Country Fantasies

There has been talk at our house of late regarding the acquisition of a country house. A recent crush on a tiny, septic-less house on an adorable little property led to bucolic fantasies of collecting berries to sell at the market.

For now, I am content to forage in my backyard.

In the meantime, I turn to my Allison "Magnolia Bakery" Torrey cookbook to restock my mental lookbook of country living. The audaciously simple recipes have yielded not a few weeknight favorites. Check out the horseradish-crusted halibut: absurdly easy.


This time I turned to one of the many dishes that are so simple and obvious as to inspire indignation this woman was paid to type it into a "recipe" and yet, once you have tasted it, can't believe you didn't put it together yourself. Whole grilled chicken, a pretty little caprese with backyard basil, some tea lights on the back porch, and who needs the country?

And, just to assuage any lingering wishes for a life as professional berry farmers:


Backyard-grown blueberries with fresh cherries brushed with homegrown lavender syrup, topped with vanilla ice cream and shaved chocolate!


Lavender Syrup
(taken from Summer Fruit Tart with Lavender Syrup Recipe from Martha Stewart Baking Handbook)

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup lossely packed fresh lavender leaves (0r dried organic lavender)
1 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

In a small saucepan, combine sugar witha 1/4 cup water, lavender, and lemon juice. Bring mixture to a boil, then turn off heat. Set aside to steep, covered, for 20 minutes. Strain syrup into a bowl and set aside to cool.




Red Potato, Haricot Vert, and Cherry Tomato Salad
(from At Home with Magnolia)

1 lb. small red-skinned potatoes, uneeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/3 lb. haricot verts, trimmed
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
5 tbsp. mayonnaise
1 tbsp. tarragon vinegar
1 tbsp. white wine
2 tsp. white wine
2tsp. Dijon
1tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Put the potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with cold water by about 1 inch. Bring to a boil, cover the pot partially, and lower the heat to maintain a steady simmer. Cook until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork, about 10 minutes. Drain the potatoes in a colander, and allow to come to lukewarm temperature.

Bring a large saucepan of cold water to a boil. Add the beans and cook until crisp-tender, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat, drain, and rinse under cold water,

In a large bowl, comine the potatoes, beans, tomatoes, and red onion. In a separate small bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients and toss with the potato mixture until well blended. This salad is best served at room temperature.