A Spring Celebration, Still Good in Summer

What’s cooking? Whitefish en Papillote with Tomatoes, Snap Peas, and Herb Butter


 

In the runup to my husband’s birthday, I often focus on the foods he likes. We’ve been married just long enough that we’ve given each other just about every variation on a present – from wildly extravagant, like the year I took him to Pebble Beach to play golf, to the thoughtful-but-truly-unexciting, like a new book by one of his favorite authors.

And he’s not nearly as thrilled as I am to look for a hot new restaurant for the celebration, so that part often comes down to something from the Kitchen Goddess.

Back in our just-married days, when we lived in Manhattan, there was a darling little Italian restaurant in our neighborhood. (Frankly, there’s a darling little Italian restaurant in almost every neighborhood of NYC. It’s a New York thing.) We went there often, which is what you can do when you have two salaries and no kids, and his favorite dish was Striped Bass al Cartoccio.

These days, when he thinks about that dish, he always pronounces it “al car-TOE-chee-o” using his best Italian accent and arms open wide in his best Italian opera singer imitation. But for some reason, I’ve never tried to duplicate the preparation.

Then not long ago, among the daily onslaught of food-related emails I get – remember when it was actually fun and exciting to get email? – I came across one for “fish packets.” Ah, said the Kitchen Goddess, this will be just the thing. And so it was.

The concept is amazingly simple: fish baked in a tightly closed envelope of parchment (or sometimes foil), often with herbs, lemon slices, or other seasonings. The package holds in the moisture, to steam the fish. The envelope is generally opened at the table, so guests can smell the aroma when it opens. It’s called en papillote in French, al cartoccio in Italian – but whatever you call it, it’s a technique well worth learning.

This particular preparation fairly sings “spring,” with the light flavors of herbs and tomatoes and sugar snap peas. The fish stays moist and light because it cooks quickly, so the veggies stay a tiny bit crisp; the smear of butter on top and underneath the fish makes sure those flavors go all the way through it. The parchment holds enough of the heat in that the dish is actually warm when you open it on your plate. Just the smells that come out of that little package will have you swooning.

Another amazon find

This is a dish that looks fancy, but is in fact incredibly easy. You can make the herb butter the day before, but if you do, be sure to let it sit out at room temperature for at least 30 minutes, so that it will spread easily.

A little kitchen wisdom: butter is fine at room temperature (covered) for at least a couple of days, unless your kitchen is really warm. The KG often leaves hers out overnight in a dish like the one at the right, for easier spreading on toast in the morning.




Kitchen Goddess note about parchment paper: The hardest part about parchment paper is that it generally comes in a roll, and getting those sheets to flatten out is a challenge. But the KG has a solution or two for that little wrinkle: (1) crumple the sheets, then smooth them out (This is an amazingly effective method, as long as you’re not put off by serving slightly wrinkled packets); (2) follow the Kitchen Goddess’s example and buy pre-cut sheets that come already flat. KG buys hers at amazon.com, but your local baking supply shop may carry them.

Whitefish en Papillote with Tomatoes, Snap Peas, and Herb Butter

Adapted from Katherine Sacks on Epicurious (September 2017)

For the herbs, the Kitchen Goddess used thyme and dill and parsley, because that’s what was in the garden; cilantro and chives would also be good candidates.

To serve 4.

Ingredients
For the herb butter:
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature (Let it sit out while you get your mise-en-place.)
2-3 tablespoons finely chopped tender herbs
1½  teaspoons kosher salt, divided
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more for seasoning the fish

For the fish:
1 pound sugar snap peas, trimmed and thinly sliced lengthwise
1 pint cherry tomatoes (about 2½ cups), quartered
2 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
four ½-inch thick skinless fillets of white fish, like flounder or tilapia (about 6 ounces each)
Paprika (smoked or sweet)
¼ cup shredded fresh basil leaves (See my post on 50 Ways to Love Your Basil for step-by-step on chiffonade technique)

Special Equipment: four sheets of parchment paper (about 12 inches by 16 inches each)

Directions
Preheat your oven to 400°F.

For the herb butter:
In a small bowl, combine the butter, herbs, 1 teaspoon of the salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper. Let it sit out while you prepare the veggies.

Assembling the packets:
Lay a parchment sheet flat on a work surface. Smear 1 tablespoon of the herb butter in the center of the sheet, in a streak about the length of the fish and an inch or so wide. Arrange one-quarter of the snap peas, tomatoes, and garlic evenly over the butter.

Place a fish fillet on top of the vegetables, then smear another tablespoon of the herb butter on top of the fish. Season the fish with ⅛ teaspoon of salt, a pinch of pepper, and a sprinkling of paprika.

The KG couldn't get 6-ounce fillets -- only very thin 2-ounce fillets -- so she used 3 in each packet. You have to be flexible.

Fold the long sides of the parchment together over the fish (like you would with a sandwich that you’re wrapping for a picnic lunch). Gather the ends of the paper, then fold and tuck them under the fish to form a packet. [KG Note: There are lots of ways – most of them more complicated – to fold parchment around the fish, but as long as the ends of the parchment are well tucked under the fish, the butter and moisture won’t escape and you’ll be fine.]

Carefully move the packet to a baking sheet, and repeat the assembly process for each of the other fillets.

Depending on the size of the fish, you may be able to fit all four on a single, large, rimmed baking sheet. If not, use a second baking sheet. Just make sure all four packets are resting solidly on the sheet in a single layer.

Bake at 400º until just cooked through, about 12-13 minutes. If you want to test, insert a skewer through the parchment and into the fish. If it slides through the fillet easily, your fish is done. Carefully unfold the packets (steam will escape), and sprinkle the tops of the fish with ribboned basil.

A final note: You can make the butter 2-3 days ahead, and refrigerate it; just be sure to let it come to room temperature before you try working with it. Fish packets can be assembled up to 4 hours ahead and chilled. Let them sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before cooking.

Ode to Small-Town Charm

What’s cooking? Sea Scallops with Creamed Corn and Tomatoes

The migration south for my hubby and me is once again over. But before we left the Northeast, I spent some time running last minute errands. For me, the best place for that is not our current neighborhood in Jersey City, or even the neighborhoods of Austin. No, the place I prefer is the town we lived in while raising children. My younger son often jokes that I’m the only person he knows who’s crazy enough to drive 30 minutes just to shop for groceries; and as I headed there last week, I thought maybe he’s right.

Afterward, I considered what I had accomplished: hair appointment, manicure, pick up a shirt I’d ordered, shop for toiletries, visit a jeweler, and buy coffee – all at different stores. Six separate establishments within a tight grid of 11 blocks. It wasn’t until I looked at the receipt from the public parking lot where I stashed my car that I realized I’d completed this list of errands – on foot – in  a span of 2 hours and 14 minutes. I’m sure I could have made it all happen in either Jersey City or Austin, but not on foot, and not in that time frame. And the fee for that 2¼ hours? Three dollars. Now I expect those lots are subsidized by the city, but really...

The experience reminded me how much I enjoyed life in a small town. I didn’t think so when we moved there 30+ years ago. I’d been a New York City girl for 10 years, and the idea of living where the population was less than 25,000 and the sidewalks rolled up after 10 p.m. struck me as insanity. But my husband assured me that he didn’t want to raise children in New York City, so that was that. Then we found Summit.

Photo credit: Elizabeth Winterbottom Team, Local Realtor

Originally incorporated as Summit Township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature in 1869, Summit was reincorporated as a city in 1899. It likely got its name from its location on the easternmost edge of the Watchung Mountains, about 20 miles from Manhattan. Back in the 19th century, it was a favorite destination of wealthy of New York City residents fleeing the summer heat. Today, it’s still a popular suburb among financial industry workers and other commuters to Manhattan.

Photo credit: Daniel Case at the English language Wikipedia

It’s a quirk of many New Jersey suburbs that they are divided from each other in fairly random fashion. Depending on how the lines were drawn, you might live in a different town than your neighbors across the street. Suburban sprawl has already taken its toll: Summit’s 6 square miles are tightly constrained by the cluster of other towns on all sides, a vise that tends to push real estate values to impressive heights.

Photo credit: Daniel Case at the English language Wikipedia

But the town’s charm is in its embrace of those confines. The downtown shopping area covers at best 16-17 square blocks, and – by law – there’s no drive-through fast food and no buildings more than three stories high. Most are one or two. It’s hard to spend any time walking around without seeing someone you know, even if you moved away eight years ago. And a few of the merchants still know my name.

 

Of course, my favorite part of the town remains its farmers’ market. As I said so long on Sunday to friends at the organic farm stand, I loaded up on Tuscan kale, golden beets, and cherry tomatoes. Another stand had corn and zucchini. At the fish monger, I picked up a last pound of sea scallops, then I went home and cooked this most wonderful dish that takes advantage of the season’s best. If you can’t get fresh corn, use frozen, but you must try this dish.

Melissa Clark posted a similar dish in The New York Times not long ago, using shrimp. You, too, could use shrimp. But when you have the freshest sea scallops this side of the Mississippi, that’s what you cook. The zucchini was my own addition, too, and I was so glad. It’s got a very neutral flavor and keeps the corn sauce from being quite so thick and ... well, corny. Any other summer squash would do as well. And I love the salty tang of the feta cheese.

Sea scallops are rich, so 1¼ pounds of scallops is really all you need to feed four people, and the corn-zucchini-feta sauce is filling. I served this once with a salad and sliced peaches (though any fresh fruit would do), and once with a sauté of green beans instead of the salad. The dish makes a beautiful presentation, and it’s easy to make the sauces ahead of time and heat them up while you’re cooking the scallops. So it’s a great dish to serve guests.

Kitchen Goddess note on zucchini: For this dish, look for squash that’s small and firm and heavy feeling. The skin should be smooth and shiny, with no blemishes. If large zucchini is what you have, cut them in half and scoop out the seeds before dicing them. Smaller squash won’t have all those seeds, and what they have will be small and tender.

Sea Scallops with Creamed Corn and Tomatoes

Inspired by Melissa Clark in The New York Times.

Serves 4.

Ingredients
1¼ pounds large sea scallops (12-16 per pound, or 4-5 per person)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups diced zucchini (½-inch dice)

KG’s latest discovery: an easier way to cut corn off cobs. Upend a small bowl
 inside a larger bowl and slice down the side of the cob. The small bowl
provides a stand for the cob and the larger bowl catches the corn.

3 tablespoons heavy cream
2½ cups corn kernels (from 3 ears)
½ cup crumbled feta cheese
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 small white onions or ½ large, cut in ½-inch dice
2 cups cherry tomatoes, quartered
2 cloves garlic, minced
Dash of Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
½ teaspoon Aleppo pepper (or a dash of cayenne pepper)
Chiffonade of basil leaves for garnish






Directions
Pat the scallops dry with a paper towel, and lay them out on a plate or paper towels, and sprinkle them with salt and pepper.

First make the corn/zucchini/feta sauce. In a large skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter and add the zucchini. Sauté over medium/medium-low heat for 3 minutes. Add 1 more tablespoon of butter and when it has melted, add the cream. Reduce the heat to medium-low, stir in the corn and cook, covered, for 10-12 minutes or until the corn is very soft. Stir occasionally. If the mixture appears to get dry, add a tablespoon or two of water.

Transfer the corn/zucchini mixture to a blender and add the feta, plus1 teaspoon of salt and ¼ teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper. Blend until you get a thick purée. Set aside the mixture and keep it warm until you’re ready to serve.

Next, make the tomato sauce. Wipe out the skillet you used with the corn/zucchini, and put in 2 tablespoons of olive oil. At a medium setting, heat the oil and add the onion. Sauté the onion until pale gold and soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and the garlic, plus a large pinch of salt. Cook the tomatoes – again adding a tablespoon or two of water if needed – over medium heat for about 8 minutes, until the tomatoes break down into a sauce. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce, the lemon juice, and the Aleppo pepper/cayenne. Set aside the sauce and keep it warm until you’re ready to serve.

Lastly, cook the scallops. Wipe out the skillet again (or use a different one!) and melt in it the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil. Raise the heat to medium-high. When the surface of the oils shimmers, place the scallops in the oil and DO NOT TOUCH THEM for 3 minutes. (This will allow the natural sugars of the scallops to caramelize.) Using a spatula, turn the scallops over and cook – again without disturbing them – for another minute, then remove the skillet from the heat.

To plate the dish, spoon enough corn/zucchini purée into a wide, shallow soup bowl to cover the bottom. Place the scallops on the purée and spoon the tomato sauce on top. Garnish with ribboned basil leaves.

Enjoy the fall!

No Tricks – Just a Holiday Treat What’s cooking? Rosemary Shortbread Cookies with Tomato Jam

I read somewhere that most children think Halloween is the most important holiday after Christmas/Hanukkah. Makes perfect sense to me. After all, who doesn’t like pretending to be someone or something else and getting candy as a reward? Even the spooky/scary part is fun for many, because deep down, you know it’s not real fear, but excitement.

For me, the scariest part about Halloween is sticking my hand inside the giant pumpkin. I’ve mentioned before that the Kitchen Goddess isn’t fond of slimy or gooey, and hardly anything beats slimy and gooey more than a pumpkin’s innards. So I really have to brace myself before the annual pumpkin-carving ritual.

And it is a ritual. No one else in my family – and that would be my husband – seems to have any interest in buying the beast, deciding on the face, and gutting/carving the flesh. Just saying it that way makes me feel a little creepy. But I love Halloween even if no little ’weeners show up at our doorstep. More candy for me.

These days, I also have to send Halloween cookies off to New Jersey. One batch for the grandkids and another for the hospital staff where my younger son is a third year resident. I figure it can only help his popularity to show up with a tin of cookies now and then.

Once Halloween is over, though, the real pressure sets in. It’s the start of the holiday season, with all sorts of demands for hostessing and gift-giving. (I refuse on principle to use the non-verb “gifting.”) So today, I will get you started in that regard with a recipe for terrific shortbread cookies and a savory tomato jam you can use to turn those cookies into delicious tea cookies. It’s a combination from the kitchen of David Lebovitz, whose book, The Perfect Scoop, is my bible for frozen desserts.

I found this recipe on Epicurious.com, where it received almost universal raves, for the cookies alone or as sandwiches with the marvelous tomato jam. The cookies are buttery but light, with a really sophisticated flavor that’s only mildly sweet. And the tomato jam is also terrific with a sharp cheese.

Rosemary Shortbread Cookies with Tomato Jam

Adapted from epicurious.com and Ready for Dessert: My Best Recipes, by David Lebovitz

Makes 40-44 cookies, or 20-22 cookie sandwiches.

Ingredients
2 cups (260 grams) all-purpose flour
¼ cup (40 grams) yellow cornmeal or polenta
½ teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons sugar
6 ounces (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 ounces Crisco
2 large egg yolks
1½  tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves, finely chopped
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
Tomato Jam (see below)

Directions
In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the sugar, butter, and Crisco together at medium speed, just until smooth. Add the egg yolks one at a time, beating until well combined, then mix in the chopped rosemary. Add the dry ingredients in a couple of batches, mixing until the dough is smooth and holds together.







Divide the dough in half and place each half on a sheet of wax paper lightly dusted with flour. Using your hands and the wax paper, mold each half into a log about 6-7 inches long and 1¾-2 inches in diameter. Wrap the wax paper around the logs, and place the logs in the fridge until firm, at least an hour. (You can refrigerate the logs overnight, but if you do, wrap them again in Saran Wrap to keep them from drying out.)




When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350º, with racks positioned in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. To make the dough easier to slice, stick the logs into the freezer for 5-10 minutes.

Line a couple of baking sheets with baker’s parchment. Slice the logs into disks about ¼ inch wide, and place the disks on the parchment about ½ inch apart. Bake about 12 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through. Keep an eye out as the time grows short, because they can get overbrown quickly. You want just the edges of the cookies to brown lightly.

Kitchen Goddess note: The KG must be more hot-blooded than she thought, because at some point the logs got a bit soft from holding them while she sliced, producing “disks” that were slightly off-round. Undeterred, she simply mashed them into shape, which meant that some of the disks had more of a mound shape. But they still developed a flat side in the baking, and made perfectly decent sandwiches. And they still tasted great. The lesson here is not to get your knickers in a twist over the shapes, as long as they’re reasonably round.

Let the cookies cool in the pan for a few minutes, then transfer to racks to cool completely before making them into sandwiches.

To make into sandwiches, spread 1-1½ teaspoons of the jam on the underside of a cookie, then add a second cookie, with the flat, bottom side into the jam. You can store the filled cookies in an airtight container for 3-4 days; or you could store the cookies without jam – again, in an airtight container – and add jam when you’re getting ready to serve. Also, you can make the dough and store it in the freezer for up to a month.

Tomato Jam

Adapted from epicurious.com and Ready for Dessert: My Best Recipes, by David Lebovitz

Makes 2 cups.

Ingredients
2¼ pounds ripe tomatoes (about 5 large)
2 cups sugar
2 or 3 fresh grinds of black pepper
⅛ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon Aleppo pepper (optional)
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions
Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. With a paring knife, core the stem end of each tomato, then cut a shallow X on the bottom.

Place the tomatoes, one or two at a time, into the boiling water for about 30 seconds, then remove with a slotted spoon and let cool. The skins will have loosened, so once the tomatoes are cool enough to handle, peel the skins off. Discard the skins and the water.

Cut the tomatoes in half horizontally and gently squeeze or spoon out the seeds and juice. Dice the tomatoes into ½-inch pieces.

Put the diced tomatoes in the saucepan and stir in the sugar, pepper, and salt. Cook over medium heat for about 1 hour 15 minutes, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon to keep the tomatoes from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Once most of the liquid has evaporated – i.e., you can draw the spoon across the bottom of the pan and the jam doesn’t immediately come back together – remove it from the heat and stir in the Aleppo pepper and lemon juice. If, during the cooking, you see foam  rising to the top, you may want to skim it off with a large spoon. (Removing the foam makes the jam clearer.) If you like to use a candy thermometer, the jam should reach 220º when ready.

Ladle the jam into clean jars. Cover tightly and let it cool before refrigerating. It’ll keep at least six months in the fridge. Or you can process it like preserves and it’ll keep outside the fridge for a year.

Happy Halloween!

It’s Easy to Be Brave When You’ve Got GPS What’s cooking? Zucchini Crudo and Caprese Salad

Before I launch into my story, I want to take a moment to thank Claudio Bisio and Patricia Thomson, of La Dolce Vita Wine Tours for their extraordinary knowledge and endless patience in putting together a most educational and thoroughly enjoyable experience for our group. If you’re interested in a wine tour through Italy, Sicily, Spain, or Portugal, check them out or drop them a line: www.dolcetours.com ● Info@dolcetours.com


Until traveling there, I never understood the true nature of Sicily. I thought of it as an island, populated with dozens of tiny seaside villages. And what is an island but one long continuous beach? So I imagined my trip there to be designed for adding copiously to my collection of sand. I packed half a dozen baggies, figuring that every time we stopped, there’d be sand to collect.

This is about half of my collection. Another obsession. 

So imagine my surprise – and dismay – when Sicily turned out to be an island, yes, but an island of mountains. Steep, rocky mountains plunging headlong into the surrounding sea. According to a geologist friend on this trip, Sicily’s terrain developed from a complex plate tectonic region where three plates (a “triple junction”) collided in a furious mash-up of rock and soil. Hardly a beach in sight. And those tiny seaside towns were mostly clinging to the sides of the mountains or dug like fortresses into the tops.

The view from Taormina.

As our trip wore on, I became increasingly frustrated. From high on a rocky outcropping, I’d occasionally spot a strip of beach, but it was always too far away to reach, and not part of our itinerary, which focused on wineries and ancient ruins. I was thoroughly enjoying myself – but I kept thinking there’d be an opportunity for sand.

First, the wineries: Abbazia di Santa Anastasia is a 12th century abbey now transformed into a winery east of Palermo.

Nero d’Avola grapes at Marco de Bartoli in Marsala.

Learning about wine production at Alessandro di Camporeale winery.

Tasting the wines of Cusumano, at their cellar in Partinico, in a thoroughly renovated 19th century baglio (fortress home).

The Cusumano lineup. These highly innovative winemakers use glass corks.

And then the ruins: the medieval castle at Erice is part of a walled city 2,460 feet above sea level, in the region of Trapani.

The Kitchen Goddess always enjoys a good temple. This one is the Doric temple at Segesta, thought to have been built between 430 and 420 BCE.

More ruins: the Teatro Greco (Greek theatre) dates from the second century BC. Its original use was for gladiator shows.

Then on our last day, as my hubby and I drove back across the island to the airport, I convinced him to take the scenic route. In the back of my mind – ok, ok, in the absolute front of my mind – I figured I’d spot a little beach somewhere and coerce him into stopping for sand. How hard could it be?

I spotted signs for San Stefano di Camastra a full 14km ahead and started working on my mate. “It won’t be hard – we’ll just cut over to the SS113 and pop into town. It looks like the beach’ll be right there. And then Fanny [the name I’d given to the British voice on our GPS system] will get us back onto the Autostrada.” And so, against his better judgment, he took the exit.

It turns out San Stefano is not nearly at the bottom of the hill. But just into the town, I spotted signs for a hotel, the Playa Bianca – white beach?! I was salivating. We followed the signs, but the hotel was only halfway down the hill, so with more grumbling from my driver, we headed farther down. Back and forth the road wound, narrowing all the time. I could see the water coming closer and closer. We made the last turn, and there it was... a small, weather-beaten warehouse with a few boats. Nothing you’d recognize as a beach. Like many shorelines along the Mediterranean, what’s there is smooth rock on top of sand. Sort of like pretty gravel. In fact, a lot like pretty gravel.

But there was water, and wherever water meets land, I call it beach.

My husband did not. “This isn’t beach, Lee. And you can’t get down that incline without hurting yourself.”

I made him get out of the car and at least smell the salt air – which was amazingly lovely and fresh – and listen to the water lapping against the shore. These moments are good for your soul, and his clearly needed a tiny lift.

“Not bad,” he admitted. Then my prince headed back to the car, with a word of caution tossed over his shoulder. “Don’t expect me to come save you.”

How silly he is, I thought. I’m just going over to the top of the incline and collect some of these nice rocks and a bit of sand.

I bent down and had just reached out for a particularly pretty stone when I heard a soft clatter. My reading glasses had fallen out of my shirt pocket. They bounced a few feet down the incline. Oops. And every time I tried to slide a little closer to them, they bounced a bit farther. This will not do. I could feel my husband’s glare through the windshield. Finally, carefully, I stretched out my foot and nudged the glasses up toward my hand.

I was covered with dirt and sand when I made my way back to the car, but I had my glasses and I had my sand. With Fanny’s help, we reversed course – up the hill and back to the Autostrada. And now I have this story to tell.

* * *

With all the travel, I haven’t done much cooking. But many of the restaurants we visited offered a delightful Caprese salad, and there was one night at the house we rented when the Kitchen Goddess appeared and made what I call Zucchini Crudo. So here at the end of the season, when you can still get good tomatoes and basil and zucchini, here are a salad and an appetizer you should try.

The Caprese salad is originally from Capri, but it was literally everywhere on Sicily, so here it is. And keep your hands off that balsamic vinegar. This combination is a perfect blend of flavors with nothing more than good olive oil.

Caprese Salad

Ingredients
■ Get the plumpest, juiciest tomatoes you can find. Do not refrigerate them.
■ Also the freshest mozzarella. If you can find a grocer or cheesemonger who makes the mozzarella fresh each day – and plenty do – that’s where you want to buy it. You’ll be amazed at the difference in texture really fresh mozzarella offers. And don’t refrigerate it if you are serving it today.
■ A small bunch of fresh basil, firm and bright green. Not limp.
■ Kosher salt or sea salt, and freshly ground black pepper.
■ Best quality olive oil.

Directions
Slice the tomatoes and place them on a plate. Slice the mozzarella and sandwich it between slices of tomato, or layer it on top. Place basil leaves either around the plate or on top of the mozzarella. Sprinkle all with salt and pepper. Drizzle olive oil across the salad and serve.

And now for the appetizer...

Crudo means “raw” in Italian, so the term is the one used for sushi in Italy. I’ve applied it here to zucchini, as the vegetable is eaten raw, after briefly marinating in olive oil and lemon juice. It’s the Kitchen Goddess’s own take on a dish she once had in a restaurant. I love the fresh flavor, and it is practically calorie free, so you might want to have an extra plate of the stuff in reserve.

Zucchini Crudo

Ingredients
1 medium zucchini squash
half of a lemon
kosher salt or sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1½  tablespoons good quality olive oil
1 tablespoon sliced almonds, lightly toasted and lightly crushed

Cut the zucchini into thin slices (about 1/16th of an inch) and arrange in a single layer on a plate. (This part will go faster if you have a mandoline, but mine was 2000 miles away.) Squeeze the lemon juice evenly over the zucchini. Drizzle the olive oil over all and add a light dusting of salt and pepper.

Let the zucchini marinate in the lemon juice and oil for 5-10 minutes, then sprinkle with almonds before serving. Set a supply of toothpicks (or small forks) next to the plate, as it’s too messy for finger food.

Kitchen Goddess note: When I went to make the dish for this post, I found that I had no almonds. What I did have were the toasted and salted apricot kernels I bought on my Danube trip earlier this year. If you, too are out of almonds, try substituting pine nuts or pistachios – just remember to toast them lightly and crush/chop them a bit before adding them to the dish.