Tag Archives: Summer
Summer Cherry Crisp
You may have noticed it has been little a little quieter around here. I may do a few posts, then you don’t hear from me for a couple of weeks. It is not that I don’t have recipes to share and things to babble about, its just that the words just won’t come out.
You see, I have been dealing with chronic migraines for almost a year now. They have been getting progressively worse, and one of the most interesting symptoms is a loss of cognitive function in the communication area of my brain. I have trouble finding the right words, saying the right words, and of course, writing.
I was in the Apple store the other day, talking to a tech about my computer and whether it still had Apple Care coverage. I kept calling it apple core. I could not for the life of me say apple care! It was hilarious. . . embarrassing, but hilarious!
Here’s another gem for you; My daughter and I were visiting a neighbor and she had brought a cucumber to snack on. While eating her cucumber, we were talking. My daughter wanted to add to the conversation, but had a mouth full of cucumber. Doing the mommy thing, I said ” Ruby, don’t eat while you’re eating!” She looked at me like I had just grown two heads. There was nothing to do but laugh, as my neighbor explained what I had actually meant to say.
So I’m working on finding the right balance in my life to stop this very aggravating condition. Medication, diet, exercise, stress reduction, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.
I developed the recipe for this cherry crisp a while ago, and it has been languishing in the dark recesses of my computer, waiting to be set free.
Recipe: Summer Cherry Crisp
Ingredients
- 7 cups pitted cherries (2.5 pounds)
- 1/4 cup vanilla sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup vanilla sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 6 tablespoons cold butter
- 1/3 cup pine nuts
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Place pitted cherries into a large bowl.
- Add the vanilla sugar and cornstarch, stir to mix well.
- Pour the cherry mixture into a large baking dish.
- In a large bowl stir together the flour, brown sugar, vanilla sugar and salt.
- Using your clean fingers, pinch the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles crumbs.
- Mix in the pine nuts.
- Spread the topping evenly over the cherries.
- Bake for 40 minutes, until topping is lightly browned and fruit is bubbling.
- *vanilla sugar is made by placing a fresh vanilla bean into a container of sugar. Plain sugar can be substituted.
Preparation time: 30 minute(s)
Cooking time: 40 minute(s)
Number of servings (yield): 12
Organic Fresh San Marzano Tomato Sauce
Tomatoes are everywhere! Summer’s abundance of fresh, locally grown, heirloom and supermarket tomatoes always amazes me. I remember the days of only round cherry tomatoes and tasteless red slicing tomatoes in the market. Now, there are so many heirloom varieties being grown, making them available at farmer’s markets and conventional supermarkets.
My friend Loretta is a Tomato Goddess. She grows these amazing, juicy, sweet, fat, luscious tomatoes every year. Lots of varietals, lots of colors, and lots of flavor! She tells me her four year old son raids the plants, darting between the rows, picking the ripe fruits and stuffing them into his mouth as fast as he can! I don’t blame him.
She came to visit the other day and brought me fresh San Marzano tomatoes from her garden. I have only seen this variety canned, usually imported from Italy. They do make delicious sauce, so I knew that was the fate of those lovelies you see pictured above.
Making a good sauce only requires patience. Tomato sauce needs to bubble and simmer for awhile for all the flavors to marry into a sweet and tangy sauce. Make sure the wine you add to the sauce is one you would drink. I always say, never cook with a wine you couldn’t pour a glass of for a guest. Or drink a glass of while you are cooking. . .
Once you get it all in the pot, you let it bubble and simmer away.
And hour later you have a gorgeous sauce.
I like to put my sauce through a food mill to puree it. This mill was part of my mom’s pots and pans set. It’s designed to fit right over one of the set’s saucepans, so you could puree right into the pot!
One of the reasons I like a food mill is that I do not have to peel the tomatoes before chopping and cooking. Not that peeling tomatoes is hard, but if I can skip a step somewhere, I’m good. If you don’t have a food mill, I would suggest peeling the tomatoes. Head on over to my friend Tori’s blog The Shiksa in the Kitchen, for a tutorial on how to peel tomatoes.
Recipe: Organic Fresh San Marzano Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 TB olive oil
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 6 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 3 pounds fresh San Marzano tomatoes, or other ripe summer tomato, chopped
- 1 cup dry red wine
Instructions
- Heat the oil over over medium heat in a large, deep skillet or pot.
- Cook the onion 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened and translucent.
- Add the garlic, salt, basil, oregano, thyme and pepper. Cook an additional 1-2 minutes, until the garlic is very fragrant.
- Add the tomatoes and wine, stirring to mix well.
- Bring the sauce to a boil, reduce to a low simmer, and let cook for 50 minutes to one hour. Stir the sauce occasionally to make sure the sauce is not reducing too quickly.
- Pass the tomato sauce through a food mill, or puree in a food processor. Adjust the seasoning as needed.
Preparation time: 15 minute(s)
Cooking time: 1 hour(s) 15 minute(s)
Makes 3 cups of tomato sauce.
