Recipes

By Maro Desjardins

How is your summer winding down? Check out our latest installment of our summer recipe series courtesy of Maro Desjardins from Maro’s Cooking

Check out the rest of our summer series below and be sure to tag your recipes with #30afoodandwine.

Stone Fruit Summer Salad with Roasted Shallot Vinaigrette

Red Snapper Ceviche with Watermelon, Cucumber and Pickled Ginger

Farmer’s Market Tomato Tart with Feta and Thyme Crust

Farmer’s Market Grilled Okra Salad

Grilled snapper and Seared Scallops with Parsley-Mint Chimichurri

Summer Peach Salad with Blueberries, Roasted Asparagus, Feta, Basil and Mint

Cherries are in peak season and if you are a fan of a fruit dessert, this is a great choice! The amaretto is a perfect complement to the cherries and the almond streusel adds just the right amount of texture. Invest in a cherry pitter to make the pitting of the cherries easier. Don’t forget to heap on a large scoop of vanilla ice-cream to complete this summer dessert.

Serves 1 9 inch tart

Ingredients:

for crust:

1 1/4 cups flour (I lov Bob’s Red Mill Pastry flour)
1 stick unsalted butter, chilled and diced
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons ice cold vodka
2 -4 tablespoons ice water
1 teaspoon kosher salt

for filling:

2/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons amaretto
6 cups fresh pitted tart cherries, thawed

for streusel topping:

1/2 cup oats
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
5 tablespoons brown sugar
4 tablespoon slivered almonds
4 tablespoons cold butter, diced
1 teaspoon pure almond extract

Directions:

for crust:

In a food processor, pulse flour, sugar and salt. Add diced butter and pulse until mixture resembles a coarse cornmeal. With motor running, add vodka first and then add water a tablespoon at a time, until the dough comes together in a ball. There may be some flakes of butter and that is fine. Collect dough and flatten into a disc and wrap dough in plastic. Place wrapped dough in fridge, and allow to rest for at least 1 hour. Remove from fridge, and roll out on a floured surface to a 12 inch diameter. Spray a fluted 9 inch tart pan with removable bottom, with cooking spray and place crust in pan. Roll off any excess dough by trimming the edges as needed. Puncture the bottom with the tines of a fork and place in freezer (for about 10 minutes) while you preheat oven to 350 (I recommend convection for even baking). Line the crust with parchment paper and place ceramic baking beads or dried beans to cover bottom of crust. Bake crust in oven for about 10 minutes. Remove beads and bake another 10 minutes until crust is lightly golden. Remove from oven, allow to cool while you prepare the filling. Keep oven on at 350.

for streusel topping:

In a medium bowl, combine the oats, flour, brown sugar and almonds. Add butter and almond extract to the bowl and break up butter with your fingers butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Place in the refrigerator while you prepare filling.

for filling:

In a large saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch and salt. Stir in pitted cherries; bring mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly and continue to stir for several minutes or until mixture thickens. Remove from the heat and stir in amaretto. Pour filling into pa- baked crust. Sprinkle streusel over filling to cover tart evenly. Bake tart for 30-35 minutes or until topping is golden brown and cherries begin to bubble. Cool on a wire rack. To serve, remove from fluted pan and slice. Serve with a large scoop of vanilla ice-cream.

We’re back this week with our summer recipe series.

If you have missed our other delicious recipes from early in the summer, check them out below. And a huge thanks to Maro Desjardins over at Maro’s Cooking for contributing.

Farmer’s Market Grilled Okra Salad

Grilled snapper and Seared Scallops with Parsley-Mint Chimichurri

Summer Peach Salad with Blueberries, Roasted Asparagus, Feta, Basil and Mint

The local farmer’s market on 30a in Rosemary Beach was the inspiration for this delicious, beautiful, savory tart. Although sometimes, making your own crust seems daunting and does require some extra planning, it is easier than you may imagine. I always use an all butter crust and a bit of vodka as the liquid which yields a flakier result. By baking the crust before adding the egg mixture, the crust resists the soggy bottom that sometimes happens when fillings are added. The farmer’s market tomatoes were the inspiration for this offering and I topped an egg-feta filling with thinly sliced yellow and red tomatoes (look for freshest tomatoes available), and after the tart cooled, I added finely diced tomatoes that were left over, fresh basil and extra feta on the top. For the feta, look for a greek brand and if possible, buy it in it’s brine. The packaged crumbled feta is often quite dry and is less creamy than the brined version. This tart would be perfect served for lunch, or as a light dinner with a fresh green salad on the side.

Yield : about 8 slices

Ingredients:

For crust:

1 1/4 cups flour (I lov Bob’s Red Mill Pastry flour)
1 stick unsalted butter, chilled and diced
1 tablespoon freshly chopped thyme
2 tablespoons ice cold vodka
2 -4 tablespoons ice water
1 teaspoon kosher salt

For tart:

2-3 large tomatoes, very thinly sliced (yellow, red or heirloom)
4 eggs
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 cup crumbled feta, plus extra for garnish
3 cloves minced garlic
kosher salt and pepper
3-4 tablespoons julienned basil for garnish

Directions:

For crust: In a food processor, pulse flour, thyme and salt. Add diced butter and pulse until mixture resembles a coarse cornmeal. With motor running, add vodka first and then add water a tablespoon at a time, until the dough comes together in a ball. There may be some flakes of butter and that is fine. Collect dough and flatten into a disc and wrap dough in plastic. Place wrapped dough in fridge, and allow to rest for at least 1 hour. Remove from fridge, and roll out on a floured surface to a 12 inch diameter. Place crust in a fluted 9 inch pan with removable bottom, rolling off any excess dough. Puncture the bottom with the tines of a fork and place in freezer while you preheat oven to 350 (I recommend convection for even baking). Line the crust with parchment paper and place ceramic baking beads or dried beans to cover bottom of crust. Bake crust in oven for about 20 minutes. Remove beads and bake another 10 minutes until crust is lightly golden. Remove from oven, allow to cool while you prepare the filling. Turn oven up to 375.

For filling: In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, cream, 1 cup of crumbled feta and minced garlic. Season with salt and pepper (although don’t over salt as feta has plenty). Using a very sharp knife, slice tomatoes with a sharp knife as thinly as possible (about 1/8 of an inch). Place the baked crust on a parchment-lined, rimmed baking sheet. Pour egg mixture into the crust. Lay tomatoes, overlapping in concentric circles until egg mixture is covered (I alternated between yellow and red) Place tart back in oven and allow it to cook for about 40-45 minutes until filling is set and tomatoes are shriveling a bit. Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes (this will make slicing much easier). Dice remaining tomatoes, and place in center of tart. Garnish with basil and additional crumbled feta. Sprinkle with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste. The tart should come out of fluted pan quite easily and allow for easy slicing. Slice, serve and enjoy!

by Maro Desjardins

We hope you are looking forward to a great weekend with family and friends here in paradise. If you missed our first installment in our summer recipe series, be sure and check it out here:

Summer Peach Salad with Blueberries, Roasted Asparagus, Feta, Basil and Mint

This week, Maro is cooking up some fantastic snapper and scallops……enjoy!

I always feel fortunate to have access to the freshest seafood when on 30A. For this dish, I made sure the Red Snapper from Buddy’s Seafood took center stage. A simple sauce of delicious fresh herbs is all that is required to make the meal special. It is light and bright and so healthy and a perfect meal for a warm, summer evening. Serve with a dry Sauvignon Blanc or a Sancerre and all is well! Additionally, if you have left over sauce, it makes an excellent condiment for a sandwich or wrap.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

for fish and scallops:

4 8 -ounce servings of snapper filet (about 1/2 inch thick)
8 sea scallops
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of butter
kosher salt and pepper to taste
2 teaspoons Old Bay Seasoning
juice of 1-2 fresh lemons, for serving
for parsley-mint chimichurri:

1 bunch parsley (about 1/2 -3/4cup packed, stems removed)
1 small bunch mint (about 1/4 cup packed, stems removed)
1 shallot
2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt and pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

Directions: Place the parsley, mint and shallot in a food processor. Pulse until finely ground. Add seasonings, vinegar, lemon juice and olive oil and pulse again until well combined. Adjust seasonings to taste and Preheat your grill to 375. Spray with cooking spray. Melt olive oil with butter in a small microwavable bowl. Season filets with salt and pepper. Place fish filets skin side down first for 5 minutes. Take half of butter-olive oil mixture and baste the top of fish with marinade. Gently flip fish on other side and cook another 5 minutes or so. Remove from grill and keep warm. Heat a large skillet with remaining olive oil and butter on medium-high heat. Pat scallops dry with paper towel and season with Old Bay Seasoning. Sear scallops on either side for about 4 minutes until golden on each side and cooked through. Place filets on a large platter and surround with scallops. Squeeze fresh lemon over fish and scallops and drizzle chimichurri on top of fish. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Cook’s note: The snapper can also be baked, if grilling is not an option. Preheat oven to 375. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and season the same way. Bake for about 20-25 minutes until cooked through.

Recipe courtesy of Maro Desjardins of MarosCooking.com. Be sure and follow Maro on Instagram at @maroscooking and on Facebook at MarosCooking