Aromatic Peach Smoothie

Yep, that's my new Kitchenaid Mixer in the background! I love her - her name is Lola.

Well, the time has come. I can no longer deny that peach season is coming to an end. I’m sad about it, but all is not lost – you can make smoothies with those mealy peaches that you can’t bring yourself to snack on because it’s too depressing.

Aromatic Peach Smoothie

4 mealy peaches, peeled

1 cup goat yogurt

1 Tbsp orange flower water

1 tsp cardamom

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp almond extract

milk or water to thin to desired consistency

• Place first 6 ingredients in blender.
• Blend.
• Add enough milk or water to achieve desired consistency.
• Drink fresh, or refrigerate overnight (it’s better the second day).

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Ostrich Egg Frittataspanolouffle

Ostrich Egg Frittataspanolouffle with Black Rice Salad

When I found out that Whole Foods was selling ostrich eggs (thanks for the heads up, Monica), I instantly had a vision of a frittata-esque dish. Then, I looked through my latest issue of Cook’s Illustrated and saw a recipe for Tortilla Española. I decided to use this as inspiration, as I thought the subtle flavors of potatoes and red onion would allow us to taste the flavor of the ostrich egg, which I’d read taste different from chicken eggs.We noticed that the ostrich egg had a delicate, almost sweet flavor. I’m not sure it’s really worth 10x the price on any kind of a regular basis, but it was definitely worth it to try it out, and maybe for some sort of special occasion. The one ostrich egg was roughly equivalent to a dozen chicken eggs, and boy was it hard to break into that thick shell. Christin took pictures of me struggling with the thing. First of all, you really have to whack it, and it’s as if you’re whacking a dinner plate – bits of shell flew everywhere. I ended up just prying open a large enough hole that I could pour the egg out. I should have used a wider pot for this, but it was kind of fun to eat a really tall Tortilla Española – Frittata – Souffle hybrid, so I’m not sorry I used my old standby 5.5 quart Creuset pot for the job. Ostrich Egg Frittataspañolouffle 6 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced 8 small Yukon gold potatoes, thinly sliced with skin on (preferably from Holly’s CSA box) 2 tsp salt ½ tsp cayenne 1 tsp paprika 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper 1 ostrich egg (or a dozen chicken eggs, or probably 8 duck eggs) 1 Tbsp cream ¼ cup swiss cheese, shredded ¼ cup provolone, shredded ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped Preheat oven to 375. Place olive oil in heavy bottomed, 5.5 quart or larger, oven safe pan over medium heat. Slice onion and place in pan, stirring occasionally. Add salt. Scrub and slice potatoes, and add to pan. When potatoes and onions have started to brown, add your spices, then cover and cook until potatoes are tender. While potatoes are cooking, whack and pry open your egg, pour into a bowl, and whisk with cream. Add cheeses and parsley and whisk once more (I forgot to do this before adding to the pan, which is why you can’t see the parsley floating around in the picture – it would have been easier if I’d remembered to do this before pouring the egg into the pan). Cover pan and place in oven. Cook for about 45 minutes (check at about 30 minutes), or until the egg springs back when you poke it in the center.

Check out the size of this thing! After whacking the bejeezes out of it, I finally have a hole I can pry open. Pouring the egg out of its shell. That’s a big egg. Whisking the egg. The egg is now in the pot! It’s a masterpiece! (Or at least the tallest frittata Sasha’s ever seen)

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Pan Fried Yams

My dad always requests these yams when we are “camping” at their construction site. I make them in an electric skillet there, but they could be made in any type of skillet on the stove. The ones pictured here have swiss chard in them, which is not how I usually make them but it was a really good addition.

I use the same method for all pan fried potatoey things, so if you substitute any sort of potato for the yams in this recipe, you are in for yet another delicious.

Pan Fried Yams

1 yellow onion, thinly sliced

2 Tbsp olive oil

4 cloves of garlic

2 tsp salt (1 to sprinkle over the onions as they brown, and the other to sprinkle over the yams when you put them into the skillet)

3 large yams, peeled and cubed (cubes should be about an inch or so)

Juice of 1 lemon

1 tsp pepper

1/4 – 1/2 tsp cayenne

1 bunch chard, sliced (optional)

1. Heat oil and add onions, sprinkle 1 tsp salt over the top.
2. When the onions wilt, add the garlic.
3. When the onions begin to brown, add the yams.
4. Sprinkle remaining salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper over yams.
5. Squeeze lemon over yams.
6. Stir.
7. Cover and cook until yams are almost tender, stirring periodically.
8. Uncover and let the mixture brown over low heat, until the yams and onions are as brown as you like, stirring periodically so nothing burns. Add chard during this part of the process.

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Bacon, Fava Bean, Potato, and Ricotta Frittata

I acquired some duck eggs and used them in this recipe. They taste a little bit richer than regular eggs, and I wish I could always use them!

This Frittata was kind of a cross between a tortilla Espanola (due to the potatoes), a quiche, and a strata. Whatever you want to call it, it did turn out delicious.

Frittata

1 package bacon, sliced (minus three strips, which were cooked separately and sent with the guy who wanted to drive around in his luxury convertible while I was at home slaving away in the kitchen)

4 medium red potatoes, thinly sliced

1 lb fava beans (weighed prior to removing from pods)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp rosemary

dash cayenne

2 Tbsp white wine

1 cup ricotta

1/4 cup Italian parsley, chopped

3 duck eggs or 4 jumbo chicken eggs

1 Tbsp cream or milk

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 cup grated cheese (a mix of cheeses is good – fontina, provolone, and parmesan is what I recommend)

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Remove fava beans from pods.
3. Slice bacon and cook (on the stove, over medium heat) in a heavy pot or cast iron skillet (something you can transfer to the oven later).
4. While bacon is cooking, clean and slice your potatoes.
5. Remove bacon from pan, and place in a bowl or on a plate with paper towels on the bottom to absorb excess grease.
6. Pour all but about 1 Tbsp of oil out of pan.
7. Place pan back on stove and add potatoes. Turn heat to medium.
8. As potatoes start to cook, sprinkle salt, pepper, and cayenne over the top. Chop your rosemary and sprinkle that over the top.
9. Add fava beans and bacon to pan.
10. With a spatula, scrape the bottom of the pan and move the potatoes around so that they can all take a turn getting brown at the bottom of the pan.
11. When there’s a nice amount of crusty stuff at the bottom of the pan and all of the potatoes have at least a small patch of golden brown goodness on them, add the wine and scrape the bottom of the pan.
12. Turn heat to low and cover to steam. Stir periodically.
13. In a medium mixing bowl, combine ricotta, parsley, nutmeg, cream/milk, and eggs. Using a fork, beat until combined. If you have some lumps of ricotta, that’s fine.
14. When the potatoes are tender, turn off the stove.
15. Pour the ricotta/egg mixture over the contents of the pan (no need to stir).
16. Sprinkle the cheese over the top.
17. Place pan in oven and cook for about 30 minutes, until eggs are done cooking and the cheese is melted.

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Quick “OMG, I only have an hour before people show up for coffee and I need something to feed them!” Scones

I was in a hurry and remembered reading this yummy looking recipe from Edible East Bay, but didn’t quite have what I needed to make them, or the time to make them. So I improvised:

2 cups white flour

2 Tbsp brown sugar

2.5 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

1 stick butter, unsalted, directly from the fridge, nuked for 30 seconds on high

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup frozen blackberries

evaporated cane juice

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients and stir with a fork.
3. Make a well in the center, and add the buttermilk.
4. Gradually incorporate the buttermilk with the fork.
5. Add the butter and stir.
6. Add the blackberries (you could use frozen raspberries or blueberries, or a combination thereof) and stir.
7. Spoon dough onto greased cookie sheets.
8. Sprinkle evaporated cane juice or coarse sugar on top of scones.
9. Bake for about 30 minutes until dough springs back when you poke it with your finger, and the scones are nice and golden brown. Check at 15 minutes to make sure nothing is burning.

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