Goat Cheese Bruschetta with Olive Tapenade

I am working on my Italian pronunciation.  So far, it’s pretty pitiful.  Bruschetta rolls down my gullet alot easier than it rolls off my tongue.  I hear the word spoken correctly, but I can not consistently say it properly.  Brew-shetta comes out.  Brew-sketta is correct.  Thank goodness I can cook it better than I can pronounce it. 

Late last Saturday afternoon, I had the house to myself.  Music – eclectic and at a moderate volume.  Friends – in cue for dinner.  Husband and son – on their way back from Lexington.  Alone with Brie (she doesn’t cause any problems), I was prepping dinner, planning and sipping.  Oh, yeah.  Did I mention I was alone?

A partial loaf of Blue Dog baguette – sliced thin.  Olive tapenade – at the ready. Capriole Farms Chevre and Basil Pesto – check and double check.  I pulled my list of ingredients out onto the counter and began assembling a simple appetizer.  Enough for 5 people, a hearty beginning to a meal with friends.  So much for planning.

The friends begged off.  The husband wasn’t hungry enough for dinner.  The son – PLEASE – dinner with the old folks on Saturday?  I didn’t think so.  Instead of the dinner I had planned, Tony and I finished off the bottle of wine and had just the appetizer in front of the fire.   Very satisfying, simple and made with local bread and cheese, and homemade pesto oil and tapenade.

Goat Cheese Bruschetta

Goat Cheese Bruschetta with Olive Tapenade

• Olive oil
• 1/2 loaf  baguette, thinly sliced
• 2-4 oz fresh goat cheese
• 1/4 cup olive tapenade
• 1 plum tomato, seeded and diced
• 1 Tbls basil pesto
• freshly ground black pepper
• finely shredded parmesan or romano cheese, optional

Preheat the oven to 400. 

Pour about 1 Tbls of olive oil onto a half sheet pan.  Smear it around the pan until you have a thin, even layer.  Place the sliced baguette on the pan, pressing the slices into the oil, then turn the slices over.  Smear a bit of the goat cheese onto each slice of bread.  Top with a teaspoon or so of the tapenade.   Sprinkle with the diced tomatoes and add the shredded parmesan, if using.  Grind some black pepper over the bruschetta. 

Thin the pesto with two tablespoons of olive oil and drizzle over the bruschetta.  Bake in the preheated oven for 5-8 minutes, or until the toasts are hot and beginning to brown at the edges. 

Serves 4 – 6.

Enjoy!

Marinara Sauce – perfection from the pantry

I promised a marinara sauce recipe.  This one is so simple, so delicious and so inexpensive to make, you’ll be wondering why you have been buying the jarred stuff.  In the time the water for your pasta comes to a boil, and the pasta is cooked, you can have this simple recipe made and ready.

Versatile, oh my gosh!  Pizza, pasta, eggplant or chicken parmesan, dipping sauce for bread.  I even used a bit of it to poach a piece of fish the other day.  You can double it, triple, quadruple it (you get the idea).  When fresh herbs are outside my back door, I pluck them and minced them for the ultimate in fresh taste.  This time of year, I resort to a spoonful of pesto to quickly season the sauce in a convenient way.  You really must make this sauce.

Marinara Sauce                                                                                                             (Basic Pasta Sauce)

• 2-3 Tbls olive oil
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, more if you like it spicy
• generous amount freshly grated black pepper
• 2-4 fresh garlic cloves, smashed and minced
• 1 – 28oz can whole tomatoes packed in juice
• fresh herbs, pinch sugar, salt as needed for seasoning

Begin by heating the olive oil, red and black pepper and garlic over medium heat until hot, but don’t let the garlic brown.  Add the tomatoes and begin to smash them up with either a potato masher or wooden spoon.  Bring the sauce to a high simmer.  The idea here is to allow the sauce to evaporate and condense to a thickness where you can draw the spoon across the bottom of the pan and the sauce stays separated.  (I call this the parting of the Red Sea.)  This simmering process will take about 20 minutes in a wide pan, much longer in a smaller sauce pan.  Many times, I’ll use my high sided saute pan to allow the quickest evaporation of the sauce.

Once the sauce is thickened, you can taste it for seasoning.  Add herbs to your liking; I prefer a mixture of fresh basil, Italian parsley and a bit of tarragon.  You might prefer to use oregano or maybe just basil.  I can’t tell you how much herbage you’ll need, just  begin with a few tablespoons of mixed fresh herbs and taste until you’re satisfied.  If using dried herbs, use only 1/3 as much as fresh.

You’ll most likely need a pinch of sugar and some salt.  What you’re tasting for is balance.  Your sauce shouldn’t taste sweet, salty, acidic or like basil, but a blend of all the spices and herbs in harmony. 

Enjoy!

Fun at your next party is just a stripper away…

A Raspberry Stripper that is.  Shame on you for thinking I was speaking of anything but food!   Really!  You know me better than that! 

Raspberry Strippers came to my attention several years ago in an issue of Cooking Light magazine.  The cookies are pretty, oddly shaped (this is a good thing) and a blend of pastry, jam and icing.  Quite a blend, I’d say.  Imagine a bite of fruit tart in each mouthful.  A jam-filled thumbprint cookie in an easy to make form.

Making Raspberry Strippers is similar to making biscotti.  Form a log, bake, then cut into bias pieces.  The difference, of course if that Strippers are only baked once and then iced with a drizzle of confectioners’ sugar glaze.  The fact that the cookies are baked in a log form makes for simple forming.  A sharp chef’s knife makes cutting them a breeze.  Viola!  Multiple cookies from a simple baking.  Bar cookies, please step aside.

Raspberry isn’t the only flavor with which to fill your Strippers.  The orginal recipe called for Apricot, but I favor a darker flavor.  Cherry or blackberry would be nice.  Especially for Valentines’ celebrations. 

These little jewels will be grabbed up off a cookie tray in no time flat.  Pair them with something chocolate and something with nuts to round out the dessert offering.  Pecan pie bars would make a perfect accompaniment, as would my no-fail brownies. 

I’ve adapted the recipe a bit, but just like any sweet – moderation is the key.  Yeah, right!  If you can moderate the amount of the raw dough you eat, you may have enough cookies to share with your family!  It seems a waste to make less than a double batch, but for those of you with smaller families or those cooking for just 1 or 2, I’ve left the recipe as I found it, making about 2 dozen cookies.  Just the right amount for me. 

Raspberry Strippers

• 1/3 cup unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 egg white (if doubling the recipe, use 1 whole egg)
• 1 cup flour
• 2 Tbls cornstartch
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• Icing – see below

Preheat the oven to 375.

In a medium bowl, mix the butter and sugar until light with a hand mixer.  Add the vanilla and egg and mix until fluffy.  Whisk together the dry ingredients and add to the butter mixture in one dump.  Using the electric mixer, blend until the dough comes together.  Remove  the cookie dough from the bowl and divide into two ‘lumps’.  On an unfloured counter top or wooden dough board, roll each half of the dough into a log.  Each should be about 12″ long.  Place the logs on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Using your thumb, press a trench along the log from end to end.  You’ll want to stop about 1/2″ before you get to each end of the log  so as to contain the jam.  Using a teaspoon, fill the trench with the jam of choice.  The jam should not quite come to the top edge of the cookie log, but stay securely inside the ‘dam’ formed by the dough. 

Bake the cookies for about 15 minutes, or until nicely browned.  Remove from oven and cool.  Using a chef’s knife, cut diagonally into 3/4″ slices, about 12 cookies per log.   I ususally cut the ends of the logs off and eat them immediately, after all they have not jam in them, and look unsightly next to the other ‘perfect’ cookies.

Mix together 1 Tbls melted butter, 2 Tbls milk, cream or orange or lemon juice until smooth.  Add enough powdered sugar (2/3 cup or so) to make a drizzling icing/glaze.  Whisk until smooth, then drizzle over the cookies.

Enjoy!

Snow Day!

I’ve been at my desk for about an hour now, and there is just enough light outside the window to see the white blanket of snow covering just about everything.  I knew in September that this was going to be a real winter.  I walked outside one day in my bare feet and couldn’t put my foot down without stepping on dozens of acorns.  The fruit on the Bradford pear trees hung in weighty clusters like I had never noticed before.  Nature’s preparations. 

At our house, Tony keeps the wood stacked near the back door and our larder is generally filled with something that could be turned into comfort food.  As long as there are eggs, sugar and flour I can make cookies.  Tomatoes, onions and garlic could become soup, pasta sauce or a pot of chili.  No doubt that some type of home baked bread is in the plans for today. 

One of my most pleasant memories of snow days when my kids were younger and the neighborhood filled with their friends’ comings and goings is Hot Cocoa.  Wet gloves and boots piled up by the back door and wet, red noses at the table asking for Hot Cocoa.  I was chastized by some of the moms in the ‘hood for making cocoa from ‘scratch’, but there is nothing like the taste of the real thing.  The kids clamoured for it, piled high with freshly whipped cream and shaved chocolate.

Raised before the era of Swiss Miss, our home always resorted to the brown Hershey’s can, sugar, a pinch of salt and milk – imagine that!  Try it, you’ll like it. 

Hot Cocoa http://www.hersheys.com

Real Hot Cocoa

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 heaping Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
• pinch table salt
• 2 cups milk
• 1/4 tsp real vanilla
• whipped cream (sweetened and flavored with real vanilla for full effect)
• shaved chocolate, marshmallows, cinnamon or nutmeg, optional for garnish

Whisk together the sugar, cocoa and salt.  Add enough milk to make a paste and smooth out any lumps.  Add remaining milk and heat over medium heat until hot, but not boiling, stirring often.  Remove from heat and add vanilla.  Pour into mugs and garnish with whipped cream and any other embellishments you desire.  Serves 2 generously. 

Enjoy!

Flour Power

Last Sunday, I had the idea that I would make a big pot of Minestrone and share some with a friend who was a bit under the weather.  Of course, that would be dinner for us too; I had too much to do to plan two things.  In discussing the dinner option, Tony wondered if our favorite bakery might have any Asiago bread.  I called, they didn’t.  Tony’s idea was to pair up some paninis made with Breadworks fantastic Asiago bread, but alas, it is baked only on Saturday and Tuesday and we didn’t plan ahead.

Not to be deterred, I decided to make bread myself.  I got to work and began the biga for my stand-by Ciabatta recipe.  I schemed all day about how I might finish the loaves, knowing that I had some Parmesan, Asiago and Romano in the fridge.  The biga needs a long head start, but once it’s ready, the bread comes together fairly quickly.  I placed the biga in a crockery bowl in the warmest room in the house – near the woodstove.

Once the biga was ready – about 6 hours later, I added the remaining flour, yeast, water and salt and kneaded the dough until it was a beautiful, smooth round.  Resting and rising again for about an hour, the plump, sensual dough was ready for experimentation. 

I brought out my collection of cheese shards, threw the rind of the Parmigiano Reggiano into the Minestrone and diced up the remainder into 1/4″ pieces.  I took about 2/3 cup of the dice and kneaded it into the finished dough and placed the oval loaf in a standard bread loaf pan.  So the rising of the dough would be unrestricted, I placed the pan under a huge Tupperware bowl on the counter.  I wouldn’t have to worry about pulling off the plastic wrap and inadvertantly ‘de-gassing’ the loaf right before baking.

Kneading in the cheese pieces

Another trick that I employed was to preheat the oven with a large, oval roasting pan inside to 450 degrees.  I was going to use this roaster as an oven inside my oven to trap the steam emitted from the loaf as it bakes.  This idea isn’t original, of course, but is taken from the revolutionary work done at the Sullivan Street Bakery in New York.  If you don’t know about that, read here.

So, after about an hour of the second rising, I popped the loaf pan into the preheated roaster, closed it up and set the timer for 30 minutes.  When the timer alarmed, I removed the lid of the roaster and continued to bake for another 25 minutes.  The loaf was cracked and brown dotted with carmelized cheese pieces.  We set the loaf outside (because it was about 10 degrees out there) and let it cool down a bit before we sliced it and grilled it for paninis.

The crust on this bread was brittle and crunchy, the interior soft and riddled with slightly irregular pockets of air and cheese.  Since the cheese pieces were small and relatively dry, I didn’t quite know what to expect.  The cheese melted into the loaf and gave a subtle taste and texture.  I would call this a successful experiment for sure.  The loaf was gobbled up by six paninis and the end crusts didn’t go wanting either.

The next day, I brought out the remaining portion of dough and shards of cheese and began again.  This time, I heated up a 3 quart enameled cast iron dutch oven and moved the cheese bread directly into that vessel (once the rising was complete), covered it and again set the timer for the initial portion of the baking.  Uncovered, baked longer and what you see below is the evidence of another successful loaf. 

Cheese Bread

So, there you have it.  If Breadworks would have had the Asiago bread, this experiment may never had happened.  I am glad they were out of bread, glad I failed to plan ahead.  The result was empowering.  Every successful cooking experiment pushes me to try new things to feel more secure in my knowledge and more capable to teach. 

I won’t spell out the details of the start to finish Ciabatta recipe, that recipe in its entirity is here.  Just know that after you have allowed the finished dough its initial rise, cut the dough into two portions.  You can add in about 2/3 cups of little cheese chunks  to one half of the dough and allow the dough to rise again.  The remaining dough can be used for Ciabatta, or another experiment. 

If you’d like to make a slicing loaf, place the dough in a traditional loaf pan, the ready the oven with a large roasting pan that will hold the loaf pan.  You’ll get the idea by reading the Mark Bittman article here.  I must say, that every time I uncover a loaf of bread baked with this method, I am overcome with curiousity and amazement.

Enjoy!

And then, we ate a big cookie…

 

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.  I love cookies!  Today, my post combines a list of my favorite ingredients and tosses them into an oatmeal cookies for a blast of flavor in every bite.  After a ‘Healthy Food Fast’ class yesterday, I heard the guilty pangs of  ”And then, we ate a big cookie.”  Meaning, I guess that we should feel badly when ending a healthy meal with something sweet and delicious.

Baking cookies is an art.  Really.  Quality ingredients, timing and portioning are very important.  If you don’t believe that cookies are worth the trouble to use only finest ingredients, bake them from scratch, and eat them only when fresh, then please, stop reading this now!  I mean it!  Go on down to the store and get a package of slice and bake, and have a great day.  It’s been nice knowing you. 

If you are serious about cookies, then you are my friend.  Before you get started, you must know some things that will make you the goddess (or god) of the cookie sheet, queen of the kitchen, prince of the PTA.  Mastering a few basic recipes for cookies will be a pivotal experience in your life.  The techniques are simple, the results sublime.  You trust me, right?   

Here are some simple tips to raise the bar on your cookie baking:

• Use unsalted butter, softened but not mushy
• Use only pure vanilla extract
• Eggs and other ingredients should be at room temperature
• Allow the cookies to cool completely on the cookie sheets – don’t listen to those who remove them after only 1 or 2 minutes.  This tip will give you crispy edges and chewy interiors.
• Buy enough baking sheets to allow them to cool off between rounds in the oven.  You can get 2  half sheet pans at Sams or GFS for about $10.  Ask for them as a gift, or buy them for yourself – you deserve them.  Sorry, but ‘cookie sheets’ – the kind with only 1 rimmed side are not necessary.  These baking sheets are a work horse in the kitchen.
• Use parchment paper – this saves time and clean up.  But, don’t get the kind on a roll (useless!)  Go to GFS and get  a package of 50 sheets for about $4.  These will last the average home baker 6 months to a year.  You cut them in half and they fit EXACTLY on the half sheet pans with no rolling up.
• Measure accurately!  Spoon your flour, level your salt, baking soda, etc.  Doing this will give you the same result every time.

Give up on sweets for the new year?  Not in my book.  What is the point of eating healthfully unless you satisfy your sweet tooth with a modest indulgence?  The trick is of course, eating just one cookie.  With these, I realize it’s hard.  So, I’ve devised a number of tips for avoiding over-indulgence when eating one of my cookies:

• Wear really tight jeans while eating
• Promise to eat one cookie only when hungry
• Eat really slowly
• Eat with someone much smaller than yourself
• Eat, standing naked in front of a mirror
• Drink a big glass of water or skim milk with your indulgence
• Keep all but one cookie frozen

I’m not sure that these tricks will help, but hey, I’m trying.  Here is the recipe for my favorite Oatmeal Cookies.

Loaded Oatmeal Cookies

Loaded Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

grated zest of one orange

3 cups rolled oats

1 cup dried cranberries

1 cup chopped walnuts

2/3 cup sweetened, flaked coconut

2/3 cup chopped, dried dates

Cream the butter and sugars until fluffy.  Add the eggs and vanilla, beating until well combined.  Blend together the flour, salt, cinnamon, orange zest and baking soda, then mix into the butter mixture.  Stir together the oats, cranberries, dates, walnuts and coconut, then mix into the cookie batter with a wooden spoon. 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Arrange the racks in the oven to the two most central levels.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.  With a portion scoop or spoon, portion the dough into 2 Tbls size pieces, then flatten slightly with your fingers.  Bake for 5 minutes, then turn the pans in the oven from side to side, then switch the pan placement from top to bottom racks.  Bake for 4 minutes longer.  Cool completely on the pan, then move to a platter or container.  Cool the pans completely before baking the next batch of cookies.  Because of this, it’s great to have several baking sheets.

Makes about 3 1/2 dozen 3″ cookies.

Enjoy!

Buon Giorno!

This morning, I am eating a steaming bowl of oatmeal – penance for my double dose of Italian food yesterday.  I do it for you, you know.  Research.  Development of my product.  Culling out the best of the best and working hard to be sure you guys don’t get led astray. 

If you haven’t heard yet, Cook With Mary is planning a Gourmet Tour of Italy later this year.  I am on the hunt for experiences of the Italian variety right here in town.  These experiences will get the travel group primed and ready for Italy, and begin to gel the group.  I have lots of plans in the works, and went to an Italian restaurant yesterday to cement one of our first group outtings.

BLU Italian Grille is located inside the Marriott Downtown. 280 W. Jefferson.  Parking is a breeze, and I was quite relieved to be able to walk through the garage to the elevator and arrive in the lobby of the Marriott without catching the ‘breeze’ outside in downtown Louisville yesterday.  Temperatures were in the lower teens with wind chills well below that.  Enter the parking lot on Liberty.  Parking reciepts are validated for diners at BLU, so if the weather is as wicked as it has been, this might be a nice choice just based on convenience.

But convenience isn’t the only reason I’ll be returning to BLU.  Smiling faces, great service, great food, and a fantastico cappucino to end your meal!    Working my way through the menu is another reason which will take me multiple trips.  I browsed through the lunch and dinner menus while waiting on my lunch.   Lots of wonderful sounding selections.

I chose the BLU chicken club, based on the recommendation from the restaurant manager, Kelly Salat.  While waiting for my sandwich, Mei (my waitress) brought me a roll with some of the house made Parmesan Butter.  Flecked with pepper and textured with grated parmesan, the butter, some bread and a glass of wine could have been lunch.  But then, I would have been checking into the hotel for a nap.  I was mentally deconstructing the concoction so that I could repeat this at home.  Magnifico!

My BLU Chicken club turned out as an Italian twist on an American Standard.  Grilled chicken breast on crusty ciabatta with lettuce, tomato, pesto mayo, provolone and proscuitto.  Considering the size of the sandwich, I immediately decided to take half home and share with my son.  My club came with addictively delicious and crispy house made potato chips, dusted with salt and paprika.  I have never seen such thinly sliced potato chips!  Royston Green, manager on duty for BLU’s lunch informed me that the restaurant bar serves these as snacks for patrons there.  A generous sized pile of field greens dressed in a shallot vinaigrette also accompanied the sandwich.  I wished I had brought my camera because the presentation was lovely.  Another reason that I should have brought my camera – it would have been nice to have my son see the sandwich, since I managed to make it through the entire thing! 

Word to the wise – if you work in the downtown area and are looking for a place to stop for a cocktail or glass of wine after work – this would be the place.  It might seem sad to say that another reason to return would be to share the potato chips with my husband.  They are that good. 

Back to my club.  The chicken was perfectly cooked, just enough char on the very edges to give some crunch, but still moist and tender in the middle.  Perfectly dressed with a slice of prosciutto and provolone and enough pesto mayo to hold things together without making the sandwich drippy.  I polished off the edges of the bread by dipping them in more of the parmesan butter, and hoped that no one was watching my gluttonous exhibit.

My favorite lunch at a restaurant, especially at a fine one, is to have soup, salad and dessert.  Rarely a sandwich.  I am so glad I did this time – it was worth it.   The lunch menu also includes a grilled tuscan vegetable sandwich, an Italian panini club, and an Italian roast beef – great choices.

During lunch, and to slow down my intake, I continued browsing through the dinner menu.  So many times, I look over a menu with lots of selections and find only one or two that appeal to me.  Not so here.  Many items called to me, giving me even more chances to return.  Italian restaurants frequently offer fried calamari – Blu’s version comes with roasted red pepper aioli.  Maybe a crab stuffed portabello mushroom or Fritti Mozzerella with yellow beefsteak tomato cruda.  These are just the appetizer selections. 

Next time at BLU, I’m going to try the Caesar salad, or maybe the Caprese.  Oh yeah, a Nicoise salad is offered too.  Not just Italian selections, but covering a bit more of the Mediterranean.  A Minestrone and a soup del giorno  are offered nightly. 

There are Pasta and Risotto offerings from Spaghetti and Meatballs to Seafood Risotto.  Entrees include a Tuscan NY strip, Filet, Veal Osso Bucco, Seafood, Chicken and Lamb Chops.  My head is spinning.  Maybe if I took enough friends, and we all got something different, I could taste everything!

I haven’t even touched on the abiance of BLU.  Such attention to detail!  The floor is imported from Italy, the furnishing chic, but comfortable, the blown glass pendant lights are lovely!  BLU has two nice private areas for parties and a beautiful bar area.  Here is a table setting that will give you an idea of the environment:

Table setting at BLU

The restaurant sent me a picture of a pizza on their menu to drool over:

Pecorino Crusted Shrimp Pizza

All in all, a great experience. See lots more about BLU.  Great service, great food in a beautiful setting.  A frothy cappuccino was the perfect ending.  You know, if I were a REAL restaurant reviewer, I would have gone back 3 or so times before I wrote this.  Being my impetuous self, I just couldn’t wait to share!

Enjoy!

Everybody Loves a Quickie

Don’t we all need a quickie now and then?  A quick snack, a quick dinner, you know what I mean.  I love to run into the kitchen when the mood is high and for just a moment, you think you might starve if you don’t eat something RIGHT NOW, and be able to pull a snack or dinner out of the fridge or the pantry.  Something delicious, something satisfying and hopefully something unique. 

We’ve all had our moments when Ritz  crackers, cold cheese and mustard have had to sit in for a snack attack.  I’m talking about something a bit more lavish, but equally simple.  Enter the Culinary Quickie.  You’ll know you’ve achieved the status of a true Culinary Quickie by the level of pure, almost animal satisfaction that will follow.

A true Culinary Quickie will satisfy, but not stuff – it will always leave you wanting more.  Curiousity piqued.  You will most likely have recurrent thoughts about the foray.  Your mind might drift in and out, visiting adaptations, what ifs.  When can I have this again?  How might I change it?  Was that as good as I thought it was?  Did my husband enjoy it as much as I did?  What will my other foodie friends think?

New Year’s night, while the chicken was roasting, and the potatoes simmering, it hit me!  Rosanne Roseannadanna might say “I thought I was gonna die!”  Starving!  Pulling from some leftovers from the dinner I prepared the previous evening, I began executing my quickie.  Lavash round made at Baban Bakery(available at Paul’s and Lotsa Pasta).  Old Forest salami from Lotsa Pasta.  Toasted Walnuts.  Olive oil.  Honey.  Freshly ground black pepper.  Fresh rosemary. 

Put together and slid into the oven where the chicken was roasting.  In less than 5 minutes, my husband and I were noshing on an utterly divine slice of culinary magic.  The moans, the groans, eyes rolling, teeth gnashing, lips smacking.  This, my friends was a true culinary quickie.   We were working on a bottle of White Bordeaux, 2007 Bellechasse, which added to the experience.

You too can achieve this level of satisfaction.  Follow the list below, or dream up your own little bit of heaven.  I’m sure you have all the ingredients you need, if not for this particular version, something equally as satisfying.  Let yourself go.

Gorgonzola flatbread ready for the oven

Gorgonzola and Salami Flatbread

1 round of soft lavash

olive oil

4-5 slices Old Forest salami

2-3 oz crumbled gorgonzola cheese

a handful of toasted walnuts, broken

honey

black pepper

a few rosemary needles

Heat the oven to 400 degrees, or just bake at the temperature of whatever is in the oven.

Drizzle a bit of olive oil over the lavash; smear it around with your hands.  Space out the salami over the bread.  Sprinkle on the cheese and walnuts.  Drizzle with honey, then grind black pepper over the top to your liking.  Chop or tear up the rosemary needles, sprinkling them over sparingly. 

 Using a peel or your hands, place your creation directly on the oven rack and watch very closely.  Crisping up the lavash and melting the cheese just slightly will take only a few minutes. 

A word to the wise – etiquette when experiencing a new culinary creation requires that the chef recieve adequate praise.  Don’t assume that your purveyor of bliss will know that you enjoyed the experience.  Be sincere, but be sure to convey your appreciation.

Enjoy!

Hands-Off Dinner Menu

Sometimes you just have to let the appliances do the work and go back to reading your book.  Lazy doesn’t fully describe my day.  I knew it was going to be this way yesterday when I was cooking away and on my feet for over 12 hours.  I promised myself a lazy day, but I do that often.  Most of the time I end up being at least partially productive. 

A bowl of cereal for breakfast, hoppin’ john and rice for lunch (Tony fixed this yesterday while I was cheffing at a private party – YUM),  napping and book reading filled the remainder of the day. 

What’s for dinner?  Lots of choices, still working through leftovers from the holidays and the seemingly continual runs for provisions.  Tony had picked up a whole chicken on Wednesday (just in case) and the choices were leftovers, roasted chicken, or something that required more effort.  Roasted chicken it is. 

I prepped the chicken, put the already prepped asparagus on a sheet pan for roasting after the chicken, and asked Tony to peel potatoes for our stand-by: smashed ‘taters with sour cream.  I headed off to the shower.

Once the chicken was roasted, the oven went up and the asparagus went in.  Potatoes were mashed, and Lauren and I threw together a sauce with the rosemary infused pan sauces.  Dinner was done.  Active time, maybe 15 minutes.  Pleasure time: I’m still thinking about it hours later.

The crust on the bird was crispy and flecked with crunchy salt and coarsely ground pepper.  The flesh was succulent, tender and oh, so delicious.  The smooth and tangy smashed potatoes and crispy, oven roasted asparagus were the perfect sides for a simple, satisfying meal.

Roasted Chicken

Rosemary Roasted Whole Chicken with Pan Sauce

1 whole chicken, about 3 pounds

olive oil

Kosher salt and pepper

3-4 short stems fresh rosemary

4 cloves garlic, unpeeled

2 Tbls flour

1/4 cup white wine

1/2 cup heavy cream, chicken  broth or water

Place the rosemary and 2 of the garlic cloves in a small roasting pan.  Seat the chicken over the herbs and place the other two garlic cloves inside the chicken.  Drizzle olive oil over the chicken and liberally salt and pepper the bird.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Roast the chicken for an hour and 15 minutes, or until the juices run clear when pierced, or the internal temperature registers about 165-170 degrees.  Remove the chicken from the pan and place on a cutting board.  Cover with foil or a clean kitchen towel.  Remove the large pieces and stems of rosemary from the drippings.

In the roasting pan atop the stove, heat the drippings and sprinkle the flour over the pan.  Whisk until smooth and thickened.  Pour in the wine and allow to simmer until reduced.  Add the remaining liquid and whisk until smooth, hot and thickened, about 3 minutes.  Keep the sauce warm while you carve the bird into pieces.  Serves 3-4. 

Enjoy!

Crunchy Croutons

My husband, Tony, is home from work through next week.  He’s a fantastic cook himself and today he treated me to a bowl of  Tomato and White Bean Soup.  Feeling a bit adventurous I suppose, he asked if I had any tips on making some croutons, or if we even had any bread appropriate for such a task.  Now, this was the second time in less than a week that someone asked me about making croutons.  Must be a sign.  Bonnie, this is for you!

I received an email from ‘Bonnie’  several days prior to Christmas asking if I could send her some notes about croutons.  She had the idea to make homemade croutons and attach a little package to a bottle of my Balsamic Vinaigrette for a few of her Christmas presents.  What a wonderful idea, Bonnie!  I wished I had thought of that.  Anyway, I told her I would get on it and get right back to her with a recipe, but I failed to do it.  (Just one of the many things I wanted to get done prior to the big day, and didn’t.)  So I am doing it now, after being spurred to action by Tony.

Croutons aren’t health food, you know.  Take a look at the nutritional information on a box of packaged ones and you’ll see.  Look further and you’ll see a list of a bunch of ingredients you can’t pronouce or begin to know what they are.  So, if you are going to eat croutons – and there is something really great about the crunch they lend to a fresh salad or hot bowl of soup – you might want to make them yourself.  They don’t take much time, just  a few ingredients, and they last a good while if stored properly.  It’s a great way to use day old baguette or Italian bread.

Another thing, croutons are loud food.  Really crunchy.  Rules of etiquette insist on closing our mouths prior to chewing, so make the cubes of bread small enough to fit between the normal person’s bite so they can comfortably close before crunching.  Keep in mind too that if everyone at the table is chewing homemade croutons, you’ll most likely be repeating bits of the conversation until the crouton course is finished. 

Homemade Crunchy Croutons

4 cups bread cubes cut from day old bread

2 Tbls butter

2 Tbls olive oil

1 clove garlic, sliced in half

cracked black pepper

other ingredients, optional – parmesan cheese, italian seasonings, dill, etc.

Heat the oven to 300 degrees.

Melt the butter and olive oil together in a large saute pan.  Add the garlic and swirl it around until it begins to sizzle.  Toss in the bread cubes and quickly stir around to distibute the oil/butter onto the bread.  Once the pan is nearly dry, sprinkle any optional ingredients onto the coutons and toss/stir until distributed.  Remove and discard the garlic.

If you can spread out the croutons in a single layer in the saute pan, do so and slide the pan in the oven to bake until crisp.  If there is too much bread to spread out, toss the croutons onto a baking sheet and place it in the oven.

Note that if you are going to eat all the croutons at one sitting, you don’t need to worry that they are completely crisp.  However, if you are storing or giving as a gift, the bread cubes must be crisp throughout and cooled completely before placing in an airtight container.   If not, the croutons will taste like really bad, stale bread and they will mold easily.

You can make thin round croutons from French baguette and brush them with the oil/butter mixture, add any seasonings and toast them as described above.  These make great additions to French onion soup, Caesar salad, etc.

Enjoy!