Published by mel on July 7, 2008 in breakfast, dessert, entree, recipe and sides & bites.
The 4th of July just might be my favorite holiday. Especially when it lands on a Friday and the rain clouds stay away. We wake up early, pack the food, the coolers and the Bocce set and head to the beach. We set up 3 tents, tons of chairs and a buffet for our friends and family. We open our first beer before noon and we eat empanadas, roast pork and tamales with our toes in the sand all day. The barge with fireworks makes it’s way over to our beach, parks right in front of our party and we drink champagne while they burst over our heads. A perfect day.
I bring the empanadas, which means that I turn my kitchen into an empanada factory the eve of 4th. This year I managed to churn out 80 empanadas in 3 varieties - Guava and Cream Cheese; Sausage, Roasted Red Pepper and Feta; Ham, Cheddar and Green Apple. They were all gone by 3pm, which means that next year I’ll somehow have to make more. I think my favorite was the ham, cheddar and green apple, though the guava and cream cheese were the first to disappear.
Just like arroz con pollo empanadas differ regionally. Cubans generally deep fry their empanadas, creating a flaky, bubbly crust. While these are quite delicious, I just don’t deep dry at home. Too messy. I baked them in batches of 20 - 30 and they emerged golden and delicious.
Empanadas are fairly easy to make and great for large crowds. They’re also hand-held and portable which make them perfect for a BBQ or beach picnic. And they were just perfect for my perfect 4th of July.
Continue reading ‘empanadas three ways’
Published by mel on June 9, 2008 in entree, recipe and sides & bites.
I spied a sort of recipe for skillet flatbread over at Mark Bittman’s blog a few weeks ago and bookmarked it immediately. It peaked my interest because of its simplicity, its use of Whole Wheat flour and because it doesn’t take yeast. My impatient self loves that. Apparently, it’s also impossible to mess up. The author (Kerri Conan) says you can substitute any kind of whole grain flour and can play with the measurements of the flour and the water depending on whether you want something soft and “custardy” or nice and crisp. I went with the crisp. This kind of improvised, non-exact recipe is exactly how I like to cook!
And the flatbread was wonderful. Simple, hearty and ridiculously easy to make. Five ingredients and 45 minutes is all you need before you’re enjoying the crisp, warm pita-like bread. We topped ours with some freshly grilled and marinated graffiti eggplant, feta cheese and oil-cured black olives. Very delicious on a hot Sunday afternoon. Especially when eaten on a paper towel pool-side.
You can also pile it with pizza toppings and put it under the broiler for a few minutes. It’s not quite as soft and chewy as regular pizza dough, but works well if you have no time or patience for the dough to rise. I also think this would make a beautiful appetizer for guests simply topped with cheese, fresh produce and herbs and cut into pretty squares. Or a simple, sweet snack with cheese, figs and honey.
Continue reading ‘whole wheat skillet flatbread’
Published by mel on May 28, 2008 in entree, recipe and sides & bites.
Usually potato salad means boiled potatoes and globs of mayonnaise. (Um, duh.) And while this kind of potato salad can be just the thing for a backyard BBQ, it’s not exactly what you want to eat for lunch everyday. I posted a vinaigrette-based version a few weeks ago, and when I saw the pretty, locally-grown fingerlings at the grocery store, I snatched them up for more potato salad.
This time, a simple green salad with oven-roasted fingerlings, greens, feta cheese and pistachios dressed with a lemony vinaigrette. A lighter alternative to the standard potato salad that works equally well as an entree or side. And honestly, roasted potatoes are just perfect for a salad. Hearty and creamy and perfectly satisfying.
Continue reading ‘a different kind of potato salad’
Published by mel on January 25, 2008 in entree and recipe.
I like salads that are room temperature, or even a little warm because you can actually taste the ingredients. There’s nothing more unappealing to me than a pre-made, super refrigerated salad from a deli or grocery store. Tomatoes are especially gross when they’re really cold. Not that there are any tomatoes in this salad - I’m just saying…
Anyway, I made a salad last night with freshly roasted butternut squash, which is rather annoying to prepare from a whole squash and so I will be using the frozen cubed kind from Whole Foods from now on. I also crisped up my prosciutto by broiling it in the oven. (I know you’re not supposed to heat/cook prosciutto, but it wasn’t the fancy expensive kind and I wanted something closer to the consistency of bacon.) I used both Arugula and Watercress (for peppery-ness), feta cheese (for tang) and pumpkin seeds (for crunch) then tossed everything in a citrusy Dijon vinaigrette.
I’ve used quite a bit of parentheses in this post, and I’ll try to refrain from doing so in the future (promise).
Continue reading ‘butternut squash & crispy prosciutto salad’
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