Archive for the 'appetizers' Category
I worked today, cooking for Customer Appreciation Day at Willow Park. (On these days I get to rifle through their massive kitchens and challenge myself to creatively use up whatever has piled up in their fridges and freezers. They have an entire fridge devoted to cheese. Today they had more Spolumbos sausages than I ever care to see in one place again.)
I got home around 5, and we decided to have an impromptu barbecue on the back porch to celebrate the fact that a) the trees are finally starting to grow leaves, and b) it’s actually warm enough (33 this afternoon!) to have an impromptu barbecue on the back porch. So a bunch of assorted friends congregated in our back yard; K & N brought cross sections of corn on the cob, wrapped in bacon (inspired by the menu at Palomino). J & P brought teeny sweet peppers, tossed in olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and chunks of pineapple threaded onto skewers to grill for dessert. Everything got thrown on the grill, but unfortunately I got distracted taking photos of all the boys hanging out the kitchen window and our bacon-wrapped corn caught fire. After extracting the cobs, we actually had to douse the lingering flames with baking soda.
To make bacon-wrapped corn, all you need to do is cut the corn into chunks about the same width as your strips of bacon, then wrap a strip of bacon around each piece, securing it with a toothpick. (Soak them in water first if you don’t want them to burn.) Grill, turning as you need to, until the corn is sort of shrink-wrapped by the cooked bacon.
The peppers, similarly, were slicked with oil (and a bit of balsamic) and tossed whole onto the grill until they were slightly charred and soft, then returned into their bowl with its oily, vinegary residue.
I didn’t have much time to think about what to make (Spolumbos sausage would have been easy), nor did I feel much like cooking anymore, so called my trusty pork satay into service - besides being quick, they are easy for larger numbers of people to eat while sitting on folding chairs on the deck. Plus, I haven’t met a little boy yet who didn’t love meat on a stick.
I told you - when I stumble upon something that works, I make it over and over again. I did switch back to the maple-rosemary version though.
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Maple-Rosemary Pork Satay
2 pork tenderloins
Marinade:
1/4 cup maple syrup
3 Tbsp. lemon juice
3 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. grainy Dijon mustard (or any mustard you like)
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary
Cut the pork tenderloin in half widthwise, then into even strips lengthwise. Put them into a ziplock bag along with the marinade ingredients; knead the bag a bit to blend everything, then stash in the fridge for up to 24 hours or in the freezer for up to 6 months.
When ready to grill, soak bamboo skewers for at least 10 minutes, then thread the pork onto the skewers and grill for a couple minutes per side (depending on the thickness of the pork), just until done. Serve hot, warm or cold, preferably with peanut sauce.
Makes lots. (We fed 8 adults and 5 kids.)
For dessert, the pineapple was simply grilled until it was soft and grill-marked, then drizzled with honey.
And finally, a raspberry crumble cake, made with a handful of the frozen raspberries I keep in the freezer for smoothies. This eat-straight-from-the-pan cake is one of my favorite go–to recipes, and perfect for summer because you get the benefit of cake and fruit crumble all in one. It’s not too sweet, easy to eat with your fingers, and can be made with any kind of fruit you have around, even if it’s getting wrinkly. In the summer, use berries, peaches or plums, and add some grated lemon zest to the batter. At Christmas, try it with pears and cranberries with grated orange zest in the batter.
Apple, Plum or Berry Crumble Cake
Sometimes I throw a handful of sliced almonds into the crumble mixture, or sprinkle them overtop before the cake goes into the oven. For a raspberry-almond cake, you could also use almond extract in place of the vanilla in the cake batter; this would go well with raspberries.
Crumble:
1/2 cup whole wheat or all-purpose flour
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1-2 Tbsp. ground flax seed (optional)
a shake of cinnamon (optional)
2-3 Tbsp. butter
Cake:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup low fat sour cream or plain yogurt
Fruit:
a large apple (peeled and sliced), or 3 plums, pitted and thickly sliced, or a large peach or nectarine, pitted and sliced, or a cup or so of fresh or frozen (unthawed) berries
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray an 8″ square or round pan with nonstick spray.
To make the crumble, stir together the flour, brown sugar, flax seed, cinnamon and butter and blend it with a fork or your fingers until the mixture is well-combined and crumbly. Set aside.
To make the cake, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. In a medium bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until it’s light and fluffy. Beat in the egg. Add half the flour mixture and stir by hand just until it’s combined. Stir in the sour cream, then the remaining flour mixture, stirring until it’s just blended.
Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Spread the apples, plums, peaches or berries on top and sprinkle with the crumble mixture. Bake for about 30 minutes, until the cake is golden and springy to the touch. (Springiness may be difficult to test with the fruit in the way – you could also test it by sticking a toothpick or bamboo skewer into the cake. If it comes out with moist, not gooey, crumbs sticking to it, it’s done.)
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May 17 2008 | appetizers and cake and pork and snacks and sweet stuff and veg | 5 Comments »
Yesterday we spent a big chunk of the afternoon at Prince’s Island Park. Deciding that it had finally warmed up enough to warrant a picnic, we packed up all the leftover salads, a loaf of no-knead bread, chunk of cheese and the rest of the sweet potato cake, grabbed a jug of lemonade out of the fridge, stirred up a batch of peanut sauce and turned a couple of pork tenderloins that had been marinating in the fridge into satay. It was, I think, the Best Picnic Ever. As E (who is from the UK) put it: “this pork is the dogs’ bollocks!”
Pork tenderloin hands-down makes the best satay. It’s the leanest but also the most tender cut of pork, and its shape naturally lends itself to being cut into long strips. I cut mine in half crosswise first, then lengthwise, making sure the pieces are fairly even. The best thing about satay is that you can freeze the pork in its marinade, which acts as a sort of insulation against freezer burn. So when you buy pork tenderloin, and they are much cheaper when you buy 4 than when you buy 1 or 2, you can slice up the extras, put them in a baggie, pour some sort of marinade over (I’ll pour a glug of orange or lime juice, a glug of soy sauce, a spoonful of brown sugar or honey and a smaller spoonful of grated ginger, and maybe a crushed clove of garlic and a drizzle of sesame oil), knead it a little to blend it all together and stash it in the freezer. When I want satay, I’ll pull it out and let it thaw; in a bowl of warm water if I’m in a hurry.
In this case I had been marinating the pork tenderloins whole in maple syrup, soy sauce, grainy mustard, lemon juice and some chopped rosemary, intending to turn them into something else, but sliced, skewered and grilled they were equally fantastic. We quickly grilled them (it only takes a few minutes), then wrapped them in foil and they were the perfect temperature by the time we spread out our blanket. Peanut sauce is essential: in this case I spooned some peanut butter into a blender and added a squirt of lime juice and some chicken stock to thin it down (coconut milk would work too, but is high in saturated fat), a glug of soy sauce to salt it, and a clove of garlic, spoonful of grated ginger, and a dab of curry paste to jazz it up. Whiz until smooth and it will keep in a jar in the fridge for at least a week. (If you absolutely must have a recipe, I posted one on Day 106.)
All this to say that tonight, after our company packed up and headed toward Drumheller, M and W ate the leftover satay and quinoa salad while I met my friend T for bellinis and pizza.
Pork Satay
2 pork tenderloins, trimmed of fat
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 Tbsp. lime or lemon juice
1 Tbsp. packed brown sugar or honey
1 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp. curry powder and/or 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
2 green onions, chopped
Combine everything but the pork in a medium bowl. Cut the pork into strips and add to the marinade, stirring well to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight, or freeze for up to 6 months.
Soak bamboo skewers in water while the pork is marinating. Thread strips of pork onto the skewers and grill or broil for about 3 minutes per side, just until cooked through. Serve hot, warm or cold with peanut sauce for dipping. Makes about 1 1/2 dozen satay.
Per satay: 56 calories, 1 g total fat (0.3 g saturated fat, 0.4 g monounsaturated fat, 0.1 g polyunsaturated fat), 9.3 g protein, 1.2 g carbohydrate, 22.3 mg cholesterol, 0.2 g fiber. 16% calories from fat.
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May 15 2008 | appetizers and on the grill and pork and snacks | No Comments »
Tnik and I are in Red Deer teaching a series of three tea party classes at The Cooking Room and the Women’s Conference at Red Deer College tonight and tomorrow (after which we head to Banff to the Girlfriend’s Getaway at the Banff Park Lodge. We’ve just arrived in our hotel room and are watching Cyndi Lauper on TV and munching from a ziplock baggie of the crusts we trimmed off of all those cucumber sandwiches (we are extremely high class).
Our first tea party ran from 4:30-7pm, so technically I suppose dinner was tea - bites here and there of currant scones with strawberry preserves and real clotted cream, balsamic mushroom crostini, curried coconut mango chicken in wonton cups, lemon curd tartlets and Earl Grey shortbread. Oh, and some of the chocolate that exploded all over me as I tried to dip a too-taught balloon in too-hot melted chocolate to make fancy chocolate tulip bowls. (Nicole neglected to let me know it was still all over my forehead and neck when we stopped at the wine store - where I asked the clerk where I could find the Moscato - and when I checked into the hotel.)
The shortbread was a successful experiment - I whizzed a spoonful of Nicole’s cream Earl Grey loose tea in the food processor with the flour, sugar and butter, dumped it out and gathered it into a ball, pressed it into the bottom of a 9″ round pan, pressed around the edges and poked the surface with the tines of a fork the way you do with shortbread, and baked it until it was pale golden around the egdes, then cut it into wedges. You could do this with any sort of tea in any shortbread recipe, really. Grinding it a bit first releases more flavour and makes it look peppery.
Currant Scones
3 cups all-purpose flour, or 1 ½ cups all-purpose and 1 ½ cups whole wheat
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tbp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda (if using buttermilk)
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup currants
1 cup buttermilk, milk or half & half
extra buttermilk or milk for brushing on top (optional)
coarse sugar for sprinkling (optional)
Preheat oven to 425°F. In a bowl or food processor, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the butter and pulse to combine or blend with a fork or pastry cutter until the mixture is crumbly, with bits of butter no bigger than a pea. Stir in the currants.
Stir in the buttermilk and mix just until combined. Gather dough into a ball, then pat it into a circle that is about 1” thick. Brush with a little milk or buttermilk and sprinkle with sugar. Cut into 8 wedges and pull them apart so that they will bake on the sides as well.
Bake for about 20 minutes, until golden. Makes 8 (or more if you cut them into rounds or smaller triangles.)
Curried Coconut Mango Chicken in Wonton Cups
24 wonton wrappers
a drizzle of canola oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger
2 cups chopped cooked chicken (I like using leftover roast chicken - a great way to use roasted deli chickens)
1 tsp. - 1 Tbsp. curry paste
1/2 cup light or regular coconut milk
1/3 cup mango or peach chutney
Juice of 1/2 a lime (about a tablespoon)
Salt to taste
Chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
To make the wonton cups, press fresh wonton wrappers into mini muffin tins, pressing any folds firmly to the sides, and bake at 350 F for 5-10 minutes, until pale golden. Set aside to cool.
To make the filling, heat oil in a medium nonstick saucepan and cook the onion, garlic and ginger for about 2 minutes. Add the chicken, curry paste, coconut milk, chutney, lime juice and salt. Cook, stirring often, until bubbly and thickened. Cool slightly or chill before spooning into wonton cups. Sprinkle with cilantro.
Makes 2 dozen cups.
Per cup: 69 calories, 1 g total fat (0.3 g saturated fat, 0.3 g monounsaturated fat, 0.3 g polyunsaturated fat), 7.1 g protein, 7.3 g carbohydrate, 16.8 mg cholesterol, 0.1 g fiber. 13% calories from fat.
Earl Grey Shortbread
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. - 1 Tbsp. loose Earl Grey tea
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
pinch salt
Preheat oven to 350°F. In a medium bowl, stir together butter, sugar, tea and vanilla until creamy. Add the flour and salt and stir until you have a soft dough.
Press the dough into an ungreased 9” round pan or place it on an ungreased cookie sheet and pat it into a rectangle. If you like, press down around the edges with the tines of a fork, and poke all over the top.
Bake about 15 minutes, until golden. Cool for 10 minutes, then slice while still warm.
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April 25 2008 | appetizers and bread and breakfast and cookies & squares and sweet stuff | 3 Comments »
I just spent 11 hours cooking for a private event, and my legs feel like a cartoon thumb that has been whacked by a hammer. I made, in no particular order:
Lemon risotto aracini, mushroom crostini topped with Asiago cheese, panko-crusted fried ravioli, prosciutto wrapped prawns, sliced pork tenderloin wrapped around dried figs that were poached in red wine and honey (the bundles were roasted, brushed with a thick garnet reduction of the poaching wine, balsamic vinegar, rosemary and brown sugar - from my Martha Stewart Hors’ d’oeuvres Handbook), and flatbreads (I think it’s funny that there is this new high-end word for pizza) topped with caramelized onions, caramelized pears (slice them thin and saute in a little oil and butter with a drizzle of honey until they are golden), onion and chili pepper jam with various cheeses and another version made with sun dried tomato pesto, shrimp, basil and feta.
But back to the prosciutto-wrapped prawns; I’m sure I’ve mentioned these before, withough really going into detail about how to make them. This is something you should definitely be able to make.
Buy raw frozen shrimp/prawns (same thing, “prawns” just sounds fancier) around 21-30 count - this is the number on the bottom corner of the bag that refers to the number of shrimp that would make a pound. The larger the number, the smaller the shrimp. Or prawns. Get them in their shells or with just the tail on if you can, otherwise take their jackets off, leaving the tails to use as little handles. (If you keep the shells, cover them with stock and simmer for 5 minutes, you’ll have shrimp stock.)
Get about half as many thin slices of prosciutto as you have prawns, slice each slice in half lengthwise, and wrap it around each prawn, leaving the shell part of the tail exposed. No need to skewer or anything - the prosciutto is tacky enough to stick to itself. Now you can grill them or saute them in a skillet in a little oil just until they are opaque. Serve with a small dish of bottled pesto for dipping.
Oh right, dessert - chocolate espresso brownie lollipops and vanilla mascarpone panna cotta spoons: we laid out almost 200 of those Chinese soup spoons and filled them with the panna cotta mixture (really just cream, honey and gelatin, and in this case, a few spoonfuls of mascarpone, stirred in while it’s warm so that it melts), then chilled them (the advantage to doing events at the country’s largest liquor store is having a walk-in beer fridge the size of the average house) and topped them with berries. It made a perfect bite.
Although all I did today was taste and graze (starting with a yogurt I grabbed at the grocery store this morning, which, when I opened it at a red light, exploded all over me and the side window. I had no choice but to wipe it up with the spare pair of Scooby-doo underpants we keep in the glove compartment) I’m sure that calorically what I tasted my way through counted as several dinners. When I want to keep myself from sampling as I go, I chew gum in the kitchen. This is a very good idea when I’m baking cookies - it really makes you aware of how often you have a taste. And even if you spit out your gum, everything is going to taste weird for a bit, like right after brushing your teeth.
M and W had pesto chicken stew and bison chili for dinner. Freezers were the best invention ever. (Besides Spanx, of course.)
Balsamic Mushroom Crostini
20 slices baguette, sliced diagonally about 1/2” thick
1 large clove garlic, cut in half lengthwise
1 Tbsp. olive or canola oil
6 cups sliced fresh mushrooms – button, Portobello, shitake or a combination
Salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup dried cranberries
2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary
½-1 cup shredded Asiago, aged gouda or old white cheddar cheese
Preheat oven to 400° F.
Place baguette slices on a cookie sheet and toast in the oven for about 10 minutes, until barely golden. If you like, brush each toast with olive oil before baking.
Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet set over medium high heat. Cook the mushrooms, stirring occasionally, until the moisture has evaporated. Season with salt and pepper and continue to cook until the mushrooms are golden. Add the cranberries, balsamic vinegar and rosemary and cook for another minute, until the liquid has evaporated.
Spoon the hot mixture onto toasts and sprinkle with cheese. Return to the oven for 5 minutes, until the cheese melts. Makes about 20 crostini.
To turn this into Balsamic Mushroom Dip: stir 4 oz. light cream cheese or goat cheese and 1/2 cup light sour cream into the mushroom mixture while it’s still warm, and stir over low heat until the cheese melts. Serve warm with crackers or crostini for dipping.
Per crostini: 84 calories, 2.1 g total fat (0.5 g saturated fat, 0.9 g monounsaturated fat, 0.4 g polyunsaturated fat), 2.9 g protein, 13.7 g carbohydrate, 1.6 mg cholesterol, 1 g fiber. 22% calories from fat.
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April 18 2008 | appetizers | 1 Comment »
Well. I must say, I just had an extraordinarily long day that culminated with a 5 hour class and drive home from Red Deer, and I was feeling a little like I had to get my homework done before getting to crawl into bed, but seeing all these fantastic posts has revived me. Somewhat.
Tonight my excellent friend Nik and I drove to Red Deer to teach a private Asian cooking / tea class / dinner at The Cooking Room. I made hoisin pork lettuce wraps, Vietnamese rice paper rolls with peanut sauce, Thai coconut soup with lemongrass and chicken/shrimp (two varieties), pork potstickers, chicken fried rice, teriyaki beef satay, curried peanut orange shrimp, and green tea crème brulée.
Yikes, that really was as much as it felt like.
Thai Coconut Noodle Soup with Chicken or Seafood
This ingredient list may seem exotic, but everything can be easily located in most grocery stores. If there’s something you can’t find, a trip to an Asian market is always worthwhile. This recipe easily halves or doubles, or you can make the whole batch of stock, freeze half, and add chicken or seafood to the rest for dinner.
1 stalk fresh lemongrass
4 cups (1 L) chicken or vegetable broth
1 14 oz. (398 mL) can light or regular coconut milk
1/4 cup fish sauce (nam pla)
1 cup thinly sliced mushrooms
2 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. - 1 Tbsp. curry paste or curry powder
2-3 tsp. red chili paste, chili-garlic sauce or 1 small Serrano or jalapeño chili, minced
thin or wide rice noodles – enough as you’d like for each person
1-2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into small strips, and/or 1/2-1 lb. (250-500 g) raw shrimp, peeled and deveined, or raw scallops
1/4 cup lime juice
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup fresh basil or cilantro, thinly sliced
Remove the tough outer leaves from the lemongrass and cut the stalk into two or three pieces. In a large saucepan set over medium heat, combine the lemongrass, chicken broth, coconut milk, 1/2 cup water, fish sauce, mushrooms, ginger, sugar, curry powder and chili paste. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook for 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, soak the rice noodles according to package directions.
Add the chicken or seafood and simmer for 3-5 minutes, until cooked through. Fish out the chunks of lemongrass, which aren’t meant to be eaten. Stir in the lime juice, green onions and basil or cilantro. Put a small pile of noodles into each bowl. Ladle the soup over top. Serve immediately.
Serves 6.
Curried Peanut Shrimp
Throw the shrimp and marinade into a baggie in the morning and you’ll have dinner almost ready when you come home from work. Sometimes I simmer the whole lot, sauce and all, in a large sauté pan and serve it over rice to catch the sauce.
1/4 cup orange marmalade
1/2 cup orange juice
2 Tbsp. peanut butter
1 tsp. curry paste (or to taste)
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp. chili sauce or sambal olek
pinch salt
pinch red pepper flakes
1/2 lb. large shrimp, peeled and deveined, with the tails left on
Combine everything but the shrimp in a bowl or jar and whisk or shake until smooth. Pour over the shrimp in a container or zip lock bag and marinate in the fridge for an hour or overnight.
Now you can proceed one of two ways: pull out the shrimp and cook them quickly in a skillet, just until cooked through, and simmer the reserved marinade in a small saucepan for a few minutes to serve alongside the shrimp for dipping. Or pour the whole lot into a larger skillet set over medium-high heat and cook until bubbly around the edges and the shrimp turn pink; serve over rice.
Serves 4.
Per serving: 159 calories, 5 g total fat (0.8 g saturated fat, 1.8 g monounsaturated fat, 1.8 g polyunsaturated fat), 13.2 g protein, 16.5 g carbohydrate, 86.2 mg cholesterol, 0.4 g fiber. 27% calories from fat.
Potstickers
1 cup finely shredded bok choy or napa cabbage (optional)
1/4 tsp. salt
1 lb. lean ground pork
2 green onions, finely chopped
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp. grated fresh ginger
1/2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 pkg. wonton wrappers
canola oil
chicken or veggie stock, or water
If you’re using it, toss the cabbage with salt in a medium bowl and let stand for 5 minutes. Pick it up in your hand and squeeze out the excess liquid, draining it as well as you can. Add the pork, green onions, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, sugar and sesame oil and mix it all up with your hands.
To fill wontons, place a small spoonful of filling in the middle of each wrapper; moisten the edges with water (just use your finger) and fold over, pressing the edge tightly to seal. Place seam side up on a cookie sheet, pressing lightly to flatten the bottom. Cover with a tea towel to prevent them from drying out. (Dumplings can be prepared up to this point, covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 24 hours or frozen.)
When you’re ready to cook the potstickers, heat a drizzle of canola oil in a largeish skillet set over medium-high heat. Place half the dumplings at a time in the skillet and cook for a minute or two, until deep golden brown on the bottom, shaking the pan a few times to keep them from sticking. Don’t crowd the pan too much.
Pour about 1/4 cup stock or water into the pan. Cover, reduce heat to medium and cook for about 5 minutes – this will allow them to steam, cooking them through.
Makes 2 - 3 dozen potstickers.
Each: 45 calories, 1 g total fat (0.2 g saturated fat, 0.4 g monounsaturated fat, 0.3 g polyunsaturated fat), 3 g protein, 5.9 g carbohydrate, 5.2 mg cholesterol, 0.4 g fiber. 20% calories from fat.
Green Tea Crème Brulée
6 large egg yolks
6 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. matcha powdered green tea
2 cups heavy (whipping) cream or 18% coffee cream
½ tsp. good-quality vanilla
sugar, for sprinkling on top
In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar. Dissolve the tea in a little bit of water or cream to get rid of any lumps; whisk the cream, tea and vanilla into the egg yolks and sugar.
Divide among 6 small ramekins, and put them into a roasting pan or 9?x13? pan; pour water in so that the water comes about halfway up the sides of the ramekins. This will sort of insulate them so that they cook gently and evenly. Bake for about 40 minutes, until the custards are set but still just slightly jiggly in the middle (you’ll get a feel for this!). Take them out, let them cool and then refrigerate for a few hours or overnight, until nice and cold.
Sprinkle an even layer of sugar over each dish and caramelize with a torch or transfer to a cookie sheet and place under the broiler in the oven for about 2 minutes, just until the sugar is caramelized and golden. Turn the sheet around if you need to to help them caremelize evenly. Refrigerate again, or just let them sit on the countertop while you eat dinner, just until the sugar is set like glass.
Serves 6.
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April 08 2008 | appetizers and soup | 4 Comments »
Happy Food on a Stick Day! In honor of this beloved holiday (honestly, who comes up with these? and to what panel do they apply for approval?) we did all sorts of food on a stick this morning at CBC. The favorite were the lamb kebabs. (OK, the bacon wrapped peroghies on a stick were probably the favorite, but the lamb was well-received too.)
I made sure there was some left over. These are really just a meatball mixture made with ground lamb instead of beef (although you could use beef, or half and half) and spiced with cumin, garlic, ginger, cinnamon, with currants and crumbled feta stirred in. You could turn it into meatballs if you like, or take a small handful and shape it into a sort of log around a bamboo skewer. Grill them, broil them, or cook them in a skillet in a little olive oil - awkward, but the only option when you’re working on a hot plate set on a file cabinet outside a studio.
Either way, they’re perfect to dip into garlicky tzatziki, or to stuff a pita along with chopped tomato, cucumber, purple onion, and a big glop of tzatziki.
Greek Lamb Kebabs
1 lb. ground lamb or lean ground beef (or half and half)
1 small onion, peeled and grated
1/2 cup soft bread crumbs (about 1 slice of bread), bulgur or couscous
1/2 cup crumbled feta (optional)
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 large egg
2-4 Tbsp. currants or chopped raisins
1 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger
1 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
olive or canola oil, for brushing
Preheat oven to 400° F. Soak some bamboo skewers in water for at least 10 minutes to prevent them from burning when you cook the kebabs.
Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl. Shape handfuls of the meat mixture into flattened sausages about 3” long around the ends of the skewers. Place on a rimmed cookie sheet, brush with olive oil and roast, turning often, until cooked through.
Makes 12 kebabs.
Per kebab: 112 calories, 4.2 g total fat (1.4 g saturated fat, 1.6 g monounsaturated fat, 0.5 g polyunsaturated fat), 13.3 g protein, 4.5 g carbohydrate, 65 mg cholesterol, 0.2 g fiber. 34% calories from fat
Tzatziki
Regular plain yogurt, preferably thick Greek yogurt, is far superior to the runny low fat or fat free varieties, many of which depend on gelatin as a stabilizer. Even full-fat Greek yogurt is fairly low in fat, especially when compared to mayo or sour cream.
1/2 English cucumber, unpeeled
1 – 2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 cups good quality plain yogurt, preferably Greek or Balkan-style
salt & pepper to taste
squeeze of lemon juice (optional)
drizzle of olive oil (optional)
Grate the cucumber with a box grater onto a double thickness of paper towel. Gather up the cucumber in the towel and squeeze out as much excess water as you can. In a medium bowl, stir together the cucumber, garlic, yogurt, salt and pepper. If you like, add a squeeze of lemon and/or drizzle of olive oil. Let it sit in the fridge for a few hours or overnight; the garlic flavor will intensify the longer it sits. Makes 2 1/2 - 3 cups.
Per 1/3 cup: 45 calories, 1 g total fat (0.6 g saturated fat, 0.3 g monounsaturated fat, 0.1 g polyunsaturated fat), 3.5 g protein, 5.6 g carbohydrate, 3.7 mg cholesterol, 0.3 g fiber. 20% calories from fat
These squares I made just because I wanted to do something other than make smoothies with the bag of tiny frozen wild blueberries in the freezer, and because I have a baby shower to go to on Sunday; it’s always a good idea for me to have reason to pawn off the leftovers.
(Low Fat) Blueberry, Lemon & Coconut Squares
These are perfect to make ahead and stash in the freezer; slicing them frozen will ensure a clean cut.
Base:
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 scant cup all-purpose or whole wheat flour
pinch salt
Topping:
1 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
pinch salt
1 large egg
1 large egg white
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries, raspberries or cranberries
1/2 cup shredded coconut, sweetened or unsweetened
icing sugar for sprinkling (optional)
Preheat oven to 350°F.
In a medium bowl, stir together the butter and sugar until creamy. Add flour and salt and stir until well combined and crumbly.
Press into the bottom of an 8” x 8” pan that has been sprayed with nonstick spray. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until just barely golden around the edges.
In the same bowl (no need to wash it), combine sugar, flour, baking powder and salt. Add egg, egg white and lemon juice and stir until well blended and smooth.
Sprinkle the berries and coconut evenly over the base, and pour the lemon filling over top. Bake for 40 minutes, until golden and set. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack before cutting or freezing. If you like, sprinkle with icing sugar before serving. Makes 16 squares.
Per Square: 130 calories, 3.3 g fat (1.9 g saturated fat, 1 g monounsaturated fat, 0.2 g polyunsaturated fat), 24 g carbohydrates, 21 mg cholesterol, 1.6 g protein, 0.7 g fiber. 23% calories from fat
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March 28 2008 | appetizers and cookies & squares and lamb and snacks and sweet stuff | 3 Comments »
Once again I realize this sounds awfully haughty for a regular Monday night, but there were a few leftovers from a Grey Goose event with Dimitri Lezinska (here from Paris) I was cooking for over the dinner hour at Willow Park. Mike was never so glad to see me come home.
I’ve made risotto before. I’m a fan, but not devoted to the stuff; to be honest, every time I have risotto it’s just a little too much. Too starchy, too heavy, too dense. This coming from someone who could eat an entire loaf of bread with butter with absolutely no problem. Risotto is the only thing I can think of that puts me over the edge. Perhaps because restaurants tend to serve big bowls of it on its own - why is that?
But I have always wanted to make arancini - shallow-fried balls or patties of cold risotto, moulded around a chunk of mozzarella and dipped in egg and panko before frying. You just get a few bites of risotto (enforcable portion control - probably the key to enjoying the stuff), with a crispy exterior and creamy, cheesy middle. To be honest, I’ve never attempted arancini because it seemed like too much work to have to make a recipe (risotto) in preparation for another recipe (arancini).
Was I ever wrong. If you’ve never made risotto, you should give it a whirl; it’s one of those recipes that sounds fussy, but is in reality one of the toughest to screw up. It’s easier than steaming fluffy white rice. Seriously. You want it to get starchy and creamy. If you add too much liquid, you just cook it until it absorbs it. If there isn’t enough, pour in more. Stir it as much as you can - not necessarily constantly - until it’s done. It’s like making oatmeal. And if you cool it down and put it in the fridge it will congeal into this mass that can be rolled into balls with no effort. Heat about an inch of canola oil in a skillet on the stovetop, and if you don’t have panko, you can simply dip them in flour and fry them straight away, and they are every bit as good, if not quite as crunchy and impressive-looking. But we all know looks aren’t everything.
Use any kind of risotto; I made a basic lemon and Parmesan version. Perhaps too lemony? I used less than the recipe requested, but really that sort of thing is a matter of taste. Chill overnight, or up to a few days. When you’re ready to make arancini, cut some mozzarella into small (about 1/2″) cubes and shape a couple tablespoonsful of the risotto into a ball around it. I like flattening them a little into patties - this makes them easier to cook evenly all the way through, and you don’t need your oil to be quite as deep. While your canola oil is heating in a heavy skillet or shallow pot (enough to come almost halfway up the side of the risotto cakes) beat a couple eggs in a shallow bowl, and some Panko (crispy Japanese breadcrumbs) or dry breadcrumbs in another bowl. If you like, put a bit of flour in a third.
When the oil is hot but not smoking (it should sizzle around a bit of bread dropped in), dredge the risotto cakes first in flour, then in egg and Panko (or skip the flour, or just do flour), and gently drop them a few at a time into the oil. (Don’t crowd the pan, or it will cool the oil down too much.) Cook until golden on one side, then flip and cook on the other. If you’re concerned that the inner chunk of cheese won’t be sufficiently melty, put them on a cookie sheet in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes or so; this is also a great way to keep the first ones warm while you cook the rest.
Beef Tataki with Ponzu Sauce
For the Beef:
2 lb. beef tenderloin
1 Tbsp. canola oil
freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup sherry or mirin (sweet Japanese cooking wine)
3 green onions, thinly sliced
2 large cloves garlic, thinly sliced
zest of 1 lemon
For the Ponzu Sauce:
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 Tbsp. rice vinegar
1 1/2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. lime juice
1 tsp. ginger juice (press pureed ginger through a fine sieve to extract the juice, leaving all the roughage behind)
Daikon, for garnish (optional)
Preheat the oven to 500F. Rub all sides of the beef with the oil and sprinkle with the pepper. Place in a small roasting pan and cook for about 10 minutes, then reduce the temperature to about 400F and cook for another 15 minutes, until the internal temperature reaches 120 degrees F. Set aside to cool.
In a bowl or heavy-duty resealable plastic bag large enough to hold the beef, combine the soy sauce, sherry, green onions, garlic, and lemon zest. As soon as the beef is cool enough to handle, transfer to the bag or bowl and refrigerate for at least 6 hours and up to 24 hours, turning over occasionally.
In a bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, lemon and lime juices, and ginger juice to make the Ponzu sauce, whisking until the sugar dissolves.
About 45 minutes before you plan to serve, place the beef in the freezer (this will firm the beef and make it easier to cut even slices). After 20 minutes, remove the beef from the bag and discard the marinade. Slice crosswise with a very sharp knife into 1/4 inch slices. Fan the slices, overlapping, on a platter and let stand for 10 minutes. If you like, peel a daikon and then keep slicing off thin ribbons with the vegetable peeler, and use the daikon ribbons to garnish the beef. Drizzle with the Ponzu sauce and serve. (Alternatively, you could divide everything among soup spoons, as illustrated in the photo.)
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March 24 2008 | appetizers | 3 Comments »
This is what my day looked like:
Go to bed at 1am (I have to count this detail, because it technically was part of my day)
7am: get up, make hazelnut-apricot scones and chocolate-espresso-hazelnut shortbread for event at Willow Park. (Sidenote: they called yesterday to ask if I could help cook for customer appreciation day.)
9am: arrive at Willow Park and start cooking like a madwoman. Cooking at customer appreciation day is actually really fun, if your idea of fun is going through the fridges (they have one designated only for cheese), freezer and cupboards and coming up with things to make, like Gordon Elliott’s Door-Knock Dinners. (I do consider this a blast.) Except on a much larger level - they had over 1000 people over to eat. One of the best creations was roasted carrot hummus - Friday night we roasted a bunch of beautiful carrots, beets, purple potatoes and Yukon golds for the organic wine festival, and ended up with a sheet of leftover roasted carrots. They were cut in half lengthwise, drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper and roasted until they were soft with golden bits. I threw a few of them into the blender with the usual chick peas, garlic, tahini, lemon and olive oil to make hummus, and added a big pinch of toasted cumin. It was a beautiful color, and a total hit.
4pm: run home, unload the car, reload the car, change.
4:45pm: rush out the door, stop at Bite to pick up a fig log imported from Italy (I should make these things - they are a blend of figs and nuts and aniseseed, shaped into a log and wrapped in plastic and then dried leaves - and sells for $25).
5:30pm: and arrived to do a private hands-on cooking class/demo Tuscan-themed dinner for the 50th birthday of a wonderful lady and her husband and friends.
6:30: guests arrive, have peach bellinis and some antipasti I picked up at the Italian Supermarket, the aforementioned fig log, and nubbly bite-sized chunks of Parmesan-Reggiano cheese, drizzled with honey and white truffle oil and sprinkled with fresh pepper. This is one of the easiest appetizers you can do - it takes about 2 minutes. Bob Blumer taught it to me.
7pm: we start cooking.
Menu
Antipasti
Parmigiano-Reggiano drizzled with White Truffle Oil & Honey
Balsamic Mushroom Crostini (one of my favorites)
Prawns wrapped in Prosciutto (at Willow Park yesterday the guys from Escoba came and did the same thing with capicola ham) and served with pesto
Spinach & Ricotta Gnocchi with browned butter
Grilled Lamb Chops with olive oil, lemon, garlic and oregano
Forest Mushroom Risotto
Courgettes & Carrots a Scapece
Dolce:
Mascarpone Panna Cotta (an experiment, and a definite winner)
Chocolate, Hazelnut & Espresso Shortbread
The host did some fantastic wine pairings with each course.
12:30ish: Leave
1am: arrive home and crawl into bed.
So here I am, finally, in bed with my laptop. And here are some recipes from tonight’s feast:
*Warning: these desserts are not low fat - quite the opposite, in fact. However, if I were to choose some high fat desserts that were well worth the fat and calories, these would be two of them.
Mascarpone Panna Cotta
I like serving Panna Cotta in individual ramekins or martini glasses - this way there’s no pressure to unmold them cleanly, and they are easy to serve. Individual bowls are great for parties too - they are easy to eat while standing.
1 package plain gelatin (or 1 Tbsp. if you buy it in bulk)
1 L half & half or 18% coffee cream
1/2 cup mascarpone
1/4 cup honey
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract, Madagascar vanilla bean paste, or a vanilla bean
Fresh raspberries, for on top (optional)
Pour about a cup of the cream into a medium pot and sprinkle the gelatin over the surface. Let it sit for about 5 minutes to let the gelatin soften.
Set the pot over medium heat and stir, without letting the cream boil, until the gelatin is completely dissolved. This should take 2-3 minutes. (If you are using a whole vanilla bean, cut it in half lengthwise using the tip of a sharp knife and scrape the seeds out and add it to the cream, along with the scraped pod.)
Add the rest of the cream, the mascarpone in spoonfuls, the honey and sugar and cook for another 5 minutes, until the mascarpone is melted and the sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.
If you used a vanilla bean, remove the pod. Pour the mixture into individual wine glasses, small dishes or ramekins. (If you want to unmold them onto a plate to serve them, spray the ramekins with nonstick spray first.) Put them in the fridge for at least 2 hours, until set.
Serve in the bowls or unmolded onto a small plate and topped with fresh or puréed berries. Serves about 8.
Chocolate Hazelnut Espresso Shortbread
If your hazelnuts are whole, coarsely chop them in the food processor first, then transfer them to a bowl and blend the rest, adding them back in at the end.
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup cocoa
3 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 Tbsp. instant espresso or coffee (or finely ground espresso beans)
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup butter, cold and cut into chunks
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup hazelnuts, toasted, skinned, and coarsely chopped
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional, to drizzle)
Preheat oven to 350°F. In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, brown sugar, cocoa, cornstarch, espresso and salt. Add butter and vanilla and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add nuts; blend until finely chopped. Transfer dough to floured work surface. Knead just until dough comes together.
Divide dough in half and press each into an 8″ or 9” round cake pan, or tart pan with removable bottom. If you like, press around the edge with the tines of a fork. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until set. Cool on a wire rack, then cut each shortbread round into 12 wedges.
If you want to drizzle your shortbread with chocolate, put the chocolate chips into a zip-lock baggie and seal. Place in a bowl of very warm water and let sit until melted. Knead the bag a bit to make sure there are no chunks left. When smooth, snip a tiny corner off and drizzle chocolate over cookies. Let stand until chocolate sets.
Makes about 2 dozen wedges.
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March 16 2008 | appetizers | 4 Comments »
So
tired.
We started shooting season 2 of It’s Just Food today, after a late night last night. We managed to get through only one episode - Cakes - instead of the two we planned on. I walked in the door at 9:55, just in time to read W a few stories and kiss him goodnight. Having only been around cakes all day (carrot, chocolate zucchini, white layer, cupcakes and cheesecakes) and having sat down for maybe 5 minutes since the alarm went off, I really needed something steaming hot and full of vegetables, that I could eat curled up in bed.
A few days ago I had mixed up a batch of hummus - possibly one of the easiest things on the planet to make, provided you have a food processor - so I tore into a whole wheat pita and just dipped into it, straight from the fridge, while I heated up a bowl of black bean soup. Remember the day I made quesadillas with leftover chicken and black beans? After ravaging the carcass, I threw the bones into a pot, covered it with water and added a few peppercorns and a couple stalks of celery - the inner ones, with the leaves - and simmered it for a bit. Then I made a batch of black bean soup with the remainder of the can of beans, pouring the stock through a colander directly into the pot. There were some chunks of meat left clinging to the bones, and that went in too.
Black bean soup, like chili, is something that should be made in advance and eaten the next day, or the day after that, or the day after that. Like Leonardo DiCaprio, it just gets yummier and fuller-bodied with age. Of course there are limits; after a week or two I’d think it would likely take a downward turn.
Ironically, the last comment I got was from The Hummus Guy. Must make good hummus. (My jar of tahini had a suspicious best-before date, so I ditched it and used peanut butter instead. When I do this, I often add a drizzle of sesame oil to make up for the missing tahini, which is otherwise known as sesame paste.)
Hummus
1 big can chick peas (also known as garbanzo beans), drained
1 big clove garlic
lemon juice (a couple tablespoons, or to taste)
a big spoonful of tahini or peanut butter
a drizzle of sesame oil if you have no tahini
a glug or two of olive oil
a big spoonful of plain yogurt (optional; Greek-style if you have it)
a pinch of cumin is good
a big pinch of salt
a roasted red pepper is good too
Whiz all in a food processor until smooth.
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February 23 2008 | appetizers and beans and snacks | 4 Comments »
One of my favorite things to eat in the world are gooey quesadillas. They are also, conveniently, a snap to make, can be done in under 5 minutes, and are the best use of virtually any kind of leftovers; poultry, beef, pork, shrimp, beans, veggies. Roast chicken, of course, is ideal. Since I always have a can of black beans in the cupboard, a few scattered on top always work. I had a few depressed mushrooms in the bottom of the fridge, so those got sauteed and added as well. Any sort of cheese ends you have rattling around make the glue to stick it all together.
My friend Nicole popped by last night to sit at my kitchen table for a quick visit, and told me about the outstanding quesadillas she had eaten at the Post Hotel: three-ply, she called them. I didn’t have the gumption to go for a three-tiered quesadilla, but I love the concept, and even more the comparison to toilet paper.
If you can make a grilled cheese sandwich, you can make a quesadilla. Buy whole wheat flour tortillas; might as well, they taste better and are better for you than plain white ones. While we’re on the subject, I should mention the common misconception that “wraps” are somehow healthier than bread… this began sometime during the Atkins dynasty, at which time “low carb” products made with flatbread were abundant. Now, a flat bread is just an unleavened bread; you would achieve the same result by taking a slice of regular sandwich bread and rolling it with a rolling pin. So tortillas aren’t magically low-calorie: imagine if they had a leavening agent like yeast added, they would be enormous slices of puffy bread.
If you’re brave enough to flip a full size quesadilla, throw a whole tortilla into a dry skillet and scatter with cheese and anything else you have around: beef, pork, shrimp, roasted veg, goat cheese, sun dried tomatoes, sauteed spinach or mushrooms, really anything you can think of. Top with a little more cheese (to keep the lid closed) and top with another tortilla. If you’re wary of flipping something that size (really, it’s easy if you just invert it onto a plate and then slide it back in), spread out your fillings on half the tortilla and fold it over like a taco; they are much easier to handle that way.
Cut into wedges and serve straight from the cutting board with some good chunky salsa. My current favorite is the extra-chunky mild from the Superstore - Mike usually adds a few chugs of Tabasco.
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February 21 2008 | appetizers and leftovers and one dish and snacks | 5 Comments »
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