Paying Penance, But In A Good Way . . .

Our last meal for Sue’s birthday was WAY over the top, and we don’t regret a single mouthful. No apologies, just some yummy penance.  This is a salad! This is a salad!

We have heard that there are people somewhere that don’t like eggplant. We think this dish could change their minds. It is hot and cold, crunchy and soft, tart and slightly bitter (referring to the arugula), and completely satisfying. (We know how to do penance.)

We decided to dress the salad and the eggplant with an on-the-fly vinaigrette consisting of Italian olive oil, freshly grated garlic, lemon juice and a touch of Dijon. We were surprised that the recipe didn’t call for a dressing and after very little discussion, took matters into our own hands. Somewhere in this blog there is a written recipe for how we do our vinaigrette, if you don’t have a favorite of your own.

Breaded Eggplant with Arugula and Parmesan

Serves: 4
Prep time: 25 minutes
Total time: 55 minutes
Source: “Whole Living”, September 2012

1 large eggplant, cut lengthwise into 1 inch thick slices
coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ c flour
1 large egg, whisked with 1 T water
2 c panko or coarse homemade breadcrumbs
1 c olive oil, for frying
2 c baby arugula
¼ c shaved Parmesan
lemon wedges for serving

Arrange eggplant in a large colander and season generously with salt.  Let stand 30 minutes, then rinse and pat dry.

Divide flour, egg mixture, and breadcrumbs among 3 shallow bowls. Dip each eggplant slice, turning to coat and shaking off excess, in the flour, then egg mixture, then breadcrumbs.

Heat oil in a 12 inch skillet (oil should be about ½ inch deep) over medium heat, and working in batches, fry eggplant until golden and crisp, about 4 minutes per side.

Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate and season with salt and pepper.

Top each cutlet with arugula, Parmesan, and a squeeze of lemon.

Meg raided her wine stash for the Toasted Head Untamed Red. It is a blend of varietals - Syrah, Zinfandel, and Petite Syrah. We think it is a very good California blend and liked it with this meal. Any one of the individual varietals would be equally good. It was purchased at Raley’s Supermarket for $9.99 on sale.

Here comes a return of Lorena’s Gluten Free Fruit Tart recipe in the form of almond cookies. As you recall, our leftover dough from the tart made six measly cookies. This time we decorated the tops with little almonds and took pictures as evidence. See?

Almond Cookies
Original recipe courtesy of Bella Italia, Reno Nevada
Recipe adapted by Sue & Meg For Saturday Night Specials 3/23/2013

1 2/3 cup of almond flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 extra large egg
3 tbsp butter, diced and chilled
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 pinch salt
¼ cup sliced almonds

Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl. Cut butter into dry ingredients. Add the egg and mix with a fork until combined. Gather into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill in refrigerator for half an hour.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Roll level tablespoon balls of dough in your hand. Place about 3 inches apart on a baking sheet covered with either a parchment or a silicone sheet. Dust lightly with sugar and flatten slightly with bottom of a glass.  Press 3-4 sliced almonds into top of each cookie.

Bake in preheated oven for approximately 10 minutes until golden around edges. Remove to rack to cool.



Almond Cookies With Tangy Lemon Sorbet

Our unsolicited and biased opinions:

As mentioned above we added vinaigrette to the salad.  We think arugula likes to be dressed.  We also only used about 1/2 cup of olive oil to saute the eggplant. Those were our only changes to the recipe. Hard to believe, huh?

The almond flour that we used in the cookie recipe is closer in texture to an almond meal. This time we added 1/3 cup more of this almond flour to make a slightly stiffer dough.  Next time, and there will a next time, we are going to add a little almond extract.  We baked the cookies at 350 degrees for 10 minutes on a silicone covered baking sheet.  We love the texture of these cookies. They are crisp and yet chewy.

Here's to good eating!

We should look for someone to eat and drink with before looking for something to eat and drink... ~Epicurus

You Say It's Your Birthday?

Well, Happy Birthday to you! Yes, we are channeling the Beatles. Sue is a big fan (still) and with her birthday coming up, it seemed appropriate. Everything about this meal is over the top, but that is what birthdays are about. So sit back and indulge along with us!

First the appetizers!

We had planned on a hot artichoke spread, and then Meg took it over the top with some gulf shrimp that her brother brought at Christmas.  Double bonus as she decided to use some of the olive oil and balsamic vinegar that we purchased at Big Horn Olive Oil Company several weeks ago. 

We had a wonderful visit there with Mercedes, the owner, (see comments on our Facebook page,  highlighting the many combinations we sampled at her store here in Reno. 

If you are looking for a wine to have with these appetizers, we recommend the Ferrari-Carano Fume Blanc. We had a 2010, but we have always enjoyed this wine, regardless of the vintage.

Hot Artichoke Spread
Recipe developed by Sue & Meg For Saturday Night Specials 3/09/13
Serves 8-10

Ingredients:

Olive oil spray
1 14oz can quartered artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 8oz package cream cheese, softened
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream
¾ cup Romano cheese, divided
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
½ tsp red pepper flakes
1 clove garlic, grated
¼ cup panko bread crumbs
Baguette for serving, toasted

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray an 11 x7 cooking dish with the olive oil spray.
In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese, mayonnaise, sour cream, ½ cup of the Romano cheese, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Blend until smooth. (We used a mixer.) Add chopped artichoke hearts and stir to combine. Pour into prepared baking dish.

Combine remaining ¼ cup Romano cheese with panko crumbs. Sprinkle evenly over the spread.
Bake for 30 minutes or until bubbling and top is lightly browned.

Marinated Pan Seared Shrimp
Recipe developed by Meg For Saturday Night Specials 3/09/13

Serves 2-4

12 shrimp, cleaned, tails on
2 Tbsp Blood Orange Olive Oil, divided
1 Tbsp Honey-Ginger White Balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper, 3 grinds each
Italian flat leaf parsley for garnish

Toss shrimp with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, salt and pepper. Store in a small Ziploc in refrigerator for several hours.

Heat skillet, add shrimp and drizzle with remaining tablespoon of oil while cooking. Turn once. Cook for 1 ½ minutes per side or until opaque.

Arrange parsley on serving plate. Add shrimp and drizzle with Honey-Ginger White Balsamic vinegar.

Sue has a family tradition of letting the birthday person choose the menu for the meal. Sue’s taste buds were wandering around and settled on some kind of stuffed chicken breast; so we took it from there, adding all of the things we like and could stuff into that bird. What’s a meal without some adventure?

Birthday Stuffed Chicken Breast
Recipe developed by Sue & Meg For Saturday Night Specials 3/09/13

Serves: 4
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 oz creamy mild goat cheese at room temperature
2 green onions, thinly sliced
3 T sundried tomatoes in oil, minced
1 clove garlic, grated
 ¼ c Kalamata olives, finely chopped
¼ t freshly ground pepper, divided
1 3 oz package prosciutto
olive oil for baking sheet

Preheat oven to 350’F.

Mix all of the ingredients except the chicken breasts and olive oil in a medium bowl.

Put the chicken breasts into a gallon ziplock bag one at a time and pound out with the meat tenderizer until about ¼ inch thick, turning over half way through.  Put about ¼ cup of the filling down the middle of each breast lengthwise.  Roll the chicken, (lengthwise again), to enclose the filling and wind 2 pieces of prosciutto around the bundle to enclose everything. 

Place onto the baking sheet seam side up, and turn over.  This will lightly coat each rollup.

Place in the oven and bake for 25 minutes

Stuffed chicken breasts ready for the oven

Vinaigrette for Broccolini

Juice from ½ large lemon
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/8 tsp. agave nectar
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients in a measuring cup. Blend with small whisk or fork until emulsified.  Pour over hot broccolini and enjoy!

We liked this cabernet with the strong flavors of the stuffed chicken.

So, on to the birthday cake . . . . Meg made this cake, with the exception of the candied orange peel, for a friend’s sister’s birthday a couple of weeks ago. (There were other changes we made the second time around – see below.) When she told Sue what she was fixing, Sue, not given to shyness, said; “I want that for my birthday cake, too!”  Meg, thankfully said, “OK”.

Homemade Candied Orange Peel

Orange marmalade filling for the middle

Chocolate and orange - a combination made in heaven!

California Orange Cake with Bittersweet Glaze
and Candied Orange Peel
Serves: 10-12

Source: “Great Desserts of the American West”, Frances Towner Giedt, Gulf Publishing Co.
Notes: The candied peel makes a tangy sweet-tart garnish for the cake.  The orange peel recipe is simple, but it does take some time; so plan to make it a day or so ahead.

Candied Orange Peel
2 large navel oranges
water
2 ¼ c sugar
1 T fresh lemon juice

Orange Cake
3 c unbleached all-purpose flour
1 t baking powder
½ t salt
1 c fresh orange juice
1 T grated orange rind
1/3 c water
1 c (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 2/3 c sugar
4 large eggs
1 c good quality orange marmalade
2 T Grand Marnier or other orange liqueur (we used 4 tablespoons, 2 per layer)

Bittersweet Chocolate Glaze
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
5 T unsalted butter
2 t light corn syrup (we used agave syrup)

To make candied orange peel:
Cut oranges in half and juice.  Refrigerate juice to use in the cake.  Scrape out the fruit membrane of the oranges with a spoon, leaving the shell intact.  Cut each orange half in half, then slice the orange pieces into long strips about ¼ inch wide. 

Fill a medium saucepan with water.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Add the orange peels and boil for 5 minutes.  Drain the peels, discarding the water.  Fill the saucepan with fresh water and again bring to a boil.  Add orange peels and boil for 5 minutes.  Drain.  Repeat this boiling process two more times to remove the bitter flavor from the peels.

In a clean medium saucepan, bring 2 c sugar, 1 ½ c water, and lemon juice to a boil, stirring until sugar is completely dissolved.  Reduce heat to medium-low, add orange peels, and cook until the peels are translucent, about 1 ½ hours.

Drain the peels and arrange in a single layer on a wire rack to air-dry overnight.  Next morning, toss the dried orange peels with remaining ¼ c sugar.  Pack into small jars and seal.  Use within a week.

To make cake:
Preheat oven to 350’.  Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans.

Onto a sheet of waxed paper, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  In a 2 c glass measuring cup, stir together the orange juice, orange rind, and water.

In a mixing bowl and using an electric mixer on medium speed, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 3 – 5 minutes.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Reduce speed to low and alternately add the flour mixture and the orange juice mixture, beginning and ending with flour.  Divide the batter between the prepared pans.

Bake for about 30 minutes, until a tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.  Cool in pans on a rack for 10 minutes, then invert cakes onto the rack.  Turn the cakes right side up and cool completely.  Meanwhile, combine orange marmalade and Grand Marnier.  Set aside.

To make the bittersweet glaze:
 Melt chocolate, butter, and corn syrup (or agave) in the top of a double boiler or in a stainless steel bowl set over simmering water (make sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t actually touch the water).  Whisk until chocolate melts and glaze is smooth.  Remove from stove and let stand 120 minutes to thicken.

To assemble cake:
Place one cake layer on a cake plate and evenly spread the orange marmalade mixture over the top.  Stack second cake layer on top of the first layer.  Pour chocolate glaze over the top of the cake, letting it drizzle down the sides.  Smooth the glaze on the sides and top.  Let set for at least 15 minutes for glaze to harden.  Let set for 30 minutes, then decorate top with candied orange peel.

Notes:
I put the bottom cake layer top side down before spreading the orange glaze.  This helped with the absorption and also kept the layers from sliding.  I didn’t need the full cup of marmalade – probably ¾ c would have been fine.

Now this is a celebration cake!

Our unsolicited and biased opinions:

We recommend dividing the artichoke recipe into two baking dishes.  This will keep the spread hot longer. Meg says it is more visually appealing, too, especially when people start digging in.  We only cooked half of the recipe. We will share the other half at Sue’s second birthday dinner with family and friends. She is quite adept at spreading this birthday thing out for at least a month.

These shrimp would be a worthy entrée with a nice side dish and salad. The combination of the Blood Orange Olive Oil and Honey-Ginger White Balsamic Vinegar is spectacular!  You get little bursts of flavor in every bite. Meg was eating the parsley from the dish to get every last drop of the oil and vinegar. Kid you not.

We relied on a cooking thermometer to determine the doneness of the chicken, which was not a good indicator. We cooked it about 10 minutes too long, (the cooking time in the recipe is correct), resulting in overcooked chicken. Plus, the ooey-gooey cheese escaped. The flavor however, was excellent, and we are already working on a better way to present this dish.

We steamed the broccolini in the microwave for about 3 ½ minutes and then tossed it with the lemon-Dijon vinaigrette. Set your microwave for a small amount of time and test for doneness, because microwave power varies. Ours was crisp-tender and very fresh tasting. Broccolini is a hybrid of broccoli and “gai lan”. Who knew?

The candied orange peel for the cake is quite labor and time intensive, but worth the effort. Meg cooked them for 1 ¾ hours and didn’t cover them while cooking. In our dry climate it took one day to dry before tossing them with the sugar. Adjust the timing to your climate. Meg tossed them a few at a time in a bowl of sugar. They are very sticky even after drying for a day.  There was about 1 ¼ cups of orange syrup left, which we have stashed in the refrigerator for a later creation. Stay tuned.

We made several changes to the cake recipe. Meg added a generous tablespoon of fresh zested orange peel to the marmalade and let it sit overnight.  We poked holes in the cake and drizzled Grand Marnier directly onto both layers instead of mixing it into the marmalade. Meg thought that the liqueur flavor did not permeate both layers when she made the cake the first time.

This cake is divine and worthy of any celebration. We would invent celebrations to have it again! Sue is feeling very lucky to have such a good friend who is willing to make this cake for her.

 You say its your birthday? Well, Happy Birthday to you!

Mangia, Mangia! From Bella Italia To Our Table!

We are fortunate to have the Bella Italia store here in Reno. Lorena and Marco, the owners, import all their products from Italy, and Lorena shares a recipe on their website every week. She also finds the time to give Italian and cooking lessons. Sue is a frequent shopper and the last time she was there was introduced to the tomato sauce we are featuring in this week’s recipe. Lorena was warming up a dish fixed with this sauce, and Sue was captivated by the aroma wafting through the store from their eating area in the back.   Another find was the jar of ripe oil cured olives, which we incorporated into our sauce.

 

We were amazed by the rich bouquet of tomatoes and herbs when we opened the can of sauce. This is nothing like your usual can of tomatoes! With the addition of a few ingredients we had on hand it made a voluptuous pasta sauce. Yes, we said voluptuous! Wait until you taste this. Try your very best to find this sauce.

We found a new salad mix from Organic Girl that included baby spinach, arugula, tat soi, red and green Swiss chard. It is our new favorite and the slightly bitter greens went really well with this pasta dish.  We made a basic dressing with the left over juice from Mediterranean olives (purchased at our local Save Mart store’s deli), olive oil, red wine vinegar and salt and pepper to taste.

To round out the meal we made Lorena’s recipe for Gluten Free Fruit Tart for our dessert.

Passport to Italy Tomato Sauce

Recipe developed by Sue & Meg For Saturday Night Specials 2/23/13

Serves 6-8
Prep Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
6 cloves garlic, sliced
4  flat anchovy fillets, drained
1 /2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
12 oil-cured black olives, pits removed and sliced 
2 tablespoons capers, chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, roasted and diced
1 (29-ounce) can Pomodroino tomatoe sauce

1/4 cup flat leaf parsley leaves for garnish
1 pound Spaghetti Rigati, cooked al dente 
Sliced baguette, brushed with olive oil, salt and pepper and toasted
Grated Romano cheese for serving

Directions
Heat a large sauce pan over medium heat and add olive oil, garlic, anchovies, and crushed pepper. Saute until the anchovies melt into the oil and the garlic is tender, about 3 minutes. (You don’t want the garlic to brown.) Add the olives, capers, and yellow peppers. Saute for another couple of minutes. Add the tomato sauce and bring to a slow simmer. Cover and continue to cook until pasta is done.

Anchovies, garlic, capers, oil-cured black olives and roasted yellow peppers

Passport To Italy Tomato Sauce

The perfect plate!

Meg doesn’t remember where she got this wine but we are going to figure it out and buy some more! It was really perfect with this meal. As we are writing this, we wish we had another bottle right now! It is a full-bodied, luscious Chianti.

La Castellina Squarcialupi, Chianti Classico Reserva, 2007



Lorena’s Gluten Free Fruit Tart

For the dough:
1 1/3 cup of almond flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 extra large egg
3 tbsp butter, diced and chilled
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 pinch salt

For the lemon custard:
1/3 + 1/8 cups sugar
2 tbsp corn starch
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup lemon juice (1 lemon)
1 lemon peel (only the yellow part because the white is bitter)
2 egg yolks
Fresh fruit (strawberry, mixed berries, banana, kiwi whatever you like!)
Unflavored jelly

Prepare the dough: in a bowl arrange all dry ingredients and mix them to combine evenly. Add butter and mix it roughly with flour mixture; form a well and put the egg in it.

Mix all ingredients well but quickly in order not to warm up butter too much (which would result in a "hard" dough), you have to obtain a smooth "ball". Wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes at least.

Prepare the custard: in a small saucepan arrange sugar, 1/2 cup water and the lemon peel, bring to a boil and let it boil about 1 minute. Remove from heat and let cool down. Discard lemon peel.

In the meantime, in another saucepan, combine corn starch, yolks lemon juice and the remaining water; mix until well combined.

Slowly pour the warm water into the yolk mixture, whisking to avoid lumps. Put it on medium heat and cook until it thickens, stirring constantly.

Preheat oven to 375F
Take the dough out of the fridge and roll it over a flour-dusted table, about 1/4" thick.
Put dough disc in a 9" pie-pan (buttered and dusted with flour or lined with parchment paper) and poke it with a fork, in this way you'll allow steam to escape.

Lined the bottom of the dough with parchment paper and top with dried beans, this will prevent "bubbles" in your tart by weighing on the tart. Bake for about 20 minutes then remove beans and paper and cook for another 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.

Assemble the tart: pour custard into the tart shell, and decorate with your favorite fresh fruit (or a mix of fruits).

Prepare jelly following the package instructions and brush the fruit with it.

Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (one hour is better) and serve cold.
It will serve 8 people at least.

The almond flour dough before refrigeration

The luscious lemon custart

Almond flour pastry before cooking

Crust before filling

Filled Tart

A little slice of heaven.



Our biased and unsolicited opinions:

In our heads we went to Italy while eating this pasta. The flavor of the sauce was soft and round and not at all spicy or pungent as suggested by some of the ingredients.  Meg thought it was perfect as is. Sue would have liked a few more black olives and maybe a smidge more red pepper flakes, but really she was quite happy with it, too.

Meg has a plethora of pasta to choose from, and there was serious discussion regarding the perfect pasta.  We finally decided on Barilla Spaghetti Rigati with ridges to hug the sauce. 

The tart dough was unexpectedly soft, even after being refrigerated. This wasn’t a problem, as we pressed it into the tart pan. (Perhaps the variable is the texture of the almond flour. We purchased ours in bulk. ) We used an 8 inch tart pan, and had a small amount of dough left, which we made into cookies. They had a great texture and yet were delicate.  We think that you could make the dough just for cookies. (No pictures . . . we had six little ones and ate them right up.)

We loved both this crust and the filling. The crust is like an amaretto cookie, a little chewy and yet delicate. Lorena said she sometimes makes just the filling and serves it in custard cups. We can see ourselves doing this, too. It is a fabulous lemon curd, not too sweet and not to tart. You will want to double the recipe if you make the custard by itself . . .  gone in a flash! We did not glaze the tart as called for in the recipe. We did sprinkle it with powdered sugar.

Enjoy this tasty trip to Italy.  You will be glad you went. Ciao!

Rising To The Occasion With A Broccoli and Walnut Souffle!

What are you doing for Valentine’s Day? Stay at home and make this elegant dinner to share with your special someone.  A soufflé, always has a “wow” factor to it, and this one is a beauty.  They are not as tricky as you would think, so let the illusion remain and accept the praise with grace.

A mouthful of this soufflé is full of tiny bits of fresh broccoli, and crunchy walnuts, and paired with the sour cream horseradish sauce, it is a little bit of heaven on a fork.

A salad or just about any vegetable would be a nice accompaniment. We chose these beautiful heirloom tomatoes, because they were so pretty and smelled like garden grown tomatoes. (Yes, we are desperate for summer produce again.)

And because Valentine’s Day was on the February calendar, we felt it necessary to make a chocolate dessert.  Valentine’s Day, President’s Day, Any Day,  . . . you get the picture. Finding these beautiful raspberries cemented the deal.

Pretty Raspberries All In A Row!



Broccoli Walnut Souffle
Serves: 5 -6
Source: “The Vegetarian Epicure Book Two”, Anna Thomas, Knopf

4 T butter
4 T flour
1 ½ c hot milk
5 egg yolks
1 ½ c chopped cooked broccoli
½ c finely chopped or sliced walnuts
3 T minced onion
3 T grated Parmesan cheese
½ t salt
freshly ground black pepper
7 egg whites
pinch of cream of tartar

garnish
Sour Cream Horseradish sauce

Butter a 2 quart soufflé dish and tie a buttered “collar” around it.
Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan and stir in the flour. Cook the roux over medium heat for a minute or two, stirring constantly. Then add the hot milk and stir with a whisk as the sauce thickens.
When the sauce is perfectly smooth, remove it from the heat and whisk in the egg yolks, one by one. Then add the cooked broccoli, the walnuts, the onions, and the cheese. Stir well and season with salt and pepper.

In another bowl add a pinch of cream of tartar to the egg whites and beat them with a clean whisk or beater until they are stiff enough to form peaks. Do not overbeat them, as they will be too dry.
Stir about 1 cup of the beaten egg whites into the warm sauce. Now add the remaining egg whites and gently fold them in. Do this carefully, as you want to lose as little air as possible.
Pile the soufflé into the prepared soufflé dish, place it in the middle of a preheated 375’ oven, and bake it for 40 – 45 minutes.

Serve immediately with hot Sour Cream Horseradish Sauce.

Adding chopped broccoli to the batter.

Filling the souffle dish.

The gorgeous souffle!

Sour Cream Horseradish Sauce

Makes about 2 ½ cups
Source: “The Vegetarian Epicure Book Two”, Anna Thomas, Knopf

2 T butter
2 T flour
1 c hot milk
2 egg yolks
½ c grated Wensleydale or other mild cheese (we used Gruyere)
1 c sour cream
1 T prepared horseradish
½ t Dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a heavy skillet and stir in the flour. Lower the flame and cook the roux for a few minutes, stirring constantly. Gradually add the hot milk, stirring with a whisk as the sauce thickens. Then whisk in the 2 egg yolks, one at a time, and stir in the grated cheese.

Continue stirring with the whisk until all the cheese is melted. Do not let the sauce boil.
Add the sour cream, horseradish, mustard, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook over a very low flame for about 5 minutes more, still gently stirring. Serve hot.


Baked Tomatoes
Recipe developed by Sue & Meg For Saturday Night Specials 2/09/13

3 heirloom tomatoes
1 clove garlic, grated
1/3 cup Panko bread crumbs
¼ tsp. red pepper flakes
1 tsp. Italian herbs
2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan
2 Tbsp. olive oil for drizzling
Salt and Pepper to taste

Cut tomatoes and place on oiled baking sheet. Salt and pepper to taste.

Mix the remaining ingredients, except the olive oil, in a small bowl. Sprinkle over tomatoes and drizzle with olive oil.

Bake at 400 degrees on top rack for approximately 15 minutes. Broil for 1-2 minutes to brown tops.

Pretty, pretty tomatoes.

Tomatoes ready for the oven.

Kestrel "Lady In Red" , Columbia Valley, Washington

Raspberry Chocolate Pecan Torte
Serves: 8 – 10
Source: “Great Desserts of the American West”, Frances Towner Giedt, Lone Star Books

½ c (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
3 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/3 c granulated sugar
1 c pecan halves, toasted
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 t pure vanilla extract
1/3 c unbleached all-purpose flour
3 c fresh raspberries, rinsed and drained on paper towels
powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350’. Lightly butter a 9 inch round tart pan.

In the top of a double boiler or a large stainless steel bowl suspended over a pot of simmering water, (don’t let water actually touch bottom of the bowl), combine butter and chocolate. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and stir in sugar.

In a food processor or nut grinder, process pecans until they form a fine powder. Stir into chocolate mixture along with eggs and vanilla extract. Add flour and stir to mix well. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Set aside 1 cup of the raspberries. Gently place remaining berries on top of cake batter, gently pressing each berry slightly into the batter. Bake for 45 – 50 minutes, until a tester inserted 1 inch from the edge comes out clean. Cool in pan on a rack for 10 minutes; invert out onto a rack, turn torte right side up, and cool.

When cool, sprinkle powdered sugar from a shaker or sieve onto the top of the torte and pile the remaining raspberries in the center. To serve, cut into wedges.

A 5 star dessert!

Almost too pretty to eat, almost.

Our unsolicited and biased opinions:

We wouldn’t change anything about the soufflé. The sauce however, needed some boosting, which we did with two additional tablespoons of horseradish and a few red pepper flakes. This would be a great sauce for eggs Benedict or fish or a potato gratin. Confession time: Sue did not have any Dijon, (a pantry staple, can you believe it?), which probably affected the flavor, but we made up for it, in our minds, with the horseradish.

Sue fell in love with the wine label during a tasting at Total Wines. Lucky for her, the wine was really good and paired well with this meal. It was even on sale, so Sue claims it was meant to be.  (Who buys wine because of a pretty label?)

This Raspberry Chocolate Pecan Torte is “five star” wonderful. Excuse us for a moment while we go on and on about this dessert. It has a chewy edge, and  gooey raspberry surprises throughout.  Plan on sharing this with a lot of friends, so that the temptation leaves with them. Otherwise, you will have to hide it under all the other food in your freezer like Sue is doing. Meg has more will power and says she will have a small slice with coffee for the next five days. Yeah, right.

We enjoyed this, and we hope you do too!

Veg Out With This Spicy Curry!

This is our one year landmark blog posting, and we are paying homage to that first meal with another Indian flavored dish. We learned the hard way (see first posting) that a spice grinder is a necessary tool for making your own spice combinations. The hum of the grinder is music to our ears!

This time around we were inspired by a friend’s vegetable curry recipe, which was posted on her Facebook page. We thank Verla for the recipe and allowing us to share it with all of you. We have included it below.

As usual we could not leave well enough alone and decided to roast the vegetables. (For all of you following the blog, you know how we love our roasted veggies.)

Due to Meg’s fascination with all things mechanical, we are using her new “Yonanas” machine for our frozen desert. For those of you who don’t watch QVC, the “Yonanas” machine makes a dessert out of frozen bananas and other fruit combinations. (We have since seen it at Target and Wal-Mart, so hopefully you can find one where you live.)   You can expect more frozen concoctions as we move into summer. (We have it on good authority that summer is coming.)

Chai "Yonanas" being made

Our Vegetable Curry


1 butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed, and cut into bite size pieces
1 large onion, cut into wedges
2 cups mushrooms, halved
5 medium red potatoes, cut into bite size pieces
4 large carrots, peeled and cut into bite size pieces
1 package firm tofu, diced
1/2 c. golden raisins
2  tsp. curry (or to taste)
3 tsp. garam masala (or to taste)
2 tsp. fresh grated ginger
2 Tbsp. coconut oil
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. turmeric
1 can (14 oz.) lite coconut milk
2 cups chicken stock
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Salt & Pepper to taste

Toss all vegetables except mushrooms with olive oil. Spread on parchment lined cookie sheets, season with salt and pepper to taste and roast in 375 degree oven for approximately 40 minutes, stirring once during roasting.

Put coconut milk and chicken stock in pot, add roasted vegetables and spices and bring to low simmer.

Melt coconut oil in sauté pan and add cubed tofu, grated garlic, grated ginger and mushrooms. Cook, stirring, until tofu is slightly brown. Add to the pot with other vegetables.

Cover pot and simmer on low heat for about 20 minutes. (This is the amount of time you will need to cook the jasmine rice and steam the green beans.)

Vegetable Curry!

Curry and sides.Yum!

Apex Brut Reserve

Verla’s Butternut Squash Curry

1 butternut squash, peeled, seeds removed, and cut into bite size pieces
1 large onion, diced
1 cup of sliced mushrooms
4 medium red potatoes, peeled and cut in bite size pieces
12 baby carrots cut into bite size pieces
1 package firm tofu, diced
1/2 c. currants or raisins
2-3 tsp. curry to taste
2 tsp. garam masala to taste
1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. pepper
5 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 tsp. chicken boullion
1/2 tsp. tumeric
1 can (14 oz.) lite coconut milk
1/2 - 1 C. powdered milk

Put veggies in stock pot, add enough water to cover and bring to a boil. Add spices to taste. Add coconut milk and currants when curry is about 1/2 cooked. On medium-high heat boil for 40 minutes or so until squash, carrots, and potatoes are tender.

Our unsolicited and biased opinions:

When you are cooking this meal you need to step outside (even the garage works) and come back in to appreciate the exotic aromas wafting through the house. It is intoxicating!

We love spice and by tasting as we cooked, we  adjusted the amounts to suit us. One of the advantages of making your own spice blends is that you can control the heat and other flavors.  Here's Meg's version of garam masala which we used in our recipe.

Meg’s Garam Masala

Heat the following in a dry skillet until toasted, about 4 minutes, then pulverize in a grinder:

2 T coriander seeds
2 T cardamom seeds
2 T black peppercorns
1 T cumin seeds
1 T brown mustard seeds
20 cloves (1 t)
1 stick cinnamon, crushed
1 arbol chile, without seeds and stem
1 t nutmeg
1 T star anise, crushed

Store, airtight, in a dark, cool location.  Use with abandon!

In Verla’s recipe she used vegetables she had on hand, and we feel this would work with a variety of vegetables. We chose to use the same selection and were pleased with how satisfying this meal was.
Our sides included jasmine rice and fresh green beans.

The Apex Brut was a wine we sampled at one of the Total Wine classes last year. It was $12.99 and went well with the curry. Our ten dollar limit on the wine price has been challenging, due to escalating prices, and we are giving ourselves some latitude this year.

A dry Riesling would also complement this meal very well. See our very first blog for a good Riesling.

Yonanas Chai Spice

Prep time: 2 minutes
Serves: 2

Ingredients:

2 frozen over-ripe bananas
1 t garam masala spice
2 t grated fresh ginger
ginger snap cookies for topping

Instructions:

Sprinkle garam masala spice over bananas.  Insert fozen bananas.  Stir in bowl to combine.  Sprinkle crumbled ginger snap cookies on top.

Chai Spice Yonanas

Cheese Please. . .

It is still brutally cold here, and we are still not happy about it. We have discovered however, that wine chills more quickly outside than in the refrigerator.  It is a stretch but you have to find those silver linings where you can.

Luckily, we found another meal to warm us up on the inside. Sue claims that she has never met a cheese she didn’t like; so we used three for good measure . . . fondue for you?

We went overboard selecting the prettiest and most colorful vegetables. Case in point, there were four different colors of cauliflower, but the purple begged to come home with Meg.  Instead of a salad we chose an array of raw vegetables, which is a great way to provide everyone with their favorites. The contrast with the warm gooey fondue was refreshing.

The colors of the rainbow.

The thing about fondue is that it can be as simple as bread and cheese or as lavish as you choose to make it. Really, a perfect party food or an intimate dinner for two. Paired with a great wine there is nothing better on a cold night!

To accompany the fondue. 

Cheese Please . . .

Meg and Sue’s Three Cheese Fondue
Total Time:   1 hour
Prep:  40 min 
Level:  Easy
Yield:  4 servings

Ingredients
8 ounces grated Fontina
8 ounces grated Gruyere
2 ounces crumbled American Blue Cheese
6 teaspoons cornstarch
 2 cups dry white wine (we used Vinho Verde)
Freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste
1 clove of garlic mashed
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. fresh thyme for garnish
Roasted small crimini and white mushrooms, steamed broccoli and cauliflower (purple) florets, small purple, white and red potatoes, grilled chicken sausages (your favorite), toasted 1 inch cubes of French and whole grain baguettes

Directions
Toss the Fontina, Gruyere, and blue cheese with the cornstarch in a medium bowl to coat.   Saute the sausages in olive oil until brown. Remove from pan, add the garlic clove and sauté on low for about a minute.  Pour the wine into the same saucepan and bring to a boil. Decrease the heat to medium.  Remove the garlic clove. With a wooden spoon, stir in the cheese mixture about a cup at a time.  Continue stirring until the cheese is completely melted and the fondue bubbles, about 5 minutes. We used an immersion blender to fully incorporate the blue cheese.  Season the fondue with salt and pepper to taste.

Transfer the cheese mixture to a fondue pot and sprinkle the fresh thyme on top.  Set the pot over a candle or a canned heat burner. Serve with bread and vegetables.

The Fondue dippers!

Dig in!

Tupungato from Argentina to go with the fondue.

Winter Coffee

Total Time:   10 min
Prep:  10 min 
Level:  Easy
Yield:  2 servings

Ingredients
4 shots espresso  (about 1 cup)
1/3  cup heavy cream plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream divided
1/2 cup Kahlua liqueur, divided
1 tsp powdered sugar
1 dash of vanilla
Cocoa powder, for sprinkling

Directions
Using an electric mixer, whip the cream, sugar and vanilla in a small bowl until hard peaks form. 
Add ¼ cup Kahlua and 1 tablespoon of cream to each glass and stir to combine. Pour espresso into glasses and top with whipped cream and dust with cocoa. Sit back and enjoy.

Winter warm up!

Our biased and unsolicited opinions:

We could blame this recipe on the weather but we really wanted cheese and we loved every single bite! We liked the edge that the blue cheese added to the mix.

We strongly recommend the raw vegetables to provide a fresh counterpoint to the fondue.

Although we used a white wine in the fondue, we wanted a red with the meal. We discussed a Zinfandel and a Rioja, but this Tupungato won out. It is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Merlot from Argentina. It was dry with rich flavors of blackberry and strawberry and complimented the meal very well. 

Our “Winter Coffee” is fuel for Sue’s twenty-mile-freezing-cold drive home. Meg thinks she is a sissy, but she willingly accommodated her nonetheless.  It’s good even if you don’t have to drive twenty miles in the freezing cold. Next time, we won’t add the cream to the liqueur, as it diluted the espresso. We might also add a touch of cinnamon or cayenne. See, we even change things up on ourselves.

Stay warm wherever you are and hope for an early spring. That’s what we are doing.