The holidays can be a difficult period, what with the unending parade of dense and rich foods. I desperately needed a break from it yesterday. I started removing cans from the pantry and rummaging through the refrigerator and this is what I came up with. I will just call it a warm pasta salad. It is fresh and full of convenient and easy to prepare vegetables. The bottom line is that you chop up some veggies and toss them in the warm pot out of which you just poured the boiling pasta. Thus, it is a bit warm, but not hot. It has a simple lemon vinaigrette and is topped with feta. I bet you have already thought of a million ways to bend this salad to your will. Add tuna or some leftover turkey to make it a little more substantial.

So start a pot to boil, and get ready to do a little chopping. A few easy meals like this and you may be ready for some for more holiday feasts before you know it. Save the leftovers in the fridge for an easy lunch.

Preparation: (serves 4)

1 medium carrot, peeled and julienned

1 can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

1 can garbanzo beans, drained

1 cup baby spinach leaves, cut into thin slices

1 stalk celery, diced

¼ teaspoon lemon zest

½ pound farfalle pasta

¼ cup lemon juice

⅔ cup grapeseed oil (or olive oil)

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper

¼ teaspoon sugar

½ cup feta cheese, crumbled

Boil pasta in a pot of boiling water for 11 minutes. Meanwhile, chop the carrot, artichoke hearts, spinach and celery. Zest a bit of the lemon before cutting it to juice it for the dressing. (I often forget to zest before I halve my lemon and there is nothing more annoying than trying to zest a cut lemon.)

Mix the lemon juice and oil in a bowl with the salt and pepper and whisk to combine.

Drain the pasta through a colander. While the pasta drains, place the beans, and all of the remaining ingredients, except the dressing and feta in the empty (hot) stock pot. Mix in the drained pasta and half of the dressing. Stir to combine the ingredients thoroughly. Taste and add more dressing, as needed.

Season with additional salt and pepper. Pour the warm salad onto a serving platter and top with the crumbled feta. Serve immediately with garlic bread.

Note: Julienne is a very loose term here. Generally, cut them into long and skinny bits. No cooking school teacher in the world would call the cuts I made to that poor carrot “julienne.” It is just the nearest descriptive term. Don’t get hung up on perfect carrots as it utterly defeats the point of such a simple throw-down meal. Also, you should be happy to know that I have confirmed, yet again, that julienne is not only a noun, but a verb. What I did to my spinach might loosely be called “chiffonade” but this is hardly the time or place to get all technical. We are tired…just cause it to be smaller.

Also, while a classic vinaigrette has a 3:1 oil to acid ratio, I rarely fall right on the mark. But, know that when you are putting together a dressing, you really need no recipe…just shoot for that general ratio of oil to acid (citrus, vinegar, or a combination) and then start tasting. Depending on the quality and unique attributes of the ingredients you are using, adjustments will be in order. Just have a little fun with it and customize ’til your heart is content.

I was just spending some time thinking about the fact that this is a big grilling weekend. In fact, I’ve been a little obsessed about barbecuing lately, because I will be going to Foodways Texas BBQ Camp next month. It is a three day immersion study into the art of smoke and fire in College Station, Texas. I figured that I needed to warm up a little and I’ve spent the last week playing with my Grandpa Virgil’s BBQ sauce recipe, canning the sauce, and getting my Patio Pal smoker in fighting form. That name sounds like it might be a cousin of the Weber, but in fact it is a rather gigantic steel barrel smoker with a fire box and double smoking compartments. It was made in Wichita Falls and I gave it to my husband Pitts back before we were married. I have hit a few home-runs in the gift department, and this is one of the memorable ones. Anyway, it is a rather serious and manly object. And for years, I’ve gladly left the workings up to Pitts. “Here is meat, man…make fire and smoke it.” I would handle procurement and salads and sides and he would “man” the smoker. And we spent many years sitting out behind our house on the other side of town, pre-kids, drinking beer and smoking wonderful meats, and generally goofing off after work and on the weekends.

Now we have moved from that place and time, and we have kids and we don’t drink beer and one of our favorite smoking buddies, so to speak, has died. I cleaned out the monster smoker this past weekend and scraped out a little, though not all, of the gunk on the inside of it. It was not cleaning, so much as some light housekeeping. I still don’t know the difference between funk and excellent seasoning for a smoker but I’m erring on the side of the possibility that it is perfectly seasoned until someone who knows more than I says otherwise. But, as I did it, I thought that there were probably still remnants of those very nights and days stuck in the black walls of that steel pit. And it made me a little sad and happy, in that smiling through a tear or two kind of a way. I don’t miss the long days drinking beer in the backyard, really I don’t. But we do miss Steave and we do, every once in awhile, miss the absolute freedom of those times, if only for an hour or two. And there it all was, memories burnt into the inside of a cooker.

I got a little bit excited about firing it up again. It has been a long time since we threw a brisket on our smoker, and tomorrow I will be doing just that. One of many differences will be that Pitts can only act in an advisory capacity. I am going to learn how to barbecue meat. I’ve read Robb Walsh’s Legends of Texas Barbecue from cover to cover. I’ve got Elizabeth Engelhardt’s Republic of Barbecue dog-eared and ready for more reading while the smoke wafts through the air of Bluffview, likely making some of my neighbors either very jealous or very perturbed, or both. I’ll have one particular neighbor over and bribe her with jars of BBQ sauce to tell me her stories about the inside workings of an honest-to-God barbecue joint. Tomorrow is the first day of hands-on cramming for barbecue camp.

Now, this will be barbecuing as opposed to grilling. I suppose I never really thought about the distinction much before my recent studies. But this peach recipe is for “grilling” peaches. You can even do it inside on a grill pan which distinguishes the act very clearly from barbecuing, which according to Robb, must involve smoke and wood, unless you are in prison. In that case, there is dispensation for cooking in an industrial prison oven.  But, as I pondered my outdoor cooking, of all sorts, which I will do this weekend, I remembered this little jewel of a recipe and thought you might like to see it. I have done a similar treatment with nectarines in a cast iron skillet, but this is all about peaches and honey. And if you live near me, I hope it is all about Texas peaches, Texas honey, and Texas pecans. I do believe that if you search just a little bit, you will even find some Texas Greek-style yogurt. Just make sure it is a firm variety so that you can make a little scoop as opposed to a puddle.

I developed this simple recipe to appear on the Marcus Samuellson website last year. I have a habit of not adequately promoting such a coup because it might appear to be braggadoccio, and now I realize that you…my reason for doing this…may have missed it altogether. That has been a hard thing for me with Pie. Self-promotion has never been my strong suit. I far prefer to just sit back and make myself available for compliments. It doesn’t work so great in this field. Thus, the bevy of “sharing” buttons under each post for Facebook and Twitter and Pinterest. But here it is now. And actually, the timing is perfect.

And it is an easy, sweet little treat that really sings about the season. And if your peaches aren’t ready yet, they will be soon I hope, wherever you are.

Grilled Peaches with Yogurt and Honey:

Preparation (2 servings)

1 peach, cut in half and pit removed

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 heaping tablespoons Greek yogurt

2 tablespoons local honey

2 tablespoons chopped pecans

Lightly coat the flesh and skin of the peach with olive oil. Heat a grill pan over a medium flame. Place the peach halves, cut side down, onto the hot grill pan. Allow the peaches to sit on the grill pan for 8 to 10 minutes or until the peaches have grill marks or a nice golden brown appearance on the cut side. Reduce the heat if they are browning too quickly. Turn the peaches and allow them to cook on the skin side for approximately 5 minutes more. Remove the peaches from the pan and allow them to cool briefly.

(You can also prepare this on an outdoor grill. Simply cook them on the cooler side of the grill and watch them carefully to make sure they are not cooking too quickly. You want them to generally keep their shape and not turn into mush. Softened is good…burnt mush not good…burnt and uncooked not good.)

To plate the dessert, place one peach half on each dish. Place a scoop of yogurt in the hollow of each peach half. Drizzle honey over the yogurt, the peaches and on the dish around the peaches. Sprinkle chopped pecans onto each dish in and around the honey.

Serve immediately.

Notes:

Other great recipes that come to mind for a eve of Summer cookout or picnic are Watermelon and Goat Cheese Bites, Creamy Avocado Dip, Key Lime Pie, Sunshine Slush, Blackberry Lime Popsicles, andOrange Julius Popcicles. And I certainly didn’t mean to imply that one need be imprisoned to have an excuse to make or eat oven brisket. That was just a matter of definitions and barbecue culture. I actually have aterrific oven cooked (though not “barbecue” brisket) recipe that you should look into if you haven’t the energy, time or desire to fire up a smoker. Serve it with Blue Cheese Coleslaw and enjoy!

An important closing thought:

My heartfelt condolences for those families for whom Memorial Day weekend is a time of grief and painful remembrances. Thank you to those families who have given the most that can be given to a nation. And, I’m sorry for your loss.

A special thanks to all of you who are serving or who have retired from the services, and our police officers and firefighters and other first responders. And to the moms, dads, sisters brothers, children and spouses of those still serving, thank you to you as well.

Lobster seems to be one of those rarefied experiences that we reserve for only the most special occasions. In fact, I think we often overlook its potential because we assume that it is out of reach…a crazy indulgence. While it is certainly an indulgence, it can be a really wonderful addition to a holiday party, and as an appetizer, a little can go a long way.

I have been around and around over how to best use lobster. I have bought tails, and whole lobsters, and grappled with what a big undertaking it can be. Because, if you are going to use lobster, you definitely want to optimize the experience and make this premium ingredient shine.

I’m in Texas. Let’s face it, I am not a lobster natural, if you will. But that also means that I had to start from the beginning to learn how to use it best. Here is what I learned: Lobster is best cooked immediately. Buying tails out of a refrigerator case is not necessarily optimal. Tails are brilliantly simple, though, I’ll admit. Live whole lobsters allow you to cook them live or just after dispatching the little fellow. This is optimal, but it is also a big production.

I asked a local fishmonger what he would do if his goal was to use lobster for a lobster salad or a traditional lobster roll. His response surprised me. He pulled out a flat, frozen package of lobster meat and told me he would use the frozen meat every time for these. If we lived in Maine, it would be a different story, but I am a landlubber in beef country, and being able to buy high quality Maine lobster meat that was flash-frozen immediately after it was pulled from the ocean and cooked is a really wonderful option.

Plus, if you are anything like me, getting ready for a party, small or large, has as much to do with rounding up Legos and hiding piles of mail and laundry in every available closet as it does cooking. So three cheers for high quality, frozen lobster meat.

The meat I bought was from the claws and body of the lobster, and came in nice sized chunks. I bought a pound of lobster meat which fit perfectly into a pint container. I suppose it would take several whole lobsters to accomplish this amount of picked and chopped meat.

My goal was to create as simple a lobster salad as possible, similar to what you would find in a lobster roll. My ingredient list was simple: good mayonnaise, a little celery, a bit of lemon juice, salt and pepper. Period. Because these are appetizers, I needed a vehicle for the salad, and I chose little rounds of puff pastry. Find puff pastry made with all butter, if possible, but buttered and baked baguette slices are simple and inexpensive as well.

These perfect little lobster salad bites meet all of my requirements for a wonderful appetizer. They require minimal work right before serving, are small enough to eat in one bite, and no utensils are needed. Thus, a guest can grab one and pop it in his or her mouth without juggling a wine glass, a plate or a fork.

So yes, I spent $32 on lobster meat, but only a few more dollars for the rest of the ingredients. I easily made 28 appetizers with the amount of salad a pound of lobster yields. So, at a bit over a dollar a pop, I created a wonderful treat that we just don’t see much around here

.

Preparation:

1 pound thawed Maine lobster meat (about 2½ cups)

½ cup mayonnaise

¼ cup minced celery

½ teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper

1 package of frozen puff pastry, thawed (or a skinny baguette)

Chop the lobster meat into ¼ to ½” bits. Press the meat with a paper towel to absorb excess water. In a small bowl, mix the lobster and the mayonnaise, starting with only ¼ cup of the mayonnaise and adding more as needed. Mix in the celery, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Chill in the refrigerator until just before the party.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Carefully unroll the puff pastry and cut circles with a 2 inch biscuit cutter. Lay the circles on a baking sheet and cook for 10 minutes or until puffed and golden. Remove the puffs from the oven and allow them to cool until they can be handled. Break each puff in half, so that you have two cup-like sides. Fill each puff half with lobster salad. Place on a serving dish and serve immediately.

Notes: Lobster salad purists may cringe at the thought, but these are also wonderful with a tiny sprinkling of lemon zest and a drop of hot pepper sauce on each puff. Of course, purists probably also cringe at the idea of using frozen lobster meat. If using sliced baguettes, butter the slices generously and bake them in the 400 degree oven for ten minutes or until golden around the edges. Depending on the diameter of the baguette, you will be able to make fewer of the appetizers. Adjust accordingly.

En mi anterior entrada os comentaba que me temía que la siguiente receta también seria dulce y la próxima ya seria salada, he querido cambiar el orden de las publicaciones que tengo previstas para navidad, para que esta sea salada y así vamos descansando un poquito de lo dulce :), aunque no me perdáis de vista porque quedan muchas y deliciosas recetas dulces por publicar.

Bien, ya se van acercando los días festivos y seguro que muchos de vosotros estáis planeando los entrantes, primeros, segundos, platos únicos, postres... Yo ando igual y hoy os traigo un aperitivo que hice en un abrir y cerrar de ojos.

Además podemos prepararlo el día de antes y reservarlo bien tapadito en papel film dentro de la nevera, hasta que vayamos a utilizarlo al día siguiente.

Ingredientes

100gr de salmón ahumado

80gr de queso de untar -tipo philadelphia-

Perejil para decorar

Tartaletas

Preparación

Cortamos unas tiras finas  de salmón ahumado y las reservamos, nos servirán para decorar.

Incorporamos el salmón ahumado y el queso de untar en el vaso de la batidora, batimos todo hasta que quede una mezcla a nuestro gusto.

Ponemos el pate dentro de una manga pastelera con boquilla rizada y rellenamos nuestras tartaletas, decoramos con una tira de salmón ahumado enrolladita y unas hojitas de perejil.

Notas

Yo voy triturando la mezcla poquito a poco porque me gusta que el pate tenga trocitos de salmón cuando esta a mi gusto entonces dejo de batir, si queréis un pate uniforme batiremos hasta que este todo bien integrado.

Si queremos hacer el pate el día de antes, una vez que lo tengamos triturado, lo ponemos en un bol y lo tapamos muy bien con papel film, reservamos en la nevera hasta el día siguiente.

I thought I knew chiles. I certainly use several different varieties in my cooking in fresh, dried, roasted, and pickled states. But, when we were in Spain in October, I encountered a type of chile I’d never tasted or even seen at home before and quickly realized I wouldn’t be able to live without it. In the Basque region, these chiles are called guindillas, and elsewhere they’re sometimes called piparras. They’re skinny and light green and have a mild flavor. We saw pickled ones used again and again in pintxos, and then we also found fresh versions of them at a market. The fresh ones were delicious seared and salted just like padron peppers, and the pickled ones were delightful. I started calculating how many jars of these pickled guindillas I could fit in my suitcases and then wondered how long those jars would last already dreading the day they’d be gone. Later, all those worries were washed away when I learned of an online source for gourmet Spanish food products. At Raposos Gourmet, you can find jars of guindillas, piquillos, Spanish olives oils, rice for paella, pimenton, vinegars, jamon, and more. I received some items to sample including an organic Spanish extra virgin olive oil, a basil olive oil, a rosemary olive oil, a jar of guindillas, and a jar of piquillos. With all of this in hand, I was ready to recreate some of the pintxos we enjoyed so much in San Sebastian. 

There are some traditional types of pintxos, but for the most part, in creating them you’re only limited by your imagination. A common one, and one of my favorites, is the Gilda which is a guindilla pepper, an olive, and an anchovy fillet on a pick. I turned to the book Rustica for inspiration for a couple of other skewered ideas. The first was the Zigala which involves slowly oil poaching shrimp. I cleaned and deveined the shrimp and then skewered each one onto a pick to keep them straight while cooking. I used the Spanish olive oil I had received and brought it to just 170 degree F in a saucepan. You need a thermometer to be sure the temperature doesn’t rise above that point and enough oil in the pan to cover the shrimp. The shrimp sit in the warm bath of oil and you watch as their color slowly changes while they cook. The cooking time will vary depending on the size of the shrimp used, but you can easily watch to see when they are just cooked through. Mine took about 12 minutes or so. In the book, the shrimp was wrapped with a thin slice of jamon before being cooked, but I omitted the ham. The picks used for cooking were removed, and the shrimp were skewered on clean picks for serving along with a chunk of heart of palm and some guindillas. The Zigalas were sprinkled with pimenton before serving. The second pintxo variety I found in the book was Banderillas which are simple stacks of cornichon, pickled carrot, an anchovy-wrapped olive, a piece of piquillo, and another cornichon. 

Food on picks is great for parties, and it’s infinitely adaptable. For instance, the banderillas were supposed to have cocktail onions which would have added a nice white element on the pick, but I skipped them. On the Zigalas, you could use pieces of artichoke hearts instead of hearts of palm and mix up the seafood with some shrimp and some scallops. This was an easy way to recreate some tastes of Spain, and I’m so relieved that I can now easily restock my precious guindillas whenever I want. 

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OYSTERS - Served simply, on the half-shell with a squeeze of lemon. Provide crackers and cocktail sauce for those wary of slurping straight from the shell.

BAKED RICE  - makes 6 cups, enough for 2 batches of gumbo

Ingredients:

2 cups uncooked rice (not instant)
2-1/2 cups high-quality chicken stock
1-1/2 tbsp very finely chopped onions
1-1/2 tbsp very finely chopped celery
1-1/2 tbsp very finely chopped red bell peppers
1-1/2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp garlic powder
a pinch of cayenne pepper

Method:

In a 5x9x2.5 loaf pan, combine all ingredients and mix well. Seal pan snugly with aluminum foil. Bake at 350° until the rice is tender, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Serve immediately.

CRAB SALAD-STUFFED AVOCADOS - serves 8 as an appetizer

Ingredients:

1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp finely chopped green onions 2 tsp capers, drained and chopped 1/2 cup finely chopped celery
1 pound jumbo lump crab meat salt, freshly-ground black pepper
4 ripe avocados, cut in half

Method:

1. Whisk the mayonnaise, mustard, green onions, capers, and celery together. Gently fold in the crab, making sure to evenly distribute the mayonnaise mixture. Season with salt and pepper.

2. Fill the avocado halves with crab salad and serve immediately.

CHICKEN + ANDOUILLE GUMBO – A New Orleans staple. Because the rest of our bridal lunch menu is filled with seafood, we chose a chicken and andouille sausage version as our main course.

Ingredients:

2 lbs boneless chicken thighs w/ skin
1 cup finely chopped onions
1 cup finely chopped red bell peppers
3/4 cup finely chopped celery vegetable oil for frying the chicken
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
7 cups of high-quality chicken stock
1/2 pound raw andouille sausage, casings removed, cut into 1/2-inch bites salt
garlic powder
cayenne pepper
1 tsp minced garlic

Method:

1. Dry the chicken thighs thoroughly. Rub them down with a generous amount of salt, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper on all sides. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, in a medium-sized bowl, combine the onions, bell peppers, and celery; set aside.

3. In a large heavy skillet heat 1-1/2 inches of oil until very hot (375° to 400°). Fry the chicken thighs, in batches, until golden brown on all sides and meat is cooked, about 5-6 minutes per side; drain on paper towels.

4. Carefully pour the hot oil into a glass bowl, leaving as many of the browned particles in the pan as possible. Scrape the pan bottom with a metal whisk to loosen any stuck particles, then return 1/2 cup of the hot oil to the pan.

5. Place the pan over high heat. Using a long-handled metal whisk, gradually stir in the 1/2 cup of flour. Cook, whisking constantly, until the roux is the color of dark chocolate, about 3-1/2 to 4 minutes, being careful not to let it scorch or splash on your skin. Remove from the heat and immediately add the vegetable mixture, stirring constantly until the roux stops getting darker. Return the pan to low heat and cook until the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes, stirring constantly and scraping the pan bottom well.

6. Meanwhile, heat the stock over medium heat in a separate saucepan. Add the hot stock to the roux, and bring the mixture to a simmer. Stir in the andouille and minced garlic. Simmer uncovered for about 45 minutes, stirring often.

7. While the gumbo is simmering, cut the cooked chicken into 1/2 inch bites. When the gumbo has simmered for 45 minutes, add the chicken and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Serve with a scoop of Baked Rice mounded in the middle of the bowl.