Cantaloupe has finally found a home in my kitchen.  After years of half-hearted tolerance, I can now say I love the melon and its lovely floral flavors.  Maybe I’ve been alone for years in detecting an off flavor that just doesn’t hit my palate right, but I don’t think so. Hasn’t any one else been disappointed at nearly every restaurant fruit plate composed of 50% cantaloupe?

Well, when Romeo starting chunking up my least favorite fruit and making a smoothie out of it, I wasn’t thrilled.  But we drink smoothies all the time.  One mediocre drink wasn’t gong to ruin my day.

Then I tasted it, and was blown away. The key is in balancing out the flavors with the pineapple and raspberries.  All the beautiful notes come out, and all the ugly ones fade away.  I don’t know what the carrot adds exactly, since I couldn’t taste it, but this smoothie has got it going on, and I’m not messing with it.

Cantaloupe Smoothie
1 lb. cantaloupe (about 3/8 of a small melon)
1/3 pineapple
5 oz. (half a bag) frozen raspberries
1 carrot
1 cup 100% juice fruit punch blend (or more depending on your blender)
5 ice cubes

Chunk up the melon, pineapple and carrot - you know your blender so you decide the size of the pieces.  Put everything in the blender and whiz until very smooth and a little frothy, adding more juice if necessary - you want a pourable consistency.  Makes 2 smoothies, but you might want to drink them both yourself.

I was going to eat leftovers for dinner last night.  When I got back from the farmer’s market with some baby potatoes and a basket of cherry tomatoes, I changed my mind and threw together a composite of roasted vegetables and fried eggs.  I had a couple of bulbs of kohlrabi ready in the garden, so I sliced them up, as well as a red onion.  Everything got tossed in olive oil and chopped chervil and landed on parchment paper.

Weeknight home cooking meet Ferran Adrià, head chef of El Bulli, and creator of  “culinary foam” amongst other deconstructionist (some say molecular gastronomic) applications.

When I read in a Penelope Casas cookbook that Ferran Adrià  separates the yolk from the white so that each one can be cooked to perfection, I thought, “I’m a home cook, but I can handle that.”

I don’t expect to eat at El Bulli, or any other restaurant that has made the world’s 50 best list under it, but thank you, Ferran Adrià for thinking of everything.  The egg whites were angelic and the yolks extraordinary.

chervil-roasted vegetables with separated fried eggs

This is a loose recipe.  Feel free to experiment and use other vegetables or herbs (parsley or tarragon would be nice), just consider cooking times and flavor profiles and make adjustments.

1 quart baby potatoes, whole or larger waxy potatoes, chopped
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1 red onion, sliced
2 baseball-size (or a little smaller) heads or of kohlrabi, peeled and sliced into rounds or half rounds
olive oil for coating the vegetables and frying the egg
salt, to taste
5 tablespoons chopped chervil
6 eggs
Sherry, balsamic or tarragon vinegar and freshly ground black pepper, to serve

Preheat the oven to 350.  Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment.  Pour some olive oil in a bowl and toss the potatoes.  Arrange them on the baking sheet so that they are in one layer and cover half of the sheet.  Sprinkle with salt.  Repeat with the kohlrabi, arranging slightly overlapped if needed on one quarter of the sheet.  Repeat with the onions, omitting the salt, and arranging them on top of the kohlrabi.  Arrange the tomatoes cut-side up on the last quarter of the sheet.  Drizzle with a little of the oil, and sprinkle salt and brown sugar.  Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of the chervil over the entire pan.

Bake for 55 minutes, basting once.  Move the onions off of the kohlrabi.  Turn the heat up to 475 and continue cooking for 20 minutes more.

Heat 1/4 inch of oil in a frying pan over medium-low heat. Separate the eggs, cooking the yolks immediately and saving the whites in a bowl.  When the yolks are cooked as you like them, remove them to a plate.  Cook the egg whites all at once, stirring them gently once or twice after they have begun to set.  Remove when they are just cooked through and are still very tender.

Pile the vegetables in bowl, top with an egg yolk and some of the egg white.  Finish with a big pinch of the remaining chervil, a drizzle of vinegar and plenty of black pepper.

Most of us didn’t grow up with kale.  Also, most of us didn’t grow up with yoga.  Not just a random statement - apparently the two are linked.  In an obituary for Pattabhi Jois, a famous yoga teacher, The Econimist claimed his influence could be found “from Byron Bay, Australia to Big Sur, California, and wherever else one might expect Priuses on the roads and organic kale on the tables.”

Well, last year in my p-patch in Seattle I succumbed to peer-pressure and planted an abundance of kale.  I still don’t know what Prius-driving limber people do with all that kale, but I figured out a few options for my family.  This was a favorite, maybe because we all did grow up with pizza.

The trio of ingredients play perfectly off of each other.  Sweet peppers, salty olives, bitter greens are rounded off with the acidity of the tomato sauce.  If you use my recipe for tomato sauce, with plenty of garlic, it will be your favorite pizza, even if aren’t the type that drives (or wishes for) a Prius, or practices yoga.  And if you are the type and buy kale at the farmer’s maket every so often just to fit in, I think you’ll really appreciate this recipe too.

One more thing- don’t forget how important it is to have a great crust.  I use Peter Reinhart’s “pizza dough I” from Crust and Crumb: master formulas for serious bread bakers.  But Heidi Swanson has reprinted Reinhart’s recipe for Napoletana Pizza Dough on 101 cookbooks, and I trust both Heidi’s judgement and Peter Reinhart’s recipes.    Because it takes time for dough to develop flavor, I wouldn’t trust any recipe that takes less than 6 hours to make.  For convenience, you might as well start the day before.

kale, roasted red pepper and olive pizza
2 1/2 lbs. pizza dough, approximately (”pizza dough I” reportedly makes 2 lbs. 6.5 oz.)
1 recipe perfect tomato sauce (you’ll have some left over)
2-3 red bell peppers, roasted, peeled and chopped
1/4 cup good olives, pitted and chopped
1 bunch of kale, thick stems removed, leaves chopped
olive oil, for frying
1 lb. mozzarella, shredded

Preheat your oven to as high as it will go, and place a pizza stone on a middle rack.  Heat 1/2 inch or so of olive oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat.  Fry the kale in batches until it is crispy on the edges and tender in the middle.  Set aside on a plate.  Roll out the pizza dough thinly into several pies.  In a thin layer, spread some of the tomato sauce, then add a little kale, the chopped peppers and olives.  Top with the cheese.  It shouldn’t cover the entire pizza, and don’t go overboard with the toppings or else your crust will end up soggy.  Bake one at a time until the crust is golden brown underneath and the cheese is melted and starting to brown as well.  The time will depend on the size of the pizzas.

Hearty but not gut-busting, summer is a great time to install chickpea flour in your pantry.  With Mark Bittman on my side (or am I on his side?) it might already be there.  Toasting it like a roux creates a deeply nutty flavor base and thickener for soup.  It’s the perfect new friend for broccoli, which usually can’t drag itself away from cheese and cream, which are loyal friends, but sometimes it needs to mingle with others.

While I was waiting for my second planting of cilantro to grow, I thought it might be fun to experiment with the blossoms of the first planting.  They are so pretty and have a distinct flavor, like green coriander - unexpectedly different from cilantro leaves.  The combination of lemon balm and coriander blossoms is perfect- spicy and refreshing.  But if you can’t get both lemon balm and coriander blossoms I wouldn’t hesitate for a moment to make this soup with basil.  It might be less exotic sounding, but no less delicious.  And  the soup actually lends basil a really special note and revives its sometimes over-used flavor.   So it’s up to you- basil or lemon balm and coriander blossoms.

broccoli and toasted chickpea flour soup with lemon balm and coriander blossoms

8 cups water
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup chickpea flour
2 lbs. broccoli, trimmed and chopped
salt, to taste
7 cloves garlic, unpeeled
1 1/2-2 lemons, juiced
1/2 cup lemon balm leaves, chopped
10 heads coriander blossoms, chopped, plus more for garnish

Put the water in a tea kettle, and bring to a boil.  In the meantime, heat the oil in a soup pot over medium heat.  Add the chickpea flour and stir, scraping the bottom until it becomes a shade darker.  Very slowly add the water from the kettle, using a whisk and stopping to beat until smooth when a thick paste forms.  When all the water is added, put the broccoli and salt in the pot and bring to a simmer.  While the broccoli is cooking, toast the garlic on a comal or cast iron pan until the skins are charred and the inside is soft.  Peel the garlic and mash the cloves with a little water from the soup pot.  Taste the soup for salt -you may have to add quite a bit- making sure it’s tasty (although it will get better soon).    Squeeze in the lemon juice, and add the lemon balm, coriander blossoms, and mashed garlic. Puree in a blender or use an immersion blender.  If it is too thick add a little more water -you want it to be the consistency of cream of broccoli soup.  It it is too thin, let simmer until it thickens.  Serve alongside bread with a head of coriander blossoms floating in the soup.

David Lebovitz’s chocolate ice cream with peanut butter patties from The Perfect Scoop. Because some things are worth celebrating.

I don’t know about you, but I’m done with doctored up tomato sauces.  I only want three things in my tomato sauce: olive oil, garlic and tomatoes.  Ok, and a little salt - that’s four.  Everyone is looking to add that secret ingredient that sends their version over the top.   But have you ever had a pure homemade tomato sauce?   Every time I make it, people ask, “what did you put in this?”  Not much, but it’s surprisingly delicious.

Here’s a simple recipe to try.  Don’t feel bad for all those times you went crazy with other batches of tomato sauce.  With the first tomatoes of the season just around the corner, give yourself a fresh start.  This is the perfect all-purpose sauce to make and preserve.

perfect tomato sauce
1/4 cup olive oil
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 large can of good quality whole plum tomatoes (I’m not overly impressed with San Marzano, but also don’t like many generic brands) or 2 lbs. peeled and chopped fresh tomatoes
salt, to taste

Heat the oil in saucepan over medium heat.  Add the garlic and cook until soft.  Do not let it pick up any color.  Add the tomatoes and juice, as well as a pinch or two of salt.  Cook for 20 minutes or so, smashing the tomatoes against the side of the pan, or alternately, use an immersion blender and puree.  Taste again for salt.

Once you really enjoy this sauce, I admit, you can play with it a little.  But every addition should mean something, and I wouldn’t add more than one or two extras.  I might add lemon zest if it’s going with ricotta cheese, a minced shallot if it’s going with other vegetables or a splash of wine with meat.  Most of the time though, I don’t want anything else.

My father-in-law likes to go all-out in typical Texan bigger-is-better style.  Sometimes this means having an air-hockey table in our living room with the legs chopped off just right, making it the perfect height for his grandson.  Sometimes this means buying an enormous citrus juicer so he can subsist on ceviche with ease.

I guess we have different ideas on “going all-out,” but here I am, with a state-fair-reminiscent citrus juicer staring at me, so I drink.  And here are a few of the refreshing summer drinks we have been enjoying. With ease.

watermelon agua fresca with lime:  Scoop watermelon flesh (seeds and all) into a blender.  Pulse a few times, then blend until just liquified, pushing down the solids as necessary.  Strain out seeds and excess pulp with a fine mesh strainer.  Add lime juice to taste, and optionally, sweeten with agave nectar or sugar.

lemonade with chia seeds:  Add a tablespoon of chia seeds (found in health food stores) to unchilled lemonade.  Let sit until the seeds have become gelatinous. Chill.  Serve with a straws - almost bubble-tea style.

sorrel mint bissap with lime:  inspired by Yolele!: Recipes from the Heart of Senegal by Pierre Thiam.  Make flor de Jamaica from Hibiscus (sorrel) flowers: In a saucepan place about two cups of hibiscus flowers,  add water until just covered.  Bring to a boil.  Turn down heat, add a handful of mint leaves and simmer for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat, let cool.  Strain hibiscus and mint leaves, add lime to taste, dilute with cold water (to taste) and chill.

Next up: my lemonbalm plant is getting bigger and I’ll be steeping lemonbalm leaves in hot water, chilling and using it as a base for lemonade.