Sasha's Kitchen: Heirloom Tomato Caprese Salad

Heirloom tomatoes are one of my favorite flavors of summer. I love looking at them - all different shapes, colors and sizes.  They have a sweet succulent flavor that is slightly different for each varietal.  They are like a rainbow of tomato, both in hue and in flavor.  I had the pleasure of making two salads with them this summer.  I bought some at the Greenmarket at Grand Army Plaza which I combined with a bit of crumbled goat cheese and a balsamic vinaigrette, about a month ago for a simple heirloom tomato salad.  The second salad was a more traditional Italian caprese salad, where I sliced the tomatoes and some buffalo mozzarella cheese, and drizzled with a balsamic vinaigrette.  Both of these salads are quite simple, but are really just meant to showcase the flavor of the heirloom tomatoes. Like summer itself, the season for heirloom tomatoes is coming to a close - it is short but sweet!

Happy Labor Day! Hope you enjoy my heirloom pictures. Tonight, I am making two recipes (after a family minimal cooking low-key weekend that included a trek to Governor's Island) - a chicken tagine with apricots and almonds, and chocolate-mint upside down cupcakes. I'll be sharing both recipes soon, as my life seems to be getting tangled with other obstacles these days.  This blog is always a welcome break for me from all the shenanigans of daily life.

Sasha's Kitchen: Heirloom Tomato Caprese Salad

Sasha's Kitchen: Zucchini Corn Fritters

Farm fresh zucchini and corn are so good this time of year, that I couldn't resist a fun, healthy variation on traditional zucchini fritters. I only fry with canola oil - never with vegetable oil, so they're about as healthy as they can be. I used local corn and zucchini for the recipe and it was absolutely delicious, sweetened by the delicious sweet corn that I shucked. They key to this recipe is squeezing all of the water out of the zucchini, so that it doesn't make an overly watery batter.  This is a great weekday meal, and I plan on making another batch this coming weekend as a dinner party appetizer. A recipe like this really just reminds me of summer!

Sasha's Zucchini Corn Fritters
Two large zucchini (about 4 1/2 cups shredded zucchini)
3 ears of corn, shucked
4 eggs
3/4 cup flour
1 small onion, diced
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 cup curly parsley, minced
pepper to taste
canola oil for frying
serve with lowfat yogurt

Shred the zucchini using a cheese grater and allow to drain as much as possible over a colander or strainer.  Scramble the eggs and mix with the shucked corn, onion, spices, parsley, flour and pepper.  Squeeze the shredded zucchini in handfuls to get rid of as much of the water as possible and then combine with the other ingredients.  Heat about a quarter inch of canola oil in a frying pan. Drop heaps of the zucchini-corn mixture and form circular shaped fritters. Cook until golden on both sides, about 2-3 minutes. Remove and allow to drain on parchment paper. Serve with yogurt.

Sasha's Kitchen: Zucchini Corn Fritters

Sasha's Kitchen: Blueberry Peach Cobbler

As a member of ShopRite's Potluck Blog Panel, I received a gift card earlier in the month to head down to my local ShopRite here in Brooklyn to purchase some fresh local New Jersey fruits. Now, I am a big fan of using fruit in baking during the summer months (read: pie, cobbler, crisp, more pie, repeat) so I couldn't resist picking up some fresh New Jersey blueberries and peaches for use in my next baking experiment. I came up with this terrific recipe for a blueberry-peach cobbler which is just loaded with fresh summer fruits. The recipe doesn't overload on sugar, so it really showcases how good the fruit you use is - in my case, the very best peaches I've had yet this summer!

Sasha's Blueberry Peach Cobbler
Fruit filling
6 ripe peaches
2 cups blueberries
1/2 cup sugar
1 T lemon juice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 T cornstarch

Cobbler Top
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup sugar
5 T butter (chopped into small pieces)
1 egg
1/4 cup heavy cream

Combine the ingredients for the fruit topping in a bowl and toss. Place into a 9x6 inch or similar casserole dish and spread evenly. To prepare the top of the cobbler, combine the dry ingredients and mix in the butter (after chopping into small piece) using our hands to combine. Mix in the egg and heavy cream to make a nice moist dough.

unbaked cobbler!

Spoon the dough on top of the fruit in lumps, or cobblestones, as I like to think of it. Bake for about 50 minutes until golden brown and until the cobblestones come out clean when a toothpick is inserted.

Sasha's Kitchen: Blueberry Peach Cobbler

Sasha's Kitchen: Peach Salad

Here's a new post on a lovely peach salad, perfect for the summer. Can I just add that it is absolutely too hot outside - actually 104 here in New York, which is heat beyond where a nice juicy peach is really helpful. But peaches are great in the summer, so I couldn't resist this peach salad, with fried goat cheese.

Sasha's Summer Peach Salad (serves 2)
Mixed greens
4 oz goat cheese
2 eggs
panko bread crumbs
toasted almond slivers
prosciutto or braciole (optional)

Vinagrette:
1/2 cup canola oil
3 T balsamic vinegar
1 T dijon mustard
1 T diced mint

To prepare the goat cheese, form a 4oz package of goat cheese into four balls. Place in the freezer for 30 minutes. Heat canola oil in a pan, and then coat each ball of goat cheese in the egg and then with panko bread crumbs. Repeat coating in the egg and panko for a second layer. Fry immediately in the oil until nicely browned but not melted, about four minutes or so on medium high. The key here is for the balls to be nicely browned, soft and warm, but not either melted or frozen on the inside.

Slice the peaches and assemble the salad with toasted almond slivers, peaches and greens. You can add prosciutto and/or braciole as well if you prefer.  Top with the vinaigrette mixture above.

Sasha's Kitchen: Peach Salad

Sasha's Kitchen: Blueberry Peach Pie

Another pie. Is that all I do in the summer, make pies? Well maybe. There's nothing better than a delicious fruit pie in the summer, made with fresh farmers' market fruits from the Brooklyn Greenmarket.  I swear, I've been making other things too - its not like we have pie for dinner every night, you know. And I promise I will be posting some of those soon as well. Peaches and blueberries are in high season. I didn't have enough peaches to make a peach pie, but I had some pretty amazing blueberries from the farmers' market so I threw them together. The result was pretty spectacular, and one of my best pies to date. 
To make this pie, I used the exact same crust for apple pie, with my own peach and blueberry filling.

Sasha's Peach Blueberry Pie
2 1/4 cups flour
big pinch of Kosher salt
pinch of sugar
2 sticks of cold butter
1/4 cup of ice water, plus a but more if needed (this time I used about 2 T additional ice water)

21/2 cups of fresh peaches, peeled and sliced
2 1/2 cups of fresh blueberries, squished with your hands
1/2 cup of sugar

1 T lemon juice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
4 T cornstarch
2 egg yolks

To make the pie crust, follow the detailed instructions that I gave in writing about apple pie.  Basically, combine the salt, sugar and flour in a bowl. Cut up the butter into small chunks and gently incorporate with your hands into the flour. Splash the ice water into the mixture, and mold until it *just* forms  a ball of dough, adding more water as needed so it just sticks together (be sure to add the water slowly so not to overdo it). The key to a good pie crust is not to overwork the dough, so it is best to do this by hand. There will still be clumps of butter in the dough - don't worry about that, as it will make the crust more rustic and also crisper. Divide the dough and bring into two balls. Plastic wrap and refrigerate for exactly twenty minutes to allow the dough to firm a bit.

Roll out one of the balls on a well floured surface, rotating after each roll or two so it does not stick to your surface. Roll to 1/4 of an inch thick and place in the pie dish, before trimming the edges with a pastry scissor. Using a pyrex pie dish is best.

Combine the ingredients for the fruit mixture. You should peel the peaches before slicing, and squish the blueberries a bit with your hands. Add most of this to the pie - about four and a half cups total. 

Roll out the second ball of dough the same way and cut to form a lattice. I glazed the top of the pie using two egg yolks and sprinkled some granulated sugar on top. Bake the pie at 425 covered with foil for 30 minutes. Then, reduce the heat to 350 and remove the foil baking for another 30-45 minutes (my oven required about 35). The pie is done when it is tender when poked with a knife.

Sasha's Kitchen: Blueberry Peach Pie

Sasha's Kitchen: Summer Nectarine Salad

I love peaches, apricots and nectarines in the summer - especially ones from a farmers' market that are fresh, juicy and delicious. Nothing captures the flavors of summer better. I've now made this simple nectarine salad a couple of times, and it's an easy, satisfying and rewarding combination of flavors. I love Boston lettuce - it goes so nicely with almost any salad, and has such a lovely buttery flavor.

Sasha's Summer Nectarine Salad
head of Boston butter lettuce
3 nectarines, sliced
bocconcini mozzarella
hazelnuts
balsamic vinaigrette (oil, balsamic vinegar and a tablespoon of lemon juice)

Assemble the salad ingredients. If you wish, you can saute the nectarines before using them, but they taste better fresh and juicy in my opinion.

Sorry such a short post, but stay tuned for some new and delicious updates from my kitchen. This is just a simple recipe for a monday night.

Sasha's Kitchen: Summer Nectarine Salad

Sasha's Kitchen: Strawberry-Blueberry Popsicles

Popsicles are the perfect summer treat. I had never made my own before, but really why not? It's easy enough to do if you have the right molds, and nothing could be a more refreshing summer treat than making your own with fresh local fruits and berries. I came across some basic recipes in Bon Appetit  and decided to give it a try using some popsicle molds that I bought at the Brooklyn Kitchen in Williamsburg. The molds are from a company called Tovolo than makes great freezer pop and ice cream sandwich molds. The key to making good popsicles from fresh fruit is balancing the fruit with a bit of citrus. I can't wait to use the molds again to make these banana pudding and chocolate sea salt pops next time!

Strawberry-Blueberry Popsicles (from Bon Appetit)
strawberry portion
1 lb fresh strawberries, hulled and halved
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp fresh lemon juice

blueberry portion
12 oz fresh blueberries
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp fresh lime juice

Puree the strawberries, sugar and lemon juice in a food processor with 1/4 cup of water until smooth. Strain using a wire mesh strainer, pressing on solids to extract the puree. Set aside. Puree the blueberries, sugar and lime juice with 3 T of water in a food processor, and once again, strain.

Pour some of the strawberry puree into the popsicle molds and freeze until just firm, about 30 minutes. Then, pour some of the blueberry puree on top and freeze for 30 minutes, alternating layers as you choose to. I just made bi-color strawberry-blueberry ice pops. One done, add caps and freeze until firm. To eat, dip bottoms of molds in hot water for 20-30 seconds to loosen the pops.

Sasha's Kitchen: Strawberry-Blueberry Popsicles

Sasha's Kitchen: Grilled Lamb Kebabs with Mango Chutney

Kebabs - perfect for the start of summer grilling season. I made these indoors on a grilling pan rather than on a regular grill, but it still worked out beautifully. I decided to make lamb kebabs this time, though of course there's a million and one ways to make kebabs. This time I decided to do pretty traditional kebabs, and used good quality lamb from Fresh Direct, which I prepared using a somewhat Indian styled yogurt based marinade. I served the kebabs with two kinds of chuntey - cilantro mint chutney and my favorite mango chutney recipe that I have been making since I was a kid. The mango chutney was fabulous with this dish, and hence I decided to share that recipe. Happy Grilling!


Sasha's Lamb Kebabs
2 cups of lowfat Greek yogurt
2 tsp coriander
2 tsp cumin
1/4  tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp cardamom
1 to 1/2 lbs of lamb, cut up into chunks for kebabs

Mango Chutney (recipe loosely derived from this cookbook)
4 francine mangos (you can use 2 regular mangos if you prefer), skinned and cut into small pieces
2 gala apples, peeled and diced
3/4 cup onion, diced
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced (you can use a whole pepper if you prefer to add more heat)
1 T minced fresh ginger
3 cloves of minced garlic
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cloves
pinch of Kosher salt
pinch of cayenne pepper

Mix the ingredients for the marinade with the yogurt.  Mix with the lamb and allow to chill for about an hour.

To make the chutney, combine all of the ingredients in a large saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally. Simmer for about 25 minutes until the mixture has a jam-like quality. Allow the chutney to cool before serving.

All ready for the grill!

Using kebab skewers (I used wooden ones, but you could also use metal), prepare the kebabs by alternating the meat with onions and cherry tomatoes and grill away, rotating as you grill so everything cooks evenly.

Sasha's Kitchen: Grilled Lamb Kebabs with Mango Chutney

Sasha's Kitchen: Key Lime Raspberry Tart

I love raspberries, and pretty much any summer fruit - from strawberries to peaches. I know that raspberries aren't even remotely close to being in season on January, the dead of winter here in Brooklyn. Still, since I was able to find some pretty good sweet raspberries from FreshDirect that were available this time of year, I decided to go ahead and use them in a raspberry tart. I looked up a number of different recipes for raspberry tarts online before settling on my own variation that incorporated elements from each. I decided to go with a key lime flavor for the tart, using some key limes and key lime juice that I had. The key lime juice was great, by the way and so much easier than squeezing the juice out of those tiny little key limes (a nightmare, if I recall). I plan to use it in making key lime creme brulee next! To make a tart, you need to use a tart dish of course. I used the kind where the sides separate from the bottom of the tart dish after the tart is baked and prepared, which was the perfect tool to make a lovely berry tart.

Sasha's Raspberry Key Lime Tart
Tart
1 stick cold butter
1/4 cup plus 1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup almond flour
2 tsp water

Filling
1 large egg, beaten until it is almost meringue like
2/3 cup lightly packed brown sugar
3 tbsp flour
3 large eggs'1 1/4 cup buttermilk
3 T butter, melted
1/4 tsp salt
1 T key lime zest
2 T key lime juice
fresh raspberries

To prepare the tart shell, beat the butter and sugar. The add the flour and salt and beat until just combined. Then add the almond flour. Add two tsp of water and beat for about three minutes until it finally comes together into a dough. Form into a disk and refrigerate for about 45 minutes.

Roll the dough out and fit into a 10-11 inch round tart pan with a removable bottom. Refrigerate until firm, for another 20 minutes or so. Preheat oven to 325 and bake for about 30 minutes, occasionally pressing the bottom to flatten. Allow to cool when it comes out.

To prepare the filling, beat the egg while until fluffy, like if you were making a souffle. Combine the flour and sugar, and add the eggs. Fold in the egg white, until just blended. Stir in the key lime juice and key lime zest. Pour the filling into the crust and bake at 325 for another 25 minutes until the filling is set and jiggles just slightly. Allow to cool, and arrange the raspberries on the surface to top. Remove the sizes of the tart dish before serving.

Sasha's Kitchen: Key Lime Raspberry Tart

Sasha's Kitchen: Watermelon, Feta & Mint Salad

Watermelon is one of those quintessential refreshing summer fruits. Summer is really incomplete without it. It can be used so many different ways - as part of a salad or a fabulous summer cocktail, or simply on its own.  I was inspired to do something with watermelon and feta cheese after having a mouthwateringly delicious tapas appetizer earlier this summer at Miriam, a great Israeli restaurant in Park Slope. What I came up with is a simple and easy salad that showcases fresh summer watermelon. This makes for a delicious and low-calorie dinner or lunch and the flavors combine just perfectly.

Sasha's Watermelon Feta & Mint Salad
3 to 4 cups of freshly sliced watermelon
half a block of chopped feta cheese
3 T of fresh chopped mint
1 T olive oil
1 T balsamic vinegar

Combine the watermelon, feta and mint and toss with the balsamic and oil dressing.  Serve immediately.

Sasha's Kitchen: Watermelon, Feta & Mint Salad

Michelle's Kitchen in Toronto - Snapper and Mango Salsa with Rice and Beans

With the heat still blanketing the city and me in my element with it, I decided it was finally time to have company over to my apartment now that I have a brand new balcony! After disclosing my plans to finally start cooking again, my insanely talented musician friend Jimi Maze (check out his music here) agreed to play guinea pig in my epicurean experiments. A few days earlier, he very graciously brought me a pepper plant as a house-warming gift. Add this to the Pakistani mangos I had bought earlier that week in Little India and of course, this got my creative juices flowing! How could I use these gorgeous colourful peppers and sweet juicy mangoes in some way? My brain immediately supplied the answer; mango salsa!

Given the heat, I decided that serving something light was a good idea so I headed to my local megamart to see what kind of fish they had. Once that was done, I needed a side dish. Given that I was already on a South American path with the salsa, I decided some rice and beans were in order! My mother had brought me some farm-fresh corn the previous day and I decided to incorporate it into my efforts. I added a salad with homemade dressing and dinner was set!

Mixy's Mango Salsa

1 mango, peeled and chopped into cubes
1 avocado, chopped and cubed
1 green onion, chopped fine
3 tbsp black beans
1/2 red or yellow pepper, seeded and diced
1 bird's eye chilli, seeded and chopped fine (or leave the seeds for extra heat)
1/4 - 1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp chipotle
2 tbsp cilantro, chopped fine
1 lime, squeezed
dash of lemon juice

Mix everything together and use right away or let it hang out in the fridge for 30 minutes to meld the flavours. Make sure to add the citrus before you add the avocado and mix it in so the avos don't turn brown. This is lovely over fish but I also had leftovers of the salsa over pork chops that I covered in chutney, seared and popped in a 400F over for 10-15 mins which was delicious! Jimi and I had the salsa with snapper that I put in a 375F over for 17 mins with some olive oil, lime juice, salt and salad herbs.

Add to this my side of rice and beans that I cooked in my rice cooker. If you don't have one (and you really should!) just cook the basmati according to the package instructions with all the ingredients in the pot at once; easy one-pot wonder!

Beans and Rice - Michelle-style

1 ear corn, corn sliced off the cob (use raw)
1/2 can black beans
3/4 c basmati rice
3/4 c water
3/4 c chicken stock
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 lime squeezed for juice
1 bay leaf

Put everything in your rice cooker and hit "start". I felt it needed more salt, but Jimi said his was great, so salt to taste.

I love entertaining and plan on doing much more of it before the summer is over. Must take advantage of my brand new balcony and killer view!

Michelle's Kitchen in Toronto - Snapper and Mango Salsa with Rice and Beans

Amasea's Kitchen in Sun Valley: Sour summer slaw

Sorry for the absence, folks!
I went off and got married, then unfortunately we had a loss in our family, so I haven't had a lot of time for creative cooking.

I did make a rhubarb pie last week, but it was honestly really, really bad. Not so much that I wouldn't eat it (PIE!) but not good enough for this blog, even to help others learn from my mistakes.

But the summer produce is coming on, and I'm getting excited. I'm going to wait to see what looks awesome and fresh in the next month or two, and start canning again. You'll get the story on that once I get my enormous canning pot out of storage :)

It being summer, it's time for barbecue, slaw and salads, and those last two were on the menu tonight. I had some great fresh fennel -- a whole bulb, feathery top bits (I'm not sure what to do with those) and all, from Idaho's Bounty. I sauteed half the bulb for something else, but the remaining half went into the Cuisinart's shredder attachment, with two small Fuji apples and about a dozen baby carrots (I would have used big carrots, but the babies were getting a little...rooty, so they needed to be used). I didn't have any cabbage, or that would have gone in too.

Mixing that in a bowl and removing the big, improperly shredded pieces, I added about three tablespoons of lime mayonnaise (interestingly, the Hellmann's intended for the Hispanic market has fewer unpronounceable ingredients and preservatives than the American varieties -- thanks, Grocery Outlet!), a tablespoon of lime juice, a tablespoon of grapefruit vinegar, salt, pepper and freshly-ground red pepper flakes. Oh, and a handful of dried cranberries, since I was out of raisins, for that hint of sweet. If I were to make this again, I think I'd use a little less total liquid, but that's just my taste; others might prefer the squishier texture.

I paired it with a simple salad: organic greens from Idaho's Bounty, topped with corn kernels, sliced almonds, a vinaigrette and some grilled Halloumi-style grilled cheese (not pictured). With a glass of red wine for a little mouth weight, delicious!

Amasea's Kitchen in Sun Valley: Sour summer slaw