Happy Nirvana

My one-year-old will eat pretty much anything, so until he figures out how to say “no” and imitate his newly-picky older brother, I’m introducing him to as many foods as possible. I love everything about a fritter—they are easy to make in batches and reheat in the toaster, they’ve got egg for protein and dairy babies need, and you can pretty much put whatever fruit or veggie you want in them.This recipe made about 16 fritters; the extras froze beautifully. Try other vegetables, like shredded carrot, thinly sliced green beans, frozen corn kernels or peas. You could make these with berries or bananas, too. My little guy liked them plain, torn into pieces as finger food with a little cubed cheese on the side, and they were pancake-like enough to please older brother. Miniature ones would make an easy and adult-worthy little appetizer, maybe with some sour cream and smoked salmon to go on top.

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1 Whisk together 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup medium or fine-ground cornmeal, 1/4 cup grated Parmesan (or not), 2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp baking powder. In a measuring cup, whisk together 1 cup buttermilk, 3 eggs, and 2 medium zucchini, shredded.

2 Drop the batter onto a lightly greased cast-iron or nonstick skillet and cook until browned on underside and bubbles appear on top. Flip and cook until browned on second side and cooked through.

3 Plenty of fritters to eat now and freeze for later.

4 Chomp!

Credits to:Everyday Food Blog – MarthaStewart.com

I got it in my head to make an olive oil cake a few weeks back and was just waiting for the right day to bake. My inspiration was the super-dense and very moist cake from Abraço, a sweet (tiny!) little coffee spot in the East Village. Turns out there’s a lot of talk about that recipe online, but the recipe itself was pretty elusive. I ended up with what I thought would be a fair approximation, though, and added about a half cup of medium-grind cornmeal to the dry ingredients for crunch (you can leave that out).

What I jotted down off the web.

The cake turned out great—not as custardy as the one from Abraço, but still very moist—and disappeared quickly thanks to house guests. This would be just as good for a not-too-sweet dessert as it would for an indulgent breakfast (toasted, of course). Here are some photos of my efforts.

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1 Orange zest and sugar. The recipe said to add the zest with the liquid ingredients, but instead I worked the zest into the sugar.

2 I looked like this when it was done.

3

4 Measuring the milk in the same cup as the super-green olive oil.

5 Whisking.

6 I had a helper.

7 It’s hard to resist a cooling cake.

8 Nice slice.

Credits to:Everyday Food Blog – MarthaStewart.com

Please tune in to the Martha Stewart show on Tuesday, October 19 to see the roasted soups from our October issue come to life! Sarah Carey will be on with Martha to demonstrate some of these great, cool-weather recipes. (Go to marthastewart.com/tv for listings.)

Credits to:Everyday Food Blog – MarthaStewart.com

Credits to:Everyday Food Blog – MarthaStewart.com

Sadly, I missed the window of opportunity for freezing fresh summer produce such as nectarines, blackberries, corn, and tomatoes, like we suggested in our August issue. But this week I got one last chance to squirrel away some late-summer yield with these fresh, beautiful Tongue of Fire beans. Luckily, they’re a cinch to freeze: Just shell and freeze beans in a single layer on a lined baking sheet, then transfer to a zip top bag – no blanching required. Can’t wait to take them out in the dead of winter, boil them, and add them to a roasted vegetable salad.

What sunny summer flavors are waiting in your freezer??

Credits to:Everyday Food Blog – MarthaStewart.com

Soak a sugar cube with Angostura bitters and drop it into a flute of champagne or sparkling wine. Serve immediately.

Credits to:Everyday Food Blog – MarthaStewart.com

Credits to:Everyday Food Blog – MarthaStewart.com

Credits to:Everyday Food Blog – MarthaStewart.com

There is a little Greek restaurant on my corner called Teddy’s. These are their lemon potatoes. I promise you, the picture doesn’t do them justice. Tender, herby and lemony, they are the perfect accompaniment to a large Greek Salad (my usual order). After the jump, I play recipe detective.I suspect they are prepared like this: Russet potatoes are peeled and cut into wedges. Place these in a 9×13-inch baking dish and douse with a generous amount of olive oil, lemon juice, and chicken broth. Sprinkle with dried oregano (and maybe thyme), salt and pepper. Cover and bake until tender, uncover and let the potatoes get a touch of color. I can’t be sure of the exact measurements—I’ll be working on it though so check back here in a bit for my own attempt.

Anybody out there have their own recipe for Greek-style lemon potatoes? We’d love to hear about it!

Credits to:Everyday Food Blog – MarthaStewart.com

This kohlrabi is not as bad as it looks – It actually tastes like a mild, sweet radish – but it's not exactly easy to snack on!

As the saying goes: When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. But what about when your CSA gives you bitter greens and kohlrabi? Well, break out the big pot, because it’s time to make some soup! I find that, this time of year, brewing a warm, savory soup (with plenty of garlic and your favorite herbs, and topped with cheese, of course) is a great way to make less-than-great vegetables seem tasty.

Personally, I’m not a fan of bitter escarole or or the unapproachable-looking kohlrabi, but when they appeared in my weekly CSA I knew I’d had to use them up. Much to my surprise, I loved them both in this improvised soup:

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1 First I sauteed a chopped onion, a chopped kohlrabi, six smashed garlic cloves and a few sprigs of rosemary in olive oil with salt and pepper. (Instead of the kohlrabi you could use whatever root vegetable you had on hand – turnips and carrots would both be great.)

2 When the onions were soft (5 or 10 minutes), I threw in a whole head of chopped escarole on top, and tossed it around until it was wilted, about 3 minutes. (Plenty of greens would work here, from kale to beet greens – I probably could have thrown in this kohlrabi greens, too!)

3 On top of that, I added 4 cups of vegetable broth, 2 cans of small white beans (drained), and a can of diced tomatoes (drained). Plus, the secret ingredient, which instantly improves any homemade soup: A parmesan rind. I let that all simmer for half an hour.

4 Then I spooned it into a bowl, topped it with some grated cheese and ate it with a big slice of crusty bread.

This soup has three things going for it: It dirtied only one pot, helped me finish up my vegetable haul in a healthy way, and made a ton – I have about two quarts waiting for me in the freezer for an easy dinner during the next cold spell!

What’s your favorite way to use up vegetables?

Credits to:Everyday Food Blog – MarthaStewart.com