Summer Lasagna

Good Morning World!  What a great morning here in  paradise.

Yesterday's dinner time comes around and I start thinking "what to cook for dinner".  As one of many Cambrians here in SLO county I subscribe to Talley's Farm fresh box delivery of fruits and vegetables and, though me and my family absolutely love every single fruit and vegetable in the box and always finish our weekly allowance on or before the week is over; I looked in my vegetable crisper I had 2 weeks worth of yellow summer squash. I would have normally just steamed them with dinner and call it a successful conclusion to the beautiful squash but, these babies were a bit larger than most yellow squash, one would have been enough for a serving.  So I put on my thinking cap and remembered seeing a recipe in the July issue of Sunset magazine. Their recipe it's a
"Zucchini and Corn Lasagna" and, of course I tweaked this to accommodate my yellow summer squash.

This recipe takes a bit of time in preparation but it could easily be assembled ahead of time and baked right before dinner time.  The squash needs to be sliced as thin as possible, line a large baking sheet with paper towels and spread the squash over it and sprinkle with 1 1/4 teaspoon of salt and set aside for 30 minutes.  The sliced squash needs to be grilled for 2 minutes per side, I did this in my kitchen over my stove top but you can do it on your outdoor grill and it will be faster.

Summer Lasagna 

Serves 8   

Ingredients:
 3 1/2 lb yellow squash or zucchini (thinly sliced)
1 3/4 t salt, divided
1 1/2 T cooking oil or choice
1 large onion, chopped (or 1/2 C chopped shallots)
4 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 cups of raw corn kernels
1 t fresh thyme and oregano
15 oz ricotta cheese
3/4 C shredded Parmesan cheese
3/4 C  shredded dry mozzarella cheese
1 large egg, beaten
1/4 C basil leaved (chopped)
2 T chives (chopped)
1/4 t nutmeg
1/2 t pepper
1 T butter

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with non stick organic cooking oil (or butter)
Follow my above instruction on the squash preparation.  Meanwhile, heat a frying pan over medium heat add oil.  Add onion and garlic brown, add corn and thyme and cook for 2 minutes.  Transfer to a mixing bowl and add the ricotta, half the cheeses, egg, basil, chives, nutmeg and 1/2 t salt and  pepper, mix to incorporate all ingredients.
Arrange a quarter of the yellow squash in bottom of dish, slightly overlapping.  Evenly spread one third of the corn/cheese mixture.  Repeat process 2 more times, ending with squash.  Sprinkle with remaining cheese and butter cut into small squares.
Bake for about 45 minutes until lasagna turns golden brown, rotate dish halfway through.  Let lasagna rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Of course you may add sausage, prosciutto or mushroom if desired 

Note:  If you find a lot of liquid concentrating on bottom of pan; tilt dish to one side by raising one end and let all liquid drain to low end.  Remove with a teaspoon before serving.

 

Steam Punk

Here in Cambria there's a yearly wacky art show exhibit called the "927" show, in which I just entered my first mixed media piece which it's made up of two parts, three if you count the stand that I also altered/designed.
 The tile of my work is "Some Era in Time" :

I am a terrible photographer so this is what I have so far.

Oh, here's the spine of my art journal

Fried Rice

As you all may have heard "Cauliflower", has recently gained a great reputation from all the great chefs around as been the new rice, potato or any neutral non- starchy "carb".  I of course have been experimenting with it and have come out with a simple healthy, Fried Rice.  As always I am a great believer in using whatever I have available at the time of cooking therefore; my recipe may change
from time to time, (left overs are great for this).

                                                           Fried Rice

 Ingredients                                                                                                                 Serves 2-4

•   1/2 head of cauliflower 
•   1/2 C carrots - cut 1/4" square
•   1/2 C celery - cut 1/4" squares
•   2 garlic cloves - finely diced
•   2 eggs 
•   1 C green vegetable - peas, broccoli, snap peas, beans
•   1/4 C soy sauce  
•   2 t fish sauce (Tiparos)  
•   1 T cooking oil of choice
•   1/2 - 1 C - chopped left over chicken, fish, pork, etc.  (optional)
•   1/2 t black pepper                                     

Preparation:  In food processor, chop cauliflower to the consistency of large rice grains.  Heat oil and stir fry all raw vegetables including cauliflower for about 2 minutes; do not over cook, you want bright crisp vegetables.
In small bowl beat the eggs with a little bit of water, in another frying pan or in the same one if large enough, make a simple omelet, lightly cooked (don't brown edges) and cut into small pieces with spatula.  Mix vegetables, eggs and extra protein in frying pan then add soy sauce, fish sauce and pepper until all ingredients are warm, about 1-2 minutes.  And that it's it, simple.

When plating I like to add chopped green onion and cilantro on top.  If you like a bit of Thai style fried rice add, fresh diced tomatoes, cucumbers, cilantro and of course green onions and a little 
hot sauce such as Sriracha or Tapatio, Enjoy!

Calamari with Avocado Salad and lime dressing

Now that summer is here I love to use all the beautiful fruits and vegetables that are showing up at my local farmer's market. In order to take advantage of freshness from the local produce I made this salad for lunch on two consecutive days in two different versions.
One served with soft shell crab

 

The other with calamari lightly coated with cornmeal and flash pan fried. In the first version salad I added strawberries to the salad and the other a mixture of berries.

Avocado Salad with Lime dressing

4 oz arugula
1/2 romaine lettuce - hand trimed
1/4 cup cilantro
4 green onion - diced
1 avocado - sliced or cut in cubes
1/2 English cucumber - sliced then cut in halves
1/2 bell pepper - roughly chopped
1 cup of berries of choice

Lime Dressing 

juice of 2 limes
1 teaspoon fresh ginger - minced
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 olive oil
S&P

Start by whisking all dressing ingredients first and let rest for about 10 minutes.
Mix all salad ingredients together then drizzle with dressing and toss gently before serving.
 
 

Au gratin Potatoes

Hello from Cambria!
It has been quite busy the last few months and I'm just starting to get comfortable here in Cambria. Living here its definitely going back to simpler times and Bill and I could not be happier here.  Lovely weather, great restaurants, beautiful wines from all of the local wineries and the local farms and ranches with fresh produce and meat.
There's a great grocery store in the west village called Soto's Marketplace where they carry many local organic produce and Hearst meats. And not to be missed on Fridays a beautiful farmer's market.

One thing I missed from SCV its my herb garden and, since I like to cook fresh organic meals, an herb garden its a must.  So, Bill and I designed this vertical herb garden outside on the deck.

After our shopping at the farmer's market this past Friday I bought some beautiful potatoes, local cheeses and filet Mignon from a local rancher so, I decided to make my husband's favorite meal: Filet Mignon with Cabernet reduction, Au gratin potatoes and some yummy glazed baby carrots.

Au gratin potatoes

Ingredients:

• 3  lbs russet potatoes (thinly sliced)
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 2 garlic cloved, peeled and smashed
• 1 rosemary sprig
• 1 bay leaf
• salt & pepper
• 2 tablespoon butter
• 2 garlic cloves finely choped
• 1/4 cup sherry
• 2.5 tablespoon flour
• 1 cup shreadded parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup shreaded gruyere cheese
• salt & pepper

Method:

In a small saucepan bring heavy cream, smashed garlic, rosemary, bay leaf, salt & pepper to simmer; let steep for about 30 minutes. In meantime peel and slice potatoes (I use my food processor) then place in cold water. You may grate cheese at this time also using your food processor.

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.

 Drain potatoes over strainer. Butter a 9x13 baking pan. Once potatoes have drained, start layering baking pan with them and sprinkle with small amounts of salt and pepper every 2- 3 layers.  Strain cream mixture and save cream.  In sauce pan melt butter and quickly brown garlic then add flour and brown for 1-2 minutes, add the sherry, stir well and scrape sides and bottom of pan then add  reserved seasoned heavy cream and re-heat but don’t boil, add cheeses , stir well to combine and remove from heat.  Pour the cream mixture over potatoes, cover with aluminum foil and bake for 50 minutes, remove foil and bake an additional 10 or so minutes to brown the top.

Here's a picture of the plated dinner.

 

Crab Salad

Hello world!  Today I am sharing an easy summer salad which should be served as a first course and it is very simple to prepare but could be time consuming therefore I recommend preparing a bit ahead of time if you are planning to entertain a group of people.

Crab Salad

Ingredients:

1lb crabmeat

¼ cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons sour cream

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons chopped jalapeno or green pepper

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 avocado thinly sliced

1 cup English cucumber thinly sliced

1 cup cherry tomatoes cut in half

1 bag arugula

2 teaspoon fresh chives (chopped)

1 teaspoon fresh tarragon (chopped)

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

¼ cup champagne vinegar

2 tablespoon evo

Method

In a bowl combine crab meat, mayonnaise, sour cream, mustard, peppers, juice, chives, tarragon and salt & pepper.  You can do this up to six hours ahead of time and put in refrigerator. You need to have about 1 hour to prepare your dish before ready to serve so make sure to plan ahead.  For this part you need a biscuit cutter 3” in diameter.  Place your biscuit cutter on a platter and start layering salad; crab meat mixture (about 2 tablespoons) then avocado, cucumbers and tomatoes.  You should do 2 layers each. You should be able to make about 4 servings from the above quantities; I have double the amount of ingredients and made exactly 8 portions.

Shortly before serving, mix arugula, vinegar, evoo and salt & pepper.

To serve place about ½ cup of green salad mixture on a plate and carefully place your crab salad on top (use a small spatula to transfer).  I plated each dish right before serving and simply arranged each crab patty on top of arugula but it took me about 10 minutes to do this.