I know it’s barbecue season and all, but the nice little disc that distributes the heat on my gas grill pretty much withered away to dust all of the sudden, and I’m grill-less unless I want to bother with the whole charcoal thing, which most of the time just takes way too much planning.

And so, after my latest grocery impulse buy–a rack of ribs–I had to come up with somethin’ new.

Oven Baked Ribs

1 rack (or more! hey! who’s to stop you) babyback pork ribs

For the spice rub:
1/4 C brown sugar
1 T paprika
2 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp berbere mix if you can get your hands on some

Mix it up and rub it on the ribs generously. Let sit overnight in the fridge with it on or at room temp at least 30 minutes.

Make a loose foil packet for the ribs and bake at 300 degrees for 2 1/2 hours.

When rib meat is pulled away from bone, dress top in bbq sauce (store bought in my case) and stick under the broiler meaty side up for a few minutes until bubbly and caramelized.

Mango Slaw

1/2 cucumber,seeded and sliced thinly
1/4 mango, julienned
1/4 jicama tuber, julienned
1/8th head red cabbage, sliced thinly
1/4 carrot, sliced thinly in wafers
2 radishes, quartered and sliced thinly
juice of 1/2 lime
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp walnut oil
1 tsp sushi vinegar or other vinegar
pinch salt

Whisk together last 5 ingredients and add all other ingredients. This’ll be fine the next day too but I prefer it immediately.

Thanks to P for the inspiration.

This dish is extremely quick to prepare if you have the right equipment (a mandolin or julienne tool) and 100% doable on a weekday. Took me about 15 minutes, healthy, tasty, and very presentable.

For the Salmon

1/3 lb salmon per person, fillet, non farmed
5 spice powder
berbere spice mixture or a bit of cayenne
salt

Salt the salmon, let sit for a couple of minutes. Dust the fleshiest side of the salmon in five spice powder and then top with 1/3 as much berbere or cayenne or other similar mixture.

For the Asian Mixed Vegetable Salad

2 broccoli stalks, trimmed and peeled w/ veg peeler
2 radishes, quartered and sliced thinly
1/4 bulb fennel, shaved on mandolin
1/2 cucumber, peeled, cored and sliced thinly
4 leaves butter lettuce, roughly ripped into 1-2 inch squares or so
1 pink pluot, in 1/2 inch cubes
1 dark plumb, in 1/2 inch cubes
2T seasoned rice vinegar
1T walnut oil or other fragrant nut oil
1T sesame seeds or gomashi
salt to taste

Julienne broccoli stems (hopefully you have a mandolin type contraption to do this) and mix all ingredients together!

Served with Zuni Cafe Zucchini Pickles and lettuce from our organic container garden.

I make this salad in several variations, the classic being with croutons, romaine lettuce anchovies and the dressing.

Here’s the recipe for homemade caesar salad dressing.

3 anchovies, minced finely
3 cloves garlic, minced finely
3 tsp capers, rinsed lightly and minced
1 T whole grain mustard
2 T apple cider vinegar or other salad vinegar
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
2 T olive oil

Optional: 1 T creme fraiche, heavy cream, or sour cream; or, 1 coddled egg yolk

Whisk vigorously all ingredients together; will keep in the fridge up to 2 weeks in an airtight container such as a reused jar.

A few days ago, I was browsing around Saveur for some ideas on using up excess zucchini, cucumber, etc from my farm shipment. They have a seasonal produce guide which provides brief descriptions of fruits/vegetables, such as how to pick good ones, typical uses, seasonality, etc.

And lo, I found a solution for not only the zucchini in my refrigerator, but the feta as well. I had purchased the feta a couple weeks ago in bulk from Oasis Food Market to use in a carrot-harissa salad, and did, but had lots of leftovers. So, kolokythokeftedes were made in my kitchen. And I stole the recipe here. I used dried mixed italian herbs and some additional oregano instead of fresh herbs.

I did make a different sauce:  yogurt, smoked paprika, dill, salt.

The Ferry Building Farmer’s market was yesterday and I managed to sneak to it at lunchtime; I bought a couple of watermelons (they are delicious this year), basil, the last of the year’s english peas, a grassfed flank steak from Prather Ranch, and zucchini blossoms. A whole box of zucchini blossoms, for $3.

I fried them, but will be posting recipes in the coming days of them stuffed, fried with goat cheese, used in pastas, etc.

Feel free to improvise the dairy combo in this; I used what I had on hand–full cream or whole milk would suffice, or you can combine skim and sour cream, whatever you have around. Ultimately this is pasta with spring vegetables, and you can substitute where it makes sense to.

For two

150 grams rigatoni
1 cup milk
2 T creme fraiche
1/2 tsp Italian dried herbs (basil, oregano, thyme, any combo thereof)
2-3 T tomato paste
1/2 cup peas, shelled
1 1/2 cups cleaned, chopped chard or kale

As you start the pasta is cooking (bring water to boil first before starting the sauce), use a large skillet to gently warm the milk and tomato paste. Add some salt.

When steaming or very lightly simmering, stir mixture and add herbs and peas. Continue cooking a few more minutes.

When pasta is done,  drain and add to the sauce pan, adding the chard and creme fraiche, covering, and letting wilt. A little parm or pecorino on top is nice.

Yesterday we had some new friends over for dinner, and I planned the menu while starving after my morning yoga class. I resurrected the tomato soup (tomato soup recipe) I always make (but haven’t for about a year), took a hint from a restaurant we went to recently and constructed a fried-chicken breast nuggets dish on fresh corn, English peas, and kale. I already had the peas and corn from my farm shipment and wanted to make sure they didn’t go to waste.

Fried Chicken Breast Nuggets on Kale, Fresh Corn, and Fresh English Peas

3 boneless/skinless chicken breasts
1 1/2 bunches kale
4 ears corn
1/2 lb fresh English peas in pods
Sunflower, avocado, or peanut oil enough to fry in a large, high sided skillet, about 2 cups or more
2 T butter

For Chicken Coating:
1 C flour, set aside

For Chicken Batter:
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 egg whites (can use whole eggs if you prefer)
1/2 cup milk

Frying the chicken:
Cut the breasts into a few different sized chunks in order for the chicken to cook evenly by being fried. None are larger than 1.5 inches thick, 2 inches long, 2 inches wide.

Heat oil at least 1 inch deep in a large high sided skillet; do not fill the skillet more than half way. It should be about 375 degrees; if you don’t have a thermometer (I don’t), test it with a bit of batter.

Generously salt & pepper two sides of the chicken pieces, and coat in flour. Dip into the egg mixture/batter, then back in the flour, placing within a few minutes into the hot oil.

I fried the chicken in 3 batches in a 10 inch skillet to not over crowd.

Chicken will become golden and firm when poked, flip it only once and remove and place on a rack or paper towels to drain. If desired, sprinkle with sea/kosher salt at this point.

The vegetables:
Ahead of time, wash and cut your kale–remove the thick stem, cut into 1 inch pieces. Boil some water, add salt when boiling and blanch the kale for a few minutes until deep green and tender. Drain and set aside.

Wash the corn and cut it off the cob, remove the peas from their shells.

While the oil for the chicken is heating, heat the butter in a skillet. When hot, add the corn and some salt, and continue stirring or flipping until 1/3 is golden/gaining color. Add the fresh peas and cook a few more minutes as the chicken finishes its last batch of frying.

Assemble by placing the hot corn mixture on the plate or bowl, adding the kale and topping with the fried chicken.

Plum Ice Cream:

A friend and coworker gave me some delicious, overly ripe plums last Wednesday, so I made plum preserves of the immediately with very little sugar so they retained their color and tartness; I left them in as large of chunks as was possible and canned up two small jars. They came into play when I decided to make a delicious, custard-y vanilla ice cream and swirl them in.

Adapted from David Lebovitz

3/4 Cup milk
1/2 Cup granulated sugar
2 T brown sugar
pinch salt
3 egg yolks
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 plump, full size vanilla bean
1/3 cup plum preserves

Heat the milk, salt, and sugars in a saucepan over low heat until sugars combine and milk is beginning to look granulated/clear. While milk is warming, scrape the vanilla bean seeds out of the pod and add it to the milk, and add the pod itself too.

Whisk lightly the egg yolks in a bowl and gradually add warm milk to temper/warm the egg yolks. Once warmed, pour the egg yolks into the sauce pan with the milk and stir well as you do so to prevent coddling.

Cook over low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom with a spatula until custard is thick enough to coat the spatula. Strain the mixture into the cold heavy cream, wrinsing the vanilla bean pod and adding it back in again. Chill thoroughly and then follow your ice cream maker’s instructions, adding the preserves when the ice cream is fairly thickened, almost done.

Plum preserves recipe: Wash, then cut plums into halves or quarters if they are still very firm, place in a pot, cover with about 1/8th to 1/6th the volume in sugar, the juice of a lemon or lime or more for a great quantity, and bring to a boil; immediately reduce to a simmer for just a couple of minutes, turn off, and can.

The recipe is here; I swapped out the ricotta for sheep’s ricotta, which I do whenever possible as a recipe calls for ricotta, swapped the mozzarella for a semi firm american cheese – Wagon Wheel also known as “batch” from cowgirl creamery, and swapped the sour cream in the crust for creme fraiche from cowgirl as well. Delicious!

Prosciutto wrapped Pluot

Simple–great fruit, slices of it, wrapped in very thin prosciutto, paired with a soft cheese like burrata in this case, or seasoned ricotta (season with olive oil or flavored olive oil, salt, pepper), drizzled with aged balsamic vinegar.

Halibut on Truffled Corn

I’ve made this as an appetizer as well, and substituted asparagus shavings steamed lightly for the asparagus itself, and served smaller pieces of fish.

For 4

1.3 lb halibut fillet, skinned
3-4 ears fresh corn
1 pack rainbow microgreens
12 asparagus spears (or 5 if you are shaving them)
fresh thyme
truffle oil
hazelnut or walnut oil; if unavailable substitute mild, high heat oil – a few T
toasted sesame oil – 1 tsp
gomashi – ground salt and toasted sesame seeds
salt & pepper

You’ll need two skillets.

Lightly peel the asparagus and place on parchment paper. Dress lightly with olive oil or flavored olive oil (lemon, clementine, etc; alternatively add lemon or other citrus zest). Wrap peeled asparagus in parchment paper to enclose, and place in oven at 350.

Heat 1-2 T nut oil and toasted sesame oil in nonstick skillet or skillet with good sides for flipping at medium high heat. When hot, add corn. When corn begins to color, reduce heat to medium and add thyme. Continue flipping or stirring every 30 seconds to 1 min.

Meanwhile, heat a few T of oil in a pan for the halibut at medium high/high heat. Use enough to easily coat the bottom of the pan. Dress halibut fillets in gomashi and a dash of fresh ground pepper. Top side down into the pan first when oil is hot. When 2/3rds cooked, flip.

When corn is finished cooking, turn off heat and add 1-2 tsp truffle oil, mix. Season with salt and pepper.

Remove asparagus from oven. Total cooking time for most asparagus will be about 15-20 minutes, but check it as ovens vary.

Assemble as pictured on top of the corn; corn, halibut, microgreens, asparagus.

Apricot Ricotta Tart

3-4 cups nuts of any combination or variety: blanched/blanched slivered almonds, raw cashews, macadamias
5 dried apricots
2 T melted butter
6 fresh apricots
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup mascarpone cheese
8 oz ricotta cheese (preferably sheep’s milk)
orange blossom water
honey
benedictine or other brandy/liquor

For the Crust: Chop finely the dried apricots. In a food processor, blend nuts and dried apricots until fine meal is formed. Add 2 T honey, 2 T melted butter and blend until sticky ball is formed. If too sticky, add more nuts. Should be able to hold together.

In a 9 1/2 inch tart pan, press out the crust evenly and then place in freezer or refrigerator to set for at least 30 minutes.

For the Filling: Mix the ricotta, marscapone, 1-2 tsp orange blossom water, 2T honey and 2-3T benedictine/brandy for the filling. Chill.

For the Topping: Wash and quarter the apricots. Start a simple syrup of 1/2 C sugar and 1/2 C water in a large sautee pan. When made, add the apricot quarters and reduce heat to simmer, turning occasionally until fruit plumps but does not fall apart. Remove pieces onto a cool platter as they finish cooking. After fruit is removed, gently raise heat to create apricot caramel.

Bake the tart crust at 350 for 15 minutes until coloring golden. Remove and let cool thoroughly or pop into freezer/oven to bring it down.

Fill with ricotta mixture, top decoratively with apricot slices. If you want the topping to be glossy, melt some red currant jelly in a pan and brush on top. It will dry clear as pastries from a bakery.

Miso marinated fish

For the slaw:

1/2 fuji or other firm apple
mixed or “rainbow” microgreens, washed & dried
2 large red radishes
gomashi or sesame seeds & coarse salt
brown rice vinegar
toasted sesame oil

Julienne the apple and radishes. Whisk the gomashi, vinegar, and oil together to make a light dressing. Mix everything together just before serving.

Southern Biscuits

Make your biscuit dough and shape them and get them in the oven before starting the omlette, assuming you are not world’s slowest prep artist.

4 eggs, whisked with salt & fresh cracked pepper

1/4 small onion, sliced lengthwise thinly

2 small French red fingerling potatoes, about 3-4 oz, diced/small cubes

1/2 T butter

1 inch block of gruyere or other cheese, grated into ribbons

2-3 T raw pumpkin seeds, toasted over medium heat and set aside

Sautee the onions in the butter. When starting to sweat, add the potatoes, about 1 min later. Add a light sprinkling of kosher salt. Cook until potatoes are gaining color, and put into bowl to reserve. Put the pan back on the heat and put to low heat.

Cook the eggs. Let them set once, and then stir them and redistribute while enough uncooked egg remains to create a base layer. Cook another 1-2 minutes and add the potato and onion, and then the cheese.

I also added a green salsa from a local Mexican restaurant at this point. It’s spicy and tangy with lime.

Fold the egg miture over into a half circle and cover lightly with a lid, keeping at low heat to cook through without coloring the eggs or stiffening them.

When done, top with salsa and pumpkin seeds and serve with biscuits and jam. We had apricot rose jam today from Arbo.