Gathering a summer evening meal



Gathering a summer evening meal

By the end of June, Vermont gardens are offering up the first of a summer long delight of foods which can be captured in this meal. Suggested setting is a deck overlooking the sunset with flowers from the garden on the table and good friends for the sharing.

Berry Soup

Fresh greens salad with maple/cider dressing

Chicken breasts with radishes

Buttered peas with mint or not

Popovers

Fresh Berry Tart

Iced Mint Tea

Berry soup

Any berry will do, strawberries and raspberries would be in season

Plain yogurt

Honey

Apple cider, the sweeter, the better

Grated nutmeg

Fresh or frozen cider can be used, always taste and adjust the honey for sweetness. Whisk the yogurt, honey and cider together. Chill thoroughly. Add berries and nutmeg just before serving.

Fresh greens with maple/cider dressing

Young spinach, beet greens and a variety of lettuce

Dressing

1/3 maple syrup, 1/3 apple cider vinegar, 1/3 vegetable oil. Shake before using

Chicken breasts with radishes

1-2 chicken breasts, skinned, boned

6 radishes

1 cup apple cider vinegar

½ cup dry white wine

2 t fresh tarragon or ½ t dry tarragon

1 t honey

Cut diagonal slices in the breasts to put the radishes in. Consider how this will look as a final product. Be creative! Cover the bottom of a shallow dish with sliced radishes and lay the chicken breasts, cut side down, on top. Combine the vinegar, wine and honey in a saucepan and simmer for 2 minutes. Stir and pour over the breasts and marinate overnight in the refrigerator.

To cook. Broil the chicken breasts, cut side down, until brown. Baste with the marinate and broil on the cut side for 2 minutes. Remove and place the sliced radishes in the slits, return to the broiler until done. Serve hot.

Buttered peas with Mint - or Not

3 cups of shelled peas

3 T butter

5 mint leaves, chopped (optional)

Salt and pepper

Rinse the peas and add to boiling water, cooking to your choice of texture, 2 minutes for al dente, 10 minutes for cooked. Drain, toss in a serving bowl with butter, season to taste. There is great discussion over whether the mint improves or overrides the flavor of the peas and I suggest you try both ways and decide for yourself.

Popovers

Without question, popovers are WOW! Making popovers is more a technique than a recipe. Having struggled through the process, and the humiliation of serving “flop overs”, I thought I had it mastered. Then a friend served up fantastic popovers with a completely opposite method. So much for technique! Whatever, the results are sure to impress your family or guests. Unlike restaurant popover that hang around until served, these are best taken from the oven to the table. If you master nothing else in cooking, these will mark you as a great cook.

HOT METHOD

1 cup flour

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1 T. melted butter

Pop over pan

Preheat the oven to 450. Butter the pan and then warm it in the oven. Take the chill off the eggs in warm water and warm the milk on the stove or microwave. Whisk in the milk with the flour, then add eggs. Stir in the melted butter. Pour the batter in the warm pan and place in the oven for 35-40 minutes. Do not open the oven! Remove and serve immediately.

If you are using a convection oven, reduce the time to 15 minutes.

COLD METHOD - Into bowl, break 2 eggs. 

Add 1 Cup of milk

1 Cup of sifted flour

1/2 t of salt.

Mix with a spoon just until eggs are well blended. Fill six well-greased custard cups 1/4 full of mixture.  Set in COLD oven and turn oven on to 450 degrees.  Do no open oven for 1/2 hour.  Popovers should be tall and buttery brown.  Remove from oven and puncture on 4 sides of neck to let out steam.  Return to oven for 10 minutes with the heat off to get crusty.

From the kitchen of Kathleen Ladd’s cousin Margaret

Fresh berry Tart

(adopted from Fresh Pear Tart)

1 unbaked pie shell (see Pie Crust Dough)

Custard

6 T white flour

¾ cup butter

2/3 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 t vanilla extract

½ t grated nutmeg

Enough fruit to line the bottom of the pie dish

Sift the flour and nutmeg. Met the butter. Remove from the heat and add the sugar. Whisk in the four nutmeg mixture. Stir in the eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla. At this point the custard should be thick and smooth. Arrange the fruit in the pie shell, cover with the custard. Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes until the custard is firm and golden.

Mint iced tea

4-5 sprigs of freshly cut mint leaves and stems

1 large pot of almost boiling water

As the water starts to boil, turn off the heat and drop in the mint sprigs, seep several hours. Pour the entire pot, sprigs and all, into a beverage container and chill. Will keep for 4-5 days and the flavor will age.

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