lights, camera, crab
spicy crab toasts
Hand to mouth food is what you want at gatherings where everyone’s focus will be on the television. The red carpet and easy appetizers for your Oscar party inspired this week’s simple pleasure: spicy crab toasts. Read the rest of this entry »
celeriac purée with crumbled bacon and potato chips
serves 6-8
what you need:
1 large celeriac (celery root), peeled and trimmed (about 14 ounces)
bottled water (as needed)
2 tablespoons quality olive oil
¼ teaspoon ground cardamon
5 tablespoons cooking liquid
2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
kosher salt (to taste)
freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
lemon juice (as needed) Read the rest of this entry »
fresh figs with balsamic caramel, fleur de sel and pomegranate seeds
serves many happy people
(makes approx. 11 ounces caramel sauce)
summer melon gazpacho
makes 3 cups plus garnish (serves 4-6)
what you need:
gazpacho
1 ½ cup (300 ml) watermelon juice from one red, ripe watermelon
15 ounces (430 g) chopped ripe cantaloupe
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
Banon de Banon A.O.C. with fennel confit
and fleshy, balsamic-drenched fig jam
serves 4
what you need:
1 disc Banon de Banon
fleshly fig jam
6 fresh black mission figs, quartered (approx. 300g or 10.6 ounces)
6 ounces (170g) balsamic vinegar
7 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
fennel confit
1 fennel bulb, (approx. 100g or 3.5 ounces)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon honey
8 ounces (30 ml) water
Pissaladière (à ma façon)
makes one 9” tart
what you need:
2 tablespoons olive oil
20 ounces sweet onions (i.e., Vidalia), sliced ¼” width
1 fresh sprig of thyme, stripped
2 pinches kosher salt
⅓ cup Muscat, Sauterine or Verjus
14 olives noires de Nice (or black oil-cured olives with the pits removed and olives halved)
12 anchovy fillets packed in oil (optional to rinse)
1 sheet puff pastry, defrosted Read the rest of this entry »
out of the salad bowl and turning up the heat:
Belgium endive au gratin
Rarely do Americans cook endives. Rather, we consume them raw, usually in a salad or as a passed hors d’œurves. However, sometimes you just have take things out of the salad bowl. I say that with great affection thinking of someone I met who primarily eats salads and rarely ventures out culinarily (at least on his own). This week’s simple pleasure goes outside the endive salad bowl and turns up the heat with a Belgium endive au gratin. Read the rest of this entry »
beet Napoleon
makes 4-6
what you need:
6 red beets (to roast)
6 golden beets (to roast)
healthy snacks that will not send you back to 2011
part 2: chia chips and soybean hummus
“It’s a chia…it’s a pet…it’s a chia pet.” Rumor has it that chia seeds are le tendence (the “in” thing) in food right now. However, thanks to my brother, who sang that 70’s jingle selling chia pets (sprouted chia seeds on an animal-shaped moss forms), when I think of chia seeds, I think of chia pets. Today is my brother’s birthday. Thinking of him, trying to be trendy (save your laughter), and unable to escape the song he “planted” in my consciousness, I arrived at this week’s simple pleasure: chia chips with soybean hummus.
soybean hummus
makes 1 bowl
1 cup frozen soybeans, pods removed
1 small clove garlic, minced
⅛ teaspoon piment d’espelette
⅛ teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon fresh Italian parsley, minced
⅛ cup (1 ounce) fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon tahini paste
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt (and to taste)
freshly ground pepper (to taste)
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