Posts tagged ‘fiesta Friday’

Aug 10

A Simple Bread Salad For Fiesta Friday #28

New Jersey’s finest fresh vegetables

I’ll be honest everyone, last week was rough for me. Not only was I extremely busy with work but I have to somehow balance demanding workload with 2 very sick senior dogs who are deteriorating despite my best efforts. According to my Vet he thinks Nando had a minor stroke, Izzy has had a very hard time breathing it seems only one lung is usable, the right side of her heart is enlarged, her trachea and bronchial stem have collapsed. They are also both diabetic. You have to know how much I love my dogs and would do anything to make hem happy and as comfortable as possible. I lacked inspiration to make anything substantial but did get a wonderful surprise via my friend who lives in New Jersey, it seems her neighbor a feisty Italian lady is quite the gardener and although I have never met her in person she picked these beautiful vegetables from her garden for me. There is a story behind her tomatoes, the seeds are from Italy and every year after she harvests the tomatoes she saves the seeds to propagate the species I guess you could say.

Although this salad is very simple and really does not require a recipe it is nonetheless very special. The vegetables are all from the sweet lady in New Jersey who each year lovingly saves the seeds so that the blood line will continue and the Italian tomato lives on year after year. So my offering for this Fiesta Friday hosted and lovingly put together each week by Angie@The Novice Gardener and our amazing co hosts Saucy@ Saucy Gander and Margot@Gather and Graze. If you had to do a double take, yes, Saucy and Margot agreed to stay on as co hosts a second week in a row. That Dame Edna just won’t leave the party, she really knows how to party hard.

Panzanella aka Italian Bread Salad

Some stale bread, a couple of days old is good cut into bite size pieces

Good juicy ripe tomatoes

Shallot

Cucumber

parsley and basil

toasted pine nuts (optional) I love them in the salad

salt and pepper

red wine vinegar and olive oil

Put the bread cubes in a big bowl, mix the tomato, shallot, cucumber with some vinegar and oil, salt and pepper to taste. Pour over the bread, add the chopped basil and parsley and pine nuts. Toss to combine and serve after letting it sit for about 30 minutes. The bread needs to soak up the juices of the tomatoes, vinegar and oil.

Panzanella

Fiesta Friday

Aug 1

170 Comments

Champagne Grape Galette With Whipped Goat Cheese For Fiesta Friday #27

Just out of the oven

I love champagne or corinth grapes and look forward to their appearance every year, these are not the grapes used to make champagne and I am not sure why they are called that, but I do know that I really like them. They are so tiny, sweet/tart and bursting with flavor. I eat them au naturale most of the time but also try to come up with recipes using them. One year I made a syrup with the grapes and mosto cotto syrup for a buttermilk panna cotta. This year I decided to try them in a tart or galette. I love the way it turned out, the grapes retain their shape and texture after being baked. I used very little sugar only 1/4 cup of organic brown sugar and some lemon both the zest and juice . The combination is wonderful. I serve with a chai honey goat cheese/whipped cream combo.

I made this galette for Fiesta Friday, I hope everyone likes it. Angie @ the novice gardener really knows how to throw a party and always has amazing co hosts and this week is no different we love our dynamic Aussie duo Saucy @Saucy Gander and Margot@Gather and Graze. Thank you both for hosting this shindig. Did someone mention Dame Edna, now this will be fun!!

Ready to roll

GaletteDough

Recipe from Baking with Julia

1 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup cornmeal

1/3 cup ice water

3 tbs sour cream

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

7 tbs cold unsalted butter cut into small pieces

In mixing bowl combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar and salt. Add the cold butter and using your hands or a pastry cutter work the butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles crumbs. Whisk the sour cream into the ice water and add to the flour and butter mixture, mix with a fork to combine. Press into a cohesive dough, it will be a bit sticky, thats alright it’s supposed to be. Divide into two equal pieces, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Folding

The grapes and assembly

2 cups champagne grapes removed from stems

1/4 cup organic brown sugar

2 1/2 tbs flour

zest and juice from 1/2 lemon

pinch of sea salt

1 egg beaten with cream for egg wash

course sugar for sprinkling on dough

butter to dot on fruit before baking

Optional but recommended is to add a little lemon zest on top of the grapes before baking.

Roll out one disc of dough on surface dusted generously with flour, you want it thin but not so thin that it is hard to work with. Roll into a rough circle. Mix fruit with flour, salt, sugar, lemon zest and juice, stir gently to combine. Place the dough round on a parchment lined sheet pan, spoon the fruit in the middle of the dough, dot with butter and gently fold the dough around the fruit. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Place in freezer for 30 minutes. While in the freezer heat your oven to 400 degrees. Take straight from the freezer to the oven and bake for 35-45 minutes or until nicely browned and fruit is bubbly.

Ready for the freezer

Whipped goat cheese and cream

2 oz goat cheese softened at room temperature

1/2 cup very cold heavy cream

1 tbs honey (I used chai honey from Calmer Sutra) If you don’t have then use regular honey

1 tbs brown or white sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Beat the goat cheese until smooth, add the heavy cream, honey, brown sugar and vanilla and beat until thick and creamy. Note: Add more or less sugar to suite your taste.

Whipped goat cheese and cream

Seriously Good

Fiesta Friday

Jul 4

79 Comments

Beef Kebab Kubideh On Flatbread For Fiesta Friday #23

Beef Kebab

Kebab Kubideh is minced or ground meat, beef, lamb or even chicken, formed onto a skewer and grilled, the meat is succulent and delicious. It can be served with rice, and on the side Torshi (Iranian pickled vegetables) grilled tomatoes and salad or as shown here on flat bread. I thought that something grilled would be a great addition to the Fiesta Friday dishes. Sprinkle generously with Sumac, if you can’t find it locally order online, Amazon carries as well as many online spice stores, it really adds great flavor to the meat. I want to pass on two recipes for Torshi the first is an eggplant torshi, from Azita from her wonderful blog Fig and Quince, the second is from the incredible Fae of Fae’s Twist and Tango, a mixed vegetable torshi

This weeks Fiesta Friday happens to fall on The 4th of July, a day we celebrate our countries Independence. It’s a day when we all get together with family and friends, eat, drink and remember how lucky we are to have our freedom. So all of us at Angie’s amazing party will do just that, enjoy each others company, eat and drink and have a great time. This weeks party is co hosted by Sylvia@superfoodista and Margy@la petite casserole, I love both of their blogs and am so happy that they are hosting this weeks festivities together.

Makes at least a dozen

2 pounds ground beef (you can also use ground lamb)
1 large onion grated on the largest grate and drained of juices
2 egg yolks
salt and pepper to taste
sumac (optional but highly recommended) to sprinkle on meat after cooking)
2 small cucumbers diced
2 tomatoes diced
1 cup chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried mint
juice of 1 lemon
salt and pepper to taste

Grate the onion and drain, I squeezed it in a double paper towel. Put the onion in a bowl, add the beef, egg yolks and some salt and pepper, Mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour
If you are using bamboo skewers submerge in water while the meat is resting in the refrigerator. Dice the cucumbers, parsley and tomatoes, add the lemon juice and season with mint, salt and pepper. Form meat onto skewers whatever size you want, heat your grill and place meat skewers onto grill. You want the meat cooked medium done. Let grill 3-4 minutes on each side turning over once. Test for doneness, just poke with your finger it should feel firm but not dry. NOTE: I find it’s best to refrigerate your kebab once formed onto the skewers for about an hour before grilling.
Remove from heat and tent with foil while you prepare your bread. Grill the bread either on the burner or in a pan, brush with olive oil and lay kebab onto bread, sprinkle with a little sumac (optional) and spoon some of the cucumber and tomato on top.
Suggestions for other garnishes: Crumbled feta cheese, plain yogurt mixed with cucumber and mint.

Fiesta Friday

Jun 20

92 Comments

Sri Lankan Curry Chicken Kebabs for Fiesta Friday #21

Chicken kebab

Almost a year ago I had a pot luck here at my house for a group of great cooks that I know from Food 52 and some from blogs I follow. One of the incredible cooks is Queen Sashy her blog is Three Little Halves, if you haven’t seen it you should take a look it’s incredible, the recipes, the photography the writing, no wonder it has been nominated and given awards, Just beautiful!! So she brought me a bottle of her own homemade spice blend, Sri Lankan Roasted Curry powder. It’s is fragrant and incredibly delicious. I put it in my spice cabinet and forgot about it, until today. I wanted to bring something to the party that is easy to eat, not messy, yet very tasty. so kebab is a great choice. I marinated chunks of chicken in greek yogurt, salt, pepper, the curry,garlic, ginger, lime juice and lime zest.

Sri Lankan Roasted Curry Powder

Back to the party, every Friday we all get together for a fabulous food fest the AHMAZING Angie @The Novice Gardener as always is our fearless and fierce leader. This weeks festivities are co hosted by Elaine@foodbod and Julianna@foodie on board. Both a lot of fun, accomplished cooks and I for one am very excited that they are hosting this week. If you want to join Fiesta Fridays don’t hesitate, do it, just click on the link in this paragraph for Angie the Novice Gardener.

Sri Lankan Curry Chicken Kebabs

1 1/2 lb chicken cut into bite size pieces

1 cup greek yogurt unflavored

juice of 1 lime

zest of 1/2 lime

2 heaping tsp Sri Lankan roasted curry powder or your favorite curry

1 clove garlic minced

1 tsp fresh ginger grated

salt and pepper to taste

Combine everything but the chicken in a bowl, add the chicken and toss to make sure each piece is coated. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.

When ready to cook, skewer pieces of chicken scraping most of the yogurt marinade off, you can grill on the stovetop or outside on your grill. I found it took approximately 10 minutes for them to cook through I turned to make sure all sides were evenly browned. Sprinkle with sumac before serving if you like and have on hand, also a squeeze of fresh lime is delicious.

You can eat this with rice, on it’s own with salad or on flat bread with yogurt and mint.

Kebab on flatbread

Fiesta Friday

Jun 13

103 Comments

An Ice Cream Cake For Fiesta Friday #20

Ice cream cake

This is a very special Fiesta Friday for me, not only am I making one of my favorite cakes to bring to the party but I am also co -hosting this affair. I am very excited that Angie@the novice gardener asked me to officiate Fiesta Friday #20 with the wonderful, talented and totally awesome Fae @fae’s twist and tango. I am honored to co host with Fae, one of my culinary,blogging idols. So for this auspicious occasion I say, “let them eat cake” ice cream cake that is. I made a wonderful chocolate sponge, some homemade caramelized white chocolate ice cream and I bought some toasted almond gelato. This is served with a homemade kahlua fudge sauce. I had a bit of a disaster, I tried to move the cake before it was completely cooled and it broke. Therefore you can see from the photo the Frankenstein effect, I had to piece it together in the pan I used for a mold. It doesn’t matter really because it’s delicious anyway and when covered with fudge sauce hopefully no one will notice.

I have to say again how thrilled I am to have been asked to host this party, Fiesta Friday is a blast, I am officially inviting ALL OF YOU to participate, visit The Novice Gardener (link is in the first paragraph) sign up, it’s not work its fun. Hope to see you all at the next party.

Caramelized White Chocolate Ice Cream:

A Recipe by David Lebovitz

Makes about 1 quart

Note:Make sure the caramelized white chocolate is warm when you mix it with the cream. You can reheat it in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water, or in a microwave on low power, stirring until smooth.

8 ounces (240g) caramelized white chocolate

1 cup (250ml) heavy cream

2 cups (500ml) whole milk

1/2 cup (100g) sugar

1/8 teaspoon sea salt

5 large egg yolks

1. Mix the warm caramelized white chocolate in a large bowl with the heavy cream, and set a mesh strainer over the top.

2. In a medium-sized saucepan, heat the milk, sugar, and salt.

3. Whisk together the egg yolks in a small bowl and gradually whisk in half of the warm milk, then scrape the warmed yolks back into the saucepan.

4. Cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly with a heatproof utensil, until the mixture thickens and coats the utensil.

5. Immediately pour the custard through the strainer into the white chocolate mixture and stir until smooth. Put the bowl in an ice bath, and stir until cool.

6. Chill thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

This is the best ice cream I think I have ever had, it’s so creamy and the perfect consistency, thank you Mr, Lebovitz for a wonderful recipe.

Note: In step one I deviated slightly, I heated the cream in the microwave to warm it for 30 seconds, I then added the chocolate and put it back in the microwave for another 20 seconds. It melted the chocolate and made a ganache. It was easier to combine with the custard when it was already melted.

The Cake:

1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
8 large eggs at room temperature
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

Note: I find the amount of batter varies every time I make this, I never like to fill the pan to the rim, it’s better to leave a small space so the cake can rise. If you have leftover batter make a few cupcakes.

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees. Place milk and butter in glass measuring cup and microwave for 45 seconds or until butter is melted. Using stand mixer with wire whisk or electric mixer whip the eggs and sugar on med/high for approximately 8 minutes or until the mixture is pale yellow, tripled in volume and thick, with the machine running slowly add the heated milk and buter. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Fold into the egg mixture, there should be no lumps. Fold in the vanilla. Grease a 1/2 sheet pan, lay parchment sheet and grease the parchment, and sprinkle with sugar. Pour batter into the pan, spread so that it is evenly distributed and bake for 20-25 minutes. Allow to cool for a couple of minutes in the pan run a knife around the edges to loosen then invert onto wire rack, remove parchment and let cool completely.

Assembling the Ice Cream Cake:

I used a 10 inch loaf pan, lined with plastic wrap. Cut the sheet cake to the size of the loaf pan, you will need 3 pieces. Lay first piece in bottom of the loaf pan, spread softened ice cream. Add another layer of cake, spread with more ice cream, finish with a layer of cake, cover completely with plastic wrap and put in freezer for at least 4-6 hours but it’s better over night. To unmold simply very gently pull the plastic wrap over hang loosening the cake, unwrap, slice and serve.

Kahlua Fudge Sauce

4 ounces dark chocolate broken into small pieces
1/4 cup +2 tbs heavy cream
1 tablespoon kahlua liquor (optional) you can just add some vanilla extract
Heat milk until scalding, add chocolate to hot cream, let sit for approximately 5 minutes, stir until smooth and add the kahlua. Let cool to room temperature. It will thicken as it cools. NOTE: I like to drizzle on the cake while its still warm!!

May 24

86 Comments

The Virtuous Lacto-Fermented Vegetable For Fiesta Friday

Mixed Vegetables

You will probably think I am terribly boring bringing lacto-fermented vegetables to a party. But wait until you taste them, they are absolutely delicious and go so well with any number of savory dishes. I found some beautiful carrots. kirby cucumbers, sugar snap peas and spring onions at the farmers market and decided to try my hand at lacto-fermentation. I recently read about the health benefits you get from eating vegetables preserved in this manner on the wonderful website Healthy Green Kitchen it sounded delicious and super easy to do, mind you I am not one who is adept at preserving anything. So this is my offering for the party, crunchy healthful lacto-fermented vegetables.

I am very excited to participate in Fiesta Friday #17 and this weeks hosts are Jhuls@the not so creative cook and Selma@selma’s table and Alex@Dinner Daydreams. Of course I can’t forget the always effervescent Angie who put this whole party together. Thanks Angie and our lovely hosts.

Lacto Fermented Mixed Vegetables

Makes 2 large Weck Canning jars

3-4 kirby cucumbers cleaned and cut into quarters

4 small carrots. cut in half and halved again

4-6 scallions with part of the green cut off, cleaned and ends trimmed

approximately 1 cup sugar snap peas

4 cloves garlic, smashed

4 tbs sea salt

2 tsp peppercorns, I used a mix

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Wash your jars with warm soapy water. Place all the vegetables, salt, garlic, peppercorns and crushed pepper in large non reactive bowl and toss to combine. Let sit for 15 minutes stirring frequently to coat the vegetables with the salt.

Fill the jars with the vegetables and top off with spring or filtered water leaving about an inch space at the top. Make sure your vegetables are covered or completely submerged in the water. Place lid on the jars and secure. Let sit on the counter for 2-4 days. They are now ready to eat. Refrigerate after opening.