Chilled Musk Melon Soup with Mint and Piment d'Espelette

Sometimes a Friday night at home alone is just the thing.  Add a cool evening breeze, some good tunes and a cup of minty melon soup and I can hardly think of any place I'd rather be.  There are some who might choose to save this dish for a dinner party, but it's subtle elegance is just as well enjoyed in the company of rustling leaves and bright stars. 

The inspiration for this unique soup comes from our counter top full of fresh musk melons from Monroe Farm's AMAZING CSA.

The Recipe

1 medium ripe muskmelon (or substitute cantelope)
1 T. apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
2 oz goat cheese
2 T. cream
1/2 t. sea salt
1 t. piment d'espelette (French paprika)
1/4 c. minced onion
2 T. minced fresh mint

1.  Scoop out flesh of melon and place in bender or food processor.  Add vinegar, chevre, cream and salt.  Blend until smooth.
2.  Pour into bowl and mix with remaining ingredients.  Taste and add more salt and/or vinegar as needed.
3.  Chill for at least 1 hour.  Ladle into small bowls.  Garnish with crumbled goat cheese, piment d'espelette and mint, if desired. 

Makes 6 small portions

Spicy Honey Mustard

I've made several mustards from Internet recipes all using the same basic technique of steeping mustard seeds in a combination of vinegar and spirits and blending to the desired consistency.  Each time, the resulting mustard has been harsh and out of balance, with no structure to support the heat.

This time, when mustard cravings set in, I ditched technology and resorted to the more Jeffersonian technique of digging through my library to find the perfect recipe.  In the course of my search, I learned quite a bit about mustard.  In The Joy of Cooking, I learned about the chemical reaction that activates mustard's heat, and about how to make mild mustard by avoiding that chemical reaction.  In The Tassajara Bread Book, I learned that it makes a fine addition to gingerbread, and in The Flavor Bible that some of its great affinities are cucumbers, curry leaves and honey.

As interesting as all this was, it didn't get me any closer to my goal- a sweet and spicy mustard, rich in body, to slather on toast or nibble with cured meat and cornichon.

I should have known that I would find the perfect recipe in my new pet book:  The Lewis and Clark Cookbook, by Leslie Mansfield.  This collection of historic recipes is full of little gems, and is a great read, containing food-related quotes from letters between Jefferson and the Lewis and Clark expedition. Her recipes are literal trips back in time, inviting us to taste the exciting flavors of a young America. 

Sweet Hot Mustard
from The Lewis and Clark Cookbook

1/2 c sugar (I used Honey)
2 eggs
2/3 cup ground mustard
1/2 cup malt vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)

In the top of a double boiler, whisk together the sugar and eggs until smooth.  Whisk in the mustard until smooth.  Add the vinegar in a thin stream, whisking until all is incorporated.  Place the double-boiler over simmering water and cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture has thickened.  Serve the mustard at room temperature.  Store covered in the refrigerator.  Makes 1 cup.

Golden Oat Bread with Dried Nettles

I have become shamelessly addicted to the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin.  I've raced through the first two books and am trying to resist picking up the third, for fear that I might continue to neglect everything else in my life.  The characters in this epic story are constantly eating mouth-watering foods.  They do audacious, unholy things, like slathering their wild meats in glazes of honey and dark beer.  They feast on fig-stuffed capons and buttery roasted parsnips.  But my mouth gets to watering the most when they describe breakfast: oat cakes or crusty brown bread, honey, soft cheeses and dried fruits.  My celtic knees go weak.

   The rustic flavors of this morning's breakfast take me far away to a calm wood, my horse grazing besides me as I nibble and daydream under an ancient grandfather oak.  I'll conveniently ignore the fact that were I in the actual story, war would be raging and the wood likely not at all calm.

Golden Oat Bread
   I first discovered this recipe many years ago in one of Susun Weed's lovely herbals, Healing Wise.  Since then I've made it many times, often experimenting with different flours and herbs.

3 cups flour (I used 2 cups oat flour, 1 cup whole wheat flour)
1 cup whole oats
5 t. baking powder
1 t. sea salt
2 T. dried nettles (or experiment with other herbs or dried greens)
1 egg
3 T. honey
1 T. olive oil
1 1/2 c. milk, buttermilk or thinned yogurt

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease an 8" cake tin or 9" pie plate.
2.  Mix dry ingredients in large bowl.  Beat egg in small bowl, then add rest of wet ingredients.  Pour wet into dry and stir just until blended. 
3.  Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until center is dry and top is golden brown.

The resulting bread is very moist and a bit crumbly, but it holds together well enough to be slathered with sweet butter.  I like it for breakfast with a big bowl of berries and creamy plain yogurt.

Cherries

or Why YOU Should Join a CSA

Plump, juicy cherries

Bursting gently in my mouth

Sweet summer nectar