Peach cucumber salsa with basil

It’s lemon cucumber season at our house, so expect a slew of recipes that make use of them. (Beyond the Garlicky Greek salad that has been one of my go-to ways to use the in-season tomatoes and cucumbers since the recipe first came out in the magazine in 1994.)

Peach and cucumber salsa

Adapted from Bon Appetit, July 2008

Ingredients

2 cups chopped, peeled peaches

1 cup chopped, seeded cucumber

¾ cup chopped red pepper

1/3 cup chopped cilantro

2 tablespoons sliced basil leaves

Juice of  ½ lime

2 tablespoons apricot preserves

1 teaspoon chopped canned chipotle chiles

Method

Combine all ingredients. Season to taste with salt.

Rating: Very fresh tasting. Nice balance of sweet and bite. Very fast fix. We had it the first night over fish and the leftovers with chips. Would also be good with grilled chicken or pork.

Blueberry turnovers

I've been buying an abundance of farmers market blueberries while they're in peak season and scurrying to use them up while they're fresh. I found this recipe when I searched for frozen turnovers. The second best part about these turnovers is you don't even have to thaw them to bake them. The best part is how they taste.

Blueberry turnovers

Adapted from Martha Stewart Living

Ingredients

1/3 cup  sugar

2 teaspoons cornstarch

½ teaspoon kosher salt

2½ cups blueberries (or other fresh or frozen fruit)

Zest of 1 lemon

2 sheets of puff pastry, thawed

2 egg yolks, divided, or egg beaters

Sugar for sprinkling (demerara, turbinado, sanding or vanilla sugar would all work)

Method

Combine sugar, cornstarch, salt, lemon zest and blueberries in a bowl. Toss to coat.

Roll a pastry sheet to an 11-by-18-inch rectangle. Cut in half lengthwise with a pastry cutter or sharp knife. Then cut each portion In half crosswise, and then again crosswise, so you wind up with eight pieces that are 4½ inches by 5½ inches. Top half of each rectangle with about 2 tablespoons of the fruit mixture, leaving a half-inch edge. Brush edge with egg yolk mixed with 1 teaspoon of water, fold over and seal edges. Cut three or four slashes on the top for vents. Repeat with remaining rectangle.

Place on parchment-lined sheets and freeze until firm. Transfer to storage container, layering with waxed paper and freeze up to a month.

Brush turnovers with egg. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake frozen turnovers in a preheated 400 degree oven for 15 to 17 minutes.

Rating: Superb. An instant keeper. These delightful little pastries are filled with plump warm berries that explode with summer flavors in your mouth. The lemon gives it a nice, bright flavor, and they have just the right amount of sweetness. They aren’t super filling, so I’d count on people eating more than one per serving. I boxed them up into multiple day’s worth, so we’ve got more glorious Sunday breakfasts ahead.

The recipe suggests adding cinnamon if you try this with apples or pears, and boosting the sugar amount if you use frozen fruit.

Salmon tacos with mango corn salsa and mango bean salad

The impetus for this meal was one leftover ear of grilled corn. And since the taco recipe was only going to use about half a mango, a pairing was born.

Salmon tacos with mango corn salsa

Adapted from Cooking with Amy blog by Amy Sherman

Ingredients

Corn from 1 cob, cooked

½ cup diced mango

½ cup diced fresh tomatoes (I used a mix of yellow and red)

2 green onions, chopped

1 tablespoon chopped jalepeno or serrano peppers

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, divided

3 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 tablespoon plain Greek yogurt

12 ounces salmon fillets

Chili powder

6 tortillas

Grated cabbage for topping, optional

Chopped cilantro for garnish, optional, but tasty

Method

Combine mango, tomatoes, green onions, peppers and 1 tablespoon of lime juice in a bowl. Season to taste with salt and set aside.

Combine mayonnaise, yogurt and remaining lime juice for a white sauce. Set aside.

Heat your tacos over low heat in a skillet and set aside to keep warm in a warm oven.

Sprinkle salmon liberally with chili powder. Turn the heat under the skillet to medium high and cook, skin-side down until mostly done, then flip to sear the other side. 

To assemble tortillas, flake salmon into chunks and divide among them. Top with mango salsa, white sauce, cabbage and sprinkle with cilantro.

Rating: Mango salsa was a nice touch and could have multiple applications such as topping grilled chicken or pork. Fine enough weeknight meal if you make the salsa and white sauce in advance. 

Black bean salad with mango sauce

Adapted from “Tres Green Tres Clean Chic: Eat (and Live!) the New French Way With Plant-Based, Gluten-Free Recipes for Every Season,” by Rebecca Leffler. I don’t own that mouthful of a cookbook, but got the recipe courtesy of the Washington Post.

Ingredients

½ large ripe mango, chopped

1 green onion, chopped

Juice of 2 limes

2 tablespoons olive oil

¼ teaspoon ground coriander

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

2 tablespoons each chopped red pepper, yellow pepper and orange pepper

1 medium carrot, peeled and diced

½ cup shaved fennel bulb

½ cup thinly sliced cucumber

1 cup baby spinach leaves

1 ripe avocado, peeled and sliced

1½ tablespoons chopped fresh chives for garnish

Method

In food processor, puree mango and green onion with lime juice. With motor running drizzle in olive oil. Add coriander, cayenne pepper and salt to taste.  (If making in advance, store dressing separately at this point.)

In a good-sized serving bowl, add beans, peppers, carrots, fennel and cucumber. (If you’re making this in advance, leave ingredients in layers, cover and refrigerate. Leaving the cucumber on top will keep it from turning to mush.) Add spinach and avocado. Toss with mango dressing and garnish with chives.

Rating: Very fresh tasting. Definitely a summer dish, and it paired well with the tacos. Lots of nice color. The fennel is largely undetectable amid all those flavors, but if you're not a fennel fan, you can leave it out. The dressing is very thick, and when combined with the avocado, the taste sensation is like eating a salad with a guacamole topping. Not that it’s a bad thing, but sort of odd. You definitely wouldn’t want to combine these ingredients too far ahead of serving or it would sort of collapse.

 

Baked risotto with peas

I had some fresh peas that needed using up and I’d made a vat of vegetable broth in the crock pot with all the farmers market byproducts (beet stems, corn cobs, leek and onion tops, etc.) so this recipe struck me as just the thing. 

Easy Parmesan “Risotto”

From “How Easy Is That” by Ina Garten, my new favorite cookbook crush 

Ingredients

1½ cups Arborio rice

5 cups broth, divided

½ cup white wine

3 tablespoons butter, cut into chunks

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish

1 cup cooked peas

2 teaspoons kosher salt

Black pepper to taste

Method

Put rice and 4 cups of broth into a Dutch oven. Cover and bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 45 minutes until most of the liquid is absorbed. Remove from oven and place on stovetop over medium heat. Add remaining cup of broth, wine, butter and cheese. Stir until thick and creamy. Add peas. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish with Parmesan cheese. Serves 6 quite easily.

Rating: Tasty, and surprisingly like risotto for something that takes much less attention. Definitely worth keeping in the recipe file 

Dishes alert: This one rates a dishes alert not because of numbers of dishes generated, but because the one pan it uses may be a doozy to clean. The Parmesan and arborio rice both have a glue-like quality that took a lot of baking soda and oomph to restore the luster to my Le Creuset #22 (affectionately known as Big Blue, despite having been eclipsed by Mega Blue and then Bigger Than Blue).

Pairings: Aside from the dry white wine, of course, this went well with some mock tenders prepared using another recipe from the same book: Garten gives instructions for preparing steaks the way steakhouses do, getting finished off in the oven. The steaks are brushed with oil, then sprinkled liberally with sea salt and pepper, which is pressed in to the steaks. You preheat your skillet or grill pan (I put it in the oven with the risotto) and then sear the steaks on all sides. You transfer the pan to a 400-degree oven to bake the steaks for 8 to 12 minutes depending on how you like them. Given that we made them with a cut of meat that generally is best treated with long braising, I'd say the methodology wasn't bad, because they turned out well enough. I haven't yet tried the Roquefort chive sauce she lists as topping it off, but it looks darned tasty.

Cherry almond ice cream

Cherry almond ice cream
From "Ice Creams" by Hamlyn

Ingredients
2/3 cup milk
2/3 cup ground almonds
1 egg plus 1 egg yoke
1/2 cup superfine sugar (if you don't have any, just grind it in the food processor, which you'll have to get out to deal with the cherries anyway; it helps with the texture)
2 to 3 drops almond extract
1 pound pitted red cherries
1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted and cooled
2/3 cup whipping cream

Method
Heat milk and ground almonds in small saucepan. Bring to a boil and then set aside.

Put egg and egg yoke in a heatproof bowl or top of a double boiler. Add sugar and beat until pale and thick. Stir in the milk mixture. Place bowl over simmering water and stir until thick. (This took roughly forever.) Add almond extract and set aside to cool.

In food processor, puree cherries. Stir into cooled mixture. Chill at least 2 hours or overnight before processing in an ice cream maker according to instructions. Stir in toasted slivered almonds and freeze.

To serve, let soften slightly on the counter before dishing up. This will make it easier and the flavor comes through more as it softens slightly.

Rating: When I saw this recipe I was really prepared to like this. Then I went to the trouble of making it and was really prepared to be disappointed, because it was such a pain and I wasn't sure how the almonds were going to work out texture-wise. Still not sure where I come down on the aggravation to flavor verdict, but it's definitely tasty. This recipe claimed that it took 20 minutes of prep time, plus cooling and freezing. Clearly, they aren't counting the time it takes to pit cherries, grind almonds, etc. They also claim it serves 6, and that's actually realistic.