Park Slope Reader

olivia williamson

Olivia’s Kitchen: End of Heirloom Season Tart

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The end of the heirloom tomato season goes quite late into the fall and often provides delicious, but maybe not as pretty tomatoes. This super easy tart is an elegant and simple way to make use of those juicy, maybe a little over ripe, maybe a little banged up beauties.

Purchase an all butter frozen puff pastry like Dufour brand. Let it warm up a little from frozen, but not too soft.

Open the rectangle of dough and pull outward and up on the edges to create a little bit of a lip on the edge. Poke the inner part of the dough (not the lip) with a fork.

Slice the tomatoes thinly and layer them over the surface of the dough in a fish scale type pattern. Drizzle the tomatoes with olive oil and sprinkle some fresh herbs over the top such as basil or thyme.

Place into a 450 degree oven for approximately 15 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.

Another tasty addition to this is to add fresh goat cheese either before cooking, or serve with a slice after. Serve with some nicely dressed fresh greens.

Olivia’s Kitchen : Spice Roasted Delicate Squash with Pepita Vinaigrette and Dried Cranberries

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preheat oven to 400 degrees

3 Delicata Squashes

2 tablespoons of brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1 clove of garlic, minced

2 tablespoons of olive oil

Salt and Pepper

Pepita Vinaigrette

1/4 cup of toasted pepitas

2 teaspoons of ground turmeric

1 clove of garlic

1/8 cup of champagne Vinegar

1/4 cup olive oil

Salt and Pepper

1/4 cup of Dried Cranberries

Slice the delicata squash into one inch thick slices and use a spoon to scrape out the seeds.  Combine the sugar, spices, olive oil, garlic together.  Toss the squash with the spice mixture and spread out on a sheet pan.  Place in oven and roast until browned, approximately  15-20 minutes.

For the vinaigrette, combine all the ingredients in a container and use a hand held blender to puree all of it, (or use a food processor or regular blender)

To serve place squash on a platter, drizzle with vinaigrette and sprinkle with the dried cranberries.

Olivia’s Kitchen: Hibiscus Margarita

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I love a good Margarita.  The drink gets a bad rap because the standard chain restaurant recipe can be so sugary and high calorie but a well made one is simple and uses only fresh juice and a small amount of sweetener.  This hibiscus one is my new favorite.  Aside from a delicious flavor, the color is incredibly dark and beautiful.  The hibiscus syrup supplies all the sweetness and flavor needed.

 

Hibiscus Margarita

Hibiscus Syrup

(hibiscus leaves or tea, sugar, water)

100% Agave Silver Tequila

Lime

Orange

To make a hibiscus syrup make a strong tea of hibiscus leaves in 8oz of water.  Add in 1 cup of sugar and gently heat until the sugar is completely dissolved.

In a shaker- fill with ice.  Add 4 tablespoons of tequila, a squeeze of fresh lime, and squeeze of fresh orange juice, 1/4 cup of the hibiscus syrup and shake very well.  It can be served straight up by straining or over ice.  

The hibiscus syrup also makes a delicious non alcoholic drink by simply adding seltzer and a squeeze of lime.

Olivia’s Kitchen: Easy, Delicious Homemade Flat Bread Sandwich

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It may sound intimidating to make your own flat bread but this recipe is actually incredibly simple and has a big pay off.  The recipe below is for a vegetarian version of a sandwich, but you can add some chicken or lamb with it for other delicious options.

 

 

 

 

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups of Flour

2 teaspoons of Baking Powder

1/4 teaspoon of Salt

1 1/4 cups of Whole Milk Greek Yogurt (it’s important to use full fat)

2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil

One medium Zucchini

One small Eggplant

One Red Bell Pepper

One Yellow Squash

Two Tablespoons of Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

One Clove of Garlic

4-6 large leaves of Fresh Basil

Hummus

 

Recipe

Place the flour, baking powder, salt and yogurt in a large bowl and mix with a rubber spatula until a moist, shaggy dough forms. Dust a work surface with flour. Transfer the dough onto the work surface, sprinkle with more flour, and knead until smooth, 8 to 10 kneads.Divide the dough into 4 portions and roll each into a ball about 3 inches wide. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest for 20 minutes. Heat a griddle, grill pan, 12-inch cast iron skillet, or nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat until a drop of water immediately sizzles on contact. Meanwhile, roll out the dough.Generously dust a work surface and rolling pin with flour. Roll 1 ball of dough into a 9-inch round about 1/8-inch thick, dusting with more flour as needed to prevent sticking.Brush the pan with a thin layer of oil or use a paper towel to coat the pan with a thin layer of oil. Place the flatbread in the pan and brush the top with a thin layer of oil. Cook until puffed and golden-brown in spots, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove to a cutting board.While the first flatbread is cooking, roll out the next ball of dough. Cook the remaining flatbreads, making sure to brush the pan and top of the flatbreads with oil each time.

Cut all the vegetable into thin (1/4 inch) thin slices.   Crush the garlic clove.  Toss the vegetables, garlic clove and some salt and pepper in a bowl with the olive oil.  Spread out in one layer on a sheet pan and place in a 400 degree oven and roast until browned, turning once.  Should take between 15 and 20 minutes.

To assemble the sandwich spread a generous layer of hummus on the flatbread.  Layer the roasted vegetables on the hummus and top with the fresh basil leaf.

Slope Survey: Olivia Williamson

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The Slope Survey returns for its 7th installment with Olivia Williamson, owner of Olivia Cooks For You, Personal Chef and Catering Services as well as Olivia’s Kitchen, a regular column in the Park Slope Reader. 

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What brought you to Park Slope? 

No surprises here.  We were starting to think about a starting a family and the 6th floor tenement studio in the East Village felt like not a great spot for it.  Plus, after  almost 25 years, I was wearing a little thin on the Manhattan pace and was excited to move to a more leafy and slower paced place.

 

What is your most memorable Park Slope moment?  

I don’t have just one, but I will say the group of friends and support I found after the birth of my first child I will never forget.

 

Describe your community superpower.  

I keep a close eye on new openings, restaurants and events so I’m great at making recommendations on these type of things.

 

If you could change one thing about the neighborhood, what would it be?  

I wish the commercial rents would come down so that more people have the opportunity to open small businesses.

 

What do you think Park Slope will look like in 10 years?

I think it will be pretty much the same.  It’s so well established now as the wonderful place for families that it is, and so close to the best park ever, I can’t see it changing too much.

 

What are you reading, would you recommend it?  

Ugh.  I haven’t read that much since the arrival of our very high energy 6 year old, but I did recently read Lincoln in the Bardo and loved it.

 

What is your greatest extravagance?  

Hah!  Restaurants, of course!

 

If you couldn’t live in Park Slope or in Brooklyn, where would you go?  

New Orleans.  I love the architecture and the energy.

 

Who is your hero, real or fictional?

Right now, it Jose Andres.  The work he is doing in Puerto Rico is nothing short of amazing.

 

Last Word, What’s is turning you on these days?

I’m going through a bit of a growing period with my business, which is exciting.

Olivia’s Kitchen: Comfort Chicken Stew

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As we move into the real heart of the cold and gray Winter months my thoughts turn to comfort foods. Nothing is more comforting than a rich creamy stew with nourishing vegetables. This recipe is simple, but rich, delicious and hearty. The rutabaga adds an unexpected element.

 

Ingredients

6 Chicken Thighs

1 leek

1/2 cup white wine one rutabega, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes

2 tablespoons of roughly chopped tarragon

8 ounces of cremini mushrooms, quartered one bunch of purple kale, chopped

1 cup heavy cream

Salt and pepper to taste

 

Recipe

In a dutch oven brown the chicken thighs and remove. Cook leek in dutch oven until beginning to soften and then pour in wine to deglaze the pot by stirring and scraping anything stuck to the pot. Add back in the chicken thighs and add just enough wine to reach half way up the thighs. Cover and cook over very low heat for one and a half hours. Remove chicken and add rutabega to the liquid in the pot and simmer until soft then add in the cream and kale and continue simmering to reduce liquid. Saute the mushrooms with a bit of butter until nicely browned. When the cooking liquid and rutabega and kale is reduced by half add back in the chicken, the mushrooms and the tarragon. Stir to combine and serve by itself , or oven rice or pasta.

 

Olivia’s Kitchen: Roasted Butternut Squash and Sage Lasagna

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I have no memory of where I got this recipe in the first place but I scribbled it on a piece of Japanese stationary at least 12 years ago and have tweaked it over the years to work perfectly for sweet shortcakes. Every time I look at that greasy beat up piece of paper I think “I gotta write that down somewhere where it can’t get lost”. So, now I am…

 

Recipe-

Roasted Butternut Squash and Sage Lasagna
Toss 3 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch pieces with a coating of olive oil and spread in single layer on a baking sheet.  Salt and pepper the squash and then roast at 400 degree oven until soft and golden.
Mash the cooked squash with a half cup of water and some freshly grated nutmeg
Mix 1 pound whole-milk ricotta cheese with 1 cup heavy cream, 2 large eggs and salt and pepper.
Using no boil lasagna sheets layer the squash mixture and ricotta in a baking dish.  The last layer should be a dry sheet of pasta.  Drizzle another 1/2 cup of heavy cream.  Place leaves of fresh sage on top of the cream and then sprinkle 1/2 pound of grated Parmesan over in an even layer
Bake in a 400 degree oven for 30-40 minutes or until bubbling and golden brown on top.

Olivia’s Kitchen: The Best Strawberry Shortcake

By Filed Under: Eat Local Tagged With: ,

I have no memory of where I got this recipe in the first place but I scribbled it on a piece of Japanese stationary at least 12 years ago and have tweaked it over the years to work perfectly for sweet shortcakes. Every time I look at that greasy beat up piece of paper I think “I gotta write that down somewhere where it can’t get lost”. So, now I am…

 

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup flour

4 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons cold butter

3/4 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon Vanilla

 

Fresh strawberries

Lemon

Sugar

 

Cream

Vanilla

Sugar

 

 

Recipe

In a bowl mix together the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Then cut in the cold butter, cut in to small pieces, either quickly with your fingers or a pastry cutter until it’s a course meal texture. In a measuring cup measure out the heavy cream and the add in the vanilla. Pout that mixture over the flour mix and quickly, with as few strokes and possible, combine the wet and dry ingredients. Using your hands at the end bring it all together in a ball and the flatten it out to about 1 1/2 inches thick. Cut into squares. 4 for very large cakes, 6 for medium, 8 small. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet, sprinkle a little more sugar on top and place in a 425 degree oven for 15-20 minutes. They should be golden brown on top. Slice up strawberries, squeeze a little lemon on them and add some sugar to taste for the filling. Make vanilla whipped cream. Once the shortcakes cool split them in half and put some strawberries inside and top with a healthy amount of whipped cream the replace the top. The dough part of this recipe also makes a phenomenal cobbler. Just mix cut up fruit with a couple tablespoons of corn star, sugar and a couple tablespoons of melted butter. Put in in a baking no dish and the crumble the dough over top. Bake at 400 for 1/2 hour or until the fruit mixture is bubbling and the dough is golden brown.

 

Blueberry & Lemon Buttermilk Cake with Caramelized Peaches and Whipped Cream Recipe

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One of my favorite memories growing up was my family’s annual camping trip to the Poconos in August. The highlight of the trip was hiking with my older sister through the woods and down to the lakeside where the blueberry bushes were laden with plump berries at their peak. We’d spend the afternoons getting lost in the thick going from one bush to another, picking until our gallon jugs were full and we were thoroughly exhausted from the heat and mosquito bites.

Gorging ourselves on handfuls of berries on the hike back was the immediate reward, but the ultimate payoff was waking up the next morning to our mother’s blueberry pancakes sizzling in a cast-iron pan on the campfire.

This summer nostalgia is recaptured in this recipe adapted from local personal chef, Olivia Williamson as a rustic buttermilk cake, brightened with lemon and complemented by grilled peaches—bringing those summer campfire flavors full circle.

To find the best summer fruit, head straight to any one of the local greenmarkets where bushels of peaches and cartons of blueberries are in abundance come August. Blueberries will not ripen after harvest, so be sure to look for cartons of dark, firm berries with no red tinges. Avoid ones with soft, watery, or moldy fruit. Ripe peaches should yield slightly to a gentle squeeze and have a delicate, flowery smell and skin without green patches or wrinkles. Peaches will continue to ripen after they are picked, so if you plan on making the recipe the same day, opt for the juiciest, as they will have the most sugar and caramelize the best.

Blueberry & Lemon Buttermilk Cake with Caramelized Peaches and Whipped Cream Recipe

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Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup sugar plus 1/4 cup for peaches
1 cup room temperature unsalted butter
4 large eggs
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
Zest of one lemon
Juice of two lemons
One pint of blueberries, cleaned
4 peaches
Whipped cream (optional)

For the Cake:
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Liberally grease a bundt pan with butter.
Beat sugar and butter in a standing mixer until light and creamy.
Add eggs one at a time to butter-sugar mixture, allowing each egg to incorporate completely before adding the next.
In a medium bowl, sift together dry ingredients.
In another medium bowl, combine the buttermilk, lemon juice, and zest.
Begin adding the dry and wet ingredients to the butter-sugar mixture, alternating 3 times until all are combined.
Gently fold in the blueberries by hand using a rubber spatula.
Pour batter in a bundt pan and bake at 350°F for 1 hour. The cake is done when a skewer comes out clean.

For the Grilled Peaches:
Clean and wedge the peaches and dust them in sugar. Slowly caramelize the peach segments on medium-high heat until browned to perfection. (Alternatively, you could grill the peaches over an open flame, using the same method.)

To Serve:
Once the cake has cooled, slice and serve with grilled peaches and a dollop of whipped cream.
Serves 8.