Garlic White Beans

Have you ever eaten something that was so incredibly simple, and yet so very tasty and addictive?

Well, this is one of those dishes.

I was having dinner at Supper in the East Village a couple of weeks ago, and instead of butter or even a bowl of olive oil for dipping, the bread basket came with this delicious pile of garlicky, slightly spicy white beans, slightly drenched in olive oil and speckled with parsley.

It was delicious, and I decided immediately that I had to recreate it at home for both snacking and entertaining purposes.

I started by sautéing 4-5 cloves of grated garlic on medium-low heat in regular olive oil with a healthy pinch of red pepper flakes. (Go with your comfort level of heat. I like things with only a slight warmth in the back of the throat so I probably only use about 2 pinches. If you like spicy, this dish can take it.)

Cook for 2 minutes, or until the garlic is fragrant and slightly golden.

Drain and rinse two cans of white beans.

You can use whatever beans you prefer: cannellini, northern beans, navy beans... as long as they are a mild white bean, it should be fine.

I place them in the pan with the garlic and red pepper flakes and add a splash of water to help cook and soften the beans for another 3-4 minutes.

(I don't like too much bite in my beans. If you prefer a firm texture, skip this step.)

Wash some fresh parsley and finely chop it, about 1/3-1/2 a cup as you prefer.

I went with about 1/3 of a cup.

Add to the pot of beans, salt to taste, and stir to combine.

Off the heat, finish the beans with a few glugs of good fruity olive oil.

Optional: a spritz of lemon right before serving perks up the dish as well.

This is delicious on its own, or on toasted ciabatta for crostini for a dinner or party. 

You could also purée this before adding the parsley (but with the good olive oil) and use it as a dip.

It's very versatile, very healthy (packed with protein and fiber and only good fat!) and VERY addictive.

It also goes brilliantly with prosecco!

Mushroom Mac n' Cheese Cups

6 boxes of elbow macaroni later...

Mushrooms, both baby bellas and porcini, sautéed in butter and sherry with dried thyme.

Lots and lots of rounds of cupcake pans and muffin cups.

Note: environmentally friendly muffin cups to not stand up well to moisture buildup or reheating...

Whoops.

For the actual mixture I used 1/2 cup of butter, 2/3 cup of flour to make the roux. Then add 6 cups of milk and stir until thickening.

Add 3 cups of your favorite cheese. I used a mixture of sharp cheddar and gruyere.

Season with salt and pepper to taste, add 1 TBSP of truffle oil, and add cooked pasta (about 2 boxes).

Toss in the mushrooms and stir to encorporate.

If you're lucky, you'll have a friend to help you ladle out each portion of mac n' cheese into the muffin cups. Then bake them at 350º for 15-20 minutes.

If you have the patience, add a smidge of butter and bread crumbs on top of each cup before baking to create more of a crust.

Repeat the process three more times if you're feeding over 100 people...

I could easily have gone a much fancier route with this mac and cheese,  maybe combining goat cheese and herbed alouette for a more grown-up palate, but fancy cheese costs a lot more than standard sharp cheddar, so I just used the mushrooms and truffle oil to step it up a bit.

But it was tasty!

Slow Roasted Caprese Skewers

This is incredibly straight-forward, but also usually a hit at parties.

All you really need is patience.

The only way these would be easier to make would be if you used the tomatoes whole and raw, in which case I would have just called these Caprese Skewers.

Unfortunately for me, the only tomatoes I could find in late May were still largely an under-ripe orange color and not very sweet. To combat this I sliced them all in half, spread them out on a sheet tray, sprinkled them lightly with both salt and sugar, drizzled them with olive oil, and then slow-roasted them at 200º (F) for two hours.

The resulting tomatoes will be sweeter and have a richer flavor, akin to sun-dried tomatoes, but still a bit juicy. Then it's just an assembly line of tomato half, bocconcini mozzarella (which I marinated overnight in good olive oil, salt, dried oregano, and some leftover oil from my marinated sun-dried tomatoes, but plain would be delicious as well) a torn piece of basil, and capped with the other half of tomato.

Super simple bites that are tasty at room temperature.

Note: you do not want to make these more than 24 hrs ahead of time, especially if you are using fresh tomatoes. The mozzarella needs to be refrigerated before serving, but if raw tomatoes spend too much time in a refrigerator they become mealy and unpleasant to eat. If you are roasting the tomatoes as I did here, refrigerating overnight should be fine.

Just don't serve the skewers cold from the fridge.

Ginger Chicken Skewers, for 130.

This would be one of the items I made for a friend's wedding recently, but if you're having a few people over for a cocktail party, these would be fairly simple hors d'oeuvre or part of a buffet meal that should be a pretty tasty hit.

This also harkens to my earlier comment about how 40 lbs of chicken breasts can be broken down into roughly 340 satay-style skewers.

Don't forget to soak your skewers in water for about 20 minutes before cooking or they may scorch.

And yes, it takes rather a few hours to break down 40 pounds of bulk chicken breasts, but to give you an idea, each chicken breast should make about 4-5 skewers.

Marinated chicken cubes, ready for skewering

I used the same recipe that I did in my Tangy Asian Chicken/Pork dinner, only multiplied to fit in two giant stock pots to marinate overnight.

That's a lot of soy sauce, honey, garlic, and fresh ginger.

(Thank you, Corrie, for all the grating help!)

Even in larger quantities, I stick with the measurement of equal parts honey and soy sauce, and equal parts garlic and ginger, respectively.

Ready to cook!

If you are making this for just a few people (say, 20-30) I would suggest broiling the skewers for 5-6 minutes total so the chicken remains juicy and tender.

As I was making hundreds, I baked them in a 350º oven for about 18 minutes, knowing they were going to be reheated later and would probably dry out a bit by the second heating.

I just hoped the flavors from the marinade would make up for the slightly dry texture.

Round 1 of about 4

If making this for a smaller group of people, I would suggest reducing the marinade down to a thick dipping sauce for the skewers, but only if you rinsed your chicken well before marinating. If there was any protein "goo" on the chicken your marinade will look like curds and whey. Gross.

An easier option is just to make a second batch of the marinade and reduce the sauce with no worries of contamination or questionable consistency.

Any leftovers you have would be tastily repurposed in a meal like this Quinoa Satay I posted a little while back, but this time you would use chicken stock instead of beef stock.

Either way, it's some tasty chicken!

Paté & Caramelized Onion Crostini

You know those amazingly decadent and creamy crostini that you pay $7 or more a plate for at little wine bars and tapas joints? Well, you can make them at home in no time, save some cash, and seriously impress your friends. Just make sure to purchase a decent quality foie-gras for your base.

(I very much like just about all of the one's made by D'Artagnan, be they duck, chicken, truffled or made with port. They are all high quality.)

Warning: All pics in this post are horrible.

Start by caramelizing some sliced onion in a bit of olive oil over medium-low heat. You can add a pinch of sugar once they soften if you really want them to be sweet, but I find they come out just fine when left to their own sugars.

While your onions are slowing sweating and browning, slice up the crusty bread you prefer, drizzle with olive oil, and toast it under the broiler, keeping a close eye on it so it doesn't burn.

Don't forget to toast the second side of the bread!

Once your onions have caramelized, set them aside to cool slightly, and start preparing your crostini.

Simply spread room-temperature paté on each piece of bread, and then top with a sprinkling of onions, however many make you happy.

(And yes, there is totally a bite taken out of some of those crostini before I could take a picture.

I wonder who did that...?)

Incredibly simple to make and with big flavor pay off. Paté may be a luxury item, but if you're going to splurge on it, this can make it go a long way for a small gathering of friends, and make you appear quite the classy host(ess).

Celebrate!

Shiitake Mushroom Crostini

Yes, LOST ended last night, and we stayed up late watching it via DVR so we could skip the commercials, but I'm not going to get into a tangent on television that we were obsessed with and which we now must let go of because that wouldn't be very relevant. Only it is because it just happened, and it ties in to a post I don't think I ever posted about how I like to read books that are a series instead of solo novels because I get caught up in the characters and don't like to say goodbye to them after just one book. (If it's a good book, anyway.)
 And I shall just say that I was actually OK with how it all ended (yes, a few minor hitches, but I'm choosing to cling to the happy glow instead of picking it apart until I'm all CrankyPants about it), and was really happy because I always wanted Hugo to be the one. Yay! Also, I have decided the hubs needs to dress up as Nestor/Richard Alpert for Halloween, because he is just so pretty. So very, very pretty.

Hmm?
Oh. Right. Food.

This crostini came about completely by accident. In planning the Mother's Day Menu and scouring the fridge before hitting the store, I came across a package of pre-sliced shiitake mushrooms in the vegetable drawer, and so decided I could easily turn them into something tasty.

First I sautéed the shiitake mushrooms in a pan with about 2 TBSP olive oil and 1 TBSP of butter.  (Try not to crowd the pan or your mushrooms will just come out rubbery instead of tender and slightly browned.) 
Cooking those until beginning to brown, I then added about half a minced shallot (Go for garlic if making this for someone who is not allergic to garlic. I'd use one large or two small cloves, grated into a paste.) salt and about a teaspoon of dried thyme that I crushed between my fingers before sprinkling in.
(I would have preferred fresh, but I was working with a strange pantry.)

After another minute or so of cooking I deglazed the pan with white wine, (maybe 1/2 cup but I was eyeballing it) and let that cook down for a few minutes. Once most of the wine had cooked away I added about 1/3 cup of heavy cream, and again let that cook down, maybe another 4 minutes. You'll know it's ready when the pan doesn't have much of a noticeable sauce in it anymore. Rather, just the reduced wine-cream sauce coating the mushrooms.

Assembly:
On the toasted bread I spread a cheese akin to St. André, but any slightly tangy spreadable cheese would do. (You don't want the flavor of the cheese to overwhelm the subtlety of the shitake mushrooms. The cheese was really just glue with which to keep the mushrooms on the toast. Also, excuse to eat cheese.) I then spread the mushroom mixture on top and set them in the oven for a few minutes, just to make sure the cheese and the mushrooms melted together a tiny bit.

If making these mushrooms for crostini again, I would substitute 1/4 cup brandy or cognac in place of the white wine in the deglazing stage. I think it would add much more flavor to the dish, but as I was making this off the cuff, I only decided that at the end. When tasting in the pan, the mushrooms were delicious and I did a little happy dance in a circle. With the bread as an added component tho, I craved a little more zing from the mushrooms. (It could also have just been the particular white wine I was using. It was a very light and fresh white from around Venice.) 
However, if just using these mushrooms as a pasta sauce, the white wine should suffice, but then I would use a bit more wine and cream (maybe another quarter cup each) so there would be more sauce to coat the pasta.

Either way, very, very tasty mushrooms.

I think I shall be making these again later this week when the hubs heads to Philly...

(mushrooms being one of the Things Mike Won't Eat)

Chicken & Prosciutto Crostini

As promised, I am posting the various crostini recipes that I made on Mother's Day. I'm starting with this one because it's a lovely weekend, the weather finally seems to be acting like it ought (kind of), and these would make a lovely picnic snack in the park.

Chicken & Prosciutto Crostini : This one is incredibly simple.
All you need:
Cooked chicken breast
Sliced prosciutto
Fig jam
Brie, or similar creamy spreadable cheese.
(If you instead choose something like fontina for more flavor, you'll want to place the crostini in the oven to melt a bit before adding the jam and prosciutto.)

Start out by cooking your chicken breasts, the details of how to do so perfectly can be read in this post. I seasoned mine lightly with salt and fresh thyme, a few shallots, and used a splash of white wine to deglaze the pan, but only enough to pick up the brown bits. Not enough for a sauce.

Set those aside to rest.

Me assembling crostini in my parents kitchen, wearing an ancient apron I found in a cabinet.

Thank you, Hubs, for taking SUCH a flattering photo...

To Assemble:

On your toasted bread (I used a rustic ciabatta) slather a decent amount of brie, or other mild creamy cheese. Next, place slices of chicken breast on the cheese. On top of the chicken, spread some fig jam. Then place a slice of prosciutto (or two) on the top.

Both the cheese and the fig jam work as glue to keep everything together. If you cannot find fig jam, you could substitute something like apricot jam and have a similar result. Go nuts!

This crostini is sweet, yet salty, and savory from the chicken. It's quite tasty and easy to serve at room temperature. Or in the park!

Go to the park.

Seriously. 

Step away from your computer and GO OUTSIDE!!!

I'm taking my own advice.

Toodles.

Mother's Day Meal

My family celebrated Mother's Day a week late this year due to scheduling conflicts, but as the weather cooperated and made a lovely weekend for pampering and snoozing on the porch, I think it was even nicer a week late.

For the past few years, at the request of my mother, my brother and I have gone to NJ to cook her a nice dinner. This year the dinner request was hors d'oeuvres. A meal made entirely from hors d'oeuvres is kind of heavenly in my view. Or, it used to be. After 6 hours of cooking, there is a little tarnish on the halo. But it was a delicious meal, and had the added bonus of being able to be eaten with one hand. (The aforementioned shoulder surgery left her with only the use of her left arm, so anything involving both a knife and fork was basically out.)

I started with dessert, since the chocolate would need time to set.

I melted a combination of semi-sweet and 60% cacao chocolate in a double boiler and then dipped some fresh strawberries, placing them on parchment paper to dry, and giving them a couple hours in the fridge to set fully. Super simple dessert, but also one of the more perfect pairings of flavor.

There was also a cheese plate for snacking pleasure.

Top right: Roomano, a butterscotch-y aged gouda relative. (Or comparable to gouda)

Bottom: rabbit paté, purportedly made with cognac and prunes, tho I swear I found some pistachios in there, and that was in the description of the pheasant paté, not the rabbit. Hmm... 

Either way, it was very tasty. Especially when placed atop the following:

Top left: Cremeux de Bourgogne. Perfection.

Center: St. Marcellin, one of my mom's favorites.

These were the various crostini and hors d'oeuvres that I made for the meal. 

From the top left: shrimp wrapped in pancetta. Self-explanitory.

Top right: goat cheese with store-bought olive and red pepper tapenade

(I can't believe it took me 6 hrs to do this. I guess maybe only 4 1/2 if I discount "down time" but still, it was a long afternoon.  It probably would have gone much faster had I used more than one pan, but instead I made every dish one at a time. After that, I am not ashamed of the little help from the store that I used.)

The recipes for the other crostini will be forthcoming, as that would just be a lot to put in one post.

The dinner was rounded out by some homemade crab cakes, made by my brother. I'm not big on crab meat, but my mother enjoyed them, and considering that the meal was tailored to what she would enjoy, I'd say that it was a success, and I can just suck it up. 

But next year, Mom, we're cooking a regular meal.

love, your children.