Pizza

Making pizza is one of my favorite things to do with my family. My husband and I started making pizzas together nearly 15 years ago. At the time we lived in Minneapolis and making pizza was a double bonus – not only did we get something great to eat in the end, but we also warmed up the entire house!

Today we make pizza primarily on our grill. We have a pizza stone that we place right on top of the grate and can get our grill up to well over 500 degrees (we have a Big Green Egg – which is like having a brick oven as a grill). But, if you don’t feel comfortable putting the pizza on a grill, try getting a pizza stone. We keep ours in the oven all of the time – it works great for warming up breads and pastries, too. Whatever you do, I just urge you to try making pizza at least once totally from scratch: dough and sauce.

One of the reasons we enjoy making our own pizzas, other than the fact that it costs less and tastes 100-times better, is that it’s something to do when you’re throwing a casual dinner party. Hand your guests a beer or glass of wine, a knife and cutting board and tell them to cut up some garlic/onions/tomatoes/etc. and conversation just starts to flow. I am a firm believer in participatory dinner parties. I think it helps relax people and give them a place to focus their energy if they’re feeling uneasy. It’s also great to see a bunch of people come together and think of new combinations for pizzas.

If it’s just us, we’ll sip a beer and just have fun watching the girls participate in making their own amazing creations.

The key to keeping it simple is to start your dough just before you start cutting up your toppings. I make a batch in my food processor. It takes about 5 minutes total to mix, and the rest of the time it’s just rising.

The sauce is my favorite because it serves as a great non-intrusive base to a simple pizza. The flavors of the toppings really shine and are not overrun by the taste of a jarred “pizza sauce” which is frequently filled with a bunch of nasty additives and way too many “Italian Seasonings.” Go for simple and your taste buds will be rewarded!

A Simple Pizza Dough Recipe:
1 teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast
3 cups all-purpose or bread flour or white whole wheat
2 teaspoons coarse seas salt
1 ¼ cups lukewarm water
2 tablespoons olive oil
In a food processor fit with a metal blade, add yeast, flour, and teaspoons salt. Process to mix. With processor still running, add water and oil slowly. Process for only about 30 seconds at a time, taking a moment to scrape down the sides if necessary. The dough should quickly come together into a ball. If it’s too dry, add a couple of tablespoons of water to the mix.
Take dough out of processor and on a clean, well-floured area give it a few kneads until the dough is smooth and supple. In a large bowl add a bit of olive oil and spread it around. Add the dough and turn it once or twice to cover it with the oil. Cover bowl with plastic wrap or simply put a plate on top. Let sit while you finish prepping your sauce and veggies. Dough can sit up to two hours or if you want to make it well before your pizza-party starts you can put the dough in the fridge until about 2 hours before you’re ready to make the pizzas.
Dough makes 1 very large or 2-3 small pizzas.
Roll out dough into whatever thickness you’d like, put in oven or on grill (make sure grill is well oiled) with a sheen of olive oil over the top. Cook at 475 degrees for about 5 minutes. Remove and put whatever toppings you’d like on top. Cook again for another 5-7 minutes until crust is perfectly browned and toppings and cheese are well cooked.

And An Even Simpler Sauce:
1, 28oz can of whole tomatoes
Puree in your blender or food processor.
Pour pureed tomatoes into a small pan until slightly reduced, about 15 minutes.

Our favorite toppings:
Buffalo Mozzarella
Goat Cheese
Green Olives
Fresh basil
Fresh tomatoes

Burgers

Meatless burgers are everywhere these days. Even the greasiest spoon in town will often stick a Gardenburger or Boca burger on its menu. And believe me, I applaud all of those efforts to please and appease people who don’t eat meat or just want to cut back every once in a while. But unfortunately, most of those burgers taste pretty much the same: variations on a theme of cardboard

Desiring a burger once in a while to “fit in,” for years I made lentil burgers, but I never really loved them. I tried. I pretended they were great, but they weren’t. They were either soggy and loose or dry and inedible. When I finally admitted to myself that I didn’t like them, I never tried strolling down the homemade veggie burger path again. That is until February, when Mark Bittman, one of my favorite cookbook authors and a columnist in the New York Times’ Wednesday food page, published a series of three recipes for veggie burgers. I was skeptical, but printed out the recipes. Later that month I realized nothing was planned for dinner, and it was 5 p.m. Four mouths would want feeding in an hour. I opened the drawer where I keep all of my loose recipes and the Walnut Burger recipe caught my eye because I knew I had all of the ingredients. I put aside my antipathy for the veggie burger, and moved on: I had the ingredients and it looked simple and fast. Fifteen minutes later the burgers were made and formed into little patties ready to be cooked.

Thirty minutes later they were gone and no one went to bed hungry. In fact they were good – really good. My husband and I topped ours with mustard and greens, my oldest topped hers with lots of ketchup and the youngest with pickles and more pickles and a few olives thrown on for one more sodium hit.

Ok, so you might have all of the ingredients on hand except miso and walnuts. Here’s a piece of shopping advice. Go to Costco and buy a 2 lb. bag of walnuts for $9 (it will cost you nearly 3 times that amount if you buy the exact same walnuts in the bulk section at one of the natural foods stores) and keep the bag in your freezer (nuts go rancid quickly, especially in the warmer weather). Then buy a little tub of miso from either an Asian grocery store or one of the natural food stores. The miso will keep for about a year in your fridge.

Below is Bittman’s recipe that I have modified substantially to fit my usual cupboard ingredients. What appeals to me other than the fact that these burgers really do taste good is they are loaded with great superfoods: garlic, walnuts, miso (soy), oats and egg.

And, while on the subject of vegetarian food, check out the latest installment of the Meatrix at www.meatrix.com. It’s a bit over the top, but it’s really well produced and provides great information and links.

Walnut Burgers

1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 cup walnuts
1 cup rolled oats
2 tablespoons miso
1 teaspoon fennel, crush slightly to release flavor
1 teaspoon dried basil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 egg

In a food processor pulp onion. Add walnuts and oats and grind together, being careful not to make it like mush. Add miso and spices. Add a little water if it’s too dry.

Let the mixture stand in the fridge for about 30 minutes (use this time to finish the rest of your meal: salad, side dish, etc) and shape into four burger. In a nonstick skillet, add a puddle of olive oil and warm. When sufficiently hot, but not burning the oil, add burgers. Cook for about 5-7 minutes without turning. When ready, turn carefully with a spatula and cook on the other side for 4-5 more minutes until very firm.

Serve with typical “hamburger” accompaniments.

Yoga...

This winter I discovered what I believe is Stapleton’s hidden jewel: The Phoenix Yoga Studio in Town Center. In fact, it might be the only redeemable thing about this bizzaro, freaky 'hood I live in. I had done yoga over the past two decades a middling amount -- from college where I practiced in a lobby of a local theatre to my early working life doing it in a sterile gymnasium to prenatal yoga in a fancy, overpriced, tv-blaring, iron-body-type sports club. None of these places ever made yoga more than another form of ho-hum exercise. And then one day in mid-December I walked into Phoenix Yoga for my first class and walked out profoundly changed. The serenity of the light-filled, mellow, peach and lilac toned walls enveloped me as I sank clumsily into one pose after another. Unlike other yoga I had done, the peace and clarity present in Phoenix Yoga is powerful. It came as a needed respite from the nonstop chattering of children, the endless drone of neighbors asking “so, who’s your builder?!”, the ringing of the phone, etc. I’m still as lost and often quite clumsy as I attempt my practice, but I’ve found my oasis in Stapleton.

And as millions of others before have found that the more you practice yoga, the more your body wants to do anything it can to assist the process. One of those things is eating lighter. I’m not talking about a fruit-only diet or anything extreme, just simply becoming more conscious of the food we put in our body and how it affects us. A few months ago, pre-yoga conversion, I created this meal that we now have on average twice a week in our house. I call it California Roll in a Bowl or Cucumber Roll in a Bowl or Shrimp Roll in a Bowl -- you get the picture. And, although I’m 100% certain that I’m not the first to have thought of this easy-Japanese style dinner, I am certain that I have created a new standard of comfort food for my family.

One of my other latest conversions has been to the world of rice cookers. I always thought they were only for serious Asian food lovers/cooks, but what I found was that it’s an amazing time-saving device that produces incredible rice every time. If you can, check out the Asian supermarkets on Federal or go to Han Au Rheum in Aurora to not only get a great deal, but also to pick up some basic “____ in a Bowl” staples at half the price of the fancy gourmet/natural food stores.

Basic Recipe for California Roll in a Bowl
Serves 2

2 cups brown rice
4 oz. steamed shrimp, salmon, crab or tofu (or none at all)
2 sheets nori
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
½ cucumber, diced
½ carrot, grated or julienned
½ avocado, diced
Pickled ginger
Wasabi
Soy Sauce
Sesame oil

To prepare:

In two soup or cereal bowls divide rice equally. Divide protein, if using, on top of rice. Top with cucumber, carrot, and avocado, equally divided. Crumble one nori sheet and sprinkle sesame seeds over everything. Serve with pickled ginger, wasabi and soy sauce.

Staples to purchase at Asian supermarkets: large bags of rice (I recently got a 10lb bag of brown rice for only $7), nori sheets, sesame seeds, wasabi, pickled ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil. If you have all of these things in your cupboard you are more than ¾ of the way to having “____ in a Bowl” nearly any night of the week.

And lastly, why brown rice? Here’s the skinny. Compared to enriched, processed white rice, unenriched, unprocessed brown rice has 349% more fiber, 203% more Vitamin E, 185% more B6 and 219% more magnesium and 19% more protein. ‘nuf said?

Colcannon

It’s cliché: Irish food in March. But if there’s any month to eat Irish food, March is it. The skies often are gray, it’s cool and blustery – in other words, it’s Irish outside – and most of us still crave the comfort foods of winter.

One of my favorite Irish dishes is called Colcannon. In its purest form, Colcannon is simply potatoes and cabbage, but you can make it far more elaborate by adding bacon, leeks, roasted garlic, and whatever else interests you.

Colcannon was traditionally served on Halloween, a saints day where no meat was to be consumed, and the dish has inspired many different traditions. It’s often served with little treats inside wrapped in tinfoil, such as a ring or a coin. Or, if it’s All Saints Day (the day after Halloween), some families leave it out on the table with a big piece of butter to feed the fairies and ghosts.

One of the reasons I love Colcannon is because its comfort food at it’s best. And if you don’t go overboard on the butter (adding an entire head of roasted garlic boosts the flavor of this dish without adding saturated fat) you will also come away with a dish that is very healthy. Among other things, it’s full of vitamin C.

Cabbage is a member of the Cruciferare family. Other members include kale, broccoli, collards and brussel sprouts. Recent studies have found that if you don’t overcook these vegetables, their cancer-fighting properties remain quite high. In fact, a recent study indicated that women who regularly consumed vegetables from the Cruciferare family were shown to have a much lower risk of breast cancer. The key is in the cooking – overcook them, and the health benefits melt away. For cabbage the rule of thumb is no more than 5 minutes of direct heat before the health benefits fade.

Potatoes are a much-maligned vegetable in this country, and yet for hundreds of years they helped sustain many populations around the world. They contain so much vitamin C, and their shelf-life is so long, that they were brought on long ocean voyages to prevent scurvy. And interestingly, the scientific name for the potato is Solanum tuberosum, and solanum is derived from a Latin word meaning “soothing”.
I like to serve this heavy side dish with a light protein such as a piece of poached or broiled salmon. Not only is this an easy choice, but it is certainly one that would be served on Irish tables today with Colcannon.

And, if you are serving this to children, why not turn back to the tradition of hiding little coins or rings in the dish? It just might lead to a child actually try it?!

Recipe
1 ½ pounds (about 2 large) russet (baking) potatoes
3 cups thinly sliced cabbage or kale
½ cup milk, scalded
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits and softened
Sea Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Peel the potatoes and cut them into 1-inch pieces. In a saucepan cover the potatoes with salted water and simmer them, covered, for 15 minutes, or until they are tender. While the potatoes are simmering, in a steamer set over boiling water steam the cabbage or kale for 5 minutes. Drain the potatoes in a colander, force them through a ricer or the medium disk of a food mill into a bowl, and stir in the milk, the butter, the cabbage/kale, and salt and pepper to taste.
Alternative additions:
Add two leeks that have been sauteed in a little olive oil
Crumble bacon on top
Add an entire head of roasted garlic (peeled and coarsely chopped)
If using kale, try steaming and then pureeing it in a food processor before adding to the potatoes – it will give it an overall green-flecked look that’s quite appealing.

Valentine's Day

It's here: the dead of winter. And although spring might be just a few weeks

away, we in  Colorado know that the really bad stuff won't start falling

until March. Luckily someone realized that this bleak month needed a 

little perking up and invented Valentine's Day Thank goodness, 'cause 

President's Day is just not exciting enough to carry me through this dark month. 

For those wishing to mark that day of love with a meal that might lead 

to some serious romance later in the evening, let me offer up my own 

suggestion for a menu that will ignite the romance fire, but not, ahem, kill it. 

First, the course that sets the tone for the evening - the the avocado

salad. Find a perfectly ripe avocado. And then go and splurge on the 

best bottle of olive oil you can afford. Ditto for balsamic vinegar. True

balsamic is probably out of most people's budget (it certainly is 

mine!) and runs anywhere from $500-$1,000 for a small vial.

But you can get some very decent approximations; the Peppercorn in

Boulder has a wonderful selection of fine olive oils and balsamic vinegars. 

To make the avocado salad, simply cut the avocado in half and remove 

the pit with one swift whack of the knife to the pit and pull up, removing the 

pit in one full motion. In the indentions left by the pit, pour in a little

olive oil and a tiny circle of balsamic vinegar - together, enough to 

fill to the top of the brim of the avocado. Grind fresh black pepper and 

coarse sea salt over the top. Serve with a teaspoon. Now, sit back and watch 

your mate swoon as they dip their spoon into the soft, succulent flesh of 

the avocado while the olive oil and balsamic dance alongside. The decadence 

of eating an entire half of an avocado and nothing else for a salad should

definitely set the tone for the evening. This also makes an impressive 

first course for a fancy dinner party.

After the avocado, prepare a plate full of tasty, but simple, nibbles. 

My list of favorites involve two really good cheeses, like an Italian 

Taleggio and a English well-aged cheddar, but truly anything works.

I include on my tray some fresh figs, freshly roasted walnuts or almonds

in nothing but a little olive oil and salt, grapes, olives, roasted red peppers and a 

loaf of really good bread. Take your time to just enjoy the food, savoring each

small bite. In the morning put the cheese out to come to room temperature and allow

all the flavors to come out. 

For dessert the temptation at Valentine's Day is to either buy

chocolate-dipped strawberries or a big box of chocolates. Don't. Both 

are usually mediocre at best. Strawberries used for dipping are 

purposefully overgrown so they have zero flavor left, and in addition

they're dipped in really low-grade chocolate most of the time. The big

shiny Valentine's boxes are perfect for the kids, but not for your significant

other. So instead, why not go to your favorite chocolate shop or high-end

grocery store and buy just a morsel of chocolate to share with your beloved

over a bottle of champagne. The new recreational cooking school in downtown, 

Mise En Place, has a wonderful assortment of Wen Chocolates –  just voted one

of the top ten chocolatiers in the United States (www.miseenplaceschool.com).

If you can find some organic raspberries, they might be a good accompaniment,

but chances are in February they're also going to be grown in Mexico and not full

of taste. 

The next suggestion is to refrain from enjoying these savory bites until the

children are in bed, the tv is off, and you and your mate are sitting in a

room filled with good music, a fire and some candles. My guess is that your

evening be more enjoyable than getting dressed up, finding and arranging a

babysitter, driving in the chilly night, hunting for a parking space,

and then sitting down in a crowded restaurant that is going a bit overboard 

with its Valentine's theme. Not only will you savor each of these nibbles, but chances are it will be

a little more magical and a lot less stressful. Plus, with the exception of the high-fat content of the

cheese (at least it’s loaded with calcium), you’ll feel good eating low on the food chain, but high

on the quality of the food all in the comfort of your own home. Ahhh...

West African-style Peanut Soup

The eating frenzy of fall has finally come to a close. Whew. For me it all begins in October with my oldest daughter’s birthday. It goes downhill two weeks later with Halloween (I read recently that 88% of all adults “steal” candy from their children’s candy stash. I’m certainly guilty.) And, then of course, the mother lode: Thanksgiving. Followed by, drum roll please: December. The month where it seems every time I turn around someone is either handing me a drink (thank goodness) or a festive cookie or a big slice of gooey cheese. Not to mention my own efforts in the kitchen where I’m pumping out sugar-laden and butter-rich cookies and rum soaked cakes and cheese heavy entrees.

So, when January 1 comes rolling I just can’t wait to go cold turkey on this parade of food. To go from a 2,000+ calorie a day diet to 800 calories a day seems not only like a bad idea, but dangerous. Falling off the diet-wagon is a sure bet. This is problematic. I need to eat lower on the food chain, but I’m desiring something that not only satisfies, but also is really, really tasty. I know that for me nothing truly satisfies like that piece of gently warmed brie on a fresh slice of French bread, or the pink, plump shrimp skewered and dipped in a tangy cocktail sauce, but I have to find something moderately healthy to eat. The idea of thinking that I’ll eat something austere like miso soup for the next week seems like a good idea on paper, but in reality, I need to ease off of the holiday food scene with something a bit more substantial. But, I need to feel virtuous and pure, too.

Where to turn?

Soup. It’s always my answer for nearly any ailment: binge eating, binge drinking, bad colds, too hot days, too cold days. It’s kinda like the egg – it’s perfect food. And, luckily there are so many soup recipes that it’s easy to find at least one that can satisfy you all the way down to your toes.

I created this soup because I love the taste of peanut butter with a spicy kick. I spent some time in various countries in West Africa when I was younger and found this taste combination quite frequently while traveling. Not only do you benefit from the protein and “good fats” found in the peanut butter, but you also come out ahead with the abundance of sweet potatoes which contain high levels of beta-carotene and the tomatoes that are packed with the antioxidant lycopene. In addition, it’s incredibly satisfying and easy to whip-up after work.

The key to this soup is to make all of your veggies fairly uniform in size for quick cooking. I like fairly small diced vegetables in this soup (think slightly bigger than a kernel of corn).

West African-style Peanut Soup

1 onion, diced

5 cloves garlic, minced

¼ cup fresh ginger, peeled minced

1 sweet potato, peeled and diced

2 serrano chiles, diced

1 tablespoon olive oil

1, 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes

1 veggie boullion cube

¼ cup natural peanut butter (don’t use peanut butter that has sugar added to it)

2 cups water

1 block of firm tofu or 1 lb. cooked chicken, cubed

Sea Salt

In a medium stock pot, heat olive oil. Add onion, garlic, ginger. Sauté until slightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add sweet potato and chiles, cook for 3 more minutes or until sweet potato starts to soften. Next add tomatoes, boullion cube and peanut butter. Let cook until peanut butter melts into vegetable and tomato mixture. Add water. If you like a thinner soup, add more water. If you like it thicker, like a stew, add a little less. Still well and bring to a boil. After soup boils, add tofu or cooked chicken. You can eat it right away, or let simmer for up to two hours.

Serve over brown or white rice. Or, plain with a whole wheat flour tortilla warmed up.

Makes 6 hearty servings.

Tamales!

Tamales!

Precious little bundles of corn and a savory filling, piping hot and pulled directly from a steamer – nothing beats it. Unwrapping each corn husk and finding a plump little mound of corn is like having a plate full of presents.

One of the last times I made tamales was with a very pregnant friend. I had wanted to give her a big batch of tamales along with a quart of homemade mole sauce before the baby was born, but then I ran out of time. So, instead of stressing about it, I just invited her over to help me make the tamales. And, that is precisely how you ought to make tamales: with friends or family. It’s a time-consuming process, but with a group of people, some good music and a fridge full of beer it can turn into a festive party. And children love to help out. Most adore scooping the corny dough out of the bowl and spreading it on a wet corn husk. The mere idea that they are creating little presents of food is enough to keep them interested for a good eight minutes.

Below is a basic, but not traditional tamale dough. Traditionally tamales are made with lard, which to me just doesn’t seem right to mix pig fat with something as pure and good and simple as corn. So, I’ve amended the recipe to work using butter or shortening, or as I prefer, a mixture of both. Not only is it healthier, but I think the tamales hold together and steam up a little nicer. Plus, who eats lard anymore?

One of the nicest things about tamales is that despite the time it takes to assemble them, they freeze and reheat beautifully. One of our favorite weeknight meals is tamales, mole sauce (which also freezes well), and a big salad.

Although our weekends in December pre-holidays are jam-packed, my intention is to carve out a few hours after the holidays, maybe even New Years’ Eve day to make a double-batch of tamales some of which we’ll eat that night with friends and the rest we’ll freeze for some easy weeknight meals.

Before you begin make sure you have everything you need and your fillings created.

Basic tamale dough recipe:

Makes enough for 2 dozen tamales

7 cups veggie stock
2 cups butter or shortening, or a combination of these
1-2 tablespoons salt (how much depends on how salty your stock is)
12 cups dry masa harina flour

30-35 corn husks

Before mixing the dough, soak your corn husks in a large bowl of warm water.

Heat the stock until it is warm. In an electric mixer, mix the masa harina flour with stock. Beat on medium speed for a minute or two until well combined. If your dough seems dry, don't be afraid to add additional stock. At this point your dough should resemble a thick pudding. Remove masa mixture from your mixer and set aside.

In the bowl of your mixer, beat the solid fats on high speed for 2-3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add the masa mixture to the whipped fat a cup at a time until it is all incorporated. Continue to beat for about 5-8 minutes or until the dough is a soft paste consistency.

To create the tamales:

Open a wet corn husk and spread a little less than a quarter cup of masa onto the husk. The masa should cover all but about 1 inch of the husks on all sides. If you put too much masa in you won’t be able to properly close the corn husk around the masa and filling. After the masa has been spread, add a generous tablespoon of filling to the center and spread over the masa, but not to the ends of the masa. Bring the dough together and roll slightly. Fold the end of the corn husk up and tie it with a thin strip of extra corn husk.

To steam:

In a large pan (a soup pot with a steamer insert works great) put enough water in to cover the bottom, making sure that the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the tamales. Steam for about an hour. Check midway through to make sure you have enough water in the pan.

Fillings:

Keep it simple! Traditionally tamales are filled with pork, but use your imagination. I have often found that just opening up from fridge and combining things makes for some pretty fun and unusual fillings.

Here are some of my favorite very fillings:

• Corn that has been sauteed with a little onion, garlic and cumin.
• Black beans that have been simmered with onion, garlic, cumin and a green chile.
• A few tablespoons of sharp cheddar cheese mixed with jalapenos or other chile.

Free Form Tart

Ahhh, it’s finally officially fall. Certainly this is the time of year people who enjoy cooking return to the kitchen desiring to fill their homes with smells of chicken roasting or oatmeal raisin cookies baking. Fragrant aromas and oven warmth – a perfect combination for creating memorable autumn days.

I always associate fall with pies: apple pies, pumpkin pies, Derby pies, etc.. But like a lot of wannabe pie bakers out there, the word “pie” means crust. And crust means it’s never gonna be as perfect as what the professionals can whip out. Baking, in the traditional sense always makes me think of some enormously overweight temperamental exacting man with a starched white apron and hairnet or, alternatively, some hyper-thin perfectionist of a woman who rarely smiles except when she creates the perfect sugared violet. For years I felt intimidated by bakers and baking. I would pass bakeries and scoff at the rows of tidy petit fours and dozens of perfectly iced cookies. And then one day I discovered the free-form tart. For me, a woman passionate about cooking but less passionate about details, the free-form tart is a true thing of beauty.

This free-form tart is a less finicky form of pie dough. The free-form tart has everything a pie does, except for needing to be perfect. It has the requisite flaky, crumble on your lip, fall into your lap crust and a succulent filling. But, this very simple free-form tart recipe can be made with a modicum of baking talent and just as few ingredients. I especially like this recipe because I almost always have the star ingredients on hand: 1 cup flour, ½ stick of butter, and one apple. My little family of four can devour this easily, but if you have leftovers it can also double as a moderately healthy breakfast (certainly a little healthier than an Apple Danish).

The Crust

1 cup flour (if you’re feeling particularly virtuous try the new white-wheat flour from King Arthur Flour Co. But be warned, it definitely produces a heavier, not so flaky crust, but you can’t have it all, now can you? )

1 tablespoon of sugar

½ stick cold butter cut into small cubes

2-3 tablespoons of ice water

Although you can make this in bowl using a pastry fork, I find my food processor does a fine job, just as long as I’m careful not to over-process the dough. Plus, if I’m dragging out my food processor, I always make two batches of dough – one for now and one to freeze (wrap in plastic wrap and place in freezer bags with contents clearly marked) for up to 6 months.

Add flour and sugar to bowl. Pulse briefly. Add butter. Pulse to blend for 10 seconds. Add one tablespoon of ice water. Pulse to blend again. Continue to add water, but only until the flour and butter just start to come together. Your butter should be incorporated, but the dough should not come together in a mass, rather you should pour out the contents of the dough onto a counter and bring it together to form a solid lump with the warmth of your hands. At this stage I usually wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place in my freezer for about 30 minutes. Why? Because this will ensure a flakier crust. Flakiness happens when the butter melts at high temperatures and forms pockets of air. The colder the butter, the bigger the pockets and hence, the flakier the crust. If you have warm butter it will just melt into the gluten of the flour and won’t expand, thus producing a tough, flake-less crust.

On a clean, lightly floured countertop, roll the dough into approximately an 8-9 inch circle. It doesn’t have to be perfect! Slide the dough onto a greased cookie sheet (or if using really wet fruits – peaches, raspberries, etc. – transfer dough into a jelly roll pan or something similar with sides to catch any thing that might drip).

The Filling

1 apple

Honey to taste (I usually stick a fork into my honey jar and drizzle whatever comes off of my fork onto the apples)

Cinnamon, if you like

Nutmeg, if you like

Peel and core apples. Cut apples into half and slice into half-moon shapes. If you have any misshapen pieces (I always do), dice finely and put them aside.

Starting in the middle of the dough, place your diced pieces of fruit. Next, begin using your half-moon shaped pieces to encircle the dough. Leave approximately 1 – 1 ½ inches of dough so that you can fold it over the fruit.

Drizzle honey and sprinkle cinnamon over the fruit. Fold over the border of dough to overlap the fruit.

And, if you like a nice sugary crust, brush a little milk on the top of the dough and sprinkle sugar on top.

Bake at 400 degrees in the lower half of your oven for approximately 30-40 minutes or until golden brown.

Variations:

This sweet tart dough has endless variations for fillings, but two of my favorite combinations are to combine fresh peaches with raspberries or nectarines with blueberries.

Green Chiles

Green chiles are one of the healthiest and tastiest foods of summer and right now they are at its peak right now in farmers’ markets throughout the Southwest. Although not as present as in New Mexico, there are a few streets and farmers' markets in Denver where you can find people roasting green chile over large propane fires. The smell is unmistakable – similar to a bell peppers roasting in your oven, but green chiles have a smokier, more intoxicating smell. Like the first tinges of red and orange to leaves to leaves in New England, once you smell green chiles roasting you know that fall can only be a few weeks away.

And, yes it is “chile” with an "e" rather than an "i". The "i" at the end changes the meaning of the word from a type of pepper to a dish typically made with beans and beef. In New Mexico people enjoy slathering chile on everything from eggs to beans to pork. Green chile is the freshly picked and roasted version, whereas red chile is a powder made out of green chiles that have been left on the vine to redden and then dried and ground into a powder. Red chile is suitable for using as a spice or creating a succulent, spicy sauce by simply adding a little water and flour.

The health benefits of green chile abound. Ounce for ounce green chile has more vitamin C than citrus fruits. In addition, some nutritionists claim that the capsaicin (the substance that makes chiles hot) present in the chiles helps boost your metabolism and at the same time curb your appetite. And one thing that nearly all nutritionists agree on is that capsaicin triggers the body to release endorphins, creating a natural opiate making the human body feel calm and satiated.

I've created this recipe which incorporates another traditional New Mexican dish: calabacitas. This is a summertime favorite in New Mexico combining garden-fresh zucchini, corn and chile peppers. It's usually served as a side dish, but I added a little extra water to draw it out as a sauce for pasta and topped it with cheese. This is a perfect height-of-summer pasta dish, which takes full advantage of quintessential farmers’ market veggies like: corn, zucchini, onions, chiles and garlic.

Calabacitas Pasta Sauce

1 lb. pasta

4-6 ears of corn, kernels shaved off (about 2 cups)

2 tablespoons butter

1 medium onion, sliced

4 cloves garlic, minced

4-5 small to medium zucchini, diced

4 New Mexico chile peppers roasted, peeled, seeded and diced

½ cup pasta-water (water used to boil pasta)

Salt and Pepper

½ cup grated cheddar cheese

1. After all of your vegetables are prepped and ready to go, cook pasta in pot of rapidly boiling salted water until al dente (about 8-10 minutes). Drain and transfer to heated pasta bowl. (Don’t forget to save ½ cup of the cooking water).

2. Heat butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; sauté until soft, about 2 minutes. Add zucchini; sauté until soft, about 2 minutes. Add corn and chiles, sauté until corn is cooked, about 2-3 minutes. Add pasta water, salt and pepper. If it needs more liquid, add a few tablespoons more water.

3. Serve sauce over pasta and top with grated cheddar cheese.

Serves 4-6

Tomatoes!

Tomatoes: the essence of summer. I remember as a child my mother picking tomatoes warm from the sun and making the juciest, most flavorful BLTs on the planet. I picked up the same habit, but have forgone the traditional B (bacon), replacing it instead with my own B – basil. And although I don’t have a garden, I do have access to a thriving farmers’ market every Sunday morning where we are now finding some of the best produce in the state. Look for organic, heirloom tomatoes: while they may not look pretty, they will be intensely flavorful.

When we lived in Baltimore, every September just before the end of tomato season we’d go to our local farmers’ market and buy at least two bushels of tomatoes. Farmers’ loved us because we loved buying the tomatoes that were slightly bruised – perfect for making our winter sauce.

My hands-down favorite tomato sauce recipe came from a cookbook by Marcella Hazan, one of the best hands at Italian cuisine. It’s one of those recipes where you can’t believe how something so simple tastes so incredibly good.

But like most dishes, it’s all about the quality of your main ingredient. The better the tomato, the better the sauce. I would not recommend using the heirloom tomatoes to make this sauce – no save those for eating straight up or paired with fresh mozzarella and fresh picked basil. Instead search out the farmers’ market for “sauce tomatoes” or Roma or plum tomatoes. These tomatoes have less water content and make a thicker sauce.

If you are as lucky as we were and can buy a large amount, make as much sauce as you possibly can. It freezes beautifully and will be a wonderful reminder of summer during those chilly winter nights. One year we made nearly 50 quarts of sauce, which we froze and gave out as holiday gifts along with a pound of gourmet pasta to friends and neighbors. The gift, we were repeatedly told, was appreciated much more than the obligatory plate of cookies and fudge.

Whatever your preference – fresh heirloom tomatoes or sauce tomatoes – just be sure to enjoy summer’s abundance at its peak! And don’t forget that tomatoes are high in lycopene, which may support prostate health for men and offer a boost to the immune system for everyone.

Classic Pomodoro Sauce

2 lbs. fresh ripe plum or Roma tomatoes, peeled, seeded and finely chopped*

6 tablespoons butter

1 medium onion, peeled and cut in half

Sea salt

Parmesan cheese

1. Put all the ingredients (except Parmesan cheese) in a saucepan and simmer for 20-30 minutes. The tomatoes need to reduce and separate from the butter.

2. Remove from heat and discard the onion. (The onion’s role here is to impart a subtle sweetness to the sauce.)

3. Pour noodles into the sauce and stir until noodles are completely coated with sauce. Serve immediately. Sprinkle freshly grated Parmesan.

* Although you can buy hydroponic and hot-house tomatoes year-round, I almost never do because the quality just can’t compare to in-season tomatoes. Instead a 28 oz. can of the best canned tomatoes you can buy. I highly recommend San Marzano tomatoes. Buy whole tomatoes and use the juice in the can. Puree in blender before adding to saucepan with the butter and onion.

The Potluck

The potluck: two words that can create feelings of anxiety in even the most competent of cooks. Potlucks present a virtual minefield of problems: What if it’s unbearably hot and my dish spoils or melts? Will there be a place to warm foods? Will my food be too spicy? Will I accidentally use a knife that was used for peanut butter and induce anaphylactic shock in a person with a peanut allergy? What if someone finds a hair in my food? The list of potential problems is so great that I believe this is why people are paralyzed and tables are laden down with trays of cheap cold cuts, bland potato salad from the deli counter, and Crisco-rich pies from the supermarket.

A few years back on a swelteringly hot Saturday, we attended an annual family picnic in Pennsylvania. I always look forward to what my sister-in-law Michele, who is from Charleston, South Carolina, will bring. Her wonderful classic Southern cooking has awakened me to such great foods like cheese grits, boiled peanuts, cheese pig crackers, and fried okra. This particular year she brought the dish that was instantly added to our repertoire for potlucks: pickled shrimp. Not only is it incredibly easy, but it’s wonderfully delicious. You can serve it with good crusty French bread or fine-quality crackers. If you serve it with bread, you’ll find often find people dipping the bread into the marinade long after the shrimp is gone. Every single time we’ve taken this to a party we’ve come home with an empty dish and requests for the recipe.

If it is going to be super hot, the only word of caution is to bring it in a bowl that can sit a bed of ice. Other than that, this dish is great because you make it the night before and chill it.

Once you master this recipe I assure you that summertime potlucks no longer will launch anxiety attacks.

PICKLED SHRIMP

 2 pounds cooked small shrimp 

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

2 bay leaves

1 tablespoon sea salt

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice 

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

1 teaspoon celery seeds

4 garlic cloves, minced

Peel the shrimp.  Whisk together  the sea salt, olive oil, lemon juice, 

Mustard, celery seeds and garlic.  In a quart glass jar or bowl, layer the shrimp, 

onion and bay leaves adding some of the olive oil mixture with each layer.  

Store in refrigerator for 24 hours before serving.  

If you like things spicy, add a pinch of red chile flakes.

Makes about 4 ½ cups