Tag Archives: Project 365

Recipes

Heaven from earth

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One thing I love about summers in New Jersey is the abundance of sweet, flavorful homegrown vegetables. And this was going to be the year that I, a recovering black thumb, attempted my first vegetable garden. I was going to plant tomatoes, eggplant, all sorts of peppers, cucumbers, garlic, basil, thyme … oh, it was to be a a mad melange of nature’s bounty in the middle of my backyard. The area was fenced off, the ground tilled, and the recipes printed and ready to be called into action.

Unfortunately, nature’s bounty had to be put on hold. Blame it on the SHSS – Stupid Health Stick Syndrome. So there was to be no harvesting plump tomatoes and hot peppers, no chomping down on crunchy baby cucumbers, no garlicky grilled eggplant and zucchini, no “yeah, I grew those myself” remarks over vegetable crudites and homemade ranch dressing laden with fresh herbs.

But I’m not ticked off. Really, I’m not. Okay, maybe just a little. But I’ll get over it. Eventually.

Meanwhile, my husband’s co-worker who owns acreage somewhere in Pennsylvania was untouched by SHSS. (I am beginning to wonder if NJ might have something to do with SHSS. Shrew may have to help me investigate the validity of that theory.) So for the past few weeks, we’ve been the grateful beneficiaries of said co-worker’s generosity, and his overwhelming surplus.


Aren’t they lovely?

Now would not be a time to remind me that I’m allergic to tomatoes. I’ve decided that homegrown tomatoes don’t count because they’re ultra-mega-super organic. Yeah, that’s the official FDA designation for it.

First, we made sauce. Lots of sauce. But the tomatoes kept coming. Then we had tomato salad with mozzarella cheese. Lots of it. And still the tomatoes kept coming.

Then, my husband sharpened our favorite chef’s knife, and got to work.


Pretty, yes? No comments suggesting someone might possibly be OC about arranging tomato halves.

A light drizzle with olive oil, some salt and pepper, a 225 degree oven and six hours later ….

I never was a big fan of sun-dried tomatoes, but these? These luscious, flavor bombs that I made with my own hands? There are no words.

I made four trays of this. And now they’re stored in two large bottles in the refrigerator, along with the peeled roasted garlic cloves that continue to flavor these babies as they sit together. Our three favorite uses for them:

  1. As a salad condiment, like olives.
  2. Sandwiched between two slices of garlic-toasted crusty bread, with lettuce, red onion, and a thin slice of sharp cheese. Yum.
  3. Mixed in with slices of chicken breast, shitake mushrooms, crushed garlic, fresh basil, and a light cream sauce over pasta.

Or you could just pop them in your mouth, savor the concentrated flavors, and be thankful for the power to transform something straight from the earth into something short of heaven.

Recipes

Mango chow

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Ladies and gentlemen, I bring you mango chow, Trinidadian style.

I know it sounds strange, but trust me. It’s addictively sublime. I’ve been eating a lot of this lately, and I’m telling you, it’s impossible to get tired of this. It’s sweet, salty, tart, spicy, and oh by the way, incredibly healthy too.

Here’s what you do. Take a half-ripe mango and cut it into bite-sized slices. Take one clove of garlic, minced, and tablespoon or so of cilantro chopped roughly, and a sliver or two of your favorite hot pepper. Here at home, we use either a homegrown Caribbean red pepper or a congo pepper (also known as Scotch bonnet). Add in a teaspoon or so of kosher salt, some ground pepper if you want it, and lightly toss everything in a bowl to mix.

Then grab your weapon of choice and enjoy. I’m usually too impatient to reach for a fork by now, and just start picking the slices up from the bowl.

Excuse me while I go make this for breakfast.

You can do this with other fruits, like orange slices, halved grapes, or plum slices. It works best with tart or semi-tart fruits. And if you put the whole thing in a blender, you end up with a really fresh tasting fruit chutney. Excellent with grilled meats or curry dishes!

Excuse me while I go make that for lunch.

P.S. If someone can please tell me why those crazy Trinidadians name this chow, I’ll be forever grateful. (I’m allowed to call them crazy. I’m married to one.)

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Green mango

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I like mangoes
Red, yellow or green
Sweet or sour
Or somewhere in between

I’ll eat them with anything,
To me it’s all the same
But the bad thing about mangoes
Is they make my poetry lame.

Thank you.

And I’ve very, very sorry.

But I really do love mangoes.
Love them from my head to my toes.

 

I’ll stop rhyming now.

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The wonders of salt

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Aside from making food taste better and pastries sweeter, salt – glorious, wonderful salt – is also an incredible salve for the battle wounds of oral surgery. Which is all the well, since I really can’t eat properly right now and good-tasting food will be wasted on me for the next week or so.

While the Salt Institute of North America (who knew?) lists over 14,000 uses of salt, I won’t attempt to figure out every single one of them. But here are a few not-so-ordinary uses for salt, in case you’re like me and you’re bored out of your mind because you have to spend a good portion of your day either on the couch moaning about the pain, or on the couch sleeping off the Vicodin. Or on the couch attempting to eat mashed up bananas with a baby fork.

  • Pick up a dropped egg. If an egg breaks on the kitchen floor, sprinkle salt on the mess and leave it there for 20 minutes. You’ll be able to wipe it right up.
  • Soothe a bee sting. Wet the sting right away, then cover it with salt.
  • Eliminate a grease fire. Pour salt on top to smother it. (Never use water on a grease fire.)
  • Clean up oven spills. If food boils over onto the oven floor, sprinkle salt on top to stop smoke and odor from forming. When the oven is cool, it’ll be easy to brush away the spot.
  • Set color. If a dye may run, soak the garment for an hour in 1/2 gallon of water to which you’ve added 1/2 cup vinegar and 1/2 cup salt. If rinse water shows color, repeat. This is good for a single-colored fabric or madras. If the item is multicolored, dry-clean it. (Although American-made fabrics are unlikely to run, fabrics from abroad are sometimes iffy.)
  • Kill poison ivy. Add three pounds of salt to a gallon of soapy water. Spray it onto leaves and stems.
  • Make cream whip more easily and egg whites whip faster and higher. Add a pinch of salt.
  • Test for rotten eggs. Put an egg in a cup of water to which you’ve added two teaspoons of salt. A fresh egg will sink, but one that’s iffy will float.
  • Clean the brown spots (from starch) off a non-stick soleplate (the bottom of your iron). Sprinkle salt on a sheet of waxed paper, slide the iron across it, then rub lightly with silver polish.
  • Repel fleas. Wash the doghouse with it.
  • Kill grass growing in cracks in the cement or between patio stones. Sprinkle salt on the grass and pour very hot water over it. Or sprinkle coarse salt on the grass, let stand all day or overnight, then pour hot tap water over it.
  • Clean a glass coffee pot. Fill it with a quarter-cup of table salt and a dozen ice cubes. Swish the mixture around, let it sit for half an hour, fill it with cold water and rinse.
  • Halt the mountain of suds from an overflowing washing machine. Sprinkle salt on the top.
  • Clean artificial flowers. Put them in a bag of salt and shake the bag. Take a look at the color of the salt and you’ll see what you’ve accomplished.
  • Keep windows frost-free. Dip a sponge into salt water and rub it on windows, and they won’t frost up even when the mercury dips below 32 degrees; for the same effect on your car’s windshield, put salt in a little bag made of cheesecloth, moisten it slightly and rub it on.
  • Clean tarnished copper.Fill a 16-ounce spray bottle with hot white vinegar and three tablespoons of salt. Spray it onto the copper, let it sit briefly, then rub clean. (Don’t do this to lacquered copper.)
  • Keep radishes safe in the garden. Salt worms (cutworms) will be repelled if you sprinkle seeds with table salt, then cover with dirt.
  • Clean coffee and tea stains from china cups. Rub them with salt.
  • Keep potatoes and apples from turning brown once they’re sliced. Put them in salted cold water.
  • Clean a cutting board. Cover it with bleach and salt, scrub it with a stiff brush, then rinse with very hot water and wipe with a clean cloth. Repeat with each use.
  • Revive overcooked coffee. Did you forget about the coffee while it was brewing? No matter! Add a pinch of salt to it and revive its true flavor again!
  • Keep salad crisp. Is your salad getting to gooey due to excess water? Want it to be crisp? Well, just add salt to it and eat it crisp even after several hours!
  • Clean messy dough. When leftover dough is cleaned, it tends to get rolled into sticky lumps. To avoid that, just sprinkle a little salt on the leftovers.

I got those from Mary Ellen Pinkham, in iVillage and Onflame in Gomestic. Because those were among the first ten links that came up in Google, and if you must know, it’s hard to do proper research when you’re on the couch.

How about you? Any interesting tips with salt you’d like to share?

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Buttercream rose

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My mom came over today, and brought me a chocolate ganache cake from Whole Foods.

Guess how long this rose topping remained intact. Hint: everyone in the house likes chocolate.

The advantage of volunteering to serve everyone dessert is that one can commandeer the cake just long enough to take a few pictures before it gets mangled.