About Feast Everyday

Based in Corning, New York and the beautiful Finger Lakes. Started in 2009 by Barbara Blumer with her family and friends. Her husband, Tom, now regularly contributes, too.

Over 900 Recipes and still growing

From muffins to curries with step-by-step photos and how-to tips: see recipe index https://feasteveryday.blogspot.com/p/recipes-index.html

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Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Green Tomato Chocolate Cake by Christine

Updated 2019
I used my green tomatoes to make this recipe. Interesting flavor. It definitely needs icing though. I baked mine in a 13 x 9 pan. Texture is very light and fluffy.

---Christine

Green Tomato Chocolate Cake 

Makes a 9 x 13 inch cake

1 c. green tomato puree (2-3 tomatoes)
2/3 c. butter
1 3/4 c. sugar
2 eggs
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, melted
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 c. unbleached flour
1/2 c. cocoa
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. beer

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a mixing bowl cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and chocolate, mix. Add vanilla. Sift together rest of dry ingredients.

Add puree to 1/2 of the dry ingredients. Mix and add to cream mixture in mixing bowl. Mix well. Then add the rest of the dry ingredients.

At last add the beer.

Blend well.

Spoon into a greased and floured 9 x 13 inch pan. Smooth out top. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool. Frost with your favorite frosting.

---Christine



Sunday, September 23, 2012

Green Tomato Soup by Christine

Made this interesting soup over the weekend with all my green tomatoes from the garden. I doubled the recipe.

--- Christine


Green Tomato Soup
(Gourmet 2004)

Makes 4 to 6 servings

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 oz thinly sliced Black Forest ham*, chopped (1/2 cup)
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced scallions
1 tablespoon chopped garlic (2 cloves)
1 Turkish or 1/2 California bay leaf
2 lb green unripe tomatoes, chopped
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Garnish: sour cream, if desired

*or any ham, kielbasa, smoked turkey or bacon


Heat oil in a 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat until hot but not smoking, then cook ham, stirring occasionally, until beginning to brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Add scallions, garlic, and bay leaf and cook, stirring occasionally, until scallions are tender and lightly browned, 6 to 8 minutes.

Add tomatoes, broth, water, salt, and pepper and simmer, partially covered, until tomatoes are tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Discard bay leaf and season soup with salt and pepper.

Enjoy!

---Christine



Sunday, September 16, 2012

Peach Blueberry Bourbon Skillet Cobbler by Gina

"This is a Tyler Florence recipe that I enhanced by adding blueberries. Had it for breakfast this morning!"

         ---Gina

Peach Blueberry Bourbon Skillet Cobbler
(adapted from a Tyler Florence recipe)

8 peaches, peeled and sliced
2 cups fresh blueberries
1/4 cup bourbon
3/4 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon cinnamon, plus more for sprinkling
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 sticks cold unsalted butter

Combine the peaches, blueberries, bourbon and 1/4 cup of sugar, plus 2T. of cornstarch and 1 t. cinnamon.

Sift the flour, the remaining 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. Cut 1 1/2 sticks of the butter into small pieces; add to the flour mixture and cut it with a pastry blender or your hands until the mixture looks like course crumbs. Pour in the cream and mix just until the dough comes together. Don’t overwork; the dough should be slightly sticky but manageable.

Melt the remaining 1/2 stick butter in 10-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-low heat.

Add the peach/blueberry mixture and cook gently until heated through, about 5 minutes.

Drop the dough by tablespoonfuls over the warm peaches/blueberries. There can be gaps because the dough will puff up and spread as it bakes.

Brush the top with some heavy cream and sprinkle with sugar and a little extra cinnamon.

Bake until the cobbler is browned and the fruit is bubbling, 40 to 45 minutes.

Serve warm with ice cream (yes, even had ice cream for breakfast!).

         ---Gina



Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Which Olive Oils to Use

Our Current Selection of Olive Oils
"If you have the time or the interest would you blog about the type and brands of olive oil and wine you use when you are cooking? I am always uncertain about what I am using and would appreciate your knowledge."
Thanks.
        ---Jane


Well, I am not an authority, but I can share what we do.

In general, we keep four types of olive oil in the pantry:  a basic olive oil (about $7.99) and extra virgin (about $9.99), then a $14.99-$24.99 high quality extra virgin bottle, and a top quality extra virgin ($49.00).   We tend to use Italian or Napa valley olive oils, but sometimes we use Greek.

Also, I buy the smaller 500 ml bottle size, so that our olive oils stay fresh.  They should be stored away from light in a cool cupboard away from the heat of the stove.    

Feast Everyday Guide to Using Olive Oil
Sautéing - Heat kills the flavor and aroma of the Extra Virgin oils, so don't waste your expensive stuff in cooking.  Just use your inexpensive grocery store Olive Oil.  We use Filippo Berio.

Roasting -  Use inexpensive grocery store Extra Virgin.  Again we use Filippo Berio.

Prepping for Grilling-- Use the least expensive or whatever you have on hand. The flavor will be burnt off. The oil is being used to crisp the outside and keep food from sticking. But, if the food--veggies in particular --is going to be wrapped in aluminum foil, then use grocery store Extra Virgin.

Salad dressings-- depends on what kind your are making: 
  • When there other strong flavors in play, use your grocery store extra virgin.
  • If it's only oil and vinegar, use one of your best extra virgin and let the olive taste shine through.
Drizzling -- Time to use your best: Lucini from Italy or Long Meadow Ranch from Napa Valley. 

Dipping -- Use your very best, like Prato Lungo.  We buy special bottles based on recommendations, like you would with wine.  For example, we bought a bottle from the olive oil section when we were at Eataly in NYC.

Baking -- Use canola, or the flavorless version of olive oil which is available in most grocery stores.

Frying - Use something like a canola, soy or peanut oil, i.e., a cheap, flavorless oil that has a high smoke point.

When in doubt, taste and trust your instincts.  Use it to compliment or enhance the flavors of what you are making. 

There is only one no-no in using olive oil.  Don't waste the extra virgin olive oil in situations with heat, like sauteing.

I hope this is helpful, Jane.

B


Thursday, September 6, 2012

Culinary Seneca Salt

Culinary Seneca Salt
 
In the true spirit of being a locavore, we thought it would be fun to try culinary salt from the salt veins below Seneca lake, near Watkins Glen.   Keuka Lake Roasters is selling it under the name Seneca Salt Company, and it is packaged in Penn Yan.

Here's how their website describes Seneca Salt:  "There are deep salt veins 500 to 2,800 feet below the surface of Seneca Lake.  A brine is produced within the salt vein using lake water.  The brine then undergoes an evaporation process creating the purest of all salts, a culinary flake salt."

Seneca Salt's big flakes melt in your mouth and "pop", creating an interesting taste sensation. It is good for salads and veggies.  They say you can use it any way you would normally use salt.

Very cool!

B

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Jamie Oliver's Salmon Baked in Foil Parcel with Green Beans and Pesto


Salmon with Pesto and Green Beans
UPDATED 2024
This recipe was removed from my blog for many years---because the green beans do not cook at the rate as the fish---causing complaints from readers.  But I was thinking about Jamie Oliver the other day---what happened to him?  He has a new cookbook in 2024:  "5 Ingredients Mediterranean."  After financial difficulties, he seems to have gone back to what he does well --- teaching people how to cook with simple ingredients to create quick, flavorful meals. It's his 27th cookbook.

 
Note from B on Dec 8, 2012:  This recipe/technique has been used with mixed results since I posted it.  You may want to eliminate the green beans, unless you use very tender, young beans or French-style slender beans to be sure they cook as fast as the salmon.  Cooking time for the salmon will vary, based on the thickness of your piece of salmon, and your oven. 

Upfront I will say I have been a Jamie Oliver fan since his early days on TV as The Naked Chef. He was entertaining and his food was straightforward and approachable. In his tiny kitchen, he was cooking for his mates who would show up at the end of the show. That was 1999.

Last summer, the Food Network ran reruns of the series, Jamie at Home, where he cooked straight from his garden--in the potting shed, sitting over a little grill under a tree or just making things raw-- and he is still as entertaining as ever.   And I always learn something from him. In that series, I learned that adding vinegar while roasting vegetables adds more dimension to their flavors.

This month Jamie Oliver showed up in AARP magazine of all places. He wrote about this technique for making a simple healthy meal:  fish on top of veggies in a packet.  Recently, I have been layering my chicken on top of my veggies then baking, but I never thought about doing it with fish.  And who doesn't like pesto?

So, while Tom was gone on his golf trip last week, I made it several times.  It is a good dish for one. 

It's easy and fast.  On the way home, you can swing by the store: pick up a piece of salmon at the fish counter, get a couple tablespoons of pesto from the condiments counter, a lemon, and package of pre-washed veggies, then have it on the table about 1/2 hour after you get home.

Salmon Baked in a Foil Parcel with Green Beans and Pesto
(Jamie Oliver- AARP August 2012 )

  • 2 handfuls of green beans
  • 2 salmon fillets (4 ounces), skin on, scaled and bones removed
  • Olive oil, as needed
  • Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 1 lemon
  • 2 heaping Tablespoons of green pesto
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Trim beans. Halve the lemon.

Take a yard of aluminum foil and fold it in half, bringing the narrow sides together to make 2 layers. Put a handful of green beans in the middle of the folded aluminum foil. Lay the salmon fillet, skin side down, across the beans and spoon a heaping tablespoon of green pesto on top. Drizzle with olive oil, squeeze the juice from one of the lemon halves over all, and season with salt and pepper.  Pull the aluminum-foil edges together and scrunch them up to seal the parcel. Repeat. Place both parcels on a baking sheet.

Put the pan into hot oven and cook for 15 minutes. (Note:  My fish took 25-30 minutes.)  Remove and let stand for one minute before carefully unwrapping and checking that the salmon is cooked through.

Either serve the parcels on plates, or unwrap carefully and serve.

The best part of this dish is the easy clean-up!  No pans, no fishy cooking smells.
B