Fresh Plum Vinaigrette

The first time I walked into Whole Foods this summer and spotted an overflowing crate full of local Georgia peaches, rosy-colored with blushes of orange, and ripe and ready for eating, I was eager to get a bagful, go home, and just dig in. Living in Georgia my entire life, I’ve come to appreciate the splendor of a ripe summer peach, eaten plainly, my hands sticky from the juice.
             
The truth is, my favorite way to eat most stone fruits—from peaches to plums to cherries—is plain. I often find that they don’t need much embellishment to taste really fantastic. After all, the last thing I want to do is obscure the fresh summer flavor that I’ve waited nine long months to experience again.
             
Nevertheless, there are times when a few extra ingredients can really transform a star ingredient like peaches or plums. Take this salad dressing. I’ve talked before about my affinity for salads that have fruits in them and this time I took the concept one step further and decided to make a salad dressing with plums blended right into it.
             
It’s simple, really. Take a few ripe (almost too ripe) plums, puree them in a food processor or blender, add some Dijon mustard for tanginess, rich vinegar for sweetness (I used a black fig-infused vinegar that is similar to balsamic), and extra virgin olive oil to smooth out the flavors. What results is a complex vinaigrette that’s at once sweet, tangy, and rich. The plums add some body to the dressing, helping to keep it emulsified long after it’s blended. Paired with tender greens and freshly-cut stone fruits, this dressing truly epitomizes what summer is all about: fresh, crisp flavors and wholesome ingredients. I’m not sure that anything could ever rival my love for that idyllic peach, plum, or berry, but this comes pretty close.  And that says quite a lot.

Fresh Plum Vinaigrette

There’s not much oil in the dressing because the plums add a lot of body and sweetness that counters the acidity and tang of both the mustard and vinegar. Taste the dressing after you’ve blended it and adjust with more oil if you like a less acidic vinaigrette. If you don’t have a food processor, use a blender to make the dressing.

Yield: about 3/4 cup vinaigrette

2 extra-ripe, medium plums
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar (I used a black fig-infused one)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Cut the plums in half and remove the pits.  Over the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade, squeeze each plum, cut side down, to separate the flesh from the skin. With ripe plums, the flesh should separate pretty easily. Keep squeezing until all the flesh and juice is in the  bowl of the food processor. Repeat with the rest of the plum halves.

Pulse the plum flesh and juice until fully blended. It should be a smooth puree. Add the mustard, olive oil, and vinegar. Process until  blended. Season to taste with salt and pepper (and, if necessary, more oil or vinegar).

Serve with tender salad greens, such as spinach, arugula, or a mesclun mix, along with other fresh stone fruits like peaches, plums, and cherries. I even added some fresh yellow peppers for a sweet crunch. The dressing will keep in the refrigerator (emulsified!), covered, for up to a week.

Summer Salad with Stone Fruits and Tomato Vinaigrette

One of my favorite things about summer (besides being able to wake up at 10 every morning) is stone fruits. And while this isn't a post about the wonderful sweet things I've done with the 49 cents-a-pound peaches we got this weekend (five whole pounds of them... and I thought we had a problem with zucchini), it is a post about my favorite way to enjoy them. (Actually, my favorite way to enjoy them is sliced plain, but that would make for a rather uneventful post.)

My mom and I both love salad and fruit. The combination of green leaves and sweet/tart fruit is a winning one. In the fall I like to add apples or sauteed pears, in the winter oranges are a great addition, and spring means strawberries. But come summer, the options are so much greater (and so much tastier). This particular rendition utilizes chopped peaches, plums, and nectarines. The peaches add sweetness, the plums contribute a slight tartness, and the nectarines manage to balance between the two extremes. Of course, I also love the variety that each brings to the salad.

But no salad would be complete or memorable without a truly delicious dressing. While I am the first to admit that I'm not too crazy about salad dressing (I'd just as soon eat a salad plain or with a drizzle of vinegar than make a dressing), this is my absolute favorite. My mom just sort of made it up one day, and I immediately began singing its (and her) praises. It is refreshingly tart, blending white wine vinegar with the natural acidity of tomatoes, and has a variation in texture because of the actual tomatoes and bounty of herbs it contains. But I think my favorite thing about this vinaigrette is the rosy hue that the tomato lends to it.

Truthfully, I could make a full meal out of a salad like this, and I often do, but it's perfect as a side to a lighter dinner or lunch, not to mention a fantastic antidote to the grueling summer heat.

Summer Salad with Stone Fruits and Tomato Vinaigrette

This vinaigrette recipe makes about a cup and a half of dressing. I prefer salad lightly dressed, so there is always leftover vinaigrette. It keeps very well in the refrigerator, covered, for about a week.

Yield: 4 servings

2 heads of Romaine lettuce, washed, dried, and torn into bite-size pieces
1 plum, roughly chopped
1 nectarine, roughly chopped
1 peach, roughly chopped
1 beefsteak tomato (or about 2 Roma tomatoes)
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
6 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons mayonnaise
1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/4 cup mixed leafy herbs (such as basil, parsley, marjoram, chives, and mint), minced
Pinch of garlic powder (or 1 clove of minced garlic)
Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste

Combine lettuce and stone fruits in a large bowl. Halve the tomato. Roughly chop one half and add to the bowl with the lettuce. Finely chop the other tomato and transfer to a jar (or other container), with juice. To jar, add olive oil, vinegar, mayonnaise, mustard, herbs, garlic powder, and salt and pepper. Seal jar and shake to incorporate the ingredients. Just before serving, pour dressing over lettuce and toss to combine.

Summer Fruit Crostata, or Why I Hate Pie Crust

As much as I pride myself on being a baker, ogling cookbooks (even those without pictures) as I imagine fancy European chocolate tarts and old-fashioned, rustin Italinan hearth breads, I have a secret that may very well disqualify me from being a true baker: I absolutely despise making pie dough.

And how do I despise it? Let me count the ways. First of all, there's the whole shortening thing. Shortening really freaks me out. It smells funny, and it has the strangest waxy consistency. Plus, the notion of solidified vegetable fat is slightly nauseating. I just can't bring myself to use it in the kitchen. So when I read about all-butter pie crusts, they sounded perfect! Replace the shortening with butter, and the mystery fat is completely gone! But not so fast... pie doughs with only butter are maddeningly difficult to work with.

This particular fruit crostata beckoned from the pages of Barefoot Contessa At Home and didn't seem too hard to craft. But, with its all-butter crust, I should have known... something wicked this way comes (okay, enough with the literary allusions). While the dough came together seamlessly (little flecks of butter dispersed throughout the more cohesive dough is a promising sign of flakiness in the final product), it's the rolling out that's the real problem. Attempt number one began with rolling the dough between two sheets of plastic wrap, which was fast and simple. I felt like a serious baking all-star as I admired my pretty dough. Until I needed to actually transfer the dough round to the baking sheet. The plastic wrap and butter-filled crust were practically fused together. Before I knew it, my lovely 11-inch circle of dough was torn and quickly becoming sticky.

Pressure time: what to do? A torn baker, I wavered between my two baking personas, Lazy Sara and Cook's Illustrated Sara (otherwise known as Pretentious Food Snob Sara).

"Just roll it again! It's only been a few minutes, there's no way the butter has melted completely! Suck it up, flour the board and rolling pin, and roll it out like any other person would do! Come on, time's a wasting and you still haven't had breakfast!" Lazy Sara ordered.

"Not so fast! If at any time during the rolling process the dough becomes sticky or difficult to work with, transfer to a baking sheet and refrigerate until firm," Cook's Illustrated Sara warned, robotically reciting that wise America's Test Kitchen mantra.

But I was so hungry (so hungry I was snacking on the leftover--but tasty--peach peels). I needed to roll this thing out or I'd be eating breakfast at noon (late even by my standards). So I sucked it up and floured the board and pin, careful not to add too much, lest my pie dough become tough and leathery. Visions of "failed crusts" from Baking Illustrated vivid in my mind, I quickly re-rolled the crust and (somehow) transfered it to the baking sheet.

While I had prepared entirely too much fruit for this particular crostata, I mounded a generous amount on the dough and managed to pleat the dough somewhat attractively. A quick streusel-y topping, and into the oven it went. Out of my sight! Rarely do I get so irritated with recipes, but this one was especially frustrating.

Now, I know that I make this crostata sound like a real pain, and it can be, especially when you prepare it right after you wake up and haven't had coffee or eaten in 12 hours. Or if it's July in Georgia and therefore about 10 degrees warmer in the kitchen than normal. All of these things can make preparing this recipe sort of difficult. But I do think it's worth it, because the end product, impressive yet homey, is truly beautiful.

And I wouldn't want anything less as a birthday treat for one of my friends.

Summer Fruit Crostata
from Ina Garten

Ina's crust recipe is very straightforward: just flour, sugar, butter, salt, butter, and water. I think you can opt to use this recipe or your favorite pie dough recipe (by all means use shortening if you're not afraid of it like I am). Just be sure to keep the pie dough very cold, and your working surface and rolling pin floured at all times. All in all, this dough is pretty forgiving (I would know), and it bakes up wonderfully. I think a slice of this would pair perfectly with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, a dollop of whipped cream, or a spoonful of lightly sweetened yogurt.

Yield: 6 servings

For the crust:

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated or superfine sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 stick cold unsalted butter, diced
3 tablespoons ice water

For the fruit filling and topping:
1 pound firm ripe peaches, peeled
1/2 pound firm ripe black plums, unpeeled
1/2 pint fresh blueberries
1 tablespoon plus 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, divided
1 tablespoon plus 1/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
1/4 teaspoon grated orange zest
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced

Place the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter and toss quickly with your fingers to coat each cube of butter with the flour. Pulse 12 to 15 times, or until the butter is the size of peas. With the motor running, add the ice water all at once through the feed tube. Keep hitting the pulse button to combine, but stop the machine just before the dough comes together. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured board, roll it into a ball, and form into a flat disk. Wrap the disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Meanwhile, prepare the filling. Cut the peaches and plums into wedges about half an inch think. Place them in a bowl with the blueberries and toss with 1 tablespoon of the flour, 1 tablespoon of the sugar, the orange zest, and the orange juice. Stir to combine and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine remaining 1/4 cup of flour, 1/4 cup of sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Cut the 4 tablespoons of butter into the mixture using a pastry blender (or your fingertips) until the mixture is crumbly. Rub it with your fingers until it begins to hold together. (Alternatively, you could prepare this mixture in a food processor.)

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and, on a floured surface and using a well-floured rolling pin, roll the dough into an 11-inch round. Carefully transfer the round to the baking sheet.
Mound the fruit on the dough circle, leaving a 1 1/2-inch border. Pour the streusel mixture over the fruit in an even layer. Working carefully, fold the border of the pastry over the fruit. It will form natural pleats as you fold.

Bake the crostata for 20 to 25 minutes, until the crust is golden and the fruit is tender. Let the crostata cool for 5 minutes before carefully transferring it to a wire rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.