Radish Leaf Pesto

I throw too many things away, particularly when I'm cooking. The dark green stems from leeks. The husks from corn. Radish leaves I'm particularly bad with. I just take off the beautiful red radishes and immediately discard the dirty greens.

But thanks to this recipe I stumbled across, I'll be able to take radish leaves off that list. From now on, I'm turning them into radish leaf pesto.

The recipe couldn't be easier, and I found it just as tasty as basil pesto. Mine was a kitchen-sink pesto of sorts. I only had pumpkin seeds in my cabinet, so that's what I used. I made pesto pasta salad out of my pesto, combining a container of cooked pasta with the pesto and peas. The color was beautiful, and it was cheap, made mostly from an ingredient I would have thrown away.

This recipe is by by food blogger Clotilde Dusoulier, woman number 18 on Gourmet Magazine's list of 50 women game-changers in food history. Of the selection, Gourmet wrote: Dusoulier's 2003-vintage blog Chocolate and Zucchini is the Francophile's dream. She posts from Montmartre about cheese and brioche--but also, to be fair, mochi and muffins. Her fifth book--her translation and adaptation of the 1923 French equivalent of Joy of Cooking, Ginette Mathiot's Je Sais Cuisiner ("I Know How to Cook")--is already iconic. 

Be sure to visit the other women who are paying tribute to Clotilde Dusoulier today!
Val - More Than Burnt Toast
Joanne - Eats Well With Others
Taryn - Have Kitchen Will Feed
Susan - The Spice Garden
Claudia - A Seasonal Cook in Turkey
Heather - girlichef
Miranda - Mangoes and Chutney
Jeanette - Healthy Living
April - Abby Sweets 
Katie - Making Michael Pollan Proud
Mary - One Perfect Bite
Kathleen -Bake Away with Me
Viola - The Life is Good Kitchen
Sue - The View from Great Island
Barbara - Movable Feasts
Kathleen - Gonna Want Seconds
Amy - Beloved Green
Jeanette - Healthy Living 
Linda - Ciao Chow Linda
Linda A - There and Back Again
Martha - Lines from Linderhof

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

September has got to be the most amazing time of year at the farmers' market. The summer produce is still going strong. There are tables of heirloom tomatoes, ripe peaches and apricots. At the same time, there are tables covered by lettuce and other greens. The potatoes, onions and squashes are also present. It's the time when you can get just about any produce your heart desires.

Unfortunately, it's not going to last.

It's not surprising, then, that I left the farmers' market last week with a huge bag of veggies and no clear direction. I just grabbed what piqued my interest. One of those items was a beautiful green zucchini.

A little google search and I came upon Maida Heatter's Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread. She's number sixteen on Gourmet Magazine's list of 50 Women Game Changers in Food History. Of the selection, Gourmet wrote: "Maida Heatter--the beloved goddess of apple pie--and coconut layer cake, chocolate Bavarian, lemon squares, cherry cobbler--you name it. She makes every dessert in the land perfect."

While her chocolate chip zucchini bread wasn't quite dessert (since I did have it for breakfast every morning for a week), it was certainly perfect. The mixture seems dry at first, but when you mix in the zucchini (undrained) it reaches a perfect consistency.

You will want to make this. You will also want to visit the other bloggers who made recipes by Maida Heatter this week.

Val - More Than Burnt Toast
Joanne - Eats Well With Others
Taryn - Have Kitchen Will Feed
Susan - The Spice Garden
Claudia - A Seasonal Cook in Turkey
Heather - girlichef
Miranda - Mangoes and Chutney
Jeanette - Healthy Living
April - Abby Sweets 
Katie - Making Michael Pollan Proud
Mary - One Perfect Bite
Kathleen -Bake Away with Me
Viola - The Life is Good Kitchen
Sue - The View from Great Island
Barbara - Movable Feasts
Kathleen - Gonna Want Seconds
Amy - Beloved Green
Jeanette - Healthy Living 
Linda - Ciao Chow Linda
Linda A - There and Back Again
Martha - Lines from Linderhof

Tea Sandwiches, a 1920s Throwback

We spent a recent weekend traveling back in time to the 1920s to hear Michael Arenella and his Dreamland Orchestra. Decked out in traditional (and inspired) garb, we took over Governors Island for a Jazz Age Lawn Party, complete with live music, dancing and delicious St. Germain cocktails. There are some gorgeous pictures here.

Having been to events at Governors Island before, we knew the lines for food would be outrageous. Too few food vendors trying to service too many people. That meant a picnic. And a 1920s picnic meant tiny tea sandwiches.

And, since you can't just make one kind of tea sandwich, I made eight. Here, I'll share some of our favorites with you, along with some choice images from our day. The sandwiches are all made from recipes by Shelia Lukins and Julee Rosso, number 15 on Gourmet Magazine's list of 50 women game changers in food history.

Of the selection, Gourmet wrote: "It's hard to overstate the influence of The Silver Palate--the 1982 cookbook named about the gourmet emporium this pair opened in 1977 on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Before, there was no ratatouille; after, there was chicken Marbella."

These are mint-cucumber sandwiches on circles of buttered white bread. They were incredibly small but quite refreshing on the hot day. Each sandwich was a single bite.

Our favorite was this ricotta and fig sandwich, complete with homemade ricotta cheese and a tasty fig jam. The ricotta had a bit of a lemon taste that paired beautifully with the fig jam. Unfortunately, I didn't anticipate these being tasty, so I only made enough for one each...oops!

These sandwiches began with a basil butter (just butter mixed with chopped basil). They were then topped with tomato slices and another piece of bread, with more butter, of course.

These sandwiches were made with a simple parsley butter (just chopped parsley and butter). Easy and tasty.

Another easy sandwich included a thick layer of basil pesto and a layer of butter (you may be noticing a trend). 

All in all, these sandwiches led to a delightful little lunch. 

When we weren't eating, we passed time watching dancers and admiring the outfits of our counterparts. 

This couple was one of our favorites. I certainly want to be out on the dance floor when I'm their age. 

We also enjoyed watching New York Time's fashion photographer Bill Cunningham in action. 

Be sure to visit the other bloggers who made dishes this week:

Val - More Than Burnt Toast
Joanne - Eats Well With Others
Taryn - Have Kitchen Will Feed
Susan - The Spice Garden
Claudia - A Seasonal Cook in Turkey
Heather - girlichef
Miranda - Mangoes and Chutney
Jeanette - Healthy Living
April - Abby Sweets 
Mary - One Perfect Bite
Kathleen -Bake Away with Me
Viola - The Life is Good Kitchen
Sue - The View from Great Island
Barbara - Movable Feasts
Kathleen - Gonna Want Seconds
Amy - Beloved Green 
Linda--Ciao Chow Linda

Tuna Noodle Casserole

I didn't grow up in a casserole family. The closest thing I had to a casserole growing up was my mom's pot pie, which was just overflowing with vegetables.

I will admit that, up until a year ago, I thought tuna noodle casserole was the most horrid sounding dish. I ate tuna fish cold, in tuna salad, and that was about it. Tuna heated up with pre-made cream of mushroom soup? I just couldn't imagine how that combination would be good.

Then, about a year ago, a friend set out to prove me wrong. With an elaborate list of ingredients and his mother's recipe in tow, he baked the largest tuna noodle casserole I've ever seen. He scooped more and more into his bowl, but I started with just one tentative bite. I was prepared to hate it, to beg for something for dinner.

But, somehow, the flavors and textures won me over. I loved the crunchiness provided by the breadcrumbs that topped the dish and the noodles that were a little browned on the side. The cream of mushroom soup, when melded with a little cheddar cheese and milk, played a nice supporting role against the tuna. The peas added a delightful brightness to the dish. I eagerly filled my bowl, ate it all and then went back for more.

As I walked through the grocery store directionless this week, I spotted the egg noodles that feature prominently in the dish, and, recent convert that I was, decided to go for it. Rachael Ray's tuna noodle casserole dish served as my inspiration. I was hungry, and I didn't want to spend hours searching for a recipe. I knew that whatever Rachael had to offer, it would be quick.

Rachael Ray was recently selected as number 13 on Gourmet Magazine's list of 50 women game changers in food history. In selecting Rachael, Gourmet wrote: "She's heee-eere. Your TV's haunted by her, and, love or hate the woman, her always easy recipes have cured millions of their kitchen phobia."

My final recipe was quite true to Rachael's, although I added more of everything I love (peas, noodles, tuna), and I threw in some sharp cheddar cheese for good measure. It wasn't quite on the table in 30 minutes or less, but I didn't mind.

Be sure to visit all the other bloggers who made recipes by Rachael Ray this week:
Val - More Than Burnt Toast
Joanne - Eats Well With Others
Taryn - Have Kitchen Will Feed
Susan - The Spice Garden
Claudia - A Seasonal Cook in Turkey
Heather - girlichef
Miranda - Mangoes and Chutney
Jeanette - Healthy Living
April - Abby Sweets 
Mary - One Perfect Bite
Kathleen -Bake Away with Me
Viola - The Life is Good Kitchen
Sue - The View from Great Island
Barbara - Movable Feasts
Kathleen - Gonna Want Seconds
Amy - Beloved Green 
Linda--Ciao Chow Linda

Fregolatta

In my family, cookies often played a starring role at dessert. At Christmas each year, cookies were the star, and we made plate after plate of different kinds. Cookies could be the whole dessert, and we would each leave incredibly content.

However, perusing Brooklyn restaurant menus over the past few years, cookies rarely feature on dessert menus. Sure, No. 7 swears by their chocolate chip and bacon cookies, but at most restaurants, cookies only appear on the menu when they are complimenting another dish.

This fregolatta falls into that camp. I needed a cookie to accompany some chocolate pot de cremes that I made. This cookie, described as the little black dress of cookie crumbles seemed just right. Incredibly simple to make, the dough is stirred together and then patted into springform pans. There's none of that fussing to measure exact portions or spending hours pulling out tray after tray of cookies that chocolate chip cookies call for. Instead, two springform pans bake in the oven for 25 minutes each, yielding two huge cookies.

Then comes the fun part. You take the cookie, and you balance it on something. A whole almond is recommended if you want to impress your guests, but any small object will work. You take a wooden spoon, and you whack the cookie as hard as you can. Watch it crumble! Don't be afraid to really hit it.

These crunchy, almond-filled pieces were a perfect compliment to the decadent pot de cremes, and they worked equally as well with coffee for the next few days.

I would have expected nothing left from a Lidia Bastianich recipe. Number 12 on Gourmet Magazine's list of 50 women game changers in food history, she has established quite a food empire for herself.

In selecting Lidia, Gourmet wrote, "Everybody's nonna, Lidia founded an empire, and she does it all: cookbooks, TV shows, restaurants, and wines galore. Then last summer--with son Joe, Mario Batali, and Oscar Farinetti--she opened Eataly, the cucina italiana Manhattan multiverse and basically, took over the world."

Be sure to visit all the other bloggers who made recipes by Lidia Bastianich this week. While you do that, I may just visit Eataly. Fittingly, this post comes on Eataly's 1st birthday:

Val - More Than Burnt Toast
Joanne - Eats Well With Others
Taryn - Have Kitchen Will Feed
Susan - The Spice Garden
Claudia - A Seasonal Cook in Turkey
Heather - girlichef
Miranda - Mangoes and Chutney
Jeanette - Healthy Living
April - Abby Sweets 
Mary - One Perfect Bite
Kathleen -Bake Away with Me
Viola - The Life is Good Kitchen
Sue - The View from Great Island
Barbara - Movable Feasts
Kathleen - Gonna Want Seconds
Amy - Beloved Green 

Roasted Tomato Confit

It is officially tomato season, and my google reader feed has just been bombarded with posts about tomatoes. Like this one by Lottie + Doof. It's a tomato cobbler topped with cheddar cheese biscuits. I think I could eat it for dessert and be happy.  Or this tomato salad with crushed croutons from Smitten Kitchen. I've been tempted to preserve tomatoes five ways, as suggested by Food in Jars. 

I just had to join in the fun with this recipe for roasted tomato confit. While this recipe is not exactly by Patricia Wells, it's inspired by her. She's number 11 on Gourmet Magazine's list of 50 women game changers in food history.

Of the selection, Gourmet wrote: "Milwaukee-born Wells gave us France, spreading the bistro love as the Paris-based restaurant critic of L'Express and the Herald Tribune. She taught us--and reminded the French--about Provencal cooking, and... quoi? An American woman is telling the French what to eat? Oui."

Of the original recipe for these tomatoes, Wells writes: "Nothing can match the pure, wholesome flavor of tomatoes, and no method amplifies tomato essence like a reduction. These are the sun-dried tomatoes of the 1990s--fresh tomatoes that are baked for hours in a very slow oven until much of their moisture evaporates, creating tomatoes with a dense, haunting, rich and pleasant tangy flavor."

I adapted Wells's recipe slightly, replacing the garlic with shallots, omitting the sugar and adding a good deal of butter. After about two hours of slow roasting, these tomatoes were incredibly tender and flavorful.

Wells recommended using the tomatoes in soups, salads, on sandwiches, for pasta, or anywhere else. What I did with these tomatoes is inspired by my dear friend Thomas. You'll just have to wait and see what it was. I'll apologize right now that I have none left to share with you. You would have enjoyed it.

Be sure to check out the other bloggers who made recipes by Patricia Wells this week:
Val - More Than Burnt Toast
Joanne - Eats Well With Others
Taryn - Have Kitchen Will Feed
Susan - The Spice Garden
Claudia - A Seasonal Cook in Turkey
Heather - girlichef
Miranda - Mangoes and Chutney
Jeanette - Healthy Living
April - Abby Sweets 
Mary - One Perfect Bite
Kathleen -Bake Away with Me
Viola - The Life is Good Kitchen
Sue - The View from Great Island
Barbara - Movable Feasts
Kathleen - Gonna Want Seconds
Amy - Beloved Green 

Welsh Rare-bit

I remember my first meal in Park Slope, Brooklyn, quite vividly. It was mid-August, pouring rain and a little chilly. We were frantically apartment searching, hoping we'd be in somewhere permanent before we started our first teaching jobs that September. My mom was in town visiting, and we had stopped to look at a delightful apartment that had everything we'd imagined a Park Slope apartment would: exposed brick walls, rooftop access, and the tiniest bedrooms you've ever seen.

We stopped at an adorable little cafe for lunch called Sweet Melissa's, which you may be familiar with if you follow Sweet Melissa Sundays or know the delightful baking cookbook from the bakery: The Sweet Melissa Baking Book: Recipes from the Beloved Bakery for Everyone's Favorite Treats.

The Welsh Rarebit immediately jumped out at me. It wasn't the kind of meal you'd write home about, but it was delicious. A cheese and butter soaked baguette toasted just so with a perfectly light arugula salad. It was adult comfort food at its finest. What better meal to end a long day of apartment searching than this savory treat.

So when I saw that Mrs. Isabella Beeton, half of woman number 10 on Gourmet Magazine's 50 women game changers in food history, had a Welsh Rare-bit of her own, I just had to try it. Her version is certainly a splurge, loaded with butter and cheese (and if your cheese is a little dry, Beeton recommends adding even more butter to improve it), but she does advise you to only have one slice. It's dressed up with some mustard and black pepper which give it a deeper flavor.

It's taken from her book Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management, which gave women advice on how to run a proper Victorian household. The book covered topics from the management of servants to the use of local and seasonal produce. The complete book is 1,112 pages long and contains over 900 recipes. She finished the book before her untimely death at age 28.

Of the selection of Mrs. Beeton and Mrs. Hannah Glasse, Gourmet Magazine wrote: "Mrs. Glasse's The Art of Cookery (1747) and Mrs. Isabella Beeton's Book of Husehold Management (1861) are important foundation cookbooks."

Be sure to visit the other bloggers who cooked recipes by Mrs. Beeton and Mrs. Glasse this week.

Val -  More Than Burnt Toast - Syllabub 

Joanne - Eats Well with Others
Taryn - Have Kitchen Will Feed - Apple Snow
Susan - The Spice Garden
Heather - girlichef - Pan Seared Trout with Caper Sauce
Miranda - Mangoes and Chutney
Janette - Healthy Living
Mary - One Perfect Bite - Excellent Rolls and Shrewsbury Cake
Kathleen - Bake Away With Me - Another Sort of Butter Cake and Bakewell Pudding
Viola - The Life is Good Kitchen
Sue - The View from Great Island - Hodge Podge Stew
Linda of Midwest Life and Cuisine

Chocolate Pot de Creme

My copy of Joy of Cooking is missing. Worse, it's been missing for a while. I think it's been missing since I received it as a present for Christmas several years ago. Is it in a box, packed up in the basement at my parents' house? Or did I leave it behind one of the four times I've moved since I received it? I may never know the answer.

Either way, Irma Rombauer and her influential text, Joy of Cooking, are never far from my mind.

Gourmet Magazine named Irma S. Rombauer number nine on their list of 50 women game-changers in food history. In selecting Rombauer, they wrote, "In all its eight versions, and in all its 75+ years (and counting), Joy of Cooking is arguably the essential American cookbook. Irma wrote (and published) the first version in 1931, giving birth--literally--to a culinary dynasty."

Knowing Rombauer's influence on American cuisine and her ability to capture and translate restaurant staples for our home tables, I turned to her when attempting my first pot de creme.

Pot de creme seem like the current dessert of choice at many new American restaurants across New York City. I had a delicious chocolate pot de creme at James. Rose Water Restaurant served us a chocolate cardamom pot de creme with a citrus whipped cream and an orange pistachio biscotti (definitely worth the trip!). A visit to Maze during Restaurant Week finished with a chocolate pot de creme that was complimented by a small scoop of green cardamom, caramel, sea salt and almond ice cream. Dreamy, to say the least.

I decided to keep my first attempt simple. I would just make a chocolate pot de creme. I'd prepare a simple cookie crumble to go with it (more on that later).

I prepared an easy water bath for the custards, lining the pan with a towel, adding the custard dishes so they did not touch each other, and carefully, oh, so carefully, pouring in the boiling water so it didn't spill.

Rombauer would call my custard a compromise custard. It's not quite as delicious as the full-fat version, made with half-and-half, but it's not as weak as the low-fat version made with low-fat milk and egg whites. I tried to strike a happy balance with the use of whole milk and egg yolks.

Be sure to visit the other bloggers who cooked recipes by Irma Rombauer this week!

Val -  More Than Burnt Toast   Lemon Meringue Pie

Joanne - Eats Well with Others  White Gazpacho
Taryn - Have Kitchen Will Feed
Susan - The Spice Garden  Swedish Meatballs
Claudia - A Seasonal Cook in Turkey       
Heather - girlichef  Oatmeal Molasses Bread
Miranda - Mangoes and Chutney  Hushpuppies
Janette - Healthy Living Chicken Breasts with Tomatoes, Capers and Basil
April - Abby Sweets
Mary - One Perfect Bite  Shrimp and Grapefruit Cocktail
Kathleen - Bake Away With Me
Viola - The Life is Good Kitchen
Sue - The View from Great Island Lightening Cake

my first souffle

It seems only fitting that I take my first souffle recipe from Judith Jones, the woman who discovered Julia Childs, helped bring her cooking into our homes and served as her editor for years.

She's also the woman who rescued Anne Frank - The Diary of a Young Girl from the rejection pile.

She's number eight on Gourmet Magazine's list of 50 women game-changers in food history.

She's a careful writer of recipes, turning it into a genre of writing (Here are three recipe phrases she just can't stand).

And she's a New York City resident and part-time cattle rancher.

I think Michael Pollan and Judith Jones would get along, and perhaps they do. In his book In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, Pollan lays out his guidelines for better eating. He tells the story of an elderly woman who has so much respect for herself and the food that she eats that she still sets the table each night even though she eats by herself. She will not so much as eat a carrot without first placing it in a cute little dish.

What better book to assist us in that process than Judith Jones with her book The Pleasures of Cooking for One. After the early death of her husband, Judith initially thought she wouldn't be able to muster the desire necessary to cook for one. However she quickly realized that eating well alone could be pleasurable.

Of the experience, Judith is quoted as saying: "Learning to cook alone is an ongoing process. But the alternative is worse."

This souffle comes from her effort to cook herself the foods she wanted to eat. After trying a cheese souffle at a restaurant, Judith rushed home, scaled back and slightly modified a Julia Childs' recipe, and created this treat. It is light and airy, and it's the perfect size for a dinner for one.

Be sure to visit all the other bloggers who cooked recipes by Judith Jones this week!

Val - More Than Burnt Toast Potatoes for Julia Child
Joanne - Eats Well with Others Vegetable Sushi Rice Salad
Taryn - Have Kitchen Will Feed
Susan - The Spice Garden
Claudia - A Seasonal Cook in Turkey
Heather - girlichef Zucchini Pancakes
Miranda - Mangoes and Chutney Linguine with Smoked Salmon Sauce
Jeanette - Healthy Living Penne with Tuna Plum Tomatoes and Black Olives
April - Abby Sweets
Mary - One Perfect Bite Frenchified Meatloaf
Kathleen - Bake Away With Me Summer Pudding
Viola - The Life is Good Kitchen Roast Pork Tenderloin
Sue - The View from Great Island Chicken Salad