Zucchini alla Puttanesca

Zucchini alla Puttanesca is a great dish - hot, fast, saucy and spicy, just like its namesake; "puttanesca" is Italian for, ahem, prostitute.

Just 15 minutes is all you need - 5 for prep, 10 for cooking - and you have an amazingly fragrant and fabulous dish. It can be spooned over rice or pasta, stirred into soup, placed into tortillas, served as a side dish ... the choice is yours.

Tom and I found some of the vegetables we needed for this zesty dish at the Wednesday evening Farmers Market, which offers a wide variety of vendors (farmers, bakers, pizza and tamales) and even live music.

Avalon Housing's Edible Avalon program had a table there, which was absolutely laden with gorgeous produce! Everything had been lovingly tended in a Project Grow garden plot, and was being sold to benefit the non-profit and its residents.

The various area farmers' markets are offering an abundance of beautiful vegetables now, and this dish is an ideal way to put them to good use!

Zucchini alla Puttanesca [ah-lah pooh-tahn-ESS-kah]

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
several splashes of cayenne pepper sauce
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 small red onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup white wine (I used Flip Flop Wines Riesling, a most generous marketing gift!)
1 fat 8" zucchini, cut into 1/2" cubes
8 Kalamata olives, chopped
1 small tomato, chopped

In a large skillet, heat oil, vinegar, and cayenne pepper sauce over medium heat; add garlic, onion, red pepper flakes, salt and wine; cook, stirring occasionally, until wine is just starting to boil. Add zucchini and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add olives and tomato; cook 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid has been absorbed.

Serves 2-4.

Angel Hair Pasta with Purple Basil

Okay, once again I'm going to seem pretentious. But Tom and I made a fabulous pasta dish over the weekend, and simply calling it "Angel Hair Pasta with Purple Basil" does not begin to do it justice! It deserves its beautiful, lyrical Italian name: Capelli d'Angelo con Basilico Viola. [kah-PAY-lee DAHN-jel-OH kohn bah-SEEL-ee-koh vee-OHL-uh]

Such simplicity - beautiful tomatoes and deeply violet-colored basil from the farmers' market, some contrasting color from baby spinach leaves, the depth of flavor from the Gorgonzola ... sigh. It doesn't take anything very complicated to make a spectacular meal, just exceptional ingredients.

There was no grand plan for this dish; while perusing the bounty at the Farmers Market on Saturday, we found a gorgeous bouquet of purple basil. It cost $1 ... well, how could we refuse? We didn't know what we'd do with it, but there had to be something it could work with.

A few other items were thrown into the mix, and there was lunch - a lovely light meal featuring summer produce, colorful and immensely flavorful!

Angel Hair Pasta with Purple Basil

8 ounces angel hair pasta, cooked according to package directions
2 tablespoons oil
1 small garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning (i.e.: Mrs. Dash)
1 large tomato, chopped
2 cups baby spinach leaves
1/4 cup purple basil leaves, cut into fine strips
1/2 cup crumbled Gorgonzola

While pasta is cooking, heat oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and saute for 1 minute. Add salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and tomato; cook until the tomatoes produce some juice, then add spinach and cook just until wilted. Stir vegetables into pasta, and place onto a serving platter.

Sprinkle basil over the pasta, then top with the Gorgonzola.

Serves 2-4.

Roasted Radish Review

Ever since reading about them in The New York Times, Tom and I have been wanting to make roasted radishes. I had tried them at the Westside Market a few weeks ago, but personally thought they were undercooked -- they were still crisp, and I was hoping for more caramelization. I tend to prefer my vegetables "overcooked" to most people's minds, but more like "meltingly tender" to my own.

So over the past weekend, Tom (who adores radishes!) and I took some and pan-roasted them rather than turning on the oven. We'd been planning to do this, talking about doing this ... it was about time to get it done!

And the process was ridiculously simple: I cut the radishes in halves or in quarters, depending upon their size, so that the pieces were about the size of large olives. I placed them into a bowl and tossed them with about 1 tablespoon of light olive oil and a pinch each of salt and pepper.

Then I placed them in a frying pan over medium heat and just let them cook, stirring and flipping them over every so often to keep them from getting burned.


The radishes cooked for oh, maybe 20 minutes until they were tender when pierced with a knife and they were a deep golden brown. An adjustment of seasoning (a.k.a.: adding a pinch more salt), and there they were!

I let Tom taste them first, and he said: "It mellows out the radish, takes the bite away. Not what you'd expect ...." He loved them!

And they are different than you'd expect. I'm not a huge fan of radishes, unless they're in salads and have some dressing on them; I find them either bland or bitter, rarely anything in between. But once they'd been cooked and caramelized, all of that was gone; they were almost kinda starchy. I would absolutely make these tender tidbits again.

So don't just think of radishes as a garnish or a fresh, crisp vegetable to color a salad bowl. They made a fabulous warm dish that I would never have considered on my own. Try 'em -- you'll like 'em!

"Teaser Tuesday"

I had intended to make myself a lovely little afternoon tea assortment to bring for lunch today, until my evening plans changed and I didn't spend any time in my kitchen last night after cooking up some bratwurst for dinner and then washing a sinkful of dishes. (I got to spend my evening with Tom instead ... excellent trade-off, if I may say so!!!)

Anyway, because I was rushed, I ended up slapping together a huge vegetable sandwich with avocado, cucumbers, tomato, red onion and lettuce instead, which was really wonderful ... but not quite what I'd envisioned.

For some reason, I've been fixated upon the dainty little cucumber sandwiches (likely because I bought some beautiful specimens at the Westside Farmers' Market last week), the pretty little cookies (having found some chocolate-filled chocolate cookies -- yeah! -- at the Om Market recently), and tea (iced tea -- that was an easy one to navigate to!). It will happen ... it has to! I'll be home tonight playing "catch up," so I can do laundry and pit cherries and bake cookies and clean and make a pitcher of iced tea while I'm at it. So maybe tomorrow I can indulge myself ....

But rather than leave a day without some semblance of tossing myself out into the cyber-fray -- can't risk having anyone forget lil' ol' moi, after all! -- I have put together this quickie post instead. It has nothing to do with afternoon tea, but is food-related nonetheless.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading and, as she states, "Anyone can play along! Just do the following":

Grab your current read.

Okay.

Open to a random page.

Page 132.

Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

"With a start of asparagus tricolore -- three colors -- under shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano and panna cotta covered with crushed strawberries for dessert, I felt pretty good about the menu."

"The four brothers who owned the operation -- Angelo, Mario, Remo, and Lino Soppani -- held fast to one credo that worked its way throughout the ranks of chefs, cooks, pot washers, counter personnel, and me, the lone intern: if you start every day with a dedication to being the best, then greatness will be achieved and maintained over time."

Share the title & author, too, so that other participants can add the book to their "to be read" lists if they like your teasers!

Mediterranean Summer: A Season on France's Cote d'Azur and Italy's Costa Bella by David Shalleck with Erol Munus with a foreword by Mario Batali.

I've been trying to finish this book for months and months now ... I love it, but there's just not enough time to do everything! It's the story of a chef who needed a new adventure in his life, who ended up becoming the private cook on a yacht touring the Mediterranean for a summer ... sigh. Of course, such a prospect would undoubtedly require far more work, far more planning, far more organization, and far more effort than one would necessarily want in one's life; but oh, to be under such stress on a teakwood yacht surrounded by gorgeous scenery and with the most extraordinary food items available when in port!!! A girl can dream ... :)

I'd also like to engage in what might seem like a bit of self-promotion, though it's certainly not intended as such. A very lovely woman named Sheila emailed me the other day telling me how much she loved a granola recipe of mine that she'd seen in one of the Taste of Home publications, and asking if she could feature it on her blog ... wow! Well, today's the day! So go check out her blog -- Reforming U -- and follow her so that you don't miss any of her fabulous recipes (like one I saw the other day that included a blueberry salsa) or fitness tips (which God knows I need desperately). Sheila is just starting this venture, so go show her some love!

Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries and Berries

Today is Saturday, which means a trip to the Farmers Market!!! But I have effused and enthused about the Market before, so I will spare you a repeat performance of my rapture.

Suffice it to say that I am not Shomer Shabbat [sho-MAYR shah-BAHT], which means observing the Jewish sabbath from Friday night to Saturday night; all forms of work are forbidden, so as to make it a true day of rest. (This includes everything from driving to shopping to carrying items to cooking.) So I will be shopping at the market, to see what sights and smells and seduction await me.

Now, I do light candles to welcome Shabbat, and I can even recite the blessing in Hebrew.

Bah-ROOK ah-TAH Ah-doh-NYE eh-loh-HAY-nu meh-LECK hah-oh-LAHM ah-SHAYR keed-SHAH-nu bay-mitz-voh-TAHV vay-tzee-VAH-nu lay-had-LEEK nayr shel shah-BAHT. (Ah-mayn.)

Blessed are you, Lord, our God, sovereign of the universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to light the lights of Shabbat. (Amen.)

But to me, a day of rest involves my favorite forms of relaxation -- cooking and baking. So I will drive to get to the Market, shop, carry items home, turn on the oven, and then chop and stir even though all of these activities are verboten to those who observe the Shabbat laws. I cannot imagine any concept of rest that didn't involve doing this. Sitting and bemoaning not being able to acquire and utilize seasonal goodies from the farmers who grew and harvested them would be inordinately stressful to me, not restful.

And so, this being the beginning of berry season -- with Michigan's specialty, tart cherries, due around July 4! -- a lovely dessert for a Shabbat meal or for a post-church Sunday dinner is a fruit cobbler. It's ridiculously easy, and is ideal when made with fresh fruit. But you could also use frozen (defrosted) fruits as well, as I did when I added the last of my tart cherries from last summer. Just add whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, and you will have found yourself a little piece of Heaven ... :)

Cherry Berry Cobbler

(Adapted slightly from Marcia Adams' Cooking From Quilt Country)

4 cups assorted berries and pitted cherries
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1-1/2 cups unbleached flour
2 teaspoons aluminum-free baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
6 tablespoons cold butter
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 F. Grease a 9" glass pie pan.

In a large bowl, combine fruit, sugar, cornstarch and extract; pour into the pie pan, and set the pie pan onto a baking sheet covered in foil.

In the same bowl (why wash extra dishes???), combine the flour, baking powder and salt. With your fingers, mix in the butter until the mixture resembles meal.

Combine the egg and the milk, pour over the flour, and stir just until combined.

Place large spoonsful of the batter over the fruit, covering most of it. Combine the brown sugar and the cinnamon and sprinkle over the top of the cobbler.

Bake for 30-35 minutes until the top is golden brown and the juices are bubbling. Serve warm or at room temperature.

NOTE: Don't forget to check out the "thank you" post for my followers, and leave a comment at the end of it if you're interested in the gift drawing: "L'Chaim -- To Life!"

Sometimes I Amaze Even Myself!

I was tickled to have been invited by Heather, of Girlichef fame, to participate in a link-up dedicated to "REAL food" which was "the brainchild of Alex from A Moderate Life." Real food is just what you think it is -- homemade, wholesome, fresh, delicious. No hydrogenation, none of that high fructose corn syrup nonsense, no preservatives. Just food.

And so, what better way to become initiated into the fold than by writing about my Saturday trip to the Farmers Market??? Oh, I absolutely adore the Farmers Market! The colors, the aromas, the flowers, the vegetables, the herbs, the baked goods, the honey, the syrup ... it leads me into temptation and makes me want to spend a fortune that I just don't have.

But I only needed $3 to realize my goal on Saturday: I came for, I saw, and I went home with garlic scapes -- the usually discarded long, green, twirling tops of garlic. Two bunches of 'em, 'cause their season is short but they supposedly freeze well (never tried it, but I've heard it). I may not even get around to freezing them, though, because there are so many things you can do with them:

- chop them into small pieces and add them to salads or soups
- chop them into itty-bitty pieces and stir them into sour cream for a dip
- puree them with oil and toasted pine nuts to make a pesto (see my fellow Michigan Lady Food Blogger Diana Dyer's recipe, which has been receiving rave reviews among other friends who've been trying it!)

Oh, the list goes on and on! Simply use garlic scapes in any way that you would use green onions or garlic.

As I was giddily making my purchase on Saturday morning (I think it was from the Frog Holler stall, but in all honesty I was so focused on my mission that I'm not 100% positive), the woman next to me was wondering what in the world I was holding and how to use them. I told her that I intended to use some for my lunch that day by chopping them and sauteeing them in olive oil, then pouring that fabulous mix over pasta. Really, it's the little things -- there is no need for anything fancy or elaborate when an ingredient as glorious as garlic scapes is available!

And so, here is a meal that was truly so exceptional that I amazed even myself! Who needs a drive-thru or a drive-up or delivery when it's so easy to make something that's both nutritious and delicious??? I served the pasta with a fabulous Kalamata olive breadstick from Mill Pond Bakery; each could be happily devoured on its own, but together they are a thing of great beauty ... :)

Spaghetti with Garlic Scapes

12 ounces whole wheat spaghetti
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 large garlic scape, chopped fine
a bit each of kosher salt and pepper
handful of parsley, chopped
few sprigs of oregano, chopped
shredded Parmesan

add-ins for my lunch that Jeremy doesn't like:
1/2 cup grape tomatoes, quartered
2 baby Portobello mushrooms, diced
sprinkle of red pepper flakes

Bring water to a boil and cook spaghetti according to package directions.

Meanwhile, heat the oil and butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic scape, salt, and pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes until the scape pieces have softened. Turn off heat and stir in parsley and oregano.

Drain pasta and pour the garlic scape oil over it; stir to mix well. Serve immediately, topped with Parmesan.

If you want the add-ins: Saute the tomatoes, mushrooms and red pepper flakes in a tablespoon of oil in a small saucepan for a few minutes, until the tomatoes have wilted and the mushrooms are golden. Stir them into the pasta along with the garlic scape oil.

Serves 2-4, depending upon portion size and how greedily you inhale this once you find out how amazing it is!

This recipe also happily belongs with the Presto Pasta Night link-up, so be sure to visit that one, too, which is being hosted by The Sweet Kitchen this week ....

A Magical Mystery Tour

Anyone who's been paying attention has likely noticed that my blog is still very pink -- 'cause that's just the way I am! -- but it's also been spiffied up and happified. Lots of cyber-tzotchkes (the kind ya don't have to dust, whew!) and other accoutrements have been added to make the place look a little more lived in. So let me give you a tour:

Look to your left and to your right; notice the beautiful pink flowers to either side of you. These were a gift from ShabbyBlogs.com, which offers free -- yes, free! -- backgrounds and buttons and other little decorative doo-dads. See the "Glad You're Here" welcome mat and those cute little pictures at the end of my most recent posts, the ones begging for comments? Yup -- ShabbyBlogs, again ....

A bit further down along the left-hand sidebar, you'll notice the "Real Women Eat Food" badge. I've told Jeremy for years never to bring home any girl who picks at her food and talks about needing to lose weight -- they just suck up attention and are never happy. Bring home a girl who asks for seconds!

I'm on Facebook and on Twitter, and offer a hearty "welcome!" to some fabulous cyber-friends who are following along as I meander down the food-strewn path.

Next comes an assortment of amusements pour moi: the Indian Cooking Challenge, which presents a different recipe each month and asks that participants all prepare the same dish and write about their experiences ... the Side Dish Showdown, which brings attention to the complementary dishes rather than letting only the entrees and desserts shine in the spotlight ... the Souper Sunday encouragement to prepare soups, sandwiches and salads (and even on non-Sundays, if that works best for you) ... and the 7th Mediterranean Cooking Event, which this month is asking participants to prepare Algerian dishes in hopes of winning a fabulous North African cookbook.

Below the amusements are some games that serve a greater good: feeding the hungry, whether human or animal. Test your vocabulary, answer some trivia, perform the mitzvah of providing food to those in need.

I've joined the Restaurant Reviewers BlogRoll -- "a great way for us to create a community of foodies who want to share their experiences, opinions and suggestions on restaurants where we dine." Considering that most of this blog seems to be devoted to eating out, despite my love of cooking, this seemed a perfect group to be welcomed into! I'm looking forward to contributing my own two-cents' worth on Ann Arbor/Ypsi/Washtenaw County restaurants (not to mention those Tom and I will encounter through Ohio and Pennsylvania during our trip to his daughter's grad school graduation).

The next 6 widgets publicize groups I belong to: fellow Mom and Lady Bloggers, Food Bloggers, and others who a) possess children, and/or b) possess two X-chromosomes, and/or c) possess an avid devotion to food.

There's a little badge promoting my support of local farms, farmers and food; as a devotee of the Ann Arbor Farmers Market -- which is open for its first Wednesday of the season tomorrow!!! -- how could I not display this proudly??? Then there is the amusing tidbit about my blog fighting climate change. It's a very serious subject, and I'm proud to say that joining the 350 Challenge has led to 350 pounds of carbon being off-set in my name. But it's ironic that I sport a badge so antithetical to my beloved Suburban ... :)

I've added a video of me -- yes, lil' ol' me! -- on CBS' "The Early Show." It's not so much because I'm the next Food Network star, but rather because I had a fabulous time and am mighty proud of those chocolate cupcakes that won me $500 as well as two trips to NYC!

And finally, I thought I'd show off some of my favorite cookbooks, thanks to Shelfari; there's an amusing tidbit that speaks volumes about my cyber-life and dusty shelves; and you can gawk at some of my pictures from Flickr (which can't compare to Tom's artwork, but which still serve my own purposes).

I do hope that you've enjoyed your tour! No gratuities or tips can be accepted; however, following this blog and/or friending me on Facebook would be nice perks ...:)