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side dishes

Summer Entertaining Cooking Class

June 23, 2012 by Eva Louise Leave a Comment

Roast Leg of Lamb with Ratatouille Vegetables

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

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

Seared Lamb

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

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.

Notice all the fearful eyes around me…

Filed Under: Life & Travel, Sides Tagged With: appetizer, cheese, entertaining, lamb, meat, side dishes, vegetables

Two Coudies Archive: Fine Investment Father’s Day Rockfish

June 17, 2012 by Eva Louise 2 Comments

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!

*************************************************************************

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.


Filed Under: Dinner, Seafood, Sides Tagged With: holidays, potatoes, salads, seafood, side dishes, vegetables

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Welcome

I’m Eva Louise and welcome to Mind in the Butter! This is my food bloggy, showcasing my favorite dishes and recipes often inspired by and cooked for my loved ones. My goal with this blog is to eventually document every single dish I make so when I’m old and stale, I will be able to remember and celebrate memories from my favorite place…the kitchen!

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