Today we regretfully take a leave of absence from “Saturday Night Specials”, due to family matters.
For twenty months we have joyfully anticipated preparing and sharing each new menu. That so many of you have viewed, and hopefully cooked, our meals is so gratifying and exciting… and we thank you so much!
We hope to resume our tasty journey in the near future and, as always, invite you to join us.
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Saturday, September 7, 2013
Cherry Serendipity
What to do with a big bag of sweet, soft chewy dried cherries?
First, macerate them in cherry Kijafa liqueur.
First, macerate them in cherry Kijafa liqueur.
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| Dried Cherries in Kijafa |
Now, what to do with a big bowl of Kijafa soaked, sweet, soft , chewy, dried cherries?
It was obvious - toss with fresh peaches and scoop onto a buttery Galette crust.
It was obvious - toss with fresh peaches and scoop onto a buttery Galette crust.
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Dessert is covered. Perfect!
Peach and Dried Cherry Galette
Cream Pastry for 2 Crust Pie
2 2/3 c unbleached all-purpose flour
½ t salt
1 c (2 sticks) unsalted butter
7-8 T half & half
In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. In a food processor or mixer, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the half & half, 1 T at a time, until dough clumps together. Gather the dough with your fingers. Divide in half and form each half into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least ½ hour.
Preheat oven to 375
On a lightly floured work surface, roll out pastry balls one at a time to form 12 inch circles. Lay on parchment lined cookie sheets.
Filling
6 large peaches, skins slipped, pitted, sliced into wedges
1 c dried sweetened cherries
¼ c sugar
1 T lemon juice
½ t cinnamon
½ t ginger
2 T cream
2 T turbinado sugar for dusting
1/3 cup slivered almonds
In a large bowl, toss the peach slices and cherries with the lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon, and ginger. Let sit until the juices start to flow. Place mixture in the prepared crusts, leaving 1 ½ inches around the edges to fold over the fruit. Fold the pastry edges over the fruit. Baste the pastry edges with cream and sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Bake for 30 minutes or until pastry is nicely browned and juices bubble.
Serve with vanilla ice cream.
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| Ice cream is drizzled with a little of the Kijafa! |
Let’s put some cherries with some rice, glazed turkey thighs (we already had a recipe for that) and crunchy celery.
That sounded a lot like a recipe that Meg spotted in a magazine somebody sent her by mistake.
Funny how it all comes together.
Turkey-Cherry Rice Salad
Serves: 8
Prep: 15 minutes
Source: Family Circle Magazine”, September 2013
1/3 c light mayo
¼ c 0% Greek yogurt
¼ t salt
¼ t pepper
2 c cooked whole grain rice blend
¾ lb cooked turkey breast, shredded
1 c sliced celery
1 c sweetened dried cherries
¼ c chopped walnuts
¼ c fresh parsley, chopped
Now for some nourishment. Meg’s beautiful eggplant turned
into a roasted vegetable spread to slather on toasted baguette slices. It was
perfect with the wine while we followed this serendipitous salad recipe.
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| Ferrari-Carano Fume Blanc |
Prep time: 1 hour 20 minutes
1 large red bell peppers
12 cloves garlic
1 t white wine vinegar
½ c Kalamata olives, sliced
1 T avocado or olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
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| Cranberry-Pomegranate Orange Glazed Turkey Thighs |
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Grillin' and Chillin'
We are so enamored with the abundance of vegetables available now, we decided to go vegetarian for this meal. And what better way to eat your veggies than to grill them? We enjoyed this as our main meal, but it could also be a great appetizer for a party on the patio.
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Here is a list of vegetables we selected:
Red onion
Scallions
Portobello mushrooms
Eggplant
Zucchini and yellow squash
Red, yellow and orange bell peppers
Bok choy
Baby potatoes
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We opted for three sauces, as one is never enough!! And while they all have a garlic component, they are distinctive and equally delicious with every vegetable. Don’t ask us to choose a favorite, but you could spread the left over aioli on a rock and make a meal of it.
Chimichurri
Recipe developed by Sue & Meg For Saturday Night Specials 8/24/2013
3 cups Italian parsley leaves
2 large cloves, roughly chopped
1 small shallot, roughly chopped
3 anchovy fillets, roughly chopped
2 Tbsp. capers, rinsed
½ tsp. red pepper flakes
Zest of 1 lemon
3 tsp. red wine vinegar
¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
Add all ingredients except olive oil to a blender, blend on high. When fully blended, drizzle in olive oil until you get the consistency you desire.
Aioli
Recipe developed by Sue & Meg For Saturday Night Specials 8/24/2013
2 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
1 egg
Salt & pepper to taste
1/3 cup olive oil
½ tsp. red pepper flakes
In a blender on high speed, mix garlic, vinegar, egg, salt & pepper until incorporated. Drizzle in olive oil until aioli reaches thickness you desire. Remove from blender and stir in ½ tsp. red pepper flakes. Put in covered bowl in refrigerator until ready to use.
To serve, sprinkle a few red pepper flakes on top.
Yogurt Sauce
Source: “Cook’s Country”, June-July 2013
6 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
5 garlic cloves, minced
1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes
½ cup plain whole milk yogurt
3 Tbsp. chopped fresh mint (omitted in our version)
1 tsp. grated lemon zest
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. ground cumin
Salt & Pepper to taste
Combine oil, garlic, and pepper flakes in bowl. Microwave, uncovered, until garlic is golden brown and crispy, about 2 minutes. Strain garlic oil through fine mesh strainer into small bowl. Reserve garlic oil and crispy garlic separately.
Combine yogurt, mint, 1 Tbsp. garlic oil, lemon zest and juice, cumin, and ¼ tsp. salt in separate bowl; set aside while preparing eggplant.
Have we mentioned the crispy garlic? The technique uses the microwave to cook the garlic in olive oil until crispy. You not only get fragrant garlic oil but the crispy garlic is fantastic sprinkled on the vegetables. This is a two minute dynamite process.
Being in the grilling mode, we even chose to grill some great sour dough bread that we doused with the garlic infused olive oil from the above process.
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Sue got this wine with a fantastic “Groupon coupon”. Ever adventurous, she chose six bottles of red wine that she had never tried before for the amazing price of $25.00. It was a light and tart Pinot. We don’t think we would buy another bottle, but we drank it and “nothing ventured, nothing gained”.
Now are you thinking, where is the “chillin”? We finally had the opportunity to make this wonderful strawberry balsamic ice cream that we have been thinking about all summer. It was well worth the wait! Meg is happy because we got to use Limoncello again. (She dreams about the Limoncello Granita from our second posting.) What elevates this ice cream from all other strawberry ice creams is the balsamic drizzle and the chiffonade of fresh basil. It is very rich and creamy and the fresh strawberry flavor really comes through. Do it now while the strawberries are fresh!
Our unsolicited and biased opinions:
Eat more veggies!
Meg forgot the yogurt, so we substituted sour cream in the “yogurt” sauce. It worked really well. We omitted the mint on purpose.
There are so many variations of Chimichurri and the amount of parsley varies in each. We used a huge bunch of Italian parsley in ours.
Plant a radish, get a radish, never any doubt. That's why I love vegetables, you know what they're about! ~Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt
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Here is a list of vegetables we selected:
Red onion
Scallions
Portobello mushrooms
Eggplant
Zucchini and yellow squash
Red, yellow and orange bell peppers
Bok choy
Baby potatoes
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We opted for three sauces, as one is never enough!! And while they all have a garlic component, they are distinctive and equally delicious with every vegetable. Don’t ask us to choose a favorite, but you could spread the left over aioli on a rock and make a meal of it.
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| From bottom: Yogurt Sauce, Chimichurri, and Aioli |
Recipe developed by Sue & Meg For Saturday Night Specials 8/24/2013
3 cups Italian parsley leaves
2 large cloves, roughly chopped
1 small shallot, roughly chopped
3 anchovy fillets, roughly chopped
2 Tbsp. capers, rinsed
½ tsp. red pepper flakes
Zest of 1 lemon
3 tsp. red wine vinegar
¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
Add all ingredients except olive oil to a blender, blend on high. When fully blended, drizzle in olive oil until you get the consistency you desire.
Aioli
Recipe developed by Sue & Meg For Saturday Night Specials 8/24/2013
2 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
1 egg
Salt & pepper to taste
1/3 cup olive oil
½ tsp. red pepper flakes
In a blender on high speed, mix garlic, vinegar, egg, salt & pepper until incorporated. Drizzle in olive oil until aioli reaches thickness you desire. Remove from blender and stir in ½ tsp. red pepper flakes. Put in covered bowl in refrigerator until ready to use.
To serve, sprinkle a few red pepper flakes on top.
Yogurt Sauce
Source: “Cook’s Country”, June-July 2013
6 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
5 garlic cloves, minced
1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes
½ cup plain whole milk yogurt
3 Tbsp. chopped fresh mint (omitted in our version)
1 tsp. grated lemon zest
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. ground cumin
Salt & Pepper to taste
Combine oil, garlic, and pepper flakes in bowl. Microwave, uncovered, until garlic is golden brown and crispy, about 2 minutes. Strain garlic oil through fine mesh strainer into small bowl. Reserve garlic oil and crispy garlic separately.
Combine yogurt, mint, 1 Tbsp. garlic oil, lemon zest and juice, cumin, and ¼ tsp. salt in separate bowl; set aside while preparing eggplant.
Have we mentioned the crispy garlic? The technique uses the microwave to cook the garlic in olive oil until crispy. You not only get fragrant garlic oil but the crispy garlic is fantastic sprinkled on the vegetables. This is a two minute dynamite process.
Being in the grilling mode, we even chose to grill some great sour dough bread that we doused with the garlic infused olive oil from the above process.
.JPG)
Sue got this wine with a fantastic “Groupon coupon”. Ever adventurous, she chose six bottles of red wine that she had never tried before for the amazing price of $25.00. It was a light and tart Pinot. We don’t think we would buy another bottle, but we drank it and “nothing ventured, nothing gained”.
Now are you thinking, where is the “chillin”? We finally had the opportunity to make this wonderful strawberry balsamic ice cream that we have been thinking about all summer. It was well worth the wait! Meg is happy because we got to use Limoncello again. (She dreams about the Limoncello Granita from our second posting.) What elevates this ice cream from all other strawberry ice creams is the balsamic drizzle and the chiffonade of fresh basil. It is very rich and creamy and the fresh strawberry flavor really comes through. Do it now while the strawberries are fresh!
.jpg) |
| Strawberry Balsamic Ice Cream |
Our unsolicited and biased opinions:
Eat more veggies!
Meg forgot the yogurt, so we substituted sour cream in the “yogurt” sauce. It worked really well. We omitted the mint on purpose.
There are so many variations of Chimichurri and the amount of parsley varies in each. We used a huge bunch of Italian parsley in ours.
Plant a radish, get a radish, never any doubt. That's why I love vegetables, you know what they're about! ~Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt
Saturday, August 10, 2013
A Dessert Driven Dinner
So going down the path of Ernestine Ulmer who said “Life is uncertain. Eat Dessert first.”, we found dessert first and added the meal.
This all started with a recipe Sue found by following a link on a Whole Foods email. It has chocolate, it has bananas, it has spice and it has nuts! Who could blame us for building a meal around this dessert? So build we did. It is really quite easy when you get at least weekly emails from multiple recipe sites (only Sue). It wasn’t long before we had this whole menu figured out.
Frozen Bananas Dipped in Mexican Chocolate Ganache and Spicy Honeyed Peanuts
Author Notes: This rich and satisfying handheld treat marries the creamy sweetness of a frozen banana with the deep and spicy undertones of a dark chocolate ganache infused with cinnamon.
Peanuts roasted briefly in a coating of honey, cinnamon, and ground New Mexico chile, then dusted with flaky sea salt, add the perfect crunchy counterpoint, with a kick that keeps you coming back for another bite. It's one of my childhood treats -- my parents owned an ice cream parlor, and there was always a tray of frozen bananas dipped in crackle chocolate and rolled in nuts available. Now, I've recreated it for an adult palate. - indieculinary
Food52 Review: Apart from the time in the freezer, this dessert does not take much time to prepare. The spice of the chile and cinnamon in the nuts and chocolate make the humble banana a decadent treat. I enjoyed the creaminess of the banana against the dark, spicy chocolate and crunch of the peanutty brittle. - Kimberly Nichols
Serves 6
Spicy Honeyed Peanuts
1 1/2cup roasted, salted peanuts
1/3cup honey
1teaspoon ground New Mexico chile (or another spicy ground chile, like cayenne)
1teaspoon ground cinnamon
1teaspoon flaky sea salt, such as Maldon
Preheat an oven to 300 degrees F.
Dice the peanuts into small pieces; each peanut should be roughly quartered.
Stir the honey, ground chile, and ground cinnamon together, and microwave briefly (20 seconds is sufficient) or heat briefly on stovetop. You just need to warm the honey enough that it flows freely.
Toss the warm honey and spice mixture with the peanuts until coated.
Spread the peanuts on a silpat over a cookie sheet, and roast for about 10 minutes. Keep an eye on them and make sure they don't burn.
Cool. Once cooled, break apart with your hands into small bits, for coating the bananas.
Sprinkle flaky sea salt over the roasted peanut bits.
Frozen Bananas
6 medium, ripe bananas
8ounces good quality dark chocolate
4ounces heavy cream
1teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2cup Spicy Honeyed Peanuts
Peel bananas and slice each in half at the midpoint on a slight diagonal.
Insert a popsicle stick carefully into the center of each banana half, pushing in as far as you can go without the stick coming out the other side.
Place the bananas on a wax paper-covered cookie sheet and place in the freezer to chill and firm while you make the ganache.
Chop your chocolate into chunks no bigger than 1/2 inch each, and place in a bowl with room for whisking.
Combine the heavy cream and cinnamon in a small pot and bring to a simmer. Once bubbling, pour over the chocolate pieces. Let sit for one minute.
After a minute has passed, whisk vigorously. A smooth ganache will come together before your eyes.
If chocolate chunks remain despite your best whisking efforts, set your bowl of ganache aside for a moment. Add some water to the pot you've just emptied of cream and bring it to a boil. Set your bowl of ganache above it, completely sealing the pot with the bowl, to create a double boiler. Give it a minute for the steam from the boiling water to heat the bowl, and then whisk again, until your ganache is smooth.
Once your ganache is smooth, dip a banana in it to coat. (Note: I've had you make a little more ganache than you'll need, for ease of banana immersion in the dipping phase. I trust you will find a yummy way to use any leftover ganache.)
Set the dipped banana onto some peanuts and press additional peanuts onto the top side. Set the banana back on the wax paper-covered cookie sheet and press peanuts by hand onto any side left uncovered.
Repeat ganache-dipping and peanut-coating process with each banana.
Return tray of bananas to the freezer. Freeze at least two hours before serving.
We know we have waxed poetic about our previous favorite margarita (the one with the fresh orange juice) but this time around we chose a more traditional version. These are very potent. They will have you dancing, but don’t dance and drive.
Margarita
By Erika Kotite • January 23, 2013 • 9 Comments
Source: Food 52
Serves 2
4ounces tequila
2ounces Cointreau
2ounces fresh-squeezed lime juice (plus spent lime rind)
1/2ounce agave syrup
Ice
Coarse sea salt
Additional lime wedges (for garnish)
Mix tequila, Cointreau, lime juice and agave syrup in a shaker or large measuring cup filled partway with ice and stir or shake until thoroughly chilled.
Spread salt on a plate. Rub rims of two rocks glasses with the spent lime. Turn glasses upside down in the salt. Fill glasses with ice and pour in the margarita liquid. Add lime wedge to each.
Grilling fresh corn is what makes this salad perfect for summer.
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Grilled Shrimp, Corn, and Tomato Salad
From Good Housekeeping
Ingredients
2 limes, can use 1 more lime if needed
4 tablespoon(s) olive oil
3/4 teaspoon(s) salt
Ground red pepper, (cayenne)
1 teaspoon(s) 1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon(s) ground cumin
1 pound(s) (large) shrimp, shelled and deveined, with tail part of shell left on if you like
3 ear(s) corn, husks and silks removed
4 medium tomatoes, each cut in half and seeded
2 medium (about 4 ounces each) poblano chiles
1 head(s) green or red leaf lettuce, thinly sliced
Directions
Prepare outdoor grill for covered direct grilling over medium heat.
Meanwhile, from limes, grate 1 teaspoon peel and squeeze 3 tablespoons juice. In cup, with fork, mix lime juice with 2 tablespoons oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon lime peel, and pinch ground red pepper. Set dressing aside.
In medium bowl, with fork, mix coriander and cumin with remaining 2 tablespoons oil, 1/2 teaspoon lime peel, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and pinch ground red pepper. Brush corn and tomatoes with half of oil mixture. Toss shrimp in oil mixture remaining in bowl.
Place corn and whole poblanos on hot grill rack. Cover grill and cook corn and poblanos 10 to 12 minutes or until corn is browned in spots and skin on poblanos is charred and blistered on all sides, turning over occasionally. Transfer corn to cutting board. Transfer poblanos to large sheet of foil. Wrap foil around poblanos and allow to steam at room temperature 15 minutes or until cool enough to handle.
While poblanos steam, place shrimp and tomatoes on hot grill rack (or hot flat grill topper). Cover grill and cook shrimp 4 to 5 minutes or just until opaque throughout, turning shrimp over once. Cook tomatoes 4 to 6 minutes or until lightly browned, turning over once. Transfer shrimp to large bowl and tomatoes to cutting board.
Remove poblanos from foil. Peel off skins and discard. Cut each poblano lengthwise in half; remove seeds and membranes. Cut poblanos crosswise into thin strips; add to shrimp in bowl. Cut corn kernels from cobs; add to same bowl. Peel off and discard skin from tomatoes. Cut tomatoes into thin strips; add to same bowl. Add 2 tablespoons dressing to shrimp mixture; toss to coat.
In another large bowl, toss lettuce with remaining dressing.
To serve, place lettuce on platter; top with shrimp mixture.
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Our unsolicited and biased opinion:
As usual, we went for the 16-20 count shrimp for the salad. We think the presentation is better and the shrimp are more succulent.
The recipe is written for an outdoor grill. We used an indoor Panini grill for everything but charring the poblano chilies, which we did over an open gas flame. All of this could easily be done under an oven broiler.
Grilling the tomatoes didn’t noticeably enhance the flavor, and next time around we will use fresh halved grape tomatoes. Because we love citrus, we doubled the lime zest, which was perfect for us. This is not a spicy dish, so don’t be hesitant about the cayenne. We followed the recipe and used red leaf lettuce but next time we will use romaine for its crispness.
Despite following the Spicy Honeyed Peanut recipe to the letter, we found it too sticky to easily break apart. (Notice the chunks of peanuts on the bananas.) Next time around we are going to use brown sugar instead of the honey. We still managed to glump it onto the bananas and eat them. The peanut combination would stand on its own as a topping for a sundae or eating with reckless abandon as you are making it . . . not that we would know.
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This dessert lived up to our expectations. We used a Pasilla chile which added a smokiness and slight heat to the peanut coating.
We had about a quarter cup of ganache left and combined it with some of the remaining salted roasted peanuts. Just enough for a late night snack.
.jpg)
This all started with a recipe Sue found by following a link on a Whole Foods email. It has chocolate, it has bananas, it has spice and it has nuts! Who could blame us for building a meal around this dessert? So build we did. It is really quite easy when you get at least weekly emails from multiple recipe sites (only Sue). It wasn’t long before we had this whole menu figured out.
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| Inspiration for this meal. |
Author Notes: This rich and satisfying handheld treat marries the creamy sweetness of a frozen banana with the deep and spicy undertones of a dark chocolate ganache infused with cinnamon.
Peanuts roasted briefly in a coating of honey, cinnamon, and ground New Mexico chile, then dusted with flaky sea salt, add the perfect crunchy counterpoint, with a kick that keeps you coming back for another bite. It's one of my childhood treats -- my parents owned an ice cream parlor, and there was always a tray of frozen bananas dipped in crackle chocolate and rolled in nuts available. Now, I've recreated it for an adult palate. - indieculinary
Food52 Review: Apart from the time in the freezer, this dessert does not take much time to prepare. The spice of the chile and cinnamon in the nuts and chocolate make the humble banana a decadent treat. I enjoyed the creaminess of the banana against the dark, spicy chocolate and crunch of the peanutty brittle. - Kimberly Nichols
Serves 6
Spicy Honeyed Peanuts
1 1/2cup roasted, salted peanuts
1/3cup honey
1teaspoon ground New Mexico chile (or another spicy ground chile, like cayenne)
1teaspoon ground cinnamon
1teaspoon flaky sea salt, such as Maldon
Preheat an oven to 300 degrees F.
Dice the peanuts into small pieces; each peanut should be roughly quartered.
Stir the honey, ground chile, and ground cinnamon together, and microwave briefly (20 seconds is sufficient) or heat briefly on stovetop. You just need to warm the honey enough that it flows freely.
Toss the warm honey and spice mixture with the peanuts until coated.
Spread the peanuts on a silpat over a cookie sheet, and roast for about 10 minutes. Keep an eye on them and make sure they don't burn.
Cool. Once cooled, break apart with your hands into small bits, for coating the bananas.
Sprinkle flaky sea salt over the roasted peanut bits.
Frozen Bananas
6 medium, ripe bananas
8ounces good quality dark chocolate
4ounces heavy cream
1teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2cup Spicy Honeyed Peanuts
Peel bananas and slice each in half at the midpoint on a slight diagonal.
Insert a popsicle stick carefully into the center of each banana half, pushing in as far as you can go without the stick coming out the other side.
Place the bananas on a wax paper-covered cookie sheet and place in the freezer to chill and firm while you make the ganache.
Chop your chocolate into chunks no bigger than 1/2 inch each, and place in a bowl with room for whisking.
Combine the heavy cream and cinnamon in a small pot and bring to a simmer. Once bubbling, pour over the chocolate pieces. Let sit for one minute.
After a minute has passed, whisk vigorously. A smooth ganache will come together before your eyes.
If chocolate chunks remain despite your best whisking efforts, set your bowl of ganache aside for a moment. Add some water to the pot you've just emptied of cream and bring it to a boil. Set your bowl of ganache above it, completely sealing the pot with the bowl, to create a double boiler. Give it a minute for the steam from the boiling water to heat the bowl, and then whisk again, until your ganache is smooth.
Once your ganache is smooth, dip a banana in it to coat. (Note: I've had you make a little more ganache than you'll need, for ease of banana immersion in the dipping phase. I trust you will find a yummy way to use any leftover ganache.)
Set the dipped banana onto some peanuts and press additional peanuts onto the top side. Set the banana back on the wax paper-covered cookie sheet and press peanuts by hand onto any side left uncovered.
Repeat ganache-dipping and peanut-coating process with each banana.
Return tray of bananas to the freezer. Freeze at least two hours before serving.
We know we have waxed poetic about our previous favorite margarita (the one with the fresh orange juice) but this time around we chose a more traditional version. These are very potent. They will have you dancing, but don’t dance and drive.
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| Our new favorite margarita |
Margarita
By Erika Kotite • January 23, 2013 • 9 Comments
Source: Food 52
Serves 2
4ounces tequila
2ounces Cointreau
2ounces fresh-squeezed lime juice (plus spent lime rind)
1/2ounce agave syrup
Ice
Coarse sea salt
Additional lime wedges (for garnish)
Mix tequila, Cointreau, lime juice and agave syrup in a shaker or large measuring cup filled partway with ice and stir or shake until thoroughly chilled.
Spread salt on a plate. Rub rims of two rocks glasses with the spent lime. Turn glasses upside down in the salt. Fill glasses with ice and pour in the margarita liquid. Add lime wedge to each.
Grilling fresh corn is what makes this salad perfect for summer.
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Grilled Shrimp, Corn, and Tomato Salad
From Good Housekeeping
Ingredients
2 limes, can use 1 more lime if needed
4 tablespoon(s) olive oil
3/4 teaspoon(s) salt
Ground red pepper, (cayenne)
1 teaspoon(s) 1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon(s) ground cumin
1 pound(s) (large) shrimp, shelled and deveined, with tail part of shell left on if you like
3 ear(s) corn, husks and silks removed
4 medium tomatoes, each cut in half and seeded
2 medium (about 4 ounces each) poblano chiles
1 head(s) green or red leaf lettuce, thinly sliced
Directions
Prepare outdoor grill for covered direct grilling over medium heat.
Meanwhile, from limes, grate 1 teaspoon peel and squeeze 3 tablespoons juice. In cup, with fork, mix lime juice with 2 tablespoons oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon lime peel, and pinch ground red pepper. Set dressing aside.
In medium bowl, with fork, mix coriander and cumin with remaining 2 tablespoons oil, 1/2 teaspoon lime peel, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and pinch ground red pepper. Brush corn and tomatoes with half of oil mixture. Toss shrimp in oil mixture remaining in bowl.
Place corn and whole poblanos on hot grill rack. Cover grill and cook corn and poblanos 10 to 12 minutes or until corn is browned in spots and skin on poblanos is charred and blistered on all sides, turning over occasionally. Transfer corn to cutting board. Transfer poblanos to large sheet of foil. Wrap foil around poblanos and allow to steam at room temperature 15 minutes or until cool enough to handle.
While poblanos steam, place shrimp and tomatoes on hot grill rack (or hot flat grill topper). Cover grill and cook shrimp 4 to 5 minutes or just until opaque throughout, turning shrimp over once. Cook tomatoes 4 to 6 minutes or until lightly browned, turning over once. Transfer shrimp to large bowl and tomatoes to cutting board.
Remove poblanos from foil. Peel off skins and discard. Cut each poblano lengthwise in half; remove seeds and membranes. Cut poblanos crosswise into thin strips; add to shrimp in bowl. Cut corn kernels from cobs; add to same bowl. Peel off and discard skin from tomatoes. Cut tomatoes into thin strips; add to same bowl. Add 2 tablespoons dressing to shrimp mixture; toss to coat.
In another large bowl, toss lettuce with remaining dressing.
To serve, place lettuce on platter; top with shrimp mixture.
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Our unsolicited and biased opinion:
As usual, we went for the 16-20 count shrimp for the salad. We think the presentation is better and the shrimp are more succulent.
The recipe is written for an outdoor grill. We used an indoor Panini grill for everything but charring the poblano chilies, which we did over an open gas flame. All of this could easily be done under an oven broiler.
Grilling the tomatoes didn’t noticeably enhance the flavor, and next time around we will use fresh halved grape tomatoes. Because we love citrus, we doubled the lime zest, which was perfect for us. This is not a spicy dish, so don’t be hesitant about the cayenne. We followed the recipe and used red leaf lettuce but next time we will use romaine for its crispness.
Despite following the Spicy Honeyed Peanut recipe to the letter, we found it too sticky to easily break apart. (Notice the chunks of peanuts on the bananas.) Next time around we are going to use brown sugar instead of the honey. We still managed to glump it onto the bananas and eat them. The peanut combination would stand on its own as a topping for a sundae or eating with reckless abandon as you are making it . . . not that we would know.
.JPG)
This dessert lived up to our expectations. We used a Pasilla chile which added a smokiness and slight heat to the peanut coating.
We had about a quarter cup of ganache left and combined it with some of the remaining salted roasted peanuts. Just enough for a late night snack.
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Saturday, July 27, 2013
Pizza Celebrazione
Sue needed an “Italy fix”, which translated into a pizza extravaganza for us. A little Chianti, a little IL Divo, a couple of great pizzas, and we were transported to Florence.
Several months ago, we took advantage of a sale at World Market and we each bought a pizza stone. The stone came with a pizza cutter and a serving rack. We christened Sue’s stone with the goat cheese tart on a previous blog, and used both stones for this pizza party. By using both stones we were able to keep the first pizza hot while baking the second one. We now consider these a particularly good investment and a great addition to our cooking paraphernalia.
Basic Pizza Dough
Serves: 4 as main course or 8 as appetizer
Source: “The Italian Cooking Encyclopedia”, Hermes House Press,1997
Ingredients
2 ½ tbsp. fresh cake yeast or 1 pkge dry yeast (1 T)
1 c lukewarm water
pinch of sugar
1 t salt
3 – 3 ½ c unbleached white flour
Warm a medium mixing bowl by swirling some hot water in it. Drain . Place the yeast in the bowl, and pour on the warm water. Stir in the sugar, mix with a fork, and allow to stand until the yeast has dissolved and starts to form. 5 – 10 minutes.
Use a wooden spoon to mix in the salt and about one third of the flour. Mix in another third of the flour, stirring with the spoon until the dough forms a mass and begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl.
Sprinkle some of the remaining flour onto a smooth work surface. Remove the dough from the bowl and begin to knead it, working in the remaining flour a little at a time. Knead for 8 – 10 minutes. By the end the dough should be elastic and smooth. Form it into a ball.
Lightly oil a mixing bowl. Place the dough in the bowl. Stretch a moistened and wrung-out dish towel across the top of the bowl, and leave it to stand in a warm place until the dough has doubled in volume, about 40 -50 minutes or more, depending on the type of yeast used. (If you do not have a warm enough place, turn the oven on to medium heat for 10 minutes before you knead the dough. Turn it off. Place the bowl with the dough in it in the turned off oven with the door closed and let it rise there.) To test whether the dough has risen enough, poke two fingers into the dough. If the indentations remain, the dough is ready.
Punch the dough down with your fist to release the air. Knead for 1 – 2 minutes.
If you want to make 2 medium pizzas, divide the dough into 2 balls. If you want to make 4 individual pizzas (in pans 10 ½ inches in diameter), divide the dough into 4 balls. Pat the ball of dough out into a flat circle on a lightly floured surface. With a rolling pin, roll it out to a thickness of about 5/8 – ½ inch. If you are using a pizza pan, roll the dough out about ¼ inch larger than the size of the pan for the rim of the crust.
Place in the lightly oiled pan, folding the extra dough under to make a thicker rim around the edge. If you are baking the pizza without a round pan, press some of the dough from the center of the circle towards the edge, to make a thicker rim. Place it on a lightly oiled flat cookie sheet. The dough is now ready for filling.
Sicilian Pizza
Serves: 2
Source: “The Italian Cooking Encyclopedia”, Hermes House Press 1997
Ingredients
1 small eggplant, cut into thin rounds
2 T olive oil
½ recipe risen Pizza Dough
½ recipe tomato sauce
6 oz mozzarella cheese, sliced
½ c pitted black olives
1 T drained capers
¼ c grated Pecorino cheese
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 400’ F. Brush one or two baking sheets with oil. Brush the eggplant rounds with olive oil and arrange them on the baking sheet(s). Bake for 10 – 15 minutes, turning once, until browned and tender. Remove the eggplant slices from the baking sheet(s) and drain on paper towels.
Raise the oven temperature to 425’F. Roll out the pizza dough into two 10 inch rounds. Transfer to baking sheets and spread with the tomato sauce.
Pile the eggplant slices on top of the tomato sauce and cover with the mozzarella. Dot with the black olives and capers. Sprinkle the Pecorino cheese liberally over the top, and season with plenty of salt and pepper. Bake for 15 – 20 minutes, until the crust on each pizza is golden.
Cook’s tip: For best results choose olives that have been marinated in extra virgin olive oil and flavored with herbs and garlic.
Mushroom, Artichoke, and Prosciutto Pizza
Serves: 2
Source of topping: “Oprah Magazine”, June 2013
Source of Pizza Dough: “The Italian Cooking Encyclopedia”, Hermes House Press, 1997
Ingredients
1 recipe risen Pizza Dough
½ lb mushrooms, sliced, cooked in 1 T olive oil until tender, seasoned with salt & pepper
2 (6 oz) jars marinated (or plain) artichoke hearts, drained and sliced
2 c shredded mozzarella
8 very thin slices prosciutto (4 oz)
1 t ground black pepper
Olive oil to taste
Preheat the oven to 425’F.
Cook the mushrooms. Set aside.
Roll out the pizza dough. Add the toppings evenly across the dough. Sprinkle with olive oil and black pepper.
Bake for 15 – 20 minutes until crust is golden and cheese is bubbly.
Meg got a bottle of California avocado oil at Costco. We tried it in the vinaigrette and liked it a lot. It was soft and added a round flavor to the dressing. Throw on a handful of toasted pine nuts and a salad is born. And just to be honest here, the arugula salad was really good, but superfluous. We wanted to give the illusion of creating a healthy meal. It was really all about the pizza.
The Chianti was a purchased during a wine tasting class at Total Wine last year. We are pretty sure we have now consumed both of our bottles and need to re-stock. It was a little over our normal wine budget at $16.99 on sale but well worth it.
And to top off the meal, peaches and more wine – how much better can it get? This recipe, Pesche al Vino, peaches in wine, is courtesy of Judy Witts Francini, a fellow blogger that Sue follows. Judy had the wonderful sense to go to Italy, fall in love and spend the last 20 years living in Tuscany. (Sue’s dream in another life.)
For this dessert to “wow”, the fruit needs to be tree-ripened and sweet. We used a Vino Verde, a slightly effervescent white wine that has become one of our favorites. The peaches are skinned, sliced into a serving glass, add a scant teaspoon of sugar and cover with wine. The wine dissolves the sugar and the sugar releases the wonderful juice from the peaches. We think this a perfect ending (dare we say luscious?) for any summer meal, and is so easy to fix.
Our unsolicited and biased opinions:
It really strained our patience waiting for these pizzas to cool a little after taking them out of the oven, but they were easier to cut and serve.
The pizza dough and the Sicilian topping came from “The Encyclopedia of Italian Cooking”. If you get the book there is also a recipe for a tomato sauce for pizza. We made our own using a tomato sauce purchased from Bella Italia here in Reno. We added our own spices and garlic before simmering to reduce it to the consistency we wanted.
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When you use a pizza stone, you pre-heat it, which make it super-hot and yields a crunchy crust. The recipe uses a metal pan, which doesn’t require pre-heating. You may need to adjust your cooking time depending on your cooking method.
Both of these pizzas would make a great party appetizer and stay warm on the stones for serving. To make serving easier, make the crust oblong to fit on the stone (or baking sheet) and cut into squares. For a party, precooking the mushrooms and eggplant makes assembly a breeze.
Constructing a pizza consists of heaping all the things you love on a piece of homemade crust. We considered possibly 10 combinations before selecting the two we made. The possibilities are limitless, so use your imagination and have your own party (Celebrazione).
“You better cut the pizza in four pieces because I'm not hungry enough to eat six.”
Yogi Berra quotes (American professional Baseball Player and Manager. b.1925)
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Ciao!
Several months ago, we took advantage of a sale at World Market and we each bought a pizza stone. The stone came with a pizza cutter and a serving rack. We christened Sue’s stone with the goat cheese tart on a previous blog, and used both stones for this pizza party. By using both stones we were able to keep the first pizza hot while baking the second one. We now consider these a particularly good investment and a great addition to our cooking paraphernalia.
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| A taste of Italy. |
Basic Pizza Dough
Serves: 4 as main course or 8 as appetizer
Source: “The Italian Cooking Encyclopedia”, Hermes House Press,1997
Ingredients
2 ½ tbsp. fresh cake yeast or 1 pkge dry yeast (1 T)
1 c lukewarm water
pinch of sugar
1 t salt
3 – 3 ½ c unbleached white flour
Warm a medium mixing bowl by swirling some hot water in it. Drain . Place the yeast in the bowl, and pour on the warm water. Stir in the sugar, mix with a fork, and allow to stand until the yeast has dissolved and starts to form. 5 – 10 minutes.
Use a wooden spoon to mix in the salt and about one third of the flour. Mix in another third of the flour, stirring with the spoon until the dough forms a mass and begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl.
Sprinkle some of the remaining flour onto a smooth work surface. Remove the dough from the bowl and begin to knead it, working in the remaining flour a little at a time. Knead for 8 – 10 minutes. By the end the dough should be elastic and smooth. Form it into a ball.
Lightly oil a mixing bowl. Place the dough in the bowl. Stretch a moistened and wrung-out dish towel across the top of the bowl, and leave it to stand in a warm place until the dough has doubled in volume, about 40 -50 minutes or more, depending on the type of yeast used. (If you do not have a warm enough place, turn the oven on to medium heat for 10 minutes before you knead the dough. Turn it off. Place the bowl with the dough in it in the turned off oven with the door closed and let it rise there.) To test whether the dough has risen enough, poke two fingers into the dough. If the indentations remain, the dough is ready.
Punch the dough down with your fist to release the air. Knead for 1 – 2 minutes.
If you want to make 2 medium pizzas, divide the dough into 2 balls. If you want to make 4 individual pizzas (in pans 10 ½ inches in diameter), divide the dough into 4 balls. Pat the ball of dough out into a flat circle on a lightly floured surface. With a rolling pin, roll it out to a thickness of about 5/8 – ½ inch. If you are using a pizza pan, roll the dough out about ¼ inch larger than the size of the pan for the rim of the crust.
Place in the lightly oiled pan, folding the extra dough under to make a thicker rim around the edge. If you are baking the pizza without a round pan, press some of the dough from the center of the circle towards the edge, to make a thicker rim. Place it on a lightly oiled flat cookie sheet. The dough is now ready for filling.
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| Baked eggplant for Sicilian pizza |
Sicilian Pizza
Serves: 2
Source: “The Italian Cooking Encyclopedia”, Hermes House Press 1997
Ingredients
1 small eggplant, cut into thin rounds
2 T olive oil
½ recipe risen Pizza Dough
½ recipe tomato sauce
6 oz mozzarella cheese, sliced
½ c pitted black olives
1 T drained capers
¼ c grated Pecorino cheese
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 400’ F. Brush one or two baking sheets with oil. Brush the eggplant rounds with olive oil and arrange them on the baking sheet(s). Bake for 10 – 15 minutes, turning once, until browned and tender. Remove the eggplant slices from the baking sheet(s) and drain on paper towels.
Raise the oven temperature to 425’F. Roll out the pizza dough into two 10 inch rounds. Transfer to baking sheets and spread with the tomato sauce.
Pile the eggplant slices on top of the tomato sauce and cover with the mozzarella. Dot with the black olives and capers. Sprinkle the Pecorino cheese liberally over the top, and season with plenty of salt and pepper. Bake for 15 – 20 minutes, until the crust on each pizza is golden.
Cook’s tip: For best results choose olives that have been marinated in extra virgin olive oil and flavored with herbs and garlic.
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| Before baking. |
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| Hot out of the oven! |
Mushroom, Artichoke, and Prosciutto Pizza
Serves: 2
Source of topping: “Oprah Magazine”, June 2013
Source of Pizza Dough: “The Italian Cooking Encyclopedia”, Hermes House Press, 1997
Ingredients
1 recipe risen Pizza Dough
½ lb mushrooms, sliced, cooked in 1 T olive oil until tender, seasoned with salt & pepper
2 (6 oz) jars marinated (or plain) artichoke hearts, drained and sliced
2 c shredded mozzarella
8 very thin slices prosciutto (4 oz)
1 t ground black pepper
Olive oil to taste
Preheat the oven to 425’F.
Cook the mushrooms. Set aside.
Roll out the pizza dough. Add the toppings evenly across the dough. Sprinkle with olive oil and black pepper.
Bake for 15 – 20 minutes until crust is golden and cheese is bubbly.
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| Before baking |
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| New pizza and remnants of first pizza. |
Meg got a bottle of California avocado oil at Costco. We tried it in the vinaigrette and liked it a lot. It was soft and added a round flavor to the dressing. Throw on a handful of toasted pine nuts and a salad is born. And just to be honest here, the arugula salad was really good, but superfluous. We wanted to give the illusion of creating a healthy meal. It was really all about the pizza.
The Chianti was a purchased during a wine tasting class at Total Wine last year. We are pretty sure we have now consumed both of our bottles and need to re-stock. It was a little over our normal wine budget at $16.99 on sale but well worth it.
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| La Castellina Chianti Classico |
And to top off the meal, peaches and more wine – how much better can it get? This recipe, Pesche al Vino, peaches in wine, is courtesy of Judy Witts Francini, a fellow blogger that Sue follows. Judy had the wonderful sense to go to Italy, fall in love and spend the last 20 years living in Tuscany. (Sue’s dream in another life.)
For this dessert to “wow”, the fruit needs to be tree-ripened and sweet. We used a Vino Verde, a slightly effervescent white wine that has become one of our favorites. The peaches are skinned, sliced into a serving glass, add a scant teaspoon of sugar and cover with wine. The wine dissolves the sugar and the sugar releases the wonderful juice from the peaches. We think this a perfect ending (dare we say luscious?) for any summer meal, and is so easy to fix.
 |
| Pesche al Vino |
It really strained our patience waiting for these pizzas to cool a little after taking them out of the oven, but they were easier to cut and serve.
The pizza dough and the Sicilian topping came from “The Encyclopedia of Italian Cooking”. If you get the book there is also a recipe for a tomato sauce for pizza. We made our own using a tomato sauce purchased from Bella Italia here in Reno. We added our own spices and garlic before simmering to reduce it to the consistency we wanted.
.jpg)
When you use a pizza stone, you pre-heat it, which make it super-hot and yields a crunchy crust. The recipe uses a metal pan, which doesn’t require pre-heating. You may need to adjust your cooking time depending on your cooking method.
Both of these pizzas would make a great party appetizer and stay warm on the stones for serving. To make serving easier, make the crust oblong to fit on the stone (or baking sheet) and cut into squares. For a party, precooking the mushrooms and eggplant makes assembly a breeze.
Constructing a pizza consists of heaping all the things you love on a piece of homemade crust. We considered possibly 10 combinations before selecting the two we made. The possibilities are limitless, so use your imagination and have your own party (Celebrazione).
“You better cut the pizza in four pieces because I'm not hungry enough to eat six.”
Yogi Berra quotes (American professional Baseball Player and Manager. b.1925)
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Ciao!
Saturday, July 13, 2013
Cool and Easy
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| Crab Salad with Green Mango and Coconut |
Source: “Cool Food”; Laurel Glen Publishing 2002
2 small red chilies
2 T dried shrimp
2 T fish sauce
3 T lime juice
3 t brown sugar
½ c shredded coconut
1 ½ c shredded green mango
½ c mint leaves, (torn if very big)
½ c cilantro
3 kaffir lime leaves, shredded, (lime zest)
2 t thinly shredded, pickled ginger
1 lb fresh crabmeat
crushed roasted peanuts
lime wedges for garnish
**Note: Fresh shredded coconut is delicious, so if you have the time, remove the skin from a coconut and shred using a vegetable peeler. The banana leaves are for presentation only and are not edible.
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| Alfresco dining |
We loved this salad! Every forkful seemed to highlight a different component. The green mango is crunchy and slightly tart. The mint and cilantro add a burst of freshness. The dressing is complex and rich. Every bite is a party in your mouth. And oh yeah, there is crab, too.
The coconut lime cooler seemed like a perfect match for this salad. We chose it because of the similar ingredients. It was really light and refreshing. Try to find the Taste Nirvana coconut water with “chunks” of coconut – it is worth the effort.
Coconut Lime Cooler
Serves: 1
Source: “Raley’s Extra” quarterly; raleys.com
Taste Nirvana Coconut Water recommended for this recipe for its nifty floating chunks of coconut.
3 oz sparkling water
2 oz Taste Nirvana Coconut Water1 oz lime juice
1 oz rum
1 t chopped cilantro
Stir all ingredients together and pour over ice in a tall glass. Garnish with a lime slice.
Sue recently tasted the Oikos Toasted Coconut Vanilla Greek yogurt and fell in love at first spoonful. The dessert was pretty much built around using this yogurt. Grilled pineapple and candied ginger were the perfect partners for the yogurt. There is no recipe. Just grill up some fresh pineapple slices, dollop with yogurt and candied ginger! Be prepared to lick the plate!
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| Grilled pineapple with Toasted Coconut Greek Yogurt and Candied Ginger |
Our unsolicited and biased opinions:
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We substituted lime zest for the kaffir lime leaves and used flaked unsweetened coconut. Those were our only changes.
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Summer's Bounty
The abundance of available fruit changed our planned menu for today. Meg’s unintended purchase of practically every available fruit in the markets this week prompted her to bake bread when she got home and call Sue suggesting an early start to our blog day. The platter includes the following: peach, Anjou pear, star fruit, black apricots (pluots), figs(with and without prosciutto), cantaloupe with prosciutto, bread and candied pecans. The picture doesn’t do justice to the mouthwatering flavors. They were juicy, perfectly ripe and luscious! Throw in a bottle of Prosecco and you have a wonderful start to a summer meal. Wouldn’t it be lovely to start every day this way?
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So what had we planned for this meal? Meg found the recipe for this tart while she was looking for a recipe for fresh lavender cookies. She found the cookie recipe and with any luck they actually may make it to a future blog, but we digress. The picture of this tart was irresistible, and the ingredient list sealed the deal.
Goat Cheese Tart
Source: “Cool Food”, Laurel Glen Publishing, San Diego, California
Pastry
1 c all-purpose flour
¼ c olive oil
3 - 4 T cold water
Filling
1 T olive oil
2 onions, thinly sliced
1 t thyme leaves
½ c ricotta cheese
3 ½ oz goat cheese
2 T pitted Nicoise olives
1 egg, lightly beaten
¼ c whipping cream
For the pastry, sift the flour and a pinch of salt into a large bowl and make a well. Add the olive oil and mix with a flat-bladed knife until crumbly. Gradually add 3 – 4 T cold water until mixture comes together. Remove and pat together to form a disk. Chill for 30 minutes.
For the filling, heat the olive oil in a frying pan. Add the onions, cover, and cook over low heat for 30 minutes. Season and stir in half the thyme. Cool slightly.
Preheat the oven to 350’. Lightly flour the work surface and roll out the pastry to a 12 inch circle.
Evenly spread the onion over the pastry, leaving a ¾ inch border. Sprinkle the ricotta and the goat cheese evenly over the onions. Place the olives over the cheeses, then sprinkle with the remaining thyme. Fold the pastry border in to the edge of the filling, gently pinching as you go.
Combine the egg and cream, then carefully pour over the filling. Bake on a heated cookie sheet in the lower half of the oven for 45 minutes or until the pastry is golden. Serve warm or at room temperature.
We decided a tomato salad would be the perfect (and prettiest) foil for the richness of the tart. If you are going to make a tomato salad pick the BEST tomatoes that you can find! The ones we found were bursting with flavor. The addition of some good Italian extra virgin olive oil, a touch of vinegar and fresh thyme rounded out the vinaigrette. Right before serving we add some freshly cut basil. Heaven!
Glorious Grape Tomato Salad
Recipe developed by Sue & Meg For Saturday Night Specials 6/29/2013
2 pints multi-colored grape tomatoes, halved
Dressing:
1 garlic clove, grated
3 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
3 Tbsp. best quality extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp. fresh thyme
Fresh grated black pepper to taste
3 large basil leaves for garnish
Combine dressing ingredients, except basil and toss with tomatoes. Put in a shallow bowl and leave at room temperature for 1-4 hours to marinate, turning once an hour or so.
When ready to serve, top with thinly cut basil.
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We had planned another strawberry ice cream dessert, then Meg saw the picture of this semifreddo and called Sue. We are nothing if not flexible, especially when it comes to food! This does not require an ice cream maker and it has pistachios!
Strawberry Pistachio Semifreddo
Recipe by Greg Lofts; marthastewart.com
Serves: 12
Active prep time: 40 minutes; total time 12 hours, 40 minutes
½ c unsalted roasted shelled pistachios
8 oz strawberries, hulled (about 2 cups)
½ c plus 3 T sugar, divided
3 large egg yolks, room temperature
1 ½ c cold heavy cream
½ t pure vanilla extract
Line a standard 5 x 9 inch loaf pan with plastic wrap, leaving a 2 inch overhang on all sides. Pulse pistachios in a food processor until coarsely chopped (some will break down to a coarse grind). Transfer to a small bowl; do not wipe processor clean. Place strawberries and 3 T sugar in processor; puree until smooth and transfer to a fine sieve set over a bowl. Stir puree, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible; discard solids.
Combine egg yolks and remaining ½ c sugar in a bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Beat on high speed (or vigorously by hand) until pale yellow and tripled in volume, about 3 minutes. Transfer bowl to a larger bowl of ice water; stir until mixture is very thick and cool, about 3 minutes.
Beat together cream and vanilla in a large bowl until soft peaks form. Whisk 1/3 of whipped cream into egg mixture, whisking until smooth, then fold into remaining cream with a rubber spatula just until thoroughly incorporated.
Pour ½ of cream mixture into strawberry puree. Gently fold together until thoroughly incorporated, then pour into loaf pan and smooth top. Fold pistachios into remaining cream mixture and pour evenly over strawberry cream, smooth top. Fold plastic wrap over surface and freeze at least 12 hours and up to 3 days. To serve, peel plastic from surface. Invert pan onto a cutting board. Unmold semifreddo, remove plastic, and cut crosswise into ¾ inch slices.
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Welcome Summer! We are so glad you are here!
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So what had we planned for this meal? Meg found the recipe for this tart while she was looking for a recipe for fresh lavender cookies. She found the cookie recipe and with any luck they actually may make it to a future blog, but we digress. The picture of this tart was irresistible, and the ingredient list sealed the deal.
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| Tart in progress. |
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| Tart out of the oven |
Source: “Cool Food”, Laurel Glen Publishing, San Diego, California
Pastry
1 c all-purpose flour
¼ c olive oil
3 - 4 T cold water
Filling
1 T olive oil
2 onions, thinly sliced
1 t thyme leaves
½ c ricotta cheese
3 ½ oz goat cheese
2 T pitted Nicoise olives
1 egg, lightly beaten
¼ c whipping cream
For the pastry, sift the flour and a pinch of salt into a large bowl and make a well. Add the olive oil and mix with a flat-bladed knife until crumbly. Gradually add 3 – 4 T cold water until mixture comes together. Remove and pat together to form a disk. Chill for 30 minutes.
For the filling, heat the olive oil in a frying pan. Add the onions, cover, and cook over low heat for 30 minutes. Season and stir in half the thyme. Cool slightly.
Preheat the oven to 350’. Lightly flour the work surface and roll out the pastry to a 12 inch circle.
Evenly spread the onion over the pastry, leaving a ¾ inch border. Sprinkle the ricotta and the goat cheese evenly over the onions. Place the olives over the cheeses, then sprinkle with the remaining thyme. Fold the pastry border in to the edge of the filling, gently pinching as you go.
Combine the egg and cream, then carefully pour over the filling. Bake on a heated cookie sheet in the lower half of the oven for 45 minutes or until the pastry is golden. Serve warm or at room temperature.
We decided a tomato salad would be the perfect (and prettiest) foil for the richness of the tart. If you are going to make a tomato salad pick the BEST tomatoes that you can find! The ones we found were bursting with flavor. The addition of some good Italian extra virgin olive oil, a touch of vinegar and fresh thyme rounded out the vinaigrette. Right before serving we add some freshly cut basil. Heaven!
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| Glorious Tomatoes! |
Recipe developed by Sue & Meg For Saturday Night Specials 6/29/2013
2 pints multi-colored grape tomatoes, halved
Dressing:
1 garlic clove, grated
3 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
3 Tbsp. best quality extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp. fresh thyme
Fresh grated black pepper to taste
3 large basil leaves for garnish
Combine dressing ingredients, except basil and toss with tomatoes. Put in a shallow bowl and leave at room temperature for 1-4 hours to marinate, turning once an hour or so.
When ready to serve, top with thinly cut basil.
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| Dining al fresco |
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We had planned another strawberry ice cream dessert, then Meg saw the picture of this semifreddo and called Sue. We are nothing if not flexible, especially when it comes to food! This does not require an ice cream maker and it has pistachios!
Strawberry Pistachio Semifreddo
Recipe by Greg Lofts; marthastewart.com
Serves: 12
Active prep time: 40 minutes; total time 12 hours, 40 minutes
½ c unsalted roasted shelled pistachios
8 oz strawberries, hulled (about 2 cups)
½ c plus 3 T sugar, divided
3 large egg yolks, room temperature
1 ½ c cold heavy cream
½ t pure vanilla extract
Line a standard 5 x 9 inch loaf pan with plastic wrap, leaving a 2 inch overhang on all sides. Pulse pistachios in a food processor until coarsely chopped (some will break down to a coarse grind). Transfer to a small bowl; do not wipe processor clean. Place strawberries and 3 T sugar in processor; puree until smooth and transfer to a fine sieve set over a bowl. Stir puree, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible; discard solids.
Combine egg yolks and remaining ½ c sugar in a bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Beat on high speed (or vigorously by hand) until pale yellow and tripled in volume, about 3 minutes. Transfer bowl to a larger bowl of ice water; stir until mixture is very thick and cool, about 3 minutes.
Beat together cream and vanilla in a large bowl until soft peaks form. Whisk 1/3 of whipped cream into egg mixture, whisking until smooth, then fold into remaining cream with a rubber spatula just until thoroughly incorporated.
Pour ½ of cream mixture into strawberry puree. Gently fold together until thoroughly incorporated, then pour into loaf pan and smooth top. Fold pistachios into remaining cream mixture and pour evenly over strawberry cream, smooth top. Fold plastic wrap over surface and freeze at least 12 hours and up to 3 days. To serve, peel plastic from surface. Invert pan onto a cutting board. Unmold semifreddo, remove plastic, and cut crosswise into ¾ inch slices.
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Our unsolicited and biased opinions:
While the flour and olive oil crust for the tart sounded intriguing, it was difficult to work with. We decided to use a pizza stone instead of the hot baking sheet and to transfer the tart before adding the egg and cream mixture. We used a flexible cutting board to roll out the dough. After adding the onions, cheeses and olives we could not get it slide to the pizza stone. Too bad there wasn’t someone to take pictures of our various failed attempts. It could have been funny if we weren’t so hungry. We finally decided to pop the tart into the freezer to firm it up which made it easier to transfer.
Our changes included using the entire 4 ounce package of fresh goat cheese, double the amount of fresh thyme and about ½ cup of Kalamata olives, with excellent results.
The crust needed more salt – we think a ½ teaspoon. For once Sue followed directions and now we want to change them.
The semifreddo was outstanding! There wasn’t too much sugar and the freshness of the strawberries came through. And then, there was the decadent pistachio layer. Really, this was one of the best desserts we have ever made. Period.
We split a bottle of Cupcake Prosecco (our first) between the fruit course and the dessert. Sue found it at Raley’s Supermarket on sale (about $12.84) and is heading back for more.
Welcome Summer! We are so glad you are here!
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Saturday, June 15, 2013
A Bit Of Mango Madness . . . .
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Meg was having lunch and watching the Food Network, (big surprise), when she saw the Barefoot Contessa making frozen mango daiquiris. She quickly reversed the show, wrote down the ingredients, ran into the kitchen, made up a double batch and called Sue. Lucky for us it is mango season!
We found no need for crushed ice, we just slurped them up straight out of the freezer!
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| Mango Daiquiri |
Mango Daiquiris
Copyright 2004, Ina Garten, All Rights Reserved
Prep Time: 10 min
Inactive Prep Time: --
Cook Time: --
Level: Easy
Serves: 4 serving
Ingredients
1 ripe mango, peeled, seeded and chopped
1/4 cup lime juice (2 limes)
1 teaspoon sugar syrup
3/4 cup white rum
Crushed Ice
Directions
Place the mango, lime juice, sugar syrup and rum in a blender and process until smooth.
Pour the mixture over a glass full of crushed ice.
Note: To make sugar syrup, heat 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water in a small saucepan until the sugar dissolves.
Once started down the mango road, we found ourselves in the tropics, and this Thai shrimp noodle salad sounded exotic and perfect for a summer meal.
The noodle salad provided the opportunity to add three new ingredients to our pantries; Kecap manis, sweet chili sauce and “instant” Asian egg noodles. We found all three in a local Asian market. We had never heard of the kecap manis, which prompted an internet search where we found this description:
Kecap manis
Other names: kecap manise, ketjap manis
[KEH-chuhp MAH-nees] An Indonesian sauce similar to a sweet soy sauce flavored with garlic and/or star anise. Kecap manis is sweetened with palm sugar and is used as a condiment. The sauce is thick and not at all salty and has a very rich caramely flavor.
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Surprisingly, this was not a spicy dish. We didn’t know how hot the sweet chili sauce would be, so we added three hot chilies on the side for extra heat. Sue used all three including the mystery (hottest) pepper in varying amounts, whereas Meg only added a little jalapeno and Fresno. (No guts, no glory.) But to be fair, Meg ate her entire meal with chopsticks, and Sue used a fork!
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Thai Noodle Salad
Serves: 4
Source: “cool food”, Laurel Glen Publishing 2002
Dressing
2 T grated fresh ginger
2 T soy sauce
2 T sesame oil
1/3 c red wine vinegar
1 T sweet chili sauce
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/3 c kecap manis
1 lb. cooked jumbo shrimp
8 oz dried instant egg noodles
5 scallions, sliced diagonally
2 T chopped cilantro
1 red pepper, diced
¼ lb snow peas
For the dressing, whisk together the fresh ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil, red wine vinegar, chili sauce, garlic, and kecap manis in a large bowl.
Peel the shrimp and gently pull out the dark vein from each shrimp back, starting at the head. Cut each shrimp in half lengthwise.
Cook the egg noodles in a saucepan of boiling water for 2 minutes or until tender, then drain thoroughly. Cool in a large bowl.
Add the dressing, shrimp, and remaining ingredients to the noodles and toss gently. Can be served with lime wedges.
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And for dessert? Oh look, more mangoes!
Mango Madness Fruit Salad
Recipe developed by Sue & Meg For Saturday Night Specials 6/15/13
3 small kiwi, peeled and sliced
2 mangos, peeled and cubed
1 Asian pear, cored and cubed
2 cups strawberries, halved or quartered
1 ½ cups fresh pineapple chunks
4 mint leaves, thinly sliced
2 mangos, peeled and cubed
1 Asian pear, cored and cubed
2 cups strawberries, halved or quartered
1 ½ cups fresh pineapple chunks
4 mint leaves, thinly sliced
Dressing:
2 T lime juice
2 T agave nectar
1 T grated fresh ginger
Pinch of cardamom
2 T lime juice
2 T agave nectar
1 T grated fresh ginger
Pinch of cardamom
Whisk dressing ingredients together and pour over the fruit. Stir to combine. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
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Our unsolicited and biased opinions:
We loved all of our new ingredients. The kecap manis tasted of molasses with an Asian edge and the sweet chili sauce was deliciously sweet and slightly spicy. We know that we will find other uses for both of them. Already we are thinking about barbeque sauce . . . .
The salad only needed half of the dressing. We can see stir fry or an Asian chicken salad in our futures.
Where you live (and cook) will determine the length of time needed to prepare the Asian egg noodles. At our high altitude it took slightly longer than the package directions. Like any pasta, test it for doneness.
This is yet another make ahead meal with picnic opportunities. If shrimp isn’t your thing, substitute a protein of your choice. Tofu marinated in this dressing would be great, too. There were no fresh snow peas in the market so we used sugar snap peas.
Fresh fruit was the perfect ending for our mango madness. The lime juice, agave, ginger and cardamom enhanced each fruit and created a wonderful light syrup.
Here's to good eating!
.jpg)
Our unsolicited and biased opinions:
We loved all of our new ingredients. The kecap manis tasted of molasses with an Asian edge and the sweet chili sauce was deliciously sweet and slightly spicy. We know that we will find other uses for both of them. Already we are thinking about barbeque sauce . . . .
The salad only needed half of the dressing. We can see stir fry or an Asian chicken salad in our futures.
Where you live (and cook) will determine the length of time needed to prepare the Asian egg noodles. At our high altitude it took slightly longer than the package directions. Like any pasta, test it for doneness.
This is yet another make ahead meal with picnic opportunities. If shrimp isn’t your thing, substitute a protein of your choice. Tofu marinated in this dressing would be great, too. There were no fresh snow peas in the market so we used sugar snap peas.
Fresh fruit was the perfect ending for our mango madness. The lime juice, agave, ginger and cardamom enhanced each fruit and created a wonderful light syrup.
Here's to good eating!
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