Easing Into Autumn, emphasis on ease

HIgh tide has hit farmers markets bringing what I call "the but season." It's all too much and we really can't cook or eat any more BUT it might not be there next week so we'd best buy, prepare and preserve what we can. It's that time of year I call great gorge   Here from around the world--remember, everybody cooks because everybody needs to eat-- are a few spectacular and spectacularly easy ways to indulge in the astonishing bounty. Seven recipes mean a treat every day of the week.

Glazed beets with their greens

From Central Asia comes the silky molasses glazed red beet with its greens, a new taste sensation that's...well sensational!  The recipe requires pomegranate molasses but the $3-4 investment in a bottle will be worth it because you'll make this again throughout winter.
Serves 4

4 medium beets with greens
2 tbsp butter
1 sm red onion, thinly sliced in disks
4 garlic cloves, smashed and slivered
3 tbsp pomegranate molasses
1 tbsp chopped fresh tarragon leaves or 1 tsp dried
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Separate beets from their greens. Wash and coarsely chop the greens. Peel the beets and cut each into slightly larger than bite sized wedges, maybe 4 per beet.

Melt the butter in a lidded sauté pan large enough to hold the beets in one layer. Add the onion and cook until it softens, 3-5 minutes. Add the beets in one layer and sprinkle on the garlic. Drizzle the molasses evenly over the beets. Season with salt to your taste. Add water to about 3/4 of the beet depth. Do not cover the beets. Bring to a boil. Cover the pan, reduce heat to simmer and cook 20 minutes or until the beets are almost tender to a fork. Remove the lid, raise heat again and boil off the water until you see beets covered in a syrupy glaze.  Scatter the greens over the beets, reduce heat to low, cover the pan again and cook 5 minutes.  Uncover. Add the tarragon and freshly ground black pepper to your taste. Taste for salt and adjust if necessary.

Pasta with browned zucchini and mint
This Sicilian one dish meal, a new way to treat zucchini, can be thrown together in about 20 minutes if you start boiling the pasta water when you start frying the zucchini. 

Serves 4
2 lg zucchini
2 garlic cloves, smashed and sliced
scant 1 c good quality olive oil
1 lb pasta of your choice
1/2 tsp dried oregano
pinch red pepper flakes
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 c grated pecorino or parmesan cheese
2 tbsp chopped fresh mint

Slice the zucchini into 1/4" thick disks and half these.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the pasta. While that's happening:
in a med/lg skillet, heat the olive oil and over medium heat fry the garlic 45-60 seconds just until it's fragrant. Don't brown it. Scoop it out and mash it and save it for the final moment.

Fit as many squash half moons into the pan as you can in one layer and fry on both sides until each is blistered and golden brown. Use a slotted spoon to lift them out onto paper towels. Season with salt and continue frying in batches until all the zucchini has been cooked.

Cook the pasta with lots of salt until it is al dente. Using tongs or a slotted spoon, get the pasta into the pot with the oil still warm from zucchini frying. Coat it carefully. Then using a slotted spatula move the pasta to a serving bowl or plate. Season well with salt, pepper, oregano and pepper flakes. Stir in half the cheese and most of the mint. Top with the zucchini, more freshly ground black pepper, the remaining mint and cheese. 

Serve with a fresh tomato/basil salad.

 
 Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

You can freeze these in little snack bags, that is if you don't eat them all first. I used the Juliet plum shaped tomato which is close to a regular paste tomato, less juicy, so it roasts really well.  If you don't freeze them, you can put each atop a cracker or crostini of goat cheese or paté, throw them over pasta or into rice, lay them on the cream cheese smeared over your bagel or roasted eggplant salad on olive bread, lots of etc.

There's no exact recipe for this, just a method--and it couldn't be easier. Cut each tomato in half or in three, place the slices in a single layer on a baking sheet, season with sea salt and drizzle with olive oil. Optionally you can grate one clove of garlic over the tray. Roast at 350º 45-60 minutes until they are soft and fragrant.  Cool to freeze. In a closed container with a bit of olive oil added, they will store in the refrigerator about a week.

Bhutanese Pork with Bok Choy and Cauliflower

This is one of my Himalayan recipes, tasty and simple.

Serves 4

1 medium sized cauliflower, cut into florets

1 c water

2 tbsp corn, mustard or canola oil

1 med/lg onion, peeled and quartered

2” fresh ginger, peeled and cut into thin strips

1 large jalapeno or small Serrano chili pepper, seeded and cut into thin strips

3 cloves of garlic peeled and sliced into thin strips

1 lb pork filet cut into thin strips (use shoulder, country rib or boneless chops)

1 tsp crushed chili flakes

¼ tsp ground star anise or ½ star crushed

2 teaspoons salt

3 large bokchoy, cut into strips

2 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice

for garnish: 1 bunch cilantro leaves, roughly chopped

In a medium saucepan, combine the cauliflower florets and 1 cup water with a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low and cook 3-4 minutes until florets just start to soften. Remove from heat.

Break the onion layers apart. Heat the oil in a large wok or sauté pan over medium/high flame. Add the onion, garlic, ginger and chilies and stir-fry 2-3 minutes until they soften slightly. Add the pork, crushed chilies, star anise and stir-fry another 3 minutes to brown the pork. Add salt and continue to stir-fry until pork is cooked through and not pink anywhere. Add bokchoy. Drain the cauliflower keeping the water, and add along with up to 1 cup of that water. Blend everything and continue to cook 5 minutes until everything is soft and cooked through. Squeeze in the orange juice. Taste to adjust salt and crushed chili flakes to your liking. Add the cilantro leaves, stir to blend and serve with Bhutanese red rice and cucumber/cheese salad.

Silky soft butter Potatoes
Another winning dish from Central Asia and one of my favorites because it's so easy, tasty and comforting. Goes with just about anything too. Pictured are the perfect size potatoes, available now!

serves 4

3 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
2 yellow onions, thinly sliced
1 1/4 lbs waxy (e.g. Yukon gold) new potatoes, scrubbed
3 garlic cloves thinly sliced
Sea Salt
Freshly ground black pepper or cracked peppercorns
2 tbsp chopped fresh dill

 Cut the unpeeled potatoes into 1/2" thick disks.
In a large frying pan, heat the butter with the oil until the butter is totally melted. Add the sliced onions and sauté on med/low heat until they are soft and golden. Go slowly so they don't burn. Stir in the potatoes and coat them with the butter/oil and onions. Season with salt to your taste (more is better), put heat on simmer, cover the pan with a lid or foil and walk away. Let the potatoes simmer 45 minutes, checking occasionally that they are not burning. Add butter if necessary. IN the end, stir in the fresh dill and black pepper. Serve and savor the happiness this dish brings.
 

Green bean and mashed potato cake

This is great for kids.

Serves 4 –6

1¼ lbs potatoes, ideally 3 the same size
1 lb green beans1 tsp ground thyme
100g parmesan cheese, grated
3 eggs, lightly beaten
Salt and black pepper
¼ tsp ground nutmeg  

1 tbsp olive oil
Fine breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 350º. Scrub, but don’t peel, the potatoes. Cover with cold water, bring to a boil,  reduce heat to simmer and cook until tender. Drain and cool. Bring a medium pot of salted water to a rapid boil. Add the beans and thyme and cook about 8-10 minutes or until the beans are starting to feel soft but remain firm. Drain well and chop into small, rough pieces. You can use a scissors as well as a knife.

Once the potatoes are cool, peel and mash them. Mix the mash with the cooked beans, cheese, eggs, salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Oil the cake tin, using more olive oil if you need to, then dust it with fine breadcrumbs. Scrape the mixture in, level out the top, sprinkle with more breadcrumbs and zigzag the top with a drizzle of olive oil. Bake 50-60 minutes, until the cake is slightly puffed up and golden on top.

4 Let it cool 20 minutes before running a blade around the edge and then turning it out on to a plate. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Peach, plum or fig butter cake
You can whip up this classic European coffee cake without much effort and delight everyone with your expertise. You can also freeze all or part of it. Use whatever fruits you have too many of. I used peaches one day, figs the next--a change from always using plums.

serves 8 but you might get 10 slivers if you need to

For the butter cake:

1 stick (8 tbsp) unsalted butter

3/4 cup white or better turbinado (raw) sugar                                  

2 extra large eggs

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup unbleached flour, sifted

pinch of salt        

1 tbsp light brown sugar

2 tbsp melted butter

For the fruit:

Peaches: 5-6 small or 4 large ones, cut into petal like thin wedges.

    Season the cake with ½ tsp ground nutmeg, ¼ tsp ginger and ¼  tsp ground cinnamon. Sprinkle flour over the peaches to absorb their juices. Sprinkle a little fresh lime juice over them, then pinches of cardamom.

Figs: 6-8 fresh figs thinly sliced (maybe 3 slices per fig)

    Season the cake with a pinch of ground cloves, ¼ tsp ground cinnamon, ¼ tsp ground cardamom and sprinkle 1 tbsp lemon juice and  ½ tsp anise seed over the figs.

Plums: 8-10 sm/med fresh plums cut in half and pitted. (don’t worry if the halves look ragged.)

   Season the cake with ½ tsp ground ginger and a pinch of ground cloves. Sprinkle 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice and pinch of ground cinnamon over the plums.

Preheat over to 350º. Lightly butter an 8, 9 or 10” spring form pan.

In a mixer or a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream butter and sugar. Add flour, baking powder, salt and eggs. Beat well. Spoon thick batter into the prepared pan and with a spatula level the top. It will be gooey.

Arrange fruit around the top: the peaches like daisy petals, the plums skin side up, the figs anyway you wish. Season accordingly.

Mix the melted butter with 1 tbsp brown sugar and spread this over the fruit.

Bake 35-40 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes before releasing from the spring form pan.

  To freeze, double wrap in aluminum foil and slip into an airtight freezer bag.