pickled sour cherries — cerises à l'aigre-doux

Both Elizabeth David (in French Provincial Cooking) and  Jane Grigson (in Jane Grigson's Fruit Book) have recipes for pickled cherries — cerises à l'aigre-doux. I was tempted, and did, and they are a fabulous hors-d'œuvre, here with radishes waiting to be devoured with salt and refreshing cornichons.

I boiled 6 oz of sugar with 12 oz of red wine vinegar, a half dozen each cloves and crushed juniper berries, a bit of true cinnamon (the stuff from Sri Lanka that looks more like actual bark and is more subtle), and some lemon peel. I let this simmer for ten minutes, then cooled and strained it. I used enough cherries (a little less than a quart) to use up the vinegar mixture, and let them sit in a cabinet for two weeks (perhaps longer if it's cooler than hot Chicago summer where you are). After this, they tasted ready and went into the fridge.

They are really quite marvelous, and my guests loved them. Tart, savory, surprising.

niçoise

Summertime is when salade niçoise is the best way to entertain without air conditioning: everything can be prepared ahead, and then assembled just before serving.

sour cherry pie

One of my favorite things about living in Chicago in the summer is being so close to Michigan, one of the few places that produces sour cherries, which, I would argue, are more complex and have more flavor than sweet cherries. They are also better for baking.

I was over-zealous with the cherries, so they bubbled up over the lattice. Nonetheless, this was an incredible cherry pie. Just 1½ quarts cherries, a cup of sugar, 3 tablespoons of tapioca, some vanilla and almond liqueur, and a bit of salt. Sour cherries are complex, never cloying, and this was remarkably well-balanced, especially with a scoop of good vanilla ice cream.

the glory of the apricot

Harold McGee, in On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, explains that the "almond" flavor that one expects—and doesn't find in almonds—is benzaldehyde, which is found in bitter almonds and other stone fruits. Unfortunately, the kernels of stone fruits contain both benzaldehyde and cyanide, so they are illegal in the United States—"Our safe 'sweet' almond varieties lack both the bitterness and the characteristic aroma."

I generally make frangipane tarts with almonds and almond extract, but this time I made an apricot-frangipane tart studded with Rainier cherries, and I added two raw apricot kernels (ground up with the almonds and sugar) instead of almond extract (to a three-cup frangipane batch). The apricots were skinned (by blanching) to keep the frangipane from pulling away from the fruit.

The difference was noticable: the tart has a wonderful aroma (it may not be my most beautiful, but the crust was beautifully flaky and it was my most delicious) and the flavor was far superior. I'm not advocating eating apricot kernals in large quanity, certainly, but a couple go a long way. Just wrap the pit in a towel, place on a hard surface (stone, or concrete) and tap with a hammer—voilà: a better frangipane.

asparagus + peas

Fresh peas, asparagus, orecchiette, and a garlic-cream sauce with pepper and some parmigiano-reggiano: a simple lunch is made.

cherries

Cherries from Michigan + brandy + whipped cream (and a bit of sugar, vanilla pod, almond extract).

asparagus with mustard dressing

The quite simple, but satisfying, salad from Shizuo Tsuji's Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art — "Asuparagasu Karashi-Ae." Blanched asparagus, mustard powder (and water), egg yolk and soy sauce.

This worked well with some turnip-garlic chive jeon, miso soup, brown rice, and nattō.

rhubarb tart with strawberries and orange flower water

This is a rhubarb tart that I pulled together (also inspired by the new Deborah Madison book): I cooked a pound of chopped rhubarb with the zest and juice of an orange and a ½ cup of sugar. Once that softened, I added a handfull of halved strawberries (reserving most for garnishing since they were too gorgeous to cook) and ½ tsp. of tapioca starch and let it cook for about five minutes. To this I added a splash of orange flower water and let it cool, and I then placed it into a fully baked, and cooled, flaky tart shell (which had been coated with egg near the end of its baking). I added ⅓ of a vanilla bean to a ½-pint of heavy cream and let that sit while the tart set. To serve, I whipped the cream with another splash of orange flower water and some sugar. Finish with halved strawberries.

asparagus salad

This was the first week of widespread farmers' markets across the city, and I found the most beautiful asparagus that I have seen since I lived in Western Massachusetts (home to the incomparable Hadley Asparagus). There were also some wonderful tomatoes, rhubarb, oyster mushrooms, turnips, radishes and strawberries (this is all the more exciting considering how difficult it it to get decent produce in Chicago).

Deborah Madison's new book has a recipe for an asparagus salad; it is quite simple: roasted asparagus, a chopped egg, toasted and torn ciabatta, and a vinaigrette of coarse mustard, olive oil (I used a fruity unfiltered one) and red wine vinegar (Eden makes a fabulous naturally fermented and raw one that I love). I finished the salad off with chervil, which I have growing on my porch.

While the asparagus were incredible, there's also something about the sum being more than the parts here: this was a huge hit, and really tasted exceptional. I tossed the bread in some dressing in the roasting pan before assembling, which soaked up the oil and seasoning from roasting the asparagus.

Lime-Pepita-Coconut Cookies

I've had some pepitas hanging around and decided to make some cookies with them. I played around with some recipes, and this is the second batch:

Lime-Pepita-Coconut Cookies:

¼ cup unsalted butter

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

seeds from ⅓ of a vanilla bean
zest of 2 limes

1 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 oz. lime juice (about one lime if fresh) [lemon also works]

1 cup unbleached flour

¾ cup whole wheat pastry flour

½  cup pepitas, toasted and roughly chopped

⅓ cup shredded coconut

½  teaspoon baking soda

½  teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

Blend the butter, vanilla, zest and oil and then cream that with the sugar. Add the egg, blend, and then add the lime juice. In a separate bowl, mix the flours, baking soda, salt, pepitas and coconut. Add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl and incorporate.

I shaped these using a #70 scoop (½ oz), which seems ideal. Press into disks. Bake for 10-11 minutes until set, but not brown. Makes about 3 dozen 2¼-inch cookies.

(These are modified from Impeccable Taste).

Sardine sandwich

Sardines, carrots and peppers pickled with coriander, and onion on ciabatta. Too messy to take to work, but delicious.

Chocolate orange cake

A chocolate chiffon with Seville orange marmalade filling, chocolate ganache and freeze-dried Korean jeju mandarin oranges as garnish.