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 ummertime and the livin' is easy…nourish your body and feed your soul with new and exciting flavor combinations. Let the season be your guide and build delicious, simple recipes around what comes your way. Longer days and soft, warm afternoons are perfect for an al fresco dinner of perfect roast chicken and a simple salad. Pasture-raised Dewberry Hill chickens are swooningly good, yielding tender, juicy flavor to make you remember what chicken really tastes like. Pack your picnic baskets with Full Quiver, Veldhuizen or Wateroak cheeses, crusty Texas French Bread, smoky Texas pepper jam, Farmhouse arugula pesto and sweet pickled radishes. Mornings, wake up to birdsong and “Word on Food” scones or brioche, Richardson pastured pork pan sausage, handmade granola, goatsmilk yogurt, Steeping Room teas, and Farmhouse blend coffee. |
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Classic Eggplant Parmesan
• olive oil
• 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 pound fresh ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• red wine vinegar
• 1 bunch fresh basil
• ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• ½ cup dried breadcrumbs
• 2 tablespoons fresh oregano, leaves chopped
Place olive oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and dried oregano and cook for 10 minutes, until the onion and garlic are soft. Add the chopped tomatoes to the onion, garlic and oregano. Stir, then cover and simmer slowly for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, grill or sauté the eggplant slices on both sides until lightly charred. Season the tomato sauce with salt, pepper and wine vinegar, and add the basil. Into a casserole dish, put a small layer of tomato sauce, then a thin layer of Parmesan, followed by a single layer of eggplant. Repeat these layers until you’ve used all the ingredients, finishing with a little sauce and another good sprinkling of Parmesan. Toss the breadcrumbs in olive oil with a little freshly chopped oregano and sprinkle on top of the Parmesan. Place the dish in the oven and bake at 375°F for half an hour until golden, crisp and bubbly.
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Grilled Marinated Vegetables
• 1 yellow pepper
• 2 medium squash or zucchini
• 1 eggplant
• 1 bunch leeks
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large bunch of fresh basil
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 1 clove of garlic
Heat the grill or a griddle pan, put whole peppers on it, and blacken on all sides. While still hot, put them in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave to cool.
Slice the squash lengthwise lengthways about ¼ inch thick. Grill the squash on the griddle pan for about a minute on each side or until slightly charred. Cut the eggplant across into slices ½ inch thick. Chargrill the eggplant slices.
Sliced the leeks lengthwise and chargrill them until tender and slightly charred.
Peel the peppers: carefully rub off the black skin, then remove the stalk and seeds and tear the peppers up into large strips. Put all the vegetables into a large bowl.
Take about half of the basil leaves and pound in a pestle and mortar with a good pinch of seasoning until you have a smooth pulp. Add about 8 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and the vinegar, to taste. Pour this over the vegetables and toss quickly so that everything gets coated in basil oil, then add the remaining whole basil leaves. Slice the garlic really and add to vegetables. Mix everything together, and serve on a large plate at room temperature. Great with any grilled fish or meat, or as part of an antipasti plate with some toasted bruschetta and some fresh mozzarella.
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Grilled Caponata
• 1 pound eggplant, cut into large chunks
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 small red onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
• a small bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley or basil
• 2 tablespoons salted capers, rinsed, soaked and drained
• ¼ cup green olives, stones removed
• 2–3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 pound ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
• optional: 2 tablespoons slivered almonds, lightly toasted
Heat a sauté pan over medium high heat, or nestle into coals on grill. Add eggplant pieces and oregano, season with a little salt and toss around so the eggplant is evenly coated by the oil. Cook on a high heat in batches if necessary for around 4 or 5 minutes, giving the pan a shake every now and then. When the eggplant pieces are golden on each side, add the onion, garlic and parsley or basil and continue cooking for another couple of minutes. Add a little more oil to the pan if you feel it's getting too dry. Add the drained capers and the olives and drizzle over the vinegar. When all the vinegar has evaporated, add the tomatoes and simmer for around 15 minutes or until tender. Taste before serving and season if you need to with salt, pepper, a pinch of sugar and a little more vinegar. Drizzle with olive oil and serve sprinkled with the chopped parsley leaves and the almonds if you like.
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