One of the great things about late summer and early autumn in my foodie world is figs. I get giddy for those figgies! And, to make them last longer, I often make jam out of figs, which can be used for both sweet or savory things, added to stews or even stir fries, but don’t count out making Fig Newtons! This year, I’ve made two sorts: Cardamom Fig and Orange Fig. Distinctly different but equally lovely.
Amother bit of bounty from my weekend in Maine: Chanterelle, Gruyère and Thyme Tart with mushrooms that I foraged in the woods myself. Let me start with this disclaimer: If you do not know your wild mushrooms, please don’t go foraging; just buy them in the shops. Even if you know your mushrooms, please be exceptionally careful. I have been “mushroom hunting” with my father since I was a toddler and even I prefer to have a second set of eyes on them.
All that said, this is an absolutely delicious tart and very simple to make. In theory, you could also use straight up crimini from the shops, but the chanterelles have a lovely peppery bite to them. Lunch to wrap up the week.
Getting to be BBQ season here in the Northeast and it is the Fourth of July coming up so I thought that I would share one of my “Go To” side dishes. This pasta salad has to be one of the fastest ever to put together and is very neutral — no exotic flavors this time. I went for a little picnic out on one of the islands in Boston Harbor and snacked on this salad on the rocks.
Here’s another recipe to add to the “goes great with beer or wine”: Spicy Cheddar and Sea Salt Crackers. Lots of kick with the jalapenoes and chili powder to boot. I used a very shart cheddar, so they are crazy flavorful. Sure, I made them all cute and pretty by using a flower cookie cutter, but a recular circle or square (or even just cutting irregular pieces with a pizza cutter would work.
Part of the Easter Tradition in my world means coloring of hard boiled eggs. I love this silly activity and it’s something that I do with my mom every year. This is all great… and hard boiled eggs are good, but somehow every year we go a little overboard and after a day, I am usually kind of sick of boring old hard boiled eggs. What to do? Well, you could make egg salad or in this case, deviled eggs. I added bacon — just because bacon is good — and served with lettuce and tomatoes to make it “BLT-like”.