For those that know me well, I tend to be inspired by recipes, but go off the rails in the execution. In the kitchen, I'm a bit of a rebel ... I like to do my own thing, add my own spin, etc. Inspired by the corn-and-tomato-pie recipe I linked to a couple of weeks ago, I took its essence and flipped it on its head. Instead of a chunky, hearty filling, I made a simple corn custard that was poured over caramelized onions that covered the bottom of a pre-baked tart shell. Then I added some unadorned, but glorious-in-their-own-right, sungold and candy tomatoes to the pool of custard. Baked for 40 minutes, the pie came out of the oven slightly puffed and golden. We ate it at room temperature with super-sweet muskmelon, but it would be great served warm as well. After an afternoon at the pool, it definitely hit the spot.

Corn Custard and Tomato Tart
serves 2 hungry bambini and mom and pop, too

Ingredients:
1 basic pie or tart crust recipe; I used the 9-inch pie crust recipe from Cook's Illustrated
1 large sweet onion, sliced into half moons
1 bunch of fresh thyme
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 ears sweet corn,
1/4 cup whole milk or heavy cream
1/2 cup creme fraiche
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon kosher salt
ground black pepper to taste
1/2 pint assorted cherry/grape tomatoes -- I used sungold and baby candy, but feel free to use any grape or cherry tomatoes you have!

Directions
Pre-bake the tart shell according to your recipe. Set aside to cool.
Adjust the heat of your oven to 375 degrees.

In a large saute pan over medium-low heat, heat the olive oil and thyme until fragrant. Add the onions, with a large pinch of salt and some freshly ground black pepper and cook low and slow until the onions are caramelized and sweet -- about 20-30 minutes. Set aside to cool.

While the onions are cooking, make the corn custard. Cut the kernels from the cob and place ikernels in a blender with the 1/4 cup milk or cream. Puree until smooth. Pour the puree through a fine mesh sieve or chinois. To the strained puree, whisk the creme fraiche, egg yolks, salt and pepper until incorporated. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.

Layer the cool onions on the bottom of the tart shell. Pour the custard over the onions (don't pour the custard to the rim of the tart; leave about a 1/4 gap). Nestle the tomatoes in the custard and carefully transfer the tart to the oven (I place on a baking sheet first). Bake for 40 minutes, until golden and puffed adn the custard to set, but still wobbly.

Cool until warm or leave at room temperature.

Happy eating, -s.
tomato caprese salad with sherry vinegar and olive oil

Hello, September! You're looking good.

With Rhys starting kindergarten and James starting preschool, it's been a busy, emotional week. Comfort food has been in order: I slow-cooked a pork shoulder in salsa verde on Tuesday for tacos and later for Cuban sandwiches. Sweet corn got sauteed with basil, red onion, poblanos and sungold tomatoes (and a healthy dose of heavy cream) for a pasta dish on Thursday. Salmon burgers rounded out the week, highlighted with a smoky paprika mayo and a thick slice of tomato. It may not cure every bump, bruise or blue moment, but food is a powerful curative when you need that little something to ease you through a tough day.

p.s. here's a song to start the weekend. kick your heels up!

p.p.s. to prep for fall cooking, here's a wish-list of cookbooks I want to read and cook from:
 
 
p.p.p.s. Quote of the week:  A good heavy book holds you down. It's an anchor that keeps you from getting up and having another gin and tonic. -Roy Blount, Jr.

p.p.p.p.s for breakfast this weekend, make my "breakfast crisp" - apricots, peaches or blueberries work great and are in season.


peach breakfast crisp ... ready to eat
Breakfast Crisp a.k.a dessert for breakfast
serves many hungry bambini

Ingredients
For crisp topping
6 tablespoons whole-wheat pastry flour
2/3 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup unsweetened, shredded coconut
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup turbinado sugar (white sugar works too)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup sliced almonds
1 stick of butter, cubed and kept very cold

For fruit
2 lbs ripe fruit - blueberries, raspberries, apricots, peaches, nectarines (peel and cut the stone fruit into 1-inch cubes)
1/4 cup sugar
juice of half of a lemon
zest from whole lemon (I use a microplane)
1 tablespoon for cornstarch

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In the bowl of a food processor, place the first seven ingredients for the crisp. Pulse a few times to incorporate. Add nuts and butter and pulse until the crisp topping starts coming together, with most of the dry ingredients incorporated into the butter. Place in the refrigertator to chill for at least 15 minutes.

While the topping is chilling, prep the fruit. For stone fruit, you will need to blanch the fruit to remove the peel.  Once that is done, remove the stone and cut the fruit into roughly 1-inch pieces - these do not need to be exact. Berried need just a rinse and drain before proceeding.

Once the fruit is prepped, place in a large bowl with the sugar, lemon juice and zest, and cornstarch. Stir until combine and let macerate for at least 5 minutes before pouring into a large glass or ceramic baking dish (I used a 7"x 12" pyrex dish). Top with the crisp topping and bake until golden brown and bubbly, about 30-40 minutes.

Let cool for at least 10 minutes on a rack. Serve with big dollops of Greek yogurt (or ice cream later in the day).

Happy eating, -s.
sweet james: a few days old / 1 year / 2 years
Well, I cannot believe our little Lumpy turned two years old on Sunday. That sweet bird of a baby has really grown into such a special little guy. And while adding another child to the mix has been a practice in controlling chaos, James is such a bright spot in all of our lives that I'll take the constant home-destruction, 5:45 a.m. wake-up calls and super-duper noisiness for all of his kisses, hugs and belly laughs. His joy, enthusiasm and happiness are tightly crammed into that little body and they burst forth with such vigor. He is excited to wake up in the morning and start his day and that exuberance doesn't stop until his head hits the pillow at night. He adores his big brother "RRRHY" as he calls him and always copies what Rhys is doing (for better or worse). So, happy birthday sweet James. You fill our hearts to the brim and we love you so, so much ...

Here's what we had for James's birthday dinner:


Creamy sweet corn soup -- for the boy who eats several bowls of soup at one sitting
-
Grilled flatiron steaks with rosemary and pink-peppercorns
Heirloom tomato salad
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Cupcakes for candle-blowing, birthday wishing and, of course, dessert
Well, I got what I asked for ... it looks like the end of August will be sticky and hot. Lots of ice cream eating is in order. Time to put the ice maker in the freezer. Here are some delicious-looking ice cream recipes just begging to be made:
 

Dan Barber's corn ice cream

Merrill from Food52 made this super simple and surely just as refreshing lime ice cream

Yum: Sweet Cream and Sugar Cone's brown sugar ice cream with ginger-caramel swirl
 
p.s. for the hot weekend ahead, here's a song to get your sweating
 
p.p.s. making this delicious-looking, summer-in-pie-form for dinner this weekend

p.p.p.s. Joy the Baker's fig and almond cake is definitely the way to start a weekend morning.

happy eating, -s.



I know it's a sin to covet things, but everything (and I mean everything) at Brookfarm General Store is covetable. The calm and cool aesthetic speaks to me and the entire kitchen section I want ... like NOW. And don't get me started on the linens ... or the foutas ... or the whole section of brushes.

happy shopping, -s.

Oh, August, you're moving too quickly to the end of the month! Let's go out with a bang: lots of hot days, cool treats, long swims and cocktails on the patio, okay?

p.s. here's a song to start off the weekend. Such a good one that always (creepily) reminds me of Silence of the Lambs.

p.p.s. My dear friend Sara made us this amazing pizza last summer ... I'm making it tonight. Hungry already.

p.p.p.s. I bought a lot of blueberries this week ... what a good excuse to make Cook's Illustrated's blueberry crisp for dessert with over-the-top scoops of vanilla ice cream. Heaven.

Happy eating, -s.
Jumping James
Our little James has mastered the art of jumping and has been constantly trying out his mad skills - especially during our post-dinner dance sessions. So, kiddo, here's a song just for you.
 
p.s. a perfect August weekend is upon us. Here's what I'm cooking up:
Friday: chicken cutlet po'boys with shredded romaine, heirloom tomatoes, pickles and homemade mayo.
Saturday: shredded zucchini and Italian sausage pizza with fresh ricotta and thyme
Sunday: skirt steak tacos with homemade roasted tomato salsa; rice and beans
desserts/treats: peach crisp with vanilla ice cream; blueberry muffins; banana milkshakes.
 
p.p.s. as someone who deals daily with human resources and personnel issues (among other exciting things), this video sent from a friend made me laugh a little too hard. I'm sure there are videos along the same lines for Gen-Xers, Baby Boomers, etc., but since millenials are the newest members of our workforce, they are easy targets.
 
p.p.p.s. my addiction to coffee is well-known (honestly, how do you have two kids and work full time without coffee?). For everyone who has had Mr. Klein's expertly brewed Joe, I think his coffee lands somewhere between Peet's and Starbuck's on this pictograph of caffeine levels. If you want to spend a chunk of your next paycheck, here's Mr. Klein's coffeemaker of choice.
 
Happy eating, -s.