Simple antipasti

In Italy, antipasti are meant to whet your appetite. (Granted, when I ate out in Italy, my appetite needed little whetting -- what with all the whiffs of freshly-made pasta and roasted tomato sauce drifting from the kitchen to my table.) Nonetheless, in Italy, antipasti are simply appetizers, mere preludes to the main dish. In my house, they're just part of the meal. After all, roasted vegetables with a splash of quality balsamic vinegar and just the right amount of good olive oil make a perfect accompaniment to whatever's being served. In my humble opinion, they need not precede the main course -- in fact, they do just fine right alongside it.


By far the best thing about antipasti is their simplicity. Season, drizzle, and roast, that's all there is to it! These simple steps work wonders for eggplant, zucchini, onions, tomatoes, even sweet potatoes. The trick is to slice thinly, and flip once half-way through the roasting process so that both sides crisp up. If you're sparing with the oil, as I am, best use a pastry brush, which will spread the oil over the entire surface without soaking them all too much. And while cooking spray is fine for the pan, I strongly recommend sticking to real olive oil for the vegetables themselves; olive oil is a strong player in the saturated, concentrated flavor that antipasti develop.

I can safely say that this "recipe" has no recipe, but a method, instead: slice whatever vegetables you use about 1/4-1/8 inch thick, as uniformly as possible. Line a roasting pan with a single layer of vegetables. Brush each side with olive oil, sprinkle salt and pepper, and add herbs if you like (I favor sage, pictured below, for eggplant, and rosemary with sweet potatoes, onion, and a new addition -- turnips).


Bake at around 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes until the tops are browned; flip, and bake another 10-15 minutes. Check regularly to avoid burning (which I unfortunately have a tendency to do!). Once the vegetables are out of the oven, transfer to a platter, drizzle with good balsamic vinegar, add salt and pepper to taste, and bring to room temperature before serving.


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Black Raspberry-Brie Bites

I just joined a cooking club in DC called "Ladies Who Cook....Sometimes." My guess is that it started because people found that they were too busy to take their cooking seriously, and wanted to set aside some time each month to celebrate fun in the kitchen. Ideally, we'd all get together and cook, but everyone's so busy that the club has taken a potluck format. Each month has a theme, and people make dishes in accordance with that theme. Then we all get together and gorge. Sounds fun, right?

Well, this month's theme is finger food. I had originally planned to make brie and onion tartlets, but a last-minute morning walk meant I had less time than I thought I would. In a pinch, I grabbed frozen Trader Joe's puff pastry out of my freezer (it's sold flat, so it takes a mere 10 minutes to thaw) and made these brie-raspberry bites. They're the perfect appetizer to make in a pinch, and they're sweet without being dessert-y.

Black Raspberry-Brie Bites
2 sheets puff pastry, thawed and rolled to 1/8-inch thick
1/2 cup raspberry or black raspberry preserves
32 frozen raspberries or black raspberries, thawed and drained
Wedge brie cheese, cut into 32 bite-size squares
sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Working with one pastry sheet at a time, slice into 16 squares. I start by slicing into four equal quarters, then slice each of those into four quarters to make each square the same size.

In the center of each square, place 1 piece of brie, 1 raspberry and a dallop of jam.

to make turnovers:

Wet your fingers, and run them along two connecting edges of one of the squares.

Fold the far corner onto the near corner, and using two fingers, press the edges together to form a triangle. You may have to really press to make the dough stick to itself, and wetting the dough should help.

to make bundles:

Wet your fingers, and run them along all four edges of a square.

Bring the four corners together, pinch at the center, and pinch along the edges to seal.


When all turnovers/bundles are created, place them 1/2-inch apart on baking sheets. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until golden. let cool 5 minutes, then serve warm.

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Fried Green Tomatoes

This southern treat is one of my favorites. It even works when (as here) your very green tomatoes turn more red than you care to admit overnight! People serve them with all sorts of condiments, but I like 'em plain, with just a sprinkling of salt once they're on the serving platter. They're super easy to make, and I can't think of a better way to celebrate the end of [green] tomato season.


Fried Green Tomatoes
serves 3 as an appetizer.

2 tomatoes
1/8 cup milk, cream, buttermilk, whatever
1 egg
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp. cayenne (more if desired)
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. sugar
butter or oil for frying (not olive oil)

Cut ends off tomatoes; slice remaining flesh into 3 or 4 1/2-inch rounds.
Mix egg and milk in one bowl; mix dry ingredients in the other.
Dip each round into the milk-egg mixture, then coat with the flour mixture on both sides.
Place on a baking sheet.
Repeat with all the rounds.
Heat a medium castiron skillet containing 1/2 an inch of oil to medium heat.
When a splash of flour sizzles in the skillet, place rounds 1/2-inch apart in skillet.
Fry 2-4 minutes, depending on heat. If they start to smoke, turn down the heat.
Flip, and cook an additional 1-2 minutes until golden brown and crispy.
Serve immediately.
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