Tag archive for appetizer

There’s a low-lying fog that has wrapped up our valley for the past few days. Maybe it has been even longer, as I tend to forget those details. It’s almost mysterious in the way that it seeps in overnight and envelops the morning horizon, muting the sun to a vaguely bright spot in the fog. Depending on the day, the thickness of the fog varies—sometimes so thick that I can’t see much more than a car or two in front of me on the street. Other times, it is wispy and soft, bringing a romantic blur to the horizon. At night when I walk the neighborhood streets, sometimes I can see the stars through holes in the fog while street lights glow orange with fluorescent halos. The fog never fails to make me feel cozy, wishing for a blanket and a cup of tea.

On foggy days, I search for brightness elsewhere, like on my plate. While I can’t control the weather and shaking my fist at the sky has brought little result, the meals on my plate are completely under my control, so I adjust as needed. For some reason, the weather has me reaching for the vinegar. The bright acidity brings life to some warm comfort foods and an irresistible sharpness to crunchy salad greens.

The flavors of this salad are not ones that I would readily dreamed on my own. The pairing of quick-pickled red onion with the candy sweetness of Medjool dates is brilliant and I knew immediately I would love it. It’s just one of those combinations I could already imagine before putting vinegar to onion. The recipe jumped off the page as I was browsing through my new cookbook, Jerusalem, this weekend. I know the book has been out for a while, but sometimes I have to pace myself through the myriad of new cookbooks released every fall, adding some of my top picks to my Christmas list, then stacking them up beside the bed for evening reading. (Tell me I’m not alone in this little habit.) There are plenty of dishes I am hoping to make from this book, but this was the one I had to make first while I plotted out my plans for the next dishes.

Spinach salad with almonds and dates

Adapted from Jerusalem, by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
½ small red onion, thinly sliced lengthwise
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1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup whole raw almonds, coarsely chopped
2 teaspoons sumac
½ teaspoon Aleppo pepper or chile flakes
5 oz baby spinach
2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
Salt, to taste

Combine the vinegar, red onion and dates in a small bowl. Sprinkle with a little salt and stir to combine. Let sit for at least 20 minutes. When ready to use, drain and discard any remaining vinegar.

In a small pan, combine the butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add the chopped almonds and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Once almonds are toasted and golden, remove from pan and set on a paper towel to drain. Sprinkle with sumac, pepper flakes and a little salt and allow to cool.

When ready to serve, add the spinach to a large mixing bowl and top with the almonds, red onion and dates. Dress the salad with lemon juice and remaining olive oil. Toss to coat and add a little salt, if needed. Serve immediately.

Sometimes it seems like December gets all of the attention. Friends, holiday gatherings, traditions and delicious food. Once January rolls around, we might be resolute and hopeful facing the new year, but the same little incentives to get through another month of winter just aren’t there. So, this month I have a mission—make January a little more exciting. I’m going to try to fit in some of the cooking, get-togethers and activities that just didn’t make it into my pre-holiday schedule. And no, this doesn’t fall into the new year resolutions category. I’m just trying to brightening up a grey month. Maybe in February I’ll go back into hibernation mode!

Usually, when it comes to things like taking down the Christmas tree or other decorations, I’m a bit wistful. I’d like to see some of those bits of color and sparkle a little longer in the midst of winter. In the past, I’ve been pretty resourceful about turning Christmas decorations into a bright Valentine theme! But this year, I was ready to clean up and move on. It just seems to have been that kind of year for me. And since I’ve tidied things up and we won’t be tracking pine needles around the house anymore, maybe it won’t be such a bad idea to invite friends over to share a meal.

Getting back to new year resolutions, it seems that everyone has some kind of food resolution to start off the year. But it seems like most of those goals could be grouped into a wish to eat more healthy. Which is exactly what makes it a little easier to plan out a meal at this time of year. Make it a one-bowl meal with a pot of healthful and filling soup (maybe something a little bit like this or this), toss together a salad and dinner is served. And better still, make the soup in advance so a little reheating is all that’s needed. Dinner on a weeknight is now a possibility!

But to keep things fun, I still like to include an appetizer—something to whet the appetite and keep people happy while the last bit of dinner prep comes together. Or this could be an after-dinner cheese course as a sweet way to wrap up a meal. And really, there isn’t much room to go wrong with a cheese plate. This recipe idea is simple and lets guests build their snacks to their specific taste.

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Roasted grapes

1 to 1 ½ pounds grapes, preferable a red or deeply colored seedless variety
Fresh herbs, I used thyme and chopped rosemary
Olive oil
Salt and fresh pepper

Preheat oven to 425°.

Rinse and sort grapes carefully, looking for any blemishes or soft fruit. Remove a portion of the grapes from their stems, but keep one nice cluster together for a pretty presentation. Place all of the grapes on a large, rimmed baking sheet. Generously cover the grapes with olive oil, sprinkle with fresh herbs and finish with a sprinkle of salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Roast grapes for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. The fruit will begin to caramelize, leaving a lovely grape-y syrup in the pan. Once grapes begin to soften, remove from oven. Arrange the large cluster of grapes on a platter and surround with the individual fruit. Serve warm or at room temperature.

I’ve been working up to this moment for over a year now. Everyone needs something to work toward, right? See, it was about one year ago when I went out to dinner at this lovely little restaurant. And while everything I ate was amazing, it all started out with the most delicious appetizer ever. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that it was the appetizer that stole my heart that evening.

Really it was the simplest thing ever—a pile of flash fried Padron peppers, dressed in a generous sprinkle of crunchy sea salt and served up piping hot. The only reasonable thing to do was dig in, which I did with little hesitation, leaving poor seconds for my dining companion! I’d never had Padron peppers before, only heard little mentions here and there on food blogs. But I knew enough to order them up just as soon as I saw them. Since then, I’ve been trying to figure out how to get my hands on my own supply of peppers.

The dead of winter doesn’t really seem like the most promising time to be thinking about peppers. But when you’re trying to track down seeds for something unusual like Padron peppers, you do what you have to do. Online searching, researching and ordering got me the seeds I needed and long before the first signs of spring began to show themselves outside, I started my own little indoor pepper garden. Fast forward to July and the plants began to stagger over the green beans in the garden, ladened with peppers. That’s when things really got tasty out in the garden!

At least once a week, there are enough peppers to feed the three of us. In fact, regular picking is important so things don’t get too spicy. It’s become a bit of an event, the evening we pick the peppers and have some tapas in the garden before I head back into the kitchen to finish up with dinner prep. It is a nice change of pace and I think I’ve shared my love of the peppers with a certain little boy!

In the only way I know how to cook the peppers, I heat a large skillet with a slick of oil on high heat. When it’s gathered enough heat, I throw in the peppers and slap down a lid to contain the splattering and hissing that immediately begins. Don’t crowd the peppers or they will just steam. You don’t want that. With enough room, they fry up nicely. Toss or shake the pan occasionally, but don’t be afraid of developing a little bit of a scorch of some sides of the peppers. Once the peppers puff up and some nice color developes, about 5 to 7 minutes, remove the peppers from the pan. Arrange them on a serving platter and sprinkle generosly with sea salt. Serve immediately, preferably with a glass of cava.

Two notes to finish things up:

• Once you’ve bothered to heat up a frying pan on a hot summer evening, consider finishing up some other dinner item in the pan once the peppers are done. Last night I threw in a few ears of cut corn kernels, which blackened up nicely in just a minute or two. Before that, I sautéed a few handfuls of green beans. Yummy!
• I know you are wondering about my beautiful towel featured in these pictures. My awesome sister MADE them for me! You know you want some, and now you know how to get them!

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