Gourmet Meals in Crappy Little Kitchens
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3 Your water should be about to boil so add 2 tablespoons of sea salt to it, squeeze the lemons into the water and drop them right in. When the water comes to a boil, add the artichokes, reduce to a simmer, cover, and allow them to cook for about 25 minutes. When the bottom of the artichoke is tender, it’s done cooking. After 25 minutes, test one by removing it from the water and piercing it with a fork. If it pierces easily, it’s ready. Drain the artichokes and allow them to cool. Discard the water and lemons.
4 When the peppers have cooled, pull off their tops, turn them upside down, and allow the seeds and juices to drain. Carefully peel off their skins. (Do not rinse them because you’ll lose so much flavor that way!) Once they are peeled, slice them into slender julienne and put them in a medium-size bowl. Add the minced garlic, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
5 Return to your cooled artichokes, and peel off and discard all the leaves until you reach the heart. You’ll know you’ve reached the heart when you see what looks and feels like a soft, yet solid, yellow core. Cut all the hearts in half horizontally, and then in half again horizontally to create slices. If you’d like to turn this recipe into a side dish, leave the hearts in half to create larger portions.
6 Spoon a heaping tablespoon of the pepper mixture on top of an artichoke heart slice. Garnish each one with a little chopped fresh parsley, and arrange in a circular pattern on a platter. Serve at room temperature.
Did You Know This Crap?
To simmer is to cook at a lower temperature than boiling—when small bubbles may break at the surface, but they can be stirred down. Boiling takes place over higher heat with the liquid in full motion where large bubbles form, continuously break at the surface, and cannot be stirred down.
Artichokes are not vegetables; they are actually flower buds and members of the sunflower family. Select artichokes with uniform color, and undamaged, tightly closed leaves. Smaller artichokes have more tender leaves (the leaves of baby artichokes are entirely edible); larger ones have bigger hearts.
Look-Like-You-Didn’t-Hurry
Curry Chicken Salad
Serves 15
Always a crowd-pleaser, this is an appetizer filled with complex flavors and textures, yet so easy and inexpensive to prepare. Look for small square loaves of presliced “party bread” that can be cut into triangles, buttered, and toasted to save time on this recipe.
Sea salt, as needed
6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 pumpernickel, sourdough, or French baguette, thinly sliced
½ cup melted butter
¼ cup chopped dried cherries
¼ cup chopped and toasted pecans
¼ cup real mayonnaise (not “mayonnaise dressing” or Miracle Whip)
3 tablespoons yellow curry powder
1½ tablespoons mango chutney
Black pepper, to taste
Small handful fresh dill, small sprigs
1 Preheat oven to 400°. Fill a 12-inch sauté pan halfway with water, and set it on high heat. When it begins to simmer, add 3 tablespoons of sea salt and let it dissolve. Trim the fat off the chicken thighs.
2 Place the bread slices on a sheet tray. Using a pastry brush, lightly coat them with the melted butter, and bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until they are crispy crostini.
3 When the water comes to a boil, turn the heat down to medium. Using tongs, gently set the thighs into the water. Simmer for exactly 10 minutes, then remove them and place them in a mediumsize bowl and cover with ice for 5 minutes to stop their cooking. Then drain and roughly chop the chicken into bite-size pieces, and return it to the bowl.
Swap It
FOR PEOPLE with less discerning palates—say, a group of kids—replace the dried cherries with red, seedless grapes, and the pumpernickel with graham crackers.
How to Toast Nuts
Every gourmet chef knows the trick to tastier nuts is to toast them. Toasting nuts not only brings out their natural flavors but also makes chopping them a breeze. The best part about toasting nuts is it is so simple to do and yet provides outstanding results. Throw your nuts in a dry skillet over medium heat and cook until they are golden brown. Alternatively, spread the nuts on a sheet tray and bake in a 350˚ oven for 10 to 15 minutes.
4 Add the cherries, pecans, mayonnaise, curry powder, and mango chutney, and toss gently. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
5 Carefully spoon a heaping tablespoon onto each crostini right before serving to avoid soggy-bread syndrome. Then garnish each piece with a sprig of dill and arrange them on a platter or serving tray. Store leftover crostini in an airtight plastic bag or container.
Did You Know This Crap?
I’ve worked for chefs who prefer curry paste to curry powder. However, for this application, I prefer using the freshly ground curry powder I get at my farmer’s market. Just like pepper, when the spices in curry are ground up, they begin to lose the essential oils that flavor them. Ask the spice purveyor at your farmer’s market when the curry was made. If it has been made in the last three days, and you plan on cooking with it today, you’re in good shape. If you use curry paste, start with one-half tablespoon because some brands are extremely salty.
No-Space Meatballs
Serves 15
Because we “fry” these meatballs directly on a tray in the oven, they require no sauté pan, making the dish a one-pan wonder! The only risk you run with this recipe is not making enough.
8 ounces ground pork
8 ounces ground veal
½ cup finely grated Manchego cheese, plus more shaved for garnish
¼ cup finely chopped flat leaf parsley
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh sage
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 large egg
1 cup fine bread crumbs
3 tablespoons white wine
1 teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup Spicy Pomodoro Sauce (p. 211)
1 Place the pork, veal, cheese, parsley, sage, and garlic in a medium bowl, then add the egg, bread crumbs, white wine, salt, and pepper. Using clean hands, gently fold the ingredients together, without overworking it. Now, form meatballs about one inch in diameter. Place them one-half inch apart on a sheet tray that you drizzled with olive oil and then spread with a pastry brush. Chill the meatballs overnight or for at least one hour to set them up, which in chef terms means to become firm.
Swap It
MANCHEGO is a very popular Spanish cheese with a full, rich flavor and a healthy dose of sharpness. Mahon, a more adventuresome Spanish cheese alternative imparts a distinctive flavor with its olive oil and paprika infused rind. You might want to try idiazabal (eee-dee-yaZA-bal), which has a rich taste and perfumed aroma, and stands out as the quintessential cheese made from sheep’s milk. If Spanish cheeses are scarce in your neck of the woods, just use a nice salty Parmesan.
Tomatoes
Purchase tomatoes only a day or so before you plan to use them, and never refrigerate them. The cold ruins their flavor and makes their flesh turn mealy. Display the bright red orbs in the wire baskets you have hanging from the ceiling. Tomatoes will never take up space in your crappy little fridge again.
2 Preheat oven to 450°. Bake the meatballs for ten minutes and then rotate the pan to bake for another 5 to 10 minutes or until golden brown.
3 To serve, arrange the meatballs on your serving tray and insert a toothpick at 3 o’clock (slightly askew). Top with a teaspoon of Spicy Pomodoro Sauce and a single shaving of Manchego cheese.
Did You Know This Crap?
Italian or flat leaf parsley has more flavor than curly parsley and is therefore preferred for cooking. Don’t ever opt for dried parsley because it has no flavor at all. Look for bright green leaves that show no sign of wilting. When you get it home, rinse it off, wrap it in a paper towel, and store it in a plastic bag in your fridge. It will last for about a week.
Greek-Godlike
; Stuffed Tomatoes
Serves 8
Stuff the tomatoes and place them on your baking sheet before the guests arrive, so all you’ll need to do is pop them in the oven. Very CLK friendly.
8 Roma tomatoes, thumb size
Freshly cracked pepper, to taste
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (divided in two)
1 cup feta cheese
¼ cup chopped Italian parsley
¼ cup chopped Kalamata olives
1 tablespoon minced garlic
8 romaine lettuce leaves
1 Preheat oven to 350°. Thinly slice off the very top and bottom of the tomatoes (only enough to make a flat surface), and then cut them in half right through the waist. Using a measuring spoon, carefully scoop out the insides—don’t scoop too deeply—to make sixteen tomato cups.
2 Lightly pepper the inside of the tomatoes and evenly drizzle with 3 tablespoons of olive oil. In a small bowl, gently combine the feta cheese, parsley, olives, and garlic. Stuff the cheese mixture into the tomato cups. Lightly pepper the top of each cup.
3 Use the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil to grease a small sheet tray and arrange the stuffed tomatoes on the oiled surface. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the cheese begins to brown. Line your platter or serving tray with the romaine spears (you can cut through the middle rib to make them lay flat on your tray), and arrange your stuffed tomatoes over the top. Serve immediately.
Bloody Good Tomatoes
Serves 10
Don’t just save these marinated tomatoes for appetizers. This recipe holds up well to pasta and tastes great tossed with squares of toasted day-old bread for a salad. You can also heat it up and pour it over a juicy steak. Try making it a day ahead of serving, so the delicious flavors have a chance to blend.
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 pint red grape tomatoes
1 pint yellow pear tomatoes
1 small red onion, diced
8 garlic cloves, crushed
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
Sea salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
Celery sticks, thin cut, about 2 inches long, for garnish
1 Pour balsamic vinegar and Worcestershire sauce into a medium bowl. While whisking vigorously, slowly drizzle in the olive oil, making a light dressing. Add the tomatoes, onion, garlic, and red pepper. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover tightly and allow it to sit in the refrigerator overnight.
2 Bring the bowl out an hour before serving to allow tomatoes to come to room temperature. Arrange shot glasses on your serving tray and fill them ¾ cup of the way up with the marinated tomatoes. Add celery stick to use as a utensil. No forks needed!
Fried Green Tomatoes
Serves 8
Reserve one hand for dipping the tomato slices in the dry ingredients and one hand for the wet ingredients, which will keep one hand free of the messy bread-crumb coating. Putting your sheet tray on the stove next to the pan of oil will save on much-needed counter space when tackling this recipe!
1 cup olive oil blend, (part olive oil and part canola or vegetable oil to increase smoke point)
4 green tomatoes, largest available
Sea salt, to taste
Black pepper, to taste
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon turmeric
1 tablespoon smoked Spanish paprika, plus more for garnish
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 cups buttermilk
3 eggs
2 cups panko, Japanese bread crumbs
2 ounces Manchego cheese
1 Put your 12-inch sauté pan on the stove at medium high heat. Add the oil and allow it to heat for at least 8 minutes before testing it. Set a sheet tray lined with paper towels on the two (unlit) burners next to the sauté pan.
2 Slice your tomatoes into ¼-inch disks (you should get about four per tomato) and season each side liberally with salt and pepper.
3 Line up three shallow bowls. In the first one, combine the flour, cumin, turmeric, paprika, and garlic powder and mix them well with a whisk. In the second bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and eggs. Dump the panko bread crumbs in the last bowl.
4 Throw a few crumbs of panko into the oil and if they immediately pop and fry, the oil is ready.
5 Coat four of the tomato slices in the seasoned flour and shake off any excess. Then dip them in the buttermilk mixture and then panko. Gently set the breaded tomatoes into the oil and allow them to fry on one side while you prepare four more tomato slices. Once the bottoms of the first batch of frying tomatoes are golden brown, turn them over to cook on the other side.
6 Line Line a sheet tray with paper towels. When the tomatoes are golden brown all over, remove them from the oil and place them on paper towels to drain. Allow 1 minute for the oil to come back up to temperature and use this time to prepare the rest of the tomatoes for frying. Then fry the next batch, and so on. 7Arrange
7 Arrange the fried green tomatoes on a platter, and then use your vegetable peeler to slice the Manchego over the top. Garnish with a dusting of smoked Spanish paprika, and serve immediately.
Swap It
I like to use a mild Spanish cheese like Manchego in this recipe, but if you prefer a good Parmesan (made from cow’s milk) or Pecorino (this one is made from sheep’s milk), go with that.
Great Guacamole, Batman!
Serves 10
Many versions of guacamole contain primarily avocado and have a somewhat creamy and chunky texture, but I like making a guacamole and Pico de Gallo combination, which is an avocado and tomato-based recipe.
2 large ripe avocados
½ cup medium-diced red onion
½ cup medium-dice Roma tomato
1 jalapeno, small dice
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 lime, juiced
Sea salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
Did You Know This Crap?
Avocados are actually a fruit, not a vegetable.
1 Dicing an avocado need not be messy and is actually a very CLK friendly process. Rather than scooping the avocado pulp out onto the cutting board to dice it, each avocado is diced while inside it’s skin. Then it pops directly into its bowl with no muss and even less fuss! Cut the avocado in half by running your knife around the pit and then twisting the two halves apart. Gently tap the blade of your knife into the pit, twist, and the pit will pop right out, still attached to your blade. Set your avocado cut side up on your cutting board and, without breaking through the outer skin, slice a grid pattern into the flesh of the avocado. Scoop out the diced avocado using a large spoon and place it in a medium bowl. Repeat with the other avocado.
2 In that same bowl, gently fold in the rest of the ingredients. Try to maintain the shape of the diced avocado. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Lay plastic wrap directly on the spread, cover tightly, and refrigerate until you are ready to use. You should serve this within a few hours or your top layer of avocado will become brown from oxidation.
3 Serve inside a premade tortilla shell bowl along with a variety of (all natural) colorful tortilla corn chips for a vibrant display.
Bloody Mary Bloody Mary
Bloody Mary Relish!
Serves 10
For a chic party treat, spread bite-size celery spears with this relish or fill chilled martini glasses with it, and serve with poached shrimp around the rim for an adults-only version of shrimp cocktail! Any way you present it, it comes together as a one-bowl wonder!
2 Roma tomatoes, small dice
1 celery stalk, small dice
1 garlic clove, minced
2 scallions, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons tomato juice
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
Tabasco sauce, to taste
2 teaspoons jarred horseradish
1 te
aspoon vodka
1 lemon, juiced
Sea salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
Celery, 10 two-inch sticks
1 In a medium bowl, combine the tomato, celery, garlic, and all but 2 tablespoons of scallions. Add the tomato juice, Worcestershire, and Tabasco according to how spicy you like your Bloody Mary. Feel free to make this up to two days in advance, but don’t add the ingredients of step 2 until the day it will be served.
2 Stir Stir in the horseradish, vodka, and lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover tightly and refrigerate, if you aren’t going to serve it immediately.
3 Serve Serve in chilled tumbler glasses with celery sticks, garnished with the remaining scallions.
Above-and-Beyond Spinach and Artichoke Dip with Hawaiian Bread
Serves 15
Everyone has seen a version of this dip served in a loaf of sourdough bread, but my friend Amy Taylor is the one who told me to put my spectacular spinach dip in a loaf of Hawaiian bread. Pure genius. With no serving bowl to clean afterward, your crappy little sink will thank you.
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
16 ounces artichoke hearts, canned
¼ cup minced garlic (about 6 cloves)
1 pound fresh baby spinach
½ cup heavy cream
¼ cup shredded Pecorino cheese
Sea salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
1 loaf Hawaiian bread, round
1 Preheat oven to 350°. Put your 12-inch sauté pan over medium heat, and allow it to heat for 5 minutes. Add the olive oil to the pan, and again allow it to heat for 5 minutes.
2 Buy quartered artichoke hearts or quarter the whole ones lengthwise. Using your tongs, carefully add them to the hot pan and arrange them to cover the bottom of the pan evenly. Let them cook in the pan without moving them for 8 minutes, to brown them on one side.
3 Add the garlic and spinach, and fold the mixture to wilt the spinach. You may need to add the spinach a small amount at a time. (Once wilted, everything will fit in the sauté pan perfectly.)