I honestly have no idea why some fresh dates caught my eye while I was shopping recently. Somehow, they ended up in my basket along with my usual ingredients: lemons, garlic, onions and peppers. I opened my fridge yesterday and realized my poor little dates were still sitting in there, so I decided today was the day to use them for a delicious appetizer I found on Brown Eyed Baker‘s site.
Ingredients:
An equal number of fresh dates, Fontina cheese, cut to fit inside the dates, and 4 inch pieces of Bacon
I made 6, using about 2 pieces of bacon
Preheat your broiler. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Cut the dates half open, making sure not to cut the date fully in half.
Wedge a piece of cheese within each date.
Wrap the bacon around the date, overlapping the ends and placing them on the bottom to keep closed.
Broil for about 5 minutes. Be sure to keep an eye on them, broilers go from toasted to scorched in a matter of seconds.
That’s it! How easy. Not to mention, super tasty. The mix of salty bacon, sweet dates, and earthy cheese gives an almost buttery flavor to this appetizer. If serving this at a party, I’d suggest adding toothpicks so that guests can eat them a bit easier.
This week, I received curly endive as part of my CSA. Curly endive, also known as frisée (French for “curly”) is really not one of my favorites; it’s really quite bitter. I tend to usually push the endive to the side when it comes in a salad. I thought it was about time I gave this poor green a chance to enter my repertoire. I found this recipe on Food Network, a Giada De Laurentiis recipe.
Ingredients:
1 baguette, sliced into 10 pieces
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
20 pieces of curly endive
1 7-oz ball of fresh water-packed mozzarella cheese, drained, cut into 10 thin slices
10 thin slices prosciutto
2 tablespoons Red Wine Vinaigrette
Ingredients for Vinaigrette:
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/8 cup fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup olive oil
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Arrange the bread slices on a baking sheet. My baking sheets were dirty so I used a cake pan (whatever works). Brush the olive oil over the bread slices and bake until crisp, about 15 minutes.
Take 2 pieces of curly endive and 1 slice of cheese and wrap with one slice of prosciutto.
While waiting for the bread to finish, make your vinaigrette. Add all ingredients except the olive oil to a bowl and whisk.
Slowly add in the olive oil in a slow steady stream until emulsified.
When the bread is finished, arrange on a platter. Top each piece of bread with a prosciutto roll and drizzle with the vinaigrette.
The prosciutto and mozzarella work well with the bitterness of the endive. These would be a great appetizer at a party, assuming you’re willing to share. (Yes, it really is that tasty!)
There was a restaurant near my college that served Sauteed Salmon with a Blackberry Butter Sauce and Red Bliss Potatoes. I loved this dish so much, I’m pretty sure I went once a week to eat it while they offered this dinner.
I had a bunch of raspberries and blackberries left over from the Berry Sangria and Berries with Lemon Mint Syrup, so I thought I’d attempt to recreate the recipe, adapting it into this Sauteed Salmon with Berry Butter Sauce and Roasted Potatoes.
Ingredients for Salmon
2 eight ounce salmon fillets, with the skin still on
I have a bunch of fruit left over from my Berries with Lemon Mint Syrup. It’s a lovely warm weekend in Philadelphia which immediately made me think of sangria. What a perfect way to use more of these berries!
Ingredients:
A bowl full of mixed berries (strawberries, hulled, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, cherries)
1 1/2 cups of triple sec
1 1/2 cups cranberry juice (I used cran-raspberry juice)
In the south, collard greens are traditionally made with smoked or salted meats, primarily ham hocks. I looked for a substitute for ham hocks (they kind of freak me out, not going to lie), and found a recipe for Slow Braised Collard Greens that used bacon instead.
Ingredients:
3 slices of applewood-smoked bacon
1/2 cup chopped onion (I used about 1/3 of an onion)
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper, more for additional heat
1/4 teaspoon salt
6-10 leaves of collard greens, torn with the tough stem removed
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup white wine
1 1/2 tablespoons white vinegar (I used rice vinegar)
Begin by cooking your bacon in a Dutch oven over medium heat.
Cook until crisp, about 10 to 15 minutes.
Remove from the pan and allow to cool. While waiting for the bacon to cool, prepare your onion and collard greens. Crumble the bacon once cooled.
Add the onion to the bacon drippings in the Dutch oven.
Cook for two minutes, stirring so that it evenly cooks. Add the pepper, salt, and greens and cook for another two minutes, or until the greens begin to wilt.
Stir in the crumbled bacon, broth, water, wine, and vinegar.
Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 1 hours or until greens are tender.
I added a 1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper instead of a 1/4 teaspoon and found it to be a bit too hot for my liking. However, if you like things spicy, by all means use a 1/2 teaspoon. This side dish has a ton of flavor. An hour is a really long time to cook, but it really lets the flavors meld together. Yum!
My poor leafy greens from this week’s CSA are beginning to wilt on me. I wanted to use them before they were no longer salvageable, so another salad! I’m stunned with how many different vinaigrette recipes exist out there. This one has a slight twist to it, using a roasted shallot instead of a raw one. The original recipe can be found here, another recipe from my trusty Cooking Light.
Ingredients:
1 medium shallot, peeled
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
A few leaves of Romaine and red leafy lettuce, washed and torn (enough for 3 plates)
1/2 cup grape tomatoes, halved (optional)
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese (optional)
To make the vinaigrette, first preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Wrap the shallot in tin foil and cook at 400 degrees for 35 minutes.
This smells so good when it’s cooking
Cool for 10 minutes and mince.
While the shallot is cooking and cooling, prepare your lettuce. Wash and tear the lettuce and allow to dry in a colander. Halve your tomatoes. Add the lettuce, tomatoes and feta cheese to a large bowl. You can throw in whatever you happen to have around: peppers, artichoke hearts.. whatever makes you happy.
Combine the minced shallot and all ingredients up to pepper in a bowl, whisking to combine. (I just added them all to a jar, closed the jar tightly, and shook to combine.)
Add to salad and toss well to coat.
This is a great vinaigrette for those that find normal vinaigrettes too acidic. The roasted shallot (and the teaspoon sugar) add some sweetness to the dressing which cuts some of the acidity in the vinegar, without making it overly sweet.
I came across this recipe while researching different ways to incorporate mint into my meals. This dish sounds like the perfect summer dessert, so I thought I’d give this one a try.
Ingredients (this made 3 servings):
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup mint leaves, or 1/3 cup dried mint
Zest from 1 lemon
A bowl full of mixed berries, such as blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and quartered strawberries
Prepare your mint (if using fresh mint) by removing the leaves from the stem. I used a cup of loosely packed mint leaves and had plenty of mint flavor in my syrup.
Add the water, sugar, lemon zest, and mint to a pan over medium-high heat.
Bring to a boil.
Remove from the heat and let stand, covered, for 20 minutes. While waiting, prepare your fruit. Wash all fruit in a colander and cut the strawberries into quarters.
After 20 minutes, remove all leaves and lemon zest from the syrup using a slotted spoon or a strainer.
Add the syrup back to the pan and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and add the berries.
Stir. Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool before serving.
So it goes without saying that berries on their own are delicious. But when you add a syrup that is infused with lemon zest and mint, berries become the absolute perfect warm weather dessert. I can’t even describe how tasty this was!
My fridge looks like a forest. I kid you not. I have two of my three shelves of my refrigerator filled with leafy greens. I didn’t want to have just a plain old boring salad, so I decided to try this recipe from Cooking Light (April 2006).
Ingredients for chicken:
1/2 cup panko
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound chicken breast tenders
Cooking spray
Ingredients for salad:
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon finely chopped peeled fresh ginger
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 1/2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 teaspoons canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 spring garlic, minced
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup chopped green onions (scallions)
1/4 bunch of romaine lettuce
1/4 bunch of red leafy lettuce
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. To cook chicken, add first 4 ingredients (panko through pepper) to a bowl.
Mix to combine. Add chicken one at a time, tossing to coat. Transfer the chicken to a baking sheet coated with cooking spray.
Bake for 15 minutes or until chicken is done and lightly browned.
To prepare salad, combine vinegar and next 7 ingredients (through minced garlic) in a bowl.
Prepare your lettuce by washing and rinsing the Romaine and red leafy lettuce. Tear with your hands and add to a bowl.
Add halved tomatoes and green onions.
Add vinegar mixture, tossing to coat. Transfer to individual plates and top with the chicken.
Wow. This dressing was fantastic. It has a bit of spice to it without any heat. The chicken was crispy on the outside but really tender on the inside. The original recipe used a clove of garlic instead of spring garlic, but I think the raw mature garlic would be too overpowering. It also called for white wine vinegar, but for some reason I had rice vinegar on hand instead. I will most certainly use this recipe in the future!
There are few things more refreshing on a hot summer day than a mojito. My CSA share came with mint this week as well, so mojitos sounded like a perfect drink for this little heat wave we are experiencing in Philadelphia. I didn’t want to just make a classic mojito so I was happy that the CSA share came with strawberries as well.
Ingredients (per serving):
1 teaspoon simple syrup
2 fresh strawberries, halved
Mint leaves from 1-2 sprigs
Sparkling water (club soda)
1/2 lime
2 ounces light rum
Ice
To make simple syrup, combine 1 cup sugar with 1 cup water in a saute pan. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves. Cool.
Prepare your strawberries. Remove the stem from the strawberries and cut in half.
Add the juice from 1/2 a lime, two strawberries (4 halves), 1 teaspoon simple syrup, and the mint leaves to a glass.
Using a muddler or the back of a spoon, muddle the ingredients together. Muddling is crushing ingredients to allow the flavors and oils to be released and combine.
Add two ounces rum and ice, and shake to combine. Fill with sparkling water.
This is so refreshing. I made mine with very little simple syrup; I prefer my mojito to be more minty than sweet. Feel free to adapt the amount of each ingredient to your tastes. This recipe can also be changed to use watermelon, raspberries, or whatever else sounds good to you.
This week, I received collard greens as part of my CSA. Although traditionally made with smoked meats and such, I wanted to ease my way into this new veggie. (I’ll try a somewhat more traditional version later this week)
Ingredients:
1 bunch of collard greens, stems removed and roughly chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 spring garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
Lemon, optional
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add a teaspoon of salt. Prepare your collard greens while waiting for the water to boil.
remove large stem in center of leaf
roughly chop
When the water is boiling, add the collard greens and cook for ten minutes.
when initially added
ten minutes in
Drain the collard greens in a colander and rinse under cold water. Squeeze against the colander to remove excess water.
Chop the spring garlic.
Heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for one minute.
Add the collard greens and season with salt and pepper.
Cook until wilted, about three to four minutes.
Collard greens have a slight bitterness to them that works well with the subtle garlic taste of spring garlic (versus normal garlic). I added a squeeze of lemon which helped brighten the dish a bit. It’s a nice alternative to spinach, my default leafy green. As with most darker green vegetables, collard greens are high in Vitamins A, C, and K and are high in fiber, so the more leafy greens in my diet, the better.
I’m still working through my mint and came across this recipe on My Recipes. Chimichurri is normally made with parsley and oregano and is used as a marinade on meat. However, this recipe incorporates mint, making the chimichurri seafood-friendly.
I was so excited to receive mint in my CSA this week. That emotion was quickly replaced by panic, what the heck can I make to actually use up all of this mint? I do have a dessert or two in the mix, but I wanted to include it in some dinners that were a little more rare than lamb with a mint sauce. Naturally, my love of salmon made choosing this recipe a no brainer.
Ingredients:
Lemon zest from one lemon
Fresh lemon juice from 1/2 a lemon
1/4 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1/8 teaspoon plus 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
1 tablespoon finely minced shallot (about one shallot)
Chocolate Mint Pudding. Need I say more? This recipe is actually really easy, and it tastes amazing. I made a few changes to the original recipe depending on what I had on hand.
I am still on a Wilted Spinach with Garlic Vinaigrette kick, but my CSA gave me a bag of spinach about the size of my torso, so I thought I’d take this opportunity to branch out and try other spinach side recipes. I had all of these ingredients on hand, so this recipe from Cooking Light (August 2006) seemed like a good choice.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup boiling water
1/3 cup golden raisins
4 cups spinach
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 large garlic cloves, minced
Salt and pepper, to taste
4 teaspoons pine nuts, toasted
First place golden raisins in a bowl. Add 1/2 cup boiling water and let stand for 15 minutes or until raisins expand. Drain and set aside.
Place the pine nuts in a saute pan over medium heat. Shake the pan frequently to keep them from burning. When fragrant and browned, remove from heat.
Heat a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the spinach and 2 tablespoons water.
Cook for 3 minutes or until the spinach wilts.
Remove from pot and wipe the pot dry. Add 1 teaspoon olive oil to the pan and add garlic. Cook for 30 seconds, stirring frequently. Add the spinach and raisins. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Cook for 1 minute or until heated. Stir in pine nuts and serve.
I would have never thought to put something sweet like raisins with spinach, but they really worked well together. The pine nuts added a bit of crunch, as well as some flavor from toasting the pine nuts. Although I’m not willing to shelve my go-to spinach recipe, this one will definitely be added to my recipe arsenal!
This weekend, I was given the opportunity to attend a nifty event outside of Philadelphia, at the King of Prussia Mall. Sponsored by Cadillac, Share Our Strength, and Bon Appetit, the Cadillac Culinary Challenge Test Drive was one snazzy event.
From 10 am to 6 pm on Saturday and Sunday, attendees were given the opportunity to check out and test drive different Cadillac models as well as attend three culinary demonstrations (held at 11:30am, 2pm and 4pm). I actually got to be one of the judges for the 2pm challenge on Sunday which was a great experience.
The chefs were given the theme of “Old Philadelphia versus New Philadelphia,” with Chef Staib making Chicken Napoleon a la Jefferson and Chef Burke cooking a 55-Day Dry-Aged Cheese Steak with Mushroom Chips (yes, a guy from New Jersey made a “four star cheese steak” in the hometown of wiz wit).
Chef Walter Staib’s Chicken Napoleon was comprised of an angel hair pasta frittata, wilted dandelion greens, and chicken doree. I can’t say I’m that much of a frittata fan, they just don’t usually have me coming back for more. But the pasta frittata was fantastic. Chef Staib mentioned that the reason he used a pasta frittata in the dish was because Jefferson is credited with introducing pasta to the United States (Thanks for that, Jefferson!). This was my first time having dandelion greens, and I was really impressed with the flavor! The greens are slightly bitter, which was a really nice mix with the frittata and chicken. Chicken doree is chicken breast marinated in tarragon leaves and oil, covered in flour and egg wash, and sauteed. The chicken had a nice crispy texture, but was still so moist inside. What a lovely mix of flavors!
Chicken Napoleon a la Jefferson
Chef David Burke’s high-end cheese steak was all about the quality of ingredients. Chef Burke used thinly sliced 55-day dry-aged beef, aged provolone, caramelized onions and shallots to make one of the most delicious cheese steaks this Philly-bred girl has ever had. The dry-aged-beef, a signature of Chef Burke, is dried in a salt cave for, you guessed it, 55 days. The beef was so tender and had so much flavor that not even the provolone could overpower it. The onions also added a nice sweetness to the earthiness of the rest of the dish. The mushroom chips, made of very thinly sliced Portobello mushrooms were a great addition.
55-Day Dry-Aged Cheese Steak
It really was a tough call in between these two. In fact, the audience ruled it a tie. However, a few other judges and I decided that although Chef Burke’s dish was fantastic, the creativity of Chef Staib’s dish won us over.
Despite not ruling in his favor, Chef Burke was still a good sport and gave the audience Philly Cheesecake pops, a perfect end to two perfect meals.
The event handed out copies of the recipes for these two dishes, so I can’t wait to have the opportunity to try making these at home (although I don’t think I’ll be using 55-day dry-aged beef, sigh.)
I also had the opportunity to judge a twitter recipe contest. The contest, called the “135-Character Recipe Challenge” was really simple: just tweet a recipe to @Cadillac including the hashtag #r140 to participate and must use the secret ingredient, which is “cheese”. There were some really great responses (how they did a recipe in 135 characters is beyond me!), but I eventually chose @ambercollins7‘s recipe for bruschetta: “Bake plum tomatoes in balsamic vinegar, basil& salt until softened at 400degrees.Top on sliced baguette pieces with goat cheese.Enjoy! #r140” Yum! Amber won The Bon Appetit Cookbook: Fast Easy Fresh for her wonderful recipe. Congratulations Amber!
Cadillac is actually having a bunch of these events across the country, so be sure to check if one is coming near you. The entire event is free, so it is definitely worth checking out! To see if the Culinary Challenge will be near you, check out their website, cadillacchallenge.com. You can also find more information through cadillac’s twitter and facebook pages. (You can also register for the free event through that facebook page link) I believe each city will also have its own twitter contest so be sure to participate!
