P.Lyn Middleton's Dishes

zucchini cooked in basil oil with lemon zest and parmesan

4 cups organic zucchini, shredded

sea salt

1 tsp organic garlic, finely grated

2 Tbls organic basil oil (recipe follows)

freshly ground white pepper

zest of 1 medium organic lemon, grated finely avoiding the white

1/4 cup organic parmesan, grated

Shred the zucchini on a large hole grater into a colander. Salt the zucchini turning it around to distribute the salt. Let it drain for 10 minutes.

basil oil

2 cups fresh basil, crushed

1 cup organic olive oil

Place olive oil and basil in a small pan. Heat until you see the first small bubbles rise along the edges of the pot. Remove from heat. Cool then strain this into a bottle for later use.

Take 2 Tbls of the basil oil and place in a saute pan over very low heat, saute the grated garlic. While the garlic is sauteing squeeze the water out of the zucchini. When the garlic is translucent add the squeezed zucchini to the pan and turn the heat up to a medium flame. Cook and stir for 3 to 5 minutes. Add freshly ground pepper. Add lemon zest. Pass parmesan at the table.

Parsnip Cakes with Horseradish Remoulade

Sometimes a combination of flavors both suprise and delight and this recipes falls into this category.

4 cups grated parsnip

4 leeks, cut into thin rings then washed

4 eggs

1 tsp mustard seed

1/2 tsp salt

ground pepper

Combine and fry small pancakes in a small amount of oil.

Horseradish Remoulade

1/2 cup veganaise or mayonaise

1 tsp horseradish, fresh or prepared (the kind in a jar) or to taste

2 Tbls parsley

1 Tbls catsup

Combine in a blender.

Serve the parsnip cakes with a dollop of the sauce.

We served these this week-end with a pea shoot and kumquat salad.

WATERMELON AND FETA CRAZY SALAD

2 cups CANTALOUPE chunks, about 1"

2 cups WATERMELON chunks, about 1"

1/2 cup CHERRY TOMATOES, cut in half

1/2 cup FETA CHEESE, crumbled

1/4 cup SUN-DRIED TOMATOES, cut into slivers

DRESSING

2/3 cup OLIVE OIL

1/3 cup LEMON JUICE

1/2 tsp SALT

1/4 tsp PEPPER

1/8 cup SHALLOTS, minced

1 tsp each MINT/BASIL, chopped

1/2 tsp LEMON ZEST

pinch of cayenne

Place the cantaloupe, watermelon and the two types of tomatoes in a bowl and crumble the feta cheese on top. Drizzle the dressing over the top.

CHILE RELLENOS ON A SAUCE OF FRESH CORN

So Simple Chile Relleno

8 chiles (I used piquillos, espelletes and poblanos)
6 oz blue cheese

Instructions: Burn your chiles over the flame of your gas stove-top turning to blacken as evenly as possible. Try not to burn them to a crisp. Place chiles in a bowl with a plate on top while they cool.

So So Simple Fresh Corn Sauce

1/4 cup shallot, chopped
a little oil
corn kernels from 3 ears
a pinch of smoked salt (if not...regular salt will do)

Cut the corn off of the cob using a serrated bread knife. Saute the shallot and then add the corn kernels cooking for 2 or 3 minutes. Add a little water to thin it out.

Fry the chiles in a tiny bit of olive oil just enough to brown, allowing the cheese to melt. Serve the chiles over the corn sauce.

PAINTED PONY BEANS

Wallace Condon from "Small Potatoes" farm gave me the painted pony bean seeds at the Eco-Farm seed exchange. We planted about a half of a row of these beans. Francisco let them dry in the field and then shelled them for us. We ended up with about 3 or 4 lbs of these delicate brown and white spotted beans.

Tonight I boiled a pound of the beans in lots of water with some shallot, garlic and a bay leaf. I boiled them for 45 minutes. At the end I added smoked salt, more garlic and some very fine olive oil. I roasted 2 tomatoes, 1 jalapeno and a poblano chile on the burner; I then peeled and roughly chopped them up along with 2 avocados and another white shallot. I squeezed a half of a lemon over this. I ladled this salsa into our beans.
It was so lowly and so delicous that I am sorry you were not here to share this meal. I am also sorry not to have anymore beans.

SUMMER SQUASH WITH BUTTER HONEY AND MINT

Katy discovered this recipe in Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything cookbook...it is sublime, when I made it I added some onion too.

you will need: fry pan, measuring spoons, knife

zucchini, the smaller the better, about 2 lbs
butter 3 Tbls
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
honey, 1 Tbls
mint leaves, 3 Tbls minced fresh

Cut the zucchini into 1/4 inch thick rounds.

Place butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. When foam subsides, add the squash and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Raise heat to high and cook, stirring occassionally until the squash becomes tender and begins to brown (about 10 minutes). Stir in honey and mint, check for seasoning, and serve.