Simple Garlic and Herbed Cheese Tortellini

This was another result of my crazy pasta-making day. Tortellinis are usually stuffed with meat or cheese, and since I've got homemade cream cheese, I stuffed mine with the garlic and herb-flavoured cheese. When I say simple, I really mean simple. Because I don't have any cream or sour cream or any leftover meat sauce on hand, and I was hungry after spending much longer than I expected on making the pasta, I simply tossed it with olive oil and finished it off with parmesan and fresh parsley.

Simple Herbed Cheese Tortellini Ravioli

serves 2

I'm sorry it really doesn't seem like much of a recipe.

Ingredients

For the pasta dough, check out my homemade sourdough pasta post.

You'll need 1/2 of the dough from that entry. Maybe 1/3 if you roll it out thinner.

For the tortellini stuffing,

1/2 cup homemade cream cheese

1-2 tbsp grated parmesan

1 tbsp garlic powder (you can use mashed/pureed garlic. oh oh roasted garlic puree!!)

1 tsp each of dried parsley and mixed herbs

pinch of sea salt, black pepper

To finish,

drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

handful of chopped fresh parsley

handful of grated parmesan

Method

1. Mix the stuffing ingredients

2. Place a teaspoon (don't be greedy and stuff too much) of the stuffing below the (estimate) diagonal halfway mark of each square (should be circle, or you get that funny pointed crown!) of dough.

3. Wet the edges with water/egg wash(press around the stuffing). Wrap the two pointed edges together and pres to seal. Leave to dry for 1/2 hour or so.

Please check out my homemade sourdough pasta post for a clearer picture. There are photos!

4. Cook the tortellini in gently boiling salted water, about 3-4 min. Drain and plate.

5. Drizzle olive oil over generously, top with the parmesan and fresh parsley. Enjoy!

This is part of Simple Lives Thursday.

Homemade Cream Cheese

It's so easy to make your own cream cheese (yogurt cheese, actually) and you need hardly any equipment, even less ingredients, and even lesser effort.

Homemade cream (yogurt) cheese

Ingredients (easily reduced or doubled)

1 cup plain whole (full-fat please) organic yogurt

Equipment

A large bowl or container

A sieve

Cheesecloth or a thin cloth or a kitchen towel

Method

1. Set-up as below:

2. Do nothing.

3. Leave it for a few hours and you get thick creamy Greek yogurt.

Leave it overnight and you get 1 cup of firm yet creamy plain cheese (and 1 cup of whey).

To be on the safe side, the cream cheese should last until the expiry date on the yogurt.

The whey can keep much longer, a month or so. Do not discard the whey! The whey is very useful for soaking your grains, or for making your own fermented vegetables, or just replace it with the liquid in stews or soups for a health boost!

You can add also anything you want to flavour it!

Garlic and Herbs Cream Cheese

1 cup of cream (yogurt) cheese

2 tbsp garlic powder (you can use mashed/pureed garlic, but careful, it won't last as long. roasted garlic would be divine.)

1 tsp each of dried parsley and mixed herbs

sea salt, black pepper

Compare this to the garlic-and-herbs cream cheese you find on the shelves:

Dried garlic, icing sugar, parsley, garlic oil, tapioca dextrin, stabiliser, vegetable oil, whey powder, basil.

Tsk.

Here are some other combinations you can try:

Sundried tomato and Basil (see how to make your own slow-dried tomatoes!)

Black Olive

Onion and Chive

Raspberry/ Strawberry/ Blueberry (for a sweet treat)

Any ideas? I've heard of the weirdest flavours.

You can even leave it plain, for a very versatile cream cheese. (cream cheese and smoked salmon! if I ever afford the latter..)

Spinach and Mushroom Stuffed Chicken Breast

I don't usually have chicken breasts, because they just cost so much! The legs and drums cost 1/3 the price of breasts, and honestly, they do pack more flavour. But since I recently cut up a whole chicken, I have chicken breasts to work with. The tricky bit about roasting chicken breast is it can end up very dry and bland because it's so lean. So you should try to keep the meat moist and the skin on, or another trick would be to wrap it in something fatty, like this Moroccan Couscous Stuffed Chicken Breast wrapped in Bacon.

Spinach and Mushroom Stuffed Chicken Breast

Ingredients

1 chicken breast, with skin

pinch of salt, black pepper

a bit of parmesan

olive oil, butter

For the stuffing,

2 tbsp homemade cream cheese

2 tbsp grated parmesan

handful of spinach leaves, chopped roughly

2 button or chestnut mushrooms, chopped small

1 tsp garlic powder

pinch of nutmeg

Method

1. Preheat oven at 180 degrees celsius.

1. Saute spinach and mushrooms with a small knob of butter and a pinch of salt, pepper and nutmeg, for abut 1 min (they will get more cooking in the oven later). Drain, because you don't want all the liquid to make the stuffing too runny, but reserve the liquid (don't waste the flavourful butter/juices!).

2. Mix all the stuffing ingredients together.

3. Carefully lift up the skin of the chicken and push the stuffing in between the skin and the breast. The skin will stretch, so you can stuff more than you expect, but don't be too greedy!

4. Place stuffed chicken breast into a greased baking dish, skin side up. Pour the reserved cooking liquid over the breast

5. Season with salt and pepper, sprinkle the top with a bit of parmesan, and dot with some butter/olive oil.

5. Put into oven for 45 min, or until the skin is golden and crispy.

6. After removing from oven, let it rest slightly before cutting into it and adding some parsley if you want!

Crispy skin and melty inside always works(: I like it when there's something special hidden in your food, like in stuffed pastas or dumplings.

This is part of Full Plate Thursday and Tuesday Night Supper Club.

Menu 19: Summer Supper

A quiche all creamy and full of spinach, a zucchini salad with the tantalizing flavors of Provence, followed by a Lemon Ice (from the market or check out my March 22, 2011 blog). Seems like a pretty perfect summer supper to me.

Spinach Quiche
I love this quiche and I don’t care whether quiches are in or out of fashion. If you are not up for making a pie crust, buy one. If you are not up for a pie crust of any kind, make this quiche without one. I have a friend who actually prefers it that way.

1 partially baked 8-9 inch pie shell (Recipe below) or purchase one from the supermarket.
Note: If the supermarket one comes unbaked, follow the instructions on the wrapper for partial baking or look to the recipe below.

2 tablespoons butter
½ onion, chopped
4 cups finely chopped spinach or 1 package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon smoky sweet paprika
1 cup grated cheese, whatever you like or have on hand cheddar, Swiss, Parmesan or a mix
1¼ cups heavy cream, warmed in the microwave
4 eggs, lightly beaten

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF.
2. Melt the butter in a large skillet and sauté the onion until tender but not browned.
3. Add the spinach, cover and cook for 5 minutes. If you use fresh, you’ll need to chop again. No need to do that if you use frozen. Add the salt, pepper, nutmeg, paprika, and ½ cup cheese.
4. Pour the warm cream slowly over the eggs while beating. Gradually beat in the spinach mixture. Taste for seasonings. Ladle into the pie shell. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
5. Bake for 30 minutes or until set. It will take longer for larger pies—45 minutes perhaps. Let sit for 15-20 minutes before serving. Serve warm.

Notes:
For a bigger pie shell, increase the cream to 1¾ cups and the eggs to 5.
If you make this quiche ahead of time (the day or the morning before serving), refrigerate and then reheat at 300ºF. for 20-30 minutes to warm it slightly.

6 servings
Adapted from Craig Claiborne’s The New York Times Menu Cookbook

Pie Crust

For an 8 or 9-inch pie plate or tin:
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup plus 3 tablespoons (1 stick plus 3 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut roughly into ½-inch pieces
7 tablespoons ice water or more if necessary

1. Combine the flour and salt in the container of a food processor. Add the butter and pulse until the butter and flour are blended and the mixture looks like cornmeal, about 10 seconds.
2. Add the ice water to the mixture. Pulse until you see the mixture coming together. If it doesn’t after a couple of additional pulses, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it does.
3. Dump the contents of the container onto a sheet of plastic wrap and mold it into a ball. Flatten the ballot a disk; bring the plastic up around the dough to cover it completely. Either freeze for 10 minutes or refrigerate for 30 minutes. (You can also refrigerate the dough for a day or two or freeze it almost indefinitely. If frozen, defrost before rolling.)

 4. Sprinkle a smooth countertop or a large board with flour. Unwrap the dough and place it on the work surface; sprinkle the top with a little flour. If the dough is hard, let it rest a few minutes to warm up just a little.
5. Roll with light pressure, from the center out. Continue to roll, adding a small amount of flour as necessary, rotating the dough occasionally, and turning it over once or twice during the process. When the dough is about 1/8-inch thick, place your plate upside down over it to check the size. You want your circle of dough to be about 2-3 inches bigger than the plate it will go into.
6. If the size is correct, move the dough into the pan by folding the dough in half and placing the fold in the middle of the pan. Carefully unfold the dough and press it gently into the outer edge of the plate.
7. Trim (I use scissors) the extra dough about 1 inch above the rim. Fold the dough above the rim in half (to ½ inch) and crimp with your fingers to make a decorative edge. With the scraps, you can fill in any part of the circle that’s missing.
8. Place the plate in the freezer for 10 minutes or the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Partially Baked Pie Crust

1. Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
2. Prick the dough all over with a fork to help prevent the crust from poufing. (You’ll see what I mean when it happens.)
3. Tear off a large piece of aluminum foil. Press the sheet into the dough, especially on the sides. Weight the foil with a pile of dried beans or rice, pie weights, or a tight-fitting oven-proof skillet or saucepan—anything that will sit flat on the surface and hold the dough in place. Sometimes I just do the foil and don’t weight it with anything and it’s just fine.
4. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove from the oven; remove the weights and foil. If it has poufed, wait for a few minutes for it to settle and then prick the bottom, once again, with a fork.
5. Bake for another 4-5 minutes or so until the crust is just starting to turn a light brown and the bottom looks set.
6. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack.

Adapted from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything: Simple Recipes for Great Food, Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking and M.F.K. Fisher’s The Cooking of Provincial France

Green and/or Yellow Zucchini Salad with Feta (also Summer Squash)

1¼ pounds squash of your choosing, roasted (see recipe below)
½ cup drained and chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
OR
½ cup dried sun-dried tomatoes (not packed in oil), chopped
½ cup pitted and sliced Kalamata or Nicoise olives
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped shallots or green onions
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil or more if you’d like
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint or more if you’d like
6 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons raspberry or red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
Salt and pepper to taste
3 ounces crumbled feta cheese

Roasting the squash:
1. Cut into ½ -inch slices.
2. Place on a rimmed baking pan and mix with 2 tablespoons olive oil and some salt and pepper.
3. Roast at 425ºF. for about 30-40 minutes turning them mid-way. They should be nice and brown on both sides. Let cool slightly before continuing with the rest of the salad.

Making the salad:
1. In a medium bowl, combine all the remaining ingredients, except the feta. You can do this while the squash is roasting. Add salt and pepper to your taste.
2. In a serving bowl, layer the cooled squash with the other combined ingredients. Sprinkle the top with feta cheese.
3. Serve at room temperature. If you make it ahead, refrigerate until about an hour before serving.

4 servings
Adapted from John Ash’s From the Earth to the Table

Southern Comfort Food from Foster's Market

Foster’s Pimiento Cheese Spread
Katherine’s mother who lives in Roanoke, Virginia always has a deli tub of this spread awaiting us in the fridge. The one she buys at her favorite place is really good. This one is even better.

















1 cup (4 ounces) grated sharp Cheddar cheese
Note: You can grate the cheeses in a food processor if you wish.
1½ cups (6 ounces) grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup (4 ounces) grated smoked or regular Gouda cheese
2 roasted red bell peppers, peeled, cored, seeded, and chopped
     See note below for roasting instructions
1 cup mayonnaise
1 jalapeno, red is preferable but green is OK too, seeded and minced
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
½ teaspoon smoky sweet or regular paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper

1. Mix together the cheeses and the roasted peppers in a large bowl.
2. Combine the mayonnaise, jalapeno, vinegar, honey, paprika, salt and pepper in a small bowl and stir to blend well.
3. Stir the mayonnaise mixture into the cheese mixture and mix well. Taste for salt, adding more if necessary. Refrigerate in an airtight contained until ready to use or up to 1 week.

There are lots of uses: on crackers, toasted bread, biscuits, English muffins, or chips; as a sandwich spread, a topping for baked potatoes, or an omelet filling. Great for breakfast, lunch, or a pre-dinner snack.

To roast the peppers: Place them on a shallow rimmed pan lined with aluminum foil. Place the pan under the broiler on the second shelf down from the top of the oven. Keep turning the peppers until they are blackened on all sides. Remove from the oven. Place them in a bowl and cover; when they are cool enough to handle, remove all the blackened skin, the seeds, and the stem. Refrain, if you can, from rinsing under water. I save the liquid that the peppers release for use in any situation calling for stock.

Makes about 4 cups
Adapted from Sara Foster’s The Foster’s Market Cookbook

Chilaquiles and Andouille Sausage Scramble with Salsa Verde

This makes a great dinner but it can also be served for breakfast.











4 corn tortillas, cut into 1-inch strips
OR
1½ cups slightly crushed tortilla chips
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for brushing the tortillas
Salt and pepper
1 andouille sausage link (about 8 ounces), thinly sliced into rounds
6 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 ounces Monterey Jack or cheddar or a combination of the two (about ½ cup)
Salsa Verde, see recipe below, or you can purchase tomatillo salsa

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF.
2. Scatter the tortilla strips on a rimmed baking sheet and brush lightly with olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Bake for about 15 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally and turning over the strips, until they’re golden brown on both sides and crisp.
3. Heat the 2 tablespoons oil in a large non-stick or cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage slices and cook and stir them for 4 to 5 minutes, until brown and cooked through.
4. Pour the eggs into the skillet and cook, gently folding the eggs as they cook, until just done but still wet looking. Season the eggs with salt and pepper and turn off the heat.
5. Add the cheese and tortilla strips or chips to the skillet and fold them into the eggs until the cheese melts and the tortilla strips or chips soften slightly.
6. Drizzle the chilaquiles with ½ cup of the Salsa Verde and serve warm with the remaining salsa on the side.

4-6 servings
Adapted from Sara Foster’s Casual Cooking

Salsa Verde

4 medium tomatillos, paper covering removed, chopped
OR
1 cup pureed canned tomatillos (with their juices)
½ cup fresh cilantro leaves
3 scallions, chopped (white and green parts)
2 garlic cloves, smashed
Juice of 1 lime
Salt and pepper

1. Combine the tomatillos, cilantro, scallions, garlic and lime juice in a blender and purée until smooth.
2. Serve immediately or refrigerate in an airtight contained until ready to serve.
3. Just before serving, season with salt and pepper.

Makes about 1½ cups
Adapted from Sara Foster’s Casual Cooking

Papaya Heaven Recipes

Papaya Salsa 

Serve as an accompaniment to enchiladas, tacos, molés, seared ahi tuna, or with chips.









1 medium ripe papaya, peeled, seeded, and diced
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
¼ small red onion, finely diced
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice or more to taste
¼ cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
¼ teaspoon salt or more to taste
½ red or green jalapeno pepper, minced

1. Combine the papaya, garlic, onion, lime juice, cilantro, salt and jalapeno in a non-reactive bowl, stirring well to mix.
2. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
3. Taste for salt and lime juice. Add more as necessary.

4 servings
Adapted from The Junior League of Honolulu, Inc.’s Aloha Days, Hula Nights

First Night Dinner Salad

2 heads butter lettuce, washed, dried, and torn into pieces
1 pink grapefruit, sectioned
1 small papaya, seeded, peeled, and sliced
½ cup macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped
4-5 slices of bacon, cut crosswise into ½-inch strips
2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion or green onion
Coarse-grain Hawaiian salt, if available (white or pink), optional 

Red wine and paprika vinaigrette:
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
6 tablespoons olive oil
¼ teaspoon paprika, smoky or regular
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Place the sectioned grapefruit and sliced papaya in separate bowls.
2. Fry the bacon until it is slightly brown and a little crispy. (I like limp bacon but I may be alone in my preference.)
3. Make the vinaigrette by combining all the ingredients in a small bowl and stirring with a fork to mix well. Taste and adjust seasoning. You can add a touch of sugar if your vinegar is quite sour.
4. Mix the greens with the onions in a salad bowl. Add about half of the dressing and toss carefully.
5. Arrange the greens on four dinner plates. Distribute the papaya slices, grapefruit sections, bacon, and macadamia nuts over the greens. Spoon the remaining dressing over each plate to moisten the fruit and nuts. Sprinkle with the optional coarse salt.

You can also add avocado slices if you desire.

4 servings for a light dinner or 6 for a side salad
My own devising

Papaya Quesadillas with Spicy Tomato Relish

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 fresh jalapeno pepper, red or green, seeded and finely diced
1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 ripe large papaya, seeded, peeled, and diced
Salt and black pepper to taste
5 ounces Asiago cheese or other mild white cheese, shredded
10 10-inch flour tortillas
4 tablespoons butter, softened (or bacon fat if you have some)
Sour cream, for serving

1. Make the Spicy Tomato Relish before you begin the quesadillas. See recipe below.
2. Heat the oil in a skillet (metal or pottery) over medium heat. Add the jalapeno and onion. Sauté 5 to 10 minutes until wilted and slightly golden brown. Stir in the papaya. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Sauté briefly to warm the papaya. Set the pan aside.
3. Butter one side of each tortilla (or use the bacon fat if you’d like). Lay buttered side down in a hot skillet. Cover with one-fifth of the onion/papaya mixture. Sprinkle with about ¼ cup shredded cheese. Top with the second tortilla, buttered side up.
4. When browned on the bottom, carefully turn the quesadilla over to brown the other side using as wide a spatula as you have. If any of the filling falls out in the process, tuck it back inside. Remove from the pan and keep warm in a 250ºF oven on a rimmed baking pan.
5. Repeat with the remaining tortillas and filling, moving them to the oven as they are done.
6. When done, cut each of the quesadillas in half. Scissors work well. Serve warm with Spicy Tomato Relish and sour cream.

6 servings (if everyone eats about 1½ quesadilla halves)
You may have a little left over for lunch the next day. The cookbook suggests serving this as an appetizer, cutting the quesadillas into wedges, like a pie.
Adapted from The Junior League of Honolulu, Inc.’s Aloha Days Hula Nights

Spicy Tomato Relish

6 ripe tomatoes or 8 Roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
OR
1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger root
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon curry powder
1½ teaspoon cumin seed
¼ teaspoon fenugreek seed, optional
¼ teaspoon mustard seed
1 small dried hot red chile
Salt to taste

1. Put the chopped or canned tomatoes, ginger, garlic and curry powder in a saucepan, stirring to mix.
2. In a small skillet over medium heat, toast the cumin, fenugreek, mustard seed and chile pepper until the mustard starts to pop, about 30 seconds to a minute. Add to the tomato mixture.
3. Cook the tomato sauce on medium heat for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring often, until thickened. Season with salt to taste.
4. Remove from the heat. Scrape into a bowl and let cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

If you have any leftover, you can use as a filling for an omelet.

 Adapted from The Junior League of Honolulu, Inc.’s Aloha Days Hula Nights

Classic Cheddar Cheese Soufflé

When my boys Franz and Ben were growing up, we would have a cheese soufflé every couple of weeks. Making a soufflé often meant that I was running out of food in the fridge—and that, in fact, we were pretty much down to the basics: butter, eggs, milk, and cheese. They would greet the meal with a moan “Soufflé again?” Poor boys. Little did they know that many people would find it an elegant and almost ethereal repast. Last week I served it to a friend who said that it was like eating clouds. What a perfect antidote to the excesses of Thanksgiving. Enjoy.

6 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon dry mustard
Dash cayenne pepper or ¼ teaspoon hot smoky paprika or Aleppo pepper
4 tablespoons butter
¼ cup flour
1½ cups milk, warmed in the microwave
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
OR
½ cup grated Parmesan and ½ cup grated cheddar or whatever mixture you might like

1. Separate the eggs. Put the yolks in a large bowl and the whites in a medium bowl. Add the salt, mustard, cayenne or paprika to the egg yolks and mix well.
2. Melt the butter in a saucepan; blend in the flour. Let bubble, stirring, for a minute or two to cook the flour. Off the heat, add the warm milk, stirring to combine. Return the pan to the heat and cook until thick and smooth, about 5 minutes, stirring regularly. Remove from the heat. Add the cheese and stir until melted.
3. Stir in several large spoonfuls of the sauce to the yolk mixture to temper the yolks. Then add the yolk mixture to the sauce, mixing steadily. Return to the large bowl and set aside to cool for 15 minutes or more.
4. Preheat oven to 400ºF. Butter a 2-quart soufflé dish and dust it with flour.
5. With a perfectly clean wire whisk, hand or electric beaters, whip the egg whites until stiff but not dry. Stir ¼ of the egg whites into the cheese mixture. Then fold in the remaining. Pour into the prepared dish.
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until puffed and brown on top. Serve at once.

4 servings, 3 if people are really hungry
Adapted from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything

Fall Comfort Food

Roasted Butternut Squash and Spinach Salad with Toasted Almond Dressing
Surprising as it may be, salads can be just as comforting as any other fall dish. This one and the next are two prime examples. They would also make great side dishes for your Thanksgiving meal.

1 (2-2½ pound) butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into ¾-inch cubes
Note: I tried it recently with a mix of unpeeled delicata and peeled butternut. I prefer the butternut.
5½ tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ cup slivered almonds
1½-2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
¼-½ pound fresh spinach, stems discarded
½ cup dried cranberries

1. Put a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 450 F.
2. Toss the squash with 1½ tablespoons oil on a rimmed baking sheet; spread them out in one layer. Season with salt and pepper and roast, stirring once halfway through roasting, until the squash is just tender, pale golden, and just slightly caramelized, about 30 minutes. Cool on the sheet until warm, about 15 minutes.
3. Heat the remaining 4 tablespoons oil in a 10-inch heavy skillet over moderately low heat. Add the almonds and cook, stirring constantly until golden, about 3 minutes. Put a fine mesh sieve over at large bowl and pour the almonds into the sieve, catching the oil in the bowl. Let them both cool for about 10 minutes.
4. Whisk the lemon juice into the cooled oil until well combined. Add salt and pepper and taste for the right balance between oil and lemon.
5. Add the squash, spinach, dried cranberries, half the almonds, and gently toss to coat all the ingredients. Check for seasonings and add whatever you think is necessary. Serve the salad sprinkled with the remaining almonds.

Note: If you want to make this ahead, do everything except add the spinach to the salad and store in the fridge. Let the squash warm up a bit before serving. You may need to add a bit more dressing to the spinach if the squash has soaked it all up.

4-6 servings
Adapted from Ruth Reichl’s The Gourmet Cookbook

Prosciutto, Pear, and Parmesan Salad with Lemon and Chervil (or Dill) Vinaigrette
This is a gorgeous combination of flavors. I sometimes serve this salad for dinner without anything else. Last night we had it with the grilled cheese sandwiches below.

4 large handfuls arugula or watercress
2 ripe pears
Juice of 1 lemon
3½ ounces thinly sliced prosciutto
3½ ounces parmesan, sliced with a vegetable peeler
2 tablespoons small chervil sprigs or other fresh herb, like dill, coarsely chopped
Pepper
1 recipe of the Lemon and Chervil (or Dill) Vinaigrette, see recipe below

1. Put the greens in a bowl and pour over half of the dressing. Toss to combine.
Place on four individual salad plates.
2. Leaving the skin on, cut each pear into 8 pieces. Sprinkle them with the lemon juice to prevent discoloration.
3. Tear or cut the prosciutto into bite-size pieces. Scissors work well.
4. Arrange the pears and prosciutto over the greens. Scatter the parmesan and chervil or dill on top.
5. Drizzle the salads with more dressing. Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Note: If you want to make this a dinner for 2, reduce the amounts to 1½ pears and 2 ounces of prosciutto.

4 side-salad servings or 2 dinner servings
Adapted from Jane Hann’s Salads: Cooking with Style

Lemon and Chervil (or Dill) Vinaigrette

4 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon finely chopped chervil or other fresh herbs, like dill
1 garlic clove, finely chopped or pressed
Salt and pepper

1. Combine all the dressing ingredients in a small bowl.
2. Whisk until well blended.

Makes ½ cup
Adapted from Jane Hann’s Salads: Cooking with Style

Grilled Sharp Cheddar Cheese and Cranberry Sandwiches
I almost burned these sandwiches. I pulled them out of the cast iron frying pan just in time.

10 ounces best quality cheddar cheese, thinly sliced
8 slices good quality firm white bread, such as challah
½-¾ cup Cranberry Walnut Relish with Grappa (from last week’s blog)
OR
Your own chilled cranberry sauce
About 4 tablespoons (½ stick) butter, at room temperature
Note: You can soften the butter in the microwave at 50% power for 1 minute.

1. On a cutting board, set out four slices of bread. Arrange half the cheese over the bread. Spread the relish over the cheese. Top the relish with the remaining cheese and set the remaining slices of bread on top. So it goes bread, cheese, cranberry, cheese, bread.
2. Evenly spread the top of each sandwich with about ½ tablespoon butter. Preheat the griddle or frying pan over medium/low heat. When hot, invert the sandwiches, butter side down, onto the pan. Quickly and evenly spread the tops of the sandwiches with the remaining butter. Cover and cook until the bottom is light golden and crisp, about 2½ minutes. Watch carefully. The sandwiches can burn so quickly.
3. Flip the sandwiches, cover the pan, turn the heat to low and cook until the bottom is golden brown, and the cheese is melting, another 2 to 2½ minutes. Again, watch carefully. Remove from the pan when done.
4. With a serrated knife, cut the sandwiches in half and serve immediately.

4 servings
Adapted from Carrie Brown’s The Jimtown Store Cookbook

End of Summer Tomato Tart

Tomato Cheese Tart

Pie crust for a low-sided 12-inch pizza pan, partially baked and cooled
12 ounces Swiss, Emmenthaler or Gruyere cheese (or other melting cheeses), cut in thin slices
2 or 3 large tomatoes, cut into ½-inch slices
OR
7 medium roasted tomatoes (14 halves)
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon dried basil or 3 tablespoons finely cut fresh basil (in chiffonade*)
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Coarse salt for garnish

1. Sprinkle the fresh tomato slices generously with salt and place them on a cake rack to drain for about 30 minutes. Pat them dry with paper towels.
OR
Drain the roasted tomatoes if they have been sitting in their accumulated liquid.
2. Preheat the oven to 375ºF.
3. Arrange the cheese slices, slightly overlapping, in the bottom of the cooled crust and place the drained or roasted tomatoes side by side on top. Sprinkle with a few grindings of black pepper, the dried or 1 tablespoon fresh basil and the grated Parmesan cheese.
4. Bake in the lower third of the oven for 25 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and the top of the tart is lightly browned. If the top isn’t quite brown enough, you can put the tart under the broiler for a minute or two, watching it carefully.
5. Sprinkle with a bit of coarse salt and the remaining 2 tablespoons of basil chiffonade just before serving. Serve hot or warm.

4-5 servings
Adapted from the Time Life Series Food of the World M.F.K. Fisher's The Cooking of Provincial France.
 

*To make a chiffonade, stack basil leaves on top of each other. Roll the leaves lengthwise and cut crosswise into 1/8th-inch slivers. The end result should be a pleasing tangle of basil-y goodness.

Pie Crust

For a 12-inch pizza pan with low sides:
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup plus 3 tablespoons (1 stick plus 3 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut roughly into ½-inch pieces
7 tablespoons ice water or more if necessary

1. Combine the flour and salt in the container of a food processor. Add the butter and pulse until the butter and flour are blended and the mixture looks like cornmeal, about 10 seconds.
2. Add the ice water to the mixture. Pulse until you see the mixture coming together. If it doesn’t after a couple of additional pulses, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it does.
3. Dump the contents of the container onto a sheet of plastic wrap and mold it into a ball. Flatten the ballot a disk; bring the plastic up around the dough to cover it completely. Either freeze for 10 minutes or refrigerate for 30 minutes. (You can also refrigerate the dough for a day or two or freeze it almost indefinitely.)
4. Sprinkle a smooth countertop or a large board with flour. Unwrap the dough and place it on the work surface; sprinkle the top with a little flour. If the dough is hard, let it rest a few minutes to warm up just a little.
5. Roll with light pressure, from the center out. Continue to roll, adding a small amount of flour as necessary, rotating the dough occasionally, and turning it over once or twice during the process. When the dough is about 1/8-inch thick, place your pan upside down over it to check the size. You want your circle of dough to be about 2-3 inches bigger than the pan it will go into.
6. If the size is correct, move the dough into the pan by folding the dough in half and placing the fold in the middle of the pan. Carefully unfold the dough and press it gently into the outer edge of the pan.
7. Trim the extra dough about 1 inch above the rim. Fold the dough above the rim in half (to ½ inch) and crimp with your fingers to make a decorative edge. With the scraps, you can fill in any part of the circle that’s missing.
8. Place the pan in the freezer for 10 minutes or the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Partially Baked Pie Crust

1. Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
2. Prick the dough all over with a fork to help prevent the crust from poufing. (You’ll see what I mean when it happens.)
3. Tear off two pieces of aluminum foil. Press the sheets crossed over each other to conform to the dough, especially on the sides. Weight the foil with a pile of dried beans or rice, pie weights, the bottom of a 12-inch spring-form pan or a tight-fitting skillet or saucepan—anything that will sit flat on the surface and hold the dough in place. Sometimes I just do the foil and don’t weight it with anything and it’s just fine. The pouf goes down.
4. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove from the oven; remove the weights and foil. Prick the bottom, once again, with a fork.
5. Bake for another 4-5 minutes or so until the crust is just starting to turn a light brown and the bottom looks set.
6. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack.

Adapted from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything: Simple Recipes for Great Food, Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking and M.F.K. Fisher’s The Cooking of Provincial France.

Recipes from the Garden

Summer Squash Gratin
You can serve this as a side dish. With the addition of some salami or bacon, you could also serve it as a main dish with a nice green salad.
















1¼ pounds yellow squash, cut into ½-inch squares
1 tablespoon butter or olive oil
1 small onion, finely diced
½ cup salami, prosciutto, bacon, or pancetta, coarsely chopped, optional
1 cup diced Monterey Jack or Swiss cheese (actually any melting cheese would work)
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup crème fraiche or sour cream
1 tablespoon white vermouth or dry white wine
1 teaspoon ground coriander
Generous pinch of ground nutmeg
Salt and ground pepper to taste
1½ cups fresh breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons melted butter

1. Lightly butter a 10-inch gratin dish or casserole.
2. Steam the squash until tender, about 6-8 minutes. Remove to a medium bowl.
3. Heat the butter or oil in a small skillet and add the onion and the optional meat. Cook until soft but not browned. Add to the squash along with the cheeses, the crème fraiche or sour cream, the wine, coriander, nutmeg, salt and pepper.
4. Pour into the prepared dish. Combine the breadcrumbs and melted butter; sprinkle over the top of the squash.
5. Bake at 350ºF. until bubbling and nicely browned, about 35 minutes.

4-5 servings
Adapted from Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker and Ethan Becker’s The All New All Purpose Joy of Cooking (from 1997). Earlier versions of this cookbook called this recipe Summer Squash Casserole.

Moroccan Two Reds Salad
This salad has an astonishingly psychedelic color and a unexpectedly great flavor. Almost makes you want to say "Cool, man."
















1 pound beets (3 medium), washed, stems cut off
1 pound (4 medium) tomatoes, seeded, cut into ½-inch cubes
½ medium red onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ cup chopped flat-leafed parsley
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro, mint, or oregano or a mix
2 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Place the beets in a glass or metal 8 x 8 pan or something comparable. Pour about ½-inch water into the bottom of the dish and cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil. Place in a 400ºF. oven and roast until the beets are soft, about 1 hour. You may need longer if the beets are larger. Let them cool slightly and then peel. The skins and stems should slip off easily, leaving your hands nicely pink. Cut off the beet tails.
2. Cut the beets into ½-inch cubes and place in a medium-sized bowl along with the tomatoes, onion, garlic, parsley, cilantro or other herbs.
3. Add the olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste and mix well.
4. Serve at once or chill in the fridge for up to an hour. I prefer the salad at room temperature.

Serves 6-8
Adapted from Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid’s Flatbreads & Flavors

Oven-Roasted Tomato Variation
















I tried something slightly different with a current batch of tomatoes I purchased from The Patch.
I did the usual washing, cutting in half around the equator, taking out as many of the seeds as I can with my finger, placing them close together in a glass dish and seasoning with salt and pepper. You can also use a rimmed baking sheet. I didn’t sprinkle any olive oil over them.

I roasted at 400ºF. for about 15 minutes and then lowered the temp to 300ºF. until they were much reduced in volume but still nice and squishy, about 2 or 2½ hours. Maybe more. (If you need to roast some beets--or anything else for that matter, you can do them at the same time. They’ll just take longer than at their usual temp.)

I let them cool, placed them on a serving plate and drizzled them with Maple Smoked Olive Oil and then placed a small mound of Délice de la Vallée, a combination of cows’ milk and cream and goats’ milk on top. Both products are made in Sonoma County. You can substitute any good olive oil or soft cheese.

Cauliflower Cheese

One of the challenges facing molecular gastronomy is knowing where to draw the line between innovation and tradition.

Some dishes have become classic for good reason – they taste really good just the way they are. As such, alterations can be seen as pointless frippery. Experimentation for the sake of change.

Why ‘deconstruct’ a guacamole when regular guacamole is pretty close to perfection?

For culinary innovation to be successful, the resultant dish must maintain the integrity of the inspiration, or else the point has been missed and all that remains on the plate, and on the palate, is the bitter taste of disappointment and a hunger for the original.

Even Ferran Adria et al accept that not all dishes are a success. Granted, he scores more hits than misses but I’m sure his team have an awful lot of fun along the way.

And much of what this is about is having fun.

Eating (and cooking) is one of only two pan-sensory activities in which we, as humans, engage. Why shouldn’t it delight, amuse, surprise, tease or even arouse rather than just fuel?

Balancing these twin objectives – integrity and amusement against innovation and satisfaction – is a real challenge. But one that is enormously satisfying when it works. This was my first effort

Cauliflower Cheese

Cauliflower cheese is one of those big classics. Done right it is like being wrapped in a warm duvet and watching a Frank Capra film. Bite-sized florets of cauliflower, still carrying some bite, covered in a cheesey white sauce and topped with even more melty cheese, just turning that slightly crispy/chewy shade of brown. Give me the dish and a fork. No plates or napkins necessary.

Stripped down it has three main elements – the sauce, the cheese and the cauliflower. It also has three textures – soft, chewy and slightly crunchy. Finally, there are three flavours – saltiness from the cheese, caulifloweryness from the cauliflower and a slight bitterness from the topping.

The challenge was to keep all these fundamentals in place without compromising the flavour or satisfying nature of the inspiration.

After much head scratching, musing and mulling, this is what I came up with:



Mozzarella spheres with deep-fried cauliflower and bitter chocolate and a cauliflower and Parmesan puree with Parmesan crisps.

I think it ticks all the boxes. And you’re going to want the recipe aren’t you? I shall make it so…

For more little nibbles, follow me on Twitter

Cheese on Toast

Last Friday’s ‘Nibble’ contained a brief but apparently un-ignorable reference to cheese on toast.

As such, for the past 48 hours there has been a craving working away at my psyche and only this morning did I realise what it was.

Cheese on toast is another dish of implicit simplicity that manages to delight, satisfy and comfort in equal measure. The crunch of toasted white bread is the perfect foil to the soft, gooey warmth of melted cheddar cheese.

This is fast food as I see it – food that needs little thought or effort but can make you blissfully happy within a matter of minutes. It is the culinary equivalent of a big bear hug from a close friend.


(click photo to enjoy life size)

Do you really need a recipe for this? Surely not. Toast bread. Spread thinly with butter. Add an obscenely thick layer of cheddar cheese. Sprinkle with black pepper and a few dashes of Worcestershire Sauce. Grill until the cheese is bubbling and just starting to blister into delicious brown patches.

Eat. Smile. Repeat until full.

Goes very well with a mug of tea and many episodes of Family Guy.

Part two of the pork scratching recipe is due in the next couple of days, so stay tuned.

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Coming to a screen near you...

Although not normally known for brevity, just a little one for you today. Call it a nibblet (is that I sigh of relief I heard from somewhere in the back there?).

But there is plenty to come over the next few days, so fear not.

Yesterday was day one of ‘Mission Top Secret’ which I can’t talk about but might (or might not…) involve a cookbook that I might (or might not…) be writing with two rather fantastic chefs. More to follow.

I’m off to London in about an hour to sample some genuine British buffalo mozzarella made by former F1 world champion Jody Sheckter who has since swapped his Ferrari for a tractor and turned to organic and bio-diverse farming. Very exciting indeed. I shall report back.

In the mean time how about some homework? A while back I was given this book, My Last Supper by Melanie Dunea in which she photographs and interviews fifty of the world’s top chefs about what they would choose for their, you guessed it, last supper.

In preparation for a similarly themed post, what would you chose for your last meal on earth? Who would cook it for you? And who would you like to accompany you whilst you munch through the final morsels? I'd love to know what you'd pick so get in touch to help make this a fun and truly global feature.

Need some inspiration? You can watch Charlie Rose interview Melanie along with Eric Ripert, Wylie Dufresne, Tom Aikens and Marcus Samuelsson about their last suppers here, or just here:



Also, I know there was no Friday Nibble last week, I got a little sidetracked. This week’s will more than make up for it and will even include a killer recipe for cassoulet (that should offer some clue as to the featured item).

A bientot!