Heights Eats

As anyone who has a CSA knows, northeast Ohio is awash in zucchini (and other summer squash) during the last half of summer. We’ve made many good recipes with it in the past including Emeril’s Curried Zucchini Soup and Chlotide Dusoulier’s Chocolate and Zucchini Cake (as cupcakes, with 1/2 whole wheat pastry flour). This recipe, though, strikes me as the most versatile and least likely to grow old with repeated preparations.

I “grated” the zucchini with a vegetable peeler, which makes for larger pieces. As they soften in cooking, they taste almost like a soft, creamy cheese.

The filling was so good that I used the leftovers in a frittata (see below).

Zucchini, Corn, Black-Bean and Jack-Cheese Quesadillas (adapted from Food and Wine magazine)

1 small zucchini or yellow squash, grated and drained on paper towels (about 1 cup) 1 cup defrosted frozen (or good canned) corn, drained on paper towels 1 small onion, chopped 2 jalapeño or serrano peppers, seeds and ribs removed, … continue reading

Michael Ruhlman has a contest this summer to make a BLT from scratch, and Sarah and I thought we’d enter it.

This is our one entry for all three categories (photograph, overall preparation and interpretation).

The bread is a sort of mock whole wheat sourdough, or “good yeast gone bad.” Here is the recipe:

2 cups white whole wheat flour 1 cup bread flour 2 t. course salt 2 t. instant yeast 2 T. good olive oil (1 T. in the dough, 1 T. to coat the dough while it rests) about 1 1/4 cups warm water

Knead everything except for 1 T. olive oil for about 10 minutes. I used a Kitchenaid stand mixer. Leave the dough out overnight in warm weather, coated in 1 T. oil, covered loosely, to develop sour flavors. If it’s cold, leave for up to a day or two. Refrigerate dough for up to a few days to further develop flavors. Remove dough from the fridge, shape and let rise for a couple hours (until 1 1/2 times larger), then bake at 375 … continue reading

Inspired by leftover bacon, Ratio and City Fresh spinach, we made black pepper whole wheat spaghetti carbonara with rye popovers tonight.

This was a meal I’d have paid good money for at a restaurant. The only downside is that we didn’t have quite enough spinach.

Black Pepper Whole Wheat Pasta Carbonara w/ Spinach

1 lb. black pepper pasta (either homemade or from someplace like Ohio City Pasta) 4 oz. bacon (we used some from Whole Foods) 1 cup grated Parmesan 2 eggs Spinach (plenty of it—our 6 oz. or so wasn’t enough) 1 TB. Olive oil Fresh black pepper

(1) While you can get black pepper pasta commercially, I haven’t seen the wheat / pepper combination. I used Ruhlman’s ratio of 3 parts flour to 2 parts eggs (by weight) using 50 / 50 whole wheat pastry flour and all-purpose, adding plenty of black pepper. The pastry flour makes the pasta softer.

(2) Sauté the bacon and olive oil until bacon … continue reading

The first reaction you might have to trying these might be “Why did someone put mint in my muffin?” After a few bites, though, they really start to grow on you. I got the idea from mint chocolate chip ice cream.

We also have chocolate mint growing in our garden (seedlings bought from the North Union Market), which worked particularly well in these.

Mint Chocolate Chip Muffins

1 ¼ cups milk 5 TB. (2 ½ oz.) butter ¼ — ½ oz. (2−4 fistfuls) fresh mint ½ cup sugar

1 1/3 cups whole wheat pastry flour 2/3 cup all-purpose flour 1 TB. Baking soda ½ t. fine-grain (regular) salt ½ — ¾ cup chocolate chips

1 egg

(1) Heat milk, butter, sugar and mint in a saucepan. Once bubbles form around the edges of the pan, turn off heat and let steep for at least 15 minutes.

(2) Combine flours, baking soda, salt and chocolate chips in a large bowl. If … continue reading

I’ve been playing around with Mark Bittman’s recipe for whole wheat pizza dough (from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian), and it’s super-versatile. I’ve made pizza, baguettes, breasticks and even hot dog buns thus far. Focaccia would also work well, as Bittman points out–just top a pizza round with olive oil and herbs.

The flexibility is in large part due to the oil. You’ll always end up with a moist, flavorful bread.

All-purpose Whole Wheat Dough (adapted from Mark Bittman’s recipe)

2 cups bread or all-purpose flour 2 cups whole wheat (or white whole wheat) flour 2 1/2 t. yeast (preferably instant or bread-machine) 2 1/2 t. course salt 4 TB. extra virgin olive oil

Combine first four ingredients in a food processor or stand mixer [full disclosure: I’m much too lazy to hand-knead dough most of the time]. Add 2 cups water and 3 TB. olive oil. Mix with bread hook or in food processor until shiny and elastic, 1–2 minutes for the food processor or 5–10 minutes for the stand mixer.

Coat dough with remaining olive oil and cover.

You can make 2–3 pizzas or baguettes from this … continue reading

My friend Amy told me recently that Michael Symon’s Mac ‘n Cheese recipe from Lola was now published. Sarah and I got to thinking that a vegetarian version might be good, so we came up with this:

We really liked it, and the grilled asparagus went really well with everything else.

Mac ‘n Goat Cheese with Grilled Asparagus (adapted from Michael Symon’s recipe)

(serves 5–6)

A large bunch of asparagus (at least a pound) Paprika Olive oil 3 cups heavy cream 2 TB. fresh rosemary 12 oz. rotini, preferably whole wheat (it holds up better to the other flavors) 4.5 oz. goat cheese Course salt and freshly ground pepper

(1) Snap woody ends off of asparagus and season liberally with salt, pepper, olive oil and paprika.

(2) Grill asparagus over high heat for about 5 minutes, flipping once, until dark grill marks appear on both sides. Cool and coarsely chop.

(4) Cook pasta until al dente. Drain in colander.… continue reading

Mimosas can be a good way to start out a relaxing Sunday morning, but it’s very rare to have leftover champagne on hand. And, unless you’ve got loads of company, you wouldn’t want to open a bottle of wine at breakfast.

The following recipe is quite good and takes advantage of ingredients you’re more likely to have around.

1/2 cup dry-ish white wine (e.g. Sauvingnon Blanc or Pinot Grigio from dinner the night before) 2 TB. frozen orange juice Sparkling water (e.g. San Pelligrino)

Stir together the wine and frozen orange juice in a glass. Top with sparkling water and stir gently. Serve on ice if desired.

This is also good with dry rose.… continue reading

Zucchini Quesadillas and Frittata

Ruhlman’s BLT Contest Entry

Black Pepper Whole Wheat Spaghetti Carbonara

Mint Chocolate Chip Muffins

All-Purpose Whole Wheat Dough

Mac ‘n Goat Cheese w/Asparagus (& Tiger Chick Peas)

Poor Man’s Mimosa