At the Alexandria Markets: We’ve returned to our Alexandria farmers markets after our recent travels, and witnessed that unequivocal sign of seasons changing from summer to fall in the peaches and tomatoes being nudged out by apples, pears, and early winter squash. Now I don’t know if there’s some sort of zucchini shortage in Northern Virginia, but we’ve received none from our CSA this year and I only spotted a few giant ones at the West End market. Has there been some sort of run on zucchini by crazed zucchini bread addicts? (By the way, if you haven’t been to West End lately, you’re missing out on some wonderful authentic Mexican tamales from Alma at Westmoreland Berry Farm.)

At any rate, we received word from our CSA that their tomatoes have begun to show signs of early blight (not the late blight you’ve heard so much about), so I set about to make sure we enjoyed the ones we got to the fullest. After our tomato jam experience (kudos to Jennifer for winning the food52 best preserves contest with her recipe!), the boy comes running to get his knife whenever he sees me dicing tomatoes. He even overcame his fear of the blender to help me make this super simple gazpacho. With all due to respect to José Andrés, who makes the best restaurant gazpacho in town, this recipe is even simpler with just six ingredients, tasting pretty much like, well, a pulverized tomato. Ironically the boy liked it even though he refuses to eat fresh tomatoes. Be sure to use good quality extra virgin olive oil — preferably from Spain, of course.

Recipe: Simple Tomato Gazpacho (kid-friendly instructions)

Ingredients:

• About 2 pounds very ripe tomatoes, diced
• 2 slices white/Italian bread, crusts removed and cubed
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled
• 2 tablespoons sherry or white balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• generous pinch of sea salt

Instructions:

1. Using a kid-safe knife, assist child in cutting tomato and bread into pieces.

2. Place tomatoes, bread, garlic, vinegar, salt and 1/4 cup oil in blender. Cover and blend for 1 minute.

3. Add additional olive oil as needed, blending after each addition, to reach a smooth consistency. Chill for at least 30 minutes, then serve with an extra drizzle of oil to garnish. (Use basil oil for extra oomph.)

Bonus Foodie Tot Video! This was a totally unscripted, impromptu video shot by the husband so please disregard the messy counter and, uh, my lack of make-up. (And no, Seventh Generation did not provide compensation for the product placement, but clearly we should buy stock or something. ) Anyway, enjoy!

Foodie Tot cooks gazpacho from Colleen Levine on Vimeo.

A Southern Cherry Cobbler Recipe: The sour cherries we bought from Toigo last weekend went into a July 4th cobbler. I started with a recipe from 101 Cookbooks, the wonderful blog whose author is also responsible for the “Super Natural Recipe Search” button you may have noticed over on my left sidebar. I made a few additions — bourbon and corn meal — for a Southern twist. And the boy gets the credit for the blueberry polka dots, his contribution to create the requisite red, white and blue color scheme.

The corn meal, which is actual organic, local corn meal grown on Maryland’s Eastern Shore and milled once a month at the Historic Wye Mill, is a fairly course grind so I pulsed it in a food processor with a pinch of tapioca starch to make more of a corn flour. I found the bourbon flavor more pronounced the next day, and you can certainly omit the bourbon for a more sober dessert.

Recipe: Bourbon Cherry Cobbler
adapted from 101 Cookbooks

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups sour cherries, pitted
• 1/4 cup raw sugar
• 2 tablespoons bourbon
• 1 tablespoon tapioca starch (or organic corn starch)
• 1/3 cup corn meal, finely ground
• 3/4 cup unbleached flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 cup raw sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup organic buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon fair-trade bourbon vanilla
• 3 tablespoons organic butter, melted and cooled

Instructions: Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Butter a 9-inch pie pan and set aside. Gently toss together cherries, bourbon, starch and sugar in a bowl and set aside. Whisk together remaining dry ingredients. Separately, gently beat egg and combine with vanilla, buttermilk and butter. Stir into dry ingredients until just combined. Pour cherries into pie pan and dot with dollops of batter by the tablespoon, leaving a few gaps in between. (Optional, dot topping with blueberries or additional cherries.) Bake 20-22 minutes, until cherry liquid bubbles up and topping is lightly golden. Enjoy!

Farms of Origin: Toigo Orchard, PA (cherries), Westmoreland Berry Farms, VA (blueberries, hand-picked), Wye Mill, MD (organic corn meal), and a local egg from Tom the Cheese Guy, PA.

Heart-shaped pancakes are something of a Valentine’s tradition in the FoodieTots’ home. I’ve been experimenting with a banana bran batter that provides a fiber boost while staying light and fluffy. The toddler loves to help make pancakes and as you can see, was quite pleased with this recipe. Best served with fresh fruit and topped with a little pure maple syrup, of course. Happy Valentine’s Day to you & your family!

Recipe: Banana Oat Bran Pancakes

Ingredients:

• 1 mashed banana
• 1 egg
• 2/3 c buttermilk
• 1 tablespoon agave syrup
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup oat bran
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• pinch nutmeg

Instructions: Mix all ingredients in large mixing bowl until just combined. Cook in cast iron skillet over medium low heat until golden and puffy. Makes 8-12, depending on size. Enjoy!

We were invited to a toddler pre-game playdate on Super Bowl Sunday and brought these mini cupcakes. The bananas added enough sweetness that I was able to reduce the sugar in the recipe by half; the frosting of course more than compensates for the not-too-sweet cake. I called it Nutella frosting, but I actually used an organic chocolate hazelnut spread from Whole Foods.

Banana (Mini) Cupcake Recipe
From The Cupcake Project

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup sugar (I used 1/2 cup raw sugar)
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 bananas

Instructions: Cream butter and sugar in mixing bowl. Mix in eggs one at a time until incorporated. Add sour cream, flour and baking soda and mix just until ingredients are combined. Add vanilla and mashed bananas and mix until smooth. Drop batter by tablespoons into lined mini cupcake tin. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean, but be sure to remove before they start to turn brown. (For full-size cupcakes, bake 20 minutes.)

Chocolate Hazelnut Frosting

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup chocolate hazelnut spread, melted
• 1 pound confectioners sugar
• 2-3 tablespoons milk, additional as needed

Instructions: Combine all ingredients in mixing bowl and mix until smooth. Add additional milk as needed to reach spreadable consistency. Frost cupcakes and top with banana or chocolate flavored jelly beans. Enjoy!

It’s no secret that tapas are one of my favorite foods and Jaleo, the first outpost of gregarious local chef Jose Andres’ growing empire is my favorite local restaurant. When you think about it, tapas (“little plates”) are really the ideal toddler-friendly meal, with small portions, varied colors and textures that catch their eye without being intimidating.

I recently posed a question to Chef Andres via the PBS Engage blog‘s “Five Good Questions” feature (a great read, by the way).

I am a long-time fan and Jaleo was one of the first restaurants we took my son out to eat in. He was a big fan of the (original) patatas bravas. I know you have young children too so I’m curious what their favorite tapas recipes are? –Colleen

My girls love croquetas! I think all children do. Crisp on the outside and creamy on the inside. They also love pan con tomate, the classic Catalan tomato toast. Many parents tell me that their children love tapas. They love the little plates and the fact that they don’t have to make up their mind and can try a little bit of everything. I think it also reflects the pure straightforward nature of Spanish cooking. Children respond to the pure flavors of dishes where ingredients speak for themselves. – Jose Andres

For our Los Reyes feast this week, I made the croquetas from Andres’ previous cookbook, Tapas: A Taste of Spain in America. The book includes all our favorites from the restaurant and is a great introduction to traditional Spanish flavors. (I don’t have his newest book, Made in Spain, yet, but it has even more inspiring recipes.) These croquetas are a fried, meat-filled (chicken and serrano ham) bechamel sauce, and while I added some finely chopped red peppers, they are still not exactly a healthy dish. But, as an occasional alternative to chicken nuggets (which the toddler thought they were, at first), these are a great treat. There’s not too much toddlers can do to help prepare this recipe, unless you put them to work rolling the dough into little logs. Of course, be sure to distract them away from the kitchen when you begin the frying.

Along with the croquetas, I adapted another Andres recipe for cider-braised chorizo, using a fresh non-alcoholic cider and adding carrots and garbanzo beans to make a main-dish stew. The toddler loves eating sausage with toothpicks, so this was designed especially for him. It would work for younger kids learning to eat with their fingers, too. Just use a mild chorizo or even a sweet Italian sausage if your little ones aren’t ready for the spicier ones. And we rounded out the dinner with a red pepper and orange salad and some citrus roasted olives. (My toddler actually hates olives, because he always thinks they are grapes and is then greatly disappointed by the salty taste. I’m sure he’ll come around eventually.)

Recipe: Cider Chorizo Bean Stew
Adapted from Jose Andres

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces chorizo, cut into 1/2-inch slices (or milder sausage)
• 2 cups apple cider
• 2 carrots, cut in thick slices
• 1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
• fresh parsley, optional

Instructions: In a medium saute pan, brown chorizo over medium high heat for a 2-3 minutes. Add carrots and beans, cook 1 minute. Pour in apple cider and bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 40 minutes, until cider reduces and becomes syrupy. Top with a little fresh parsley and serve with crusty bread to sop up the juices. Makes 4 servings. Enjoy!

Update: Jose Andres cooked some recipes from Made in Spain on Martha this morning.