This Lidia Bastianich recipe was made famous when Mark Bittman shared it in the NY Times a couple years back. It is terrific just as it's written here, but is so versatile it's easy to make your own. I added the lemon juice and rolled back the garlic from the original, but I can imagine it with a little more EVOO and maybe some chicken stock added and gently heated on the stove to make a warm bead dip to serve up on a cold night. YUM!
Hors d'oeuvres
Skewered Peaches with Basil and Prosciutto
Got a bottle of bubbly that's just itching for a culinary companion? Look no further, 'cause this taste of summer is the perfect cocktail party treat, and oh so pretty to boot!
This little ditty is a simplified version of a recipe I saw on Epicurious some time ago. Not that the original was much more complicated, but it called for tossing the peach wedges in a mixture of sugar, sherry vinegar and cumin.
The local peaches we had were so perfectly ripe, sweet and succulent that I couldn't bring myself to #$%& with them in any way, so I simply wrapped them gently in prosciutto and skewered them to fresh basil leaves from the garden. Each was a little wedge of heaven, I must say.
If I had less than stellar peaches I'm sure that the recipe as written would have really kicked them up a notch, but we certainly enjoyed the sweet-salty-herbal perfection of this unadulterated version. This one is so simple that I'm not even going to type out a formal recipe.
Simply slice each peach into 6 wedges, and slice each piece of prosciutto or serrano ham in half lengthwise. Wrap each piece of ham around a peach wedge, place atop a basil leaf and skewer the whole thing together with a toothpick, metal, or bamboo pick. If your peaches are less than perfect and you want to dress them up some, the original recipe called for tossing 3 peaches worth of wedges in a mix of 1/4 teaspoon sugar, 1/2 teaspoon sherry vinegar, and 1/8 teaspoon ground cumin. Enjoy!
Cheers – Steve
Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
Had I been more on the stick a few weeks back I would have posted this dish as an awesome addition to a Super Bowl Sunday spread. As it were, with my beloved Patriots out of the mix I didn't give a rat's patooty about the game, and all thoughts of tail-gating chow were scrapped for another season.
Sorry if I let you down.
Of course, football isn't the only sport worthy of fun food on game day and with the NHL and NBA seasons in full swing, and MLB spring training right around the corner, I'm sure that you'll find some excuse to make these awesome meatballs soon…..not that you need one.
Swedish Meatballs
Happy New Year to you all, I hope you had a delicious holiday season full of family and fun!
This is an awesome recipe that I'd hoped to share before the holidays just in case some of you wanted to serve these meatballs up as hors d'oeuvres at a holiday cocktail party but as is often the case, especially around the holidays, time slipped away and I never got it posted in time.
Cheddar and Bacon Bite-Sized Biscuits
These little monsters are my slight adaptation of a recipe by Kim Laidlaw from her new Williams of Sonoma cookbook, Home Baked Comfort . To her original recipe I've added a sharper cheese and a bit more bacon, because in my mind it makes absolutely no sense not to. Kim refers to these as scones, but for me they rose and flaked beautifully, much more like little biscuits than scones, so that's what I'm calling them.
Whatever we call them doesn't much matter though, because after one bite you'll find these so addictive that you'll be scrambling to come up with your own name for them, something like…..
"Oh Sweet Jesus, Cheese and Bacon Crack-Bites"
You've been warned.
Duck Prosciutto
Those of you who have been intrigued by my various Charcutepalooza posts over the past few months, and would like to try your hand at making your own "meat", but can't imagine taking the time to grind, season, stuff, and smoke your own charcuterie, this post is for YOU!
Tomatillo and Avocado Salsa
This little ditty has fast become one of our favorite condiments to have on-hand. Vibrant, light and fresh, it is equally at-home as a sandwich spread, a fajita topping, or a dip for chips. It's got a nice kick without being too much, and the acidity from the tomatillos and the 1/2 lime make your mouth sit up straight and give thanks. Hallelujah!
Never cooked with or eaten tomatillos before? Well, that's gonna change…..NOW!
Zingy Wings
Arthas and I tossed these wings together a few weeks back as a treat to bring to a neighborhood barbeque…..they were fabulous! The recipe is a rif on my friend Winnie's "Sweet and Spicy Rubbed Wings", which she submitted some time ago for a Food52 contest for your best chicken wings.
According to Winnie, she had developed this spicy coffee-cocoa rub to use on ribs and loved it so much that she then tried it on some homemade roasted nuts, and then finally these wings. It sounds like she was tossing it on anything that didn't move! Don't you love a condiment that can be put to use in so many different ways?
Kale Chips
I know, I'm about two years behind the craze with this dish.
I'm hoping though, because I'm SO late to the kale chip party, that by sharing them with you today I'll actually be introducing them to all you food blog readers who like me, missed the first wave of excitement over them when they were foodie's darlings a few years back.
I've seen so many recipes for these on-line that its clear there was a bit of a kale chip craze at one point, much like the "macaron" frenzy that seems to be in constant force on food blogs.
Now, having eaten more than my fair share of fabulous macarons during my time in France, I get how they can fuel a never ending obsession among foodies the world over.
But kale chips…..are you kidding me?
Edamame and Cilantro Purée
This past Sunday I attended what must have been the 5th or 6th H.S. graduation party for my oldest son Grid, and his classmates. Despite the rather frigid temps at the beach where the party was held, and the fact that some of the kids HAD to have been suffering from party fatigue (it seems that current fashion dictates that EVERY family of a graduate must host a party in order that their kids remain in good standing with their class), a great time was had by all. Calypso Hurricane rocked the house, and even pulled our young star Boris to the stage to lay down a sweet bass track for the band. Entwistle would have been proud.
