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October 14, 2014 Asian and Indian

Date Night with Uncommon Goods // Curried Tomato-Gruyere Fondue with Indian-Spiced Arancini

After a long business trip, it always takes a few days to shake off the whirl of travel and settle back into my routine. While I’m out on the road, every day is a long mix of work and exploration, and I often lose sense of the boundaries I have between my work and personal lives when I’m at home. Of course, the one piece of my life that I’m truly missing when I’m away is Trevor, and the first thing I want to do when I walk in the door (well, maybe after a shower) is to just spend time being together.

Last week I returned from a 10 day trip to Malaysia, and although it took me a bit longer than usual to get over the jet-lag and general plane-induced malaise, by Sunday I was feeling like myself again. Although some might argue that when you live together and don’t have kids, every night is date night, in my book it’s nice to set aside time that’s solely about spending time with one another. So I declared Sunday night an official date night, and we set about brainstorming recipes (because in our house, date night almost always means cooking). This particular date night was spruced up a bit by some new kitchenwares from Uncommon Goods, an ethically-minded retailer for unique and unusual gifts. Part of Uncommon Goods’ mission is to support independent artists and designers, as well as to feature American-made goods, and it’s easy to get lost browsing the resulting collection of products they’ve curated. Of course, although they carry a broad range of items, the section I’m drawn to the most is dining and entertaining, especially the wine (here) and kitchen gadget (here) collections.

When Uncommon Goods offered to send some of their products our way for us to try out, we quickly agreed. We’re constantly breaking our wine glasses, so choosing some new ones from their collection of fun designs was high on our wishlist. We ended up going for this set of stemless aerating wine glasses, in addition to this very classy wine carafe. And despite Trevor’s protests about how cheesy it was (pun intended), I couldn’t resist adding this mini fondue pot for two to our shopping list as well. New kitchenwares in hand, we set about putting them through their paces for our date night – wine was decanted, glasses were set out, and we whipped up a curried tomato and gruyere fondue, kept steaming hot in the tiny tea-light powered fondue pot. Never ones to be satisfied with something too simple, we passed on the bread and crudites for dipping and instead fried up a batch of Indian-spiced rice balls stuffed with mushrooms, carrots, chiles, and peas. The combo of the crispy rice balls and the rich and spicy cheese sauce was spot on, and we polished off the whole batch in one sitting (although I’ll admit that we may have been helped along by the generous glasses of wine we poured).

Sometimes when I’m doing a post for the blog, I get so wrapped up in getting the right shots and taking notes that I forget to enjoy what we’re doing. This was not one of those times – sitting around the tiny fondue pot, joking about cheesy rice balls, taking goofy pictures of each other, and drinking (gulp) the whole bottle of pinot, it really felt like date night, not just a photoshoot of date night. It was fun. A lot of fun. So, corny as it may sound, I genuinely want to thank Uncommon Goods, not only for supplying us with some great new products for our kitchen, but for inspiring us to get in the kitchen and create and laugh and enjoy each other’s company. Definitely hop over to their site to see if anything inspires you!

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Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Uncommon Goods, a retailer for unique and unusual gifts. All opinions are honest and my own.

Curried Tomato-Gruyere Fondue with Indian-Spiced Arancini

A Katie at the Kitchen Door original recipe. Serves 3-4 as an appetizer.

For the arancini:

2 c. cooked Basmati rice
2 TBS olive oil
2 tsp grated fresh garlic
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
2 jalapenos, seeded and stemmed, finely diced
2 small carrots, peeled and finely grated
10 crimini or button mushrooms, stems removed, very finely diced
1/3 c. frozen peas
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/8 tsp cayenne powder
salt and pepper, to taste
2 eggs. lightly beaten
vegetable oil for frying

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the grated garlic, grated ginger, and diced jalapenos and saute, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Add the carrots, mushrooms, and peas and saute, stirring frequently, until vegetables are soft, about 3-5 minutes. Add cooked rice, ground ginger, ground turmeric, and cayenne powder and stir to thoroughly combine, fully coating rice in spices. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
Add the beaten eggs to the rice mixture and stir to combine. Form the rice into golf ball sized balls, pressing firmly to remove any excess liquid, and set aside on a plate. Heat 1/2 an inch of vegetable oil over medium-high heat in a deep frying pan. Once the oil is hot (test it by adding a small piece of rice to the oil and seeing if it sizzles immediately), fry the rice balls in batches, about 1-2 minutes per side, then drain the rice balls on a paper-towel lined plate. Serve immediately.

For the curried tomato fondue:

1 TBS butter
2 tsp grated ginger
2 tsp grated garlic
1 c. crushed tomatoes
1 1/2 tsp curry powder
1/2 lb. gruyere cheese, roughly grated

Heat the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the grated ginger and grated garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and curry powder and stir to combine. Cook tomatoes, stirring frequently, for about 3 minutes, then lower heat to low and add the grated cheese. Stir the cheese into the tomatoes until completely melted and just beginning to bubble around the edges, then transfer immediately to prepared fondue pot. Keep warm in fondue pot and serve with Indian-spiced arancini, crusty bread, or other foods for dipping.

October 11, 2014 Breakfast

Book Club: Green Kitchen Travels // Ricotta and Polenta Almond Cake

The Book: Like many, I’m a long time fan of Green Kitchen Stories, the wonderfully vibrant blog written by David Frenkiel and Luise Vindahl. David and Luise are masters of inspired, healthy cooking, making fruits and vegetables shine in new ways with every post. I loved their first book, Vegetarian Everyday, which was released in the states last year (you can see my full write up here), and it quickly became a go-to book for me when I needed something fast and healthy, as evidenced by this baked pistachio falafel, these savory corn muffins and this baked blackberry oatmeal. When they announced that they were writing a second book, this one based on their travels around the world, I immediately knew I had to have a copy. And Green Kitchen Travels, now safely nestled into my cookbook shelf, does not disappoint.

This is one well-traveled family: together with their four year old daughter, Elsa, they have been everywhere from Spain to Mexico to Morocco to Thailand, picking up new flavors and inspiration in every corner of the globe. The recipes they’ve included to mark their travels are not meant to be recreations of authentic local dishes, but instead are healthy recipes in the unique GKS style influenced by the flavors, ingredients, and techniques they’ve found around the world. It’s fusion at its finest – adopting whatever works from each cuisine and blending it with an existing style to create something balanced and new. I was particularly taken by the chapter dedicated to soups: Vietnamese pho and Indian dal and Italian ribollita all in the same few pages! Of course, the pictures are stunning, as anyone who reads their blog already knows. The travel theme just gives the couple the green light to add to their colorful collection of food pictures with jawdropping landscapes from around the world, market scenes dripping with color and life, and of course, their adorable daughter in exotic locales worldwide. I do love the feeling that in a way, this book is a love letter to Elsa, as you see and hear her influence on their journeys and cooking style throughout the pages – this book is very much a family affair.

The Food: The day I left for my recent trip to Malaysia, I felt like cooking just because. Knowing that I wouldn’t be around to eat whatever I made, I flipped through the pages of Green Kitchen Travels looking for something that I could leave behind for Trevor. I quickly settled on this light Italian cake, which felt like the perfect accompaniment to an afternoon espresso on a warm fall day. The cake is gluten-free, made from a combination of polenta and almond flour, and uses only honey as a sweetener, so you can cut yourself a big slice without too much guilt. I’ve had hit or miss results with “healthy” cakes, and in particular cakes made with ricotta, but this one was very good. It was moist and not overly crumbly, with a delicate flavor of lemons, almonds, and honey. It’s not very sweet, so while I’m not sure I’d serve it for dessert, it’s the perfect thing for an afternoon break or an indulgent breakfast.

Recipe Shortlist: Mexican Breakfast Salad; Rye and Chocolate Croissants; Halloumi Veggie Burgers; Sweet Vietnamese Cucumber Salad; Harira Soup (Tomatoes, Chickpeas, and Dates); Baked Eggplant Rolls; Berber Tagine; Sweet Potato and Eggplant Moussaka; Turmeric Lassi

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Disclaimer: I received a review copy of Green Kitchen Travels from Hardie Grant, but I was not otherwise compensated and all thought and opinions are my own.

Ricotta and Polenta Almond Cake (Torta di Ricotta e Polenta)

Recipe from Green Kitchen Travels. Serves 8.

1/2 c.(100g) butter, at room temperature
1/2 c. clear honey
finely grated zest of three small lemons
1/2 tsp vanilla or almond extract
4 eggs, separated
1 1/4 c. (5 oz) almond flour, or whole almonds, ground into flour in food processor
1 c. (4 1/2 oz) fine ground polenta
1 c. (9 oz) ricotta, preferably creamy
1/2 c. flaked almonds
powdered sugar, for dusting (optional)

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line the base of an 8 inch springform tin with parchment paper and set aside.
Place the butter, half of the honey, the lemon zest, and the vanilla extract in a large bowl and beat until creamy, using an electric mixer if you have one. Add the egg yolks and continue to beat until fully incorporated and creamy. Add the almond flour, polenta, and ricotta and fold everything together using a spatula.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Still beating, drizzle in the remaining honey and continue to beat the egg whites until medium peaks hold and the honey is fully blended in. Gently fold the egg whites into the rest of the batter.
Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin and sprinkle the flaked almonds evenly over the top. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool completely before removing from the tin. Dust with powdered sugar before serving if desired.

October 2, 2014 Czech Republic

Horká Láska (Hot Love)

I’ve been trying to write this post for four years. I’m not exaggerating. For the past four years, when September rolls around, I put this post on my calendar, waiting for the raspberries at my parents’ house to ripen. And for the past four years, our raspberries, which are gorgeous and achingly sweet and juicy, have been 100% infested with raspberry fruitworms. It’s devastating. The anticipation of opening up a perfectly ripe, deep red, juicy berry, hoping beyond hope that there will be no squirmy white bugs inside, and then to have all your hopes dashed in an instant – heartbreaking. This year, I’d had enough – I was going to buy my raspberries, make this dessert, and satisfy this particular September craving.

When the weather starts to turn cooler, I begin daydreaming of Prague, although the longer I spend away from my one-time home the fainter the daydreams become. Cold, gray days in particular pull back memories tinged with longing: the long winding tram ride from my apartment to school; my daily afternoon snack of mulled wine and candied almonds, eaten with gloved fingers standing on the cobbled corners; wandering the rose gardens on top of Petrin hill, with nowhere else to be for hours; the Christmas markets in all their splendor, filled with warm light and the smell of sausages and potatoes; hiking through falling snow in the far corners of the country, feeling like we were the only people for miles and miles. I could go on and on, but really, I should just go back. I want to take Trevor there and share that city with him, relive some of my old memories and create new ones. Although I’ve traveled many places since Prague, it still holds a special place in my heart – sometimes I wonder if it’s better to have a few places you really love than to travel all over the world in search of you’re not quite sure what.

When my family came to visit me in Prague, being able to order something called “hot love” was one of my 11 year old brother’s greatest pleasures. It’s a dessert that goes by more than one name: Horká láska. Hot love. Horké maniny. Piping hot raspberries smothering a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Although it’s name may be suggestive, the dessert itself is pure, simple and completely sublime. A staple of most Czech menus, horká láska is not just a dish of ice cream with raspberry sauce, it is a dish of juicy, steaming-hot raspberries with just enough ice cream on top so that it has completely melted into the berries by the time you are 3/4 done with the dish. The trick is all in getting the right ratio and remembering that it’s called “hot raspberries” and not “ice cream with raspberries” for a reason. I did find one traditional recipe (in Czech) that I used for guidance in recreating this classic dessert, but it’s a pretty straightforward concept that doesn’t need to be overthought. The addition of framboise and a pat of butter take the sauce up another level, but you don’t want either to overwhelm the taste of raspberries. It’s a perfect dessert for early fall, with the contrast of hot with cold and fresh with creamy satisfying both summer and fall cravings.

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Horká Láska – Hot Raspberries with Ice Cream

Serves 2.

12 oz. (1 1/2 cups) fresh raspberries
1/4 c. sugar
1 TBS framboise or other raspberry liqueur
1/2 TBS salted butter
2 scoops vanilla ice cream

Add the raspberries and sugar to a small saucepan and heat over medium heat. Cook the raspberries, stirring occasionally, until they are broken down and juicy and the sauce is steaming, about 5-7 minutes. Add the framboise and salted butter, stir to combine, then remove from heat. Spoon a generous amount of raspberry sauce over each scoop of vanilla ice cream and serve immediately.

September 27, 2014 Drink

Mulled Pear Sangria

The weekend has arrived! Although I had a brief skirmish with the cold Trevor’s been fighting all week on Thursday, a pot of spicy chicken noodle soup and a solid 9 hours of sleep nipped it in the bud, so I’m ready to make the most of the gorgeous weather that we’re supposed to have here in New England. First and foremost, I’ll be celebrating the wedding of my friends Tim and Sofia, and I can’t wait to dance the night away and toast to them with all our college friends. Besides that, I’m going to spend as much time outside enjoying the fall-ness and snuggling with Trevor as I can, before getting on a long series of flights for a 10-day trip to Malaysia Sunday night.

To kick things off, I whipped up a batch of this mulled pear sangria, a re-imagination of a cocktail I had at Sip last weekend. I’m using the term sangria very loosely, as I’m making it with a spiced fruit purée and serving it warm instead of over ice (although I’m guessing it would be just as good served cold, if that’s more your style). It has all the right components for a sangria – fruit, wine, and a bit of booze – just warmed up and spiced with cinnamon and cloves for the season. Call it whatever you want, but be sure to give it a try! And although I’m not really looking forward to winter, I am pretty excited that this post marks the kick-off of winter-cocktail season. Mulled drinks just might be the best part of cold weather.

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Mulled Pear Sangria

A Katie at the Kitchen Door original recipe. Serves 4.

2 ripe pears, plus extra slices for serving
1/3 c. sugar
1 c. water
1 whole cinnamon stick
5 whole cloves
4 oz. maple liqueur
1 bottle white wine

Peel and core the pears and roughly chop into cubes. Place the pear cubes, sugar, water, cinnamon stick, and cloves in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Simmer until the pears are soft, about 8-10 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove the cinnamon stick and cloves and discard. Puree the pear and syrup mixture until smooth, in a regular blender or using a hand blender.
Put the pear syrup back in a saucepan. Add the liqueur and wine and heat over low heat until just steaming. Remove from the heat and ladle into pre-warmed glasses (to prevent cracking. Garnish each glass with a few slices of pear, then serve.

September 23, 2014 Fall

Lamb, Butternut Squash, and White Bean Chili.

Last weekend we got up to the White Mountains for a hike, something I’ve been aching to do since the first hint of coolness crept into the air. The weather wasn’t great – low gray clouds and cold – but I just wanted to get out there, so we went anyways. It’s so refreshing to be somewhere so quiet and fresh, and the four hours we spent walking up the misty slopes, and meandering down along the brook were exactly what I needed. The hike was invigorating, but with temperatures in the low 40s at the bottom and high 30s at the top, I was daydreaming about a big bowl of chili and a hot toddy before we even made it to the summit. It was 30° warmer back in Boston, but I already had my heart set on chili, so chili it was. I’d been brainstorming all the way home, and I knew I wanted a lamb, roasted butternut squash, and fresh tomato base with hints of sweetness and chocolate from cocoa powder and our home-brewed Russian Stout beer.

This chili came out even better than I wanted it to. I was kind of winging it, taking a few tricks out of other recipes I make as I went. – cocoa powder and allspice from our favorite steak rub, red wine vinegar and a splash of beer from my mom’s chili recipe, and roasting the squash with smoked paprika before adding it to the chili the way I do with pretty much all vegetables.Rich and saucy and slightly sweet, with just a hint of lip-tingling spice, it blows every chili I’ve made (except maybe my mom’s vegetarian chili, which is a completely different animal) out of the water. For me, at least, the slightly gamey, tender chunks of lamb are so much better than beef. I know there’s all kinds of debates raging about what qualifies as chili and what doesn’t, but in my book, this is chili and it’s damn good.

I’m also sharing this over on Instagram today for the Huckle and Goose #InstaPotluck. Huckle and Goose is a meal-planning service that provides truly inspired menus to your inbox once a week, with a focus on finding creative ways to use the vegetables you’re finding at the farmer’s market or in your CSA box that week, both the common ones (tomatoes, corn), and the stranger ones (hubbard squash, radicchio). In addition to creating their own seasonal recipes, they also license recipes from a group of really talented bloggers, and I’m thrilled to have some of my own recipes included in their meal plans from time to time. Seeing the recipes they use from other bloggers actually inspires me to create more original recipes that utilize whatever I’m picking in my garden or grabbing at the farmer’s market that week, rather than defaulting to old standbys – there are so many things you can do with fresh tomatoes besides caprese and tossing them with pasta! If you’d like to give Huckle and Goose a try, you can use the code “INSTAPOTLUCK” to get 50% off any annual subscription (code valid today only, 9/23/2014) or sign-up for the two week free trial.

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Lamb, Butternut Squash, and White Bean Chili

A Katie at the Kitchen Door original recipe. Serves 4-6.

1/2 large butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2 inch cubes (about 4 cups cubed)
3 TBS + 2 TBS olive oil, divided
sea salt
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 lb. cubed boneless lamb (cut for stew)
1 large onion, peeled and diced
4 cloves garlic, peeled and diced
1 serrano chile pepper, stemmed, seeded and finely minced
1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and diced
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp cocoa powder
1/4 tsp allspice
1 bay leaf
2 c. water
2 TBS tomato paste
3 c. chopped fresh tomatoes, about 2 large (cores and stems discarded)
1 TBS red wine vinegar
1 (15 oz.) can of canellini beans, rinsed and drained
3/4 c. dark beer, such as stout
grated cheddar cheese, for serving (optional)
sour cream, for serving (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Toss the butternut squash with 3 TBS of olive oil, a generous sprinkling of sea salt, and the smoked paprika until evenly coated. Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet and roast until tender when poked with a fork, about 30 minutes (stir/flip the cubes once after about 15 minutes). Remove the butternut squash from the oven and set aside.
Add the remaining 2 TBS of olive oil to a large stockpot and place over medium-high heat. Generously season the lamb with sea salt, then add to the stockpot and brown on all sides, which should take about 5 minutes (1-2 minutes per side). Use a slotted spoon to remove the lamb from the pot and set aside.
Add the onion, garlic, serrano, and bell pepper to the pot and saute, stirring frequently, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the chili powder, cumin, cocoa powder, and allspice, and stir to coat the vegetables. Saute for 2 minutes longer, then return the lamb to the pot and stir to combine with the vegetables and spices. Add the bay leaf, water, tomato paste, chopped fresh tomatoes, and half of the roasted butternut squash, stir to combine, and bring to a simmer. Cover the pot and let simmer for 1 hour.
Remove the lid from the pot and continue to simmer the chili until it is thick and saucy. About 15 minutes before you plan to serve, add the red wine vinegar, canellini beans,the remaining half of the squash, and beer (add the beer slowly, as it will bubble up!). Stir to combine and taste for seasoning. Simmer for 15 minutes longer, to heat beans through, then serve immediately with grated cheddar cheese and sour cream.

September 19, 2014 Breakfast

Pumpkin Butter and Cream Cheese Danishes

It’s your favorite guest poster! Trevor is here with his latest creation, pumpkin butter and cream cheese danishes, made from our very own home-grown pumpkins. These danishes are incredibly delicious, and I think they’re multiplying while I’m at work, as we seem to have an infinite supply that gets replenished every time I think I’ve polished off the last one. Raise your hand if you want one! Just kidding, I’m keeping these (and their baker!) all to myself. But you can definitely have the recipe.

Last summer, my greatest garden wish was to have a super wild, super productive squash patch in our garden. This year, we got exactly that, and we learned there is a lot of value in order. We spent a solid chunk of the summer in our new patch tracing out vines from the winter squash and melons as they wound around and underneath our mounds of summer squash and zucchini plants. Half the trick was trying to find all the zucchini before they became giant inedible monsters. We definitely owe Katie’s dad for sacrificing his wildflower field, which will hopefully regrow in it’s new location, and for tilling the whole 30’ x 50’ patch for us and our pumpkin dreams.

Despite the disorder, we ended up with a ton more squash than we’ve had in past years, and a huge jumble of vines of questionable origin. Somehow our New England Sugar Pie pumpkins managed to grow vines about 20 feet long extending in every direction, and setting fruit in literally every corner of the patch. After two big, promising, just-turning-orange pumpkins were completely demolished by our friendly neighborhood deer, we put up a hasty fence and secured a harvest of about 8 nice-sized pumpkins, with more still ripening on the vines. Now the only challenge that remains is figuring out what to do with it all.

So far, I’ve made some apple-wood smoked pumpkin that we used in a risotto, Katie’s done that beautiful vegetable curry, and I made some pumpkin butter to go in these danishes. I’m a huge fan of raspberry cream cheese danishes, so that’s the route I chose to go with for the pumpkin ones. I make the pumpkin butter a little lemony to get some tartness to go with the cream cheese, and I think they came out really well. The dough recipe I used makes about twice as much dough as I needed for the first batch, so more pastries are definitely in order.

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Pumpkin Butter and Cream Cheese Danishes

Pastry dough recipe adapted from Food.com. Makes 16 danishes.

For the pumpkin butter filling:

4 c. pumpkin puree
¾ c. water
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp lemon juice
¼ tsp powdered ginger
1 Tbsp honey
¾ c. brown sugar

For the Cream Cheese Filling:

8 oz. package of cream cheese
½ c. Greek yogurt
¼ tsp vanilla
¼ c. sugar

For the Danish Pastry Dough:

2 c. milk
1 ½ tsp dry yeast
2 large eggs
½ tsp vanilla
7 c. all-purpose flour
⅓ c. granulated sugar
1 ½ tsp salt
1 lb unsalted butter
½ tsp cardamom

For the pumpkin butter:

If you are using whole pumpkins to begin with, follow these instructions to make your puree. If you are using canned pumpkin, skip to step two.
1. Preheat oven to 300°F.
2. Cut the pumpkin in half, and scoop out the seeds and fibers, discarding or reserving for another use.
3. Place pumpkins, cut side down, in a pyrex baking dish and fill the dish with ½ inch of water.
4. Steam pumpkin in oven for about 45 minutes, until flesh is fork-tender all the way to the skin. Remove the pumpkins from the oven and let cool.
5. Once the pumpkins are cool enough to handle, scoop out the flesh and blend until smooth
Combine all pumpkin butter ingredients in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until the ingredients are evenly blended and the mixture holds it’s shape.

For the cream cheese filling:

Whip together all ingredients until the mixture is smooth and completely combined.

For the Danish dough:

Warm milk to 110°F (in a small saucepan over low heat or in the microwave), then sprinkle yeast over the top of the warm milk without mixing. Allow to sit for five minutes, then beat in eggs and vanilla. Whisk until ingredients are thoroughly combined.
Mix together dry ingredients in a large bowl until just combined. Cut in 3 Tbsp of butter, cut into small cubes, and use a pastry cutter to loosely combine.
Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and knead until combined. Refrigerate dough for 1 hour. Leave remaining butter to soften while dough chills. The butter should be stiff, but spreadable.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a 2’ x 1’ rectangle. Spread remaining butter over the bottom two thirds of the dough. Fold the top third of the dough down into the middle, then fold the bottom third up onto the top, and roll into a 2’ x 1’ rectangle again. Repeat the folds, and refrigerate for another hour.
Repeat the folding and rolling process two more times to create layers of butter in the dough. This is what makes the final product light and flaky.

To assemble and bake:

Preheat oven to 450°F.
Roll out chilled dough to approximately ¼ inch thickness. Cut into 6”x8” squares.
Orienting rectangles such that the long edge is horizontal, make seven 1 ½ inch slits on either side.
Spread a line of cream cheese filling and a line of pumpkin butter vertically down the center of the rectangle, keeping approximately ½ inch away from the inner end of the slits on either side.
Fold the top and bottom slits on either side vertically down, to create a cup shape at either end.
Fold the remainder of the strips over the filling diagonally, starting from the top and alternating sides to create a crosshatch pattern. Pat down the ends of the strips as you go.
Place danishes on a parchment-paper lined baking sheet and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until the pastry is golden all over.

September 14, 2014 Food

Monthly Fitness Goals: September // Potato, Poblano, and Chard Enchiladas with Raw and Roasted Salsa Verde

It was nice to take August off from holding myself to, well, much of anything. I needed the break. Of course, I was still working, and work was actually quite hectic – the main reason for needing to let everything else slide a little. But things have slowed down, and I’m finally feeling caught up on all the other aspects of my life. A part of that, of course, is getting back into a healthy daily routine, and that means the monthly fitness goals are back on.

I’ve known that speed would be the focus of my September goal since July, really. Since I started running again in January (after the longest hiatus I’ve probably ever taken last fall), I’ve been pretty diligent about getting out there. Starting back up again is the worst part of running, so once I’ve got a little endurance I like to hang on to it. So far this year I’ve run over 300 miles, and from January through June I was getting faster every month, moving from an average pace of 9’22” in January all the way down to an 8’04” in June. But July and August were full of hot, slow slogs, so I promised myself that once the weather cooled down, I’d focus on getting my pace back up. I set a goal of getting down under an average pace of 8’10” again, and although the first few runs of the month were a struggle, my last three were all sub 8′, and my current average is exactly 8’10”. But that doesn’t mean I’m done! I’ve run 20 miles this month and I’d like to get in at least 20 miles more, maybe even getting down to my stretch goal of 7’59”. We’ll see. For now I’m just glad to feel a little faster and lighter (not to mention cooler!) out on the road.

On a different note, let’s talk about these enchiladas. On our way home from Maine after Labor Day we stopped in at a little restaurant in Belfast called Chase’s Daily. It’s an airy space, and in the back they sell the most gorgeous local vegetables and flowers. Belfast is a small town, but the line to buy fresh produce snaked all the way down the counter. We sat down for a late breakfast, and although Trevor looked somewhat crestfallen when I told him it was a vegetarian restaurant, we both very much enjoyed our meals. I ordered the potato and roasted poblano enchiladas, which were smothered in the tangiest salsa verde, and liked them so much I knew I wanted to recreate them at home ASAP. Since they use lots of vegetables and we’re moving into that time of year where we all need to figure out how to make warm, comforting food be good for you, I thought they would do nicely for this month’s healthy recipe.

As I researched salsa verde recipes I saw two basic variations, one using raw tomatillos and the other using roasted tomatillos. Beyond that, and perhaps the ratio of chiles to tomatillos to cilantro, most of the recipes were nearly identical. As I thought about how to make this recipe my own, I decided that with equal numbers of recipes for raw salsa verde and roasted salsa verde, they must both be good – why not build in an extra layer of flavor and make a raw and roasted version? That was a good starting point, and yielded a salsa verde that was both tangy and a little sweet. For the enchilada filling, I grabbed a few potatoes out of the large bag we harvested last week and boiled them, then cooked them briefly with garlic, swiss chard, and diced roasted poblano. The potato-poblano filling gets rolled up in tortillas, smothered with salsa verde, and sprinkled with grated pepper jack, before a brief stint in the oven that yields crispy tortilla edges, golden-brown cheese, and steaming hot filling. I ate way too much of this in one sitting, but managed to save a little bit of leftovers (that I’m very much looking forward to for lunch tomorrow). It’s perfect on a chilly night – warm and filling but full of veggies!

I hope all of your Septembers are off to an equally healthy and productive start. It’s a good time of year to take stock, get organized and energized and charge into a new season.

Past Fitness Challenges

January: 10 Visits to the YMCA; Recipe: Gluten-Free Olive-and-Feta Corn Muffins
February: One vegan meal every day; Recipe: Pakistani Chickpea Pulao with Sweet-Hot Date-Onion Chutney
March: Run 40 miles in 20 days; Recipe: Chocolate-Dipped Almond Butter Cookie Bites
April: Walk 8,000 steps a day; Recipe: Herb-Flecked Spring Couscous
May: 180 minutes of Nike Training Club; Recipe: Warm Arugula Salad with Maple Mustard Dressing
June: Fresh fruit/veggies at every meal; Recipe: Chickpea Crepes with Grilled Curried Chicken and Mango Salsa
July: 8 different types of exercise; Recipe: Homemade Spinach Wraps with Chopped Greek Salad Filling
August: Relax; Recipe: Green Tea and Zucchini Noodles with Honey Ginger Sauce

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Potato, Poblano, and Chard Enchiladas with Salsa Verde

Inspired by breakfast at Chase’s Daily in Belfast, ME. Serves 4-5.

2 poblano peppers
1 1/2 lb. Yukon gold potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
sea salt
2 TBS olive oil
1/4 c. diced onion
6 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 bunch of swiss chard (about 15-20 medium-sized leaves)
Eight 8-inch tortillas
1 1/2 c. raw and roasted salsa verde, recipe below
1 c. shredded pepper jack cheese
1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat the broiler and line a baking sheet with foil. Place the poblano peppers on the baking sheet and broil for 10-15 minutes, turning with tongs every 5 minutes, until blistered and blackened all over. If you are making the salsa verde at the same time, do this while broiling the tomatillos. When the peppers are done, remove them from the oven and place in a bowl, then cover with plastic wrap and let steam for 20 minutes. After they have steamed, you will be able to easily peel and discard their skins. Do this, then cut into slices, discarding the stem and seeds. Chop roughly and taste for heat to get an idea of how much you should use in your filling.
Add the diced potatoes to a large pot and fill with cold water. Add salt to water and bring to a boil. Boil the potatoes until just tender when poked with a fork, about 5 minutes once the water has reached a boil. Drain and set aside.
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, sliced garlic, and smoked paprika and saute, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Roughly chop the stems of the swiss chard and add to the saute pan, then chop the leaves add add to the pan as well. Saute until wilted, about 3 minutes, then add the potatoes and chopped poblanos (start with one, add the second after tasting the mixture for heat). Saute for 2-3 minutes, then remove from the heat.
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Spread half a cup of salsa verde on the bottom of an 11×13 inch roasting pan. Mix the two cheeses together in a bowl. Fill each of the tortillas with a few spoonfuls of the potato filling, and 2-3 TBS of cheese, then roll up and place seam-side down in the pan. Repeat with all tortillas, filling pan completely, then spoon another half cup of salsa verde over the top of the enchiladas. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top, then bake until cheese is bubbly and golden and edges of tortillas are crispy, about 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven and serve with leftover salsa verde.

Raw and Roasted Salsa Verde

Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

1 lb. tomatillos
1-2 serrano chiles
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
1/4 c. fresh cilantro leaves
1/4 c. water
1 TBS fresh lime juice
1/2 tsp sea salt

Preheat the broiler and line a baking sheet with foil. Remove the husks and stem from the tomatillos and wash the sticky residue off the fruit. Cut the tomatillos in half. Place half of the tomatillos cut side down on the baking sheet. Set the other half aside. If using two chiles, place one of the serranos on the baking sheet as well. Broil the tomatillos and chile for 8-10 minutes, flipping over with tongs once about halfway through. Remove from the oven.
Add the roasted tomatillos and their juices to a blender, then add the raw tomatillos, onion, garlic, cilantro, water, lime juice, and salt. If you like your food spicy, remove the stem from the roasted serrano and add to the blender, then remove the stem from the raw serrano, roughly chop and add to the blender with the seeds. If you prefer a milder salsa, remove the seeds from the raw serrano, chop, and add to the blender. After blending, taste and decide whether to add the roasted serrano. Blend the tomatillos on high until a smooth puree forms. Taste, and add additional chile, lime, or salt if desired. Set aside.

September 11, 2014 Asian and Indian

Cooking from the Garden // Bangladeshi Yellow Pumpkin Curry

Lately we’ve been making meals where almost every ingredient has come out of our garden, and it’s incredibly satisfying. With the cooler weather, we’ve been able to turn on our oven and stovetop again, saving us from daunting tasks like eating 20 gorgeous heirloom tomatoes raw before they start to mold (a 3 day window) and finding ways to use up pumpkin without the help of a long, slow, caramelizing roast. The first meal where nearly everything was homegrown was a Mediterranean Shepherd’s Pie – we had grown the garlic, the onion, the tomatoes, the eggplant, the zucchini, and the potatoes. Really the only ingredients that we hadn’t grown or made were the cheese and the ground beef. And now, we have this gorgeous yellow curry, packed full of vegetables taken straight from the ground – we even grew the cayenne chilies that give it its kick!

This yellow curry is relatively quick, easy, and deeply nourishing. It’s made from only vegetables, spices, and water, and I was skeptical about how much flavor I’d be able to coax out of such a limited number of ingredients. No rich and creamy coconut milk? No savory chunks of lamb? But the carrot and pumpkin deliver sweetness, the tomatoes acidity, and the potatoes break down into a thick, rich sauce that soaks up all the flavor of the toasted spices. It’s a lovely curry. Of course, I can’t take much credit for it, beyond, perhaps, the addition of the tomatoes, as it’s adapted from Mangoes and Curry Leaves, my Indian cooking bible. I love Indian food and have been attempting it at home since I first started cooking, but it wasn’t until I took a step back and took time to learn the fundamentals that I started to turn out satisfying Indian dishes. Now my repertoire is slowly building – I love these potato and pea parathas and this chickea pulao, and now I can add this adaptable vegetarian curry to the list as well.

Bangladeshi Yellow Pumpkin Curry

Adapted from Mangoes and Curry Leaves. Serves 4.

3 TBS vegetable oil
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp cayenne
1 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp fennel seeds
1/4 tsp fenugreek
2 bay leaves
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch dice
2 c. cubed (1/4 inch dice) Yukon gold potatoes
2 c. cubed (1/2 inch dice) pumpkin
1 large yellow tomato, cored and cut into 1/2 inch chunks
large handful of green beans, trimmed and cut into 1/2 inch lengths
1 fresh cayenne chile, sliced into thin rings
1 1/2 c. water
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
juice from 1/2 fresh lime

Heat the vegetable oil in a wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add all of the spices and bay leaves at once, and stir-fry in the hot oil until the mustard seeds start to pop and sizzle. Add the vegetables in order listed, stir-frying for 1-2 minutes between each addition. If the vegetables begin to stick to the pan as you are cooking, add a few tablespoons of water to the bottom to deglaze any sticky parts of the pan. Add the fresh cayenne chile and cook for 1-2 minutes longer.
Once you have added all the vegetables, pour the water into the pan and bring to a rapid simmer. Simmer until all vegetables are tender, potatoes and tomato have broken down, and the sauce is thick and spoonable. This should take about 15 minutes-20 minutes. Add the salt, sugar, and lime juice and taste for seasoning, adjusting as necessary. Remove from the heat and serve over rice.

September 5, 2014 Dessert

La Crema Wine Dinner // Corn Chowder with Paprika-Grilled Shrimp, Grilled Leg of Lamb with Ratatouille, Pear and Rosemary Crumb Bars

We hosted our second wine dinner last weekend, this time with three lovely, very drinkable wines provided by La Crema Winery in California. It’s hard to believe that our first wine dinner was way back in February – I had originally planned to do them more frequently, but it’s actually very tricky to get wine shipped to Massachusetts. Starting in January, the legislation will loosen up – maybe then we can do more of these dinners – but until then, having the wine shipped to my family’s place in Maine is the best option. The hidden benefit of this is having a built-in guest list composed of people who love to drink wine: my family. So Trevor and I headed North for Labor Day weekend for one last summer visit during which we could cook some good food and drink some good wine.

The team at La Crema was kind enough to send us three bottles of wine for this dinner – a Chardonnay, a Pinot Noir, and a Pinot Gris. All three bottles retail in the $20-25 range, and are solid, straightforward table wines. None of them left a particularly lasting impression but all were easy to drink and true to their type, and no one turned down a second glass of any of the three varietals. Since all three wines were relatively light-bodied and good for patio-drinking, we designed a menu with an “end-of-summer in California” vibe to complement the wines and the season, and call to mind the wines’ terroir. Most of the menu was done on the grill, and it featured plenty of end-of-summer produce, but the dishes were a little heartier than mid-summer fare and everything was served warm. We started with a corn chowder topped with paprika-grilled shrimp, the main was a grilled leg of lamb with ratatouille, and the dessert was rosemary pear bars served with whipped cream. I was very happy with how all three dishes turned out – the product of days of brainstorming – and even happier with how quick the whole thing was to throw together. I don’t think I’ve ever served a meal that was such a snap to cook with such stellar results. Of course, I have to give a big heap of the credit to Trevor (and to my other sous-chef, Aunt Robin!) as both the shrimp and the lamp were perfectly grilled, a skill I certainly don’t have in my repertoire.

I knew ahead of time that the forecast was not good for Sunday, our planned dinner day, but the clouds cleared out early in the day and we ended up with plenty of sun all afternoon. Sadly, as dinnertime approached, the clouds rolled back in and I found myself racing to get the picnic table set before the rain began. Just as I ladled the chowder into bowls the first drops began to fall, so I snapped as many pictures as I could and we shuffled everything back inside. Although I’ll admit I was disappointed not to have the beautiful outdoor evening I had been imagining, the food and wine were perfect and the night still ended with tequila shots, a giant bag of peanut M&Ms, and my mom and Aunt Robin dancing in the rain – any night that ends that way is a success in my books.

The Details

First Course: La Crema 2012 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay with Corn Chowder with Paprika-Grilled Shrimp. La Crema produces seven different Chardonnays, and their Sonoma Coast line is one of the most affordable. The wine is quite tart, opening with a lot of acidity up front, but quickly mellowing into a buttery finish. You can certainly taste oakiness, but it’s subtle and not a dominant characteristic. I personally found it to be a bit more citrusy than I like in a Chardonnay, but my mother, who is not usually a Chardonnay person, really loved this one. We served this with a creamy, pureed corn and potato chowder, using super sweet end of summer corn. The chowder was topped with a few grilled shrimp which had been marinated in a mix of garlic, lemon, olive oil, and smoked paprika. Although I dislike most seafood, I loved these shrimp – they were perfect on top of the rich chowder, and the wine cut through the richness nicely.

Second Course: La Crema 2012 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir with Grilled Leg of Lamb with Ratatouille. The Pinot Noir was my favorite wine of the night, another release from the more affordable Sonoma Coast line. It was fairly dark in color compared to some Pinots, but light-bodied. Smooth and fruity, it was very drinkable, without feeling overly sweet or boring. For this pairing, we went a little on the heavy-side, grilling a sizeable piece of butterflied leg of lamb as the main course. We balanced the gaminess of the lamb with a meyer lemon and rosemary marinade, and kept the plate bright and acidic by serving the lamb with a tomato and kalamata olive ratatouille. This was basic, Mediterranean-inspired food – simple but well-executed fare for a simple but well-executed wine.

Third Course: La Crema 2013 Monterey Pinot Gris with Pear and Rosemary Crumble Bars. To be honest, by the time we poured the Pinot Gris my note-taking was getting a little sloppy, but I’m going to count that as a good sign overall. I did note that the Pinot Gris had a fairly strong minerality, and was heavy on the citrus flavor. La Crema’s tasting notes also indicate that it has a subtle note of Asian pear, which is the pairing I chose to pursue for the dessert course. Of course, serving a wine that is not a dessert wine with a sweet dessert is tricky, but the whole table felt that the Pinot Gris and the rosemary and pear crumble bars went very well together. The bars were composed of three parts: a rosemary shortbread crust, ripe pears poached in a mixture of Pinot Gris and honey, and a simple butter-and-sugar crumble topping. After an hour in the oven, the pears turn into an intense, caramelly jam while the crumble and the crust stay a buttery golden brown. I had initially planned to serve these with a rosemary-vanilla whipped cream, but a few missteps left me with some very delicious rosemary-vanilla butter that could not be brought back from the brink. Whipped cream from the can was a fine substitute.

The Menu

Corn Chowder with Paprika-Grilled Shrimp served with La Crema 2012 SC Chardonnay– see recipe below
Grilled Leg of Lamb with Ratatouille served with La Crema 2012 SC Pinot Noir – see recipe below
Pear and Rosemary Crumble Bars served with La Crema 2013 Monterey Pinot Gris – see recipe below

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Disclaimer: La Crema provided me with the wine for this post free of charge, but I was not otherwise compensated and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Corn Chowder with Paprika-Grilled Shrimp

Chowder recipe adapted loosely from Serious Eats. Serves 6.

Note: You will need wooden grilling skewers to prepare the shrimp.

1 lb. 16-20 ct. shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
3 TBS freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 c. olive oil
5 ears corn
4 c. chicken or vegetable stock
3 TBS butter
1 medium onion, diced
1 tsp whole cumin seeds
1 1/2 c. diced Yukon gold potato (about 2-3 medium potatoes)
1 c. heavy cream

In a large bowl, whisk together the paprika, garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil. Add the preapred shrimp and toss to coat. Cover, refrigerate, and let marinate for 2 hours. Place your grilling skewers in a large container of water and let soak for 30 minutes.
To make the chowder, cut the corn kernels from the ears using a serrated knife. Set corn kernels aside. Add the stock to a large pot, then break the corn cobs in half and add to the stock. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and simmer for 15 minutes to infuse the stock with the corn cob flavor. Remove from heat, remove and discard cobs, and set stock aside.
In a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the diced onion and cumin seeds and saute until onions are translucent and cumin is fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add corn kernels and saute in the butter for 2 minutes, then add reserved stock. Add the diced potatoes and bring to a simmer, simmering until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the heavy cream.
Blend the soup in batches in a blender, until each batch is smooth. Blend 3/4 of the soup in total, leaving 1/4 of the soup chunky. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Preheat the grill to medium-high, skewer shrimp on pre-soaked skewers. Grill shrimp until just cooked through, about 2 minutes per side. Serve the chowder with 2-3 grilled shrimp on top.

Grilled Leg of Lamb with Ratatouille

Serves 6.

For the lamb:

4 lbs. of butterflied leg of lamb, cut into 6-8 pieces
1/2 c. olive oil
juice from 2 Meyer lemons
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
3 sprigs of rosemary, needles removed and roughly chopped
1 tsp salt

For the ratatouille:

2 TBS olive oil
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
leaves from 4 sprigs of thyme
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and roughly chopped into bite-sized pieces
4 medium Heirloom tomatoes, cored and roughly chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 medium zucchini, roughly chopped into bite-sized pieces
3/4 c. pitted kalamata olives, roughly chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Place the olive oil, Meyer lemon juice, garlic, rosemary, and salt in a large bowl and whisk to combine. Add the leg of lamb and massage the marinade into the lamb. Cover the bowl, refrigerate, and let marinate 3-4 hours.
About 30 minutes before you intend to serve the lamb, heat 2 TBS of olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add the onion, garlic, and thyme, and saute until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the bell pepper and cook until soft, 3-5 minutes. Add the tomato and zucchini and bring to a simmer. Simmer the sauce, stirring occasionally and using the back of a wooden spoon to crush the tomatoes, until tomatoes have released all their juices and zucchini is soft, about 10 minutes. Continue simmering over medium-low heat for another 10-15 minutes, until sauce has thickened slightly, then stir in olives and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Preheat the grill to medium-high. Grill the lamb until medium rare, about 7-8 minutes per side. Set aside on a plate and let rest for 5-10 minutes. Serve lamb with the ratatouille sauce underneath.

Pear and Rosemary Crumble Bars

Serves 8-10.

1 stick salted butter, at room temperature
6 TBS salted butter, chilled
1/3 c. light brown sugar
1 1/2 c. flour, divided
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
1/3 c. white sugar
4 ripe pears
1 1/2 c. water
1/2 c. Pinot Gris or other white wine
6 TBS honey

Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, beat 1 stick of room temperature butter until smooth. Add 1/3 c. light brown sugar, 1 c. flour, and 1 tsp chopped rosemary to the butter and stir to create a thick crumbly paste. Lightly grease an 11×7 inch or 8×8 inch baking pan, and press the rosemary shortbread crust evenly into the bottom of the pan. Bake the crust until golden brown, about 18-20 minutes, then remove from the oven and set aside.
To prepare the crumble topping, whisk the remaining 1/2 c. flour and the 1/3 c. white sugar together in a medium bowl. Cut in the 6 TBS of chilled butter, and use a pastry cutter or a fork to mash the butter into the flour until the butter is pea sized and thoroughly coated in flour. Refrigerate this mixture until ready to use.
To prepare the poached pears, peel and core the pears, then thinly slice. In a large, wide-bottomed sauce pan or dutch oven, mix together the water, white wine, and honey. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then gently add the pears to the simmering mixture. Simmer the pears until soft and fragrant but not falling apart about 5-8 minutes, then use a slotted spoon to remove. Layer the pears evenly over the rosemary crust and set aside. Continue to simmer the juices in the pan until they have reduced to a thick, caramel-colored syrup – this will take about 20 minutes. Once you have a syrup, pour it evenly over the pears.
Take the crumble topping from the fridge and sprinkle it evenly over the pears. Bake the crumble bars for 45-55 minutes, until crumble topping is golden brown and pear filling is thick and bubbling. Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature before slicing. Serve with whipped cream.

August 31, 2014 Dessert

Sunday Dinner // Ricotta and Cherry Tomato Crostini, Eggplant and Pesto Napoleons, and Blackberry Pie

Finding the time for these Sunday Dinner posts is harder than I would like it to be. Perhaps part of the problem is that I tend to choose rather elaborate menus that take all afternoon to prepare and shoot, but that’s also part of the fun. When we finally did another Sunday Dinner a few weeks back, its origins were mixed – it grew partly out of the feeling that it had been far too long, partly out of the need to use up the huge stacks of garden produce in our fridge, and partly out of a desire to celebrate that same summer produce at its very peak.

This Sunday Dinner is the first we’ve done that is entirely vegetarian, but with gorgeous stacks of Eggplant Napoleon as a centerpiece to the meal, meat was not missed in the slightest. I’ve been eyeing this particular eggplant recipe since early spring, when I reviewed Olives, Lemons, and Za’atar. Back in March, the bright stacks of fried eggplant layered with baba ghanoush and pesto seemed impossibly summery, products of a season that felt like it might never come. But come it has, and now the sun-soaked afternoons and baskets of tomatoes are too quickly fading into cool breezy evenings and the first ripe pumpkins. We do still have plenty of nice weeks ahead of us – it won’t do to get nostalgic prematurely – and we’re still cooking up a storm with the weekly haul from the garden. Our homegrown eggplant was the star of the show in this meal, and we rounded things out with piles of maple-roasted cherry tomatoes on ricotta-slathered crostini and a gorgeous pie made with the last of our blackberries.

Eggplant can be a little labor intensive to prepare well, and this recipe was no exception. A lengthy process of salting, drying, marinating, breading, and frying may feel a little like overkill, but results in an incredibly flavorful and tender eggplant. There are a number of other components to the recipe as well – the pesto marinade, the baba ghanoush, and a tomato and pesto salad that gets served on top of the final dish. The recipe calls for about seven lemons – we felt that using three was sufficient – and the acidity of the final dish is powerful, but works nicely with the savory crunch of the eggplant slices and the smokiness of the baba ghanoush. I’ve written the recipe here with a few shortcuts to save time and effort, but the end result should be equally flavorful and elegant as the original.

On the other end of the labor intensive spectrum are the super easy crostini we had as an appetizer. We make a big batch of maple-roasted cherry tomaotes pretty much every week during August and September, roasting them the day they’re picked then using them on top of pastas and meats and eggs throughout the week. Once the oven is on, I sometimes throw another vegetable or two in to avoid heating up the house more than once – the week I made these crostini, that other vegetable was a few heads of our freshly harvested garlic, roasted into a sweet paste. The roasted garlic got mixed into some good thick ricotta, slathered on hot baguette, and topped with the candy-sweet tomatoes. It was so good and so easy.

The final element of our dinner was a big slice of mixed berry and maple syrup pie, which I wrote about in detail a week or so ago. It was a pie that I had been dreaming about since the first blackberries ripened, and it exceeded all my expectations for it. A big slice of the juicy pie, supported with a flaky buttery crust and topped off with a melting scoop of vanilla bean ice cream was the perfect close to our late summer dinner feast.

The Menu

Roasted Garlic, Ricotta, and Maple-Roasted Cherry Tomato Crostini – see recipe below
Eggplant and Pesto Napoleons – see recipe below (adapted from Olives, Lemons & Za’atar)
Maple Mixed-Berry Pie

Past Sunday Dinners:

May 26, 2013: Coffee-and-Chile Rubbed Strip Steaks with Chimichurri Sauce; Charred and Smoky Belgian Endives; Oven-Roasted Potatoes; Strawberry-Sour Cream Ice Cream

July 1, 2013: Strawberry-Lime Agua Fresca; Smashed Pea, Dill, and Feta Crostini; Chilled Asparagus Soup with Meyer Lemon Yogurt; Mustard Spaetzle with Mushrooms; Ricotta Bavarese with Red-Wine Poached Rhubarb

October 28, 2013: Braised Lamb Shanks with Gremolata; Creamy Polenta with Fresh Corn and Blue Cheese; Roasted Brussels Sprouts; Classic Apple Pie

March 31, 2014: Fried Halloumi with Spring Veggies and Strawberry-Basil Gastrique; French Gnocchi with Watercress Sauce; Strawberry-Rhubarb Meringue Pots

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Roasted Garlic, Ricotta, and Maple-Roasted Cherry Tomato Crostini

Serves 6-8 as an appetizer.

1 recipe of maple-roasted cherry tomatoes
3 heads of garlic
1 c. of ricotta
1 baguette
olive oil
sea salt and pepper

Prepare the maple-roasted cherry tomatoes. While they are roasting, roast the garlic as well: slice the tops off the garlic heads so the cloves are partially exposed. Place the heads in a piece of tinfoil and drizzle with olive oil, then sprinkle with sea salt. Close the foil into a pouch, and roast until soft, about 45-55 minutes at 350°F.
Remove the garlic from the oven, and let cool until comfortable to handle. Squeeze the roasted garlic out of the papery shells into a bowl, and mash with a fork. Mix the roasted garlic with the ricotta, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Preheat the broiler. Slice the baguette into thin rounds, then place on a baking sheet. Brush the tops and bottoms lightly with olive oil. Broil the toasts until golden brown, about 5 minutes total, flipping once halfway through. Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature. To serve, spread the ricotta mixture onto the toasts and top with a spoonful of roasted cherry tomatoes.

Eggplant Napoleon

Recipe adapted from Olives, Lemons, and Za’atar. Serves 4-6.

Note: This version of the recipe is slightly simplified. The full original recipe is available on Epicurious.

For the baba ghanoush:

2 medium eggplants (2 lbs total)
1/2 c. tahini paste
1 clove garlic, minced
juice from 1/2 lemon
2 TBS pomegranate molasses
3 TBS olive oil

For the fried eggplant:

2 medium eggplant, cut into rounds
sea salt to taste
1/4 c. basil pesto
1/2 c. olive oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
juice from 2 lemons
1/2 c. flour
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
2 c. panko
2 TBS grated parmesan cheese
2 TBS dried parsley
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
vegetable oil for frying

For the tomato salad:

4 plum tomatoes, cored and roughly chopped
1/4 c. of finely chopped red onion
1/2 c. basil pesto
juice from 1 lemon
3 TBS olive oil
sea salt to taste

Prepare the baba ghanoush: Preheat the oven to 450°F and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Pierce the eggplants all over with a fork and place on the baking sheet. Roast until skin is blackened all over, turning the eggplants with tongs every 5 minutes. Remove from the oven, slice in half lengthwise, and scoop the soft eggplant flesh out into a large strainer. Let drain for 20 minutes, then transfer to a bowl. Mash the eggplant with a fork, then stir in the tahini, garlic, lemon, pomegranate molasses, and olive oil. Adjust seasoning to your taste.
Prepare the fried eggplant: Place the eggplant rounds on two large baking sheets and salt liberally. Set aside for 30 minutes, then pat the slices dry with a paper towel. In a large bowl, whisk together the pesto, olive oil, garlic, and lemon juice. Add the eggplant slices to the bowl, toss to coat, and let marinate for 1-2 hours at room temperature.
To bread the eggplant, prepare your workspace: place the flour on a large plate, whisk the egg whites together with 1 cup of water in a shallow bowl, and mix the panko, grated parmesan, dried parsley, and black pepper together on a large plate. Set a piece of waxed paper to the side of your workspace. Working with one slice of eggplant at a time, dredge the marinated eggplant slices in the flour, gently shake off the excess, dip it in the egg mixture, then dredge in the panko on both sides. Set on the waxed paper and repeat with all of the eggplant slices.
Heat a large frying pan filled with 1/4 inch of vegetable oil over medium heat. Fry the eggplant slices in batches, frying 2-3 minutes per side or until golden brown all over. Remove to a paper towel lined platter and repeat until all eggplant is fried.
To prepare the tomato salad: mix together the chopped plum tomatoes, chopped red onion, pesto, lemon, and olive oil in a large bowl. Season to taste with salt.
To serve, place one slice of the fried eggplant on a plate, then spread with a few tablespoons of baba ghanoush. Repeat twice more, building a layered stack of eggplant, then top with a few large spoonfuls of the tomato salad. Serve immediately.