Provençal White Bean Dip

I feel like I’ve kind of OD’d on hummus, so the white bean dip recipe on Serious Eats last week caught my eye. The addition of roasted garlic really takes this recipe to a whole new level. I also added a little bit of lemon juice to brighten the flavor a little bit. Aside from the time it took to roast the garlic, it was really fast and easy to put together.

We had it as an appetizer on Sunday with some endive leaves and toasted baguette slices. I think it will also replace hummus as my go-to snack from now on!

Ingredients

1 15-ounce can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 head roasted garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
Juice of half a lemon
The leaves of 1 stem of fresh rosemary
The leaves of 3 stems of fresh thyme

Instructions

Puree everything and season with salt. I served it with some fresh thyme leaves and a drizzle of olive oil.

Marco Canora Night – Part 1

Matt and I are huge fans of Marco Canora, his restaurant Hearth, and, mostly, his wine bar Terroir. Terroir is probably what I miss most about living in the East Village.

Anyways, Matt bought his cookbook recently and has been making a lot of the things that we usually order at his restaurants. His tomato and egg bruschetta is probably what we order most at Terroir. One time the bartender joked that they started firing up the bruschetta when they sat Matt and me walk by.

The best thing we’ve tried at Hearth has been the pan-roasted hen of the woods mushrooms. They sound like a simple side dish on the menu, but they are to die for. We more recently discovered his ribolitta - a Tuscan kale soup topped with a generous amount of parmesan – which is also a favorite.

We made all of these things for dinner on Sunday night: the tomato and egg bruschetta and mushrooms for appetizer and the ribolitta for main course. I’m splitting the entry into two parts because I took a lot of pictures of everything!

Tomato and Egg Bruschetta


You would never believe how good the simple combination of eggs, tomato sauce, olive oil, and bread is.

His technique involves mixing the egg whites into the cooked tomato sauce and then lightly poaching the egg yolks on top of the sauce until it’s warm, but still runny. At Terroir, you can’t actually see the pieces of egg white in the sauce. When Matt first made this recipe, we found it had too many whites. We reduced the number, but I think we still need to work on our technique. We also modified it a little bit by putting dried oregano in the sauce and fresh basil on top, which I think is done at Terroir.

The key to the whole thing is using really good ingredients: the best canned tomatoes (see note at the bottom), fruity extra-virgin olive oil, high-quality dried oregano (Marco Canora suggests Sicillian oregano), flavorful bread, etc.

Note: Not all canned tomatoes are created equal! I had always used San Marzano tomatoes, but Serious Eats did an interesting canned tomato taste test and found that Trader Joe’s brand are the cheapest AND the tastiest.

Ingredients
Four 1-inch-thick slices of country bread
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing
4 large eggs
1 small garlic clove, thinly sliced
Pinch of crushed red pepper
One 14-ounce can whole tomatoes with their juices, crushed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of good, dry oregano
Fresh basil, for garnish

Instructions
Preheat the broiler. Brush the bread on both sides with olive oil, arrange on the baking sheet and broil for about 3 minutes, turning once, until golden and toasted. Place the toasts in 4 shallow bowls (note: we used 3 slices of bread and just ate the extra sauce!).

Arrange 5 small bowls on a counter. Crack the eggs: Reserve 1 of the whites in one of the bowls and one yolk in each of the other 4 bowls. Refrigerate the remaining 3 egg whites for another use.

In a medium nonstick skillet, heat the 1/4 cup of olive oil with the garlic and crushed red pepper. Cook over moderate heat until the garlic is golden, about 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes and oregano, season with salt and pepper and cook over high heat until the sauce is thickened, about 5 minutes.

Beat the egg whites with a fork and gently fold them into the tomato sauce. Cook over moderately high heat just until the whites are set, about 1 minute. Using the back of a spoon, make 4 indentations in the sauce. Slide a yolk into each indentation and cover the skillet. Cook over very low heat just until the yolks are warmed but not set, about 1 1/2 minutes. Spoon the sauce and yolks over the toasts, drizzle some extra-virgin olive oil on top, garnish with the basil, and serve right away.


Mmmmmm…runny egg yolk.



Pan-Roasted Hen-Of-The-Woods Mushrooms


Hen-of-the-woods mushrooms (also known as maitakes) can be expensive, but they’re so worth it when cooked like this. We found these beauties for about $20/lb at Formaggio.


This recipe basically calls for searing the mushrooms on both side in some olive oil and then basting them in butter, rosemary, and thyme. They turn out a little crisp on the outside, and soft and buttery on the inside.

Ingredients
1 pound hen-of-the-woods mushrooms
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 sprigs fresh thyme
1 sprig fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons unsalted butter (I think you’ll notice that Matt snuck in way more butter than the recipe called for)
2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons fresh-cracked black pepper

Instructions
Turn mushroom over to expose the stem. With paring knife, remove the core of the stem.


Using your hands, gently break mushroom into 8 pieces. In a 12-inch sauté pan, heat olive oil over medium flame. Season mushrooms with salt and pepper.


Place them in the heated oil, taking care not to overcrowd the pan, and cook for 3 minutes. When the mushrooms have a golden-brown surface, flip them with a spatula and continue cooking for 2 to 3 minutes.


Add butter and herbs, and baste mushrooms for 1 minute. Drain on paper towels to remove excess oil, and serve.

Next we made the ribolitta. To be continued…

National Deviled Eggs Day

I’ve been trying really hard to keep up with my blog, but this time I have a reason for being absent over the past few weeks. I’ve been sick! I ended up with a bad case of food poisoning, ironically. Now that I’m back to eating like a normal human being though, I can blog again.

I came across the fact earlier that today is National Deviled Eggs Day. Rather than go through my backlog of things I had wanted to blog about a few weeks ago, I figured I should definitely make some deviled eggs tonight.

I LOVE deviled eggs and am thrilled that they seem to be making a comeback with the whole southern-comfort food trend. They’re like the world’s perfect party food: easy, cheap, comforting, adorable, and – most importantly – delicious. They were always a staple in my house on Easter, but lately we’ve been making them for more and more occasions.

My family usually makes them simply with some mayo, Dijon mustard, and hot pepper relish. Sometimes we garnish with more pepper relish on top, and sometimes with some spicy paprika. My mom has been known to replace the pepper relish and paprika with some chutney and curry powder, which is also delicious.

I went with the pepper relish and paprika version tonight:


Let’s start with the hard boiled egg. Everyone seems to have their own method for making the perfect hard boiled egg. I’m not convinced that there’s one correct method, but the key is to not overcook them. No one wants hard, rubbery whites and that nasty greenish-brown ring around the yolk. I start the eggs in a single layer in a small pot of cold water. I make sure they’re covered with about an inch of water. I cover the pot, turn the heat up to high, and wait for the water to boil. As soon as the water boils, I take them off the heat and set the timer for 13 minutes. After the time is up, I transfer them to a bowl of ice water to cool.


I never measure the ingredients in the filling. I just add a spoonful of mayonnaise and a smaller spoonful of Dijon mustard and hot pepper relish. Then, I season with salt and pepper, taste, and adjust as necessary. After I fill the whites with the filling, I sprinkle some paprika on top. Voila!


There are also endless ways to class up the deviled egg. I don’t agree with additions that mask the egg too much, but there are certainly some that, I think, enhance the egg. You could add things like smoked salmon, cornichons, salmon roe, or bacon. Rather than making a bunch of different versions tonight (which I was seriously would have done if I didn’t have a late work meeting), I scoured the internet for some great sounding combinations for your reading and cooking pleasure:

• Sriracha, cilantro, and sweet pickled carrots


• Shrimp, caraway seeds, and dill


• Worcestershire and two types of mustard


• Smoked salmon, dill, and capers


• Crab and tarragon


• Wasabi and tobiko


• Kimchi and bacon


• Bacon and cornichons


• Caesar salad inspired

Here’s one final tip: I forget where I read this (Ina Garten cookbook maybe?), but someone suggested boiling one or two extra eggs when you’re trying to make, say, a dozen deviled eggs. Use the extra yolks in the filling mixture to ensure that you have plenty of filling for each egg.

Happy Deviled Eggs Day!

Pimientos de Padrón

Pimientos de Padrón are something my mom always talks about from when she lived in Spain. The great thing about these little green peppers is that some are sweet, and some are spicy. Really spicy. There is really no way of knowing until you put one in your mouth. It’s like Russian Roulette!

I was really excited to try them when I saw them at Union Square Greenmarket (in NYC) this summer. I found myself addicted to the spicy ones, eating more and more hoping to get another. Since my mom has been dying to try them again, Matt picked up some at Bodhitree Farms at the Greenmarket last weekend on his way to Boston.

Besides being a lot of fun to eat, they are also very tasty. They’re typically fried in olive oil, sprinkled liberally with salt, and served tapas style. Matt made Jose Andres’ Romesco sauce to spread underneath the peppers, for another layer of flavor.

Pimientos De Padrón

Olive Oil
Pimientos De Padrón
Coarse Salt

Wash the peppers and dry them completely. Pour a generous amount of olive oil in a skillet over high heat. When the oil is piping hot, add a single layer of peppers. Sauté for a couple of minutes, until the skins on the peppers are blistered. Transfer the peppers to a plate lined with a paper towel and sprinkle with coarse salt.

LOST Premiere Party

I’m back! Given that I’m kind of a LOST freak, I thought it fitting to start back up by blogging about the LOST-themed food I made for the premiere.

I stretched the theme a little to make it a good excuse to buy some sushi-grade fish, so I made some Tuna Poke and Hamachi Carpaccio. I also had to throw in some of Hurley’s ranch dressing (ranch composite, anyone?) and Katie supplied the Dharma beer. Yep, we’re cool.

*Sorry for the photo quality. I forgot my camera so these are taken from a camera phone.


Ok – enough of the LOST chatter and onto the food.

I had a hard time finding sushi-grade tuna and Hamachi, so I actually ended up at the sushi section of Whole Foods asking for thickly sliced tuna and very thinly sliced Hamachi. They seemed awfully confused about my specific requests, but it worked!

Hamachi Carpaccio

I’ve had Hamachi Carpaccio served with very thinly sliced jalapeno before and it’s one of my favorite dishes. When I’ve had it, it has been served with some kind of ponzu sauce. I bought some ponzu and simmered it for about 5 minutes with a clove of garlic and a piece of ginger. To assemble, I arranged the sliced Hamachi around the plate and topped each piece with a slice of the jalapeno. I placed a small bunch of cilantro in the middle and poured some of the fully cooled sauce over the fish.


Tuna Poke

I made a fairly basic tuna poke but did my best at measuring the ingredients so I'd know for next time:

2 c. roughly chopped sushi-grade tuna
½ large shallot (or 1 small), finely chopped
1 tsp. sesame oil
2 tbsp. soy sauce
Peanut oil
Sriracha
Wasabi
Sesame seeds, toasted

Mix the shallot, sesame oil, soy sauce, and tuna very carefully as to not break up the tuna too much. Add a tiny bit of peanut oil until it gets to the right consistency and siriacha and wasabi to taste. I topped it with some toasted sesame seeds and served it over some cucumber and lettuce. We simply ate it with potato chips, but you could serve over crispy wontons (or even plain is good).


Happy LOST watching!

Easy Appetizers: Homemade Spreads and Bruschetta

I made my scallops and saffron sauce the other night to try out with the Santa Margherita Prosecco, so my mom and I came up with some simple appetizers to serve beforehand. I wanted to make some bruschetta with my mom’s garden tomatoes and basil. My parents had just been to a wedding where they had a bruschetta made with roasted eggplant and gorgonzola. To make that easier, my mom bought a garlic roasted eggplant spread from Trader Joe’s and some crumbled gorgonzola. I didn’t write down exact recipes for each, but here is a general idea of what we ended up doing:

Bruschetta
Thinly slice a baguette on the bias, brush with olive oil, and season with a little bit of salt and pepper. Place on a baking sheet and broil on high until golden brown on both sides (turning halfway through). When the bread is out of the oven, slice a clove of garlic in half and rub the raw garlic onto one side of the bread.

Tomato and Basil Topping
Quarter cherry tomatoes (or chop regular tomatoes), combine with some julienned basil, and drizzle with a little bit of extra virgin olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Eggplant and Gorgonzola Topping
Spread the bread with the eggplant and garlic spread, top with a little bit of gorgonzola, and broil on high until the cheese is melted.


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My mom also loves invent spreads. One my parents’ favorite restaurants, Hungry Mother, serves a great pimiento cheese spread with celery sticks. Here is my mom’s version of that recipe:

Pimiento Cheese Spread
4 oz. light cream cheese
1 c. sharp cheddar cheese, grated
3 tbsp. pimiento peppers (or piquillo peppers)
2 tbsp. light mayo
Dash of hot sauce
Pinch of cayenne
2 tbsp. sweet or hot pepper relish (my mom uses Howard’s brand)

Combine all ingredients in a food processor until combined but still a little bit chunky. Garnish with some celery leaves.

She also made a quick olive spread with some cream cheese and nice garlic-lemon green olives. We put them on a platter with some celery sticks and crackers:


Everything was delicious and easy!

Black Bean Dip with Homemade Tortilla Chips

A few months ago, I made this recipe for simmered black beans from the New York Times. They were fantastic (and I realized that it really is worth the effort to use dried beans as opposed to canned), but the recipe made such a big batch that I had to freeze most of them. I came up with this black bean dip to take to work for a snack this week to use the leftovers. I also made some homemade baked tortilla chips. They were super easy to make, and SO much better than store bought.

The dip would almost as well if you used canned black beans, but I think you would need to add some sort of liquid to thin it out a little bit because the black beans that I defrosted had some sauce that they simmered in.

Black Bean Dip

½ red onion, roughly chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 ½ c. black beans
2 tbsp. hot sauce (I think the Cholula brand gives it the best flavor)
½ tsp. cumin
½ c. light sour cream
Fresh cilantro (small handful)
Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Sauté the onion and garlic in a little bit of oil until tender.
2. Place the onion, garlic, beans, hot sauce, cumin, sour cream, and cilantro into a food processer. Blend until smooth. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Baked Tortilla Chips

Small corn tortillas (however many you want)
Olive oil
Course salt

1. Cut each tortilla into six wedges.
2. Spread the wedges out in a single layer on a baking sheet. Brush on both sides with olive oil and season with salt.
3. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes.

Dinner with Mom

With my parents living in Boston and me living in Chicago, I don’t get home as often as I would like. I grew up watching my parents’ love of food and cooking, so there’s nothing I like more then spending time with them in the kitchen. When I do get home, we always make at least one nice meal together to celebrate. Last Friday, my mom and I had a relaxing night in with some cocktails, wine, and (of course) delicious food.

Let’s start with the pre-dinner cocktail…

Around the same time last year, my mom and I separately tried an Ice Wine martini for the first time. I had never heard of Ice Wine* before, but was feeling adventurous one night at Cru (which has since closed, sadly, but I’m sure that is in no way related to their martini-making skills). Not only did it sound really cool, it was absolutely delicious. When my mom tried it for the first time, she and her friends asked the bartender how to make it.

*Ice Wine can be expensive because it’s apparently very labor-intensive to produce, but my mom found a reasonably priced bottle made from Riesling grapes at Trader Joe’s.

Ice Wine Martini

Ingredients
One part vodka
One part Ice Wine
Frozen grape for garnish

Directions
Shake the vodka and Ice Wine with ice, strain, and drop in a frozen grape.

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Next, we put together a simple Bresaola Platter with arugula, parmigiano-reggiano, and truffle oil. My aunt always puts out a platter of this on Christmas and it gets devoured everytime. The plating of it is similar to how a beef carpaccio is sometimes served: thin layer of beef topped with shavings of parmigiano-reggiano, drizzled with olive oil, and served with arugula. For this appetizer, the only differences are the use of bresaola (a lean, cured beef) instead of raw beef and truffle oil instead of olive oil. I also tossed the arugula in a little bit of lemon juice and olive oil and served it all with sliced baguette.

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Time for the main course: Seared Scallops with Pappardelle and Saffron Sauce

Anyone who knows me well knows that I have an obsession with saffron. I blame this on eating my dad’s ridiculously-delicious Paella growing up. I’d put saffron in everything if I could, but I try to use it sparingly (you know, with it being the most expensive spice in the world and all). But hey, we already broke out the truffle oil – why not add some saffron?

I came up with this sauce awhile ago to put on some lobster ravioli and I think it pairs really well with shellfish, in general. This time, I made it with seared scallops and pappardelle. There’s an incredible fish market right down the street from my parents’ house called the New Deal that sells THE BEST dry sea scallops. When you buy sea scallops, it’s very important that you get *dry* scallops if you want to sear them. Otherwise, you will probably end up with a scallop that’s “plumped up” with water but will shrink and be rubbery when you cook it. Some markets will actually sell these soaked scallops as dry scallops, so you really have to talk to the fish monger and make sure you’re getting what you’re paying for. Believe me – it’s well worth it. Now I just have to find a fish store like New Deal in Chicago…

One more note on this recipe: I usually throw some chopped chives on top of this kind of dish for some color, but I recently had a similar sauce over ravioli at a restaurant and it was topped with some variety of microgreen. It made the dish look beautiful and the greens cut through the richness of the sauce really nicely. I thought it was a brilliant idea, so I stole it :). I’m not sure how difficult microgreens are to find because I had never actually looked for them before last weekend, but I found a pretty big selection of them at the small Whole Foods on Prospect St. in Cambridge. I went with the micro-arugula because it looked the freshest, but I think most varieties would work well.

Ingredients
1 medium-sized shallot, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, whole
2 tbsp. butter, room temperature
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. brandy
1 tbsp. tomato paste
1 ½ c. seafood stock
¾ c. mascarpone cheese
Pinch of saffron
1 lb. dry sea scallops
½ lb. pappardelle
Micro-arugula
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions
1. Heat ½ tbsp. each of the butter and the olive oil in saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the whole clove of garlic and sauté for a few minutes, but don’t let it burn. Remove the garlic clove so you’re left with a garlicky butter/oil mixture but with no visible garlic.
2. Turn up the heat to medium to medium-high and sauté the shallot until soft.
3. Add the brandy to the saucepan and let it cook for 30 seconds or so.
4. Add the tomato paste, the seafood stock, the saffron, and some salt and pepper (to taste). Let this mixture cook down for about 15 minutes until reduced a little bit.
5. Add the mascarpone cheese to thicken the sauce and make it creamy. I ended up using about ¾ c., but you can adjust the amount depending on how rich you want the sauce to be.
6. Cook the pappardelle according to package directions until al-dente and toss with the sauce.
7. Pat down the scallops with paper towels until they are as dry as you can get them. Season with a little bit of salt and pepper.
8. Heat a cast iron skillet to medium-high heat and add the remaining ½ tbsp. of olive oil and 1 ½ tbsp. of butter. Add the scallops and sear for about one minute on each side. They should be golden brown on the outside, and cooked to about medium on the inside.
9. To plate, I arranged the scallops around the edges of the pasta and put a small handful of the micro-arugula in the middle.

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My mom and I aren’t huge dessert people, but we do like to have a small taste of something sweet at the end of a nice meal. Since we had some strawberries that needed using, I used them to top some vanilla frozen yogurt and made a sweet balsamic-basil syrup to drizzle on top. I’ve seen strawberry-basil desserts at restaurants a lot lately and I’ve seen people make balsamic dessert syrups on tv before, so I combined the two ideas into a simple but elegant dessert. My mom was skeptical about having vinegar in her dessert, but I talked her into trying it and she was very pleasantly surprised.

Vanilla Ice Cream with Strawberries and Balsamic-Basil Syrup

Ingredients
Vanilla ice cream (or frozen yogurt)
½ c. sugar
1 c. balsamic vinegar
5-10 fresh basil leaves
Sliced strawberries

Directions
1. Combine the vinegar and sugar in a saucepan over medium-high heat.
2. When the sugar has dissolved, add 5-10 basil leaves (depending on how strong you want the syrup to be).
3. Reduce the syrup by about half, strain, and cool.


4. Drizzle the syrup over the strawberries and ice cream. Garnish with a basil leaf.

Enjoy!!