Archive for the ‘Appetizer and Light Fare Recipes’ Category

« Older Entries

A Salad of Smoked Salmon and Grilled Corn Salsa

Monday, April 12th, 2010

Here is one of the dishes I demonstrated at a cooking class a few years ago. The recipe is an adaptation of recipes from Chef Pernot’s Ceviche!.  Pernot uses cold-smoked salmon here, which is, for is our purposes, too much of a hassle to make at home.  Hot-smoked salmon is easy to make if you have a Camerons Stovetop Smoker.  This dish makes a great first course.  It is too intense to be served in a larger portion as an entrée.

Yield:  Four salad-size servings
For the Salsa:
Yield:  about 3 cups
See Abbreviations, if needed
·     7        ears of corn, grilled and cut, or 1 lb frozen corn kernels, sautéed
·     6        fresh limes, juiced
·     ¼ C   chopped fresh cilantro
·     2-3    serrano chilies, seeded and small diced
·     1 t     chopped chipotles in adobo sauce (see note)
·     4 T    extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
·     1 T    red wine vinegar (RWV)
·     1       large red onion, small diced
·     1       large red bell pepper, small diced
·     4       fresh small tomatoes, blanched, peeled, seeded and small diced
·     S/P    to taste

1.  Husk the corn, grill to well browned, cool and cut off the kernels, or defrost a 1 lb. package of corn kernels and sauté them without oil in a non-stick pan until they begin to color
2.  Small dice the cilantro, onion, bell pepper and tomatoes using your best knife techniques
3.  In a medium stainless steel bowl, combine the diced items from Step 2 with the freshly squeezed lime juice, EVOO, RWV and chipotles in adobo sauce
4.  Add the corn and mix thoroughly
5.  Place in fridge for one hour to macerate
6.  When ready, remove from fridge, let stand awhile and check seasoning (salt)
7.  Serve with a slotted spoon to drain off the lime juice
Note: “Chipotles in adobo sauce” comes in small cans. La Morena brand is good, readily available but very hot.  I prefer a medium hot, very smoky-flavored brand by Chile Today – Hot Tamale (available at www.chiletoday.com).
For the Smoked Salmon:
Yield:  4 salad servings
·    1       1-1¼ lb piece of fresh, skinless salmon filet
·    1 T    kosher salt
·    1 T    sugar
·    1 T    paprika (not the hot variety)
·    1 T    ancho chili powder, if available, or regular chili powder
·    ½ t    chipotle chili powder, if available, or delete

1.  Make a dry rub in a small stainless steel bowl by combining the salt, sugar, paprika and chili powders
2.  Place the salmon filet in a medium flat glass dish and rub both sides evenly with the dry rub
3.  Place the salmon, covered, in the fridge for about 2 hours
4.  Using the Camerons Stovetop Smoker:
·    Place 2T of Alden wood chips in the bottom of the smoker
·    Spray the bottom pan and grill with Pam
·    Place the dry-rubbed salmon filet on the grill
·    Slide the cover on to ¼ inch of being closed
·    Light the burner and set to medium-low
·    When smoke begins to emerge from the smoker
o    close the cover tightly and
o    set the timer
·    Cook 10 minutes per pound, then turn off the burner and let the smoker cool, closed, for 5 minutes
5.  Carefully remove the fish from the smoker, cover and fridge until cold
Note:  The ancho and chipotle chili powders are inexpensive and available at www.chiletoday.com.  The ancho powder is mild; the chipotle powder is medium hot. Both can be used like other powdered seasonings.
To Assemble The Salad:
1.  Remove the smoked salmon filet from the fridge.  With a sharp knife, cut thin biased   slices across the grain (perpendicular to head-tail), just thick enough so that the slice of salmon holds and does not break apart. (Practice with the first two slices)
2.  Using a slotted spoon, place about 1 cup of corn salsa in the center of each salad plate and shape each into a mound
3.  Nicely arrange, vertically and overlapping, four or five slices of smoked salmon around the mound of salsa.  Press the grouping together with both hands to mold the salmon round and to raise the salsa in the middle
4.  Garnish with a few cilantro leaves and/or a few drops of vinaigrette, if desired
Note: Any remaining smoked salmon will keep well in the fridge, covered, for 2-3 days.

Tags:
Posted in (2)Food, Appetizer and Light Fare Recipes | 2 Comments »

Shrimp and Smoked Salmon Canapé

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

Yes, they take time to make but they also make an occasion special.  And guests love ‘em.  This canapé was inspired by some I made at The George Town Club many years ago.  It has what it needs: sweet creme fraiche, sour capers and raw spinach, salty salmon with shrimp, bitter dill and bread.
Here’s how:

Yield:  About 24 canapé
See abbreviations, if needed
24              uncooked shrimp, shelled
24              squares or rounds of bread sliced thin
24              fresh cucumber rounds, sliced thin
24              spinach leaves, washed and dried
1/2lb          smoked salmon
bunch         fresh dill sprigs, destemmed
5 oz          creme fraiche
48              capers

1.   Pour a bottle of beer in a pot, BTB, drop in the shrimp, turn off the heat, cover for 1 minute,
drain and set aside to cool
2.   Cut 24 thin slices of bread (cocktail bread, rye, wheat, etc.).  Square (1.5″) or round (40mm) each
and set aside
3.   Decoratively peel a cucumber and cut thin slices and set aside
4.   Select nice spinach leaves and trim to bread size
5.   Cut smoked salmon to bread size and set aside
6.   Finely chop a bunch of dill fronds (about 1/4 cup chopped
7.   Stir the dill into the creme fraiche and return to fridge
8.   Cut whole shrimp in two and then slice each half lengthwise
9.  To assemble:

  • spread creme fraiche onto bread
  • top with cucumber and then top cucumber with creme fraiche
  • top with salmon slice
  • dip both sides of bottom half of shrimp in creme fraishe and place on top of salmon
  • top shrimp half with spinach leaf
  • dip both sides of top half of shrimp with creme fraiche and close over spinach
  • garnish with a couple of capers (or caviar if plush)

10.  Hold in fridge and serve cool

Tags: , ,
Posted in (2)Food, Appetizer and Light Fare Recipes | No Comments »

A Better Way to Hard Boil Eggs

Monday, March 22nd, 2010

Welcome to the most popular page on this Web site (about 5000 hits each Easter week).

Here is a better way to hard boil eggs and to cool and peel them:
(Excerpted from Chicken, Egg and Tuna Salad Spreads)

To hard boil:
·   Place the eggs in a roomy saucepan and fill the pan with cold water to
completely cover the eggs
·   Bring to boil over high heat
·   Simmer for 30 seconds
·   Turn the heat off, cover, and let stand 12 minutes

To cool:
·   Leave the eggs in the pan and drain off the hot water
·   Place the pan, eggs and all, in the sink under running cold water until the water in
the pan is cold
·   Let the eggs cool in the cold water bath for 5 minutes

To peel:
·   Drain off the cold water, but leave the eggs in the pan
·   Shake the pan vigorously to crack the eggs
·   Peel eggs under running water

More about eggs:

Other how-to’s:

How to Spatchcock a Chicken

How to Puree Garlic with a Chef’s Knife

Tags: ,
Posted in Appetizer and Light Fare Recipes, Techniques | No Comments »

The Chile Grill and Stuffed Jalapino Chiles

Monday, December 21st, 2009

Awhile back I ordered a Chile Grill and had this to say about it:

“You’ve got to see this Web site, chilegrill.com.  These folks have designed a jalapeño holder/rack that they call The Chile Grill.  It’s a metal plate, with one-inch holes drilled through it, welded to a stand.  The idea is to find big jalapeños, cut off the tops, core out the insides, remove the seeds, stuff them with whatever, plop them in a hole and then cook ‘em off on the barbecue or in the oven to present and serve as appetizers.

The Chile Grill comes in base metal, coated metal or top-of-the-line stainless steel and in various shapes– round ones for a Dutch oven and square ones for the sheet pan and barbecue.  And for us cooks, what also collect art, they got pretty ones too.  I passed on the Texas- and Arizona-shaped Chile Grills, but had to go for the genuine stainless steel 12 hole armadillo.  Of course, they provide a couple pages of recipes including cream cheese and sausage and peanut butter.”

The Chili Grill finally arrived.  It’s 10×6x2 inches high, weighs a hefty 1¼ pounds and is made of 3/16-inch stainless steel plate precisely laser cut in the outline of an armadillo, welded to a stand.

The thing is built as rugged as the custom grill Furlon bought for his GMC Yukon.  Upon close inspection, I noticed that the eye of the armadillo is cut in the precise outline of the state of Texas.  Now, what do you say that?!  Neato, eh?  Well, what to do with it? Admittedly this culinary tool has rather limited uses, though it may have potential in the garage as a car stand.  But I’m a gadget nut and I have to write about something.  The box arrived with the grill, general instructions and a number of recipes.  The folks that make the grill rightly state that just about anything can be used as a filling with tasty results, though I’d draw the line short of peanut butter or smoked oysters.

The Chile Grill folks suggest you wear rubber gloves to handle chile peppers, “if you have real sensitive skin.”  Forget that criterion.  Wear rubber gloves.  If for no other reason than to discourage you from rubbing your eyes, nose or other body parts after handling hot chile peppers.  Capsaicin oil is caustic!

The second photo shows it with cored-out jalapeño peppers, stuffed with andouille sausage and capped with bacon–all uncooked–ready to fire.

Buy jalapeños bigger than an inch around so they won’t fall through the holes of the Chile Grill. I grilled the first batch and oven-baked a second.  Grilling is best in that the pepper skins charred and loosened and the whole mess looked most appetizing.  The oven batch didn’t look as nice and retained more pepper heat.  The Little Woman says, “grill’em from now on.”

My chile pepper preparations followed essentially those recommended by the Chile Grill people.

1.  With a sharpened paring knife cut off the tops of each pepper
2.  Clean out the inside of the pepper with a small paring knife and 1/4″ teaspoon scoop
removing all the seeds and white ribs
3.  Turn the pepper over and cut a small hole through the bottom pointy end to
enable the filling to drain as it roasts
4.  Stuff the peppers with the filling of choice
5.  Cap each pepper with a small piece of good quality bacon
6.  Push a toothpick through the bacon and out the side of the pepper
7.  Spray the Chile Grill with Pam, to ease cleaning (it’s difficult to clean)
8.  Fit the peppers into the holes of the Chile Grill
9.  Grill on indirect heat for about 55 minutes (the bacon should be well done), or,
bake in the oven for about 60 minutes at 350F. For the oven, I placed the
Chile Grill on a sheet pan (lined with parchment paper)

Fillings:
For the grilled batch, I stuffed them with uncooked andouille sausage, that I got from Henri, my butcher at Balducci’s, and capped them with a square of Nueskes smoked bacon. They tasted great:  a little heat, spicy with crisp bacon.

For the oven batch, I prepared the ground beef filling I use in my Chiles Rellenos and in my Stuffed Poblano Chiles.  I had this in mind all along and that is why I bought the Chile Grill in the first place. FYI, Rick Bayless devotes nine pages to Chiles Rellenos.  They are a real hassle to make, so I haven’t posted my versions to the site.

It takes only about a ¼ lb of meat to fill 12 big jalapeños, so there will be leftovers—enough for a barbecue burger for lunch, perhaps.

Here’s how:
·   12        large jalapeños chiles
·   ½         onion, diced finely
·   1 T       extra virgin olive oil
·   1/3 C    tomato sauce
·   1 t         fresh ground cinnamon
·   S/P       to taste
·   ½ lb      ground beef sirloin (pork shoulder will do, as well)
·   ¼ C      raisins
·   1 T       balsamic or red wine vinegar

1.  In a skillet, sauté diced onions in olive oil to translucent
2.  Add the tomato sauce
3.  Grate in the cinnamon and add the S/P
4.  Bring to boil and simmer for about 2 minutes or until thickened
5.  In another skillet, sauté the meat to rare
6.  Remove the meat from the skillet, drain and add to the sauce
7.  Add the raisins and the vinegar
8.  Simmer again to thicken
9.  Cool and stuff into the prepared chile peppers

Notes:
Use this filling for any pepper dish or barbecue sandwich, or add a little more tomato sauce and make a casserole with it.

Tags: ,
Posted in (2)Food, Appetizer and Light Fare Recipes, Tools | No Comments »

Summer Mixed Salad with Pork Medallions

Monday, December 7th, 2009

Lighter fare during the summer season is enhanced with all the fresh stuff at the market.  You can build world class salads with greens so fresh that even the grand children might eat them.  Add to the greens a few garnishes from the fridge and pantry.  Then toss it all with a classic vinaigrette.  Now, select a fine piece of pork tenderloin.  Season and grill or sauté it to medium (135F).  Cut it on the bias into medallions and place them around each salad piled high on a charger plate.  Rush plates and diners to the table on the sun deck, turn on the Mosquito Magnet, and summer is here and now!

A Variation on a Summer Mixed Salad with Pork Medallions
Yield:  Two servings
See Abbreviations, if needed
For the salad
·   ½ part        Radicchio, sliced finely
·   8 parts        Leaf lettuce, two types, of choice
·   20              Asparagus, cooked and chilled
·   1                Fresh spring onion, sliced in thin strips 1.5″ long
·   3 T       Vinaigrette
·   1/2              Yellow Doll Mini Watermelon (or other of choice), cubed

For the pork medallions
·   Pork tenderloin, about 3 ozs or 4 slices per serving
·   S/P or dry rub, of choice

1.  Prepare salad ingredients and toss together in a large SSB
2.  Season and grill or sauté pork tenderloin to135F, remove and let stand briefly, covered
3.  When ready:
·   Fan-array asparagus on charger-sized plate
·   Center and pile high a large portion of salad
·   Slice tenderloin medallions ¼ – inch on the bias
·   Place 4 medallions around the salad
·   Place cubes of watermelon around the salad nicely
·   Top salad with a few grinds of fresh pepper

Tags: , , ,
Posted in (2)Food, Appetizer and Light Fare Recipes | No Comments »

Rainer Cherry Ice Cream

Tuesday, December 1st, 2009

The Rainier Cherry, a hybrid, has the highest sugar content of all cherries. They are available on the east coast only in early summer.  They’re delicious.

Rainier Cherry Ice Cream.

Check for abbreviations, if needed
For the cherries:
1/2 C         water
3/4 C         sugar
1 C            pitted and halved Rainier cherries
For the ice cream batter:
6 oz           regular cream cheese, ambient
1 3/4 C      heavy cream
3/4 C         2% milk
1/2             vanilla bean, split and stripped into the milk (or 1t vanilla extract)

1.  Combine cherries, water and sugar and BTB in heavy sauce pan
2.  Remove from heat and let steep for 30 minutes, then drain the cherries and set
aside in the fridge to await Step 12
3.  Discard the steeping syrup
4.  Smooth out and aerate the cream cheese at high speed in a standup or hand mixer
5.  Combine and stir the cream, milk and vanilla and cook over medium heat
until the edges bubble, but do not BTB
6.  Remove the vanilla bean halves
7.  Blend in the vanilla seeds (the black specks tend to bunch) with a whisk or stick blender
8.  With the mixer running at slow speed, drizzle the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese
9.  Strain into a container with a spout, (it’s OK to rub the solids through the fine mesh strainer)
10.  Cover and fridge until thoroughly chilled
11.  When ready, pour into the ice cream maker bowl and churn until thick
12.  Remove bowl from ice cream maker and fold in cherries with a spatula
13.  Transfer ice cream to freezer container and freeze until you can’t wait . . .,
at least four hours

Note:  (This recipe is inspired by a  Bing Cherry Ice Cream recipe in Williams-Sonoma’s Ice Cream.)

Rainer Cherry Ice Cream The Rainier Cherry, a hybrid, has the highest sugar content of all cherries. They are available on the east coast only in early summer.  They’re delicious.

Rainier Cherry Ice Cream.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in (2)Food, Appetizer and Light Fare Recipes | No Comments »

Pepper and Tomato Salad

Monday, November 30th, 2009

Sweet peppers and tomatoes are in season now, and your garden patch of basil and mint should be resplendent.  Why not place them all on one plate as a nice cool fresh summer salad?
Pepper and Tomato Salad
Yield:  4 servings
See Abbreviations, if needed

·    2         large ripe tomatoes (heirloom varieties are nice here)
·    1         large garlic clove, pureed
 ·    6         fresh basil leaves cut in thirds lengthwise
·    5         fresh mint leaves cut in halves lengthwise
·    3T       EVOO (your very best)
·    4         large bell peppers, any color or mix
·    S/P     to taste
·    2T      capers, drained

1. Char the peppers directly over gas burners or under the broiler.  Place each in
an aluminum wrapper and seal to cool
2.  Cut the tomatoes into pieces, deseed, and pass them through a food mill, fitted with
the medium or large hole disk, and into a small glass mixing bowl
3.  Puree the garlic, cut the basil and mints leaves and place all in the bowl
4.  Add the EVOO and mix well
5.  Add S/P to taste, cover the bowl and let rest in the fridge for an hour
6.  Remove each pepper from its aluminum foil and scrape off the charred skin

TIP:  Over the sink, scrape off the charred skin of a roasted bell pepper with a paring knife (better still, a serrated paring knife). Use running water to clean the knife. Do not run water over the pepper.  It gets messy.

7.  Slice open the roasted peppers, deseed and devein
8.  Slice the peppers into long strips about 3/8-inch wide
9.  Arrange the peppers on a serving plate and drizzle the
tomato/EVOO mixture over them
10. Drain the capers and distribute them over the top of the salad
11. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge for an hour.
12.  Remove the salad from the fridge about 30 minutes before serving

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Appetizer and Light Fare Recipes, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Frozen Pizza, Enhanced

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009

Spent a long weekend on the road to and from Harrisonville, North Carolina.  (Only a few miles from where a most wanted bomber nut, on the loose for five years, was collared by a small town rookie cop.) Of course, the night before departure was all about packing clothes for the trip and the wedding to be attended.  Time for preparing dinner?  Zilch.

Solution?  Order a pizza for $18 with tip, or pull one out of the freezer.  Go freezer!  We favor cheese pizzas from DiGorno and California Kitchens.  If dressed up  with fresh slices of pepperoni (a must always), garnished with suitable leftovers–this time  cooked asparagus and a handful of sautéed shallots, and topped with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, you have, for about $8, a very very good pizza ready for the oven (photo).  Bake at 375F in a pre-heated oven for about 25 minutes, or until the edges begin to brown.

Pepperoni is air-dried sausage and will last in the fridge for months.  So too will Parmigiano-Reggiano, especially if vacuum wrapped.  Frozen pizzas are also vacuum wrapped.  So all the fixins can be right at home, waiting and ready.  We order one out now and then, but prefer the $8 option.

If you decide that this is the way to go, I recommend that you buy a “pizza baking stone,”  to fit your oven (about $30).  The hot stone does a better job than a baking sheet in producing a crisp pizza crust. Of course, the stone will pay for itself after only three homemade pizzas! Right?

Posted in Appetizer and Light Fare Recipes, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Cranberries Meet Mexico

Friday, September 25th, 2009

Here is a cranberry side dish with more depth and complexity than the usual sugar and orange-dominated cranberry sauce.  To make this come out balanced (we have strong ingredients here), reserve, at Step 3, half of the diced jalapeno, some chopped cilantro and half of the lime/orange juice.  At Step 4:  taste what you have, add a little of this reserve or a little of that reserve, and simmer.  Repeat until the salsa is perfect.  Serve at room temperature with turkey, chicken and pork dishes.

CRANBERRY SALSA
See Abbreviations, if needed
•   24oz    (2 packages, about 6 cups) washed and sorted
•   1          jalapeno chili pepper, roasted, peeled, seeds removed, deveined and finely diced.
•   ¼C      chopped fresh cilantro
•   3          limes of juice or lime/orange juice (half and half)
•   1C       sugar
•   1t         salt
•   ½ t       pepper
•   3          shallots or spring onions (green part only), small diced

1. Cook the cranberries in water for about 5 minutes or until they pop
2. Drain
3. Stir in the other ingredients and simmer briefly
4. Taste for heat, tartness and balance (don’t drive out all other tastes with
the cilantro or jalapeno)
5. Return to simmer briefly
6. Cool and refrigerate
Note:  Wear gloves when handling hot peppers. Or, if not, wash hands afterwards with soap and water and then again with Purell.

Tags: ,
Posted in (2)Food, Appetizer and Light Fare Recipes | No Comments »

Proscuitto Wrapped Asparagus

Friday, March 27th, 2009

Classy, But Simple

A recent visit to Costco, a big box everything store, revealed a nice package of Proscuitto di Parma. Each transparently thin slice of this wonderful Italian salt-cured, air-dried but not smoked ham was separated by a thin plastic divider that peeled right off. You’ve had this ham with melon or with cheese and crackers. It’s best eaten uncooked. However, it can be cooked to good effect if added a la minute. For example:

Proscuitto Wrapped Asparagus
1. Trim and wash some asparagus and boil in lightly salted water for about 6 minutes until just barely tender. Scoop the cooked asparagus out of the boiling water and into an awaiting bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process and to retain the brught green color.
2. When cooled, drain off the ice and water and place the asparagus on a paper towel to dry.
3. Peel off a slice of Proscuitto di Parma, place 5 or 6 spears of cooked asparagus on the proscuitto and wrap and roll the whole thing up. Repeat for all and set aside.
4. When ready, place the asparagus wraps in a greased pan and reheat in a preheated 400F oven for about eight minutes.
5. Serve immediately. Shown here with The Little Woman’s chipped beef on toast.
Note: You may add a grind of pepper or other seasoning to the asparagus before wrapping them up, but beware that the proscuitto is salty.

Tags:
Posted in (2)Food, Appetizer and Light Fare Recipes | No Comments »

« Older Entries