Baked squash blossoms

I've wanted to make squash blossoms ever since I found out they were a thing. I remember hearing Sookie St. James on Gilmore Girls rave about people expecting her stuffed fried squash blossoms and thinking, "I don't know what that is, but it sounds delicious." I've seen recipes here and there on the food blogs I follow, and they always looked so pretty. I've just never actually been able to find squash blossoms. So when I saw them at the farmers market on Saturday at $2 for a dozen, I jumped at the chance to finally try them. I baked half of them last night, and sometime this week, I'm going to try a dessert recipe I found.

photo by storeyland

Ingredients
6 squash blossoms

Filling:
1/2 c ricotta cheese
1/4 c parmesan cheese
1 egg
1 T fresh basil, chiffonade
salt and pepper, to taste

Coating:
1 egg
1 T water
Panko bread crumbs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut off the stem of the blooms if necessary.
2. Stir together all the filling ingredients with a fork until combined. Carefully spoon mixture into squash blossoms. How much you use will depend on the size of the blooms, but it will probably be around a tablespoon or two. Twist the tops of the petals together to close.
3. Whisk together the water and eggs and brush onto the outside of the blooms, coating all sides. Carefully roll the blooms in the panko crumbs and arrange on a greased baking pan.
4. Bake at 400 degrees for approximately 25 minutes.

-Katy

Sauteed squash

I improvised this recipe Tuesday afternoon when I was short a vegetable for my son's lunch, and it turned out really well. My son really ate it up, which makes me glad since his daddy doesn't like squash. I made this with yellow squash, but it should work with zucchini, pattypan, or any summer squash.

Ingredients
1 squash, cut into 1/8" slices
1/2 T butter
1/2 T olive oil
1/2 t dried thyme (fresh would be better)
a splash of red wine vinegar (I would have preferred lemon juice, but it's what I had)
salt & pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Heat a 10"-12" saute pan over medium high heat. Add butter, olive oil, squash, and a bit of salt and pepper. Stir or shake to get squash as close to a single layer as you can.
2. Leave it alone for at least 30 seconds. Toss to flip or use a spatula to flip if you aren't comfortable tossing it.
3. Repeat the process of leaving it alone and flipping until you get some nice brown spots on your squash.
4. Add thyme and vinegar or lemon juice. Stir, shake, or toss until the vinegar or lemon juice evaporates. Adjust the seasonings to taste.

-Katy

The first farmers market trip of the year

The farmers market in my town opened for the first weekend of the summer this Saturday, so my son and I went for a little field trip. I can't speak for him, but I had a blast. I got some local honey, a pint of blackberries for $2, green beans, tomatoes, and a massive head of cauliflower.

Seriously, look at the size of this thing.

To give you an idea of just how massive this cauliflower was. I took a picture when I put some in the toaster oven to roast. (I seriously love my new toaster oven. I can roast things without heating up the kitchen, which is great considering it's in the 90's most days.) I just tossed it in a little melted butter, salt, and pepper, set the toaster oven to 400 degrees and watched the cauliflower until it got some nice brown bits on it. What you see below isn't even a quarter of that head of cauliflower. And it was delicious by the way.

-Katy

Corn in a toaster oven? Who woulda thunk!

May has been hot in my neck of the woods. There have been a few days where our air conditioner just couldn't keep up, and it's supposed to be over 100 degrees on Thursday. (Ouch!) So, I'm trying to avoid turning on my oven as much as possible. If I use the oven on one of those days where the air conditioner is straining, the house doesn't cool down until well after sunset, and who wants that?

Lucky me, my husband got me a toaster oven for Mother's Day. (Really, it's okay. We've been talking about how much we wanted one for years. I mean, literally, years.) We've had a rough month with illness running its way around our family, so last night was the first time I used it, and I really went all out. No toasted bagels or frozen waffles for me. No, what's the first thing I made in my toaster oven? Roasted corn. And, it turned out great. I am so proud of my little toaster oven.

Directions

1. Soak the corn, in husk, in salt water for several hours. If you can't submerge all the corn, put the end where the silk sticks out on the bottom. I don't know if it actually works, but I imagine that capillary action brings the salt water up into the corn through the silk. Even if it doesn't actually work that way, I've always gotten good results by doing it like that.
2. Place the rack in your toaster oven on the lowest slot and set your toaster oven to bake at 350 degrees. Take the corn out of the water, and using kitchen shears, snip off the silk hanging from the top and any loose bits of husk or parts that stick out.
3. Put the corn on a small pan and place on the rack in the toaster oven. Bake for 30 minutes, turning once halfway through.

-Katy

Recipe: Fried Rice

Most people think of fried rice as a side dish, but I am here to present an argument for its inclusion as a main dish. If you add meat to it, you have all the elements of a meal all rolled into one: protein, grains, and vegetables. And even if you don't have the meat, you still have eggs for your protein. And if you're a vegetarian, you can always use tofu. See? It's not just a main dish. It's a whole meal!

Fried rice is a pretty versatile dish, so it's perfect for using up leftovers. In fact, it actually works better with leftover rice than with fresh rice (though I rarely make it with leftover rice because the only other ways we eat rice is in etouffee or red beans and rice). I usually use onions, carrots, and peas for the veggies, but just about any combination would work, and I would encourage you to experiment. Now, onto the recipe.

Ingredients:
canola oil
2 cloves garlic
1 small to medium onion, diced
1 medium to large carrot, quartered and sliced (1/8" thick)
3 cups cooked long grain white rice
sesame oil
2 eggs
1 t ginger
frozen peas
soy sauce

Method:
1) Saute garlic, onion, and carrot over medium to medium-high heat in a little bit of canola oil (just enough to coat the pan) until nearly tender, about 6-8 minutes.
2) Add rice and stir to incorporate. You're not trying to put color on the rice, just heating it up and getting it mixed in with the vegetables.
3) Make a well in the rice. Pour sesame oil and then eggs into the well. Stir the eggs until they are partly scrambled, and then incorporate them into the rice.
4) Add ginger and frozen peas and stir until the peas are heated through.
5) Add soy sauce to taste.

-Katy

Recipe: Pasta Salad

Dressing:
1/4 c extra-virgin olive oil
2 T balsamic vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced

Salad:
3/4 lb cooked pasta (I used bowtie. Fusili or penne would also be good.)
2 oz pepperoni, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 oz provolone, cubed
1 cucumber, peeled, quartered and sliced
A few grape tomatoes, kalamata olives, and pepperoncini, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 sun-dried tomato, cut into bite-sized pieces

Method:
1. Whisk together vinegar, oil, and garlic until it has a uniform consistency. You don't need to bother drizzling the oil into the vinegar.
2. Toss dressing with the rest of the ingredients.

Most of the time taken by this recipe is taken by cutting stuff up, which can be done while the pasta cooks. If you cook the pasta while you're prepping the rest of the ingredients, rinse the pasta in cold water before adding it to the rest of the ingredients so it's easier to work with.