Pizza Margherita with Cherry Tomatoes

We still eat pizza very often in my household. Pictured above is a simple, yet delicious Pizza Margherita. I almost forgot to incorporate the cherry tomatoes, so I just sprinkled them on top after baking the pizza.

Here's the same pizza dough recipe that I posted in April, it's still my favorite. I like the author's tomato sauce too, but to make things even simpler, I often just:

• saute minced fresh garlic in olive oil
• add a can of diced tomatoes
• simmer for a few minutes
• season with salt and pepper
• add fresh torn basil

With a sauce that simple, there's no excuse not to make your own.

If you want to make pizza at home, I suggest purchasing:

• a pizza peel
• a pizza stone
• corn meal to sprinkle on the peel and stone to prevent the dough from sticking

Once you make the dough, you can:

• use it right away to form into a pizza crust
• form it into a ball and store it in the fridge or freezer
• form it into a pizza crust and freeze it uncooked
• form it into a pizza crust, parbake it, and then freeze it

I like this blogger's technique for parbaking pizza crusts.

Summer Vegetable Gratin (my new favorite dish!)

Photo: Summer Vegetable Gratin, double stacked

If you like:

• zucchini
• yellow squash
• caramelized onions
• crunchy Parmesan breadcrumbs

...you will LOVE this dish because it's:

• a great way to use up summer vegetables
• fairly light and very nutritious
• very comforting to eat

I can easily eat the entire casserole within three meals.

With most Cooks Illustrated recipes you have to pay a subscription to gain access, but fortunately this recipe is open to the public. Enjoy!

Photo: Summer Vegetable Gratin, right out of the oven

Week 14: Share Contents and Usage Summary

• Sweet Corn- corn fritters
• Shiitake mushrooms
• Cucumbers- sliced
• Cabbage- shredded with carrots, tossed in sweet vinaigrette for slaw
• Heirloom tomatoes- in Summer Vegetable Gratin
• Cherry / Salad tomatoes- on pizza; inside soft flour tortilla with bacon, cheddar & Sriracha, with garlic, basil and mozzarella over bruschetta
• Melon- I didn't actually receive a melon :(

In his weekly CSA newsletter, Farmer John Wright posted these helpful tomato tips:

1) Always store the tomatoes on their shoulders.

This is upside-down to most. The shoulders are

much firmer and greener and can bear the weight

of the fruit (especially larger) tomatoes

without bruising.

2) Generally, try to leave your tomatoes at room

temperature, to ripen properly and hold the best

flavor. Once they are fully ripened, or are beginning

to soften, or if you have not used an entire large tomato,

then refrigerate.

3) Those pesky green shoulders. There is just no

avoiding the green tops on some "heirloom"

tomato varieties. If you wait for all of the green

to ripen the majority of the fruit may become too soft.

In general, the pink, purple and brown tomatoes hold on to

their green shoulders a little longer than others.

You have to rely on giving the bottom of the tomato a

very gentle squeeze, when you feel a little 'give' your

tomato is ripe.

Farm-Fresh Egg and Sausage Strata

Above is my adaptation of the recipe below for Sausage and Cheddar Cheese Strata found in Bride & Groom First and Forever Cookbook by Mary Corpening Barber and Sara Corpening Whiteford. There are so many great turn-to recipes in this cookbook. The buttermilk "Pancakes with Melted Berries" immediately come to mind.

I used eggs from Graceland Farm, Wellshire Farms Turkey Breakfast links and I added caramelized onions and some minced light green medium-heat small peppers (not sure of the name).

Sausage and Cheddar Cheese Strata

Serves 8 to 10

One of our favorite weekend get-togethers that we ever hosted was a "Breakfast for Dinner" party where everyone brought his or her favorite breakfast casserole. We all shared and tasted numerous version- some were prepared with Jiffy cornbread mix, others featured grits and white bread. Some came topped with Swiss cheese, others with Cheddar, and even a few were made with Kraft singles! Our friend Lucy Bowen Taylor brought the winning recipe, which got rave reviews for its creamy, souffle-like texture. Our adaptation of Lucy's strata has become a staple in our households. Make this for Saturday brunch and freeze the leftovers in squares for weekday breakfasts.

1.5 pounds ground breakfast sausage

(12 ounces hot, 12 ounces regular)

4 eggs, beaten

2.5 cups half and half

1 tsp dried sage

3/4 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

6 potato bread or other soft white bread slices, brusts removed

2 cups (6 ounces grated extra sharp cheddar cheese

2 tbsp chopped fresh chives, flat leaf parsley, or green onion, both white and green parts

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-by-13-by-2-inch baking dish.
• Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Put the sausage in the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until it is thoroughly browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the sausage to a paper towel-lined plate to drain.
• Whisk together the eggs, half-and-half, sage, kosher salt, and pepper in a medium bowl. Layer the bread in the prepared baking dish and top with the sausage. Pour the egg mixture over the sausage and top with the cheese. Bake until the strate is set in the middle, about 30 minutes. Do not overcook. Let cool for 15 to 20 minutes. Garnish with the chives just before serving.

Week 13 Share Contents & Usage Summary

• tomatoes- on Caprese sandwiches (see above), cut up for a simple side dish with just salt and pepper
• corn- boiled, taken off the cob, tossed with cherry tomatoes and apple cider vinegar
• cucumbers- sliced for a simple side dish with just salt and pepper
• new potatoes- boiled, tossed with olive oil, crisped under broiler, shredded cheddar and minced light-green medium-spiced pepper on top (not sure of its name)
• variety of small peppers- on cheesy potatoes, in guacamole

Week 12 Share Contents & Usage Summary

• Scallions- in corn salad
• Squash- tossed in olive oil, broiled until lightly spotted brown
• Cucumbers- eaten sliced with a little salt and pepper
• Tomatoes- Caprese salad
• New Potatoes ( Red Pontiac )- steamed, tossed with olive oil, crisped in toaster oven, tossed with herbs
• Swiss Chard- quick sautee with olive oil and minced garlic
• Sweet Corn- boiled, taken off the cob, tossed with sliced scallions, purple basil, and a little white balsamic vinegar

The corn was so delicious. Farmer John Wright says it's called "Honey Select". When I take it off the cob (using a chef's knife), I try to keep the corn in chunks, but that was not possible with these small kernels.

The Official Beginning of Summer: TOMATOES are Ready!

The ripening of tomatoes marks the official beginning of summer in my household. We eat tomato, basil, and fresh mozzarella just about every day, in one form or another: in salads, in sandwiches, and in pasta. This dietary regime lasts from now until late October and we never get sick of it.

Caprese Salad: Summer on a Plate!

Tips:

Sprinkle sea salt and freshly ground black pepper onto all the tomato and mozzarella slices.

Drizzle on extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar reduction (see below for method).

Store tomatoes at room temperature, never in the refrigerator.

Prevent your basil plant from forming flowers by picking leaves often.

How to make balsamic reduction:

(http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/food/6956909.html)

...When making the glaze — also referred to as a reduction — use inexpensive balsamic vinegar.

Take a bottle of the vinegar, pour the contents into a saucepan and bring it to a boil. Lower the heat slightly and continue cooking the vinegar so it reduces down to a thick consistency. You need to keep an eye on the vinegar while it reduces. If it cooks down too quickly or too much, it can burn — and then you'd have to toss it and start over.

One bottle (16 to 17 ounces) should reduce to about a half cup. You don't have to reduce the entire bottle; you can reduce any amount. Once it's reduced, the flavor is concentrated, and the glaze should be just thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Small amounts of this sweet and tangy glaze — which is fat-free, by the way — go a long way. Keep it stored in a squeeze bottle in the refrigerator and use it to gussy up cooked meats, poultry, vegetables and even fruit. It's especially tasty drizzled on strawberries.

Quick SQUASH Parmesan

Here's something you can do with squash on a summer evening when you have a big appetite. It's summer comfort food! There really is squash under all that cheese in the photograph!

olive oil

small can crushed tomatoes

garlic, minced

basil

4 yellow or paddypan squash, sliced

mozzarella, shredded

In a small saucepan cook the garlic in olive oil over medium heat for 30 seconds. Add the crushed tomatoes, salt and pepper, and simmer gently until slightly thickened. Stir in chopped fresh basil.

While the sauce thickens, brush the squash with olive and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Broil until golden and spotted. Spray a small casserole with olive oil and layer in the broiled squash. Cover with tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and Parmesan. Place under the broiler until the mozzarella is spotted brown. Sprinkle with fresh basil and serve.

Sweet and caramelized BEETS in less than an hour

Melissa Clark wrote a great article in January 2009 about how it's possible to peel and dice beets and then roast them, as opposed to cooking the beets whole, then peeling and cubing them, like many recipes dictate.

In this recipe, which only calls for olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper, the beets are soft and done after 40 minutes in the oven. I don't make the complete salad, although it sounds fantastic with goat cheese and pistachios. I just serve the beets as a side dish.