Delivery 9/13/23
ITEMS
Italian plums
Red bell peppers
Eggplant
Roma tomatoes
Spinach
Dozen eggs
PRODUCERS
Moss Farm - Rollins
Harlequin Produce - Arlee
Fairhaven Colony -Ulm
Harlequin Produce - Arlee
Amaltheia Organic Produce - Belgrade
Black Dog Farm - Livingston
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Plum Torte
Adapted from Marian Burros, New York Times Cooking. Serves ~8.
3/4 C sugar, plus 1-2 tsp for the top
1/2 C unsalted butter, softened
1 C unbleached flour, sifted - I’m not sure how GF flour will work in this recipe
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
2 eggs
8-12 Italian plums, halved and pitted
1/2 tsp cinnamon, or to taste
Heat oven to 350 F.
Cream the sugar and butter in a bowl. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, and eggs and beat well.
Spoon the batter into a springform pan between 8-10 inches across. If you don’t have a springform pan, a square baking pan (9x9 or 8x8), or a deep pie plate would work. Simply cut and serve from the pan like a pie, or line completely with parchment paper with some tabs sticking up so you can remove it from the pan if you wish to.
Place the plum halves skin side up on top of the batter. How many you need depends on the size of the fruit and how densely you want them placed around the cake. Sprinkle lightly with 1-2 tsp sugar, then sprinkle with the cinnamon, using more or less as desired.
Bake 40-60 min, or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the cake. Remove and cool, releasing and removing the springform after 10-15 min, if using. You can serve the torte warm, at room temp, or refrigerate or freeze for later. Be sure to cool completely and wrap it up well if freezing. From frozen, defrost and reheat it briefly at 300 F.
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Spiced Eggplant & Tomatoes w/ Runny Eggs
Recipe adapted from Melissa Clark, NYTimes Cooking. Serves 4-6.
1 1/2 lbs eggplant, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt, plus more as needed
1/3 C pine nuts or slivered almonds
1 1/4 tsp baharat spice blend (See note below!)
Freshly ground black pepper
5 1/2 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
1/2 tsp finely grated lemon zest, plus lemon wedges for serving
3 garlic cloves, finely grated, pressed, or minced
2 C fresh tomatoes ( ~1 lb), chopped
3/4 C fresh herbs, chopped - basil, mint, cilantro, parsley, dill or any combo, plus more for garnish
4-6 eggs
Plain whole-milk yogurt, for serving
Hot sauce (such as Tabasco), for serving
Put eggplant in a colander in the sink and toss with 1 tsp salt. Let drain while preparing the nuts.
In a small bowl, combine nuts, 1/4 tsp baharat and a large pinch of salt and pepper. Heat 1/2 Tbs oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add pine nut mixture and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant and toasted, ~2 min. Pour nuts back into the small bowl and stir in lemon zest. Set aside.
Add 3 Tbs oil to the skillet and heat over medium-high until oil thins out, ~20 seconds. Add enough of the eggplant to fit in one layer without overlapping. Cook eggplant until browned, stirring occasionally, ~7 min. Use a slotted spoon to transfer eggplant to a plate. Repeat with more oil and eggplant, taking care not to crowd the pan.
When all the eggplant is browned, push the last batch still in the pan to one side. Drizzle the empty part of the pan with a tiny bit of oil and add garlic. Cook until fragrant, ~30 seconds. Return the rest of the browned eggplant back to the pan and stir well to incorporate garlic.
Add tomatoes and remaining baharat, 1/2 tsp salt, and a big pinch of pepper. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes and eggplant become stewy, 8-10 min. Stir in herbs. Taste and add more salt, if needed.
Make small hollows into the stewed eggplant with the back of a spoon. Gently crack an egg into each hollow. Season eggs with salt and pepper. Cover with a lid or piece of foil and cook on medium-low until the egg whites are set and yolk is runny, 4-7 min (or cook to your taste). Remove the lid and garnish with the spiced nuts, more herbs, and a squeeze of lemon. Serve with yogurt, hot sauce and more lemon wedges on the side.
Note: Baharat is blend of spices typically containing cumin, coriander, peppercorn, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, bay, allspice, and nutmeg. If you don’t have or don’t want to make it, you can use garam masala blend, or za’atar, or another middle eastern blend that you like.
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Additional Recipe Suggestions
Gazpacho If I'd had room, I would have included this recipe as well. Even though gazpacho is best known as hot-weather soup, I think it can be a delicious, healthy meal anytime, especially when the ingredients are in season!
Roasted red pepper and tomato soup. This recipe makes a lot! You could easily halve it if you need to.
This Ratatouille recipe is a perennial favorite. The link also includes a recipe for Eggplant Butter.
Baba ganoush is an easy and delicious way to eat eggplant, or share it with a (small) crowd
Vegetable Lasagna - this recipe is involved - almost every ingredient gets pre-cooked or mixed somehow before you start building the lasagna, which is time-consuming. However, the result is that you won't have watery lasagna - often a pitfall of this dish - plus it's decadent and flavorful like lasagna should be...PLUS it uses lots of fresh summer veggies that are all at their best right now. (originally an ATK recipe.)