RECIPES

A Taste of Marbletown

Recipes from the cooking demonstration presented by Molly Finn and Rosemary Deen. These delicious dishes come from Molly Finn's "Summer Feasts" and "Feasts for a Farthing", available at the Library.

SOUPS, SALADS, FRUIT FOOL

Potato Soups:

-With carrots (potage Crécy)

4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
2 shallots (or small onions)
1 ½ oz. butter
1 lb carrots, shredded
quart of stock (or half stock, half water)

Stew the vegetables in the butter over a low heat for 15 minutes or so till the carrots have almost melted. Puree coarsely and add stock to the consistency of potage. Classically, boiled rice is sometimes added to the soup to make a substantial dish.

-With spinach

1 medium potato
2 tablespoons butter
4 cups dilute chicken stock (two cups chicken stock mixed with 2 cups of water or one unit of full strength chicken stock mixed with enough water to make 4 cups)
1 pound of spinach, washed and chopped (cook only a minute or two after adding)
2 cups hot milk
½ cup heavy cream (add just before serving)

For sorrel or watercress soup, omit the milk and cream. Use ¼ pound sorrel leaves (2-3 cups shredded), or 1 large bunch watercress, coarsely chopped.

Vegetable soups:

Basic Vegetable soup base

(Makes 1 quart of soup base, enough for 6 cups of soup)

2 tablespoons butter
¼ of a small onion, sliced
3 medium zucchini or the equivalent in summer squash (about 2 pounds), chopped
½ cup chicken or vegetable stock

Melt butter and sauté onion for a minute or two. Add squash and cook for a couple of minutes. Add stock, bring to boil, lower heat and cook till squash is tender, 10-15 minutes. Puree.

To serve, add about 2 cups of pureed vegetables and/or stock. Season.

-With tomato and corn

2 pounds yellow squash, sliced
1 medium onion
2 cups stock
2 cups water
6 ears of corn (cooked or raw)
6 lbs of tomatoes (preferably yellow) cut in chunks
2 large sprigs of tarragon (use one in cooking, the other as garnish)

Sauté onion w/ browning 5 minutes. Add squash, stock, water, one spray tarragon. Simmer till squash is soft. Add tomatoes and corn and simmer 30 minutes. Cool a bit and puree in batches, adding liquid as you go. Season (re-season when cold).

Tomato sauce/ soup with cream and tarragon

4 tablespoons butter
4 scallions including green tops
6-8 ripe tomatoes (about 2 lbs), peeled, seeded and coarsely chopped
I heaping tablespoon of chopped fresh tarragon
1 cup heavy cream

Melt butter, add scallions, cook 2 or 3 minutes over medium heat. Add tomatoes and tarragon, mix well, simmer over medium heat for 20-30 minutes, until reduced by about a third. Add the cream and a little salt and pepper and simmer the sauce for another 5-10 minutes. If the sauce is too tart, add a little sugar. Serve over freshly cooked pasta (enough for 1 ½ lbs).

As soup:

6 cups strong, homemade chicken stock
1 cup of the sauce described above
A few tablespoons of cooked pasta or rice, optional

Bring stock to boil in 2 quart saucepan. Turn down heat, stir in tomato sauce and summer gently for 5 minutes. If you happen to have some, put a tablespoon of cooked pasta or rice in each bowl. Good hot or cold.

Gazpacho

There are lots of formulas for this great, raw, summer soup. Here is our favorite. Start with the croutons so they can be toasting while you make the soup.

Garlic Croutons:

3 or 4 cups of bread cut in one inch cubes. You don’t need special, crustless, or dry bread. Just an ordinary loaf of sliced white will do. Set the oven for 350º or 400º. Pour ½ cup olive oil in a baking pan. Cut two large cloves of garlic in pieces and heat the mixture in the oven while you’re cubing the bread. Keep an eye on it to make sure the garlic doesn’t brown and get bitter. Press the cloves down as they cook, then remove the garlic pieces. Toss the bread cubes in the pan and toast for 15 or twenty minutes while you’re making the soup.

Soup:

2 pounds (6 large ripe tomatoes)
1 pound (two medium cucumbers), peeled (unless they’re young ones from your garden).
½ pound (3 medium) green peppers, seeded
¼ pound (1 small) sweet onion, peeled
1 large clove garlic, peeled
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup wine vinegar
2 teaspoons salt

You’ll probably have to do this in two batches. If you use a blender, put some tomato in first to provide the necessary liquid. I make the first batch in the food processor of the vinegar, oil, garlic, salt, onion, garlic, and cucumber. I use the tomato and pepper together for the second batch so I can keep both tomato and pepper very chunky. This just about fills one of those plastic half gallon juice containers. If it doesn’t, I chunk up another tomato or two. Chop some cucumber and/or pepper as a garnish. Serve with lots of garlic croutons.

Stocks

Save the water you cook vegetables in—except for those in the cabbage family (too strong, unless you’re using it for cabbage, sauerkraut, or broccoli dishes). We save this in quart containers in the freezer. To make stock richer when you want to use it, add the usual onion, celery, carrots, parsley, and bay leaf, cut up. You can include peelings from well-scrubbed potatoes too. Cook gently in a little butter for 15 or 20 minutes to bring out the flavor. Simmer this with the vegetable juices for 20 minutes or so, and there’s your stock.

We urge you to make your own chicken stock. No commercial product comes anywhere near it, and some of them can ruin a dish or gravy with their salty, tin can flavor. Try these proportions: 5 pounds chicken parts (backs, wings—these produce gelatin—and giblets). Two onions, two carrots (don’t bother to peel them), two stalks of celery with leaves, two cloves garlic, 2 bay leaves, 2 or 3 sprigs of parsley, and simmer it all in 5 quarts of water for 2 or 3 hours. Or for a smaller batch, use 3 quarts of water, 3 pounds of chicken stuff, and one each of the vegetables. Strain, skim fat--and like that.

Salads:

Green Bean and Potato

2 or 3 potatoes, well scrubbed
1 pound green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces

Yogurt Dressing

1 cup plain yogurt
1 large clove garlic, crushed
2 to 3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
1 teaspoon of salt.

Add the potatoes to the dressing while they are still warm. Add the cooked beans (fresh beans are cooked in about 3 minutes) and toss gently. Let stand for an hour.

Rice Salads

4 to 5 cups of cooked rice (1 ½ cups uncooked)
½ cups chopped fresh herbs
1 to 2 cups diced raw or cooked vegetables, optional
1 to 2 cups diced cooked meat, poultry, or fish, optional
Vinaigrette II (not the bottled stuff; it’s full of sugar)

Mix and let stand for 30 minutes.

Basic Bean Salad

4 cups cooked beans, chickpeas, or lentils
1 medium sweet red onion, diced
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
½ teaspoon each dried marjoram and thyme
¾ cup Vinaigrette Dressing II made with fresh lemon juice.

Toss everything and let marinate at least an hour before serving, using ½ cup of the dressing to start. Re-season just before serving, adding more dressing if necessary.

Vinaigrette I (makes 1 cup)

¼ cup wine vinegar or fresh lemon juice Note: balsamic vinegar is even stronger than plain vinegar and is very sweet. And plain vinegar is twice as strong as wine vinegar. So don’t knock out the proportions of your dressing with more vinegar than oil.
¾ cup olive oil (or vegetable oil or a mixture)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 small clove garlic, optional, but we always use it
½ teaspoon dry or 2 teaspoons prepared mustard, optional
2 teaspoons dried herbs—not more than two at a time. Optional

Vinaigrette II (makes ¾ dressing)

¼ cup wine vinegar or fresh lemon juice
½ cup olive oil (or vegetable oil or a mixture)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 large clove garlic, minced

Fruit Fool

4 cups fruit, sugared, stewed gently in their own juices, and pureed. If the fruit has seeds, sieve the mixture. Fold into 1 cup whipped cream. Sour fruits like rhubarb, gooseberries, and apricots are the best.