A perfect and easy summer dish for all those leftover tomatoes

At a recent afternoon party, I found, much to my dismay, that “meat only” sandwiches are apparently in vogue. Thus, I had a TON of lettuce and leftover beef tomato slices, initially intended for sub sandwiches, with no readily apparent home.

The lettuce was gonzo, but what to do with already-sliced tomatoes that surely wouldn’t last the weekend?

I began looking through my pantry, which was a bit on the skimpy side in terms of creative devices and alas I found a box of always useful gelatin packets and I had my idea.

First, roast tomatoes in a pan. Add crushed garlic, a swig of olive oil, Mr. S and Mrs. P. 1.5 tbls dried basil if you have it. Fresh is even better, and will come in handy later.

Remove from oven after about 30-35 minutes roasting on 400 degrees. Check the tomatoes often. They should not burn against the bottom of the pan. If this begins to happen, turn down the temp.

Add to bowl and let cool for a few minutes and then add to food processor. It won’t take much to break the tomatoes down to a chunky liquid.

Push tomato liquid into a bowl through a sieve or fine colander to remove the larger chunks.

Add the gelatin per the instructions. Once the mixture is ready, add the roasted tomato gelatin mixture to a container of your choice. I used an ice tray, but you might try silpat and a cookie cutter to create a flatter , more artistic dish. No snowmen, please. Tomato snowmen are just weird.

Place in the fridge on a stable surface.

Once the mixture is cool. remove the jelly cubes — probably an hour at least. Cut thin — slightly larger than a Ritz cracker if you can imagine that.

Lay jelly atop a melba toast or thin slice of crunch bread. Mozz would have been good here, but all I had was goat cheese. So, crumble some goat cheese atop the jelly. Then, cut up a bit of fresh basil – tear it if you’re hard core — and then crack some black pepper and drop a pinch of sea salt over the top. Add a quick drizzle of olive oil and you’re all set. You’ll be amazed by the tomato flavor.

Perfect for the end of summer, but it will also work into the fall. If you’re making this in the winter, ditch the mozz and serve atop cooked and cooled Parm crisps.

A simple and savory bread

Wow. It’s been a long time since I’ve added a post. Lot’s of excuses regarding travel and enormous projects, but, dear reader, trust that in my time off I’ve armed myself with a host of new influences, ingredients and recipes.

As my first post back from the long break, I’d like to introduce one of the simplest and most flavorful discoveries I encountered abroad: Zaatar Manakish.

This is a simple bread covered in a mixture of thyme, oregano, salt, savory, mint and sesame seeds – though the variations are endless.

I bought this dry mixture in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, but you can make it at home in a snap. Once you have the dry mixture you like, add a glug of olive oil to make a paste. Set aside a few minutes and then spread over your Manakish.

Manakish is a super simple bread, almost like a pizza dough. I’ll add the recipe here tomorrow.
Once the dough is ready, form it into a rough circle, almost like a pizza, and then spread the zaatar mixture over the bread. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 5-7 minutes and voila, you have an amazing starter, side dish, breakfast pastry.

I typically enjoyed mine with fruit, yogurt and arabic coffee – the recipe for which will also appear on this site in the coming days.

But, as an appetizer, try serving the Zaatar Manikish straight from the oven along with a white cheese and fresh melon.

Enjoy.

The slightly bittersweet stout toffee sauce drizzled over ice cream and cake

Webster’s dictionary defines decadent as being characterized by or appealing to self indulgence. Reading this in a dictionary, and absent the presence of a beguiling gustatory temptress, one might understand this definition to carry with it negative connotations; for the very essence of indulgence applied inwardly implies a certain imperfect longing for sinful experience.

But when you get right down to it, words like longing, indulgence, and sin transform into virtuous labels when applied to a dish that appeals precisely to one’s notion of what any good dessert should really be.

I am not a dessert fan, and so when I hear the words decadent applied to this course, I often dismiss it as hyperbole.

Such was not the case with root – the raison de etre – of the dish in the above picture: Guinness Toffee Sauce. Say it again, slowly, sounding out each syllable of each word. That’s how it tastes.

I first saw it one morning, embedded in a note that The Daily Spud had kindly delivered to my inbox, notifying me of a recipe that the Online Pastry Chef – Jenni – had passed on to her. The Spudmeistress, knowing of my particular affinity to cooking with Guinness – really, just an excuse to imbibe it in some way shape or form – thought I might want to give this recipe a try. Her instinct was spot on.

For those of you thinking that Guinness doesn’t sound particularly appetizing as dessert, think again. Stouts are basically strong beers that take on their flavor and coloring from the process of roasting the ingredients – commonly barley, hops, malt, etc. This roasting process gives the beer a dry, nutty almost coffee-like flavor; a flavor profile particularly attuned to dessert duty.

On her blog,  Jenni recounted an experience in which she’d served this particular sauce over malted ice cream. She’d heaped high praise on it, and while it sounded incredible, I wasn’t sure i had the time to recreate it exactly.

I was on the spot for a family Easter dinner dessert and I needed something simple that would play well across an age, and palate, range of 55 years.

What came to mind was a simple spice cake and plain-Jane vanilla ice cream, brought to the level of indulgence via this bitter-sweet, ever-so-salty, stout toffee sauce.

My aunt, through some pre-meditated brilliance of dessert presentation, had set out over-sized wine goblets in which to serve the mixture. I placed two-by-two inch squares of the spice cake, and one scoop of vanilla ice cream into the glass and then topped with four tablespoons of the Guinness Toffee sauce.

It was, quite simply, one of the most decadent desserts I’ve ever had.

I won’t recount the recipe here, as Jenni’s instructions are precise and easy to follow. As Jeni often writes on her site, when you begin with sound processes and ingredients, with a strong foundation rooted in solid fundamentals, the possibilities for the application of any given food are endless. My application of this sauce was admittedly modest, but believe me when I write that the potential for this sauce, both savory and sweet, is vast.

For those of you out there who feel adventurous, and want to experiment taking this sauce to some new heights, please write to me recounting your experience and I’ll post it here on Recipe Play.

Stout Toffee Sauce from Online Pastry Chef

Enjoy,

Will

A light afternoon snack

This has to be one of my all-time favorite snacks. It makes me wonder why people claim that fast food is easier and more convenient. This couldn’t be simpler – and in its simplicity lies incredibly comforting flavor. With good olive oil and a perfectly ripe avocado in hand, the flavor combination makes one ponder larger concepts of taste. Pair this with a nice crisp white wine and maybe -though it doesn’t need it – some nice crusty bread fresh out of the oven. You’ll be sure to wow your dinner guests.

These avocados came in the shipment from Washington’s Green Grocer. I received the salt for Christmas. It’s Hawaiin and has a truly incredible flavor. Plus, it’s really easy to sprinkle – the flakes have the appearance of coal and look beautiful on the green of the avocado.

• Cut the avocado in half
• Remove the pit with a knife, tapping the blade into the center and turning.
• With the nut removed, use the same sharp knife to draw slices into the flesh from end to end. With a ripe avocado, you’ll merely have to draw the knife toward you – it’ll cut like soft butter.
• Arrange the avocado on a plate or board and fan out.
• Sprinkle a small amount of salt over the slices and put a small heap in the middle or people who might want just a bit more
• Drizzle extra virgin olive oil over the slices and serve.

Voila. Simple. Delicious. Fast.

W

A pocket full of goodness

• 6-8 dough rounds from a package of La Saltena pre-made empanada dough,
• 1 cup chicken, shredded
• 2 small-medium sized leeks
• 2 Tbsp D’Artagnan White Truffle Butter
• 2 Tbsp White Truffle Oil
• 1 egg yoke, beaten

When in season, I try to use leeks as often as possible. Onion-like, and a distant cousin of asparagus, their texture is delicate and their flavor is subtle yet undeniably distinct.

Here’s a cool entry about leeks on Eat the Seasons

Leeks are also quite versatile. Use them in any recipe that calls for onions for a change of pace, and perhaps a more subtle flavor. I find that they also pair quite well with the earthiness of truffle – in this case truffle butter and truffle oil.

The shredded chicken adds depth of flavor and makes the empanada more of a complete snack or, when paired with a fresh salad, a light lunch.

Cook and shred chicken. You can also use leftover chicken breasts or chicken thighs. Either white or dark meat will work. I had leftover chicken thighs that I’d braised in a touch of white wine and chicken stock. They worked well.

Remove darkest part at the top of the leeks. Wash thoroughly to remove dirt within the leaves. Cut leeks lengthwise down the middle, then dice into quarter inch pieces. Heat truffle butter on low to medium in a saute pan and add leeks, cooking gently until warmed through and ever so crunchy when you bite them. Do not overcook.

Remove from heat and fold leeks into chicken. Add the truffle oil as you go.

Roll out empanada dough on floured surface. Two light turns of the dough should work. brush the upper and lower lips of the dough circle, and add 1.5 to 2 heaping tablespoons of the chicken and leek mixture.

Dip your fingers in water and fold over the dough to seal. Use a fork or the back edge of a butter knife to make small slits (don’t cut through the dough) on the fold all the way around.

Brush beaten egg over the empanada.

Add to a 425 degree oven and cook for 15-20 minutes, depending on the oven.

Remove from the oven and let sit 2-3 minutes. Drizzle a few drops of truffle oil on top and the warm empanadas will emit a heavenly smell.

Serve with salad and a floral white wine.

However, for a wonderful vegetarian option, replace the chicken with cooked potatoes, or, simply use only the truffle butter leeks on their own.

Here’s a link to Foodista’s page on Leeks, including some fabulous photographs:

And, here are a few other foodies’ cool leek recipes:

• In the Making’s Panko Fried Flounder with Caramelized Leeks
• Palate to Pen’s Rose Risotto with Porcini Mushroom and Leeks
• Off the Meat Hook’s Seared Sea Scallops with Melted Ginger Leeks and Crispy Mushrooms

The Elvis sandwich ranks among my favorite comfort foods. The combination of bananas, honey and peanut butter is not only delicious, but nutritious as well. A few recipe sources I reviewed did not include honey, but the one above from Wikipedia mentions bacon. I’ll leave that up to you to try.

As always, my trusted camera man/video editor has had some fun with this version, adding in some music. The video looks great…I, on the other hand, still need a lot of work.

This recipe is quite simple. Buy a bit of pre-made pizza dough – as always, I buy mine at Vace – roll out, and add your filling. It’ll feed a group of adults, and will be more than adequate for the kiddies as well.

NOTE: after removing from the oven, and letting cool for about 10 minutes or so, cut in slices. Be careful about the steam that has built up in the interior of the bread. Best, probably, to poke a hole with a knife before sawing into it outright.

Yep, you read it correctly: Butter…Poached..Rib Roast. Eight pounds of butter to be exact. In the pictures above, you’ll see the proof, including what 8 pounds of reducing butter looks like in a large pot, as well as the clarified remnants.

The first few people to whom I mentioned this laughed nervously before questioning if they’d indeed heard me correctly.

I wanted to post the pictures today and get to the recipe and my analysis of it in the next few days. On paper, this was quite simple. But, it did include quite a lot of prep time that I wasn’t aware of when I’d read through it the initial few times. Furthermore, my uncle pulled this from the paper and neglected to mention that there was a larger article with the recipe that contained some guidance about trimming the roast.

So, for the most part, I flew blind in pulling this together. But, after the prep, and despite the lack of trimming some key areas, this was quite easy.

Here is the initial recipe from the Washington Post

The roast turned out, as you can imagine, incredibly tender and not at all greasy. Once our group overcame the fears of what might happen to our arteries, we immersed fully into this must-eat-only-once-per-year indulgence.

The crispy potatoes that I served with this are definitely a keeper. Basically, you peel the skin from Yukon Gold potatoes, cut off the ends, and then chuff all sides with a fork (basically, drag the fork across all sides of the potato, leaving the little channels in its wake).

I recommend cooking these for about 45 minutes to an hour; 30 or so minutes at 375 and then the remaining time about about 475. Baste the potatoes every so often with butter and beef stock (or with any fat you have from what you’re cooking) and don’t season with salt until they come out of the oven as you don’t want to draw any water toward the surface.

Okay, more to come later. I have several comments about what I did differently and what you might consider if you decide to try this. For all you Roast Beast fans out there, it’s a must.

Here’s the link to the Rib Eye Recipe on Foodista

As you’ll see, I need a lot of practice in front of the camera.

Recipe and cooking instructions for the sweet potato and apple puree coming soon.

This is a slight modification of a recipe I’d posted previously using sourdough instead of piping the filling into pastry shells.

What I like about this version is that it is a “one-hand” appetizer — always good when you’re serving cocktails at a party. Also, it’s easier to mass produce than the sourdough version.

Forgot two important issues, here:

1. The sweet potato and apple puree. I baked the sweet potatoes, removed the skin and added uncooked, cored and peeled apples. I blended these in the food processor on pulse three or four times.

2. The pastry shells: I pre-baked them for about 10-12 minutes at 350 prior to removing them and filling them with the puree.