Cheesy Garlic Meatball Bombs

These are the perfect two bite party food! They are filling yet easy to make and always a hit.  This recipe is from Food Lovin Family.

2 cans pillsbury grands jr biscuits
frozen italian meatballs (thawed)
3 sticks mozarella string cheese (cut into pieces)
1/2 tsp italian seasoning
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup butter (melted)
marinara sauce for dipping

Heat oven to 375. Melt the butter in a bowl then stir in the italian seasoning and garlic powder. Separate the biscuits and flatten them. Cut the meatballs in half then place half a meatball and two pieces of string cheese in the dough then wrap the dough around and seal it.  Place the sealed side down in the baking dish. Repeat with the remaining biscuits and meatballs.  Brush with the butter mixture. Bake for 18-20 minutes. Remove from oven and serve with marinara sauce.

Vegetarian Crepe Bundles with Creamy Radicchio Filling

Start your dinner party with this irresistible appetizer

Your guests will absolutely love these savory bundles filled with creamy radicchio



This post is sponsored by Cavit Wines in collaboration with Honest Cooking. Thank you for your support!

Want to outshine every other appetizer this year at your holiday party? Now you can, with this beautiful and scrumptious vegetarian dish. It will

Ahi Poke Napoleon

What is Ahi Poke?  It's a raw (sushi grade) tuna salad served as an appetizer.   I ordered this appetizer at Tommy Bahama Restaurant in Florida, it was so good!  I wanted to try and make it at home and was so excited to find the recipe on Tommy Bahama's website.  Check it out here, and I also came across a youtube video, here.  So now that I had the recipe, I went shopping for the ahi tuna.  I tried Whole Foods first.  The seafood guy was so nice and helpful.  I didn't really know what I was looking for but told him what I was making.  He let me know that I needed sushi grade tuna and where I could get it (Seafood Center) as they didn't have any at the moment.  He did say that he can always get it in if he had a couple days notice.  

  We went to the Seafood Center and they had a beautiful piece of ahi tuna.  It's pricey, $34.99 per lb but you only need 1/2 lbs for 8 servings.  I got 1/4 lb and made two generous portions but for an appetizer size, it would make 4 servings.

So FRESH!

It was fun to make a restaurant dish at home.  Especially because we don't have a Tommy Bahama restaurant in Wisconsin!  Delicious, we enjoyed every bite!

*  I followed the recipe for the tuna and dressing but made my own guacamole.  I also didn't use all the dressing, you just want to use enough dressing to lightly dress the tuna.  Find the recipe here and the YouTube video here.

                                                           

Duck Pâté

I don't know if this is due to my lyonnaise origins (Lyon is renown for its fine charcuterie, or deli meats), but if you ask me what my favorite food is, there is a good chance I'll answer pâté (pronounced pah-TAY). It's hard to explain, but just thinking of it makes me salivate.

There are all kinds of pâtés. Some can be spread on bread, others are sliced and eaten with a fork and knife, like this one. Some are baked in a crust (my favorite). Others are baked in a terra cotta or ceramic dish, called a terrine. Although originally a country dish, they can be very refined—some contain truffles, foie gras, or other fancy ingredients. There's one for every taste (and in my case, I love them all!). If you ever go to France, stop in a charcuterie-traiteur (deli shop) and try a few. Each region has its own specialties. 

Since I am far from France, I make my own pâté from time to time. I tried various recipes over the years, but the one I'm about to give is my favorite. I found the recipe in a wonderful little French book called Terrines by Catherine Quévremont (Marabout, 2002). My first attempt was quite an adventure. I bought a whole duck, removed the skin very carefully so it remained in one piece, and then cut out all the bones... I spent the whole day fighting with this duck. I waited a few years before doing it again, and spent another frustrating day in the kitchen... The result was well worth my efforts, but the following time (several years later), I decided to cut a few corners (and I also adapted the spices and meat cuts to what's available here), and the pâté still tasted amazingly good.

Here is what I did:

48 hours in advance
Serves 8

• 4 duck breasts with skin (about 2.2 lbs or 1 kg)
• 12 oz (350g) salt pork
• 10 oz (300g) veal for stew
• 1/2 TBSP salt
• black pepper (about 40 grinds)
• about 25 white peppercorns, crushed in a mortar
• 3 cloves, crushed in a mortar
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 egg
• 1 TBSP Cognac
• 1 or 2 handfulls shelled pistachios (dry-roasted, unsalted)
• 3 bay leaves

1. Cut the salt pork in cubes and immerse in water several times to rinse off some of the salt.
2. Gently pull off the skin of the duck breasts. Make sure to keep the skins in one piece, as they will be used to line the terrine dish. Use the tip of a sharp knife if needed to lift off the skin from the breasts.
3. Grind three breasts out of four, as well as the veal and salt pork, using the large plate of a meat grinder* (or cut in small pieces with a knife).
4. Cut the fourth breast in 1/2" cubes.
5. Place all the meats in a large bowl. Add the salt and spices, egg, and Cognac. Mix well by using two forks (one in each hand) until homogenous.
6. Add the pistachios and mix again.
7. Line the terrine dish** with three pieces of duck skin. Place one skin at the bottom (with the outside of the skin facing down), and two skins on the sides (with the outside of the skin facing outward). 
8. Fill up the terrine with the meat mixture. Press to remove any air pockets.
9. Place the last piece of skin on top. Place the bay leaves on the skin. Close the terrine with its lid.
10. Place the terrine dish in an oven-safe dish, and fill this one with water (at least 1" of water).
11. Bake for 1 hour 45 minutes at 350ºF (280ºC). Let the pâté cool down in the oven. Remove the dish with water and keep the terrine in the fridge for at least 48 hours.
12. To serve, cut thick slices. Remove the congealed grease. Serve with good bread and cornichons (French gherkins). Make sure to eat the jelly (it's delicious!), but don't eat the skin.

* I have a manual, tinned cast iron meat grinder made in Czech Republic by Porkert, and I love it.

** I just measured my terrine dish (from Ikea). It holds 48 ounces (1.5 quarts) and is roughly 9" long, 5" wide, and 4.5" high.

Kale pesto tomato tart

The other day we made a delicious kale and walnut pesto based on this recipe by Shutterbean. We ate about half of it with fresh pasta (yum!), and used the other half for this tomato tart.

I used my beloved quiche crust recipe, but used whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose, and replaced the cream with water. Actually, I had made the dough in advance (I double or triple the proportions then divide the dough into small balls and freeze them), so I just had to unfreeze a ball of dough (20 seconds in the microwave), roll it out on parchment paper and voilà. I poked a few holes in the crust with a fork to let air go through and prevent the crust from bubbling up while baking, spread the kale pesto evenly, then laid thin tomato slices in concentric circles, starting from the edge of the dish. I sprinkled with a little salt and pepper, then baked at 350ºF (180ºC) for about 30 minutes.

Warm Green Bean Salad

Last week I listened to an interview of Alice Waters on NPR (by Terry Gross on Fresh Air). It was so inspiring that it got me dreaming about opening a place of my own all over again. (This is a recurring fantasy... which shouldn't surprise you too much). I spent last night in my Dream Café, welcoming patrons with delicious yet simple, healthy, affordable food made from the freshest ingredients, presented in a short, ever-changing seasonal menu, and featuring a fun selection of small plates for children, and a place for them to quietly play and read after their meal, so grown ups can have a few minutes of respite. Sigh...

As I was listening to Alice, two thougts came to mind. First, she mentioned that she stopped seeing her friends when she got into the chaos of opening Chez Panisse. She also said that she stopped cooking there when she had her daughter... So this dream business of mine sounded quite incompatible with my dream life of the moment. Unless maybe I could have a cafe that required work only from 9 to 5 week days (i.e. preschool hours)? Sigh... My second thought, which alleviated my disillusion, was that as far as focusing on the quality of ingredients, I was definitely, albeit modestly, following Alice's path. Nothing is more pleasurable to me than eating vegetables and fruits (and meats and fish) that taste like themselves. In her interview, Alice said that finding the ingredients was 85% of cooking, and that the Bowl of Fruit was the item she was the most proud of on her menu. I found that comment truely admirable.

All this got me thinking about the vegetables that my family used to grow in France. We didn't have a garden, but my grandparents and several uncles and aunts did. All were growing, among many other delicious plants, green beans. I don't know if green beans are still in fashion in France's vegetable gardens. They certainly were 20 years ago. The kind that my family grew was what is called "haricots verts" in the US: small, thin, dark green beans, which are both firm and juicy and barely require any cooking at all. Just a few minutes of steaming or boiling in salted water, then you can eat them warm with a piece of melting butter on top. This is how we ate them most of the time—and they rarely made it to the table: we would snack on them as soon as they were ready. Another favorite was to add boiled potatoes to the beans and season either with butter (and decorate with lemon wedges) or vinaigrette dressing.

Summer is nearly over but I found organic green beans last Saturday, so there is still time to try out this recipe, which I prepared a month or two ago. As a matter of fact, I will receive filet beans (another name for haricots verts) in my CSA box tomorrow.

Serves 4–5

• 1 lb green beans (preferrably thin, tender ones)
• 8–10 small potatoes (about 1 lb). New potatoes of any variety, or small Yukon Gold for example. I prefer silky rather than starchy potatoes, but both make great warm salads.
• 1 small shallot

Dressing:

• 1 1/2 Tbsp old-style Dijon mustard (with whole grains), or regular Dijon mustard (Try to find a French brand, such as Maille or Amora, for a more authentic taste.)
• 1 Tbsp Jerez vinegar (sherry vinegar from Spain), or regular red wine vinegar
• 2 Tbsp sunflower oil, or other mild-tasting oil
• 2 Tbsp olive oil (Try to find oil made with olives from only one country¹—e.g. Greece or Italy—, extra-virgin, cold pressed)
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Start with the potatoes: peel them and boil them in salted water until cooked but still firm (stop cooking as soon as a knife can go through easily), about 15 minutes.

Hull the beans² (unless they are very thin) by carefully snapping each end and pulling the string that runs along the bean (which is only a problem in more mature beans). Rinse the beans.

While the potatoes are cooking, prepare the dressing. Place all the ingredients in a small sealable container³. Close tighly with a leak-proof lid. Shake well until homogeneous.

Thinly chop the shallot and place at the bottom of a large salad bowl.

As soon as the potatoes are cooked through, drain them and place them in the salad bowl. Pour 2 or 3 Tbsp dressing on them and toss. The warm potatoes will absorb the oil and flavors of the dressing and shallot.

Steam or boil the green beans in salted water for no more than 5 minutes in a pressure cooker. They must be firm but not crunchy, soft but not floppy. They loose the brightness of their green color without really tarnishing...

Drain the beans and add to the salad bowl. Pour a couple more Tbsp dressing if all has been absorbed by the potatoes. Toss gently (avoid breaking the beans).

Serve immediately.


¹ To me it's an indication that it was made in smaller, maybe more artisanal batches. But I don't know for sure. And the taste should be more distinct (unique to the country of origin) than if olives are mixed.

² This is a social time in a French kitchen—at least it is in my family. Everyone grabs a few handfuls of beans to hull and chats around the kitchen table.

³ I use a recycled jam jar. If there is any left-over dressing, I just put the jar in the fridge. If there is very little left in the jar, I still keep it (French mustard is expensive over here!) and add more ingredients (in the quantities listed above) in the jar next time I need dressing.