From Fish to Nuts . . . Pistachio Salmon, Oh my!

You cannot get much quicker, easier, or delicious than this meal.

In spite of the “no appetizer” conversation, we both ended up with options for same. Sue won. Her can of ripe olives and planter of fresh herbs trumped Meg’s nut crackers by a couple of furlongs.  Don’t shop when you are hungry . . . . Sue had visions of a tapenade that we had recently eaten at a local restaurant, and a can of olives and a baguette of sourdough followed her home. With a mini-food processor this was super easy. We divided the olive mixture to try three different herb combinations; “Spicy Bush” basil, rosemary and thyme. If you haven’t tried the “Spicy Bush” basil, we highly recommend it. This combination was our favorite, with the fresh rosemary a close second. As usual, we have some ideas for changing the recipe . . .  see our “unsolicited” below.

Start to finish this meal took 30 minutes tops. We highly recommend using the freshest fish and vegetables that you can get. We chose wild caught Alaskan salmon and a combination of yellow crookneck and yellow patty pan squash. This could be an after-work dinner or a special meal for guests. The salmon and pistachios was a great pairing!

Fresh herbs from Sue's garden.

Tapenande on the porch.

Ready for the oven!

Ready to eat!!

Pistachio-Crusted Salmon with Parmesan Squash

Recipe source- Reno Gazette Journal, 2012
Serves 2

Ingredients:
1 medium summer squash
1 Tbsp. grated Parmesan chees
½ Tbsp. olive oil
Sea salt and black pepper
¾ cup shelled pistachios
2 skinless salmon fillets (about 6 oz. each)
½ Tbsp. butter, cut in small pieces

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Chop squash into bite-size pieces. Toss in a shallow baking dish with cheese and oil. Season with salt and pepper. Roast 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, coarsely grind pistachios in a food processor or finely chop with a knife.
Place salmon on a parchment-lined or lightly oiled baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Spread ground pistachios on top, pressing to help them stick. Dot each fillet with butter. Open oven, stir squash in its pan and place salmon pan in oven. Close oven and roast salmon and squash about 10 minutes, or until squash is crisp tender and salmon is flaky and cooked through.

Roasted Parmesan Squashs

Cheesecake Stuffed Nectraine

Cheesecake Stuffed Peaches

Better Homes and Gardens, August 2011
Serves: 6

Ingredients:
6 peaches, halved and pitted
¼ c butter, melted
3 T cinnamon sugar *
½ of an 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
¼ c sugar
1 egg yolk
1 ½ t vanilla

Preheat oven to 350’ F.  Line a 15 x 10 x 1 inch baking pan with parchment paper;  set aside.  Trim a very thin slice from the round side of each peach half so the halves will stand flat on the baking pan. Dip peach halves in melted butter to coat.  Arrange peach halves, cut sides up, in prepared pan.  Sprinkle cut sides of peaches with cinnamon sugar; set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl beat cream cheese with a mixer on medium speed until smooth.  Add sugar, egg yolk, and vanilla.  Beat until combined.  Spoon cream cheese mixture  into peach centers.
Bake, uncovered, about 30 minutes, or until lightly browned and softened.  Serve warm or at room temperature. 
*Cinnamon sugar – combine 3 T granulated sugar with 1 t ground cinnamon.

Our unsolicited and biased opinions:

Things we want to try in the future with this tapenade are:

• Gently heat the rosemary and garlic in olive oil before adding to the chopped olives
• Use oven roasted garlic instead of fresh, raw garlic for a sweeter taste. It could be substituted in all of the combinations.

Every bite of this meal was delectable. We know the choice of the salmon had everything to do with this, as we are both fans. The pistachios and the butter put this in a category by itself. You could prepare this with another fish of your choice and top it with a different nut, but really, why would you? 

Truly, we can see this with a black sea bass and chopped pecans or cod and macadamias, or slivered almonds, but in all honesty, the next time we fix this it will be salmon and pistachios.

 We love roasted vegetables, and this squash was no exception, but next time we will add some red pepper flakes for a little zip. We also added some additional parmesan just before serving.

We had not tried this Pinot before, and the description at Total Wines mentioned pairing it with salmon.  We chose well, it was a good compliment to the fish, and we enjoyed it a lot.

The cheesecake stuffed peaches are to die for. The combination of cinnamon, sugar, cream cheese and vanilla custard is amazing. Long after that last bite, the flavors linger in your mouth. It is so rich and satisfying that half a peach is all you need, but make twice as many , because everyone will want seconds.

We used nectarines in place of peaches for this dessert simply because there were no ripe peaches in the market. Using freestone peaches will make removing the pits easier. You may want to make the hole bigger to accommodate more custard  . . .  we used the full custard recipe for 3 nectarines and think doubling the custard recipe would be a grand idea. This is one of those OMG desserts --- try it! This recipe was a contest winner and we hope that they won a lot of money for it!!

D'Autrefois Pinot Noir, 2011, Alfio Moriconi Selection, France - Total Wine $9.99 

Saturday Sushi Special

Have you ever bought a cool thing at a craft fair and re-discovered it 12 years later? Be honest. It’s your secret, but Meg is coming clean regarding the sushi maker you see in these pictures. 

This week has been a continuation of the “it is too hot to cook” days we mentioned in July. The planned main dish may be featured at a later date. We filled up on sushi . . . . . but did manage to leave a little room for desert, and we will get to that later.

This was our first time making sushi, and that resurrected gizmo made it pretty darned easy! As we have learned in previous postings, the right tool can make all the difference. (spice grinder?!)

Having never tasted a California roll we didn’t like, here is what we put in ours:

Roll 1: Spicy crab/avocado/cucumber/scallions
Roll2: Cucumber/steamed carrot/pickled green bean/spicy crab
Roll3: lump fish caviar/avocado/scallion

We rounded this out with shrimp and wasabi on sushi rice and inarizushi. You can buy the canned seasoned fried bean curd pockets at a source that carries Asian products. They were very simple to make and full of flavor.

Our platter of sushi!



Rice for Sushi

For every one cup of rice:
2 Tbsp. of rice vinegar
2 Tbsp. sugar
Pinch of salt

Wash rice thoroughly and let it drain for 20 minutes. Cook per instructions for rice machine or stovetop. Let sit for twenty minutes.

Pour the rice vinegar mixture over the rice. Toss lightly with a carving fork, while fanning to cool the rice. You don’t want to smash the rice, and you want each grain coated the vinegar mixture. Cover bowl to keep moisture in until you start to make the sushi.

Roasted Seaweed



Seasoned Bean Curds Stuffed with Sushi Rice



Use the "press bar" with the letter side up to make an indentation into the rice for the filling.

Avocado and Cucumber Added on Top of Surimi

 

"Press Bar" upside down to press the sushi through the container

Our first California roll!

Caviar Sushi with Avocado and Scallions



Green Beans

1 dozen green beans, steamed in microwave with 2 tablespoons water
½ cup red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp.  grated ginger

Cook beans until crispy –tender, drain.  Mix the vinegar, sugar and ginger and pour over the beans.  Cover and let sit until cool, drain and refrigerate.


Spicy Surimi Crab

½ c Surimi Crab
2 Tbsp.  mayonnaise
1 generous tsp. Sriracha

We know, sushi should have sake.  Our sushi wanted Chardonnay, which was a good choice, as it stood up to the combination of flavors in the sushi.  You choose.

Gingered Litchi Gelatin

Ginger and Litchi Gelatin

Courtesy “Cool Food”, Laurel Glen publisher

Serves 6

20 oz. can of litchi
2 c ups clear apple juice (no sugar added)
1/3 cup strained fresh lime juice
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 ¼  x 1  ¼ fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
4 sheets gelatin  (1/4 oz.)
Mint leaves for garnish

Drain the syrup from the litchis and reserve 1 cup of the syrup. Discard remaining syrup.
Place the reserved syrup, apple juice, lime juice, sugar and ginger in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Strain into a heat proof bowl.

Place the gelatin sheets in a bowl of cold water and soak for two minutes or until they softened. Squeeze out the excess water, then add to the syrup. Stir until the gelatin has completely dissolved.  Leave to cool.

Pour 2 Tbsp. of the gelatin mixture into each of 6 ½ cup stemmed wine glasses, and divide the litchis among the wine glasses. Refrigerate until the gelatin has set. Spoon the remaining gelatin over the fruit and refrigerate until set. Before serving, garnish with mint leaves.

Our changes:

We used about 2 Tbsp. of bulk gelatin and dissolved it about ½ cup of apple juice until softened. We made this as 4 servings instead of 6 servings. We also did two alternating layers of the litchis and gelatin. So in each glass, it was about 2 inches of gelatin, 2 litchis, refrigerated until firm. As soon as it was set, we divided the remaining gelatin in the glasses and then added 3 litchi’s to the top of each glass.

Our unsolicited and biased opinions:

We can’t go get a job at a sushi joint but this wasn’t as daunting as we anticipated. It was fun and we got to eat with our fingers, and because you can add as much wasabi as you want, it becomes a suitable meal for just about anyone.  Even some of our friends who can’t eat shellfish could eat the Surimi. 

This whole sushi thing is pretty adaptable to what you like – you just wrap it in seaweed and seasoned rice.  Once you work with this seasoned rice, you understand how people can eat rice with chopsticks – it’s very sticky.  So, if you want to show off your budding chopstick skills, make this meal.

We plan on making sushi again, and in the interim we’ll find a bamboo rolling mat; so the next batch will have some round versions.  They all eat the same, but round cuts some corners.

Meg says the canned litchi is not as good as the fresh but fresh is not an option here in Nevada.  This was Sue’s first experience with litchis, so she was able to just enjoy it. We are providing a link so that you can see what the fresh litchis look like. They are stunning and so unusual. Check them out:

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=litchi+fruit&qpvt=litchi+fruit&FORM=IGRE





A Trip To Puerto Rico…. Can you hear the waves on the sand, and feel the tropical breeze?

We always pick up anything that has recipes in it, and when it is free, that’s even better. Two weeks ago, Sue picked up a couple of copies of the Whole Food “delicious living” magazine. The morning after our last blog, we repeated the same routine where we ponder what to fix next, and within ten minutes we had this meal planned. Sue had never had Puerto Rican food, and Meg’s childhood link to the island seemed an opportunity too good to pass up. Throw in her brother,  Sherman’s , recipe for “Pirates’ Punch”, and we were off and running.

Plantains, strangely, were scarce in Reno this week, fulfilling the role of the one elusive element in almost every meal.  Because we are now very into “how will it photograph?”,  Sue purchased two beautiful fillets of Chilean sea bass…really beautiful!  When Meg asked her if she was ready to cut up the fish, she almost cried.  Somehow the magazine picture had morphed in Sue’s mind into fillets on mofongo.

Rum was the logical choice for this meal, as a lot of good rum comes from Puerto Rico, and Meg has fond memories of “mentiritas”.  Her brother, Sherman, has made this punch for events large and small for a very long time, and says it is modeled after the “zombie” drinks enjoyed in Old San Juan.    Here is the current version as we prepared it:

•  46 oz. canned pineapple juice
•  46 oz. orange juice
•  4 T Angostura bitters
•  1 cup fresh lime juice
•  1 qt. dark (Puerto Rican) rum

Pirates' Punch

We believe this will keep for a couple of weeks in the fridge, but ours probably won’t make it that long.  It is really refreshing , and you should exercise discretion, as the rum hides behind the fruit juice.  Surprise!

Escabeche with Mofongo

Escabeche

Recipe: Delicious Living magazine, July 2012
Serves:  6

Ingredients

• 2 pounds whole black sea bass, skin removed, cut into small cubes
• ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, sliced thin
• 1 red bell pepper, diced small
• 1 Tbsp. capers, rinsed and drained
• 1 piquillo pepper or pimientos, diced small (bottled is fine)
• ¼ cup white wine vinegar
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
• Sliced avocado and lime wedges, for garnish 

Directions

Season fish with salt and pepper.  In a large sauté pan, heat olive oil over medium heat; then add fish and sauté until opaque, 3-4 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon to a deep plate and keep warm.
In the same pan, sauté onion with garlic and bell pepper until translucent, 5 minutes. Add capers, piquillo pepper, vinegar, bay leaf, oregano, and cilantro; season with salt and mix well. Pour over cooked fish. Let cool to room temperature. Serve with avocado slices and lime wedges.

Weight Watchers:  9 points without the avacado garnish. This total was also based on using the 1/2 cup olive and we only used about 1 tablespoon. 

Mofongo (Plantain Patties)

Recipe: Delicious Living magazine, July 2012
Serves:  6

Ingredients

• 3 green plantains (about 2 pounds total), peeled cut in thick, round slices
• 2 Tbsp. reduced-fat (2 percent) milk
• 3 large cloves garlic
• Olive oil

Directions

Soak plantains in salted water for 30-60 minutes; drain. In a heavy saucepan, arrange plantains and add milk, plus just enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, simmer until tender, 15-20 minutes. Drain, reserving liquid.

Mince garlic in a large food processor (or mortar).  While still warm, add plantains and pulse (or mash) with a little olive oil, adding reserved liquid as needed, until plantains are soft  and mashed; they will somewhat harden after a few minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings with salt and pepper. Form into six thick patties and serve warm, topped with Esabeche.

Weight Watchers: 9 points



Tembleque (Coconut Mousse)

Tembleque (Coconut Mousse)

Recipe: Delicious Living magazine, July 2012
Serves:  4

Ingredients

• 1 (13.5-ounce) can coconut milk
• ½ cup plus 1 Tbsp. water
• ¼ cup cornstarch
• 1/3 cup natural cane sugar
• ¼ tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. fresh orange zest
• Toasted flacked coconut and orange slices for garnish

Directions

Pour coconut milk into a heavy saucepan. Pour water into coconut-milk can, swish around, and add to saucepan, along with cornstarch, sugar, and salt; whisk until smooth. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon over medium heat until thickened, 5-7 minutes. Do not let it boil. (Usually it is ready right before it starts boiling.) Remove from heat. Stir in orange zest and let mixture rest for 2 minutes.
Coat four ½-cup ramekins with cooking spray and divide coconut mixture among them. Refrigerate for 3 hours or until set. Unmold and serve cold, decorated coconut flakes and orange slices.

Weight Watchers: 7 points


Our unsolicited and biased opinions:


We loved the salsa in this recipe!  It has so many possibilities; pairing it with chicken or any other kind of fish, as well as a key ingredient in fish tacos.  (Can you say “leftovers”? ) We accidentally added the juice of one lime, and loved the extra tartness.  We’re blaming it on the punch…that’s our story, and we’re sticking to it.  Really, try this salsa.

We used about (remember the punch) one tablespoon of olive oil to sauté the fish and the vegetables, which was plenty.  Other than those two changes, we are pretty sure we followed the recipe, and would definitely make this again.  Any firm white fish would work well in this recipe.

Be sure the plantains are cooked through.  It took a little longer here at altitude.  Add as much liquid as you need to keep your food processor going…the mixture will thicken a bit as it sits.  We liked the texture of the pieces left in the mixture.  We both ate two patties, which ended up being one patty too many. We plan on sautéing the leftover (smaller) patties in a little olive oil as a side dish.  If you have never tried cooking with green plantains, give this recipe a try and take a trip to the tropics.  Plantains are readily (usually) available in all markets here in Reno, and you will very likely find them in a market near you.

We did a riff on the slaw from one of our previous feasts (see posting on 5/19/12), but made changes based on what we had on hand.  We used red bell pepper in place of English cucumber, red onion in place of scallions, and honey in place of agave nectar.  It was great with this meal, and we plan on using it with the leftover fish for tacos.  We are both loving the lightness of this and our previous slaw for summer…no mayo.

This meal required some cooking, but you eat everything at room temperature, which makes it a perfect summer meal.

Although this is not a traditional Tembleque and did not firm up for us, the creamy texture, orange zest and toasted coconut made it a dreamy desert. We stopped cooking it before it boiled, as directed, and maybe that’s why it didn’t gel. It certainly didn’t stop us from eating it.

A Cool Meal for the Dog Days of Summer

OR-G - pretty to look at, fun to drink!

 Sue fell in love with this vodka bottle, which started the quest to find out if the contents were as good as the bottle was beautiful.  On the strong recommendation of a handsome young employee at Total Wine Sue happily bought a bottle, and will be buying another bottle.  OR-G is French vodka flavored with persimmon, mango, papaya and lime and made an excellent cocktail mixed with a splash of club soda and a generous wedge of lime.  OR-G is OMG good.  The flavor was surprisingly fruity without being sweet, and even though the bottle indicates they have recipes, we just plowed ahead with our own version.

 It has been so hot here. You ask, how hot?  How about over 100 most of this week?  While it is not unusual to get this hot here, it is usually in August,  not  July.  So we wanted something cool, refreshing, and   something that didn’t require heating up the oven.  And boy did we score with this choice. Sue found some great Ahi tuna, and the vegetables are so luscious this time of year, it was a perfect combination.  And yes, once again there was excitement in the produce aisle when Sue found the baby potatoes. They were just too cute to pass up.



Ahi tuna searing in rosemary olive oil

 This meal evokes a grape arbor, olive trees, fragrant herbs and flowers and a large gathering of close friends and family.  We made do with two hungry women in an air-conditioned house….we’re all about adapting.  Provide us the grape arbor, and we’re there.  The fresh flavors and richness of this dish will transport you anywhere you dream to be.



Nicoise Salad

Classic Tuna Nicoise Salad

Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse

Prep Time: 10 min

Inactive Prep Time:  --

Cook Time:  30 min

Level:  Easy

Serves:  4 entree salads

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound red potatoes, scrubbed and cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch thick slices
• 1/4 pound haricots verts, or small, thin green beans, ends trimmed
• 2 pounds yellowfin tuna loin, trimmed of sinew
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 rosemary sprigs
• 1 large head romaine or Bibb lettuce, rinsed and patted dry
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon leaves
• 1/2 pound Roma plum tomatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1/3 cup halved and seeded black brine-cured olives
• 1/3 cup halved and seeded green brine-cured olives
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
• 4 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and sliced
• Chopped fresh herbs, for garnish (parsley, tarragon, chive, etc.)

Directions

Bring 2 medium pots of salted water to a boil. Add the potatoes to 1 pot and blanch until tender, about 5 to 6 minutes. Drain in a colander, pat dry, and set aside. Add the green beans to the other pot and blanch until tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Drain in a colander, pat dry, and set aside.

Arrange the tuna on a cutting board and cut into 4 equal portions. Season the tuna steaks with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, each. Heat the oil in a large skillet (or 2 medium skillets), over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot but not smoking, add the rosemary sprigs and tuna steaks and sear, about 30 seconds per side for medium-rare. Remove from the pan and dice the tuna into 1-inch pieces.

Tear the lettuce into bite-size pieces and combine with chopped fresh parsley and tarragon. Toss with enough of the Anchovy Dressing just to coat. Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper as needed. Toss the potatoes and green beans in 1/4 cup of the Anchovy Dressing. Arrange the lettuce along the side of 4 large plates (or 1 serving platter). Spoon the vegetables along the other side of the plate. Arrange the diced tuna over the lettuce. Arrange the tomatoes, olives, sliced red onions, and eggs on the other sides of the plates (or serving platter). Garnish with additional herbs if desired and serve immediately.

Anchovy Dressing:

• 1 anchovy fillet, drained
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon chopped garlic
• 1 large egg*
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons minced shallots
• 2 teaspoons capers, drained and chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

In a medium bowl, mash the anchovy, salt, pepper, and garlic into a paste with the back of a fork. Add the egg and whisk well to blend. Add the lemon juice and mustard, and whisk well. Add the oils in a steady stream, whisking constantly to form a thick emulsion. Add the shallots, capers and Worcestershire, whisk well, and adjust the seasoning, to taste. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Yield: 1 cup

Weight Watchers: 19 points



Ricotta-Raspberry Ice Cream

Raspberry-Ricotta Ice Cream
Recipe from Whole Living Magazine, July /August 2012

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1 ¼ cups ricotta
• ½ cup cane sugar
• ¾ tsp. vanilla
• 1 tsp. grated lemon zest
• Pinch of coarse salt
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 1 cup raspberries

Directions

Puree ricotta, sugar, vanilla, lemon zest, and salt. Stir in cream. Freeze in ice cream maker, then mix in 1 cup berries. Transfer to a container and freeze until firm. For the best texture, freeze the ice cream in a shallow, flat container.

Weight Watchers: 9 points

Our biased and unsolicited opinions:

We loved every single element of this salad.  If you are not a lover of seared tuna, then you may want to substitute a grilled meat of your choice.  We substituted multi-colored  baby potatoes for the sliced red potatoes and were very pleased with results. We liked the tuna sliced rather than chopped. We also chose to quarter the tomatoes. The beauty of a composed salad like this, is that you can let the vegetables determine how you present them. The dressing was mild in spite of the strong ingredients and didn’t overpower the salad. We were so surprised by the amount of flavor that the rosemary infused into the tuna in just the few minutes it took to sear.

The wine was good but a bit strong for this meal. A Sirah or a Pinot Noir or even a sparkling white would be a better choice. This was an on-hand wine, and we wanted to try it, but it was over our established budget, and now we wish we had saved it for a better pairing.  We are sort of sorry, sort of . . . .

Maipe, Malbec2008, Argentina

The taste of the ice cream was great (how could it not be?). Sue liked the texture, but Meg thinks it should be smoother, and she is going to keep making and eating it until she has it right. This would lend itself to a variety of summer fruits, so let us know if you try something other than raspberries.

A Salute To Summer with Fresh Tomatoes and Herbs

So being “foodies”, we no sooner finish one meal than we are anticipating the next.  Right after the last SNS posting, (we’re talking Tuesday following the meal on Saturday),  we were chatting after work on the phone, and the conversation ping ponged  from, “We should start thinking about the next posting.”, to “I really liked a lot of the recipes in that Italian cookbook you loaned me.”, to summer portable foods, and evolved into this meal.

We decided right away to make the tart with heirloom tomatoes and then decided on shrimp in baby Romaine leaves as a side.  Meg suggested making an aioli, and we started naming ingredients.  After a long list of options, Sue said, “Am I supposed to be writing this down?”  So since then, every time we start talking about recipes, Sue asks, “Am I supposed to be writing this down?”  It’s now our joke, which we are sharing.  (You had to be there.)

We are so loving the aromas of summer cooking.  We encourage you to stop and sniff the vine-ripened tomatoes, and the basil, and the Parmesan when you are preparing this meal.  When you start with such wonderful ingredients, enjoy the journey, not just the end result.  This was pretty from the beginning, and we couldn’t resist sharing the pictures.

Heirloom Tomatoes and Basil



The tart before adding the parmesan cheese.



Tomato and Basil Tart out of the oven

Tomato and Basil Tart

 Courtesy “The Cook’s Encyclopedia of Italian Cooking”, Carla Capalbo, Hermes House

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients:

• 1 ½  c unbleached flour
• ½ t salt, plus more to sprinkle
• ½ c butter , chilled
• 3 – 5 T cold water
• 2 T extra virgin olive oil

For the filling

• 1 c mozzarella cheese,  sliced as thinly as possible
• 4 – 5 medium tomatoes, cut into ¼ inch slices
• 4 T freshly grated Parmesan cheese 

Make the pastry by placing the flour and salt in a mixing bowl.  Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse meal.  Add 3 T of water , and combine with a fork until the dough holds together.  If it is too crumbly, mix in a little water.
Gather the dough into a ball and flatten it into a disc.  Wrap in waxed paper and refrigerate for at least 40 minutes.  Preheat the oven to 375’.

Roll the pastry out between two sheets of waxed paper to a thickness of ¼ inch.  Line and 11 inch tart or pie pan, trimming the edges evenly.  Refrigerate for 20 minutes.  Prick the bottom all over with a fork.

Line the pastry with a sheet of parchment paper.  Fill with dried beans.  Place the pie pan on a cookie sheet and bake about 15 minutes.  Remove from the oven.
Remove the weights and paper.  Brush the pastry with oil.  Line with the mozzarella.  Tear half of the basil into pieces, and sprinkle on top. 

Arrange the tomato slices over the cheese.  Dot with the remaining whole basil leaves.   Sprinkle with salt and pepper, Parmesan cheese and oil.  Bake for about 35 minutes.  If the cheese exudes a lot of liquid during the baking, tilt the pan and spoon it off to keep the pastry from becoming soggy.  Serve hot or at room temperature.

Weight Watchers   8 points for 8 servings, 10 points for 6 servings

Grilled Shrimp With Red Pepper Aioli

Roasted Red Pepper Aioli

 Recipe developed by Meg and Sue

For Saturday Night Specials 6/30/2012

Makes: 2 cups 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup  olive oil
• 2 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
• 1 egg
• 2 large cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 large red peppers, roasted, skins and seeds removed
• 1 Tsp.  Sriracha hot sauce
• zest of 1 small lemon
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste 

Put all ingredients except the olive oil in a blender and blend on medium speed until well mixed.  Turn to highest speed and slowly drizzle the olive oil through the opening in the lid of the blender.  Refrigerate until ready to use.  This will help to thicken the sauce, also.

Ferrari Carano Fume Blanc

We had planned on a red wine for this meal, but Sue unilaterally decided on a white. Luckily, it worked out well. This wine complimented the basil in the tart.



Fresh Peaches with Rosemary-Honey Syrup

 

Peaches with Rosemary-Honey Syrup 

Recipe developed by Meg

For Saturday Night Specials 6/30/2012

Makes: ½ cup

Ingredients:

• 1 c water
• ¼ c honey
• 1 6 inch sprig rosemary
• ¼  c frozen cranberry-pomegranate juice
• 1 crushed whole cardamom pod
• 1 T balsamic vinegar 

Put all of the ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer.  Cook over low heat until it is reduced to a dark syrup.  If you can keep an eye on it, go ahead and use a higher heat.

Toast about ½ cup of sliced almonds in a skillet in 1 t butter until slightly browned.

Skin and slice about 1 ½ peaches per person into small bowls.  Drizzle with the syrup and sprinkle the toasted almonds over the top.

This syrup was made specifically for the wonderful fresh peaches, but could easily be used over almost any fresh fruit.  Adding the sliced, toasted almonds gives this summery dessert just the right amount of crunch.

   

Our unsolicited and biased opinions:

The shrimp in the Romaine with aioli is very portable, if you take the aioli in a small squeeze bottle.  We would also not leave the tails on, although it made for a prettier picture.

The aioli makes about 2 cups but you can easily cut the ingredients in half. Leftovers can be used as a sauce over cooked chicken, on fish tacos, or as a dip for fresh vegetables.

We loved the tart, but it isn’t finger food.  Next time we would grate the mozzarella. We have some ideas, which we will share on another occasion, to make it more portable. The combination of fresh tomatoes, cheeses and basil is hard to beat, and the aromas while it was baking were tantalizing.

Fresh fragrant peaches are showing up in our markets now. They needed no enhancement, but we made a rosemary-honey syrup, just because we could. A topping of toasted sliced almonds added a nice crunch. Really, a perfect summer dessert.  

"Finger Licking Good" Orange Glazed Chicken

Welcome to Summer! This menu began with the “Everyday Foods” Great American Summer, June 2012 edition. We both drooled ourselves through this magazine and decided to combine several of the published recipes into one, (what turned out to be an absolutely fantastic), meal.

Sue strongly suggested starting the afternoon with an Italian obsession she first sampled in a small trattoria a couple of blocks from the Spanish steps in Rome. The color is what first attracted her to the drink, and the taste won her over completely. Meg is now a convert. Get yourself a bottle of Aperol and a bottle of Prosecco and be a convert, too!  Even if you have never been to Italy, having this cocktail with the slightly bitter orange of the Aperol and the bubbly Prosecco will transport you to a side walk café. We enjoyed it on Sue’s front porch in the shade with a nice breeze cooling off the warm afternoon. If we closed our eyes and pretended really hard, we were transported to Italy.

Italian Spritz

Aperol Spritz: 3 parts Prosecco, 2 parts Aperol, 1 splash club soda, slice of orange
 
So, do Italians do barbeque? This requires further investigation, which we are willing to do. In the meantime, this was an excellent way to start the first of our summer meals.

As a side note, we are happy to report that unlike some of our previous blogs, nothing was an emergency purchase (i.e., Friday night); no stress, no worries about untoward jubilation in the produce aisles.

Sticky Orange Glazed Chicken Thighs

Sticky Orange-Glazed Chicken Thighs

Recipe source: Everyday Food, June 2012

Cook Time:  50 min
Level:  Easy
Serves:  4 servings

Ingredients

8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
Coarse salt and pepper
1 cup thawed orange juice concentrate
1 cup ketchup
2 Tbsp. light-brown sugar
4 tsp. white-wine vinegar
4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp. hot sauce

Directions

Preheat oven to 450, with rack in upper third. Season chicken with salt and pepper and arrange, skin side down, on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until deep golden brown and cooked through, 45 to 50 minutes, flipping halfway through.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, combine 1 tsp. salt, juice concentrate, ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce. Bring to a simmer and cook until mixture has thickened, 18 to 20 minutes.

Heat broiler. Transfer chicken to a large bowl, add glaze, and toss to coat. Drain off fat from sheet. Return chicken to sheet and broil until sauce is bubbling and chicken is dark brown in spots, 1 to 2 minutes.

Weight Watchers: 12 points for 4 servings, 6 points for 8 servings

Snow Pea Salad

Snow Pea Salad with Shallot and Tarragon

Recipe source: Everyday Food, June 2012

Prep Time:  20 min
Level:  Easy
Serves:  4 servings

To speedily slice snow peas into ribbons, stack several pods and cut them all together. The strips don’t have to be perfect.

Ingredients

2 tsp. Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp. champagne or white-wine vinegar
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
2 Tbsp. minced shallot
1 pound snow peas, thinly sliced lengthwise
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh tarragon

Directions

In a large bowl, whisk together mustard, vinegar, and oil; season with salt and pepper. Add shallot, snow peas, and tarragon and combine. (To store, refrigerate, covered up to 6 hours.)

Weight Watchers: 5 points

Herbed Potao Salad

Herbed Potato Salad

Recipe source: Everyday Food, June 2012

Prep Time:  30 min
Level:  Easy
Serves:  8 servings

Ingredients

2 ½ pounds small Yukon Gold potatoes
Salt and pepper
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
6 scallions, thinly sliced
¼ cup mayonnaise
2/3 cup low fat plain yogurt
2 Tbsp. lemon juice

In a medium pot, bring potatoes to a boil in salted water over high. Reduce to a simmer and cook until tender when pierced with a fork, about 15 minutes. Drain and let cool briefly.

Halve the potatoes (quarter if large) and add to a large bowl along with parsley, scallions, mayonnaise, yogurt, and lemon juice. Toss and season with salt and pepper. To store, cover and refrigerate up to 8 hours.

Weight Watchers: 4 points

The One Man Band Zinfandel

The One Man Band, The County Fair, Sonoma County Zinfandel 2010, Trader Joe's, $8.99

Thanks to Tim, at our local Trader Joe's, for the excellent wine suggestion. It was perfect with the meal!

Raspberries with Chambord

Recipe developed by Sue

For  Saturday Night Specials 6/16/2012

Prep Time:  10 min
Level:  Easy
Serves:  2-3 servings

Ingredients

1 – 6 ounce packages of fresh raspberries
1 tsp. orange zest
1 tsp. orange juice
2 ½  Tbsp. powdered sugar
6 tsp. Chambord (raspberry liqueur)

Directions

In a bowl large enough to hold the raspberries, whisk the Chambord, orange juice and powdered sugar until well incorporated. Take one raspberry and dip into mixture. Taste for sweetness. Add more powdered sugar or  Chambord  if necessary. Whisk again.

Add orange zest and whisk to blend. Add raspberries and gently turn in sugar-Chambord mixture. Refrigerate covered until ready to serve.

Weight Watchers: 5 points without the frozen yogurt

Raspberries with Chambord and Orange

Our unsolicited and biased opinions:

After tasting the barbeque sauce, we decided to add the zest of one small orange. We highly recommend this change. The zest enhanced the orange flavor of the sauce.  We opted to cook the chicken at 375, on a wire rack inside of a foil lined cookie sheet, skin side up, for about 30 minutes before the first basting with the sauce. We basted again after 5 minutes, then raised the rack and turned on the broiler. We were really happy with the results. We used Sriracha for the hot sauce component in the recipe. This is our preferred hot sauce. If you prefer less spice, use Tabasco, or leave out the hot sauce altogether.

We loved the contrast of the mustard vinaigrette with the sweetness and crisp texture of the snow peas. Nothing to change here. We gave the flavors a chance to marry for about an hour in the refrigerator, without losing any of the freshness of the peas.

For the potato salad, we substituted 1 tablespoon of fresh minced dill, one half minced shallot and about 2 tablespoons minced chives for the scallions and parsley.  Use your choice of fresh herbs. The yogurt and mayonnaise combination is rich and tangy. This may become our potato salad dressing of choice.

Sue surprised Meg with what we are now calling the “Lick-the-bowl Raspberry Delight” desert. The combination of the Chambord, orange zest, raspberries, and the Haagen Dazs Vanilla Frozen Yogurt with Raspberry Swirl was so over the top!! What a perfect ending to a great meal.

Ricotta Gnocchi with Grafitti Eggplant

If you have been following this blog, you already know that there always seems to be one elusive ingredient. We would like to tell you the whole story, but here is what we can tell you: the most sought after item this week was the graffiti eggplant, which we found at Whole Foods (Friday night, of course).  Interestingly, graffiti eggplant is a somewhat pricey item here in Reno at $5.99 a pound. Depending on where you live and your access to farmers markets, they may be more available in your area.  The recipe called for one eggplant, but Sue threw caution to the wind and purchased two, just because she found them, and they were so pretty. (It’s OK to express excitement in the produce aisle when no one knows who you are.)  

We served the gnocci with a salad of mixed spring greens and a basic vinaigrette. Our vinaigrette included a touch of Dijon, red wine vinegar, dried chives and mixed Italian herbs. It was tart and complimented the round flavors of the gnocchi.

When planning this meal, we talked about ending with a double espresso vodka shot, and Meg thought we should have some sort of chocolate ice cream. There was no vodka in the ice cream but carob, espresso and cream made it in! We are not sharing the recipe yet, but one day soon . . . further taste testing is required, over and over and over.

Ricotta Gnocchi with Stewed Eggplant, Garlic, Red Pepper and Oregano

Recipe courtesy Michael Symon 

Total Time:  1 hr 15 min

Prep: 30 min

Inactive Prep: 15 min

Cook: 30 min

Level: Intermediate

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

Gnocchi:

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for bench flour
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1 egg

Eggplant:

• 2 tablespoons blended oil, plus more as needed
• 1/2 cup sliced garlic (about 5 to 7 cloves)
• Kosher salt
• 1 grafitti eggplant, peeled and cut into medium dice
• 1 red pepper, seeded and cut into medium dice
• 3 sprigs fresh oregano, leaves picked
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 lemon, thinly sliced (3 to 4 slices)
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

For the gnocchi:

To a large bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, Parmesan cheese, and lemon zest. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the ricotta cheese and egg. Combine well with a wooden spoon or with your fingers until the dough just comes together, taking care not to overwork, which could cause the dough to toughen.

 

Scrape the dough onto a well-floured surface and pat into a rough square. If it's tacky to the touch, add a bit more flour so you can form it with your hands. Using a bench scraper, cut the pasta dough into 4 even pieces. Gently roll each piece into foot-long ropes, about 1-inch in diameter, flouring as needed to prevent the dough from sticking to the surface. Cut each rope into 1/2- to 3/4-inch wide pieces. Place the gnocchi onto a floured, parchment-lined, baking sheet and into the freezer, uncovered. Keep in the freezer until ready to cook.

 

For the eggplant:

Place a saute pan over medium-high heat and add 2 tablespoons blended oil. Once heated, add the garlic and pinch of salt. Do not brown, just sweat for 30 seconds. Add the eggplant and season again with salt. Cook's Note: The salt will help pull out the excess moisture from the eggplant.

Add a bit more oil if necessary; the eggplant may quickly soak up what is already in the pan. Once this starts to breakdown, after about 2 minutes, add a bit more oil, if needed, the red pepper and freshly picked oregano leaves. Toss to combine, lower the heat and allow to slowly cook while starting the sauce.

 

For the sauce:

To another saute pan, add 1/2 cup unsalted butter and allow to melt over medium heat. Add the lemon slices to the butter and allow to saute while you cook the gnocchi.

 

Meanwhile, to a pot of boiling water, add enough salt and make it taste like the ocean. Carefully add the gnocchi to the boiling water and allow to cook. Once the gnocchi start to float, after about 2 to 3 minutes, remove them from the water using a slotted spoon and add them to the butter pan and allow to brown, about 2 minutes. Reserve the pasta water.

 

For plating:

Spoon about half of the eggplant mixture into the butter-gnocchi pan. Toss in 1/4 cup pasta water, drizzle extra-virgin olive oil, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, and 2 tablespoons unsalted butter and toss to combine. Once the butter melts, place onto plate. Drizzle the plate with extra-virgin olive oil and more Parmesan cheese.

Weight Watchers  16 points per serving (and worth every one them)

Our unsolicited and biased opinions:

We had never made gnocchi, and this was a good introduction. The recipe is simple to make and wonderful to eat. If you are tempted to make gnocchi, start here. The recipe did not specify the type of ricotta; so we used part skim. Combined with the lemon zest and the parmesan, there was no lack of flavor or richness. The gnocchi can easily be made ahead and frozen until you are ready to use them, which would make them a great dinner party choice. These gnocchi will make you a star!

The recipe called for peeling the eggplant. Because we are eggplant lovers, and because Sue purchased two, (see above), we decided to use both - peeling one and not the other. When we do this again, and we will, we will still use two eggplants and not peel either. This eggplant is very mild, and the skin is not bitter at all. If you cannot find graffiti eggplant, we think Japanese eggplant would be a good substitute.

The fresh oregano was lost for us in this recipe due to the lemon and butter flavors. Next time we will try dried oregano instead. And speaking of butter, we only used ½ cup and believe that we could have used only a ¼ cup. We also did not add the olive oil drizzle or additional butter at the end. It was decadent, rich and totally satisfying. Wait until you taste this. 

We are happy to finally have the opportunity to serve a Merlot after months of pairing white wines with our meals. Not that we haven’t enjoyed some very nice white wines, but we are red wine fans and think that the richness of this dish was best suited to a red wine. We also think a Cabernet or Pinot would work as well. Pick a red that you like, we did.

  

2007 Dancing Bull Merlot, California, Raley’s Supermarket from Meg's stock. It was under $10.00 on sale, but not sure of the actual price.