I first met Maili Halme Brocke (http://www.themailifiles.blogspot.com) five years back when we took a cooking class together in Montecito. You know when you meet someone and you feel connected to them instantly? That’s how it is with Maili. Watching her snap photos and contribute her two cents about the recipes demonstrated, my petite food groupie heart was aflutter. I quickly progressed from thinking, “This girl knows what she is talking about,” to inviting Maili to lunch at my house so we could talk non-stop about all things “food.”

Maili is owner and executive chef of Maili Productions, a catering and event planning company here in Santa Barbara. Her celebrity clientele sing her praises, as do most people who are lucky enough to know her and eat her food. When I started my blog last year I knew I wanted to feature Maili as one of the Chefs in My Kitchen. Our focus for her class: create recipes fresh from the garden that would be perfect for entertaining.

On the day of the class she arrived armed with bound recipe books filled with summer garden recipes and information for all in attendance. All eight of us picked produce from my garden (full disclosure — with wine glasses in hand), then we watched and learned as Maili created a simply spectacular orzo salad, arugula salad with truffle oil and Marcona almonds, cold peach soup, stuffed squash and basil blossoms and a savory plum sauce. What better way to spend a summer afternoon … perched around the kitchen island with friends, hearing great tips, fun stories, lapping up her tasty concoctions, and, of course, a little mid-day wine tasting.

Here is the first of the many recipes we enjoyed in my kitchen. It’s so good I almost ate the whole plate before I remembered to take a picture.

Maili says that this recipe is very forgiving. You can toss in whatever you want, in whatever amounts, but the most important ingredient is the sautéed onions. They’re chunky and cooked for 15 to 20 minutes until translucent. The original recipe was developed by Maili’s friend Narisha, who prepared it to accompany roast chicken. Narisha used just five ingredients: orzo, Meyer lemons, arugula, capers and Parmesan cheese. Maili adds a few more.

Maili’s Orzo Arugula Salad

1 one-pound box of orzo

1 large yellow onion

1/3 cup olive oil

Pinch of salt for the onion

1 7-ounce bag of baby arugula (spinach can be substituted)

2 cups sugar plum tomatoes (or grape tomatoes or cherry tomatoes), cut in half

1 cup (about five ounces) feta cheese, crumbled (Parmesan is an excellent substitution)

1 cup pine nuts, toasted (can substitute Marcona almonds), nuts are optional

2-3 tablespoons capers, rinsed (optional)

1 13.75 ounce can artichoke hearts packed in water

Juice from two lemons (Meyer lemons if possible)

Minced fresh parsley, basil, and/ or mint

Salt and pepper to taste

1. While you’re getting all of your other ingredients together, cook the orzo in boiling salted water for 9 minutes. Rinse orzo until completely cool before adding other ingredients.

2. Sauté onion over medium heat in 1/3 cup olive oil. This may seem like more olive oil than you would generally use to sauté, but the extra oil will be flavored with the onion and used as the dressing for the salad. Put a pinch of salt on the onion while cooking.

3. Cook onion for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent and sweet. (The longer you cook onions the better they are, so don’t skip this part.)

4. In the largest bowl you have, toss the warm onions with the cooled pasta. Be sure to use all the oil from the sauté pan.

5. Add the arugula, tomatoes, feta (or Parmesan), pine nuts, capers, artichoke hearts, herbs of your choice, lemon juice and sprinkle of salt and pepper. Toss to combine.

6. Serve at room temperature. Can be kept at room temperature for 6 hours. If you’re planning to wait before serving, then add the arugula as close to serving time as possible. Try not to refrigerate this salad, as it changes the texture and flavor of the pasta.

My stone fruit trees are going absolutely bonkers in my garden. This spring I added two “Mid-Pride” peach trees to the garden. Mid-pride peaches have yellow meat and are bred to do well in our coastal climate. I have been waiting in anticipation to enjoy their luscious yield — am I such a garden geek that I get so excited about fruit? (Don’t answer that.) Now, of course, all the fruit bears at one time! We have been plowing through them, but still we accumulated quite a stash. This morning I noticed a bunch in a basket on the counter that has seen better days. I don’t know about you, but dimpled and soggy fruit just doesn’t do it for me. So, lesson number one in planting a garden … learn to be creative.

I didn’t have time to make a pie between picking up and dropping off the kids at two different camps — nor did I really want to eat one — I mean, come on, it is bathing suit season. And I know I would be the one to eat the entire thing myself. But I digress … back to the real issue at hand: old stone fruit. I decided to make jam* on a whim and it was so easy and lip smacking good. It only has a teensy-weensy bit of sugar and used up the whole basket of fruit. During my peach and apricot creation, my sister Desiree was visiting.  We spooned the preserves over homemade buttermilk ice cream and topped it with  mashed Maracona almonds, it was absolutely delicious — sweet, tart, crunchy and salty, yum.

*I didn’t can the jam in the technical sense but poured it into small clean glass jars to be stored in the refrigerator. Since they are small and I am known to share with friends, they will be used up pretty quickly, thus saving myself some time and, quite honestly, anxiety from the canning process.

If you have more fruit, then simply double the amounts.  This recipe makes 24 ounces of preserves.

• 4 cups very ripe stone fruit (I used peaches and apricots), cut into quarters, skin on
• ¼ cup sugar
• juice of half a lemon

Combine the ingredients in a pot on the stove and cook on medium high heat and bring to a boil. Stirring occasionally, continue to let the fruit cook and release their juices for about 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to low or simmer, mash with a potato masher, and continue to cook for an additional 15 minutes.

The buttermilk ice cream was left over from the 4th of July and was really delicious. For the recipe, go to: http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/04/buttermilk-ice-cream/

Just Planted

July 2010
Sunflower – Mammoth Russian 6 to 10 feet
Sunflower – Goldy Honey Bear 4 to 6 feet
Pumpkin – Sugar Pie – Heirloom. There is no better cooking pumpkin. Marvelous pumpkin flavor with sweet, fine grained texture. Great for pies.
Carrot – Tonda di Parigi, Heirloom, 19th century Parisian favorite. Sweet and petite fun snack size great for a veggie platter.

Now Harvesting

July 2010
Emerite Pole Beans
Green and Yellow Beans
Arugula
Romaine Lettuce
Yellow Squash
Persian Cucumbers
Tomatoes
Mulberries
Mid-Pride Peaches
Santa Rosa Plums

Here’s a peek of what you will find in my garden throughout the year:

Vegetables: Cocozella zucchini, cucumbers, Hungarian wax peppers, jalapenos, Thai hot pepper, red bell peppers, leeks, garlic, Japanese eggplant, lemon cucumbers, bush beans – yellow and green, vine snap beans – white and purple, corn, sunflowers, red leaf lettuce, arugula, romaine lettuce, tomatoes, nasturtium flower, basil, purple basil and Thai basil. Fruit: Mulberries, nectarines, Santa Rosa plums, strawberries, French strawberries, lemons and limes.

Vegetables: Pumpkins, tomatoes, yellow and red potatoes, red and golden beets, radishes, butter lettuce, red leaf lettuce, arugula, carrots, green onions, white onions, broccoli, napa cabbage, red cabbage, Brussels sprouts, amarath and Hokkaido Stella blue squash. Fruit: Tangerines, tamarillo, pink lady apples, fuji apples and avocados.

Vegetables: Broccoli, Brussel sprouts, spinach, cauliflower, Napa cabbage, red cabbage, butter lettuce, lettuce mix, bok choy, celery, swiss chard, snow peas, parsnips and shallots.

Vegetables: Spinach, Japanese spinach, asparagus, potatoes, sugar snap peas, snow peas, chives, Swiss chard, radicchio, parsnips, rhubarb, shallots, and nasturtium flower. Fruit: Meyer lemon, strawberries and French strawberries.

YEAR ROUND

Onions, Swiss chard, carrots, lettuces’ and most herbs with the exception of basil: Flat leaf parsley, savory, oregano, peppermint, chives, thyme, sage, dill, cilantro, lemon grass, lemon balm, tarragon, lemon verbena, bay and rosemary.

I just harvested the first of my summer squash. I pick them when they’re young and small. To me, the flavor is better when they are on the slighter side. When the squash is left on the plant too long, it tends to taste a bit like foam rubber — not that I make a habit of eating foam rubber, but you get the idea.

These recipes for squash appetizers are so easy to make and look beautiful when served. Exact ingredients are not necessary. It’s really just a matter of taste but be sure to use the best possible ingredients. I can’t reiterate enough about using the best quality ingredients you can find. Everything about these ingredients together is so classic and delicious, radiating summer in every bite.

Cold Yellow Squash Appetizer

Usually I use one squash per plate.

Slice squash thinly with a mandolin and arrange in a circular fashion on the plate.

Per assembled plate, use a pinch each of:

• red pepper flakes
• fresh oregano leaves
• lemon zest

Squeeze lemon over the slices and drizzle with olive oil.

Sprinkle with sea salt and serve.

Warm Yellow Squash Appetizer

For these “June gloom days” in Santa Barbara (whatever, Poseidon — it’s JULY!), where the fog is actually pissing on you and you crave something warm…

Heat oven to 200 degrees.

On an oven safe platter or dishes (depending on whether you plan to serve family style or individually), arrange thinly sliced yellow squash — I use a mandolin to make perfect slices. Then use a microplane grater to cover the top of the squash with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese. Drizzle a little olive oil on top and place the platter or plates in the oven for approximately 30 minutes. The sides of the squash will turn upward slightly and the cheese will begin to melt.

Carefully remove the plate from the oven (oven mittens would be good, here) and then add a pinch each of:

• red pepper flakes
• fresh oregano leaves
• lemon zest

Squeeze lemon over the slices and a slight drizzle more olive oil.

Sprinkle with sea salt and serve.

It’s warm yet still has a fresh crunch factor and texture. It’s zesty, salty, and spicy, and the fresh oregano absolutely makes it perfection in your mouth.

4 cups packed arugula

1 cup Parmesan cheese; cut in cubes

Zest and juice of one Meyer Lemon

½ cup olive oil

Put all the ingredients in the food processor or blender. Taste to adjust seasoning. Use as a dip for fresh veggies and it is great for pasta, too.