Pork Scaloppine with Lemon, Capers, and Arugula with Zucchini Pancakes

I’ve always loved to read cookbooks; I certainly grew up around plenty of them, along with every issue of Gourmet since the late 60s. We have three shelves in our own kitchen that are filled with cookbooks and another bookshelf in the living room that’s reserved for food magazines (because apparently it’s in my genes; I can’t throw them away). The cookbooks’ colorful bindings caught Levi’s eye at a young age. In fact, he invented a game with his grandma called “count the cookbooks” – we stand in front of the shelves and he makes his counting sound, which sounds like “one-two-one-two” repeated over and over, while pointing to as many as he can.

I’ve been drooling over this particular one for a while now; I bought it as a gift for my mom several years ago and just recently acquired it last Christmas, thanks to my aunt and uncle – Heart of the Artichoke by David Tanis. For more than 25 years, he was the chef at Alice Waters’ restaurant, Chez Panisse in Berkeley (retired in October), which I’ve mentioned before is one of my absolute favorite restaurants. The set menu in the fancy downstairs restaurant changes nightly and revolves around whatever fresh, seasonal ingredients are available on that particular day, and the café  upstairs offers seasonally inspired pastas, pizzas and more in a slightly more casual, kid-friendly environment. Heart of the Artichoke features several menus for each season, prefaced with a section called “Kitchen Rituals” where he shares 14 “cooking moments” – either small cooking projects for 1 or 2 people, or simply a food experience/memory, such as eating oatmeal for breakfast as a child.

This meal in the “Spring Menus” section was beckoning to me back in March, but I was jumping the gun a bit with my seasons and zucchini had not yet appeared at the store. Now that it’s June, it’s plentiful, and I’m glad that I saw the bookmark in my cookbook, reminding me to make pork scaloppine with zucchini pancakes! It’s a wonderful feeling when you sit down to dinner, take that first bite, and exclaim “hey, I’d pay for this.” That was the case for this meal, so naturally, I’m recommending this cookbook for those who strive to eat simply and by the seasons!

The thin slices of pork for the scaloppine come from the lean end of a boneless pork loin (ask your butcher to do this and hopefully yours will happily comply as ours did). They cook nice and quickly and remain tender. The sauce takes under 60 seconds to make but is full of bright flavors (in fact, if you decide to halve this recipe for a family of 2-3, I’d recommend making the full amount of sauce; it won’t go to waste). You simply heat olive oil in a skillet, add garlic, capers, lemon zest, and parsley and let it sizzle for just under a minute. You pour this awesome concoction on top of your slices of pork and top with verdant, peppery arugula and lemon wedges. You can see why taking that first bite made me happy. And I haven’t even gotten to the zucchini pancakes yet!

Grated zucchini and finely chopped green onion bound with egg and a little flour are fried in olive oil and scream “beginning of summer!” While they make a great accompaniment to the pork scaloppine, I plan on making them on their own as an appetizer sometime in the near future; Maybe topped with some minted yogurt or a dollop of fresh ricotta cheese. I made the zucchini pancakes first and kept them warm in a low oven while we cooked the pork (because we only have so many skillets), but they would be best eaten hot out of the pan!

Pork Scaloppine with Lemon, Capers, and Arugula

(From Heart of the Artichoke by David Tanis – Serves 4-6)

12 thin (about 3/8-inch-thick) slices pork loin
Salt & Pepper
1/2 cup olive oil (give or take)
2 TBS. roughly chopped parsley
2 tsp. grated lemon zest
1 TBS. capers, rinsed and roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 lb. arugula, chopped (we bought baby arugula and left the leaves whole)
Lemon wedges

• Season both sides of the pork slices with salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil. Heat 2 cast iron skillets over medium-high heat. When the pans are hot, lay 6 slices of pork in each pan and cook for about 2 minutes, or until nicely browned. Turn and cook for another 2 minutes on the other side. Remove the scaloppine from the pans and transfer to a warm serving platter.

• In one of the pans, heat 2 TBS. of olive oil over medium heat. Add the parsley, lemon zest, capers, and garlic and let sizzle for a bare minute. Turn off the heat. Spoon the sauce over the scaloppine and top each slice of pork with a handful of arugula. Garnish with lemon wedges and serve immediately.

Zucchini Pancakes

(Also from Heart of the Artichoke by David Tanis – Serves 4-6)

8 to 10 small zucchini, about 3 lbs.
2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 bunch scallions, finely chopped
3 TBS. all-purpose flour
1/2 cup finely grated Parmigiano (optional – we decided to omit this as we wanted a pure zucchini flavor, but Tanis says that adding the cheese reminds him of eating a zucchini frittata, which sounds delicious)
Olive oil for frying

• Grate the zucchini using the medium holes of a box grater. Toss the grated zucchini with the salt and let drain in a colander for about 20 min. Squeeze very dry, using a clean kitchen towel.

• In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs with the pepper and scallions. Add the flour, then add the grated zucchini and the cheese (if using). Mix thoroughly.

• Pour olive oil into a cast iron skillet to a depth of 1/4 inch and heat over medium heat. Carefully place spoonfuls of the zucchini mixture into the pan and flatten into discs with a 2-inch diameter. Make a few at a time, so as not to overcrowd the pan. Turn them once, letting them cook for about 3-4 min. on each side or until golden. Keep the heat at moderate so they don’t brown too quickly. Serve immediately or transfer to a warm oven until the entire batch is cooked. Serve with the Pork Scaloppine.

That beer in the background? It was a German Hopf Helle Weisse – a type of Hefeweizen. It paired wonderfully with this meal.

Sake-Steamed Clams with Sriracha Compound Butter

Seafood and I have come a long way. As a child and into my teenage years, I generally avoided it (except for the occasional tempura shrimp or in “fish and chip” form). Then when I was in college, I had several seafood dishes that expanded my horizons and changed my attitude towards things of the sea. One of them was the Garlic Baked Clams at Brophy Bros. Restaurant & Clam Bar, out on the Santa Barbara wharf.  Over glasses of white wine, my friend Lauren and I enjoyed this irresistible appetizer with a basket of sourdough bread one evening towards the end of our college careers. It was official – I was a clam convert.

So, last weekend on a blustery, rainy evening, the girl who used to avoid seafood was craving a big pot of steamed clams, with some crusty bread, and two of our best friends. There were a lot of clams, 7 lbs in fact, but we made short work of them. They were steamed in sake, topped with a Sriracha compound butter, a dash of togarashi (a Japanese spice blend of cayenne, orange peel, sesame seeds, and seaweed), and a scattering of scallions. We soaked up the flavorful broth, now enriched by the melted Sriracha butter, with a Gayle’s Capitola Sourdough baguette. It was a heavenly meal.

The original recipe calls for plain, unsalted butter that you put on top of the hot clams, but the idea of a Sriracha butter entered my brain (these are the friends with whom we do our “Sriracha Dinners” – if you remember such meals as the Ultimate Sriracha Burger, Camarones a la Diabla, or Miso-Sriracha Glazed Salmon with Spicy Slaw). It seemed right to continue the tradition, and we thought the Sriracha compound butter (recipe from The Sriracha Cookbook) added a little extra zip to the clams and a depth of flavor once it melted and incorporated into the broth. It was also pretty amazing spread on the sourdough bread 🙂

The recipe below serves 4 as a main dish.

(Slightly adapted from Food & Wine; recipe contributed by Nobuo Fukuda)

4 TBS. butter (1/2 a stick), at room temperature*
1 TBS. Sriracha
1 small garlic clove, minced
Salt
7 lbs. Manila clams, scrubbed
3 1/2 cups Sake (roughly 1-750 ml bottle)**
3 1/2 cups water
2 scallions, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced
a couple pinches of togarashi

* If you find yourself with leftover Sriracha compound butter, try using it to cook your fried eggs in the morning (yum), spread it on a bagel, top grilled steak or fish, or melt and drizzle onto popcorn. You really can’t go wrong.

** Chef Fukuda suggests using a cooking sake, or ryori, such as Shochikubai brand. We used a Gekkeikan sake from Trader Joe’s – just make sure whatever you choose is a dry sake.

• Fill a medium bowl with cold water and add 1 tablespoon of salt. Add the clams and let stand for 1 hour. Drain the clams and rinse them well.

• Meanwhile, make the Sriracha compound butter: Using a wooden spoon, mix the butter with the Sriracha and garlic until evenly incorporated. Scrape the butter out onto a large sheet of plastic wrap. Using the plastic wrap as a barrier between your hands and the butter, form the butter into a log shape, about 1 inch in diameter. Roll the butter up tightly, adjusting and maintaining the log form. Refrigerate for at least an hour to allow the butter to set up and the flavors to meld.

• In a large, deep pot, combine the sake with the water and bring to a boil. Add the clams, cover the skillet tightly and cook, shaking the pan occasionally, until most of the clams have opened, about 4 minutes (ours took about twice as long to open, but maybe that’s because we were cooking 7 lbs instead of 2 lbs!)

• Spoon the clams and broth into 4 bowls. Top  each bowl of clams with a slice of the Sriracha compound butter, garnish with the scallions and togarashi and serve immediately, along with sourdough bread to soak up the broth.

Taqueria Pickles

When I go to our favorite taqueria in town, I look forward to raiding the salsa bar after we pick up our al pastor tacos or carnitas burritos. Although I love the mild green tomatillo salsa, the smokey chipotle salsa, and the brightly colored salsa fresca, I go straight to the escabeche – pickled jalapenos with carrots and onion. They are so hot that one little bite of carrot needs to be chased with a big gulp of horchata, but they are so, so good. So good in fact that we decided to share the love this year by making our own version of “taqueria pickles” to give to our close family and friends for Christmas.

We turned to Alice Waters’ book The Art of Simple Food for guidance. It’s one of my mom’s favorite cookbooks and one that I often borrow because I love the simplicity of her recipes and how they highlight seasonal produce. While dining at Alice Waters’ restaurant Chez Panisse a couple years ago, I ordered a fall fruit bowl for dessert. The waitress presented me with a wooden bowl containing several sweet dates and a couple small seedless tangerines. This humble-looking dish was the perfect way to end a meal and paid tribute to the season. If you haven’t heard of her, Alice (let’s pretend the two of us are on a first name basis) is the pioneer of the “slow food movement,” which celebrates local, sustainable, fresh, and seasonal produce of the best quality. If you can’t make it out to Berkeley, California to eat at her restaurant, you should at least treat yourself to one of her cookbooks. It’s because of her that we pay attention to the little signs at our grocery store that tell us where our produce comes from.

We used Alice’s method for fresh-pickled vegetables, but added a generous amount of sliced jalapeños, as well as whole cumin seeds and coriander seeds to make them more “taqueria-style”. We also decided to can them so they’d last longer. Our taqueria doesn’t add cauliflower to theirs, but we thought it would be delicious – it was! (And since it’s in season, Alice would approve).

I also want to dedicate this post to Dustin’s grandma, who taught us the canning process. We love you and want you to know we’ll continue the annual canning tradition of making your bread & butter pickles, chile sauce, and strawberry jam! ❤

“Taqueria Pickles” (Spicy Pickled Jalapeños & Carrots)

(Adapted from Alice Waters’ recipe in her book The Art of Simple Food and the blog Simply Recipes)

jalapeños, thickly sliced
carrots, thickly sliced
red onion, sliced
cauliflower, cut into florets

apple cider vinegar
distilled white vinegar
sugar
bay leaf
coriander seeds
cumin seeds
dried oregano
garlic cloves (un-peeled)
garlic cloves, peeled and halved
salt

• Wash, trim, and cut your vegetables.

• For about 3 1/2 cups pickling brine*, combine 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar, 1 cup distilled white vinegar, 1 3/4 cup water, 2 1/2 TBS. sugar, 1/2 a bay leaf, 1/2 tsp. coriander seeds, 1/2 tsp. cumin seeds, pinch of dried oregano, 2 whole garlic cloves, 2 peeled and halved garlic cloves, and a pinch of salt.

• Bring brine to a boil, then add the vegetables in the order of their cooking time, beginning with the vegetable which will take the longest. Add the carrots first and cook them until they are cooked through but  still a little bit crisp (simply scoop one out to test – about 20 minutes). When you think the carrots have about 10 minutes left to cook, add the jalapeños. Add the sliced onion and the cauliflower florets when you think the carrots are almost done – they will take only a few minutes.

• If you want to can the pickles – transfer the hot vegetables into mason jars, and fill the tops of the jars with brine. Screw the lids on the jars and process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes. Remove from water and let them sit on the counter until you hear them “pop!” Then you’ll know they’re canned! Once opened, they’ll keep for a couple months in the refrigerator.

• For refrigerator pickles, allow the vegetables to cool completely after being removed from the brine. Once the vegetables are cool and the pickling brine has cooled to room temperature, divide the vegetables between mason jars (or to another container) and cover with brine. Refrigerated, they will keep for a week. Enjoy with your favorite Mexican dishes.

* When we made our pickling brine, we didn’t measure any of the ingredients, but we kept in mind the ratios from the original recipe. Alice calls for 1 1/2 cups white wine vinegar (which, she says, you can easily sub with red wine vinegar) but we used apple cider vinegar and distilled white vinegar after reading other recipes for pickled jalapeños. We also didn’t use quite as much water as the recipe calls for. When it comes down to it, feel free to tweak things here and there. Taste the brine before you add the vegetables and add more sugar or vinegar or whatever you think it needs. Have fun with your food, and enjoy pickling the bounty of the season.

Butternut Squash Tart with Caramelized Onion, Rosemary & Coppa

Take-out was a temping last minute dinner option, but instead I found myself searching the freezer for something that I could turn into a suitable meal. We had planned to eat dinner at my parents’ house, but a wind storm ripped through Santa Cruz that day/evening, knocking out power to many, and even bringing trees down on top of houses. Luckily, the latter did not happen to my parents’ house, but no power and a tree blocking their road meant a definite plan B.

Back to the freezer search. The first thing that caught my eye was puff pastry, an impulse purchase I had made last week. How fortuitous! I decided I wanted to make some sort of puff pastry tart or “pizza.” Now, what to top it with … ah! Half a butternut squash, peeled and cubed that I froze last week. This would do. I added some fresh rosemary from the garden, caramelized our last onion, and cut up some coppa (one of our favorite charcuterie offerings from El Salchichero) to add a little salty kick. This rustic puff pastry tart was a success. Feel free to adapt this for whatever needs to get used in your freezer on a stormy evening. It would also make a lovely appetizer when cut into squares.

Butternut Squash, Caramelized Onion & Rosemary Tart

(Adapted from A Cozy Kitchen)

1 yellow onion, sliced
Extra virgin olive oil
Butter
1 cup cubed butternut squash
Flour, for dusting work surface
1 sheet frozen puff pastry
1/4 cup coppa, diced (can also use salami, or cooked, crumbled bacon or pancetta)
Pecorino Romano cheese, grated (enough for sprinkling on top)
Mozzarella cheese, shredded (about 3 ounces)
Fresh rosemary, chopped
Salt and pepper

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

• In a medium skillet, heat olive oil and a little pad of butter over medium high heat. Once oil is hot, add sliced onions and pinch of salt. Cook until caramelized, about 25-30 minutes, stirring frequently. When onions are a beautiful light golden brown color, add a splash of balsamic vinegar. Stir to coat the onions, then remove from heat.

• While onions are caramelizing, place cubed butternut squash (if frozen, defrosted first) on a parchment lined baking sheet and roast for 15-20 minutes, or until tender with a fork, stirring halfway through. Turn oven heat down to 400 degrees.

• On a floured surface, roll the puff pastry into a rectangle (or square – whatever – it’s a rustic tart!) Carefully transfer puff pastry onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Using a sharp knife, lightly “score” the pastry dough, 1-inch in from the edges. Then using a fork, poke holes inside the markings. This will ensure that the outside trim puffs up and the middle stays flat. Bake for 15 minutes, or until slightly golden brown.

• Scatter mozzarella cheese and some the Pecorino Romano over the puff pastry. Next, top with the roasted butternut squash, caramelized onions, rosemary, and sliced coppa. Finish with a little more pecorino. Sprinkle with salt & pepper.

• Return to oven and bake for 15 minutes more, or until cheese is melted and edges are golden brown. Slice and serve.

Portobello Mushrooms with Creamy Spinach-Artichoke Filling

This Thanksgiving we survived an 8 hour car ride with a toddler down to San Diego, where Levi had his first zoo experience. He was excited about every animal he encountered but was especially enamored by the elephants. Once Levi was tuckered out, we headed back to my mother-in-law’s house, where we watched plenty of football, drank plenty of San Diego micro-brews, and had quite a feast: a turkey breast roulade stuffed with brandied fig & cranberry stuffing, gravy, sweet potato gratin, and sautéed brussels sprouts with pancetta, shallot, mushrooms, and balsamic (which actually converted one member of the family who was a self-professed brussels sprouts hater. I was so proud). For dessert we indulged in a vanilla bean cake with salted caramel frosting. It was a wonderful evening and we went to bed feeling thankful for family and the way in which good food and drink bring us together.

As we’re entering the Christmas season and there’s a definite chill in the air, I’ve been allowing the oven to do most of the cooking in the evening, which frees us to relax and focus on the things that are important, like playing with our ever-changing, ever-moving 19 month old.

Spinach-artichoke dip is one of my favorite appetizers to bring to parties, so I associate it with festive gatherings. We were pleased to bring that spirit of festivity into a weeknight dinner. Portobello mushroom caps are filled with a spinach-artichoke filling and then topped with seasoned panko breadcrumbs. The end result is nothing short of comforting – the perfect hybrid of stuffed mushrooms and spinach-artichoke dip. For a side dish, I roasted some cubed butternut squash with olive oil, thyme, and sage. Even Levi could not resist their caramelized edges. A salad of mixed greens with apple & pomegranate seeds completed the meal.

We wish you many comforting meals during this season of Advent (break out the good wine!) with the people you love, enjoying every last bite.

(From the Dec 11/Jan 12 issue of Fine Cooking)

3 TBS. olive oil 
3 medium cloves garlic, minced (1 TBS.) 
4 medium portabello mushrooms, stemmed, gills removed*
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
3 TBS. mayonnaise  
1-1/2 tsp. fresh thyme
9 to 10 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry**
9 oz. frozen artichokes, thawed, lightly squeezed dry, and chopped*** 
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/3 cup finely grated Romano cheese

* Fine Cooking recommended using a butter knife – it worked great!
** I used fresh baby spinach, sautéed, squeezed, and roughly chopped
*** I used marinated artichokes for more flavor, drained and roughly chopped

• Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 450°F.

• In a small bowl, combine 2 TBS. of the oil and about two-thirds of the minced garlic. Brush the insides of the mushroom caps with the garlic oil and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Arrange the mushrooms oiled side up on a rimmed baking sheet and roast until just tender, about 10 minutes.

• Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, mix the cream cheese, mayonnaise, and 1/2 tsp. of the thyme with the back of a wooden spoon. Stir in the spinach and artichokes and season to taste with salt and pepper. In another medium bowl, combine the remaining garlic, 1 TBS. oil, and 1 tsp.  thyme with the breadcrumbs and cheese.

• Spoon the artichoke mixture evenly into the mushroom caps and sprinkle with the breadcrumb mixture. Bake until the crumbs are golden-brown and the filling is hot, about 10 minutes. Serve immediately.

Buffalo Chicken Rolls

I love the foods that are associated with football, but I’m not a huge football watcher. I do, however, remember hanging out in the living room with my uncle and grandpa the weekend before Thanksgiving, while they watched “the big game” – Cal versus Standford. I learned how to shout “Go Bears!” with much enthusiasm. I probably learned how to shout some other phrases too that weren’t quite as wholesome. Since those days, I find the background noise of a football game on TV oddly comforting, even though I don’t really have a desire to sit down and watch a game from start to finish.

When I found out that the theme of this Recipe Swap was Tailgating/Appetizers, I still wanted to participate, despite my lack of tailgating experience. I happen to know that delicious foods are present while watching football, things involving melted cheese, fried goodies, and perhaps buffalo sauce. Yes, please. Not every day, but it’s fun to indulge once in a while, whether or not you’re watching football. Grilled Sriracha “Poppers” were our contribution to the swap; Buffalo Chicken Rolls were assigned to me.

These rolls are everything you love about buffalo wings, wrapped up neatly in an egg roll wrapper and baked until crispy and golden. When you bite into them, you get a combination of spicy buffalo chicken and cooling blue cheese crumbles. We agreed that the shredded cabbage and carrots were overpowered by the strong flavors of the buffalo chicken and blue cheese and didn’t add much, but I definitely understand wanting to add something fresh to the rolls. If we made these again, we’d probably just serve the traditional celery and carrots and blue cheese dip next to the buffalo chicken rolls, or maybe a slaw.

Also, while we appreciated the ease (and possible health benefits) of baking instead of frying, we think these would have been even better if they had been pan-fried in oil or deep-fried so that all surfaces of the egg roll wrappers could have gotten crispy; We found some of the edges to be a little undercooked when they came out of the oven. But putting these minor things aside, this is a fun appetizer with bold flavors that are sure to please the crowds, whether you’re tailgating, entertaining your friends, or just looking for something fun for dinner.

(Slightly adapted from Taste and See; originally from Can you Stay for Dinner?)

5 TBS. butter
3/4 cup Crystal Hot Sauce (or your preferred hot sauce)
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
2 cups chicken, shredded (we bought a rotisserie chicken and shredded it ourselves)
1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled blue cheese
1/2 a head of Napa cabbage, shredded, tossed with 1/2 of a medium carrot, grated*
12-15 egg roll wrappers
Small bowl of water
Vegetable or Canola oil
Blue cheese dressing or Ranch dressing for dipping

*The original recipe calls for a bag of cole slaw mix, something we’ve never bought (and come to think of it, have never noticed at our natural foods store), so we decided to buy fresh cabbage and shred it ourselves instead. I added some grated carrot too.

• Melt the butter in a medium sauce pan over low heat, stirring until completely melted. Add the hot sauce and the garlic powder. Stir to incorporate. Add the sauce to the shredded chicken. If you want less heat, use less sauce, but we pretty much used it all! Mix until the chicken is moistened with the sauce.

• Preheat oven to 400-degrees F. Lay egg roll wrappers on a clean work surface. Begin by placing one tablespoon of the shredded cabbage/carrot mixture on the diagonal of the bottom right corner of one of the wrappers. Next, place 2 tablespoons of shredded buffalo chicken evenly on top of the slaw. Sprinkle some blue cheese crumbles over the chicken. Do not overfill.

• To fold: Fold the bottom right corner over the stuffing mixture so that it covers it completely, with the tip of the corner now pointing to the center of the egg roll wrapper. Fold in the bottom left corner, followed by the right, so that you now have formed an envelope. Roll the wrap upward one time, leaving the top left corner open. Wet your index finger in the small bowl of water and press to moisten the top left corner. Now fold that down on top of the filled roll, sealing it like you would an envelope.

(Unfortunately, I didn’t take a picture of the assembly process – if you’re a visual person like me and need some great photos to see how to do this, check out the original recipe here).

• Repeat with remaining rolls.

• Place the rolls on a greased wire rack set on top of a cookie sheet. Brush the rolls lightly with oil or spritz with cooking spray. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until rolls are golden brown, flipping the rolls halfway through. Allow to cool for several minutes before serving with blue cheese or ranch for dipping.

Gyoza

Thank goodness for gyoza. It sustained us for a couple evenings during that first week in Japan when we were still jet-lagged, everything felt so foreign, and we hadn’t yet learned how to navigate our supermarket across the street. When we got up the courage to walk in, we were bombarded with bright florescent lights, foreign sounds, and (hallelujah) the prepared foods section, where we were immediately drawn to something familiar – plastic packages containing 6 perfectly browned gyoza, with a packet of dipping sauce on the side. We threw several packages into our basket, fumbled our way through the check-out line, and made it home. We heated them up in a pan (the one pan that was in our furnished apartment), poured the prepared dipping sauce packet into a small bowl, and made our first batch of rice in our rice cooker. It was one of our first dinners in our little Japanese apartment, and to this day we still talk about how delicious and comforting that supermarket’s gyoza was. It was also a good opportunity to practice our chopstick skills before going out in public :).

Toward the end of our two and a half years in Japan (and after buying countless packages of that prepared gyoza), we finally learned how to make it from one of our dear friends and colleagues, a woman named Chihiro. We sat around a table one spring afternoon, spooning a ground pork and cabbage mixture into gyoza wrappers and pinching the ends together. Even though we didn’t have much proficiency in each other’s languages, we still managed to share plenty of stories and laughs. It’s amazing how food crosses language and cultural barriers and brings people together. We hope that you’ll try this recipe and enjoy assembling the gyoza with the people you care about as well.

Sadly, in the move from Japan back to California, the recipe that Chihiro shared with us got lost in the shuffle. To make this gyoza, I looked at several recipes to try to find something similar. We ended up using Morimoto’s recipe, but added several things to the filling, including minced garlic, fresh ginger, a splash of soy sauce and sake, and sesame oil.

(Adapted from Morimoto: The New Art of Japanese Cooking)

For the Gyoza:

3 cups finely shredded Napa cabbage
2 green onions, chopped
1 TBS. coarse salt
1 lb. ground pork, preferably something on the fatty side like shoulder
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 garlic clove, minced
1 TBS. soy sauce
1 TBS. sake
1 TBS. sesame oil
1 package gyoza wrappers (10-12 oz.)
1/4 cup vegetable oil

For the Dipping Sauce:

soy sauce
seasoned rice vinegar (if unseasoned, add salt & sugar to taste)
sesame oil
agave nectar
Japanese chili pepper blend (Nanami Togarashi)
water to dilute

• Toss the cabbage with the chopped green onions and the salt in a medium bowl. Let stand for 10 minutes or until cabbage is very wilted. Rinse and drain in a colander. Squeeze the cabbage and green onions, a handful at a time, to extract as much liquid as possible.

• Place the cabbage and green onions in a mixing bowl. Add the ground pork, pepper, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sake, and sesame oil. Add a tiny pinch of salt, but not too much because the cabbage has already been salted. Mix everything together gently, but thoroughly.

• Fill a small bowl with water. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and dust it with cornstarch. Place 1-2 teaspoons of the pork and cabbage filling into the center of a gyoza wrapper. Dip your finger into the water and moisten the edges of the wrapper. Bring one edge of the wrapper up over the filling to meet the other edge. Press the edges together firmly. Place the gyoza on the parchment pepper, plumping the bottom of the gyoza so that it stands with the pinched-together part facing up. Repeat with remaining filling and wrappers. Cover and refrigerate until ready to cook (can be made up to 4 hours ahead).

• Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Heat 2 TBS. of the oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until the oil is very hot but not sizzling. Place half the gyoza in the skillet, pinched part up, letting the gyoza touch each other (traditionally, they are served attached to each other, but it’s fine if they don’t!) Let cook for several minutes. Add 2/3 cup of water to the skillet and cover tightly. Cook for 5 minutes, adding more water if it evaporates before the 5 minutes is up. Cook until water is evaporated and the gyoza are nicely browned on the bottoms, about 7 minutes total. Invert the gyoza onto a platter and place in the oven to keep warm. Repeat with remaining 2 TBS. of oil and gyoza. Depending on the size of your skillet, you might need to do a third batch, adding a little extra oil.

• To make the dipping sauce, combine equal parts soy sauce and rice vinegar in a small bowl. Add a little splash of sesame oil, a sprinkle of Japanese  chili pepper blend, and a little agave nectar for sweetness. Stir together. Add water to dilute the sauce slightly. Taste and adjust amount of water or ingredients until it tastes right to you. It should be a nice balance of salty, sweet, and sour, with a little spice.

• Serve the gyoza with a bowl of steamed rice and the dipping sauce on the side. Add a salad with sesame dressing and you have a comforting Japanese dinner!

Grilled Sriracha “Poppers”

Remember when I confessed how much I love onion rings? Well there’s one appetizer that I’m even less likely to turn down if I see it on a menu – Jalapeño Poppers. Just like the rings, I wanted to make a version at home that was a little healthier and wasn’t deep-fried. I’d been eyeing a Jalapeño Popper recipe in The Sriracha Cookbook that uses a mixture of cream cheese, Sriracha (naturally), grated Monterey Jack cheese, and cumin for the filling. It sounded so much more exciting than the usual cream cheese, so we decided to use the kicked-up filling, but throw them on the grill instead of breading and frying.

After a couple minutes over direct heat, and a few minutes more on indirect heat, the jalapeños were perfectly charred on the bottoms and the zesty, cheesy filling was happily bubbling. We loved them and didn’t even miss the fried coating. Even Levi ate these poppers voraciously! Apparently at almost 16 months, his heat tolerance level is getting higher. Good boy! If you have leftover filling, it’s awesome on a toasted bagel for breakfast.

(Adapted from The Sriracha Cookbook; Serves 4-6 as an appetizer/snack)

12 medium to large-sized jalapeños
7 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
2 TBS. Sriracha
1/2 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese
1 tsp. cumin
Kosher salt & freshly ground pepper
Olive oil for the grill

• Prepare a charcoal grill.

• Wash the jalapeños and pat dry. Cut off the stems and cut in half lengthwise. Use a spoon to gently scrape out the seeds and membranes. Arrange jalapeño halves on a large platter.

• In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese, Sriracha, Monterey jack cheese, and cumin and mix well. Season with salt & pepper to taste.

• Fill each jalapeño half with the cream cheese filling.

• When the coals are ready, oil the grill grates. Using tongs, carefully place the Jalapeño Poppers in the center of the grill. Cook for a few minutes, or until the bottoms of the jalapeños just begin to char. Move the poppers to the edge of the grill so that they can continue to cook over more indirect heat for about 5 minutes more. When the jalapeños are soft, the cream cheese filling is bubbling, and the tops are turning golden, they are ready!

• Transfer to a serving platter. Try not to burn your mouth because they’ll look so good, you’ll want to pop one in your mouth right away.

More Poppers, Please!

Grilled Halloumi with Rosemary-Grape-Walnut Relish & Garlic Bread

Here we are in the heart of grilling season. There are a lot of enticing recipes out there – most of which revolve around meat – but I’m going to share something a little different, and if you’re a cheese-lover like me, you are sure to get excited about this one. It’s a cheese plate on the grill! A grilling cheese like halloumi or yanni can withstand the heat of the grill without melting. It softens nicely on the inside, and appealing golden grill marks form on its exterior. The creamy, slightly salty taste is a brilliant match for the sweet rosemary-grape-walnut relish and the the rustic, grilled garlic bread. The relish gets a delicious sweet, smoky flavor from cooking the bunch of grapes directly on the grill (I bet you’ve never grilled grapes before!) The garlic bread adds a nice savory counterpoint. Try this as an appetizer at your next BBQ, or as a dinner in itself (as we did) served with a salad dressed with a balsamic vinaigrette. Dining al fresco makes it taste even better.

(From the June/July 2011 issue of Fine Cooking)

1 medium red onion, cut into 3 to 4 thick slices
2 Tbs. plus 4 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
12 oz. halloumi cheese, cut into 3/8-inch-thick slabs (we used Yanni, a Mediterranean grilling cheese)
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 small loaf of ciabatta (about 8 oz.),cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
1/2 cup walnuts
1 tsp. minced fresh rosemary
1 large bunch seedless black or red grapes (about 1-1/4 lb.)
2 to 3 tsp. balsamic vinegar

• Prepare a charcoal or (high) gas grill.

• Drizzle the onion slices with 2 tsp. of the oil and lightly season them with salt and pepper.

• Pat the cheese dry and drizzle with 2 tsp. of the oil.

• In a small bowl, mix the remaining 2 Tbs. of oil, the garlic, and a pinch each of salt and pepper; brush the mixture evenly over one side of the bread slices.

• Meanwhile, toast the walnuts in a small skillet over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until golden-brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Coarsely chop the walnuts while still hot and transfer them to a medium bowl. Mix in the rosemary.

• Place the onion slices and the bunch of grapes on the grill. Cover and grill, turning once, until the grapes are bursting and the onions are grill marked, about 10 minutes. Transfer the grapes to the bowl with the walnuts, and the onions to a cutting board.

• Use tongs to pull the grapes from their stems as well as crush them one by one before dropping them into the bowl with the walnuts & rosemary. Chop the grilled onions and add them to the bowl. Season to taste with the vinegar, salt, and pepper. Set relish aside.

• Clean and oil the grill grate. Place the bread and cheese on the grate and grill uncovered, turning once, until there are nice grill marks on both sides, 4 to 5 minutes. Divide the bread, cheese, and relish among 4 plates (if enjoying as an appetizer) or 2 plates (as a main dish) and enjoy immediately. A lighter bodied red wine pairs wonderfully with this meal.

And yes, I’m aware of the sippy cup in the background of our pictures. “You know you’re food blogger-mom when …”

Oven-Fried Onion Rings

If you know me well, you know that I can’t turn down an order of onion rings. If there is an option to substitute onion rings for fries on a menu, I’m there. So imagine how pleased I was when I came across this recipe for a baked version of my favorite fried-food guilty pleasure. What made me want to try these was the breading. I was really intrigued by the combination of kettle chips and saltine crackers. The kettle chips give the onion rings that distinct deep-fried taste, and the saltines absorb some of the oil so that you get a nice crispy coating with just the right amount of salt. I was in heaven. In fact, I didn’t even feel the need to dip these rings into ketchup because they tasted so good on their own.

(From Pink Parsley; Originally from Cook’s Illustrated, Summer Entertaining 2010)

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 large egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. paprika
salt and black pepper
30 saltine crackers
4 cups kettle-cooked potato chips
2 large yellow onions
6 TBS. vegetable oil

• Adjust your oven racks to the lower-middle and upper-middle positions, and preheat oven to 450 degrees.

• Get out 3 shallow baking dishes. In the first one, spread 1/4 cup of the flour. In the second, whisk together the egg, buttermilk, remaining 1/4 cup flour, cayenne, paprika, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. pepper.

• Pulse the chips and the saltines in a food processor until finely ground. Spread the crumbs in the third baking dish.

• Slice the onions into 1/2-inch thick rounds.  Separate the rings. Set aside any rings smaller than 2 inches in diameter for another use.

• Pour 3 TBS. of oil onto each of 2 rimmed baking sheets (I lined them with foil first, for easier clean-up later).  Place the sheets in the oven and heat until just smoking, about 8 minutes.

• Meanwhile, prep the onion rings. Working with 1 at a time, dredge in the flour, shaking off excess. Dip the rings in the buttermilk mixture, allowing excess to drip back into the dish (I took Josie of Pink Parsley’s advice and used a fork for this step). Drop the rings in the crumb mixture and turn them to coat evenly. Transfer rings to a large platter or baking sheet.

• Carefully remove the baking sheets from the oven and tilt them to coat evenly with oil. Arrange the onions in a single layer on the baking sheets.  Bake, flipping the onion rings and switching and rotating the position of the baking sheets halfway through baking, until golden-brown on both sides, about 15 minutes.  Briefly drain the onion rings on paper towels before serving.

My love for onion rings has been exemplified in the fact that I’ve been focusing on them instead of the other things that were on the dinner table that evening. But that doesn’t mean that they were not worthy of mention. Quite the opposite! El Salchichero recently made these English pea sausages that we just had to try. They were delicious. We loved that the peas were left whole throughout the sausage. The addition of mint added a nice, bright flavor.

I also made an Asian-inspired slaw starring mei qing choi instead of the usual cabbage. Normally, we just halve mei qing choy and grill it (as we do with bok choy), but I wanted to do something a little different this time. I chopped it raw, added shavings of purple carrot, as well as slices of radish, chopped green garlic, and a little chopped fresh basil. I dressed it with rice vinegar, a tiny bit of sesame oil, a splash of soy sauce, and salt & pepper to taste.

It was nice having a colorful, flavorful, veggie-packed slaw to eat alongside the onion rings and grilled sausages. Even though the onion rings were baked, the slaw took away any remaining guilt 🙂

Feta Baked in Olive Oil with Marinara, Red Onions & Oregano and a Simple Chickpea Salad

It’s the end of a long day, and you want a simple meal that brings you back to a happy time and place; Something like softened feta cheese bathing in bubbling-hot olive oil, accompanied by crusty bread. When we first made this baked feta, we were re-creating an appetizer that we enjoyed in a dimly-lit taverna on the first night of our honeymoon in Santorini. You place a block of feta in a baking dish, pour olive oil over it, scatter some chopped onions, peppers, and tomatoes (when in season), season with salt, pepper, and oregano, and let it bake until the oil is bubbling and the cheese is softened. So simple. Then you spoon the hot cheese, olive oil, and vegetables over your slices of bread and try not to burn your mouth as all those simple ingredients come together in one delicious bite after another.

On this night we had some jarred marinara sauce to use up, so we decided to spoon it around the feta before baking. It ended up being a great addition, and a good substitution for the fresh tomatoes we used in the original version. We also added some fresh chopped oregano and red pepper flakes on the top, which added beautiful color and bright flavor.

I wanted something cool to accompany this hot appetizer and turn it into a more substantial meal, so I tossed together some canned chickpeas, baby spinach, sliced red onion, grated carrot, fresh oregano, and crumbled feta (to echo the flavors in the main dish), and then dressed it with a simple lemon vinaigrette. The baked feta and the salad were a great combination and a comforting dinner. Bring a little piece of the Greek Islands into your home with this dish and allow it to comfort you. What comforts you at the end of a long day?

Feta Baked in Olive Oil with Marinara, Red Onions & Oregano

(Serves 2)

1 block of feta
extra virgin olive oil
jarred marinara sauce
red onion, diced
fresh oregano, chopped
salt & freshly ground black pepper
red pepper flakes

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place the feta in a shallow baking dish. Pour olive oil on and around the feta so that it almost covers the feta, but leaves the top of it exposed. Add spoonfuls of marinara sauce around the feta, on top of the oil. Scatter the onion and fresh oregano on top. Season with a little salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Bake until the oil is bubbling and cheese is softened, about 20 minutes. Serve with sliced crusty bread.

Simple Chickpea Salad

1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 a red onion, thinly sliced
a couple handfuls of baby spinach
a couple handfuls of grated carrot
some crumbled feta
chopped fresh oregano
juice of 1 small lemon
olive oil
agave nectar
salt & freshly ground black pepper

• Combine the first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Add the lemon juice, a few good drizzles of olive oil, a drizzle of agave nectar (or honey) for sweetness, and salt & pepper to taste. Toss everything together. Taste, and adjust seasonings if necessary. Let sit for at least 10 minutes before serving. Better yet, make the salad as the feta is baking so the flavors can really meld.

Caramelized Onion Dip

Remember the onion dip seasoning packet that you ripped open and mixed with a container of sour cream? That creamy, savory dip was oh-so-dangerous, mostly because it made you eat an entire bag of Ruffles. But man, I have good memories from my childhood of doing just that (with the help of my family, of course). When I was thinking of what appetizer to serve at Levi’s 1st birthday party, I immediately thought of onion dip, but I wanted to make it from scratch. In this version, a base of sour cream and a little mayonnaise gets its onion-y flavor from caramelized onions. We served the dip with Salt & Pepper Kettle Chips and sugar snap peas. The dip calories don’t count if you eat it on a vegetable right? 🙂

(From Books ‘N Cooks, originally from Alton Brown)

2 TBS. olive oil
1 1/2 cups diced onions (mine were thinly sliced – didn’t really seem to matter)
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1 1/2 cups sour cream
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp. kosher salt

• Heat the oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the onions and salt and cook until caramelized, stirring often, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and allow onions to cool.

• In a bowl, mix together the sour cream, mayo, garlic powder, pepper, and salt. Add the cooled caramelized onions and mix to combine. Refrigerate until ready to serve*. Mix again before serving. Serve with Salt & Pepper Kettle Chips and sugar snap peas for dipping to your heart’s delight.

* Dip can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Makes 1 batch (at our party, it served 10 people as an appetizer).

Artichoke & Spinach {dip} Chicken

The countdown is on to Levi’s 1st Christmas! What’s still on your to-do list? Next week I hope to try out a couple new cookie recipes (from the special holiday baking issue of Fine Cooking), take Levi downtown for some last minute shopping, and maintain some amount of sanity.

By now you may have already attended several holiday parties, or even thrown some yourself. And if all the merriment of the season has left you with, let’s say, extra artichoke-spinach dip, we know just what you should do with it! Spoon into chicken breasts, top with a little Parmesan cheese, and bake. If you don’t have leftover dip, we promise it’s worth it to make the artichoke-spinach dip for this recipe. The chicken stays nice and moist with a creamy, cheesy, flavorful center! We served our chicken with some rice pilaf, and roasted broccoli tossed lightly in balsamic vinegar. And guess what? I reserved a few florets for Levi and put them through the food mill. He loved it! Now we can add broccoli to his list!

2 chicken breast halves
1/2 cup (or more) prepared Artichoke-Spinach Dip
grated Parmesan cheese
freshly ground black pepper

• Preheat your oven to 350.

• Cut a 3-inch slit in the top of each chicken breast half, and stuff with a couple spoonfuls of dip. Sprinkle with Parmesan and crack some black pepper over the top.

• Place in a greased baking dish.  Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the chicken is done and the dip is nice and bubbly. Serves 2.

I’ll leave you with a cheesy Christmas picture:

Roasted Figs with Prosciutto & Blue Cheese

Three ingredients make an easy and elegant appetizer. I’ve been anticipating the first figs on my parents’ tree and finally this last weekend it was time!  Time to halve them, sprinkle them with crumbled blue and goat cheese (half and half to please everyone in the family), wrap them in strips of prosciutto, drizzle with honey, and bake until warm. A perfect match for a glass of wine and your favorite people.

(Adapted from Pink Parsley)

12 fresh figs
Your favorite blue and/or goat cheese
Thinly sliced prosciutto, about 1/4 lb, cut into 16 strips (1-2 in. thick)*
2 TBS. olive oil
2 tsp. honey
freshly ground black pepper

* a note on our prosciutto. So we thought we’d be all economical and buy the prosciutto from the deli counter at our local grocery store, but their meat slicer sucked and they were unable to slice it as thinly as we would have liked. We still made it work, but the figs were a little tricky to wrap, and weren’t as pretty as I intended. However, when it comes to figs, the beauty really is on the inside  🙂

• Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

• Trim the stems off the figs and cut in half lengthwise. Place cut side up on a rimmed baking sheet.

• Sprinkle with crumbled blue and/or goat cheese. Carefully wrap a strip of prosciutto around the center of each fig half, allowing the ends to overlap underneath the fig.

• Whisk together the olive oil and honey and drizzle over the figs. Crack some black pepper over the figs.

• Bake for 10 minutes or until the figs are warm and the prosciutto is a little crispy. Serves 8.

Yakitori

We miss our “yakitori man.” There was a supermarket right across the street from our apartment in Japan, and every Friday a man would set up a little red cart right out front. Starting at about 10 am, we’d start to smell that sweet sauce brushed over skewered chicken (and other meats) cooking over an open flame, and it became the official smell of Fridays in Japan. Especially in the winter (because the warmth of the grill felt good in the 20 degree air), we would walk across the street to get yakitori for dinner. We were the only foreigners in our neighborhood, so I wonder if he thought it was slightly odd that these Americans stood in his line on Fridays and butchered the ordering of his tasty, skewered treats.

In Japanese, the counting system is far from consistent. Depending on the shape of the item (flat, round, stick-like) or the state of its being (animal, human, large electrical appliance) there is a different way to count. Of course the first time we tried to order 8 yakitori skewers, we used the wrong word for 8, and he kindly corrected us. That’s how we learned the correct way to order 8 stick-like objects.

The chicken itself was never the best quality. In fact, most of the pieces were more fat than meat. But the sauce that the yakitori man brushed on those skewers as they were cooking was so addicting, that somehow we tolderated the fatty chicken and ate it anyway. To enjoy yakitori at home, we recommend using boneless skinless thigh meat, like we did last night. Serve the skewers over steamed white rice and some cucumber salad (marinate sliced cucumbers in rice vinegar, sliced chiles, and salt and sugar to taste), because something pickled cuts through the richness of the sauce and the slight amount of fat on the chicken.

(serves 3-4)

1 1/2 lb. boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup mirin (Japanese sweet cooking wine)
1-2 TBS. brown sugar
5 green onions (thick green onions work best)
6-8 bamboo skewers

• Combine equal parts soy sauce and mirin (we used about 1/4 cup each), and the brown sugar in a large baking dish that’s long enough for the skewers to fit into.  Taste and add more brown sugar if you like a sweeter sauce. Add the chicken pieces and toss well to coat. Marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or overnight.

• Meanwhile, soak bamboo skewers in water.

• Slice the thick part of the green onions into 1-inch long pieces, reserving the thinner green part for another use. Set aside. Prepare your grill (use charcoal for best taste!)

• Assemble the yakitori. Take the chicken pieces out of the marinade and put on the skewers, along with the green onion pieces. Grill for 5-6 minutes on each side, or until chicken is browned and cooked through.

• Serve with steamed rice, cucumber salad, and miso soup.

Spanakopita (Greek Spinach Pie)

One bite of spanakopita from a little bakery in Santorini 4 years ago and we fell in love. Spinach and feta make a delicious savory filling, sandwiched between sheets of buttery phyllo dough (or if your store is out of it, as ours was, puff pastry makes a good substitute). We tried making spanakopita once in Japan, but the filling turned out a tad bland. This time we used the same recipe as a guide, but added some minced garlic and some extra salt & pepper. When cut into small squares, spanakopita makes the perfect appetizer since you can serve it either hot or at room temp.

Spanakopita

(Adapted from the recipe in Modern Greek by Andy Harris)

10 oz. frozen spinach (or a little less than a pound of fresh spinach)
3 green onions, including green stems, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
6 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
1 egg, beaten
salt
freshly ground back pepper
1 TBS olive oil
1 package of frozen puff pastry (containing 2 sheets), defrosted according to package instructions
melted butter (about 2-3 TBS)

• Defrost the spinach in the microwave according to directions. If using fresh spinach, blanch in boiling water. Drain spinach thoroughly by placing in a kitchen towel and squeezing until no more liquid comes out. Roughly chop spinach. Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool.

• Add the green onion, garlic, feta, egg, salt & pepper, and olive oil to the bowl with the spinach. Mix well.

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil a baking dish that is roughly the same size as your puff pastry. Place one sheet of puff pastry in the bottom of the dish (it’s ok if some of the pastry drapes over the edge of the baking dish; just fold over and pinch like a pie crust). Brush with melted butter. Add the filling and spread evenly. Place the remaining puff pastry sheet on top. Brush with melted butter. Pinch the edges of the two sheets together.

• Sprinkle a little water on top to prevent pastry from burning. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until top is golden brown. Slice into squares. Serve either hot or cold. Serves 3-4.

Chili-Lime Peanuts

Put a spicy, salty snack in front of me, and a pint of cold beer in my hand and I’m pretty much a happy camper. Unfortunately, I won’t stop eating the snack and might spoil my dinner. Despite my own personal weakness, my intention for making these zesty peanuts was to have something to offer before our Mexican BBQ without spoiling my family’s appetites! When I saw the recipe in the February 2009 issue of Bon Appetit, I know I had to make them. Okay, fine. It was an excuse to use my current obsession: Sriracha hot chile sauce. The combination of that and the lime will excite your taste buds! Because my grocery store only had roasted & salted peanuts (instead of the raw, Spanish peanuts the recipe called for), I had to modify it a bit — cutting the time in the oven from 30 minutes to 12 minutes, and using only 1/2 a tsp. of salt. Oh, and I probably doubled the amout of hot sauce, knowing me! The recipe below is the original version.

2 cups raw Spanish peanuts (about 10 1/2 ounces)
1 TBS. olive oil
2 tsp. coarse kosher salt
1 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. fresh lime juice
1 tsp. hot pepper sauce
3/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, toss the peanuts with the oil, salt, and sugar.

• Scrape nuts onto a rimmed baking sheet in a single later.

• Roast until fragrant and beginning to darken, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.

• Transfer nuts to a large bowl. Add the lime juice, hot pepper sauce, and cayenne pepper and toss to coat.

• Allow to cool completely. Then serve. Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Fava Bean & Green Garlic Hummus on Crostini

Fava beans and green garlic make hummus especially “springy” and an even more fabulous spread for crunchy crostini! (Special thanks to our friends Tony & Miriam for sharing their veggies from Live Earth Farm!)

Fava Bean & Green Garlic Hummus:

1/4 cup + 2 TBS. olive oil
1 stock green garlic, washed, tough outer layer of stock removed, and sliced
a few handfuls of fava beans, shelled
1 can of chickpeas, drained
1 spoonful of tahini
juice from 1 lime
a handful of chopped, fresh oregano
paprika, cumin, chili powder, salt, and pepper to taste

• Saute the green garlic in some olive oil (about 2 TBS.) until tender. Add the shelled fava beans and saute for a minute more. Remove from heat.

• In a food processor, combine the chickpeas, green garlic-fava bean mixture, tahini, lime juice, oregano, and other seasonings. Process until smooth. While processor is running, add the olive oil (about 1/4 cup) in a light steady stream until it becomes a nice consistency.

• Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. Transfer to a serving bowl. Serve with homemade crostini. Serves 4-6 as an appetizer.

And this is the beautiful and delicious stir fry that Tony made for our main dish, using the other veggies from the farm – carrots, baby tatsoi, mizuna greens, oyster mushrooms, and broccoli. The sauce involved soy sauce, rice vinegar, mirin, chili paste, and fish sauce. Oishii! It was served over an exciting (well, exciting to me) green rice, made green from bamboo extract.

Four-Cheese Mini Macs

Mmm, look at that cheese bubbling up around the edges … I can’t take the credit for this recipe, other than buttering the muffin tins and later eating the finished product, but I CAN rave about it so that’s what I’ll do! While I was working on my minted pea dip, my Mom was busy making these cute mini mac and cheeses, as another Oscar Night appetizer. In place of half of the American cheese, she decided to use a nice chunk of blue cheese, which promoted them from three-cheese mini macs to four-cheese mini macs. Even better. Who doesn’t love mac and cheese? If you want a crowd pleaser, you will need to try these! The recipe below reflects the changes made to the original recipe in Food & Wine Magazine. The recipe was doubled and it was perfect for 7 people as an appetizer. We also had lamb-meatballs that were to die for, but unfortunately they didn’t get photographed.

Four-Cheese Mini Macs
(From the December 2007 issue of Food & Wine)

1 pound elbow macaroni (or small shells)
3 TBS. butter, plus more for greasing pans
1/2 cup cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
4 TBS. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups milk
8 ounces white cheddar cheese, grated (about 2 cups)
4 ounces deli-sliced American cheese
4 ounces blue cheese
2 large egg yolks
1/2 tsp. smoked Spanish paprika

• Preheat oven to 425°. In a large saucepan of boiling salted water, cook the macaroni until al dente, about 5 minutes. Drain, shaking off the excess water.

• Grease 4 mini-muffin pans (we had only one mini-muffin pan so we used one mini one and one regular sized one). Sprinkle with a 1/4 cup of the Parmigiano; tap out the excess.

• In a large saucepan, melt the 3 TBS. of butter. Whisk in the flour over moderate heat for 2 minutes. Whisk in the milk and cook, whisking, until boiling, about 5 minutes. Add the cheddar, American, and blue cheeses and whisk until melted. Off the heat, whisk in the egg yolk and paprika. Fold in the macaroni.

• Spoon slightly rounded tablespoons of the macaroni into the prepared muffin cups, packing them gently. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of Parmigiano on top.

• Bake the mini macs in the upper and middle thirds of the oven for about 10 minutes, until golden and sizzling. Let cool for 5 min­utes. Using a small spoon, carefully loosen the mini macs, transfer to a platter and serve, or simply put the muffin tins on the table and allow people to help themselves.

(This recipe can be prepared through Step 4 and refrigerated overnight. How about that!?)

Veggie Crudités with Minted-Pea Yogurt Dip

Green foods are sometimes not as photogenic as others, but putting that aside, this dip is fresh, healthy, and a good match for cold, crunchy, seasonal veggies. We served this dip while we were watching the Oscars on Sunday – with radishes, carrots, Belgian endive, red and yellow bell peppers, and snow peas. What I love about Jamie Oliver’s recipes is that they are so simple and really showcase the ingredients that are in them. This dip tastes like the beginning of spring to me – the mint and the lemon really brighten up the peas. In the spirit of the way Jamie writes his recipes, the amounts are given in “handfuls” rather than exact measurements. We like that approach. Taste and adjust things to your liking.

Minted Pea & Yogurt Dip
(From Jamie’s Dinners)

2 handful of fresh mint leaves
12 oz. of plain yogurt (I accidentally grabbed non-fat at the store, which was fine, but if I made it again I’d use greek yogurt)
4 handfuls of frozen peas (let thaw in the fridge for an hour or so before making the dip) or fresh
2 handfuls of Parmesan cheese
Juice from 1 lemon
Salt & Pepper to taste

In a food processor, blend together the yogurt and the mint leaves for about 30 seconds. Add the Parmesan cheese and the peas and blend until smooth and it becomes a lovely green color. Add the lemon juice and salt & pepper and blend to combine. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. Because my yogurt was thinner than I anticipated, I ended up blending in some extra peas at the end. Don’t be shy with the peas. That’s what this dip is all about! Serve with veggie crudités.