A Very Berry Cobbler

One thing I love about summer is how the cardboard-tasting berries I used to pay $5.99 for in winter months are now only $1.99 and bursting with flavor! With so much fruit readily available, I thought a berry cobbler would be a great dessert (and breakfast, and snack) item to have sitting around the house. True, the recipe does call for quite a bit of butter, but keep in mind that the cobbler can feed ten or more. I chose to use blackberries, strawberries and blueberries but adding raspberries, peaches, apples or rhubarb (fancy, right?) would all work with this recipe too, so long as the measurements are kept the same!

Ingredients

4 cups mixed berries or other fruit

4 tbsp white sugar

2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups rolled oats

1 1/2 cups brown sugar, tightly packed

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1 1/2 cups butter

Start by washing your berries then sprinkle with the white sugar and mix well. Set aside and preheat the oven to 350 degrees before continuing on to the cobbler crust.

In a large bowl, combine the oats, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Now for the unhealthy component....cut the butter into smaller chunks and, with your hands,combine the chunks into the mixture until it incorporates all the ingredients and begins to look like a crumble topping.

Grease a baking dish (a 9 x 13 would be ideal) and press half of the crumble topping into the bottom of the pan.

Next, place the fruit in the baking dish.

Finally, scatter the remaining crumble mixture over the fruit and pop it in the oven for about 45 minutes. When done, the fruit should be boiling and the crumble should be browned.

gooey innards......... mmmmmmmmmm

A Local Summer Salad

This weekend, my husband and I had the pleasure of having our good friend and professional chef, Justin, over for dinner. Although I usually take the lead in the kitchen these days, I was happy being his sous chef and learning some new techniques. Justin, who works at Friedman's Lunch in Chelsea Market (amazing brunch, try it asap!), uses local and seasonal ingredients which result in flavorful and fresh dishes. Using a bunch of heirloom tomatoes that he bought in the Union Square Green Market, we assembled a beautiful and fresh tomato salad with a balsamic reduction. Enjoy this recipe..... more dishes are to come!

Ingredients

Heirloom tomatoes

basil leaves

olive oil

2 cups balsamic vinegar

2 cups orange juice

salt and pepper

Start by purchasing a variety of heirloom tomatoes. The more colors and shapes, the prettier your salad will be.

Before you start cutting your tomatoes into smaller pieces, bring two cups of balsamic vinegar and two cups of orange juice to a boil over medium low heat and let it simmer for about an hour to an hour and twenty minutes until the liquid has reduced significantly. You want to make sure not to burn your balsamic reduction, so stick a spoon in the pot and check for a honey-like consistency - thats when you know it's ready!

While your sauce reduces, cut the tomatoes into similar size chunks, thrown in a few handfuls of fresh basil leaves, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

When the balsamic is finished and has cooled a bit, drizzle over the salad and serve. This is such a light and perfect for summer nights salad!

A Tagine for Fourteen

Last weekend, something possessed me to cook dinner for fourteen people (only the closest friends and family, of course)! It was not an easy undertaking, but I managed to put out some tasty dishes and, needless to say, a lot of plates were licked clean. While I made a lot of summery dishes (think gazpacho and watermelon salad), I chose to make a somewhat heavier Moroccan Chicken Tagine, with apricots, garbanzos, onions and carrots for the entree. True, this dish might have been more winter-appropriate, but I was tired of grilling.

The one word of advice I can give regarding this dish is to not use a super high flame - I did and burnt the bottom layer of the pot which ended up giving the dish a smoky flavor, (which some people loved and others didn't care for). As long as you cook the dish over a low or medium heat, you should be just fine!

Ingredients

6 chicken breasts, cut into chunks

2 tbsp flour

2 large spanish onions, sliced

3 carrots, sliced

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 inch fresh ginger, finely chopped

1 bag dried apricots

2 tbsp tomato paste

1 28 oz can diced tomatoes (I like Muir Glen)

1 28 oz can garbanzo beans

3 tbsp honey

2 cups chicken stock

2 tbsp each of coriander, cumin, cinnamon,

1 tsp each of cayenne pepper, salt, pepper

Start by slicing your onions..........

and your carrots.....

Over medium heat, pour some olive oil in a large pot. Add your garlic, onions and carrots, cooking until translucent, about 8 to 10 minutes.

Next, add the chicken stock and gradually mix in the flour, followed by the honey, tomato paste, spices and ginger. Finally, throw in the chicken, chickpeas, apricots and can of diced tomatoes. Mix everything together very well.

Set on low heat and let it cook for about an hour, or longer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened and the volume in the pot has reduced. When the chicken has fully cooked throughout, taste for flavor and add more spices and honey, depending on your preference. (I added extra cayenne for heat and honey for sweetness).

When all is done and your meal is ready to be served, your dinner guest should look as happy and excited to eat as my father-in-law does in this picture:

...... and this is what an entree for 14 people looks like

:

Crab Cakes: An Appetizer turned Entree

I'm not going to lie, it's been a slow summer in terms of my cooking and blogging about it. Due to my injury, I was unable to cook for a little while - let alone move or wet my finger. As it heals, I've been getting back into the groove of things and made some really tasty crab cakes last weekend. My husband and I had planned to go out for dinner that evening, but my at-home crab cake 'appetizer' quickly became our dinner once LeBron came on television to announce his decision. To balance the fried cake, I threw together a half-canned, half-fresh salad and the whole meal was really satisfying (even though Lebron's decision wasn't)!

Ingredients

1 1b jumbo lump crab meat

3 celery stalks, diced

1 small onion, diced

2 carrots, diced

5 garlic cloves, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

2 tbsp dijon mustard

1 tbsp garlic powder

1 tbsp celery salt

2 tsp red pepper flakes

2 large beaten eggs

plateful of panko bread crumbs

olive oil for frying

Start by finely dicing the onion, carrots, celery, garlic and red bell pepper. Heat some olive oil in a pan and cook the vegetables, adding the celery salt, red pepper flakes and garlic powder. Remove from the heat when everything is super soft and wilted and set aside to let cool.

Place the crab meat on a cutting board and, with a knife, chop the meat into small pieces.

When the vegetables have cooled, mix them in with the crabmeat, season with salt and pepper, add the dijon mustard and mix well.

Shape the mixture into little patties. Dip the patty into the egg wash followed by the panko bread crumbs. This is how I made my crab cakes, but a friend (and professional chef) recently told me it's better if you mix some off the egg and breadcrumbs into the mixture instead of using it as a coating. I will have to give that a try next time.....

Heat the olive oil in a pan and cook the crab cakes on medium heat for a couple of minutes, or until brown. Remove and place on a paper towel where excess oil can be absorbed and the crab cake can cool so it won't burn your mouth.

Ingredients for Red Chili Mayo

1 cup mayo

4 tsp chili-garlic sauce

3 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl for a tasty dipping sauce!

Half-Canned, Half-Fresh Salad

1 can white beans

1 can corn,

1 can hearts of palm, sliced

watercress or arugula

1 avocado, chunked

olive oil

lemon juice

salt and pepper

Lately, I've been making many variations of this easy salad which involves mixing some canned items with some fresh items. I like to use some kind of canned white bean, usually garbanzo or cannellini, (excellent source of protein), a can of corn, either baby or whole kernel, canned hearts of palm, ripe avocado chunks and a leafy green, usually arugula or watercress. I toss everything into a bowl, season with salt and pepper and dress with olive oil and lots of lemon juice.

The salad balanced the crab cakes perfectly and the two made for a very filling meal (which we ate in front of the tv that night).

I'd Like Some Blood in my Gazpacho, Please

Cooking, while fun, can also be VERY DANGEROUS, especially when you're in a rush and throwing things around carelessly. I've been cooking for about a year now, so an injury was bound to happen eventually. Yesterday, while replicating my dad's recipe for gazpacho, I slammed my knife down on a bulb of garlic, smacking my middle finger onto an adjacent open can in the process. I panicked, cried, dripped blood everywhere and, after a long afternoon in the Emergency Room with my husband, emerged with eight stitches. Despite the trauma, the gazpacho came delicious and I ate it today for lunch (using my "good" hand, of course!).

* To see the damage done to my finger, check out the end of the post*

Ingredients

All the tomatoes in a 28 oz can of Muir Glen Whole tomatoes

1 medium white onion, diced

1 medium green pepper, diced

1 1/2 cups vegetable juice

1 large or 2 small garlic cloves

1/4 cup olive oil ( I used a little less to cut back on calories)

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

6-7 basil leaves

salt and pepper

optional: avocado and shrimp

Combine all of the ingredients listed above in a food processor and pulse until the soup is as chunky or as smooth as you desire. (Difficult, I know)

Garnish with avocado chunks and toss in some diced shrimp for a more complete meal!

Photos of My Injury

Zaatar, Zaatar, Everywhere!

Over the weekend, it became my mission to prepare a meal using as much zaatar as humanly possible since I had recently purchased a bag of it at a street fair. For those of you who have never heard of zaatar, it's a popular Middle Eastern condiment made of dried herbs like sumac, thyme and sesame seeds. Zaatar is very versatile - I've enjoyed it on everything from cottage cheese (sounds weirder than it is) to chicken! For our dinner, I felt like sticking to somewhat of a Greek theme. The end product? Zaatar marinated lamb and vegetable skewers, zaatar hummus, zaatar sprinkled pita chips, and stuffed peppers with orzo, feta, spinach and tomatoes! Everything turned out delicious thanks to my amazing husband who did an amazing job manning the grill!

Lamb Skewer Ingredients

lamb, cubed (figure 3 pieces per skewer)

3 tbsp zaatar

5 tbsp olive oil

3 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 pint cherry tomatoes

1/2 red onion, sliced

1 red bell pepper, sliced into thick pieces

Before you start assembling your lamb skewers, marinate your meat for 4-5 hours in 2 tbsp zaatar, 3 tbsp lemon juice and 3 tbsp olive oil. Cover your meat with saran wrap, stick it in the fridge and get working on your veggies!

Slice your peppers and onions and place in a bowl with the cherry tomatoes, 1 tbsp zaatar, 2 tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper. Mix well, making sure to coat all the vegetables. If you are using wooden skewers, now would be a good time to soak them in water for a while to prevent them from burning and splitting on the grill. Once everything is ready, skewer the lamb and vegetables onto the sticks.

Preheat your grill on medium heat before placing the skewers on. Allow each side to cook for a minute or two and turn so the other sides can cook as well. It's hard to say exactly how long the skewers will need. Just keep am eye on them, turning them every so often to make sure they don't end up charred. At one point, remove a skewer from the grill and cut into a piece of meat to check for doneness.. If you want it more done, put it back on the grill for a couple of minutes.

Ingredients for Greek-Style Orzo Stuffed Peppers

4 large peppers (any color)

1 cup orzo

2 cups chicken or vegetable broth

1 15 oz can of garbanzo beans

1 medium sized onion, chopped

2 cups spinach, chopped

2 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped

3/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled

1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

salt and pepper

Start by cutting the tops off the peppers and removing the membrane and seeds. Place the hollowed out peppers in a greased baking dish with high walls (they'll help support the pepper when it's cooking in the oven.)

Cook the orzo, following the instructions on the box. I like to substitute some of the water for chicken or vegetable broth because it adds a lot of extra flavor. When making orzo, I look to see when all the initial liquid has been absorbed and add more as I go along, mixing frequently. When the orzo is ready, set aside while letting it drain in a strainer.

Next, mash the garbanzo beans into somewhat of chunky paste using a food processors, or your hands, if you're strong enough, which I am not.

Prepare your onions, spinach, tomatoes, oregano and feta cheese.

Heat some olive oil in a pan. Start by cooking your onions, then thrown in the spinach, oregano and tomatoes. Let it all cook for a minute before adding the orzo, chickpea mash, feta cheese, vinegar, salt and pepper. Combine well. Also, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Scoop the mixture into the peppers, cover with tinfoil and place in the oven for about 35-45 minutes, depending on how good your oven is.

While your peppers are in the oven, prepare the pita chips and hummus. For the chips, brush some olive oil onto both sides of the pita and sprinkle with zaatar. These will cook on the grill with your lamb skewers for a few minutes. For extra crunch, I tossed them under the boiler for about a minute.

Next, make your hummus (I provide the recipe in a previous post), only this time make sure to throw in about a tbsp of zaatar and garnish with a few remaining garbanzos.

Once all your components are ready, assemble on a plate and serve! Everything tasted really really good .... so good that these photos hardly do it justice! Hope you enjoy this greek themed zaatar feast! We most certainly did!

Not "Nick & Toni's" Watermelon Salad

One of my favorite East Hampton restaurants is Nick and Toni's due to the fact that they make the most mind blowing savory watermelon salad! Unfortunately, they don't have it on the menu until August since everything is grown locally and used during peak season. Since there is no way I am able wait several months to have my favorite salad, I figured I'd try to make my own version. This recipe is based on the information I was able to drag out of our waiter the last time we ate there! While tasty, I think the restaurant version is much better and would recommend you stop there, if possible, to try it it for yourself!

Ingredients

1 medium red onion, sliced very thin

juice of 4 lemons

1 cup ricotta salata cheese, crumbled or shredded

4 cups diced seedless watermelon

1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives

1/4 cup mint leaves (I omitted these since they ran out in the market)

3 pinches of sugar

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Start by marinating the onions in lemon juice and a few pinches of sugar over night.

When preparing the salad, combine the marinated onions with the remaining ingredients and you'll have a nice refreshing salad for summer! If you have trouble finding ricotta salata, feta cheese works just as well!

Coooking With (Another) Kessner

I may have not had that much time to cook over the past couple of weeks, but there are a few other Kessner women who have. Over the long weekend, my sister-in-law, Andrea threw together a delicious half-dip, half-salad that went well with all the corn chips we had sitting around. As the mother of three, Andrea doesn't always have hours to spend preparing a meal... her dip was so easy to make, it's perfect for when you just need to make something fast and delicious!

Ingredients

1 can corn

1 can black beans

1 small bunch fresh scallions, chopped

1 tomato, diced

1 red, yellow or orange pepper, diced

feta cheese (quantity can vary depending on your taste)

few splashes of balsamic or white vinegar

few splashes of olive oil

salt and pepper

This dip is really easy. Just throw all of the ingredients into a bowl and mix with some oil and vinegar. You can add more or less of whatever you like until it's to your liking! Just serve with some corn chips and everyone will congregate quickly!