TAPAS MENU
Blue Cheese & Quince Paste
Beet Bites
Marinated Olives
Baba Ganoush w/Tomatoes
Cucumbers w/Dill
Grilled Artisan Bread

I hadn’t tried a round of tapas before, but I am increasingly a believer of less is more. If I can get a serious bang for my buck—very little time, very few ingredients, very big results—then I am the first in line. Each appetizer is just a few simple ingredients with little to no preperation required. By the way, just one or two of these appetizers is all you need to start a great meal!

My neighbor was over the other day and I served her a wedge of blue cheese with a dabble of quince paste. Alone or with crackers, this easy ensemble is big results for little effort. (A bold red wine smooths the edges of this robust starter). I noted how easy it was to put two ingredients on a plate; an effortless way to impress guests on the front end of a dinner party. With a muffled laugh, she said people would think she was so gourmet to serve blue cheese with quince. Brilliant—let’s toast to that!

I was at dinner for the first time at Harvest Vine, an impressive and oft-written up restaurant in Madison Park (Seattle). Two food experiences came home with me and are now a part of my kitchen: the first is the Blue Cheese & Quince Paste. For the record, I bought the quince paste from Whole Foods. It was in the cheese deli, and it comes as a loaf of quince paste, they cut slices off like you would slice bread. Because I find the paste to be firm and a bit granular, I opt to mix equal parts quince paste with equal parts grapeseed oil. Then, the quince becomes a smooth gel, and better compliments the soft yet pungeant cheese.

Blue Cheese & Quince Paste
1 T grapeseed oil
1 T quince paste
2 oz. slice of blue cheese

Feel free to double or triple quantities. Mix oil and paste with back of fork. Place on plate with cheese.

The second, and happy surprise was the small square of beets placed in front of us as we took our table:

Beet Bites
2 Beets, yellow and/or red
Good olive oil
Kosher/coarse salt

Scrub beets, cut off stem and tail ends. Steam for 15 minutes. When cool enough to handle, remove skins by hand or with peeler (See top photo of two yellow beets). Cut beets in shape of rectangular box, slice long way into 1/3″ slices. Place toothpick in short end, place beets on plate and drizzle olive oil and sprinkle salt on top. (Optional: sprinkle fresh herbs like thyme, oregano or marjoram).
Cantelope w/Prosciutto
Cantelope
Prosciutto
Toothpicks

Cut cantelope in half, remove seeds and core. Slice off rind and cut into small bites. Tear 2-3 slices prosciutto into 4 x 1 inch lengths. Wrap around cantelope, secure with toothpicks and serve.

Cucumbers w/Dill
Cucumbers
Fresh dill
Course salt
Olive oil

Wash cucumbers, slice half or more of skin off with peeler (I usually leave on some green for show). Cut in half lengthwise if it is a large cucumber, scooping out seeds along length with spoon. If small, slice round disks for serving. Place on plate, cut fresh dill on top with scissors, drizzle with oil , salt and serve. My niece calls these “cukes.”

Olives
Buy mixed olives from store: place on plate.

Baba Ganoush
You could substitute hummus; I bought Baba Ganoush from the store (Whole Foods). It is eggplant with tahini, olive oil, lemon and salt. I placed it in a bowl, drizzled it with olive oil and served with a bowl of cherry tomatoes and cucumber moons/slices. It was also tasty with the grilled bread.

Grilled Artisan Bread
Good bread
Olive oil
Mixed herbs
Salt
Optional: garlic

Slice bread, half slices. Place olive oil, mixed herbs (use dry or fresh combo of your choice, no herbs is fine too) on plate. Rub both sides of bread in oil, skewer, sprinkle with salt and grill. Optional: add fresh minced garlice to olive oil in plate.

Oh for the love of pesto. This is one of my ‘make it easier on myself later’ tricks that I employ in my kitchen. No doubt there are a million more tricks to discover: I love the thrill of finding that next one (find other tricks in Tomatoease). When the basil is abundant—and especially when I buy a voluminous bunch at the store—rather than let it go to waste, I make it into pesto for ‘Later.’

This pesto freezes well in ice cube trays; I later use a ‘cube’ at a time to infuse minestrone, add interest to focaccia, upgrade risotto or fold fresh flavor into alfredo sauce. Pasta with pesto is an easy side dish, especially if all you have to do is drop a cube into already hot pasta, stir and serve. Next to some grilled chicken or as a start to a great pasta salad, freshly made frozen pesto provides a magical touch each and every time you use it.

And the steps to making this pesto are even easier with a little helper by your side. Though not so little, my 10 year old son tore all the basil leaves from the stem, added all the ingredients to the food processor and blended away. The next time you need some pesto ‘Now,’ pursposefully make much-too-much, place in ice cube trays (once frozen put in ziploc bag), so you can enjoy pesto ‘Later.’

Pesto
2 heaping T pine nuts
3 cloves minced garlic
4 T parmesan, grated
Big pinch Kosher or coarse salt
10 grinds coarse pepper
1 1/4 cups fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup olive oil

Add all ingredients except olive oil. Process to blend; add 1/4 cup of the olive oil and process. Add the rest of the olive oil, process. Put into ice cube trays to freeze, pop out and keep in ziploc freezer bags for future, random and ease-of use.

I have been reading about zucchini blossoms in my latest foodie book: A Thousand Days in Tuscany (see page 28 for recipe). So when I went to a nearby Farmers Market this morning, I was taken in by the seductive blossoms, begging an opportunity to be introduced to my kitchen. I am learning that if there is a new version of plum or fish or flower the best way to experiment with them is to start small. I bought one golden plum the other day, and today just 8 squash blossoms that cost me $2. Translation: low budget entertainment and/or small investment for a potential flop in the kitchen. Equally as entertaining is asking the expert: The Farmer peddling their wares from behind the scales and piles of cucumbers and beets and blossoms. They have great ideas and welcome the venturing newbie. I asked The Farmer to help me select a few blossoms, she recommended firm floweres that are open. Another vendor told me that the male flower is without a zucchini attached and the female flower does have a zucchini (who knew?). “How would you cook it?” I ask, tempting her to betray her kitchen secrets.

Their combination of suggestions were fill with soft cheese, bread or batter and fry in oil. I hopped online and found a recipe from Marcella Hazan, one of my favorite italian chefs, who also recommended a battered blossom experience. But alas I didn’t have time to indulge in the fry method, as I was aiming for dinner in 20 minutes. So instead I came up with this:

Zucchini Blossoms
Zucchini blossoms
Olive oil
Kosher or coarse salt
Goat cheese
Fresh herbs (I used basil and italian parsley)
Strips of Prosciutto (optional)

Heat oven to 400. Mash goat cheese with herbs, I used approximately 2 tsp goat cheese (spoonful) and 1 tsp fresh herbs for every blossom. Place cheese mix inside blossom (remove pistils). Lube in olive oil and coarse salt, about 2 T oil and a pinch of salt for every 4 blossoms. Wrap blossom in bacon or prosciutto (optional). Place coziliy in pan, bake for 15 minutes. Serve.

BUT the next night I had a few blossoms left and I was determined to try the fry method, so I took yet another shortcut and made them with—sacreligious I know—leftover pancake batter from that morning. When my husband had a little leftover batter I glanced at the ingredients which lets face it are similar to the batter for deep frying. And it wasn’t just any pancake batter, it was from Stonewall Kitchen which almost made me feel vindicated in my plot to fry blossoms.

Here is my ‘cheating-with-batter’ recipe:

Pancake Battered Blossoms
12- 14 blossoms
Kosher or coarse salt
Even mix of vegetable & olive oil, to fill 3/4 inch up sides of small skillet

Use the blossoms within 1-2 days of purchase. Keep them loosely wrapped in damp paper towels. Remove pistils from center of flowers. Add 1/4 cup water to 1 cup of [already made] pancake batter. (Or instead of pancake batter, Marcella mixes 1 cup water and slowly adds and stirs 2/3 cup flour until creamy).

Heat the oil over high heat. When it is very hot, dip the blossoms quickly in and out of the batter and slip them into the skillet. When they are golden brown on one side, turn them and cook them to golden brown on the other side. Transfer to paper towels to drain, sprinkle with salt and serve promptly while still hot. Serves 4.

Find Stonewall Kitchen’s Farmhouse Pancake and Waffle Mix

Like a kid in a candy store. The saying applies to me at a farmer’s market, in the cookbook aisle, and recently standing among piles upon tangles of blackberry brambles. I didn’t even know what I was going to do with so many blackberries, I just knew that I experienced regular pangs of delight as I horded my steadily swelling pile of syrupy berries.

Berries home: I wash them, place them single layer onto a cookie sheet and into the freezer (so they don’t freeze as a unified blob). Once frozen, I throw them into ziploc freezer bags—a promise of good things to come. A blackberry pie in February might feel like cheating but deep down inside I know it will be worth every bite.

One of my sons loves blackberries and helped me make this simple Blackberry Apple Crisp. He ranted and raved about the merits of this breakfast-worthy dish, full of fruit and oats and hardly any sugar at all! We did eat it for breakfast AND dessert for 3 days straight. Honestly, it probably has less sugar than most cereals. (And, he points out, food made at home simply tastes better than food from the store—what is not to love about this kid)?

Blackberry Apple Crisp
Filling
5 Granny Smith apples, thinly sliced (approx. 1/4 - 1/3 inch slices)
3 cups blackberries, fresh or frozen
1/2 cup sugar
2 heaping T flour

Topping
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350; butter 9×13 inch baking dish. Peel, core and thinly slice apples and place in dish; top with blackberries (if frozen do not thaw first). Sprinkle with sugar and flour. Combine all topping ingredients, then sprinkle over filling. Bake 35-40 minutes. Serve with vanilla ice cream for dessert (and for breakfast plain or warmed with 1-2 T of half and half if you are feeling decadent).

MENU
Mozzarella Prosciutto Skewers
Olive Tapenade & Bread
Walnut Grape Salad
Grilled Roma Tomatoes
Sausage Cream Pasta

It is true, the tomatoes turned out like CANDY. It was all I could do not to throw them on ice cream and gobble them down (okay, that might be gross, but you get the idea). The BBQ is an amazing thing: turning my garden tomatoes into sweeter than sweet gems to plop on top of Sausage Cream Pasta. The pasta is so rich and filling, you don’t need a big portion. Perhaps a little ground pepper, some fresh parmesan but hands down those candylike Grilled Roma Tomatoes only add presence to this rich, creamy event of a meal. Did I mention the pasta is EASY to make?

Beyond the tomatoes and pasta—before the candy and cream—I served Olive Tapenade with artisan bread (recipe below) and Mozzarella Prosciutto Skewers.

My favorite appetizers are easy, easy, easy. As in, around 3 ingredients and no prep time (my brother Kerry would like that: he and my sister-in-law Donna have a joke about a cookbook they own whose title includes “Quick and Easy.” In reality, they figure the author has 3 full-time sous chefs chopping, stirring, assembling and reducing sauces and ingredients for a good hour before the ‘chef’ steps in to make the ‘quick and easy’ meal. Makes for some good humor when you are trying to feed small children on the fly).

The Olive Tapenade appetizer is simply a store-bought jar of tapenade (Trader Joes in my case); I filled a coffee scoop with tapenade, placed it in the middle of a plate, surrounded it with olive oil and cut a few leaves of basil on top (chiffonade a la scissors). If you cannot find tapenade in a jar or don’t have it on hand, you can pulse blend 1/2 c. kalamata olives, 1 T olive oil and a pinch of salt in a small blender for tapenade; add a few drops of your favorite vinegar and a pinch of basil, parsley or oregano if you feel the urge. Any extra will keep for 1-2 weeks covered in the fridge. It is great on sandwiches or paninis.

To lighten the richness of the meal, a salad is a perfect fix. I added in my Walnut Grape Salad; just when you thought things couldn’t get better, this salad walks through the door.

I confess, not many desserts round my table mid-week. A truffle or nibble of chocolate is all I need with my already half-full glass of red wine or on a good day, a decaf cappuccino. More fanciful desserts make a happy appearance on weekends and at dinner parties. Oh and by the way, good luck with tonight’s dinner—go knock their socks off.