On 3, Thermidor, we celebrate the melon! I’ve made some cantaloupe popsicles to ring in Heat month.

Cantaloupe Raspberry Popsicles

1 ripe cantaloupe

1 cup of fresh raspberries

1 cup simple syrup

2 limes, juiced

dash of salt

Cut the cantaloupe and remove the seeds and rind. First, pure the cantaloupe in a food processor and reserve in a bowl. Then, puree the raspberries and strain the seeds with a strainer over a bowl. Add the two juices together along with the simple syrup, lime juice and dash of salt. Place in popsicle molds and freeze. If you have any remaining juice mix, it makes for a refreshing cocktail. Enjoy!

Mes amis, today we are celebrating our last day of Messidor with oatmeal! I love, love, love oatmeal and I love the way that Baker Miller makes and prepares their oatmeal. I have attempted an homage to their oatmeal here, but nothing beats the real thing.

Oatmeal with Pecans and Cherries 

1 cup oats

2 tbs butter

1/2 tsp salt

chopped pecans

cherry jam or candied cherries

heavy cream

brown sugar or sugar in the raw

clotted cream or thick, plain yogurt

First, boil two cups of water in a small pan along with the salt and the butter. When the water starts to boil, add in the oatmeal slowly (so it doesn’t clump) and whisk briskly. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for as long as needed. 15 – 20 minutes. If I remember, I will prepare the oatmeal up until the simmer, then remove from the heat and cover and leave it overnight for delicious morning oatmeal.

Now, I am not 100% certain exactly how Baker Miller prepares their oatmeal, so this is my best guess: portion out about a half cup of oatmeal into a bowl, pour some cream around the edges and add in the chopped pecans. On top, place a dollop of cherry jam or candied cherries along with the clotted cream or yogurt. Sprinkle some sugar over all of it and enjoy!

 

On this, the 19 of Messidor, we celebrate mint! And boy, do we have a lot of mint with which to celebrate. We have a section of the yard with strawberries and mint growing and this year the mint has gone absolutely crazy. I’m making plain mint ice cream with chocolate cookies to form sandwiches. The cookies come from this recipe.

Mint Ice Cream 

1 cup whole milk

3/4 cup sugar

2 cups heavy cream

pinch of salt

1 tsp vanilla

6 egg yolks

large handful of mint, with the leaves torn

Warm the milk, sugar, 1 cup of the cream and salt in a medium pan. Heat to a simmer and then remove from heat. Separate the eggs and temper the warm milk mixture into the eggs and then pour the egg mixture back into the pan. Heat at medium low until the mixture thickens. Remove from heat and then add the vanilla, the torn mint leaves and then the other cup of cream. Chill overnight.

I have a five-year-old, so I added a few drops of green food color to the ice cream base. Strain out the leaves and freeze in your ice cream maker. I lined a half sheet pan with plastic wrap and poured the ice cream in and then covered with plastic wrap. I froze the ice cream and then was able to cut the ice cream easily into the correct size for the chocolate cookies. Enjoy!

On 9 Messidor, we celebrate wormwood! We’ll be making a sazerac with absinthe, Peychaud’s bitters and rye. Wikipedia has the origin of “sazerac” coming from the name of the brand of Cognac first used in the drink, Sazerac-de-Forge et Fils. The man importing the Cognac to New Orleans also ran an establishment called the Sazerac Coffee House wherein he first served the cocktail.

 

Sazerac 

3 ounces rye whiskey

1/4 ounce absinthe

1/2 ounce simple syrup

dash of Peychauds’ bitters

In an old fashioned glass, pour in the absinthe. Traditionally, you are to rinse the glass in the absinthe and then discard the remaining. Then, add the rye, simple syrup, bitters and ice. Mix with a spoon and enjoy!

Hooray for Cherry Day of Harvest Month! We’re skipping around Messidor a bit, but it’s just so chock-full of edible foods. On this day, 19 Messidor, I have made candied cherries which I then used in an almond ice cream. I was hoping to replicate Amarena Fabbri cherries and I think if I had a darker, more bitter cherry it would have been a closer match. However! the candied cherries still turned out great thanks to a recipe from David Lebovitz’s The Perfect Scoop. When we were in Paris, we found a large jug of Amarena cherries for sale for something like… 9€. A steal compared to the price of a small jar here. I didn’t even think of the cherries as a liquid, so we packed it in our overhead bag for the plane only to have the Charles De Gaulle x-ray operator remove them for violating the 3 ounce rule. I hope she enjoyed many cherry sundaes!

Candied Cherries 

1 lb of fresh cherries, pitted and de-stemmed

1 1/2 cups water

1 cup sugar

1 tbs lemon juice

1 drop almond extract

Place the cherries, water, sugar and lemon juice in a pan that can easily fit everything and heat to a boil. Once they’ve reached a boil, reduce to a low boil and cook for about 25 minutes, or until the liquid starts to thicken. Remove from heat and add a drop of almond extract. Let them cool.

Cherry Almond Ice Cream 

1 cup whole milk

3/4 cup sugar

Pinch of salt

2 cups heavy cream

2 cups whole almonds, chopped

5 large egg yolks

1 cup of drained candied cherries

Warm the milk, sugar, salt and 1 cup of cream in a heavy pan. When it starts to simmer, remove from heat and add in 1 cup of the chopped almonds. Cover and let the mixture steep for an hour.

Once steeped, strain the mixture over a colander or strainer to remove the almonds. Discard the almonds and re-heat the mixture. Separate the eggs and whisk the yolks in a bowl. Temper the yolks with some of the warmed milk mixture, then add the yolks to the pan and cook. Cook over medium, whisking constantly until the mixture thickens slightly. Pour the thickened mixture over a strainer into a bowl and add the remaining cup of cream. Let cool overnight in the refrigerator. The next day, freeze in an ice cream maker and when ready, scoop out into your container and sprinkle in the chopped candied cherries and reserved almonds. Freeze and enjoy!

On today, 27 Messidor, we celebrate garlic! I had briefly thought of cooking Ina Garten’s 40 clove garlic chicken, but ended up deciding on Meera Sodha’s 100 garlic-clove curry from Made in India. She loves garlic!

100 Clove Garlic Curry 

3 tbs canola oil

3/4 tsp mustard seeds

100 cloves of garlic (around 8 heads of garlic) peeled

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp ground turmeric

1 tsp tamarind paste

1/2 cup coconut milk

First… peel the garlic. This took quite a long time and I regretted not buying a jug of pre-peeled garlic at the store. Once peeled, heat a large pan over medium. Add the oil and when it is hot, add the mustard seeds. After a minute or two, add the garlic. Cook for a few minutes on medium, then turn down to a simmer. Add a 1/2 cup of water and cover the pan with a lid. Continue to cook for about 20 minutes until the cloves are a bit translucent.

Add the salt, spices, tamarind paste and put the lid back on for a few more minutes. Add the coconut milk and cook for another 5 minutes. Enjoy!

Mes amis, today we celebrate coriander! The cilantro in our garden has already gone to seed, so I’m hoping to harvest some coriander berries and either dry them or pickle them  (or both). Today, I used coriander in a meat-filled samosa from the lovely Made in India by Meera Sodha. The samosa dough comes from Classic Indian Cooking by Julie Sahni.

Chicken Coriander Samosas 

2 tbs canola oil

1 large onion, diced

1 tbs crushed coriander seeds

1 fresh red chili, diced

1 lb ground chicken

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp garam masala

1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and minced

3 cloves of garlic, minced

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 tsp salt

1 medium bunch of cilantro, chopped

First heat a large pan and add the oil. cook the onion for about 8 minutes, until it begins to get translucent. Add the coriander, chili and chicken. Cook for about 10 minutes then add the cumin, chili powder and garam masala. Lastly, add the ginger, garlic, lemon juice and salt. Continue to cook until the chicken turns brown. Remove from heat and let it cool for a bit, then add the cilantro. Taste to see if it needs any extra salt.

For the dough:

1 1/2 cup of flour

1 tsp kosher salt

4 tbs vegetable shortening

6-7 tsp cold water

In a food processor, add the flour and salt and pulse a few times. Add the shortening and pulse until the shortening is blended into the flour. Ad the water and pulse until the dough forms on the blades. Remove from the food processor and gather into a ball, cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 30 minutes while the filling cools. After 30 minutes, remove the dough and on a floured work surface, divide the dough in two. Keep one half wrapped in plastic as you work with the first. Divide the first half in to 8 equal parts. Roll the first piece into a 6-inch circle, then cut the circle in half. Each semicircle will make one samosa. Moisten half of one semi-circle and press the dough together to make a cone shape. Add a teaspoon of filling to the cone and moisten the top and close the samosa. Heat peanut, safflower, or other frying oil in a steep-sided pot until 350 on the stove top. When you’ve made 8 to 10 samosas, drop them in to the oil with a spider or slotted spoon. Fry until both sides are golden brown and then remove. Enjoy!

Today, 12 Messidor, we celebrate the artichoke! We’re flashing back to the 90’s (Gregorian) and making some artichoke dip with swiss chard instead of spinach. We celebrated chard on 6 Germinal, but right now chard is going gangbusters in our garden. I used Pioneer Woman‘s recipe as a base, but switched a few things around. Check out these lovely pictures of flowering artichokes.

Chard and Artichoke Dip 

1 stick of butter (divided)

5 cloves of garlic

1 large bunch of chard, middle stem removed and leaves sliced

2 14 oz cans of artichoke hearts, quartered

3 tbs flour

1 1/2 cup milk

8 oz of cream cheese

1/2 cup grated pepper jack cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmesan

salt and pepper to taste

pita chips

First, in a large pan, melt three tablespoons of butter. Add the garlic and saute for a minute or two. Then, add the chard and cook until wilted. Remove the chard and garlic to a strainer placed above a bowl. Heat the oven to 350.

Then, in the same pan, melt two more tablespoons of butter. Add the quartered artichoke hearts and cook for a few minutes. Remove and place in the same strainer as the chard. In the same pan, add the rest of the butter. When it has melted, add the three tablespoons of flour – you’re making a bechamel sauce. Whisk until the flour is fully incorporated in the butter and has cooked for a minute or two. Then, add the milk a few teaspoons at a time, mixing after each addition. Then, add the cream cheese. Mix until fully incorporated. Add the pepper jack and salt and pepper. Mix in the strained chard, garlic and artichoke hearts. Pour the mixture into a 9-inch oven-proof dish. Sprinkle the grated Parmesan on top and cook for about 15 minutes – until the dip is bubbling hot. Enjoy!

Mes amis,

On 8 Messidor, we celebrate the shallot! And rosemary! And sage! A three-fer! With the embarrassment of riches offered this Harvest Month, it’s hard not to combine some of the days. Today’s recipe comes from the truly delightful book, The Bob’s Burgers Burger Book – Real Recipes for Joke Burgers. First a fan-made cooking blog, then a book with the seal of Loren Bouchard himself, Cole Bowden cooked many of the joke burgers from the show. On Shallot Day of Harvest Month, we are cooking Hit me with your Best Shallot Burger.

As a side note, I have seen a post on Twitter from the artist who designed the calendar that inspired this blog that there will be a Bastille Day sale of the calendar (26 Messidor).

Caramelized Shallot Burger 

10 small shallots

3 tbs butter

1 tbs red wine vinegar

2 sprigs rosemary

2 sprigs sage

1 lb ground beef

1 tsp chopped fresh thyme

1 4 ounce log of goat cheese, at room temperature

4 rolls

Arugula

First, peel the shallots and slice them. Melt the butter in a medium pan an dadd the shallots, rosemary and sage. Cook on medium-low until caramelized – about 20 minutes. Add the red wine vinegar and cook for a minute more. Remove from pan and set aside.

Then, make your patties. Season with salt, pepper and thyme. Cook the burgers over the stovetop or grill. Then, spread some goat cheese on the top buns, arugula on the bottom buns, patty and shallots in between. Enjoy!

 

Today, 7 Messidor, we celebrate the cucumber! Did you know that seedless cucumbers are marketed as “burpless”? Because cucumber seeds give people gas? We’re making a simple cucumber dish from the delightful Salad For Presient with some homemade tahini.

Cucumbers with Tahini 

1 cup of hulled sesame seeds

1/4 cup of olive oil

salt, for taste

3-4 persian cucumbers

hot sauce

First, slice the cucumbers and mix with a teaspoon of salt. Let them sit for about 30 minutes while you make the tahini.

Pulse the sesame seeds in a food processor and drizzle in the olive oil. Mix until a paste forms and add some additional oilve oil to thin it out, if necessary. Add salt to taste.

To serve, sprinkle some hot sauce on the cucumbers and serve with the tahini. Enjoy!