Salad with fresh figs, goat cheese, prosciutto, and balsamic vinagrette

 

It has taken me forever to get my hands on fresh figs. FOR-EV-ER. But I finally did and I wanted the first thing I made with them to be simple, fresh, and tasty. I went to the google machine and got some ideas about what kinds of flavors typically went well with figs. I settled on a nice salad with salty prosciutto, creamy goat cheese, and a tangy balsamic vinaigrette. The salad went particularly well with my stuffed squash blossoms. 

Salad with fresh figs, goat cheese, prosciutto, and balsamic vinaigrette:

Start with some kind of leafy vegetable- I used a crunchy red leaf lettuce. This would also be nice with spinach, romaine, maybe even arugula. If your leafy veg is of the large-leaf variety, give it a rough chop into bite-size pieces. No one wants to shove a giant leaf in their mouth. No matter how hard a person tries, it's just not going to be sexy.  

Quarter the figs, use as many as you would like, this salad is all about personal preference- I did two per person

Dice the prosciutto and toss it in a hot pan- let it cook for a bit until it's all caramelized and crunchy.

While the prosciutto is cooking, mix together the vinaigrette: 

- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

- 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

- freshly ground black pepper to taste

- 6 tablespoons EVOO

Whisk together the balsamic, dijon, and pepper. While whisking, slowly incorporate the EVOO until you have an emulsion. The dressing will keep for a while, so if you have leftovers, just keep it in the fridge and use at will (also makes a great marinade.)

Toss the lettuce with the balsamic. Add in the prosciutto and split between 4 salad plates... or two big plates :) 

Crumble goat cheese over each plate, and pop the fig quarters along the sides of the plate.

Enjoy!

Stuffed Squash Blossoms

 

I saw a segment on Mario Batali's old show a while back with stuffed squash blossoms and they just looked so delicious that I decided I had to make them. The problem I encountered was actually *finding* squash blossoms.... 

Last year I actually found them in my mom's mini squash patch. She didn't even know what little treasures she had cultivated. Since then, I have managed to find them at my local farmer's market, and I have tried out a few different filling combinations. The recipe I have posted here is with ricotta cheese. I have also tried this with goat cheese, cream cheese, and a combination thereof. 

I found that when I used only goat cheese, the cheese overpowered everything else both in terms of flavor and texture. I liked the cream cheese, it was nice and creamy and ended up being all gooey and warm when fried. The combination of the two also worked, just watch your goat:cream cheese ratio... I used the same herbs (basil and parsley) with those cheeses, but you can really do whatever you want. These blossoms are pretty much a blank canvas.

Here are the lovely flowers pre-prep. You want to make sure you open the blossoms and rinse them out- also remove the stamen (as gently as possible.) Lay them out on a paper towel and let them dry for a few minutes.

In a small bowl, mix chosen cheese (In this case, for 4 blossoms, I used 3 heaping tablespoons of ricotta) with chopped basil and parsley. Toss in S&P to taste, and a bit of fresh parm for good measure.

Gently open the blossoms as much as possible and stuff  with the mixture. Depending on the consistency, you may want to place the mixture in a pastry bag and pipe it in. You could also us a plastic sandwich bag- just snip off the tip and you have a handy piping tool. My ricotta was actually relatively firm, so I just plopped it in using a spoon.

Once you have shoved a sufficient amount of cheesy goodness into the blossom, pull the ends together and gently twist them closed:

 

Once filled, you can batter them however you decide. I find that I prefer  a light, tempura-style batter. It is remarkably easy to make: Take 1/4 cup of flour and add 2 tbsp of cold soda water. The bubbles do a little something special to the batter:

You can add a bit more soda or flour as needed to achieve the right batter consistency. Take each blossom and coat completely in the batter. Keeping the stems intact can help during this step.

 Heat your oil to 375 degrees. Fry the blossoms until they are a light golden brown (with this batter, they won't get super dark, so don't keep cooking them hoping for a big color change.) They should end up looking a little like this:

However, because the blossoms are so delicate, keep in mind they can also end up looking like this: :)

So at this point, take the remaining, non-exploded blossoms and enjoy. I served them with Red lettuce salad with figs, goat cheese, prosciutto and  a balsamic vinaigrette. With the fattiness of the cheese and fry, the acidity of the balsamic provided a nice contrast... I'll post the recipe for the salad shortly, it's one of my new favorites. These would also go nicely with a really simple marinara sauce.
Buon Appetito!

Potato & Corn Salad with Arugula and Goat Cheese

 

Before the last of the summer corn and cherry tomatoes disappeared, I wanted to combine them in a satisfying, refreshing salad. I got this recipe from one of my magazines last year (I think Bon Appetit...) and I was waiting for the ingredients to come back into season. I've been just a tad busy ;) so this was the first opportunity I had to toss it together. I paired the salad with some simple panko-coated chicken. 

Potato & Corn Salad with Arugula and Goat Cheese

****This recipe makes a really large batch, suitable as a side for 8, or a main course for 4

8 oz small potatoes

3 cups fresh corn kernels ( approximately 4 ears)

2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved 

1 1/2 cups chopped red or green bell pepper

1/4 cups minced shallots

3 tbsp white balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp dijon mustard

S&P

3 tbsp EVOO

6 cups arugula

1/2 cup torn fresh basil

2 oz goat cheese, crumbled

1. Slice potatoes in half, cook approximately 11 minutes. Drain and chill.

2. Cut corn off of the cobs. They have nifty tools for this, or you can stand it upright and take a goo sharp knife down the length of the cob. 

3. Combine corn with potatoes, tomatoes, and bell pepper.

4. In a small bowl, combine shallots, vinegar, mustard, S&P to taste. Whisk. Slowly combine with EVOO to form an emulsion. 

 

5.  Drizzle over the salad, toss. Add arugula and sprinkle with basil and goat cheese. 

6.If you want to serve it with the chicken- put the chicken in a plastic ziploc bag. Pound the chicken to make the thickness of the pieces even throughout. Coat with egg. In a wide bowl (like a pie plate), mix panko bread crumbs with a generous dose of grated or shredded parm, dried parsley, and S&P. Coat the chicken in the bread crumbs.

7. Pour a glug of EVOO in your pan to lightly coat and get the pan fairly hot (med-med high.) Place the chicken in the pan. And then don't touch it. Once it is browned on one side(usually 4-5 minutes depending on thickness), flip it and brown the other side. 

8. Enjoy :)

Lidia Bastianich's Monkfish in Lemon Brodetto

 Last week I was craving scallops and my friend Lenny at North Shore Seafoods had some fantastic fresh U8s on hand (post on those to follow.) While I was there, I noticed he also had some fresh monkfish on sale for a very reasonable price. I figured what the heck- I've never actually cooked monkfish before and I've heard it's quite tasty. First, I should mention that the monkfish is a pretty ugly fish in life....

 

....and it doesn't get any prettier as a filet:

So I hopped on the old Google machine looking for a cooking method/plan of attack and I happened on a recipe from Lidia Bastianich that looked light and tasty and included one of my favorite combos: white wine, lemon juice, and capers. Brodetto typically means something is served in a broth- this one thickens nicely so I served it as a fish with a nice sauce over pasta. You could also use rice or just serve in a bowl with some good bread to sop up the yummy sauce. So here's how the (I think successful) experiment went:

Monkfish in Lemon Brodetto

8 whole cloves of garlic

3 cups and 3/4 cup water

Approx 1 to 1 1/2 lbs monkfish

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup flour
3/4-1 1/2 cups canola oil (or enough to fill your deep fryer, if you have one on hand)
2 tablespoons butter, cubed
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup white wine
1/8 cup pine nuts, toasted  (optional)

1 tbsp +/- capers (based on personal preference)

1/8 cup basil leaves, shredded

Pasta, rice, bread, etc....

Fresh grated parm (optional) 

-  Before you start working on the fish, you want to get the garlic prepped for a puree. Put the cloves in a small saucepan with 1 1/2 cups of water and boil for 15 minutes. Drain the water, add another 1 1/2 cups of water and boil for 30 minutes. This draws out the sulfur compounds in the garlic, leaving it mild enough but still retaining flavor.

- When this is done, put the garlic cloves along with about half of the water in which it was boiled into a food processor and puree until smooth. Depending on how garlicky you want the dish, you may choose to add more or less water to the puree. 

- Cut the monkfish into uniform chunks, approximately 1 1/2", sprinkle with salt.

***Note: there can be a membrane that covers the fish. Sometimes your fish guy/gal may not have removed the entire membrane or blood line. Make sure both have been removed before proceeding. 

-Monkfish can tend to be a moist fish, and the salt will draw out some of the water- it would be best to let the fish sit for 5-10 minutes after salting. Pat the fish dry with paper towels. 

-Lightly coat the fish chunks with flour, shaking off any excess.

-Heat the oil and fry the fish in batches for approx 4-6 minutes, depending on size. After removing each batch, drain them on paper towels and sprinkle with salt immediately. 

-Melt the chunks of butter in a sauce pan, and toss the monkfish pieces in the butter until coated and you hear a nice sizzle. 

-Pour in the garlic puree and coat fish.

-Add the lemon juice, 3/4 cups water, and the wine. I actually used a slightly diluted chicken broth- using the Better than Bullion, I used about 1/2 tsp of base with 3/4 c water.

-Bring the sauce to a boil, stirring as the flour from the fish works its magic and thickens the sauce.

- The recipe called for pine nuts to be added here. I didn't have any on hand, so I skipped them and substituted capers. Also, I wanted a thicker sauce so I removed the fish to a plate with a slotted spoon.

I kept the sauce over medium heat, added the capers and chopped basil. 

 

- I cooked it down until the bubbles thickened and had a kind of syrupy sound as it cooked. I took the pasta directly from the water with a slotted spoon and tossed it with the sauce in the pan. If your sauce is too thick, you can add a little bit of the pasta water. 

- Serve up the pasta with the fish and spoon some of the sauce over  the fish. Top with freshly grated parmesan. I got a little overexcited and didn't remember to take a picture until I had eaten half of my bowl, but this is what it should look like about halfway through :)

I would suggest a pasta with ridges so that it properly holds on to the sauce. I found this pasta that I have never come across before and forgot to write down the name of :( but I will find it again... it was almost like an open figure 8, with openings on each side that captured all of the saucy goodness. The monkfish itself had a great firm yet flaky texture and held up like a champ to the frying and sauce. I certainly plan on spending more time with this unfortunate-looking fish in the future.