Thyme Out

I don’t even like pate, and I can’t get enough of this. This recipe is by Mrs. Andrew Scott.

Ingredients

• 1/4 lb. butter
• 2 medium onions or shallots
• 1 cup chicken livers, carefully cleaned
• 1 tart apple, peeled, cored, chopped
• fine sea salt
• organic ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon organic marjoram
• 2 hard boiled eggs
• 2-3 tablespoons brandy

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To be honest, I’m not a veggie person. I have to try real hard to work them into my diet. If I had my way, there would be two food groups. Meat and bread. But, recently I’ve found a veggie that I can’t live without. How on earth did I get through the first four decades of my life without discovering kale? I used to think of this as a slimy bitter green.  I’d pass over it on menus, skip by it in the salad bar. And never consider it in the produce section.  But then I tried kale salad. Now, kale is on the top of my grocery list. I buy  two and three bunches at a time, and consume it all myself.

So, when my friend Linda called and said that she and her husband Chris had baked Kale chips at Terra Bistro, I just had to give it a try. These are better than potato chips! Nutty, salty, crispy, and nutritious. Easy to make. I baked four leaves to try and figure out how to make them, and then ate them all standing right in the kitchen. If I had any more kale, I’d make another batch. What a find.

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of kale
• olive oil
• coarse sea salt
• organic caraway seeds
• black sesame seeds

Directions

1. preheat oven to 350°
2. cut the stem from each kale leaf
3. toss the kale with olive oil
4. place on lightly oiled cookie sheet
5. sprinkle with sea salt, caraway seeds, and sesame seeds (or get creative and find use something else in your spice cabinet)
6. bake for 10 minutes
7. plate and eat

Have you noticed the tiny baby apricots, or plumcots, at farmer’s markets lately? They look so pretty and taste delicious with creamy brie and toasty nuts. This  appetizer is quick and easy to assemble, with a great balance of flavors and textures.

Ingredients:

• wedge of brie
• honey
• baby apricots or plumcots, washed and halved
• Granny Smith apples, sliced thin
• Spiced toasted walnuts
• fig leaves (optional, but gives it a rustic look)
• sturdy crackers for scooping

Directions:

1. Drizzle brie with honey and bake in oven at 350° for about 5 minutes or until slightly oozy.
2. Arrange fig leaves on plate and place brie wedge in center.
3. Surround brie artfully with fruit, spiced nuts and crackers. Group them separately so your guests can pick and choose their desired accoutrements.

When the devil’s details include cayenne, jalapeno and tabasco, you know it’s not your grandmother’s church supper recipe. Bucking all trends and fads, this retro classic is always the first to be devoured at any gathering, and these ones are dressed for the holidays with golden curry powder and bright green cilantro garnish. Behold the elegant and economical egg!

Ingredients

• 6 eggs, boiled and peeled
• 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoons organic curry powder
• 1/4 teaspoon organic ground cayenne
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and finely minced
• Tabasco, a dash or two
• fine sea salt (to taste)
• Organic ground pepper black (to taste)
• Fresh cilantro, for garnish

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You know how sometimes olive tapenade alone is too salty, and fresh figs alone are – well, a little too figgy? This is the perfect marriage of salty and sweet, and pairs wonderfully with creamy goat cheese. Freezes well too.

Combine in a cuisinart and blend to desired consistency, but retaining a bit of chunky texture:

2/3 (ratio, not cups) pitted Kalamata olives
1/3 (ratio, not cups) ripe fresh black figs

Serve with crostini and plain goat cheese.

This was fun to make and serve on Halloween night, but it would also make for a festive fall or holiday appetizer. The oozing cheese and cream make for a very rich dish, so a crisp green salad complements it perfectly. I served it with Insalada del Campo, a perennial favorite at Delfina Restaurant in San Francisco. Delfina’s owner and chef Craig Stoll generously shared it in the San Francisco Chronicle. The pumpkin recipe is from my most recent issue of Gourmet. Here it is.

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I have to pay homage to those guys who are out there running around in January trying to catch a rock hard ball in 20° weather, in winds, and snow… while I’m warm and toasty with a fire blazing (in the fireplace), a chicken chili on the stove, a glass of wine and a few yummy apps to round out our football Sunday.

Chips and Southwestern Salsa (aka Cowboy Caviar)

Baked Brie with Honey, Spiced Nuts and Apricots

Penny Saver’s Chicken Chili

The simple step of infusing the olive oil with dried thyme, oregano and red pepper flakes before drizzling it on the mozzarella adds verve to this lovely, aesthetically pleasing classic from the island of Capri.

Ingredients:

• Fresh mozzarella, 1 pound
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon dried organic thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried organic oregano
• fine sea salt (to taste)
• Organic ground black pepper (to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon organic red pepper flakes
• Fresh basil, bunch, cut in thin strips
• Tomatoes, 4-5 of the best quality you can find
• 1 and 1/2 tablespons balsamic vinegar (preferably white but red is fine)
• baguette, thinly sliced (more…)

This weekend I handed my husband Mitch a copy of the Creamy Ricotta recipe by Maria Helm Sinksey on page 126 of Food & Wine (November 2008). He likes challenges like crafting beer and cheese, and found that it was easy and fun to make ricotta. He swore he would never buy ricotta again. It tastes nothing like the commercial version. Fluffy, sweet and scrumptious, it is well worth the effort. In case you don’t have this issue of Food & Wine, here’s what he did. Try it!

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Homemade hummus – so easy, so nutritious.  This exotic version transports you to the Greek Islands. Serve it as a holiday appetizer for a taste of warm sunshine in frosty weather.

Ingredients:

For Hummus:

• 2 15-ounce cans garbanzo beans (also known as chickpeas), drained and rinsed
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tablespoons tahini
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup water
• Juice from 3-4 lemons
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 2 teaspoon organic ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon organic ground cayenne

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This is an attempt to recreate an appetizer I had recently at SPQR in San Francisco. The diced ruby red beets shine like little gemstones against the creamy white ricotta. Don’t fear making your own ricotta. As Maria Helm Sinkey says, “it’s cool to make, and you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to do it.” Creamy Ricotta recipe, page 126 of Food & Wine (November 2008). By the way, SPQR is a really fun restaurant because much of the menu comes on “small plates” so you can share a variety with a friend or two. The wait staff is so knowledgeable and gives such poetic wine descriptions that you swear you can taste the “volcanic ash” or “essence of sunflower.” Ask for their pairing recommendations if you go; they are right on target. I served this appetizer with a Kalinda German reisling from K&L Liquors in San Francisco, but any dry or semi-dry German reisling would pair well.

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This has become one of my more popular “apps”. It delivers a little kick, (and tastes like it takes more time to prepare than it does).

Ingredients:

12 large sea scallops (about 1 lb)
6 Tablespoon dark brown sugar
3/4 Tablespoon organic ground cayenne
1/2 Tablespoon organic curry powder
12 bacon slices (about 3/4 lb)
24 wooden toothpicks

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A little chunkier and more substantial than the usual salsa, with a Southwestern accent. Yee-ha!

Ingredients:

2 ripe avocados, diced
1 tomato, diced
1 11-oz can of whole baby corn, drained, and cut to dice size
1 15-oz can black-eyed peas, rinsed
2/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon organic ground cumin
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon organic ground black pepper
splash lemon juice

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl.
2. Serve with tortilla chips.

(Plan to make within a couple hours of serving. Really only good for one day.)

Endive Been Thinking . . . besides spooning them directly out of the crock pot into my mouth, what else can I do with this this nutritious, delicious and oh so economical pot of refried (not) beans, otherwise known as “The Economy Sucks but my Creamy Pinto Beans Rock” Frijoles. All of the below configurations have received rave reviews in my family; in other words, they eat it without complaint.

• Classic Rice and Beans: Spoon over rice and top with shredded mozzerella, jack or queso fresco. Garnish with fresh chopped cilantro. (more…)

Endive Been Thinking . . . what would wine from Vermont taste like?

“Wine from Vermont?” My wine snob brother’s eyebrows raised in suspicion.
“Come on. Aren’t you at least curious?”
“Well, believe it or not, I have tasted some decent Reislings from the Finger Lake region. Are they anywhere near there? Fine, I’ll go in on a half case.”
The box arrived from Snow Farm Vineyards and we planned a dinner that might pair well. Clams steamed in wine with fennel and fresh tomatoes for the Reislings, and a selection of California artisan cheeses and fresh figs from Kenneth’s garden to complement the dessert wine.
Raising the glass of Snow White 2006 Reisling, he sniffed.
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