Oh golly. How am I ever going to convey all the exciting food adventures I've had in one digestible morsel? Well I'll just dive in...Heaven, I'm in heaven. My dad used to sing that song to me when I was little. I'm in food heaven right now. I was so certain that the summer would be the best time, food-wise, but this transitional time into fall is really incredible. I've been playing so much! A brown butter hazelnut cake with caramelized pears, coffee ice cream, delicata bread, shortbread cookies, eggplant cakes with sauteed tomatoes and peppers. Plus, I went to a cider pressing event that gave me way more joy than one could anticipate, the kind that makes your face hurt from smiling, and fills your dreams with cider. And I had gifts showered upon me from a friend with a garden: fresh, pulpy grape juice (this ain't no welches!), peppery arugula, beautiful oregano, dill, parsley and fennel fronds, tomatoes, and the cutest little peppers you ever did see! Every day is a feast! My fridge overfloweth! And my freezer too!
Sometimes, often when you least expect it, you cook up something so good you want to cry and jump and scream and share and eat more and more! A conversation with my mom about eggplant frittata gave me the inspiration for the eggplant cakes pictured above. Occasionally the ingredients in your kitchen conspire to join forces in a way you could never have planned. These savory cakes turned out so moist, so delicate, so delectable, I could hardly believe it. Am I exaggerating? Try them out and see what you think: Slice and roast an eggplant, seasoned with olive oil, salt and pepper, at 450 degrees until evenly brown. Then mash it up with a fork (remove skins according to your desire- I did, but if you pulsed it in a food processor, you could leave them in) and add a couple of tablespoons of flour, 2 eggs, a couple of tablespoons of sauteed onion, goat cheese, salt and pepper, and enough buttermilk to bring it to batter consistency. While the eggplant is roasting, saute up one medium chopped onion (reserve some for the batter), a minced garlic clove, half a green bell pepper, two small chiles, one chopped tomato, and about a half tablespoon of chopped oregano. Let this simmer to meld the flavors while you fry up the cakes. I recommend using lard (bacon drippings work great, but you can use butter if you want to be vegetarian about it). Then plate it up with a dollop of plain yogurt, which ties the dish together beautifully. You won't believe your taste buds. Please, try this and let me know if it's as good as I remember it.
Another happy experiment came of using delicata squash in bread. Earlier this summer I had some delicious squash bread, and I duplicated it using an incredible sibley squash that had such an intensely colored flesh. I was longing for this yummy breakfast bread, and opted to try it with delicata, since that's what I had on hand. Delicata has this sweet, vegetal taste that gave the bread an addictive quality. I sliced the squash into 3/4 inch rounds to speed the cooking (after removing the seeds) and put it into a pyrex dish with about a tablespoon of butter bits, a few pieces of star anise, two cardamom pods, four cloves, and enough hot water to cover the bottom of the dish. Then I covered it with foil and baked it at 450 degrees until it was very soft, about 25 minutes. Once it had cooled a bit, I passed it through a food mill. The result was a lovely yellow mound of squash with enticing green bits from the edible skin. This gave me just the right amount for the bread. Use it in any squash bread recipe, or follow this recipe from an older edition of Joy of Cooking: Sift together 3 1/2 cups flour, 1/2 t baking powder, 2 t baking soda, 2 t salt, 1 t cinnamon, and 1 t clove. In a large bowl, beat until fluffy: 2 2/3 c sugar, 2/3 c lard, 4 eggs. Beat in 2 cups squash. Add the dry ingredients in 3 additions, alternately with 2/3 c milk and 1 t vanilla (don't overbeat). Fold in 1 c nuts. I didn't use nuts, and I missed them. Use nuts. Grease a 9x5 pan, pour in batter and bake at 350 degrees for an hour. This bread freezes well, or makes for happy neighbors if you're feeling generous.
One last exciting tale before I go. I finally went on a mushroom hunt. Any of you in the know are swooning at that admission. Mushroom hunting is a funny thing, shrouded in mystery and diversion. Mushrooms are treasures, gifts of the earth, and no mushroom hunter is eager to divulge secrets, lest his booty be taken from him. I don't know how I got so lucky, but I managed to find that rare thing, a mushroom hunter willing to take along some novices. A gaggle of us headed into the mountains on a beautiful fall weekend and were rewarded for our efforts with pounds and pounds of chanterelles, matsutakes, shrimps, honey mushrooms, rusullas, cottonwood tricholomas, hawk's wings, and a bear's head (a mushroom, not an actual bear's head). Unbelievable. I'm probably still forgetting some. Too tired to clean or cook that evening, we planned a mushroom extravaganza for the following night, and treated ourselves to creamy mushroom filled phyllo triangles, crostini topped with smoked salmon spread, roasted shrimp mushrooms and balsamic seared cherry tomatoes, potato, leek and matsutake soup with chanterelles and sage, fresh pumpkin gnocchi with sage mushroom cream sauce, and heirloom apple crisp. And lots of wine. It was one of those ideal dinners where a group of friends converge in a kitchen, chatting, eating, drinking, and generally making the world a better place. It was divine. Would that every night could be so good.
By the way, I would never advise mushroom hunting without the coveted aid of a benevolent, seasoned guide. I would recommend mine, but I'm sworn to secrecy.
OK, since I said that was the last tale, next time I'll have to tell you about the cheese class I held- another night of food, wine, friends and fun. I am truly blessed!
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