stone fruit. purslane. and korean watercress salad. lunch for one.

The other day as I walked around the green market I had a stone fruit story churning in my head. I wasn't sure what I was going to do but I knew I wanted to make a salad of plums or peaches. So, with that in mind I started to pick up beautiful bits of this and that and slowly a salad began to form.

Two plums or one peach and one plum

A handful of purselane

A handful of Korean watercress

Mexican gherkins

Fresh dill flower

1 garlic scape

Sea salt

Extra virgin olive oil

Juice half a lime

1 teaspoon of rose syrup

Or maple syrup

The main ingredient in this salad is plum; everything else is just there to add a little bit of flavor and to play off the flavor of the plums.

Nothing here is that exotic, I found it all easily at the farmer’s market here in NYC. You can substitute and play around if you can’t find these exact ingredients. Embrace a little whimsy!

Stone fruit. Purslane. and Korean Watercress Salad.

Cut three medium size plums into small slices. Discard the pit. Use any kind. I used Elephant Heart and Santa Rosa plums.

Arrange the plums loosely on a plate.

Add a few sprigs of purselane ( a lemony tasting wild green )

Add a few sprigs of Korean watercress, which looks nothing like regular watercress. You can substitute celery leaf or parsley if you can’t find the watercress.

Cut in half a handful of Mexican Gherkins and sprinkle on top of the plums, again if you can’t find these use some other tender early cuke.

Add a few sprigs of dill flower, substitute dill if you can’t find dill flower

Thinly slice about an inch of garlic scape, use a finely chopped shallot or chive if you can’t find scape.

Sprinkle with a pinch of good crunchy seas salt

Squeeze the juice of half a lime over the salad

Drizzle with a good extra virgin olive oil

Finish with a teaspoon of rose syrup (I made my own from rose petals) If you can’t find a rose syrup then add a teaspoon of maple syrup!

It is all about improvising and throwing together whatever is in season.

Have fun! Let me know if you come up with any interesting summer salads!

Enjoy!

This salad is just about being inspired at the green market and then tossing it all together! Don’t be scared of combinations just be inspired by them. What is the worst thing that can happen?

More stone fruit recipes to come!!

 

last week's plums.

Last night I whipped up two galettes (a free form pie or tart). They are my fallback desert as they are always tasty, beautiful and super easy. I needed to use up last week's plums and the donut peaches I bought at the green market. Unfortunately, I have no photos of the finished galettes as they were demolished in about two seconds by Dusty and Odette and other hungry little hands.

Here is the basic method... 

Galette crust. I generally stick to my standard method of 1 stick of unsalted butter 1 cup flour plus a little more (sometimes even a 1/2 cup), a little bit of sugar, a pinch of salt, and a tiny bit of ice water.

The way I make a pie or tart crust depends a bit on the weather and how many I am making. I know it sounds crazy but I don't really stick to a recipe. I add a little more flour or butter or water depending on the feel of the dough. Yesterday as it was unseasonably hot in the Catskill's and I wanted to have extra dough on hand, I used 3 sticks of butter, 4 cups of flour, a pinch of salt, 1/4 cup sugar and a few tablespoons of ice water. This made 4 rounds of dough which I wrapped and chilled for 1/2 hour before rolling out. Ths was enough to make 4 small galettes or two whole pies (top and bottom crusts). Pie crust is something so many people seem to be intimidated to make but it is really quite easy. Just experiment and get used to the feel of the dough, before you know it you will have your own recipe and method. I always use butter, never shortening.

To assemble.

After chilling the dough...

Roll out one of the rounds on a lightly floured surface. once it has been rolled out place it on a parchment lined baking sheet. Spoon the fruit into the center of the round of dough. I used plums and peaces cut into small slices and tossed with a 1/4 cup of muscavado sugar, but you can you use any fruit you want and add sugar depending on the sweetness of the fruit.

Once the fruit is in the center of the dough, fold the excess dough in towards the center of the galette, this  will seal the fruit in and will give you a nice rustic free form edge.

As I have two pie crusts left, I will make another once I get back to the city. Post a finished one soon.

Copyright © 2011 Andrea Gentl all rights reserved