Tuesday, June 17, 2008
7 Layer Bean Dip Recipe
Refried beans should not be eaten cold.
There, I've said it. I don't usually put my foot down about food preferences, but cold refried beans are about as appealing as a cold hamburger. This is why I make 7-layer dip starting with a layer of hot refried beans. Shredded cheese is added directly to the top of the beans so it melts from the heat of the beans. Then the layers of tomato, avocado, olives, and chilies, onions (mostly room temp) are added. The only cold part of the dip is the topping of sour cream (or crema Mexicana). Served this way and the taste delightfully mimics tostadas or homemade nachos, but in an easy-to-serve dip form.
7 Layer Bean Dip Recipe
- 1 teaspoon (or more) of bacon fat (or 1 strip of bacon, cooked and minced) optional
- 1 teaspoon of chipotle powder, Tabasco chipotle sauce, or adobo sauce, more to taste (or plain chili powder to taste)
- 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- Salt
- 1 cup shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese
- 1/4 cup chopped green Anaheim chiles (canned) OR a Tbsp of chopped pickled jalapenos (more to taste)
- 1 hot house tomato, cut in half horizontally, seeds and juice gently squeezed out and discarded, chopped
- 1/2 small can of sliced ripe black olives
Method
1 Heat the refried beans in a medium sauté pan or cast iron skillet. Stir in enough water to get a creamy, easily dip-able consistency, about 1/4 of a cup. The taste of refried beans is greatly enhanced by bacon fat; we'll add a teaspoon to canned beans or a tablespoon or more to taste if we are making the beans from scratch. If you don't have bacon fat, you can cook up a strip of bacon, chop it up fine and add that to the beans. If you are trying to avoid pork, note that most canned refried beans are made with added lard, so check the ingredients. You can use olive oil instead, to help the consistency of the beans.
Mix in the chipotle chili powder (or Tabasco, or adobo, or regular chili powder) and cumin to taste. Note that the avocados and the sour cream will cool down the spiciness of the beans considerably, so you can afford to be a bit more spicy than you might think. Stir in salt to taste, depending on how salted your refried beans are to begin with, and depending on how salty the tortilla chips are that you are serving with the dip.
2 Once the beans are hot and bubbly, spread them over the bottom of a warmed serving dish. Immediately add the shredded cheese so that the heat from the beans helps melt the cheese. (The cheese doesn't need to be completely melted, but even if it is just a little, it will help the dip stay on the chip.)
3 Layer on the chopped green chilies, chopped avocado, chopped tomato. Spoon on the sour cream (or crema Mexicana, crema fresca, or even cream fraiche). Top with sliced green onions and olives.
Serve immediately with tortilla chips.
Serves 8.
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Baked Brie Recipe
Filed under Appetizer, Quick
Brie wrapped in pastry and baked until it has thoroughly melted inside is one of the world's easiest yet tastiest appetizers. In this recipe the brie is topped with raspberry jam, surrounded with pastry and drizzled with maple syrup.
Baked Brie Recipe
Can be prepared in 30 minutes or less.
Ingredients
- 1 large sheet of puff pastry dough or 1 tube of refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
- 1 round or wedge of Brie cheese
- Raspberry Jam, or other sweet jam
- Brown sugar
- 1/4 cup of maple syrup
Method
2 On a stick-free cookie sheet, lay out the puff pastry or the crescent rolls flat; put brie round or wedge on top.
3 Spread jam on brie, fold dough over top. Drizzle maple syrup and place a handful of brown sugar on top.
4 Bake at 350º for 25 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Serve with crackers and apple slices.
Bruschetta with Tomato and Basil Recipe
Filed under Appetizer, Quick, Seasonal Favorites: Summer, Vegetarian
Ah, the bounty of summer. Italian bruschetta (pronounced "brusketta") is a wonderful way to capture the flavors of ripe summer tomatoes, fresh garden basil, and garlic. I had this the other night at my friend Suzanne's house where her friend Dee explained how to make it (thanks Dee!). I customized the recipe to my own taste (isn't that almost always the case?) and used plum tomatoes and chopped them by hand, rather than in a food processor. My family enjoyed this batch for lunch, along with some cottage cheese.
Bruschetta with Tomato and Basil Recipe
- 6 or 7 ripe plum tomatoes (about 1 1/2 lbs)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
- 6-8 fresh basil leaves, chopped.
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 baguette French bread or similar Italian bread
- 1/4 cup olive oil
Method
1 Prepare the tomatoes first. Parboil the tomatoes for one minute in boiling water that has just been removed from the burner. Drain. Using a sharp small knife, remove the skins of the tomatoes. (If the tomatoes are too hot, you can protect your finger tips by rubbing them with an ice cube between tomatoes.) Once the tomatoes are peeled, cut them in halves or quarters and remove the seeds and juice from their centers. Also cut out and discard the stem area. Why use plum tomatoes instead of regular tomatoes? The skins are much thicker and there are fewer seeds and less juice.
2 Make sure there is a top rack in place in your oven. Turn on the oven to 450°F to preheat.
3 While the oven is heating, chop up the tomatoes finely. Put tomatoes, garlic, 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, vinegar in a bowl and mix. Add the chopped basil. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4 Slice the baguette on a diagonal about 1/2 inch thick slices. Coat one side of each slice with olive oil using a pastry brush. Place on a cooking sheet, olive oil side down. You will want to toast them in the top rack in your oven, so you may need to do these in batches depending on the size of your oven. Once the oven has reached 450°F, place a tray of bread slices in the oven on the top rack. Toast for 5-6 minutes, until the bread just begins to turn golden brown.
Alternatively, you can toast the bread without coating it in olive oil first. Toast on a griddle for 1 minute on each side. Take a sharp knife and score each slice 3 times. Rub some garlic in the slices and drizzle half a teaspoon of olive oil on each slice. This is the more traditional method of making bruschetta.
5 Align the bread on a serving platter, olive oil side up. Either place the tomato topping in a bowl separately with a spoon for people to serve themselves over the bread, or place some topping on each slice of bread and serve. If you top each slice with the tomatoes, do it right before serving or the bread may get soggy.
Makes 24 small slices. Serves 6-10 as an appetizer. Or 3-4 for lunch (delicious served with cottage cheese on the side.)
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Buffalo Wings Recipe
Filed under Appetizer, Chicken, Low Carb, Wheat-free
Football (American) championship season. Sports bars, beer, and spicy things that make you want to drink more beer. Darts, pool, loud conversation, an either ill-spent or well-spent youth, depending on your perspective. Once in my early twenties I happened to be in Buffalo, New York for a wedding of a dear friend. On our site-seeing day the gang of us revelers happened to drive right by the Anchor Bar, home of the "Original Buffalo Chicken Wings". Did you know that Buffalo wings are so called because they were first invented in Buffalo, NY? I didn't, and it had always been one of those oddities that gnawed at the back of my brain during these beer filled nights. In San Francisco we had Tommy's Buffalo Burgers made with real buffalo meat. But buffalo wings? Hah! Mystery solved.
Buffalo wings are traditionally deep fried. But we don't have a deep fryer here at home, nor do I intend to risk my kitchen to cobble together one (once you've had one kitchen fire you don't want to repeat the experience.) So, this recipe calls for broiling the wings after they've been marinating in a spicy sauce.
Buffalo Wings Recipe
Ingredients
Wings
- 2 lbs chicken wings (about 12 wings)
- 3 Tbsp butter, melted
- 4 Tbsp bottled hot pepper sauce (like Crystal or Frank's Original)
- 1 Tbsp paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Blue cheese dip
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1 Tbsp white wine vinegar or white vinegar
- 1 clove garlic, minced
Wings
1 Cut off wing tips (discard or reserve for other use such as making stock). Cut wings at the joint. Put chicken wing pieces in a plastic bag. Set aside. Food safety note: when cutting raw chicken it is best to use a cutting board reserved just for cutting raw chicken. Wash thoroughly when finished. Do not let raw chicken juices come in contact with other food.
2 Create a marinade by stirring together the melted butter, hot pepper sauce, paprika, salt, cayenne pepper and black pepper. Pour all but 2 tablespoons of the marinade over the chicken pieces in the plastic bag. (Reserve marinade for coating after the pieces come out of the oven.) Seal bag and let marinate at room temperature for half an hour. When marinating is finished, drain marinade and discard bag.
3 Place wing pieces on the rack of a broiler pan. Broil 4 to 5 inches from the heat for about 10 minutes on each side, until chicken is tender and no longer pink. Remove from oven and baste with reserved marinade.
Serve with Blue Cheese Dip and celery sticks. Makes approximately 24 pieces (about 12 appetizer servings).
Blue cheese dip
Combine dip ingredients - sour cream, mayonnaise, blue cheese, vinegar, and garlic - in a blender or food processor. Blend or pulse until smooth. Cover and chill up to a week.
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Ceviche Recipe
Filed under Appetizer, Low Carb, Mexican and Tex Mex, Seafood, Seasonal Favorites: Summer, Wheat-free
The first time I made ceviche, I was amazed. I could actually see the lemon and lime juice turning the color of the fish from translucent pink to opaque white. The acid from the limes and lemons change the structure of the proteins in the fish, essentially "cooking" the fish without using heat. I love ceviche rolled up in a freshly cooked, still warm corn tortilla with lettuce and salsa.
Ceviche Recipe
Preparation time: 15 minutes to prepare, 6 hours to let sit.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs of firm, fresh red snapper fillets, cut into 1/2 inch pieces, completely deboned
- 1/2 cup of fresh squeezed lime juice
- 1/2 cup of fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 1/2 purple onion, finely diced
- 1 cup of fresh peeled, seeded, and chopped tomatoes
- 1 serrano chili, seeded and finely diced
- 2 teaspoons of salt
- dash of ground oregano
- dash of Tabasco or a few grains of cayenne pepper
Avocado
Tortillas or tortilla chips
Method
1 In a non-reactive casserole dish, either Pyrex or ceramic, place the fish, onion, tomatoes, chili, salt, Tabasco, and oregano. Cover with lime and lemon juice. Let sit covered in the refrigerator for an hour, then stir, making sure more of the fish gets exposed to the acidic lime and lemon juices. Let sit for several hours, giving time for the flavors to blend.
2 Serve with chopped cilantro and slices of avocado with heated tortillas for ceviche tacos or with tortilla chips.
Optional: Can use shrimp and or scallops as a substitute for some of the fish. Can use a firm cod in place of the red snapper.
Cheesy Bread Recipe
Filed under Appetizer, Cheese, Comfort Food, Quick, Vegetarian
My friend Michelle loves to throw big parties, with plenty of food and plenty of friends. I think it must be the large Italian family thing, one is never at a loss for food or great company at her house. One of my favorite dishes that usually makes an appearance at Michelle's is this "cheesy bread", a sort of cross between garlic bread and pizza. It's a great way to help feed a lot of hungry people, and easy to pull together, even at the last minute. Big thanks to Michelle, who tracked the recipe down from her friend Mark, who is happy to share it with us.
Cheesy Bread Recipe
- Ingredients
- 8 oz shredded Mozzarella cheese
- 1 lb shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 1/2 to 1 cup chopped green onion (to taste)
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 2 Tbsp sour cream (optional)
- 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 stick unsalted butter (1/2 cup, 4 ounces), softened to the point of being slightly melted
- 1 to 2 loaves of French or Italian bread (I used Ciabatta), depending on the size of the loaves
Method
1 In a large bowl, mix together the cheeses and the green onion. Stir in the mayonnaise and sour cream. In a separate small bowl blend the butter and garlic until smooth. Add the butter mixture to the cheese mixture.
2 Preheat broiler. Slice loaf of bread in half horizontally, lay crust side down. Spread cheese mixture over the bread. Place under the broiler until nicely browned, about 3 to 5 minutes.
3 Remove from broiler and let sit for 5 minutes until cool enough to handle. Slice the bread with a bread knife. Serve.
Makes 30 to 40 slices.
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Chipotle Lime Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp Recipe
Filed under Appetizer, Low Carb, Seafood, Wheat-free
When I put the call out a few weeks ago for July 4th grilling suggestions, Simply Recipes reader Chuck mentioned bacon-wrapped shrimp. I'm sure this is a standard fare for many of you, but I can't remember ever eating bacon-wrapped shrimp, let alone making it. But boy, it sounds good, doesn't it? Wonderfully indulgent. You actually don't need anything beyond some good quality jumbo shrimp and bacon; they were perfectly delicious paired on their own the first time I made them. That said, dressing them up a bit with some lime juice and chipotle seasoning adds some fun layers of flavor.
Chipotle Lime Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp Recipe
Ingredients
- 12 large, raw, peeled and deveined shrimp
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- Zest from 1 lime
- Juice from one lime (about 2 Tbsp)
- 1/4 teaspoon chipotle powder (or more to taste)
- 6 strips thin bacon, cut in half (12 pieces)
- Skewers (for grilling) or toothpicks (for oven)
Method
1 Mix together in a small bowl the lime zest, lime juice, olive oil, and chipotle powder. Put the shrimp in the lime chipotle mixture; make sure each piece is well coated.
2 Spread the bacon pieces out over several layers of paper towels on a microwave-safe plate. Cover with another layer of paper towel. Microwave on high until the bacon fat begins to melt but the bacon is still pliable, about 1 1/2 minutes.
3 Prepare grill on high, direct heat (if grilling) or preheat the oven to 450°F.
4 Working one at a time, wrap a half piece of microwaved bacon around each piece of shrimp. If you are grilling, thread the shrimp onto long, flat skewers (flat skewers make turning the shrimp on the grill easier). If you don't have flat skewers, I've used two thin bamboo skewers (soaked in water for 30 minutes beforehand) to the same effect. If you are using the oven, secure each the bacon onto the shrimp with toothpicks. Place the bacon-wrapped shrimp on a slotted baking pan (lined with foil inside for easy cleaning). Brush remaining lime chipotle mixture on the outside of the bacon-wrapped shrimp.
5 Grill uncovered for 5 to 7 minutes on each side, or bake in the oven for 10-14 minutes, until shrimp is pink and the bacon is crisp.
Makes 12 pieces.
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Crab Dip Recipe 
Filed under Appetizer, Low Carb, Seafood, Wheat-free
Winter is fresh crab season here in Northern California. When our local Whole Foods gets in a shipment, we're first in line for the biggest (anything greater than 2 lbs) fresh, cooked crabs, already cleaned and broken. Dad calls it "nature's fast food". We've been known to go through a couple 2 pounders just for lunch. Note that as with all seafood, the crab's freshness is imperative. I had to take one back to WF a few weeks ago, because it just wasn't edible. My bad, I forgot to check. Although your fish monger should be checking before handing it over to you, you really do need to inspect it before paying for it and taking it home. The best way to test is to smell. If it smells too fishy, not good. What to do with leftover crab meat when your eye is hungrier than your stomach? Mix it into a fresh crab dip, refrigerate it overnight and eat it the next day. If you are no where near a place that sells good, fresh crab, you can of course use canned crab. Trader Joe's has a good product. I've also mixed this dip up with pasta for a lovely crab pasta salad. Yum!
Crab Dip Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 cup cooked crab meat
- 2 Tbsp minced shallots (or green onions or red onions)
- 1/2 teaspoon dried dill or 1 1/2 teaspoon fresh dill
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon of white wine vinegar or 1 1/2 teaspoons of dry white wine
- 1/2 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce
- Salt and pepper
Method
Combine mayonnaise, sour cream, shallots, dill, lemon zest, lemon juice, white wine vinegar, and Worcestershire sauce in a bowl. Fold in the crab meat. Salt and pepper to taste. Chill for 2 hours or overnight. Serve with crackers or carrots and celery.
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Crab Mango and Avocado Salad Recipe
Filed under Appetizer, Breakfast and Brunch, Low Carb, Salad, Seafood, Seasonal Favorites: Spring, Wheat-free
I first encountered a crab mango salad at Fringale, the exquisite French-Basque restaurant on 4th St. in San Francisco. Recently at a restaurant in LA I had another delicious crab mango salad, this time with avocado and surrounded by peeled ruby red grapefruit sections. I've been dreaming about it ever since. Scouring the Internet I came up with several recipes and decided to create my own from the ideas of several. It turned out delicous, though my grapefruit sections fell apart completely and ended up being too much of a bother to include with the salad this time.
Crab Mango and Avocado Salad Recipe
IngredientsFor the sauce:
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 ripe mango, peeled, pitted and diced
- 1/4 cup of water
- 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- For the salad: 1 lb of fresh lump Dungeness crabmeat, picked through to remove the small pieces of shell or cartilage
- 1 1/2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
- 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 Tbsp cilantro leaves, finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons mint leaves, finely chopped
- 1 Tbsp minced shallot or purple onion
- 1 medium sized mango, peeled, pitted, and diced (See How to Cut a Mango)
- 1 firm but ripe avocado, pitted, peeled, and diced
- Tabasco sauce
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Optional: ruby red grapefruit sections, peeled
Method
Sauce directions:
Heat the olive oil in a small pan over medium heat. Add the mango, season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, for about 3 minutes until the fruit is very tender. Add water, bring to a boil and remove from heat. Stir in lemon juice. Pour the mixture into a blender and purée until smooth. Chill.
Alternatively, if you are pressed for time, put all of the sauce ingredients into a blender and purée.
Crab salad directions:
In a bowl add the crab meat, 2 tsp of the cilantro, 1 tsp of the mint, the chopped shallot, a Tbsp of lime juice, 2 Tbsp of olive oil, 10 drops of Tabasco sauce, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix carefully with a fork, to avoid breaking up the larger lumps of crab meat. Set aside.
In a separate bowl add the mango, avocado, 1 Tbsp olive oil, 1/2 Tbsp of lime juice, the remaining cilantro and mint leaves, 10 drops of Tabasco, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix gently with a spoon, taking care not to mush the avocado pieces.
Using small tureens or desert bowls for individual molds, layer the crab mixture and the mango avocado mixture. It doesn't really matter which you layer first. In the photo above I've layered the mango avocado mixture first. Chill in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours.
When you are ready to serve, gently remove the salads from the molds onto individual plates. Serve the sauce on the side. Garnish with cilantro leaves. For a tasty added touch if you have them, arrange peeled sections of ruby red grapefruit around the salads. The grapefruit provides a flavorful complement to the crab salad.
Serves 4.
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Dad's English Muffin Pizzas Recipe
Filed under Appetizer, Quick
Back in 7th grade home-economics, the cooking segment consisted of learning how to make pizza with English muffins, some spaghetti sauce, a little cheese and a toaster oven.
Relax. These aren't those pizzas. These are cool, a little fancy, English muffin pizzas. When my father came home with a bag of English muffins announcing that he was going to make pizzas with them, I sort of rolled my eyes and stepped away. (Okay, dad, whatever you want.) But when the aroma of caramelizing onions, ham, bubbling Mozzarella wafted through the house, I got my plate ready. We'll be having these again soon.
Dad's English Muffin Pizzas Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 muffin halves (want to make your own English muffins? here's how)
- 1 cup grated Mozzarella cheese, packed
- 1 Tbsp butter1 medium onion, sliced thin
- 3/4 cup diced ham
- A pinch of chopped fresh sage
- 1/4 teaspoon stoneground mustard
Optional: A few slices of fresh tomato
Method
1 Preheat oven to 425°F.
2 Melt butter in a medium skillet on medium high heat. Add the onions and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the diced ham, cook 5 minutes more. Mix in the sage and mustard. Remove from heat.
3 Put muffin halves, open side up on a sturdy baking pan. Distribute the cheese evenly, sprinkling over the muffin halves. Put the onion ham mixture on top of the cheese. If you want to use tomato slices, layer them between the cheese and onion mixture.
4 Bake at 425°F for 8-9 minutes, until the muffins and toppings are nicely browned, but not burnt. Cut into quarters for appetizers or just leave whole for a meal or snack.
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Deviled Eggs Recipe
Filed under Appetizer, Egg, Low Carb, Quick, Seasonal Favorites: Spring, Seasonal Favorites: Summer, Wheat-free
Deviled eggs. Easter egg hunts and summer picnic potlucks. I have been known to devour a dozen of these in one sitting. These were quick and easy. If you want them to be a little prettier, put the egg filling into a freezer bag, make a cut off of one corner of the bag, and pipe them into the egg white halves.
What follows is a basic recipe, though there are so many wonderful variations you can make. See the comments for some great ideas submitted by Simply Recipes readers. Do you have a favorite deviled egg recipe? If so, please add yours in the comments.
Deviled Eggs Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 dozen eggs
- 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise
- 1 Tbsp minced onion or shallot
- 1/4 teaspoon tabasco
- Salt and pepper
- Paprika
Method
1 First hard boil the eggs. (See how to make hard boiled eggs.) Fill up a large saucepan half-way with water and gently add the eggs. Cover the eggs with at least an inch of water. Add a teaspoon of vinegar to the water (this will help contain egg whites from leaking out if any of the shells crack while cooking). Add a pinch of salt to the water. Bring the water to a boil. Cover, and remove from heat. Let sit covered for 12-15 minutes. Drain hot water from pan and run cold water over the eggs. (At this point if you crack the egg shells while the eggs are cooling, it will make it easier to peel the shells.) Let sit in the cool water a few minutes, changing the water if necessary to keep it cool.
2 Peel the eggs. Using a sharp knife, slice each egg in half, lengthwise. Gently remove the yolk halves and place in a small mixing bowl. Arrange the egg white halves on a serving platter.
3 Using a fork, mash up the yolks and add mustard, mayonnaise, onion, tabasco, and a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Spoon egg yolk mixture into the egg white halves. Sprinkle with paprika.
Makes 2 dozen deviled eggs.
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Eggplant Dip (Baba Ghanouj) Recipe
Filed under Appetizer, Vegetable, Vegetarian, Wheat-free
Here in the San Joaquin Valley, the eggplant season is in full swing. At our local farmers market last weekend one could find eggplants of every variety - globe, Japanese, striped, white, even eggplants that looked like tomatoes. I have a couple still on the vine, after picking the one used for this recipe that was just begging to be eaten. Here is a wonderful recipe for baba ghanouj (also spelled baba ghanoush) a middle eastern eggplant dip. It is typically served with pita bread. The recipe comes from Field of Greens, the cookbook from the beautiful vegetarian restaurant Greens at Fort Mason in San Francisco.
Eggplant Dip (Baba Ghanouj) Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 globe eggplants (about 2 lbs)
- 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 Tbsp roasted tahini (sesame paste)
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- Juice of one lemon - about 2 1/2 tablespoons
- 3/4 teaspoon saltCayenne pepper
- 1 Tbsp chopped cilantro
Method
1 Preheat oven to 375°F. Cut the eggplant in half lengthwise and brush the cut sides lightly with olive oil. Place on a baking sheet, cut side down, and roast until very tender, about 35 minutes. Place the eggplant in a colander to drain and cool for 15 minutes, then scoop the flesh out of the skin.
2 Combine the eggplant, remaining olive oil (about 2 Tbsp), tahini, garlic, cumin, 2 Tbsp of the lemon juice, the salt, and a pinch of cayenne in the work bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the eggplant is somewhat smooth but retains some of its texture.
3 Allow the baba ghanouj to sit for an hour at room temperature, then season to taste with additional lemon juice, salt, and cayenne. Toss in cilantro and serve.
Serves four. Served traditionally with pita bread, and can also be served with crackers, toast, sliced baguette or celery.
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Eggplant Relish Recipe
Filed under Appetizer, Condiment, Vegetable, Vegetarian, Wheat-free
Tucked away in funky Bernal Heights, my old neighborhood in San Francisco, used to lie Palatino, an Italian trattoria which served unexpectedly exceptional Italian food. I used to go there regularly and became addicted to the eggplant caponata condiment they served with bread sticks that accompanied every meal. I have no idea if this is even close to the same recipe that the restaurant used, but it is certainly in the right direction. Palatino's version chops the veggies a bit finer.
Eggplant Relish Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1 medium sized eggplant - about 1 lb, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 6 plum tomatoes, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup walnuts or pinenuts
- 1/4 cup pitted green olives, chopped
- 1/4 cup raisins
- 2 to 3 Tbsp sugar
- 2 Tbsp capers, drained
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Method
1 Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally until the onion begins to soften - about 5 minutes. Add the garlic. Cook a couple minutes more.
2 Add eggplant and tomatoes. Cover. Cook, stirring occasionally until eggplant is very soft, about 15 minutes.
3 Add vinegar, nuts, olives, raisins, sugar, and capers. Cook uncovered over medium-low heat until vegetables begin to break down, about 10-12 minutes.
4 Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Mix in the parsley. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Relish can be refrigerated, covered, up to 5 days.
Makes 4 cups. Serve with toasted French baguette slices, bread sticks, on a sandwich, or with fish or chicken.
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Fava Bean Dip with Goat Cheese and Garlic RecipeFiled under Appetizer, Vegetable, Vegetarian, Wheat-free
Fresh fava beans require patience. You have to shuck them twice, once to remove the thick shell, and then again, after cooking the beans, to peel the outer skin. Are they worth the effort? You tell me. Fresh favas, or broad beans, are only available for a short time in spring, so it's not an effort that you have to, or get to, make that often. I kind of like the meditative aspects of plopping out the beans from their pods like mini-green-bean rocket ships. Cooked in salty water, they taste a lot like edamame, and can be just as deliciously addictive. Here is a recipe for a simple fava bean dip with garlic and goat cheese. It's terrific with jicama, and cucumber slices. The cool crunchiness of the jicama or cucumber works well with the creamy beany-ness (for lack of a better word) of the dip. Many thanks to fellow Sacramento food blogger Hank Shaw for supplying me with bunch of fava beans from his garden.
Fava Bean Dip with Goat Cheese and Garlic Recipe
Ingredients
- 2-3 pounds fresh fava (broad) beans, shelled (about 2 cups)
- 1 Tbsp salt
- 1/2 cup chopped green garlic (can substitute 4 cloves chopped garlic)
- Olive oil
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1/4 cup or more water
- 5 ounces goat cheese
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 Remove the outer shell from the fava beans. The easiest way to do this is to work over a large bowl, bend the fava bean pod near one of the beans, squeeze the bean with your fingers, to have it shoot out into the bowl when the bean snaps. Keep squeezing, pinching and snapping, until you've de-beaned all the pods.
2 Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil. Add 1 tablespoon salt. Add the shelled beans, simmer for 5 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove beans from the hot water and place in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking and to shock the beans into maintaining their bright green color. When the beans have sunk to the bottom of the bowl of ice water, fish them out and remove and discard the outer peel.
3 In a small skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil on medium. Add the chopped green garlic (or chopped regular garlic cloves) and cook until softened, but not browned, about 3 or 4 minutes.
4 Place shelled and peeled beans in a food processor with softened green garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, and water. Pulse until smooth. Stream in a tablespoon or two more of olive oil while puréeing.
5 Scrape mixture out of food processor into a bowl. Mix in the goat cheese until well combined. Season with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.
Serve with sliced cucumbers or jicama.
Makes about 2 cups.
Garlic Bread Recipe
Filed under All Seasons, Appetizer, Side Dish
Spaghetti just seems lonely without garlic bread, and it's so easy to make. There are several methods and twists for making garlic bread, the most simple being just rubbing a cut clove of garlic over slices of Italian or French bread, spreading the bread with butter and heating in the oven. Here are a couple of methods that make wonderful garlic bread, depending on how you like it, either toasty or soft.
Garlic Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 16-ounce loaf of Italian bread or French bread
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 large cloves of garlic, smashed and minced
- 1 heaping tablespoon of freshly chopped parsley
- 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
Method
Method 1 - Toasted
1 Preheat oven to 350°F.
2 Cut the bread in half, horizontally. Mix the butter, garlic, and parsley together in a small bowl. Spread butter mixture over the the two bread halves. Place on a sturdy baking pan (one that can handle high temperatures, not a cookie sheet) and heat in the oven for 10 minutes.
3 Remove pan from oven. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over bread if you want. Return to oven on the highest rack. Broil on high heat for 2-3 minutes until the edges of the bread begin to toast and the cheese (if you are using cheese) bubbles. Watch very carefully while broiling. The bread can easily go from un-toasted to burnt.
4 Remove from oven, let cool a minute. Remove from pan and make 1-inch thick slices. Serve immediately.
Method 2 - Soft
Preheat oven to 350°F. Make the butter, garlic, parsley mixture as above. Make 1-inch thick slices into the bread, but do not go all the way through, just to the bottom crust. Put a teaspoon or two of the butter mixture between each slice. Wrap the bread in aluminum foil and heat for 15 minutes in the oven.
Greek Meatballs Recipe
Filed under Appetizer, Lamb, Low Carb, Wheat-free
I found this recipe in the weekend edition of the Wall St. Journal as good "noshing" food for New Year's and had to give it a try, with a few minor changes. It comes from chef Michael Symon of the Parea Greek restaurant in New York and Lola & Lolita Bistro in Cleveland. The meatballs are quite tasty and work well dipped in a little yogurt.
Greek Meatballs Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
- 1 large shallot, minced
- 1 pound ground lamb
- 4 ounces
Method
1 Heat a small pan over medium heat and add oil, garlic, jalapeño and shallot, and cook for 1 minute, then let cool.
2 Meanwhile, crumble lamb into a large bowl. Evenly scatter salt pork, orange zest and mint over lamb, and season with pepper. Sprinkle the cooled garlic mixture over lamb. Gently mix until just combined, then form into 1¼-inch balls and transfer to a plate or sheet pan.
3 Heat a large cast iron pan over medium to medium high heat. Working in batches if necessary to prevent crowding, brown meatballs on all sides until cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes. Serve warm with toothpicks or skewers with plain yogurt.Note: Meatballs can also be cooked ahead, refrigerated and reheated in the microwave on high for 2 minutes.
Makes about 20 meatballs.
Winter. Dungeness crab season. Super Bowl.
Need I say more?
Do you have a favorite hot crab dip? If so, what's in it and what do you serve it with?
Hot Crab Dip Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 8-ounce package of cream cheese
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp water
- 2 green onions, sliced, greens included
- 3 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley, or 1 Tbsp dried parsley
- 1 Tbsp horseradish
- 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon of Tabasco or more to taste
- 1/2 cup slivered almonds
- 1 cup of fresh lump crab meat (or a can of crab meat)
Method
1 Preheat oven to 350°F. Beat together the cream cheese, mayonnaise, lemon juice, water, onions, and parsley until smooth. Mix in the Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, and horseradish. Fold in the slivered almonds and lump crab meat. Place in an oven-proof casserole serving dish.
2 Bake until bubbly and heated through, about 20 minutes. Serve with crackers or thinly sliced baguette.
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Filed under All Seasons, Appetizer, Quick, Side Dish, Vegetarian, Wheat-free
This basic hummus recipe calls for using canned garbanzo beans. I've made hummus using dried beans, soaking them, cooking them, etc. but the results just weren't as good. The canned beans actually mash up pretty well.
Hummus Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 garlic cloves, minced and then mashed
- 2 15-oz cans of garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained and rinsed
- 2/3 cup of tahini (roasted, not raw)
- 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- Pine nuts (toasted) and parsley (chopped) for garnish
Method
1 In a food processor, combine the mashed garlic, garbanzo beans, tahini, lemon juice, 1/2 cup water, and olive oil. Process until smooth. Add salt, starting at a half a teaspoon, to taste.
2 Spoon into serving dish and sprinkle with toasted pine nuts and chopped parsley.
Serve with crackers, raw dip vegetables such as carrots or celery, or with pita bread. You can cut the pita bread into thin triangles, brush with olive oil and toast for 10 minutes in a 400°F oven to make pita chips with which to serve the hummus.
Makes about 3 cups.
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Filed under Appetizer, Low Carb, Pork, Wheat-free
I love baked liver pâté, or "pâté maison" as it is sometimes called. It is especially good with French rolls with lettuce and tomato.
Liver Pâté Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground lean pork
- 1 lb of liver - (chicken, calf's, or pig's), diced
- 1 Tablespoons of cognac or brandy
- 1 Tablespoons of dry Madeira or sherry
- 1 cloves garlic
- 2 sprays of parsley
- 1/2 shallot or small white onion
- 1/4 teaspoon powdered ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon clove
- 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- Dash of Tabasco or cayenne
- Sliced bacon - about 1/2 lb
Method
Variation: Use chicken livers, lean pork, and sausage meat in equal quantities. See my
Grind the pork through a meat grinder several times on a fine setting.
Place in a blender cognac or brandy, Madeira or sherry, garlic, parsley, shallot or onion, ginger, clove, cinnamon, nutmeg. Add diced livers and blend a cupful at a time. Season with salt and pepper, adding a dash of Tabasco or cayenne. Mix the ground pork with the blended liver.
Line a casserole or terrine with strips of bacon, fill with mixture, and cover with bacon. Place the casserole dish in a larger baking dish and fill the larger dish with water up to the halfway point on the side of the paté dish. This "water bath" will help the paté retain moisture and make for a smoother consistency in the texture. Bake uncovered in a moderate oven, 350 degrees F, for about 1 1/2 hours. Cool the pate under a weight so that it will become firm and fine-textured. To do this, lay a piece of waxed paper or aluminum foil over the pate and set on top of the entire surface a board weighted with a heavy object. Chill in the refrigerator for several hours.
At serving time bring the terrine to the table, slice, and serve with crusty French bread or rolls and a glass of wine. Also good with lettuce and tomatoes.
Serves 8-12
Mushroom Caviar Recipe
Filed under Appetizer, Vegetarian, Wheat-free
Whoever came up with the term "mushroom caviar" must have been in marketing. Mushroom caviar just sounds so much more catchy than "mushroom spread" or "minced mushrooms and shallots sautéed in butter", even though that's basically what it is. Pretty good too, especially if you love mushrooms the way we do.
Mushroom Caviar Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 Tbsp butter
- 1/2 pound cremini mushrooms, wiped clean and finely chopped
- Salt and pepper
- 1/2 cup of minced shallots
- 1 Tbsp dry white wine (e.g. Sauvignon Blanc)
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 2 Tbsp pine nuts
- 2 Tbsp sour cream
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp chopped parsley
- A couple dashes of cayenne pepper, to taste
Method
1 Melt butter in a large skillet on high heat. Add the mushrooms and shallots. Sauté for 5 minutes stirring frequently.
2 While the mushrooms are cooking, heat a small skillet on high heat. Add the pine nuts. Cook, stirring frequently, until they begin to get a little toasted. (Keep your eyes on the nuts, they can burn pretty quickly.) As soon as they begin to toast, remove the pan from the heat and put the pine nuts into a small bowl. Set aside.
3 While the mushrooms are cooking, sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Once they have cooked for about 5 minutes, add the garlic and a tablespoon of dry white wine. Cook for an additional minute and remove from heat. Put mushroom mixture in a bowl, add the toasted pine nuts, and set aside to cool.
4 Once the mushrooms have cooled down a bit, mix in the lemon juice, sour cream, and parsley. Add more salt and pepper, if needed, to taste. Sprinkle on cayenne pepper, to taste. Chill before serving.
Spoon onto a large butter lettuce leaf and serve with crackers. (Use rice crackers for wheat-free option.)
Makes about 1 1/2 cups. Serves four.
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Nachos Recipe
Filed under
Nachos are considered more "Tex Mex" than Mexican, being an invention of one Ignacio "Nacho" Anaya, a restaurateur serving American servicemen in the 1940s. At their essence, they are simply a layer of tortilla chips with melted cheddar cheese and jalapeño peppers. Unfortunately, the sports stadium concessionaires got a hold of the nachos idea and ruined it by using melted, processed Velveeta cheese, instead of real cheddar. So now, many people think that that's what nachos are. How distressing! Nachos are all about the ingredients - the best tortilla chips, freshly made refried pinto beans, grated cheddar cheese, jalapeño peppers, salsa, guacamole, sour cream and fresh cilantro.
Canned refried beans can be used for this recipe, of course. But you are truly missing out by not trying to make your beans fresh. It's a whole other world. Regarding the salsa, there are two kinds of tomato salsa that we use often, one with fresh tomatoes and one with cooked. We used to make the cooked tomato salsa from scratch, but there are so many great prepared salsas on the market these days, that we don't ours from scratch very often. This recipe works best with the cooked tomato salsa, but really, you can use any salsa.
Nachos Recipe
Ingredients
- Tortilla chips - extra thick - 1 14-oz bag
- Refried beans - 2-3 cups
- Cheddar Cheese - 1/2 lb, grated, about 3 cups
- Pickled jalapeno peppers - 4 peppers, sliced
- Sour cream
- Cilantro, chopped
Method
1 Preheat the oven to 350°F. Arrange a layer of tortilla chips along the bottom of a wide, shallow baking pan. It will make things easier if this baking pan also can be used as a serving pan, such as the ceramic platter shown in the photo above. The layer of tortilla chips can be a couple chips thick. Spread the refried beans over the chips (this is why you need extra thick chips, so they don't break when encountering the beans). Sprinkle the grated cheese over the top of chips and beans. Sprinkle slices of jalapeño peppers over the cheese. Bake in oven for 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted. 5 minutes in a convection oven.
2 Serve with dollops of salsa, sour cream and guacamole, with chopped cilantro sprinkled on top.
Serves 8. What is pictured above is a half-recipe.
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Olive Crostini Recipe
Filed under Appetizer, Quick, Vegetarian
Here is a quick and easy appetizer, tasty and fun to make. Preparing these today for an afternoon barbeque I was assisted by my sous-chef Alden, of Carlisle, Massachusetts. Aldie is just about 6 years old and loves to help out; she is especially good helping me find things in an unfamiliar kitchen, opening cans of olives with the can opener, spreading olive paste on baguette slices, and serving the finished work to her guests. Thanks Alden and thank you Heidi (Alden's mom) for the recipe!
Olive Crostini Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup black olives
- 1/2 cup green olives with pimientos
- 2 medium cloves garlic
- 1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
- 4 Tbsp butter
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 cup Monterey jack cheese, grated
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 baguette
Method
Chop olives in a food processor. Transfer to medium bowl. With machine running, drop garlic through the feed tube of the food processor and mince. Add Parmesan, butter, and olive oil, and process into a paste. Add butter mixture to bowl with olives. Fold in jack cheese and parsley. Cut baguette into thin slices and spread each slice generously with olive mixture. Cook under broiler until bubbly and lightly browned - about 2 minutes.
Serve right out of oven. Helps to make olive mixture in advance and spread right before you put in the oven.
Makes approximately 24 toasts.
When I was a kid growing up in Los Angeles, my grandmother used to take me to the farmers market in Miracle Mile. After the market, we would walk over to Bob's Big Boy and order a serving of fried onion rings. We probably ordered hamburgers too, but all I remember to this day was how much I loved those onion rings. As far as I knew at age five or six, Bob's was the only place on the planet to get them.
I still love onion rings, but can't eat so many of those heavily battered, deep fried ones. This recipe, adapted from one by Ina Garten in a recent issue of Oprah Magazine makes a lighter onion ring than I remember from Bob's, but still crunchy and delicious.
Onion Rings Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 large yellow onions, peeled, sliced into 1/2-inch to 3/4-inch thick ringed slices, rings separated
- 2 cups buttermilk, or 1 cup plain yogurt mixed with 1 cup milk
- Salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour and 1/4 cup cornmeal OR 1 cup prepared cornbread flour plus 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 or 3 cups of grapeseed oil, or other high smoke-point oil such as canola oil or peanut oil
- Equipment needed: a 5-quart heavy-bottomed dutch oven, tongs, candy thermometer, paper towels, cookie sheets
Method
1 Combine the buttermilk (or yogurt and milk) with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon black pepper in a large bowl. Add the onions to the buttermilk mixture and coat thoroughly. Let sit at least 15 minutes.
2 In a separate bowl combine the flour and cornmeal, 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. Set aside.
3 Add the oil to a largish Dutch oven pan - about 5-quart or 6 quart size. Make sure that the pan is absolutely dry inside before you add the oil. Any water droplets in the pan will cause the oil to splatter violently as it heats up. The oil should create a layer anywhere from 3/4-inch to an inch thick. Use more oil if necessary. Heat the oil to 350°F. Use a candy thermometer to measure the heat of the oil. You may need to tilt the pan in order to cover the thermometer's sensor completely and get an accurate reading. I have found some instant-read thermometers to be useless for this purpose as their sensors are 2 1/2 inches up from the bottom. A good old fashioned metal-encased thermometer works best.
Be very careful whenever handling hot oil. No running kids in the kitchen. No distractions. Do not answer the phone if it rings. Pay attention. Have the pan's lid close by.
You can test if the oil is ready by moistening a little bit of the flour and dropping it in the pan. If it sizzles and fries, it's ready. If it burns, take the pan off the heat and let the oil cool down a bit.
4 Working in batches, lift some onion rings out of the buttermilk and coat them in the flour mixture. Use tongs to place them one by one in the hot oil. Fry for a minute on each side, until golden brown. Do not crowd them. Place finished onion rings on a cookie sheet lined with paper towels to absorb the excess oil. Keep the complete onion rings warm in a 200°F oven while you fry the rest. Between batches, if you end up needing more oil, add some. Let the temp get back up to 350°F before starting the next batch.
Note: It's best not to pour the leftover oil down the drain. Better to pour into an extra empty jar, and discard with your trash.
My mother grew up in Tucson, Arizona, and remembers fondly what she calls "Sonoran Quesadillas" - large, thin, flour tortillas, toasted with butter and cheese, and often topped with strips of mild green chiles. The quesadillas are called "Sonoran" because they are made with especially large, thin, flour tortillas, found in Sonora, the northernmost state of Mexico. They would be served on a large platter, either cut like a pie or not, for everyone to share. They differ from what I would consider a standard quesadilla (see Quesadilla Recipe) in that they are open-faced, extra large, and very crispy.
A few weeks ago mom decided to use some extra large burrito tortillas we get at Trader Joe's to do an experiment to recreate these delicious quesadillas. The problem is getting them crispy, but not burnt. The Trader Joe's tortillas are thicker than the traditional Sonoran thin tortilla, so they take a little longer to toast. We experimented with cooking them directly on the racks in the oven, broiling them, cooking them on a large cookie sheet, and cooking them on the stove top. (Watch out America's Test Kitchen!) The best way, we found, to reproduce these quesadillas was to cook them on a cookie sheet, in a convection oven. Here are the details:
Oven-toasted Sonoran Quesadilla Recipe
Ingredients
- One large (13-inch diameter) flour tortilla
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 1/2 cup of grated cheddar cheese
- (Green chiles are entirely optional - the easiest thing to do is to use canned Ortega green anaheim chiles. Or you can broil some anaheim chiles in a broiler until completely blackened, then put the chiles in a closed brown paper bag for a few minutes, then rub off the blackened skin. Remove the stems and seeds and cut into strips.)
Method
Using the convection setting of your oven
1 Place the tortilla on a large, dark cookie sheet. Spread butter all over the top of the tortilla, making sure to get the butter all the way out to the edges. (The butter is very important! Don't omit.)
2 Place in the cold oven and cook for 7-10 minutes at 375°F on convection heat, or until the tortilla begins to visibly brown. If you open the oven door you should be able to smell the tortilla beginning to toast.
The tortilla is ready for some cheese.
3 Remove from the oven, sprinkle cheese over the tortilla (add strips of chiles if you want) and return to oven for an additional 2 minutes. Serve immediately.
If you are starting with a preheated oven, you will cook it initially for probably only 2 or 3 minutes on convection - watch it carefully, and pull it out when it begins to brown.
We recommend the convection oven approach if you have that option as the cooking time (and heating up the oven and your kitchen time) is much shorter.
Using a regular oven setting
If you don't have a convection oven, then preheat your oven to 350°F. Cook the buttered tortilla initially for approximately 6 minutes (again, check carefully, the tortilla should be getting toasted but not burnt.) Remove from the oven, add the cheese and return to the oven for an additional 2 minutes.
Note that every oven is different. This is the method that worked for our oven. You will probably need to watch quite carefully the first couple of times you make these, to gauge the time and temperature settings needed for your oven.
Oxtail Pâté (Pate) Recipe
Filed under Appetizer, Beef, Wheat-free
recipe accompanies the recipe for Beef Bouillon Soup from Oxtails. Once making the bouillon, you can use the cooked oxtail meat to make a delicious oxtail pâté. I love pâtés of all kinds (see Pâté Maison), but they usually have liver in them, which many people don't like. Oxtail pâté, however, has no liver, and is just made with the rich, flavorful meat of oxtails. If you've gone through the trouble to make the oxtail bouillon, making this pâté is a cinch, since you are starting with already cooked oxtails. It takes only a few minutes to prepare with a food processor.
Oxtail Pâté (Pate) Recipe
Ingredients
- 3-4 pounds oxtails, cooked
- 1 onion, chopped
- 3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/3 cup fresh orange juice
- 2 teaspoons drained bottled green peppercorns
- 2 tablespoons oxtail bouillon or beef broth
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon saltcrusty peasant bread as an accompaniment
Method
1 Carefully pick through and discard the fat and bones from the oxtails. Transfer the meat to a food processor.
2 In a skillet cook the onion in 2 tablespoons of the butter over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until it is golden, add it to the meat with the remaining 4 tablespoons butter, the orange juice, the peppercorns, the bouillon or broth, the cloves, and the salt, and pulse the motor until the pâté is minced but not puréed.
3 Pack the pâté into a crock. The pâté may be made 3 days in advance and kept covered and chilled. Serve the pâté at room temperature with the bread.
Makes about 2 1/2 cups.
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Papaya, Prosciutto, and Lime Recipe
Filed under
One of my most favorite breakfasts is a poached egg on toast, with a side of papaya and lime. Including some prosciutto with the papaya just takes it up a notch further. Papaya is filled with enzymes that help digestion, and is even used to tenderize meat.
Papaya, Prosciutto, and Lime Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 firm but ripe papaya
- 2 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto
- 1/2 lime, cut and sliced into a few wedges
Method
Using a vegetable peeler, peel away the outer skin of the papaya. Cut the papaya in half. Using a metal spoon, scoop out and discard the seeds. (The seeds are edible, by the way. They taste peppery, like nasturtium flowers, and can be used in salads.) Slice the the papaya halves into wedges lengthwise. Arrange on a plate. Roll up thin sheets of prosciutto and place between the papaya wedges. Squeeze fresh lime juice over the papaya and prosciutto.
If you would like to serve the papaya as an appetizer, cut the papaya into 1-inch pieces, sprinkle on some lime juice, wrap each piece with some prosciutto, and secure with a toothpick.
Serves 2-4.
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Perfect Guacamole Recipe
Filed under All Seasons, Appetizer, Condiment, Low Carb, Mexican and Tex Mex, Quick, Side Dish, Wheat-free
Guacamole, a dip made from avocados, is originally from Mexico. The name is derived from two Aztec Nahuatl words - ahuacatl (avocado) and molli (sauce). The trick to perfect guacamole is using good, ripe avocados. Check for ripeness by gently pressing the outside of the avocado. If there is no give, the avocado is not ripe yet and will not taste good. If there is a little give, the avocado is ripe. If there is a lot of give, the avocado may be past ripe and not good. In this case, taste test first before using.
Perfect Guacamole Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 ripe avocados
- ½ red onion, minced (about 1/2 cup)
- 1-2 serrano chiles, stems and seeds removed, minced
- 2 tablespoons cilantro leaves, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon of fresh lime or lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
- A dash of freshly grated black pepper
- 1/2 ripe tomato, seeds and pulp removed, chopped
Garnish with red radishes or jicama. Serve with tortilla chips.
Method
1 Cut avocados in half. Remove seed. Scoop out avacado from the peel, put in a mixing bowl. (See How to Cut and Peel an Avocado.)
2 Using a fork, mash the avocado. Add the chopped onion, cilantro, lime or lemon, salt and pepper and mash some more. Chili peppers vary individually in their hotness. So, start with a half of one chili pepper and add to the guacamole to your desired degree of hotness. Be careful handling the peppers; wash your hands thoroughly after handling and do not touch your eyes or the area near your eyes with your hands for several hours.
Keep the tomatoes separate until ready to serve.
Remember that much of this is done to taste because of the variability in the fresh ingredients. Start with this recipe and adjust to your taste.
3 Cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the guacamole to prevent oxidation from the air reaching it. Refrigerate until ready.
4 Just before serving, add the chopped tomato to the guacamole and mix.
Serves 2-4.
Variations
For a very quick "guac" just take a 1/4 cup of salsa and mix it in with your mashed avocados.
You don't need to have tomatoes in your guacamole.
To extend a limited supply of avocados, add either sour cream or cottage cheese to your guacamole dip. Purists may be horrified, but so what? It tastes great. In fact, guac with some cottage cheese added to it is my favorite.
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Potato Skins Recipe
Filed under Appetizer, Wheat-free
There is nothing like a plate full of crispy potato skins, filled with melty cheddar cheese, and topped with bacon bits, sour cream and green onions. The first time I had these I was 21 years old, at an outdoor cafe on Newbury Street in Boston; I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Oh for the days of youth when one could eat potato skins with wild abandon! I could eat a whole plate back then (and drink a pitcher of beer along with it) and be none the worse. Sigh.
These potato skins easy to make. Some approaches call for deep frying, but I don't think it is really necessary. You just want to bake the skins at a high enough heat so that they get crispy enough to hold the toppings.
Potato Skins Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 small to medium sized russet baking potatoes (total 3 pounds)
- Olive oil
- Canola oil or grapeseed oil
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground pepper
- 6 strips of bacon
- 4 ounces grated cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced, including the greens of the onions
Method
1 Scrub the potatoes clean then bake the potatoes using your favorite method, either oven or microwave. If using an oven, rub with olive oil and bake in a 400°F oven for about an hour until the potatoes are cooked through and give a little when pressed. If using a microwave, rub all over with olive oil and cook on the high setting for about 5 minutes per potato. I have found that baking the potatoes in a conventional oven yields potatoes that are easier to work with (cut and scoop out), the potato seems to adhere to the skins a little better, but there is hardly a discernible difference in the final product.
2 While the potatoes are cooking, cook the bacon strips in a frying pan on medium low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, or until crisp. Drain on paper towels. Let cool. Crumble.
3 Remove the potatoes from the oven and let cool enough to handle. Cut in half horizontally. Use a spoon to carefully scoop out the insides, reserving the scooped potatoes for another use, leaving about 1/4 of an inch of potato on the skin.
Increase the heat of the oven to 450°F. Brush or rub grapeseed oil or canola oil (or another high smoke point oil) all over the potato skins, outside and in. Sprinkle with salt. Place on a baking rack in a roasting pan (don't use a cookie sheet, it will warp, use a roasting pan or broiler pan that can take the heat). Cook for 10 minutes on one side, then flip the skins over and cook for another 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool enough to handle.
4 Arrange the potato skins skin-side down on the roasting pan or rack. Sprinkle the insides with freshly ground black pepper, cheddar cheese, and crumbled bacon. Return to the oven. Broil for an additional 2 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly. Remove from oven. Use tongs to place skins on a serving plate. Add a dollop of sour cream to each skin, sprinkle with green onions.
Serve immediately. Serves 4 to 6.
Note: If you have a potato whose skin or flesh has turned green, cut out those parts, do not use them. The green indicates the presence of a toxin that develops when potatoes are exposed to sunlight
Prosciutto, Melon, and Mozzarella Recipe
Filed under Appetizer, Cheese, Seasonal Favorites: Summer
A perfect summertime appetizer, prosciutto-wrapped melon is a delicious blend of salty and sweet flavors. Mozzarella balls adds another touch. You may want to serve some with the mozzarella, some without. Or, try wrapping some prosciutto around the mozzarella.
Prosciutto, Melon, and Mozzarella Recipe
Ingredients
- 3/4 lb Italian Prosciutto di Parma
- 1 cantaloupe or honeydew melon, or 1/2 of each
- 1 8 oz container of fresh cherry-size mozzarella cheese, each cheese ball cut in half (optional)
- Party toothpicks or bamboo skewers
Cut the melon in half and remove the seeds. Using a melon baller, scoop up the melon into small balls. Take a small strip of prosciutto and wrap it around a melon ball. Pierce through with a toothpick and add a piece of mozzarella if desired. Repeat for all melon balls. Arrange on a platter.
Makes about 30 pieces.
Easy to make liver pate recipe, made with chicken livers and pork sausage, wrapped in bacon, well seasoned with herbs and spices. Also known as "pâté (pate) campagne".
Pâté (Pate) Maison Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb chicken livers
- 1 lb lean pork
- 1 lb mild Italian sausage meat
- 1 Tbsp chopped chives or scallions
- 1 Tbsp chopped parsley
- 1 Tbsp fresh coarsely ground pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 Tbsp brandy
- 2 Tbsp dry sherry
- 10 slices bacon (uncooked)
Method
1 Grind all the meat (except the bacon) through a meat grinder twice. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.
2 Line an 8x6x3 inch loaf pan with bacon strips and pack in the mixture. Cover with bacon strips. Place pan in a water bath, a larger pan that is filled halfway up the sides of the inner pan with water. Bake at 350°F for 2 1/2 hours.
3 Remove from heat. Cover with aluminum foil. Place a weight such as a heavy brick on top while cooling. Best to cool overnight in the refrigerator. Slice and serve with bread or toast, lettuce and or tomatoes.
Yield: one large loaf.
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Quick and Easy Artichoke Dip Recipe
Filed under
This is one of the quickest, easiest, tastiest artichoke dip recipes around. All it takes is 3 simple ingredients, plus salt and pepper if you want, heated quickly in the microwave. Dress it up if you want, with garlic, chili pepper, or dill (other suggestions? please leave them in the comments), but it's terrific just on its own too.
Quick and Easy Artichoke Dip Recipe
- 2 14 oz. cans of artichokes (packed in water, not oil)
- 2 cups of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 cup of mayonaise
- Salt and pepper
Method
1 Drain the artichokes from the can. Coarsely chop them.
2 Combine chopped chokes, Parmesan, and mayo into a microwave or oven-proof serving dish.
3 Microwave on high heat for 5 minutes, pausing occassionally to stir, to ensure that the dip gets heated evenly. Add fresh ground pepper and salt to taste.
Serve with toasted, thinly sliced French baguettes, crackers, or even leaves of endive.
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Roasted Garlic Recipe
Filed under
Roasted Garlic Recipe
Method
1 Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2 Peel away the outer layers of the garlic bulb skin, leaving the skins of the individual cloves intact. Using a knife, cut off 1/4 to a 1/2 inch of the top of cloves, exposing the individual cloves of garlic.
3 Place the garlic heads in a baking pan; muffin pans work well for this purpose. Drizzle a couple teaspoons of olive oil over each head, using your fingers to make sure the garlic head is well coated. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 400°F for 30-35 minutes, or until the cloves feel soft when pressed.
4 Allow the garlic to cool enough so you can touch it without burning yourself. Use a small small knife cut the skin slightly around each clove. Use a cocktail fork or your fingers to pull or squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of their skins.
Eat as is (I love straight roasted garlic) or mash with a fork and use for cooking. Can be spread over warm French bread, mixed with sour cream for a topping for baked potatoes, or mixed in with Parmesan and pasta.
One of the tastiest appetizers you can prepare for a gathering is a simple salmon spread. Usually salmon spreads are little more than smoked salmon mixed with cream cheese. This spread uses a combination of smoked salmon and freshly poached salmon, mixed together with lemon juice, capers, Dijon, chives, lemon zest, and butter. It's absolutely delicious on toasted baguette slices.
Salmon Spread Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 ounces skinless salmon fillet
- 8 ounces smoked salmon, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon of grated lemon peel
- 2 Tbsp of lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon chopped fresh chives
- 1/8 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon drained capers, chopped
- 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
- A baguette
2 With wooden spoon, stir and mash poached salmon until it almost becomes a smooth paste. Add smoked salmon, butter, Dijon mustard, capers, pepper, lemon peel, lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons chopped chives; mix thoroughly.
3 Spoon salmon mixture into a serving bowl. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes before serving or until soft enough to spread. Sprinkle with remaining chopped chives and serve with sliced French baguette, toasted or plain.
Makes about 3 cups of spread, so depending on how thinly or thickly you put it on baguette slices, you could have 20-50 servings. For a lower-carb version, spread over slices of cucumber.
My father has had his thinking cap on. "It's football season. What your website readers need is something good to eat while drinking beer and watching the game." He's so right, isn't he? I love good finger food. In dad's newly ordained role as EVP of Research and Development for Simply Recipes, he sought out and found a great recipe for chicken drummettes - the part of a chicken wing that looks like a mini drumstick. The recipe comes from Petaluma Poultry, providers of Rocky Range and Rocky Jr. chickens. You don't have to use only drummettes, you can use wingettes or just pieces of chicken, cut the size of drummette. Note that cooking time will vary with different cuts. These were absolutely delicious; we can't wait for dad to make them again.
Savory Chicken Drummettes Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 Tbsp tamari soy sauce (or 1 1/2 Tbsp regular soy sauce)
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 20 chicken drummettes
Method
1 Rinse and pat dry drummettes, place in a large, non-reactive bowl, or leak-proof plastic bag. Mix together garlic, honey, mustard, soy sauce, lemon juice, oil, salt and pepper for marinade. Pour marinade over chicken drummettes and make sure each piece is well coated. Refrigerate for at least one hour and up to one day.
2 Preheat oven to 400°F. Place chicken in a single layer on a wire rack set over an oven tray lined with aluminum foil. Bake 30-40 minutes (depending on the size of your chicken drummettes) until well browned and cooked through.
Makes 20 drummettes.
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Shrimp Ceviche Recipe
Filed under
With the warm days of summer upon us, a great way to cool off is with ceviche. Ceviche is typically made with red snapper that is "cooked" by the acidity of lime and lemon juice (see this ceviche recipe.) This version is prepared with shrimp, which is first lightly cooked, and then marinated in the citrus juice. My father, who generally doesn't really like shrimp that much, loved this ceviche. (Gotta love it when they eat it up and ask for more.)
Shrimp Ceviche Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound medium-small shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 2 Tbsp salt
- 3/4 cup lime juice (juice from 4-6 limes)
- 3/4 cup lemon juice (juice from 2-3 lemons)
- 1 cup finely chopped red onion
- 1 serrano chile, ribs and seeds removed, minced
- 1 cup chopped cilantro
- 1 cucumber, peeled diced into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 avocado, peeled, seed removed, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
Method
2 Drain the shrimp. Cut each piece of shrimp in half, or into inch-long pieces. Place shrimp in a glass or ceramic bowl. Mix in the lime and lemon juice. Cover and refrigerate for a half hour.
3 Mix in the chopped red onion and serrano chile. Refrigerate an additional half hour.
4 Right before serving, add the cilantro, cucumber, and avocado.
Serves 4-6.
Shrimp Quesadilla Recipe
Filed under Appetizer, Breakfast and Brunch, Mexican and Tex Mex, Quick, Seafood
Quesadillas have to be my favorite go-to food for lunch. They're just so easy to make! Especially when you have tortillas and cheese in the fridge, which we almost always do. Recently I had lunch with an old friend at Buck's of Woodside, a rather famous hang-out for Silicon Valley venture capitalists, and had a spectacular marinated shrimp and Jack cheese quesadilla, smothered in avocado and creme fresca, served on a bed of shredded iceberg lettuce. I've created my own version here, inspired by that wonderful lunch at Buck's. I could eat these all day.
Shrimp Quesadilla Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/4 pound of medium-small shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 2 Tbsp of lime or lemon juice
- 1/4 jalapeno or serrano chile, finely minced and/or dash of chile powder
- 1 Tbsp chopped green onion
- 1 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for garnish
- Salt and pepper
- 2 medium-sized flour tortillas
- 1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
- 1/4 avocado, sliced
- Dollop of sour cream or crema fresca
Method
1 If you are starting with frozen raw shrimp, defrost them by placing them in a bowl of ice water until defrosted. Then poach the raw shrimp for 1 to 2 minutes in boiling water, remove from pan with a slotted spoon, and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking. If you are starting with frozen cooked shrimp, you can defrost them in a bowl of ice water or lemon juice with ice.
2 Place strained cooked shrimp in a bowl. Add lime or lemon juice, some chopped fresh jalapeno or serrano chile and/or a dash of chile powder (can also use chipotle chiles or chipotle chili powder) to desired level of heat, green onion, and cilantro. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Let marinate for 10 to 30 minutes. Strain out the juice.
3 Heat a cast iron or stick-free skillet on medium high. Add a small amount of oil (about 1/2 teaspoon) and spread it around the bottom of the pan with a spatula (you could use butter as well). Place one flour tortilla on the skillet. Flip the tortilla over a few times, 10 seconds between flips. Air pockets should begin to form within the tortilla. Remove the tortilla and repeat with the second tortilla. Leave the second tortilla in the pan and reduce the heat to medium.
You can also use just one tortilla instead of two, and fold the tortilla over itself like an omelette.
5 Cut like a pie into six pieces. A pizza wheel works well for this. Place on a serving plate. Serve with avocado slices and sour cream. Garnish with chopped fresh cilantro.
Serves one.
Searching around for an appetizer to prepare for our yearly neighborhood Christmas party we discovered this wonderful recipe in a 1999 issue of Bon Appetit magazine. The recipe calls for fresh tarragon which we didn't have. We ended up using an already herbed goat cheese which saved a step and worked fine. One ingredient that made a difference was the sliver of lemon peel on each piece of salmon. Almost like an accent, the lemon completed the taste of this appetizer. Of everything we prepared, this dish was the one everyone loved and we will definitely be making it again.
Smoked Salmon and Goat Cheese Toasts Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 oz soft fresh goat cheese
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon
- 1 Tablespoon fennel seeds, finely crushed
- 2 teaspoons of grated lemon peel
- 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
- 2 1/2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 30 thin slices French-bread baguette
- 12 oz thinly sliced smoked salmon
- Lemon peel strips (for garnish)
- Tarragon sprigs (for garnish)
Method
1 Preheat oven to 350°F. Mix first 5 ingredients in a small bowl to blend. Set aside. (The cheese mixture can be made a couple of days ahead of time.)
2 Brush oil over both sides of bread. Arrange bread in single layer on a large baking sheet. Bake until bread is just crisp, about 5 minutes on each side.
3 Spread cheese mixture over toasts. Top with salmon, trimming to fit. Garnish with lemon peel strips and tarragon sprigs. Arrange on platter and serve.
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Swiss Chard Tzatziki (Yogurt Dip) Recipe
Filed under
Tzatziki is a Greek dip made with yogurt, olive oil, garlic, and cucumbers. This version (from Martha Stewart Living) replaces the cucumbers with Swiss chard and is delightful with toasted pita. Dad announced a couple weeks ago that he didn't like chard (my response - huh? since when?) and then proceeded to eat most of the tzatziki.
Swiss Chard Tzatziki (Yogurt Dip) Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup finely chopped Swiss chard leaves (remove ribs*)
- 1 garlic clove
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup plain yogurt
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
- A dash of cayenne
- 3 (9-inch diameter) pita breads, cut like a pie into triangles
- Olive oil for drizzling on to the pita bread
* See Brendon's notes on
how to cut the ribs out of greensMethod
1 Bring a 1 or 2 quart saucepan, half filled with water, to a boil. Add the chopped chard leaves. Cook until tender, about 3-5 minutes. While the chard is cooking, prepare a bowl with ice water for an ice bath. When the chard is cooked, strain through a fine mesh strainer and put into the ice bath to stop the cooking. Drain and set aside.
2 Using mortar and pestle, grind the garlic and salt into a paste. In a medium-sized bowl, stir in the yogurt, chard, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, and cayenne pepper. Set aside.
3 Cut the pita bread into triangles and layout in one layer in a broiling pan (use a sturdy broiling pan, not a cookie sheet or your cookie sheet will warp). Drizzle olive oil on one side of the pita wedges. Use a pastry brush to spread the olive oil more evenly. Place in a broiler. Broil for 5 minutes or until the pita bread starts to toast. Remove and let cool for a minute.
Serve the tzatziki with the pita wedges.
Serves 4.
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Ultra-Thin-Crust Pizza with Onions, Mushrooms, and Ricotta Recipe
Filed under Appetizer, Cheese, Quick, Vegetarian
When I first encountered a recipe for a thin-crust pizza using a flour tortilla as a base I was indignant. "That's not a pizza! That's a quesadilla!" But I soon got over my ire. This approach is actually rather brilliant, a great example of borrowing from one cuisine to expand another. The recipe for this thin-crust pizza is inspired by one I found in Everyday Food magazine. The trick is to keep the toppings thin and light, otherwise the crust will end up being soggy. It really helps to use a pizza stone; the pizza will cook up faster and crisper. I've included directions for both using a stone and not.
Ultra-Thin-Crust Pizza with Onions, Mushrooms, and Ricotta Recipe
Ingredients
- Olive oil
- 1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
- Pinch of sugar
- 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
- 2 large flour tortillas (sandwich wraps)
- 1 cup shredded Asiago cheese (about 2 ounces)
- 2/3 cup ricotta cheese
- 6 button or cremini mushrooms, trimmed and thinly sliced
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Equipment needed:
It really helps to have a baking stone and a pizza peel. If not, you'll use a rimmed baking sheet with some parchment paper.
1a If you are using a baking stone, place the stone on top of the middle rack in the oven. Preheat the oven to 450°F. Allow the oven to stay at 450°F for at least 15 minutes before cooking, to thoroughly heat up the stone.
1b If you are NOT using a baking stone, place racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Preheat the oven to 450°F.
2 Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a small sauté pan on medium hight heat. Add the sliced onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions begin to soften. Add a pinch of sugar and the balsamic vinegar, cook for a few more minutes until the onions are thoroughly softened and translucent. Remove from heat.
3b If you are not using a baking stone, line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and brush with olive oil. Place a tortilla on each baking sheet and brush each with olive oil.
4 Sprinkle each tortilla with half a cup of shredded Asiago cheese. Add bits of ricotta cheese, 1/3 cup for each tortilla. Sprinkle with mushrooms and with the slightly caramelized onions. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper.
5a If you are using a baking stone, and can fit both pizzas on the stone (it depends on the size of your tortilla) do it. Use the pizza peel to transfer the pizzas to the stone in the oven. If your tortillas are large, you'll need to cook them one at a time. But that's okay. Cooking on the stone goes very quickly. Bake the pizzas until the crust is crisp and very brown - 5-7 minutes using the baking stone. Cut with a pizza cutter or a knife.
5b If you are using baking sheets, place the baking sheets in the oven. Bake until the crust is crisp and brown all over (the time varies, depending on the oven and if your cookie sheet has already been heated, start with 10 minutes and check), rotating the sheets to ensure even baking. Cut with a pizza cutter or a knife.
Each pizza serves 1-2, depending on how hungry you are.
