REMEMBERING THE SUMMER - PART IV

There is a way that nature speaks, that land speaks. Most of the time we are simply not patient enough, quiet enough, to pay attention to the story.

- Linda Hogan

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but Nature more”
- George Gordon Byron

I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority.
- E.B. White, Letters of E. B. White

REMEMBERING THE SUMMER - PART III

REMEMBERING THE SUMMER - PART II

REMEMBERING THE SUMMER - PART I

Spring passes and one remembers one's innocence.
Summer passes and one remembers one's exuberance.
Autumn passes and one remembers one's reverence.
Winter passes and one remembers one's perseverance.
- Yoko Ono

Although I love autumn's ravishing beauty and serene atmosphere, I must admit that this year, and for the very first time in my life, I am missing the warm season. Having had a grim spring and a depressingly glum July as well as August, I just wasn't ready for fall's arrival. Much to my regret, it came surprisingly early...

You see, I am the kind of person who needs to fully enjoy summer in order to get sick of it and look forward to cooler and moodier weather - in fact, it is exactly the same as with food; one needs to eat a few savory dishes before the urge for dessert makes its appearance. Hence, I feel nostalgic for summer's suffocating exuberance and insolent nonchalance.

Having said this, I am nonetheless really thrilled that autumn's here and that winter's on our doorstep as I am particularly fond of this time of the year. So, bring on the cold weather, frosty sunlight and snowstorms!

A PHOTOGRAPHIC ESSAY - VINEYARDS, GREEN FIELDS AND ROLLING HILLS

A PHOTOGRAPHIC ESSAY - SUMMER AROUND MY CORNER OF THE WORLD

BAKED APRICOTS STUFFED WITH ALMOND PASTE - MONTHLY MINGLE

With the arrival of hotter weather and to my biggest pleasure, some of my favorite fruits are starting to grace (super)market stalls. They are so fabulous that I can never get enough of them. Not one week passes by without me making either pies, pastries, cakes, trifles, crumbles, clafoutis or cobblers in my itsy-bitsy apartment kitchen.

The craze already begins in May when the first Swiss rhubarb stems (I know, it is a vegetable, but I mostly prepare it just like a fruit - that's how I like it best) and strawberries are available, then at the end of June they slowly get replaced by apricots, peaches, nectarines as well as all kinds of berries (gooseberries, redcurrants, raspberries, blackberries, etc...) and, finally in August, after an endless and interminable year of lusting, the king of all stone fruits makes it's appearance, my beloved Italian plum. Not forgetting that not long after, they are very closely followed by raisins and apples (and so on)...

Ah, Nature is indisputably plentiful and perfect! It never fails to make our senses work and months after month, it incessantly offers a vast array of wonderful produces, no matter the time of the year. Why would we want to buy vegetables or fruits that are not seasonal, stuffed with chemicals, were grown in non-humane ways, have flown miles to reach us, thus contributed to dirtying the air we breathe, are overpriced and taste like nothing when we have the opportunity to help our farmers, to enjoy organic or chemical-free goods, to treat our tastebuds rightfully, to not spoil our precious planet, our to and to follow the rythm of the seasons without letting ourselves get overwhelmed by stupid and incoherent needs?

You see, I am getting sick and tired of seeing people who crave the wrong food at the wrong moment, who are acutely detached from the Earth that they don't know if what they buy is grown in "laboratories" or naturally in fields, who think that it is normal to be able to find what they want when they want and who don't give damn about their despicable attitude or the effect it can have on their lives!

The beauty of consuming goods that were cultivated sustainably and in harmony with the environment is that you never get bored with them as those produces aren't generally available all the time, hence you can be assured that there's always a rotation. In that way, you look even more forward to eating those greengrocery items because you had to wait for so long in order to finally be able to savor them. The unbearable longing as well as the extreme yearning induced by the unfathomable break, the sheer joy that you feel when you know that a produce will soon be sold again and the exhilarating thrill you experience while taking your first bite of that highly anticipated vegetable or fruit is just incomparable and has to be cherished. Deprivation helps us appreciate them to a greater extend and not take things for granted. Fulfillment doesn't come through spoiltness...

Consequently, when I saw the very first Swiss apricots from Valais (some of the world's finest apricots), I was overcome with immense happiness. After having indulged in rhubarb for the past weeks, those amazingly fragrant, gorgeously juicy and vibrantly colored stone fruits offered a very welcome change.

Since my aim was to highlight their delightful sourness that is beautifully counterbalanced by their incredible nectarousness, which are both coupled with breathtakingly musky and heady aromas, I chose to make a refined North-African and Provence inspired dessert with that sun-engorged treat.

I searched online for quite a while before I stumbled upon what I was looking for. "Baked Apricots Stuffed With Almond Paste" it was going to be. Of course, there was no way I would prepare my round and orange furry little babies without making a few adaptations to the original recipe. I always have to add a personal touch to everything and I am constantly compelled to increase quantities as I'm afraid my food will not be adequably palatable. It is a bit of an illness. My nickname could well be "Madame Never Enough".

I kept the same amount of filling, but I decided to reduce the number of fruits as well as to incorporate a few drops extra almond essence and orange blossom water to the paste and for a more complex flavor, I thought it would be interesting to delicately infuse the syrup with a little lavender flower. An excellent decision!

The unique combination of tart apricots, sweet almond paste, pungent distilled water, marzipan-tasting almond essence and balmy dried lavender flowers is just out of this world. It results in an ambrosial and refined dessert which will get you hooked. Impossible to resist to such an exquisite delicacy...

This is my entry for Monthly Mingle hosted by Sukaina of the lovely blog "Sips And Spoonfuls". The theme is "Stone Fruits".

~ Baked Apricots Stuffed With Almond Paste ~
Recipe adapted from "Dessert.net.au".

Serves 4.

Ingredients For The "Syrup":
75g (1/2 Cup) Castor sugar
3 Tbs Lemon juice
1/3 Tsp Dried lavender flowers
300ml (1 1/4 Cup) Water
Ingredients For The "Stuffed Apricots":
120g (1 Cup) Finely ground almonds
50g (1/2 Cup) Powder/icing sugar
45g (3 Tbs) Melted unsalted butter
1 1/2 Tsp Orange blossom water
1 Tsp Almond essence/extract
1 1/2 Tsp Water
1 Pinch Fine sea salt
800g Fresh apricots, washed

Method For The "Syrup":
1. Place the sugar, lemon juice, lavender flowers and water in a medium-small saucepan. Bring to the boil, stirring occasionally until the sugar has dissolved, then let simmer for 5-10 minutes, until you get a thin sugar syrup.
2. Preheat the oven to 180° C (350° F).

Method For The "Stuffed Apricots":
3. In a blender, mix together the ground almonds with the icing sugar until the mixture is very fine, then add the butter, orange blossom water, almond essence, water and salt. Pulse until you get a smooth and homogenous paste ressembling marzipan.
3. Make a slit in the flesh of each apricot and remove the stones.
4. Shape the almond paste into small balls and press one of them into the cavity of each apricot. 5. Arrange the stuffed apricots in a shallow ovenproof dish that you have previously buttered/greased and carefully pour the sugar syrup over them.
6. Cover with aluminium foil and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes.
7. Plate the apricots and sprinkle with a little syrup from the baking dish.

Remarks:
Both the lavender flowers and the orange blossom water are optional.
You can also cut the apricots in half, stuff each half with almond paste and bake the halves, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes.

Serving suggestions:
Serve warm or at room temperature with a cup of tea or coffee, for dessert or teatime.

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~ Abricots Fourrés A La pâte d'Amandes ~

Recette adaptée du site "Dessert.net.au".

Pour 4 personnes.

Ingrédients Pour Le "Sirop":
75g de Sucre cristallisé
3 CS de Jus de citron
1/3 de CC de Lavande séchée
300ml d'Eau
Ingrédients Pour Les "Abricots Fourrés":
120g d'Amandes en poudre (fine)
50g de Sucre en poudre
45g de Beurre non-salé, fondu
1 1/2 CC d'Eau de fleur d'oranger
1 CC d'Essence/extrait d'amandes amères
1 1/2 CC d'Eau
1 Pincée de Sel de mer fin
800g d'Abricots frais, lavés

Méthode Pour Le "Sirop":
1. Mettre le sucre, le jus de citron, les fleurs de lavande et l'eau dans une petite casserole. Porter à ébullition, tout en mélangeant occasionnellement, jusqu'à ce que le sucre soit dissout, puis laisser frémir pendant 5-10 minutes, jusqu'à obtention d'un sirop assez liquide.
2. Préchauffer le four à 180° C.

Méthode Pour Les "Abricots Fourrés":
3. Dans votre mixer/blender, mettre les amandes moulues et le sucre, puis mixer jusqu'à obtention d'une poudre très fine. Ajouter le beurre, l'eau de fleur d'oranger, l'essence d'amandes amères, l'eau et le sel, puis bien mixer afin d'obtenir une pâte homogène ressemblant a du massepain.
3. Découper une fente verticale dans chaque abricot et retirer les noyaux.
4. Former de petites boules avec la pâte d'amandes et remplir les cavités avec.
5. Mettre les abricots dans un plat à gratin beurré et verser un peu de sirop sur chaque fruit.
6. Recouvrir avec une feuille d'aluminium et cuire au four pendant 25-30 minutes.
7. Arranger les abricots sur une assiette et verser le jus de cuisson par dessus.

Remarques:
Les fleurs de lavande et l'esu de fleur d'oranger sont facultatifs.
Vous pouvez aussi couper les abricots en deux, les garnir avec la pâte d'amande et les cuire pendant 25-30 minutes, sans les couvrir.

Idées de présentation:
Servir pour le dessert ou pour les quatre heures, chaud ou à température ambiante et accompagner d'une tasse de thé ou de café.

FRIED EGGPLANT ANTIPASTO

Being under an intense heatwave at the moment I try to put on the oven only when it is really compulsory (to bake breads for the weekend or fruit tarts about once a week). Our meals consist generally of lots of raw vegetables (salads, gazpachos, dips, etc...), stir fried dishes, easy and quick pasta dishes, lots of legumes (white beans, chickpeas, lentils, etc...) and cereals (müeslis, farro, bulghur, etc..). Considering the fact that heat cuts my appetite all I want to eat are light dishes and for that reason, fresh and healthy food is what I crave when the temperatures are extremely high (33°-36° C/91°-97° F)...

Summer vegetables are wonderful and so versatile. They can be prepared in so many different manners (raw, steamed, stir fried, grilled & baked) and taste really good. There is a great amount of dishes that one can prepare during the sunny season. If, like me, you love the Middle Eastern, Mediterranean and Asian cusines, then it is the time of the year when you can fulfill all your exotic cooking dreams as well as fantasies.

If I emphasize on buying seasonal fruits and vegetables it is because I want my food to be as free of chemicals as possible, rich in flavor and don't want to participate in polluting the earth more that it is already . It is for that reason that I am never bored with what I eat as I look forward to the change of seasons, thus to variation in my diet. Every season brings it's share of amazing products. I would not want to eat the same all year long. I enjoy the longing for renewal and novelty.

As I had some beautiful Geneva eggplants in my fridge and I wanted a cold accompaniment for my halloumi cheese, I thought that it would be a great idea to serve some kind of antipasto with it.

During my childhood our table was regularly graced with many different marinaded roasted vegetable antipasti - the word antipasto means "before the meal" and is the traditional first course of a formal Italian meal - (Roasted Pumpkin & Bell Pepper Salad) and they were always very much enjoyed by my whole family. This speciality is so versatile and can be prepared in various ways. It is perfect when served as accompaniment to bread, cheese, dried meat and salad. I don't know anybody who can resist such a mouthwatering course, the ultimate symbol of summer?

The recipe I am presenting today is a big home classic which I have adapted according to my culinary influences. To the original recipe I have added sumac, red tabasco, onion powder, white balsamic vinegar and smoked paprika. This results in an antipasto which is full of flavor, well-balanced and has complex aromas. Very addictive!

~ Fried Eggplant Antipasto ~
Recipe by Rosa @ Rosa's Yummy Yums 2010.

For 4 people.

Ingredients for the "Fried Eggplant Slices":
2 Medium Eggplants
Olive oil, for brushing the eggplant slices
Ingredients for the "Marinade":
The juice of 1 organic lemon
1/2 Cup Olive oil
1 1/2 Tsp White balsamic vinegar
2 Cloves garlic, crushed
1 Pinch Smoked paprika
1/3 Tsp Sumac
1 Tsp Red Tabasco
1 Tbs Finely chopped Fresh basil leaves
Sea salt, to taste
Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Method for the "Fried Eggplant Slices":
1. Slice the eggplants into rounds.
2. Sprinkle them with a little salt and leave them to rest for at least 30 minutes.
3. Rinse with fresh water and pat dry with kitchen paper.
4. Brush each piece (on both sides) with a little olive oil and heat a frying pan over medium high heat.
5. Fry the slice until golden brown on each side.
6. Transfer to a deep dish and let cool.
Method for the "Marinade":
7. Mix all ingredients together.
8. Pour the marinade over the eggplants and make sure that all sides are covered with it.
9. Put in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours and serve.

Remarks:
The eggplant slices should not be mushy/mashed, therefore it is important that you don't overcook them.
That antipasto can be kept (in a container) for about a week in the fridge.

Serving suggestions:
Serve with bread, dried meat and cheese or on top of a green salad.

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~ Antipasto Aux Aubergines Grillées ~
Recette par Rosa @ Rosa's Yummy Yums 2010.

Pour 4 personnes.

Ingrédients pour les "Tranches d'Aubergines Grillées":
2 Aubergines moyennes
Huile d'olive, pour peindre les tranches d'aubergines
Ingrédients pour la "Marinade":
Le jus d'un citron bio
1/2 Cup Olive oil
1 1/2 CC de Vinaigre balsamique blanc
2 Gousses d'ail, écrasées
1 Pincée de Paprika fumé
1/3 CC de Sumac
1/2 CC de Poudre d'oignon
1 CC de Tabasco rouge
1 CS de feuilles de basilic, finement hachées
Sel de mer, selon goût
Poivre noir moulu, selon goût

Méthode pour les "Tranches d'Aubergines Grillées":
1. Couper les aubergines en tranches.
2. Les saupoudrer avec un peu de sel et les laisser dégorger pendant 30 minutes.
3. Les rinser à l'eau fraîche et les tamponner avec du papier de cuisine.
4. Avec un pinceau les enduire d'huile d'olive (sur les deux côtés) et faire chauffer une poêle à feu moyennement haut.
5. Frire les tranches d'aubergine jusqu'à ce que chaque côté soit joliment doré.
6. Mettre les tranches d'aubergines dans une assiette à soupe et les laisser refroidir.

Méthode pour la "Marinade":
7. Mélanger tous les ingrédients pour la marinade.
8. Verser la marinade sur les tranches d'aubergines afin qu'elles soient recouvertes de marinade de tous les côtés.
9. Les mettre au frigo pendant en tout cas 2 heures, puis servir.

Remarques:
les tranches d'aubergines ne doivent pas se défaire et être trop molles. C'est pour cette raison que les aubergines ne doivent pas être trop cuites.
Cet antipasto doit être conservé au frigo (dans une boîte hermétique) jusqu'à une semaine.

Idées de présentation:
Servir avec du pain, des charcuteries et du fromage ou décorer une salade verte avec.

SWEET SUMMERTIME

Summer DelightsHealing summer heat
That comforts every bone;
Juicy summer fruits,
A frosty ice cream cone.Aroma of sizzling meat
Grilling on the barbecue,
Green lawns and summer flowers,
A gazillion fun things to do.Summer shorts and swimsuits,
Arms and legs are bare;
Summer’s sweet delights
Are welcome everywhere!~ By Joanna Fuchs ~

A SUMMER AFTERNOON

Then followed that beautiful season... Summer....
Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and the landscape
Lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood.
~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ~