It’s high Indian summer here in New York City. So hard to believe that heirloom tomatoes are still on offer. The days grow increasingly shorter; time to take advantage while they’re still around.
Icicle and French breakfast radishes
The thermometer foretold seventy degrees this afternoon. Truth be told, it felt more like fifty-five.
Carpe diem indeed.
The seasons might have changed this past Monday but there was precious little evidence of that judging by what was on offer at the Greenmarket today.
Seckel pears — Developed in the early part of the 19th century, seckel pears are a variety of heirloom pear with a dull green cast and red highlights. The fruit is very sweet with a somewhat grainy texture since it is a hybrid of European and Asian pear. Seckel pears are the variety most often found in home orchards.
White peaches — White peaches were known in Europe as early as the mid-17th century, although they were so delicate compared to yellow peaches that they nearly disappeared from commercial orchards. Since the 1980’s, white peaches have enjoyed a resurgence in popularity, and newly developed later-ripening varieties have extended the white peach season to nearly match that of yellow varieties.
Indian corn
To most people, cauliflower is decidedly boring. It’s not sexy compared to say, tomatoes or corn. I seriously doubt that it springs to mind when you ask someone what his or her favorite vegetable is.
“Cheese” cauliflower — By the way, this picture hasn’t been photoshopped. That’s the way it really looks, hence the name cheese cauliflower.
Roasting cauliflower changes its flavor to something approaching French fries. It’s an easy way to persuade someone to eat a vegetable that he or she might not normally consume. Once you cook it this way, you’ll be sorry you hadn’t bought more than one head. It’s pretty amazing.
One head cauliflower
4 T. extra-virgin olive oil
pinch of kosher salt
Preheat oven to 375 F. Break apart cauliflower. The smaller the florets, the better. You want the florets to be of similarly uniform size, so that the cauliflower cooks evenly. Drizzle olive oil over cauliflower; sprinkle with salt. Toss to coat. Roast for 45 minutes or until cauliflower has caramelized and turns golden brown. Let cool slightly, then serve immediately.
Discussion on eGullet can be found here.
Cheese cauliflower with heirloom tomatoes and beets
Here, I’ve paired roasted cauliflower with chopped heirloom tomatoes and roasted beets, along with black mustard seeds, sea salt, olive oil and chopped parsley.
You can definitely tell that autumn is on the threshold.
There’s a chill in the air; carpe diem while you can.
Yellow plum tomatoes
Golden nugget potatoes
Apples
Stufato di verdure alla Toscana
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Stufato di verdure is a northern Italian vegetable stew common to Tuscany. This version was served with a poached farm egg and garlic-rubbed sourdough toast. The word stufata is a cooking technique similar to a braise, in which the ingredients are cooked in little or no water. The juices from the vegetables themselves form the stew’s gravy. Stufato should be served immediately lest the vegetables absorb what little liquid there is. Then it becomes more like ciambotta, a southern Italian dish that’s related to both ratatouille and caponata.
Stufato is a year-round dish that’s limited only by your imagination and availability of ingredients at your local market. In autumn, it can feature pumpkin, squash, tomatoes, cranberry beans, cauliflower and peppers. In the winter, it might contain black cabbage, potatoes, carrots, chard and kale. In the spring, fava beans, baby artichokes, baby leeks, young peas, green garlic and turnips.
You can make stufato several hours ahead and reheat, or serve it at room temperature. This goes well with a crisp white wine such as a pinot gris or Tokay d’Alsace.
Confit is a generic term for various kinds of food that have been immersed in a substance for both flavor and preservation. Sealed and stored in a cool place, confit can last for several months. The word comes from the French verb confire, meaning “to preserve”, which in turn comes from the Latin conficere, meaning “to do, to produce, to make or to prepare.”
You might be familiar with duck confit (confit de canard, an essential ingredient in cassoulet) or fruit confiture (whole fruit infused with sugar and preserved; this is different from a jam in that the fruit is usually not pureed).
This is a quick tomato confit made from 2 ripe Jersey tomatoes, kosher salt, black pepper, parsley and extra-virgin olive oil. Cut the tomatoes into wedges and arrange them, cut side down atop a bed of herbs such as basil or parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Add enough olive oil so that it comes halfway up the sides of the tomatoes. Roast the tomatoes in a pre-heated 325 F oven for 90 minutes. Tomatoes are done when they are lightly caramelized yet still hold their shape. Toss a couple of teaspoons of tomato oil with cooked spaghetti. Top each serving with some confit, scatter with chopped herbs and serve immediately.
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Tomatoes can be stored in olive oil in a tightly covered container for up to 2 days.
Sorry I haven’t been posting much — been busy at work these past two weeks.
Corn and tomato sauté, ricotta bruschetta
Click here to view a large-size version of the pic above.
This was two ears of corn briefly sautéed in melted unsalted butter with minced shallots, a pinch of salt and some chopped tarragon. Remove from heat and stir in some diced tomato.
The ricotta spread consists of 4 tablespoons sheep’s milk ricotta cheese, salt, pepper, extra-virgin olive oil and 1 teaspoon chopped lemon thyme. Combine all ingredients and stir until thoroughly incorporated. Can be made 1 to 2 hours in advance; chill in the refrigerator until ready for use. Spread ricotta on slices of grilled or toasted bread and serve.
Well, not exactly. 
Fava bean and summer squash risotto with cow’s milk ricotta cheese and basil
A larger version of the pic is here.
Eggs sunnyside-up, heirloom tomato and cucumber salad, toasted levain
This is my newest favorite way to have breakfast — pan-fried eggs over salad and crispy toast. Ingredients vary, depending on the season and what looks good at the market. The salad is simply halved cherry tomato, diced cucumber and summer squash, half an onion, lemon juice, salt, pepper, garlic scapes, parsley and extra-virgin olive oil.
Once you have it this way, you’ll wonder why you hadn’t thought of it before.
A bigger version of the pic can be seen here.
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