I am one very lucky wife, to have a Mr. Fix-It kind of husband. On Wednesday, my oven died. Thank you for your sympathy-- you do understand the horror of not being able to bake, roast or broil. Fortunately, my husband was able to buy a new igniter , and my gas oven is working beautifully! The timing could not be more perfect because, most Fridays, Craig and I look forward to having an end-of-the-week cocktail (usually an ice cold beer) and some a tapas style dinner. I prefer to make something that doesn't take much time to put together, but has enough sustenance to count as dinner-- sometime a side salad rounds out the meal perfectly.
I don't use puff pastry on a regular basis, because I know that it's layers of butter that puffs up. Still, puff pastry is such a versatile product to work with. I have no desire to make puff pastry from scratch! I let Pepperidge Farm do all of the work! I've made Ina Garten's easy Cheese Danish, which was a big hit with all of us. I've also made Raspberry Palmiers, which are my son's favorite. For Christmas, this year, I made Salmon En Croute (or you could call it Salmon Wellington) with Cremini Duxelles. The Duxelles are so easy to make, and we loved them. I had extra Duxelles that I decided to freeze-- though I wasn't sure if that was such a good idea. Before I made Ina's very simple looking Savory Palmier's, I decided to see if the Duxelles would thaw well and make an easy filling for pinwheel style h'ors doevres. Enough chit-chat-- let's get on with it!
To make Ina Garten's Savory Palmiers, I toasted some pine nuts and I lightly rolled out a sheet of puff pastry. I like to thaw my puff pastry, overnight, in the fridge. I've done quick thaws on my counter, too. Either way, I try to keep the pastry chilled enough so that it puffs up nicely once the pastry hits a hot oven.
The top left photo shows mounds of thawed Duxelles. I know what you might be thinking-- it's not pretty. It could, potentially, resemble something an animal left that is having some intestinal difficulties. 'Nuff said. Cremini mushrooms, thyme, white wine, shallots and parsley... mmmmm. Delicious!
With another sheet of puff pastry, I made Ina Garten's recipe. I make my own pesto, which I freeze and/or store in a glass jar in the refrigerator. After slathering a layer of pesto, I added the toasted pine nuts (which I almost burned... so watch the dry roasting in a pan very closely). I sprinkled some chopped sun-dried tomatoes. Ina uses goat cheese, but I only had fresh feta. (I opted not to add salt, which was a wise decision.) So, that's what I used. If you aren't sure how to roll up palmiers, I show you how here.
After a rough week, on a Friday night, I'm not going for perfection in how I rolled them. These are for a private party of two people, and we aren't fussy. Slice them up and put them into a preheated oven at 400F for about 14 minutes. I would check these sooner, because it depends on your oven and the thickness of your slices.
Look at that sizzling butter! Allow them to cool for a few minutes...
I am happy to report that the Duxelles are excellent rolled up in puff pastry! C'mon, how could it not be? We really loved Ina's combo of sun-dried tomatoes, pest and toasted pine nuts. I did not feel that salt was missing at all.
I can't say that I favored one version over another.
I look forward to having home grown tomatoes again. I still love Ina's Tomato and Three Cheese Tart-- which is also made with puff pastry. For those of you who watch The Barefoot Contessa on Food Network, you will understand when I say that Craig is my "Jeffrey". It's obvious that Ina cooks for her husband with a lot of love. My husband appreciates everything that I make. We really enjoy our quiet little Happy Hours at home. I hope you try these sometime-- while they're a bit indulgent on butter, we whip up a small batch of these as an occasional treat.
I have some baking and roasting to get busy with this weekend, now that my oven is back!
While organizing an Alphabetical and Categorical Index for my recipes, I realized something... I don't post/cook enough seafood recipes! I admit, that I don't crave fish, let alone adore fish-- the exception being fresh salmon, sole or tilapia-- all of which I love. Shellfish isn't my husband's favorite meal, unfortunately. But, I can't get enough of lobster, shrimp or scallops! Fortunately, my son loves any kind of seafood, so I invited him for dinner. I've been a bit MIA with the Barefoot Bloggers Group for a few weeks. Ooops! I've missed making the last few recipes. The last one, Coconut Cupcakes-- I just couldn't muster the desire to make them. I'd already made Ina's Coconut Cake and this is the same recipe. But, when my Blogger friend, Cathy (A Spoonful of Thyme), reminded me that the Barefoot Bloggers current selection was Baked Scampi... I wanted to do it! This recipe comes from "Back to Basics", which has become one of my favorite of Ina's many cookbooks.
The prep work was ridiculously easy:
Unsalted butter is important! I say this, because when I read reviews, some folks complained that this dish was too salty. Hmmmm. I wonder if they used regular butter and/or table salt? So, unsalted butter, it is. Scampi isn't scampi without fresh garlic, and that's the truth. You also need one egg yolk-- this is to bind the topping we're about to make. But, first, we need to prep the shrimp:
I like to keep a bag of raw shrimp in my deep freeze. I do a quick thaw, with room temp water. In a matter of minutes, I can easy butterfly the shrimp. These were pretty much deveined, but I still remove any traces of that black squiggly stuff. I cut the recipe in half, calculating about six shrimp per person-- which turned out to be a tad over one pound.
You won't even break a sweat on the marinade-- white wine, olive oil, kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper. Gently stir it up....
Set the shrimp aside, to room temperature and now to make the topping.
You'll want to zest a lemon, then juice it. Minced shallots, fresh parsley and rosemary, and minced garlic...
In a bowl, add the softened butter, zest, lemon juice, herbs, shallots and-- definitely-- red pepper flakes. I highly recommend it! Of course, you need panko crumbs. These are my favorite and love them a lot more then traditional breadcrumbs. I love the crunch. Last, add the egg yolk and combine everything. This takes about 2 minutes!
The topping is ready.
Set each shrimp with the butterfly section "down" and the tail "up". Go in a circle, which looks nice. Individual gratin or ramekin dishes would also be a fun way to prepare this dish.
It doesn't have to be perfect. You're going to cover these with that buttery-flavorful topping--
Easy!
I popped this into the fridge for about 2 hours. This is perfect for entertaining. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 425F and bake these for 10-12 minutes. How about some easy side dishes?
For fluffy rice, I rinse it thoroughly I like to make "Budget Saffron Rice" by using a 1/4 teaspoon of turmeric to color the rice a pretty yellow. I like to use a combo of chicken broth and water, too.
When the rice is cooked, I add fresh herbs and lemon juice. Sometimes I add peas. My son loves my Split Pea Soup but he hates fresh peas. He's weird. But, he was a dinner guest and I left it out.
You like?
Roasting asparagus is our favorite way to prepare these. Welcome to the first fresh asparagus of the California Season, at $1.27 a pound! I use kosher salt, fresh cracked pepper, some olive oil-- and this time, freshly grated Parmesan. Baked at 425F for about 12 minutes, which happens to be the same temperature of roasting the shrimp-- these are so good!
The smell is amazing! Squeeze fresh lemon juice over the baked scampi, as soon as it comes out of the oven.
This is my son's dinner plate. He was licking his chops.
VERDICT: Ina Garten delivers, once again! The flavors worked so well together-- just enough garlic, the acid of the lemon and subtle heat of the red pepper-- the white wine (which I also drank a glass of) and the crunch of the panko crumbs-- even Craig liked this dinner. This recipe is a keeper, and I love the ease of making this dish. I can spend more time with dinner guests, instead of cooking in the kitchen. Loved it!
LEFTOVERS: The next day, there were a few shrimp left. I added some fresh panko, a little drizzle of olive oil and broiled the dish. These were excellent! I didn't broil the dish the first time, but I think that's a great touch.
Thank you Jane, of "Insanely Good Food" for choosing this recipe for The Barefoot Bloggers. You picked a winner-- which I overlooked in my own copy of Back to Basics.
All three recipes are at the very bottom of this post. I hope you give them a try, because this dinner wasn't too expensive and very easy to make. I still hold Ina Garten near and dear to my heart as a Celebrity Chef and Entrepreneur who makes beautiful and flavorful dishes that are very easy to prepare.
In November, I missed both of the Barefoot Bloggers recipe selections from one of my favorite Food Network Stars-- Ina Garten of the Barefoot Contessa. When I saw that "Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms" was the selection for December 24th's posting, I wanted to make this! I figured that if this recipe turned out as tasty as it sounded, then it would be included with my Christmas Eve festivities. The first change that I made was to switch from Button Mushrooms to Portobello Mushrooms. I think they have a "nuttier" taste--
These beauties are pretty large-- about the size of the palm of my hand.
Food Network's "Alton Brown" did an experiment, on one of his episodes, that disproved the theory that mushrooms should be wiped with a cloth. Alton weighed his mushrooms before washing them, and afterward. The increase of water was so minute, that it didn't make a difference! Since then, I wash my mushrooms, thoroughly-- which is a lot easier, I think. (I have seen what mushrooms grow in, and I want to be sure they are very clean!)
I wipe them dry with a paper towel, pull out the stems (to be chopped) and then I like to use a melon baller to clean out those unsightly "gills". The mushrooms are then placed into a baking dish, and marinated with a little olive oil and some sherry (or Marsala wine is good, too). Next...
The stems are finely minced and set aside...
Green onions are a "must"-- cleaned and sliced thin...
I read the reviews for this recipe, and some folks complained that the filling was greasy. I didn't have that problem, because I used turkey sausage. Removing the casings, I cooked the sausage, thoroughly in a cast iron skillet. Because turkey sausage is very lean, I actually needed to add a little bit of olive oil. There! Are we ready to build flavor? NOTE: This recipe could easily be adapted for a vegetarian by not using sausage and using more chopped mushrooms and bread crumbs.
To the sausage, green onion is added... then finely minced garlic... next, panko crumbs and it's combined. Next...
Cheese, please! Ina recommends Marscapone Cheese. I happened to have some, but cream cheese would work just fine Trust me. That's added, and is blended once the heat makes it creamy. Next, some Parmesan cheese. I added some fresh cracked pepper, but not additional salt. I think the Parmesan and the sausage had enough in it-- your choice. In retrospect, I wish I had added some fresh thyme and red pepper flakes. But, I try not to change recipes around too much-- the first go-round, which this was.
My garden has ample fresh Italian parsley. Mince it, and then add that to the sausage filling. I grabbed a small scoop, and now...
... fill those marinated and "cleaned" mushrooms to the brim!
I'm getting an idea...
I diverted from the recipe, because I had a bag of shredded three-cheeses. Why not? NOTE: If you notice a toothpick...um, I kinda got aggressive cleaning out the mushrooms...and I "bwoke" one. I patched it back with a toothpick, which worked just fine.
The recipe says to bake these for 50 minutes at 325F. Mine were ready in 25 minutes!
My son said that these reminded him of sausage pizza-- without the crust. I thought about it, and he's right! These were very tasty. Because the mushrooms were so large, combined with a salad, this would make a nice lunch or supper.
I had leftover sausage filling. I think these would be delicious mixed in with scrambled eggs. Or, this could also be used as a pizza topping. However, I think I'll just make these all over again for Christmas Eve. They are very easy to make. I also think this recipe is very versatile. TASTE NOTES: Regular Italian sausage is an ideal ingredient. Just be sure to drain the excess fat. Fresh thyme would be an excellent addition. I'm not sure if panko crumbs are vital. The moisture of the filling defeated the crunchiness of panko crumbs. I think regular bread crumbs would be fine. You can easily make the sausage a day ahead-- which is exactly what I've done.
It was Summer's turn of {sexy} Apartment's to choose which Ina Garten recipe that the Barefoot Bloggers would make-- Blue Cheese Souffle'. At first, I thought "#$!@#!$#". You see, I've never made a souffle' before. Come to think of it, I've never eaten a savory souffle'. Oh sure, I've indulged in a rich chocolate souffle'. I used to indulge in a Grand Marnier Souffle at a local restaurant that, sadly, closed after many years. But, Blue Cheese? I had to think about that, since I like blue cheese, but I'm not crazy about it.
I spotted this cheese at Trader Joe's and I thought this would make a nice combination, and would tone down the blue cheese a bit.
Yes, this would do nicely! So I grated a little over 3 ounces of this-- it's delicious!
I made sure that I had my mise en place (which I usually call "mess in place"). It's crucial, I think, when I'm trying out a new recipe that might pose a challenge. The last thing I need is to find out that something is missing!
I read the directions a few times, and realized that this wasn't that hard to make. I would make a roux, add cheese, whip eggs whites and fold it in. How hard could that be? Ready? Here we go!
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Butter the inside of an 8-cup souffle dish (7 ½ inches in diameter and 3 ¼ inches deep) and sprinkle evenly with Parmesan. NOTE: I used 4 small ramekins and make "collars" with parchment paper so the souffle could rise higher. I had also read, somewhere, that coating the souffle dish with cornmeal helps the souffle to rise better. So I followed Ina's instructions to use Parmesan on two ramekins and I used cornmeal on the other two-- as an experiment.
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. With a wooden spoon, stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes.
Off the heat, whisk in the hot milk (I heated it in the microwave for about 90 seconds), ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, the cayenne, and nutmeg.
Cook over low heat, whisking constantly, for 1 minute, until smooth and thick.
NOTE: It took more like 3-4 minutes to become thick, for me.
Off the heat, while still hot, whisk in the egg yolks, one at a time. Stir in the Roquefort and the ¼ cup of Parmesan and transfer to a large mixing bowl.
Put the egg whites, cream of tartar, and a pinch of salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.
Beat on low speed for 1 minute, on medium speed for 1 minute, then finally on high speed until they form firm, glossy peaks.
Whisk ¼ of the egg whites into the cheese sauce to lighten and then fold in the rest.
Pour into the souffle dish, then smooth the top. NOTE: I think I should have added the collar at the end (I could have used kitchen twine, but I taped it) I had no way of smoothing out the top!
Draw a large circle on top with the spatula to help the souffle rise evenly (used a long knife to do this), and place in the middle of the oven. NOTE: I set the ramekins on a baking tray. Turn the temperature down to 375 degrees F. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes (don't peek!) until puffed and brown. NOTE: My baked for about 22 minutes, since they were in smaller ramekins.
My first souffle's. NOTE TO SELF: Make the collars smaller next time!
Yes! It worked! Yeah, they're not quite so smooth on top-- okay, they're not smooth at all! But, they sure puffed up and smelled fantastic.
That's a puffy souffle'!
I think that the corn meal vs. the parmesan cheese didn't make any dramatic difference in how the souffle' rose. I will say, though, that the dishes were super easy to clean.
I thought that a salad would be perfect with this meal. I drop into Stacey Snacks blog on a regular basis. I love her recipes-- they're simple, made with fresh ingredients and she's also a really friendly blogger. I always learn something new about French & Italian cooking from her (she's knows a lot about catering and gourmet recipes). She posted a beautiful Alsatian Tarte Flambe (which I plan to make) and her favorite French salad. I had every single ingredient to maker her salad-- spring salad mix with frisee', walnuts (which toasted in a dry skillet... I had white balsamic vinegar and walnut oil, too!
The only thing I didn't have was Gruyere' Cheese. I did, however, have Manchego Cheese from Spain:
It has a nice bite to it! I grated a handful of the cheese.
Dressing: 1 teaspoon of grainy mustard 2 tbsp of white balsamic vinegar 5 tbsp of walnut oil ( used about 3 Tbsp.)
Toss all ingredients together with dressing, and you have a wonderful French salad.
It's light and refreshing. Stace, it's a winner!
Souffle's deflate quickly, so photographing meant I had to work fast! You need to serve these immediately. Fortunately, the salad was ready to go so that I could get this meal on the dinner table, quickly.
The souffle' was, indeed, airy and very light. Craig and I both liked the cheese flavor, but it wasn't overpowering.
Craig and two and I hate one and a half. It was satisfying, but not a heavy meal at all.
I'm so glad that I can cross "learn to make a souffle" off my list of things to learn. Would I make this again? Maybe. It's good, but I much prefer a dessert souffle'.
Thanks, Summer, for choosing this recipe. It certainly kicked up my culinary self-taught lessons up a notch. I don't know what I was so afraid of!
I'm looking forward to seeing what recipes will be chosen for November's Barefoot Blogger challenge. Come join us! It's a fun way to try Ina's recipes-- which have yet to fail me. I've met a lot of friendly bloggers this way.
