Summer garden bruschetta

This recipe is so easy it is hardly a recipe at all but it is my absolute favorite topping for bruschetta or thrown together with some pasta and grilled chicken for a quick and light dinner. 

Bruschetta:

4 vine ripe tomatoes, cored and diced

1 large Clove  garlic, minced 

1 small shallot diced

3 tbs - 1/4 c. Extra Virgin Olive Oil- as much or as little as you like but use the best quality you can because the flavor here is key. 

10-20 fresh basil leaves, torn

Freshly ground pepper and sea salt to taste

Combine all the ingredients and let the flavor to meld. 

Enjoy your harvest everyone! 

K

Greek Chicken and Tzatziki

I love Greece! I beautiful place, full of history, great architecture, wonderful food....and unfortunately loads of monetary problems. The news has been so full Greece news lately...most of it not very good, but the constant screen shots of the Acropolis and interviews on the streets with average Greeks reminds me of the two lovely trips I took there. now, while I can't visit Greece right now I can certainlky whip up a batch of easy Greek chicken and homemade tzatziki!

This recipe is quick to throw together and perfect on a hot day when all you really want to do is pour a nice glass of chilled wine and not much else. :)

Greek Chicken Marinade

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/2 cup lemon juice (fresh or bottled- your choice, I use whatever I have on hand)

4 cloves garlic, whole but smashed

2 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp ground black pepper

zest of 1 lemon (optional, but it does make it so much better

1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Combine all the ingredients in a gallon size zip top bag or a shallow baking dish and leave to marinate at least 1 hour, but if you have all day thats even better!

Now Preheat your grill to 400F 

Once hot, grill chicken about 10 minutes per side and cook until internal temperature reaches 160F in the thickest part of the breast.

Remove from the grill and let rest for 5-10 minutes for the meat to rest.

Now for the Tzatziki!

Tzatziki

1 large container Greek Yogurt, your choice of full fat, 2%, or nonfat 

1 large English Cucumber, grated

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/2 tsp cumin (not traditional but i love it)

1/8 c. minced parsley (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

First off, grate the cucumber and drain it either in your hands or in a clean tea towel. This step is important. If you skip it  your tzatziki will be watery and the flavor will be diluted.

After draining the cucumber, combine all the ingredients and taste- adjust seasoning and serve with the grilled chicken, a greek salad, and pita bread. 

Hope you enjoy - opah!

K

Frittata

Hot, hazy and humid. That is what the weather has been like here for weeks now. And when it is like this, my motivation for cooking wanes just a bit. But the bounty from our (very small) kitchen garden has been an inspiration for more than a few meals when I would have probably just laid out French bread, cheese and charcuterie, and been done with it. 

Yesterday, my daughter plucked two of the most perfect yellow summer squash I have ever seen off our one small, but productive, squash plant. 

So what to do make with it, that my picky son will eat? Frittata! Yes! Who doesn't like eggs with broiled Parmesan cheese on top? 

Yellow Squash Frittata:

1 medium sweet onion, diced

2 medium squash, diced

1 large Yukon Gold potato, small dice

8 eggs, beaten

2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat broiler. 

Grab an 8 or 10 inch, nonstick frying pan and place over medium heat. 

Add olive oil and diced onions and squash, salt and pepper to taste, and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. 

Add potatoes, and sauté until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Note: you may need to add more oil here to prevent sticking and to get the potatoes nice and golden brown. 

Making sure the sautéed veg are not sticking to the pan -if they are, use a bit more oil to coat the pan (here is a good place for your oil mister or spray oil) - add the beaten eggs and let the eggs sit and set for about 5-6 minute.  Do not stir, no matter how tempted you might be. 

Top with a healthy sprinkling of Parmesan cheese...

...and now place in the oven to broil for 5-7 minutes or until cooked through and golden brown and delicious! 

Serve with crusty bread and a  salad...I served this a bowl of gazpacho! Yum! 

This is a great recipe to add anything you like in order to make this frittata your own. Get creative - bacon, asparagus, herbs, goat cheese and sundries tomatoes, even leftover pasta (a favorite in our house)! Hope you enjoy. 

Bon appetite! 

K

Pizza! Pizza!

It's a summer pizza party here at our house! The hardest part about this recipe is waiting for the dough to rise. :)

I actually use my focaccia dough to make pizza and I always make it in my Kitchen Aid mixer (but you can certainly knead the dough by hand. Takes a bit more energy but you will burn some calories and look great in a tank top to boot! 

Pizza Dough

(adapted from "The Joy of Cooking" by Rombauer, Becker, and Becker, 1997)

Ingredients:

3 1/3 to 3 3/4 c. AP Flour (plus extra to kneed the dough so it won't stick to the counter)

2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

1 1/3 c. Warm water 

1 tbsp salt 

1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil 

1/2 c. Corn meal for the baking surface

Combine the yeast, sugar and warm water and let sit until bubbles form on the surface. 

While that is sitting, combine 3 1/2 c flour and the salt in you stand mixer (or in a bowl of you are kneeling by hand).

Add the bubbly yeast and water mixture to the flour plus 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil and kneed the dough for 10 minutes or until the dough forms a nice dough ball. 

Note: if it is very humid, as it is here in Virginia in July, you may need to add up to an extra half a cup of flour while knees because the flour may have absorbed quite a bit of moisture from the air. Today, I had to add almost 3/4 cup of extra flour! 

Once your dough has been kneeling for 10 minutes, place dough in an oiled boil and leave to rise until doubled in size (can take anywhere from 1-2 1/2 hours depending on how warm your kitchen is)

Now that your dough has doubled in size, punch it down and divide into 4 smaller balls and let rest 10 -20 minutes. 

While you are waiting preheat your oven to 425 F , and prepare your pizza stone or baking sheet by sprinkling which corn meal to prevent the pizza from sticking to the baking surface. 

Now just form your dough into flat discs, I like it on the thin side, so I stretch the dough into a roughly circular shape, place it on the baking tray and then gently stretch it a bit more. 

That's it! Now you are ready to top with whatever your heart desires. 

I am a bit of a pizza purist and go for a bit of marina sauce, fresh mozzarella cheese, tomato, and basil. My family on the other hand goes from everything from fresh garden vegetables to left over Mexican Carnitas! Let everyone make their own and you have your own pizza party!! 

Bon appetite! 

K