Creamy Mushroom Pasta

One of the great things about going to the farmers market every weekend has been the unexpected food finds. Last weekend was my second time as a vendor at Woodlawn farmers market. I was located next to a mushroom vendor, Harvest Moon Mushrooms, who grows mushrooms right here in Portland! Jeff went over to buy a few that we could have in an omelette the next day. He asked what they recommended and he came back with these beauties! All their mushrooms are beautiful. And wow, they are delicious. We still had a few left and it looked like enough for a pasta dish so that’s what I made. This is sort of a no-recipe recipe that’s easy enough to put together without exact measurements, but I’ll put a recipe below regardless. 

The mushrooms here are Chestnut, Morels and Black Pearl (going clockwise). The mushroom guy made a point to eat all of the Black Pearl, don’t throw away the stem, it’s really tasty! The recipe below is one-pot cooking at its best. I made this in the morning since it was going to be a very hot day and it was easy to reheat for dinner. 

Speaking of the heat, this weekend is going to be a scorcher, my weather app has been showing anywhere from 104°-108° on Saturday. So I’m not sure if the market will be open or will have to change the hours, but I have a feeling it might not be happening, I’ll post to my Instagram stories and update the webpage if anything changes. 

One more thing, I added some fresh thyme and oregano on top of the pasta for the photos, but I added too much! The oregano was strong and overtook the rich umami flavors of the mushrooms, I wouldn’t add anything more than a bit of parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!

Creamy Mushroom Pasta

• 1/2 lb pasta shells

• 2 cups mushrooms roughly chopped (Morels, Black Pearl and Chestnut mushrooms)

• 3 tablespoons olive oil

• 2 tablespoons salted butter

• 1/4 white wine or dry vermouth 

• Salt to taste

• 12 oz Alfredo sauce

If you don’t have a jar of Alfredo sauce:

• 8 oz creme fraiche

• 1/2 cup grated parmesan

In a large dutch oven bring water to boil and cook pasta as directed. Drain in colander and stir in a bit of olive oil to keep it from sticking, set aside. 

In the same pot heat the olive oil and butter until melted on a medium heat, add the chopped mushrooms and a pinch of salt, stir as needed for about 5-10 minutes, when mushrooms look about half way done, add the white wine, give a stir and let cook for another 5-10 minutes on a lower heat. Your mushrooms should be soft and tender at this point, if not let it cook a few more minutes.

If you’re using a ready made Alfredo sauce you can add it at this point, heat another 5 minutes or so. If not add the creme fraiche and parmesan cheese, stir to combine, add the pasta and heat a few more minutes.

Serve with a pinch or two of parmesan. 

Green Harissa

Green Harissa. I love this sauce. I’ve been making it quite a bit lately because it goes with everything! We put it on fish, chicken, potatoes, rice, roasted vegetables, you name it, it works. The recipe is from Sprouted Kitchen Cooking Club, Sarah has a lot of great sauces but this one not only works with so many dishes, it lasts up to two weeks in the fridge. So it’s a good-to-have-on-hand sauce. If you don’t have mint you can just add more cilantro, the herbs you can mix up a bit but stay heavy on the cilantro.

Things are good here, I’m working on my ‘Granola Project” which I hope to be sharing with you in the next couple weeks or so. I’m pretty excited about it and having fun with it. The garden beds are prepped with compost and at this point I’m just waiting for the temps to get high enough to plant. I started some tomatoes and vegetables from seed this year. I’m worried I started too late! It’s been almost 5 weeks and they still look so young. I hope they’re not duds. Worse case I’ll have to buy starters but I think some of them are going to pull through. This is all new to me and I haven’t blogged about it because I don’t know what I’m doing (yet). Ha ha. Maybe next year I can offer some tips. But the berry bushes are blooming in the yard so everything is looking good there.

I get my second (Moderna) vaccine in a couple weeks. The first one was fine, no side effects at all, just a sore arm for a few days. I’m so looking forward to eating at a restaurant outside! I know people have done this pre-vaccine, but I just haven’t felt comfortable with that. This past year, as soon as things are looking good, Covid cases are low, places open up more and then cases rise, and I’m like, fuck! I missed that small window where Covid-19 wasn’t spreading like crazy. But maybe I didn’t get it because I didn’t go out then. Who knows. It’s all a crapshoot. All I know is when restaurants start opening their doors for indoor dining, everything goes bad. Dining outside is the best option at this point. And I can’t wait! Until then, enjoy this sauce on anything and everything.

Green Harissa

• 1 clove of garlic - peeled

• 1 jalapeño - stemmed and seeded, chopped rough

• 1 cup of cilantro

• 1/2 cup of mint (you can add more cilantro instead)

• 1/2 cup of parsley

• 1 lemon - juiced

• 1 Tablespoon white vinegar

• 1/2 teaspoon of cumin

• 1/2 teaspoon of coriander

• 1/2 teaspoon of fennel seeds

• 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt

• 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil

Put everything in a food processor, with herbs on top, and blend for 10 seconds then pause, scrape down the sides if needed and process another 10 seconds until it’s almost blended with bits of herbs still left intact. Keep refrigerated in sealed container up to two weeks. Allow to come to room temp before serving.

Potato and Broccoli Cakes + Charred Scallion Yogurt Sauce

Potato and Broccoli Cakes with Charred Scallion Yogurt Sauce. I’ve made these about three times now, they are so good! The recipe is from Sprouted Kitchen Cooking Club which I joined about a year and a half ago. And the sauce I’ve made a few times now as well. They make a great side dish for dinner, but even better is having one or two with an egg on top for breakfast or lunch the next day. I made a couple changes to the recipe, I found the patties hold together better with a half cup of breadcrumbs added, the mixture was too wet and some of them were falling apart. And I used Panko breadcrumbs rather than seasoned breadcrumbs, you can use what you have or prefer, but I like the crunch of Panko breadcrumbs. 

The Charred Scallion Yogurt Sauce is super tasty, you can add some fresh or charred jalapeño to it as well. The recipe makes about 12 ounces of sauce, and this is great to use leftover on sandwiches or roasted vegetables, it will stay fresh in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. 

I hope you try this recipe, it’s so good I had to share it with you. Enjoy!

Potato and Broccoli Cakes

• 1 lb. of Yukon gold potatoes

• 2 Tbsp. of butter

• 1/3 cup of cream (or milk)

• 1 tsp. of sea salt

• fresh ground pepper
  

• 2 eggs

• 1/2 cup of grated parmesan, divided

• 6-8 oz. of steamed broccoli (about 1 cup finely chopped)

• 1 1/2 cup of Panko breadcrumbs, divided

• avocado or olive oil for cooking

Peel the potatoes and boil until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and remove to a mixing bowl, along with the butter, cream, salt and pepper. Let them cool down slightly. Mash everything until smooth. Whisk in the eggs and 1/4 cup of the parmesan. Make sure the broccoli is super, super well chopped, stir that into the potato mixture.  Add 1/2 cup of the breadcrumbs. It should look like meatball dough - damp but holds form.

Mix the breadcrumbs and remaining parmesan cheese in a shallow bowl.

Heat a generous slick of oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Form small, 3 x 1” thick patties out of the potato mixture, dredge it in the parm breadcrumbs to get a little coat, then pan fry them for 2-3 minutes per side until golden brown. Set aside to cool. Repeat with the remaining potato mixture, adding a fresh slick of oil to the pan between batches. Makes 8 cakes.

Serve warm or room temperature with yogurt sauce

Charred Scallion Yogurt Sauce

• 1 bundle of scallions (green onions) - ends trimmed

• 1 tsp. of extra virgin olive oil

• pinch of sea salt

• 1 tsp. of sea salt

• pinch of fresh ground pepper

• 1 1/2 cups of plain, whole milk, Greek yogurt

• 2 Tbsp. of extra virgin olive oil

• 1 cup of chopped, flat leaf parsley

• 1/4 cup of chopped fresh dill (or 1 tsp. dried dill)

• 1 lemon - juiced (about 3-4 Tbsp.)

• 1 Tbsp. of white wine vinegar

• Dash of hot sauce or pinch of red pepper flakes

• 2 Tbsp. of water (as needed for consistency)

Preheat your oven to 425°, or grill on high heat. Trim the scallions and rub them with a bit of oil and salt. Place them on foil or parchment and pop them in the oven to roast for 15-20 minutes in oven (10-15 minutes on grill) until browned and tender. Set aside to cool.

Into a blender or food processor, pulse the scallions and salt and pepper. Add the yogurt, parsley, dill, lemon juice, vinegar, hot sauce, water and pulse until flecked and smooth-ish. If it still seems too thick, add another splash of water.

Store in an airtight jar in the fridge for 1-2 weeks.

Crunchy Veggie Lentil Salad

Crunchy Veggie Lentil Salad. I haven’t had lentil salad in a long time. And this was one of the recipes that came up on Sprouted Kitchen Cooking Club this week. Sarah called it “Crunchy Lunchy Lentils.” This is the type of salad you make ahead. It can last for days in the fridge and generally (always) tastes better after it’s had time to sit for a day or so. I’ve made a few adjustments to the recipe but didn’t deviate all that much. I used a trio of green, brown and black sprouted lentils that cooked in 6 minutes versus French lentils that take about 20 minutes. I think my ratios of veggie to lentils were off a bit, I think there should have been more lentils, but it still worked out to a great salad regardless. 

This month has been pretty crazy. A few weeks ago there were a series of fires that erupted here in Oregon, then came a wind storm that blew all the smoke over here in Portland. We had to literally seal all the openings in the house because the air quality outside was hazardous, it was coming in from the fireplaces, any opening in the house, and remained like that for nearly 10 days. When that started I had already begun my project to paint the kitchen cabinets and countertop, the kitchen was in complete disarray but I had to move forward and get it done. We had air purifiers and fans running 24/7. It was pretty horrible happening on top of a pandemic, we couldn’t spend time outside at all. A lot of businesses and restaurants (that are already hurting) had to close, and there were some days where I couldn’t get grocery delivery or take-out, which was kind of big deal because we couldn’t use the kitchen much, everything was covered in drop cloths, so not much cooking other than microwaving something or eating sandwiches. I had prepared a couple of dishes in advance and was planning on grilling outside while the kitchen was unusable, but that didn’t work out. It was just one disaster layered on top of another. Many people lost their homes due to the fires, so we were lucky that we didn’t have to go through anything like that. I finished my kitchen project, the outside air cleared up and it rained and rained. And now we’re having a beautiful week of sunshine, with windows open and fresh air everywhere. But I feel a little PTSD from the smoke episode, all this sunshine and dry weather is dangerous this time of year, even with a burn ban people still do stupid stuff and light camp fires or whatever. I’m so afraid of new fires and that smoke coming back. It was just too much. I think I should just have a cocktail and enjoy a few rays of sunshine for now. And really, we had so much rain last week I think things are ok and I shouldn’t worry so much.

Anyways, if you’re still reading, I hope you enjoy this salad, it’s vegetarian and could be vegan if you skip the feta cheese, but I just love cheese in this salad. Enjoy!

Crunchy Veggie Lentil Salad

• 3/4-1 cup of French / De Puy lentils

• 2 Persian cucumbers (or a 1/3 of an English Cucumber) - seeded

• 1 apple

• 1 medium fennel bulb - fronds reserved

• 1 small shallot or 1/2 large shallot

• 1/2 cup of pecans (or walnuts) chopped

• 1/3 cup feta or parmesan cheese (+ more for serving)

• 1/2 cup of fresh mint leaves

• 1/4 cup of fresh basil leaves

For the vinaigrette

• 1 clove of garlic, minced

• 1 lemon - juiced

• 2 Tbsp. of apple cider vinegar

• 1 Tbsp. of maple syrup

• 3 Tbsp. of extra virgin olive oil

• 1/2 tsp. of dried dill

• 1/2 tsp. of coriander

• flaky sea salt

• fresh ground pepper

Rinse your lentils. Put them in a pot with 1 ½ cups of salted water or broth. Bring the liquid up to a simmer, put the cover on ajar and cook for 20 minutes until tender. (if using different Lentils, cook per package instructions) Fluff the lentils, and set them aside to cool completely.

While the lentils cook, fine dice the cucumbers. Core and finely dice both the apple and fennel and mince the shallot. Chop the herbs.

In the bottom of your mixing bowl, combine all the vinaigrette ingredients and whisk to combine. Add the cooled lentils, all your chopped vegetables, walnuts, cheese and herbs. Toss to coat. Chill in the fridge for at least an hour, the longer it sits the better it tastes! It will keep a few days in the fridge, so this is a great side dish or lunch throughout the week. Top with fennel fronds when serving.

Cornbread

How is everyone doing? We’re ok here, adapting to the stay at home rule. Granted, Jeff and I have been working from home for some time now so this wasn’t any kind of huge transition, but staying away from grocery stores, restaurants and people has proved to be more challenging than I expected. Last week we could not get deliveries through Amazon PrimeNow for several days, rather than the same-day 2-hour window we’ve relied on. And all delivery services had massive delays. I was down to two eggs by the weekend and figured I would have to go to the grocery store. But I was able to find a local grocer that uses Instacart for delivery service and got a delivery on Saturday night! I was so happy. It really is the little things in life, like food! I’m trying to reserve my trips out to the store for only things I can’t get online or get delivered (hello Bourbon!). The less contact we have now the faster we can get through this Pandemic, and hopefully return to something somewhat normal. But I think that will be a long time from now. We’ll be toting around hand sanitizer until we’re like “Corona who? what?” Well, that day will never come because nobody in the whole world will forget this.

So, Cornbread! This recipe is adapted from Sprouted Kitchen Cooking Club. I’ve made Cornbread maybe a few times and it’s generally, ok. Nothing to blog about. But I’m really happy with how this came out. Not sure if it’s the type of cornmeal I used or what, I get very confused about cornmeal, there are so many different kinds, fine, medium, course, corn grits, corn polenta, grits/polenta, Masa Harina, it’s almost endless. I had Course Grind Cornmeal on hand so I used that. I was worried the texture would be too sandy, but it came out great, I really love it.

I made a couple adjustments to the original recipe, I didn’t have a can of green chiles and I forgot to add the cheese! I’ll keep those in the recipe as optional. I added some defrosted frozen corn which I highly recommend. Also Sarah’s recipe is for Cornbread Muffins, I’ve adjusted the recipe for a 10” cast-iron skillet, but you could make muffins instead, it will be about 10 minutes less bake time.

I made this for a Black-eyed Peas and Collard Greens dish we had the other day and I’ll be posting that recipe soon, it tasted so good! Take care friends.

Cornbread

• 1 1/4 cup buttermilk or to make it: mix in 1 tbsp white vinegar to 1 1/4 cup milk

• 2 eggs

• 1/3 cup avocado oil or other neutral oil

• 3 Tbsp. butter or ghee, melted

• 1/2 tsp. sea salt

• 1/3 cup cane sugar

• 1 cup cornmeal (course grind)

• 1 cup all-purpose flour

• 2 tsp. baking powder

• 1 tsp. baking soda

• 1 cup frozen corn, defrosted to room temp

• 1 4 oz. can mild green chiles, drained well (optional)

• 3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese (optional)

• A grind of fresh ground pepper

Preheat the oven to 375’ and grease a 10” cast-iron skillet or equivalent baking dish. 

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the buttermilk and eggs together really well. Add the oil, melted butter, salt and sugar and whisk until combined. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, stir to just combine. Add the corn and some fresh ground pepper. (if using add the drained chiles, cheese and stir one more time). 

Pour into the cast-iron pan, top with a bit of sugar or honey if you like. Bake for 30 minutes or until done in the center (muffins will take 20-25 minutes). Remove and allow cool. 

Honey Peanut Butter Rice Crispy Treats

Last week I stopped by a small vegan cafe in my neighborhood Tiny Moreso, in the case they had Peanut Butter Rice Crispy Treats which I bought along with some type of Apricot Balls full of flax and other healthy stuff, both were delicious. I looked online for a recipe, which there are many and all pretty simple. This recipe had more peanut butter so I went with it, and wow it’s so good! And it’s vegan if that matters to you. It comes together very quick, 10 or 15 minutes and then you just have to refrigerate the treats for about an hour and they’re done. It doesn’t get any easier. Tiny Moreso treats were tall and big, probably 3” tall, and most of the recipes online put the mixture in a more shallow dish, but I wanted that height so I put the mixture in a loaf pan and it worked out really well, this recipe works out to 8 servings, I only have six in the photos because Jeff and I couldn’t wait to try them! I haven’t had a Rice Crispy treat in so long but I do remember the version with Marshmallow was super sweet, I think using honey is so much better because it’s sweet but not toothache sweet. If you want you can pour the warmed chocolate over the entire mixture but I like the chocolate drizzle (Jackson Pollock) style. 

Honey Peanut Butter Rice Crispy Treats

• 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

• 1/3 cup honey

• 1/4 tsp kosher salt

• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

• 3 cups rice crispy cereal

• 2 oz Chopped chocolate (I like 72% cacao)

In a small pot add the peanut butter and honey, warm over a medium heat, stirring until well combined. Stir in the salt and vanilla. In a large bowl add the rice crispy cereal, pour the peanut butter mixture over the cereal and mix until all the cereal is covered. Place the mixture into a parchment lined loaf pan. Press down to fill any gaps and smooth over for an even top. Heat the chocolate in the microwave or over a double boiler on the stove top. When melted drizzle the chocolate over the rice crispy mixture. Cover with foil and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Slice into 8 servings and enjoy! Store refrigerated in covered container.

Adapted from Joy Food Sunshine

Roasted Tomato Soup + Parmesan Croutons

Roasted Tomato Soup + Parmesan Croutons. And here comes fall. The weather is in that optimum state between summer and fall. Warm enough for the tomatoes to continue growing but cool enough at night for soup. We have so many tomatoes this year that I’m on roast-tomatoes-repeat-roast-tomatoes-repeat cycle, a few days ago I left a bowl of tomatoes on the counter one day too long, and I was sad to have to toss a few in the compost bin. I’m the kind of person that is just heart broken when good food has to get tossed, so I’m just cooking and refrigerating and freezing whatever I can. It’s too good to waste. This soup worked out great for my waste management worries. It packs in a few pounds of tomatoes into OMG so freakin’ delicious soup. I have confirmation from Jeff that it’s kick-ass. I looked over a couple different recipes so this is sort of a hybrid between Half Baked Harvest and Sprouted Kitchen Cooking Club . Half Baked Harvest roasted the tomatoes in the same dutch oven as you make your soup, so this is basically a one pan cooking deal, which I love, but didn’t add stock. So without boring you with every detail I added a bit from each recipe and made it my own. Not too garlicky and not too creamy, and I gotta say this is just an absolutely delicious tomato soup. The parmesan croutons are also outstanding, it makes up for the lack of grilled cheese sandwich, which you won’t miss once you bite into the cheesy crouton. I will most likely be back with more tomato recipes, and, surprisingly, cucumber. I gave the Kirby cucumbers a little plant  food last week, along with the tomatoes, and wow did it like that! Blossoms all over the place and now about 20 cucumbers starting, lol, so yeah, I got that to work with as well. Also the soup bowl you see here is another from Carthage.co, the Dadasi Soup Bowl, I love the organic shape of these dishes.

Enjoy! 

Roasted Tomato Soup + Parmesan Croutons

• 3-4 lbs Heirloom Tomatoes, quartered

• 1 small onion, quartered

• 1 small red bell pepper, quartered

• 2 cloves of garlic, smashed

• 2 tablespoons fresh thyme, chopped

• 3 tablespoons olive oil

• 3 cups chicken stock

• 1/2 cup milk

• 1 tablespoon tomato paste

• Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400°. Add the tomatoes, onion, pepper, garlic and thyme to large dutch oven (or oven-safe pot). Add the olive oil, a little salt and pepper and mix until well combined. Place in oven uncovered and roast for about 30-40 minutes, until the tomatoes start to char a bit. 

Remove from oven and ladle the tomato mixture into a blender, blend until pureed.

Return the tomatoes to the dutch oven then whisk in the chicken stock, tomato paste and milk. Bring the soup to a simmer and add salt and pepper to taste, continue to simmer for 10-15 minutes. Ladle into bowls and top with croutons (recipe below) and some fresh herbs, sprinkle a little parmesan cheese if you like.

Parmesan Croutons

• 2-3 cups bread cubes, baguette or similar

• 1/4 cup olive oil

• 1/8 cup parmesan cheese

• A couple sprigs of fresh thyme or oregano

Heat oven to 350°. Cut bread into rough 1” cubes and place in large bowl. Stir in the olive oil, parmesan cheese, fresh chopped herbs, and a pinch of salt and a few grinds of fresh pepper.

Spread a single layer on a parchment lined baking sheet, bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown, tossing midway. Remove from oven and set aside to cool. Store in refrigerator if you have leftover.

Grilled Corn and Pepper Salad

Grilled Corn and Pepper Salad. I hadn’t planned on posting this but damn, it came out so good I decided to take a few photos and do a blog post. I made this based on what I had on hand and what needed to be eaten pronto! And we’ve had a mini heatwave these past couple days so I wanted to cook as little as possible. I put the corn and peppers on the grill early in the day before it was unbearably hot. I can’t complain though, this summer has been remarkably mild. So salad. There is so much flavor going on in each bite it’s just a complete joy. Make sure to chop the vegetables small, close to the size of corn kernels but they don’t have to be that small. Recipe below, enjoy!

Grilled Corn and Pepper Salad

• 2 ears of corn, charred

• 2 bell peppers, charred

• 1 red chili pepper, chopped small

• 1 small cucumber (about 1/2 cup chopped small)

• 1/4 cup fresh chopped basil

• 1/4 cup feta cheese

• 3-4 tablespoons Dijon vinaigrette 
  

Husk the corn and place it in boiling water for 5 minutes. Remove corn and place on a large dish with the 2 bell peppers. Brush the corn and peppers with avocado oil (or any high heat oil), and sprinkle with salt. Place them on a preheated grill (400°-500°F) for about 15-20 minutes, turning them every once in a while so they char on all sides. Remove vegetables from the grill and place the peppers in a bowl topped with plastic wrap for 15 minutes or so. When the peppers are cool enough to handle, remove the skin, core and seeds, then chop into small pieces. 

Cut the kernels off the corn cob by sliding a knife down the side. When the corn and peppers are completely cooled add them to a large bowl. Add the chili pepper, cucumber, and basil and mix to combine. Add the feta and Dijon dressing along with salt and pepper to taste.

Panzanella

Hello tomatoes! Wow it’s been such a cool summer that it has taken a bit longer for them to ripen in the garden, but last week all four plants decided it was time. The yellow Taxi tomatoes along with the Sungold cherry tomatoes were the first on the scene, followed by Black Krim, and lastly the Brandywine. I’ve been wanting to make this Panzanella for a while, and since I had made a loaf of No-Knead bread a couple days prior it worked out great. Most recipes say to put the bread cubes in the oven, but I opted for the skillet which went pretty quick and ya know, fried bread? So good. You could serve this as a side dish or appetizer, or it makes a great vegetarian meal when you want something light. 

And speaking of serving, I received sample dishes from Carthage.co Stoneware which you see here and they are just beautiful! The large white plate is the Dadasi Dinner plate in chalk and the dark bowl is the Zaghwan Soup Bowl in Old Silver. I think they both look great but especially love the Zaghwan bowl with these bright colored tomatoes. And the prices are quite reasonable for high-end ceramic dishes. You can read more about these hand-crafted ceramics here. They have a nice weight to them and they’re a pleasure to photograph. I’ll be back with more tomato and/or zucchini dishes this month. Until then I recommend this Panzanella, enjoy!

Panzanella

• 3 cups baguette or rustic bread, preferably stale, cut into 1-inch cubes

• 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, more to taste

• 3/4 teaspoon kosher sea salt, more to taste

• 2 pounds very ripe tomatoes, preferably a mix of varieties and colors

• 6 ounces small fresh mozzarella balls (or shredded chunks of fresh mozzarella)

• 1/2 cup torn basil leaves

• Salt and pepper to taste

• 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

• 2 tablespoons Champagne vinegar (or white balsamic vinegar)

• 1/4 cup Olive Oil

• Salt and Pepper

In a large bowl mix together the bread cubes with olive oil and salt. Add a bit of olive oil to a  large cast iron skillet and heat on medium, when warm place the cubes in a single layer, tossing as needed until crisp on all sides. When done place the bread cubes on a plate and allow to cool a bit. 

To make the dressing, in a small bowl whisk together the Dijon and vinegar, then whisk in the olive oil.

Cut the tomatoes into chunks and then add them to a large bowl, add the mozzarella, bread cubes and the basil leaves (but leave a few to top the dish), add some salt and pepper and stir gently. Let sit for at least 30 minutes. Top with remaining basil leaves. Serve at room temp.

Pickled Kirby Cucumbers

This is my favorite time of the year, the garden is in full swing and in addition to tomatoes ripening this week, I have a bunch of these cute Kirby cucumbers. I wanted to pickle them whole but they’re so fat I couldn’t even fit two of them in the mason jar, so I quartered them for this recipe. This version of pickling is the quick refrigerator pickle. There is no cooking involved and you simply let it sit in the refrigerator for a few days until it’s ready to eat. What I like most about this style is that the pickles stay crisp. I pickled some zucchini a couple weeks ago, which involved cooking the zucchini a bit, and while it tasted really good I think they were too soft. But hey, it’s all good.

The best pickle I ever had was Guss’ Pickles on the Lower East Side in NYC. It’s no longer there but it looks like they kept the business going in Brooklyn. And they sell them at Whole Foods? I’ll have to keep my eye out for them, but until then I have a good supply of pickles in the fridge. Hope you’re having a great summer, I’ll be back with some tomato recipes soon!

Pickled Kirby Cucumbers

• 2-3 Kirby Cucumbers, quartered

• 1 cups white vinegar

• 1 cups water

• 1 tablespoon mustard seeds

• 1 tablespoon kosher salt

• 1 tablespoon sugar

• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

• 1 tablespoon peppercorns

• 1 garlic clove

• Fresh dill, a few sprigs

Place the quartered pickles in a quart mason jar. Add all the spices, garlic and dill to the jar. Pour in the water and vinegar, top off with more if needed. Place the cap on and give it a good shake. Pickles will be ready in a week or so. Store in the refrigerator. They should last a couple months. But you will have eaten them by then  ;)