Happy Independence Day!

OK, so it's the Fourth of July weekend which means great eats besides celebrating a free country. I was busy cooking the past couple of days, Friday saw me with a super menu of chicken cordon bleu, baked red potatoes with dill, and a spinach saute  will share the recipe with here:

Spinach Saute:

1 lb fresh leaf spinach, stemmed:

1 thinly sliced onion:

1 can chick peas/garbanzo beans

splash of lemon juice

clove of garlic

fresh ground pepper

1/4 C chopped fresh dill

Heat olive oil in saute pan, saute onions, add beans and toss well, add juice, garlic, pepper. Add spinach last and toss long enough to wilt---then serve. It's really good!

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So then  I needed dessert. Fresh peaches are in season so I made a peach torte. The pic is on the top there. It got Mike's seal of approval he tore right into it! You could use apples/pears or similar fruit. But peaches are yummy! I just garnished with fresh blueberries and raspberries.

Crust:

1 1/4 cp sifted flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cp butter

2 tsp sour cream



filling:

4 cp fruit (peeled and sliced) (Around 8 peaches)

3 egg yolks

1/3 cp sour cream

1 cp sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cp flour

       Mix all the crust ingredients with a pastry blender until a crumb type mixture is formed, turn into a greased 9x9x2 inch pan. Press crumbs firmly into the bottom and sides. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes until golden.
       Arrange the fruit slices in rows over the crust. Beat the egg yolks, add the sour cream, sugar, salt and flour. Blend well. Pour over the fruit slices. Bake at 375 for 35 to 40 minutes.

Thursday Night Supper

So tonight, I looked at what I had on hand and made cheese tortellini tossed with turkey sausage and fresh zucchini cubed with a fresh parsley/basil pesto is supper. I didn't have time to make my own pasta, I used to love doing that when I had more time. It takes  a bit to get the technique, but once you do, it's  awesome. If folks want, I can post home made pasta recipes.

So I cheated with store bought premade cold tortellini. (Not frozen.)  I used the turkey sausage and zucchini for the healthy options. If I'd had the green zucchini, that would have been prettier for more diverse color for presentation. And professional food photographer I am not. Yes, that's a pic of it before we ate. I actually do make this stuff.

The pesto is a simple one:

1 1/2 cups packed fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup fresh packed parsley

2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup pine nuts
2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan or similar cheese
Directions

Combine the basil, garlic, and pine nuts in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add 1/2 cup of the oil and process until fully incorporated and smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

If using immediately, add all the remaining oil and pulse until smooth. Transfer the pesto to a large serving bowl and mix in the cheese. You can make this in batches and refrigerate or even freeze to keep for a bit. This actually tastes better with the herbs infusing the oil as it sits.

Tom Piperson's Pig and Other Culinary Delights

Foodie friends, this is an awesome cookbook, Tom Piperson's Pig & Other Culinary Delights (the pig is actually a cookie). Compiled buy a 90 something former food editor etc and features regional favorites from the Carolinas with unusual names, the recipes and how they got the names.
 http://tinyurl.com/232cn6s

Corn and Apple Fritters or Datch

June is sweet corn season here, and so we have many ways to enjoy it, from traditional steaming and grilling to other recipes such as corn fritters. Fritters are PA Dutch inspired, similar to a pancake but much eggier. They are just delicious! You can have them more like small doughnuts, but I prefer the eggier flatter variety. I will post recipes for both here. These has been handed down to me from my family, some are recipes from the 1930's on or even from before.

You can use other things in these fritters or datch, as we call it. I love to use thinly sliced apples for a breakfast fritter/datch. Best with powdered 10X sugar sprinkled on top or maple syrup.

Mom's Datch

4 lg eggs
1/2 c milk
1/2 c flour
pinch salt
pinch sugar
2 ears of corn cut off or 2 small apples thinly sliced

Mix together for a slightly runny texture, drop by spoonfuls in a hot fry pan with some fat in it. Flip when egg mixture bubbles/goes dry, finish to light golden and flip onto paper towled plate to drain.

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Fritters-Doughnut Type

If apple-- 1 pint thinly sliced, if Corn---- 1 pint cut, about 4 ears
1 c milk
2 tsp baking powder
4 tbs sugar
2 eggs
pinch of salt
2 c flour to stiffen

Mix liquid int dry ingredients, drop by spoonfuls into deep fat and fry as you would doughnuts.