Stewed Summertime Veg - Pisto

Summertime vegetables are starting to come into the supermarkets and soon they'll be mounded up at the local farmer's markets too! That makes this tapas dish perfect for using the best of the best fresh veg! I love the color and flavour that a bit of smoked paprika gives this particular pan of Pisto. 

Turkey and Corn Meatballs with a Roasted Red Pepper Dipping Sauce

These were so freakin' good, but they were work! Of course, I made them on the hottest day of the summer and refused to use the oven or a fry pan for anything more than frying the meatballs, so I had to stand over the grill on the terrace rather than heat the house more than necessary. I had to have these little bites, though. The recipe comes from a Yotam Ottolenghi cookbook - his first one.

You know how Ottolenghi has a million ingredients and a bunch of nit-picky steps? Yeah. You gotta follow them to get the little tweeks of flavour that YO is known for. If you don't want to step up to the plate, then tell some of your foodie friends and maybe they'll make these little guys for you. If, however, you buy into the idea fiddling with blackened corn and its smoky flavour, roasted red peppers, sliced and diced garlic and herbs, some chili spice in there and a nice roasty sauce of red peppers and herbs, then have at it!

Sautéed Chard Arancini

This time of year, the cusp of the new growing season, is always a time that I go hog wild over the fresh greens, the first shoots of asparagus, the new crisp radishes that are showing up, bundles of fresh herbs. It's intoxicating to see these fresh Spring greens after all that orange of squash, white taters, and turnips, and the colors of winter vegetables! This week, when I saw bundles of fresh chard, it was too much for me to resist. I snapped up two bunches - one fresh green chard and the other red rainbow chard. The other evening we had wilted greens, wild rice with asparagus bites and roasted game hens and now, today, this small plate lunch of sautéed chard arancini.  This is a fussy fun dish to make. What a great way to putter around with my morning!

Beef Fillet Crostini with Arugula Pesto - Couch Potato Treat

So. We're hanging on the couch watching Red Sox baseball, sipping wine and eating the easiest, but most expensive open face sammies we've ever had. I'm not crabbin', though! These are wicked good!

Savory Pumpkin Empanadas

Snacks are always an important part of our holiday celebrations. I've always got a few plates and platters set out long before the main meal. Folks always say they'll spoil their appetite, but they manage to knosh a few bites of everything and STILL clean their plate! I'm trying these empanadas because they give a 'pumpkin spin' on a classic Spanish tapas offering. They'd be a fun snack for a Thanksgiving feast or for our traditional New Years Eve tapas dinner.

We'll see how they go down at a little get together this evening. I tried one and liked them; they have a soft herbal pumpkin flavour but  I feel they need more to them.. SB has tried one, too, and feels they need a bit more spice ... hmm. Perhaps more ham ... a switch-up with the prosciutto I used and larger cubes of German speck ? A smokier cheese, maybe? Some red pepper flakes? Like I said, I like them, but they could be even better. Having them with a crisp white wine would be a real treat! I'll have to think on it and get some other folks' opinions too. Nothing like experimenting on your friends! We'll put our heads together and get this filling right!

As for the empanada dough, using a conventional pie crust is pretty perfect. It crispy and flaky and has an easy bite. However, I found that one needs two full pie crust recipes - in other words enough pie crust for two two-crust pies. The filling , as stated in the recipe will easily make 60 two-bite empanadas and that's enough for a good Thanksgiving crowd! One could easily make these ahead of time and freeze them on cookie sheets. Bagging up frozen empanadas would allow you to bake as many or as few as you wish. Just a thought ...

If you decide to experiment with this filling recipe and come up with some neat additions, do let me know! One last point. Do use mashed pumpkin and NOT pumpkin pie filling ... just sayin'.

Savory Pumpkin Empanadas

Ingredients:

1 recipe for double crust pie crust

1- 15 oz can pumpkin pulp

1 large egg

1/2 c. ricotta cheese

1/4 tsp. Kosher salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/4 tsp. ground sage

1/8 tsp. ground thyme

2 tbsp. whole milk

1/4 c. Parmesan cheese

5 slices of Spanish ham or Italian prosciutto, fried crisp and chopped small

small dish of cold water for sealing the empanadas

small dish of beaten egg for glazing the empanada crusts

Making the Empanadas:

1. Chill the pie crust dough. While it chills, crisp the ham and chop it. Mix the other ingredients and add the cooled ham. Mix well.
2. Pre heat the oven to 400 Degrees F.
3. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Roll the crust out and cut 3 1/2 inch circles.
4. Place a teaspoonful of pumpkin filling just off center. Moisten the edges of the circle at the edges with water. Fold over and seal with a fork.
5. Place on the parchment paper-lined cookie sheet, leaving some space between each empanada. Brush with the egg glaze.
6. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes until golden and shiny.
7. Cool slightly before serving or leave in a single layer on a big platter and re-heat when you wish to serve them.

Happy New Year From the Virtual Supper Club !!!

A new year begins here at The Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club and what better way to celebrate than with small plates - tapas - mezze - hors d'oeuvres ! What ever you call them, they are the perfect way to eat lightly into the new year! A series of these small plate recipes would serve the host or hostess of a New Years celebration really well. The very nature of small plates culture is such that offerings are brought out for friends one or two at a time. There are drinks, usually beers or glasses of wine, and a few bites served up with plenty of conversation - the perfect way to party! This month we have created a spread of small servings and celebratory wines or cocktails to help bring in 2015 with true pizzazz.

Summertime Small Plates - Crab Cakes and Lemon

Crisped on the outside - soft and hot and chewy on the inside, these are NOT the typical Maryland version of crab cakes. These are spicy and moist with Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce and mayonaisse. Lump crab meat is used and barely tossed so as to keep the chunks of meat intact. Fresh bread crumbs and an egg glue everything together and the cakes are chilled in the fridge for about an hour to set things up. Then, they are fried fast in bubbling butter and vegetable oil ... served hot from the pan with a drizzle of lemon juice and a cold beer, they are summer on a plate!

Moroccan Crab Cakes ???? Yup, Apparently!

Matthew Kenney has sucked me in  ... again! Perhaps it's the gorgeously photographed food in his cookbook or maybe it's just the interesting combinations of ingredients. Whatever, I saw this recipe for Moroccan Spiced Crab Cakes and knew that I had to make them. I have found myself daydreaming about placing them on a nice bed of greens and serving them with a super chilled crisp white wine ... it's supposed to be a warm sunny day here. The back porch will warm right up with the sun hitting it ... it may even feel like a warm summer afternoon out there ... these crab cakes should be a great way to celebrate the return of the sunshine and warmth!

Dog Days and Tapas ...

It was so hot yesterday. These are the dog days of summer. The late summer sun bakes everything and the gardens go blowsy and the grass is parched in places. The Corgis rush out the back door full of energy and drag themselves back after a brief run around with their tongues hanging low. They flop ... and pant ... and drop off to sleep.  They inspire me to do much the same. I get things done in spurts and then flop and pant ... talk about people resembling their pets!

Tapas - Sunday Lunch

A Sunday luncheon party with friends makes for fun nibbling. Making a few tapas platters is the perfect way to let those who are hungry knosh and those who are dieting nibble. Enough said. There's a bit of the decadent and a bit of the conservative here - roasted potatoes with shallots, garlic, rosemary and alioli for dipping, salmon in a roasted red pepper sauce, a cool chicken salad with raisins and pignoli, a platter of black olives and Manchego served with a flatbread bedecked with artichokes, onions, pimientos, and bits of black olive, Spanish Rioja and beers ... and that Coconut Lane Cake for dessert with tea or coffee.

Palmiers ... Two Ways

SB and I went to a holiday dinner party recently. It was our task to bring some nibbles for having with before dinner drinks.

I was on a mission to use up all the bits of ingredients that we've had in the fridge during the Christmas season, so out came the Parmesan and pesto. Sooo easy. In fact, I am recommending that you always keep a packet of puff pastry sheets in your freezer for those occasions when you need a nice appetizer or a bit of something to nibble with a glass of wine if you get spur-of-the-moment guests. These can be made FAST.

Trouble In Paradise ...

What a day! I went with SB to pick raspberries at the farm ... the day was such a beauty! Cooler, sunny, a nice breeze! The berries are just past full bear, but there were plenty to forage. I had plans for picking and then coming straight home to make jam. Duh, duh, duhhhh!

A Taste of Summer ... Potatoes - Patatas, Tomatoes - Tomates ... Avocado!

Happy Spring! I hope you have been able to get out into the fine balmy weather! We had a gorgeous weekend and have come into the new week with more warm sunny weather. I am one happy woman, looking for easy fixin's after being out in the gardens cleaning up winterkill and pulling leaves and dried flower stalks off of last season's flower mounds.  It's so much fun to see the first little unfurlings of leaves and tiny stalks poking through the soil! It's good for the soul to see all this renewal!

This past weekend saw a gorgeous pile of beautiful vegetables in our markets for folks to use in preparing their Easter celebration dinners. I came upon tomatoes and basil from a greenhouse operation down the road in Massachusetts. There were gorgeous avocados from far away ... but I couldn't resist them! I picked up some good mozzarella and made a salad plate side dish to go with our Easter ham ... it was wonderful!

Tapas Tonight!

New Year's Eve has always been a crapshoot. Some years, you go to a boatload of trouble to plan the place, the friends, the food and drink... and it fizzles. Other years, you go with the flow and it still fizzles. Can you guess? I'm not a particularly big fan of  'The New Years Event'. Yup, Silent Bob and I will be staying in again this year. We were discussing going out to a local place that's hosting a party, but that would involve way too much schmoozing for these backwoods folk. Instead, we're thinking warm fire, some candlelight, a cribbage game, some good music on the CD changer and a bottle of Cava cooling in the wine cellar (read back porch).

"But, wait ! It's News Year's Eve! ", you say. I know. Something special has to happen, so I'm thinking...