Greek Panzanella

The vegetables in this were delicious and I think would have been even better with a little onion (which I didn't have.) It felt good to eat on a cool summer night outdoors with some friends and is really very easy to make, just lots of chopping. The feta cheese could easily be replaced with goat or some other crumbly cheese, but is a great addition as is. A little untraditional for Americans but for me, almost any salad without lettuce is genius.

From Smells Like Home by way of Annie:

http://annies-eats.net/2010/08/12/greek-panzanella/

Ingredients:

For the salad:

2 T. olive oil

6 C. French bread cubes (1 inch)

Kosher salt

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and sliced ¼-inch thick

1 red bell pepper, large diced

1 yellow bell pepper, large diced

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered

½ red onion, sliced thin

6 oz. crumbled feta cheese

2.5 oz. can sliced black olives, drained (I omitted these)

For the vinaigrette:

2 cloves garlic, minced

1¼ tsp. dried oregano

½ tsp. Dijon mustard

¼ C. red wine or balsamic vinegar

1 tsp. salt

½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1/3 cup olive oil

Directions:

1. To prepare the salad, heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan. Add the bread cubes and sprinkle with salt; cook over medium-low heat, tossing frequently, for 5-10 minutes, until nicely browned. Remove from the heat.

2. Combine the cucumber, bell peppers, tomatoes, and red onion in a large bowl.

3. To make the vinaigrette, combine the garlic, oregano, mustard, vinegar, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Whisk in the olive oil to create an emulsion.

4. Pour the vinaigrette over the vegetables. Add the feta, olives, and bread cubes. Mix together lightly. Set aside for 30 minutes to let the flavors blend before serving. Best if served fresh but will store one day in the fridge.

Corn Buttermilk and Chive Popovers

I don't read Smitten Kitchen very often because I find the pictures confusing, so I'm not sure exactly how I stumbled across this recipe, but once I found it I knew I had to try it as I am on a kick about putting fresh fruit/veggies into everything these days. (And I love popovers.) I had a few women over for a pre-Relief-Society broadcast dinner and served these along with the Greek panzanella. They were delicious! I made 1.5 times the recipe in 12 muffin cups and added a little bit of chopped dill just because I had it. They shrank right out of the oven, but they were huge and puffy when I took them out. Don't know how to fix that, but for the flavoring is a nice twist on the classic popover that I enjoyed.

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen to make 12 popovers in a muffin tin:

http://smittenkitchen.com/2011/07/corn-buttermilk-and-chive-popovers/

Ingredients:

1 1/2 C. buttermilk

3/4 cup corn kernels (takes 1.5 cobs-ish)

5 large eggs

1 1/2 T. melted butter

1 1/2 C. all-purpose flour

1 1/2 T. yellow cornmeal

1 1/2 tsp. granulated sugar

3/4 teaspoon table salt

Freshly ground black pepper (I omit this)

1 1/2 T. snipped fresh chives

Optional: 1 1/2 T. chopped fresh dill

2 T. butter cut into 12 pieces

Directions:

1. Place buttermilk and corn in a blender together and blend for just 3 seconds — you’re looking to break up the corn a bit, not puree it. Add the eggs and the melted butter and blend for one second more.

2. Add the flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt, pepper, dill and the chives and blend again until barely combined, some lumps are fine.

3. Set the batter aside to rest while you preheat your oven to 375 degrees, about 15 minutes. Take pan out of oven and add a little piece of butter to each muffin cup, place back in oven until butter is melted and brown. Remove tin from oven and fill each muffin cup slightly almost full with batter.

4. Bake popovers for 10 min at 425F and then reduce heat to 350F and bake for 20 to 25 more minutes. Try not to open the oven door! Crack it just 1-inch to take a peak if absolutely necessary towards the end. Popovers are done when they’re tall and bronzed. Flip popovers out onto cooling rack and let cool for a few minutes before tearing in. Best if served warm.

Baked Pancake/Dutch Baby

Old Bob used to make these all the time when I lived with him and Lisa the summer the Robber and I fell in love. He makes a wonderful version of this in a glass pan, where this recipe calls for a cast iron skillet. I liked this, but feel like it needed something. A little more sugar? A little more salt? The Robber and I had some aging strawberries which I pureed with a little sugar and with the fresh strawberry sauce it was a nice Conference breakfast treat.

From the NYTimes:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/20/dining/203mrex.html

Ingredients:

3 T. butter

1 C. unbleached white flour

Pinch salt

1 T. sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

3 large eggs

1 C. milk

½ tsp. vanilla extract, optional

Confectioners’ sugar

1 or 2 T. lemon juice, optional

Stewed or macerated fresh or dried fruit, optional

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Put butter in a nonstick or well-seasoned 12-inch skillet and place in oven; when butter foams, remove skillet from oven.

2. In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients. In another bowl, beat eggs well, then add milk and vanilla, if you’re using it, to eggs. When oven is hot, whisk egg mixture into flour mixture and combine well, but do not overbeat. Pour into skillet.

3. Bake 20 minutes, or until pancake is puffy and lightly browned. Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar, add lemon juice and fruit if you’re using them; serve immediately.

Yield: 4 servings.

Rhubarb Crisp Icecream

This was a lot of prep work, but so good! The Robber loves rhubarb crisp so I thought why not try and take it up a level and make rhubarb crisp icecream? Well, the Robber always would rather have the simpler version of things, but he certainly wasn't complaining! What I like about this recipe is that the brown sugar icecream is a nice base that you could add a lot of different fruit-nut-whatever to and come up with something delicious. It goes along with my new philosophy that cooking is like street style fashion. You don't have to love the whole outfit.... just you know. Something. Right.

Note: The caramel for the nuts takes less than ten minutes to make, so don't try to make it while the oats are in the oven, because then your caramel will get overdone while you wait for the oats. Yes. This is what happened to me.

From Eggs on Sunday:

http://eggsonsunday.wordpress.com/2009/05/27/rhubarb-crisp-ice-cream/

Brown Sugar Cinnamon Ice Cream

Ingredients:

1 C. whole milk

1/2 C. granulated sugar

Pinch of salt

2 C. heavy cream

1/3 C. packed light brown sugar

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

5 large egg yolks

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Warm the milk, granulated sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan. In a large bowl, whisk together the cream, brown sugar and cinnamon; set a mesh strainer over this bowl and set aside.

2. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Once the milk mixture has warmed, slowly pour it into the egg yolks, whisking constantly to temper the yolks. Transfer the entire custard mixture back into the medium saucepan.

3. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a heatproof spatula, until the custard mixture thickens enough to coat the spatula. Pour the custard through the mesh strainer into the bowl containing the heavy cream, brown sugar and cinnamon. Stir to combine, then stir in the vanilla. Set into an ice bath to cool thoroughly.

4. Freeze in your ice cream maker, adding the stewed rhubarb (see below) and oatmeal praline (see below) during the last few minutes of churning. Add the rhubarb first, making sure it’s swirled throughout the frozen ice cream, then add the oatmeal praline.

Makes a generous quart.

Stewed Rhubarb

Note: This recipe makes a little more than you need for the ice cream. Stir in as much as you like while the ice cream is churning, and save any extra to top the ice cream or to stir into yogurt, etc. I also used slightly less sugar than originally called for, as I didn’t want the end product to be too sweet when combined with the sweet ice cream base.

You can make this ahead and refrigerate it.

Ingredients:

12 oz. rhubarb

2/3 C. water

1/2 C. sugar

Directions:

1. Wash and trim the ends of the rhubarb. Cut into 1/2-inch pieces. Place in a medium saucepan with the water and sugar; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 5 minutes or until the rhubarb is tender and cooked through. Turn off the heat and let cool to room temperature.

Oatmeal Praline

Ingredients:

3/4 C. rolled oats (not quick-cooking)

1/2 C. sugar

Pinch of coarse salt

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, and line a baking sheet with foil. Spread the oats evenly on the sheet and bake in the oven, about 10 minutes, or until they’re fragrant and toasted. Remove from oven; transfer the oats to a bowl and return the foil to the baking sheet.

2. Spread the sugar evenly in a medium, heavy-bottomed skillet. Cook over medium heat, watching carefully, until the sugar begins to liquefy and darken around the edges. When it begins to do this, you can stir it gently with a heatproof spatula to moisten and melt the remaining sugar crystals.

3. Continue gently stirring and tilting the pan until all of the sugar is melted and the caramel begins to smoke. When it’s turned a deep golden color, turn off the heat and immediately add the oats to the skillet.

4. Stir the oats quickly but gently to coat them all with caramel, then scrape them onto the foil-lined baking sheet. Spread them out as best you can, sprinkle with the salt and let them cool completely. Once they’re cool, you can break them into smaller chunks by either pulsing them in a food processor or placing them in a large ziptop bag and smacking them with a meat mallet or rolling pin (I opted for this latter method.)

Makes about 1 cup.

Curried Red Lentils

The Robber's second Vegetable Tuesday post! He's just taking over this sweet blog. Sweetly. p.s. These are just like heaven-- soooooul satisfying.

Note to self: The Robber is having a hard time remembering exactly. So if you make these next time and they are not quite as good, then figure out what is different, fix it, and then edit this post. But for now, let's trust the Robber.

Ingredients:

2 C. red lentils

4 C. water

4 tsp. chicken bouillon

1/2 onion, diced

1 T. minced garlic

8-10 red creamer potatoes, halved or quartered (not peeled)

1/2 -1 carrot, sliced

1-2 diced Roma tomatoes

Curry powder to taste, minimum 4 tsp.

Note: You can adjust amount of vegetables to taste.

Directions:

1. In large pot, saute lentils in small amount of olive oil with garlic and onion until onions become translucent. Add in water and bouillon cubes and curry powder. Bring to a boil.

2. Add in potatoes and simmer until potatoes are tender. Add in carrots when approximately halfway done and tomatoes towards the end.

3. Taste and add more curry powder, if needed. Serve warm-- I like to eat this by itself, like a pea soup, but the Robber eats it over brown rice.

Brown Butter Nectarine Cobbler/Cake

I made this a while back when the nectarines were on sale and we were invited to go to a friend's birthday affair. I ended up getting busy and couldn't make it for the event on time, but had purchased the nectarines and they were ripe and fussing to be used so I made it the next day for the Robber and me. The combination of flavors is satisfying in a subtle way, they all blend together without a grand pronouncement, just deliciousness, and a hint of browned butter. The texture of the cake was not satisfying for me as cake, and was not biscuity enough to pull off being a cobbler. Something in between. A satisfying way to bake with nectarines, but not likely to get made again too soon with the end of summer coming. What I might do however is use the almond topping part again-- that is a nice little tool of goodness.

From Mark Bittman:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/27/dining/brown-butter-nectarine-cobblercake-recipe.html?_r=1&ref=dining

Ingredients:

For the fruit filling:

3 C. fresh nectarines or peaches in 1/2-inch slices, about 1 pound

3/4 C. sugar

1 tsp. lemon juice

4 T. unsalted butter

For the cake:

3/4 C. flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/8 tsp. salt

3/4 C. buttermilk

For the nut topping:

1/4 C. sliced almonds

1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

2 T. Demerara sugar

Directions:

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the fruit slices, 1/4 cup sugar and lemon juice. Stirring constantly, bring the mixture to a simmer, then take the pan off the heat.

2. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and cook, swirling the pan occasionally, until it smells very nutty, turns golden, and flecks of dark brown appear, 2 to 3 minutes. Pour the brown butter into an 8-inch-by-8-inch baking dish.

3. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, remaining 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder and salt. Pour the buttermilk into the dry ingredients and mix just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Scrape the batter on top of the brown butter, use a spatula to even out the batter but be careful not to mix it into the butter. Scatter the nectarine slices and juice on top of the batter without stirring. Sprinkle with the almonds, nutmeg and Demerara sugar. Bake until golden brown, 50 to 55 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool. Serve warm.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings.

Nectarine Shortcakes

Shortcakes/scones. Whatever, these were delicious. I'm really loving fruit in scones. The scone base here isn't anything really interesting, but the texture is a good fit for the nectarines and the overall effect is just warm and not too sweet and comforting. I would definitely make these again (not true of all scones recipes which eventually I will blog about). Don't look too much at the other recipes on the slide show though or all you will want to do is bake with fruit.

Note: I don't know what kind of nectarines they are using, but 4 is way too many if you use nice large ones. I cut up two and thought that would be just right but since the recipe said 4.... after the third nectarine I knew I had to stop, and even then the cakes were overloaded and I'm even usually a more is more girl when it comes to jazzing up scones but not in this case. Two nice big nectarines should be sufficient.

From Martha Stewart, of all places:
http://www.marthastewart.com/315190/nectarine-shortcakes?czone=food/produce-guide-cnt/summer-produce-recipes&backto=true&backtourl=/photogallery/nectarine-recipes#slide_12

Ingredients:

1/2 pound nectarines (about 4), cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 T. fresh lemon juice
1/4 C. plus 2 tsp. granulated sugar
2 C. all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
1 T. baking powder
1/2 tsp. coarse salt
6 T. cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 C. heavy cream, plus more for brushing (used light whipping cream)

Fine sanding sugar, for sprinkling

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine nectarines, lemon juice, and 2 teaspoons granulated sugar. Let stand 15 minutes.

2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and remaining 1/4 cup granulated sugar in a large bowl. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture forms small pieces. Stir in cream. Fold in nectarine mixture.

3. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface. Pat into an 8 1/2-inch round. Using a 2 1/2-inch cutter, cut out 8 rounds, and transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush with cream; sprinkle with sanding sugar. Bake until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack. Remaining shortcakes can be stored in an airtight container up to 1 day.

Note: I just globbed these out onto parchment paper without patting and using a cutter, it was fine.

Hamburgers by the Robber

The Robber's first Vegetable Tuesday recipe! On Labor Day I made homemade buns and the Robber made his own hamburgers and grilled them and then we feasted on hamburgers all week long!!! The Robber was basically in heaven, which is what I say on every blog post these days but it is true since I have come to be with him. :)

Ingredients:

4 lbs. ground hamburger (80% meat, 20% fat)

1/2 large white onion, diced

5 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp. salt (1/2 tsp. per pound)

1/4 tsp. dried sage

1/4 tsp. dried rosemary

1/4 tsp. garlic salt

Directions:

1. Mix everything up well but not too much (your goal is to get it mixed but touch the meat as little as possible.)

2. Form into 12-ish 1.5" thick patties by grabbing out the amount of meat you could hold in your fist. Press the meat into a patty with your hands. Put your thumb into the middle of the patty to leave a deep thumb print (this will help the patty retain its juices.)

3. Heat gas grill as high as possible, allow to equilibrate for 15-20 minutes to get up to heat. Spray surface with cooking spray to prevent the meat from sticking. BBQ temp should reach approx 500F. Place the burgers on the grill, set timer for 3 min. After 2.5-3 min flip the burgers and grill for 2.5-3 more min, then remove from heat and serve. 3 minutes produces a medium well to done burger. If desired, you can put cheese on for the last 90 seconds or so.

Light Brioche Buns

The Robber and I grilled hamburgers for Labor Day and had found this recipe in the "Perfect Burger With All Its Parts" article in the New York Times. This certainly didn't disappoint! They were pretty easy to make and had such a light nice texture without being too fat to put in your mouth. I would make these again for sure-- if I ever have the time again.

Adapted from Hidefumi Kubota, Comme Ça, Los Angeles via the NYTimes:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/01/dining/011brex.html?ref=dining

Ingredients:

1 C. warm water

3 T. warmed milk

2 1/2 T. sugar

2 tsp. active dry yeast

2 large eggs

3 C. bread flour

1/3 C. all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. salt

2 1/2 T. unsalted butter, softened

Directions:

1. In a glass measuring cup, combine 1 cup warm water, the milk, yeast and sugar. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, beat 1 egg.

2. In a large bowl, whisk flours with salt. Add butter and rub into flour between your fingers, making crumbs. Using a dough scraper, stir in yeast mixture and beaten egg until a dough forms. Scrape dough onto clean, unfloured counter and knead, scooping dough up, slapping it on counter and turning it, until smooth and elastic, 8 to 10 minutes.

3. Shape dough into a ball and return it to bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 1 to 2 hours.

4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using dough scraper, divide dough into 8 equal parts. Gently roll each into a ball and arrange 2 to 3 inches apart on baking sheet. Cover loosely with a clean kitchen towel and let buns rise in a warm place for 1 to 2 hours.

5. Set a large shallow pan of water on oven floor. Preheat oven to 400 degrees with rack in center. Beat remaining egg with 1 tablespoon water and brush some on top of buns. Bake, turning sheet halfway through baking, until tops are golden brown, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Yield: 8 buns.

Lemon Curd

Looking around for a recipe that used six egg yolks, I found this website:

http://www.fortysomething.ca/2010/04/recipes_to_use_up_extra_egg_yo.php.

The link for lemon curd fit right into ingredients I had and sounded delicious! I used lemons from our lemon tree along the drive and this set up nicely. Easy to make and delicious on the fruit that we grilled later that evening.

Find it online here:

http://americanfood.about.com/od/desserts/r/lemcurd.htm

Ingredients:

6 egg yolks

1 C. sugar

1/3 C. fresh lemon juice (4-5 smaller lemons)

2 T. grated lemon zest

1/2 C. cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/8" pieces

Directions:

1. Add 1 inch of water to a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over low heat. In a medium metal bowl whisk the egg yolks and sugar for about 2 minutes until smooth. Whisk in the lemon juice and zest until combined.

2. Place the mixing bowl on top of saucepan (the bowl should be wide enough to fit on top of the saucepan, but shouldn't be touching the simmering water). Stir the mixture constantly with a rubber spatula, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl as you stir, until it begins to thicken, and will coat the back of a spoon. This will take approximately 7 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat.

3. Whisk in the butter, one slice at a time. Wait until each piece almost disappears before adding the next. Spoon into clean glass containers and allow to cool with a piece of plastic wrap laid on the surface to prevent a skin from forming.

Notes: Can refrigerate for up to 2-3 weeks.

Oven-Roasted Fries

From Word of Wisdom Living, some blog by some Mormon guy. There aren't that many recipes on it, mostly just health tips, but this is where I got the inspiration for my chicken enchiladas the Robber loves so much. I ran across these and they seemed to fit well into my otherwise-Annie meal. I love oven-roasted potato wedges and these didn't disappoint, but I can never seem to get my wedges crispy enough. :( Do I need to slice my potatoes thinner, or cook them at a higher temp, or make sure they are spread out more evenly? Hrmmmm.

Recipe here:

http://www.wordofwisdomliving.com/home/healthy-recipe-2-oven-roasted-fries.html

Ingredients:

2 T. extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp. minced garlic

1/2 tsp. dried basil

1/2 tsp. dried dill weed

1/2 tsp. dried thyme

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1/2 tsp. dried parsley

4 large Yukon Gold potatoes, or potato of your choice

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine oil and spices (except salt and pepper). Wash the potatoes and cut into wedges, leaving the skins on. (Thinner wedges are crispier and cook faster.) Add wedges to the bowl and coat evenly. Arrange on a foil lined baking sheet, add salt and pepper to taste.

2. Roast for 30-40 minutes at 425 degrees, flipping the potatoes after 20 minutes to brown on both sides.

Raspberry Lemonade Bars

A really good lemon bar is like heaven on earth to me. I love them so much! I came to Stanford for graduate school partially because at recruitment weekend they fed us lemon bars, seriously. But I have not met with much luck in making them for myself. They always turn out runny or taste too much like eggs. But when I saw this recipe and knew that raspberries were still in season, I thought I would give it a try (especially as it would allow me to use my new kitchen toy, the immersion blender/food processor thingy.) I made a half batch in a 9x9 pan and they came out perfect! Tangy and sweet and delicious. The Robber and I ate the whole pan in two days. These are super easy so I will definitely make them again when raspberries are back. Now what to do with six egg yolks...

From Annie: http://annies-eats.net/2011/09/02/raspberry-lemonade-bars/

Ingredients:

For the crust:

2¼ sticks (18 T.) unsalted butter, at room temperature

½ C. sugar

2 C. all-purpose flour

½ tsp. salt

For the raspberry-lemon layer:

3 C. sugar

1 1/3 C. all-purpose flour

3 T. lemon zest

¼ tsp. salt

3 C. frozen raspberries, thawed (I used fresh)

6 large egg whites

2 large eggs

1 1/3 C. freshly squeezed lemon juice (I used a wee bit of lime too)

Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with parchment paper.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar. Beat on medium-high speed until smooth, 1-2 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, mix in the flour and salt just until incorporated.

3. Add the dough to the prepared baking pan. Press into an even layer over the bottom of the pan. Bake for about 25 minutes or until light golden brown. Remove from the oven, maintaining the temperature.

4. While the crust is baking, make the top layer. Combine the sugar, flour, lemon zest and salt in a large bowl and whisk to blend. Add the raspberries to a fine mesh sieve and press through, mashing with a spatula, to extract as much juice and pulp as possible, straining out the seeds.

5. Add the egg whites and eggs to the bowl with the dry ingredients and whisk well to blend. Whisk in the raspberry puree and lemon juice until smooth. (Or you can just add everything into a blender and blend it around without the sieve part, we didn't have a problem with seeds using fresh berries.)

6. Pour the mixture over the crust and bake until the center is just set and not longer jiggles when gently shaken, about 35-40 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool to room temperature.

7. Cover and chill well in the refrigerator, at least 2 hours. When ready to serve, use the parchment paper to lift the bars from the pan. Place on a cutting board and slice into bars.

Dust the tops with confectioners’ sugar if desired.

Post-edit: Made some of these with strawberries and they didn't set up as well as the raspberry kind. Don't know if it is the strawberries themselves or something I did differently, but I like the tangy-ness of the raspberry kind more anyway.

Corn Cakes with Tomato-Avocado Relish

Last Friday I stole a meal from Annie and made this along with her amazing raspberry-lemonade bars and some roasted potato wedges for the Robber. It was a variation on the ratatouille-on-cornbread theme, and received with almost equal enthusiasm. The meal just tasted healthy and the flavors of the cakes and relish worked together well. In fact, the cakes do a little better with the relish than as stand alone, but they would also be good with regular salsa and some melted cheese or sour cream. I made larger cakes-- using 1/4 C. and frying them like a pancake, and they turned out puffy and golden and just the right size for piling on lots of the relish. Annie also recommends eating them with some ranch dressing, but I don't think that is necessary because the relish is so delicious by itself.

From Ezra Pound Cake by way of Annie's Eats:

http://annies-eats.net/2011/08/25/corn-cakes-with-tomato-avocado-relish/

Ingredients:

For the cakes:

3 large ears of corn, shucked

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ C. cornmeal

¼ C. red onion, finely diced

¼ C. thinly sliced fresh basil

1 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. baking soda

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

2 T. buttermilk

2 T. unsalted butter, melted

Canola or vegetable oil, for frying

For the relish:

1 large tomato, cored and chopped

1 scallion, minced

1 T. minced fresh basil

1 clove garlic, minced

Juice of half a lime

1½ tsp. olive oil

1½ tsp. white wine vinegar

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

1 ripe avocado, pitted and diced

Directions:

1. Cut the corn kernels off of the cobs and place in a large bowl. Place 2 cups of the corn kernels in the food processor and pulse several times, until the corn is slightly pureed but still chunky. Scrape the mixture into the bowl with the remaining corn kernels.

2. Add the flour, cornmeal, onion, basil, baking powder, and baking soda to the bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir to mix well. Add the eggs, buttermilk, and butter, and stir just to combine.

3. To make the relish, combine all of the ingredients except the avocado in a medium bowl and mix well to combine. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve, up to 2 days. Just before serving, mix in the avocado.

4. Place a large skillet over medium heat. Add just enough oil to barely cover the bottom of the pan and heat until sizzling hot. Scoop the batter into the skillet a heaping tablespoon at a time, cooking the cakes in batches of 4 or 5 so that they are not touching. Fry 1-2 minutes per side, until golden brown. Transfer the cooked cakes to a wire rack and repeat with the remaining batter.

5. Serve immediately topped with the relish and drizzled with ranch dressing, if desired.

Mary Hearty Bye's Scottish Scones

My second batch of these are in the oven right now, per request of the Robber who at 6 out of the 8 in the previous batch. There's a debate as to whether these should be cooked on the stove griddle-style (per the reviewers, the true-to-the-poor-Scotchman's-way) or baked in the oven (only if you are rich and oppress the poor.) Being both poor and rich I tried some both ways for my first batch. I would cook these on the stove if I were going camping and making a morning biscuit, but I found that they puffed better and had a more satisfying texture when baked in the oven. You can go either way, but the oven is faster.

These are much less sweet than my previous scones and more truly like a biscuit, with a texture that is a cross between a biscuit and what we think of now as scones. The Robber toasted his in the toaster oven and ate them with butter and honey; I ate mine with a spread of Greek yogurt and some rhubarb-plum puree and we both had a grand old time.

From Epicurious:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Mary-Hearty-Byes-Scottish-Scones-241465

Ingredients:

2 C. all-purpose flour

2 tsp. sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

2 T. cold unsalted butter

1 C. well-shaken buttermilk

1 large egg, beaten

Vegetable oil, for frying

Directions:

1. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and cream of tartar in a large bowl, then blend in butter with your fingertips or a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in buttermilk and egg with a fork just until a soft dough forms.

2. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface. With lightly floured hands, divide dough into thirds and knead each piece 3 or 4 times. Pat each piece into a 6-inch round (1/2 inch thick), then cut each round into 4 wedges. (I just turned everything out together, this worked just fine.)

3. Heat griddle over low heat until hot, then lightly oil.

4. Working in 2 batches, dust each wedge of dough with flour, patting off excess, then cook over low heat, undisturbed, 3 minutes. Increase heat to medium-low and cook until puffed and undersides are golden-brown, 3 to 5 minutes more. Turn scones over and cook until undersides are golden-brown, 6 to 8 minutes (watch closely; move scones and adjust heat as needed so they cook through without burning). Turn scones on edges and cook until golden-brown, about 1 minute per edge. Cut one scone open to check for doneness.

5. Transfer to a rack and cool to warm. (Lightly oil griddle between batches.)

Notes: Can also bake at 375F for 18 minutes or until puffed and golden.