Summer is just about at it’s peak. There’s way too many zucchini and tomatoes. But, I’ve got a plan for your culinary herbs. Here’s what to do with that bounty of green herbs, like cilantro, chives, scapes or parsley…make a vibrant green sauce!
Almost every culture has one! From a global perspective, think about pesto, which most everyone knows…(Italy), green curry (India), chimichurri ( Argentina), zhoug (Yemen), or Mexico’s salsa verde.
One of my all time faves is Charmoula from Morocco. If you have lots of parsley and cilantro, love the flavors of lemon garlic, chile and cumin this North African sauce is for you. Great on grilled shrimp, grilled chops, or to bump up a vegetarian dish, try it…it doesn’t disappoint. It’s one of those great recipes that you can make ahead and it just improves, keeps for days, and freezes well.
The recipe is as follows:
Charmoula (Makes a pint, easy to double and freeze half)
1 cup stemmed, packed flat parsley
1 cup packed cilantro
2 scallions, trimmed and chopped
2 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
1/4 tsp. roasted cumin seed
1 tsp. salt, fresh pepper to taste
A pinch of red pepper flakes or Aleppo pepper
1 tsp. of fresh lemon zest
3/4 to 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp. red wine vinegar, of use the juice of the grated lemon
Combine all in a Cuisinart and pulse to consistency, correct seasonings, and add more oil or vinegar as you see fit. It should be a stunning bright green, and loose enough to drop from a spoon.
Absolutely divine on grilled meats, fish or shrimp….even tofu!
Enjoy the flavors of summer while we can still get out and grill!
Yellow wax beans, broad and meaty Romano beans, Haricot Verte, Rattlesnake or Kentucky Wonder Pole beans…..we love them all here at Laura Cabot Catering…..and we grow them all!
We also grow summer and winter savory, which, if you’re not familiar with this herb, please get to know it. Savory is the perfect compliment to beans of all sorts.
We love the hearty pole bans cooked Southern style with “sidemeat” and onion.
When I tire of eating string beans simply cooked with savory and doused with good olive oil and salt, I often turn to the picnic-y side dish called three bean salad.
Here’s my favorite recipe:
Prep time: 15 minutes, serves eight or more…
2 cups fresh, blanched green beans, cut into 2 inch pieces
2 cups wax beans, blanched and cut into 2 inch pieces
1- 15 oz can of dark red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1-15 oz can of garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 c. Red onion, diced small
1 tb chopped, stemmed flat parsley
Place all these ingredients in a medium sized bowl.
Now combine:
2/3 cup cider vinegar
1/4 c. Sugar
1/2 c. Olive oil
Salt, pepper and summer savory to taste
Combine all and pour over mixed beans, tossing gently.
This salad will benefit by a couple of hours in the fridge, before sharing with your friends.
What I know about Beth’s Farm Market is that they employ many Jamaican farm workers. Having spent ample time in Jamaica, I know that it’s a culture that eats well and their diet is very vegetable forward.
I was delighted to learn that the good people at Beth’s have begun to grow this delicious leafy green, a member of the Amaranth family. I look for it every July. The entire plant is good to eat, although the larger stems may need to be peeled and chopped smaller than the leaves. A high fiber vegetable, Callaloo helps to prevent obesity,control blood sugar and lower the risk of heart disease. Being high in vitamin C is another bonus and the reason it should be cooked lightly, until a jewel-like green.
Below is my favorite treatment for this nourishing vegetable, taught to me by an Ital chef, Dice:
Serves four, as a side dish. Prep time 30 minutes.
One large bunch callaloo, the larger stems peeled and chopped fine, leave chopped larger
Coconut oil
Fresh thyme springs
One peeled chopped carrot and 1 chopped white onion
Four chopped Roma tomato, half a Scotch bonnet pepper
1 TB chopped garlic. Salt and peter to taste
Begin by heating 3 TB oil in a heavy bottom pot, add the onion,carrot, garlic, thyme,tomato, S and P. Cook until the carrot is tender.
Add the Callaloo stems first, salt lightly and toss to coat, when half cooked add the leaves and toss again, cover the pot, stir once or twice as it finishes cooking.
Take the dish off the flame while the colors are still vibrant, remove hot pepper and serve immediately.
If you’re a garlic lover, it’s nice to know how to use the super pungent shoot, or scape of the garlic. Typically they’re cut off before they form a flower, so as not to allow the garlic’s energy to move upward…but to focus the plants energy down to the head or bulb that’s trying to form.
Scapes are often made into pesto or a compound butter, but my favorite use for garlic scapes is a tasty Green Goddess dressing. Her’s my favorite recipe, terrific on the garden salad greens so prevalent right now in gardens everywhere:
3/4 cup either mayo or full fat Greek yoghurt
1 cup flat, leaf parsley, leaves only
1/2 cup fresh tarragon leaves only
4 garlic scapes, tender parts only, rough chop
1/2 avocado, peeled and pitted
1 tbsp. White wine vinegar
Juice of one lemon
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
Combine all and mix by hand until desired consistency
Toss with your favorite lineup of summer salad greens….Bibb lettuce for me!
I love this recipe for the present moment, because I have so many of these ingredients coming along in my garden in mid-June….chives, mint, peas…..sounds just as refreshing as it tastes. Give this easy recipe a try….it’s good enough for company!
Ingredients
3 tb. salted farm butter
1 onion, finely chopped
1 qt. vegetable broth
6 cups fresh or frozen, thawed green peas
1/4 cup Italian parsley leaves stemmed
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, stemmed
1/4 cup creme fraiche or a non dairy substitute.
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives for garnish
Preparation
Melt butter in a heavy bottom pot over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook, stirring until translucent, about 8 minutes.
Add half the broth and bring to a boil. Add the peas and simmer until just cooked through, if fresh just about 4 minutes.
Remove from heat and add herbs, seasonings and add remaining broth to pot.
Puree the soup in the pot with an immersion blender, correcting the seasonings and amount of liquid until you get to a perfectly smooth consistency.
This soup may be served warm or cool and topped with creme fraiche and chives or left dairy free and Vegan.
2 pounds of picked whole lobster body meat, tail, knuckle and claw
Homemade mayo …or Hellman’s with a touch of grated Meyer lemon zest mixed into the mayonnaise
Salt and pepper to taste
Two Meyer lemons, which are less tart than the usual lemon…still in the market in late spring
The freshest spicy blend of farmers market greens you can find, 1/2 pound
Cut the lobster meat into manageable chunks.
Dress very lightly with the lemony mayo and season to taste. Add a squeeze of Meyer lemon juice and mix lightly.
Arrange your seasonal greens on an attractive plates and add 1/2 pound dollop of lobster salad on top. Garnish with a Meyer lemon wedge.
A dusting of paprika and a wedge of baguette is all that’s needed, and maybe a glass of Rose. Couldn’t be easier or more luxurious….and that’s what summer entertaining is all about. Luxuriate.
Easy Five Ingredient Mayonnaise
Ingredients:
1 large egg, room temperature
1-1/4 c light olive or avocado oil
1/4 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp sea salt and a grind of white pepper
2 tbs fresh squeezed lemon juice, in this case use Meyer lemon
1) Put 1/4 cup oil in food processor or blender, add egg, mustard and salt
2) Process for about 30 seconds, until light yellow in color
3) With blender on low, slowly add remaining oil very slowly until the mixture is emulsified and thickened
4) Finally add the lemon juice until incorporated
Your homemade mayo is good for a week under refrigeration. This is a great way to layer the Meyer lemon flavor into this recipe.
Claytonia, a little something about summer farm stand greens:
My favorite grower often adds claytonia, sometimes called miner’s lettuce in the west, into her mix. It’s said that this humble little green saved the early gold miners from scurvy back in the Gold Rush days. It’s one of my favorite addiotns because of it’s great look, with a flower in the middle (See lobster salad image) and for the fact that it’s loaded with vitamin C.
Soft, buttery and with unmistakable good looks, look for claytonia in your mid season farmer’s market.
I am new to the world of Hank Shaw and his James Beard award- winning blog, “Hunter Angler Gardener Cook”. But I’m resonating like a long lost lover with his take on simple roast pheasant. My recipe differed only in that I started the bird at a low temperature after a robust seasoning with good salt and freshly ground pepper. I trussed and oiled my 3-4 pound bird, tented it with foil over the breast and let it go, low and slow for 2 hours without opening the oven.
I then removed the bird’s foil tent, jacked up the oven to 450 degrees and oiled the bird once again. Into a hot oven it went for another 20 minutes. I was mindful of Hank’s warning not to dry it out, so pulled it just as soon as the skin crisped.
It important to let almost anything rest, to keep the meat juicy, so I cover my little bird up with parchment for 20 minutes while I prepared a pan gravy, enriched with a bit of red current jelly. Hank’s suggestion of a root vegetable melange seemed perfect for winter, but I used up my green beans instead. View Hank’s recipe here.
It won’t be long now before we have lovely fresh chives in abundance, and baby lettuces too! Here’s the perfect dressing for these tender young treats.
3/4 cup full fat sour cream
3/4 cup olive oil mayo
2 large cloves, minced fresh garlic
1 cup minced fresh chives
1 tsp. fresh tarragon leaves, chopped
1/2 tsp. of lemon zest
1TB. fresh lemon juice
2 anchovy filets, white or regular
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Combine all but the chives in a blender until creamy. Transfer to a bowl. Add the chives by hand and fold in. Season to your taste, cover and refrigerate for an hour or so before serving.
You can use this as a dip or spread. Thin with a little cream to make a steelllar salad dressing. Top you salad with chive blossoms for the best effect.
This recipe fits the bill for hearty winter dining!
Ingredients
1/2 pound ground beef
3 tablespoons butter
2 medium onions, chopped
1 green onion, chopped
2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
14 pitted green olives, such as Manzanilla, finely chopped
3 tablespoons raisins
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 (17.5 ounce) packages frozen puff pastry (each with 2 sheets), thawed
1 raw egg, lightly beaten
Directions
Set racks in upper and lower thirds of oven, and preheat to 450 degrees F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
Cook beef in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat, stirring and breaking up lumps, until no longer pink, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer beef to a small bowl with a slotted spoon, and pour off grease from skillet. Melt butter in skillet and saute onions and green onion, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5 minutes. Return beef to skillet and stir in hard-boiled eggs, olives, raisins, cumin, salt, and pepper. Transfer mixture to a shallow bowl and chill until cooled, 10 to 20 minutes.
Unfold 1 pastry sheet, keeping remaining chilled, onto a lightly floured surface, dust lightly with flour, and roll out into a 12-inch square. Cut 4 (5 1/2-inch) rounds from pastry. Brush a 1/2-inch border around edges of 1 round with water, using a small brush or fingertip. Spoon about 3 tablespoons of filling onto half of round. Fold other half over filling and press edges together firmly. Crimp edges with a fork and transfer to one of prepared baking sheets. Repeat with 3 remaining rounds. Form 12 more empanadas in same manner with remaining pastry and filling, arranging them about 1 1/2 inches apart on baking sheets.
Brush tops of empanadas with beaten egg. Bake, switching position of sheets halfway through, until golden brown, about 15 minutes.
Get to know the lady apple for the holiday season. She’s the friend to have in your corner for both the delights of the table and for decorating. It’s bright red and green coloring have earned it the title of the Christmas apple. Long used in wreath making in England, the lady apple tastes sweet/tart when eaten raw and is a lovely addition to holiday stuffings or as a chutney to accompany roasted meats or poultry. This distinctive lady is know in France as the Pomme d’ Api and happens to be the oldest recognized apple variety in the world.
For making a holiday chutney to go with my Lady Apple wreath, I favor Ina Garten’s recipe.
I hope you enjoy it as much as we do here at Laura Cabot Catering!
Ingredients
6 Lady Apples, peeled, cored and half-inch diced
1 cup chopped yellow onion
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (2 oranges)
3/4 cup good cider vinegar
1 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 teaspoon whole dried mustard seeds
1/4 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
3/4 cup raisins
Directions
Combine the apples, onion, ginger, orange juice, vinegar, brown sugar, mustard seeds, pepper flakes and salt and in a large saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat to simmer and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, for 50 minutes to 1 hour, until most of the liquid has evaporated. Take off the heat and add the raisins.
Set aside to cool and store covered in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Here’s my favorite recipe:
Now combine:
If you’re a garlic lover, it’s nice to know how to use the super pungent shoot, or scape of the garlic. Typically they’re cut off before they form a flower, so as not to allow the garlic’s energy to move upward…but to focus the plants energy down to the head or bulb that’s trying to form.
This recipe feeds four.
Claytonia, a little something about summer farm stand greens:
I am new to the world of Hank Shaw and his James Beard award- winning blog, “Hunter Angler Gardener Cook”. But I’m resonating like a long lost lover with his take on simple roast pheasant. My recipe differed only in that I started the bird at a low temperature after a robust seasoning with good salt and freshly ground pepper. I trussed and oiled my 3-4 pound bird, tented it with foil over the breast and let it go, low and slow for 2 hours without opening the oven.
It won’t be long now before we have lovely fresh chives in abundance, and baby lettuces too! Here’s the perfect dressing for these tender young treats.
This recipe fits the bill for hearty winter dining!
