucchinis as we could eat or carry away. The salads that accompanied the main dishes were out of this world, but it would be difficult to strike out with the garden’s bounty at your fingertips. Fruit is so good right now—especially the melons and plums, cherries and some late raspberries. We just feasted.

This pasta dish was so good and so beautiful that we all were stuffed after dinner and could hardly get to our chairs to sit and play bridge.

Pasta with Peas, Asparagus and Pancetta (to serve 8) adapted from Bon Appetit magazine May, 2010

1 pound pasta such as rigatoni or penne
6 ounces pancetta or bacon, chopped
2 pounds asparagus, trimmed, cut on the diagonal into 1-inch pieces
4 cups frozen peas (do not thaw)
2 bunches green onions, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup finely grated parmesan cheese, plus additional for serving
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
6 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
6 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp finely grated lemon peel
½ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley, divided
½ cup thinly sliced fresh basil, divided

Cook pasta in a pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite. Drain, reserving 1 cup cooking liquid. Return pasta to pot. Meanwhile, cook pancetta in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Using slotted spoon, transfer pancetta to paper towels to drain. Pour off all but 2 tsp. drippings from skillet. Add asparagus to drippings in skillet; saute 3 minutes. Add peas, green onions and garlic, saute until vegetables are just tender, about two minutes. Remove from heat. Add vegetable mixture, ½ cup pasta cooking liquid, dark green parts of green onions, 1 cup Parmesan, cream, olive oil, lemon juice, lemon peel, half of parsley and half of basil to pasta. Toss, adding more cooking liquid by tablespoonfuls if needed. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Transfer to large bowl. Sprinkle pancetta, remaining parsley and basil over. Serve, passing additional Parmesan cheese.

The breakfast dish was an old-timer in our group that I had forgotten about; too bad, as I would have been serving it in the inn had I remembered it. Well, now I will and our guests will be the lucky recipients of an easy and delicious dish. Serve this dish with some scones or yummy bread, toasted, cut up fruit and crisp bacon or small sausages.

Egg Chile Stuff

10 eggs
½ cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1 16-oz. carton small curd cottage cheese (don’t use light)
1 pound grated Monterey Jack cheese
2 (4-oz) cans green chiles, chopped

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl by hand. Pour into a 9x13” pan, sprayed with vegetable spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes. Some of the wonderful Minnesota-grown tomatoes sliced and arranged around the edge of the pan during the last 10 minutes would make it pretty and tasty!

Just a footnote to the women’s weekend: Everybody just takes a turn doing dishes, keeping things in order, taking showers, and in short, taking care of the place and themselves. There is no fuss or dodging or whining or forgetting. It is a time to appreciate the strong points of our female friends.

Right to Vote Day

The 19th amendment, giving women the right to vote, was passed on August 18 in 1920, although it didn’t go into effect until the 26th of August. It takes my breath away to think that there are still women living who were born before women could vote. We really have “come a long way, baby.” I can’t help but think that this “liberation” came about in part because World War I catapulted women into a new age of short skirts, light (almost no) underwear and freedom from slaving over a wood-burning stove, to name a few things. They finally had time to think about politics. World War I had a huge effect on the status of women at home just as World War II would have as large an effect on women in the workplace.


In a 1917 edition of Ladies’ Home Journal, almost all the articles are a call to action for women to help with the war:

What Mr. Hoover Asks Women to Do

Stop, before throwing any food away, and ask “Can it be used?” Order meals so as not to have too much. Have a proper balance of the most nutritious foods. Stop catering to different appetites. No second helpings. Stop all eating between meals. Stop all four-o’clock teas. Stop all refreshments at parties, dances, etc. Stop all eating after the theater. One meatless day a week. One wheatless meal a day. No young lamb; no veal; no young pigs or ducklings; no young meat of any sort. No butter in cooking: use substitutes. Personal marketing instead of by telephone.

Going further in the magazine, it became clear that the birth of the supermarket came directly out of WW I.

While hunting for some interesting food topics connected to women’s rights, I found that Fannie Farmer opened her cooking school on August 23, 1902. On the frontispiece of her new edition, July, 1923, she wrote:

Cookery means the knowledge of Medea and of Circe and of Helen and of the Queen of Sheba. It means the knowledge of all herbs and fruits and balms and spices, and all that is healing and sweet in the fields and groves and savory in meats. It means carefulness and inventiveness and willingness and readiness of appliances. It means the economy of your grandmothers and the science of the modern chemist; it means much testing and no wasting; it means English thoroughness and French art and Arabian hospitality; and, in fine, it means that you are to be perfectly and always ladies—loaf givers. ----Ruskin

With the progress of women’s rights the needs of the human body could not be forgotten.

And it still fell to women, at least in the home, to fulfill those needs. The changes in what she had at her disposal were huge. Before 1920, most women still cooked on wood-burning or coal gas ranges. The electric range and natural gas range emerged at the beginning of the century and were common by the time women had the vote. But even more significantly, the electric refrigerator replaced the ice box and a new array of frozen and refrigerated desserts and dishes was born. Katharine A. Fisher, Director of the Good Housekeeping Institute in June of 1928 wrote: “In making the best use of your refrigerator…plan the marketing so that milk, fruits, vegetables and other perishable foods will not have to be kept in the refrigerator more than a few days at a time. And, if possible, place the refrigerator in the kitchen, as you would any other piece of kitchen equipment. In any case, do not put it on the back porch where it will be exposed to sun and weather.”

Out of a beautifully illustrated volume, “Electric Refrigerator Recipes and Menus, Specially Prepared for the General Electric Refrigerator” comes this delightful dessert:

Coupes

Any ice cream, mousse or parfait served with crushed fruit or other sauce becomes a “coupe.” It is usually served from an ice cream scoop into a stem glass on a doiley on a plate. Fresh or canned fruit sweetened to taste or a sauce, such as the one that follows may be used. They are most attractive if contrasting colors are used for ice cream and sauce.

Strawberry Coupe

Hull and pick over strawberries. Mash, sweeten to taste, and put in the refrigerator to chill. Fill glasses half-full of strawberries, cover with Macaroon Mousse. (4 dry macaroons rolled fine and added to vanilla mousse).

Vanilla Mousse

Soak 1 tsp gelatine in 1 Tbsp. cold water; dissolve by placing cup in boiling water. Add slowly one-fourth cup milk, then add to three-fourths cup milk; add one-half cup sugar and a few grains salt and 2 tsp. vanilla. Strain into refrigerator pan and put in chilling unit. When beginning to stiffen, beat until light. Beat one-half cup heavy cream until stiff and gradually beat in the gelatine mixture. Freeze.

Well, it was a beginning.

Farmer's Market in August

“When the hills are green with spring, we think nothing can be more pleasant and satisfying, but now comes the time of ripening. The hills are brooding beneath the summer sun; most of the wild blossoms have come and gone. The wild fruit are in many stages of ripening…”—Roy Webster, Under a Buttermilk Moon: A Country Memoir.

There is something about the last week in August that fills me with the youthful anticipation of the new school year and at the same time the reluctance to let go of the freedom of summer. Everywhere there is the harbinger of change. In August, the light begins to wane, a golden haze covers the once-green fields and intense daytime heat usually succumbs to the whisper of cool nights forecasting the new season to come.

Now, too begins the season of the continual harvest. Tomatoes and corn, summer squash and cucumbers and peppers and eggplant and tomatoes and corn and corn and tomatoes. Just when you think it’s too hot to cook, you have your dinner at hand—sweet corn slathered with butter and sliced tomatoes. I have never tired of either.

The farmer’s market is the place to pick up your dinner daily—perhaps grill a chicken or steak if you have serious meat eaters in your family—but there is such a variety of vegetables that are so fresh and delicious that it is hard to go wrong. But for me, the meal is just fine with corn and tomatoes—and perhaps some really good homemade bread to wrap, buttered, around the hot ear of corn and—voila—your corn is buttered!

My Dad has a great weakness for corn fritters, which, oddly, my mother didn’t care for. As great a cook as she was, she had to be cajoled to make the corn fritters that Daddy loved. So last week, I took some of the delicious corn sold locally at the farmer’s market and trekked up to Edina to make my Dad some fritters. They were totally delicious! If you have never made them, do try, but be sure to follow these directions precisely.

Quoting from the cookbook where I found the recipe, “Despite the confusing but traditional name, these “corn fritters” are actually flour pancakes. Unlike many cakes, which tend to be associated with cold weather, they are a summer treat, at their peak in flavor when made with corn right out of the garden. As Marion Harland said about an earlier version in Common Sense in the Household (1871), ‘Eaten at dinner or breakfast, these always meet with a cordial welcome.’ At either meal, we like them with a side of another late summer favorite, slices of red-ripe tomatoes.” –A Real American Breakfast by Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison.

Fresh Corn Fritters

Kernels and scrapings from 3 ears fresh sweet corn (about 2 cups)
2 large eggs
2 Tbsp. milk or half and half
1 and one-half Tbsp. butter, melted
3 Tbsp flour
1 scant Tbsp. sugar
Three-fourths tsp. salt
One-half tsp. baking powder
Vegetable oil and Bacon drippings
Softened butter

One of the old secrets to success with this and other fresh corn dishes comes from the way you carve the kernels from the cob. With an ear of corn standing upright, slide a medium knife down the ear, slicing off the top half of the kernels. Rotate the ear and repeat the motion until you’ve given the entire ear a trim. Turn the knife over on its dull top side and scrape down the ear again, pressing against the cob to release the thick, custardy milk. Use everything in the recipe except the scalped cob.

Mix the corn kernels and scrapings with the eggs, milk and melted butter in a medium bowl. Sprinkle in the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder and mix just until combined. Warm a griddle or a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Pour a thin film of oil onto the griddle. Add one-half to one teaspoon of bacon drippings to the oil. Pour or spoon out the batter onto the hot griddle, where it should sizzle and hiss. About 2 Tbsp. of batter will make a 3-inch cake. (Anything much larger tends to tear.) Make as many cakes as you can fit without crowding. Cook the pancakes until their top surface is covered with tiny bubbles but before all the bubbles pop, about 2 minutes. Flip the pancakes and cook until the second side is golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Repeat with the remaining batter, adding to the griddle as needed a bit more oil and bacon drippings. Serve immediately with softened butter.

Variation: Add 3 to 4 slices crumbled crisp bacon and one-fourth pound grated sharp Cheddar (about 1 cup) to the batter with the corn kernels. Serve with Spiced Honey or Maple Butter: Mix one-fourth pound of softened butter with 3 Tbsp. honey or maple syrup. Add one-fourth tsp. freshly grated nutmeg, anise, cinnamon, or a combination and a pinch of cloves or allspice.

Coffee Pecan Ice Cream Pie

Everyone loves ice cream and pie—pie a la mode, if you will—but what about an ice cream pie? August is an ice cream month; nothing sounds better in these sultry dog-days of summer than a big ice cream cone that you have to lick round and round to keep it from dripping. An even better idea is your favorite ice cream flavor scooped into a meringue shell and topped with a decadent sauce—no licking required—the perfect pie for the month of August.

Pies with meringue shells are called angel pies—I’m guessing that meringue shells are the clouds the angels float on. Whatever the reason, it’s a heavenly way to use egg whites and create a spectacular dessert. It’s also a good time to get out your ice cream maker and enlist the kids on one last project before school starts—making your own ice cream filling. It’s fun and s-o-o-o delicious. Here’s my favorite combination of flavors—all in one scrumptious angel pie.

Coffee-Pecan Angel Pie

1 pint purchased or home-made coffee ice cream
1 pint purchased or home-made vanilla ice cream

Coffee Pecan Ice Cream

½ cup hot (not boiling) water
1/3 cup coarsely ground coffee
Pinch of ground allspice
1 ¼ cups half and half
4 large egg yolks
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup sugar
1/3 cup chopped pecans
1 ¼ cups heavy cream

Pour the water over the coffee and let it stand for 5 minutes. Pour coffee into a pan through a strainer and add allspice and the half and half. Heat until almost boiling. Whisk the egg yolks and brown sugar together until pale and thick; add the coffee-flavored cream to the eggs, stirring continuously. Thicken and chill the custard in the refrigerator for two hours. Lightly whip the heavy cream until light and floppy but not stiff; then fold into the chilled custard. Meanwhile, prepare the nuts. Melt the white sugar slowly in a small, heavy pan; bring to a boil and heat until golden brown (being careful not to let it turn too dark or burn). Add the chopped pecans, carefully swirling to coat. Pour mixture onto a lightly oiled baking sheet. Leave until completely cold and hard; chop roughly or finely, as you prefer your ice cream.

Add the partially whipped cream to the coffee custard and freeze in your ice-cream maker according to directions, until thick. Add the chopped caramelized nuts and continue churning until ice cream is of a soft serve consistency. To insure perfect scoops for the pie, transfer ice cream to a container, using a flat-bottomed spoon or scoop to flatten each spoonful (hand packing). Freeze for several hours until hard.

Pie shell

2 egg whites
½ tsp. vanilla
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. cream of tartar
½ cup sugar
½ cup finely chopped pecans

In large mixing bowl of mixer, beat together egg whites, vanilla, salt and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Very gradually beat in the granulated sugar until very stiff peaks form and sugar is completely dissolved. Carefully fold in the nuts. Spread the egg white mixture in a well-buttered 9-inch pie plate, building up the sides with a spoon to form a shell. Bake at 275 degrees for 1 hour. Turn off heat and let dry in oven (door closed) for 1 hour longer. Cool. Pile scoops of coffee pecan ice cream and vanilla ice cream into cooled meringue shell, alternating flavors and making as perfect round scoops as possible; freeze. Let the pie stand for 20 minutes at room temperature before serving. Serve with warm Caramel Sauce drizzled over each scoop of ice cream.

Caramel Sauce

3 Tbsp butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 6-oz. can evaporated milk (2/3 cup)
Dash salt
1 tsp. vanilla

In a small saucepan melt the butter over low heat. Stir in the brown sugar and evaporated milk. Add salt. Cook and stir mixture over medium-low heat until mixture just begins to boil. Remove sauce from heat; stir in vanilla. Cool slightly before drizzling over pie. Makes 1-1/3 cups sauce.

Freezing peaches

Last year I froze 20 quarts of peaches in less than 2 hours. My housekeeper bought a lug of peaches at the same time and had a terrible time with hers—vowing never to buy peaches in bulk again, even though she agreed wholeheartedly that they were much better than the ones you can buy in the supermarket. When I questioned her on the method she used, I understood why she hadn’t enjoyed herself. Then I realized that not everyone has done this dozens of times and may not know the easiest and best way to go about it. So for any of you readers that haven’t ever frozen a whole lot of peaches, but want to—here’s how:

Setting Up:
You will need one quart freezer bags (I like the zip-top), a 4 cup measuring cup or bowl, a giant-sized bowl (such as the Tupperware large plastic round bowl), a large pot with a wide bottom (10-12 inches in diameter), a meat fork, a medium-sized bowl that will hold 12 whole peaches, Countrytime brand lemonade mix (not sugar-free) and a sharp paring knife. At your stove you will need the large pot filled ¾ full of water, the meat fork and the medium-sized bowl. At your sink you will need the giant-sized bowl, the 4-cup measure, the paring knife, a small container to hold waste (I use an empty half-gallon plastic carton with a gallon-size plastic bag lining it) and the freezer bags.

Begin:
Set 12 peaches in the large pot in one layer (or however many will fit in your pot), fill with enough water to cover and an extra inch. Put on stove and bring to boiling. Turn heat to a steady simmer (you can see the water barely moving.) Simmer 1 minute. With the meat fork, transfer peaches to medium-sized bowl and take to the sink. Run cold water over peaches in bowl. Place 12 more peaches in simmering water. Fill giant-sized bowl with water about 2 inches below rim; add 2 scoops of lemonade mix to water. Slip the peach skins off peaches and discard skins in waste container. Place skinned peaches in lemonade bath. Bring second batch of peaches over to sink and run water over them; repeat until water bath has reached rim. Halve peaches with paring knife and discard pit in waste container. Slice peaches into 4-cup measure until you have 4 cups sliced peaches. Slide the peach slices into freezer bag, push out air and zip shut.

Continue:
Continue the sequence, putting new peaches in water and leaving them approximately 2 minutes (or while you slip skins), slicing and filling bags until all the peaches are done. Forty pounds of peaches will yield 19 4-cup bags (approximately.)

Finish: Label your freezer bags with the amount (4 cups per) the date and the product. Put them in your freezer and clean up the kitchen. Voila! You are done and you have a wonderful, delicious reminder of summer that will yield pies, smoothies, cobblers, crisps, fruit medleys, delicious alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks, frosty fruit soups, and topping for ice cream.

Here are a couple of recipes that you can try:

Peach Kuchen

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, divided
½ tsp. salt, divided
½ cup butter
1/3 cup sour cream
4 cups sliced peaches, thawed
3 egg yolks, beaten
1 cup sugar

Mix 1 ¼ cups of the flour and ¼ tsp. of the salt. Cut in butter until pieces are about the size of peas. Stir in 2 Tbsp. sour cream. Press mixture into a baking pan (9 x 9 inches). Bake in preheated moderate oven (375deg.F.) for 20 minutes. Spread peaches on baked crust. Mix remaining flour, salt, and sour cream, egg yolks, and sugar. Pour over peaches. Bake in preheated moderate oven (375) for 35 to 40 minutes, or until firm. Cool; then chill and serve plain or with ice cream or whipped cream, if desired. Makes 8 servings.

Peach-Blueberry Cobbler

1 Tbsp. cornstarch
¼ cup brown sugar
½ cup cold water
2 cups sliced peaches (fresh or frozen)
1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 cup flour
½ cup sugar
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
½ cup milk
¼ cup soft butter

Mix first 3 ingredients; add fruits. Cook and stir until mixture is thick. Add 1 Tbsp. butter and lemon juice. Pour into 9” round cake pan or 9” square baking pan, sprayed with cooking spray. Put dry ingredients in mixer bowl. Mix on low for 30 seconds. Add soft butter and milk all at once; beat until smooth. Pour or dollop (makes the “cobbles”) over fruit. Sprinkle 2 Tbsp. sugar and ¼ tsp. nutmeg over batter. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

Peach and Cherry Tart

If you’re not loading your plates with fresh fruits and vegetables in all their glory—shame on you! This time of year there is just no excuse for not eating those colorful, delightful packages of health that you find at the supermarket, the farmer’s market, or the farmstand. And what makes this idea even better is that they are easy to prepare (or even eat out of hand) and economical.

August is the month when the trucks just keep coming from the farms loaded with the goodies that we love. Finally we can eat sweet corn that is crisp and sweet when you bite into it and tastes as if you’d sprinkled it with sugar. Not from our local orchards, but delicious nonetheless, are the peaches and plums and Bing cherries that line up so colorfully in the supermarket produce section. Red onions, green onions, white onions, yellow onions make a rainbow of nutrition powerhouses. Nutritionists tell us that the more colorful our food choices, the healthier our lives.

I find renewed enthusiasm for “cooking” in summertime now that each meal is not only made up of the freshest, most delicious foods, but is a work of art as well. Now for our short but glorious season the fruits and vegetables give us their very best—more nutrition, more beauty and the best taste of the year. The time is fleeting, so take advantage of the open door, for when it closes we must wait a long time for it to open again.

This peach and cherry tart is a show stopper; a favorite at the Candlelight Inn Bed and Breakfast It is simple, delicious and beautiful; and best of all-very, very easy.

Peach and Cherry Tart

Crust:
1 cup flour
1 Tbsp. sugar
¼ tsp. salt
½ cup (1 stick) chilled butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 Tbsp. (about) ice water

Filling:
1 # fresh peaches (preferably freestone, yellow peaches)
10 oz. Bing cherries
1/3 cup sugar
½ cup peach preserves

For crust: Blend flour, sugar and salt in food processor. Add butter; cut in using on/off turns until mixture resembles coarse meal. Blend in water by tablespoonfuls until moist clumps form. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic; chill 30 minutes. Roll out dough between 2 sheets of waxed paper to 11-inch round. Remove top sheet of waxed paper from dough and invert dough onto 9-inch round tart pan with removable bottom. Remove second sheet of paper. Press dough onto bottom and up sides of pan. Fold excess dough in, forming double-thick sides. Pierce dough all over with fork. Freeze 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake crust until set but still pale, about 20 minutes. Cool on rack. Maintain oven temperature.
For Filling: Blanch peaches in pot of boiling water 1 minute. Immediately rinse with cold water and slip skins off. Halve and pit peaches. Cut each peach into 8 wedges and arrange, rounded side down in crust. Arrange halved cherries over and around peaches. Sprinkle sugar over. Bake about 45 minutes until peaches are tender. Transfer to cooling rack. Stir peach preserves in small saucepan over low heat until melted. Pour warm preserves evenly over tart. Remove pan sides from tart. Place on platter. Serve warm or room temperature.

Almost every day it seems that nutritionists come up with more reasons to eat onions. Allium is the component (found in garlic as well) that seems to protect against stomach cancer, contributes to lowering cholesterol levels and increasing good cholesterol, and protects against stomach cancer. They also contain fiber and useful amounts of folate which is especially beneficial for pregnant women. The latest thing I read is that onions (along with some nuts, cabbage and artichokes) can reduce inflammation—a leading cause of many diseases, including arthritis. Here is a delicious and easy homemade pizza that we love!

Onion-topped Pizza

Crust:
1 cup whole wheat flour (preferably white whole wheat)
1 ½ cups white bread flour
¾-1 cup warm water
¼ tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 pkg. dry yeast


Topping:
3 Tbsp. olive oil
3 ounces prosciutto ham, finely chopped
2 large red onions, thinly sliced
2 green onions, white and green parts, sliced thin
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. fennel seeds, crushed
2 tsp. balsamic vinegar

2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 ounces Asiago cheese, grated
2 small or 1 large home grown tomatoes, sliced thin

For crust: sprinkle yeast over ¼ cup warm water and a pinch of sugar. Let sit for 5-10 minutes. Put flours in large mixing bowl, add salt and combine. Mix warm water, oil and yeast together and pour all at once into flour mixture. Stir until well combined. Turn out onto lightly floured surface and knead for 5-10 minutes until satin smooth. Place in greased bowl, turning ball to coat; cover and let rise in warm place until double. Punch down; let rest 5 minutes. Roll onto 12” pizza stone.

For topping: Heat 3 Tbsp. olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add prosciutto; saute 3 minutes. Add onions, garlic, lemon juice and fennel seeds; saute until onions begin to brown, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in vinegar. Season with salt and pepper.

Assembly: Pour 2 Tbsp olive oil onto rolled out crust; spread with pastry brush. Spread minced garlic evenly over crust, using same brush. Cover with 1 ounce grated cheese. Place tomato slices evenly over pizza. Spread topping evenly over pizza and finish with second ounce of grated cheese. Place pizza stone in 425 degree oven for 18-20 minutes.

Fish Market Apple Pie

Ever wonder where a recipe comes from or what makes a recipe “original?” It may be a little like the game of telephone—you know, when a message is whispered from one person to another until the last person says it out loud and everyone laughs at how different it is from the original. Our pie of the month is a case in point.

Many years ago I attended a neighborhood function and brought a recipe that I found in a magazine—probably Bon Appetit. It was called Fish Market Apple Pie and at least two restaurants by that name have laid claim to it. Everyone loved it and the hostess asked for the recipe. I put it aside and forgot about it until many years later when I remembered the special apple pie that I had made once and started hunting for the recipe. I couldn’t remember what it was called or where I had found it and it was not in my special recipe file. So I gave up.

This last summer, while visiting friends at their lake cabin—friends that we had known in our first neighborhood so many years ago—I mentioned that I was doing a pie-of-the-month for my food column and I was looking for a good and different apple pie for October.

My friend immediately said that she had a wonderful recipe for apple pie that she took to everything and was always loved by everyone. I said that was just the kind of recipe I was looking for. She mentioned that she thought she found it in some magazine or something, and that she had changed it a little over the years, especially the name because it was unappetizing—Fish Market Apple Pie. Voila!

After refreshing her memory about how it really was my recipe (she was a little doubtful) that I had brought to her house so many years hence, she reluctantly gave back my “original” recipe. I can’t be sure what changes she made, but it is still totally delicious—maybe even better than I remembered from the first “original” recipe. If you like it you have my permission to pass it off as your own—but I suggest you change the name.

Fish Market Apple Pie

Crust:

1 ¾ cups flour, sifted
¼ cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. salt
2/3 cup butter
½ cup water

Mix flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt in large mixing bowl. Cut butter into flour until pea size. Sprinkle water to moisten dough; toss with fork and gather into a ball. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Roll out crust for 10” pie pan; put into pie pan and flute edge. Refrigerate until ready to fill.

Filling:

1 egg
1 ½ cup sour cream
1 cup sugar
¼ cup flour
2 tsp. vanilla
½ tsp. salt
2 ½ lbs. apples, sliced thin (I use Haralson or other tart-sweet apples)

Beat egg. Stir in sour cream, sugar, flour, vanilla and salt until smooth. Add sliced apples, stirring gently to coat. Spoon into shell. Bake 10 minutes. Lower heat to 350 degrees. Bake 35 minutes.

Topping:

½ cup butter
½ cup flour,
2 tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. salt
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 cup chopped walnuts

Blend all ingredients with pastry blender. Remove pie after 35 minutes (as above) and sprinkle topping over. Return to 350 degree oven and bake for 15 minutes more.

By the way, when entering cooking contests that require “original” recipes, the rules usually state that original means that at least two key ingredients and/or techniques be different from any previously published recipe.

Peaches

I am busy using up the last of my frozen peaches and making room for the new shipment coming at the end of this month. For the last two years I have been lucky enough to buy wonderful Colorado peaches from a direct source; the same source that I use for my Rainier cherries, blueberries and pears. When they arrive, it does keep me busy processing them for a while, but it is so worth it in the wintertime when they taste like they came from paradise.

Of course, peach pie is a favorite of everyone and I had a recipe a friend gave me that I was dying to try for the “pie-of-the-month” feature. It meant straying from my tried-and-true pie crust that I have always used for most pies—but I thought it would be fun to compare them. The pie is wonderful—every tester agreed. Some of us like a more traditional crust (made with lard or Crisco) better, but some thought the buttery taste of this one was great! It does require a lot of time and a bit of trouble, however. If you enjoy baking and have some good peaches—give this a try.

This pie has some attributes that are worth noting: it cuts cleanly because the filling doesn’t run as much as most pies; yet it is not a starchy and cloying filling like the kind you buy in a can. And the crust, though not quite as tender as some, is flaky, crisp, buttery and doesn’t get soggy from the peach filling.

Pastry

2 ¼ cups unbleached flour
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 stick butter, cut into ½-inch pieces, frozen solid
8 Tbsp. (4 ounces) cream cheese, cut into ½-inch pieces, chilled in freezer until very cold
4 Tbsp. vegetable shortening, cut into ½-inch pieces, frozen solid
1/3 cup ice water

Filling

6-8 cups peeled and sliced ripe fresh or frozen peaches (thawed if frozen)
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. corn starch
2 Tbsp. tapioca
¼ tsp. salt
¾ tsp. almond extract
1 Tbsp. butter, cut into small pieces
1 egg white, beaten

Make the dough ahead of time: Mix flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Add butter and cut in with pastry blender just enough to break into pea-sized chunks. Add cream cheese and shortening pieces and cut in until fats are pea and fine gravel-sized. Rub flour-fat mixture through fingertips to blend. Add water, one tablespoon at a time, tossing with a fork until mixture clumps together. With hands, quickly form into a ball, handling as little as possible. Divide into 2/3 and 1/3 portions. Wrap in plastic wrap then flatten to thick disks. Refrigerate one hour.

When ready to bake, place peaches in a large colander set over a bowl to catch juices. Sprinkle with 2 Tbsp. sugar and let stand for 30 minutes. Adjust oven rack to low-middle position. Place a pizza stone in oven and preheat to 400 degrees. Allow stone to heat at least 30 minutes.

Roll larger dough disk on a floured work surface into a 13-inch circle. Roll dough loosely over pin and unroll onto 10-inch pie pan. Trim close to rim. Refrigerate while preparing filling. Mix 1 cup sugar with cornstarch, tapioca and salt. Add to peaches along with almond extract and toss. Roll out remaining dough to a 12-inch circle. Add fruit filling to pie shell and dot with butter. Roll dough circle over pin and center over pie. Unroll. Trim to ½ inch beyond rim of pan. Flute edge. Set an 18-inch square of heavy-duty foil on pizza stone. Set pie on foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove pie from oven, brush with beaten egg white and sprinkle with 1 ½ Tbsp sugar. Bake about 20 minutes longer. Bring foil around pie to loosely cover. Bake until filling bubbles, about 20-25 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for 2 to 3 hours.

One more way to use any frozen peaches you have hanging around—use only frozen for this recipe, though. This is a favorite of our inn guests

Frosty Peach Bisque

4 cups unsweetened frozen peaches, partially thawed
½-3/4 cup sugar
½ tsp. almond flavoring
1 cup lo-fat milk 1% or 2%
1 ½ cups half and half

Put peaches into food processor with metal blade. Break up with fork if very frozen. Process with pulses until smooth. Add sugar, almond flavoring, milk and half and half and process until very smooth.

Serve immediately in stemmed glasses with a sprig of mint.

If you are interested in ordering fruit from my source, contact Sharon Learned, learned@redwing.net

Campaign Party Food

This week we are going to a strictly American function (I think)—a primary campaign party. The primary is on August 10th and many people hold these parties for their favorite candidate and all the people who support him/her. Unlike election parties which are held in November, this is a summer event and the food should reflect the season. I’m thinking grilling.

Something really easy, fun and good for all different tastes is a build-your-own kabob party. All it requires is that you have a really large grill and that the weather holds. The hosts make sure the grill is going and nice and hot throughout. Several “bars” can be set up with various foods and lots of bamboo or metal skewers for several courses.

A great appetizer bar is based on Indonesian satay. Keep bamboo skewers in a tall container of water so they are saturated and won’t burn on the fire. In different bowls have chicken breast chunks, beef cubes and pork cubes which have been marinated. A peanut sauce is the most common accompaniment.

The main course is usually more marinated meat and lots of colorful vegetables. This time include lamb if you love it as I do. The marinade is much simpler than for the satay: lemon juice, olive oil and minced garlic. I think you can hardly overdo the veggies that you put out—and they are in such abundance now. A cooling garlic-yogurt sauce is great with this and warmed pita halves make great vessels. If you think you need more food, a great rice pilaf would work.

Dessert should be either thick fresh pineapple slices to throw on the hot grill with a great sour cream-brown sugar sauce to make it even more delicious or a variety of summer fruit cut into grilling-size pieces and marinated in sweet wine.

Indonesian Satay

A variety of meats cut into 1-inch squares, i.e. chicken, beef or pork (to make about 16 use 2-3 pounds)
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp pepper
2 Tbsp. ketjap manis (recipe follows)
2 tsp. strained fresh lime juice
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
Spiced Peanut Sauce (recipe follows)

Combine the garlic, salt and pepper in a deep bowl and with the back of a spoon mash them to a paste. Mix in the ketjap manis and lime juice. Add meat and toss. Marinate in refrigerator for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Prepare grill. Remove the meat from marinade and thread it tightly, 4 or 5 pieces at a time on small wooden skewers. Brush oil evenly over meat. Broil 3 inches from heat for 5 minutes or until done as preferred. Serve with peanut sauce.

Spiced Peanut Sauce—makes about 2 cups

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
¼ cup finely chopped scallions white part only
1 tsp. minced garlic
2 cups chicken stock, fresh or canned
½ cup smooth peanut butter
1 Tbsp. ketjap manis
1 tsp. strained fresh lime juice
¼ tsp grated fresh ginger root
¼ tsp finely chopped fresh jalapeno chile

In skillet, heat oil over moderate heat until a light haze forms above it. Drop in scallions and garlic; stirring frequently, cook for 3 or 4 minutes. Do not brown. Pour in the chicken stock and bring to boil over high heat. Stirring constantly, add peanut butter, ketjap manis, lime juice, ginger and chilies. Reduce the heat to low and, stirring occasionally, simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. If made ahead it may thicken. Thin it with a tablespoon or more of water.

Ketjap Manis (adapted from Time-Life’s Foods of the World)

To make 1 quart

2 cups dark brown sugar
2 cups water
1 ½ cups Japanese soy sauce
¾ cup dark molasses
½ tsp. ground ginger
½ tsp. ground coriander
½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Combine the sugar and water in a large saucepan and bring to a boil over moderate heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat to high and cook briskly, uncovered for 5 minutes or until the syrup reaches a temperature of 200 degrees on a candy thermometer. Reduce the heat to low, stir in soy sauce, molasses, ginger, coriander and pepper, and simmer for 3 minutes. Strain the sauce through a fine sieve set over a bowl. Tightly covered, ketjap manis may be kept at room temperature for 2 or 3 months.

Yogurt Sauce (for main course)

2 cups plain low-fat yogurt
1 ¾ cups light mayonnaise
Juice of ½ lemon
3-4 cloves peeled garlic

Put all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. You can add salt and pepper to taste, if you wish.

Pickles

For years I have tried to make dill pickles that tasted good and something has always been wrong. Either they’re soft and wrinkled or the brine gets cloudy and they taste sort of fizzy (I throw them out) or they are too salty—it’s always something. I finally have decided to just buy my pickles and get good ones. That is until I had my hair done at Jane’s last Monday.

Jane is a friend of mine in Eagan that has a hair salon in her house and has done my hair for years. She also plays bridge in my bridge group and is a great cook. When I arrived for my monthly appointment she had a bag of pickling cucumbers from her garden and said I should take them. I mentioned my lack of success with pickles and she nodded in agreement but gave me the secret to success. It works.

13 cups water
6 ½ cups vinegar
1 cups salt
12 cloves garlic, peeled
12 sprigs dill
Cucumbers to fill 6 quart jars

Bring water, vinegar and salt to a boil. Pack well-washed cucumbers into hot, sterilized jars. Add 2 cloves garlic and 2 sprigs dill to each jar. Using funnel, pour hot brine over cucumbers to just short of top of jar. (Leave about ¼ inch headroom). Seal with sterilized lids and rings. Boil enough water to cover jars in a large canner. Place jars in water and turn off the heat. Put a clean towel over the canner and let sit until the water is cool. Remove jars and cool. Store.

If you are not into the sealing-type canning, refrigerator pickles are a great way to go. Here is a “Pickle master” brine that will make pickles out of any fresh, ripe vegetable you choose and store for up to 2 months in the refrigerator.

Makes 8 cups (adapted from Country Living August, 2003)

5 cups white distilled or cider vinegar (5 percent acidity).
1 cup sugar
¼ cup salt

Combine all ingredients plus 2 cups water in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally until sugar dissolves and the mixture just begins to boil. Pour hot liquid over the desired combination of vegetables, herbs and spices. Let cool, cover and refrigerate for 2 to 3 weeks before opening. Once opened, pickles will keep refrigerated for up to 2 months.

Quick Dill Pickles (makes 2 one-pint jars)

8 pickling cucumbers (about 1 pound)
½ cup fresh dill
3 cloves garlic, peeled and halved
1 tsp. dill seed
1 tsp. peppercorns
2 ½-inch pieces fresh horseradish
1 ½ cups Pickle Master (recipe above)

Divide cucumbers between 2 clean one-pint jars. Divide the dill, garlic, dill seed, peppercorns, and horseradish equally between the jars. Pour hot Pickle Master over each jar and let cool. Cover and refrigerate for 2 to 3 weeks. Pickles will keep refrigerated for up to 2 months.

Here is my all-time favorite type of pickle

Bread-And-Butter Pickles

Makes 2 one-quart jars

2 pounds pickling cucumbers (about 16), sliced into ½-inch rounds
2 Tbsp. kosher salt
2 cups cider vinegar (5-percent acidity)
1 cup dark brown sugar
¾ cup sugar
2 tsp. dill seed
2 tsp. black peppercorns
2 tsp. mustard seed
½ tsp. ground clove
½ tsp. allspice berries

Toss the cucumbers and salt together in a colander and let drain for 90 minutes. Rinse cucumbers thoroughly in cold water, drain, transfer to 2 clean one-quart jars, and set aside. Combine remaining ingredients with ¾ cup water in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Heat until sugar dissolves and mixture just comes to a boil—about 10 minutes. Pour hot liquid over the cucumbers until completely covered. Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature, cover, and refrigerate for up to 2 months.

Here’s one more way to make dill pickles that works.

Makes 1 one-pint wide-mouth jar

1 pound pickling cucumbers (about 8)
1 cup white distilled vinegar (5-percent acidity)
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. dill seed, slightly crushed
1 tsp. mustard seed, slightly crushed
1 tsp. cracked peppercorns
¼ tsp. red-pepper flakes
1 cup fresh dill
4 cloves garlic, peeled

Combine the cucumbers, 1 cup water, vinegar, sugar, salt, dill seed, mustard seed, peppercorns and red pepper in a large bowl and let sit for 4 hours. Place the fresh dill and garlic in a clean one-pint wide-mouth jar. Remove the brined cucumbers, place in the prepared jar, and cover with brining liquid. Cover and refrigerate for 2 weeks. Pickles will keep refrigerated for up to 2 months.

Plums

Paging through the dessert section of any general cookbook will bring very few recipes for fresh plums. Yet, one of the most delicious, juicy, sweet, summer fruits is a plum. Of course, there are plenty of recipes for the dried plum—the prune—but they don’t hold a candle to the fresh ones.

I wondered why this was true. Perhaps it’s because if you don’t take off the skins, they tend to shrivel and spoil the appearance of the dish. Yet, if you do take off the skins, you lose the beautiful purple color. Perhaps it’s the difficulty (some say) of finding juicy, sweet plums at the market. But after an interesting hunt through my books and magazines, I found some fantastic recipes using plums.

Distinguishing types of plums is a good place to start. In our markets, plums are available from June until October in good supply and are relatively inexpensive. Other months they can be purchased but at a greater price and they are not nearly so good.

The two most common are the Friar and the Santa Rosa. The Friar is deep blackish purple when ripe and its juicy, sweet flesh and tart skin are good cooked or raw. The other, the Santa Rosa, is a red plum with a sweet-tart flavor. It is especially good for compotes and eaten raw. Another type of plum with a very limited two to three month market appearance is the Italian prune-plum. It is a small, dark purple-to-black variety. Many of the recipes I found used this plum.

If you’ve had a lot of not-so-wonderful plums, you might try these tips for picking good ones: Press a plum gently at its equator. If it yields to pressure, it’s ready to eat. Softness at the tip and stem end are other readiness clues. If the plum is hard, it may soften on the counter at room temperature, but it won’t get sweeter—so you’re best bet is to buy them ready to eat. They will keep in the refrigerator for up to four days. Plums can be made into preserves and also pickled.

Try some of these interesting ways to use plums available now:

Polish Plum Pudding

1 lb. plums, blanched and peeled
4 Tbsp. butter
1 cup sugar
6 eggs, separated; whites stiffly beaten
14 cups dry bread crumbs
Sour cream

Melt 1 Tbsp of the butter in a saucepan and add the plums. When the juice starts to run, stir in half of the sugar and simmer for 20 minutes or until the plums are tender. Cool the plums and then transfer to a bowl. Halve the plums, remove the pits and make a smooth puree using a blender. Melt the remaining butter in a small saucepan and let it cool. In a mixer bowl, beat the egg yolks, the melted butter, the rest of the sugar and two thirds of the bread crumbs. Stir this mixture into the plum puree. Gradually fold in the beaten egg whites, then transfer the pudding to a 4-cup mold that has been buttered and sprinkled with the remaining bread crumbs. Bake the pudding in a preheated 425 deg. F oven for 20 minutes or until set and browned. Unmold the pudding and serve it hot with sour cream and sugar. (adapted from a Polish Cookbook by Ida Plucinska).

The easiest way to freeze plums is whole, unsweetened, simply washed and pitted. Pack them into freezer bags either whole or halved or quartered. Freestone plums are easier to prepare and are more attractive frozen.

Plum Smoothie

¼ cup sugar
1 Tbsp. corn syrup
1 pound frozen, pitted plums
8 tsp. fresh lime juice
6 ounces plain yogurt

Bring the sugar, corn syrup and water to a boil in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and cool. Put into blender (in two batches) the plums, cooled syrup and lime juice and puree until smooth. Stir in the yogurt and pour into tall glasses or freeze for a delicious frozen treat.

Plum Cake (Zwechgen Kuchen) adapted from Charlotte Erickson’s Freezer Cookbook)

If you are lucky enough to get your hands on the Italian prune plums during their short season (late summer, early fall), this cake is a winner.

1 1/3 cups baking mix, such as Bisquick
½ cup cream
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
¾ cup sugar
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/3 cup golden raisins
16 pitted Italian prune-plums

Topping:
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup flour
¼ tsp. cinnamon
4 Tbsp cold butter

Preheat oven to 350. Mix baking mix, eggs and oil with half the cream. Add sugar and vanilla. Then add remaining cream and mix until smooth. Place in greased pan or dish. Batter should measure 3/8 to ½ inch in depth, no more. Sprinkle with raisins and cover with sliced plums, cut side up, arranged in a neat pattern, as close together as possible.

Topping: Mix sugar, flour, cinnamon. Cut in butter with pastry blender until the crumbly consistency of coarse meal. Sprinkle on top of plums. Bake 35 to 40 minutes at 350 deg. F.

August Celebrations

August is the only month of the year that has no official holiday or one that is widely celebrated. My mother’s birthday was in August and she always loved it—because there were no other big holidays and so her birthday became a bigger celebration.

Of course there are some special days in this month, albeit somewhat obscure. August 1, for instance, is Colorado Day, Lammas Day, the English festival of the Wheat Harvest; William Clark (Lewis and Clark expedition) was born, as was Herman Melville. It’s Swiss Independence Day and World War I officially began on this day in 1914. And on the 3rd, Columbus set sail from Spain in 1492—I could go on (I keep track of things like this).

It seems like the perfect month to create reasons to celebrate. Impromptu get-togethers at the lake or a nearby park or easy suppers on the porch seem in order. Of course August is famous for one other thing—heat. So any entertaining you might do should be simple and call for cool cooking foods.

Here are some menu ideas gleaned from the pages of the August 1999 Bon Appetit:

Lunch by the Water (for 6)

Deviled Eggs with Curry
The Best BLTS
Celery Stick, Carrot Sticks and Olives
Dark Chocolate Brownies with White Chocolate Chunks


Supper on the Porch (for 6)

Cold Avocado Soup
Cornmeal-Crusted Chicken Breast
Fresh Tomato Salad with Onions, Feta and Olives
Baked Baguette with Lemon-Garlic Butter
Peach-Amaretto Sundaes

Dinner in the Back Yard (for 8)

Cutting-Edge Clam Dip
Grilled Rib-Eye Steaks with Roasted Peppers
Grilled French Bread
French Potato Salad
Lemon Mousse with Fresh Berries






The Best BLTS

2 ½ cups (lightly packed) fresh basil leaves
1 cup mayonnaise
¼ cup (½ stick) butter, room temperature
12 thick-sliced bacon strips (about 1 pound)
12 ½-inch-thick slices fresh country-style white bread
3 large tomatoes cut into ¼-inch-thick rounds
2 ripe avocados, pitted, peeled, slice
1 red onion, thinly sliced
6 lettuce leaves

Mix basil, mayonnaise and butter in processor until basil is finely chopped and mixture is well blended. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook bacon in heavy skillet over medium-high heat until crisp, about 8 minutes. Transfer to paper towels; drain. Spread half of mayonnaise mixture over 1 side of 6 bread slices. Top each with 2 tomato slices. Sprinkle tomatoes with salt and pepper. Top tomato slices with avocado, then with bacon strips, onion and lettuce. Spread remaining mayonnaise mixture over remaining 6 bread slices. Place bread slices atop lettuce. Cut sandwiches in half and serve.

Cornmeal-Crusted Chicken Breast

1 cup fresh breadcrumbs made from crustless French bread
1 cup yellow cornmeal
2 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley
2 Tbsp. minced fresh thyme
1 tsp. salt ½ tsp. ground black pepper
½ cup Dijon mustard
2 large eggs
6 skinless chicken breast halves
4 Tbsp. butter
4 Tbsp. olive oil
Lemon wedges

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix breadcrumbs, cornmeal, parsley, thyme, salt and pepper in large bowl to blend. Pound each chicken breast half between sheets of plastic wrap using rolling pin or mallet to ½ inch thickness. Dip chicken first into mustard mixture and coat well, then into breadcrumb mixture; shake off excess breadcrumbs. Melt butter with oil in heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add half of chicken to skillet; cook until golden, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer chicken to 9x13” glass baking dish (Pyrex-type). Repeat with remaining chicken. Bake chicken about 8-10 minutes. Garnish with lemon wedges and serve.

Lemon Mousse with Fresh Berries

1 cup plus 1 Tbsp sugar
¾ cup fresh lemon juice
6 large egg yolks
2 large eggs
1 ½ Tbsp. grated lemon peel
1 12-oz. basket strawberries, hulled, halved or quartered, if large
1 6-oz. basket fresh blueberries
1 6-oz. basket fresh raspberries
1 6-oz. basket fresh blackberries
2 cups chilled whipping cream
8 whole strawberries (for garnish
Fresh mint sprigs

Combine 1 cup sugar, lemon juice, egg yolks, whole eggs and grated lemon peel in large metal bowl. Set bowl over saucepan of simmering water (do not allow bowl to touch water). Whisk until mixture thickens and thermometer inserted into mixture registers 160 deg. Transfer lemon curd to another large bowl. Chill until cool, whisking occasionally.
Toss halved strawberries, and other berries with 1 Tbsp sugar in another large bowl. Using electric mixer, beat 1 ½ cups whipping cream in medium bowl until firm peaks form. Fold 1/3 of whipped cream into lemon curd to lighten, then fold in remaining whipped cream. Divide berry mixture among 8 dessert bowls or wineglasses. Spoon lemon mousse over berries. Beat remaining cream in bowl until stiff peaks form. Spoon whipped cream atop desserts. Garnish with whole strawberries and mint sprigs.

Eating on Vacation

Going on vacation has its upsides and (sadly), its downs. For me, tasting the wonderful food in great restaurants is definitely one of the best parts of a vacation; the pounds gained from eating and drinking all that great stuff—not so much.

As we set out for our long awaited trip to Florida by car last Fall, stopping in St. Louis, Destin Florida, and Tampa, I decided on a strategy that worked so well, I decided to share it with you.

Zig and I have definitely been cutting down on portion size and trying to split entrées whenever possible while eating out. Unfortunately, we don’t always want to order the same thing and in some high-end restaurants splitting is—well—a bit embarrassing. (Kudos, by the way, to Norton’s Downtown in Red Wing for offering half portions of almost all their entrees.) On this trip we decided to order one entrée and one appetizer, salad or soup—then share. In most restaurants, a full size entrée is more than enough for two, especially since you will be ordering sides, and perhaps, a dessert to share.

Our first trial was at an intimate, out-of-the-way Italian restaurant we stumbled upon in Columbus, Mississippi. We actually set out to find a great barbeque place our hotel recommended and seemed like the more appropriate dinner (When in Mississippi do as…). But when we arrived, they had just closed and so we stumbled upon the Italian place which turned out to be a great find, however incongruous. Zig ordered the special for the night, chicken ravioli stuffed with chicken, goat cheese, in a creamy sauce with pine nuts and spinach. It was delicious! I ordered a house salad, hoping that an Italian restaurant it would be something more than a plate of greens and dressing.

I wasn’t disappointed. The salad was an array of crisp greens freshly mixed (not the ubiquitous purchased spring greens mix), with plenty of olives, a few crispy veggies and a light, tasty vinaigrette. A basket of garlic-y, buttery, warm bread sticks was set on the table to curb our travel induced hunger. I ate the lion’s share of the salad, we shared the breadsticks and I was almost satisfied. Two raviolis (there were six large pasta pillows in all), a glass of wine and I was totally satisfied.

The payoff was three-fold: we got to try more dishes; we didn’t break the bank or the scale. We both agreed this was a strategy to continue on the trip, taking turns at choosing the entrée. We also decided that we will continue on when we get home, not just when eating out but for our own home-cooked meals as well. I’ll make a really delicious soup or salad and we’ll fill up on that and have little servings of an entrée. Great idea, especially if the entrée will freeze well. I’m not very good at cooking tiny amounts.

Here is a salad for this new eating plan.

Candied Walnut, Pear and Leafy Green Salad (adapted from Cooking Light, Nov.’09)

1/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
Cooking Spray
½ tsp. salt, divided
2 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
1 ½ tsps. Dijon mustard
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. capers, chopped
2 cups torn green leaf lettuce
2 cups chopped romaine lettuce
2 cups chopped radicchio or watercress
½ ripe Bosc pear, thinly sliced
Freshly ground black pepper

Place sugar in heavy saucepan over medium-high heat; cook until sugar dissolves, stirring gently as needed to dissolve sugar evenly (about 1 minute). Continue cooking 1 minute or until golden (do not stir). Remove from heat; carefully stir in nuts to coat evenly. Spread nuts on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray; separate nuts quickly. Sprinkle with salt. Set aside until cool; break into small pieces.

Combine vinegar and mustard, stirring with a whisk. Gradually add oil, stirring constantly with a whisk. Stir in capers.

Combine lettuces and radicchio or cress; top with pear and ½ the candied walnuts. (Reserve rest for another use.) Drizzle half the dressing or to taste over salad; sprinkle with remaining salt and pepper. Toss gently to combine. Makes 4 servings.

Tip: Toasting walnuts is much faster and easier in the microwave: Place whole nuts in a small bowl and microwave on High for a minute; stir, then cook another minute or two, stirring every 30 seconds until fragrant and golden. Cool.

Healthy Eating

For many centuries human beings have known that diet is a key to health. Not only does the right diet prevent disease, but it also can actually cure disease. Interestingly, as advanced as twenty-first century man is, we still don’t have many definitive answers for what foods work to prevent or cure our ills. We have lots of clues and some answers but I’m sure you will agree that everyday the news carries a new theory supported by a new study that shows some foods to be either good or bad for us that were either formerly unknown or which have changed from former theories and studies. This frustrates me.

I have a stack of food books (some are cookbooks) dating from 1982 to 2006 that have titles like The Food Pharmacy, Food Remedies, Foods that Harm, Foods that Heal, 12 Best Foods Cookbook, etc. I am going through them all, extrapolating the consistent data on healthy foods. It probably comes as no surprise that fruits, vegetables, fish, legumes, whole grains and nuts are big and show up consistently since the 1982 book. One of the things that has changed is carbohydrates with starch. Now there’s a new theory that rice, potatoes, yams, corn, a lot of the so-called “fattening” carbs are now called “resistant starches” and are very good for us. We’ll see what they say next month.

Another food that has been on the health see-saw is fat. We have gone from butter to margarine to monounsaturated fats. Linoleic acid is a fat that’s good for you but trans fats are a no-no. Then there is brown fat, good fat, bad fat—I can’t even keep all this straight any more.

The Currently popular cookbook, 12 Best Foods Cookbook by Dana Jacobi lists these as the 12 healthiest: Blueberries, black beans, sweet potatoes, oatmeal, salmon, spinach, broccoli, tomatoes, chocolate, walnuts, soy and onions. I think she might be close and those are all available, reasonable foods. You can add other foods in the general categories of these such as most berries, most beans, other fatty fish, etc.

The next problem of eating healthy is cooking. I think that in order for food to really be good for you, it must be delicious. We have so many choices as to what to eat. We are bombarded by advertising and fast-food and convenience and it is so easy to go out when you don’t have time or inclination to cook--how does anyone really eat healthy foods? Most of them have to be prepared at home because processing them into convenience usually strips them of their nutritional super status, at least a little.

I am looking for high-health, tasty, quick-to-fix dishes and foods. It’s actually a fun quest—we have been eating some really good food. My friend Valerie gave me a recipe for Fettuccine with Brussels sprouts and pine nuts that is delicious and quick. I found a recipe for Lo-Mein that really fills the bill. It uses lots of veggies—any you have on hand—is quick to fix and delicious. So I am giving you these two recipes and asking you to e-mail me any you think would qualify and that you really like. I will write a column on the best of them.

By the way, about those resistant starches; I hope they’re right about this one and we can put potatoes, rice, and corn back on the dinner menu.

Fettuccine with Brussels Sprouts and Pine Nuts

¾ pound Brussels sprouts, trimmed or ¾ pound broccoli flowerets
½ pound whole grain fettuccine
4 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
3 Tbsp. pine nuts or walnuts
Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
¾ cup chicken broth

Cook fettuccine until al dente. Heat oil in a large skillet and cook pine nuts or walnuts, stirring, until golden. Add quartered Brussels sprouts or small broccoli flowerets, salt and pepper and sauté over medium high heat until tender and lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Drain pasta and add to skillet, along with chicken broth. Heat through and serve with cheese grated on top.

Lo Mein

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken, lean beef or 1 can drained salmon or 1 pound extra-firm tofu
1 1-inch piece of fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp oyster sauce
1 Tbsp. rice wine or dry sherry
1 tsp. dark sesame oil
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 pound whole wheat thin spaghetti
3 Tbsp canola oil
1 onion, halved and cut into slivers
2 cups chopped firm vegetables (asparagus, broccoli, baby corn, sugar snap peas, corn kernels or shelled peas, or any combination of these)
1 carrot, cut into matchsticks
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
4 cups slivered greens, such as bok choy, broccoli rabe, cabbage, chard, escarole, or kale alone or in any combination
1/3 cup oyster sauce

Marinate the meat or tofu by combining it in a bowl with ginger, garlic, soy sauce, oyster sauce, wine and sesame oil. Toss to mix well. Add the cornstarch and toss. Set aside. Cook spaghetti in boiling salted water until al dente. Drain well. Heat a large wok over high heat. Add 2 Tbsp of the oil and heat. Add the meat or tofu and marinade and stir-fry until cooked through, about 4-8 minutes. Remove and keep warm. Add remaining 1 Tbsp oil and the onion and stir-fry until tender. Add firm vegetables; fry about 2 minutes. Add carrot and 1 Tbsp of the soy sauce. Fry 3 minutes. Add slivered greens and remaining 1 Tbsp of soy sauce and stir-fry until all the vegetables are tender, 3 to 6 minutes. Add spaghetti, meat or tofu and marinade, and oyster sauce. Toss and stir-fry about 3 minutes. Serve hot.

Cabin "Up North"

It is August and the heat is upon us. Actually, it’s been upon us all summer with about one week of cooler weather. But at our friends’ cabin in Lake Country “up north,” there is a cool breeze off the lake that stimulates the appetite even in the heat of August.

We’ve been coming to the Smith’s cabin on West Silent Lake since our families were little kids—a continuity that our children counted on through many bumps and detours in their lives. Today with their young families, they still come, from all over the country when they can. And we all have settled into a tradition of laughter, friendship and food.

Food, of course, is central to the experience. Growing boys (and they always brought friends) can eat a lot! Up north, near water, everyone can eat a lot—and we always do. After water skiing for hours and going up and down the steep stairs to the beach, appetites grow. And certain dishes evolved as the perfect foods to fill them up; after a couple of years those foods are “tradition” and must be part of the experience.

Our host Royce, a growing boy once himself, always got the first day started with his famous “lake eggs.” You may have had a version of this dish yourself under the name of “farmer’s breakfast.” No matter how many giant cast-iron skillets’ worth were made, it all was eaten. On the second morning we must have blueberry pancakes and sausage and if we stayed for a third, John Wayne’s casserole.

Our hostess Diane always displays her picture with Wayne when she serves the casserole. The story of how they got the recipe is a requisite part of the gastronomic experience. Every “good year” for his company, Royce, as sales manager, took his team and their spouses to somewhere wonderful as a bonus. One year, the group went to Washington State and ran into the movie crew shooting “McQ”, a detective thriller starring John Wayne. Mr. Wayne was very social and personable and frequented the resort’s bar every evening, as did the sales team. Diane, a mini-version of Lucille Ball, was star-struck and engaged him as much as possible (believe me, she is engaging) until she had her picture taken with him and he gave her his famous casserole recipe. The funniest part of the story, I just heard this year, has nothing to do with the casserole. Diane, assuming that the movie was a western because John Wayne was the star, decided to try to be an extra. She envisioned herself riding a horse on the beach, with her long hair streaming in the breeze and someone catching sight of her as a “natural” for the movie.

Sadly, the horse she rented was a “homie”; that is it went a few paces and immediately turned and headed for home. This wasn’t the picture Diane had wanted to create—and then the movie wasn’t even a western! Shades of Lucy.

After a full day of fun and antics, the dinner bell special that seemed to be the most filling and delicious was Chalupa—a Diane specialty. It’s the perfect lake cabin meal—easy, filling, delicious and not much clean up. I am including these recipes for you to try and perhaps add to or start you own “up north” traditions.

Lake Eggs (serves 12 regular people or 8 really hungry boys)

24 eggs, beaten
12 medium potatoes, diced
1 and one-half lbs. thick sliced bacon or link sausage diced in 1” pieces
3 bell peppers, diced
3 onions, diced
2 lbs. American cheese, cubed

Cook bacon or sausage. Remove meat leaving drippings in skillet. Add diced potatoes, frying until browned. Spoon out excess drippings. Add onions and peppers; sauté until onions are transparent. Add cheese to the eggs and reduce heat. Add to skillet and scramble until cheese has completely melted. Enjoy.

John Wayne’s Casserole

2 cans (4-oz size) chopped green chiles, drained
1 lb. Monterey Jack cheese, coarsely grated
1 lb. Cheddar cheese, coarsely grated
4egg whites
4 egg yolks
Two-thirds cup canned evaporated milk, undiluted
1 Tbsp. flour
One-half tsp. salt
One-eighth tsp. pepper
2 medium tomatoes, sliced

Preheat oven to 325. In large bowl, combine the grated cheeses and green chiles. Turn into a well-buttered shallow 2-quart casserole (12x8x2 inches). In large bowl with mixer at high speed, beat egg whites just until stiff peaks form when beater is slowly raised. In small bowl of electric mixer, combine egg yolks, milk, flour, salt and pepper; mix until well blended. Gently fold beaten whites into egg-yolk mixture. Pour egg mixture over cheese mixture in casserole; with fork, “ooze” it through the cheese. Bake 30 minutes; remove from oven and arrange sliced tomatoes, overlapping, around edge of casserole. Bake 30 minutes longer, or until a knife inserted comes out clean. Garnish with a sprinkling of chopped green chiles, if desired. Makes 8 servings.

Chalupa

2 large sized cans refried beans
3 lb. pork roast
2 Tbs. chili powder
1 Tbsp. cumin
1 tsp. oregano
2 small cans chopped green chiles, drained
1 tsp. salt

Cook pork roast with half the spices until done and falling apart. Remove from pot; pull apart with 2 forks, return to pot and add beans and remaining spices. Simmer until serving time.

Condiments and assembly

Tortilla chips
Shredded cheese
Diced fresh tomatoes
Diced onion
Shredded lettuce
Salsa
Sour Cream
(can add black olives, green onion, etc.)

To assemble: Put on a buffet bar all condiments. Use bowls or plates for serving and each person assembles his own by breaking up the tortilla chips on bottom and the chalupa meat mixture over; then pile on the condiments, topped with sour cream and salsa.