Sunday recipes

OK, so no one's commenting anymore--is anyone out there? I guess I'd better step up my subject matter to appeal to the masses!:) If you're reading this and you haven't checked in in a while, let me know. Or tell me what's boring you!
I haven't posted any recipes in a couple of weeks, so I'm due. I thought I'd share some of the things we are enjoying on this Sunday.
I went to the Farmer's Market yesterday right before they were closing and got a lot of amazing stone fruits and tomatoes for 50 cents a pound. I also bought some blackberries (not quite the steal, but beautiful), a whole wheat baguette, and fresh basil. So those are some of the ingredients I'm working with today.
Here's what I threw together at lunchtime. It didn't take long, looked pretty, and was soooo yummy. I love basil and tomato together. This is just a variation on bruschetta based on what I had around. I think I'll call it . . .

Farmer's Market Bruschetta

• one large heirloom tomato (or any garden fresh tomato), diced in chunks
• one or two cubes of frozen pesto, thawed (if you haven't made it, do it before the basil crop is gone for the summer!)
• feta cheese, crumbled
• Parmesan cheese, shaved or grated (don't insult me by asking if you can use the stuff in the green can. Throw it away today and buy some real cheese!)
• One whole wheat baguette, sliced in 1/3 inch thick slices
• olive oil spray

Arrange the sliced baguette on a baking sheet and spray with olive oil spray. Put under the broiler for about 2 minutes, until lightly toasted. Turn over slices of bread, spray, and toast. Remove from oven.
Spread a thin layer of pesto on each piece of toast (thicker if you want to use more than 2 cubes. It'll be yummy, but higher in calories.) Place chopped tomatoes over pesto. Sprinkle liberally with feta cheese and top with a shaving or pinch of Parmesan.
Put tray back under the broiler for about 2 more minutes (but watch it--don't just take my word for it) until cheese begins to brown and melt but not until your toast burns!
Remove and serve. If desired, garnish with some fresh basil cut in ribbons and coarsely ground pepper.

I've also concocted a blackberry tart for dessert tonight:

Fresh Blackberry Tart

Shortbread Crust

• 1/2 c. butter at room temperature
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 1 1/4 c. all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Filling

• 8 oz. light cream cheese at room temperature (I used fat free because that's all I had--it would have been much creamier if we'd had the light.)
  
• 1/2 c. light sour cream
  
• 1/2 c. powdered sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
  
• 6 c. fresh blackberries
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 1 tsp. cornstarch
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• 3 T. water
  

Cream butter and sugar well. Add remaining crust ingredients and mix until just combined. Press into a tart pan. Prick with a fork and bake at 275 degrees for about 55-60 minutes until golden brown. Let cool.
Beat together cream cheese, sour cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Spread over cooled tart crust. Arrange 3 cups fresh blackberries over the cream cheese. Place remaining 3 c. berries in a saucepan over low heat with sugar, lemon juice, and water. Sprinkle cornstarch over and toss gently. Simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
When berry mixture is warm but not hot, pour over tart. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
Slice into 8 pieces and serve with a dollop of whipped cream.
(This came out delicious but a touch on the soupy side as far as the fruit topping goes--which was great with me. If you want something that won't run at all, add a lot more cornstarch--or pick a different recipe!)

I also tried the Cooking Light Pork Carnitas from last September. It was a pain to cut up the roast--I thought the Beef Carnitas were much easier to make. Halfway through these, I was afraid that they were going to be tough and terrible, but by the time they were finished, they were fab. They have a subtle flavor, which makes them more versatile. I had one in a corn tortilla with diced mango and the other one smothered in salsa verde and they were two completely different but wonderful tacos. It made enough for leftovers (even though I was feeding my in-laws as well) and I can't decide if I want to do tacos again or put them in enchiladas or empanadas--decisions, decisions! I also served pinquitos (if I'm using canned pinto/pink beans, I love these from S&W in the low sodium variety. They have a nice flavor and cook down well.), green salad, fresh fruit salad, and grilled green beans.
This is my favorite way to have green beans--in the summer I grill them and in the winter I roast them at 450 in the oven. All you do is buy the long, French green beans. (You can use fresh, with the ends snapped off, or frozen if they are high quality like C&W or Trader Joe's). Spray the beans liberally with olive oil spray. Salt with kosher salt. Grill in a foil pouch or roast on a cookie sheet until they are crisp tender. If you are careful not to overdo them, they are positively delicious and I'd take them over french fries anytime!
We were stuffed after dinner and had to wait a bit for the dessert, but somehow we managed to fit that tart in!
Bon Appetit!

Dinner with Elder Neves

Back in the fall of 1991, my parents dropped me off at Fugal Hall at BYU. I had really planned my entire life on going to BYU, but now that I was there I was filled with apprehension. What had I done? Here I was on a campus of 30,000 people, 650 miles away from home, and I was pretty sure that my cousin Jan was the only person I knew there. I put my things in my new bedroom and wandered down the hall to the kitchen/living area of our small apartment. There sat a striking red head who reminded me of Nicole Kidman: tall and slender with creamy skin. She turned out to be one of my best friends through all my years at BYU and beyond. Neves (there were so many people in our dorm with the same first name as her that we fixed on her last name) introduced me to the BYU Mens' Chorus (the Thanksgiving of American Folk Hymns and Celebration of Christmas albums are from my days there and are must haves) and the two of us were groupies, sitting in on rehearsals most days. We were in awe of the conductor, Mack Wilberg (who has since become the assistant conductor of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir) and his ability to arrange familiar songs into amazing feasts for the ears. Neves and I took Italian together for four semesters and irritated our other roommates by speaking it on an off all day. She was so impressive to me because she thoroughly researched anything that interested her and seemed to know about everything under the sun. She introduced our apartment full of mates to various festivals held in the Salt Lake region (the Scottish and Greek festivals were our favorites,) to the Pie, a U of U hangout, and to chicken jambalya. Neves wrote to me the most faithfully of anyone while I was a missionary in Russia--more frequently than my mother--and I loved her letters which were stimulating, hilarious, intelligent, and random in their subject matter. Neves continues to awe me with her amazing wit, her impressive knowledge, and her world travel is something I try not to covet. I am so glad to call her my friend.
Anyhow, this homage to Neves came about today because her baby brother, Elder Neves, came to dinner last night at my mom's house. Not long ago, Neves had emailed me that he was in Whittier, so while I was here we decided to invite him and his companion (missionaries are never, ever alone except for in the bathroom!) to come over. It was a delight to see again the six year old boy that I met that fall, whom I have enjoyed immensely every time I've seen him since. He looked very well and was fun to have at our table.
Here's what we had for dinner:
Beef Carnitas from Cooking Light (I HIGHLY recommend this recipe. I've made it twice in the past few weeks)
Pinto Beans
Fruit Salad with Watermelon, Pineapple, Mango, and Banana with lime juice
Warm tortillas
Guacamole, Salsa, and Sour Cream
Brownies with Dryers Ice Cream

And speaking of Dryers Ice Cream (Edy's on the east coast), one of the flavors that we enjoyed last night was another walk down memory lane. In my high school days, one of my haunts was the Brown household. They always had lots of ice cream (we only had ice cream on birthdays at my house) and coconut popcorn--and my favorite flavor there was a chocolate ice cream with peanut butter cups in it. Why has my quest to find such and ice cream been so unfruitful up until now? Other chocolate PB ice creams have a vanilla--or even worse, a peanut butter base. But this is the real thing, with rich chocolate ice cream. You've got to try some. Not only will you love it, but if enough people buy the special flavor, they won't take it off the shelves. Here is the Dryers website--check out this flavor finder, where you can type in your favorite flavor and your zip code and they'll tell you where to find it. Such a cool tool.
OK, I must run. We are off to the beach today. I'll take lots of pictures and share our picnic food later.
As Neves would say, Cheerio!