PASTA SALAD AND PEACHES

I just read an article in New York magazine about a guy who turned his 400-square-foot backyard in Brooklyn into a farm, where he raised enough produce and poultry to feed himself for a month. No, it did not inspire me to get a backhoe and start tilling the soil behind my own house – that might alarm the neighbors. However, I did get one step closer to the land by joining a CSA this summer.

What is a CSA? It stands for Community Supported Agriculture and as http://www.localharvest.org/ says, it’s “a way for the food buying public to create a relationship with a farm and to receive a weekly basket of produce.” I became a card-carrying member this year after my friend Donna asked me to take a half-share of her CSA subscription. Agreeing to join, I paid the fee and started my bi-monthly visits to the garage of a house in Pleasantville, where Roxbury Farm (in upstate New York) distributes their food. The way the CSA works, at least the one I go to, is that you get a share of what’s been harvested from the farm that week, with a chalkboard telling you to take a specific quantity of the fruit and vegetables set out in bins.

At first things were going well. I came home with bags of produce and vowed I would find ways to serve it all to my family. I sautéed my bok choy in olive oil and garlic, tore up my field greens to make a salad, and chopped up my broccoli in a stir-fried chicken dish. I also used my strawberries in a summer sangria, my eggplants in a ratatouille, and my mint in some home-brewed ice tea. However, soon the fruit and vegetables seemed to start multiplying in my refrigerator, which was bursting with bags of as yet unused squash, zucchini, potatoes, corn, arugula, and green peppers. I felt like I had to cook each and every one of them, even turning down Bob’s invitation to take me out to dinner. I couldn’t believe my ears, when I heard myself say, “Not tonight, we have to eat the broccoli rabe before it wilts.”

Finally, I was down to a bunch of basil and a pint-sized basket filled with Brandywine heirloom tomatoes, which were large, ripe and purply red. As luck would have it, I had just torn out a recipe for a pasta salad from The New York Times Magazine that said, “unless you can get great local tomatoes you should probably skip this one.”

With the tomatoes and basil taken care of, plus olive oil and sea salt in my cupboard, all I needed to buy was a garlic bulb, rigatoni, and some fresh, lightly salted mozzarella. For the record, I urge you not to buy the cheese from the grocery store. Instead, head over to your local Italian deli where they make it fresh every day. I also recommend picking up a loaf of bread while you’re there to mop up the puddle of tasty tomato broth that forms at the bottom of the bowl after you make this recipe.

The day I made the pasta I got up early in the morning and combined the chopped garlic, olive oil and torn up pieces of basil. The headily perfumed mixture smelled so good that I wished I’d had a chunk of bread to dip in the oil right then and there. However, I told myself that it was only 8 a.m. and I should probably pour myself a cup of coffee and a bowl of bran flakes instead.

Coming home in the mid-afternoon, I was once again intoxicated by the garlicky aroma that had by now permeated the house. I went into the kitchen and pulled out a chopping board, then started cutting the tomatoes and adding them to the bowl. My hunger already piqued, I decided to nibble on a few of the cubes. They were so ripe and sweet that I kept slipping more of them into my mouth, sighing as I thought about how hard it would be to go back to supermarket tomatoes after their season is over. I can’t imagine that I’ll be able to tolerate their bland taste after being spoiled all summer.

I let the tomatoes soak up the flavored olive oil for a couple of hours. A little while before I was going to call my husband and the boys to dinner, I brought a large pot of salted water to a boil and cooked the rigatoni until it was al dente. As the article said, “The pasta is done when it feels like biting into a piece of gum – you want some resistance when you eat it.”

While the rigatoni was boiling, I cut the mozzarella into small, bite-sized squares. When the pasta was done cooking, I drained it and poured it over the tomato mixture. I made sure not to stir, as directed by the recipe. Then I spread the mozzarella on top and tossed only the rigatoni and cheese until the mozzarella softened slightly and the pasta was covered in a glaze of fat. Finally, I stirred up the mixture from the bottom, bringing the tomatoes into the picture. I added a little bit of salt and a splash of extra olive oil as the finishing touches, and served it to my anxiously awaiting family for our Friday night dinner.

That’s not the end of the story though. It seems that I have a weakness for fresh fruit and vegetables, and in addition to joining the food co-op, I have also developed an addiction to farmers’ markets. So no sooner had I depleted my CSA bounty than I had the urge to make a beeline to the Saturday Pleasantville Farmers’ Market, where I couldn’t keep my eyes off the colorful fresh produce, ranging from dark purple beets to bright orange carrots and pearly-white cauliflower. As a result of my trip, I opened the refrigerator early Sunday morning to find an overflowing basket of peaches, perfectly plump and covered in dappled shades of red and yellow. I bit into one and was greeted by the tartly sweet pulp that slid down my throat and a splash of juice that dribbled down my chin. I pulled out the other peaches and decided that I had to make a pie.

Still dressed in my nightgown and slippers, I plodded upstairs to my computer and went online to http://www.epicurious.com/. When I typed in my search, the web site came up with a delicious and simple sounding recipe for peach cobbler. I had all of the ingredients in my house: six large peaches, sugar, lemons, cornstarch, flour, baking powder, salt, and butter.

Now a regular to the website, I knew to scan the reader recommendations for reviews and suggestions. I particularly liked what “A Cook from Durham, NC” had to say: “Great recipe! For the topping I substituted brown sugar for white and added 1/3 cup oatmeal, cinnamon and fresh nutmeg. I also added one tablespoon buttermilk powder to the hot water.”

Making the cobbler couldn’t have been easier. I sliced the peaches into thin wedges and tossed them with the sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch in a round ceramic baking dish (one less bowl to clean!). After placing the peaches in the oven, I started working on the biscuit topping. First I stirred together the flour, brown sugar, oatmeal, baking powder and salt. Pulling the cold butter out of the refrigerator, I cut it into small pieces, added it to the bowl, and stuck my fingers into the mixture, kneading it with my hands, to turn the contents into thick, sticky crumbs. Then I added some boiling water mixed with the suggested buttermilk powder and stirred it gently.

After the peaches had gotten soft and warm in the oven, I pulled the baking dish out and dropped spoonfuls of the topping over them. Then I put the cobbler back in the oven to bake until the crust was golden brown. As it cooked, the kitchen was engulfed by the sweet smell of cinnamon and peaches. “Hmmm, peach cobbler for breakfast?” I asked myself. You bet! And it was delicious.


PAMELAS SHERRID’S SUMMER PASTA
The New York Times Magazine, August 29, 2007 (originally published in 1996)

5 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
½ to ¾ cup of your favorite olive oil
12 basil leaves
7 large ripe tomatoes
Salt
1 pound dried rigatoni
1 pound fresh, lightly salted mozzarella
Country bread

Take out your largest bowl. Add the garlic. Pour in ½ cup olive oil. With the scissors, snip basil leaves into shreds over the garlic mixture. Let sit all day.

About 2 hours before serving, chop the tomatoes and add them to the bowl.

When you’re ready to eat, bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente. Meanwhile, cut the mozzarella into small cubes.

Drain the pasta and pour it on top of the tomato mixture. Do not stir. Spread the mozzarella on top of the pasta and toss only the pasta and cheese; the cheese will soften slightly, and the pasta will get coated with fat. Then stir up from the bottom, incorporating the tomato mixture. Season with salt and add the remaining olive oil, if desired. Serve with bread. Serves 6.


PEACH COBBLER
Adapted from Epicurious.com: Gourmet Magazine, September 1999

6 large peaches, cut into thin wedges
¼ cup sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon cornstarch

For biscuit topping:
1 cup all purpose flour
½ cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup oatmeal
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
¾ stick cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
¼ cup boiling water
1 tablespoon buttermilk powder added

Cook peaches:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Toss peaches with sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch in a two-quart, nonreactive baking dish and bake in middle of oven for 10 minutes.

Make topping while peaches bake:
Stir together flour, brown sugar, backing powder, salt, oatmeal, nutmeg and cinnamon. Blend in butter with your fingertips or a pastry blender until mixture resembles course meal. Combine boiling water and buttermilk powder, stir in until just combined.

Remove peaches from oven and drop spoonfuls of topping over them. Bake in middle of oven until topping is golden, about 25 minutes. (Topping will spread as it bakes.)