Nectarine CrispEquipment: 9x13 casserole dish (or baking pan)
Fruit: 3lbs+ nectarines and yellow peaches (1.5 lbs is ~4 large nectarines...we used 5 each, 10 total)
(1/2 pint raspberries)
(1 large crisp/sweet apple : Honey Crisp) <= we added extra fruit for color, variety of flavor and texture. optional.
Filling:-1/4 cup sugar (I used half white/half brown sugar. you could use all white or all brown. I only used 1/4 cup bc the fruit itself was very sweet, and I prefer fruit desserts to be on the tangy side anyway. If you're using a more tart fruit, like say, grannysmith apples, you can up the amount to 1/3 or 1/2 depending on how sweet you'd like to go)
-3 Tbsp flour (I added 1.5 extra Tbsp on top of this + a bit more sugar bc I added the apples later and they needed to get tossed in some of the flour/sugar mixture too)
-1/8-1/4 tsp ground ginger (to taste..I used a few sparing sprinkles, probably could have used more..up to you how strong you want the spice to be..i mainly wanted to showcase the flavor of the fruit)
-pinch salt
Topping:1 cup brown sugar
1 cup flour
1 cup oats
1.5 sticks unsalted butter (if cold from fridge, microwave for 10-12 seconds to soften the stick slightly)
Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees
-Cut/prep fruit to desired size. I kept them in big chunks. The apple I cut a little smaller bc the fruit is harder...that way the cooking time won't vary so much.
-In a med bowl, thoroughly mix the flour/sugar/spices
-Place all fruit in casserole dish and sprinkle/toss the flour/sugar/spice mixture, evenly coating all of the fruit. Just tumble in the raspberries after first tossing the sturdier fruit and toss them very gently so they don't get too crushed.
-Make the topping: in a bowl, thoroughly combine 1 cup each of the brown sugar, flour, and oats. Then add the slightly softened 1.5 sticks of butter and smash together, rubbing with fingers until you get crumbles. If the you've overworked it and the crumbles are too soft bc the butter is sort of melting, put the topping mixture back into the fridge for 10-15 min to chill a bit.
-Distribute crisp topping evenly over the fruit.
-Bake on middle rack of oven @ 350 for 45-50 min.
-To keep warm before serving, put crisp in oven on lowest oven setting 100-170 degrees.
Heirloom Tomato SaladJess and I were looking for a variety of flavors, colors, and sizes. The best way to cut the tomatoes is to showcase their size and distinguishing characteristics. For the smaller, striped tomatoes, little wedges showcase the seeds/flesh and also the skin. For huge tomatoes, you want to show off the size gorgeous red and patterns inside when you cut them into big round steak-like slices.
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Green and Red Zebra: for their beautiful colors and striped skin. these tomatoes are known for their lemony acidity
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yellow tomatoes (name unknown): they were really ripe and pretty. not the best flavor as it turns out, but still okay
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Aussie: the gargantuan deeply red tomato, with good old fashioned ripe tomato flavor. the sign said it has "good balance of sugars and acids"
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Orange Sweets: the orange cherry tomatoes that tasted like candy
-red grape tomatoes: these were from Russo's not the Central Sq. farmer market, still tasty
We bought enough for 2 slices of each of the smaller tomatoes + 1 large slice of the big red Aussie. All were bt $2-3/lb. We bought 1 pint of the orange sweets for the couscous salad and save a few for the red leaf lettuce salad.
Red Leaf Lettuce Salad-washed, torn into bite size pieces, spun dry
-chopped herbs (parsely, mint, basil)
-halved cherry/grape tomatoes
-balsamic dressing: equal parts EVOO + balsamic vinegar, 1.5 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper
Pearl Couscous Salad w. Roasted TomatoesAdapted from:
http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/07/pearly-whites/-We doubled the recipe. Instead of using chicken broth to cook the couscous, Jess toasted the couscous in some oil first before adding water to cook them. I forgot to include the kalamata olives, although I am sure that would have been an extremely tasty addition.
-Decided to use cheaper grape tomatoes to make the pureed roasted tomato dressing. The other tomatoes that we mixed in with the couscous at the end were a combo of grape + orange sweets, roasted in the oven for 250 for 1 hour tossed lightly with olive oil, a few whole cloves of garlic, and generously salted.
Roasted Boneless Leg of Lamb w/ herb/spiced/butter crust
boneless leg of lamb (I bought a huge 6 lb-er from McKinnon's in Davis Sq on Elm St)
6-8 cloves garlic
1/2 cup parsley
1/4 cup cilantro
1/4 cup mint
1 cup pitted green olives (Goya makes the cheapest. and there is no red pepper stuffed in)
1 stick butter (softened to room temp)
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp coriander
2 tsp ground fennel seed (optional. i love fennel though so i added it)
2 tsp paprika (i only had smoked paprika on hand, it's a more assertive flavor though)
1 tsp cayenne (if you want to add some spice)
1 Tbsp coarse kosher salt
-Put all the rub ingredients into a food processor and blend til it looks like a poopy pesto.
-Rinse and pat dry your leg of lamb. Place on platter. Generously salt and pepper both sides.
-Using your hands/spatula, slather the lamb all over with the spiced herb butter rub. Bc the leg of lamb I got was so huge, I cut slits into the fattiest side so I could stuff the rub in. I also ended up cutting the roast in half bc it was too huge.
-Place lamb into a large ziploc bag. Make as airtight as possible. Put into another bag or container in case of spillage/leakage.
-Marinate in fridge overnight or at least 6-8 hours.
-Remove from fridge 30 min roasting time.
-Roast on high heat @ 425 for 20 min
-Lower temperature to 350 and roast for another hour (maybe less...)
Note: I overcooked mine. I would consult this link (and others online) and/or invest in a meat thermometer if you want to get that perfect rosy red interior for a medium rare roast..which is what I was hoping for..(oops!):
http://elise.com/recipes/archives/001720roast_leg_of_lamb.phpI also was not hardcore enough to put the roast directly onto the oven rack...plus I think I had a much messier marinade to deal with.
Recipe loosely adapted from:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/olive-and-spice-rubbed-leg-of-lamb-recipe/index.html
Earl Grey Panna Cotta (4-6 servings: I doubled this recipe for 10 ppl and I had a lot of leftovers)
3 cups cream (I used half heavy cream/ half whole milk..to make it less rich, increase proportion of whole milk)
1 pkg (aka 2 tsp) of gelatin (the amount of gelatin per pkg varies. i always measure)
1 tsp v. extract (I used only 1/2 tsp bc I didn't want it to overpower the Earl Grey flavor)
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
5 bags of Earl Grey tea
-1 cup cream in medium saucepan, sprinkle 1 pkg (2 tsp) gelatin, stirring constantly on low heat til completely dissolved
-Add remaining cups of cream+sugar+vanilla extract. Medium heat, stirring constantly til sugar dissolved. Put in 5 tea bags.
-Once mixture begins to steam, turn off heat, cover the saucepan with a lid and let steep for 15-30 min. Taste to make sure the tea flavor is strong/to your liking.
-Pour into small ramekins/cups/etc.
-Chill til panna cotta is set. Approx 4 hours...at least.
