Torta salata di zucca

Of the many detective novels that inspired The Shadow of the Gardener, probably the most obvious influence is that of Andrea Camilleri's Inspector Salvo Montalbano. I'll be preparing the Sicilian classic Pasta all Norma and this recipe, a savory pumpkin pie paired with salted melon. Thanks to Mr. Timmy at Crescent City Farmers Market for the delicious creole pumpkin and cantaloupe. I  also have to thank Camilleri and his translator, Stephen Sartarelli, for teaching me the Italian idiom "Avere sale in zucca." Literally translated, it means "to have salt in the pumpkin," but it really means having common sense. I can't recommend the books enough, but I must warn readers not to read them on an empty stomach.

Speaking of,



Ingredients (yields one 9 inch tart)

Filling:
700g roasted creole pumpkin, pureed
50g ground breadcrumbs
3g kosher salt
2g ground mace, white pepper, cinnamon & lemon zest

Crust:
250g whole wheat pastry flour
2g kosher salt
120ml cold water
60ml olive oil

Melon slices and flaky sea salt for garnish

You will also need a food processor and a 9 inch tart pan. You may have noticed that this recipe is vegan, which is true. But don't let that deter you from trying it, it's really delicious. If you're not down for that, try it with some slices of cured coppa (pictured).

Roast a giant creole pumpkin after cutting it to fit your oven and removing the seeds. It's done when it's soft and you can scrape it out of it's skin. It's going to be pretty wet, and you need the filling to be dry, so this is where the breadcrumbs come in. Mix the pumpkin, salt, spices and breadcrumbs in your food processor and puree until smooth. It should be about the consistency of ricotta cheese. If it's too wet, add some more breadcrumbs.

That's the filling done, now for the crust. This is just done by hand, it's wicked easy, even I pulled it off and pie dough usually hates me. Add the water and oil to the flour and salt and mix it with a fork then push it around on the counter til it comes together. Rest the dough for 10 minutes then roll it out, line the tart pan and cut off the excess. Bake the crust at 350 for 12 minutes, then fill it with the filling and bake it for another 25 minutes. Let it cool then garnish with melon slices and flaky sea salt. Please enjoy and let me know what you think.

look at the size of that pumpkin! Must be full of common sense!

Pickled Tomatoes!

This year the caterpillars let me have a lot of tomatoes before it got too hot, so I was presented with a question better gardeners have to answer every year: "how do I preserve these tomatoes? They are coming in faster than I can eat them." I based my answer off of Olia Hercules'. Her book, Mamushka, was really helpful for my Red Soup pop-up, and now these tomatoes have found their way on to every menu I do. They are the centerpiece of the Florida Man Tomato Salad, and look for them next month at Atlantic Avenue. They'll be the impossibly red and delicious things that look like tomatoes.

Yields 1/2 gallon jar

Ingredients:

aprox. 1 qt water

2-3 pounds fresh tomatoes

2 T kosher salt

2 bay leaves

1 bunch dill

3-4 scallions (scapes if you can get them)

1 T honey

1 t white vinegar

Clean the jar really good, and scrape off the old label best you can. Use hot water. Put some sprigs of dill and scallions around the jar. Pack the tomatoes in there gently but firmly. The goal is to fill the jar up as much as possible without bruising the tomatoes too badly. Cut some of them in half if you must. Poke holes all the way through the rest of them with a skewer. Keep a couple tomatoes (the "ugliest" or ones with bad spots) off to the side as sacrifice. When the jar is all the way full, fill it with cold water. Now pour the water out into a measuring cup so you know how much it is and can adjust your amounts. Put the water, sacrificial tomatoes, remaining dill and scallions, bay leaves, salt, honey and vinegar in a pan and bring to a simmer. Remove form heat and allow to cool completely, don't be impatient or the finished product will be mushy. Don't ask me how I know that. 

Taste it to make sure it's delicious then strain the cool pickling liquid back into the jar so the tomatoes are covered. Screw the lid on tight then flip the whole thing upside down and set it on the counter overnight. Make sure it's not leaking. The next day, flip it rightside-up, unscrew the cap and see if it is bubbling. If it is, you're done. If not, leave it another day or two until the fermentation starts and then you're done. Here in New Orleans it takes me like 36 hours. Store them in the fridge for months and months or eat them all with a fork right there. Save the brine for the next round, or use it to garnish a bloody mary, or a bowl of borscht.

Uncle Bob's English Bangers!

Making these spicy, sweet, juicy delicious sausages is kinda a big ordeal, so you'd better just come to Wayward Owl Brewing Company on Friday and I'll make them for you!

Thanks to The Paupered Chef for helping convince me that this whole project was possible, Adrian at Ancora and Kris at Shank Charcuterie for all the help. I also have to credit Heston Blumenthal and J. Kenji Lopez-Alt. For my fellow Yanks who haven't enjoyed one of these yet, picture the best bratwurst ever and imagine if it was ten times better.







Ingredients (yields around 25 100g sausages)
 2000g 70/30 Ground Pork
 100g really dark, dry bread crusts
 aprox. 2 Cups Dark Pork Stock
 3.5 Tbl Cane Syrup
 30g Salt
 5g Bay Leaves
 5g Mace
 5g White Pepper
 4g Ginger
 3g Nutmeg Sausage casings
You will also need a food processor, a sausage stuffer, a meat grinder if you are grinding your own pork, and a sous vide rig for poaching the finished beauties.

Grind up all the spices. Smell how much of a lie that "British food is bland" nonsense is. Season the meat with the salt and spices and refrigerate it overnight. Grind the bread crusts really fine and soak them in the syrup and enough of the stock to make a really loose paste. Pulsing in small batches so as not to overwork your long-suffering food processor or overheat your sausage mix, blend the meat and bread paste until it's really sticky. Clean the sausage casings and load them on to the stuffer without making any juvenile jokes, please. Twist them around 3.5 inches long and pack them into ziploc bags in one layer, using the water displacement method to remove as much air as you can. Circulate them at 140°F for at least 45 minutes, but no more than 4 hours. At this point, fry as many as fit in a cast iron skillet and eat them with HP sauce. Or share with friends. Or find a local bar that will let you sell them to people

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