After picking a heap of chanterelles the other morning, I was sort of at a loss on what to do with them (although thank you to my friends for the inspiration!). But then, two amazing things happened 1) we went for a beach hike and found mussels, (Lie. Dad yanked them off the rocks while Emily and I napped on a log); 2) we went to an amazing ocean front farm and bought fresh goat cheese. With those deliciously serendipitous run-ins, I decided on Mussels with Fennel, Tomatoes and Chanterelles in White Wine and a simple Goat Cheese and Chanterelle Tart (recipe from old post, here).
Tofino Time: Foraging for Chanterelles
There is nothing like chanterelle mushroom picking here in the Pacific Northwest. The thrill! the chase! associated with this gorgeous, gold-fluted fungus really cannot be replicated. So today, equipped with plastic bags and scissors, the family and I set out to capture these curly-cupped creatures. After picking at three locations, we returned with a hefty bounty of about one kilo. Now I just have to figure out what to do with all these mushrooms….
Tofino Time: Steamed Shrimp and Crab Shumai
This next week is the Tofino edition! The family and I are nestled in the balmy Pacific Northwest for a week of action-packed fun: fishing, prawning, crabbing, hiking, camping, and best of all – dinner roulette: where dinner is entirely dependent on whatever Dad catches on his 16-foot boat. Given that I’m with the fam damily this week, I’ll have some guest contributors!
Guest Contributor//Emily: There are about 1 trillion things that I adore about my sister – one of the biggest ones being that she has a true adoration and admiration for all things food. Of course, it’s always a pleasure to dine on whatever Eva “whips up”, but, since she always makes it look so fun, I thought I’d jump in. We cranked the Reggae, poured two glasses of wine and let the fun flow! Sissy and I are very similar and very different – in this case, our differences in the kitchen really do keep things smooth sailing. As her honorary sous-chef for the evening, I was keen on ensuring that she had a clean workshop to let her creativity flow. It’s really something to watch her work – a certain smell or color or texture will inspire a whole new direction, only more delicious than the previous one. I enjoy following her direction – in a life of constant unknowns, she is precise with her guidance and is mindful of being kind to a novice (like me). One of the greatest parts of this experience was capturing her creativity, documenting the magic that she really does create, and being able to celebrate it time and time again. – EJSF –
Last night, Emily and I decided to make shrimp and crab shumai because, you know, we just happened to have them fresh from Dad’s boat. For our shumai, we used my knight in shining armor – wonton papers – to make these delicious seafood dumplings, perfect as an appetizer. This is definitely an activity meal, so enlist a sous-chef before you get started and prepare these little pinwheels of delight in advance. Conversely, if this is part of the “performance” make sure guests have something to nosh on while watching the action.
Ingredients:
Shumai Filling
- 12 small shrimp, (can be raw or boiled)
- 1 cup fresh boiled crab
- 2 scallion, white and green chopped
- 1 T Fresh ginger finely chopped
- Egg wash: ramekin of 1 scrambled raw egg and 1 T water
Dipping Sauce
- 2 splashes Soy sauce
- 1 dash Rice wine vinegar
- 1 splash Sesame oil
- Sesame seeds
- 1 t. Dijon mustard
- 1 pinch sugar
- 1 T fresh ginger, finely chopped
- 2 scallion, white and green chopped
The Gist:
The idea of the shumai filling is to have multiple textures, achieved by staging the mixing process. I was without my trusty Cuisinart for this recipe and used an old blender making it difficult to control this. We ended up simply rough chopping several ingredients by hand and mixing them in a bowl after we got the pasty base.
- Make the dipping sauce first. This mixture will season the filling.
- Add half the crab and shrimp and 2 T of dipping sauce to the food processor and mix until paste like.
- Add the rest of the shrimp and crab and scallions and pulse.
To wrap the shumai:
Let’s be honest here – Emily and I had no idea what we were doing and had a blast taking creative license making our little dumplings. The nice thing about shumai too is that it’s actually opened on the top, so it made it easier to hide our neophyte skills. I’ve had shumai before and really like the pleating of the dumpling wrap so I attempted to replicate it. Regardless of your style, it’s important use the egg wash before pressing any two corners of the wonton paper together so they stick together.
Finally, steam the shumai, 3-5 minutes ideally in a bamboo steamer lined with cheesecloth (to keep the shumai from sticking). We didn’t have this luxury, so I poured enough water to cover 2 inches of the bottom of a large pot and fashioned a pedestal in the bottom using a trivet (so the bowl was not in direct contact with the burner) and an overturned bowl, then placed the plates of shumai directly on the raised surface one at a time. Worked out pretty well, thanks Sissy for all your help!
Dinner with Basil: Homemade Pesto + Caprese Salad
Earlier this week, Ray and I had a special guest for dinner, basil! This beautiful broad-leafed herb is definitely in season with the bundles so big, I could barely tell it apart from heads of lettuce in the produce section. When I get a bouquet of basil this large, there’s really only two things I want to make, homemade pesto and a caprese salad. And that’s what I did: Seared Scallops with Pesto Rigatoni with a Caprese Salad drizzled with a homemade balsamic vinaigrette. I think I’d like to have basil over dinner more often!
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For the Pesto: I never follow recipes, so in my Cuisinart I just blended pine nuts (they have pre-packaged 1/4 cup bags in the baking aisle at the store), whatever Parmesan I had in my fridge and garlic. I then added the basil leaves and the juice of one lemon. Word on the street is to keep the Cuisinart running while you add the olive oil through the top feeder until the mixture is smooth. At the last minute I added zest of 1/2 lemon and I’m pretty sure that took the pesto to a whole other level of amazing both in flavor and color. For perfect single-servings down the road, scoop any extra pesto into an ice cube tray and cover with plastic wrap making sure it’s flush with the pesto and place in freezer. For the rule followers, Ina Garten has a great recipe for pesto.
Buenos Aires Cannellonis: Jamon y Queso + Verdura
My Buenos Aires Cannellonis are inspired by my time living in the “Paris of Latin America.” Each morning I would pass Mas Pastas, fogging up the glass window as three old men buzzed around the checker-floored pasta shop. One man would delicately drop dollops of ricotta onto rugs of ravioli pasta, another kneaded pizza dough and the other formed pillows of potato dough for fresh gnocchi. When I finally mustered up enough courage and enough Spanish, I became a regular at Mas Pastas, frequently stopping in for a dozen cannellonis (cheese-filled tubes of fresh pasta) to cook for friends and my host family.
While no cannellonis can really do Mas Pastas justice, here is my take on the most popular variations: cannellonis con jamon y queso (ham and cheese) and cannellonis con verduras (vegetables) topped with tomato sauce. On my next try, I might go for crab filled cannelloni with a bechamel sauce (yow!).
For this recipe, I use my secret weapon-wonton papers! You can find them in the produce section next to the vegan chorizo (why, why does that exist?) and the tofu shaped like chicken nuggets. Wonton papers are extremely versatile and really fun to work with. In addition to using them for cannellonis, I use them to make homemade raviolis; I even used them to make a quick lasagna once.
Filling: I make a very simple base filling of ricotta, cream cheese, mozzarella, 1 medium sauteed onion, seasoned with fresh garlic, salt and pepper. I then split the filling between two bowls and add vegetables to one and meat to the other:
For Jamon y Queso: I sautee cubes of pancetta (sturdy and salty, ideal for this dish) in a pan to make them nice and crispy before adding them to the filling. Cooked bacon, prosciutto, chicken or shrimp would be great alternatives.
For Verduras y Queso: I sautee frozen spinach (drain before adding to pan) with a zucchini cut into thin half-moons and seasoned with chili flakes. Mushrooms are a slammin’ addition.
Once the variations are added to each bowl of filling, I prepare a clean, flat surface and small dish of water (to seal the seam of the wonton paper) and then make the cannellonis:
Step 1: Scoop 2 heaping tablespoons of filling along one side of the wonton paper, careful not to let any get too close to the edge.
Step 2: Pull the wonton over the filling. Pressing your fingers flat on the cutting board, tug the wonton paper back (think how the guys at Chipotle wrap burritos). This will ensure that filling is tightly packed into the wonton paper.
Step 3: Once the filling is snug, roll the wonton paper once and wet the top edge with water.
Step 4: Finish rolling the wonton paper by sealing the wet edge to rest of the cannelloni.
Step 5: Line the bottom of a large glass dish with pasta sauce, place the cannelloni seam-side down.
Step 6: Cover with the remaining pasta sauce and mozzarella cheese, bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes, until the top is bubbling.
Summer Dinner Party
Last week after realizing it’s been way too long since we’ve had a dinner party, Ray and I had some friends and their +1s over for a Monday night cocktail/dinner party. Of course, fitting ten people into any New York apartment is challenge so I kept it really casual and served dinner in the living room around our retro coffee table.
Hosting dinner parties is one of my favorite things in this whole world to do, and I’m finally establishing some good entertaining rules and formulas to keep myself un-stressed, out of the kitchen and in the mix with my guests. While I don’t follow them all the time, here they are:
1) Make absolutely everything you can the night before, including the cocktail. (I didn’t follow my own rule and did not have drinks immediately available for my guests upon their arrival, which leads to #2)
2) Have something to eat and drink on the table 30 minutes before your guests are supposed to arrive, even if it’s just some radishes and a bottle of wine or a pitcher of water. Someone is always likely to show up exactly on time.
3) Make sure the night of the dinner party works for the rest of your week. I chose Monday night so I had all of Sunday to shop and cook. It allowed me start off the week with my friends when the rest of the week was filled with business dinners. Friday nights are impossible because you’re tired and there’s no way to shop, cook and clean in time for guests to arrive at a reasonable hour. Saturday and Sundays night are of course great too.
4) Get the 411 on food allergies and check the menu over with them beforehand. Ray doesn’t eat meat and I have another friend who’s, well, allergic to everything so instead of getting really creative, I kept it simple. I made sure my one-pot dish could be easily adapted to serve (almost) everyone. For my friend, I made a “hypoallergenic” pork chop- seasoned with sesame oil, Dijon mustard, rice wine vinegar served with white rice.
5) You must have a co-pilot/extra Indian/Sous-chef. I don’t care if you’re Martha Stewart, you need an extra host. Ray always does an amazing job setting the mood with music, candles and lighting. For this party he had the genius idea to pull a Charlie Chaplin film off of Netflix to play in the background while we ate. Thanks, babe!
6) Candles and music are a must. Films noir and cats to entertain your guests are a plus.
7) When you’re friends ask if you need help…say yes! I am very verbal and eager to have my friends help me in the kitchen when I am in the weeds, even if they just stand there and give me the latest gossip on their lives while they completely assault a tomato.
8) Eva’s (generally fool-proof) Food Formula: 2 appetizers (at least 1 vegetarian option) + 1 signature cocktail + 1 one-pot dish (that can be made the night before) + vegetable + 1 dessert = dinner party success.
Here are some highlights after implementing the formula for last week’s dinner party:
The Coconut Crusher
As my signature cocktail, I served a drink I completely made up: Coconut Rum, Vodka, pomegranate and blueberry juice with a mint garnish. It’s possible that I subliminally stole this idea from a photo my brother’s girlfriend posted on my sister’s Facebook wall, but I think it’s safe to say, I made it completely my own. My original recipe called for white grape juice, but the pomegranate was an awesome substitute.
To make this divine cocktail: tear 6 mint leaves and put at the bottom of a glass, fill to the brim with ice, then add 1 oz vodka, 1 oz coconut rum then top it off with some slammin’ juice–pomegranate, raspberry lemonade, peach, white grape juice, surprise me. Stir. Sip. Smile. Ah.
Smashed White Bean Crostinis with Arugula and Prosciutto. This is a riff on a crostini served at our local Italian restaurant. My interpretation involves 1 can of rinsed, smashed white beans with 2 cloves of garlic, a squeeze of lemon, salt and pepper. I spread a little salted butter on the sliced baguette before spreading the white beans. Top it with prosciutto and/or arugula and then the party is in order!
Arugula, Radish and Pecorino Salad.
My formula calls for a vegetable, this salad is by far the easiest most delicious solution to a large group: washed arugula, shaved Pecorino, sliced radishes. Add tomato and/or hearts of palm if you have them handy. For the vinaigrette I simply squeezed the juice of one lemon over the lettuce with a hefty splash of good olive oil, salt, pepper. I could eat this salad everyday.
Chocolate flourless cake with black cherry coulis and fresh whipped cream. Normally I use this recipe for the cake and jazz it up with a berry sauce. Last week I chose black cherries, so I heated them on the stove with 2Ts of sugar, 1t of vanilla extract and reduced it until it was a syrupy sauce. Served with homemade whipped cream, it’s divine!
Two Coudies Archive: “Corn on the Cob”
Happy 4th of July! Everyone is surely out grillin’ and chillin’ in celebration of this great nation. I pulled this Two Coudies post from our 4th of July party from 2009 where I made a disastrous (but precious) batch of cupcakes decorated to look like corn on the cob.
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This is by far my most amazing food feat: cupcakes in the guise of corn on the cob. Too cute for words, I know. I found the idea in this cupcake book I stumbled upon at a specialty bookstore. It was as if the gods had heard my prayers and gifted me with this totally useless but equally precious cupcake decorating book. I was saved and it only took me $ 16.95.
Summer Entertaining Cooking Class
Stingray and I took a “Couples Summer Entertaining” cooking class at Culinaerie, back when we were living in Washington. Despite our food snob status, neither of us had taken an actual cooking class, so this was a real treat (thanks, Mom!). Dressed for date night we marched to the front of the class kitchen (again, food snobs) to ensure optimal viewing and instruction by the school’s co-founder Susan Holt. On the menu was a Wild Mushroom and Goat Cheese Tart, Roast Leg of Lamb with Ratatouille Vegetables and a Brulee of Summer Fruits. The menu was straightforward and accessible, but impressive enough that I was eager to add to our repertoire. I would even argue it could be easily adapted for the winter months by swapping out seasonal vegetables in the ratatouille and replacing the lamb with beef.
The class was extremely well done with plenty of support staff, great instruction and endless wine. We were obviously the most experienced couple, starring multiple times as the “example table.” Although, I suppose…upon further reflection we spent just as much time sizing up the competition as we did chopping mushrooms. DC friends–try their classes and steal more delicious recipes for me!
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Exotic Mushroom and Chevre Tart
Ingredients
(Serves 8 as an appetizer, 4 as a main course)
- 1 ½ cups exotic mushrooms, such as shiitake, crimini, Portobello, or oyster
- 2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
- Salt and fresh black pepper to taste
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary or tarragon
- 1 package frozen puff pastry dough, slightly defrosted
- 8 ounces soft goat cheese, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 2 cloves fresh garlic, very finely minced
Brush the mushrooms free of any dirt and trim rough parts of the stems; cut into ½” slices. Heat a large sauté pan over high heat, add half the oil, then add half the mushrooms. Sauté about 3 minutes, with very limited stirring, until mushrooms are golden brown; repeat with remaining oil and mushrooms. Season cooked mushrooms with salt and pepper and add herbs.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roll out pastry into a rough circle, about 14” in diameter, and place on large baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Spread goat cheese over surface, stopping two inches short of the edge. Distribute mushroom mixture evenly over top, then bring extra pastry over mushrooms to form a border.
Combine butter with garlic; using pastry brush, paint or drizzle the garlic butter on top of the mushrooms. Bake in center of oven for approximately 30 minutes, until pastry is golden brown on top and bottom. Allow to cool slightly then cut into wedges.
Roast Leg of Lamb with Ratatouille Vegetables
Ingredients
(Serves 2)
- 1 – 1½ pounds boneless lamb leg
- 1 medium zucchini (about 1 pound), cut in 1” cubes
- 1 medium red or yellow onion, cut in 1” cubes
- 2 plum tomatoes or 1 heirloom tomato, quartered
- 1 red pepper, cut in medium dice
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- Juice of half a lemon
- Handful of minced fresh basil leaves and/or 2 tablespoons good quality pesto
- 4 – 5 Calamata or French Nyons olives, pitted and halved
- 2 ounces Gruyere, grated
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Season lamb leg with salt and pepper, place on a rack over a sheet pan fat side up, and roast for 45 minutes. Remove from oven.
Toss together the zucchini, onion, tomatoes, pepper, olive oil, salt, sugar and lemon juice. Roast in a large sauté pan for 15 – 20 minutes until vegetables start to soften and brown. Remove from oven and stir in basil and/or pesto and olives. Top with gruyere and return to oven for 10 minutes. Remove and serve with thinly sliced lamb.
Brulee of Summer Fruits
Ingredients
(Serves 2)
- ½ cup heavy (whipping) cream
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 cups fresh raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, sliced peaches
- 2 tablespoons demerara, turbinado or brown sugar
Beat the cream with a whip until soft peaks form. Add sugar very slowly and continue beating until sugar is dissolved and the cream forms stiff peaks.
Gently fold in the fruit. Transfer raspberries to 2 individual shallow oven-proof dishes, such as brulee dishes and sprinkle the demerara sugar over them. Place dish under the oven broiler on the top rack on high and cook just until some of the sugar caramelizes (this will only take 30 seconds or so). Alternately, use a blowtorch with cautious abandon. Serve immediately.
Two Coudies Archive: Fine Investment Father’s Day Rockfish
Daddy-Happy Father’s Day! Along with great hair, thank you for gifting me with a discerning and rather expensive palette. You’ve programmed me to thrive best when consuming fine wines and champagne, imported cheeses, charcuterie, caviar and fresh seafood. While my wallet doesn’t appreciate it, my belly definitely does.
Since it is Father’s Day I’ve pulled from the Two Coudies Archive this Father’s Day fish post. It reminds me of such a great Father-Daughters trip we took a couple of years ago, I’m happy to have a place in cyber space to remember it forever. Love you, Dad!
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For Father’s Day, my sister and I took Dad to St. Michael’s, Maryland (GO THERE!) for a nautically-inclined weekend. Amidst sunset sailing, an antique boat show and a private plane ride over the Chesapeake Bay (!), we set him up with a fishing guide. Luckily for me he caught three HUGE Rockfish (called Striped Bass, where I’m from). He couldn’t take them back on the plane with him so when I returned to DC, I invited some of my girlfriends over and made a super simple Parmesan Rockfish. To celebrate summer I added a feta and watermelon salad. While we ate the meal with rice, I’ve added a recipe for some insanely rich mashed potatoes…because that’s what the rockfish would have wanted. Thanks to my girl Nicole GoodHat Aguirre of Worn Magazine for the photos.
Parmesan & Parsley Fish:
Preheat oven to 350 and begin marinating fish.
Marinade:
- 2 large garlic cloves crushed
- 2 1lb filets of rockfish (or any other white fish)
- the juice of 1 lemon
- splash of white wine
- 2 tsp salt and pepper
- 3 tsp olive oil
- 2 shakes of chili flake if you want to get KrAZy
Topping:
- 1/2 cup Parmesan
- 2 tsp finely chopped parsley
Mix fish and marinade ingredients together in gallon-size Ziploc and stick in fridge. After it’s chilled again, place in buttered glass dish large enough for filets to lay flat. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese and fresh chopped parsley.
Depending on thickness, bake for approx 13-15 minutes. The fish should flake when you pull a fork through it.
**WiLd SiDe:turn on the broiler at the end of cook time for 2 minutes to brown the top.
They will love you Forever Boursin Mashed Potatoes:
- Russet, Yukon Gold or bliss potatoes
- 1-3 garlic cloves
- 3/4 small package of Boursin or Alouette herbed cheese
- 2 T butter
- 2 T sour cream
- splash of milk or cream
- 1 egg
- salt/pepper
Quarter and boil potatoes in large pot for about 30 mins. Potatoes will be ready when you can pass a fork or knife straight through with little pressure. When cooked and tender, drain and return to large pot and turn heat to low. Mash slightly with with masher or hand mixer. Incorporate all other ingredients except for egg. Continue to taste to adjust flavors and consistency to your liking. Add raw egg and blend.*
*If you have a Jewish family member in the kitchen, do this discreetly. If you get caught, deny everything.
I-Am-A-Sex-MaH-Cheen Watermelon and Feta Salad:
Vinaigrette:
- 1 part lemon juice
- 2 parts Extra Virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp salt/pepper
- 1 tsp sugar
- the leaves of 4 thyme sprigs, finely chopped
- 5 raspberries, optional
- splash of any good quality fruit juice in the frig (lemonade, limeade, raspberry juice)
- 1 T dijon mustard
Mix all together in blender until smooth. If it’s too sweet, add one more lemon and/or pepper. Too tart, more olive oil, then more sugar.
Place a handful of washed spring mix, arugula or spinach on a salad plate. Serve with a slice of watermelon and a feta cube, drizzle with vinaigrette.
From the Cyber Cellar: The Two Coudies Archive
As some of you remember, Stingray and I used to have Coudies: A Couple’s Sufficiently Pretentious Blog about food, cooking, eating and everything in between! I recently dug it back up for inspiration and to consolidate my recipes under one roof. Each post, some from as early as 2009, represent a culinary time capsule of recipes blemished with typos, odd titles (I-Am-A-Sex-MaH-Cheen Watermelon and Feta Salad??), and at times seriously crappy instructions. Dare I say, my recipe writing has gotten significantly tighter and my repertoire more advanced and worldly. Enjoy these old gems, dusted off and put back on the table to be consumed once again.