Bruschetta

I love a recipe that is so easy to make! Oftentimes the best way to learn is to watch someone else do it.  In this case I watched my friend Lisa. She worked in a restaurant and has whipped this up many times.

Make the tomato dip:
Dice up 3 cloves of garlic, 4 plum tomatoes and half an onion.
Saute the onion then add garlic and saute until fragrant. Add the tomatoes and cook down a bit.
Drizzle in some balsamic vinegar (white balsamic is also good and won't affect the color).
Remove from heat and mix in some chopped basil.
Drizzle olive oil over slices of baguette, rub with a cut piece of garlic, sprinkle of parmesan and toast them.
Serve with a dollop of goat cheese over the tomatoes and enjoy! 

Confetti Sandwiches

A great way to get some exciting veggie action into your kid's lunch! I had one too :)
Just spread some nice soft bread (in this case, scali) with mayo, grate some veggies of choice (carrots, zucchini, summer squash, etc.) over the bread, top with preferred cheese and voila! Colorful and fun/fast to prepare.

Baked Sole with Spinach, Olives and Tomatoes

This was a special dinner I made for my friend Kerri.
It is adapted from Jamie Oliver's "Happy Days With The Naked Chef."
I definitely give it a thumbs up! 

Here are the olive puree, rosemary skewers and tomato sauce, prepped ahead of time.

The final dish, ready to dig in!

Serves 4

• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
• extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup Chardonnay or other dry white wine
• 1 28oz can plum tomatoes
• Fine sea salt to taste
• 1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives
• 1 large handful fresh basil
• 2 anchovy fillets
• 4 (7-oz) sole fillets
• 5 oz baby spinach 

Make sauce:
Cook garlic in 2 tablespoons oil in a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat (on stovetop), stirring until softened, 1 to 2 minutes. Add wine and boil until reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Add tomatoes with juice, breaking them up with a spoon, and gently simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 20 minutes. Add sea salt and pepper to taste and remove from heat.
Prepare fish while sauce simmers:
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Pulse olives, basil, and anchovies to a paste in a food processor (or chop finely). Add olive oil  to create a more spreadable paste.
Lay fish fillets, skinned sides down, on a work surface and season with pepper. Divide olive paste among fillets and spread evenly. Beginning at narrow end, roll up each fillet. Peel the leaves of the lower end of the rosemary and use to skewer the fillets closed.
Bake fish:
Arrange fish rolls on tomato sauce in baking dish. Drizzle lightly with oil and bake, uncovered, in middle of oven, until fish is just cooked through, about 15 minutes.
Transfer fish to 4 heated plates. Heat tomato sauce over medium heat, then add spinach and cook, stirring, until wilted, about 1 minute. Spoon sauce with spinach alongside fish.


 

Broccoli Cole Slaw

 I first had this a few years ago at my friend Katie's baby shower. Her sister made it and I loved it! Was very surprised to learn that it is made with Ramen noodles! The taster didn't like it but I sure did. I halved the below recipe. It would be good to make for a party.

Ingredients

• 2 bags (3-ounce) Ramen Noodle Soup in Oriental (other flavors will work, too)
• 3/4 stick butter
• 1/4 cup slivered almonds
• 2 bags (12-ounce) bags broccoli cole slaw (in the bagged salad section of the grocery store)
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
• Chopped green onions, for garnish

Dressing Mix:

• 3/4 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup brown or white sugar
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 ramen noodle seasoning packet

Directions

Put the ramen noodles in a bag and crush them with a rolling pin while melting butter in a large skillet over low/medium heat. Add the crushed noodles and slivered almonds to the skillet and saute, stirring occasionally (keep temperature at low/medium heat). Meanwhile, whisk together all the dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Place the shredded broccoli into bowl and toss with the noodles, almonds, and sunflower seeds. Pour dressing over salad and toss to coat. Garnish with chopped green onions.

Grilled Chicken and Mango Salad

In coming up with this delightful treat, I had a perfectly ripe mango and leftover grilled chicken in the fridge.  Plus, it was a blistering 90+º outside.  I reached for the cookbooks and searched the indexes. I knew Chris Schlesinger was the guy to go to.

This is a perfect summer salad and is quick to assemble if you do the preparations ahead of time.
I think it could even be great to bring on a picnic or serve a large group for lunch.
It is very flavorful and healthy.
For vegetarian friends just leave out the chicken and/or let people assemble the salad themselves.
The taster was not really into it but that's o.k., it's the tasting effort that counts.
My friend Helen said, "It's the best salad I've had in five years!" 
I will definitely be making it again and I am happy to share a new good recipe.
Adapted from Chris Schlesinger and John Willoughby's book, License to Grill.  

Grilled Chicken and Mango Salad
serves 4 (easily can prepare a half recipe)

2 grilled boneless, skinless chicken breasts (seasoned to taste, salt & pepper is fine)
  As soon as they are cool enough, cut into bite-size pieces and place in a large bowl
Add:
2 ripe mangoes, peeled, pitted and diced medium
1 cup seedless green or red grapes, halved
1 small red onion (or less/to taste), peeled and diced small/medium
1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and diced medium
1/4 cup rough chopped cilantro (or parsley)
2 Tb roughly chopped fresh basil
and set aside.


Make the dressing: In a small bowl whisk together
6 Tb fresh orange juice (1 small orange)
1/4 cup lime juice (2 limes)
1 Tb fish sauce (optional- I need to buy some, next time I'll try it)
2 Tb minced fresh chili pepper of your choice (again, optional)
1 Tb minced ginger (I used pickled ginger which is handy to keep in the fridge)
salt & pepper to taste

Add just enough dressing to the mango mixture to moisten, toss well and serve atop arugula or other desired greens (the original recipe doesn't include greens but I think the arugula is great). 
Sprinkle with chopped unsalted peanuts that have been toasted in a 350º oven until golden brown, about 10 minutes.  Peanuts can be roasted ahead of time.
I excluded the chili pepper but the peanuts I used were spicy cajun nuts.

Interesting mango facts:
In India, over 350 varieties are cultivated.
Mangoes are known throughout tropical Asia as the King of Fruits due to their sweetness and richness in phytochemicals and nutrients.
Do not refrigerate your mango.  Like bananas, typically when purchased they are underripe.
The best indicator of ripeness is aroma of a rich flowery perfume and a little give when you feel them.

Mini Quiches

I searched many recipes and including the quiche dough (yes you can be lazy and buy store-made pie dough).  I ended up buying mini Athens phyllo shells and buying a mini muffin pan and making special dough since I wanted to find out which is better.

Quiche is a custard poured into a shell (typically, pie) and baked carefully so the proteins don't toughen.  A delicate (and undeniably fatty) flavor burst.  Perfect for a brunch or cocktail party/any time people need sustenance. Does a kindergarten potluck count? It was my experimental ground and they went fast!  The verdict is out whether to make the quiche dough (recipe below) or use the mini phyllo shells.  The phyllo is crispier which adds a nice contrast while the dough just adds extra calories.  Umm, you cannot be counting calories if you are eating these ;D   

What I learned is that quiche can be purely simple (you add flavor to the egg and cream base- perhaps simply goat cheese and chives) or most elaborate like Emeril's Mediterranean Quiche (love that recipe!)

I was recently re-introduced and treated to the simple (perfect for h'oerdourves) mini quiches at my best male buddy, David Vaughn's wedding.  From what I could tell, the crust was perfect and the custard simply eggs and cream and topped with snipped chives. I love that you can make these ahead and even serve at room temperature.  If reheating do it carefully at 300º.    

Sun-dried Tomato & Goat Cheese Mini Quiches

Ingredients:

2 packages mini phyllo shells
2 eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes
1 log of goat cheese (herbed is nice), frozen and shredded on a grater (then refrozen for ease in handling)
1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh green onions (or chives or parsley or whatever looks good)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Place the phyllo shells on a baking sheet. Set aside.
In a small bowl, mix the eggs, heavy cream, sun-dried tomatoes and goat cheese until combined. Fill the phyllo shells with the egg mixture. Top with herb garnish. Bake for 9 minutes, or until egg is set.

Quiche Dough

Ingredients:

1/2 cups butter, softened
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small mixing bowl blend butter and cream cheese until smooth; slowly add flour; form into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and chill 2 hours.









Divide the dough into 3 parts (or 4), roll out the dough using flour to prevent sticking.* 
Using a cup slightly larger in diameter than your mini cupcake pan, cut out 24 rounds. 
Gently press into cupcake pan, trying to crimp the edges evenly.
Once filled, bake for 30 minutes or until set and serve.

* When I made this I cut the dough into 24 hunks and rolled the rounds one by one.  This is not the fast or consistent way to do it! 

Dashi

 I've been suffering the past couple days from a very irritated digestive system and my only comfort is in liquids.  I finally made some dashi and it is simple and easy!  The perfect base to miso soup. 

I found the konbu and bonito flakes at Whole Foods.  I am sure you can find miso there as well.  I prefer white miso over red.    

For a simple quick soup add a heaping spoonful of white miso to the dashi.  Use another spoon to help dissolve it.  Yum! 

Ingredients

• 1 piece konbu (approximately 5 by 6 inches)
• 1 cup bonito flakes
• 5 cups cold water

In a medium pot, place konbu into cold water. Set pot over medium heat. Just before the water begins to boil pull off heat and let stand 5 minutes.
 Remove konbu, and bring back to heat.

Again, right before stock begins to boil, remove from heat and add the bonito flakes. When flakes sink to the bottom, strain through cheesecloth or a fine mesh strainer.

Dashi keeps in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks (but it's so good it won't last that long, mine was gone in one day/3 bowls of soup!)