recipeworld

Figs are in season at the beginning of fall/end of summer, but I wanted to post this recipe from my archives now. This was one of the first recipes I invented all on my own: I was looking to make a dessert that showed off the sweetness of figs without overpowering their distinct flavor. The plating can be done as shown, or with two per plate for a more dainty dessert for company. The sauces can also be served on the side if you wish.

Mascarpone Figs

4 Mission figs
1 tbsp. honey
1 tbsp. fig jam
½ tsp dried mint
½ tsp black pepper
¼ cup mascarpone cheese
¼ cup fromage frais or plain whole-milk yogurt

Slice the figs from the top of the stem down to about a half-centimeter from the base. Rotate 180 degrees and slice again so that the figs are still whole, but have four distinct sections. Pull the sections apart. Place the figs in a skillet and cover. Heat over low heat until the figs are just heated through.

Meanwhile, combine the fig jam with an equal part of water in a saucepan until it melts to a sauce consistency. Add the mint and pepper to the honey.

Combine the mascarpone and fromage frais or yogurt.

To plate as shown, place the mascarpone mixture in four equal portions at the four corners of a plate. Place a fig in each dollop of the mascarpone mixture. Drizzle both the fig sauce and the honey sauce on the plate. Serve warm.

I know I go on and on about eggs a lot, but they’re really an amazing food–it’s like that commercial for “the incredible edible egg.” Anyone? Anyone? Crickets? OK then… moving on.

Eggs are really, really good for you. They’re an amazing source of protein and the yellows are a good source of vitamin D, so all you people who only eat the whites because of the cholesterol in the yolks… well think again.

I eat hard-boiled eggs for lunch a lot, but when I’m making dinner, I usually want something hot. If I want something hot and quick, I often turn to scrambled eggs. In just a few minutes and with very few ingredients, you have something hot, filling, good for you and delicious… how “incredible” is that?

Scrambled Eggs with Shallots

Note 2: If you’re lazy, like me, you can also turn down the heat and add the eggs, yogurt and milk directly to the skillet. You have to stir a bit more quickly to make sure the eggs break and combine with the dairy before they cook, but this way, there will be no extra dishes to do.

The idea of eating something before a full meal is popular all over the world. In France, it’s an apératif: the focus is on the drink, but there are also biscuits or crackers served. In the States, it’s the famous cheese and cracker or chips and dip. In Mediterranean and Middle Eastern societies, mezze take the stand with little bites of things such as cheese, tomato, cucumber and dips like hummus and baba ghanouj. In Spain, it’s the famous tapas. In Italy, the food of choice is antipasto.

In my family, antipasto is a much bigger deal than it is back in Italy, as I imagine it must be for a lot of Italian-American families. Whereas in Italy, the food you eat is always of the same quality as the antipasto, for us, antipasto is a time to bring out the real deal: the good Italian soprasetta and mozzarella from the Bronx with Sullivan Street bread. I have been in charge of the antipasto platter for years, so I’ve decided to give you some hints on how to assemble your own.

Antipasto Platter
Meats
Salami
Prosciutto
Soprasetta
Mortadella
Pepperoni

Cheese
Buffalo mozzarella
Mozzarella (fior di latte)
Bocconcini
Parmegiano Reggiano
Asiago
Pecorino Romano

Vegetables
Deep-fried zucchini flowers
Stuffed cremini mushrooms
Cherry tomatoes
Roasted red peppers
Jarred giardiniera
Jarred peperoncini
Jarred mushrooms
Jarred artichoke hearts
Sautéed green beans

Keep extras on hand for replenishing the platter. Serve with toasted bread rubbed with garlic (also known as bruschetta).

Sometimes, the best recipes are the simplest ones. The things that can be made with just a few ingredients and just a bit of time and effort are often the most rewarding. Take fried eggs, for example. It’s not much effort at all, and the ingredients list is so short it seems like there shouldn’t even be a recipe. But there is a difference between a good fried egg and a great fried egg, and it all has to do with that first word: fried.

A lot of people who attempt to make a fried egg do it in too little fat. There’s no need to be afraid of fat: yes, some of it will be served with the food, but if done correctly, most will remain in the pan, just giving the faint taste of butter and a nice, crispy edge to your egg. I like to serve fried eggs with home fried potatoes or on top of some heated and drained frozen spinach, with a little bit of vinegar pepper sauce, like Tabasco.

The Perfect Fried Egg

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 eggs
salt and pepper
Heat a skillet over high heat. Add the oil and then melt the butter in the oil, swirling to coat the bottom of the pan. Crack both eggs in the skillet and cover with salt and pepper. Allow to cook over high heat for thirty seconds before reducing the heat to medium and cooking only until the whites have set. Remove with a spatula and serve immediately.

In the summertime, I start thinking about meal salads. I like salade Niçoise, with hard-boiled eggs, boiled potatoes, tuna, tomatoes and vinaigrette. I’m perfectly happy to make a meal out of sliced tomatoes, salt, good olive oil and garlic. I love having grilled chicken salads, salads with shrimp, with scallops, with steak.

In general, when I talk about a salad, I mean something with lettuce and a vinaigrette. However, when it comes to lobster, I feel that I can be a bit more lenient. This salad is delicious with crab as an alternative as well. Served with corn on the cob or as one of many choices for salad as a meal, this cool treat is incredible in the summertime.

Lobster Salad

1 cup celery, chopped
2 cups cooked lobster
1 cup good mayonnaise, (homemade or Hellman’s)
1/2 cup sour cream
salt and pepper to taste
2 teaspoons fresh dill, chopped

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Top with more dill to garnish.

Pretty much the first recipe I ever successfully invented was my recipe for chili. By successfully, I mean people ask for the recipe, request it when they come over, and my boyfriend expects a vat of it in the fridge if I ever leave for the weekend.

Chili takes a lot of experimentation and tasting. I vary the amounts of ingredients a little bit each time, depending on the taste. Tasting as you go is the best way to get results you like. This, however, is my jumping-off point for a very spicy, very good chili to serve with sour cream and green onions.

My Chili
2 tbsp. cumin
1 tbsp. coriander
1 tbsp. ground cayenne pepper
2 tsp. vegetable oil
1 lb. ground beef
2 tsp. salt
2 onions, finely diced
1 red pepper, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 jalapeño pepper, chopped, with ribs and seeds
1 28-oz. can whole, peeled tomatoes
1 28-oz. can white beans
2 tbsp. tomato paste
1 bottle dark beer, like Guinness

Start off by heating the spices in a dry skillet until they start to darken (be careful not to burn them.) Set aside.

In a deep, heavy pot, heat the oil over high heat. When the oil is hot, add the beef, a quarter pound at a time, to brown. When the beef is brown, remove it from the pot and set aside, adding the next portion. When all of the beef has been cooked through, discard all but one tablespoon of the fat from the bottom of the pan. Heat over high heat, and add the aromatic vegetables (onions and peppers). Add the salt. Sauté until the onions are translucent and slightly browned. Add the beef back to the vegetable mixture.

With a knife, roughly dice the tomatoes in their can, and then add them to the pot with their juices. Drain and rinse the beans, and add them as well. Add the tomato paste and half the beer. Reduce heat to low and cook, uncovered.

Stir every fifteen minutes for the first hour, adding more beer as necessary. I like my chili to be thick, but with a lot of gravy. Add liquid until it the consistency is to your liking, opening another bottle if necessary.

After an hour, when the proper consistency has been reached, cover the pot and cook for another hour or two, stirring occasionally to make sure the bottom doesn’t burn. If your stove is too hot, you can turn the heat off for fifteen minute intervals and allow the chili to cook from residual heat.

Serve with sour cream, chopped green onions and avocado.

When it comes to a cheap source of protein, eggs are really your best bet. I can get thirty eggs for about five euros at my farmer’s market. I usually hard-boil them and eat them with Tabasco sauce (or fry them, but that’s another story). However, every once in awhile, I get in the mood for something a little different, and that’s when I pull an omelette together.

There are certain meals I look at as ways to clean out the fridge. Eggs, pasta, quesadillas and baked potatoes all fall into this category. I go through whatever meat, cheese or cooked veggies are in the icebox and try to pull something together that makes some semblance of sense.

This chorizo omelette uses Spanish chorizo, which is pre-cooked, kind of like salami. The sausage is spicy enough on its own, so it didn’t need extra seasoning. I did add some blue cheese to this one, which was what I had at the time, but in the future I would use a milder melting cheese like provolone or mozzarella so as not to detract from the taste of the meat. This omelette, with a salad, can easily serve two for dinner.

Chorizo Omelette
6 eggs
2 tbsp. crème fraîche or sour cream
1 tbsp. milk
2 tsp. olive oil
1 oz. cheese (use whatever you have on hand), crumbled or grated
2 oz. chorizo, sliced thin

Crack the eggs into a bowl and scramble with a fork, adding the milk and crème fraîche and being sure to evenly combine everything. Meanwhile, heat a skillet over medium heat. Add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the egg mixture, swirling the pan to ensure that the mixture is evenly distributed.

Place the chorizo slices evenly over the top, and add the cheese. Cover the pan and turn the heat down to medium-low. Allow to cook just until the eggs have set. If the bottom of the omelette begins to burn before the eggs are set, turn the heat down to low or off completely, and allow to cook using residual heat under the cover.

Allow to cook in the pan one minute before slicing into triangles and serving.

I come from an Italian-American family, where food is possibly the most important thing. I was required to be home every night for dinner (usually with guests in tow to taste my mother’s incredible cooking), and even now, when I’m home from school, I hardly ever want to go out, because I get restaurant-quality cooking at home.

I try my best, but I don’t know if I’ll ever cook like my mom. For one, she has access to Zabars in New York and an insatiable food budget. All I have is the measly budget I set for myself and some fine but not great cooking tools.

The one thing I inherited my mom is an understanding for flavor and texture. I might not be able to make something with foie gras or porcini mushrooms every night of the week, but I know how to take simple ingredients and pull them together to make something tasty. Maybe it’s the Italian in me.

The American in me, however, knows how to improvise. Like this tortilla pizza. When I want pizza, I’m not going to make pizza dough. I’ve been known to make a pizza out of any bread product that will sit still: English muffins, bagels… heck, I’ve even made pizza on split baked potatoes. There’s something about the combination of tomatoes, garlic, oregano and basil, and of course the melty cheese, that I need to have, even when the only crust I can afford is a whole-wheat tortilla.

Note: The tortilla for this actually crisps up quite well: if you like thin-crust pizza, you’ll love this.

Stovetop Tortilla Pizza
1 tsp. olive oil
1 whole-wheat tortilla
2 tbsp. tomato paste
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 oz. shredded cheese
basil (Note: I love basil and use it as an extra topping, when really it should be a garnish. Use your discretion with how much you like.)

Heat the oil in a skillet over high heat. When the oil is heated, place the tortilla in the oil to fry for thirty seconds. When the edges begin to brown, flip it over and turn the heat down to medium-low. Spread the tomato paste over the tortilla. Top with the oregano and cheese. Cover and allow to cook until the cheese melts, 1-2 minutes. When the cheese has melted, add the basil.

Quesadillas are some of my favorite foods for clearing out the fridge. You can basically toss anything in a tortilla and add some cheese, and it becomes a delicious meal. I change it up: anything from leftover chicken and cheese to onions, mushrooms, leftover steak… anything is game if it’s hiding in the fridge. You don’t even have to use Mexican flavors: you can make a breakfast quesadilla with scrambled eggs and beans, or even a pizza-ish quesadilla with tomatoes, tomato paste, cheese and basil.

I like to make my quesadillas for one, which means that I only use one tortilla. This doesn’t mean that I skimp on the fillings, however: you can probably tell from the picture that I stuff them about as full as a regular burrito.

This quesadilla gets its protein from chicken and portabello mushrooms, with onions and cheese as well. I like to put a lot of hot sauce and sour cream on top, but serving options are up to you: guacamole, black beans, salsa or even just plain. The possibilities are endless.

Chicken Portabello Quesadilla

3 oz. cooked chicken, sliced

1 portabello mushroom cap, sliced

1/2 onion, diced

2 oz. shredded Mexican blend cheese

1 whole wheat tortilla

2 tsp. olive oil, separated

Heat 1 tsp. oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the onions and mushrooms. Season with salt and sauté until the mushrooms have released all of their juices and cooked through and the onions are translucent and slightly browned. Add the chicken for a minute or two, until just heated through. Remove mixture from skillet to a plate.

Add the other teaspoon of oil to the skillet. Heat and spread evenly around the skillet. Add the tortilla, and then place the reserved filling on one half of the tortilla. Add the cheese on top, and fold the other side of the tortilla over, like an omelette. Press down to help the filling stick. Heat for one minute, and then flip to the other side. Cook until cheese is melted. Remove from heat and slice into two triangles. Serve with sour cream and hot sauce, or your choice of toppings.

This is a recipe from a long time ago. I was in the mood for pasta primavera, but since it wasn’t primavera yet, I had to improvise with what I had.

A grill-pan is great for bringing out the flavors in veggies, although a roasting pan will do the trick nicely. If you decide to go the roasting route, there’s no need to save the extra dressing: the veggies will release their juices, and you can just “rinse” the pan with a few tablespoons of pasta cooking water to make sure you get all the good flavors in your pasta instead of on your pan.

Pasta Primavera nel’Inverno

spinach spaghetti for two people

1 zucchini, sliced into rounds

1 red onion, sliced

salt and pepper

juice of one lemon

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

parmesan cheese for serving

Cook the pasta to al dente, reserving some of the pasta cooking water. Heat a grill pan over high heat. While the pan is heating, toss the remaining ingredients (except the cheese) in a large bowl, ensuring that the vegetables are well-coated. Using a spaghetti spoon, lift the veggies from the dressing, allowing excess to drip to the bottom of the bowl. Save this for later.

Grill the veggies until charred on one side, about two minutes, and then turn to cook the other side. When the vegetables have finished cooking, return them to the bowl of dressing along with the pasta. Toss with a few tablespoons of cooking water to ensure the dressing coats the pasta. Serve with parmesan cheese.

Note: You could marinate chicken in the same dressing and toss it with the pasta for more protein, but be sure not to return the final dish to the same bowl you marinated the raw chicken in.