PORCINE DEPENDENCE (LARD PART ONE)

Fall. Sick kids. Sleep deprivation. I just need a little help to keep me going. 

Dash is my enabler. He pours the half and half into my coffee, hands me my yoga mat, and takes the wine out of the fridge. 

Sometimes he gets a little confused. Last week, I woke up to find Dash in the kitchen with a wine opener in his hand. "Dash. Put away the wine opener. It's breakfast time. Seriously. Put it down." He started to cry. "Please put down the wine opener. Let's cook." 

 "Okay, mama." He yanked open the fridge. "Here's your lard." He's aware of all my addictions.

We scrounged through the cupboards and found Yukon gold potatoes, onions, garlic, and one beautiful winter squash. We started prepping without a plan. This is not my usual style. And with kids, it's not always recommended.

We started with the potatoes. Dash is a kinesthetic learner. His entry into any cooking project is to place his hand on the cook's wrist––be it Bella's, or the babysitter's, or mine. He FEELS how we peel, or slice, or whisk. It's also a very safe way for Dash to participate in the kitchen.

Dash held on to my husband's wrist as he peeled potatoes. And then SPLASH they went into the cold salty water.

Then he wanted to peel on his own. "I got it, daddy, I got it. BY MYSELF!"

Dash sighed after we drained the cooked potatoes. "But what are we making, mama? What's the RE-CI-PE?" He wasn't feeling grounded. We agreed on a Warm Potato and Winter Squash Salad with Roasted Garlic and Caramelized Onion and Lard Vinaigrette.

Button-up shirts make Dash tense. He climbed off his stool and disappeared into his room. Costume change. Then on to the onions. 

Dash has this onion-peeling technique in which he cranks his head as far away as possible from the onion. But he still cries, wipes his eyes with onion juice, and then cries some more. Then he starts the routine all over again.

"Mama, the knife isn't cutting so well." It's true that he was mangling the onions.

 It was was time to introduce Dash to the steel.

Unless your three-year old is a certified ninja, don't let let him hone a chef knife. It's much much safer to practice finding just the right angle with a plastic knife.

It was time to scoop the lard. Dash wanted to take a huge bite of the creamy white substance. It reminded me of the time Bella saw a scoop of vibrant green wasabi and almost put the whole thing in her mouth.

"Can I try it, mama?" asked Dash. "Lard looks like ice cream."
"Fine," I said. "Try it."

He liked it. Of course. But he also made the face my dog makes when I give him peanut butter. 

We agreed that there is nothing better than the smell of onions cooking in lard. We whisked vinegar, mustard, and olive oil into the caramelized onions. The dressing was done.

One last step. I had Dash put balsamic vinegar, olive oil, whole garlic cloves, salt, and pepper into the squash halves. I can't believe I let him pour this super expensive thick balsamic in without some help. But he did it with such care.

We threw the squash into the oven, lounged on the sofa, and talked about how batman carries a little baby batman around in his pouch when he saves the day. Big mistake for me to recline. My sleep-deprived mind went blank. I kept thinking, "What's that sweet garlicky smell? I want what my neighbors are cooking." Turns out we were the ones cooking. This is when when my husband told me it was not safe for me to drive the children around in a car.

But we didn't burn down the house. And we made up a new salad. And it was no longer morning.

"Dash, you can open the wine now."

A BIT ABOUT LARD:
This fall, almost every Bay Area restaurant menu has a dish made with lard, lardum, laridum, lardo, larduri or saindoux. Whatever you want to call it, it's way tasty pork fat in its rendered and unrendered forms. People are using it like it's something new when in fact it's been around forever. Some people just gave it a bad rap sometime last century.

In its rendered form it's called lard. You can use it to cook eggs, onions, and even meat or fish. It's got a bit less saturated fat than butter. It coats your tongue in a different way than other oils (a bit thicker). And the smoking point is higher than butter and extra virgin olive oil. Get it from a great butcher or a local farm and make sure it's unhydrogenated and without additives or bleach.  The kind of lard you want to buy must be refrigerated.

I've heard that leaf lard is the best for pastry because it creates a flaky crust and imparts a subtle flavor. Regular lard is rendered from many different parts of the pig while leaf lard is just from around the kidney area.

In its unrendered and cured form it's called lardo. You can sear it and serve it with salad or some poached winter fruit. Or place thin slices on top of pizza. Or wrap fish in it. Endless possibilities. It melts in your mouth.

This lard post is just the beginning for me. I've discovered a whole new world. Lard Part Two (double-lard pie crust) and Part Three (playing with lardo) are coming after Thanksgiving.

WARM POTATO AND WINTER SQUASH SALAD WITH ROASTED GARLIC AND CARAMELIZED ONION VINAIGRETTE
printable recipe

-This salad would be delicious served on a bed of frissée salad with crispy lardons.

-Get the squash in the oven before starting the dressing. Cook the potatoes while the onions are caramelizing.
serves 4 as a side dish

Save as Draft

for the squash:

1 small winter squash

salt

pepper

8 cloves unpeeled garlic

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 350° F. Cut squash in half. Place halves cut side up on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Distribute garlic, vinegar, and olive oil between the two halves. Cover with tin foil. Bake until very tender, gooey, and almost caramelized. At least an hour. Maybe more. Set aside and keep covered while cooking potatoes and dressing.

for the dressing:

2 yellow onions, peeled and diced

2 tablespoon lard (or olive oil)

salt

pepper

sprig of thyme

1 tablespoon sherry wine vinegar

2 teaspoons dijon mustard

2 tablespoons olive oil

Heat a sauté pan to medium heat. Add lard and let melt. Add onions, salt, pepper, and thyme. Stir occasionally. Don't let the onions brown. Once they're translucent, cover pan with a lid and turn heat down to low. Stir every 10 minutes or so. Make sure the onions don't brown. After about 45 minutes, remove the lid and burn off the excess liquid on medium heat. Add vinegar and cook for one minute. Turn off the heat. Whisk in mustard. Slowly whisk in some olive oil. Taste. If too acidic,  add more olive oi.

for the potatoes:

12 medium-sized yukon gold potatoes

1 tablespoon salt

Fill a large pot with cold water. Add salt. Peel potatoes and place them in the cold salty water right after you peel them. Bring to a boil. Turn down to a simmer. Check for to see if they are done by inserting the tip of a knife. They're done when there is no resistance (about 25-30 minutes). Or just cut one open and taste. Drain, cover, and set aside until the dressing is ready.

salad assembly:

crunchy salt

pepper

handful of parsley leaves, coarsley chopped

Slice potatoes and place in a bowl.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Pour over a few tablespoons of dressing. Mix gently with your fingers. With a teaspoon, gently scoop out the cooked squash flesh and place scoops all over the dressed potatoes. Drizzle over more dressing. Garnish with roasted garlic and parsley. Serve immediately.

THANKSGIVING SIDE DISH + GUEST POST

Bella was really bummed that I let Dash do the last guest post for Real Simple Magazine's blog Simply Stated. Luckily,  I got to do another one for Thanksgiving side dishes. This time we got Dash out of the house and it was all about Bella, buttermilk, butter, potatoes, fresh herbs, and crispy shallots.  I had to stop Bella MANY TIMES from doing a faceplant into the mashed potatoes. Check out the guest post and our recipe.

FRIDAYS WITH DASH: BATMAN LOVES BURRATA

I never thought I'd write the following words: It's so peaceful to go to the grocery store with Dash on Fridays. He gets in the cart, we talk about what we're going to cook, and then he gets right to his favorite October subject: Halloween. He is going to be Batman.

He even convinced my husband to buy me a Batmomma costume. I haven't worn a Halloween costume in 20 years but I'll do (almost) anything for my little Batman. Last week at the market Dash told me all about Batman's habits.

"Momma, do you know what Batman does after he saves the day?"
"No idea," I reply.
"He does yoga," he says with absolute certainty.
"That's so smart of him."
"And then he eats a bowl of chocolate soup. Okay, mama? Okay?"

I'm a Batmomma in training.

As I'm unloading our cart at the checkout,  I come up with the idea of Batman Salad.  I tell Dash we're making it for dinner because Batman loves green beans and burrata cheese. The checkout guy looks at me and rolls his eyes. He turns to Dash and says, "Your mom tells the truth MOST of the time." I roll my eyes back at the dude and he says, "What? I was giving you an out. I thought you'd be happy."

When we get home, I let Dash choose all the other ingredients for the Batman Salad. Thanks to Berkeley's October summer, our tiny porch is exploding with cherry tomatoes, basil, parsley, thyme, mint, and lemons. Dash picks, stems, snips, and then piles everything up on the counter.

He proudly carries the uncooked Batman beans over to the stove. We boil them in salty water and shock them in ice water.

Dash makes the salad dressing all by himself. First time ever. He loves bashing the anchovy and garlic with the mortar and pestle to make a paste. To the mortar, he adds four different vinegars, meyer lemon, and some minced shallots.

Stepping back and photographing my son while he uses a knife requires a fantastic amount of letting go on my part. But I think I do pretty well, and so does Dash. He hasn't mastered the curling in of the fingers but he'll get there.

Dash adds lots of Grey Poupon mustard and then he is ready to whisk in the olive oil. Lots and lots of olive oil. He moves through all the steps with such confidence. I realize he has seen me make salad dressing at least twice a week for his entire life. He has really picked up on all the techniques.

I place the burrata on a plate for Dash to examine. "Wow. This is beautiful. It's like a boobie. Can I touch it?" he asks. I change the subject and explain that in fact it's a pouch made from mozzarrella cheese. Burrata means "buttered" in Italian and when you cut through the tough exterior a buttery substance made from mozzarella and cream oozes out. It's crazy delectable. We carefully scoop out little chunks of it for the salad.

I hand over the knife once again so Dash can slice the cherry tomatoes in half. I swear I'm not drunk. He just seems so eager to cut things.

 

He proudly drizzles way too much dressing all over everything and then does an herb-sprinkling dance.

 

Dash and Bella snarf up the salad for dinner, lunch the next day, and then dinner again the next night. The beans don't stay vibrant and green but the flavor holds up.

In an ideal world I would have added grilled eggplant and caramelized onions. But this is Batman's salad, not Batmomma's salad.

We have some leftover burrata cheese so the next day I try to convince Dash that Batman LOVES pizza with figs, burrata, caramelized onions, and creme fraiche. He wags his finger at me and says, "Uh-uh. That pizza looks stinky. Batman loves cheese pizza."

Fine. More pizza for Batman's momma.(Batmomma photo styled and photographed by my 7-year old Bella.) 

BATMAN SALAD: GREEN BEANS, CHERRY TOMATOES, AND BURRATA 
printable recipe 
Use haricots verts, otherwise use any kind of green bean you can find. I've never made this salad dressing the same way twice since I always use a different combination of vinegar/lemons. Make sure to taste it as you go along.

Serves 4 as a side dish.

INGREDIENTS:
1.5 pounds green beans, washed and stemmed

2 teaspoons salt (for boiling water)

1 anchovy

1 clove of garlic

3 tablespoons vinegar (any combination of the following vinegars: red, white, champagne, sherry wine, or balsamic)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 shallots, peeled and minced

1 tablespoon creamy Dijon mustard (I always use Grey Poupon)

6-9 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 cup cherry tomatoes

mound of burrata cheese

salt (for salad)

pepper

1/3 cup chopped herbs (any combination of mint, basil, thyme, and/or parsley)

DIRECTIONS:

Boil a big pot of water. Add salt. Boil green beans for a minute or two. I like them still crunchy but cook them how you like them. While they're cooking, prepare an ice bath (water plus ice). Strain green beans and immediately shock them in the water bath. Leave in the cold water until cool. Strain in a colander and then place on a dishtowel to dry.

For the salad dressing. Make a paste with the anchovy and garlic with a mortar and pestle or on a cutting board with a chef knife. Combine paste with vinegars, lemon juice, and shallots. Let sit for a few minutes. Whisk in mustard. Slowly whisk in some of the olive oil. Pour the oil in slowly enough that it emulsifies. Taste. If necessary, slowly add more olive oil. Just keep tasting as you go along.

Place cooked green beans in a bowl. Halve the cherry tomatoes and add them to the beans. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add some salad dressing. Mix with your hands. Taste. Add more dressing if necessary. Place in a tall mound on a plate. Scoop out small chunks of burrata cheese and place all over the salad. Sprinkle with chopped herbs. Serve immediately. If the salad sits for a bit the beans will start to lose their vibrant green color but they'll still taste good.

ADDITIONAL TOPPINGS:

grilled eggplant

caramelized onions
hazelnuts, pine nuts, or slivered almonds

BELLA'S FOOD RULES AND ANOTHER TOMATO RECIPE

Bella thinks crème fraiche is "awesome."

She loves salads.

She lives to use the Global chef knife.

Bella has redefined vegetarianism. She won't eat anything that comes from a fish, chicken, or cow. But pigs are fair game. We've been having a lot of prosciuitto, bacon, guanciale, serrano ham, and chorizo.

If Bella makes her own dinner, she eats more of it. 

Considering these current requirements/restrictions/tendencies, we came up with a plan last Saturday night that worked quite well. Bella was to make a salad all by herself that included bacon, lettuce, tomato, crème fraiche, and lots of herbs. I set out the mise en place, asked her to make a salad large enough for the 3 of us, and stepped back.

Dash wanted to join in. When he tried to juggle the tomatoes we sent him to the other end of the house to watch Wallace and Gromit.

Dash and I have had our peaceful moments cooking together, but in general he is a very physical cook. He climbs up and down the stool 20 times, the fridge flies open constantly, and there's lots of yelling, sweating, and swearing coming from me. Cooking with Bella is a much slower and more meticulous experience. She is cooking at a whole new level now since she is starting to taste and adjust dishes to her liking. This give her a lot of control. Bella likes to be in control.

Bella's neutral face is very serious. She inherited this from me. I swear she was having a great time.

I'm teaching Bella that cooking involves all of your senses. Smell and taste the dressing several times as you make it. Taste the salad several times as you dress it. Mix the salad with your hands so you can feel if the leaves are evenly coated. It's also more fun.

 

Bella has always said that she hates pepper. But she kept picking up the pepper mill and adding more and more to the dressing. Maybe it was just fun to turn the thing. Or maybe when kids are involved in cooking, the part of the brain that normally says "no" and "ew" and "I hate that" can start to shift.

I really wanted to crumble some blue cheese on top of the salad. Bella said, "Hell no." It was her creation so I didn't push it. I asked her if she could define deconstructed and she said, "Taking one thing apart to make another." You go, girl. So here's Bella's Deconstructed BLT Salad with Crème Fraiche and Herb Dressing.

 

BELLA'S DECONSTRUCTED BLT SALAD WITH CRÈME FRAICHE AND HERB DRESSING

printable recipe

This recipe includes the ingredients and approximate measurements. I recommend making it the way Bella did. Taste as you go along. Add and subtract ingredients as you wish. It's a very forgiving salad.

INGREDIENTS:
15-20 stale 1" baguette slices, grilled and rubbed with a garlic clove while still warm 

8 pieces of bacon, cooked the way you like

2 tablespoons crème fraiche

2 shallots, peeled and diced

2 green onions, thinly sliced

1/3 cup chopped herbs (any combo of mint, parsley, and/or basil)

2 tablespoons sherry wine vinegar, white wine, or champagne vinegar

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon lemon zest

6-8 tablespoons olive oil

salt

pepper

1 head of butter lettuce (or hearts of romaine, baby gems, arugula, spinach)

4 medium-sized tomatoes, cored and cut in wedges

DIRECTIONS:
Make croutons and cook the bacon. Set aside.

Place crème fraiche in a bowl. Whisk in shallots, green onions, herbs, vinegar, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Slowly whisk in about 5 tablespoons olive oil. Taste. Add more olive oil if necessary. But make sure the dressing is tangy enough because otherwise the salad will be bland. Place lettuce and tomato wedges in a bowl. Drizzle over some of the dressing, salt, and pepper. Mix with your hands. Taste. Add more dressing, salt, and pepper if needed. Place cooked bacon and baguette croutons on top of the salad. Drizzle over some more of the salad dressing. Sprinkle more herbs on top. Serve immediately.

more things to add:

blue cheese

walnuts

avocado
hard-boiled eggs 

FRIDAYS WITH DASH: TOMATO, ROASTED GARLIC AND QUARK CHEESE TART

Sibling rivalry has kicked in with all kinds of screaming, punching, and drama queening. Often, hanging with both Dash and Bella is so intense that I just want to hustle them to bed as quickly as possible. I'm craving time alone with each of them. Bella and I have been going out on dates to fancy dinners without Dash. Last week we sat at the bar of a very popular local restaurant called Wood Tavern. In between bites of burrata and roasted peaches, we talked about second grade, the San Francisco Giants, Silly Bandz, and what life would be like without Dash (she decided she wants to keep him around). It was dreamy.

This year Dash is in school every day but Friday. So Friday's our day. No school. No Bella. Just the two of us.  I'm hoping to do a series of posts called "Fridays with Dash" in which we do a new recipe together every week. Or maybe every other week.

From the back of the car last week, Dash announced, "We have to pass through ALL the cafés to get to school."

Dash's relationship with Berkeley is like a Chutes and Ladders board paved with cafés.

I don't know what kind of drugs you all did in high school, but I skipped class to do lattes. This early addiction lingers and I'm a much better mom when I'm caffeinated. Dash is psyched to go to a café every morning because he always scores a pastry. He went through a cheese danish phase, a pumpkin bread phase, and now he always wants cheese bread from The Cheese Board. Last week, we were lucky enough to get a table next to the cheese counter.

"Holy shit, look at the cheese!" I shouldn't open my mouth before I've had a full cup of coffee.

"Holy SHIT, Mama? Why?" asked Dash.

"Holy cow, Dash. Holy guacamole. The cheese is just so beautiful."

We left The Cheese Board with a tub of quark cheese (fresh cow's milk cheese made from sour milk). I was hoping to combine it in some killer way with the huge pile of tomatoes we had just picked with my parents over the weekend. Actually, my kids picked 3 tomatoes and my parents picked 103.

Dash and Bella jumped around gathering baskets, gloves, and clippers, but their enthusiasm was short-lived. "No farmer is she," said my dad as Bella harvested two tomatoes before complaining of the heat. Harry Potter was calling.

Dash, red-faced and sighing, heaved and hoed a bit longer than Bella.

So it's Friday and we're in the kitchen. I have quark and all the picked tomatoes and I think there might be some sort of tart to be made. When I'm trying to figure out a recipe I wander around the kitchen talking to myself. Fortunately, Dash is listening to my ramblings. "Put garlic in the tart, Mama."

So I roast a whole head of garlic. When it's soft, sweet, and caramelized, I whip it up with the quark, an egg, and some cream. Dash slurps a bunch of the mixture up like a milkshake.

 

We par-bake the tart shell, seal the bottom with a layer of mustard, and then Dash fills the tart shell with the quark mixture. He gently puts down overlapping concentric circles of heirloom tomatoes slices. 

And then Dash can't contain himself anymore so he smooshes some tomato slices between his fingers and throws them onto the tart.

"Dude!!! What a mess. Are you a big boy or a baby?"

He thinks about it for a moment and then says calmly, "I'm not a baby anymore. I broke my baby size."

 "Well, If you broke your baby size then you be a big boy and help me fix the tart."

And he does. 

THOUGHTS AND VARIATIONS:

1. I chose not to squeeze out some liquid from the tomatoes. I just didn't want to lose all the wonderful flavor. It's a very moist tart but I found that most of the liquid was reabsorbed back into the cheese base and the crust once it was done. You can certainly halve the tomatoes, scoop and squeeze out some liquid and seeds, and then slice them up.

2. Any kind of dough works for this tart. I used puff pastry once and shortcrust pastry dough another time. We're trying pizza dough tomorrow. On a pizza I would recommend slicing the tomatoes very thinly because the dough requires less cooking time. Not need to pre-bake the pizza dough.

3. Replace the quark cheese with goat cheese. Or make your own quark.

4. Top the tart with a combination of cheeses: parmesan, gruyere, piave, and/or pecorino.

5. Add niçoise or lucques olives.

6. Mix fresh herb in with the quark mixture. Or just sprinkle fresh herbs on top before or after cooking.

7. Add caramelized onions.

8. Add strips of anchovy.

HEIRLOOM TOMATO, ROASTED GARLIC, AND QUARK TART

printable recipe

If you use my recipe for shortcrust pastry dough, do the variation that involves adding the butter in 2 batches.

a recipe for shortcut pastry dough OR store-bought puff pastry

1 head garlic

1 egg

8 ounces quark

4 tablespoons heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons dijon mustard

6-8 heirloom tomatoes, cored and sliced about 1/2" thick (they will look prettier if you do horizontal slices, from the stem end to the bottom)

salt and pepper

1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated

Make shortcut pastry dough and refrigerate for a few hours. Or remove puff pastry from the freezer about an hour before you're going to make the tart. Preheat oven to 375° F. Cut the tiniest bit of the tips off of the garlic cloves from the non-stem end. Rub exposed cloves with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Wrap in tin foil, put it in a dish, and bake until garlic is soft. This should take 45 minutes to an hour. Check often to make sure it's not burning. Set aside to cool.

Keep oven at 375° F. Roll out dough and press into a 10 or 12 inch pie plate. Bake off for 10-15 minutes until just beginning set. Remove from the oven and cool for a few minutes.

Squeeze roasted garlic (it can still be warm just not hot) into the bowl of a standing mixer. Add egg, quark, heavy cream, and salt. Beat with mixer until smooth (or mix by hand). 

Spread mustard over the bottom of the pre-baked tart shell. Evenly spread (or pour depending on consistency) quark mixture on top of that. Arrange the tomato slices in overlapping concentric circles on top of the quark mixture. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on top of the tomato slices. Sprinkle parmesan cheese over the top of the tart. Bake. Lots of moisture seeps out of the tomatoes during the first 30 minutes. Don't worry.  It will seep back into the tart. Remove the tart when it's nicely browned. This takes anywhere from 45-60 minutes. You can place it under the broiler for a minute or 2 at the end to get the desired color. Let it sit for at least 10 minutes before serving.

A FINAL BLOGIVERSARY TRIBUTE AND CORN TWO WAYS

If you had told me a year ago that I was going to start a food blog and come up with over 40 original recipes, I would have told you that you were on crack.

But I did just that and here's how it went down. It's all thanks to my parents (and one other person I'll tell you about in a minute).

A year and a half ago, my dad saw my interest in photography and gave me the most excellent gift: my very own fancy-pants Nikon camera. I proceeded to take a lot of out-of-focus photos. I even took the camera into the photo store to see if it was broken. "Your camera works just fine," said the cocky young hipster photographer dude. He continued, "You know, I'm known for being able to hold the camera incredibly still." And then he demonstrated. I went home and practiced a lot so I could kick his photography ass.

 

My mom is always looking out for me. A little over a year ago, she sent me the following email: "Phyllis - Because you can cook AND write, I think you should enter this contest.  Love - Mommie." It was an online contest put on by the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group in which you were to cook some Julia Child recipes and write about the experience. I spent one crazy day cooking three Julia Child recipes. I even locked Dash in his room so that I could finish. Then I needed a way to submit my entry. I went to Blogger, started a blog (it took two minutes!), and named it after my children. That's how the Dash and Bella blog was born.

When I got the email informing me that I had actually won the contest, Dash ran around the apartment yelling, "I won! I won! I won!" And he was right, in many ways we did all win. Yes, we got LOTS of loot.

But beyond the cookbooks, the dishtowels, the bamboo spoon, and the  enormous Le Creuset pot, this blog changed the cooking vibe around our house. It wasn't a revolutionary change, but a legitimate shift in focus. Much like a destination vacation, everything we needed for hours of fun, day and night, was now found in the kitchen. It became the most exciting room in the house.

My kids now know what's in season. Bella is often schooling Dash. "No strawberries in December! They'll taste awful."

They know the knife rules. Curl your fingers in, angle the knife away.

They've learned some new vocabulary. Last week, three-year old Dash busted out with the question, "Is that savory or sweet?" I didn't use the word savory until I was 25.  

They follow cooking projects through to the end. Look at Dash's concentration as he grates the garlic into the chicken marinade (recipe for Kitchen Sink Chicken coming soon).

Bella's commitment to her Watermelon Salad blew my mind. She was sweating by the end.

One more person supported this blog in a huge way. It's true that a team of people from Knopf chose my entry as the winner, but one member of this team stuck around the whole year. She read my early posts and urged me to keep writing, she tweeted about my blog when it was on Real Simple and Apartment Therapy, and she got excited about my version of bread pudding. Her name is Pamela Cortland and she rocks the house.  

I know this is a long build up to my final blogiversary tribute (and this is the edited down version). But I've arrived. I dedicate the following end-of-summer-use-up-the-corn recipes to my mom, my dad, and Pamela Cortland at Knopf. I couldn't have sustained this blog without their encouragement (and I certainly wouldn't have started it in the first place). Thank you.

The first recipe represents my cooking past. It's a Corn, Goat Cheese, Lemon, and Basil Tart that is inspired by a Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese Tart that my mom and I have been making for 15 years. Dash filled the tart shell with the cheesy corn filling and claimed the batter was as tasty as cookie dough. I can't confirm this.

The tart puffs up beautifully in the oven. The texture is a bit like ricotta cheesecake. It's not silky smooth, but it still has a melt-in-your-mouth quality. I served this tart with a basil infused olive oil, though it's not necessary. But do serve this tart with something acidic like sliced tomatoes with balsamic and olive oil. Or an arugula salad with a tangy dijon vinaigrette. You can find my recipe for this tart over at food52. It was chosen as an Editors' Pick (woohoo!).

The second corn recipe is Pasta with Grilled Peaches, Corn, Shallots, and Lillet Blanc. This recipe represents a new confidence I've found in creating my own recipes. Until 9 months ago, I was glued to cookbooks. Now I love to freestyle and mess with preconceived notions of what should be savory and what should be sweet.

The key is to marinate the sliced peaches in shallots, garlic, and balsamic before grilling them up.

Then cook the corn in the remaining peach marinade on high heat for about a minute. Finish it off with a big old glug of Lillet Blanc (or white wine).

Add some pasta water, parmesan, and parsley and that's it. I've made it with goat cheese ravioli, spaghetti, bucatini, and penne. All worked really well.

PASTA WITH WITH GRILLED PEACHES, CORN, SHALLOTS, AND LILLET BLANC

printable recipe

serves 2

I use raw corn for this recipe and it only cooks in the sauce for a few minutes. If you like your corn a little more cooked, you can cook it before cutting it off the cob. This recipe works well with goat cheese ravioli. But it's just as good (and less rich) with plain dried pasta. Or try spaghetti, bucatini, or penne.

4 firm peaches, peeled and thickly sliced

2 shallots, diced

1 clove garlic, grated or pressed

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar 

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

big pinch salt

a few turns of pepper

olive oil for grilling

3 ears corn, kernels cut off the cob (raw)

2 tablespoons Lillet Blanc or white wine

3/4 pound pasta or ravioli 

1 teaspoon salt

parsley, coarsley chopped

parmesan, sliced with a vegetable peeler

Marinate peaches, shallots, garlic, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper for 10 minutes. Hit a grill pan up until smoking. Brush grill with a bit of oil. Sear peach slices for a minute on each side (just to blacken with grill marks). Don't do this for more than a minute on each side or the peach slices will fall apart. Save remaining marinade. Set grilled peaches aside. 

Bring large pot of water to the boil for the pasta. Add salt. Add pasta.

When the pasta has about 3 minutes of cooking time left, heat up a pan to high heat. Mix corn kernels into remaining peach marinade. Add corn and marinade to the hot pan and cook for one minute. Add Lillet or white wine and cook down for another minute. When the pasta is al dente (usually a minute or two less than instructions suggest), don't dump it into a colander. Instead, leave the pasta water in the pot. Scoop the pasta out of the water and place it directly into the pan with the corn. It's okay if some of the cooking water comes with the pasta. Toss until pasta is coated. Add a little more pasta water if it seems dry. At the last second pour over the grilled peaches and any juice. Gently toss once more. Serve immediately topped with parmesan and parsley. Sprinkle extra salt, pepper, and olive oil over the top.