I went on quite the shopping spree last week at the Union Square Greenmarket. Among the goodies I picked up were these nice zucchini flowers and a loaf of fresh ciabatta bread. Stuffed zucchini flowers are one of our family’s favorite summertime treats, but the dilemma, as always, is what to stuff them with. This time I chose the ciabatta bread, dicing up the crispy ends of the loaf and cooking it with onions and herbs. The mixture ended up resembling, well, stuffing, like the kind you put in a turkey, only without the heavy flavor of sage. This filling worked surprisingly well and would also work well with other things added (cheese, seafood, etc…). Just get the zucchini flowers while you can, the season doesn’t last long!

Bread and Onion Stuffed Zucchini Flowers (serves 4, or really 2 because you will want to eat them all)

12 zucchini flowers, washed well
2 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, diced
2 cups crusty bread (ciabatta, baguette, etc…), cut into very small cubes
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup buttermilk
Approximately 1-1/4 cups flour

Melt the butter in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the diced onion and cook until soft. Add the bread, thyme, salt and pepper. Stir well and cook for about 2 minutes. Add enough water to the mixture to bind the bread pieces together, and continue to cook for another minute. Remove from the heat and cool for a few minutes. Stuff each zucchini flower with the bread mixture, taking care not to tear the sides of each flower too much. Now, heat the vegetable oil in a clean frying pan over medium-high heat. Coat each stuffed zucchini flower in some buttermilk, followed by a nice coating of flour, then put it in the frying pan. Cook for just 1-2 minutes on each side, until they are crisp and golden all over. Drain on paper towels, then serve.

We ate the flowers with some fresh heirloom tomatoes and some homemade ricotta that I made earlier that day. Drizzle some olive oil, sprinkle some coarse sea salt, and you have a perfect bite of summery goodness.

Summer fruits are finally in full season now and that opens up so many dessert options.  But still, what to make?  I love pie, but don’t actually enjoy making it all the time.  And I also love a fruit crisp with a nice streusel topping, but I prefer that in the fall.  Shortcakes can be good, but too often the biscuit is too clunky and heavy.  What about a cobbler?  You know, that often neglected dessert that bring to mind the unrecognizable mush in one corner of a TV dinner?  I’ll be honest, I have never made one before precisely for that reason.  But when you think about what it is – a fruit mixture topped with biscuit dough – it actually combines the best elements of those previously mentioned desserts.  So for a BBQ at a friend’s house recently I used some super-fresh nectarines and blueberries and my favorite shortcake biscuit recipe to make my first cobbler.  It will not be my last.

Nectarine and Blueberry Cobbler (serves 8-10)

1-3/4 cup flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
2 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 Tablespoons butter
1/2 cup half & half
5 nectarines, pitted and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 cup blueberries
2 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons flour

Mix the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and butter together in an electric mixer with the paddle attachment on low speed until the butter is mostly incorporated into the flour.  Pour in the half & half and mix just until a dough forms.  Roll the dough on a well-floured surface to about 1/2-inch thickness.  Cut into 2-inch shapes (I did squares, but anything will do, or even just tear the pieces by hand into random shapes) and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Mix the remaining ingredients together in a large bowl, then pour into a baking dish just big enough to comfortably hold all the fruit.  I used a 10-inch round, 1-inch deep ceramic dish, but anything else will do.  Arrange the cut biscuit dough on the top of the fruit, leaving a few small spots uncovered.  Put the dish on a baking sheet (it will most likely bubble over) and bake in the preheated oven for about 45 minutes, or until the biscuits are golden and the fruit is bubbling.  Let cool a bit before serving.

Hard to believe, but I bought my first sour cherries ever from the farmer’s market last week.  There are two main reasons I haven’t bought them before.  First, their season is very short so the chances of finding them are slim.  And second, they are very fragile and do not keep for more than a few days so you need to have time to use them if you don’t want to waste your money (and they can be expensive).  I bought these cherries without any clear plan on what to make, but decided on a pie when I got home.  I soon realized I didn’t have nearly enough for a full size pie, so I made a few mini-pies in a couple of individual tart pans.  The sour cherries had a wonderful flavor (they are the traditional pie-making cherry after all, but most recipes usually use canned cherries) and I don’t think I’ll be so hesitant to buy them again.

A note on making individual pies:  Roll the pie dough as thin as you can or else the filling to crust ratio will be off and it would be too much like eating the crust by itself.  To roll the dough extra-thin, make sure it is cold and try rolling it between two sheets of parchment paper to prevent it from sticking to your rolling pin.

As for the kids, Mia found a way to eat all the cherries first so there was a hollowed out pie shell before eating most of the crust.  And maybe Claudine didn’t like the cherries as much as everyone else because everything else was gone from the plate except for the cherries, which looked like all the juice had been sucked out of them.

Fresh Sour Cherry Pie (makes 4 individual 4-inch pies)

Crust:
2-2/3 cups flour
14 Tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cold water

Filling:
2 cups fresh sour cherries, pitted
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch

For the crust, mix the butter into the flour and salt with your fingers until mostly incorporated.  (You can use a food processor for this step if you like.)  Mix in enough cold water to make a dough.  Roll the dough as thin as you can (see note above), cut into 8 circles about 2 inches larger than your small tart pans.  If you need more dough you can just re-roll some of the scrap pieces.  Chill the dough until ready to use.

Meanwhile, make the filling.  Toss the pitted cherries with the sugar and let it sit for about 20 minutes.  Drain and reserve the juice.  Put the juice in a small saucepan along with the cornstarch and bring to a boil.  When it has thickened, remove it from the heat and stir in the reserved cherries.

To assemble the mini-pies, press one circle of dough into a 4-inch tart pan.  Fill almost to the top with some pie filling.  Place another circle of dough on the top, pinching at the edges so it is completely sealed.  Trim any excess dough and crimp decoratively as desired.  Cut a short slit in the top of the pie to allow steam to escape.  Repeat with the remaining pies, then bake on a parchment-lined cookie sheet in a  preheated 375-degree oven for about 40 minutes, or until the crust is cooked on the bottom and the filling begins to bubble out of the top.  Allow to cool slightly before eating.

I’m very happy that we didn’t miss the pick-your-own strawberry season this year and I’m equally as happy that I actually had time to make something with them.  The kids were sold on the idea of a strawberry pie while we were still picking the berries, but I realized that I had never made one. I ended up improvising this recipe right down to the pie pan – my glass pie pan broke months ago so I was forced to use a springform pan.  The fresh, whole, uncooked strawberries are bound together inside a graham cracker crust with a mixture of sugar, gelatin and strawberry puree.  The strawberries looked a little rough after I filled the pie so I covered them with a layer of stabilized whipped cream.  If you try this recipe, only use the best berries you can find because the flavor depends entirely on that.

Strawberry and Whipped Cream Pie (makes one 10-inch pie)

Crust:

1-1/3 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

6 Tablespoons melted butter

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.  Mix everything together by hand, and press firmly into a 10-inch springform pan.  The crust should also go up the sides of the pan about three inches.  Bake in the oven for about 12 minutes, until it has firmed up a bit.  Let it cool while you prepare the filling.

Filling:

5 cups strawberries, washed and stems removed.

1/4 cup sugar

1 Tablespoon gelatin powder, soaked in 1/4 cup cold water

Roughly chop one cup of the strawberries and place in a small saucepan with the sugar.  Cook until reduced to a puree.  Remove from the heat, then stir in the soaked gelatin.  Mix with the remaining strawberries, then immediately pour into the cooled crust.  Spread the out so the top is level, then prepare the whipped cream topping.

Topping:

1-1/2 cups heavy cream

1 Tablespoon powdered sugar

1 teaspoon gelatin powder

2 tablespoons milk

Whip the cream and sugar to stiff peaks.  Soak the gelatin in the milk for two minutes, then heat gently until dissolved.  Gradually fold the whipped cream into the gelatin, then spread on top of the strawberries.  Chill for several hours before removing from the pan and slicing.

The life of a small business owner leaves very little room for anything else, especially one like myself who is the only employee. Sometimes I feel like a one man cookie factory and that the creativity of cooking has disappeared. I would like nothing more than to have just a few hours each week where I can work on new recipes and ideas, so I suppose that it’s fortunate that I continue to be the pastry consultant at the Central Park Boathouse where I can do just that. Never mind that the ideas I’m working on are for the restaurant and not for my business, but it is a creative outlet nonetheless. On the plus side, I get to bring home any leftover experiments for the kids. It might be a few slices of red velvet cake one day, some profiteroles another week, or these orange madelines. I don’t actually own a madeline pan so the kids have never seen one before. I just told them that it was like a cake in a different shape.

Orange Madelines (makes about 16-24, depending on the size of your pan)

2 eggs
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
Grated Zest of 3 large oranges
1 cup flour
1/2 cup melted butter

Preheat the over to 350 degrees. Whip the eggs, yolks, sugar and orange zest in an electric mixer on high speed for three minutes until very light and fluffy. Fold in the flour by hand, followed by the melted butter. Lightly spray a madeline pan with a nonstick spray, then fill each about 3/4-full with the batter (there may be extra). Bake for about 12 minutes or until risen and cooked in the center. Cool for a few minutes before removing from the pan, then repeat with any additional batter. These are best eaten the same day.

Another holiday has come and gone. This year’s Valentine’s day really sneaked up on me. I had a busy week before our shipping day, Mia’s birthday, and all of a sudden I was over my head in cookies and cardboard boxes again. But everything made it out just fine – it always does, somehow. Through it all I actually had one or two days that I did not see the kids at all. To make it up to them I promised them a special Valentine’s breakfast, which ended up being these fresh baked muffins with lots of bacon. The sprinkling of coarse sugar on the top gives them a nice crunch.

Cranberry Walnut Muffins (makes 10 muffins)

1-1/3 cups sugar
6 Tablespoons butter, softened
1 egg, plus 1 egg white
1/2 cup plus 1 Tablespoon buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon orange extract
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1-1/3 cups fresh cranberries
1 cup roughly chopped walnuts
2 Tablespoons coarse turbinado sugar (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Beat the butter and sugar in an electric mixer until fluffy and well-mixed. Gradually add the eggs, oil, buttermilk and orange extract (they should all be mixed together first). Slowly mix in the flour, baking powder and salt, mix until thoroughly combined. Fold in the cranberries and walnuts by hand. Divide the batter evenly between 10 muffin cups, either lined with muffin papers or sprayed with a nonstick spray. Sprinkle each muffin with a little coarse sugar, then bake on the top oven rack for about 25 minutes, or until completely cooked in the center. Cool for a few minutes before removing from the pan.

Sometimes you just need a recipe just so you can eat caramelized onions.

Caramelized Onion Tart (serves 4-6)

2 large onions, peeled and thickly sliced
2 Tablespoons butter

1/2 cup butter
1-1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup ice cold water

Sliced fresh or sun-dried tomatoes
Crumbled Goat Cheese
Fresh Oregano Leaves
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Coarse Sea Salt

First, caramelize the onions. Melt the 2 tablespoons butter in a large, heavy skillet. Add the onions and cook on medium-low heat for at least 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. They should become a golden caramel color. If you find they are cooking slowly you can increase the heat for a few minutes so they start to brown a little, then reduce the heat so they continue to cook slowly. When they are finished transfer them to a container and set aside.

Prepare the tart dough while the onions are cooking. Combine the butter, flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor and process until the butter is mostly incorporated. Slowly drizzle in enough cold water to make a medium-stiff dough. Roll the dough out on a floured surface to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut into 6-inch circles, then chill until ready to bake.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread a layer of caramelized onions on the top of each circle of tart dough. Top with fresh or sun-dried tomatoes, followed by the goat cheese and fresh oregano. Drizzle with a little olive oil, and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake the tarts for about 20 minutes, or until the crust is fully cooked, but not too dark. Remove from the oven, let cool for a few minutes, and carefully remove form the baking pan, as the crust may be fragile. Serve warm or at room temperature.

We have a small farmer’s market across the street from our house that, until this year, ended in December. This winter, however, they have teamed up with the Can Factory Market so that we in the neighborhood can have our fresh veggies and pickles year-round. Mia, Claudine and I ventured over on an especially cold Sunday to check it out. I was actually a bit surprised by the selection. Lots of fresh herbs, good apples, and this beautiful orange cauliflower. Orange cauliflower is a bit sweeter than the standard white variety, which makes it perfect for roasting or sautéing. Make sure to get it nice and caramelized for the best flavor. We ate it with foccacia, roasted beets and salsify soup that day. Makes for a perfect winter meal.

Orange Cauliflower with Garlic and Lemon (serves 4)

1 head orange cauliflower, broken into florets (other colors of cauliflower can also be used)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
Juice of 1 lemon
Coarse sea salt and pepper to taste

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Drop in the cauliflower and blanch for 2 minutes. Drain and set aside. Heat the olive oil on high heat in a large sauté pan. Add the minced garlic and fry until it just starts to brown. Add the cooked cauliflower and continue to cook for several minutes, stirring occasionally. It should start to brown a little bit. When the cauliflower is brown enough for you, squeeze in the lemon juice, cook for another 30 seconds, and serve immediately.

I have been making focaccia almost as long as I have lived in New York. My first job was at an Italian restaurant (which has since been closed, torn down and made into a parking garage) by Lincoln Center. I knew next to nothing about the restaurant business and I probably even had some delusions about making it somehow in the music business, so I spent my first few weeks there just picking herbs and slicing shoestring potatoes. Eventually they trusted me with some real work – salad dressings, veal meatballs, etc… When an opening appeared in their pastry department I quickly took it and I learned to make ice creams and sorbets, biscotti, pannacotta, and focaccia. Their pastry chef then recommended me for a pastry position at Zoë and I also made focaccia there every day for several years. It has always been my first choice for an easy and tasty bread recipe, and I’m actually surprised that I haven’t made it at home more often.

Do not be intimidated by this recipe. It is broken into several parts, the first is to make what is called a “sponge”, which rises for a bit by itself. More flour and water are then added to that to make the dough, which rises again. It is then placed in the baking pan for one more rising before it is baked. So even though there are three separate risings it can still be completed in about three hours. The dough can be made a day ahead and kept in the refrigerator, just check on it once in a while so it doesn’t rise too much.

Focaccia (makes one 18″x13″ pan)

1-1/2 cups warm water
2-1/2 Tablespoons sugar
1 package active dry yeast
2 cups all-purpose flour

8 cups all-purpose flour
1-3/4 cups water
2-1/2 Tablespoons fine sea salt
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped mixed herbs

Olive oil for brushing
Coarse sea salt

Mix the warm water, sugar and yeast in the bowl of a electric mixer. Stir until the yeast is dissolved, then completely stir in the flour. Let it rest in a warm place for at least 30 minutes, until it starts to rise noticeably. Add the remaining flour and water, plus the salt, 1/4 cup olive oil, and the herbs. Mix on low speed with the dough hook attachment in your electric mixer until a dough is formed. Remove the dough from the the bowl and knead it several times by hand. Put the dough in a large, lightly oiled bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1-1/2 or 2 hours.

Punch down the dough, then transfer it to a lightly oiled 18″x13″ baking pan. Stretch and push the dough with your fingers until it covers the pan. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Let the dough rise for another 20 minutes or so in the pan until it rises a little bit. Brush the top with plenty of olive oil, and sprinkle with some coarse sea salt. Bake in the oven on the center rack until golden brown on top, maybe about 30-40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove the focaccia from the pan to cool until you are ready to slice and serve it. I had leftover caramelized onions which I placed on top before baking – definitely a nice addition, but not necessary. We’ve eaten it with salsify puree soup this week as well as the bread for barbeque pulled pork sandwiches.

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone. It really is my favorite holiday since it is the most food-centric of them all. Still, I have not yet cooked a real Thanksgiving meal myself in many years and this year was no different. I felt I needed to make some kind of a contribution in the kitchen so I made my pumpkin pie and also some braised red cabbage and roasted mushrooms.

A few days ago I saw these absolutely perfect quince at a farmer’s market. For those of you who don’t know, quince is my favorite Fall fruit which is saying a lot as Fall also brings persimmons, pomegranates and kumquats. The only downside to them is that they need just a bit of help to get their wonderful flavor out (that, and also the bumpy ones can be a serious pain to peel). I usually choose to poach them with just a few spices and lemon. A good quince has an almost tropical aroma and a golden yellow color, complete with the little fuzzy bits on the skin that lets you know that you’ve found a good one. The flavor is a combination of a perfectly ripe apple, pear and pineapple all mixed up in one. When properly cooked, the flesh of the quince will darken and turn into a nice shade of pinkish orangey-brown and you can eat them like you would a poached pear. This year I tried something different and made an upside-down cake. Hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving!

Quince Upside-down Cake (makes one 9-inch cake)

Poached Quince:
3 medium quinces
4 cups water
1-1/3 cups sugar
1 cinnamon stick
6 pieces of star anise
6 whole cloves
1 lemon, thickly sliced

Topping:
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter

Cake:
2/3 cup flour
1/2 cup plus 1/3 cup sugar, divided
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 eggs, separated
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon cider vinegar
juice of one lemon

First, poach the quince. Peel each quince and cut them into quarters. Cut out the seeds from each piece. Meanwhile, bring the water, sugar, spices and lemon to a boil. Add the quince, cover and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer the quince until they have darkened several shades to a deep pink or red. Remove from the cooking liquid and set aside.

Now prepare the topping. Butter the sides of a 9-inch cake pan generously. Melt the butter in a small skillet. Whisk in the brown sugar and continue to cook for about 30 seconds. Pour into the bottom of the prepared cake pan and set aside to cool for a few minutes. Now, slice the cooked quince into 1/4-inch slices and arrange decoratively in concentric circles on top of the brown sugar topping. Make sure to cover the entire pan.

Now prepare the cake batter. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking soda and baking powder together in a bowl. Beat in the egg yolks, oil, lemon juice and vinegar. Beat the egg whites separately with the remaining 1/3 cup sugar until they hold soft peaks. Fold a small amount of the whipped egg whites into the flour mixture to soften it, then fold in the remaining whites. Pour into the cake pan over the quince. Bake in the preheated oven for about 45 minutes, or until the center of the cake has risen and feels noticeably firm to the touch. This is a very soft batter and it is important to cook it completely. Cool the cake for 30 minutes or so, to give the topping a chance to solidify a bit. Run a small knife around the edge of the cake so that it doesn’t stick to the pan. Now, carefully flip it over onto a serving plate big enough to hold it comfortably. Slice and serve whenever you are ready.