Brightening up the Morning on Main Street

Even with my sunglasses on, I appreciated the IGA's newly installed blond wood floors this morning.

Another Memory Recovered at the Milk Pail

The intoxicating scent of the freshly fried cider doughnuts at the Milk Pail on Wednesday reminded me to make one of my favorite fall treats, beer-battered apples. I bought a bag of Jonagolds, a hybrid of Jonathan and Golden Delicious apples with a sweet-tart flavor and firm texture, and fried them up later that evening for dessert, but they'd be really good as a breakfast treat, too. (No worries about beer at breakfast--the alcohol quickly cooks off in the hot oil.) Here is the recipe:

Beer-Battered Apples
Serves 4

Use a light lager (I had a bottle of Southampton Public House India Pale Ale in the refrigerator, and it was just right), which will give the batter a nice, yeasty flavor without overwhelming the apples the way a darker brew might. And don't skimp on the powdered sugar--it's necessary for a properly sweet finish.

Vegetable oil for frying
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch salt
1/2 cup lager-style beer, chilled
1 large apple, peeled, cored, and cut into sixteen 1/4-inch slices
Confectioners' sugar for dusting

1. Heat an inch of vegetable oil over medium-high heat in a large Dutch oven. Line a baking sheet with paper towels.
2. Whisk the flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt, and beer together in a medium bowl.
3. Put 8 of the apple slices in the bowl and toss to coat with the batter. Lift them with a slotted spoon or spatula, one at a time, from the bowl, letting any excess batter drip back into the bowl, and put them into the hot oil.
4. Fry the slices, turning them once, until golden brown on both sides, 2 to 3 minutes total. Use a clean slotted spoon to transfer the fried slices to the baking sheet to drain. Repeat with the remaining slices. let the fried apples rest on the baking sheet for a minute or two, dust heavily with confectioners' sugar, and serve.

Last Night's Dinner: Smashed Potatoes with Kale

When I looked at these small red potatoes from Quail Hill, they inspired me to try something I hadn't yet tried: Steaming them so they were creamy and soft inside, and then transferring them to a skillet and smashing them, so their skins would crisp up in a little bit of olive oil. I had some beautiful baby kale from the farm, too, so I decided to saute it while the potatoes steamed, and then toss the two vegetables together when the potatoes were nice and brown. It's hard to say whether this dish was such a success because of the brilliance of the cooking method or the quality of the vegetables. I like to think it was a little bit of both. Here is the recipe:

Smashed Potatoes with Kale
Serves 4

Be sure to use a large skillet (nonstick is best) that will give the potatoes enough room to cook in one layer after they've been smashed. To round out the meal, I grilled some hot and sweet Italian sausages from the IGA.

2 pounds small red potatoes
1/4 cup olive oil
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 small bunch kale (about 8 ounces), large stems stripped and discarded, leaves chopped
Salt
Ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest


1. Steam the potatoes in a large steamer rack set over boiling water, covered, until very tender, 20 to 25 minutes.
2. While the potatoes are steaming, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the kale and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring, until the kale is wilted, another 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape the kale into a bowl and set aside.
3. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil in the skillet over medium-high heat (no need to was out the pan). Add the potatoes (they should fit comfortably in one layer, with room to expand). Smash each potato with a masher, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook until crisp on one side, 2 to 3 minutes. Turn and cook until the second side is crisp, another 2 minutes. Stir in the kale and zest, stir to combine and warm through, and serve.

A Sweet Way to Support Our School

Where have I been? I just this morning heard about Pierson PTSA's Cheesecake Fundraiser. Until October 27th, you can order locally baked Holey Moses cheesecakes and fruit pies, and then pick them up at the Pierson Gym on Tuesday, November 23rd, just in time for Thanksgiving. For information and an order form, contact your PTSA representative.

Halloween Shopping

I do love these candy buckets in the window of the Kramoris Gallery. They are just the right size for the bag of fun-size Milky Ways that I will have on hand on Halloween, and then eat by myself when the trick-or-treaters once again skip my street in favor of the less spooky Madison Street and Suffolk Street.

Last Night's Dinner: Colorful Lentil Soup

The blustery weather of the last couple of days put me in the mood for lentil soup. For some reason, I wanted a vegetarian version. Who knows. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I had spent the morning making 10 pounds of pie dough with the lard I was keeping in my freezer. Lentils cooked on their own are very, well, brown. So I added healthy spoonfuls of paprika and turmeric, along with a can of chopped tomatoes, to give my soup some attractive color as well as bright flavor. Now if only I could figure out a way to make my delicious but rather gray baba ghanoush equally pretty. Here is the soup recipe:

Vegetarian Lentil-Tomato Soup
Serves 4

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
One 1-inch piece fresh gingerroot, finely chopped
2 teaspoons hot or sweet paprika
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 cup brown lentils, picked over and rinsed
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
One 14-ounce can chopped tomatoes with juice
4 1/2 cups water
Salt

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, paprika, and turmeric and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
2. Add the lentils, cilantro, tomatoes, and water to the pan and bring t a boil. Cover, turn down the heat, and cook at a bare simmer until the lentils are tender, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Puree one cup of the soup in a blender and return to the pot. Season with salt and serve.

Great News

I wouldn't presume to think that my previous blog post has anything to do with it, but the Blue Duck Bakery is now bringing along their whole grain baguettes to the Sag Harbor Farmer's Market! But the market closes shop at the end of the month. I must now apply some friendly pressure to people at the IGA, who already stock the Blue Duck's ciabatta and Pugliese breads.