Thursday, April 7, 2011
And the winner of the cheese knife is...
San Simon Prosciutto Appetizers


It's a smoked Spanish cheese made from cow's milk in the region of Galicia in the northwest of the country. The curd is transferred into pear-shaped moulds. After a day, the forms are immersed in hot whey. After two weeks, the cheeses are smoked. It is soft and has a delicious buttery texture and a thin chestnut-orange rind.
Pretty, isn't it?
CRUSTINI SAN SIMON AND PROSCIUTTO
Ingredients:
Baguette slices or Gluten-Free Pizza
San Simon CheeseOlive Oil
Prosciutto
Kalmata Olives, pitted
Paprika
Cornichon pickles and olives for garnish
Directions:
Slice the baguette or GF pizza into bite-sized pieces. Brush with olive oil on both sides. Grill in a saute pan for about a minute each side. Remove from heat and set on plate.
Slice the San Simon into thin 1-2” wedges. Roll 1-2” squares of prosciutto into tiny tubes.
Slice Kalmata olives into decorative slices.
Place the baguette or GF pizza on appetizer plates. Top with the cheese, then the prosciutto tubes, then a slice of olive. Garnish the plate and sprinkle it all with paprika.
**3 per serving seems to be the perfect size, so purchase your ingredients accordingly.
CLICK HERE for a pdf of this recipe.
******************
Question of the day: What's your favorite appetizer to serve or enjoy?

I've started a LOST AND FONDUE launch contest that runs from now until May 3, the day LOST AND FONDUE comes out. Details are on my website, but here's the skinny. All you have to do is read THE LONG QUICHE GOODBYE (in your library, at the store, on your Kindle, I don't care) and tell me where you find TUSCAN TARTUFFO CHEESE (hint, it's not that far in). You'll write me, via the website, and you're entered. 1st prize is either a fondue pot or $50 gift certificate to your favorite booksellers. There are other prizes as well.
CLICK THIS LINK.
And for today, to kick it all off, to one commenter, I'm giving away this little cheese knife called a coltello tagliagrana inox from Italy. [Don't you love the name?] Winner announced tonight at 11:30 p.m. PST.
Also, check out my blog tour schedule LINK. There are little surprises in store while I'm on the "virtual road" [first guest blog April 11th].
Enjoy!
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Spaghetti and Meatballs—With Chili
In our house, we have some meals that are in heavy rotation. These meals are usually quick and easy and popular with the children.
One of these meals is spaghetti and meatballs. I think that I could probably fix that for them every day and they wouldn’t make a peep of disapproval.
But—well, the grown-ups in the house get a little tired of the same thing. Just like we can’t watch the same DVD over and over again like the kids can. So it’s nice to make a family favorite—with a twist.
This is a recipe that’s a twist on the spaghetti and meatball classic. It’s originally a Southern Living recipe and it’ll make you feel like you’re eating something different…but comfortingly the same.
Sometimes I’ll substitute ground turkey for ground beef—just to be a little healthier. I usually have most of these ingredients in my pantry and fridge, so it’s a good recipe to have in a pinch. I like the black beans in this recipe—they’re so healthy and I’ve made an effort in the past year to include them more and more in recipes.
Chili-Style Spaghetti and Meatballs
Printer-Friendly Version
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds ground round
- 1 tablespoon grated onion
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 12 ounces uncooked spaghetti
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 (14 1/2-oz.) can diced tomatoes, undrained
- 1 (14-oz.) can beef broth
- 1 (6-oz.) can tomato paste
- 1 (4-oz.) can chopped green chiles
- 1 (15-oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained
- Toppings: shredded Cheddar cheese, sour cream, chopped red onion
Preparation
1. Combine ground round, 1 Tbsp. onion, and next 2 ingredients in a large bowl just until blended. Gently shape meat mixture into 18 (1 1/2-inch) balls.
2. Place a lightly greased rack in an aluminum foil-lined broiler pan. Arrange meatballs on rack.
3. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes or until browned. (Centers will be slightly pink.)
4. Prepare pasta according to package directions. Keep warm.
5. Cook chili powder in hot oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat, stirring constantly, 2 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and next 3 ingredients. Gently stir meatballs into tomato mixture. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes. Gently stir in beans, and cook 3 more minutes. Serve immediately with spaghetti and desired toppings.
Do you like new twists on old favorites? What have you tried before?
Riley/Elizabeth
Delicious and Suspicious (July 6 2010) Riley Adams
Pretty is as Pretty Dies –Elizabeth Spann Craig
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Supernatural Sticky Wings from Cleo Coyle
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| Cleo Coyle, sticky wing freak, and author of The Coffeehouse Mysteries |
Over the last few years, Korean-style sticky wings have become a popular treat here in New York City. These wings, which are described as "Korean pub food," are lip-smackin' good, whether they're eaten in a pub, in one of the Korean wing shops around town, or on a Central Park bench.
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| Roast Mortem: A Coffeehouse Mystery (Click cover to learn more.) |
recipe for you, but one that's just as transcendently delicious.
As I mentioned in my recent posts, The Wall Street Journal reported that we're in for a banner year in the production of maple syrup (after last year's lackluster season).
If you missed my Maple Madness post, click here to get my recipe for Smoky-Sweet Maple Vinaigrette or click here to get my recipe for Maple Cookies 2 Ways.
This week, I'm using maple syrup as the star ingredient in a sticky wing recipe. The marinade begins the flavoring process by soaking the chicken wings in a sweet and savory bath. The glaze finishes the sticky wings with a combination of maple, honey, lemon, ginger, and an ingredient that really pulls it all together: cumin. This ancient spice is often used in Mediterranean, Middle-Eastern, and Asian cooking. Here it deepens the glaze flavor, adding an earthy, nutty, ever-so-slightly mustard-like dimension that sends these sticky wings right out of this world...
Cleo Coyle's
Supernatural Sticky Wings
To download this recipe as a free PDF format that you can print, save, or share, click here.
Makes 12 chicken wings (about 4 pounds)
Ingredients for Marinade
12 chicken wings (about 4 pounds)
5 cloves garlic, chopped
½ cup maple syrup
¼ cup cider vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon honey
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
1/8 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
Ingredients for Glaze (to baste during cooking)
Makes 1/3 cup glaze (enough to baste 12 wings)
¼ cup maple syrup
¼ cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon butter
½ teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
See 2 tasty wing variations at the end of this recipe.
Step 1—Make Marinade: Smash garlic and chop. Throw into a bowl with maple syrup, cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey, pepper, and salt. Whisk until thoroughly blended. Wash chicken wings, pat dry, and cut off the tips. Place wings in a re-sealable plastic bag or container. Pour marinade over wings, toss to thoroughly coat, and marinate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
Step 2—Make glaze: First preheat oven to 350° F. While oven is warming up, make the maple glaze. Combine all the glaze ingredients in a small saucepan, over low heat. Simmer, stirring continually for 3 to 5 minutes, until mixture thickens and becomes syrupy. Test by dipping a spoon into the glaze. When it easily coats the back of the spoon, it’s ready.
Step 3—Oven Roast (or grill): To cut down on the clean up, line a shallow pan with aluminum foil. Place a rack over the pan and coat the rack with nonstick spray. Remove wings from marinade and discard the excess liquid. Place wings on the rack and roast. Total cooking time is 80 minutes. After the first 30 minutes, turn over each wing and brush liberally with the glaze. Cook another 15 minutes. Flip the wings and baste a second time. Cook for another 15 minutes. Baste for a third time and cook a final 15 – 20 minutes. (Be patient with the cooking time and do not increase the oven temperature to speed up the process or you’ll likely scorch the sugar in the glaze.)
Variation 1—South Carolina-style Mustard BBQ:
Use the same Marinade recipe, but in the Glaze recipe replace 1 tablespoon of the honey with 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard.
Variation 2—Sweet-Hot:
Use the same Marinade recipe, but in the Glaze recipe add ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper and…
at my *virtual* coffeehouse:
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| Click on the book covers above to learn more about Cleo's culinary mysteries. |
Monday, April 4, 2011
The 1,200 Calorie Nightmare & the 131 Calorie Solution
Last week, I had house guests coming for the weekend. I asked one of them if she wanted anything special to eat. She replied that she was on a 1,200 calorie a day diet.Ack! That threw my cooking plans out the window. After some thought, it seemed that concentrating on fruits and vegetables would be the thing to do.

But there was a catch. She doesn't like most fruits and vegetables. On top of that, one of my other guests doesn't like some of the few fruits and vegetables that the first guest will eat.
No onions, peppers, tomatoes, asparagus, pineapple, broccoli, cabbage, cucumbers, beans, black-eyed peas, lima beans, squash, eggplant -- are you getting the picture?
I had planned to make MJ's Dinner Party Chicken but I suspected that ricotta cheese and breadcrumbs would ruin the calorie count. So I borrowed MJ's idea and hoped for the best.
I went straight to lemon to infuse my chicken
breasts with flavor. After all, they couldn't have many calories! In addition I made liberal use of rosemary for more flavor without fat or calories. A plain 4 ounce chicken breast (yes, I weighed them) is 120 calories. There are a mere 61 calories in one cup of lemon juice, so the entire calorie count of lemon juice for the dish wouldn't have been more than 15 calories or so.
Like MJ, I made a slit in each chicken breast. I sprinkled each one with a different blend of spices (Penzey's Northwoods, Turkish, and Lamb seasonings) and added rosemary. Then I slid half a slice of lemon inside each chicken breast. Rosemary comes in at a whopping 2 calories per tablespoon, making it every dieter's best buddy for flavor.I skipped browning of chicken to avoid the additional calories of oil. Instead, I squeezed more lemon on top of the chicken breasts and
sprinkled them generously with rosemary. But I did add one teensy sliver (about 1/16th of a tablespoon = 6 calories) of butter to the inside of each breast as well. I'm including the picture to prove that I used very little butter -- just a whisper, really.It turned out surprisingly well in spite of the lack of oil and other fats. The butter melted with the chicken juices, making a very tiny bit of sauce in the bottom of the pan. To be honest, the spices were almost lost since the lemon and rosemary were so dominant and delicious.
1 lemon
rosemary
spices
tiny bit of butter
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking pan with aluminum foil.
Cut a pocket into the side of each chicken breast. Sprinkle with your favorite spices and rosemary. Insert 1/2 a slice of lemon.
Squeeze half a lemon over top of the chicken breasts and sprinkle liberally with rosemary.
Bake 40 - 45 minutes. Pour juices in bottom of pan over chicken breasts to serve.
Enjoy!
Sunday, April 3, 2011
BEST FOOD EVER
Now that I've made you suffer through all those memories of terrible food, it seems only fair that I ask you about the other end of the spectrum: the best food you've ever eaten. What does "best" mean? I suppose it's anything that you still think about, years later; the benchmark against which you compare restaurant dishes or your own creations. Or just the first bite of something that made you say "wow!" You decide.
I've told you that my mother was a rather conservative cook, but I should add that I was a picky eater as a child. You know--the kind that keeps everything on her plate separated, and eats all the potatoes before starting the chicken. I am grateful that my mother introduced me to such then-exotic items as asparagus and artichokes at a tender age, and for some reason I embraced those enthusiastically. But for many years I wouldn't go near onions, raw or cooked. My mother tried to sneak beets in now and then, and they made me gag (still do, alas, although I'm working on it because the golden ones and the stripey ones are so pretty).
Note that I say "my mother," because my father didn't cook. He did enjoy good food, and he favored meat and fish. After my parents split up, when he was between wives and living alone, his idea of cooking was to grill a piece of something on his handy indoor portable grill (which he rarely cleaned because all those fat drippings added flavor), and then take a knife and cut himself a nice slab of ice cream. Seriously.
My earliest food memories? Pistachio ice cream with my father (yes, he really liked ice cream). Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup with my mother (liked the soup, hated the slimy little bits of mushroom). I think in both cases I was about three.
The biggest change in my eating came the first time I went to France, when I was in college. I went with a friend, and we stuck to the $5 a day regime, apart from the indulgence of a rental car, so we ate a lot of inexpensive prix fixe meals in small restaurants in small towns. But, oh, it was a revelation! Scaredy-cat me was suddenly eating pate and cornichons and whole-grain mustard and obscure shellfish and gooey cheeses--and loving every minute of it. I never looked back.
But if I have to come up with only one memorable dish, I found it on a much later trip to Paris. I was traveling with my mother (who had never been abroad) and my then nine-year-old daughter. One ambled, the other ran, and I was stuck in the middle trying to keep an eye on everyone at once. Not a combination I recommend, but we all survived.
One evening we strolled the boulevards in search of dinner and came upon a mid-size restaurant that was only semi-crowded. I can't even remember the name of it, although I could tell you where it was. The dish that has etched itself on my memory wasn't even the main course, it was the appetizer: a salad of tender young greens, pate de fois gras, duck confit, and slices of green apple, all dressed in a mild vinaigrette. I stopped dead in my (eating) tracks when I tasted it. It had everything--it was sweet, sour, salty; creamy and crunchy; all perfectly balanced. Fifteen years later it's still my gold standard for the perfect dish, and I've never found anything to equal it (although I'm happy to keep trying!). I won't even attempt to recreate it--I'd rather treasure the memory.
What about you? What is the single most memorable eating experience of your life? It can be anything, anywhere--your grandmother's signature dish, your vacation splurge (which reminds me, there was that amazing hazelnut gelato from a street cart in Florence...). Share it with us!
PS. For the Awful Food contest, I'll give you until midnight tonight to come up with the best of your worst, and then I'll pick a winner. Which may not be easy!
Saturday, April 2, 2011
AWFUL FOOD
Since I still have only one functional leg (at least until mid-April, or maybe even later, but I don't want to think about that), my cooking is limited. Bless my husband for stepping up, but we've always shared the cooking (the one who doesn't cook gets to do the dishes--from which I'm also exempt for as long as it takes). Maybe I could manage, but while I love to cook, doing it with the gas flames at eye level is asking for trouble.
I debated briefly about trying to come up with a recipe here using only ingredients in the bottom half of the kitchen, plus the oven and the microwave, which I can reach. However, I'm not sure anyone would eat the results. Lots of carbohydrates, a few canned goods, and vegetables. Plus I can't reach any of the mixing bowls or measuring devices. No, I think I'll skip that idea.
So I decided to review the worst foods I've ever eaten. Surely you all have meals that you remember for their sheer awfulness? I hope you'll share your favorites--or do I mean least favorites? Anyway, in no particular order:
--My mother was a good plain cook, when I was growing up: meat, starch, veg, in separate piles. We didn't eat casseroles, and forget about spaghetti with sauce. We did glom onto TV dinners early (I still have a sneaking fondness for them). However, after I left home she started to get more creative with her recipes, and one daring attempt stands out: roast lamb with coffee and cream. I think it might have been a Scandinavian recipe, but it was a mistake from the beginning. We never spoke of it again.
--Along the same lines, I had a post-college roommate whose cooking skills were best expressed in her succulent pan-fried hot dogs. She did go on to become an MD, but that required no culinary achievements. Like my mother, she was once inspired to tackle lamb, this time lamb chops with pineapple. Not a success. That one was never seen again either. Not long after that she volunteered to do all the dishwashing, if my other roommate and I would do the cooking. Good deal all around.
--The year my husband and I were first married, we were invited to Thanksgiving dinner by another couple. They were having some marital issues, which in the end resulted in She locking herself in the bathroom, leaving He with a turkey (cooked, luckily) and the task of making gravy. He had no idea how to make gravy (and he a Ph.D. scientist!). As I recall, faced with a pan of turkey drippings, he started randomly throwing flour and water at it until it resembled wallpaper paste. Uh, that's not how you make gravy.
I will confess that I am not innocent of kitchen failures. I started "cooking" when I was about eight, and my first achievement was burnt sugar (kids will eat anything), followed closely by a fudge pyramid (the stuff solidified before it hit the pan, and I think it was crunchy). The first loaf of bread I attempted, when I was in high school, resembled a brick and was inedible (I think the yeast had died an untimely death, but what did I know?). Not an auspicious start.
I persisted, and became a fair cook. When I graduated from college my first purchase was Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and I can still recite recipes verbatim--and still make many of them, as does my husband. Still, not all of my efforts are successful, even today. Take, for example, a dessert recipe that I tried out a couple of years ago. It sounded just dandy on the page. In my own defense, I am good at following recipes, and I don't randomly add ingredients just to see what happens (unlike my daughter, who has come up with some very interesting recipes, and we've eaten...most of them). But somehow this recipe got away from me, and resulted in a mess so ugly I had to take a picture of it--once I stopped laughing. [One cannot be too serious in a kitchen!]
You should never be afraid of food, and of experimenting with it. Nor should you throw out your old favorites, just because they're old. If you enjoy eating the results, go for it!
To take the bad taste out of your mouth, I'll share with you a cheesecake recipe given to me by a friend (with a definite sweet tooth!). You can't have too many cheesecake recipes, right? If you make this right, you get a layered effect. If things get muddled in the middle, it still tastes great!
Crust:
Press into bottom of 9" springform pan (after spraying pan with cooking spray). Bake at 350 degrees F. for 7 minutes, remove from oven and reduce heat to 300 degrees F.
Sauce:
Mix sugar and cornstarch, add berries and juice and bring to a boil in 2 quart saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and cook for about 7‑8 minutes, stirring frequently, until mixture is thick. Put into blender and blend until smooth. Strain, pressing mixture with back of a spoon through strainer/colander so only skin of cranberries is left. Discard skins. Set aside to cool.
Filling 2:
Beat cream cheese and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time until just blended. Stir in whipping cream and orange peel.
Place a shallow pan half full of hot water on lower oven rack and then put the springform pan on rack above. Bake 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 25 minutes‑‑until edge of cheesecake is set at least 2 inches from edge of pan, but center still jiggles slightly when moved. Run small metal spatula around top edge of pan to loosen cheesecake. Turn the oven off and open the oven door about 5 inches. Let cheesecake remain in the oven for 30 minutes. Then, cool in pan on cooling rack for another 30 minutes. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours before serving.
Remove side of pan, and spread remaining cran‑raspberry mixture over top of cheesecake.
What is your single most awful food memory? Your biggest cooking failure? Your most inedible restaurant order? Leave a comment and I'll pick a winner for a copy of one of my Orchard Series books with recipes (they all work, I promise!), and maybe a package of antacids. Or we could put together an anthology of Recipes You Should Never Try. Have fun with it!
Friday, April 1, 2011
Ruby Glazed Cornish Hens on warm spinach salad
Happy April Fool's Day everyone!
Ruby-Glazed Cornish hens on warm spinach salad
Preparation time: 45 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour
Yield: 6 servings
Cornish Hens:
3 large Cornish hens, thawed
salt, freshly ground pepper
½ cup currant jam or jelly
1/3 cup cranberry juice cocktail
2 TBs Dijon mustard
Salad:
8 cups young spinach leaves (stems trimmed), rinsed, chilled
4 slices lean bacon cut into small dice
3 TBS canola oil
1 ½ TBS each: red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar
½ TB water
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 ½ tsps sugar
½ cup cranberry juice cocktail
2 TBS dried cranberries
4 thin slices red onion
Put a rack in lower third of over, set oven at 400 degrees. Line a shallow roasting pan (big enough to hold hens in a single layer) with tin foil. Set aside.

Split the hens in half. Cut out the backbone from each half using kitchen shears. Rinse hens well and blot dry with paper towels. Generously season hens with salt and pepper. Place skin side up in prepared pan. Mix jam, cranberry juice, mustard, ¼ tsp salt and pepper to taste in a small bowl.
Roast hens 30 minutes. Brush on glaze. Bake until deeply colored and juices run clear, about 25 minutes longer, brushing glaze once more half way through the cooking. Remove hens from oven. Brush on any remaining glaze. Let rest 10 minutes, loosely tented with foil.
For salad, put spinach leaves in large bowl. Keep chilled until ready to use.
Cook bacon in 8-inch non stick skillet over medium high heat until well-browned and crisp, about 3 minutes, stirring often. Use slotted spoon to transfer bacon to paper towels. Spill off and discard any excess bacon fat from pan but do not wipe it out.
Add remaining infredients and ½ tsp salt to pan (except onions and a few dried cranberries to use as a garnish). Stir until well-mixed. Simmer 1 minute. Can be made several hours ahead to this point and kept at room temperature or refrigerated overnight.
To serve, heat dressing in pan over medium heat. When hot, add onion slices, separating slices into rings. Remove from heat. Pour hot dressing over spinach. Toss well to coat spinach with dressing. Adjust seasoning. Divide salad between 6 plates, arranging a few onions and cranberries over surface. Sprinkle bacon over, dividing evenly. Place hens on warm spinach salad. Serve immediately.
Hope you enjoy!
Julie











