I’ve been on an almond croissant kick for the past few years. I first discovered my love of this delicious pastry when our daughter introduced us to Maison Kayser croissants in Manhattan. Unfortunately, they closed in 2020, but she found a new source, Délice Macarons, in Cranford, NJ.

Later I would go on to find recipes either to make the genuine article or close replicas. Recently, on the podcast “She’s My Cherry Pie,” cook book author Leah Koenig spoke about her new book, “The Dessert Table: 100 Joyful Jewish Sweets.” Jessie Sheehan, podcast host, discussed her “signature bake” Almond Croissant Rugelach. Rugelach are crescent shaped pastries that came from Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe who moved to the USA. In my recipe folder, I’ve been holding on to a “Gourmet Magazine” rugelach recipe from its former food editor Melissa Roberts-Matar. The recipe belongs to her late great-grandmother who owned a small Catskills hotel and baked them for her guests. The pastry is typically filled with apricot or raspberry preserves and covered with cinnamon sugar and chopped walnuts. In Ms. Koenig’s recipe she uses  almond frangipane. 

With this post, I’ll be current with the recipes I’ve prepared. One Sunday we enjoyed a wonderful salad for lunch, Grilled Zucchini, Mozzarella, Olives and Pistachio, a recipe by chef Odette Williams. For the recipe you’ll need zucchini, extra-virgin olive oil, kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, fresh garlic, sherry vinegar, juice from half a lemon, fresh mozzarella, Castelvetrano olives (pitted), salted pistachios, fresh basil, fresh flat leaf parsley and Parmigiano-Reggiano. 

For the best results, I used a mandoline to get lovely ribbons. The ribbons were brushed with extra-virgin olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. On my outdoor grill over medium-high heat, I cooked the zucchini until I had nice grill marks on both sides. No grill, use a grill pan for the same effect. Once the ribbons were done, I laid them out on a large platter. 

For some reason, blogging went downhill in early August. It was a relatively quiet July as our daughter’s family traveled as soon as school was out which was then followed by my oldest granddaughter playing summer softball in July. Once those events were behind them, they were ready to visit the beach on weekends.

On one particular visit, we belatedly celebrated by daughter’s June birthday with dinner and a special dessert that she requested, Strawberry Pie based on Lidey Heuck’s recipe from NYT Cooking for Peaches and Cream Pie. I’ve made this pie before, but swapped the peaches for strawberries. While this was a delicious recipe, I had recently seen  another version by Samantha Senevirante, also from NYT Cooking. I decided to do a smash up using Ms. Heuck’s recipe for the crust and Ms. Seneviratne filling from her recipe for Fresh Strawberry Pie. 

When I was at the farm stand the other day, I thought I’d grab some local string beans. Not sure what to do with them, I tried a recipe on the website “Mangia with Michele,” String Bean Salad with Tomatoes and Pesto. Beside the string beans you’ll need salt, cherry or grape tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, red onion, pesto, pine nuts, red wine vinegar, extra-virgin olive oil, salt, freshly ground black pepper and crushed red pepper. For this recipe, I picked up at the farm stand grape tomatoes and used Galbani Ciliegine Cherry Size fresh mozzarella instead of Galbani Pearls. I also substituted toasted walnuts for the pine nuts.

The string beans need to have their ends trimmed and cut in half. The tomatoes need to be halved.  I mice en placed the remainder of the ingredients to make assembling go easier. The beans were blanched in a pot boiling water until crisp tender. Next, they’re drained and placed in an ice bath to chill down and help the beans remain a vibrant green. I laid the beans on a towel lined sheet pan to dry. While that happened, I mixed the dressing which consists of pesto (I used my homemade), red wine vinegar, extra-virgin olive oil, kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper and a pinch of red pepper flakes. 

This is the first summer that I’m not participating in a weekly community shared agriculture program where the produce is selected for you. This summer  I chose to go with Rolling Hills Farm’s CSA where one purchases a preloaded  credit card  that allows you to shop at either Asbury Fresh Market in Asbury Park, NJ or Wrightstown Farmer’s Market in Wrightstown, PA. With this form of subscription, I can select the items I want.

This brings me to my first recipe. Pepper Steak and Celery Stir-Fry with Lemon. For this recipe, I used a boneless sirloin steak from our beef share from Sickler Circle View Farms and celery, garlic  and scallions from Rolling Hills Farm. For the recipe you’ll also need, salt, pepper, cornstarch, light brown or granulated sugar, a lemon, cooking oil, fresh garlic, soy sauce, and unsalted butter. Let me just say, the quality of the vegetables from Rolling Hills is amazing. I couldn’t believe the deep, vibrant green color of the celery and the hearty looking scallions.

My husband and I have experienced dinner at Beach Plum Farm in the autumn, spring, and now summer. We traveled to Cape May last Thursday and secured a one-night stay at a B&B so that we didn’t have to make the drive home. I’m enjoying these mini vacations as we arrive after lunch and walk about the town before getting ready for dinner.

The theme for this harvest dinner was called “Tables in the Garden.” The farm has switched to individual tables versus long communal. I personally prefer the communal tables as you have an opportunity to interact with other guests and meet some interesting people. In the spring, we met the owners of Copper Knoll Farms, which cultivates lavender, elderberries, log-grown mushrooms, and firewood. 

With every visit I make to AsburyFresh market in Asbury Park, I purchase a container of burrata from Jersey Artisan of Morris Plains, along with one of his delicious breads. The milk for their cheese is from Spring Run Dairy in Pittstown and grains for his baked goods come from River Valley Community Grains in Blairstown.

Most times I purchase the burrata, however, depending on the week, there could be fresh mozzarella, goat cheese, provolo and others. The week that I purchased the burrata, I also picked up some heirloom tomatoes at the Rolling Hills Farm stand, also at AsburyFresh. I found a recipe by Alexa Weibel on The New York Times/NYT Cooking website for Tomato and Peach Salad with Whipped Goat Cheese. The photo accompanying the recipe was mouthwatering and I wanted to duplicate at home, but with burrata. For the recipe you’ll need extra-virgin olive oil, sherry vinegar, whole grain mustard, fresh lemon zest and juice, kosher salt, black pepper, a red onion, goat cheese (swapped for burrata), heavy cream, 2 large heirloom tomatoes, 2 medium peaches and either purslane, mâche or watercress.

With a break in the recent heatwave, my husband and I recently had our friends over for dinner. I wanted to prepare everything ahead, or as close to it, so I too could enjoy myself. For appetizers I served Basil Cream Cheese Filled Tomatoes and Mushroom and Artichoke Pâté. Dinner was Grilled Honey-Mustard Chicken, Chile-Rubbed Flank Steak, Confetti Corn and Potato Salad à la Julia Child. Dessert was Cheesecake Pudding.

The recipe for the filled tomatoes comes from the Food Network back in 2007. The recipe is from Lin Scarduzio and I assume it came from the show “Cooking Live.”. It’s an easy and refreshing way to start a meal; plus, I can make it easier for you to prepare. I recently started my new season batch of homemade pesto. For this recipe you can prepare Marcella Hazen’s recipe, which will leave you with enough pesto for pasta one night, or use store bought pesto.  

I can’t believe we’re midway through July already. I have been visiting the AsburyFresh farmers market on Sunday mornings in Asbury Park and my local farm market, Matt’s in Belmar.

I’ve had, for some time, a recipe clipping from The New York Times and Melissa Clark for Savory Clafoutis with Corn and Swiss Chard. Ms. Clark describes clafoutis as “baked French pancakes filled with cherries.” Her version skews savory using corn, Swiss chard, leeks and Gruyère cheese. For the recipe you’ll also need whole milk, crème fraîche, eggs, all-purpose flour, fresh parsley, fresh dill, kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, extra-virgin olive oil, fresh garlic, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, fresh lemon juice and red pepper flakes. My eggs were from Sickler Circle View Farm, the Swiss chard and corn from Matt’s Farm Market.

My husband and I recently had a road trip to south Jersey to visit Sickler View Farms, but more on that later. On our way home we pre-ordered lunch from a local restaurant, Bergs Smoked Meat in Belmar, NJ. They make the most delicious sandwiches. I ordered the beef brisket and my husband had the turkey Reuben. As a side, we selected their potato salad. Their salad had plenty of fresh dill which gave it a delightful flavor. I decided I would try to replicate and searched the internet.

What I came across was a recipe found on Ina Garten’s website, “Barefoot Contessa,” for Potato Salad à la Julia Child. What stood out in this recipe was the addition of cornichon pickles, champagne vinegar (or white wine vinegar), fresh dill and the addition of the potato cooking water. The addition of the water, which is starchy, adds a creaminess to the dressing.