OK, how to shell: rinse, pinch the stem off with your fingernails and pull the string down the length of the pod. The pod will pop open and the peas can be pushed out of the pod with your thumb. For lazy people (believe me I’m not judging) the Farmers Markets often offer bags already shelled. But, don’t worry it really doesn’t take long to shell a batch.

You should know: use your shelled peas right away or wait to shell your peas right before you are going to use them. Once shelled they rapidly begin to lose their sweetness and become starchy.

Also, buy lots of peas! You will need about 1lb of peas in the shell to create 1 cup of shelled peas.

There are lots of simple ways to use these cute little guys pretty much just the way they are. Add variety to a summer salad by tossing in just-boiled peas or for a flavorful, light side dish, sauté’ shelled peas in olive oil with torn mint leaves. But, my favorite recipe is fresh English Garden Pea Soup. It’s refreshing and delicious. Not to mention that a bowl of this adds the most beautiful vivid green color to your table!

Fresh English Pea Soup w/ Basil Pesto

1/2 onion, peeled and chopped
1 medium leek, white and light green parts, cleaned and chopped
1 medium yukon gold potato, peeled and diced
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup white wine
4 cups vegetable stock or water
1 cup basil leaves, packed
1 clove garlic, minced
2-3 tablespoons good olive oil
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat in medium sized pot.  Add the chopped onion and leek with teaspoon of salt, sautee until translucent.  Add the wine and cook until almost dry.  Add the potatoes and the stock.  Raise heat and bring to a simmer.  Lower heat and simmer, covered, 15-20 minutes or until the potatoes are almost falling apart. Add the peas and cook another 5-10 minutes.  Remove from the heat and puree in a blender, or use an immersion blender, being careful not to fill above the hot foods line on the canister, until smooth.  Season with salt and pepper to taste and stir in the basil pesto (see below)

Basil Pesto:

Chop the basil with the garlic, olive oil, lemon peel and a pinch of salt in a food processor  until fairly smooth.  Alternatively, chop by hand or use a morter and pestle to make pesto, adding the oil at the end.

For more on pear varieties and history check out www.whfoods.com and www.usapears.com

Spice Caramel Pear Tart w/ Pecan Crust

Crust:

1 stick cold, unsalted Butter, cubed
1/2 cup Sugar
1 1/2 cups Flour
1/2 cup finely chopped Pecans
1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt
1 Egg Yolk

Pears and filling:

2 large Pears, peeled, halved and cored
1 Star Anise
1 Cinnamon Stick
1/4 inch piece of Ginger
water to cover
3/4 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Heavy Cream
1 large egg

For crust:

350 degree oven.

Combine the sugar, flour and nuts in a large bowl.  Add the butter and egg yolk and mix either with fingers or the paddle attachment of a mixer until a crumb texture forms.  Press into a lightly greased tart pan w/ removable bottom or a 9-10 inch spring form pan, pressing into the edges with a glass or measuring cup.  Place a piece of parchment paper in the formed crust and fill with dry beans or rice to weigh it down, and bake 15-20 minutes.  Remove the weight from the pan and bake another 5 minutes to lightly brown the bottom of the crust.  Remove from the oven and let cool while you finish preparing the pears and filling.

Pears and filling:

In a wide pan or braiser, place the pears in one layer with the spices and ginger and cover with water.  Bring then pears to a boil, lower the heat to simmer and cover.  Cook about 20 minutes or until a knife easily inserts.  Remove from the pan and cool until easy to handle.  Reserve 3/4 cup of the cooking liquid for the caramel.

In a sauce pan, combine the reserved cooking liquid with the 3/4 cup of sugar, bring to a boil over medium high heat and let bubble until the liquid turns a medium brown color and appears to thicken.  Remove from the heat and, slowly, stir in the cream.  Be very careful to add slowly as the hot liquid can bubble up with the addition of the cold cream.  I add a little at a time to start and stir that in before pouring the remaining cream into the sugar.  set aside to cool completely.  Beat the egg and whisk into the cooled caramel.

To finish, slice the cooled pears into thin slices and fan out into the tart shell crust in a circular fashion (or however looks nice to you!)  Pour the caramel mixture over the pears and place into the 350 degree oven.  Bake 40-45 minutes or until the filling is set.  Remove, cool and enjoy with whipped cream, ice cream, sweetened creme fraiche…whatever suits your fancy!

Both summer and winter squash are great “go to” vegetables as there are so many varieties. Every part of the plant can be eaten over the course of the growing season from young leaves, tender shoots and, of course, the squash blossom to the baby squash and mature fruit. The terms “summer” and “winter” are misleading as they really apply to how long you can store, not availability… winter squashes keep longer in storage, thus are more a cold weather food. There are many varieties of winter squash to be found. We all know the pumpkin and the various expressions it can take in October and then again as pie in November, but this would be the blandest of the eatable gourds. A couple of very common and tastier winter squash would be the acorn and the butternut. Lately a few other interesting ones have been popping up in the produce section of many stores. If you are lucky enough to have a farmers market or grocer who carries some more obscure varieties, I highly recommend sampling. Check out whatscookingamerica.net/squash for descriptions of some wonderful winter squashes. Some of my favorite ways to cook this colorful addition to the winter food palate are roasted with maple and herbs, pureed into a warming soup or stuffed with rice, nuts and some cheese. A new favorite is this rich gratin with parmesan and swiss chard….

Butternut Squash Gratin w/ Swiss Chard and Parmesan

1 large Butternut Squash, peeled, seeded and sliced 1/4 inch slices
1 large bunch Swiss Chard, washed and roughly chopped
1 clove Garlic, minced
3 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 teaspoon Sea Salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground Pepper
1/8 cup All Purpose Flour
1 cup Heavy Cream
1 cup Parmesan Cheese
optional: 2 teaspoons fresh herbs such as Thyme or Rosemary

Heat oven to 375 degrees

In a large bowl, toss squash w/ flour, salt, pepper, 1 tablespoon olive oil and the optional herbs to coat.  Set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a sautee pan, over mediun-high heat, and add the swiss chard.  Sautee until wilted and add the minced garlic.  Sautee 1 minute and set aside.

Oil the bottom of a 9×13 pyrex or stoneware baking dish with the remaining oil.  Spread chard over bottom of the dish.  Layer the squash on top, over lapping to make nice presentation.  Pour cream over the vegetables, cover with foil and bake until bubbly.  Remove from oven, uncover and top with parmesan.  Return to the oven to brown the top.  Serve.

Variation: If you do not want to use the cream, Chicken or Vegetable Stock make a lighter but still yummy Gratin!

Peach-Blueberry Popsicles

2 cups peeled and diced peaches
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries, thawed
7 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon light corn syrup (Preferably organic)
1/2 cup cold water

Place all ingredients in a blender and puree until very liquid.  Strain the mixture into a 2 cup measuring cup, pressing solids to extract all the juice.  Pour the juice into popsicle molds, insert sticks and freeze overnight.  Last up to a week (if you can resist that long!)

Cherry Sorbet

8 cups pitted cherries

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup water

2 teaspoons lemon juice

2 teaspoons vodka

Puree Cherries in a food processor and force through a seive or pass through the fine disk of a  food mill to remove then skins.  Heat the sugar and the water until sugar dissolves and stir the it into the cherry puree.  Stir in the lemon juice and vodka and taste to adjust the flavors.  Add more lemon juice or vodka if you would like.  Freeze the mixture in an ice cream maker according to manufacturers instructions.

Cherry Granita

2 pounds pitted cherries

1 teaspoon vodka

1 teaspoon orange juice

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2/3 cup water

Process or blend the cherries and force them through a fine seive, set over a medium bowl.  Press cherries to extract all of the juice.  Pass it through again if any solids remain in the juice.  Add the orange juice and vodka. In a sauce pan, combine the sugar with the water and cook over medium high heat until sugar is dissolved.  Remove from heat and let the syrup cool.  Add the cooled syrup to the juice mixture and stir to combine.  Pour in to a shallow pan or baking dish.  Place in the freezer until ice crystals form around the edges, about 1 hour.  Using  fork, stir the crystals into the center and return to the freezer.  Stir the crystals with the fork once and hour until all the liquid has frozen and has a grainy consistency, about 5 hours.  Serve or store covered in the freezer up to two days.

]]> http://www.jamgourmet.com/2010/05/pretty-please-with-a-cherry-on-top/feed/ 0 http://www.jamgourmet.com/2010/05/heirloom-tomatoes/ http://www.jamgourmet.com/2010/05/heirloom-tomatoes/#comments Mon, 10 May 2010 22:35:53 +0000 rnoakes3rd http://www.jamgourmet.com/?p=152 Eva Purple Ball, Green Zebra, Black Krim, Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, HillBilly, Mortgage Lifter, Pink Ping Pong, Early Girl…

No, I am not calling you names or listing bizarre obscenities. I am talking about tomatoes. I am particularly fascinated by the heirlooms…their rainbow of colors, unique appearances (wow! there are some delicious ugly tomatoes), and vast range of flavors. There are nearly 10,000 varieties of tomatoes. If you are thinking about growing your own, check out this book: The Great Tomato Book by Gary Ibsen. This guy ran the TomatoFest in Carmel, CA for the last 17 years (bummer, I just checked his website and it looks like he retired last year.  So I guess no more TomatoFest but check out his book for some real tomato lowdown).

Tomatoes have been going strong and tasting good for a while but there is still plenty of time for you to get out there and enjoy them well into October. If you think that you don’t like tomatoes you have probably never had a freshly grown one. No, seriously, they are available all year round in the supermarket but that doesn’t make them taste good. It is especially easy to get a real tomato and capitalize on their real season here in California- it merely involves a trip to your local Farmer’s Market. If you are a doubter of their delicious-ness, I believe this will change your mind.

Some things to know: Tomatoes are full of vitamin C and contain the powerful anti-oxidant Lycopene.  Lycopene is believed to help with anti-aging and even cancer prevention.  Please store your tomatoes in a cool dry place…perhaps your Rebecca of Sunny Brook Farm-like basket on the counter? DO NOT refrigerate (unless they are already chopped and waiting to be used) as this will cause them to lose their flavor (I bet this is why some people think they don’t really like tomatoes).

To attest to the naked beauty of the tomato try these simple ideas:

Oven Roasted Tomatoes:

8-12 Roma tomatoes, halved the long way
1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
½ Teaspoon Salt
½ Teaspoon fresh ground Pepper
350 degree oven.

Toss the tomato halves w/ the olive oil, salt and pepper and layer them, cut side up, on a sheet pan.  Roast  until the tomatoes turn a deep red color and slightly brown on top and caramelized on the bottom.  (will appear semi dried)

3 ways to use:

Bruchetta or pasta topping:

Roughly chop tomatoes and mix with chopped garlic, chopped basil, drizzle good olive oil and sweet balsamic.  Toss with pasta for a quick dinner or top toasted or grilled bread and add shaved parmesan or crumbled goats cheese for a yummy appetizer or snack.

Quick Tomato Soup:

Chop ½ medium yellow onion and sautee in 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil until translescent.  Add 1 teaspoon minced garlic and 2 tablespoons dry sherry.  Stir until most of the liquid is gone and add tomatoes, 2 cups vegetable or chicken stock. Bring to a boil and lower heat to simmer.  Cook another 15-20 minutes.  Remove from heat and puree with 1 table spoon fresh herbs of choice (basil, oregano or marjoram, parsley, tarragon, even mint for a different twist) Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

Tomato-Ricotta Tart:

For easy crust:  Use store bought puff pastry.  Roll on floured board to about 1/8 inch thickness and cut into rounds to fit tart pan or use muffin pans for individual size.  Form the dough to the sides of the pan of choice, poke the bottom with a fork and chill for 15 minutes.  Heat oven to 350 degrees and pre bake the crusts for 15 minutes or until slightly firm.  If the center has puffed up, poke it with a skewer so it lays flat.

For Ricotta filling:

Mix 2 cups of ricotta w/ 2 eggs, ¼ cup grated parmesan, ¼ cup grated mozzarella, ½ teaspoon sea salt, fresh ground pepper and 1 teaspoon lemon zest.  Stir until combined. 

Fill tart shell 2/3 of the way full, top with roasted tomatoes and bake 20-25 minutes or until ricotta custard has set.  Sprinkle with herbs and a good olive oil drizzle.  Serve with a fresh green salad or as an appetizer.

Heirloom Tomato salad w/ Herbs and Goats Cheese:

Slice an assortment of beautiful heirloom tomatoes and layer on a platter or individual plates.  Drizzle with good olive oil, a sprinkle of coarse sea salt.  Top with mixed chopped herbs (basil, parsley, cilantro, mint, Tarragon, marjoram… you choose) and crumbled goats cheese.