My first creative use: salsa. I forgot to take a picture of it. (Shame on me, I know. But I'm new at this!) My summer research project involved working at a community garden, where they have a weekly cooking demo. Last week's was fresh salsa, and I was inspired to make a fruity-spicy combo that went really great with plain tortilla chips.
Nectarine salsa (makes 1 bowl, serves 1 for dinner or a crowd at a party)
1 nectarine
1-2 banana peppers
half an onion
half a lime
salt
herbs of your choice
Method:
-Quarter the nectarine, remove the pit, and peel. Dice medium to fine, depending on how you like your salsa. I like this one pretty chunky.
-Dice the banana peppers the same size as the nectarine. Be sure to remove the seeds before you dice them!
-Dice the onion and add it to the nectarine and peppers. You can use red (a little sweeter, probably better) but I used white in a pinch and it worked fine.
-Juice the half a lime into the bowl of diced fruit and veg and add a pinch of salt.
-Mince some fresh herbs and add to the salsa. I used a green onion and a few leaves of mint because that's what I had on hand, but the next time I made it I used a little basil and some chives--still good! They just add some freshness and a brightness to the salsa.
-Mix everything up together and let it sit for a little if you can, or if you're like me just go ahead and eat 2/3 of the bowl right away with chips.
After I made the salsa (twice in two days), I decided it was time to go a little more traditional and make a dessert. Pie always sounds like too much work, but I remembered that galettes are like pie but without the pan and are a little more forgiving. I borrowed the base recipe for pie dough and general method from smitten kitchen, but I skipped the complicated parts (the ground almonds and the flour on the galette before I added the fruit).
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| So...I couldn't wait. I had to try a slice right away. |
This galette used 2 1/2 nectarines...so almost 3, but I snacked on the scraps. Basically, I think galettes are my new favorite dessert. You make a pie dough, you roll it out, and then you slice and arrange your fruit in a pretty circle in the middle. Leave about 2 inches or a little less around the circumference of the fruit so you have enough to tuck over the sides. Then, I drizzled some honey over the top of the fruit, folded up the sides into pleats, and brushed the crust with egg. A quick sprinkle of vanilla sugar and the whole thing went into the oven for I think 45 minutes.
The directions said to transfer the galette right away to a cooling rack, which I did--the crust stayed nice and firm, with a hint of crackle as I bit into the sugared pastry. It also said to wait 20 minutes before slicing, which I only barely managed to do. But then I definitely had a slice. Or two. And I may or may not have eaten a big chunk of this for breakfast the next day. (What? It was around brunch time when I got up, anyway...)
This was the perfect way to end the summer. But now it's off to school again...second year and the board exams looming!
Enjoy the stone fruit while you can!
~Lindsey
