Fresh herb potato salad

 

What to do with the rest of the basil plant from Trader Joe's (we've had a lot of pesto already this summer) and dill that grows like a weed in my parents' garden? A light potato salad that's perfect with a roast chicken or steak and not too difficult to make on a weeknight.

Potato salad doesn't have to be full of mayonnaise, mushy, and boring. Lately I've been making potato salads that are full of herbs and Dijon mustard. Delicious, refreshing, and good for you!

This one came from Barefoot Contessa (I know, I'm a little obsessed), with some very slight changes. Instead of mayonnaise, the dressing is an olive oil-based vinaigrette. It is so flavorful and everyone who tries it is so surprised at how good it is! I think it looks a lot more elegant than a traditional mayo potato salad too.


Picking some dill with my little guy



 There's definitely still a time and a place for the mayo, hard-boiled egg, potato salad, but this is a nice change and a great way to use up leftover herbs!

The key to cooking the potatoes is to boil them whole until they're cooked through (try to find red potatoes that are similar in size), then drain them, put them back in the colander and cover with a kitchen towel to let them steam a little more. They don't end up watery, and are perfectly cooked!

Parsley, dill, and basil

Fresh Herb Potato Salad (slightly adapted from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook)

Yield: 4-5 servings
2 pound small red boiling potatoes

2 tablespoons dry white wine

2 tablespoons chicken stock

3 tablespoons Champagne vinegar

1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons kosher salt

3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

8 tablespoons good olive oil

1/4 cup minced scallions (white and green parts)

2 tablespoons minced fresh dill

2 tablespoons minced flat-leaf parsley

2 tablespoons julienned fresh basil leaves



Drop the potatoes into a large pot of boiling salted water and cook for 20 to 30 minutes, until they are cooked through. Drain in a colander and place a towel over the potatoes to allow them to steam for 10 more minutes. As soon as you can handle them, cut into bite sized pieces and place in a medium bowl. Toss gently with the wine and chicken stock. Allow the liquids to soak into the warm potatoes before proceeding.

Whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, mustard, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add the vinaigrette to the potatoes. Add the scallions, dill, parsley, basil, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and toss. Taste before serving to check for seasonings. Serve warm or at room temperature.





A simple peach tart

Since peaches are in season, I am buying them up like crazy at the farmers' markets. I want to eat so many peaches that I'm sick of them until next year, because there's no way I'm buying them during the off-season. You can't beat $1/pound for sweet, juicy peaches that are just picked off the tree.

Last year I made a peach cake and this year I've already made peach scones and of course the standard peach crisps, but I wanted to try something new that I hadn't seen on Pinterest or any other of my go-to recipe sites.

A few years ago I made Barefoot Contessa's French Apple Tart for the first time. It was so good that even my husband, the one who doesn't eat cooked fruit, liked it. It is a buttery crust topped with granny smith apples and sugar - no cinnamon or other spices that are usually so overpowering. The apples were tender but not mushy, and the whole thing was just perfect together. I had been thinking about making that recipe again, but then I realized that I had a lot of peaches to use up, so why not try making a peach tart instead? It seems like an apple recipe should work with other stone fruits (peaches, plums, pears, etc) as well. I gave it a try and was pleasantly surprised. The peaches held up just fine and tasted wonderful with the buttery crust. My husband didn't love it, but that's not saying much since I've only had success with one cooked-fruit dessert!

The crust is so easy to make and roll out; it's blended in a food processor and has a perfect consistency so it doesn't fall apart. The nice thing is that you don't need any special tart pan - just a regular cookie sheet is fine. The crust is rolled out into a rectangle then topped with the peeled and sliced peaches. Sprinkle with sugar and dot with butter, then bake. While the tart is baking it looks like something is wrong because the juices run and burn on the pan (which is why you have to use a Silpat or parchment paper), but the tart doesn't burn. To make it look shiny once it's out of the oven, use thinned-out apricot jelly. I actually didn't have apricot jelly, so I used agave nectar instead, which gave it the shine I was looking for.

The tart is perfect at room temperature and I don't think it even needs ice cream or whipped cream. It is just right as is. I only wish I had some leftover to eat with my coffee the next morning.

Arrange the peach slices overlapping each other diagonally.

Sprinkle with sugar and dot with butter.



Don't worry if the juices burn!


Peach Tart (adapted from Ina Garten's French Apple Tart)

For the pastry:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon sugar

12 tablespoons (11/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, diced

1/2 cup ice water

For the peaches:

5-6 medium peaches

1/2 cup sugar

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, small diced

1/2 cup apricot jelly or warm sieved apricot jam

2 tablespoons water, rum, or peach brandy

 

For the pastry, place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Pulse for a few seconds to combine. Add the butter and pulse 10 to 12 times, until the butter is in small bits the size of peas. With the motor running, pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse just until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a floured board and knead quickly into a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or a Silpat.

Roll the dough slightly larger than 10 by 14-inches. Using a ruler and a small knife, trim the edges. Place the dough on the prepared sheet pan and refrigerate while you prepare the peaches.

Peel the peaches and cut them in half, removing the pit. Slice the peaches crosswise in 1/4-inch thick slices. Place overlapping slices of peaches diagonally down the middle of the tart and continue making diagonal rows on both sides of the first row until the pastry is covered with peach slices. Sprinkle with the 1/2 cup of sugar and dot with the butter.

Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until the pastry is browned and the edges of the peaches start to brown. Rotate the pan once during cooking. If the pastry puffs up in one area, cut a little slit with a knife to let the air out. Don't worry! The peach juices will burn in the pan but the tart will be fine! When the tart's done, heat the apricot jelly together with the water or rum and brush the peaches and the pastry completely with the jelly mixture. Loosen the tart with a metal spatula so it doesn't stick to the paper. Allow to cool and serve warm or at room temperature.

Just Peachy Scones

Our first batch was blueberry scones and our second was peach scones.

I love scones. I know I've posted scone and biscuit recipes before, but I just can't help posting another. Something about a freshly baked scone with a cup of coffee can put even the grouchiest person in a good mood.

We had our weekly family trip to the farmers' market this Saturday morning and all I could think about was the Irish baker that sold me a delicious scone the previous week. My mouth was watering on the way there as I thought about what type of scone to try. But when we got there, the scones were nowhere to be found! I hope they just missed this one week and will be back the next, but in the mean time, I decided to make my own (it was actually my sister-in-law's idea since she wanted a scone that morning too).

We figured blueberry scones would be good and found some blueberries in the freezer, which worked great! Then she had another idea...why not try making the same recipe but with peaches instead? Yum. I had a peach scone for the first time from a bakery we visited while in Bend, Oregon, but I thought I could do better.

Our peach scones were really good, but not very sweet. If we had used sweeter, riper peaches, they would have been perfect. I enjoyed them as they were because I don't like a really sweet scone.

I think cream scones are the best because they have enough fat in them. These have butter and cream, do they're definitely not diet food, but an occasional pastry made with butter and cream never hurt anyone.

Peach, blueberry, or other fruit scones

(original recipe* from Tyler Florence)

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
5 tablespoons butter, cold, cut in chunks (I used salted)
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries or peaches** (chopped into bite sized pieces)
1 cup heavy cream, plus more for brushing the scones

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Sift together the dry ingredients; the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Using 2 forks or a pastry blender, cut in the butter to coat the pieces with the flour. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. Fold the blueberries or peaches into the batter. Take care not to mash or bruise the blueberries because their strong color will bleed into the dough. Make a well in the center and pour in the heavy cream. Fold everything together just to incorporate; do not overwork the dough.

Press the dough out on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle about 12 by 6 inches. Cut into 8 rectangles. Place the scones on an ungreased cookie sheet and brush the tops with a little heavy cream. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until beautiful and brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.

*The original recipe for blueberry scones had a lemon glaze, which makes the scones sweeter if you want sweeter scones.

**If your peaches are sweet and juicy, add a little less cream initially, then add more as necessary. If your peaches are less sweet, add an additional tablespoon of sugar.

Delicious, buttery, not-too-sweet peach scones