Couscous Stuffed Zucchini

Today is the first day of fall and the last official bit of summer, signaled by 12 hours of sunlight followed by 12 hours of night.

So I figured it was time to pull the remaining summer squash out of the refrigerator and do something with it.

I searched my new cookbooks, Chez Pannise and How to Eat Everything Vegetarian, and decided to do a take on Mark Bittman's tomatoes stuffed with rice. Here is Couscous Stuffed Zucchini.

Stuffed zucchini messy - and delicious - straight from the oven

Couscous Stuffed Zucchini

4-5 zucchini, round and straight

1 cup cooked couscous

1 medium tomato

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped or minced

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp coriander

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

1/2 Tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper

olive oil to drizzle

1. Make couscous according to package instructions.


2. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Put a piece of parchment paper on a cooking sheet.


3. Cut the edges of the zucchini and slice lengthwise. Scoop or slice out the seeds and pulpy middle.





4. Scoop out the firmer middle of the zucchini, leaving about 1/4 inch to the skin. Put the pulp of 2-3 zucchini in a bowl, and discard the rest.


5. Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl and mix thoroughly.


6. Fill one half of each zucchini with the mixture and heap it up about one inch. Place it on the cooking sheet and top with the other half.


7. Once all zucchini are on the sheet, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.


8. Cook for 30-40 minutes until the zucchini is tender and starts to shrivel. The inside will be hot and can be tested by quickly inserting a metal knife or skewer. If it comes out warm, then the contents are hot.

Twilight Earth has some amazing fall pictures. They definitely put a smile on my face.

TWD ~ Cottage Cheese Pufflets

Cottage cheese pufflets are little cookies filled with jam or preserves. The slightly off-putting name comes from the cottage cheese used in the dough. Really, these are delicious little bites, even if my dough was finicky from start to finish. Head over to Jacque's blog, Daisy Lane Cakes, for the recipe - and the essential place to take a potential date or spouse! It's hilarious.

Now, my dough was sticky, gooey, worse than playdough. Dyed a gruesome red, it would be the perfect substitute in an interactive haunted house for fake guts. (Halloween is coming! Yay!) There was no rolling to be done, so I had to add quite a bit of flour. I think this made them less puffy, but it got them on the pan.

I quartered the recipe and made half of the batch on Thursday night. I was having an ultimate need-sweets-now-moment (aka break-up with long-time boyfriend and a major part of the reason I moved back to GA two months ago). I convinced myself that I would feel better making these than hitting the Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey.

I didn't get any pictures of these first ones. It was night and I planned to make the others while there was still some daylight left. Forward to Monday, enter buckets of rain dropping from the sky every second, and me remembering at 8pm that I needed to make the second round of Cottage Cheese Pufflets. I used a star cookie cutter, which meant larger (fewer) cookies and more filling. More filling is a very good thing. I used Muscadine Preserves from the Callaway Garden Country Store. I think these are the absolute best preserves in the world. I recently had a fried green tomato sandwich at Callaway Gardens and they put Muscadine Preserves on it. When I realized what it was, I had to stop, tilt my head, and then consult my mouth to see the verdict. Yum.


{FYI: Muscadines are a grapevine variety that, along with Scupperines, are native to the southeastern U.S. A vine at a friend's ripened about a month ago.}

In addition to the Muscadine Preserves, I added a little bit of a Hershey's bar to half of the pufflets. I'm not big on fruit + chocolate, but these were the best! Instead of being uber chocolately, it just added another layer of taste.

Basil Ice Cream

Topping my wish list has been a cute, easy ice cream maker. One that doesn't require hand turning like my Granny's, or lots of rock ice and overseeing like my mom's. Something that is sleek and easy (did I already say that?) and would make yummy ice cream.

Enter my fabulous sister with my birthday present - the Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker I had been eyeing in Williams Sonoma! The one that David Lebovitz recommends on his blog, though I didn't know that until after it was purchased. I was *very excited.

The first ice cream made had to be Basil Ice Cream. Yeah, yeah, join in the skeptical remarks my mom and boyfriend made: what color will it be? herb ice cream? I don't know if that sounds very good. Hello people, mint is an herb used in ice cream and very popular. Basil is awesome in everything! I had gotten a bunch at the farmers' market and searched recipes to use it. Up popped Basil Ice Cream.

Also for my birthday, I received The Perfect Scoop, Chez Pannisse Vegetables, and How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. (I'm a lucky girl.) The Perfect Scoop had a lovely Basil Ice Cream recipe with lots of cream - 2 cups to be exact. Normally I might substitute part low-fat milk, but not on my birthday weekend. Full fat and celebration.

I watched the ice cream maker turning, quietly hardening the cream. It was a beautiful color and the taste was sweet and refreshing. The basil taste came through a little more the second day, but wasn't as strong as I had thought it might be. It was quite balanced with the richness of the cream and the sweetness of the sugar. My mom had to eat her words because she loved it.

TWD: Flaky Apple Turnover

Yay - it's apple season! I can't wait to get some Stamen Winesaps from North Georgia! This week's TWD pick by Julie of Someone's in the Kitchen is partly responsible for the renewed apple season excitement. These little turnovers are like hand pies that get better each bite.
I get a little anxious when recipes call for chilling time in the frig. It means I have to plan ahead and I usually don't get the goods out of the oven at a decent time. Of course, I can't resist sampling things right out of the oven so I end up having a past midnight snack.

These little babies call for two chilling sessions. I actually read ahead this week and prepared the dough a little beforehand. They did end up being a midnight snack though, because I had to run to the store to get apples. Oh well, they were definitely worth the wait and more. So scruptious!
The dough was a bit crumbly and sticky at the same time; a little difficult to work with and mine had bits of butter. It didn't seem to matter one bit. I halved the recipe, making 11 pies (my circle was smaller than the prescribed, just 4 inches instead of 4.5). I overloaded some of them a bit, and had a few messy pies. I think it added to the charm of these little turnovers.

Instead of being perfect puffs lined up and primped with sugar crystals like at bakeries the worldover, my turnovers ended up being a hot mess. Juice running out, distorted half moon shapes. For some reason, it seemed to fit them, and reminded me of other fall treats - fairs and harvest festivals, and being outside in the crisp air. It screamed - pick me up, forget the fork! And it was perfect.

Smothered Squash with Basil

I went to grad school in upstate NY, and arrived one early summer. Syracuse was so different from any place I'd lived before. I found it grey and chilly, despite the summertime, and forlorn with a negative growth rate.

Then I found the farmers' market and everything seemed a little brighter on Saturday mornings. It showed me the value of having fabulous, fresh, local veggies (not to mention the fresh doughnuts -- worth the wait in line) long before I got a little green. Ever since I've sought out markets wherever I live, and have yet to find a farmers' market quite as good.

A couple of weeks ago, I saw an ad for a downtown farmers' market in my hometown. I was pysched and wanted to head down to support it. This town is not the kind of place that bends easily to change or new ideas so this is a bit of a big deal.

So off my mom and I go, my mom sporting her market bag I crocheted her. Unfortunately, we didn't really need it; it hasn't gotten to be that type of market yet. It was mostly baked goods, breads and pies, paintings, jewelry, and a few stands of limited veggies and herbs. I did find a beautiful bunch of basil, which excited me more than is logical or reasonable. I have no excuse, except that I absolutley love the smell and taste of basil.

I haven't cooked a lot with basil, so I googled it up and found a simple recipe on Epicurious that also would use the yellow summer squash I'd bought by the pound. I was surprised by this recipe. Usually when I see smothered, I think cheesey and rich, as in "scattered, smothered, covered, chunked." This smothered is from Cajun cuisine, meaning to brown in oil, then braise in a small amount of liquid, tightly covered, until tender. I altered the recipe by adding more basil. It went so well with the squash and made an amazingly good dish.

Smothered Squash with Basil
adapted from Epicurious.com

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 lb medium yellow squash, halved lengthwise and cut crosswise into 1/8-inch-thick slices
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh basil

1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then add half of squash and sauté, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 5 minutes.
2. Transfer browned squash to a bowl, then heat remaining tablespoon oil and sauté remaining squash in same manner.
3. Return squash in bowl to skillet. Add garlic and sauté, stirring occasionally, 1 minute.
4. Add water, salt, and pepper and simmer briskly, covered, until squash is tender and most of liquid is evaporated, 6 to 7 minutes.
5. Stir in basil.

TwD: Chocolate Souffle

This afternoon, it suddenly dawned on me that all my birthday weekend festivities had left me without Chocolate Souffle, the pick of the week by Susan of She's Becoming DoughMessTic. Check out her blog for the recipe and a wonderful post.

So I hurriedly made these...probably not the best way to go about making a souffle, that kitchen creature that grows in the oven and threatens to beat even the best bakers into utter frustration with sinking centers.

I imagine French chefs throwing their tall white hats on the floor and stomping furiously until they sadly resemble the fallen souffle.

Was I up to the challenge?

Surprisingly, these were super simple to make and rose beautifully --- but only for about one minute. Thankfully, that doesn't seem to affect the taste much. Dorie has a theory she presents in BFMHTY that souffles got their bad reputation back in a time without electric mixers and conventional ovens and all our nice gadgets. It would be a totally different experience to whip egg whites until glossy by hand. Whoa. I'm almost tempted to try, with a glove on. The last time I whipped something by hand I had major blisters.

I liked the souffle, though it could stand to have a more chocolate intense flavor for my tastes. The eggs lent a texture that didn't wow my mouth. It was kinda funny. I added a scoop of basil ice cream on top, which was a lovely pairing. A sauce would work well with these.

Tuesdays with Dorie is in the Washington Post!

Do a little happy dance...

The Tuesdays with Dorie baking group is one of the online cooking communities highlighted in this Washington Post article written by Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan, who is herself an avid food blogger. It is amazing how these online communities connect people of varying ages, disciplines, and locales, and inspire many to challenge themselves in all areas of life. In a world where food and food preparation is a critical and delightful element of culture, these online communities offer a virtual kitchen that each member can step into and share in the jokes, the disasters, and the experiences of others with similar tastes, despite distance, gender, age, etc. The list goes on, and further highlights the true value of these communities in offering an element of community that is often lost as we get in our individual cars to sit in a cubicle to drag home and watch TV: it allows people to connect in an environment that encourages attempts, does not ostracize for failure, and enthusiastically shares in success. It may start in the kitchen but the feeling of mastering (or at least managing) new things and the process of learning often adds support to other dreams and undertakings.

Thanks to all the Tuesdays with Dorie bakers out there, and a special shout-out to Laurie for getting the whole Baking-ball rolling and introducing me to the always sweet Dorie Greenspan!