Month: August 2010

piping mascarpone cheese

Cool as a . . .

Published by Kathy Hunt

Yeah, a cucumber. I’ve never thought of the cucumber as particularly cool. Crisp and juicy? Yes. Cool? Well . . .. Before I start rambling on about the hipness of this vegetable, I should admit that its coolness refers not to trendiness but to temperature — quite simply, a cucumber feels cool to the touch. Yet, this member of the gourd family offers far more than catch phrases and temperature gauges. Available year-round, it’s a staple ingredient in many dishes and a star in its own right. Rumored to have originated in South India, the cucumber has been cultivated for at least 4,000 years. In spite of its longstanding popularity, it didn’t arrive in North America until the late 15th century. Christopher Columbus introduced the first cucumber to Haiti in 1494. From there demand for this crunchy, green vegetable spread. And just what do people do with all these cucumbers? A third of the roughly 100 varieties grown are used for pickling. The rest we eat in salads, from crudite platters, in dips, and as …

Great Gravlax!

Published by Kathy Hunt

This summer it seems as though everyone whom I know has come down with Swedish fever. Maybe you have friends suffering from this affliction, too. They clutch dog-eared copies of Stieg Larsson’s “The Girl Who Played with Fire” and sit on the edge of their Ikea-designed seats, watching the film adaptation of Larsson’s “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” over and over again. When not hashing over missing Larsson manuscripts or the Kenneth Branagh series “Wallander,” they pound the pavement in search of gravlax and good, strong aquavit. Believe me, I’m not scoffing at their plight. In fact, I’m battling a similar addiction. From ethereal cloudberry preserves and delicately flavored kanelbullar to hearty root vegetables and tangy fish I’m completely hooked on the wholesome cuisine of Sweden. It all started with gravlax. Often confused with smoked salmon, gravlax is raw salmon cured in a mixture of salt, sugar and dill. Similar to its smoked cousin, this Swedish specialty originated from the need to store fish in a time when refrigeration did not exist. In medieval …

It’s Tomato Time!

Published by Kathy Hunt

Whether you grow your own vegetables, frequent farmers’ markets, or grocery shop, you’ve no doubt noticed an increase in the quantity and quality of tomatoes. Yes, it’s tomato time, the period from July to October where locally grown, vine-ripened tomatoes hit their prime. For those who happily chomp on tomatoes as a snack, salad, side or main dish, it’s a highly anticipated season. For those like me who don’t share this passion, it means confronting the quandary of what to do with all those tomatoes. A well-meaning friend once suggested that I try canning them. After all, doesn’t everyone love home preserving? Apparently not. After one steamy, day-long canning class I learned that, like oil and water, canning and Kathy do not mix. After ruling out canning, I considered other options, including drying tomatoes in a food dehydrator. While pleasant tasting, dried tomatoes lacked the spark of their fresh, juicy brethren. Realizing that, I scratched dehydrating from my list. Ultimately, I’ve opted either to cook them or to serve them raw in an endless parade …

Crisp, Crumble, Cobble and Slump

Published by Kathy Hunt

If you give fresh fruit to me this summer, chances are that I’ll wash and then tumble it into a greased baking dish and bake a fruit crisp. Rhubarb, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries and peaches have all bubbled away beneath a blanket of brown sugar, cinnamon, oatmeal and butter. Sure, with the exception of rhubarb, I could have enjoyed any of these raw. Yet, I can’t seem to stop myself from making and eating these treats. What prompted this obsession I do not know. Maybe it’s a touch of summer laziness for the crisp is one of the fastest and easiest desserts to bake. What I do know is that my crisp often gets confused with other sweets. At countless dinners and parties friends have thanked me for bringing a crumble, cobbler or slump. Who’s right? And just what am I baking? Although I think of “slump” as what my mother told me never to do, the word actually refers to a luscious dessert. Hailing from New England, it consists of fresh fruit topped with dollops …