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.


Read more!

Saffron-Nutmeg Rice Pudding: Sugar High Friday!

Something has happened. There used to be no stopping me from gravitating straight toward the chocolate. In Baskin Robbins, I had no control over my constant need for chocolate raspberry truffle, and therefore tasted almost no other flavors for about six years. My mom could hide all the candy in the house and I wouldn't notice, but if chocolate had a hiding place, I could find it in a flash. Lately, my long-standing chocolate obsession has taken a backseat to simpler things. Exhibit A: this little rice pudding number, featured in the latest issue of gourmet. I turned the page to the letters section, noticed the recipe for rice pudding with (gulp) nutmeg as the only flavoring (not even vanilla!) and thought, I. must. make. this. now.

So I did.

Where has all the chocolate gone? No matter. If you make this rice pudding, I guarantee you won't miss chocolate, no, not one little bit. Nutmeg may sound "simple" when you shake it from the jar into your carrot soup (the subject of a later post...stay tuned!) But when it's freshly grated, when it stands alone on arborio rice -- with just some milk, cream and sugar to pull the pudding together -- why, nothing could be more complex.

Nutmeg is a "warm" spice, at once spicy and sweet, with a real bite and a pleasant bitterness that make it irresistible. In the jar, its flavor gets somewhat muted, so grate some from a whole nutmeg whenever possible. I bought 20 whole nutmeg pieces for a buck fifty, so it shouldn't set you back much, and it's truly worth it.

Now, I'll be honest: I didn't stop at the nutmeg. After all, something as simple as rice pudding provides a golden opportunity to play around. I happened to buy a (relatively) big box of saffron a couple weeks ago, and I've been waiting for a chance to use it. What better than a bright yellow, saffron-nutmeg flavored rice pudding? So it was settled.



Aside from the nutmeg, what drew me to this recipe was the stirring -- or lack thereof. Typically, rice pudding means hovering over the stove until your back aches, stirring the thing around and around so it doesn't clump or stick or overcook. Needless to say, it's a pain. But this recipe was for baked pudding: simply mix the ingredients in the ramekins themselves, stick'em on a baking sheet, and bake'em in the oven for an hour. Let's face it -- not much could be easier. And I'd be surprised if you don't scrape your bowl clean, as I did. Saffron-Nutmeg Rice Pudding: my entry for this month's Sugar High Friday.

Saffron-Nutmeg Rice Pudding adapted from this month's Gourmet
serves 4.

• 2 cups whole milk
• 1/3 cup Arborio rice
• 8 tsp. sugar
• salt
  
• whole nutmeg
• 12 threads saffron
  
• 4 Tbsp. heavy cream

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees, and put rack in the middle. Butter the ramekins.
   
2. Add 1/2 cup milk, 4 tsp. rice, 2 tsp. sugar, and a pinch of salt to each ramekin. Grate a bit of nutmeg over each, and put 3 threads of saffron in each. Stir well to combine, and ensure that the spices don't float, if possible.
3. Put ramekins in a shallow baking pan and bake until most of the milk is absorbed and the tops are golden-brown, about 1 hour.
   
4. A skin will form on each ramekin; remove the skin.
5. Stir 1 Tbsp. cream into each pudding until creamy. Allow to cool, and if desired, refrigerate 30 minutes until chilled.
6. Enjoy -- don't forget to scrape your ramekin to the last drop.

Read more!

Open-Faced Spanikopita

Several times a week, I get home from work, open the fridge, and sigh. What the hell am I going to make for dinner? There's half a red onion, a package of mushrooms, two slices of bread, leftover kale, one red pepper....yea, I'm not getting very far.

Last week, I had a blip of inspiration between long-ish bouts of cooking drab food, and managed to throw together these open-faced spanikopita with roasted peppers and tomatoes. There was a bit of leftover filo dough in the freezer, but it wasn't wide enough to fold into triangles as I usually do, so I just left them flat and piled the goodies on top. And when you're working with such few ingredients and almost no technique, there's room to play with decorative aspects of the food. I arranged the red peppers in a criss-crossing pattern atop the spinach-kale mixture, and D thought the whole thing looked very fancy-shmancy.


Point is, don't let a fridge full of half-used veggies and scraps get you down. There are lots of easy dishes that make use of leftovers in creative and easy ways. Now if only I could think of a couple more....for now, I'll leave you with this spanikopita, which was truly a hit. For a quickie weeknight dinner, it truly fits the bill.


Open-Faced Spanikopita
makes 2 servings.

• 10 layers of filo dough, about 6"x16"
• olive oil for brushing between the layers (about 1/4 cup)
  
• 1 red pepper
  
• 6 cherry or grape tomatoes
• combined 1 1/2 cups frozen or fresh spinach or kale (I used a combo)
• 1 cup cheese -- I used a mix of feta and ricotta, but farmer's cheese would also work
• Parmigiano-Reggiano for grating on top

1. Set out the filo dough and allow to thaw completely before unrolling.
2. Meanwhile, roughly chop spinach and/or kale if fresh; if frozen, thaw and drain completely.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, combine chopped greens with cheese, and mix thoroughly until well combined. If you prefer a smoother texture, blend in the food processor.
4. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Set one rack on the highest shelf.
   
5. Put the red pepper and tomatoes on a baking sheet, and drizzle with a bit of olive oil and salt. Roast for about 20 minutes, until the skin of the pepper is charred. Remove from the oven, and put the pepper in a paper bag to steam for 5 minutes. Turn the oven down to 400 degrees.
   
6. When you remove the pepper from the bag, its skin should be easy to remove. Once the skin is off, slice the pepper into matchsticks (pretty thin slices).
   
7. Now, slice two 6"x8" rectangles out of the filo dough.
8. Working with one rectangle at a time, take a layer of dough, brush it with olive oil, and place the next layer on top. Repeat with each layer, then with the second rectangle.
9. When all layers are brushed and stacked, scoop 2/3 cup of the spinach-cheese mixture onto the filo stacks.
10. Put the pepper slices and tomatoes onto the spanikopita in a haphazard or decorative (your choice) way. Grate some parmigiano-reggiano cheese on top.
11. Bake for 15 minutes, or until filo dough layers are golden. Be careful -- it's hot!
    

Read more!

When time is of the essence

Take this.

In ten minutes flat, you can have these cookies made. Including prep time.

Why?

Because they're from the box.

I might love to bake, but I sure as hell can't make cookies with cute pumpkins in the middle like this. Leave that to Nestle.

I don't need to point out that they're perfect for halloween...just go buy these guys. People will think you're really talented, and best of all, the cookies actually taste great.

In your grocer's freezer section!

Read more!

Chicken Cholent

I think I officially have enough blog traffic that my Jewish friends aren't the only ones reading! This means that I actually have to explain what cholent is. (This is very exciting.)

Cholent is what Ashkenazi Jews (from Eastern Europe) used to eat every Saturday for lunch. Sephardi Jews ate something similar, but they called it "Hamin" (which means "hot stuff" in Hebrew...funny, no?) We still make this today, and to my knowledge, little has changed in terms of the basic ingredients -- though every cook adds his or her special touch.

The key to cholent is cooking time. Because traditionally, no cooking is allowed on the Sabbath, people start cooking cholent by sundown Friday, and don't touch it until they're ready to eat it on Saturday for lunch. By Saturday afternoon, the watery, murkey pot-o-goodies is an entirely different animal: the barley has soaked up all the water and turned soft and supple; the meat (or, as here, chicken), having been braised for about 18 hours, falls off the bone unprodded. Potatoes have turned dark brown from steeping in chicken stock and whatever else is in the pot -- and the marrow in the bones is creamy, flavorful and delicious. Sound appealing?

Over the years, the basics of cholent have stayed the same (meat, potatoes, barley), but the little things change from chef to chef (and, in my case, from time to time). I find that meat sits in my stomach like a brick when I eat it on Saturday afternoon, so my new thing is subsituting chicken. Sometimes I add apricots and carrots, sometimes prunes or dates. Once I even did a tagine style and included preserved lemons. As for the liquid, I frequently add chili sauce or bbq sauce, which are both pretty common -- but anything will do.

The best part about cholent is that it only improves with age; leftovers are even thicker and more flavorful. I've included a recipe below, but that's really not necessary, for two reasons:

a) cholent is a method, not a recipe. Just throw some protein and carbs in a pot, cover with liquid, and cook forever.

b) my actual cholent recipe is someone else's prized posession, and it was given to me on strict condition that I never write it down, let alone pass it on. I wasn't even allowed to transcribe it as I heard the holy words uttered; I merely had to remember it as best I could, and try to replicate the recipe according to my (very flawed, very human) memory. You may not be surprised to know that he who gave me this recipe actually called it "Torah She-B'al Peh," or "Oral Law."

So that's that.

Cholent

serves lots.

1 whole chicken or many strips of flank steak

several potatoes or any kind, washed and quartered

a few cups of barley

a couple marrow bones, optional

salt and pepper

any or all of the following things and more: carrots, apricots, prunes, dates, raisins, gosh I don't know -- preserved lemons, olives, tomatoes, you name it.

Dump all this in the crock pot.

Cover with water by at least a couple inches or more.

Add any or all of the following sauces, if you wish: bbq, teriyaki, sweet chili sauce, tomato sauce, soy sauce, etc.

Turn on high until boiling, then switch to low and leave it alone until ready to eat!

I should mention one note: some people stick balls of tinfoil between the actual crock pot and the heating device in which it sits, so as to avoid the burnt crust that forms at the bottom of the pot. I like burnt, so I leave well enough alone.

Happy Cholent!

Read more!

The easiest cake ever

Many thanks to Elena, who gave this recipe to my mom, who practically forced me to make it. This cake is deceiving: its ingredient list and instructions are so short and sweet, you could make it blindfolded. But don't let the ease deceive you; this cake is definitely better than the sum of its parts. Throw the ingredients in a bowl, mix (by hand!), chop the fruit, throw it all into a springform (or regular pan), bake, and voila, a perfect dessert is yours.

Make sure your fruit are ripe; this will really add to the overall flavor and moistness of the cake. Also, as this recipe is so darn basic, feel free to improvise! Here are my favorite variations:

-pears, lots and lots of pears
-plums and peaches
-blueberries and pears
-raspberries
-raspberries and peaches

You get the drift -- do whatever you like. One last note: I tend to arrange sliced fruit on the bottom of the springform, so that when I turn the cooled cake onto a serving platter, the bottom (now the top) looks pretty. This is entirely optional. In fact, I didn't do it this time because my pears were very ripe, and too delicate to mess around with. If you're using a regular, non-springform pan, you can do as my mother does, and arrange fruit on top of the batter. They will sink in a little as the cake bakes, but you'll still be able to see them.


The Easiest Cake Ever
serves 8-12.

1 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup canola oil
1 tspoon baking powder
1 tspoon vanilla
zest of 1 lemon
3 cups of fruit, any variety, but soft and juicy!

Combine all the above ingredients, reserving 1 cup of the sliced fruit.

Grease and flour a 9" round or rectangular baking pan or springform pan.

At this point, EITHER:
1) pour in batter and add the last cup of fruit on top OR
2) arrange the remaining sliced fruit in spiral design in the springform, and pour batter overtop.

I sometimes sprinkle a bit of sugar ontop for a crunchy crust.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

I often serve this cake with a fruit sauce or reduction; it's pictured here with quince sauce, and I'll post that recipe soon. Read more!

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.

Read more!

Slow-roasted onions, fennel and tomatoes

If you're an onion hater, this dish will convert you. Slow-roasting onions releases their natural sugars slowly without burning them, so that by the end they're smooth, slippery and taste like caramel.

The tomatoes undergo a similar transformation: they become soft and sweet, and their flavors become incredibly concentrated.

And the fennel...well, you get the drift: soft, sweet and delicious.


The technique is simple (I feel like I've said that before...): roast thick slices of the veggies in a medium-hot oven for an hour or so. Instructions below are in slightly more detail, promise.

Slow-roasted onions, fennel and tomatoes
serves 4-6.
3 nice, large, red tomatoes, cut into four slices each
2 white (not yellow) onions, cut into four-five slices each
1 bulb fennel, fronds removed, cut into five-six slices each
good olive oil
salt
pepper

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Places the slices randomly on two cooking sheets. feel free to smoosh and squeeze them so that they all fit. It'll only make things taste better. Plug the spout of your olive oil bottle with your finger and drizzle the oil over the vegetables. use your fingers to spread the oil so that it coats the exposed surface of the vegetables. Season liberally with salt and pepper.

Cook on 300 degrees for about an hour, flipping onions and fennel once at the halfway point. Leave the tomatoes alone as much as possible. You'll know it's done when onions are caramel-colored and soft and your kitchen smells ridiculously good.

To serve: layer vegetables on a white tray: onion or fennel on the bottom, then tomato, then fennel or onion.

Read more!

quick greek stew

If you made the slow-roasted dish and have some leftovers, here's a great way to take care of 'em:

Quick Greek Stew

slow-roasted onion, fennel and tomato leftovers
fresh ground pepper
1/4 cup feta cheese
a few kalamata or other greek olives
fresh basil

Roughly chop onion/fennel/tomato leftovers into large pieces. Toss in a shallow sauté pan with some of their juices, about 3 minutes. Add a bit of crumbled feta cheese, a few greek olives, and a crank of the pepper mill. Cook about 2 minutes longer. Garnish with fresh basil.

Read more!

Easy-as-pie Roasted Potatoes

Sometimes, simple is best. I'm often inclined to throw every fancy ingredient in the pantry into whatever dish I'm making, in the hopes that a dash of truffle oil and some fancy mirin and a little chili mango and....ugh, what an awful combination!

Point is, I've learned that good olive oil, salt and pepper are often all you need to make something great. These potatoes are a perfect example; the tricks here aren't in the pantry -- they're in the oven and on your watch. Think temperature and time; whenever potatoes come out too mushy or too dry or too something else, it's because I wasn't precise in my choices of cooking time and temperature. This recipe is sure to produce the kind of consistent results that will please you and your guests.

Easy-as-pie Roasted Potatoes
serves 4.
10 small purple, red or fingerling potatoes (I like to use a mix)
salt
pepper
good olive oil
chili powder, optional

Preheat the oven to 315 degrees.
(Can you guess the steps?)
Cut potatoes into triangular shapes.
Sprinkle liberally with salt, pepper, and chili powder, if you like.
Put your thumb over the spout in the olive oil so that it drips slowly; drizzle with restraint.
(Alternatively, toss all ingredients in a plastic bag -- I don't like this method because you lose a lot of the olive oil and spices that way.)
Put the potatoes in a shallow pan in a single layer.
Bake anywhere from 1-2 hours, until the potatoes are crunchy but still moist, and the skin is crispy.



Read more!