Sweet Bing Cherries and a Nice Cool Down

First sweet cherries

Hello there! How have you been? I've been hot.

The last few days have been in the '90's, and sure enough our air condition is broken. Nonstop sweaty and uncomfortable feelings here over the weekend. Not much fun.

The great news is that we are having our air condition serviced this afternoon. You have no idea how happy that makes me. I don't know about you, but when its that hot and stuffy - my head gets all fuzzy. I can't cook. I can't clean. I can't smile. Crabbiness.

We are having a sweet cool off today here - lower '80's. My windows are open and my white window sheers are dancing in the cool breezes. So nice. I feel like I can think straight. And breathe. I might even roast that fresh tilapia that is in my fridge.

We were outside in the shade of the front porch while Olivia helped me with this bing cherries composition. She started adding the cherries one by one and was saying to herself "shiny cherry!" - I told her just to dump them all in the bowl and let some fall naturally. I don't know if that ruined her fun, but I gave her some to play with when I was shooting.

She likes to play with food - just like her mama.

I'll be back soon with a fish dish.

Strawberry Galette with Mint Whipped Cream

Leading into summertime, I will always take a fruit dessert over a chocolate one.

And you don't have to twist my arm for a chocolate dessert. My family knows I never skip desert when given the chance.

With strawberries at the peak of flavor, I made my favorite strawberry galette.

Usually I will sprinkle on some powdered sugar, but I felt like trying some thing different - whipped cream?

How about fresh mint-infused whip cream?

In addition to an already super fresh desert, the mint whipped cream gave my taste buds a "this is exquisite" sensation.

It took me back to the first true gourmet restaurant I ever dined at. You know, a prix fixe.

At the end of the meal, our waiter brought out a little sample spoon of basil-infused fresh ice cream - compliments of the chef.

 

I will never forget that little treat. I can't remember the meal I ate, but I dream about that taste of ice cream. It's really the smallest tokens that delight and amuse.

and making a herb-infused whipped cream brought my thoughts to it again.

Weekending family nature time

I find making a galette therapeutic. I like the blending, the rolling out of the chilled pastry, and tucking the fruit into a nice little package...

Knowing that in a little while, I will have something sweet and bubbly coming out of the oven. A piece for now - pieces to wrap away in cling wrap for later.

It is so nice to have such an eager little sous chef - always willing to lend me a hand...

This time, her big job was giving the pastry an egg wash before it went in the oven.

So now, with summer around the corner, summer fruits will be showing up a lot on this blog. I'm most certainly certain there will be cherries, and more berries. Melons and all kinds of stone fruit.

Yes, so much to look forward to!

A scrumptious mess

The Recipes

(I use Martha Stewart's excellent pate brisee recipe)

Pate Brisee

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1/4 cup cornmeal

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon organic blonde sugar

1 stick of chilled unsalted butter, dice into small cubes

1/4 cup of ice water

In a food processor, pulse together the flour, cornmeal, salt, and sugar to combine. Add in the cubes of cold butter, and process for about 10 seconds to achieve a coarse meal texture. With the machine running, pour in the ice water slowly - just until dough starts to hold together.

Shape pastry dough into a disc and wrap in cling wrap. Flatten the disc out some. Refrigerate pastry at least 1 hour or up to 1 day before using.

Strawberry Galette

1 above recipe for pate brisee

2 pound container of seasonal strawberries quartered, reserve approximately 2 cups for garnish

1/4 cup organic blonde sugar

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

1 tablespoon cornstarch

Pinch of salt

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 375.

Lightly flour a work surface and rolling pin. Roll out pastry to a 12-inch circle.

In a medium bowl, combine the strawberries, sugar, lemon juice, cornstarch, and salt.

While leaving a 2-inch outside border bare, add strawberries and juices to the center of the pastry. Lift edges of pastry up and fold together free form.

Brush beaten egg lightly on edges of pastry.

Bake until crust is golden brown and fruit juices are bubbling - about 40 minutes.

Cool on a wire rack.

Mint-infused Whipped Cream

1 pint heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves - completely dry

1/2 tablespoon confectioners sugar

Pour whipped cream into a glass bowl. Rub the mint leaves with your fingers to release the essential oils - okay to crush them up a bit. Fully submerge the mint leaves in the cream, cover bowl. Refrigerate cream for 8-24 hours. Strain through a sieve and discard mint leaves. Add confectioners sugar and whip to soft peaks.

It's Almost Berry Time

Strawberry picking season is just weeks away here in Illinois and I am excited to do some U-Pick!

I'll be back next week with my favorite strawberry tart recipe & more words and thoughts...

See you then!

The Season of Purples and Greens

Everyone was still asleep when I rose early on Saturday morning. A dense, mystical fog hung over the prairie outside my window. It was as if the vapor was speaking to me. I thus began the weekend in a quiet state of peacefulness - capturing that fog and the trees that were bold enough to pierce through its ghostly haze.



It had been raining off and on, but now the precipitation had stopped for our walk - and dappled sunlight peeked in through the leafy green trees. What was left behind, was a coolness in the air. The kind of air that stops you mid-step to take a deep breath. Fresh, comfortable air. Almost seaside like.

Fair weather afternoons are spent outdoors - sowing seeds and putting in new plants.

With little one helping and chasing butterflies.

My thoughts drifting to putting up our raised vegetable garden beds. I start to think about spring vegetables - cold crops. Peas, radishes, and lettuces. Knowing inside, that my crops will thrive better in a raised garden bed with beautiful and rich chocolate cake like soil.

I think about the special heirloom dill seeds, chives, and tarragon already growing nicely outside the house.

I made a salad of spring vegetables and spring herbs...



Crunchy and colorful. Green, but with hints of cool color - pinky crimson radishes and the pale lavender of the chive flowers.

I call this my spring arugula salad with radishes and fennel. I added the licorice tasting fennel to balance out the peppery bite of both the radishes and the arugula.

Drizzles of a lemon-herb vinaigrette infused with  garden tarragon, chives, and dill adds zing. Just process a some sprigs of the said herbs with olive oil, sea salt, and fresh ground black pepper.

I look forward to chives flowers all year long.

And when they do flower, I snip them - they are edible. And quite pretty.

You should see my kitchen calendar - the last couple months are scribbled with gardening notes I've made... what and when seeds have been sown, bloom dates, as well as fading away dates. I guess I like to be in the know with horticulture.

Every year there are new things learned.

If you haven't noticed, I just added seasons to my tabs. I am going to start indexing recipes by the seasons - an ongoing creative project I wish to maintain. Almost everything I like to make has a seasonal method.

I am driven by the seasons, and of course love fresh seasonal ingredients, so this new arrangement really pleases me. Not to mention, I've been introspecting over my blog lately - it needed something. I feel positive about journaling this way.