I’ve got a gazillion cherry tomatoes ripening on the vine and looking for a home. This recipe, adapted from my blogging buddy, Stacey, is the perfect place for these teensy tomatoes that are no larger than a small sourball candy. You probably won’t be able to find them this tiny, but regular-sized cherry or grape tomatoes work fine here too. Everything gets placed in a disposable aluminum pan and cooked on a hot grill, keeping your kitchen cool on a hot summer’s day. In 15 minutes, dinner is ready, and you don’t have to flip the fish at all if you keep the lid down on the grill.
You needn’t limit yourself to cod either. Try it with flounder, snapper or halibut, for example, but depending on the thickness of the fish, you may have to cook it a shorter or longer time on the grill.
There is a lot of delicious sauce that oozes forth from the tomatoes and other ingredients, so serve it over rice, polenta or pasta to soak up all those juices.
Since I was heavy-handed with the tomatoes, there were a lot left over, after we had eaten all the fish. I saved a little of the rice and green beans also, and the next day had a delicious lunch heated up in the microwave.
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I’ve been overdosing on blueberries lately. It all started while I was in London and walked by a fruit vendor on a corner selling crates of blueberries for the equivalent of $4 U.S. I hit the mother lode, so how could I resist? The vendor dumped the blueberries out of the crate into a plastic shopping bag, and it was heavy – nearly the same weight as my one-month old granddaughter that I’d been visiting. On my 20 minute walk home, I had to continually shift the bag from my left hand to my right to keep my shoulder from hurting.
At a certain point, I cradled the bag of blueberries in my arms, which wouldn’t have been so bad except I was wearing a stark white shirt. You know where this is going. Fast forward to a spray I found in my daughter’s laundry room that miraculously took out the blueberry stains and returned my shirt to its virgin glory. I later found out later however, that it was bathroom cleaner with bleach, not a spot remover for clothes! Well, at least now I have another tool in my arsenal for removing stains.
But I digress — back to blueberries. I used them all up (finally) to bake three blueberry cakes, two pies and a dozen and a half muffins. The first cake I made was Ottolenghi’s well-known and delicious blueberry almond and lemon cake, which I’ve made many times and the recipe is here. I wanted to try a different recipe for the second go-round, and decided on a lemon blueberry pound cake from Once Upon a Cake. I made it, but substituted one cup almond flour for half the regular flour. It was good but it didn’t rise enough to create the attractive domed center that I was looking for. Moreover, after we each had eaten a slice of the cake, Trevor the cat found it on the kitchen counter and helped himself to a big chunk, causing us to toss the remaining cake, and wreaking havoc in Trevor’s “plumbing."
When I got back home to the U.S., I decided to bake Once Upon A Cake’s recipe a second time, but this time exactly as it was written, eliminating the almond flour. The result was a perfectly domed center and a delicious pound cake. I saved a few of the blueberries to cook down and tint the glaze, but you could keep the glaze white, or eliminate it entirely, dusting the top with only a sprinkling of powdered sugar.
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2 cups + 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled off with a knife
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup blueberries (if using frozen blueberries, do not defrost)
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups gramulated sugar
2 large eggs
FOR THE GLAZE:
about six blueberries
2 tablespoons water
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
freshly squeezed lemon juice, (about 1/2 lemon, or as much as needed to get the right consistency)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
Adjust an oven rack to middle position.
Butter and flour a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan, shaking out excess flour.
(Or butter the pan and line with parchment paper, then spray with nonstick spray)
In a small bowl, whisk together the milk, lemon zest, and lemon juice.
Let it sit for at least 10 minutes while you proceed with the recipe.
It will curdle, but that’s fine.
In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 cups flour, baking soda and salt.
In a small bowl, toss the blueberries with the remainign teaspoon of flour.
Set both aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or beaters), cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then beat in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl again.
With the mixer on low speed, beat in a third of the flour mixture, then half of the milk mixture.
Beat in another third of the flour mixture, then the remaining milk mixture, followed by the remaining flour mixture, scraping the bowl as necessary.
Add the flour-dusted blueberries to the batter and, using a spatula, fold until evenly combined.
Transfer the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until the cake is golden brown and a tester comes out clean.
Let the cake cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.
When the cake is cool, transfer to a serving platter.
Make the glaze by cooking the six blueberries with the water, pressing down on the blueberries to release the color, and cooking for a couple of minutes.
Strain the blueberries, retaining the liquid and tossing the squashed blueberries.
Mix the liquid with the confectioner’s sugar, adding lemon juice if it’s too thick.
It should be very thick, almost the consistency of molasses.
Spread the glaze over the cake, allowing some to drip down the sides.
Roasted red peppers have been in my radar for decades, even before I was a grown up. When I was a child, my parents would roast peppers by the bushel-full on the grill each summer and fall, before preserving them in jars for the colder months ahead. As an adult, I knew all about these delectable cured vegetables long before they became ubiquitous beyond Italian family tables. So I glossed over Domenica Marchetti’s recipe for sweet and sour roasted peppers in her cookbook, “Preserving Italy,” wrongly thinking you couldn’t improve on the basic roasted pepper. Boy was I wrong, as I found out a few weeks ago, while having dinner at the home of our mutual friends, Helen and Doug. Helen prepared Domenica’s recipe and served these treats over some luscious burrata cheese. One bite and I was hooked.
I couldn’t wait to get home and make these myself. You start out by either roasting the peppers indoors at the broil setting in your oven, or roasting them on an outdoor grill, until they blacken nearly all over. Let them sit covered in a bowl for a little while, until they’re cool enough to handle.
Then peel off the blackened skins, and scrape the insides, removing the seeds. Slice them and place in a clean bowl with the garlic, capers and parsley.
Follow the recipe for the brine and pour over the top. Let the peppers steep for about an hour, then drain most of the liquid, and pack into jars, topping with olive oil.
Let the flavors meld together for a couple of days (if you can wait that long) then serve any way you like. They are especially delicious and offer a perfect contrast in flavors and texture over creamy burrata cheese.
But try them simply as a topping for bruschetta; in sandwiches or however you like.
I know I am utterly addicted to these sweet and sour peppers and they’re going to become a staple in my kitchen. Pack them in pretty jars to give as gifts but make sure to keep some for yourself. You won’t be able to resist.
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Domenica Marchetti’s Sweet and Sour Roasted Peppers
