Your First Comment at Delightful Repast

Is this post about chicken and dumplings? No. So why the photo? Just 'cause I'm all about comfort food. (I will give you a link to the recipe.)

To all you wonderful people who visit Delightful Repast every month: Thank you. To those who visit every week (I post just once a week, as a rule): Thank you very much! However (and I don't mean to scold, merely to invite), most of you never leave a comment! Probably only 1/4 of 1 percent of those who visit ever comment. So I thought I should take a moment this week to invite you to comment on one of the posts you read. 

Don't get me wrong. If you want to read my blog and not comment, you are more than welcome. Please keep coming back. But if you are so inclined, perhaps you could take an extra minute or two to say Hello. Maybe introduce yourself and tell me what you like to cook or whether you have a picky eater in your family. What your specialty is or if the smoke alarm goes off every time you cook (like my sister!). 

Perhaps you'd like to comment on my new site design. Can't think why I waited 2 1/2 years to do it! I knew from Day One that I was in it for the long haul, but perhaps there was one little part of me having more of a 'wait and see' attitude--due to the fact, I suppose, that there are a gazillion food bloggers out there, leaving me feeling a bit like a snowflake in a snowstorm!

Had the makeover done this week while I took a holiday. More about that later. Maybe an afternoon tea review next week. You know I never go anywhere without finding a great tea spot! In the meantime, check out the Chicken and Dumplings. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Peach Galette / Crostata / Rustic Tart for Two - Pie Without a Pie Plate

Homemade peach pie is my favorite summer dessert. But it serves eight, and most days I'm cooking for two. Leaving me with three choices: 1) Don't make a pie, 2) Make a pie and waste at least a fourth of it because it really doesn't keep for four days, or 3) Make a pie and eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner "so it doesn't go to waste." Some of you--and you know who you are--know what I'm talking about; I'm not the only one who does that!

Don't forget to Pin it and share it!

The solution? Just make a little rustic tart (galette, if you prefer the French name; crostata, if you prefer the Italian). The rustic tart is quicker and easier than a pie or tart, so you really won't mind making one that just makes three or four servings. And my method of rolling out the pastry right on the baking sheet makes it a real no-muss-no-fuss project. Of course, you need a rimless baking sheet like this one, Calphalon Classic Bakeware 14-by-16-Inch Nonstick Large Insulated Cookie Sheet, to do that.

What is your favorite summer fruit, and what do you like to do with it?

Peach Galette / Crostata / Rustic Tart

(Makes one 7.5- to 8-inch round tart, 3 or 4 servings)

Pastry
1 1/4 dip-and-sweep cups (6.25 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
7 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, coarsely grated
3 1/2 tablespoons ice water
1 1/2 teaspoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon additional ice water, as needed

Filling
1 pound perfectly ripe peaches
4 tablespoons sugar, divided
1 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour
Pinch salt
Pinch cinnamon
Pinch nutmeg

1 Place a piece of parchment paper on rimless baking sheet; sprinkle lightly with flour. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2 In medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. With fingers, work grated butter into flour mixture until it has the consistency of coarse meal with some pieces the size of small peas.

3 Mix the ice water and vinegar and sprinkle onto the mixture, tossing lightly with a fork. Use additional ice water if mixture is too dry. (If I were making a regular pie, I would at this point form the dough into a ball, flatten it into a 4-inch disk, double-wrap it and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes. No need to do that for a rustic tart.) 

4 Turn dough out onto lightly floured parchment-lined baking sheet. Form it into a disk and roll out to a 12-inch circle about 1/8 inch thick. Don't worry about ragged edges; they'll add character. Place in refrigerator while preparing the peaches. 

5 Peel peaches or not--I don't--and slice into a medium bowl. I slice them like this: Quarter peach, cut each quarter into 4 wedges, cut wedges in half. If this were a fancy tart, I would not cut the wedges in half; would arrange the lovely wedges in a nice pattern. But this is a rustic tart, so no need to "arrange" anything! 

6 In a tiny bowl, combine 1 tablespoon of the sugar with the 1 tablespoon of flour; set aside. In another tiny bowl, combine remaining 3 tablespoons of sugar with the salt and spices; set aside.

7 Remove the pastry from the refrigerator. Sprinkle sugar-flour mixture evenly over the pastry, leaving a 2-inch border uncoated. Stir the sugar-spice mixture into the peaches and pour them into the center of the pastry, spreading them out, leaving a 2-inch border.

8 Bring that border up over the peaches a little at a time, sort of "pleating" as you go. Don't worry about making it look good. It will be rustic and beautiful. Bake for about 50 minutes or until the pastry is crisp and well browned and the fruit is bubbling. 

Jean

Perfect Potato Salad - The Summer Classic Comfort Food

My potato salad recipe is one I can brag about and say it's the best because it isn't my own; it's my mother's. It wasn't just my opinion. All my life, everyone who tasted my mother's potato salad declared it the best they'd ever had and wanted to know the secret. She always said "There's no secret. It's just the typical potato salad ingredients."

Of course, she had no recipe. So one day when I was a teenager I grabbed pen and paper and settled in to watch her make it. As she finished chopping each ingredient, I measured it and wrote it down. Later I compared it to recipes in her vast collection of cookbooks that she read like novels and noted the differences.

The main differences were that she: 1) cooked the potatoes whole and unpeeled, 2) created layers of flavor as she went along rather than making a dressing and 3) used only Hellmann's/Best Foods real mayonnaise, never Miracle Whip or sour cream.

If you've been reading Delightful Repast for any length of time, you know I'm all about organic; still, I buy that mayo! Let's all write to the company and tell them to go organic! And do leave a comment and tell me what you like in your potato salad.

Perfect Potato Salad

(Makes 12 very generous servings)

5 pounds russet potatoes
6 large eggs
5 tablespoons sweet pickle juice
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley or 2 tablespoons parsley flakes
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
1/2 cup finely chopped sweet pickles
1/2 cup finely chopped red bell pepper, patted dry
1/4 cup very finely chopped onion, rinsed and patted dry
2 cups real mayonnaise
3 teaspoons coarse "country" Dijon mustard

1 Cook potatoes whole with skins on in boiling, salted (1 tablespoon) water in covered 5-quart Dutch oven for about 40 minutes; drain immediately. Cool for about 45 minutes, then peel and cube. Put back in pan to mix.

2 Meanwhile, to hard-cook eggs, place eggs in 3-quart saucepan and cover with cold water to at least one inch above eggs. Bring to a rapid boil; remove from heat and cover tightly with lid. Let stand for 18 minutes. Cool at once in cold water.

3 Sprinkle sweet pickle juice over the cubed potatoes; stir. Add salt, pepper and parsley flakes (or parsley); stir. Add celery, pickles, bell pepper and onion; stir. Add mayonnaise and mustard, and sort of stir them together on top of everything else to mix well before stirring the combination into the other ingredients. (Note: Rinsing the onion takes a bit of the "bite" out of it and makes it edible to some people who normally can't eat raw onion.)  

4 Use egg slicer to slice eggs. Reserve 7 slices for garnish, then roughly chop remaining slices and add to salad. Taste and adjust seasoning. Transfer salad to 3-quart serving dish, garnish, cover, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours (I prefer to make it the day before). 

Jean

Pasta Salad - Perfect Picnic Main Dish - And Onion Goggles

Pasta salad as a main dish is something we especially enjoy during the summer months. Good at any temperature, it's the perfect picnic food. Just add a loaf of crusty artisan bread and a bottle of your favorite picnic wine.

But before we get to the recipe, I have to tell you about a fabulous item I should have gotten years ago--no, decades ago! It's a wonder I still have all my fingers. I haven't sliced or chopped onions with my eyes open since I don't know when. I just chop away, eyes closed, tears streaming down my face, hoping for the best. So far, so good. 

Then one day I decided to try onion goggles (I know! If you are an onion crier like me, you must have just sighed "Yyyess, why didn't I think of that!"). When I announced I would be getting a pair for review from King Arthur Flour, my husband said "I've got some goggles you can try" and dug out some old snorkeling goggles that would have been swell if they didn't cover the nose.

Well, the KAF onion goggles do not cover the nose. They are, in fact, much like a pair of glasses, but close-fitting around the edges to keep the onion fumes out. And, boy, do they work! Funny, the onion slicing didn't take as long as usual. I slice and dice a lot faster with my eyes open!

But back to the salad ... It's really versatile. In fact, I could put the word "optional" after every item on the ingredient list. There was no local asparagus available at this time, so I skipped it. Had some frozen organic peas, so threw those in (no cooking or thawing required). You can even throw in some diced ham, chicken or leftover grilled vegetables.

What is your favorite pasta shape for pasta salad? Mine is the mezze (mini) penne. Do you have a trick for chopping onions, or are you one of the fortunate few who are not onion criers?

Pasta Salad

(Serves 6)

1-pound package mezze (mini) penne pasta
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced lengthwise
1 6-ounce jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained (or not)
8 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
Salt and coarsely-ground black pepper
3 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 large red bell pepper, julienned
1/3 cup julienned sun-dried tomatoes, plumped in a little hot water
6 ounces baby yellow squash, halved lengthwise
1/4 teaspoon marjoram
6 ounces thin asparagus, each spear cut into 1½-inch pieces
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan
18 fresh basil leaves (or 0.66-ounce package), thinly sliced

1 In Dutch oven, start boiling salted water for pasta. Meanwhile, in large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and start slowly cooking sliced onion. 

2 Cook pasta according to package directions; drain in colander and return to Dutch oven. Stir into pasta 2 tablespoons olive oil and 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar. Add cooked onions to pasta, along with artichoke hearts. You should probably not drain the marinated artichoke hearts; I just do it to get rid of some of the garlic since I am semi-allergic to it.

3 Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to skillet and cook mushrooms, seasoning with salt and pepper and 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce. Add cooked mushrooms to pasta.

4 Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to skillet and cook sliced red bell pepper and sun-dried tomatoes, seasoning with salt and pepper. Add tomatoes and crisp-tender peppers to pasta, along with 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce.

5 Add 2 cups water to skillet, bring to boil, add asparagus (except tips) and cook, covered, for 1 minute. Add tips and cook another minute. Remove from water with slotted spoon and add to pasta, along with 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar.

6 Add Parmesan and fresh basil to pasta. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve immediately at room temperature, or refrigerate for 3 hours or more to serve chilled. 

Jean

French Press Coffee and Equipment Review - Bodum Columbia French Press

Coffee will never replace tea in my affections. Coffee is more of an acquaintance I enjoy seeing from time to time, while tea is my constant companion. Never one to grab a quick cup of coffee or drink it bleary-eyed in the morning, I do enjoy a well-made cup of coffee as the perfect complement to certain things.

Like chocolate. Or beignets, which have been on my mind a lot lately. (I'll post my recipe another day.) I remember well the first time I had beignets and cafe au lait in New Orleans. It was several years ago, but I can still smell and taste that classic combination.

Growing up in an English home, my mother was a tea drinker until she met my coffee-drinking Southern-born father (and married him 16 days later!). Of course, she continued to prefer tea but drank coffee in the morning since she was obliged to make it anyway. She learned her coffee-making technique from him just as he had learned it from his parents. 

This will likely come as a shock to you, but it was boiled coffee! Also known as cowboy coffee. Sounds terrible (and probably is most of the time), but can be very good if done properly. And, of course, my mother made it properly.

But I always figured I'd botch the cowboy coffee, so I decided I'd go with the manual filter method and got a 1-litre thermal carafe and a Melitta filter. I've been using that for years on those occasions when I make coffee. 

Then a friend, who once worked as a barista and is a true coffee aficionado, told me she thinks French press coffee is the best. She has the Bodum Chambord glass model and loves it, but I can be a bit of a hazard so I was happy that the model sent to me for review was all stainless steel. 

It is the Bodum Columbia cafetiere/French press. The Columbia comes in three sizes: 17-ounce, 34-ounce and 51-ounce. Mine is the 17-ounce, which is going to be perfect for my dear sister-in-law's morning coffee when she comes to visit. I've only used it a few times so far, but I like it so well I'm thinking of getting the 51-ounce as well. It's so easy to use, and the coffee is perfect. 

Its gorgeous rounded shape suits my traditional style more than the more modern-looking cylindrical shape of some of the other Bodum press pots. Of course, it is cylindrical inside so that the press can work. The double-walled construction helps keep the coffee hot longer. Both the pot and the lid/plunger are dishwasher-safe, though I just wash them by hand.

French Press Coffee

(Makes two 8-ounce cups or three 5-ounce cups)

1 Remove lid/press from pot. Measure 1/4 to 1/3 cup coarsely ground coffee into pot.

2 Heat 16 ounces of water in tea kettle. When almost to a boil, pour into pot; give it a stir. Set the lid/press just loosely on the pot. Let stand for 4 minutes.

3 Place the lid/press properly on the pot. Slowly press the plunger.

What is your favorite method for making coffee? And decaf or regular? Strong or weak? Black or ... ?