I have a confession. A couple of years ago I shared a peach salsa recipe. The original recipe was from Put ‘Em Up, still one of my favorite canning books. But the truth is, that was the only year I made that particular salsa. For the last two years I’ve been making a completely different peach salsa. And hiding it from you. Pretending Put ‘Em Up’s recipe was the best one out there. But no. I’ve found better. Can you forgive me?
It’s been some time since I’ve baked. Mostly because I haven’t had a proper occasion. My family trips to NJ over the past few month have meant borrowing my mom’s kitchen to whip up some treats or simply providing the libations. Have you ever tried to carry a cake or pie on the subway, a short walk and two trains? Trust me, it’s not a fun experience. The responsibility of making sure the dessert stays perfectly straight with little bumps or bruises is stressful enough, but add a hot humid day and some whipped topping and it’s a recipe for disaster. Nobody wants to eat a puddled dessert soup. Unless of course it was originally planned that way.
A few weeks back when I made mini tiramisu cups, I bought mascarpone with intentions of bringing the supplies to my mother’s to cook. I can’t remember the exact circumstances but I ended up leaving my ingredients in Brooklyn and buying new ingredients in Jersey, leaving me with two tubs of mascarpone, an ingredient that I’ve purchased very sparingly in my life. Luckily the cream has a long refrigerator life if unopened. As the expiration date pushed closer I knew I had to make something. I canned some bourbon cherries the other week, realizing I still had half a pint left over from last season that we needed to consume. …how those cherries lasted a few year is still a mystery.
Again with the summer squash. I never knew it was possible to eat so much zucchini, and still enjoy it. Thanks to one impulse purchase at the greenmarket plus three generous weeks with the Park Slope CSA, I can’t seem to eat the stuff fast enough. Quiches and stews or sautes seem to be my go to for using veggies fast. A combination of veggies and greens cooked down for maximum taste and nutrition. But with so much squash, I decided it was time to take on a single flavor CSA dish.
A few years ago, tzatziki was all I could think about. These days I’ve moved on to yogurt salad. The influx of Mediterranean and middle eastern restaurants in Bay Ridge has certainly contributed to the habit. Finding a lack of “tzatziki” listed on the menu I was driven to enjoy my pita with other yogurt dips like haydari and yogurt salad. In honestly, I think haydari might be my new favorite, but I haven’t yet perfected the home recipe. In the meantime, yogurt salad is a perfectly satisfying replacement.
The last few weeks I’ve been inundated with summer squash. I made the mistake of picking some up at the Greenmarket a few weeks back, knowing I had a CSA share to pick up just a few days later. It just looked so good. I grilled some and figured I’d go though the rest in no time. Apparently not. Thanks to some schedule swapping to accommodate our trip later in the fall, I just picked up 3 straight weeks of CSA shares, all chock full of squash. I love the stuff but this is getting a bit absurd. Over the past few weeks I’ve gotten pretty creative, as you’ll see in some upcoming posts.
Brooklyn Locavore 