Green Tomato Relish

At the end of the season, there always seem to be green tomatoes left clinging to the vine. Over the weekend I went to my mom’s house on the shore to help ‘batten down the hatches’ before the hurricane. During summer, she had the most bountiful tomato plants with the sweetest tomatoes. But with a massive storm surge on the way, it was time to salvage what we could, and say goodbye to the plants.  So I came home with a pile of green tomatoes.

I spent Sunday night cooking up a storm, in preparation for the hurricane. As it turned out, we were extremely lucky and never lost power, but I had baked bread, tossed pasta salad, and made meatloaf. And I began the great  green-tomato-relish-experiment.  Not only had I never made green tomato relish, I had never even tasted green tomato relish.

It turns out that green tomato relish is really easy to make, and also really tasty.  However, after an evening of experimentation I determined that the type of vinegar is really key here.  Although many recipes call for cider vinegar, I really liked my batch with white balsamic best.  Of course, white balsamic is quite sweet, so you don’t need as much sugar as you might see in other green tomato relish recipes.

This relish is tangy and sweet and wonderful on meatloaf.  It also happens to be great on grilled cheese.  And I spooned a bit over my scrambled eggs this morning, which was lovely. Of course, it would be great on a hamburger or hot dog too!

I hope you all made it through the storm safe and sound!

Easy Green Tomato Relish

1/4 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 cups chopped green tomatoes

2 cups white balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup of water

3 tablespoons sugar

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

In a saucepan, saute the onion, pepper and garlic in oil over medium heat until the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes.  Add the tomatoes, the vinegar, the water and the sugar. Simmer gently over medium heat until most of the liquid has evaporated – about 20 minutes (plus or minus depending on your tomatoes). Add the salt and pepper to taste.  Cool the relish and serve or store in the fridge for up to a week.

Beef, Orzo, and Herb Stuffed Peppers

I love fresh herbs, but I realized the other night that my thinking about herb usage has been a bit narrow. Sure, I pair fresh basil with ripe tomatoes, rub roasted chicken with thyme, and top fish tacos with cilantro.  I toss fresh chopped mint with berries, infuse it into chocolate mousse, and use it to garnish lemon tarts. But until now, I have rarely used mint in savory dishes.

I know, I know… you’ve been making lovely minted pea salads for years, and enjoying mint pesto on your lamb kebabs  as long as you can remember.  But it would seem that I’ve had a mint mental block.

I’ve long reserved mint for dessert. But no longer. The background of fresh mint in these stuffed peppers is surprising, but fits so naturally with the rich, meaty filling.  Neither frosty nor sweet, the mint here simply adds an herbacious intensity that brings these peppers to life. 

I’ve made stuffed peppers before, this lentil stuffed version, in particular, is a favorite. When I posted those lentil and rice stuffed peppers, I was yearning for a healthy, filling meal that would reheat well from my lunch box. These beef, orzo, and herb stuffed peppers are just as nutritious, filling, and portable. And while the bell peppers in my garden are still quite tiny, this would be a wonderful way to use up garden surplus. It is most certainly a great way to put some of that mint overtaking your garden to work on your table.

These peppers have a whisper of Greek influence, but you could substitute a bit of lamb in for the beef, and add a drizzle of good olive oil to pump up the mediterranean flavor. I served my peppers with a dollop of sour cream, but a bit of tzaziki would add both creaminess and additional flavor. 

Beef, Orzo and Herb Stuffed Peppers

Serves 6

6 large bell peppers

1 cup uncooked orzo

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 tablespoons chopped fresh garlic

1/4 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped celery

1 lb lean ground beef

1 cup canned tomato sauce

1/4 cup chopped fresh oregano

1/3 cup chopped fresh mint

salt and pepper to taste

cooking spray

Slice the tops off of the peppers, core and rise the insides of the peppers, and arrange them in a baking dish.  Bring a few cups of salted water to a boil and cook the orzo until al dente.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat and cook the garlic, onion, and celery until slightly soft, about 3 minutes.  Add the beef and cook, breaking up with a spoon until browned.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, stir together the orzo, beef mixture, tomato sauce and plenty of salt and pepper to taste.  Stir in the oregano and mint. Lightly spray the insides of the peppers with cooking spray and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Fill the peppers with the beef mixture and top each pepper with its cap. Add a few tablespoons of water to the bottom of the baking dish. Bake until the peppers are a bit shriveled and tender but still slightly crisp, about 45 minutes.

Restaurant Review: Pasta Beach

Restaurant reviews aren’t what we typically do here.  Usually I jabber on about some memory or another, throw a few pictures of food your way, follow up with a recipe, and then you leave nice comments along the lines of “Yum!”  But today I decided to shake things up.

I have been writing restaurant reviews for Scene Magazine in Boston for about a year, and this latest one is my favorite.  Maybe it’s because I was reading Ruth Reichl at the time, or maybe it was because I knew I was leaving Boston and nostalgia was creeping in, but each and every one of my visits to Pasta Beach was magical. It has been a few months since we left Boston and I have been craving Pasta Beach’s simple straightforward pasta and perfect, crisp, chewy pizza. Thankfully, they have an outpost in Newport, RI too (actually, Newport is the original location) and there is no doubt I’ll make it up to Newport this summer.

In the meantime, take a look at the review here and drool over Jazz Martin’s photos that I’ve posted and those on his site as well.  Thanks Jazz!

Alchemy: Bucatini with Garlic, Anchovy, and Oil

My 7th grade science teacher had a knack for analogies. To explain the difference between a compound and a mixture, he made brownies.  Brownies represented a compound; the ingredients, after the baking process, become indistinguishable, and impossible to separate.  Flour, sugar, cocoa powder, butter and eggs transform into this treat that is all of the ingredients but none of them.

In a sort of alchemy, even the simplest ingredients can become something wonderful with a little heat, a little attention. You may think you hate anchovies.  I get it. Those slimy little filets are not my cup of tea either.  But when anchovy paste cooks down in a full-bodied olive oil, it becomes a nutty, savory sauce.  The anchovy-haters in your house will have no idea what they are eating, they will just know they love it. 

The fragrant anchovy and garlic mixture that coats this pasta will linger in the air, it will make your kitchen smell like the North End of Boston.  It’s a smell I’m going to miss.  Every night, on my way home from work, all of the prep cooks are in their Hanover Street kitchens sauteing and chopping and the smell of garlic fills the air.  My mouth waters, and I’m hungry the minute I walk in the door of the apartment.  Maybe this move will be good for my waistline.

The last time we moved, I scrounged up this Bacon Pepper Pasta with the crumbs from the cupboards. This pasta dish is similar in its simplicity. Just a few ingredients, those that linger in the fridge when you haven’t managed to get to the store in a while. You can use linguine or spaghetti if you don’t have bucatini, but I love the toothsome bite of the hollow noodles.  And I love that they are so difficult to twirl, so slurpy and messy to eat.

Please forgive me if I don’t manage to post in the next week or two.  It might take me that long to find my knives and roasting pans in this mess of boxes.

Bucatini with Garlic, Anchovy, and Oil

Serves 6

1 lb bucatini (or spaghetti)

1/4 cup olive oil

3 tablespoons sliced garlic

2 tablespoons anchovy paste

pinch red pepper flakes (optional)

1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Cook the pasta in plenty of boiling salted water until just al dente.  Reserve 1 cup of pasta cooking water before draining the pasta.

Meanwhile, over medium-low heat, heat the oil in a large saute pan.  Add the garlic and anchovy paste and cook, stirring, until the garlic begins to brown.  Add the pepper flakes if using. Add in the pasta, reserved water, and cheese and toss well to combine, cooking another minute or so.  Add the parsley and salt and pepper to taste.  Serve with additional cheese at the table.

Golden Onion Dip

Years ago, when I had just graduated from college, I lived with my friend Nancy.  Nancy was a fantastic roommate, and she had just one quirk: her food jags.  Like  a little kid she would often go for weeks eating only one food.  First it was lobster ravioli, then orange glazed salmon, then blueberry oatmeal.  Always delicious, usually nutritious, but monotonous. And once a food jag was over, Nancy would declare herself tired of the food of the month, and move on.  To this day, she has not eaten another lobster ravioli.

If I were ever to go on a food jag, onion dip would be it.  For as long as I can remember I have adored the simple Lipton’s onion soup and sour cream standby.  It was on my grandmother’s coffee table, along with a big bowl of Ruffles potato chips, at every family function.  It was the prelude to every BBQ at my parent’s beach house. I never believed that anything could be better than the salty, creamy deliciousness.

Which is why I hadn’t bothered to make my own onion dip from scratch.  Until today.  And I’m never going back.  As much as I thought I loved the simple mixture of Lipton’s and sour cream, this is twice as good.  Rich and buttery, deeply flavorful and still so creamy, this dip is perfect with the salty crunch of a potato chip.  It’s onion dip – but better.  And while it takes a few more minutes to make than the packaged dump and stir, it’s really so simple.  Just cook the onions until wonderfully golden, and then whip them into a creamy base of mayonnaise, cream cheese and sour cream. 

I made this dip two days ago expecting to enjoy just a few bites as a snack, but we ate the whole bowl for dinner. And I couldn’t stop thinking about how delicious it was… which lead me to make it again today.  I feel my first food jag coming on, but I’m fighting it.  While a month of sweet and savory golden onion dip sounds divine, I don’t want to get tired of this dip.  I want to savor it, swoon over it, and enjoy.

This dip would make a great addition to your Oscar-watching spread tomorrow night, but it’s pretty much fantastic anytime.  And if you happen to have any leftover (unlikely), this dip is actually great as a sandwich spread, and is particularly awesome with roast beef.

Golden Onion Dip

Serves 4-6

1 medium yellow onion

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 teaspoon paprika

salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 ounces cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1/3 cup sour cream

Peel the onion and slice in half.  Slice the onion into thin half-moon slices.  Warm the butter and oil in a skillet over medium heat and add the onion.  Stir in the paprika and salt and pepper.  Saute over medium for 8-10 minutes and then reduce heat to low and cook for 10 minutes more, until the onion is soft and brown. Cool slightly. Meanwhile, whip the cream cheese with an electric mixer.  Whip in the mayonnaise and sour cream.  Stir in the onions and season to taste with salt and pepper.  Chill at least 30 minutes, or overnight.  Serve with potato chips or fresh cut up vegetables.

The Question of Meatballs

My Sicilian friend Katia first introduced me to this easy method of cooking meatballs.  I stood in her kitchen watching her form and drop meatballs into simmering sauce, and wondered if perhaps it was an Italian secret.  But after interrogating the wait staff at a variety of North End Italian restaurants, I found that the majority go for frying, touting the browned edges as flavor boosters.  But I must admit, these meatballs, simmered in wonderfully flavorful sauce, impart their flavor and become meltingly tender, unlike their fried counterparts.   I then thought that maybe this simmer method was specifically Sicilian, but in chatting with a colleague at work, discovered that his Sicilian wife bakes her meatballs. A mystery.

When it’s so cold outside that my eyes tear up as soon as I leave house, all I want is warm comforting food.  Hearty food. But given the abundance of holiday treats and frequency of holiday parties this month, I’m trying my best to eat lightly in between the festivities.  So healthy comfort food is the name of the game in December. And of course, with all those parties to attend, and cookies to bake, this is not the time of year for lengthy dinner recipes.

Which brings me back to these meatballs.  Is there anything better than a steaming plate of spaghetti and meatballs?  But ground lean turkey and egg whites make these lighter.  And if you choose, whole wheat spaghetti is a great alternative for a bit more fiber.  But what I love most about these meatballs is how they are cooked.  Simply form the meatballs and drop them into the simmering sauce, no need for added fat.  

How do you cook meatballs? Bake? Fry? Simmer?

If you have never tried the simmer method, I urge you to give it a shot.  Tender meatballs, extra flavorful sauce, and no added fat from frying.  I found this particular recipe in an old issue of Bon Appetit Magazine.  I love the use of pesto to flavor the meatballs.  You can use store-bought pesto or homemade, whichever you prefer.  And good quality store-bought chunky tomato pasta sauce is just fine here.  The meatballs will flavor the sauce itself anyway. But I like my quick-fix tomato sauce, so I have included that recipe for you below as well.

Turkey Pesto Meatballs

adapted from Bon Appetit

Serves 6

4 cups chunky tomato pasta sauce  (store-bought or ee recipe below)

1 pound ground turkey

1 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs

1/3 cup pesto (store-bought or homemade) 

2 egg whites

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 pound spaghetti

Bring the sauce to a simmer in a large pot. Mix together the turkey, breadcrumbs, pesto, egg whites, and salt. Form into 11/2 inch meatballs. Drop the meatballs gently into the sauce. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, until the meatballs are cooked through. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in boiling salted water until al dente.  Serve the meatballs and sauce over the spaghetti.

Quick Fix Chunky Tomato Pasta Sauce

4 garlic cloves, sliced

1/3 cup chopped onion

2 tablespoon olive oil

1 26 oz package of Pomi brand chopped tomatoes

1/4 cup red wine

1 cup water

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried parsley

salt and pepper

In a large pot, saute the garlic and onion in oil over medium low until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, wine, and water along with the herbs, and simmer on low 15 minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Auntie Jo’s Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball

You know those bright orange nut covered softball-sized balls of cheese that make a terrifying appearance around the holidays?  Well this is not one of those.

This is creamy, sweet, chocolate goodness.  This is a deconstructed cheesecake.  This is your chance to skip the cake and just eat cream cheese frosting with your fingers.

I love dessert parties.  Why don’t we have more dessert parties?  Spiked cocoa, mocha truffles, white Russians, caramel apples, Champagne, carrot cupcakes, mulled wine, macaroons.  And Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball. What better way to spend Halloween than inviting a few friends and getting sugared up, adult style?

Beautifully retro, this Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball is a serious crowd pleaser. Which, I’m sure, is why Jeff’s Auntie Jo picked this, of all her recipes, to share with me. She tucked her cute little recipe card right in with a wedding shower gift. Auntie Jo suggests spreading it onto graham crackers, but I like Nilla wafers myself.  Jeff is a big fan of the Nilla ‘wich, with plenty of creamy goodness smeared inside.

Chocolate Chip Cheese Ball

1/2 cup salted butter, softened

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups mini chocolate chips, divided

1 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped

Nilla wafers or graham crackers for serving

Beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth.  Beat in the sugars, vanilla, and half of the chocolate chips.  Divide the mixture in two.  Using plastic wrap, roll each half into  a ball.  Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.  Remove from the fridge and roll one ball in the remaining chocolate chips, and the other in the chopped nuts.  Refrigerate for another hour.  Remove from the fridge a few minutes before serving with the wafers or graham crackers.

Baby Artichoke Crostini

You know my favorite thing about living in Boston?  The Haymarket.  Back in the day, in the 1800s, the Haymarket was the place to shop in Boston, with pushcarts crowding the square. Today, the Haymarket boasts rows of tarp-covered produce stalls, run by vendors who purchase the leftovers from local distributors.  Occasionally the produce can be a bit over-ripe, but it’s always a great deal. The produce bargains almost make up for the outrageous Boston rent.  Almost. Last weekend I bought a dozen apples, a pound of salad greens, a bunch of carrots, a bag of onions, an avocado, a handful of chilis, a pineapple, a pint of figs and a dozen baby artichokes, all for $11. 

When I saw the baby artichokes I couldn’t resist.  Artichokes, which are typically considered in-season in early spring, have a second, lighter crop in the fall.  And baby artichokes, in their tender sweetness, are a special indulgence which usually cost a fortune.  A dozen for a dollar was quite a bargain! Baby artichokes are lovely braised in wine and garlic, but today I was in the mood for something a bit lighter, and a bit more portable.  We’ve been taking advantage of the crisp fall weather and having wine and nibbles on our roof deck, and these artichoke crostini are a perfect hors d’oeuvre.

It’s important to slice the baby artichokes very thin, and to let them sit in the vinaigrette for at least a half an hour to soften and absorb the flavor of the balsamic. Eaten raw, the fresh, clean taste of the artichokes shines. You could certainly add a few shavings of pecorino romano if you like, but I think these crostini are beautifully simple and wonderfully flavorful as is. 

Baby Artichoke Crostini

Serves 4-6 as an appetizer

4 baby artichokes

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

salt

3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

12 thin (about 1/4 inch) slices baguette, toasted

1 clove garlic, peeled and halved

Remove the outer leaves from the artichokes.  Cut off the top of each artichoke and trim the bottoms.  Thinly slice the artichokes (use a mandoline slicer if you have one).  Toss the artichokes with the oil and vinegar.  Add salt to taste. Let the artichokes marinate for at least 30 minutes at room temperature. Add the basil to the artichoke mixture just before serving,

Rub the toasted bread with the garlic and then discard the rest of the garlic clove.  Top each piece of toast with a spoonful of the artichoke mixture.  Serve immediately.

Homemade Fig Newtons

I am a big fan of cookie dunking.  We’ve covered my need to dunk before (when I talked about my hamantaschen recipe, which you can find here) but such a contentious topic deserves a bit more attention.

You see, Jeff is firmly anti-dunking.  He likes cookies best in their natural state and finds the sweet softness of a dunked confection to be unappetizing at best and downright nauseating at worst.  For Jeff this, as with most food-related aversions, is a texture issue.  And it’s no shock that he lives in fear of soggy cookies since he is the same man who removes the submerged toast from his French onion soup before digging in. 

But for me, the marriage of cookie and beverage is the best part of the whole cookie experience.  But not all cookie and beverage combinations are created equal.  To my mind, certain drinks call out for certain cookies.  For example, the classic combination of biscotti and cappuccino works wonderfully because the airy foam softens the hard cookie just enough to produce a mouth-watering crumb.  But rusks, the extra-hard South African cousin of biscotti, are best dunked in hot tea, as the jaw-breaking biscuit benefits greatly from the tea’s softening powers. Nice, crisp gingersnaps also work well dunked in tea as they retain their form and bite.  Hot chocolate is best with a square of buttery shortbread, which not only stands up to the heat, but soaks in the chocolate flavor making the cookie itself doubly intense.

Of course, chocolate chip cookies are destined for a swim in a nice tall glass of milk.  The cool milk cuts through the richness of the cookie, and works particularly well when the cookie is warm. There are, in fact, a whole school of traditional American cookies that beg for a glass of cold milk; graham crackers, peanut butter cookies (super easy recipe here), and Fig Newtons among others.

As a kid I was never a big fan of Fig Newtons.  In my mind they fell into the dreaded category of “healthy treats” simply because fruit was involved.  I probably hadn’t had a Fig Newton in twenty years until a few weeks ago, when stuck starving on the tarmac on a delayed flight, I accepted a generous gift from the gentleman in the seat next to me. Not bad, but as I sat in my tight middle seat on that 747, longing for a glass of milk, I pondered how to make new and improved Fig Newtons at home.  Convenient that I had just made a batch of quick fig jam!

Fresh figs and a flaky dough are a definite improvement over the sticky sweet filing and squishy texture of the packaged version. These cookies are just perfect with a glass of milk.  The texture holds up well to dunking and the cold milk does wonders for the rich, buttery dough. I used fresh Calimyrna figs for the simple filling here. Sweet, nutty, and thin-skinned, these light green figs are perfect for snacking and also perfect for a quick-fix fig jam. Feel free to substitute any other figs you like. And in a pinch, jarred fig preserves will do just fine.

Homemade Fig Newtons

2 cups chopped Calimyrna figs

1/3 cup water

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 cup flour (plus extra for dusting)

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ cup sugar

4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter

2-3 tablespoons milk

In a small saucepan over low heat, cook the figs, water, and brown sugar, stirring occasionally, for about 30-40 minutes, until very soft. Cool to room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a food processor, pulse the flour, salt, cinnamon, baking powder and sugar to mix. Cut the butter in small chunks and add to the flour mixture. Pulse until the butter is well incorporated and the mixture is sandy in texture. Add the milk, one tablespoon at a time, and pulse just until the dough comes together. You may not need all of the milk. Turn the dough out onto a well floured surface and form into a ball, kneading once or twice, just until the ball holds together. Quickly roll out the dough into a long rectangle about 1/6 inch thick. Cut the rectangle in half. On one half of the dough, spread half of the fig mixture. Fold the dough over the fig mixture and pinch to close. Cut in 1-2 inch bars. Repeat with remaining dough and jam. Bake on a greased cookie sheet 20-25 minutes until lightly brown. Cool and serve with a glass of milk.

I featured these fig bars in my column in the Dedham Transcript this month. Check out the article here.

Spicy Thai Chicken Pizza

Between magazines, recipe books, newspapers, and blogs, I see a lot of recipes. Culinary inspiration is everywhere.  In fact, it’s hard to escape.  We mark pages and jot down ingredients, and sometimes it turns into dinner.  But most of the time, all of those exciting new recipes languish in the recipe box while we eat meatloaf. 

Which is why I’m amazed when a recipe goes viral.  Without a blog post or a blurb in a magazine, or a mention by a celebrity chef, a dish can take off.  A happy accident at a dinner party turns into a shared recipe served at a dozen more dinner parties, and that dozen begets a hundred.  You get the idea. 

My step dad’s peanut sauce is one of those recipes, famous with family and friends – and friends of friends of friends.  I told you all about Chuck’s peanut sauce a few months ago (check out the recipe here). It’s awesome as a dip, fantastic tossed with soba noodles, and great on grilled shrimp.  And it makes an amazing Spicy Thai Chicken Pizza. 

 This pizza is really all about the sauce – and the grill.  Crisp, slightly charred crust and rich, spicy sauce make for a serious crowd pleaser.  The idea here is to use just enough cheese for texture, and just enough onions to cut through the richness of the cheese and sauce.  The chicken adds to the heartiness of the pizza, but you could leave it off, or better yet, replace it with some grilled shrimp if you like. I love the delicate sweetness of purple basil for the garnish, but any variety of fresh basil will do here.  Or go for cilantro instead, if you have that in the fridge. 

This is one of Jeff’s favorite football-watching snacks.  And if you were ambitious, you could even turn this pizza into tailgate fare.  I’d probably make the peanut sauce in advance and just grill the chicken and the pizza on the spot.

Spicy Thai Chicken Pizza

Serves 4-6

2 cups Peanut Sauce (see recipe here)

1 pound fresh pizza dough

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 boneless skinless chicken breast

1/4 pound thinly sliced provolone cheese

1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

Divide the dough in half.  Roll out each half to between 1/4 and 1/8 inch thickness.  (You can make one big pizza, but it will be harder to flip the dough)

Preheat and grease the grill. Grill the chicken, basting twice with 1/4 cup peanut sauce, until no longer pink inside. Slice the chicken.

Brush a bit of oil on one side of each crust and transfer, oil side down, to the grill. Cook 5 minutes, brush remaining oil on other side of each one, and flip. Quickly spread the remaining sauce on the cooked side of the crust, top with chicken, onions and cheese, close the grill and cook until the cheese melts, about 5 minutes more. Remove from heat, sprinkle with basil, slice and serve.

A version of this pizza landed me a spot in the Cavit Wine’s Gourmet Pizza Classic Finals.  Chick here to check it out.