Can we just take a moment to drink in how adorable these are?
Baby summer squash from my first trip to the Mar Vista's Farmer's Market.
Summer Squash and Zucchini Ragout
Ingredients Sauce: 4 cloves 8 peppercorns 8 coriander seeds 1/2 cup heavy cream 1/2 cup milk 1 cinnamon stick 5 cilantro sprigs, chopped 5 mint leaves, chopped 6 basil leaves, chopped 1 Jalapeno pepper [Note: I didn't have all of these spices on hand... most of them in fact. I threw in extra peppercorns, some allspice, double the mint, and a little extra cilantro, and it still came out delicious. So I'm sure the actual recipe is really delicious.]
Vegetables: 1/2 onion thinly sliced 1.25 lb summer squash 1 can of yellow corn 2 tomatoes peeled, seeded, and chopped 1 tbsp peanut oil salt 2 tbsp cilantro leaves, chopped
Pour the cream and milk into a small pot and put over low heat.
Bruise the hard spices with a pestle. Combine with the cinnamon, herbs, and half the jalapeno, and add them into the cream mixture. Slowly bring to a boil, then turn off the heat and let steep while you cut the vegetables.
Heat the oil in a wide skillet and add the onion. Saute briskly for a minute or so. (I used baby summer squash, which needs very little cooking, so I didn't add the squash until the onion was almost done, about 5 minutes.)
Add the summer squash, corn, and the remaining jalapeno (chopped) and season with salt. Continue to saute over fairly high heat for about 2 minutes.
Pour the steeped cream sauce directly into the pan through a strainer. Add the tomato in and simmer for several minutes. Simmer until the sauce has reduced and thickened. Season to taste with salt and serve garnished with chopped cilantro.
So maybe ragout isn't the prettiest dish. It's still bomb diggity. And that's good enough for me.
Have you ever considered chewy tortilla chips? I recently went with a friend to try out a restaurant called Malo (not malo at all) in Silverlake. Besides boasting a tequila bar with 150 tequilas and spicy cucumber martinis, they've got a whole set of really delicious (okay, one was delicious, the others were really delicious-sounding) salsas and, more importantly, chewy tortilla chips. I knew immediately that I was going to love these. It's like those fresh homemade tortilla chips that they serve at real Mexican restaurants, only this wasn't a real Mexican restaurant and these chips were so much more than chips. They were piping hot and salty, crunchy in parts and chewy in others, and the perfect balance to a cool and spicy seasonal salsa. The food was quite good, but frankly, I didn't have much time for it. More chips, please.
So the point is, I went home and of course tried to recreate these the next day. And found, to my surprise, that homemade tortilla chips are every bit as easy as one would guess. This is rarely my experience in cooking adventures and misadventures.
Ingredients for Chewy Chips: 10-12 white corn tortillas 2 cups of oil salt and cumin for seasoning a twist of lime
Cut a stack of tortillas into 8 wedges round. In a large heavy saucepan, heat about 1 inch of vegetable oil over medium high. You can check whether or not the oil is hot enough by dipping a piece of the tortilla in the pan: it's ready when the oil begins to bubble around the tortilla. Be careful to keep an eye on your oil and make sure you get to it before it gets to you. Once it begins to pop... you lose, and it hurts.
Add the tortilla wedges in the oil in batches without overcrowding them. Cook until desired crunchiness (or chewiness) and drain on paper towel. Add seasoning, and serve while hot with a cool side of salsa or guacamole [recipe to follow].
Ingredients for Guacamole: 2 avocados, peeled and pitted 1 large roma tomato, seeded and diced 2 tsp cilantro, chopped 1/2 a small white onion, chopped 1 tsp of lemon or lime juice (fresh is best, but the the stuff that comes in those weird squeeze bottles that are supposed to look like a lemon and a lime, respectively, works just fine too) salt and pepper to taste Mash the avocados in a bowl with a fork until a little before desired chunkiness (Adding the other ingredients and the lime juice smooths it other a little more). Add everything else in and season to taste. Try not to eat the whole bowl.
(based on Javi's recipe on allrecipes.com) Ingredients: 1 pound peeled and deveined medium shrimp 1/2 pound of chopped scallop 3 limes, juiced 1 lemon, juiced 1 medium tomato, diced 1/2 small red onion, diced 1 cucumber, peeled and diced 1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped 1/2 serrano pepper, seeded and chopped 1 bunch of cliantro 1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil salt and pepper to taste
Place shrimp and scallop in a large glass bowl and cover with lime and lemon juice to marinate for about 10 minutes. Add in the onion, cucumber, tomato, jalapeno, serrano, cilantro, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Toss gently. Making certain the shrimp and scallops are fully submerged, cover the bowl, and chill ceviche for a minimum of 1 to 2 hours in the refrigerator, until shrimp and scallops are opaque.
(Recommended that the ceviche is left to marinate for at least 24 hours for a fuller flavor.)
(based on recipe found on Bread & Honey through blogspot)
Ingredients: 1 almost ripe mango, diced 1 pasilla pepper, halved and seeded 1 can of black beans 1/2 a bag of Trader Joe's Fire roasted corn, thawed 2 avocados, diced 1 red onion, diced 2-3 tbsps of coarsely chopped cilantro 1 lime 1/2 lemon a pinch of salt & pepper to taste
Preheat the oven on to 400 degrees.
Lightly drizzle the pepper halves and place on a baking sheet lined with foil. Stick them in the oven for about 10-15 minutes and pull them out when they begin to blacken around the edges. Put aside to cool.
Rinse and drain black beans. In a large mixing bowl, throw together the beans, corn, onion, mango, avocado, and cilantro. Once the peppers have cooled, dice them up and add to the mix.
Add in the juice squeezed from the lemon and lime. Change ratio according to taste. Do the same with the salt and pepper, and it's done and delicious. Serve with blue corn tortilla chips.
Ingredients: 1 small papaya - peeled, seeded and chopped 1 red bell pepper, chopped 1/2 red onion, chopped 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro 1 teaspoon minced jalapeno peppers 1 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 pound sea scallops
In a medium bowl, combine papaya, bell pepper, jalapeno, onion, lime juice, cilantro, and salt. Set aside.
Coat the scallops with salt and pepper.
In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add scallops; cook and stir until golden. Serve scallops over papaya sauce.
**Additional Suggestion: Keep half of the papaya sauce as a salsa, and puree the other half in a food processor. Simmer for 5 minutes to heat. Serve papaya puree warm on top of scallops.
aspiring foodie, photographer, and maker. i majored in English, but seldomly write. i love superhero movies. i never make my bed. autumn is my favorite season. i like mythical creatures and dinosaurs. tigers are pretty cool too.
Baby summer squash from my first trip to the Mar Vista's Farmer's Market.
