Summer Fun! Authentic Guacamole, a Fig and Honey Salad, and a make-your-own Soft Drink
Spread the love
Today I wanted to share three recipes that are fast and fun and amazingly delicious all at the same time.
A true Molcajete, sold at Williams-Sonoma
First up, a recipe for that great summer favorite, Guacamole. Every year, we look forward to a visit from Carlos, a friend of a friend who comes up from his home in Mexico City. Last year, Carlos kindly gave us Diana Kennedy’s classic “The Art of Mexican Cooking” (Clarkson Potter 1989, 2008).
This book is an incredibly rich collection authentic recipes culled from 50 years of living, traveling and cooking in Mexico. If ever there was a place to look for a recipe for guacamole, this is it. It should be made at the last moment because it quickly changes color with or without the avocado pit. You can actually make it right in front of your guests if you have a ‘molcajete’, that stone pestle you see at every Mexican restaurant. However, this worked just fine using a blender for the base and then mashing the avocado into another bowl.
Our second treat is a very simple salad, adapted from a marvelous new cookbook that I highly recommend. It’s “Savoring the Hamptons” (Running Press 2011) by one of the great doyennes of East End cooking, Silvia Lehrer. This book will be the subject of a complete post at a later date. Today I want to share an adaptation of Silvia’s Fig, Honey and Cheese Salad. Years ago when I was in Greece on vacation with my parents, my father could not wait to eat fresh figs. Strangely, he never eaten the raw fruit even though he lived in Georgia at the time, certainly a climate warm enough for figs. In fact, my great friend Carl, grows figs in Yardley, PA, from a tree he transplanted from his grandparent’s garden in The Bronx. The tree is carefully covered in winter and annually rewards Carl and his family with a crop of the delicious fruit. Wonder of wonders, figs also grow on the East End and are a feature of this week’s Farm Stand offerings. This salad is a wonderful way to, well, savor the fig.
Finally, there’s something that’s great fun to make and perfect for kids. In a recent Bon Appetit, an article called Fizz Ed spelled out the reasons why making your own soft drinks is such a great idea. We used local strawberries and and ordinary canned soda water to make up a batch. What’s great is they contain less than half the calories and the sugar of, say, a Sprite. It’s simplicity itself to make. You crush the berries with lemon juice and basil, of all things, and then pour in the soda water. I am sure you can do this with all kinds of fruits once you get the hang of it, which should take you all of five minutes.Here are all three recipes:
Recipe for Authentic Guacamole adapted from Diana Kennedy’s “The Art of Mexican Cooking”
Makes about 2 1/2 cups
2 tablespoons white onion, finely chopped
4 serrano chiles, finely chopped (seeds and all), or to taste*
3 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
Sea salt to taste
3 avocados (about 1 pound)
1/2 cup unskinned tomatoes, finely chopped
·I used 2 Jalapeno chiles as Serranos were not available locally
Toppings:
1/4 cup tomatoes, finely chopped
1 tablespoon white onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
Put the onion, chiles, cilantro, and salt into a molcajete and crush to a paste. Or combine those ingredients in a blender and emulsify.
Cut the avocados in half and, without peeling, remove the pit and squeeze out the flesh. Save the pit to put into the bowl with the finished guacamole. Mash the avocados roughly into the base and mix well. Stir in the tomatoes and sprinkle the surface of the guacamole with the toppings. Serve immediately with tortilla chips.
Recipe for Fig and Honey Salad adapted from Silvia Lehrer
6 large fresh figs
¼ cup pecans, toasted*
¼ lb natural rind nutty cheese*, shaved
Honey to drizzle
Rinse the figs and pat dry with paper towel. Cut in half lengthwise and divide equally among two plates. Top the fig halves with the nuts and shavings of cheese. Drizzle about 1 teaspoon of honey over each serving. Serve at room temperature.
*Sylvia used pine nuts.
*Sylvia used a local cheese called “Shawondasee” made by Mecox Bay Dairy
in Bridgehampton NY. I opted for “Beaufort D’Alpage”, a cow’s milk cheese from the French Alps.
Recipe for Strawberry, Lemon and Basil Soda from Bon Appetit
This recipe makes one glass of soda. I tripled and quadrupled it easily.
You can easily substitute a spoon, if you do not own a muddler.
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon raw sugar
6 fresh basil leaves
5 small strawberries (or 3 largestrawberries, quartered) plus 1 thin slice for garnish
1 pinch kosher salt
3/4 cup soda water
Combine fresh lemon juice, raw sugar, basil, whole strawberries, and salt in a pint glass. Muddle ingredients with a muddler or the handle of a wooden spoon until sugar dissolves. Add ice cubes and soda water and stir until chilled. Strain into a 12-oz. glass filled with ice cubes and garnish with a strawberry slice.
3 thoughts on “Summer Fun! Authentic Guacamole, a Fig and Honey Salad, and a make-your-own Soft Drink”
I just wanted to comment your blog and say that I really enjoyed reading your blog post here. It was very informative and I also digg the way you write! Keep it up and I’ll be back to read more soon mate.
Please excuse me for not getting back to you immediately. You can use absolutely any kind of fresh figs for this dish. Mission Figs are great. We just used what was at our local Farm stand. Believe it or not, there are people on Long Island who can grow them in the summer as long as they move or wrap the trees very carefully for the colder months. Enjoy!
Did you know that New York State is the second largest apple producer in the whole country? Only Washington State tops us. Trust a resourceful friend of ours, Wendy Brovetto, native New Yorker and grandchild of an Upstate New York Farm family, to create truly incredible Rustic Apple Jams in 4 extraordinary flavors. When she did, Croton Trading Co. was born.
Wendy explains ”We created our apple jam after one of those overzealous days of apple picking yielded a larger-than-usual haul. With more apples than any family could consume, the experimenting began and gave way to what we think is the perfect blend of apples and cinnamon.”
“We source our apples from local NY Orchards -- Thompson's Orchard in Westchester Co andl Richters Orchard on Long Island. I have a special fondness for these family-owned farms. Richters Orchard was a big part of my childhood, as my sistersand I would go on weekly outings with my dad to stock up on apples and cider"
"We carefully blend different apples to create our flavor profile and find inspiration from seasonal spices to create our Apple Jam”. Wendy proudly states.
Now Croton Trading Company is up to 4 flavors: Fall Harvest Blend, Ginger Pear Fusion, Chai, and Brown Sugar. You can see the whole range here:
Needless to say, we couldn’t wait to put Croton Trading Company’s Apple Jam to work making our Skillet Apple Pork Chops. This one-pot recipe is perfect for weeknights but so good you may want to serve to company. The chops finish cooking in Croton Trading’s Apple Jam and we always serve it on the side to give even more great apple taste to the dish. Here’s the recipe:
1 ½ tablespoons olive oil, divided
4 (6-oz.) bone-in pork chops
¾ teaspoon kosher salt, divided
¾ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
½ cup unsalted chicken stock (such as Swanson)
1 cup Croton Trading Rustic Apple Jam (we used Ginger Pear)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
1 ½ teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
1 small red onion, thinly vertically sliced
Chopped Parsley for garnish.
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons oil to pan; swirl to coat. Sprinkle pork chops evenly with 3/8 teaspoon salt and 3/8 teaspoon pepper. Add pork chops to pan; cook 5 minutes on each side or until pork chops beautifully browned. Remove from pan. Set aside pan and drippings.
In a small bowl, combine stock and Croton Trading Apple Jam, stirring with a whisk. Set aside. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to pan with drippings, swirl. Add remaining 3/8 teaspoon salt, remaining 3/8 teaspoon pepper, sage, rosemary, and onion to pan; cook 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in stock mixture. Return pork chops to pan; cook 3 minutes or until liquid is reduced by half. Plate each chop individually. Top with chopped parsley as a garnish. Serve with plenty of Croton Trading Apple Jam on the side.
I just wanted to comment your blog and say that I really enjoyed reading your blog post here. It was very informative and I also digg the way you write! Keep it up and I’ll be back to read more soon mate.
Trips to morocco
Hello,
Your figs with cheese, toasted pecans and honey drizzled over them sounds so delicious.
I am wondering–What kind of figs did you use for this dish?
Please excuse me for not getting back to you immediately. You can use absolutely any kind of fresh figs for this dish. Mission Figs are great. We just used what was at our local Farm stand. Believe it or not, there are people on Long Island who can grow them in the summer as long as they move or wrap the trees very carefully for the colder months. Enjoy!