Visions of Prosciutto Dancing in My Head

Dreaming about food again! This time it was part food shopping, part eating and part cooking.

In the dream, I went to visit some friends (real) who own a gourmet Italian market (not real). After the tour, where I learned those amazing Gigante beans (used in Antipasta) actually came in a can (I learned this years ago, not sure why this came back to the surface now), it was time for lunch.  The phrase "kid in a candy store" could not have been more accurate.

Burrata Cheese

Deciding a sandwich was in order, we began with fresh Ciabatta rolls and added some imported Prosciutto and Burrata cheese. If you've never had Burrata, it's like an incredibly creamy Mozzarella. It has two layers to it - the outer layer being more like a traditional fresh Mozzarella and the center being a combination of Mozzarella curds and cream. It's an odd choice for a sandwich - almost like making meatballs out of Kobe beef. Why would you take a meat that's so tender and grind it up to make it tougher?? And yet somehow it works. The same happened with the Burrata in my dream.

The next question was what sort of 'dressing' should I put on it? The obvious choice would have been a pesto but I wasn't looking for obvious. The dream shifted to me being in the kitchen, food processor in front of me.

The creation became a spread made from Italian anchovy fillets, garlic, capers, a little Parmesan cheese, olive oil and lemon juice. My mouth waters now just thinking about this! In the light of day I'm afraid this spread may be a touch salty with the already salty Prosciutto but I think if I add something like Arugula or other peppery green to the sandwich, it will help the balance.

Sadly, I don't remember getting to eat the creation in the dream but this is one I will most definitely be making while awake. 

Enjoy!

Healthy and Hearty In a Hurry

When the first chill of Autumn arrives, many of us have visions of slow-cookers and hearty stews dancing in our heads. And yes, these are definitely needed in my arsenal for cold-weather days. However, what do you do when you want something warm and comforting but it’s Wednesday night and you don’t get home from the office until 8:00pm?

How about Braised Kale with Prosciutto and White Beans in less than 15 minutes? Yes, it IS possible!

1 Tbs Olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

16 oz Kale (I had a bag of pre-cut/washed Kale. Look in your produce aisle)

1 (15 oz) can tomato puree (could use diced, whole, or stewed – whatever you have)

1 (15 oz) can Cannellini beans (kidney, small white or even black beans could work!), rinsed thoroughly

2 slices prosciutto, diced

Heat olive oil over medium high heat in a large Dutch oven. Add garlic and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add Kale and tomatoes. Stir to coat. Cover, reduce heat to simmer for about 7 minutes. Stir in rinsed beans, replace lid and simmer for an additional 3 minutes or until Kale is wilted. Stir in prosciutto and serve.

This could have been an even heartier one-pot meal by starting the dish by sautéing onions, garlic and browning 2 chicken sausage links (cut into ½ inch pieces) before adding the kale, tomatoes and beans. If omitting Prosciutto, add salt and pepper to taste when adding the beans.

Enjoy!

Ring Around the Yolk

Recently, my friend’s 6-year old daughter was at my house. She was hungry so I served her an egg salad sandwich I’d made earlier that morning. As she’s scarfing it down she declares, “I like hard-boiled eggs but I don’t like the gray part.”

“Gray part?” I ask, puzzled and a little bit horrified.

“Yeah,” she said, “there’s the yellow part, the gray part* and the white part.”

“Honey, hard-boiled eggs should not have a gray part. Who is making these for you?”

Of course she refused to answer that question. While her mom, a dear friend of mine, is a great cook (I’m still hoping she was not the one making the eggs although I don’t think I ever flat out asked her) I thought it would be helpful to give a little tutorial on a fool-proof way to make hard-boiled eggs.

*Note: A gray or sometimes greenish-brown ring around the yolk is a sure fire indication that your eggs have been overcooked.

It used to be that eggs were eggs were eggs. But now there are so many different kinds! Brown, white, organic, free-range, cage-free… each yolk will have a slightly different color and flavor.  Which you choose is completely a subjective thing – my only tip here is that when cooking a recipe that calls for eggs, unless it says otherwise, when it calls for “2 eggs” they’re talking about Large eggs. Not X-Large or Jumbo. 

Now, onto the hard-boiling… This technique works for anywhere from 1-12 eggs.

- Gently place eggs at the bottom of a medium saucepan

- Fill with cool water until eggs are just covered

- Bring to a boil over medium-high heat (this could take 10-12 minutes, depending on your stove output). You may cover the pot while waiting for the water to come to a boil as it can speed up the process but note that it makes it a bit more challenging to notice when the water begins to boil

- Once you see the water just come to a boil, remove the pot from the heat, cover the pot and let sit for exactly 14 minutes

- Carefully transfer eggs from the pot to a colander and discard the water from the pot

- Run eggs (in colander) under cold water until the egg feels cool when you wrap your hand around it (2-4 minutes)

- Whether you’re going to eat the eggs immediately or store them, a tip is to peel them as soon as they’re cool. It’s MUCH easier to get the shell off

- Remember to rinse the peeled eggs to ensure there’s no rogue shell clinging

- Store what you’re not using right away in a lidded container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

This will give you a perfectly hard-boiled egg with only yellow and white. No gray ring!

Some ideas for hard-boiled eggs:

* Egg salad: the possibilities here are numerous from simple mayo, salt and pepper to smoked tea soaked egg salad to dill, capers and mustard

* Deviled eggs: basically taking the yolks, making any of the egg salads above and spooning the mashed yolks back into the halved whites

* Cut them up and include them in green salads for added protein

* Eat them plain with a sprinkling of any kind of salt – eggs are a great canvas for playing here. I often use smoked salt or lavender salt (see photo above)

Enjoy!

Scallop-ed Edges

I’m a shellfish freak. We’ve seen evidence to that love from an earlier post…er… Love Haiku to Softshell Crab here on this blog.

One of the most underrated and underused mollusks is the Scallop. Whether you pronounce it with the New England “skahhlop” (rhymes with ‘Fall) or the New York long-a’d “skaalop” (rhymes with ‘Al’), I strongly recommend you indulge in what I like to call Nature’s Candy.

Scallops come in two basic varieties: Sea Scallop are the larger variety which can get up to 8” in diameter and when shelled can resemble a marshmallow like you’d use for S’mores. They’re sweet, tender and very mild in flavor. Bay Scallops are the smaller version, about half the size of a Sea Scallop, more in line with a mini-marshmallow. In my opinion, the Bay Scallops, which can be hard to find fresh, are worth the hunt. These little nuggets can add the perfect balance of texture, sweetness and delicate flavor to any dish or simply be a star on their own.

Yesterday, I was perusing the fish counter at my local Fairway Market trying to decide what to make for dinner. I skim the beautiful Wild Salmon, Swordfish Steaks and crab legs but nothing was floating my boat… until I saw the Bay Scallops. At $9.99/lb, I found a winner.

Since I was just cooking for myself, I asked for a quarter to a third of a pound (Side note: When ordering anything from a counter, please be kind to the person working – saying “4oz” will drive them crazy. They only know the weight based on the scale in front of them. 0.25 is a quarter pound – 4oz might possibly make them sneeze on your food. Also, if you ask for a third of a pound and it comes out 0.37lb, don’t freak out. While they may have developed a good feel for how much something weighs, they’re not magicians. I’ll save more of this rant for another day). When the scale said 0.27, I said “perfect!” Quick calculations showed that I just paid about $2.70 for an amazing treat. Once again, who says good food has to be expensive??

Already with a few lemons in my cart, and thinking about what I had in the house, I was already formulating a plan of attack for dinner…

 

Lemony Angel Hair Pasta with Bay Scallops

Serves 1 (can easily be doubled or more)

• A Quarter size bunch of Angel Hair pasta, reserving ¼ cup of pasta water
• ½ cup all purpose flour
• ½ cup Italian seasoned dry bread crumbs
• ¼ lb Bay Scallops, rinsed with cold water
• 1 clove garlic, finely minced
• Juice of 1 lemon
• ¼ cup dry white wine
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1 Tbs butter
• 2 Tbs olive oil, divided

- Put a pot of water on the stove to boil for the pasta.

- Meanwhile, place flour with a pinch each of salt and pepper in a plastic zippered baggie and add the scallops. Close the baggie and gently shake the bag, coating the scallops.

- In a large non-stick skillet heat 1 Tbs oil over medium heat and add breadcrumbs, tossing until lightly toasted. Transfer to a plate.

- When the water has come to a boil add a generous pinch of salt and the pasta to the pot. The pasta I had took 3 minutes so I knew how much time I had to cook the scallops.

- Add remaining 1 Tbs oil and butter to the same pan that had the breadcrumbs and heat over medium heat. Add garlic and scallops – don’t be afraid if you see foam. That’s a combination of the butter and flour doing its work. Gently move the scallops around the pan, turning for about 30 seconds. Add lemon juice and wine and turn the heat down to medium-low. Season with salt and pepper. From the time you added the garlic and scallops, the whole dish should take about 3 minutes.

- Drain the pasta, reserving about ¼ cup of pasta water. Add drained pasta to the pain with the scallops and gently toss. Add some of the pasta water if the mixture becomes too thick.

- Transfer mixture to a large bowl or plate and top with toasted breadcrumbs.

I happened to have a flat-leaf parsley plant in my kitchen so at the last moment I snipped a few leaves and added them for a bit of freshness and color.

Remember, while I’m a huge fan of experimenting with seafood and mollusks, be sure you trust your supplier.

Enjoy!

Goodbye to an Old Friend

When most kids go off to college, they're sent off with cases of Ramen noodles and jars of peanut butter. When I went off to school, my most prized possession was a brand new, shiny, fancy Screwpull(r) corkscrew.  This simple little tool got me through more triumphs, heartbreak, tears and joyful moments than most of my closest friends and family.

After 20 years and hundreds and hundreds of bottles, my dear friend has had its fill.  It takes with it a little piece of my heart.

So long, old friend. Thanks for the memories.

My (Self-Assigned) Tortilla Challenge

Living alone, I often find I’m wasting bread and other baked goods. I can never seem to finish the loaf or package before it goes bad. This week I bought a package of Whole Wheat Tortillas and was determined to have fun with it and finish every last one. I succeeded! Here are my favorite uses from this week...

You'll notice in each of these favorites, I used a product differently from its original intended use. Think outside the box! For example: just because a product says, "dip" doesn't mean it can't be used as a spread.

In addition, I used or reused ingredients that were on hand. After hosting a BBQ over the weekend, here are the ingredients I had:

* 10-inch (Medium) Whole Wheat Tortillas
* Trader Joe's Fancy Shredded Lite Mexican Blend: Light Sharp Cheddar, Lite Monterey Jack, Lite Asadero and Lite Queso Blanco.) Any shredded cheese works!
* Greens: raw Spinach, steamed kale
* Trader Joe's Back Bean Dip, etc. (many grocery stores have a version of this)
* Leftover shredded chicken from pulled BBQ Chicken sandwiches made over the weekend (I'd left some of the chicken sauce-less)
* Grilled eggplant, leftover from the weekend
* Fresh Mozzarella, sliced
* Sundried tomatoes (dry, not in oil)
* Prepared Pesto

Quesadilla 

You can’t go wrong with a Quesadilla. The possibilities are endless! With a few minor variations of ingredients I had on hand, I actually made these several times during the week.

Version 1: 

I actually ate this for breakfast one day!

- Spread a thin layer of Black Bean Spread on the bottom of one Tortilla
- Place in a non-stick skillet sprayed with cooking spray over medium heat
- Sprinkle shredded cheese over the Black Bean Spread
- Add a handful of raw spinach Let cook 2-3 minutes Carefully fold tortilla in half, to create a half-moon, taking care to avoid the shredded cheese from escaping
- Using the back of a spatula, gently press down to help the cheese stick to the tortilla and other ingredients.  - Transfer to a plate, let cool for 1 minute then cut in half.

Version 2: 

- Spread a thin layer of Black Bean Spread on one side of two Tortillas
- Place with the spread face up in a non-stick skillet sprayed with cooking spray over medium heat Sprinkle cheese over the Black Bean Spread
- Add a generous handful of steamed kale
- Add about 1/4 cup of shredded chicken
- Add another layer of cheese and the other tortilla, this time with the black bean spread face down.
- Let cook 2-3 minutes
- Carefully place a large plate on top of the pan, turn upside down so the quesadilla is on the plate and carefully transfer the quesadilla back to the pan.
- Let cook an additional 2-3 minutes.
- Using a spatula, transfer to a plate, let cool for 1 minute then cut in quarters (I use a pizza cutter).

Grilled Veggie Wrap 

The rest of the package of spinach used in the Quesadillas was starting to wilt in the refrigerator so I steamed it to give it new life. Make sure to squeeze it dry over the sink before using

Spread some of the prepared pesto on the bottom of the tortilla. Layer eggplant, fresh mozzarella slices, sundried tomatoes and steamed spinach in the center of the tortilla, leaving space around the edges.
Fold up one end, then the sides and finally fold the top down.

Eat as is or cut in half on a diagonal.

I'm proud to say I not only finished the whole package that week but but also added some new regular meals to my arsenal.

Enjoy!